Morbid - Episode 421: The Torture & Murder of Cordell Richards

Episode Date: January 23, 2023

On March 4th, 1999 the body of Cordell Richards was found in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The man had been absolutely brutalized. He was tied to a tree, beaten, burned, and had his throat cut.... The medical examiner notices something strange though; he found maggots present at the scene but some of them had been charred. This meant that the man had likely been burned after his body had already begun decomposing. Why would the killer(s) come back after the fact? And better yet, who had done this to the 31 year old father of two?Thank you to the lovely David White for research assistance! References:Associated Press. 1999. "Teens charged with veteran's death." Lakeland Ledger, March 19.—. 2000. "Teen emotional as lawyer describes scene of slaying." Ocala Star-Banner, February 16.—. 2000. "Video shows suspects returning cleaver." Ocala Star-Banner, March 18.—. 2002. "Court reverses death sentence." Sarasota Herald Tribune, November 8: 7B.—. 2000. "Girl, 17, convicted in killing." Sarasota Herald-Tribune, February 18: W6.Gainsville Sun. 1999. "Accessory to murder charges are dropped." Gainsville Sun, September 23: 1.—. 2000. "Son of minister gets death sentence." Gainsville Sun, May 17.Hawkins, Erik. 2020. Florida Teen Trio Torture, Bludgeon And Immolate Man Chained To A Tree. February 27. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.oxygen.com/killer-couples/crime-news/kristel-maestas-ronald-bell-murder-cordell-richards-torture#:~:text=When%20Fort%20Walton%2C%20Florida%2C%20police,with%20his%20wrists%20also%20bound.Kristel Rose Maestas v. State of Florida. 2021. 1D19-1767 (First District Court of Appeal, State of Florida, April 20).2003. New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science. Directed by Bertrand Morin. Produced by New Dominion Pictures. Performed by New Dominion Pictures.Ronald Lee Bell, Jr. v. State of Florida. 2002. SC00-1185 (Supreme Court of Florida, November 7).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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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, Prime members, you can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon music. Download the app today. You're listening to Immorbid Network Podcast. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about two judges who stood accused of making millions of dollars in a brazen scheme that shattered the lives of countless children. Listen to American scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi babe, I'm Ash.
Starting point is 00:00:35 I'm Alina. And this is Dark Satted. It's morbid. We can't get enough of a babe on TikTok. Babe, I think about it every night. It's so good. It really is. It's so good if you're listening. We love you if you can't tell. We love you so much.
Starting point is 00:01:18 Come on the show. Let's talk about sinister shit on the show. Yeah. We were going to talk about some sinister shit. I would have Bide on the show. The absolute fuckin' talk about some scene of shit. I would have died on the show. The apps of fucking talk about something sinister. Man, I'll first it by what we're gonna get her. I'm gonna go get her. Everybody's like, what the fuck are you talking about? If you didn't listen to our last
Starting point is 00:01:40 episode, which was a crazy fucking tale. Truth. A survivor tale. We were talking about this Instagram, not Elena and I, I have to give credit where credits do Elena found it. And now it's just become an integral part of our lives. It is, and it's called at Sinister Pond Babe.
Starting point is 00:01:58 And she's hilarious. And I just, I gotta give, I gotta give credit when somebody makes me laugh and brightens my day. Yeah, I want them to blow up. They're not in like a bad way. No, like a good way. I want her to get a billion followers and get paid.
Starting point is 00:02:13 You want her to get what the kids call clout. There you go, clout. I just want her, I hope she's getting paid. Because she's doing a service. Get that back. It's like Mama Todd. I'm like, I hope she's getting paid because she makes my day better.
Starting point is 00:02:27 I hope Mama Todd is getting all, I'm the bound to gifts that the earth has to offer. Truly, truly. All right, well, that was all very wholesome. And happy, babe. And this is Santa Sturbide. Oh no, it's dark side. It's really dark side.
Starting point is 00:02:41 This is honestly, this is a tough one. So I think we should just get rid of it. Oh, I't know if it's there. You know, you should get right into this though. So I haven't out of that. I don't know this one. Oh, you don't. So I know the name. I've heard the name. I just have not heard details about this. It was actually pretty requested in our inbox. Really? Yeah, I would shout everybody out, but there was a lot of you that wanted this story. Shout out to all of you. Shout out to anyone who suggested this. So, this story takes place in how Alina and Kevin from TikTok would say, the 90s. And it takes place on March 4th, 1999, but this was more than just the 90s. The murder of Cordell Richards, which we're going to talk about today, is truly
Starting point is 00:03:25 one of the most brutal cases I think I've personally covered. Oh, not like we have covered, but that I've covered. Okay. So Cordell was an Okalusek County restaurant worker and father of two, and his body was discovered on this day. Like I said, March 4, 1999, he was burned, beaten, and found chained to a tree. Oh my God. Yes, his remains were left in an isolated wooded area, just outside of some land that was going to be soon turned into houses. I think there was a couple houses on the plot, but it was like a newly built neighborhood. Okay.
Starting point is 00:03:58 Quartelle's body was discovered by a 12-year-old boy. Oh, just playing in that wooded area in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. And when he found the body, he immediately ran home to tell his parents what he had seen. They immediately contacted the Sheriff's Department and the police headed out their ASAP. So they found the remains actually partially skeletonized, intensely charred, and again, like I said,
Starting point is 00:04:23 bound to the tree by a very heavy chain. Now, upon closer inspection, there was a thick cord tied around the victim's wrists, which were behind his back, and there was duct tape covering the remains of his mouth. The county medical examiner at the time, Dr. Michael Berkland, was obviously called to the scene as soon as possible. At first, he wasn't even able to identify the gender of the victim. He had because he was so beyond any recognition whatsoever. That's awful. Couldn't even determine a cause of death other than, of course, the body had been lit on fire. Now, the body was not only burned past the point of recognition, but also significantly decomposed.
Starting point is 00:05:05 The body had been out in the elements for quite some time. There was actually barely even flesh on the bones anymore, and there were no organs left to be tested. Geez. I actually didn't realize how quickly organs decomposed. So when I first read that, I was just like, oh, so there's no healthy organs to test, but then I looked it up,
Starting point is 00:05:23 because I was like, were there no organs left at all? Or just none to test? Wait a second. So. And I knew you would love this. According to a BBC Future article, quote, soon after the heart stops beating, cells become deprived of oxygen
Starting point is 00:05:37 and their acidity increases as the toxic byproducts of chemical reactions begin to accumulate inside of them. And so I'm start to digest cell membranes and then leak out as the cells break down. This usually begins in the liver, which is rich in enzymes, and in the brain, which has a high water content. So those are the first to go. Hmm. Eventually, though, all other tissues and organs begin to break down in this way.
Starting point is 00:06:01 Cell death. I didn't realize how quickly it happened. Yeah, that's why. But they just are gone. That your heart is keeping everything going. It's so freaky when you really start to think about it. I know. It's a delicate process.
Starting point is 00:06:13 Seriously. So the first observation that Dr. Brooklyn was able to make made me feel like I was reading the butcher and run all over again. The part where Ren explains the presence of blowflies. As I was reading this, I was like, the butcher on the run. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:27 So Dr. Brooklyn was able to determine that the body had been left chain to this tree for at least two weeks because he found the presence of maggots. However, there was something strange about the presence of these maggots. Some of them were also charred. Not all of them, some of them.
Starting point is 00:06:44 So excuse me, this told him that whoever had left this body in the woods had come back at least two weeks later than to burn it. Wow. So now it was time to bring the body back to his office to carry out a full blown examination, but it would be quite the feat to do so because of the advanced state of decomposition and also the fact that the remains were so considerably damaged already, the crime scene technician and Dr. Brooklyn had to be super careful with these remains, and they had to keep them in the same exact position that they were found while they were transporting.
Starting point is 00:07:17 Wow. Which I can't imagine the pressure. Wow. Because they didn't want to disturb any potential evidence, so this is the way they had to do it. Wow. Because they didn't want to disturb any potential evidence. So they just, this is the way they had to do it. Yeah. Now, once the remains were carefully transported, the examination started. Dr. Brooklyn found that the victim had suffered multiple skull fractures, evidence of blunt force trauma to the shoulder blade, sternum, and ribs, and also what appeared to be defensive injuries on the hands and arms. And he also noticed what he explained as a quote, probable chop injury to the left neck.
Starting point is 00:07:51 Ooh, yeah. So the victim was believed to be a man in his early to mid-30s, and Dr. Brooklyn believed that he had been killed about one month earlier, meaning that he would have been dumped in the woods close to February 4th of that year. Now, because of the circumstances, a precise cause of death really couldn't be determined. Because there was just so much going on here. But Dr. Brooklyn concluded that quote,
Starting point is 00:08:17 the manner of death was homicidal violence with combined features of one forced trauma to the head, body and upper extremities, and a probable chop injury to that left neck. She's, and he believed that the victim was likely beaten with some kind of club, he said. Oh my God. Now what was stumping him though was the charred maggots.
Starting point is 00:08:37 The body had been discovered, like I said, with bindings on the wrists and tape covering the mouth. So the man was presumably alive when he was transported to this area and then killed, most likely after being chained to that tree and beaten. So why did the killer or the killers come back two weeks later and further destroy the remains by burning them? What was that about? So anyways, I deem this man was incredibly difficult at first, but then the doctor noticed and I thought this was crazy.
Starting point is 00:09:06 The only reason why Cordell was ever able to be I de-ed is because of there was enough soft tissue on the right thumb to get a partial fingerprint. What? Isn't that nuts? My God, forensic science, man. Forensic science is crazy. Unbelievable. It really is. So the doctor got that partial fingerprint and handed it over to detectives,
Starting point is 00:09:30 and he was like, do what you can. Now back in the woods, investigators were combing through this scene. They sifted actually through a significant amount of evidence. There were empty cans. There was a roll of duct tape that matched the one that had been used to cover the victim's mouth, various clothing items that seemed to belong to the victim, and there were
Starting point is 00:09:49 tire impressions that were left in the dirt at the side of the road near the site. Automatically, we're going to get excited about that. But unfortunately, none of these things would give them any evidence that they hoped they would have. Oh, come on. Nothing. So, but nonetheless, obviously, they went back to the station and they start sifting through all the missing persons
Starting point is 00:10:10 reports they could find from early to mid-February. Yeah. And they're able to narrow down their search based on Dr. Brooklyn's approximation of the age and the confirmation of the sex. And their pool was pretty small at that point. And the most likely victim they believed was 31-year-old Cordell Richards.
Starting point is 00:10:28 Cordell was a military veteran. He had served in the US Air Force for almost 10 years from 1985 to 1994. He'd been recently divorced and had two young daughters at the time. And at the time of his death, he was living in an apartment in Fort Walton, Florida and working at a local eye hop.
Starting point is 00:10:46 He'd been actually reported missing by his friend Martin Stone. Martin realized on February 13th that he hadn't heard from Cordell in over a week. He called him on the phone, he emailed him a couple times. He actually even made several trips to his apartment during that week, but just couldn't get in touch with his friend. So Martin actually went to the eye hop and checked in with some of the co-workers. He was like, have you seen Cordell at all? They're like, we actually haven't seen him since the beginning of the month.
Starting point is 00:11:13 And that was super, super, super out of character for him. He was a very reliable employee. So after doing everything he possibly could to locate his friend, Martin went to the police and asked them to do a welfare check. So the welfare check was conducted that same afternoon, actually, by officers Josh Duma, I hope I'm saying that right, and Mike Nichols. They pounded on the doors, they pounded on the windows, but they got zero response. Officer Nichols noticed that there was one window, though, that was slightly open,
Starting point is 00:11:44 and he was able to push it completely open and crawl through it. And once he was in, he looked around to find to find himself what seemed to be in a storage room like inside of the apartment. So then he located the front door and was able to let the other officer in as well as Martin and Sergeant Brune who had shown up just behind them. So they searched room by room by room by room, called out for Cordell, called out for anybody, but got zero response. And then they finally reached a bedroom door. And it seemed to be locked with a dead bowl, and there was a towel stuffed under the crack
Starting point is 00:12:18 between the door and the floor. Hmm, sketchy. Yeah, I would say so. Just a little bit. A little bit. So they knock on that door and announce themselves. And finally, the door opens. But it was not opened by Cordell. Instead, 17-year-old Ronald Bell answered the door
Starting point is 00:12:34 and identified himself. And then identified his girlfriend, fellow 17-year-old Crystal Mastos. 17 years old. Both of them 17 years old. She appeared to be just waking up from a nap. She was wrapped up in a sleeping bag on the floor just sleeping. Oh, okay. Just snoozing. Yeah, just snoozing. Now they explained that they had actually been subletting the room from Cordell.
Starting point is 00:12:56 Crystal had been living there a couple of months now because she had been kicked out by her parents. Ronald didn't live there, he said. And he claimed he actually really didn't know much of anything about Cordell, and Crystal told the officers that she hadn't seen Cordell in the past week. She said the last time she saw him, he had gotten some court papers and left in a hurry without saying anything to her. Interesting. So soon it would be confirmed, excuse me, that the body discovered in the woods was Cordell Richards. Because he was a member of the Air Force, his fingerprints were on fire and were a match for that partial thumbprint taken by the medical examiner. What luck. Like, that's in my opinion, like a one in a million. Yeah, that really is. Now, so now that they had a positive ID, it was
Starting point is 00:13:41 time for the investigators to really start ramping up here. Who killed this guy and why did they do so? Yeah. By all accounts, that's the thing. Cordell was really well liked. He was really hardworking. He really seemed to have few if any enemies. All of his co-workers at IHOP told the investigators that he was, quote, good natured and popular. He had a house cleaner who insisted, quote, he would have done anything for anybody in
Starting point is 00:14:04 the world. Even his ex-wife had only good things to say about him. She told the investigators that he was a, quote, reliable hard worker and a good dad. Oh, that's really sad. It is. I forgot he was a father. To two young daughters. Oh.
Starting point is 00:14:19 The only thing she could think of that was going slightly poorly in his life was that he was having some money problems, she said. But that was really the only thing she could think of that was going slightly poorly in his life was that he was having some money problems, she said. But that was really the only thing she could think of. And as the detectives dug deeper into Cordell's life, all their findings seem to confirm what they had been told that he was a good guy. They didn't hear from one person at this point that he was a shitty person. And that's rare. Like you're going to find someone who's like, um, actually, if I'm being honest, like, yeah, and in the ex-wife, for the ex-wife to say, I got nothing bad to say about him. Like he's a good dad, he's a hard worker. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:55 The only thing I can think of is he's got money problems right now. And she didn't, didn't even make it seem like they were like major. Yeah. She was like, she was just like, that could be something. Right. 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
Starting point is 00:15:44 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 to ad free on the Amazon Music or Wundery app. They also found out that he spent a lot of time caring for his elderly grandparents who weren't doing so well around the time of his death. They were pretty much getting by his grandparents due to his physical and financial aid.
Starting point is 00:16:31 Oh wow. Yeah. Now, the comment about his money problems led the detectives to believe that maybe it was some kind of factor in his death. So they went down that avenue a bit longer, but they eventually ruled it out because it turned out the money issues really weren't that serious. Oh, okay. He was just kind of trying to make ends meet. Yeah, it just wasn't like great. Yeah, exactly. So next they turned to the area where Cordell had been discovered. They canvassed a neighborhood that was adjacent to the scene and were able actually to connect
Starting point is 00:16:58 with a couple that gave them a pretty strong lead. Oh boy. Donald and Robin Burden lived in a cul-de-sac in that housing subdivision, where Courtauld was, behind where Courtauld was found. Okay. And the two of them told detectives that in early February, they had been out for a walk. They always went out for a walk daily. And they said this day, they saw three young people in a car.
Starting point is 00:17:20 They'd never seen those young people and they'd actually never even seen that car. So it kind of made alarm bells go off. When it's that kind of neighborhood, people notice things. On a cold-assack neighborhood, we always be knowing. We always know. A dead end street, we always be knowing. Everyone is looking at the cars going through a cold-assack. And if we don't recognize them, we say, it's dark saddened. It's dark saddened. Oh, damn it. Oh, damn it. Oh, damn it.
Starting point is 00:17:48 It's dark saddened. It's dark saddened. It's dark saddened. It's getting sinister by. This car actually was kind of dark saddened. It's given sinister by. It truly was by. They described the car as being a small brown or tan hatchback.
Starting point is 00:18:01 And they said the rear right window appeared to be broken and covered by some kind of board. Donald, the man, said that he believed the car's occupants were a young black male, a young white female, and another person in the backseat that he believed was a white male, but he wasn't completely sure about that one. So the detectives thanked the couple for their information, but because they had no leads or suspects, all they could do really was go back to the apartment with a search warrant, and then that was when they carried out a search of the home. Now, according to a forensic specialist, the apartment was unusually sparse, but, quote,
Starting point is 00:18:36 there were some items left behind that the average person wouldn't leave behind. And one of those items was Cordell's bicycle. It was really weird that it would be found at the apartment because he didn't drive and he used that bicycle to get around everywhere. So that's a big red flag to me. That's huge because the fact that it was left behind led detectives to wonder if he'd been forcibly removed
Starting point is 00:18:59 from his apartment. Because if that's how he got around, exactly. So because this was now a suspicion the detectives had the apartment sprayed with lumenol. When they did so, they found evidence of blood spatter in the living room. And among the blood spatter were various bloody fingerprints and a bloody handprint. Oh, yeah. And they did testing on the spatter patterns to determine what kind of attack would have created such a pattern, and it was consistent
Starting point is 00:19:27 with blunt force trauma to the head. Oh, God. Just like the medical examiner, Dr. Berkel and had noted on the autopsy. Yeah. This guy was spot on with his autopsy. Hell yeah, medical examiner. And to be that spot on with a body in that condition,
Starting point is 00:19:41 that's just a lot about this medical examiner. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's the thing. Practice, you know? I mean, the fact that they could only get fingerprints in that condition. That's just a lot about this medical exam. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That's the thing. Practice, you know? I mean, the fact that they could only get fingerprints off of like the tiniest bit of soft tissue on a thumb. Right.
Starting point is 00:19:53 A partial print and he was able to get that and then able to tell all this stuff. Right. Like, we let, like, Shemla. Just kiss, doing your job, bringing justice to someone. Like, that's all we ask for. Like, we out here. That's all we want. That's all we want.
Starting point is 00:20:05 That's all we need. So while technicians were busy processing the evidence over at the apartment, the detectives were working on interviews with Cornell's housemate, Crystal and her boyfriend, Ronald. Oh boy. Crystal told the detectives that she had been dating Ronald for the last few months and that they were very much in love. 17 year olds.
Starting point is 00:20:24 You know how it be very much in love. Now she explained that about a month prior she'd had been kicked out of her parents home and Ronald was the one to help her find the sub lease at Quartelle's apartment. He had seen an ad Quartelle put in the paper about looking for a housemate and the rest was history. So the detectives asked how the living situation had gone. And Crystal said at first it was fine, but then Cordell's behavior toward her started making her feel uncomfortable.
Starting point is 00:20:50 And it was inappropriate, she said, in a number of ways. For one thing, she was 17 years old and he was 31, so if he was making advances, that was very inappropriate. Absolutely. And for another thing, according to her, she was not interested whatsoever. She alleged that he made inappropriate comments toward her and sometimes would come into her room wearing quote, only bikini underwear allegedly just to talk. Okay, we don't know if this is true or not.
Starting point is 00:21:18 This is what Chris was saying. I would really take it with a grain of salt because everybody else in this man's life, coworkers, house cleaner, like people that really are barely even connected to him or completely connected to him, all agree that he's a great person. Yeah, so this is interesting.
Starting point is 00:21:35 And I'm assuming this person that's talking is not the most credible of humans. I wouldn't call them trustworthy. I'm just like guessing out how the end of this goes. Yeah. Yeah. So she said at first he would leave when she told him that she wasn't interested, but there was one occasion
Starting point is 00:21:51 recently where she said he grabbed her, pushed her against the wall, and hit her head, and her head had hit the wall behind her with like the force of the attack. I guess you could say. Yeah. That would be fucked up. That would be super fucked up. And you know, we weren't there.
Starting point is 00:22:05 We don't know. Does it justify murder? No. No, absolutely not. I don't think much many things do. Nope. So she said this was the second time, though, that Cordell had become physical with her.
Starting point is 00:22:14 And in another room, Crystal's boyfriend Ronald told the detectives that he actually had only just learned about the altercations between Crystal and Cordell. And it was because he saw bruising on Crystal's back from the last altercation. He said he asked her about it, and she told him everything.
Starting point is 00:22:31 And after he learned what happened, he bought her that dead bolt for her door and told her that she should have a friend sleepover more often to make her feel safe, like on nights that he couldn't be there. Yeah. And that friend would end up being Renee Lynx. Now, as the two were explaining their stories to detectives,
Starting point is 00:22:49 the detectives were all thinking amongst themselves that something about this story just didn't seem right. They said to them, Crystal and Ronald both seemed to be being disingenuous. They were already pretty skeptical of this couple when they found out that Ronald's car had a close resemblance to the one that Donald and Robin had told them about, a couple from earlier. And that was right about the time of the disposal of the body, remember. So they've been able to do a search of Ronald's car after getting a warrant for it, but it
Starting point is 00:23:19 actually didn't turn up much of anything. But detectives weren't ready to give up on this lead yet, and that was smart. Questioning staff and fellow classmates at their high school, where they were both students, would prove to be more than productive. It turned out, Ronald had been absent from school from February 2nd to February 5th. Ooh.
Starting point is 00:23:41 And a classmate told detectives that Ronald had asked him to borrow his truck within that same time frame. A separate student said that in early to mid February, Ronald and Crystal asked him for help getting into a computer that they didn't have the password to. Huh. And he said that when he went to Crystal's apartment, which he knew belonged to a man named Cordell,
Starting point is 00:24:02 he said that after he attempted to get into the computer, Crystal and Ronald had driven him home and along the way they threw out multiple trash bags full of stuff from the apartment. Yeah. I always wonder in these situations, high school students. No one's questioning. No, none of you. Like, even when I was 17 years old, and if I got a ride home from somebody
Starting point is 00:24:27 that was throwing trash back to the window, I'd be like, hey, what are you doing? I'd ask. Just throw it out there. Always ask. Or I don't know, observe. If you see what's happening there. If you don't feel safe asking what's going on.
Starting point is 00:24:39 Yeah, just observe. Write that down somewhere. Just go, just tell your mom, tell your dad, tell your adult. I don't know. Like even then, even then in now, when I drive by a trash bag on the side of the road, I'm like, well, is that a body? Does that body part?
Starting point is 00:24:53 I'm like, I always wonder. So I feel like it's like that would be on my mind. I don't care if it's trash bags. It'll be like, what are you throwing out this? What's happening? But so the detectives tried to search the dumpster, excuse me, in those areas, but the trash from that period was long gone at that point, because remember,
Starting point is 00:25:09 it's been a month and a half point. So it's like in a landfills. Yeah. But they were not far from their big break in the case. Yes. On March 17th, somebody placed an anonymous call to the Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers hotline and said that they actually had information
Starting point is 00:25:23 about the murder of Quartelle Richards. The caller was very nervous and frightened about any repercussions that would be involved if they did give information, and they said that they would only come forward with their information if they were allowed to remain anonymous throughout the process. This person was granted that on anonymity, and then he told the detectives that around early February, a friend of his Renee Lynx, remember her name, she was the friend that slept over, told him that she and her friends Crystal and Ronald were planning to kill Crystal's roommate Cordell because he made advances toward Crystal. I just came right out and said it. Okay. Mm-hmm. It turns out that Renee Lynx had been interviewed prior to this tip actually in the presence of her mother
Starting point is 00:26:12 because she was a minor. Both women, the mom and Renee, denied knowing anything about Cordell's murder. But luckily, the evidence police had already taken in was plenty to arrest all three teens at this point. Ronald Bell, Crystal Mastas, both 17 years old, and Renee Lynx. On March 18th, police officers arrested that 17-year-old couple at their high school, and Renee Lynx was arrested at a local animal shelter, where she was doing community service for a previous parole violation. Wow. Now, when Renee was able to speak with her mother, her mom was able to break down
Starting point is 00:26:47 how serious the situation was and she was like, you need to make a plea deal because her yeah deep here. Renee was 15 years old at the time of Cornell's murder. 15? 15. Holy shit. But she was able to make that plea deal. Wow. She would be able to plead guilty to manslaughter instead of murder if she confessed to helping Crystal and Ronald and explain what the whole story was. So, she told the detectives that she had met Ronald earlier that year, and that she had been spending more and more time with him and Crystal as of late. At the time, she wasn't getting along with her mom, and so she kind of moved in with crystal and cordelle at one point. She too said that
Starting point is 00:27:29 cordelle had made comments to her that made her feel uncomfortable. For some reason, as she said, that he was under the impression that she and crystal were in some kind of relationship, and he suggested that they should all sleep together. She said, okay. She said that she was made so uncomfortable by this, actually, that she. She said that she was made so uncomfortable by this actually, that she, the first night that she was there after he made this comment, she ended up leaving and spending the night somewhere else. Okay.
Starting point is 00:27:53 Now the next night was February 2nd, and Renee went back to the apartment because Cordell was planning to be out pretty much all night and she knew that. So Ronald came over to hang out with the two girls, and Renee alleged that he was the one over to hang out with the two girls and Renee alleged that he was the one to bring up the idea of, quote, beating up or killing Cordell Richards. Those are two very different things. Yeah, both very wrong and both two completely different things.
Starting point is 00:28:17 But he said he was pissed off about the advances that he'd made to Crystal and he needed to learn a lesson. So Renee said at first she didn't think that Ronald was serious and she especially didn't think that Crystal was gonna go along with this, but she was wrong. Jesus. Crystal agreed and added on to this that if they were to kill this man, they could stand the apartment for the rest of the month
Starting point is 00:28:39 because the rent had already been paid. Oh my God. And if they needed extra money, they could just sell off some of his stuff, she said, Oh, okay, this kind of like this to me, there's a different mode of here. Totally. Like that's a lot of thinking, that's a lot of planning.
Starting point is 00:28:57 Y'all, that's not just, I'm angry because you did something that made me feel uncomfortable. So I'm gonna go off in a rage and like a crime of passion kind of thing. Obviously this wasn't a crime of passion anyways because of the prolonged torture of it all. Exactly. But even if something like that had happened and like they were pissed and all that,
Starting point is 00:29:15 like this doesn't make sense. No. That you would come up with, oh, you know what? Yeah, I'm really pissed that this happened. So we should kill him because I'm so mad about it, and I'm so uncomfortable here. But you know what's cool is we can stay in this apartment for the rest of a month, and if we need extra money, we can just sell off his stuff.
Starting point is 00:29:33 Like all of that doesn't just come together in a moment. No, I'm sorry. That's not your thing. If you're really sitting there going, something's wrong here, we need to get rid of him, which is a wild way of thinking anyways. It's like just get a fucking different apartment. You're also not going to be thinking of like other things that you can do to make this better. You're just thinking of the one focused we need to rid ourselves of him.
Starting point is 00:29:55 Hundred percent. I mean, we will not know because obviously nobody was there except for the people that are involved here. But like, to me, this is, it's not Seaman. Seaman, right. The math's not math. Yeah, the math is not math, thank you. No, not at all.
Starting point is 00:30:10 But Renee said she knew for sure that they were really going to do it when the couple went to Walmart and came back to the apartment with a rope, a chain, and a lock, which they said would be used when they killed Cordell. My God. Mm-hmm.
Starting point is 00:30:25 Now, Renée told detectives that that same evening, Ronald called his friend Calvin Smith and asked if he could be of assistance in the murder, but Smith told him that he couldn't sneak out that night, so he wasn't going to be able to do that. So then they called Renée's friend Demetrius, and she had actually stayed at his house she said the night before, when she had been made uncomfortable. His answer was along the lines of quote, he might help beat someone up but not kill them. Oh, okay. I was like, well, everybody's gone either way.
Starting point is 00:30:56 He said that if he changed his mind, maybe he would page them. Oh my God. Yeah. This is so callous and so like if I change my mind about helping you murder that man, I'll shoot you a beep. Boy, like what? You never ended up beeping them that night or paging them. Wild.
Starting point is 00:31:12 So since they couldn't find anybody to help, they said they gave up on their plan for that night. It just, it wasn't really panning out, you know? Not for tonight, you know. So Ronald headed home, but told the girls to page him if anything went down. The 90s. Oh, he. Renee said that something did happen after he left.
Starting point is 00:31:28 I guess the two or she says, but the two girls got a call from somebody who identified themselves as Heather and said that they were Cordell's girlfriend. The woman said that she, oh, yeah, I was just going to tell you that all over again, but one more time. I was just rereading my same line. But then she told the two girls that they should kiss each other. They said they then realized that the caller was actually Cordell calling from the next room.
Starting point is 00:31:52 Like, I don't know. OK. So one of them went to confront him. Something went poorly and they ended up backing Crystal's room and they had locked themselves in. They paid Tronald and he showed up soon after that. And as soon as he heard what was happening, he went into the living room to confront Cordell. And as they were arguing, Cordell
Starting point is 00:32:10 started to move toward the front door. They said, like, almost like he was just going to like dip because he was like, what the fuck? Yeah. That was when Ronald grabbed him, shoved him, and got him into a headlock. And as Ronald was holding Cordell, he told Crystal to go get the baseball bat that he had brought to the apartment that night. Oh boy. That's the other thing. It's like, this is a, this is very planned, very prepared for.
Starting point is 00:32:37 Very we know what we're gonna do. Exactly. You don't bring a baseball bat somewhere, thinking you're not gonna kill someone. I'm sorry. You hit someone with a baseball bat, that's attempted murder. That's exactly what that is.
Starting point is 00:32:46 Like this, the math is not mathing. Not at all. So she was the one to hit him first, tickward L first. As Ronald was holding him in a headlock, it doesn't shock me. Crystal started hitting him in the legs. She said, Renee said weekly at first,
Starting point is 00:33:01 but then eventually she hit him in the temple area of his head. My God. That hit knocked off his glasses and split his skin up near his temple, at which point he obviously started bleeding. She said, Renee said as she watched, she saw the man lose consciousness from the beating and the intensity of the headlock. And once he lost consciousness, she said all three of them,
Starting point is 00:33:25 so she was very much a participant in this, tied him up with ropes and wrapped him in a blanket. He's not dead at this point. They then placed him into the back of Ronald's car and drove to that wooded area behind that cold assack in Fort Walton. Now, after they dragged his unconscious body into the woods, Renee said it was actually crystal
Starting point is 00:33:45 that suggests they kill him by lighting him on fire. That's how she wanted to kill him. Crystal? Crystal suggested that they light him on fire as a means of murdering him. Crystal needs to be and by forever. Like you like throw it away. Like that's a, that's diabolical.
Starting point is 00:34:03 Like that is real cold, cold. I wanna watch someone suffer kind of shit. And your brain, like I know people who have been abused before or like been in horrible situations and I've never heard any of them say that they wanna light their abuser on fire. Well, that's the thing and it's like,
Starting point is 00:34:21 and if somebody says that, that's one thing, like I wanna light this person on fire, you know? And totally, like, I'm sure somebody has said that like hyper-ballically, but just be standing there with the action actually able to be carried out and be like, let's go. Let's light this man on fire while he's still alive. It's like, whoa.
Starting point is 00:34:42 Like pump the fucking right. And at this point, again, they've already purchased a fucking chain. Like, he brought a baseball bat, they got a lock for the chain. Like, yeah, that's the thing. If this was a, let's beat him up and teach him a lesson kind of thing, you wouldn't buy a chain for that. Well, and it would have already been over. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:35:00 It would have been over. There wouldn't be a second location. No. There wouldn't be a let's light them on fire while he's alive There wouldn't be a let's tie him up and bring him somewhere else. There wouldn't be a bat involved There wouldn't have been any of that. You would have beat him up with your fists You would have left and never come back exactly. This was something very different the intention was very different This was fulfilling a different void mm Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, she said, Renee, that they used the can of cigarette lighter fluid that Ronald had
Starting point is 00:35:43 in his car. Renee said it was actually her idea to get the man to give them his ATM pin so that they could steal his cash before they lit him on fire. Oh my god. They removed the blanket from his head and he actually agreed to give them the number and begged them not to kill him. Oh. Ronald was angered by his pleading and started hitting the man again with the baseball ball. Oh, this is awful.
Starting point is 00:36:07 Eventually, all three of them had taken multiple swings to this man, now in the woods after chaining him to this tree. I don't, I don't understand this. I don't understand if somebody getting a lesser sentency there for giving this information, like you took swings at him. You're a different kind of individual. If you can look at a man tied to a tree and hit him with a baseball hat.
Starting point is 00:36:29 While he's begging for his life, and you sit there and say, oh, we should get his ATM pin while we're out here, beating the shit out of him while he's chained to a tree. Wow. What the fuck is wrong with you? And I think this would have happened regardless of any of the circumstances going on at play here,
Starting point is 00:36:45 because if you're capable of doing that, you're capable of doing that. No matter what the circumstances are. Absolutely. Oh, it's so weak. While this was happening, Rene said that Ronald Hickordel so hard that he ended up making a comment that he was Baybrooth.
Starting point is 00:37:01 Oh my God, that is so beyond. The callousness involved in this. The callousness here. And how nobody, none of that registered for any of them as like what the fuck? Like that should have. This is a man. Oh.
Starting point is 00:37:18 This is someone's dad. Yeah. Like this is somebody's son. Wow. After they were done hitting him, they dragged him even further into the woods. So I'm sorry, he actually wasn't chained up at this point. This was elsewhere.
Starting point is 00:37:29 This was just out of the car. Exactly. So at this, after they had all done that, and Ronald had his big roof moment, according to him, they dragged him further into the woods, and then, excuse me, chained him to that tree where he would eventually be found. That is awesome.
Starting point is 00:37:42 Ronald was the one to chain him up, and Crystal was the one to, like, like, him on fire. What the fuck? Mm-hmm. And then they just left and Ronald's car. I mean, this girl, our parents kicked her out of the house. Obviously, something is going on here. Yeah, she was having a lot of problems before this.
Starting point is 00:37:59 So once the sun came up that morning, they went back to the woods, and Crystal and Ronald went back to check on the body. Renee said that she waited in the car. Crystal and Ronald assumed that they would find Cordell dead, but they were actually shocked to find him still alive and faintly calling out for help. Are you kidding me? After being lit on fire, he was still and beaten brutally, left out in the middle of the
Starting point is 00:38:24 night, chained in the middle of nowhere, basically was still and beaten brutally, left out in the middle of the night, chained in the middle of like nowhere, basically, still alive. Wow. Now, when they found him like this, they were actually worried because there was a construction crew working on a house in that cul-de-sac nearby. So they were like, oh no, he's gonna alert the construction worker, someone's gonna call the police and we're all going down. Yeah. They're gonna try to save this man. How dare they? Yeah, exactly. We gotta stop that. This is really fucked up. I mean, all of this is really fucked up and it's only gonna get more
Starting point is 00:38:55 and more grisly as we go. I don't know how that happens. Ronald actually, at this point, attempted to break Cordell's neck, but wasn't able to. Renee said that when they got back to the car, they immediately drove to a local store where they purchased a large meat cleaver for $9.99. Oh my God. Then they went back to the woods and Ronald used the meat cleaver to cut Cordell's throat.
Starting point is 00:39:20 That was what the chop was, exactly. Holy shit. Then they drove, this is going to send you to the moon, Alice. They drove back home to clean the meat cleaver and then returned it to the store for a refund. Are you fucking kidding me? They cleaned it and returned it after cutting a man's throat with it. Like, I have no words.
Starting point is 00:39:51 The fuck? Detectives were actually able to locate the store where Renee claimed they bought the knife. They got surveillance. All three teens are on surveillance. Not only purchasing the knife, but then returning it to the store for their $9.99 refund. Oh my god. And then they ended up being able to locate the woman who had bought the knife. Like, imagine the police knocking on your door and being like, Hey, did you purchase a meat cleaver recently? Uh, it was the murder weapon in a recent brutal homicides, so we're gonna have to take
Starting point is 00:40:26 that back. And imagine if you're like, I just cooked dinner with it. Like what the fuck? Yeah. So they were able. So not only are that like these kids are fucking demons, demons like to go through all of this, you have to be a demon. And then to add on to it, these different layers of like, let me just return to this. Let me just turn it to the straw. I want my 10 bucks. I don't give a fuck that somebody else is going to buy it and use it to cook dinner for their family.
Starting point is 00:40:55 And it's like, shit. You really needed your 10 bucks after you stole that man's pin and you were going to take all his money. You needed your 10 bucks. And you needed to terrorize the life of somebody else who was gonna buy that meat cleaver. Holy shit. Can you fucking imagine?
Starting point is 00:41:08 No, obviously not. But like, I think that's like just what I always say. I need to come up with something else. I just, I can't. It's hard. My brain doesn't compute that. It's horrible. None of this.
Starting point is 00:41:21 Holy shit. And that woman absolutely had to have used that meat cleaver because remember, he wasn't discovered for a month. Yeah. So she had that cleaver in her possession for a month. And she bought it for her reason. You don't buy a meat cleaver when you don't need one. No, you buy it because you need to cook something.
Starting point is 00:41:37 So the police took the meat cleaver into evidence, but unfortunately, they couldn't get any traces of blood because it had probably been washed 10 times over at that. Oh my god. After Crystal, Ronald and Renee were all certain that Cordell was dead, they went back to the apartment and Calvin Smith, but friend from earlier who wasn't able to sneak out and help them, came over that night and helped them all forge checks in Cordell's name and pawn off some of his belongings, including a TV and his violin. Oh my God. I don't know why the violin just got me.
Starting point is 00:42:11 No, it's like the glasses got me. The glasses got me when you were knocked off. When you said the glasses were knocked off, I don't know what it was, but I got a pit in my stomach. It's just like, I don't know what it is. It's, I think it's, you know what it is. It's a unique part about someone.
Starting point is 00:42:24 It's a unique part about someone. And it's also, I feel like bullies it is. It's, I think it's, you know what it is. It's a unique part about someone. It's a unique part about someone, and it's also, I feel like bullies always use glasses with their tactics. So knocking them off feels like a very like helpless. It does. And it is, it's like, oh, he has glasses. Like he's the guy with the glasses. And it's like, I don't know when they get knocked off,
Starting point is 00:42:40 it feels very like something's being ripped away. I don't know what it is, but then the violin is like that's a part of his identity. It's awful. You played the violin. You know what I mean? You're just like... And actually much of what she told detectives lined up with what Renee had already told them. The only difference in the two-girl story, stories, excuse me, was that crystal said she was the one to have weighed in in the car, and Ronald and Renee went back into the woods. And that was when Ronald placed duct tape over Cornell's mouth and cut his throat. Yeah, isn't that convenient that they both can't decide who was in the car? Well, isn't it convenient that Renee didn't have the bit
Starting point is 00:43:28 about putting the duct tape over herself or Crystal did, but Crystal did. Interesting, because we didn't tell us anything about that. So who really was out there? Exactly. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. She told them that about a week later,
Starting point is 00:43:40 they all worried that they had left too much evidence behind in the woods. So she Ronald and her 14-year-old sister April all went back to the woods where Ronald covered Cordell's body a second time with lighter fluid and set it on fire again. So that was why when he was discovered that there were magnets, but then there were other magnets that were charred. Because he was set'm fired twice. Two times.
Starting point is 00:44:06 And why are there so many kids? A 14-year-old. Just completely fine with this. I'm sorry if my fucking 15-year-old friend was like, do you want to come out and light a body on fire that we murdered? A couple weeks ago, I wouldn't be like, yeah, sure. Of course not. Fuck is going on with these kids?
Starting point is 00:44:26 Like Jesus Christ. Yeah. Like, wow. Someone questioned something, please. You're like, what is happening at home? What is happening at home? Yeah. What is happening?
Starting point is 00:44:36 Wow. It's insane. And she said that any time she or her sister, Crystal, was nervous throughout this night, she said, Ronald assured them it was okay and reminded them what Cordola had done to Crystal. And because he had done whatever he she claimed he did, he deserved this. Wow. So between all the information they got from Crystal and Renee, police were actually also able to arrest Crystal sister April. She was charged with
Starting point is 00:45:02 accessory to murder after the fact, but the charges later ended up being dropped because witness testimony couldn't, against her couldn't be corroborated. So Ronald, Crystal and Renee, however, were all held in a juvenile detention center in Pensacola. A judge then ruled that all three of them would be tried as adults, and they were all subsequently brought to the
Starting point is 00:45:24 Ogolusa County jail to await their trials. I personally believe that they should. 100% me too. This is an adult crime. This is beyond. Yeah. So on April 1st, 1999, a grand jury convened to hear assistant state attorney Bobby Elmworth's arguments, which were in favor of trying all three as adults. And after two days of arguments, they all ruled in favor. But because the Florida Supreme Court had previously ruled that anybody under the age of 16 would not be able to be tried as an adult, Renee would have to be tried as a juvenile. So essentially she got off with a shorter sentence on a technicality.
Starting point is 00:46:02 But it's like you were very much their girlfriend. Absolutely. You very much participated. That's awful. This man died not only at your friend's hands, but at yours too. But you had every hand in it. Absolutely. Your hand was on the back. Now, because she was offered a plea deal for her cooperation and agreement to testify against both Crystal and Ronald, she pleaded no contest to that lesser count of manslaughter, as well as false imprisonment, and she was sentenced to the maximum at the time, which was 15 years in prison. That's it. 15, and she was released after 12 years in 2012.
Starting point is 00:46:52 Holy shit. So she's just out there somewhere. Oh, yep. Okay. Now, Crystal went to trial in mid-February 2000 a year after the murder. The prosecutor and the defense were said by the media to have, quote, sharply contrasting views of her involvement in Cordell's murder.
Starting point is 00:47:12 Crystal sobbed in court while the prosecutor described the full extent of Cordell's injuries, which had been inflicted in part by her. That would make me so angry. Just sitting there sobbing. Cordill's like family of friends watching her sob. I'd be like, shh, fuck up. Were you sobbing while you did it? Nope. You said you were not. Were you sobbing while he was sobbing begging for his life? No. Did that make you sob? No, you were swinging harder every single time. Or is it just because you're being shamed in a public place right now for doing what you did? The latter. Yeah. The latter. The prosecutor called her, quote, an enraged killer seeking revenge for a sexual advance. And he told the jury that although it was
Starting point is 00:47:50 Ronald Bell who set the plan in motion, Crystal had not only partook, but mocked the man as he was dying and asked him, how does it feel? Oh, God. Like, she's a monster. Yeah. She's a true monster. Crystal's defense attorney painted a picture of a girl who was simply caught up in a situation. She just couldn't control. Of course. Calling her a crying passive bystander. She didn't testify in her own defense, but the jury was shown a video of her interview with detectives in which she places pretty much all of the blame on Ronald.
Starting point is 00:48:22 Renee did the same thing during her testimony. She said that Ronald was quote, very angry that Richard's had touched Crystal. But in his closing arguments, the prosecutor stated that Ronald had always planned on more than just beating Cordell. He brought a rope. He bought a chain before Cordell had even gotten home that evening. And the prosecutor ended by saying quote, they wouldn't have chained him to a tree if they intended to let him live. Exactly. There was only one reason they got the meat cleaver
Starting point is 00:48:49 because Cordell Richards continued to defy the odds. Exactly. Now, the jury deliberated for just about three hours before returning with a guilty verdict for the armed kidnapping and first-degree murder of Cordell Richards. The DA made the decision not to seek the death penalty and judge Thomas Remington's sentence
Starting point is 00:49:10 crystal to life and prison without the possibility of parole, which is the mandatory sentence for first degree murder in Florida. So she went away. She went away. She went away. Now Ronald Bell's trial was next and that started on March 13th 2000. The prosecutor's
Starting point is 00:49:27 argument in that case was pretty much the same as in Christel's case. They argued that the courtell was murdered, quote, as revenge for making sexual advances toward Christel. The defense argued that it was a situation that had gotten tragically out of hand. That's always my favorite thing, is when they're like, yeah, it's wild, it just got out of control. And it's like, no, out of control is when you buy too many shoes during a sale. And in whoops, I spent the money I was supposed to use to pay my phone bill.
Starting point is 00:50:02 Like that's out of control. Out of control is when I finish an entire tub of Ben and Jerry's rather than the half that I intended on eating. Exactly. Out of control is not brutally torturing and murdering someone. I hate when the out of control thing. It's like, we are not, we're supposed to be humans here. Right.
Starting point is 00:50:20 We're supposed to be a higher species of like on this earth. You're just equating us to a full-on jungle animal that like has no knowledge of anything and it just goes off of hunger. The other thing is, okay, so this was a situation that got out of control. So then why did they go back multiple times? They were out of control that entire time.
Starting point is 00:50:40 They were out of control still a week later when they went back and burned him even further. Yeah, what sense does that mean? It doesn't mean there's a very long period of out of control. Yeah. Huge. No. Out of control is a brief moment of being out of control. Out of control is not like a sustained state of being for that long. Of course, it's not. But luckily, the prosecution was able to remind the jury of how Calis Ronald Bell had been. They showed the video of the teens returning the meat cleaver and all of the evidence that shows that this murder, no matter what, if it was a moment out of control, which it fucking wasn't, was premeditated. Yeah, they bought all of the things used in this murder aside from the meat cleaver,
Starting point is 00:51:23 before any of this had even gone down before this night was even happening. Exactly. That's what bothers me. They knew what they were going to do. There was even further testimony given by Ronald's old friend, Calvin Smith. I'm sure they're probably not friends anymore. Ronald Smith testified that Ronald had on more than one occasion tried to get Smith
Starting point is 00:51:43 to help him to murder someone. He said that almost is just something he wanted to do. 100 and this was an excuse. Yeah, 100%. He said that on those occasions, he just lied and said that his mom wouldn't let him out because remember we're talking about 17 year olds. But go ahead.
Starting point is 00:51:59 Sorry, I actually can't help you murder someone tonight. My mom's cooking Brussels sprouts for dinner and she says I can't leave. My mom said I can't come out with you to murder tonight. Sorry, maybe next time. Yeah, I'll try again. He also stated that the day after Cordell was murdered, Ronald had told him, quote, that they had beaten the man, chained him to a tree, and tried to burn him, and finally cut the man's throat. Jesus.
Starting point is 00:52:21 Now another friend, Thomas Baldwin, testified that he had been given that TV and the violin and multiple other items that turned out to obviously belong to Cordell. He didn't realize it at the time. And he ponded them at Ronald's request just days after the man had been murdered. Oh my God. So on March 17, 2000, the jury found Ronald Bell Jr. guilty of one count of armed kidnapping and first degree murder And the penalty phase was held the next day
Starting point is 00:52:48 During this phase the jury were shown school records and jail records that showed he was a good student and a model in me Oh good like that's gonna change my opinion of you You chained a man to a tree and burned him alive and then went back and cut his throat open, and then went back and burned him again. Yeah, it's like, but I'm so glad you're doing great in there. That's awesome. Yeah. Good for you, bud. Very glad.
Starting point is 00:53:12 Both his father and his grandfather, which is really sad, but like they even had to do this. Absolutely. Testified on his behalf, and both mental the jury that he was a good man who had been involved in both his church and his community. The judge and jury were also presented with a petition urging mercy, signed by 200 members of his church, where his father was the pastor.
Starting point is 00:53:33 The prosecution called one single witness during this phase, who was detective Stan Griggs, and he was able to remind the jury how callous Ronald had been and how he and his friends, again, returned a meat cleaver that they used to kill him in just to reclaim $9.99. And I don't give a fuck that he goes to church. People who go to church do a lot of bad things. Guys, just like people who don't go to church do a lot of bad things. ATK went to church. Yeah, plenty of them went to church.
Starting point is 00:54:04 Most of them blame like God talking to them or somebody talking to them. Yeah. Like, that doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything in both ways. People who don't go to church do shitty things. People go to church do shitty things. And people who go to church don't do shitty things. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:54:18 People who go to church don't do shitty things. Like, so it has no basis in reality at all. That's just another part of his life and terror. You're like, that's cool that he goes to church. Has nothing to do with anything. That's not pertinent. Yeah, not at all. But the jury hold bird.
Starting point is 00:54:32 The jury heard both sides. And in the end, they voted unanimously in favor of the death penalty. Whoa. And on May 15th, same judge, judge Thomas Remington sent and spelled to death for what he called an unspeakable horror committed against court nailing. I mean, it was. As exactly what it was.
Starting point is 00:54:50 That's exactly what it was. And he was the ringleader. The judge actually acknowledged the petition that had been sied by the members of the church and said the defendant abandoned his religious training to commit a crime of indescribable brutality and unrelenting torture. Yeah, that's the thing. This is not... It's bad enough when somebody stabs someone or somebody shoots someone. It's murderous murder. Yeah, but this is so far beyond. And it's like you want to
Starting point is 00:55:20 sit here and say like he was a good church going boy. Okay, he might have been, but exactly what this judge said, he abandoned ship. Well, and honestly, that's honestly not even helping the case. Because it's like, honestly, that scares me more. Yeah, that he had the fear of God and well, still did this. And that he sat in a church and like did whatever he did in there. And then he comes out and this is what he does. Like that's even scarier. You think about it?
Starting point is 00:55:47 Okay, so his dad is up that is the pastor at this church. His grand father's involved in this church. There's this huge community. Remember, Cordell Richards wasn't found for a month. Yeah. So a month went by where he sat in that church and pretended to be a good church going boy, knowing full well that he had lit a man on fire two times and tortured him, tortured him and sliced his neck because he couldn't break his neck when he tried to.
Starting point is 00:56:15 And it's like that. You just sat there. In church knowing that you did that. That's so much scarier. That's the thing. I'm like, you guys probably hurt the case for you. That didn't, that didn't help. Not at all. Now, in 2002, Ronald appealed his death sentence on the grounds that Judge Thomas Remington had not given his age to consideration when the sentence had been imposed. I think he did. And he was like, wow, that's even scarier. Yeah. Now, during the sentencing, the judge had concluded that Ronald's age at the time of the murder was of little consequence. He noted that Ronald had no history of abuse and had come from a loving support of family. And on appeal, Ronald's attorney argued that the judge was laboring under a misapprehension of what the legal principles were, that he was to take into account at the time of the weighing
Starting point is 00:57:01 process. All right. So Ronald's age, he said, was not given consideration. But the Supreme Court ruled four to three in Ronald's favor, saying that even though a killer will become eligible for the death penalty, youth remains an important consideration in deciding whether punishment should be life in prison or death. So the death sentence was reversed, and now Ronald is serving life and prison without the possibility of parole just like crystal. I would take that. Yep.
Starting point is 00:57:29 Now in 2019 actually both Ronald and crystal appealed their sentencing based on that 2012 US Supreme Court ruling about no life sentences without the possibility of parole. Yep. I feel like I think I say that in my sleep pill. Yeah, truly. But the appeals court reviewed both sentences and upheld. Oh, good. OK.
Starting point is 00:57:51 I was like, don't you dare. Effectively recentencing both of them to life and prison. Good. Now, one of Cornell's daughters commented on this recentencing saying, quote, the only thing I can say is my family and I are just still in shock that we had to go through this in court. I thank God the judge found the wisdom to rule the way he did. It's like those two little girls had their father taken from them. In the most horrific way. Exactly. For no reason.
Starting point is 00:58:16 And I had their father's reputation like ruined after his brutal murder. After his brutal murder because of what this girl says about him. Which is like now that we know what this girl did. Right, like we're really gonna take that. I'm not taking anything she says without a grain of salt. This one person who said that there are three kids who said this happened, but every adult in his life, his ex-wife, the mother of his children, his grandparents, his co-workers at IHOP, his house cleaner, all agreed that
Starting point is 00:58:46 he would have done anything for anyone. And it never made them uncomfortable in any way. That's a truly horrific and tragic tale. It is. And all that to say, even if he did make some kind of advances that made her uncomfortable, that's fucked up. You don't tie someone to a tree and light them on fire because they are acting like that. No, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:59:09 It's, I think we can all agree. No, nope, you don't do that. Not at all, you go to the police. Yeah, exactly. You let the law do what the law needs to do. That's a thing, it's like, you do not. This is not justified in any way, shape form on any galaxy. Nope.
Starting point is 00:59:24 I mean, this is truly one of the most, just like Nope. And this is truly one of the most just like that is truly one of the worst things I've ever heard. Mind boggling. Oh, and I just feel so hard, so bad for his family. I know. But yes, that is the case of Cordell Richards and the three teenagers who brutally murdered him. That's horrific.
Starting point is 00:59:42 So that's what being said. Geez. We hope you keep listeningez, we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird. Bye. Yeah. Bye. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen 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. survey at Wondery.com slash survey.

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