My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - MFM Minisode 323

Episode Date: March 20, 2023

This week’s hometowns include a psychic kid named Maren and a hot dog story.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This Is Actually Happening is a podcast that features extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who live them. In a special five-part series called Point Blank, This Is Actually Happening sheds a light on the forgotten spree killings of Rancho Tejama. Follow This Is Actually Happening wherever you get your podcasts. Music Hello! And welcome. To my favorite murder. The many so. That's right, we reach you your many things. Right off the mini-mail. That's right. Tiny, very small email. Our little email inbox straight to your little ears. Are you ready for it? Too bad we're starting. Okay, you want me to go first? Sure. This email simply begins your majesties. Oh, there we go. New precedent. Finally, I know how much you love stories about psychics and weird kid stuff. So I had to tell you about my daughter, Marin. And then in parentheses, it says, like the amazing Marin McLasham.

So us referencing our researcher, Marin, has really has really rubbed off on everybody. Love it. So it says, our Marin is named for my husband's great, great, great grandmother who we hope was cool since we love the name, but no one actually knows. Her first strangely intuitive moment happened when she was three and our cousins texted us a picture of their new puppy. After admiring the cuteness, I asked her, what do you think they should name him to which she immediately replied Brody, completely out of nowhere. Moments later, they told us they had named him Bodie. Holy shit. Kind of weird, but I didn't rush out to buy her crystal ball or anything. A few weeks later, Marin woke up in the middle of the night, really upset. When I went to her, she was crying hard, saying that she had a bad dream. And through her tears, she said, and then someone hit the car and it had to get towed.

Well, little did she know, I actually had been in a car accident that night on my way home from work. I was fine, but I got rear-ended and the car did have to be towed. What? And I'd purposely not called home to tell my husband what happened, so as not to freak out the kids. But now I was the one who was very freaked out. I didn't even think she knew the phrase. Yeah, that's a good... She's three.

Yeah, that's a question for the ages. So now I'm pretty convinced that she is somehow connected with the beyond and the evidence is mounting. One day she turned to my sister and out of nowhere said, Kiki, you're going to have a baby girl in April. Totally unbeknownst to her, Kiki was very newly pregnant and due on April 15th, but Marin had no idea. Also, she literally didn't know what April is. Yeah. Oh my God. She says, saying shit. She is just saying aloud what the spirits are whispering to her.

I love it. At the time, she didn't know what she was having, but sure enough, she had a girl. There have been a few other odd instances that make me think Marin definitely has a little bit of the shine, especially when I consider how often she brings up my badass grandmother, Ellen, aka Nana, who had 11 kids, who died a week before she was born. But those are probably the most striking. Sorry if this was so long. Stay sexy and ask Marin for the lottery numbers. You guys are the best, Meg.

Oh, I love like a kid's stories or like those ones that are weird dreams stories. Entirely. It's so entertaining because it's, it's real. It's like, it's real. It's very weird. There's lots of people with stories like that. And it's just so fascinating to be like, oh, you just got to earth, which means you remember some weird stuff from before. Right. Or you're still connected with it back in semi-verse. I don't know, with the afterlife. Yes, the semi-verse. What are you writing for Marvel these days? The semi-verse.

The semi-verse. I just, is that a thing? Okay. This one's called Trujillo's Urologist was my abuelo. Hello, ladies and the team. I will get right into it because I don't want to waste your time. My dad is from the Dominican Republic, Santa Domingo to be specific. So I spent my childhood living between a small town in South Carolina and my abuelo's house in the DR. This person put a lot of phonetic spelling in this and I appreciate that. That is really nice. Yes. Growing up, I always heard stories about El Jefe and his brutal reign.

He was described as the devil by my abuela, grandmother, but my abuelo grandfather didn't always feel comfortable talking shit about this terrible man. This is the story that I did recently of the Mirrorball sisters. Yeah. It didn't make much sense to me until I learned that my abuelo was one of Trujillo's personal physicians. After my abuelo went to med school at one of the few universities in the country, he was recruited by Trujillo's people to be part of his medical team. My abuelo did not want to be part of this terrible man's life,

but as you mentioned in the podcast, if Trujillo asked you to do something, you did it or you died. He was never very open with us grandkids about his time with Trujillo, but he was always willing to tell us the stories about the incredibly brave Mirrorball sisters and how they were and always will be a symbol of pride for the DR. My dad thinks that my abuelo was still paranoid that he could get in trouble for speaking poorly about El Jefe. My abuelo recently passed away after battling Parkinson's, so I am thankful that your podcast brought my time with him to the front of my mind. I'm currently in my first year of law school and the only reason that I'm here

is because of the bravery of Minerva Mirrorball to stand up for herself, her family, and her country. She and her sisters have been the subjects of many school papers and have been central role models to my life, even though I've never met them. Thank you for shining a light on my people. We don't get many spotlights low. And thank you for reminding me why I'm proud to be Dominican. Gracias por todos. Thank you for everything. Elia. Thank you, Elia, for teaching me literally five new words.

And I feel like now, because of that email, I'm allowed to call it the DR. That's right. Just by knowing you. Now we get to use that shorthand as well. Life is short and it's full of a lot of interesting questions. What does happiness really mean? How do I get the most out of my time here on Earth? And what really is the best cereal?

These are the questions I seek to resolve on my weekly podcast, Life is Short with Justin Long. If you're looking for the answer to deep philosophical questions like what is the meaning of life? I can't really help you. But I do believe that we really enrich our experience here by learning from others. And that's why in each episode, I like to talk with actors, musicians, artists, scientists, and many more types of people about how they get the most out of life. We explore how they felt during the highs and sometimes more importantly, the lows of their careers. We discuss how they've been able to stay happy during some of the harder times.

But if I'm being honest, it's mostly just fun chats between friends about the important stuff. Like if you had a sandwich named after you, what would be on it? Follow Life is Short wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. I'm not going to read you the subject line. It just starts warm greetings to all who read and hopefully hear this. Nice. That was classy. Let's get into it.

While it's building their dream home, my parents rented a quaint little house on a small lake in Wisconsin, Powers Lake, to be exact. My three siblings and I, all under the age of 12 at the time, had an absolute blast swimming and fishing in the summer as well as ice fishing in the winter. Okay, the winter activities were not at all fun, but hey, it was an experience. So one sunny summer morning, my brother and I awoke from our cedar bunk beds to find our beloved pet, Hamster Charlotte, dead in her cage. We were extremely surprised and distraught as dear Charlotte showed no signs of ailment the day prior.

As my mom and sisters comforted us warmly in our moment of sorrow, we soon discovered my sister's hamsters, gumdrop and cream, had also passed away in the night. My mother was immediately confused because the other hamsters were housed in a completely different room. She quickly called my dad at work who was alarmed and hastily called our landlord. Mr. Landlord had zero concern and only after much pressure agreed to call someone to see what the F was going on. This did not happen for days. When the inspector person did show up, gadget in hand, it took him only moments to turn to my mom with literal fear on his face and say calmly but firmly,

you need to gather some things and leave this house now, you have five minutes. Turns out we were slowly being poisoned by a natural gas leak. Holy shit, one of my top fears. Oh my God. I mean, here's the thing and that is like, what an indicator. Yeah. If small animals are dying around you, something's going down. That's fascinating.

Frantic, we abandoned ship per instructions and stayed with my grandparents for the time being. We were likely just a couple nights away from sharing the same fate as our furry friends. My siblings and I were really too young to understand what was happening other than the pain of losing our sweet pets. Canaries in the coal mine of sorts who actually saved our lives. I recently talked about this with my dad to make sure I got the story right and was shocked to learn. Mr. Landlord only felt compelled to replace our $10 mall store hamsters as an apology. You heard and read that right. He did not reduce the rent for the days the home was uninhabitable because of, you know, poison.

Sidebar. My dad added that when we moved out months later, he accused us of stealing some fishing gear that he later found in his attic. Major dick. My family may be here today on account of those lifesaving hamsters and we're so thankful for their sacrifice. Love you all. And thanks for reading. Yay.

I did it. Nick P. You did it. Amazing story. I love that. They're total lifesaving hamsters. And also being, to be an adult, looking back on how you didn't know how close you were to something insanely dangerous because your parents like had to put on that parent face and be like, okay, grab your favorite things.

We're going to, it's going to be so fun. Grab all of your favorite things with your favorite things. Okay. This one's called twists and turns with that ass grandma. It starts. Hello. My grandma was a single mother of five girls. She was a total badass.

She raced cars with the boys, always had a smile on her face and seemed to always have the answer to all my teenage problems. Due to her time, quote, spent with the boys, all of her daughters were fathered by different men. Wow. So we thought grandma had a great way of keeping track of who her daughters were fathered by by naming her daughters after each of them. Names have changed because my aunts are crazy and who knows what they would do if they knew I just shared the family secret with the world of murderinos. Robin after Robert, Christina after Christopher, et cetera. So years go by and most of his grandchildren have never met our grandfathers, but knew of them and where they lived. Flash forward to me doing an ancestry DNA test and not seeing my grandfather's last name appear.

Oh, well, I thought, hmm, years go by and my cousin takes a 23 and me test. She gets assumed grandfather's last name appearing. What? So we start Nancy drewing that stuff and we have my sister, mother and one of our aunts take a 23 and me. Turns out my mom, who is almost 60, had thought her father was one person this whole time and he's not. Her biological father is a man that my grandma had some fun times with at the track and my cousin's grandfather is the one who I thought was my grandfather this whole time. Grandma just got confused. Isn't this like the plot to Mama Mia?

What's happening in this email? I don't know what this grandma had some fun. Yes, she did. My aunt who took the test has the same father as my cousin's mother. Mines were blown. New family members were found and man that 60s were a crazy time. Hey, my mother now has three half sisters and she stays in touch with them. Her biological father has suffered a few strokes and has dementia, so he doesn't remember my grandma, but my mom looks a lot like her sisters.

I wish my grandma was still alive so I could ask her what the heck, Grahams. But she passed away a few years ago. I know she's wherever she is laughing her ass off at all of this with a smile on her face. My husband and I had a daughter four years ago and named her Patricia after her. My grandma raised five daughters on her own and I am so thankful to have her as my grandma Pat, C. Oh, what a beautiful tribute. Also, I love the idea that there was a woman out there literally doing exactly what she wanted. Totally.

Racing cars and hooking up. And just, yeah, and come with me, it's clearly she was like, I know men aren't going to help me with this, so I'll just keep doing what I want. Yeah. And it sounds like everyone was raised well and healthily and kind of like, you know, I don't know. I love that. Wild. You love your grandma Pat enough to write in about her. She did it right.

Totally. Fuck yeah. Here's a shorty as my last one. Subject line is follow up. Was I on the other end of the ferris wheel story? So this is a follow up from Minnesota 319. This is a note Alejandra left for me at the top of this. Someone tells the story of being on a ferris wheel that went into freeze.

Oh, they were the ride operator. And the ferris wheel went into a free spin after the operator had hit the emergency stop button. That operator was a teenager. It was kind of funny about why would they put a 16 year old in charge of that. Yes. This email just says quick note, one of my first childhood memories was riding a ferris wheel with my dad and so Cal after a long time on the ferris wheel. My dad noticed something was off and every spin the way down felt faster and faster.

My dad started yelling at the operator to let us off. The ferris wheel operator could not let us off and I was crying hysterically. Eventually, maybe 30 to 45 minutes later, I was let off. I was three or four. So maybe 1997. Look, I'm not saying it was the same event, but I've never been on a ferris wheel since. I fucking hate ferris wheels, Kirsten. 30 to 45 minutes on a fucking ferris wheel will make you hate them forever.

Yeah, no way. Are you ever getting on that stupid shit again? No. Oh my God. I mean, could it be like two reflections of life every side of the mirror of life? Why not? I mean, there's there's so many murderinos. There's got to be some crossovers going on, you know.

Love it. If you've ever been on the other side, say you're the father of one of Grandma Pat's children. We'd love to hear from you. Definitely. Okay. My last one's called hot dog story. Sorry.

I love a good hot dog story, no matter what. It doesn't. It starts, hey, blessedies. Is that Christian best friend? I think it's blessed, blessed, best friends. I like that. Do you? Sounds pretty Christian to me.

I'd watch your stuff if I was you. Oh no, they're going to secretly turn me into a Christian. Oh my God. I said the magic words. Now you're Christian. All right. Many so 317 Karen jokingly asked Georgia for a hot dog hometown story. Remember that?

No. I just, I have been patiently waiting for my window to get this hot dog story told and it's now or never, baby. I grew up in the very rural, very sleepy town of Earleysville, Virginia. Earleysville used to have one grocery store in 2008. It has none now. Very sleepy. Yeah.

This rural grocery store was known for its strange decorations. And the best slash worst one was Harry the hot dog. A six foot tall, 200 pound anthropomorphic hot dog. You've seen this one statue with arms and legs that was squirting, ketchup and mustard on itself and licking its lips. Like it was getting ready to eat itself. We've all seen the statue, right? Yes.

That's right. Internet famous. Okay. Harry the hot dog sat right outside the entrance to the store. He was something of a celebrity around those parts for his creepiness because there wasn't much else to talk about unless you're super into cows and corn. Wait, I am. That's right.

When you went to do your shopping, the key was to not make eye contact with Harry because you would immediately be turned off from buying or eating any food. But one dark day, Harry the hot dog disappeared. He weighed 200 pounds and someone had managed to kidnap him from the grocery store entrance without being caught. A few days after his kidnapping, the owner of the store bought a small two foot replica of Harry the hot dog and placed it in the store with a sign that said, have you seen my daddy?

The store owner sounds really rad, right? Yes. They named Harry's son Little Frank. Little Frank was simultaneously very sad and the funniest thing ever to someone like me with a murdering sense of humor. The owner offered a reward for Harry's safe return but he was still missing for 27 days until the police received an anonymous tip on his whereabouts. He was found buried in a wooded area outside of a trailer park.

Oh my gosh. His arms, ketchup and mustard bottles included were broken off and never found. Why? He was completely battered and covered in durian grime. I don't know. So awful. Despite Harry looking even scarier than before the kidnapping, the owner of the grocery store proudly displayed the buried alive,

zombified, limbless hot dog next to his son, Little Frank. Little Frank had a new sign that said something like, I'm so happy my daddy is back. Despite Harry's unfortunate new condition, it was beautifully heartwarming to have the creepy family reunited. The owner also pledged to rebuild Harry's limbs and turned him into a, quote, bionic hot dog, bigger, faster, stronger. The police identified suspects and there were some amazing quotes

about the investigation in the local paper such as, quote, the alleged wiener nappers can expect a tough grilling by police. Boo. And quote, these people will be brought to justice for their dogged ways. If I remember correctly, the police did catch the perpetrators and they were brought to hot dog justice. The store eventually closed and I don't know what happened to the hot dog father and son, but I hope they're still out there somewhere keeping Earleysville weird.

Thanks to everything you do, the world is better with your podcast in it. Stay sexy and don't kidnap giant hot dog men away from their hot dog sons in a town where the police have nothing better to do. Love, Rachel. Rachel, the idea that you just introduced the concept of hot dog justice into my world is something I will always be grateful to you for. Oh, kidnap him. Some drunk kids for sure.

So stupid. I know I've talked about this before, but Adrian, my sister's friend, Adrian, and I really love the concept of hot dog day and we talk about it a lot because it was a thing at my school. And of course we went to that school and then Adrian's kids went to that school and then Adrian worked talk dog day. So she was on the other side of, and so we would talk about it all the time. So was it just like when hot dogs were served in the cafeteria?

Yes. Well, no. So we didn't have a cafeteria. We had a snack bar. So the only thing you could buy at school, well, no, Brad, we got really good sandwiches from the local deli. Oh, damn. And then you could buy chips and then popsicles and candy and stuff.

But then once, I think it was like every last Friday of the month or something, it was hot dog day. So the moms made the hot dogs and if you wanted yours with mustard, it was wrapped in yellow paper, ketchup, red paper, plain white paper. And then all the moms made cupcakes. Oh my God. And then they would just be set out in little bags along a table and you would slide down and pick based on the cupcake

of the overhead view of what the cupcake looks like. Do you got the fucking Hogwarts or something? This is like amazing. We never had shit like this. It was kind of like, I think it was one of the bonuses of Catholic school. Like to counterbalance being hit in the face by nuns and stuff like that. Okay, that's a trade-off. That's a good trade-off.

So I think, yeah, it was like you guys get a little special hot dog. So you forget about all the fucking hand-to-face combat that was happening in the grammar school classrooms. Oh my God. I just think hot dogs are funny and fun to talk about. They are. You're right. In every way.

Send us your hot dog stories at my favorite murderage email. Please, we need them. Have you experienced hot dog justice? We want to hear about it. Please send in your emails. That's right. And stay sexy. And don't get murdered.

Goodbye. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? This has been an exactly right production. Our senior producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton. Our producer is Alejandra Keck. This episode was engineered and mixed by Stephen Ray Morris. Our researchers are Marin McClashen and Sarah Blair Jenkins.

Email your hometowns and fucking hurrays to myfavoritmurder at gmail.com. Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at myfavoritmurder and Twitter at myfavoritmurder. Goodbye. Goodbye. You've been listening ad free on Wondery Plus.