My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - 168 – Live at the Civic Center in Des Moines

Episode Date: April 11, 2019

Karen and Georgia cover Tracey Richter and the Villisca Axe Murders.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-i...nfo.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 We at Wondery live, breathe, and downright obsess over true crime. And now we're launching the ultimate true crime fan experience, Exhibit C. Join now by following Wondery, Exhibit C on Facebook, and listen to True Crime on Wondery and Amazon Music. Exhibit C. It's truly criminal. Hello. Hi everyone. And welcome. This is my favorite murder. And this week's episode is going to be a live show that we're going to post for you,
Starting point is 00:00:27 a wonderful time that we had in Des Moines, Iowa. Beautiful Des Moines, Iowa. But we wanted to really quickly have a couple announcements to tell you guys. One is that we're going to be doing this year's Cluster Fest in San Francisco. And it's June 21st to 23rd. We're going to be performing on Sunday night, the 23rd. So get your tickets at clusterfest.com. That's right. But also, we want to tell you about our brand new,
Starting point is 00:00:53 beautiful, shiny, awesome fan cult. We redid the whole fucking thing. There's going to be new merch and a new design for the official fan cult. And that's just one part of the new website that's all got redesigned. So the whole thing is new. Go check all of it out. But if you are a fan cult member, you can get into a drawing to win two all weekend passes to the entire festival. No, not just our show, but it's general admission to the weekend.
Starting point is 00:01:20 And it's such a freaking good weekend. We also always give away two free tickets to every live show. So if you're in the fan cult, you have access to that. There's an awesome forum that's brand new and really cool videos and just really fun stuff. And we're really proud of it now and happy. And very excited that it's been redone. And we think you're going to like it.
Starting point is 00:01:39 So yeah, consider joining the fan cult if you haven't because there's lots of good stuff to get. And of course, then just enjoy the website because oh my god. You can send your hometown in from it and just and just visit there. Live your life. Just hang out like it's a park. Visit with it for a little while. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:01:57 Take a moment. Yeah, just get some you time. But on our website, www.myfavoritmurder.ca. No, no, no. .com. That's right. That's right. That's your other website. All right. And now please enjoy us live in Des Moines, Iowa. Yeah. Thanks for listening, guys.
Starting point is 00:02:16 Stay sexy and don't get murdered. Goodbye. What's up, Des Moines? Yes. I filmed all of you doing that. Yeah, you've just been filmed. We're going to ask you to fill out some paperwork after the show. Each one of you needs to give us a release form.
Starting point is 00:03:01 Please. I hope that worked. Oh, maybe I'll turn my phone off too. Sorry. Yeah, that's a good take any calls. Please don't, please don't text during the show, Georgia. Please. Oh, wow. Hi.
Starting point is 00:03:13 Hi. We have finally come to you, Des Moines. Yes. That's right. Your patience is amazing. Yeah. Truly. And you proved you meant it because there is not an empty seat in the house tonight.
Starting point is 00:03:41 It's so crazy here that the elevator got stuck with someone in it. Did you hear about that? Seriously. Someone was stuck in the elevator and Vince came back. He's like, we might have to hold someone stuck in the elevator. I'm like, this is amazing. We are going to bring them on stage. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:55 We're going to get the whole story. And in my mind, of course, it's like two girls who are friends. They hadn't seen each other in a while, but they both have anxiety issues. And so they're freaking out. And then it ended up being an usher. Yeah. So everyone on stage, you're like, I don't know what this is.
Starting point is 00:04:12 What's the broadcast? Sorry, I'm in a union. I'm not coming on that stage. Get out of here. I don't know how to do your show for you, lady. I'm not a fan. I just got the night off because of this situation. I thought I'd just hang out in this elevator the whole time.
Starting point is 00:04:27 You guys busted me. And you got any dress for the occasion? Oh, everybody. So good. So good. It's such a good dress. I can't believe it. We went to Donna's dress shop as we were leaving Kansas City over on 39th Street.
Starting point is 00:04:47 Don't be mad. Don't be mad. We had to fit it in before we left. And it got so quiet. I'd like to talk to you about the importance of fashion. No, but I usually, usually it's Georgia's time and then I kind of go around going, maybe there's a purse that'll fit me because that's how it is with the old vintage clothes. And the ladies with the tits and the asses.
Starting point is 00:05:15 You don't, they don't, right? Usually you have to wait and you have to go into what I like to call the Italian widows section. See what you can find over there. But Donna's dress shop not only has vintage stuff, but then also kind of modern stuff based on vintage. So I was like, check this shit out. The only thing is this, I've, I don't think I've whoever worn a plunging neckline to this degree before.
Starting point is 00:05:40 Thank you. That is, it's a lot of plunge. There's a lot of tits happening for those of you listening at home. Haha, you're not here and you don't get to see it. Haha, it's just for me and Georgian Des Moines. Yeah. Today, last time you did that, we were in Vegas and you had a dress on that was really plunging. That was a plunger from the gap.
Starting point is 00:06:05 And then the woman, didn't the woman pat you on the tits? Yeah. Do you want to do a quick reenactment? Sure. At the, you'd think that then I would stop wearing dresses like that. But I thought that's where you, why you weren't wearing that one. No, no, no, I wasn't wearing that one because for some reason the shape of it and I, maybe this is just kind of a longer dress or like a more elongating,
Starting point is 00:06:24 but that one literally, I, it looked like my tits were trying to choke me to death. They were way up here, way up here. Anyway, so at the meet and greet, it was literally the first group of people that came through and it was like a group of five and we're all kind of like, hi, nice to meet you. And then, and I was on the outside. So everybody was kind of coming and talking to each other. I don't know who I'm playing and I don't know what I'm doing. Okay.
Starting point is 00:06:48 You can be yourself. Okay. And at first you're talking to the people and reading and I'm over here on this side waiting for everyone to get down to my area. And then the first lady who came to my area, it was like broke away from the group. She was real fun. She was from Ibiza and she thinks we should go to Ibiza someday. Ibiza.
Starting point is 00:07:05 And do a show, go to Ibiza. We're definitely going to go to Ibiza. Um, she, she was like, oh my God, look at your boobies. And I was like, I do all the time. They're not that interesting to me. I started. I understand it's fresh for other people. And then she goes like this, put your, we'll put our microphones down because she literally
Starting point is 00:07:26 went like this. Oh my God, I touched your boobies. She patted your boobies. For real. Kind of light. I think I may have done too heavy to you. Yeah, kind of her. It was sorry.
Starting point is 00:07:37 That's okay. But it was like, it was very odd. It wasn't sexual in any way. It was almost like, look at, I found these two small beach balls. I know why. I know why. Because she, like me, was a small titted girl. And when she saw big boobies, all she can think of is, what's that like?
Starting point is 00:07:55 It doesn't understand that they're like, it's a thing. What's that like? You know, you don't ever think of them sexually because they're just there. But also she wasn't, it, it was very, uh, objectifying because she wasn't even talking to me. She was, it was like, she was yelling to her friends, like, I'm touching her boobies. Or I'm like, you're looking at me, lady. Isn't this what we're fighting against every day? What are you doing, lady?
Starting point is 00:08:22 Listen, I'm not trying to fucking justify her creepy weird actions because I would never do that. But, but still, well, my, my thing is when they went to walk away, she said it again to her group of friends, like she, like, like they were all like, we're going to get in there. And it was like, like some kind of a, uh, treasure hunt. What does that call the scavenger hunt? Yeah, when it's like, we're going to try to pull a hair out of George's head. And somebody has to pat Karen on the top of the boobs real weird. She said it one more time.
Starting point is 00:08:54 And I looked at the man that was with them who actually looked very embarrassed. And I go, someone call it assault. Anyway, who's next? But I'm going back. I don't give a shit. They're mine. I get to do what I want. Do it. The only sad thing is there's no pockets in this dress, which I know.
Starting point is 00:09:12 Look, I'll have them professionally sewn in by an Italian tailor. And it'll be fine. Tailor. Tailor? In Ibiza. I'll send it away. They do great tailoring there. That's right.
Starting point is 00:09:23 But however. Oh, yeah, girl. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll back it. I took care of it. What are you singing? Don't you worry about a thing? Oh, okay.
Starting point is 00:09:37 Like someone's got pockets on this stage. So you don't have to worry about it. Don't worry. I'm covering for Karen today. Yeah. It's great. She has a knife for me in there somewhere. But last night I did remember the cat in the room.
Starting point is 00:09:50 Oh, yes. This was good. So you'll like it. Karen can't see shit, right? And so when this woman held up a life-size fucking reproduction of Elvis, my cat, I lost my mind. I thought it was a real cat. Until later when I told her like later. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:11 I was, I thought someone was like holding up like this Siamese cat. They was kind of curled over and I was like, oh, that's a bummer. Like you can have emotional support dogs all day long because they like people and they're loyal and they want to, that's the relationship they have with men, not cats. And it was literally like, look at the cat I forced to come here. And I was just like, oh, I can't. And she thought I was like really excited about it and like, yeah, you should totally do that to your cats.
Starting point is 00:10:40 No, it wasn't. And then the woman came to the meet and greet and like presented me with this gorgeous like Siamese plushie thing that clearly had been like sent away for probably like made. Yeah, it was made. But Siamese Taylor probably. And then I was like, oh my God, thank you. Thank you so much. I was going to cry and Karen goes, I don't think she's giving it to you.
Starting point is 00:11:01 The girl was like, she wasn't giving it to me. She was not. Why show me this thing? Don't show presence. Don't show presence and then walk away with the present. It was so embarrassing. It was hilarious. It was hilarious because the girl, the girl, I watched the girl go, you can have it if you
Starting point is 00:11:20 want it. Like she was. But I didn't hear that because I was so happy. And then it's like, oh, that's where I'm sorry. That's like the time. And I know I've told the story in the podcast, but that's like the time I did a show. It was when I recorded my album and afterwards my friends were backstage, but it was at this, the bootleg theater in Los Angeles.
Starting point is 00:11:40 So there was a book. There's another show right after and no one gave a shit. And so I was kind of like standing in the green room being congratulated by my friends. And then this girl walks in with a bouquet of Mylar balloons. And it was as I had no idea I was going to have this reaction because I didn't think I cared about balloons that much. But I was like, oh my God, thank you. And I almost started crying.
Starting point is 00:12:04 And the girl goes, these are mine. And like walked to the other side of it. Oh, it's like a little kick in the dick just for fun. It was so embarrassing. Yeah. That's how I felt. Yeah. I almost started crying holding the sign.
Starting point is 00:12:19 He's like, I'm going to hold this forever. It's my stuffed animal. Oh, it's yours. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. You keep that. I'm an adult. That's yours.
Starting point is 00:12:27 And I'll get my own balloons if I need them. I have a real cat. I don't need it. I have the real one at home. Yeah. I'm going to go talk about him. Yeah. My nose is.
Starting point is 00:12:39 Okay. But we're very excited. Were those your Kleenexes? Yeah. Yeah, we drove here today. And what was very exciting to come into Iowa and immediately see three competing fireworks stores. God.
Starting point is 00:12:57 Pyrotown, Rocket City, and fucking Let's Light Everything on Fireville, I think, is what they were called. Yeah. Right? What if they're owned by like three siblings across the, and hate each other? Yes. Oh, those are my fireworks.
Starting point is 00:13:11 This is our new FX series. Yeah. It's called Rocketown. One of them serves barbecue. Yeah. Like, what's going on? That was exciting. You guys are living the fucking dream out here.
Starting point is 00:13:25 Every day is 4th of July. What more does one want in life? What took us so long? Jesus. If you had sent one email that said we have three competing fireworks warehouses with barbecue. With barbecue. Near a freeway.
Starting point is 00:13:44 We would have been like, OK, let's call United right now. Get on a flight. Promo code murder. Oh, by the way, this is my favorite murder. Oh, the podcast. Yes. Thank you. Thanks.
Starting point is 00:13:59 This is Karen Kilgarra. This is Georgia Hardstark. Thank you. Steven's not here. He's not here. I know. We like to go up and then down with the cheers. That's what good storytelling is.
Starting point is 00:14:15 It's eyes and then very low lows. That's right. Yeah. But he's listening. He's the first one that hears all of these live shows. He takes them immediately and he goes into the, would I pictures the corner of his apartment and then just pulls on his mustache for like an hour and 40 minutes
Starting point is 00:14:32 and listens to every word we say. That's right. So he's with us in spirit. Always, always. Always. Yeah. Even though legally he's not allowed to be in Iowa ever again. That's right.
Starting point is 00:14:44 He's wanted by the law. Yeah. Fireworks situation. Oh, you should have seen. That mustache didn't grow back for months, you guys. They told him fireworks and dinosaurs do not mix. And he was like, fuck you. I don't care.
Starting point is 00:15:00 Yeah. He can't. He can't mess around anymore because Steven is now the head engineer of the Exactly Right podcast network. We made him sign a fucking contract and everything. We made him sign a do not disclose release form or whatever those things are called. Do not release all the shit that we make you take out when
Starting point is 00:15:23 you're recording us and we don't know the mics are on. We've had a talk with Steven where we're like, we know you have everything there is to ruin us. We know you have that on a chip somewhere that you're saving. In your mustache. Yeah. Squirreling all the good stuff away. I bet you he has this mustache mic constantly.
Starting point is 00:15:43 He's wired for fucking sound at all times. Is that your ray? Steven. Steven. God damn it. He didn't even do anything. Steven. Leave it.
Starting point is 00:15:57 How's those elbows? Great. How are they feeling? Good. Yeah, pretty good. Yeah. I was on stage one night, I think it was like probably five live shows ago and I did something like this and looked
Starting point is 00:16:08 down and my elbows, it looked like I'd covered both of them and ashes. Like it was Ash Wednesday, but only on my elbows. It was not cool. Is that a thing? Ash elbow Wednesday? It is. It's the day after Ash Wednesday.
Starting point is 00:16:26 They still call it Wednesday. Good one. Good one. I don't. Should we sit down? Sit down. Yeah. Thanks.
Starting point is 00:16:42 Yes. This is the kind I like. These are good. I was going to say elbow rests. That's not what they are. Arm rests. Yeah, Ash Wednesday elbow rests. These make all the difference, guys.
Starting point is 00:16:54 We're going to put out a line of chairs someday. That's next, everybody. Nice. Get ready. Nice and furniture. Chairs you can stand on and adjust. Nice. Oh, my phone's still here.
Starting point is 00:17:06 Oh. Should we call someone? Yeah, let's call Steven. Do you want to? Yes. Oh, my God. What if he's like, how's your diarrhea? But no, because remember I texted Steven,
Starting point is 00:17:22 literally Vince came and said it's time to go. And then I went, oh, shit. I need to ask Steven one question. So let's see if I can get the answer, because he didn't answer in time. But can I hear it? Well, we'll just explain what's going on. Okay.
Starting point is 00:17:36 Face time. No, no, face time. They can spy on you. No, no. Are you a child? We're doing it. Face time. Face time.
Starting point is 00:17:45 Whatever. Calling him speaker. Be cool. Hi, Steven. Steven. Steven. Hi. Hi.
Starting point is 00:18:00 Hi. Your best friends are here. Oh, my gosh. All my friends? Did you get Karen wants to know her answer? But wait. But not in detail. Just give me a yes or no.
Starting point is 00:18:15 Uh, no. Okay, great. Great. Thank you. Well, thank you, Steven. But Steven, is there caveat to the no, like maybe once or in a small amount before? Uh, I think in a hometown.
Starting point is 00:18:30 Okay, that's enough. Oh, do you think someone did your murder that you're doing tonight? Yes. And I realized it literally two minutes before I just walked on stage. Oh, my god. Okay, in a hometown.
Starting point is 00:18:43 Oh, thank you, Steven. Tell everyone goodbye, Steven. Hey, thank you. Bye. Goodbye. But can I just make this public announcement? That's so funny. If you don't know this already,
Starting point is 00:19:01 there is a way that people can spy on you through your phone, through Facebook. I mean, FaceTime. We know you think that. It's true. I'll do it to you tonight. And I'm going to tell you what you and Vince talked about. Do it.
Starting point is 00:19:14 I can't believe it. I double dare you. You'll be like, Jesus, they're boring. I'm just saying, delete FaceTime. Delete it. But how am I going to talk to my nephew? But how am I going to get Amazon to suggest things for me to buy
Starting point is 00:19:28 if they're not spying on me at all times? Uh-oh. It goes all the way to the top. This is government. So your murder hasn't been done maybe in a hometown. Probably not haven't been done. Maybe. Odds are no.
Starting point is 00:19:41 Gotta hope. Great. That's hilarious. All right. Oh, this is a true crime comedy podcast. We have to make this for those of you who wandered in. Maybe you have a student ID that gets you into shows. Maybe you are an elevator operator.
Starting point is 00:19:58 Took the night off. I'll just stick around after. Hey, I fixed the elevator. I'm going to dip my head in and see what these chicks are up to. Have a beer. Women talking. Two at that time? Doesn't even make sense.
Starting point is 00:20:10 I thought we outlawed that in the 40s. Well, it turns out no. We got permission. We got permission from our husbands. And up here tonight, so proud. Yeah, it's a true crime comedy podcast if you've never listened before. Because oftentimes there's people who do listen to our podcast that then they get tickets to a live show.
Starting point is 00:20:30 And then they force people who don't listen to our podcast to come and listen to stories about murder. If you are a person who's been forced, you need to look at the person that you're with and go, does she have my best interest at heart? Should I trust her with choices in the future? Probably not. Or what can I force her to go to now?
Starting point is 00:20:53 And CAA playoffs down the street. You know who's playing tonight, right? Yeah, I know who's playing tonight. No, who? Oh, who? I thought the fighting. Oh, it's going to be this, the fighting drug doctors. Yes.
Starting point is 00:21:15 How fun would that be? What's a rug doctor? The rug doctors are the steamers you go to the grocery store? You know? Yes. Oh, have you ever got, it's so disgusting. I'm so sorry, I thought you meant the spin doctors. I was like, that would also be,
Starting point is 00:21:30 if the spin doctors fought a bunch of rug doctors, yeah, maybe those like tin beards would get clean for once. Steam those things. No, the rug doctor, when you don't have a lot of money, but live in an apartment with carpet and you get, just pay the extra $60 for a person to come, it's the most disgusting thing you've ever, you have to empty this.
Starting point is 00:21:50 Oh, and you're like, I'm filthy in your sink or your toilet. And then you're like glitter. I've never been glitter in my, what? It's really gross. Years and years of debris. Anyway, this is a true crime comedy podcast. And we just like to explain this, because a lot of times what people might not understand
Starting point is 00:22:09 who don't listen and don't, we don't have the benefit of the doubt. For people who don't listen, they think you can't talk about something as horrible as murder, which is the worst thing that can happen to anybody or anyone's family and combine that with comedy. That's disrespectful and it's offensive,
Starting point is 00:22:25 and I hate you and I'm gonna write an email about you. Which we understand, it's although reactive, it is a natural reaction to this. And what we would like to tell you is that George and I have both been obsessed with true crime since we were little kids, sadly. And we were feral. So we do love and follow and are obsessed
Starting point is 00:22:51 with true crime and the stories about them. But then we also, personality wise, we're just both too funny people who like to express ourselves through comedy. And as a coping mechanism to get through this total piece of shit called life. So if that offends you or that bothers you or that's something that's against your religion,
Starting point is 00:23:11 we invite you to get the fuck out right now. Yeah. And if you were mad about that, last night we made those people stand up. The people who hadn't heard of it before. So consider yourself lucky for just... Yeah, we made the drag along stand up, which was super rude because a lot of people
Starting point is 00:23:30 were just like, what? Do you do this? Am I going to have water dumped on my head? But there was one guy that just shot straight up. Proud of it. I'm not here for this at all. Yeah. Do I get to be excused?
Starting point is 00:23:42 Yeah. What do I get? Drink tickets or something? Please, help me. Help me through this. Yeah, we can't help you. Oh wait, am I first? You are.
Starting point is 00:23:54 Great. You look like you were getting ready to go. No, I like to touch paper. Okay, I'm first. Yay. Thanks. Y'all, this shit's fucked up. This is the murder of Dustin Weedy.
Starting point is 00:24:13 I don't know anymore. Maybe we need to make everyone be silent whether or not they know it. Good luck. It's just weird. Make them be silent. All right, here we go. At 21 years old, our friend,
Starting point is 00:24:29 this fucking chick, Tracy Richter, she's from Chicago. She's living in Denver, Colorado. She's studying radiology, whatever. She meets a dude and marries him, named John Pittman. He's a med student Northwestern. The screaming banshees.
Starting point is 00:24:49 Okay. You can't criticize if it's off the top of my head. You're right, you're right, you're right. I know it's tacky, but that's the first thing that came out. I get it. Give me another chance. I will. There's going to be more colleges tonight.
Starting point is 00:24:58 Oh, great. Everywhere. Great. Okay. He's in residency to become a plastic surgeon. They have a baby, and they moved to Virginia. Okay. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:25:10 They have a baby, but he's coming up plastic surgeon, so he's fucking gone all the time, like 120 hours a week, he's out of the house. So he's never home. But then he starts noticing strange charges showing up on their credit card. And he finds out that Tracy's leaving their newborn home with babysitters all the time when he's gone too.
Starting point is 00:25:31 No judgments. No judgments. I would never do it. So whatever you want to do with a newborn is up to you. You wouldn't do the first part. Do your thing. Just get it done. Doesn't sound easy.
Starting point is 00:25:44 Keep them alive. That's all that matters. So he hires up, he does what any trusting husband does, and hires a private investigator to follow her around. Right. Which is just the foundation of a good marriage, I feel like. It's good to get support in your marriage through photographs or video tape, whatever it takes.
Starting point is 00:26:02 Right. And of course, finds out she's having a shit ton of affairs. You know. A couple? I think so. It's like a spate of affairs, which who knows what that means. You know. What if it means zero?
Starting point is 00:26:21 She was having less than 100 affairs. Well, how many? We'll never know. Yeah. Let me show you a photo, a picture of her. Here we go. Oh. Watch it.
Starting point is 00:26:38 Watch your mouth. So she's kind of hot, you know. Are you mad at them? Yeah, I'm mad at them all over. Leave us tits girls alone. Oh, there's nothing we can do. They're just there all the fucking time, taking up space. Wait, you can't take them off when you go to bed?
Starting point is 00:27:01 No. Oh, that sucks. I'm sorry. That's all right. So in 1992, Tracy, her is now 27 and she knows she's cheating on him. And but they work it out. They're having an argument at one point and she does what any natural trusting wife would do and pulls a gun on him and fires at him.
Starting point is 00:27:27 What? In the home? Oh my God. You put the ketchup back wrong. How do you, I don't know. Yeah. You know, and then you fire? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:37 Because that meant she had it in her pocket. Or maybe she was like, I'm going to be right back and went and like then brought it out. She's like, pause this argument. Yeah, I need to do something rational. So he calls the cops. She's charged with discharging a firearm during an argument, which is a thing. And pleads no contest. And in return, she receives a probated sentence.
Starting point is 00:28:01 Is that probation? It is. No, that's okay. I'm a lawyer. Here's the thing. I don't know. But if you say it like that, then it absolutely is. Yes, that's what it is.
Starting point is 00:28:13 Yeah, Georgia. We all know. God. So he shockingly files for a divorce. Okay. Can you believe it? Yes. And before it's finalized in 1996, Tracy then during their divorce accuses John of sexually
Starting point is 00:28:29 abusing their five-year-old son. Oh, no. He's not FYI. A judge just misses the case for lack of evidence. And Tracy moves back to her hometown of Chicago with her son. So do you think it was a case of she's trying to hurt him the worst way possible? Well, wait till you hear more about her. I'll stop asking questions and listen.
Starting point is 00:28:47 You tell me after you hear about what this person's like. So she moves back to Chicago. She goes on land dating. She, you know, does the old... And it's like the early 90s. So that's got to be an ugly time. Oh, that's Craigslist shit. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:01 No, no. Do you need a dresser drawer or a one-night stand? Come on over. Do you need a night stand or a one-night stand? Do you? So, but however, she meets a fucking businessman in Australia. They talk online for a couple months. He comes to visit to meet her.
Starting point is 00:29:22 And 18 days later, they get married, as normal people do all the time. Quick red flag. Do they have businessmen in Australia? I don't know. And I change that from entrepreneur because there's no fucking word, no thing I trust less than when someone's an entrepreneur. But I think you have to use that word because it's untrustworthy. It's indicative.
Starting point is 00:29:43 No, he's fine too. Oh, okay. Everyone's fine in this but her. Okay. We don't, yeah. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. Okay.
Starting point is 00:29:52 They get married in 18 days. Yikes. Okay, so his name's Michael. I give it a full 30. Absolutely. Yeah. I got engaged in three months once. And guess what?
Starting point is 00:30:04 It didn't fucking work. Yeah. It turns out you can't know someone that quickly. Was there just kind of a hot, hot heat passion to it? No, it was a war 29. And we're better than everyone else. And let's get this over, you know, like... Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:19 Sure. Look how in love we are with each other. Sure. And then it just stopped. It didn't. We weren't. Turns out. Turns out.
Starting point is 00:30:28 Big reveal. So Tracey and her new quick husband, Michael, moved to early Iowa. It's a small town. You guys, everyone from, there's 557 people that live there. So there's like five times the amount tonight. All of them are here tonight. They're all here today. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:44 Early. Early. Early is here. It's 100 miles from Des Moines. Oh, I'm sorry. That's gross. I'm not a germ perforator. I'm not a germ perforator.
Starting point is 00:30:54 I'm not a germ perforator. I'm not a germ perforator. I'm not a germ perforator. I'm not a germ perforator. You're not? Watch this. Ew. I mean, you know where my fucking gross fingers have been
Starting point is 00:31:07 because you hang out with me all day. Washed and washed and washed again. That's true. It couldn't be. My mouth is now cleaner for having taken that sip. That's true. OK. They moved to early, as I said.
Starting point is 00:31:21 They have two children. Oh, let me show you a picture of them. Why am I going for my telephone? This thing. Oh, look how in love they are after 18 days. 18 days. I think that happens to hot people, though. It would be so difficult to be, like, crazy hot.
Starting point is 00:31:41 And then how would you? You must just be, you think she's crazy? Well, she's pretty. Well, I mean, sure. She does not look like that. Looks like a Zales ad or something. Doesn't it? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:52 That looks like an ad that would make me really mad at Christmastime. Or I'd be like, why do I have to watch this shit? Yeah. Two people spinning around each other, and then, like, uh-huh. Chocolate diamonds? That's not a thing. What?
Starting point is 00:32:06 Ew. And who even fits a brown diamond's ails? Gross. Stop it. I don't want to match a fucking necklace and earrings. No, chocolate diamonds aren't a real thing. Also, diamonds aren't valuable. Do you know that?
Starting point is 00:32:20 Diamonds aren't valuable. There's so many. OK, we'll get into that on our other podcast. Diamonds aren't valuable. Coming to exactly right in 2025. We're working on it. OK. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:32:35 No, it's great. But obviously, their marriage is in trouble almost from the start, surprising to no one. Michael finds out she's sleeping with other men, and she's coming home at weird hours that night and all this shit. She might be a sex addict. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:32:52 He tries to work, he's like, let's get through this, even though you're the one having all the fun. But she has an unpredictable temper and violent outbursts, hence shooting at her ex-fucking-husband at one time. I wonder if the gun's back here on those one, like cop straps back here. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:15 Or maybe it's like a cute little one in her sock. An ankle gun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are the cutest. So cute. So in 2001, then in 2001, they're still marrying everything. But her ex-husband, shooting target, he's worried about his son's living situation,
Starting point is 00:33:36 so he sues for sole custody. And this fucking sets her off. So here's what happens. OK. On December 31, 2001, Tracy calls 9-1-1 to report that she had just shot an intruder to death who had broken into her house and tried to strangle her with a set of pantyhose.
Starting point is 00:33:56 A full set? Sorry. Yeah, I don't know why I said that. Sorry. No, a pair. A pair, yeah. A pair, a set, some, one, or just pantyhose. Just pantyhose.
Starting point is 00:34:11 Sorry, I didn't have to do that. I wish you would have. I'm glad you did. So stop it. Sorry. The victim is Tracy's 20-year-old neighbor named Dustin Weedy. He, it's not like Weedies, she had shot him,
Starting point is 00:34:37 she thought he was an intruder, shot him nine times with two separate handguns, fucking Annie Oakley style. Jesus Christ. But she kept in her home safe. So she basically was like, there was an intruder, he came after me, he fought me, my kids were in the room next door, I was scared for their lives, he was using a pantyhose on me, and she had a pantyhose.
Starting point is 00:35:00 I wish she had a mark on her neck. Who knows if it's from pantyhose, but that's what I'm saying. And so she got out, ran to her bedroom safe, pulled out two guns, and shot him nine times. And then realizing it was her next-door neighbor, Dustin. So he's a sweet, normal computer nerd dude who lives in his parents' basement
Starting point is 00:35:24 and is like super, just a kid. Yeah. He's like, OK. And then he's timid, he has no criminal record, police are like, this is weird, he doesn't seem like a candidate for home burglary and assault. And also he had used to come over and help her Tracy out with shit, so she knew who he was.
Starting point is 00:35:45 And he parked his car in her driveway, which doesn't sound like someone would do who's going to break into someone's house. And so police search his car. And in Dustin's car, they find a pink spiral-bound notebook with a written confession inside in his handwriting. It says that he says that a mysterious fellow named John Pittman had hired him to kill Tracy
Starting point is 00:36:10 and her 11-year-old son. And John was her ex-husband who was trying to get school custody. Oh, right. So it made it seem like John was hiring Dustin to kill Tracy. And so then John would get in trouble. Does that make sense? Yes, it does, absolutely. What doesn't make sense is some dude writing a confession
Starting point is 00:36:30 in a pink spiral-bound notebook. Leaving it in the car, parking the car in front of the. It's like, I'm about to do a crime, but in case I get murdered during it, I'll just quickly confess to it and just make clean this up real tightly. We're all like, what? Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
Starting point is 00:36:49 Bullshit sensors going off. But John, the ex-husband, the police are never able to find a link. There's no phone records. There's nothing to say that they knew each other or ever had any contact. And so police are fucking suspicious of Tracy's story, but they don't press charges against her.
Starting point is 00:37:08 And the case is classified as a self-defense homicide. And then she becomes fucking a media star. I don't remember this in 2001, but she becomes a poster child for gun use. People compare it to Annie Oakley and Wonder Woman, and it's like, this is why you need guns in your house around your children. Yeah, so it's your fucking state.
Starting point is 00:37:28 So I'm kidding. I don't know. Georgia will not be booed. She will not be booed. Of course, sweet Dustin's mom is like, Bullshit does not fucking believe it. She files a civil action suit against Tracy for wrongful death. But Tracy and her husband, who husband believes the story
Starting point is 00:37:53 that Tracy tells, they're like, fuck you. Well, he just got there. So of course he believes her. Right. Fresh off the plane from Australia. Immediately married. So but this Tracy and her husband bury Dustin's family in legal fees until she runs out of money
Starting point is 00:38:10 and can't pursue the fucking case any longer. Fuck that. OK, so shortly after she kills Dustin, Tracy and her family moved to Omaha, Nebraska to start a new life. Is that what you do out there? You guys started a new life? Everybody started a new life.
Starting point is 00:38:30 It's the way to do it. And then in 2002, Tracy and her husband are on the Montell Williams show. Remember that fucking gem? With her, she recounts the audience is like believes her and her account of what happened. And they have so much sympathy for her. And they hail her as a hero.
Starting point is 00:38:51 So she's fucking getting all this attention. But eventually, Michael's support for his wife eventually fades. And in 2004, the couple separate. Michael says the reason for the breakup is because Tracy insisted on doing a trust exercise with him. Uh-oh. Here we go.
Starting point is 00:39:08 Is it fall backwards off a log or whatever? People do a business meeting? No, it's not. Business camp or whatever it is? They might do this, but this might be the, I haven't been to a business camp in a long time. So this might be the new thing. She would roll him in a sheet and drug him with a sleeping pill
Starting point is 00:39:27 and partially suffocate him with a plastic bag. Do you trust me? No. Yeah. Jesus. Yeah. He's like, crikey, mate. She's like, this is how Americans do it, I swear.
Starting point is 00:39:48 Sure. Haven't you ever been to, are you a businessman? Haven't you ever been to a business camp? This is how business works. Yeah. Entrepreneur. And Tracy, to get back him, she tells the police that Michael was part of the husband's conspiracy to kill her.
Starting point is 00:40:08 So like both her ex's husbands are in on it. That's what she tells them. Sure. Lump them all in together. Yeah. And I think the detectives were like, uh-huh, lady. Yep. Sure.
Starting point is 00:40:17 So Michael, these town, without his kids, moves back to Finland. He says he doesn't want to make the kids go through that divorce thing, but I'm like, they're fine. You should stick around, dude. Can I ask a question? Yeah. When did Finland come into play?
Starting point is 00:40:33 Sorry. I don't know. But it's on my paper. So it's part of the story now. All Australians, if they kind of punk out in America, straight to Finland, you don't get to go back to Australia. No. Australia is really against a horse.
Starting point is 00:40:52 No, they're not. They're all Catholic. Yeah. But he marries another woman he meets on the internet. Goodbye. Oh, and probably she was probably finished. That explains it. I'm sure that one went great.
Starting point is 00:41:04 OK. OK. So while living in Nebraska, Tracy has more remins with the law. In 2009, she's convicted of welfare fraud and a sentence to probation. But then in 2010, 10 fucking years after the murder of Dustin Weedy, Ben Smith,
Starting point is 00:41:18 the new Sac County prosecutor, takes office. And he's like, let's do this. They love Ben Smith here. He's amazing. And DCI special agent, Trent Valletta, he's like, yo, I've been following this fucking crazy-ass case forever now that there's a new prosecutor in town. Can we do this?
Starting point is 00:41:40 And Ben Smith's like, hell yeah, let's do this. Then they go to the yard house. That is word for word, by the way. So Smith looks over the evidence, and he's like, let's do a new investigation. And he uncovers a federal warrant on Tracy for falsifying information in a passport application, which is like, what do you fucking say you're 5-2
Starting point is 00:42:02 when you're really 5-1? I don't get that. How, what do you? Why would you lie on a passport? And how bad could the lie be that you'd get in trouble for it? Is your weight on your passport? I don't know. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:16 Is it? I don't know. I don't either. That's how I would go down. Yeah. Truly. What? Yes, I am.
Starting point is 00:42:22 What? Look, I'm not 5-5 in real life, but I'm so close that I might as well be in my driver's license as so. Oh, and another conviction in Iowa for perjury on a driver's license application. What are these lies about? I can see fine. I don't need glasses.
Starting point is 00:42:39 No, I swear to God I'll donate my liver. I swear to God. Liar. So with that, they're able to subpoena her hard drive, and they find fucking crazy violent porn and snuff films on it, which is bananas. And they also discover that in between your two husbands, Tracy had seduced an oral surgeon in Chicago.
Starting point is 00:43:01 She was like, hey, literally, hey, let's get high on your laughing gas and have sex. And as any fucking dentist would, I don't know. It's like, great. Yeah, he's like, I do that anyway. So it'd be great if somebody else was here with me. That's right. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:43:17 Join me. Look, we love dentists. We support them everything. But they're pervs, and you know it. You know it. Yeah. Send her emails to my neighbor, where they're at she goes. Tera, Georgia.
Starting point is 00:43:33 So of course, she blackmails him with photos and threatens to sue him for sexual assault charges. And she has him sign documents that she ultimately uses for a check fraud. So she just totally blackmails a suit. The dentist is later exonerated, but loses his practice and shit. So they find out on her.
Starting point is 00:43:51 Delete your hard drives. I don't know. Is that a thing? Guys. Throw it into Michigan. No, don't. I'm not trying to tell people how to get away with snuff film porn.
Starting point is 00:44:01 OK. That would be a whole different podcast. A forensic ballistics expert determines that Dustin had been shot three times in the back. And that was the first shot. So of course, this contradicts Tracy's claim of self-defense. And they find a woman who Tracy had told about the pink notebook that they found the confession in,
Starting point is 00:44:24 but that hadn't been released to the public. So she shouldn't have known about that. You know what I'm saying? Yes. So they're like, great. And they arrest her and charged her with first degree murder. So yeah. I just like the idea that a piece of evidence in this trial
Starting point is 00:44:39 is going to be a Lisa Frank notebook. I just think I just wish I was there. Yeah. Do you recognize this unicorn with a rainbow behind it and a cat? Somehow also, there's a cat. I rest my case. I rest my case, your honor.
Starting point is 00:44:58 May I approach the bench with a Lisa Frank notebook so we can write down the boys we like's names and then figure out if we're going to live in a shack, a mansion, a house, or a certain. Yeah, it's fortune teller. 11 kids. Why? Oh, I don't know what this next photo is.
Starting point is 00:45:26 OK. There she is. Wow. That's her in kind of hot, right? Like fucking mean teacher. She was your librarian telling you to shut up. You'd be like, all right. Well, this also looks a little bit like a lens
Starting point is 00:45:39 crafter's porn, doesn't it? Yeah, and then she takes her hair down. She's like, I'll check your fucking retinas. So they talk like that in porn? Probably not. Probably not. Yeah. Every time my roots grow in, I'm like,
Starting point is 00:45:54 I'm going to do that skunk stripe thing. It looks really hot. Oh, no fucking way. No way. I mean, if this isn't an ad for Botox, I don't know what is. God. Promo code murder.
Starting point is 00:46:09 Wouldn't that be great? We had Botox ads. No. OK. So of course, the theory of the prosecutor is that Tracy Lorde dusted her house, forced him at gunpoint to write a confession in the pink notebook. But I believe that she tricked him somehow into doing it.
Starting point is 00:46:27 Like, write this thing. I want to whatever. See it in writing. Yeah, and then let me wrap you in saran wrap. Right. And then fired nine shots at him into his body and then planted the notebook in his car. So maybe the pink thing was her own.
Starting point is 00:46:40 To frame her ex-husband for solicitation of murder. Her way of gaining advantage before an upcoming custody hearing and possibly, and she was also, if that happened, she was going to lose her $1,000 a month child support payments. So she was like, what can, whatever. OK. Of course, let's see.
Starting point is 00:46:59 The trial starts on October 23, 2011 in the Webster County town of Fort Dodge, Iowa. That's where you're all from. Tracy's now 45, and her 20-year-old son is on her side. But in two weeks, a jury of six men and six women take less than two hours to find Tracy guilty. Ouch. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:23 They were just like, they all went into the room. They went into the room with their files, and they're like, OK, we should just wait a little bit. We have to wait a little bit. It'd be like rude. It's only proper that we wait. Let's burn an hour. We'll just get to know each other.
Starting point is 00:47:40 We'll head back in. That's right. It's almost lunchtime. So Mona Weedy, Dustin's mother, tells reporters that her son's murder ruined her marriage and drove her ex-husband to suicide. But she called the jury's decision a blessing. OK.
Starting point is 00:47:57 And then in January 2012, before Tracy's sentence to life in prison, which she eventually is, she sends a letter to a Wisconsin prison named James Landa that gets found in the prison system, whatever, when they open mail. I don't know. In the prison mailbox? Sure.
Starting point is 00:48:14 OK. This dude, James Landa, was in prison because he was convicted for sexually molesting a 12-year-old girl. And he had written to Tracy after her conviction and offered her moral support. So that's who you're getting support from. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:30 Question your decisions. Yeah. Our choices are what we make them. Yes. He said he'd been following her case. And so she was like, great. I'll take all the moral support I can get. And then her next letter to him contains
Starting point is 00:48:44 personal information about her second husband, Michael Roberts, including his social security number, date of birth, physical description, and home address. Just sends it along to him. Wow. Yeah. Just like, you know, chit chat. Share.
Starting point is 00:49:00 I want to share with you. You share with me. That's how some people flirt. Yeah. Is giving exes social security numbers. Right. As a come on. It's sexy.
Starting point is 00:49:12 On the next Cosmo, like, how to flirt, I would just say. 542-836794. Karen, you just gave them my social security number. What? I like them. So of course, they find out the prosecutor learns about this. And clearly, she was trying to hire this guy to kill her second ex-husband.
Starting point is 00:49:33 So in June 2012, she's on a two hour date line special. Sticks to her dumb story of self-defense. And let's see. Keith Morrison just like, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Let me lean on this thing. Let me set this up for you. So, OK, here's what's fucking crazy.
Starting point is 00:49:57 While she's in prison later in Mitchellville, she pretty good. How many fireworks places do they have, I think? So from her prison, she launches a life in prison, launches a custody battle with her ex for visiting rights with her two children who are 12 and 14. By this time, this dude has the children. They go to California, and they're
Starting point is 00:50:27 going to move back to Australia where all his family and friends are to give them a normal fucking life. But she's like, nope. And so an Iowa judge rules that Tracy hasn't lost her right to regular visits with her children by being convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. OK. Judge Nancy Wittenberg.
Starting point is 00:50:46 And so she says that he. Oh, your name and names. Shit, girl. Shit. I'm just reading what's on my paper. OK. She says that he is legally obligated to make visitation trips from California to Iowa
Starting point is 00:51:00 and back to have the kids see their mom. And he immediately goes back to Australia. Yeah. He just bails? Yeah. With the kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No.
Starting point is 00:51:11 No. It's pretty fucked up. It's basically like he took the world's worst vacation, is essentially what happened to him. How was your trip to the US? It ruins me life. Sorry, I can't do that one. That was close.
Starting point is 00:51:35 That was good. You're like a British popper or something. That was like your chimney sweep. Beatles head injury accent. That's what that was. Yeah. It gets crazier still. What?
Starting point is 00:51:47 In July 2014, they searched Tracy's mother's computer and Anna Richter, and they find out that the mother had harassed and defamed the first husband and other prosecution witnesses totally trolled the shit out of them and wrote these crazy articles about them on the internet. Do you know you can just do that? Isn't that to be true?
Starting point is 00:52:09 It's really weird. A lot of the internet is not true. It's really crazy. So they accuse the former witnesses of theft, perjury, fraud, computer hacking, and child molestations. And they're still, if you Google the names of the ex-husbands, like articles pop up that's like crazy, like clearly fake, like weird ones.
Starting point is 00:52:26 It's all in comic songs. Satanist runs over a dog and is, you know, it's like that. Satanist shot her. The page is yellow with a red writing. OK, well, it seems like a newspaper to me, I mean. Legit. And they think the mother's behind the tax, but she's never formally charged.
Starting point is 00:52:48 Tracy's currently serving her life sentence, still maintains her innocence, a kind of silver lining situation. In 2014, another Iowa judge rules that the delinquent child support payments that was owed to Tracy from Australia friend, he was like trying to get those that he didn't have to pay them anymore.
Starting point is 00:53:09 And the judge was like, no, you still have to pay those, the back-to-back child support. But those are all going to the family of Dustin Weedy. Yes. So Mona's getting that money back. Yes. So she's getting $150,000 in restitution from that. It's not enough, but good.
Starting point is 00:53:26 Right. So, and that is the fucking crazy story, the murder of Justin Weedy. Oh my god. Justin Weedy's in it. Thank you. Wow. How would I have never heard of any of that?
Starting point is 00:53:36 I know. Especially she went on a fucking press tour. Yeah. I mean, like, she's been on some stuff. Totally. That's crazy. There you go. All right, I'm going to do the Voliska Axe Murders.
Starting point is 00:53:51 Oh. Yes. Not only because it's one of the most famous cold cases in American history, as you all know, but because now this actually reminds me a lot of when I was in London and I decided to do Jack the Ripper. And then as I started to do it, I got the cold sweats. And I was like, why would I do the most famous and involved
Starting point is 00:54:26 murder in the place where it happened, filled with the experts about that murder? But I got through that. So this should be fine. And apparently, Stephen says I haven't done it before. So we're fine. OK. So I got most of this information.
Starting point is 00:54:44 There are websites called iocoldcases.org. VoliskaIowa.com. And this really interesting one, wikipedia.gov. God, it's good. Truly. So many links. So we are in Voliska, Iowa. It's 1912.
Starting point is 00:55:08 The 1910 census reports that the population there is 2032. So it's a cozy little town. And it's Monday, June 10th, 1912. Now, this event that we're about to talk about, they had a Children's Day program at the Voliska Presbyterian Church. And so this. They have a day off work.
Starting point is 00:55:30 Is that what happens? Well, it's summertime. But I looked at, because on some websites, it says it happens Sunday. They say it's Sunday the 9th. There's something about that. But I was assured by several different people that this is Monday the 10th.
Starting point is 00:55:47 So look, you can have church events on Mondays. It's probably really popular to book your church on Sundays. Nobody cares about the Children's Day. God loves you seven days a week, Karen. Especially in the summer, when the kids aren't in school. OK. Monday, June 10th, 1912. OK, so they're presenting a Children's Day program.
Starting point is 00:56:09 Basically, the children come, and they do skits, and they sing songs, and it's show off night for the Lord, is what I like to call it. That's what this podcast is, too. That's exactly right. Oh, I didn't do that on purpose. It's getting really problematic. I didn't know how much I used that phrase
Starting point is 00:56:34 until we named our podcast, Network That. And now it looks like I'm the corneist. That's exactly right. Right, ding, TMC, give me 25 cents. It's so lame. OK, I like to imagine in 1912, in a town like Voluska that has 2,000 people in it, even the Children's Day program at the Presbyterian Church
Starting point is 00:56:55 was like the hot ticket that night, you know what I mean? And there's probably like a group of teenagers hanging out front just because they have to be there, because their family's inside. But they're like, let's go smoke some corn husks or whatever. Like, that's where the whole town is. One of the co-directors or organizers
Starting point is 00:57:16 is 39-year-old Sarah Moore. All four of her children participate in the event. Herman, who's 11, Mary, who's 10, Arthur, 7, and Paul is 5. And her husband, Josiah, who's 42, is there in the congregation watching. So everything wraps up around 9.30 that night. And the family gets ready to walk home. So the Moors bought their house in Voluska in 1903.
Starting point is 00:57:42 And they're an affluent, well-liked, and prominent family in the town. So everybody knows who they are. And they were the stars of the Children's Day program. That's not true. All eyes were on Herman, little Herman. It's very hard for me. I definitely wouldn't do it on this one.
Starting point is 00:57:59 But last night, I did another historical one. And I already have a problem with embellishment. And it's like in the historical ones, that's all I want to do is just be like, she woke up fresh and new one morning. And it's just like, no, this is in a book. It's all conjectured. How did she wake up? She'll never know.
Starting point is 00:58:18 She stretched her arms all the way to the sky. No, there's no proof that happened. OK, so Mary, their 10-year-old daughter, had invited two friends over to spend the night after the Children's Day program. Eight-year-old Inas Dillinger and her sister, Lina, who was 12. And they were supposed to spend the night at their grandmother's house.
Starting point is 00:58:41 But right before the program, Hesiah called the grandmother and said, is it OK if the girls come and stay with Mary and have a slumber party at our house? And so they did, and that was the plan. So they all walked home. They got home to the Moors about 10 o'clock at night. They all had cookies and milk, and then they went to bed. I know.
Starting point is 00:59:01 Yeah, it gets worse. People who don't know this are like, why are they sad about them having cookies and milk? Are they lactose intolerant? What's the problem? No. I like milk. OK, so the Moors put the Stillinger sisters
Starting point is 00:59:18 in the guest room, which is downstairs, and then the rest of the family goes up to their rooms upstairs to go to sleep. So let's take a look at everybody that was in, oh, there's the house. There's the house at the time. Cute little house. Well, no, not at the time, because it was in June.
Starting point is 00:59:32 And I'm from California, but I'm pretty sure that's snow, everybody. I could swear to God that's winter time. And there's the family, the Moors and their children, and then those are the Stillinger sisters. Yeah. OK. All right.
Starting point is 00:59:54 Page two. So the next morning around 7 in the morning, their neighbor, Mary Peckham, noticed that Moors haven't come outside or done any of their chores for that morning. So she goes over and knocks on the door to see if everything's OK, and no one answers. And when she tries to open the door, it's locked.
Starting point is 01:00:12 So she goes, I guess what was really bothering her is she went and let the chickens out. Let's get to the real reason she was there. She's like, that rooster? Well, knock, stop. So she lets the chickens out. Then she calls her brother, Ross, and she says, you might want to come and check
Starting point is 01:00:28 because the door's locked and nobody is answering the door. So Ross comes over, he tries knocking, and he shouts, no one answers, no one comes to the door. So he uses a spare key to get inside. And he goes inside, and the first room he checks is the guest bedroom. And he finds the Stillinger sisters lying in bed bludgeoned to death.
Starting point is 01:00:53 And there's blood everywhere on the bed. He immediately runs outside, tells Mary Peckham to call the city marshal, Hank Horton. So Hank gets there about 8.30 in the morning, and he goes into the house. And he goes upstairs. He finds a horrifying scene that I'm sure nobody had ever even imagined seeing in their life.
Starting point is 01:01:15 The entire Moore family has been murdered with Josiah's acts, which he found in that guest bedroom where the Stillinger sisters were found dead. So everyone in the house had been murdered. Doctors later determined that the murders must have taken place between midnight, the night before obviously, and 5 AM, June 10th and 11th, if my sources are correct. OK, so the police put it all together, look at everything,
Starting point is 01:01:42 and they theorize that the murderer was in the house and waited until everyone was asleep. And then upstairs started in Sarah and Josiah's room. And that's how he knew that there were people in the basement or the guest room, yeah. I think he knew everything that was going on personally. So he kills the parents first, and then he moves into the kids rooms.
Starting point is 01:02:06 He bludges all four more children in the head with the blunt edge of the acts. And then he goes back to the master bedroom and struck Josiah and Sarah several more times with the acts before heading down Sarah's to the guest room to murder the Stillinger girls. Josiah received the worst of the attack. The killer used the blade edge of the acts on him
Starting point is 01:02:28 and the blunt edge on everybody else. So he was attacked so terribly that his eyes were missing. So investigators believe that everyone was asleep when the attack started, except for Lena Stillinger, which would make sense, because everybody upstairs was being killed. So can you imagine those little girls were downstairs? Lena wakes up hearing noises.
Starting point is 01:02:56 And she had defensive wounds on her arms. And her body was found lying across the bed instead of tucked in. So it indicated that she fought back. And her nightgown had also been pushed up to her waist. She had no underwear on. And so the police believe she was a sexually assault type of killer.
Starting point is 01:03:16 So here's some other weird things the police found in the home. All of the victim's faces were covered with their bedclothes after they were killed. The curtains were drawn on every window, except for two, which the ones that didn't have curtains. And those ones were covered with pieces of the Moore's clothing, as well as all the mirrors in the house.
Starting point is 01:03:37 They were all covered in the glass entry doors. And a clothing was used to cover the phone. And on one of the websites, someone pointed out they put a picture of the style of phone that the Moore's had in their house, which was the old, hello. Giant fucking bodice thing. But with the two bells and the thing you talk into,
Starting point is 01:03:57 and it kind of looks like a face. And the person on that website theorized that the murder was covering all faces. And so we kind of looked at the phone, and that was like a face, too. The mirror thing is so creepy, like not even wanting to see your own face. That's so creepy.
Starting point is 01:04:15 We have a face issue here, for sure. OK, then investigators find a four pound piece of slab bacon leaning against the wall next to the partially cleaned ax that was found in the guest bedroom, in the Stillinger's room. And the bacon was covered with a dish towel. What? So maybe he saw some faces in the bacon.
Starting point is 01:04:39 Oh. But there was just one bacon slab. One slab of bacon in the room, but there was also another one in the icebox. So he didn't take both. What the fuck? Yeah. Guys, someone has to solve this.
Starting point is 01:05:00 Wait, it's not solved? No. Well, I'm going to get a little shit. Oh, shit. That's what I said by the most famous cold case. Anyway. Oh, right. I wasn't.
Starting point is 01:05:13 You don't listen to mine? I've got to be honest with you. Come on. I was listening to yours almost the whole time. Then I was also thinking, this is chubed. It's too much. I need a stitch right there. Anyone has a sewing kit?
Starting point is 01:05:30 We'll talk later. OK, all right. There was also a plate of uneaten food and a bowl of bloody water on the kitchen table. A kerosene lamp was found at the foot of both Sarah and Isaiah's bed, and at the foot of the bed in the guest room where the Stilinger sisters were killed, and the chimneys of both of those lamps were off.
Starting point is 01:05:53 So you know those old fashioned lamps that have the big glass thing? So that's a chimney. That's off. Oh, I get it. They're both in it. OK, good. Because it's not that he didn't dismantle the chimney in the house.
Starting point is 01:06:06 Got it. It's a chimney of that lamp. There were gouge marks in the ceiling where the fucking murderer threw back. He swung the axe so violently that he hit the ceiling. I hate when they do that. That's in a couple stories and stuff like that. And it's just like, that sucks.
Starting point is 01:06:26 Because you can, that brings it into a Texas chainsaw massacre area where you're just like, I can't. This is a raving lunatic with a fucking axe in a house with a family and children. I just want to underline that for you if no one understood what was happening. So then they go into the attic and they find two cigarette butts that had been smoked in the attic.
Starting point is 01:06:51 That's where they were hanging out. He was hanging out. That's where he was fucking hiding. Now there are theories that because there are two cigarettes, that must mean there were two killers who were waiting up there. Someone can smoke two cigarettes. Hello, that's what I said. Is that legal?
Starting point is 01:07:06 Is that legal in 1912? In the 90s, when I was on Diet Pills, I could smoke 32 cigarettes at once. Like that guy in the Guinness World Record thing, where you just smoke them all at once. That's right. Yes. Take me away.
Starting point is 01:07:30 So I think, first, anyway, we'll talk about that after. The local drugist came to the house. So basically, obviously, everyone, it's a tiny town. Everyone's like, what happened? People start gathering around the neighbors, start gathering, and then people are like, a crowd. What, if children's day is over, there's nothing else to do. Let's go see what this crowd's about.
Starting point is 01:07:49 Do they let them come on in the house? Oh, yes, they do. Of course they do. Of course they do. Over 100 people walked through the Moore's House before the National Motherfucking Guard got there to record and everything off. And they were like, what are you doing?
Starting point is 01:08:03 You guys. What I like is that the local drugist showed up with his camera, and people were like, you get the fuck out of here. You disgusting monster. He is disgusting? They're like, I'm dying to tromp through this house. You're standing, stomping.
Starting point is 01:08:21 Yeah, people literally toured the house with the dead bodies in it. Before those people came at the Velisca National Guard, they showed up, and they cordoned that shit off. I just like that the drugist was right. It's like someone should be taking pictures of every single room. He was 40 years early.
Starting point is 01:08:42 Sorry, buddy. OK, so I want to make sure I didn't miss any pictures. This, of course, hits the press the next day, and it is huge and crazy. We have to talk about that should be pulled down a little bit so you can see the headline. What's the headline? I don't know.
Starting point is 01:09:00 We got to fix this. I'm sure it's something identity of small something. It's holy shit. It starts with holy shit. Something like that. Hey, fountain! OK. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:09:13 All right. I'm looking at it like I'm going to read the article. Karen, don't read on stage. It's not polite. This story was so huge, it bumped the sinking of the Titanic off the front page. Fuck you, Titanic. That's right.
Starting point is 01:09:32 Oh, my god. So, of course, no one knows who did it. No one, there's no suspects off the top of anyone's head. No, they don't have any enemies. It's the lovely young family. So the authorities start to look into who's a stranger or new in town and to see if they could be a potential suspect.
Starting point is 01:09:55 So the first suspect they came up with was a man named S.A. Andy Sawyer. And that's because about 6 AM on the day the Moore family was discovered, Andy Sawyer approaches a bridge foreman in Burlington and asks for a job. And the foreman needed the help, so he hires Sawyer. But as the day wears on and the time, he's there for a couple of days, the foreman and the rest
Starting point is 01:10:23 of the crew notice that Sawyer behaves a little bit oddly. Mostly keeps to himself, but then when he does speak, it's about the axe murders and whether or not anyone's been apprehended. He did it, it was him. Right? Just put a little check mark by that guy. And that night, he sleeps with an axe next to it,
Starting point is 01:10:42 making everybody else real uncomfortable. That's a bad night of sleep for those guys. And he's like, well, night and night, I'm just going to... You guys think they caught me, buddy, or that axe murderer? Oh. And they're like, I don't want to sleep next to Andy. Someone switched with me?
Starting point is 01:11:05 So another day on the job, the foreman walks up. He's behind Sawyer, so Sawyer doesn't see him. And he spots Sawyer rubbing his head with both hands and then suddenly jumping up and saying to no one, I will cut your goddamn heads off. And then he just starts swinging his axe at dirt piles in front of it. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:11:26 And then he got fired, I hope? Well, in a little bit, but first. That's not enough. That's warning number two. They had to build this bridge. This Sawyer tells the foreman after a couple of days later, when maybe hours, I'm not sure, that he was in Velisca the day of the murders had heard about them,
Starting point is 01:11:48 but fled town because he was afraid he'd be taken in as a suspect. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. That's when the foreman turned Sawyer into the sheriff. So Sawyer's taken into custody on June 18, 1912. So the foreman's son would later testify that while the work crew was traveling through Velisca for the job, Sawyer showed him the getaway path of the Moore's
Starting point is 01:12:13 family murderer. Oh, no. He was like, look over there, JR. He jumped over a manure box, and they ran over the nearby railroad tracks. Literally, I'm reading this off the paper. He went through the creek on his way. Literally just was like, he went there,
Starting point is 01:12:29 and they went down there and went there. And the son, whose name was JR, noted that there were, indeed, footprints where Sawyer said they would be. Yes, so dog ear that part. However, upon further questioning, Andy Sawyer is able to prove I bolded this town name, because I was meant to ask someone backstage
Starting point is 01:12:51 how you pronounce it. O-S-C-E-O-L-A. Osceola. I said it first. Osceola, I said it before you. I already know, and I said it before you. Osceola. Osceola.
Starting point is 01:13:05 Osceola. Ohio. Osceola. Osceola. I got it on my seventh try. Damn, I mean bolded. Yeah, you got to be sure to ask me backstage. You got to take the time.
Starting point is 01:13:24 But no, I had to just keep putting on mascara. OK. Sawyer is able to prove that he was an Osceola on the night of the murders. Don't be condescending about it. Jesus. Because he was arrested for vacancy there, and the sheriff there confirms the story,
Starting point is 01:13:43 so they have to let him go. I can put him in the clink. He did it. When police, this is an I put interesting note, when the police bring bloodhounds into track the murderer's scent, those dogs led police across the railroad tracks and through the creek, exactly like Andy Sawyer said.
Starting point is 01:14:06 OK. The next suspect is a fan favorite. You don't need another one, like I did it. Oh, there's a couple. OK. Reverend Kelly. Reverend George Kelly. Let's take a look.
Starting point is 01:14:17 He's a traveling minister. Oh. That's a trustworthy face, if I've ever seen one. He looks like a cartoon of a light bulb, doesn't he? I'm going to tell you how to save energy. Oh, no. When was the last? How long can you just wear gel in your hair
Starting point is 01:14:37 before you have to wash it out? Oh, back then? Yeah. You never had to wash it out. And how many days in back then times? Never. Never. Never times.
Starting point is 01:14:46 OK. He did it, for sure. He's got a real Nancy Reagan vibe about him. Now that I'm giving him a good long look, if Nancy Reagan would just wear a tweed suit every once in a while. Smart. OK.
Starting point is 01:15:02 So Reverend Kelly, of course, he does the thing where he shows a very strong interest in the case. He claims to know a lot of the details of the case. I mean, it's all of us here. It's true. That's true. We're being so judgmental.
Starting point is 01:15:16 He likes the crime. He wanted to know the details. He's interested. What a creep. Disgusting and sinful. He's a Reverend, though. Someone stands up. I'm a rip.
Starting point is 01:15:33 He writes a bunch of letters to the investigators and the family of the deceased, prompting authorities to like him even more for the crime. One private investigator keeps up correspondence with Reverend Kelly, trying to extract as much information from him as possible to see if actually he's the one that did it. But because Reverend Kelly was known
Starting point is 01:15:51 to have severe mental health issues, the authorities couldn't tell if he was telling the truth, if anything, that he was writing or saying was true. And then two years later, in 1914, Reverend Kelly is arrested for mailing obscene material to women who are applying to be his secretary. Oh, come on. He takes out a want ad in the paper of like,
Starting point is 01:16:16 do you want to look for a wonderful Reverend with a huge forehead and a great attitude? And then some people are like, I'd like to have a job. I need a job. I'm a woman in 1914. Maybe I could work and have a dollar or two of my own. And then, so he writes back, sounds good, send me naked pictures of yourself.
Starting point is 01:16:38 Oh no. Yeah, yeah. And like back then, taking nudes had to be really difficult. It was so hard. It's not like... You had to throw that thing over your back and then run in front. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:16:52 You can't just be like, send nudes. No. Three months later. You had to like, try to find a female photographer. But they don't have any. And then there was the least pervy male. And you're like, okay, I'm trying to get this job. Can you just do me this favor?
Starting point is 01:17:08 Yeah. All right. So he's taken to a mental hospital for treatment and... That's fucking right. What if everyone today had to get sent to the mental hospital for nudes? There'd be no one around. There'd be no traffic.
Starting point is 01:17:28 Requesting nudes. Goodbye. Goodbye. Lock him up. So again, when this all happens and there's arrest, the investigators look at him again for the ballistic murders. By 1917, they built up enough of a case to arrest Reverend Kelly.
Starting point is 01:17:47 And they even get a confession out of him in what they call private questioning. Oh yeah. Which is called the one-two punch of questioning. But he later recants his statement. He is actually twid-twid- Nope. No.
Starting point is 01:18:03 Keep going. Tried twice. There you go. You know what? That fucking computer underlines every misspelling, but they never help you. They're like, you can't, you're not gonna be able to say this out loud.
Starting point is 01:18:15 So why don't you write tried two times? Not tried twice. Yeah. Ultimately, he's acquitted. So they never find enough evidence to... From the hours and hours and hours I know about this case. Yes. I don't think he did it.
Starting point is 01:18:32 Okay, neither do I. So let's move on to our next suspect, Frank Jones. Oh. Oh, he did it. Oh. For sure. I don't think he could have done it because he doesn't have eyes.
Starting point is 01:18:46 Oh. Did they find any goatee hairs left behind in the scene? That's how you know. Ooh. Goatee. All right. Tell me about good ol' Frankie. Okay.
Starting point is 01:19:01 Well, Frank Jones. Frank Jones is a former Iowa State Senator. Oh, he did it. He did it. He's all in it. He's all up in it. See, he has papers in a book. That's how you know.
Starting point is 01:19:14 I'll lead you people with my book and my papers and my glasses that cover my lack of eyes. Oh, maybe he's wearing a sleeping mask. From the future. Ooh. Okay. So, Josiah Moore worked for Jones at his... Here's an amazing cut and paste for you.
Starting point is 01:19:38 At his implement store. What was an implement store? It could have been like a hardware store. Probably a hardware store. Implement. Implement store. Horror equipment? No, farm equipment.
Starting point is 01:19:51 Farm equipment. See, that's what happens. Did you say horror equipment? Horror. Horror. Horror? Horror. Horror.
Starting point is 01:20:01 I don't know why you think it's okay to shout. This is supposed to be the Midwest where people are polite. You're like, fucking fireworks going off. It ain't like that around here, motherfucker. Okay. So, at the farm implement fucking store. Implement was the old fashioned way to say fireworks.
Starting point is 01:20:33 So, Josiah Moore worked at his store. Anybody left to open his own store drew business away from Jones. They're like, okay. Implement competition, right? People are like, where do I get my implements? Well, I'm definitely gonna go to old state Senator Frank Jones's.
Starting point is 01:20:49 No, wait. I read on Yelp that you should go to Josiah's. I read on Living Yelp, which is this old lady right here. Three stars. I don't know. I like Josiah's implements better. Josiah also was rumored to have been having an affair
Starting point is 01:21:08 with Frank Jones's daughter-in-law, which then gave Jones a motive, but there was no hard evidence ever found connecting him to the crime. Here's the daughter-in-law. Oh, she's lovely. She is one of the original Donnas. Oh, Donna.
Starting point is 01:21:25 Donna, she went on to star as a secondary character on Parks and Rec. Oh, yeah. She looks like she put a neck pillow on top of her head. You know, the kind you bring on an airplane? Instead of wearing it here, in the airport, she puts it right up there. And that's my hairstyle, she said.
Starting point is 01:21:48 Every time we do stories from the turn of the century and I see women's hairstyles, I'm like, I just would have never made it. You would have been one of the sufferers. You just had a big bun and then she took it down and it went to the floor. I would have been like a wild woman in the forest that just wore her hair as clothes.
Starting point is 01:22:06 You'd be like, I'll never put it up in these, you're weird buns, you require me to wear. Then you can finally let it go gray. Like you've been dying to do. That's right. The dream, living the dream. Goodbye, Donna. Okay.
Starting point is 01:22:23 One other theory involving Jones is that Frank Jones hired a man named William Blackie Mansfield to murder. Ah, he did it. Oh my God, he did it. Oh my God. Now, Blackie just wanted to be the lead singer of a punk band in 1980.
Starting point is 01:22:45 And so, let's not be so. Mansfield, here's why they liked, this was a theory that got developed, was because Blackie Mansfield had been tied to several murders, including the murder of his own wife, his infant child, his parents-in-law, or his in-laws, as I probably should have said. His parents is implied.
Starting point is 01:23:13 Two years after the Moors were killed, he killed basically his whole family. So they were like, yeah, probably this guy did it. Detective James Newton Wilkerson of the Burns Detective Agency of Kansas City had been investigating Mansfield for his connection to other murders in the area. And he built a very convincing case against Mansfield,
Starting point is 01:23:33 and in 1916, Mansfield is arrested, but he has financial records that prove that he was in Illinois when the Moor family was killed, so he's released. They didn't have receipt, like, they couldn't print up a receipt, it's just some guy saying, yep, I saw this skinhead there. Yeah, but, that's right.
Starting point is 01:23:52 So then here's another suspect, Henry Moor. No relation to the Moor family. Several months after the Moor murders, Henry Lee Moor is convicted of murdering his own mother and grandmother with an axe. This leads authorities to believe that maybe he was involved in the Moor murders. Sure, I would have put that together myself.
Starting point is 01:24:10 But there's no hard evidence. Aside from the fucking axe murdering. Exactly, aside from the axe, and aside from this picture of Henry Moor. Ah! Also, a lot of people have dreams with this face in it, have you seen this man's face? Isn't it, like, just the most unnerving?
Starting point is 01:24:32 Yeah. If he didn't do it, he should have done it. Wait, babe. Yeah. I like how they used to put the articles together like that where it looks like you were supposed to cut that out and use it as your own mask. Oh yeah!
Starting point is 01:24:47 It's like a free mask. A hole here and a hole here and tie a fucking ribbon. You could be, Henry Moor, if you want to, just send sense, it's a newspaper. I like that voice. That's a good one, right? Yeah. It's different than the 25 years.
Starting point is 01:24:58 That's right. It's a different character. Yeah. They live in the same neighborhood. Yeah. But they haven't seen each other for 25 years. See the difference? Oh, I love it.
Starting point is 01:25:08 Do you see the difference? Yeah, we see it. This one's a little lit and that one's a little... Well, yeah, I just kind of like this. But one girl, I like them. And that's acting, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Sac State, one year and three months.
Starting point is 01:25:27 Oh, I wrote on my piece of paper, the lead singer of Moor and Five lost his mind. Traveled back in time and killed a family. Oh, God. And here we thought he loved yoga. Oh, well. I mean, you can love yoga and be an ex murderer. Is that true?
Starting point is 01:25:46 It's true. No. I guess. I'm not a yoga teacher or an ex murderer. Oh, good. Yeah. I'm glad for both of those things. Okay, so goodbye.
Starting point is 01:25:59 With no solid evidence or leads, the Moor and Stillinger murders go cold and they remain unsolved to this day. But it's still on the minds of many of us Americans and murderinos and Iowans. Thank God. Oh, that was the other thing on the piece of paper. I didn't show it to anybody before we came out here.
Starting point is 01:26:22 And paranormal ghost hunters alike. Because you can spend the night in the Velosca. No, you can fucking spend the night. Oh, you can. But seriously, I would do it. Would you? Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 01:26:37 Is it the same as it was? It's the same as it ever was. They have preserved it here. Hold on, because I have an email from Bailey and she tells us the subject line is a murder mystery and some paranormal activity from a Midwest teen. This is an email that a listener sent us.
Starting point is 01:26:54 There was another story before this story I'm about to read you. It's a very long email. Because she's a teen. She likes to write and communicate. She's up in a room listening to music with her Christmas lights and shit. Fucking expressing herself and we support it.
Starting point is 01:27:12 It doesn't mean we have to read it. So, hi. So, I'm only 16 years old and I've been binging her podcast for about a month, question mark searches. She's got the accent on paper for about a month. I'm only on episode 79. I honestly didn't even know if I had a hometown murder
Starting point is 01:27:33 or a murder that got me interested in true crime until I remembered a creative writing class that I went to four years ago. Then I took out the first one because it's actually very interesting but it's not related. And then she goes, but then the Voliskin murder house.
Starting point is 01:27:47 During this writer's workshop, we got to talk to the guy who is the caretaker of the house museum. One thing you didn't mention in the episode, you discussed it. This is why I got ahold of Steven. Cause I was like, then the cold chills ran up my spine where I was like, discussed it.
Starting point is 01:28:03 It's 6.30, fuck yeah. I haven't taken a shower and we've already fucking done this, great. But I knew we hadn't. I knew we hadn't. But it was in a, it was in a hometown or a mini-soda or whatever. So she says that we didn't mention
Starting point is 01:28:19 that there were two neighbor girls from a different family who were killed. Okay. I don't know about that Bailey. If we just read a thing and it's the person's fault. I'm interested in defending myself to fucking Bailey. I'll tell you that right now. I'm 50.
Starting point is 01:28:34 Okay. But here's what's important. She says that if you're a normal activity that goes on in the house, that's another thing we didn't mention which I know for a fact is true. So now personally, oh no, sorry, this is her. Now personally, I wanted to spend the night
Starting point is 01:28:50 in this house since I heard about it, but it costs like $500. And I'm a teenager who likes to spend all her money on alcohol and weed. What? What? Bailey. We do not condone that.
Starting point is 01:29:06 We do not support it. We did it ourselves. We did it a lot. We need you to know. It was hard to get. Stop it. How do you even find it? Don't spend $500 on weed.
Starting point is 01:29:18 That's not, you're getting ripped off by that guy that works at the record store. Don't do it Bailey. We're gonna, Steven, mark that please. We can't send that message. Be cool, stay in school. That's right. Anyways, we're back into the email.
Starting point is 01:29:36 Anyways, the caretaker told us some crazy stories about the house. I'm going to save the lighthearted one for last, because I know how you guys always like to end on a good note. Oh, Bailey. Bailey's good. Bailey in a month is fucking caught on. Yeah, no, she gets it.
Starting point is 01:29:50 It's pretty repetitive. Okay, anyway. The first story is from the caretaker's experience himself, and overnight had just got finished and he was cleaning up the place when he heard some banging in the closet. He thought it was just some drunk guy. Then she put some brontheses to be fair.
Starting point is 01:30:06 Who's gonna spend the night there sober? Bailey. Bailey, let's not do drinking comedy already. Who blacked out, okay. He opened the door and there was a small tricycle right in the middle of the doorway. Of course, he freaked the fuck out and slammed it shut. Then he opened it again and this time
Starting point is 01:30:28 there was a motherfucking doll on the tricycle. Now, that sounds like something straight out of a movie theater to me. Yeah. Bailey, I told you to stay home. And guess what? We're all uncomfortable. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:30:53 Okay. The second story is when some paranormal researchers are something, I honestly can't remember what they were, but they were professional, went into the house. The caretaker lives right next door to the house, so when he hears a blood curdling scream, he looks over and checks to see what's going on.
Starting point is 01:31:08 The researcher who had screamed had run out of the house and tore his shirt off of him to reveal three long red scratches down his back. This is a parentheses. Maybe it was a ghost cat. Bailey, you gotta edit yourself a little bit. She's having fun with it. And then she says, on a final note,
Starting point is 01:31:32 I just listened to the Girl Scout camp murders from episode 79 and dot, dot, dot. I'm supposed to go to big sis, little sis Girl Scout camp with my nine-year-old sister this summer. Guess I'm bringing my pepper spray. Love you all, SSGGM. All right, so I just wanted that. Now, just a quick, I'm wrapping it up.
Starting point is 01:31:54 When I was Googling this story, this was the first link I found was from the Des Moines Register. And so I, of course, immediately thought it was legit and it said, well, you'll see. It said, this is the scariest picture from inside the Voliscape axe murder house. So I'm like, holy shit.
Starting point is 01:32:16 I literally like braced myself. I was like, backed up a little bit, like. You're brah, Shelley. Okay. Oh no, it's a disaster up here. Okay. But thanks for being so low-key about it. You're, you're, you're a nipple show.
Starting point is 01:32:35 I asked you, I asked you to get me a pin. I can't breathe. Okay. The headline was, this is the scariest picture from inside the Voliscape axe murder house. Okay. This, that's the attic. Is that really from there?
Starting point is 01:32:56 See that chair? Okay. It says the attic of the Voliscape axe murder house. This was by Brian Hullgrave. So if you know Brian, you tell me he's full of shit. It says, did you see it? If you look closely, it appears like the front leg of the chair is lifted off the floor. We've just got chills.
Starting point is 01:33:15 No, that's called the furniture thingies. Yeah. That's called being in a shitty restaurant. You have to stick up like a match book or a napkin under there. Every chair is like that. Also this house is from the turn of the century. Do you think maybe the wood might be uneven underneath the chair? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:33:33 Des Moines register, ladies and gentlemen. We call bullshit. I think they're trolling us. I think they're so fucking sick of this story. They're like, okay, here, here, let's us get some clicks. We want clicks too. Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 01:33:49 Finally, in conclusion, I have recommended this book now so many times. It's called The Man From The Train. It's by Bill James. And he's, yeah, he's an analyst. He writes a lot about baseball, but he wrote this book. And so he basically, he has this theory, there have been acts murders of families in homes
Starting point is 01:34:13 around the United States from 1898 through 1912. And in, so I will now list the similarities of the man from the train's MO and to the Valeska acts murders. I'm buying this book immediately. It's such a good book. I never listened to you before, but no. See, The Man From The Train
Starting point is 01:34:36 attacked usually within a mile or two from train tracks at night while the family was asleep. He usually hid out on the family's property somewhere. He watched the family usually for about a day. He used an ax that he would find in the yard of the house. He always used the ax that belonged to the family. He covered all the windows. The family usually had at least one young girl in the house
Starting point is 01:35:03 and that girl was often sexually assaulted. He often ate the family's food after the killings and spent time in the house more time than necessary. He took any kerosene lamp he found and removed the chimneys. In all of them? In all of them! Stop it!
Starting point is 01:35:22 How many? Are we talking? Oh shit, fucking ton. A book this big! Wow, okay. A book this big. It's just chapter after chapter of it happening over and over. He locked all the doors when he left
Starting point is 01:35:34 and he was never seen or met by anyone because he would leave, he would do it and leave in the dark. Because it was usually in the middle of the night or in the early morning. If this theory is to be believed, then by the time the man from the train got to the Velisca house, he had been doing it for 14 years.
Starting point is 01:35:52 Shit. And they think that the Velisca, this theory in this book is, they're saying it's possible that this was his last big murder and that he is maybe America's first and most prolific serial killer that no one has ever heard of.
Starting point is 01:36:10 And it's this book, if you want to get it, I think you should. It's called The Man From the Train. It links it all up. And that is the unbelievable and still unsolved Velisca axe murder story. Amazing. Great fucking job.
Starting point is 01:36:26 Thank you. It's kindly. I was scared, but determined. I'm so glad I didn't have to follow that. But now one of you do. Yeah! What should we have time for? Let's do it.
Starting point is 01:36:37 Time? Yeah. Yes! Yes! Hello, there it is. Hey, hey, hey. Whoa, hey. So tomorrow, before we drive to Omaha,
Starting point is 01:36:50 don't even ask, we're not going to that fucking axe house. Okay, all right. That's fine. Other thing, we got to get the hell out of here. So make it a couple more and I'll be right out there. Okay, thank you. Thanks, Vince.
Starting point is 01:37:01 All right. Vince Averill, everybody. Averill! Averill! Averill! All right, so make it quick. You guys know the rules. I think you know the rules.
Starting point is 01:37:11 Can't be so drunk. You can't tell your own story. It needs to be local. It needs to be local. I can't say it enough. And I don't understand the people who hear us say it needs to be local. And then they fucking get on stage and they're like,
Starting point is 01:37:23 I'm from fucking Kansas. What are you talking about? It needs to be fast. Tonight, it really needs to be fast. Absolutely has to be fast. Okay, can we get the lights on, please? Okay. Who are you pointing at?
Starting point is 01:37:43 Yeah? Okay, you better know the girl you're pointing at, guys, I'm blaming you. Hi, hi, everybody. Hi. Wow. Wow. Okay, here she comes.
Starting point is 01:37:58 Oh, can we get the lights down, please? Yeah, lights back down, please. Because it's really scary and you're like, oh, shit, there's so many people. Here she comes. You guys, here she comes. Hi. Hi.
Starting point is 01:38:13 What's your name? Jessica. Jessica. Thanks to me and you. Hi, what did you bring? Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Oh, I brought a drink.
Starting point is 01:38:20 That's a bad sign. Right off the bat. Sorry, right over here. It also kind of looked like a urine sample. Let's jump up a little bit. Right here. Okay, tell the people your name and where you're from. My name's Jessica, I'm from Carroll.
Starting point is 01:38:34 Great, good job. Good so far. Now tell us what your hometown is. My hometown is from Sac City, where the county attorney was Ben Smith. Yeah, who you spoke about. So I texted him. He said she was guilty as hell.
Starting point is 01:38:49 Oh, good, good, good. So nice. Nice, okay. He got that one right. So this is the murder of Mark Coster. Okay, I'm an attorney in a small town and there aren't very many of us. So we all get along well, we drink together,
Starting point is 01:39:06 we tell war stories when we're together. So this is a story as told to me by the people involved, I probably shouldn't say who, but the people involved in the case. So this is 2010-ish, 2009. So Mark Coster is living with a friend of about 30 years. His name is John Green. I don't know why I brought my phone.
Starting point is 01:39:28 We could call Stephen. Someone would steal it, that's what I was gonna do. John Green and Mark have been friends for about 30 years, living together for about a year. They're maybe lovers, I'm making that part up, but that's just my fan fiction. It seems like as a lawyer you should not do that. I haven't learned that lesson yet.
Starting point is 01:39:48 Okay, wow. Uh, so one day John Green decides he's gonna leave town, Sac City, town of about 2,000 people. Did I say that? It's important, tiny town, tiny. Leave town, he's gonna go back to Mississippi where he came from. Mark Coster's never seen again alive.
Starting point is 01:40:09 So Mark Coster's family gets concerned, they come to his house, they look for him, look all through the house, they can't find him. The police come, they look all through the house, can't find him. They do find a note. The note says basically, I'm leaving, goodbye, Mark Coster. Mm-mm.
Starting point is 01:40:29 Not in his handwriting. So the police are very suspicious to family suspicious. A year later they actually have him declared dead. Once they're able to find John Green, he's in Florida, of course. Um, they get a warrant for him because there's all these suspicious circumstances. He's brought back to Iowa.
Starting point is 01:40:57 So he's charged with first degree murder and he is classic psychopath. Everyone loves him, the jailers love him, they bring him food, they bring him treats. I think they have to bring him food. I think legally, weird thing about rights or whatever. Like McDonald's or something special. Yeah, something nice or, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
Starting point is 01:41:18 Got it. Something special like McDonald's, yeah. So, um. That's how you know someone really loves you. Yeah. They all love him. So two years after Mark Coster disappears, a new person has bought the house
Starting point is 01:41:34 and they're going through the house. This is after there's been multiple searches for this guy. No. And they go into the basement and they're lifting these boxes and they lift this hot water tank and they find the completely mummified body of Mark Coster. And I know you're from a desert
Starting point is 01:41:53 so you might not understand, mummification does not happen in Iowa. Oh, okay, good to know. Wet here, we're all wet all the time. Okay. So. So. So.
Starting point is 01:42:04 So. So. Don't be dirty, racy. Some racy shit. So it doesn't make sense. So anyway, John Green has tried for first degree murder. He decides to testify on his own behalf, which don't do that.
Starting point is 01:42:24 But that's classic psychopath move, right? Yeah, yeah. But unlike a classic psychopath, he gets on the stand and he just looks like an evil person. So the jury goes back and they deliberate for four hours. They find him guilty of second degree murder. And as we all remember from our criminal law class in law school, the difference is premeditation.
Starting point is 01:42:45 So Mark, or John Green, his story is, I came home from work. Mark had made dinner, he made chicken. It was. Dry. It was so bad. Oh. That Mark came at him with a baseball bat.
Starting point is 01:43:04 No. And John says, I wrestled the bat away from him. I pushed him to the ground and cut off his, whatever, one end pipe. Head? One pipe. Okay. So basically the jury believed his story
Starting point is 01:43:22 that it was self defense. Wow. So I know it's kind of a mundane murder, but the whole reason I wanted to tell it was because of the mummification. This is sort of a pro tip for you, Georgia, in case you're ever in a situation where you need to mummify a body.
Starting point is 01:43:37 Me? What? Why me? All right. I would never. I mean, I would never. What, John? How dare you?
Starting point is 01:43:50 What John Green did is he covered the body in kitty litter. Oh. Okay. And of course it absorbed all the liquid and it kept the smell. That's that simple? That's horrible. That's it.
Starting point is 01:44:05 Any kind of, Johnny Cat, what are we using here? Yeah. Store bought. Fresh stuff. Look at the details. Oh my God. Amazing. Yes.
Starting point is 01:44:13 Yes. You just, everybody. That's how you do a hometown murder. Great job. Yes. Thank you. Don't forget your urine sample. Suck that down.
Starting point is 01:44:25 You deserve it. Oh my God. Only attorneys from now on. Holy shit. That was good. As soon as she said she was attorney, I was like, great. We're done.
Starting point is 01:44:36 Easy. Just talk. Easy, peasy. That was incredible. This has been fucking incredible. You guys have been an amazing audience. Amazing. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:44:48 The fact that we get to do this and travel and fucking just talk to you guys in person is so incredible and we can't believe this is our lives. It's a, we're very, very thrilled that this many people want to watch us do that. It is, it feels like a goddamn miracle and it's very exciting. And it's also very beautiful
Starting point is 01:45:09 because you guys are creating, and we say this every time, but we really mean it like, you're creating a real community for and with each other. And that's I think the most amazing thing about a true crime podcast is people are making friends. There's people who came here tonight alone
Starting point is 01:45:27 who would never go anywhere alone and they came tonight, right? Hell yeah. We hear that all the time. Cause they know when they come here they're going to sit next to people that they know and can talk to. And people always say that to us.
Starting point is 01:45:39 They, when we meet them in the meet and greet and they go, yeah, I feel like you're my friends, but you don't know me. And we're like, no, we do know you. You're just like us. And that's beautiful. It makes us feel great. Totally.
Starting point is 01:45:52 Thanks. And because, because of all your support, we now get to do things like have our own fucking podcast network. Yeah. We got to write a book. We got to write a book. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:46:08 It's incredible. It's bananas. I can't believe this is our life. So thank you. We'll never be able to thank you enough. No. Ever. But, you know, we can show up every once in a while
Starting point is 01:46:16 and do a show for you, right? That's a start. Yep. And I'll wear a really plunging neckline. That's part of the thank you. That's the deal now. That's part of the deal. Stay saved.
Starting point is 01:46:28 And do God's missions. Right. That's important. But more than that, stay sexy. And thank you. Oh, yeah. Bye boys. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:46:40 Hey, I'm Aresha. And I'm Brooke. And we're the hosts of Wondery's podcast, Even the Rich, where we bring you absolutely true and absolutely shocking stories about the most famous families and biggest celebrities the world has ever seen. Our newest series is all about
Starting point is 01:46:55 the incomparable diva, Whitney Houston. Whitney's voice defined a generation and even after her death, her talent remains unmatched. But her incredible success hit a deeply private pain. In our series, Whitney Houston, Destiny of a Diva, we'll tell you how she hid her true self to make everyone around her happy and how the pressure to be all things to all people
Starting point is 01:47:17 led her down a dark path. Follow Even the Rich wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.

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