Murder With My Husband - 86. The Gitchie Manitou Murders

Episode Date: November 15, 2021

MERCH LIVE NOW: www.fanjoy.co/mwmh On this episode of MWMH, Payton and Garrett discuss the slaughter of the Gitchie Manatou Five by evil brothers. LIVE ONLINE SHOW TICKETS HERE! https://www.moment.co/murderwithmyhusband Case Sources: Killer Siblings Season 2 Episode 2 https://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/fryer-brothers.htm https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2018/11/16/gitchie-manitou-murders-sandra-cheskey-gitchie-girl/2026192002/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Gitchie_Manitou_murders Links: https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband  Ads: Curateur: www.curateur.com use code HUSBAND Ritual: That’s 10% off at ritual.com/MYHUSBAND Apostrophe: www.apostrophe.com/husband use code HUSBAND My fitness pal: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ code HUSBAND Betterhelp: www.betterhelp.com/husband Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yes, you energy, energy for everything. Cast the banner now to learn more. Hey everybody, welcome back to our podcast. This is Myrta with my husband, I'm Peyton Morlens. And I'm Garrett Morlens. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for listening. Okay, everyone, as you are listening to this right now, our merch has dropped. It is live, it is up, our merch has dropped. It is live. It is up. We're super excited. It's official. It'll be live for we're hoping four to five days.

Almost yet, everything plays out. And if we were to stock, but we're super excited. We spent a lot of time on this. We did a bunch of new designs. We're working with new people. We actually have a sweatshirt, a crew neck, a t-shirt, mugs, beanie's hats. I feel like we kind of just try to do an overall bunch of different designs to try to get one for everyone.

And if you wanna see pictures of us and the merch, you can go check it out, too. I also do just wanna say thank you to everyone who has bought our merch or supported our podcast in some way. It helps us so much. And it's like kind of weird and crazy and doesn't even seem real that there's going to be people out there who are wearing stuff that has our

podcast, our show on it that we've worked so hard for. I can't even explain the filling to you guys, but I just want to say a big thank you to all of you so much seriously. Okay, Gare, what is your 10 seconds? All right, 10 seconds. So I don't know. Many of you might not know, but Peyton, I actually like watching UFC together. I've always liked it. Well, UFC is fighting. I don't know if everyone will know.

Yeah, so it's MMA. I'm not sure how many people are familiar with it. I just say, hopefully, everybody. But anyways, I've been into it for a while, and then I got Peyton into it when we were together. And now, not every Saturday, but if there's a big pay-per-view event or if there's a good fight night, we'll watch it. And so that's what we did Saturday. Literally just us two, we just sat there

and watched fights for six hours. Yeah, and I just watched through my fingers. It's a horror movie because I don't wanna see too much, but I also have certain people that I'm rooting for. And this girl, she won, and I was really rooting for her. Yeah, Rose and I almost cried because I was so happy that she won. So if anyone else watches UFC, feel free to leave a comment. Who your favorite fighter is.

I guess it's kind of weird that I like watching UFC, but I don't like true crime. Shiger and I do a live event in box. Oh yeah, let's do it. When you went pay for that, other than that, you know, I saw this YouTube comment and I guess it's true. I'm pretty basic. I just kind of hang out. I don't know what the haters get to hear it.

You know what? I'm not basic. You're not basic. I'm freaking cool. You're just an adult. I know. I'm getting old. Holy crap.

I need to figure my life out. I'd say that you're gonna offend someone. I know. I'm just kidding. Super young. Other than that, working, watching UFC, hanging out, we might go paintball in this weekend, so we'll see what happens. Yeah, because my sister's getting married this weekend, so the bachelor party might be

paintball, so Garrett might be going to that. It's a long time seconds, but also a painting and I will, I know, we're gonna try snow, I mean, I've snowboarded a lot, but we're gonna try snowboarding again this winter, so yeah, we'll see what happens. We'll see how it goes. I'm not like amazing, but we're gonna try snowboarding again this winter. So yeah, we'll see what happens. We'll see how it goes. I'm not like amazing, but I like it. It's fun. If anyone else wants to know anything else about me, please leave a comment.

Apparently, I need some help with these 10 seconds. So. All right. So this case was suggested by Presley Van Mannen. I think that's how you say it. So thank you so much, Presley. Our case sources are murderpedia.org, argusleader.com, Wikipedia, and then also killer sibling season two episode two. Our episode begins on November 18, 1973 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

It's around 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning and a couple is driving through Gitchie, Manitou State Park, which borders Iowa and South Dakota. This couple is just taking a Sunday drive, they're actually test driving a car. And as they are driving through the State Park, they notice something off to the side of the dirt road up ahead. The man decides to stop the car, get out, and check it out. As he gets out of the car, he realizes that the thing they saw was actually three separate figures laying on the ground. He walks closer and discovers it's in fact three people laying down, but as soon as the man notices the blood, the awkward positions, the stillness, he knows something is wrong. Something really bad had happened here and so he calls authorities. Almost immediately, Terry Johnson with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation

gets a call. There have been three dead bodies found in the Gitchie Manitou Park. The Sioux Falls Police Department had called Terry in for extra help considering that it was three bodies found. Immediately, they're like, we're not doing this by ourselves, we need extra help. That's pretty scarring to come across three bodies.

Like, I don't know what I would, I mean, obviously I call the police, but that'd be freaky. I think you're just like, oh, this is bad, you know what I mean? And because it was November, by the time the detectives made their way out to the wooded park, the crime scene, it was getting dark. And despite the light, when detectives arrived on scene, it was pretty easy to tell that the three victims were young

Teenagers and all three were boys. It looked like they had been shot with most likely shot guns at a close range Holy crap, which if you think about how they came to that conclusion Immediately it means that the bodies were in a pretty bad state All three were shot in their backs Execution style and one of the boys had also been shot in the hand. What? Yeah, it looked as if they had been shot in a gravel area that was kind of up by the road, and then drug across it into a grassier area, probably for more concealment,

it was about 30 feet away. After accessing the initial crime scene, state troopers, deputies, and detectives decided to split up and search the surrounding area for any more evidence or clues as to what happened to these young boys. I mean, think about it. Three young teenager boys shot execution style in the back with shotguns and then dragged 30 feet away to try to conceal the bodies. So where they're at right now? Is it like the middle of nowhere? It's in the state park, but it's pretty far off. Like you're not gonna have a ton of cars passing by

and also because they were dragged, I did look at the pictures, the crime scene photos, and the grass is tall. Like I'm actually impressed that someone even noticed that there was something weird in the grass to begin with. Okay. And so all of the people that are there searching go looking around for more evidence

and while looking around, making their way deeper into the woods, someone calls out. They had a fourth body. Another young boy was found 100 yards away near a campsite by the river. Oh my gosh. It looked like the campfire at the campsite had been recently used.

And there was actually some property there, like a guitar and whatnot. So police concur that all four of these teenagers had most likely been having a chill night hanging out around the campfire when something happened. They met their horrendous ends. Police are initially perplexed at the layout of their crime scene. Why only one boy was near the initial campsite? Why the other three were laid out together very close and shot execution style 100 yards away?

What had happened here? Why are they separated? The other perplexing thing at the crime scene was that there was no vehicle around. So how had the boys got there in the first place? Like they had to have been dropped off or driven there. So someone else at least knew they were there. Or took the car or the person who did it took their car. So police go on to collect several spent shotgun shells

throughout the whole area. And after collecting them, they discovered that there were 12 gauge shells, 20 gauge, and possibly a 16 gauge shotgun involved as well. So that's three different shotguns used. It kind of feels like if there's three different guns used, there was probably three different people there. When identification was searched for on the bodies, they discovered that the bodies were 15-year-old Michael Hadrith, 18-year-old Stewart Bady, and his little brother,

14-year-old Dana Bady. Oh, man. And those were the three victims that were laying together, shot execution style up by the road. And Roger Esom was the boy who was alone at the camp. This sheriff then had to go visit all of these boys' families and break the news to them. Imagine that, their sons and brothers were murdered. Michael Hadrath had a big heart and was close with his sister.

Stuart Bady was a very laid back guy who was actually very proud of his Chevy van. It was blue and he would give everyone a ride in it, according to his friends. Dana, his younger brother, is described as a good kid who really liked to play guitar and was actually being taught by Stuart to play guitar, although being brother, Stuart and Dana were actually really good friends and hung out all the time. Roger was always full of personality and fun to be around according to his friends. He and Michael were neighbors and Michael's family remember, Roger always having a smile on his face when he was over. So after discovering who everyone was, police had to figure out why these four boys were in the park that night in the first place.

They ask around and Michael's family says that Michael was going to sleep over at Rodgers that night but that was all they knew for his plans. Dana and Stuart's older brother though told police that he actually knew the boys were going to the state park that night. He was under the assumption that they were going to play guitar and hang out for a few hours, just kind of giving them something to do. And according to the family, the boys were actually taking Stuart's 1967 blue van to the park.

That was how they were all getting there. So now police are like, okay, well, now the way I'm done, yes. Which would be pretty easy to find probably considering how unique of a car like this. And like how everyone knew who it was and everything. None of these boys actually had criminal backgrounds. They were all described as good kids from nice families. Police gathered that they were really just going out there that night to have some wholesome fun, to hang out, play music, and enjoy themselves.

So what had gone wrong? What had turned a nice night around the campfire with friends into a blood bath? Investigators start with putting an APB out on the blue van since it wasn't found at the crime scene with its owner. Someone had driven it away, someone had taken it. Agents began canvassing the area looking for the van on their own, but they were coming up empty handed as well. Police really were panicked.

Four bodies being murdered is unusual and scary for Indian. Yes. It takes a scary person or people to do something like this. And they're on the loose like in their town. So everyone's kind of like, what the heck? And for what reason is something like they had probably a bunch of money on them. Well, I think that's why police were initially like, what's the criminal background here? Was this like, you know, a group of boys ganging up on another group of boys? Or is there some beef going on? Was, you know, like trying to figure out, is there maybe drugs involved? But after looking at all the boys' backgrounds, they're like, nah, these boys kind of just like

hang out together, they're not really involved with any other people. Geez. 20 hours after the murders on November 18th, around 7 p.m. Police really haven't gotten anywhere, they've put the APB out, but like besides that,

they're kind of still just in the beginning of this investigation. But Sandra Chesky, a 13-year-old girl, walks into the Sioux Falls Police Department at this moment. She tells the front desk, I just need to talk to someone. I was with some friends in Gitchie Manitou Park Saturday night, and some people showed up who I think were police officers, Saturday night and some people showed up who I think were police officers and they separated me from my friends and I think maybe my friends were taken away by the cops. So I'm wondering if they're here at the police station. What?

Yes. So they pretended to be cops and took her friends. Yes. So Sandra is obviously like, she's 13 though. She's rushed into an office to be interviewed and to figure out what's going on Did they really have a living person who was there that night during the slaughter? Were her friends that she was talking about Michael Stewart Dana and Roger? Sandra tells police. Yes. Yes. That's who I was

Oh, I thought she was talking about a different group. No, she says that no, I'm pretty sure, like those are my friends and I thought they were here because the police came. What the heck? Yes, so she's like, I just want to know where they are because I've been trying to call Roger. He's actually my boyfriend and he hasn't been home. So police look at each other and they're like, oh no, and then they face Sandra.

And they tell her that they aren't sure what happened and they really do need to talk to her because they think she has answers. But before they do that, they need to tell her that her friends didn't come home with police from the campsite that night and they're not here at the station. They believe the people who showed up and took her weren't actually police and that her friends and her boyfriend had been murdered. All right, a lot of thoughts running through my head. You can keep going, but I guess I'm confused

how she's alive and they aren't. Right? Yeah. Especially since it's execution style. And she's like making it seem like, oh, I just, like I was taking my pot. Like it was on a scratch on her body. Yeah.

It seemed like there was no sexual assault. She has no idea anything bad has even happened. Yeah. So Sandra is just straw and visibly shaken. She had no idea that the people who showed up were not police. And then so police are like, okay, listen, start at the beginning. Tell us what happened. So she says that she met Roger at the Starlight Drive-In last October and it was love

at first sight between the two. On November 17th, Roger called her and told her, Hey, you know, me and my friends are going out to get she-manitoo to hang out and play music and would she like to come. She tells police that she said yes and that they all didn't actually get out there that night until about 10.30pm. And there was no one else there but them. She says that someone had brought a marijuana joint with them and they were all just having fun. She remembers Rogers arm around her

and then not even 30 minutes in when they're all just sitting there hanging out. They started hearing twigs snapping around them in the woods. All of the friends, you know, quiet down and listen some more and some of them call out who's there, you know, is anyone out there, but no one answers. It was at this point that Roger, her boyfriend, decided to get up and go looking to

see if someone was out there in the woods. His friends like are hesitant, but he's like, Oh, it's going to be fine. And it was while he was looking around that the friend group, here's gunshots ring out around them. This is, and he was looking around that the friend group, here's gunshots, ring out around them. And this is all according to her right now, correct? Yes, this is all according to her testimony. She says that Roger falls first

and then Stewart falls to the ground after him. And then at this point, like this is all moving so fast, Michael stands up and shoves Sandra behind a tree and tells her to stay there. And so she does ducking behind it. Sandra says that she saw three people with guns then walk down into like the campsite that they're at. And she says one was tall and skinny

and the other two referred to the tall and skinny one as boss. Okay, sorry, I guess I'm confused because she just said that the cops came and took her or her friends and then now all of a sudden she's said that the cops came and took her or her friends and then now all of a sudden she's were telling the story of them getting killed. Yes, so she's going on. So she's saying she hears shots and then her friends fall to the ground. So then what happened to the whole cop?

She just switched her story from the cop story? I'm going to explain to you in a second what she thinks has happened to her friends. Got it. So Sandra says these three people come walking out and the boss yelled for everyone to put their hands up and that they were being busted for the marijuana joint that they knew they had weed there and to put their hands up because they're being busted. The cops are coming in with shotguns because some kids have marijuana on them. Yes. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

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Go to nativedo.com slash husband or use promo code husband at checkout to get 20% off your first order. That's native de.com slash husband or use promo code husband at checkout. native.deo.com slash husband and use promo code husband. The boss tells the friends that they are narcotic officers and 13 year old Sandra like obviously believes them like she's 13 and they come in and they're like oh you know and at this point, Michael, who is not believing them and because he's a little bit older,

yells out, what do you think you're doing? And then a shot ring off at that exact moment and looked to Sandra like Michael had in fact just been shot in the hand because he's now holding his hand. And she's like, what the heck is going on? Are they really like shooting us? The boss then makes everyone who's left march back up to the road where their van is parked. And once they all get up there, they notice that there is now a truck parked next to their van. Remember that

Roger and Stewart are not with them because they have both been on the ground since the first shots. The boss then tells Sandra to get into the truck that they're gonna put her in there and then they're gonna take the boys in the van and they'll take them all to the police station because they're gonna be charged for having marijuana. Okay, I guess we're getting to a little more clarity but we'll see.

So 13 year old Sandra is tied up and then put into the truck and the boss actually gets in with her. And then they just begin driving away. So Sandra turns around as they're driving away and she takes one last look at Michael and Dana who are standing near the van being held by gunpoint by the other two men who she thinks are cops. And she actually notices Stuart walking out of the tree line to join the boys at this point. And so she sighs in relief. She's like, oh, okay, he wasn't shot. He's okay.

Sandra says that once out of sight, she starts to become very uncomfortable driving alone with the boss. She knows that they have been driving for a while. She has no idea where they're at. She thinks they're going to the police station, but she doesn't know how far away they've gotten from the park. And at this point, the boss, like, is explaining to Sandra, oh, yeah, we're just cops. You guys are going to be in trouble. Your friends are going to be in trouble. But we took you separately because you're only 13 and maybe you shouldn't be charged. And also don't worry. These are tranquilizer guns. Oh my gosh. Okay. And he says, your friends, they're fine. The reason they didn't get up is because they were, they, these are tranquilizer guns, but stewards

must have like fired weird. And so that's why he was able to get up and come join the friends. I guess right now, I'm just trying to decide of what she's saying is true. And if it is, that's absolutely crazy. Mm-hmm. Or what she's saying is completely just to make it up story. And I think the police are kind of with you there, because they're like, how, you know,

how is this even making sense? But I do have to say, as a 13 year old girl, I would have believed anyone who came in with guns to be cops. I mean, think of how young that is. After at least an hour of driving around, the boss tells Sandra that they have to go meet up with the other officers now, and she's like, okay, but then he pulls into an abandoned farmhouse,

and that's where they're meeting the other officers, and she's like, okay. And when they pull up, Stuart's van is there. And so Sandra's like, oh, good, the boys are here. Like, that we're back together, the boys are here, everything's fine. But the boss parks the truck next to the van, and all Sandra can see is the other two men with guns

talking to the boss. No friends. So she can't see the boys. About a minute later, what if the men comes walking up to the boss. No friends. So she can't see the boys. About a minute later, what if the men comes walking up to the pickup, not the boss, and he opens the door and climbs in with Sandra? Now, I don't need to go into detail about what happened next, but he proceeds to sexually assault 13-year-old Sandra in the truck. So I was wrong when I said she wasn't hurt. Afterwards, the boss climbs back into the pickup with Sandra.

And he asks her where she lives. And so she tells him he begins the drive. And for some reason, the boss drops her off at home around 4 a.m. What the heck is going on? And when she goes to climb out of the truck, the boss stops her. He tells her that if she ever tells anyone what happened tonight, he will kill her. And then he lets her go. So the Sioux Falls police are basically as stunned as you are after hearing Sandra's whole story. I mean, it does match up their crime scene. It explains the separation of the boys.

Like perfectly. Yeah. Why the other three were killed up on the road and then dragged where the van ended up. But on the other hand, why the other three were killed up on the road and then dragged, where the van ended up. But on the other hand, why would they kill four boys and leave a 13 year old witness alive to tell the tale? And not only leaving her alive, but making sure that she gets home safely. It's not like they just like went and dropped her back off

and was like, good luck. They took her home. Yeah. Either way, Monday morning, November 19th, the story of the murders has hit the news. In the local area, it's a huge deal. It's very scary. Nobody knows about Sandra yet,

but she's under police protection because they're like, well, if you're the only living witness to this slaughter, you're probably in danger. And Sandra tells police she's like, so the next morning, I was like, trying to get a hold of the boys because I was like that was just kind of weird and she knew what she had gone through but also. I think going through that it's not something that especially a 13 year old you're probably very confused. So I don't think it was something that she was just ready to run up to the cops and be like, hey, I was raped by a cop last night. You know what I mean?

Which is why she didn't initially start with that. Or come in maybe screaming and going, yeah. Yes, like something's wrong, something happened. I think she just thought, wow, that was weird. Where are my friends? Okay, this whole thing just feels, I mean, it feels fake, but it seems like it's real. Right, because her story matches up.

So that Monday, she is brought back to the station to put together a sketch for the three killers. And she's like, okay, but nobody recognizes the sketches. They're like, I don't know. Sandra explained that the truck that picked her up that she rode around with Boston is a Chevy pickup truck. And so every officer in the area is alerted to be on the lookout for that.

And they are really relying pretty heavy on Sandra and her story, like this whole investigation is based off of what she said. And by late Monday afternoon, the police located Stewart's van in a truck lot in the middle of Sioux Falls. Okay. So the APB worked, they finally find the van and they processed the van and they find nothing. It doesn't give them any leads. No DNA, nothing. Nothing. There's no blood. There's no nothing. And all they still have is their lone witness and four dead teenage boys in the park. They try to get a better

description of the farmhouse that Sandra says that they took her to that night. And then once they do, Sandra confirms their final description and the police send it out to nearby areas to see if anyone recognized it. Every day was spent looking at these leads given by Sandra. And she really wanted justice after figuring out what had happened to her friends. So she was working with the police on a daily basis, driving around with them, looking for the farmhouse, looking for familiarity. And it's been days, then a week. And Thanksgiving comes and goes. And they are no closer to finding the three people that she says has done this.

So it seems like her story is starting to check out. I mean, it did with the, with everything that happened. Right. Like the weird layout of the time scene and she can like explain it all. Finally, on November 29th, Sandra goes back out with police for another drive, looking around, trying to see if they can find this farmhouse. And they want to hit a couple more areas with her. And it was during this drive that boom, Sandra, all of a sudden says she recognizes a place. She yells for them to stop.

She's like, that's it, that's the house. That's the house that boss took me to that night. And she's sure of it. So police drive up to the residence and it is abandoned. It looks like an abandoned farmhouse. And all of them get out of the car. It's two police in her. They get out, they go walking around there like,

are you sure? Are you sure? She's like, yes, they realize no one lives there. And as they are walking around, they hear someone driving up the gravel driveway of this abandoned car in house. No, brick and whey. So they all turn around to see who it is.

And at this moment, Sandra begins screaming. And she immediately runs to the detective for protection. She runs in, she cowers behind him, she hugs him, and she tells him, that's him. That's the truck. That's the boss. Holy crap. Can you imagine how terrifying that moment would be like? No, I can't. You were told not to tell.

And now this guy who murdered all of your friends sees you at the farmhouse with police. That's insane. The deputy with them jumps into the squad car because at this point, that truck has turned around and is high telling it out of there. And the deputy chases the truck back down the driveway. And then the truck eventually pulls over. And when the police get up to his window, they ask him his name and he says, Alan Fryer. This was the guy. The chase is over. They found who Sandra says the bosses. Alan Fryer grew up in Sioux Falls and lived a country life. He came from a large family, seven sons and six daughters. Wow. Their parents were Lyle and Mildred Fryriar and they were farmers. It wasn't really a secret and neighbors and police noticed that in the Friar household, the dad Lyle was in charge.

Lyle was mean and Mildred, his wife, was too scared of him to say anything. He was controlling and in return, the boys in the Friar family all acted like that, despite the fact that all the children were scared of their dad. So in the family, everyone was scared of him, and then when they would get outside of the home,

all of the boys would treat everyone else the way their dad treated them. Okay. The girls in the family were quiet and shy while the boys did whatever they wanted and Lesa came to their father. Zalaya would call his own sons his chore boys, like that's all they were good for.

And people really felt like there was very little love in this family. And that was kind of like known throughout the neighbors. Like that's not a very good household for children. Alan, James, and David Friar were 10 years apart and three of the boys in the family. Allen was the oldest of the three and was outgoing. The younger two, James and David looked up to him. Together, they were the closest of the boys in the Friar family and stuck together always.

David was very quiet but stood on things and was a big follower of Allen. Like, since they were little, he did whatever Alan told him to. James was very violent and committed his first crime at age nine by stealing a car. Oh. These three boys were... Yes, these three boys were super close and dependent on each other,

kind of raising each other in a way. They started committing crimes together from a young age. They were really known as like trouble in the town. When David was 16, the police got a call that he was driving around town, shooting at people from his vehicle with a shotgun. What the heck? He was arrested for the crime, but eventually released.

In 1970, Allen Fryer was hired on a small local farm. His boss noticed that Allen loved his shotgun and will go hunting with his two brothers, David and James every night after work. But it wasn't about the meat or the food. It was about killing things. They enjoyed killing things. Okay. So this is where it all starts. Yes. Yes. It started. So back at the Sioux Falls police station, they get a call that the truck, the farm, and the boss had been found. and they're bringing him in right now When Alan was brought in the boss. He was interviewed immediately obviously for two hours

He denied everything. He denied even being out and get you mana to that night But eventually his story changed like they always do everyone else's does he tells police fine I was there and I was out there with my two brothers James and David changed like they always do. Everyone else's does. He tells police fine. I was there and I was out there with my two brothers, James and David. But we weren't shooting at those group of boys. They were shooting at us. Oh my gosh. What an idiot.

Right. Yet they are the ones literally dead with bullet holes and he's fine. Yep. The detective is like, yeah, no. So Alan says fine. I was there and I didn't shoot anybody, but my brothers did. Does it so funny how the story just starts to change

and the, okay, fine, I was there, but I didn't do anything. It always, that always happens. Although the police think this is a bunch of crap, they send someone out to find the brothers and they actually bring David Fryer in fairly soon after. And then when they're trying to look for James Fryer, the other brother, who is supposedly

like the other person in this, they discover that he's sitting in jail. He, like, how does this work? You might ask. He was out on work release for a tow company the night of the murders, but he's actually serving time in jail currently. Oh my gosh.

So within five hours, all three of the friar brothers were in custody for the murders of the Gitchie Manitou for boys. They did a lineup and they had Sandra Chesky come in and identify the attackers. She picked them out and pointed the finger to James Friar as being the one who raped her in the truck that night. And he was the one who was supposed to be in jail. Yeah. David Friar gave a story that the boys shot first,

so they shot back. And then he eventually changed it to, okay, never mind, the boys weren't shooting us. We were shooting them, but I never shot a gun. James tells them, no, no, no, I was in jail, and they were like, no, you weren't. And he's like, okay, fine, yeah, but I was there, but Alan and David shot them.

I didn't pull a trigger. So they're all just blaming each other. They're all just turning on each other. They all have claimed I was there, but I never fired again. Police felt like after interviewing them, they were actually able to piece some truth in between the lies by comparing all three stories. So police believe that night that the fire brothers

were deer hunting or actually poaching in Gitchie Manitou Park, and that's why they were there. The Friar Brothers always hunted without the correct licenses and off-season, so this was like nothing new for them. But after spending some time out there and not finding anything, they were upset by the time they came across the kids hanging out by the campfire. The brothers were actually standing on a rocky ledge that overlooked the campsite and I don't

think it's like really tall. It's just more like if you're standing up there you can kind of see down. And so they sent David their brother closer to see if he could figure out what the kids were doing. And that's when David saw the marijuana that the kids had. So he came back to his brothers and he told them and Alan said, okay, let's go take the marijuana from them. So the friar brothers sneak up on the kids from above and they basically open fire down onto the group. And this is when Alan shot Roger first

and then James shot Stewart second. So we went from taking marijuana to just killing them. And the other two brothers were like, oh, you should have seen the look in Alan's second. So we went from taking marijuana to just killing them? And the other two brothers were like, oh, you should have seen the look in Alan's eyes. We knew he was gonna kill them. Oh my gosh. And I'm just like, well, I think you all three kind of decided to do that if you stood up there

and basically opened fire down into them. Then the brothers ran out and made themselves known into the campsites and Alan told the kids that they were cops and they were going to take their marijuana and take them all to jail Michael and Sandra then moved out of the trees at this point and Michael confronted them Which landed him a shot in the hand by Alan Friar once they marched them out to where the vehicles were parked Sandra was put into the truck with Alan while Stewart gained enough strength to then get up and follow his friends toward the vehicles. Remember, he was shot, but he stood up and ended up going up there with them.

So Stewart probably would have lived if he didn't walk up there. Maybe because he would have been down there with Roger. But the thing is, I think he was thinking get to the van. Totally. He saw his friends going up there and he was I think he was thinking get to the van. Totally. He saw his friends going up there and he was like, I gotta get to the van, right? I think that's where his mindset was most likely at. Oh, that's horrible.

So once Sandra left, which this is where Sandra's story cuts out, we don't know what happened next. James got into the van while David lined the three boys up in front of it. So it's now Stewart, Dana, and Michael. And then James turned on the van's headlights, shining it like the headlights onto the three boys. The boys were then turned around and David and James started firing on Michael, Stewart, and Dana. Like I said, execution style. Yeah. They then dragged the boys into the grass to try and hide them

So I think it's just someone necessary It's someone if they just wanted if they just wanted Sandra Well, they already had her at this point. They didn't care. They were there to kill some people and just and Sandra You can clarify that they only had one joint It was one rolled marijuana joint. So That's what they did this for they killed for I don't think so. No way. I don't think that story that they came up with that that's what this started with was

wanting the marijuana. I don't even think that's true. I think they wanted. They saw four victims. They hadn't been able to kill any deer. They saw four people out there and they were like, oh, yeah, it's good. We can do this. So messed up.

It just doesn't even make sense. That is for real. So on November 30th, 1973, all three fire brothers are charged with homicide. And Sandra actually wanted James charged with sexual assault, but the state refused. They were like, why? We just want to get them for murder. We don't want fear of something going wrong. Another charge can complicate things. You'll still testify. David Fryer pled guilty. But James and Alan pled not guilty. And so they go to trial.

Three months after the murder in February of 1994, David was convicted of first degree murder. Obviously he was he pled guilty and he was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Okay. Allen was tried next and Sandra had to go and testify and as a 13 year old girl who just survived a mass killing, that is crazy. And she had to tell everyone what happened to her, but she wanted them to be put away. And so everyone's like she did amazing at trial. She was solid. She was like, she just really came in with a solid story. Her story hadn't changed since the beginning.

And the jury came back with a guilty verdict. And Alan was given life without the possibility of parole. Good, good, good. So now David is already shipped off to prison, right? Because he pled guilty. And so Alan and James are waiting together in the same jail. On June 20th, around 8 a.m. Sheriff Craig Vincent arrives at the jail where Alan and James are being held. Oh, no. Please don't tell me he got away. As he walks over to Alan's cell, he notices the door is cracked.

He rushes in and Alan is gone. Craig runs to James cell next, already knowing the worst and discovers it's empty as well. How did they get out? In the middle of the night that night, Allen had used some wire from his bedding to create like a wrench and unscrewed a bolt off of his jail door. Holy crap. Once he did that, he opened it enough to slide out and find the keys to the cells. He released James' brother and together, they managed to escape. Please tell me that got caught.

A man hunt for the missing Friar brothers, obviously in Seuss, these killers are on the loose again. And poor Sandra and her family are taken into protective custody because she literally just testified against Alan. But it only took one day, 500 miles away in Gillette, Wyoming. The brothers are stopped at a roadblock

and taken back into custody. Good, holy crap, I was gonna freak out. Which is actually like a really fast find. Like they could have just hungered down, and you know what I mean, but they were traveling. James's murder trial happens and he too is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. So all three of the friar brothers

were sentenced to life for the murders of the boys. Since this, the family have come out and have talked about how these four boys were cheated life. They talk about what could these boys have been if nothing had happened to them? What would their lives have been? Would the killers have ever been caught without Sandra Chesky?

I mean, really, she came forward and basically provided every clue for the police, every piece of information for them to be able to find the killers. Yeah. And that is the story of the Gitchi Manitou Five. Holy crap, that's horrible. Four people just got killed.

And a girl who then had to live knowing that all of her friends died and she was sexually assaulted. Yeah. Horrible. And it's just such a stupid crime. Like once again, there's no motive. Like I always say why? Like why are people? Why are they doing this? And these boys were just like hanging out, friends, good boys, just like good boys, just playing guitar around the fire, like having a good night. I know. Just unfair. These stories are always so unfair.

Agreed. All right, you guys, that is our episode for this week. Thank you so much for listening once again. And a dude just want to give a reminder about our merch. Go check that out. We love you guys so much. And we will and a dude just wanna give a reminder about our merch. Go check that out. We love you guys so much. And we will see you next week with another episode. I love it.

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