Murder With My Husband - 98. The Longo Family

Episode Date: February 7, 2022

*This case includes children* On this episode of MWMH, Payton and Garrett discuss the murder of the Longo Family. LIVE ONLINE SHOW TICKETS HERE! https://www.moment.co/murderwithmyhusband Case Sourc...es:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-pretender-christian-longo-and-michael-finkel/ https://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/longo-christian.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Longo https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/crime-history/christian-longo-the-monster-who-murdered-his-wife-3-kids-then-partied-in-cancun https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/True-Story-Murderer-Christian-Longo-36375036 https://delanirbartlette.medium.com/christian-longo-family-annihilator-69eacacd9b7 https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-murders/christian-longo/ Links:  https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband  Ads: Just Thrive: www.justthrivehealth.com use code HUSBAND HelloFresh: www,HelloFresh.com/Husband16 and use code husband16 Pretty Litter: www.prettylitter.com use code HUSBAND CareOf: www.careof.com use code mwmh50 Warby Parker: www.warbyparker.com/husband Ship Station: www.ShipStation.com, click on the microphone at the top of the page, and type in HUSBAND. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:25 Yes, you energy. Energy for everything. Casp the banner now to learn more. Hey everybody, welcome back to our podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Peyton Morlin. No, I'm Garrett Morlin. And he's the husband.
Starting point is 00:00:36 I'm the husband. Well, I know. I feel like we always say if you're watching on YouTube. But. Well, we have mics too, new mics. Right. So we might sound different. Right. We completely renovated, is that the word? We did. Yeah. But or we have mics too new mics, so we might sound different right we completely
Starting point is 00:00:47 Renovated that the word we did yeah upgraded upgraded our set It was something that we've been really wanting to do we really needed to do and so we did it So if you're watching on YouTube there are a few fun additions and we will probably have posted pictures on social media by now As well and then also if you're listening. I hope it sounds a little better. We got new my there are a few fun additions and we will probably have posted pictures on social media by now as well. And then also if you're listening, I hope it sounds a little better. We got new mics. Yeah, we got new mics.
Starting point is 00:01:11 I think they're good mics. No, we did some research. We had some friends shout out to everybody who helped us seriously. Big shout out to them. Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Zach. Thank you, Nick and thank you, Brandon,
Starting point is 00:01:24 for helping us all out. Those people have just been here the last week, really helping us get this going. We hope this sounds better. We hope it looks better. Thank you so much to everyone that continues to listen and watch and support us. It means so much to us. Yeah, we love you guys so so much. Alright, before we jump into your 10 seconds, I did just want to give a quick reminder about our live that is coming up. It's our live show that's going to be online tickets are for sell right now at momenthouse.com slash murder with my husband. We will be doing a live episode. There will be a live comment feed that I think is going to be really fun and add to the episode. And then there will be an after party where we are planning on playing games, doing a live Q&A and kind of just like hanging out and getting to know each other. It's our way of celebrating our 100th episode on Murder with my
Starting point is 00:02:16 husband. And we'll have the new set to kind of bring everything in so we're super excited. There's a bunch of links below and everywhere as well. Yep. All right, so my 10 seconds. First of all, I saw some people ask who I want to in the Super Bowl, go bangles. I don't know if Payton, do you have a team? I only know the bangles are playing that's it. Okay, so we're rooting for the bangles this year. Even though I'm from California,
Starting point is 00:02:38 I think it would be so sweet to be able to. I have a team. Who? Team murder with my husband. Yep, yep, they're playing too. Some questions real quick on YouTube. This helps me a lot with my 10 seconds. Candy you can't pass up.
Starting point is 00:02:48 If you know me, I love sour candy. I get warheads, sour punch draws. I can pop like 10 warheads in my mouth at once and just suck those things. I dread a little, I love those. And then first concert I attended was actually probably in high school, Blink 182. was I think the first concert I ever attended. Where are you?
Starting point is 00:03:09 Exactly. Good job, honey. I think. So I love Blink 182. That concert was awesome. That is my 10 seconds. Keep the questions coming. This actually helps me a lot.
Starting point is 00:03:20 And hopefully that, I don't know, hopefully you guys like it too. Gary is not really one to talk about himself very much. So I think the prompts and the questions help him out a lot. They do. I find it hard just sitting down going, all right, what, what have I been up to? What's going on in my life? Me on the other hand. There's a reason I don't have the 10 seconds.
Starting point is 00:03:40 Our case begins on December 19, 2001 in Waldport, Oregon. We are actually at Waldport RV Park, which sits near a marina. According to sources, the RV park actually lines the water, which is referred to as the lint slew. Now, I didn't exactly know what a slew was, but according to Google, a slew is a wetland, usually a swamp or shallow lake, often a backwater to a larger body of water. The water tends to be stagnant or may flow slowly on a seasonal basis. In North America, slew may refer to a side channel from or feeding a river or an inlet
Starting point is 00:04:22 or a natural channel only sporadically filled with water. All right, thanks for the definition on that, baby. You're welcome. Did you not know that I'm Miriam Webster? I did not know that. I'm not going to let anyone give me another binard. Yeah, I know. I can tell.
Starting point is 00:04:35 I love it. Okay, but anyway, so we're at this RV park that's sitting next to this body of water. So I would say that the RV park next to the slew was almost peaceful, right? Like it sits right next to this little body of water. So I would say that the RV park next to the saloon was almost peaceful, right? Like it sits right next to this little body of water. I mean, what more could you ask for out of an RV park? But on this day, Detective Trish Miller with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office was called out to the quiet RV park after a man had reported seeing something quite gruesome in the water. A young boy floating face down near a bridge, visible from the RV park. The child's body was collected out of the water by responders, and just like any time
Starting point is 00:05:16 a child is found dead, everybody is especially on edge. I mean, finding a child is just different than finding an adult body. But fears increased when police realized that no child was reported missing that matched the description of the child that they had just pulled out of the water. It's bad when you discover a child's body. It's even worse when either that child isn't from the area or no one has reported them missing. Yeah. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
Starting point is 00:05:45 make the rash decision to release the victim's face. Now, either this is a digitally enhanced photograph or a look alike sketch the sources kind of differed, but they release the face to the local news for help in identifying this young boy. A few days later, a woman named Denise Thompson was casually watching the news in Oregon when her heart dropped. A picture of a little boy just came on her screen, and the police were claiming he was dead.
Starting point is 00:06:15 They were asking for help in identifying him. Denise faltered, questioning herself, but she knew that little boy on the TV screen. There was no way it wasn't who she thought it was. The police were showing a picture of four-year-old Zachary Longo, a local boy who Denise frequently babysat along with his two little sisters Sadie and Madison Longo. Denise frantically gathered her keys and made her way as fast as she could to the police station, hoping that she was wrong. When Denise arrived at the station, it had been three days since they had pulled the little boy out of the water. Oh my gosh. She explained to police that she was pretty sure
Starting point is 00:06:56 she knew who he was. She worked with his father, Christian Longo, at the local Starbucks. And although she was hoping that she had imagined the similarities between the picture and four-year-old Zachary, she had babysat him and his little sisters enough to be worried. Something suspicious, though. He's been dead for at least the police know for three days. Yes.
Starting point is 00:07:19 No more since they pulled him out of the water. And then also, how long... No one's come forward. Yeah, like what? It's his babysitter who's come forward? Don't understand. So at this point police ask her it should be willing to take a look at the little boy and make a physical identification.
Starting point is 00:07:33 Now imagine how hard this is. Oh, yeah. But Denise agrees anything to help. But after Denise takes a heart-wrenching look at the little boy and confirms that it was in fact Zachary Longo, police tell her something else. In the time that they had released Zachary's image to the press asking for help, they had discovered another body less than a mile offshore in the Pacific Ocean and wondered if the two were connected. Don't tell me it's one of the siblings. A little girl. Her body was weighted down in the water
Starting point is 00:08:03 with a rock inside of a pillowcase that was tied to her ankle. Both children had been dressed only in their underwear. They asked Denise if she could take a look at the other body and conclude whether found was in fact Zachary's three year old little sister Sadie Longo. All right. Where is the family? Right. Where's the family? What had happened here? And where were the Longo parents along with the only remaining child two year old Madison? If she's even alive, right. Police are about to find out. They send out investigators to the new apartment complex. The Longo family had just moved into. And meanwhile, they obviously asked Denise while they have her at the station,
Starting point is 00:08:54 what she knew about the Longo family, and if she noticed anything weird and the days leading up to the children being found. She tells them the Longo family seemed like your average normal family. But she remembers that on the day that Zachary's body was discovered in the water, Christian, his father, had come into work at Starbucks. She hadn't seen him since.
Starting point is 00:09:15 Denise tells police that Christian had actually said something strange to her at work that day, but she had brushed it off originally. Christian told Denise that she, quote, wouldn't be seeing the rest of his family again because he and his wife were getting a divorce. Denise obviously felt bad and didn't want a price, so she didn't ask any further questions. But thought it was strange because the Longo's really did seem like a happy couple. But you never know what goes on behind closed doors so she dropped it. Back at the new apartment complex,
Starting point is 00:09:47 police find the Longo family home empty. No sign of Christian, his wife Mary Jane, or their newest baby Madison. And it honestly looked like they had just been living there. Like all of their stuff was still there. Nothing was abandoned. They begin reaching out to friends and family, finding new people to call once they get further and further into the investigation. was still there, nothing was abandoned. They began reaching out to friends and family, finding
Starting point is 00:10:05 new people to call once they get further and further into the investigation. But no one in the Longo family life has seen or heard from the Longo family in days. In fact, police could only find a surveillance tape of days before Zachary had been found that showed the Longo family shopping together, but they were acting normal. That was about it. Police are worried. Either someone had hurt them or almost worse, they had killed two of their children and took off. Yes. So the pressure to find the family is growing. And so eight days into the investigation on December 27, 2001, police decide to deploy divers into the Ember Cardero Marina across from the upscale apartment complex,
Starting point is 00:10:50 the Longo family had just moved into, considering that the other two children had been found in water. They were like, well, there's a family there. Is there a daughter there? So they're like, we're gonna keep searching and it doesn't take long before they find something. No way.
Starting point is 00:11:05 Underneath a dock in the Marina, police discovered two abandoned suitcases. Stuffed inside one of the suitcases was the nude body of 34 year old Mary Jane Longo. In the suitcase? Yes. Two year old baby Madison and a dumbbell was found inside the other suitcase. Autopsy results showed that all three Longo children died of asphyxiation. Oh my gosh, this is crazy. Yeah, but Mary Jane Longo died of strangulation.
Starting point is 00:11:37 There was even blunt force trauma to her face. Divers searched and searched for a third suitcase, that fifth body, even searching other waterways in the area, but they all ended in the same result. Was Christian Longo, father of the murdered family, their fifth unfound victim, or their fifth unfound suspect? I know we haven't gotten there yet, but right away suspect. Right. Oh, right away. Yeah. Only some deep investigation and extensive media coverage would answer that question and get it. Apparently. And me. The media begins the
Starting point is 00:12:12 widespread release of Christian long ghost face. Police clarify that he's only wanted to be questioned as a witness because his family had been murdered. He's not in trouble. And if he is out there somewhere, would he please come in? Days go by. His face continues spreading through the media, but the suggestion to come in was slowly turning into a manhunt for Christian long go.
Starting point is 00:12:36 The longer that his body goes unfound, and he refuses to make an appearance, the more and more he begins to look like a suspect instead of a victim. But it was only after police had dug deep into Christian Longo and his personal life, who he was before his family had turned up murdered, that they realized almost assuredly that he was on the run. And by December 28, 2001, he was put onto the FBI's 10 most wanted list for murdering his family, changing his identity
Starting point is 00:13:09 and fleeing the country. So no one has any idea where he is. He was sitting right next to Osama bin Laden himself on that list. That's crazy. This is what police had discovered in their days of investigation. Christian Longo was raised in Michigan
Starting point is 00:13:23 in a strict Jehovah witness household. He had experienced a fairly happy childhood and was involved heavily in his church where he trained from a young age to do door-to-door ministry. It wasn't until his late teen years that Christian began dating in general and one of his first girlfriends would eventually become his wife. He knew Mary Jane Baker because she was in the same congregation as him. They officially met in the church parking lot, and although Mary Jane was seven years older than Christian,
Starting point is 00:13:56 at the time, they hit it off. They were quickly married when Christian was 19 and Mary Jane was 25. And according to Mary Jane's family, Christian was Prince Charming, a picture perfect husband that made other wives jealous. He even bought Mary Jane a three and a half-carat diamond engagement ring via a payment plan. He was currently working at the time of their engagement. Did you say three and a half carats?
Starting point is 00:14:23 I did. I did. I did. No way. Yeah, you had three and a half carrots? I did. I did. No way. Yeah, you had to take a payment plan out to pay for that. Okay, Payton's ring is not three and a half carrots. Sorry babe, just throw him that out. It isn't my heart.
Starting point is 00:14:33 If you could tell by my reaction. It's about, it's about you not the size. Yeah, exactly. How many times? For multiple things. Size doesn't matter. It doesn't. Unless it's the size of your heart.
Starting point is 00:14:44 Yes. He was currently working at a camera store and actually one month had to still $108 from the store to make his ring payment for that three and a half-care at ring. Now all employees were questioned about the missing money, but Christian kept quiet. He needed the job. But the next morning, he felt bad enough that he cut a check for the missing money and left it on the store counter with his resignation letter. Because of the incident,
Starting point is 00:15:11 Christians' friends actually, I don't think tattled the word, but they went to the church and told them what had happened and Christian actually lost some of his responsibilities with the congregation, as well as not being able to marry, marry Jane in the kingdom hall, which I think is like the highest place you could be married. Okay.
Starting point is 00:15:32 He vowed to never do anything like that ever again, but as addiction to nice things, new cars and clothes, even vacations was strong as he became an adult. He got a new job at a company that distributed the New York Times newspaper. He worked his way up to manager and actually became a fan of a writer there named Michael Finkle who wrote articles in the newspaper, The New York Times. But even with his new good job, Christian had spent all of the couples money before Zachary, their first was even born. Oh my gosh, what was he buying? Like, does it say types of things he was buying?
Starting point is 00:16:09 Cars, boats, toys, anything. Mary Jane had always wanted children and she became a full-time mom staying at home to raise Zachary, which made things even harder financially for the young family. She had the babies back to back, like we said, they were 432 at the time they were found in the water. Christian decided to quit his manager job and try to start a construction, clean up business with a friend from church,
Starting point is 00:16:37 but that business soon ran into debts. The long goes were long out of money because of Christian spending habit, but on the outside, they were keeping up appearances. Nobody knew that they were broke. Keeping up with the Joneses. Right. That's the way Christian wanted it. He didn't want anyone to know. And Christian even lied to his own father about the successes of that new construction cleanup business he had started, and convinced his dad to invest tens of thousands of dollars into construction cleanup business he had started and convinced his dad to invest tens of thousands of dollars into this failing business.
Starting point is 00:17:09 Oh man. Does it say how much in debt he is at this moment? Not at this moment, but Christian. A little later on. Yeah, Christian took the money that his dad invested and bought a new boat and some jet skis with him. Oh my gosh. Soon after that, Christian awoke to a tow truck
Starting point is 00:17:26 towing away his car, his Ford Taurus. He was buying everything. Right. Then the logo's only other car broke down soon after. So now they don't have any car. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads unsure of which direction to take in life?
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Starting point is 00:20:38 slash husband. That's rocketmoney.com slash husband. Rocket money. com slash husband rocket money dot com slash husband. Christian decided to make a fake driver's license with a different name, which he used to test drive a Pontiac Montana, but then he drove that Pontiac off the lot and never returned it. He stole the car using the fake driver. I have no. Oh my gosh.
Starting point is 00:21:02 When Mary Jane asked Christian why this new Pontiac, he had just bought, like they weren't receiving any bills in the mail for it, Christian decided to create fake ones and mail them to the home for her to find. He's crazy. He's putting in so much work to get things for free. If he would actually just work, he probably could have bought them with money. Right. Well, but when he did have a good job as a manager, he was spending the money he was making.
Starting point is 00:21:28 But like to mail yourself fake bills like that's smart. It's stupid. It takes time. It takes energy. And it's not even for him. It's so he can lie to his wife. Yeah. So it's not only that they're lying to everyone.
Starting point is 00:21:40 It's that his wife doesn't even really know what's happening because he told her that he bought the car. It's unbelievable. it's that his wife doesn't even really know what's happening because he told her that he bought the car. Unbelievable. So it was also around this time in May of 2000 when Mary Jane told her sister that she had found emails from Christian to an unknown woman on his computer. He was cheating on her. And when she confronted him about it, he told her that the reason he was doing it was because she had been no fun since having children.
Starting point is 00:22:04 That's so messed up. Instead of taking blame for something, he just blames her. Right. told her that the reason he was doing it was because she had been no fun since having children. That's so messed up. Instead of taking blame for something, he just blames her. Right. Because she's a mom. He blames her for being a good mom. That's not cool. But Mary Jane decided to stay with him because she didn't want their kids to grow up without
Starting point is 00:22:17 a father. But she did tell the church elders about the online affair and Christian was sanctioned once again at church. The money problems were definitely not over for the Longo family and the whole that Christian was digging was only getting deeper and deeper. He began creating fake checks from different businesses and caching them.
Starting point is 00:22:40 It wasn't long before these different businesses contacted police and Christian was arrested He pled guilty and received three years probation and was ordered to pay restitution because He had lied to the courts about his income and how much money he had out of pride. Oh, he couldn't just tell them He was broke. Yeah, he's like, oh, I have the money to pay them. Don't worry So then he's ordered to pay restitution. I think it's kind of funny like they didn't confirm like You show us that you have the money to pay right they just believed them. Oh, yeah, okay. Yeah, cool. It's a con man Yeah, sure. Well believe them right so he doesn't have money to pay restitution
Starting point is 00:23:17 The next scam lined up for Christian Although he had promised Mary Jane that he was done with this behavior after he received probation was taking a credit card out in his father's name. He racked up over $100,000 in debt on that credit card in his dad's name without the dad's knowledge Mary Jane's knowledge anyone's knowledge. Oh, man And this was the last straw for everyone in the Longo family's life. They were worried about Mary Jane and Christian's character. How is he spending that much money? Right. A hundred grand, like, what is he buying?
Starting point is 00:23:54 Just cars after toys? Yes. Like, houses, they were living in a nice house. Like, if you smart, he could make that credit card last him five years. You know what I'm saying? Right, I don't, I mean, I don't think he's that smart. Yes, obviously not. I think he thinks he's smart.
Starting point is 00:24:08 Yes. So with all the pressure from everyone in their life, kind of now questioning what's happening, I mean, he just received probation for scamming businesses. He decides that the only way to handle this situation instead of just changing his behavior is to break his probation by packing his family up and moving the five of them from Michigan
Starting point is 00:24:28 to a warehouse in Toledo, Ohio. Christian's plan was to renovate the warehouse because it was in no living condition for children, and told Mary Jane that he had paid six months of rent up front so that they could do this. In reality, he was forging more checks from local businesses around the new area and cashing them. No rent had been paid. Oh, con man, he didn't
Starting point is 00:24:51 care at all. No, Mary Jane slowly fell out of touch with her family at this point after the stress of the new move and the new living conditions like they're living in a warehouse. Her family was concerned but had no idea where she was. They couldn't really do much about it. There was also now a warrant out for Christian for breaking his parole because you can't cross state lines. And he had a slight panic when police caught onto the fact that he was selling stolen machinery. And so he decided to pack the family up once again and move. It just keeps going. I'm amazed. He's just running.
Starting point is 00:25:26 I want to amaze that the cons and all these schemes keep. It's just not stopping. And I don't think these are even the half of them. I think that if you had actually, like I had written down every single thing that he did, you would be here for hours. So Christian stole an SUV and a Penske truck, put Mary Jane in one, him and the other, and
Starting point is 00:25:47 they were off again, and she had no idea. By this time, Mary Jane's family had filed a missing person's report on her after her cell phone had been cut off because they weren't making payments. The Longo family had finally made their way to Oregon. Christian scamming, stealing, and lying his way there. He convinced the apartment manager from the nice upscale apartments that we had talked about earlier
Starting point is 00:26:12 to let him move in his family without putting any money down and he decided to get a part-time job at the Starbucks inside of Fred Myers, which is a grocery store. He was really embarrassed about this job and he told all of his co-workers that he made a lot of money online, but was such a fan of Starbucks coffee
Starting point is 00:26:31 that he decided to just get a part-time job for fun. So I'm trying to figure out if he's a compulsive liar, yes, but also, like does he just love the image in what people think of him? This whole thing is ego. Okay, because he has to be. He was so embarrassed that for the first time in years, he actually had a real job,
Starting point is 00:26:51 but he was so embarrassed that it was just Starbucks coffee, which that is not a bad job, right? Right. And who cares if you don't have a boat? Who cares if you don't have a Ferrari? Like I don't understand why. Yeah, I mean, well, I mean, actually a lot of people care. Apparently I don't care. Yes. But mean, well, I mean, actually a lot of people care. Apparently, yes.
Starting point is 00:27:05 But the part time job was not making ends meet for the nice new upscale big apartment that they had just moved into. He was running out of money after paying rent like that. It took his whole paycheck. They had no money for groceries, for gas, for necessities. Christian was going to have to tell Mary Jane soon, once again, that they needed to move. Like this life was not working again.
Starting point is 00:27:32 And that day was coming. And December 16, 2001, just three days before Zachary was pulled out of that water, that day had arrived. So after learning everything that we all just learned, police knew that Christian was most definitely on the run. They knew what he had done. This was not an accident. He had not been attacked. He had dug the hole so deep that now he was buried and he needed to find a new patch of dirt to start digging a new hole like this one was
Starting point is 00:28:01 over. He completely killed off everyone and everything in his old life to start over. The manhunt was on and would become one of the biggest in Oregon history. His picture was everywhere and it didn't take long for someone to recognize him and call in a tip. The tip was from Mexico, about a month after he was last seen in Oregon.
Starting point is 00:28:23 Like Mexico or New Mexico. Mexico. Okay, so he's in Mexico. Yeah. was last seen in Oregon. Like Mexico or New Mexico. Mexico. Okay, so he's in Mexico. Yeah, someone had seen him there. That's how far his... So actually, they had kind of felt like maybe he had gone to Mexico and so they had alerted the Mexican police like, hey, can you hang these pictures up because we're looking for this guy?
Starting point is 00:28:41 So that's how it all came to be. I assume that contacted what's equivalent the federal agents there and not like the local police. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. So that's how it all came to be. I assume that contacted what's equivalent the federal agents there and not like the local police. Right. Right. That's the eye. Okay. Yes. And the thing is is like, okay, I'm thinking, you kill your whole family, you run off to Mexico, you lay low, right? Yes. He is not laying low in Mexico. Having fiesta after fiesta. Yes, he is partying. He is making friends. He's creating a new life. And this in this new life that he created in Mexico.
Starting point is 00:29:12 Is he just Spanish? I don't think so, because the reason I don't think so is because he claimed to be a former travel writer for the New York Times named Michael Finkl. Okay. Do you recognize that name? Yes, I do. That was the name of the writer, the real New York Times named Michael Finkl. Okay. Do you recognize that name? Yes, I do.
Starting point is 00:29:26 That was the name of the writer, the real New York Times writer, that he was a fan of way long ago when he was engaged to Mary Jane. He told locals that he was working a story on Mayan mysticism, so he was going around to all the ruins and writing about it. He even hired an amateur photographer named Janina Frankie who was staying at the same cancun youth hostel as him. But Janina fell for the extroverted and exciting writer, Michael Finkl, which was easy to do in paradise, like they're just hanging out in paradise, having a good time, and he's talked himself up into being this huge, important person.
Starting point is 00:30:02 But by this point, the FBI had followed the tip and was now tracing a credit card number that Christian had stolen back in Oregon and he was using in Mexico. Okay. So remember when I said I don't think he was very smart. Like he stole a credit card from the Starbucks that he was working at and then was using it in Mexico. Yeah. When police finally closed in, Christian was found smoking marijuana with locals in a small shack in Mexico. On January 13, 2002, Mexican federal arrested Christian Longo. After only two and a half weeks in Mexico, Christian Longo was on a plane back to Oregon handcuffed.
Starting point is 00:30:40 Wow. So this is only two and a half weeks. It felt I was thinking it was who's there for months. Right. One year after being arrested, Christian Longo heads to trial for murdering his wife and three children. It was Valentine's Day 2003, when on day one of trial, Christian opens the trial with a bombshell announcement. Oh, no. He admits to killing Mary Jane and Madison, but states that he had no part in Zachary and Sadie's deaths. No way, I don't believe that. That's what he testifies. He testifies that he confessed to Mary Jane about all of the lies that their life was at that point, and she freaked out because she had no idea.
Starting point is 00:31:25 He says the next night he came home and his older children were missing and two-year-old Madison was lying on the floor dead. There's no way. He claims that Mary Jane was curled into a ball on the floor hitting her head against the wall. He says that Mary Jane told him she killed their children which triggered him into strangling her. It's all you go at this point. Yep. He says he then noticed that Madison, his two-year-old was actually alive, and so he killed her as well. He says he was able to kill such a young child because he wasn't as close with her as he was with his other kids. Oh man, this makes me so mad. I can't believe we just kill them. And then obviously
Starting point is 00:32:07 that's horrible. But then he has so much pride and ego that he can't just admit to it. And this is this is my issue here is that he's literally getting up on stand and slandering his wife. Exactly. In front of her whole family at this trial, and he's saying, oh, well, I just didn't care about my two-year-old as much as my older kids, but I didn't kill them. Like, she killed them. It's her fault.
Starting point is 00:32:33 Like, how much lower can you get? Mary Jane didn't do anything wrong. She's literally just a victim. He says that after everything that happened with all four of his family now dead his two he claims his two older he claims are missing but we know that they're dead. He says that in the following days after this he tried to distract himself because he was so upset by renting a movie going to the gym and attending his Starbucks Christmas party
Starting point is 00:33:01 which was where he told Denise that Mary Jane and him were getting divorced. It comes out at trial that he didn't actually just say they were getting divorced. He said that Mary Jane was leaving him for another man. So once again, he has to pin her as the bad one. But it wasn't until he realized that Zachary's body had been discovered that he picked up his final paycheck and started making his way to Mexico. The jury took only four to six hours to reach their decision of guilty on all four mergers. So his plan was to make it so they were never found? Yes, he did. And then just it was an accident
Starting point is 00:33:38 that the Zachary had. And then just ignore everyone else in his life. Right, because everyone else was weighed down. Got it. And Zachary, they actually assumed that Zachary was as well, but he had just the weight he had broke. And also, I do have to say that this whole story in his confession at trial doesn't actually make sense because he's stating that when he showed up at home, his two kids were missing and Mary Jane said, oh, I killed them.
Starting point is 00:34:05 But then he says that when Zachary's body, which is the first one to be found, who he's claiming he didn't kill, like, float it up, he deserted, he panicked and left. If you didn't kill your little boy who you claimed you cared so much about, you would be like, oh, he was found, that's where Mary Jane put him. You wouldn't be like, oh my gosh, I have to leave.
Starting point is 00:34:23 Like, it literally contradicts itself. Christian Longo was sentenced to death and is currently still incarcerated at Oregon State Penitentiary. Oh, I don't know that Oregon had the death penalty. They have since like, it's not abolished, but basically anyone who is on death row, their terms have just been made life in prison, essentially.
Starting point is 00:34:42 There is a really weird twist about this case that I'm not gonna dive real deep into, but here it is. The real Michael Finkle, like the guy that he had been pretending to be, actually got a call one day from a reporter asking for a comment on the Christian Longo situation. And the real Michael Fkel is like, who?
Starting point is 00:35:05 And he's like, the guy who just murdered his whole family in Oregon and then fled to Mexico and pretended to be Michael Finkel from the New York Times. And the real Michael was like, I don't know this story. He flew to Oregon and began visiting Christian in prison. They called, they visited visited and they became friends. Michael was the only person that Christian would talk to about everything. And Michael Finkl liked Christian Longo. But didn't, but they worked together. So he remembered who he was. No,
Starting point is 00:35:40 they didn't work together. Christian delivered the newspaper that Michael wrote. Yeah, that's right. So he had no idea who he was. But apparently, the real Michael Finkl was actually fired like around this time from New York Times for fabricating stories. And he was like on the decline before all of this. Like he had no job. He was at his rock bottom. And sources, including Michael Finkle himself, say that Christian saved him. Like basically saved him because Christian worshipped him. And so when he came and was like, why'd you choose me?
Starting point is 00:36:19 It boosted up his morale again. He ended up going on to write a book about the whole situation. And then a movie called True Story came out based on this book where Jonah Hill stars as Michael Finkle and James Franco as Christian Longo. And this whole movie is about their friendship after Christian murdered his family. That is. I don't know how I feel about that. What? Right. Because he Christian murdered his family. That is. I don't know how I feel about that. What? Right. Because he killed his entire family.
Starting point is 00:36:48 Yes. And then Michael went on to like become his friend. That's so, I don't know, to me, to seem a little weird to it. It's a weird twist. And that's why I'm not paying too much attention into it because it kind of feels like we're giving Christian long go a little bit more attention that he is craving from this that I don't think he needs.
Starting point is 00:37:03 And he killed his whole family, which is insane. And I haven't watched the movie so I don't know the angle that it takes, but I just think that is such a weird twist that this guy goes to Mexico after killing his family, pretends to be this guy, and then the real guy comes and becomes friends with him. Yeah, that's crazy. What a weird twist, but that is the story
Starting point is 00:37:24 of the Longo family. That is so horrible. I can't believe he killed them. It's like, I mean, not that we saw it coming. I mean, he'd always been a con man, but I mean, I do think there is a difference between someone who does that and kills someone. I mean, there's, I think there's a big difference.
Starting point is 00:37:39 And so that's horrible. Yeah, so this actually goes back to family and eyelators. Like that is, and usually there's two types of family and eyelators. They kill their whole family and run away and start a new life, like Chris Watts, you know, those type of stories, or they kill their whole family and then kill themselves. Both of these extremely selfish ways to go. You can't just kill yourself. You have to take everyone else's time with you. Or you can't just leave and say,
Starting point is 00:38:05 I want to start a new life. You have to kill off your old life. Both of these have, are extremely problematic, right? Because he could have just, right in the way to Mexico and left. But they can't. It's like the pride and the ego you think. It is the mind of a family and I later, and that's why there is such thing as, like,
Starting point is 00:38:23 someone considered a family and I later. And that's why there is such thing as like someone considered a family annihilator because they just can't. Like there's something in it that makes it so that they have to ruin everyone else. It's so messed up. But I think the devastating part of this case is that Mary Jane's family like had filed a missing report, person report on her had been caring about her, had filed a missing report,
Starting point is 00:38:47 person report on her, had been caring about her, had been worried about her, just for her husband to murder her and her children, and they never got to see them again. And these kids were four, three, and two years old. I mean, they, they hadn't even, they hadn't even left their tadpole yet. You know what I mean? Like they are just, they haven't even become what they could of. And that's what's so devastating is they are so young.
Starting point is 00:39:10 But anyways, that story, I just think the aspect of the running away to Mexico and then the whole twist at the end with the Michael Finkel thing is just crazy. Oh man. I did see people suggesting a case called the suitcase murders. Is that what is that? We covered those. Oh, we've covered those. Yes. We covered them on Patreon. That was a Patreon exclusive episode.
Starting point is 00:39:35 So if you are wanting to listen to the suitcase murders, I am. Obviously, I don't have a good memory. Because that's not what I call them. I didn't call them the suitcase murders. God, is that a sense? I called them by the names. But you can listen to that whole story on our Patreon, which you can check out at Patreon slash murder
Starting point is 00:39:52 with my husband. And we did announce last week that we've made a change there. So now you will get two extra bonus true crime episodes on Patreon. Okay, thank you guys so much. Thank you for supporting us. I hope you're as excited about the new set as we are and the new changes and we love you guys and we will see you guys
Starting point is 00:40:11 next week with another episode. I love it. I hate it. Goodbye. you

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