Rotten Mango - #100: Body In The High School Gym (Case of Kendrick Johnson)

Episode Date: September 26, 2021

All morning there had been whispers at LHS - they found a student’s body in the old gym. The body of 17 year old KJ had been found rolled up into a giant gym mat about 6ft tall.  When the poli...ce arrive they rule out foul play - they believe KJ willingly went into the mat where he would later suffocate to death.  But what about all the other strange evidence? The blood on the gym walls, the FBI agent’s high school son who had problems with KJ, and why were KJ’s organs missing?  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com New Merch available at https://Fanjoy.co/stephaniesoo To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:32 Butterbing Butter Boom Welcome to this week's mini-sode of Rotten Mangle. I'm your host Stephanie Sue and I have exciting news. If you guys are interested in any of the Rotten Mangle industry's merch that looks so good, we've got black crew necks and it's so striking, we've got white hoodies, oversized t-shirts, we also have better being better boom merch that just recently launched, that will all be in the show notes, or go to fanjoy.co slash Stephanie Sue. Now let's get into the story.
Starting point is 00:00:59 They pulled the body of a young 17 year old boy out of his grave. They wanted to zoom him because none of the facts were making sense. I mean, yeah, they did the first autopsy, but why isn't it not adding up? The public is getting enraged, Facebook is like, hey, we gotta do something. Something fishy is going on. The police said that he suffocated to death after willingly diving upside down into a tiny rolled up gym mat. Gym mat?
Starting point is 00:01:27 Like those giant gym floor mats that you put down for cheerleading or wrestling. The best way to describe these mats is it's a six-foot tall roll of toilet paper almost. But the opening is really small, the center opening because you know when you roll, let's say, when you roll a blanket, there might be a little opening in the middle. Yeah, like a toilet paper. Yes, but tiny in his body, a high school boy, his body was found by his high school classmates in the old gym rolled up in a gym mat. How does that even happen? And what about the blood on the walls?
Starting point is 00:02:00 What about the clean shoes that were there that don't belong to him? What about the hoodie that looks like it has blood on there that also doesn't belong to him? That doesn't make sense. And what about the rumors about the FBI agent's high school son that allegedly was having problems with this guy? Yeah, oh my gosh. So maybe they're finally gonna get answers But when they open up his body to do an independent second autopsy, they're shocked His organs are all missing. They have been replaced by newspaper. As always, full source notes are available at rottenmangopodcast.com, but there's a really
Starting point is 00:02:36 good documentary that recently came out on this, like literally just dropped recently. It's called Finding Kendrick Johnson. Yes, we're talking about the Kendrick Johnson case. I feel like this is one of my most highly requested cases for this podcast. I mean, the whole family is involved in the making of this documentary. It's emotional. The crime scene photos are included. You will not come out of this documentary without feeling some very strong, very intense emotions.
Starting point is 00:03:02 But maybe that's what's needed. And there's recent updates on this case, so we're covering it. So who is Kendrick Johnson? He was born to his mom, Jackie Johnson, and his dad, Kenneth Johnson. Now, side note, the whole family actually has this really cute thing with their names. All of them are KJ. All of them makes it for Jackie. So we've got Kenneth Johnson, Kendrick Johnson, Kenya Johnson. So, I mean, Jackie really likes KJ because they can also stand for King Jesus. So they're at this huge family of faith.
Starting point is 00:03:29 I mean, like really just acute the whole energy in the documentary. Jackie's the mom. Oh, yeah. She's like the queen Jackie of this one, okay? Now the Johnson family had been living in Valdosta, Georgia. Practically their whole lives, yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:43 We got a Georgia case today. Oh, Gusta no valdosta Valley he said a gusta the only one place I know in Georgia outside of Atlanta Okay, now Kenneth was a truck driver working these long shifts But he was a family man He's spent a lot of time with this kids all of their extended family lived nearby either in Valdosta or somewhere in Georgia So they always got you you know, got together Kendrick was the life of the party Everyone that knew him said that he was the happiest child
Starting point is 00:04:11 He just loved goofing around with his siblings at home He would jump onto his sister's backs like a little flying squirrel and the sisters would get so mad Like get off of me would try to like fling him off and then once he gets thrown off their backs They start chasing him throughout the whole house and the rest of the family is like, don't run in the house, but they're laughing. Like this is the type of family relationship that they had. They would spend hours play wrestling having these water gun fights. They were just, there was never a dull moment in this small little family.
Starting point is 00:04:40 Now Kendrick though, was a daddy's boy at heart. You were expecting Mom's boy. Nobody was a daddy's boy. heart. You were expecting Mom's boy. Nobody was a daddy's boy. He loved his dad so much. He looked up to him so much. If his dad told him, listen, I need to wake up for in the morning to go to this job that I have. My trucking job.
Starting point is 00:04:55 Without fail, no matter what time, KJ would wake up and wake up his dad. Wow. And he left going to school. I mean, it's kind of like really just a good teenager, okay? So at school, he was considered to be relatively shy and reserved, not as outgoing as when he's with family, but once you get to know him,
Starting point is 00:05:11 he really, really enjoyed going to school. He had this close group of friends. They had this little tradition. Every single week, they go get hot wings together, okay? It's like really cute. He loves sports. He loved football. Wanted to go to college on a scholarship
Starting point is 00:05:24 and go pro one day. So January 11th of 2013 rolls around. Kendrick at this point is 17 years old, going allowance high school in Lowns County, Valdas, Georgia, the home of Vikings. He plays football there and he's excited for the day. It's a Thursday. Tremor's Friday, that's always good news, but he also might be going to the basketball game after school, so he's thinking, yeah, it's gonna be a good night. He gets to school on time, and the first few periods pass with no signs of anything strange. Fourth period rolls around, and Kendrick isn't in his fourth period class. Now the teacher is thinking, okay, that's a little bit odd.
Starting point is 00:06:00 That's really not like Kendrick. Maybe he's with the coach. Maybe he forgot to tell me. Maybe he skipped class. I mean, you never know, these high schoolers. Suddenly, they have a day where they're influenced by their peers, like at rebellious for that day. And the teacher's like, well, there's nothing I can do about it.
Starting point is 00:06:15 I still got to teach this class. Maybe I'll tell someone later. Maybe I won't. Maybe it's no big deal. I'll figure it out tomorrow. I'll ask him tomorrow, where were you during fourth period? So the school day ends and Jackie's getting worried. because KJ either calls her or is home right after school every single day. Okay well where's my call? So she calls the ball of siblings like have you talked to KJ?
Starting point is 00:06:35 Did he say anything? And like I don't know I think maybe he might have gone to the basketball game? It's Thursday night so she starts calling all these people. By the time that the high school basketball game is over, he's still not home. Now they start freaking out. They rush into their car. They're rushing to school. I mean most things in the school at this point were closed, but they were able to talk to his bus driver and they're like, hey, we're at KJ. Well, he didn't write home on the bus today. What? So Jackie starts calling dad who's in New York for a trucking job. And Kenneth thought it was weird too because KJ always calls him when he was out for work.
Starting point is 00:07:09 After school he'd be like, hey dad I'm about to do this, like how's your job going. But he didn't call that day and he just said, oh well kids are kids. And so Jackie and KJ sister, they start searching for him. They're in the car just driving blocks to block. But when the sun sets, they can't do it anymore. They call up the cops. The police show up at their door And they're like, we gotta do something. Now the police aren't as worried. They're like listen
Starting point is 00:07:29 This is a small town, okay? We're in Valdosta, Georgia. It's pretty safe He's probably with his girlfriend somewhere. Maybe he skipped class and he's he's scared to tell you Nothing we can't handle and Jackie keeps telling them. know my son. On a school night, the curfew is 10 p.m. not 10-01, not 10-02 and they all know that. They know that they're in trouble if they come home at 10-01 and guess what, it's past 10. He hasn't even called. There's just no way. Just please like, okay, okay. Well if you insist, I can help you drive around the few, you know, a couple blocks around the school. See if I can spot him and I'll let you know. So he just leaves.
Starting point is 00:08:08 And Jackie and her family are like, what the heck? Okay. So they get into their cars. They start searching too. Midnight rolls around. There's still no sign of him. So they call dad Kenneth. And he said that the feeling was bizarre.
Starting point is 00:08:21 He just pulled over while he was driving on the highway like he's a truck driver. He laid on his mattress inside the truck and just started bawling his eyes out. He said that he knew in that moment he doesn't know why, like this gut feeling, that his son was dead. Like that's just how unlike Kendrick, this whole thing was.
Starting point is 00:08:39 Now the next morning rolls around and Jackie and KJ siblings are rushing to school. They're like, we gotta talk to someone. They go to the administrators, hey, where's Kendrick? Have you guys seen him? Is he in school today? Maybe he came to school. When's the last time you guys saw him?
Starting point is 00:08:51 Did he leave school with anyone weird? And they say, oh, not that you bring it up. Actually, on our records, it shows that KJ skipped his later classes yesterday. So not only has he been missing since school ended, but probably before school ended. Since the third period. Now the school has two gyms. I feel like a lot of schools have two gyms. They've got the new gym where they do all of their basketball games, where other teams
Starting point is 00:09:15 come over, the other schools come over, and they're like, oh look at my state of the art basketball court. But then you have the old gym where you usually take your PE classes, where you usually have your Pacer test, where you've got equipment stored in there and it's just it's more for like the students, less for games. Now the old gym, this particular school, had a bunch of giant floor mats for cheerleading, for wrestling, all stored in there. And KJ's older sister realizes that a lot of people are going in and out of the old
Starting point is 00:09:41 gym, like while they're actively searching for KJ. Now when they're going in and out, they don't like while they're actively searching for KJ. Now when they're going in and out they don't look like oh we're just hanging out in the old gym. It looks like something happened in the old gym. What? So she starts trying to get in and they won't let her in. But other people are going in and out. Like faculty. There were some students in and out and at 10.30 am that morning a few students had been hanging out in the old gym a.m. that morning a few students had been
Starting point is 00:10:05 hanging out in the old gym talking. They were staring at the gym floor mats that were rolled up on one side of the room. They were standing vertically. So these gym mats, I mean they're big. Like if you went around it, you probably couldn't hug it and touch your hands. But there's six feet tall. And they say, do you see that on the top of one of those gym mats? It looks like something white is sticking out from the center.
Starting point is 00:10:26 So they get closer and they try to peer inside. They try to peer inside in the opening of the middle of this, you know, tube. And they realize that that white thing was a sock. And that sock was attached to a foot. So they start screaming, someone's wedged in the gym mats, someone's wedged in the gym mat. They rushed to get a teacher and who helped lay the gym mat horizontally. And they realized sure enough, they were hit with a smell of vomit decomposition. There was a body in there. The body had been upside down. So, you know, it used to be standing vertically
Starting point is 00:11:00 and the feet were sticking out of the top, which means that the body's head was on the ground. Like literally perpendicular to the ground. Completely encapsulated in the gym mat. One of the arms of the body was by the side, the other one was up around the head. So as if you were a wave-high at someone, so it's kind of sticking up over your head. Immediately they place a 9-1-1 call, come down to Lounge High School, now there's a dead body out there in the old gym. So Jackie said at this point, she knew someone was found in the gym, but she didn't know who. So she starts, I mean, she becomes hysterical because it's pretty obvious.
Starting point is 00:11:35 She's the one with the missing son. Everyone else is going about their school day and suddenly a body has been found. She's hysterical and a staff member comes up to her, pulls her aside and says, what are you screaming for? We don't even know if that's KJ. What? And she's like, what is wrong with these people? Yeah. So the police rushed to the scene. Now this is where it gets weird. They do not wear any protective foot gear. Okay fine, no PPE, but it gets weirder. They don't send all the kids home. They don't quarantine the kids. They don't try to question the kids. They let the school day go on as normal
Starting point is 00:12:08 Meanwhile all over Facebook Instagram everyone at this school text messages They knew that KJ was dead in the gym rolled up in one of those floor mats But they're just casually doing class changes. They're just casually hanging out in the hallways They're just casually learning algebra like it's so confusing Yeah, how do you do that? Well, I don't even know. For us like the smallest thing in my high school would result in like a full-on lockdown. Just like the tiniest little thing. Maybe the area is just so small that they think it's no big deal or? I don't know. Or they don't know how to properly handle
Starting point is 00:12:41 the situation. I feel like if the area is that small it's worse because that would mean that the school facility is relatively small Which means that the kids would definitely know it's not like a giant campus where it's just sequestered to like one tiny little corner Mm-hmm. So KJ's family aren't allowed into the gym. They're given pictures of KJ's shoes to identify him They also told the police what he looked like he had these dreadlocks on he, he was wearing this when he went missing, and they refused to let the family into the gym. And I totally get that, you know, this is an active car in scene. So Jackie's sitting on this wheelchair outside, and her family come, they rally around her, and they said that she looked drugged. She looked like someone had just sucked to the life out of her. So not long after that, the family is alerted by the
Starting point is 00:13:25 sheriff's office. The KJ is dead and there are no signs of foul play involved. They said and I quote, although the exact cause of death is yet to be determined, as of this stage in the investigation, nothing has been discovered to indicate foul play was involved. What in the world? I'm getting a little agitated but I'm'm gonna try to be unbiased, okay? So tensions start, you know, they start rising in this small town, this small area. A woman was interviewed and she said, and I quote, I'm just glad it wasn't my son.
Starting point is 00:13:57 You have to wonder how people might retaliate. It's just scary. Just yikes. So the police keep trying to calm everyone and say that, listen, the high school kid that was founded in Jim Matt. This wasn't murder. It was a terrible tragedy. Their theory goes a little something like this. They're like, let me explain it to you, okay? It's gonna make sense once I tell you. That's what they're telling people. K.J. You know, he's trying to retrieve a shoe from inside the mat.
Starting point is 00:14:23 So this six foot rolled up mat in the center of it. His shoes are there. His gym shoes. The mat is standing vertically. So the shoe is basically on the floor, but with this mat on top. So imagine putting a quarter on the tabletop and putting a toilet paper roll on top of it. How would you take the quarter out? Would you squeeze your big old hand into the center of the toilet paper roll?
Starting point is 00:14:43 Or would you just likely tilt it to one side, slide out the quarter, and put the paper roll back. Exactly. But no, the police are like, well, that doesn't make sense. Who does it like that? So KJ is like, well, I need to get my shoes from outside of the center of this mat, even though it's on the floor. So he somehow jumps six feet onto the top of this mat, this rolled up mat,
Starting point is 00:15:03 which by the way is not sturdy. It's not like you're doing like those box jumps or whatever you call it. Like it's not a sturdy mat. He sees his shoes in the center on the ground. So he decides to dive head first. He decides to dive head first into the center of this rolled up mat to get his shoes. But then he got stuck and he suffocated to death. At around 120 p.m. middle of a school day, so many people in and
Starting point is 00:15:34 out of this gym, he didn't scream, he was suffocating to death and it's not a fast process like suffocation takes a while. He knows he's gonna die, he's not getting oxygen, but he doesn't scream, he doesn't try to get people's attention, so he's just like, you know what, this is my fate. Well, we don't know if that's the true cause of death, suffocation. No, that's where it gets even weirder. Nothing gives me indigestion like uncomfortable pants, especially uncomfortable professional pants. You either have to look super cute, super chic, super professional, and be careful with your pants. You're not going to be able to do that. You're not going to be able to do that.
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Starting point is 00:17:55 And when you use our special URL, you're supporting our show too. So find out why women are ditching typical work pants for beta brands, dress pants, yoga pants. Go to betabrand.com slash rotten for 30% off. So their whole theory is bizarre, and there's just so many questions to it. So the first being that Kendrick is 5 foot 10 inches. The mat is 6 feet tall. How did you even get on top?
Starting point is 00:18:20 So now they're saying, well, there's bleachers near the rolled up mat. And there are indeed bleachers, but these bleachers are only about three steps tall. And they get taller as you get further away from the mat. Does that make sense? So the first set of bleachers near the mat is just like sitting position, like a chair height. Then it gets taller as it gets towards the back wall further away from the mat. And they only have about three layers of it. Like this is the old gym. So they're not going to have just, you know, rounds and rounds of bleachers. It's mainly used for like pee purposes. So how did it even, did he jump on there? Then didn't the mat top over? I just, I don't get it.
Starting point is 00:18:53 So then the question is, why are his shoes in the mat to begin with? Now the students started coming for it and said that the school makes them pay for lockers. So when they go to gym class or do these pee sports outside outside like in the fields, they would leave their stuff in the rolled up mat so that nobody would take it. They would just toss it into the mat. So if someone passes by during class change, they're not like, ooh, let me just steal this. So it's common for a ton of students to do this. Now there's a little bit of debate on how it was done. Some students claim that they would throw their things into the vertical six foot tube mat. So imagine being a high school and you're like, oh, let me just throw my
Starting point is 00:19:27 free game backpack in here and you would throw it into the center. Then when you go back to get it, you would actually lift the mat up from the bottom, just tilt it to one side, slide out your stuff, and then put it back down. So you never really topple it over. You're just kind of lifting it up just enough to squeeze your stuff out of. But then another group of kids, they would say that they would throw their things over the mats, specifically KJ's friends. So what they're saying is that the mats are standing vertically. And when you walk past, you see these mats through the gym doors. But you don't see behind them because the mats are blocking the view. So what they would do is they would throw their backpack over the mats, not into the mats, so that they're just not in view.
Starting point is 00:20:07 Now when they were done with class, they would make their way around the mat to go find their things. So they never really had to look inside the mat, lift up the mat, none of that. Okay, so it's like fine, to each their own with these dang mats, okay? Maybe you put them in, maybe KJ was like, you know what, I'm gonna put it in the mat today. Does that really matter? Okay, maybe you put him in, maybe KJ was like, you know what, I'm gonna put it in the mat today. Does that really matter? Maybe not. Because the police theory doesn't physically make sense in the fact that the opening of the rolled up tubes, these rolled up mats, the center part where KJ is found, the opening is 14 inches. KJ shoulders measure 19 inches. How is he gonna slide in there? You're saying, not only did he fit in, but he
Starting point is 00:20:45 slid down like a slip inside, and then he got stuck. Yeah, I mean, I guess you could say one of his arms was up near his head that does decrease shoulder width, you know, but it's still bizarre. And on top of that, they were claiming that KJ went inside the tube to retrieve his gym shoes. So his gym shoes should already be in there. The only thing in the mat at that point are his gym shoes. He's trying to grab it. So he dives in head first. His head was covered in blood. There was vomit near him. There was vomit on the ground when they moved the mat. But his gym shoes didn't have vomit on it. It almost looked like someone had placed the gym shoes in there afterwards.
Starting point is 00:21:23 And why is there a vomit? I guess you, when you're suffocating or if you're dying, things come out. So, I mean, that doesn't make sense. Why do issues not have blood or vomit? Now, the family said that a lot of weird stuff started taking place since then. And I'm going to try to be as unbiased as possible because the last thing that I want to do is I don't want to point fingers at someone without personal knowledge, experience, or even like factual evidence to back it up. And side note, a lot of the key players involved are very sous-happy, so just be careful out there. And there's a lot of these things that the family talked about in the documentary, so you have to go watch it. Now the Johnsons, the family, they claim that when they went to the medical examiner's office
Starting point is 00:22:05 This was just a little strange thing. They went to ID Kendrick's body and they were shook at how hot and how warm It was inside the medical examiner's office. I mean, maybe they were just nervous Maybe they were just sweating a little bit. I don't know But when they opened up the drawer because you know how they keep everyone in the drawers and then their inside body bags When they opened up the drawer that Kendrick was in, they felt this gush of hot air. They were like, that's so weird. Now, I don't know if this is true. I don't, I mean, I don't even know how you can factually check this unless they keep like logs of temperatures. I'm sure more ex-have to be a very specific temperature. So it was just a little bit bizarre.
Starting point is 00:22:41 Maybe it was the emotions. Maybe they were really nervous. This is not, you know, pointing fingers at anyone. It's just a little bizarre. They just said it was just a little bit bizarre. Maybe it was the emotions. Maybe they were really nervous. This is not pointing fingers at anyone. It's just a little bizarre. They just said it was strange. And when they see him, they keep telling the sheriff's office, look at our son, because it was clear to them. It was clear that he had been in a fight. His face was bruised up.
Starting point is 00:22:59 It was badly mutilated. There was hemorrhaging all over his face. And they would later find little cuts on KJ's hands. Now the news outlets, they had experts who are not related to this case, interviewed and they're like, well what do you think these little cuts on his hands are? And they said, that looks like fingernail markings. If you're in a fight with someone and they're trying to grab your hands or they're trying to stop you from doing something, maybe they'll mark you with your fingernails.
Starting point is 00:23:23 And so the parents, they feel like they're living in this alternate reality. I'm trying to tell the police, hey, look into it because something clearly happened. I mean, like, we saw some of the crime scene photos, none of this is making sense, but the police keep brushing them off. You're crazy. You're causing trouble for no reason. Get it over your head. It was just a bizarre tragedy.
Starting point is 00:23:42 I get it. You're grieving. But, like, get over it essentially. Like they were just being incredibly insensitive. Now I will say, one of the most sensitive parts of this case was the fact that KJ's family received crime scene photos of KJ and one of the pictures KJ's faces badly mutilated. Just disfigured. I mean it's shocking. It's graphic and you immediately get this like emotional trigger when you see this picture. And it to you, if you just look at the picture, it looks like something definitely happened. And the family released that particular picture to the media saying hello.
Starting point is 00:24:16 We want answers for our family. How can you tell us that there was no foul play? Look at our baby. Look at our son. Did you see the picture? Yes, it's all in the documentary and it's all online. Now, side note, the family did release it, so I felt comfortable that they were in the documentary. I didn't feel like, oh, okay, this is weird, right? So later on, experts not involved in the case said that something's a little weird about that picture.
Starting point is 00:24:41 Meaning that KJ looked like he had been disfigured from a fight if you didn't know any better. But as pathologists, medical examiners, doctors, they said that these types of injuries are really consistent with decomposition when you're upside down in a mat. All the blood is pooling in your brain, suffocating their vomit, and then the natural decomposition process. But also, after an autopsy, your skin's going to look different on your face. That's why they send you to a funeral home who's going to fix it up because they have to open up
Starting point is 00:25:09 your skull, and when they put your skull back together, your skin is kind of not in its correct place. It's kind of sagging a little bit. So these are coming from experts? Yeah, who are like, yeah, I mean, that's not saying that there wasn't foul play, but these pictures are a tiny bit misleading because when you just look at them without the context of this, it looks like, yeah, I mean, that's not saying that there wasn't foul play, but these pictures aren't a tiny bit misleading, because when you just look at them without the context of this, it looks like, I mean, he was beat up by multiple people. So the people who were already siding with the police gave more shit to the family. Saying, you're trying to deceive the public, you're trying to trick us, you're trying to get this public outrage. You know, when none of this is true, it's all in your head, and none of this is, like,
Starting point is 00:25:44 just get over it, come to terms with it. But here's the thing. I highly doubt that anyone in the Johnson family, I just can't imagine them putting this out there if they knew that a lot of what caused the disfigurement in that particular picture could be medically explained. To me, I just feel like from the get go, the police did not share information with them. I feel like they just tossed them a stack of crime scene photos and didn't tell them, oh this one, this one looks like this because it was right after the odd topsy, you know, after Decompt, like that's why he looks like that. So my question is why is there nobody saw or heard or seen anything?
Starting point is 00:26:19 So was he taking a PE class? No. The third period? It doesn't look like it. So nobody knows how he ended up in the gym. There third period? It doesn't look like it. Nobody knows how he end up in the gym. There's CCTV footage of him walking into the gym by himself. But there-
Starting point is 00:26:31 Is there investigation of all of that? Oh, it gets weird. Oh, good. So there's clearly some shady things going on with this case. Besides just the bizarre police theory that he dove head first into the center of a rolled up mat. There was the fact that the corner wasn't called to the scene till five hours after the police got there. That is against the Laundjorja.
Starting point is 00:26:53 In Georgia, the police are supposed to call the corner right after they find the dead body. So the corner asked the police, like, what's going on? Why? I mean, you guys unrolled him in the mat and then you rolled him back up for me to come here like five hours later that's bizarre why did you wait five hours?
Starting point is 00:27:09 I mean I don't even know how many people came in contact with Kendrick's body I don't know how many times he was moved I don't know who touched him I don't even know who was at the crime scene because you guys did it tape it off they didn't tape it off as a crime scene So the coroner he gets interviewed by CNN and he says and I quote the body had been moved the crime scene in So the corner he gets interviewed by CNN and he says, and I quote,
Starting point is 00:27:25 the body had been moved, the crime scene in my opinion had been compromised. But then later, he emails CNN and he says, and I quote, I would appreciate if you would destroy this interview with me. I do not want this to be shown whatsoever. I feel that our situation should not be aired. whatsoever, I feel that our situation should not be aired. Oh my goodness. And Sierra didn't release that. Yeah, Sierra was like, you know what, I'm going to release every correspondence that we've ever had. Okay, now even the coroner thinks that the scene is compromised, so this makes it all weird.
Starting point is 00:27:59 And on top of that, there's more. There were three pairs of sneakers at the gym, two inside of the mat. So one of the pairs at the bottom, near KJ's had the one that he supposedly dove in their head first to grab the ones that had no blood on it. That was that pair. Then another pair, near KJ's feet, in the tube. But they weren't on, so KJ didn't have shoes on.
Starting point is 00:28:21 And it almost like, honestly, if you look at the crime scene pictures, it looks like someone threw in his shoes after he was already in there. Like it looked like, honestly, if you look at the crime scene pictures, it looks like someone threw in issues after he was already in there. Like it looked like that. I mean, his legs were all twisted in a weird way. Why was any wearing issues? Then there was a third pair of sneakers that didn't belong to KJ. They had little specs on them that looked like blood, but the police said that we tested it.
Starting point is 00:28:40 It's not blood. It was something else. And because we tested it, and it wasn't blood, it was something else. And because we tested it and it wasn't blood, it was something else. We never brought it in as evidence. They never even tagged it, they never logged it, they never brought it in as evidence. They didn't try to find out who the shoe owner is. Not saying like, hey, let's go around
Starting point is 00:28:57 accusing high school kids because they left their shoes in the gym, but it's like, maybe you could ask. Okay, when's the last time you were in the gym? Why were you shoes in the gym? Did you see anything weird? Why are you shoeless, hey, when's the last time you were in the gym? Why were you shoes in the gym? Did you see anything weird? Why are you shoelace? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:08 My friend, why are you walking around? There's like kids walking around shoelace in the place, they're like, well it's not a crime scene so. And it's just weird. They did not care, at least rule it out, right? There was also blood on the walls of the gym. Now I saw pictures of it and it doesn't look like a nose bleed. Like if I were to get a nose bleed and somehow it transferred onto the wall, it's not little
Starting point is 00:29:30 droplets, but more so it's like the type that drips down the wall. Do you know what I'm talking about? Now if I saw it in my house, I wouldn't immediately think someone's dead. But I would be alarmed, I'd call the cops, I'd be freaked out. Like it's that big enough that I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not normal. Like if you had a paper cut or something small happened, this would not be what was on the walls. And the police said, well, we tested it. And it was blood.
Starting point is 00:29:55 But it wasn't Kendrick's. So we're just gonna leave it at that. They're like, did you find out who's blood it was? No, because we believe it does not appear to be, you know, related to our crime in any way. Huh. So that's how it works for these people. I'm like, suddenly it's a crime now. What's going on?
Starting point is 00:30:14 There was also a hoodie near his body with, you know, things that look like blood stains on it, but the police didn't test it. They also didn't log it. It also wasn't KJ's. So it's like, who's hoodie was that? Maybe you could find out who's hoodie it was and get them to talk, tell you what they last saw while their hoodie was there.
Starting point is 00:30:31 Is that blood on your hoodie? And again, I'm not saying accused high school kids because they left their shirt in a different room, but just like, I didn't rule it out. Just rule it out like you would any other investigation. So from the whole scene, from the outside looking in, it looks like Kendrick was rolled into the mat. I mean, I just can't imagine a situation
Starting point is 00:30:50 that makes sense without doing 25,000 mental cartwheels, where he is in the mat just there. Like he just consciously went in there. So I feel like he was placed in their unconscious or already dead. Like he would roll someone horizontally like in a blanket, that type of feeling and then tossed in both pairs of issues on either end, then put the mat upright so that it's harder for passerbyes to see someone's inside the
Starting point is 00:31:13 mat. Yeah. And the police said, oh, he dived in there. Yeah, he dove in head first to get a pair of sneakers that were technically on the ground. I don't know if you have ever met a high school teenage boy before. I'm gonna take a little drag on them, but sometimes, okay, I'm not saying Kendrick is, but a lot of them are really lazy, okay? Like, I just can't imagine any high schooler, male or female, diving in head first, down a six feet tube when you could just knock them out over or just lift it up. Something that really supports this theory is that KJ's legs were also really twisted
Starting point is 00:31:50 inside the mat. It just doesn't seem natural. If you were to dive in head first, how did your legs even get like this? I mean, just what? So the medical examiner ruled the death accidental by positional esphyxia. So this is like a really rare determination of death. So it's like saying that the position that you're placed in caused you to suffocate. This is really common amongst newborn babies.
Starting point is 00:32:12 So if you were to have your baby sleep on their stomach and there was a little pocket of air in your mattress, and they happen, that's why you're not supposed to sleep with your newborns, they would exphyxiate. So it's like, oh, they suffocated because the position that they were in. Not because they were strangled, not because they were smothered or you know drowned. It's like, that's how they died. So some people had really sympathized with the medical examiner because they're saying, well, this medical examiner really didn't have much to go on because, you know, the body
Starting point is 00:32:38 had been moved several times, didn't know who had contact, so the whole scene had been contaminated and he just did the best that he could. But on the other hand, a lot of people were really pissed off at this guy, like what do you talk about? If there aren't that many facts supporting your case, then you just leave it undetermined. That's what most medical examiners do, okay? Just do that. Why are you doing the most?
Starting point is 00:32:58 And the main part that people were so annoyed with was that when you, it's fixate. There's actually a lot of fluid in your lungs. So that's kind of what causes you to die is that this fluid keeps pumping into your lungs because you can't get oxygen and then you essentially suffocate from that fluid. So that means when they do an autopsy, they take out your lungs. Typically, it's about four times the normal weight because it's stuffed full with fluid. But Kendrick's lungs were the same size. They were the normal weight. There was no fluid found in them.
Starting point is 00:33:28 So you really have all these things that don't fit with your little theory. But because you have no other theory, this is the one that you're just like sticking with. And then it's also bizarre that the medical examiner is like, I am going to rule this in accidental death because of a theory. It's not factual evidence.
Starting point is 00:33:43 The paramedics that had arrived at the scene, they wrote in their report, so the paramedics, they don't work for the police. They told the police to immediately tape off the area. What are you guys doing? This is a homicide scene. Just by looking at Kendrick's body, they were like, this is a homicide scene.
Starting point is 00:33:59 Like, what are you guys doing? Like, put some crime scene tape up. What are you doing? They had just gotten there, too. It's not like they were doing all this investigating and the police were like, oh, it was just an accident. And they were so confused. They said they felt like the police had this scenario
Starting point is 00:34:14 and this theory on their head, and they just went with it. So you're thinking what a lot of people are thinking. Okay, fine, we've got these two really different theories, these really two different opinions on this, the family and their supporters, then we've got these two really different theories. These really two different opinions on this, the family and their supporters, then we've got the police and their supporters. So let's look at the facts. People get emotional in cases like this.
Starting point is 00:34:32 That's fine, let's look at the facts. The school is covered in CCTV footage. There are four CCTV cameras at every single entrance to just the old gym, but the cameras are missing a giant chunk of time, from 12.04 pm to 109pm. And even without the CCTV cameras, how did he die in a gym full of people? Because if you were to see the outside hallway, I mean, it looked like students were just in and out of this gym nonstop. People would play like a quick, what do you call it, pick me up basketball during class change?
Starting point is 00:35:03 would play like a quick what do you call it pick me up basketball during class change. Some kids would come during lunch to play basketball. The gym walls echo like if you really suffocated he would have screamed. So it was never empty. Well we don't really know definitively because the police didn't also even take in the CCTV footage the day that Kendrick died they waited like months. They waited until federal prosecutors got involved and they were like oh yeah we should totally ask the school for that. So what do they do? They ask the school to drop it off. They don't go and retrieve it. They're just like, hey, when you got time, just like stop by the courthouse and pass me those tapes. The police received a copy of it. They didn't receive the original files. And this was way
Starting point is 00:35:43 after Kendrick's death. Fore Runsick's surveillance experts said that it was clearly tampered with. I mean, there's just big chunks of time missing. The video image quality seemed lower than normal, making the footage extra grainy. Now chunks were also missing. And there's a ton of corrupt files. Just doesn't make sense. So the families pissed. They're like, okay. Does that mean the school is in on it too? Or someone who has access to the school, maybe there is a parent with a lot of pull.
Starting point is 00:36:13 I feel like in these high school situations, it's never the student. It's these parents that really get involved, right? As you guys know, we recently moved from the sunny California state to the east coast. And I love the east coast. Don't get me wrong, but I kind of miss just the feeling of California, the feeling of the sun hitting you all times of the day, just that nice ocean breeze and the best way that I can connect with that is through Pira Vida. Listen, Pira Vida was started by two California surfers who
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Starting point is 00:38:53 Now, the family, they start standing in the corner of the courthouse practically every day. Holding up signs, let's say, if you're tired of looking at us, give us justice and we will stop. All the parents? Just Kendrick's family. The parents, I mean, the parents were really split up, but it seemed like most parents weren't signing them with them. Because I think I don't know how to even give these parents benefit of the doubt, because I'm thinking if that was my kid, I would want to get to the bottom of it. No, if that wasn't my kid, like if my kid went to that school, I would want to get to the bottom of it because if there's a killer on the loose,
Starting point is 00:39:23 I'm not sending my kid to that school. But all of the parents, it seems like they automatically went into this default thinking of like, ah, they're just trying to cause trouble. Nothing's wrong with our school. Don't disrupt our happy little bubble. So they had these signs that were like, what if this was your child? Now, since the sheriff's office refused to help them, they were thinking, well, if we get enough publicity, if we get enough outrage, maybe someone stronger will come in, federal prosecutors, maybe the FBI. Please, just like help us get not even justice, but like answers.
Starting point is 00:39:53 If you give us definitive proof that he dove in there, would you have not given us, so they're then just like your word, your little theory, right? If you give us proof, we'll stop. That's all we need. So they help these walks from Atlanta, Georgia to Valdosta, which is really far by the way So Valdosta is on the Georgia Florida border And Atlanta is like really up north like near Alabama
Starting point is 00:40:15 So this is like you know it practically the other side of Georgia I think that's also why it's very different You would be more likely to see a Confederate flag hanging in Valdosta, Georgia than you would in Atlanta, Georgia. It's just there's a lot of racial tension there. So they keep trying to get more attention, more attention. People would yell at them, passing by their cars like random citizens and be like, you guys need to get a job. And these family members are like, we have a job.
Starting point is 00:40:40 Some of them have two jobs actually, okay? But this is our job too. We gotta get answers. So they're still not getting enough attention and they're like, we need to do something drastic. So they decide that they're going to lock arms, form a barrier at the courthouse entrance, so that nobody can walk through and enter the courthouse. It's not violent, but it's probably more like civil disobedience, you know. I mean, you can't get arrested for it, but that's what they decide to do. We need to get attention. We need someone to look at the courthouse entrance. It's not violent, but it's probably more like civil disobedience, you know, I mean you can't get arrested for it
Starting point is 00:41:06 But that's what they decide to do. We need to get attention We need someone to listen to us. That's all we need and family. They were terrified They could lose everything over this these aunts these uncles these family friends who came they could lose their jobs They could lose opportunities. They could be arrested But they had to do this because this was their son. This was their brother This was their nephew. This was their best friend. They needed answers So once they form that barrier the Sheriff's Department tries to get them from the inside So the Sheriff's Department is inside the courthouse and they're trying to open the doors like break them up And they start tugging on their arms aggressively and they're like, okay, Jackie to the mom
Starting point is 00:41:42 Okay, Jackie you understand that you can let go or you're gonna be arrested. Is that what you wanna do? And the police arrest both Jackie and Kenneth, the parents of Kendrick and people were outraged. I don't know if the sheriff's department thought that they were just being a little smart asses, but this, this is what blew up the case.
Starting point is 00:42:03 Really? This is exactly what was needed. How dare you arrest the grieving parents This put this, this is what blew up the case. Really? This is exactly what was needed. How dare you arrest the grieving parents when all they want is answers. Like that just feels like the ultimate sick betrayal. You arrested parents who just lost their 17 year old kid because they want you to do your job. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:42:21 You know, they weren't being violent. What is wrong with you guys? And the story starts circulating. At first, people were just outraged that grieving parents were arrested. Then they started digging deeper into Kendrick's story and they're like, wait a minute. That's a weird story. That's a fishy story. And I think a lot of it had to do also with the history of Valdosta, Georgia.
Starting point is 00:42:39 Now, disclaimer, if you're from Valdosta, Georgia, or are there, or no people there, I'm not saying that you're racist. I'm not saying you're a raging racist and you got to confederate flag outside. Okay, that's someone I'm saying at all. Usually when we talk about cities or towns being racist, it's typically because they have like this notable length of history of racism, or maybe there's people in power that are racist and that gets exposed. I'm not saying this whole zip code is racist. Just certain people that have a lot of influence, particularly. So Valdosta, Georgia, the name itself is weird.
Starting point is 00:43:09 Did you know the name of the town, according to the Valdosta city website, isn't I quote, in honor of Valdosta, the plantation home of former Governor George Troup. Governor George Troup had over 400 slaves on that plantation. They named their town, their city, after a slave plantation. This governor was also one of the richest men in Georgia, and he always advocated for indigenous removal from land.
Starting point is 00:43:36 He was like, yeah, let's just steal their land, let's kill him, that makes sense. So he was just all around a menace to society and the city is like we want to honor him We really want to make him feel a little bit special. So they name a whole town Now it started long ago as a railroad town and there happened to be a major railroad stop here in Valdas to Georgia So they built this city around it because they're like well if the railroad stops here We might as well have some trade here. So they start trading food goods and slaves So there's a really dark history, like a lot of towns in the South.
Starting point is 00:44:09 Now, according to the documentary, though, Wild Oster made headlines nationally for a really heinous crime that happened in the early 1900s. There was a woman by the name of Mary Turner. She was eight months pregnant. She was married trying to live her best life, which was nearly impossible, considering the fact that she was black in the 1900s One day a mob of angry people decide you know what Mr. Turner we're gonna kill you
Starting point is 00:44:32 I don't know what his supposed crime was to warrant this murder but nothing warrant some murder So it's completely besides the point so he gets murdered in public he gets lynched and The townspeople are asking Mary. well, how do you feel about that? She's like, how do I feel that you just murdered my husband for absolutely no reason while I'm eight months pregnant? How do I feel about that? And so she, she very nicely told them, well, I don't feel so great about that. Like, I wish you guys wouldn't have done that. So what does the angry mob do?
Starting point is 00:45:02 Are you serious? You don't agree with what we did? Oh my god, get her. So they drag her down. They beat her, light her on fire, mutilate her, cut open her stomach, take out her unborn child to his eight months, and stomp on the baby in front of her before they hang her. A lot of towns people saw this and no charges were ever made. And on the memorial, like the anniversary of her death, her memorial was shot up. Someone was like, you know what,
Starting point is 00:45:35 let's just disrespect her further. Then you were thinking, well, that was the 1900s. People are always gonna be like, times have changed. As recently as 2018, they were in the news again Valdosta Georgia because there was a Jimmy John's you know the sandwich place well the workers there While they were on their shift they were wearing a fake KKK outfit and cracking jokes While recording themselves Like imagine how terrifying that is because you don't even know you're just innocently trying to get a sandwich one day
Starting point is 00:46:04 You don't know who's working behind the counter Employees yeah employees Well on the job And I'm laughing because of like how terrifying and also like kind of stupid that was for them to record it Yeah, so that's just some of the acts of racism that made the headlines let alone like the day-to-day That's just some of the acts of racism that made the headlines. Let alone the day-to-day, subtle racism that happens that just aren't on the news. And even though more than 50% of the population in Valdosta is black, all of the authority figures mainly, like the ones with power, the ones with influence, Sheriff's Department, politicians,
Starting point is 00:46:37 people who have influence, people with money are primarily white in Valdosta. Now, most of the people also working on Kendrick's case at the time were white. So people start posting on Facebook videos of people around Kendrick's eyes trying to fit into a gym mat. They're like, let's make it make sense, right? Because Tessa doesn't. It reminds me of the Phoebe hands-jerk case you guys remember where she fell down the trash shoot of her boyfriend's high-rise building. And I mean technically, like yeah, where she fell down the trash shoot of her boyfriend's high-rise building. And I mean, technically, like, yeah. Technically, she fits.
Starting point is 00:47:07 But like, how exactly? Like, she would have to work really hard to fit there. Like, I mean, this is the same situation. Technically, if you paid me $10 million to make myself fit, yeah, I could do it. But like, why would I? None of this makes logical sense without doing any any mental gymnastics.
Starting point is 00:47:26 So everyone on Facebook starts flipping out. The family, they reach out to another medical examiner in Florida who has been doing this for like 40 years and they decide to exume KJ's body. Do a second independent autopsy. And she just said it was terrifying. Like when you see your baby boy getting lifted from his grave, it's like this weird feeling of, I mean, I'm sure it's all the pain of, you know, there's most rest in peace, but also that's your baby boy. And now he's coming out from the ground.
Starting point is 00:47:54 Like, how do you feel about this? They open up his body. They were shook. All of his organs are missing. The cavities where the organs are are replaced by newspaper. This, you know, pathologist who had been doing this for 40 years is like, okay, that's not normal. I've never seen that before. Then they reach out to like the National Association of Medical Examiner's. They're like, yeah, we've never heard of this type of practice. Like, we don't advocate for it. Like, we don't know why there's newspapers in there.
Starting point is 00:48:25 So they start asking, who did this? Because the only other people that had access to his body were one, the medical examiners in Georgia, then two, the funeral home. So it's got to be somewhere along there. And it also didn't seem like the parents consented to the organs being taken. So sometimes after an autopsy, the hospitals are like,
Starting point is 00:48:41 can we take, you know, this person's organs for research purposes or for medical purposes? And then you're like, can we take this person's organs for research purposes? Or for medical purposes? And then you're like, okay, well, you got to sign off on it. So people start freaking out. Why would his organs be missing? And then the funeral home said, oh yeah, we did that. What?
Starting point is 00:48:56 So the funeral home said that they received the body without the organs. Now this is contradicting because there's actually a document signed by the funeral home saying that they received the organs from GBI, which is the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. And then GBI came forward and was like, yeah, we put the organs right back after the autopsy. Why would we take the organs? So who took the organs? We just don't know. So they said that they received the body without the organs. They're getting ready for the funeral and they were doing it pro bono, this is kind of important. They weren't getting paid for the funeral because
Starting point is 00:49:27 they wanted to be, I guess, good to the Johnson family, kind of backfired. And they said that they had to fill the cavities with something else because, I mean, if you're liver and all your organs are gone, your body's going to sink into those cavities. So they have to fill it with something. Now, the medical standard practice is to fill it with like this cotton-like material. So if you are donating your organs to science or research, they fill it so that it's still filled. It's not just this empty hole in your body, but because the funeral home was doing it pro bono, it's just been insinuated that they were trying to cut costs. So they stuffed him with newspapers. And the family was just heartbroken, because they're like,
Starting point is 00:50:05 you stuffed our little baby boy with newspapers like he was a fucking trash can. Like imagine the disrespect. I can't even begin to imagine. What's also weird is the funeral home signed off with the GBI saying not only did they receive the organs, but they also received the clothes that Kendrick had died at. But now they're backtracking and saying, no, we never got those clothes. We're not those clothes.
Starting point is 00:50:29 So those are missing too. So the organs are missing, but also so are Kendra's clothes that he died in. So the questions are they lying about any of these? We don't know. Val Duster to me seems like the type of town where you can really go far with a little bit of influence. I feel like in a place like maybe LA, maybe New York, you would have go far with a little bit of influence. I feel like in a place
Starting point is 00:50:45 like maybe LA, maybe New York, you would have to be such a powerful person to get away with stuff like this, but in smaller towns, just a certain level of influence can have a lot of pull. So they do the second autopsy, and they look at the rest of his body because they can't look at his lungs because it's missing. And the medical examiner said that he found hemorrhaging underneath the jaw. It's near like the corroded sinus nerve system. I don't know if that's how you pronounce it, but essentially it's a nerve system
Starting point is 00:51:12 that controls blood pressure. And if you put like really blunt force trauma onto this nerve system, technically, it could slow your heart rate enough that it results in death. So now this second person is saying, I think that the cause of death is blunt force trauma to the neck. This would explain why the first medical examiner said that there were no fluids in the
Starting point is 00:51:31 lung, that he didn't expixiate. This makes a lot of sense. Now there's a big debate about it because a lot of other pathologists who saw this on the news were like, I've never really heard of this. Like this seems incredibly rare to die by this. How do you even put that much pressure on a human being? Like if there was a little weak spot on a human being where you just press a little bit and they instantly die, we would have known about it by now, right?
Starting point is 00:51:53 What could have caused that? And the bruising and the hemorrhaging itself was only a couple centimeters. So this is either like the rarest case ever, or it's just bizarre. I don't know. Personally to me, this cause of death makes a little bit more sense than, like, diving into a rolled-up gym mat because I feel like there's always things like medical mysteries, but human, just like human psychology and human actions tend to typically be normal. And it just doesn't seem normal that he would dive headfirst into that mat.
Starting point is 00:52:22 So finally, federal prosecutors decide to investigate and they start subpoenaing students, parents, and it seems like there's a rumor that's starting circulating about two brothers. They're so happy. So we're gonna call them, Triggand, dumb and dumb or no one kidding, we're gonna call them Ted and Tom.
Starting point is 00:52:43 Okay. Don't sue me, Ted and Tom. Now, allegedly, there had been issues between the brothers and Kendrick before he died. Now, Kendrick's dad even stated that these two brothers were bullying Kendrick, and he would come home, and he's like, I don't know what to do. They keep bullying me.
Starting point is 00:52:57 There was another incident that stated that they had gotten into a huge fight one of the brothers and Kendrick, while they were on a bus headed to an off-home football gate. So they get into this huge fight, the parents got involved, but the brothers insist after Kendrick's death that they were just like, best butts! No, we were all friends! We're literally good friends on top of that.
Starting point is 00:53:19 Here's a couple of things about the brothers. Initially, they lawyer it up. Later they will talk to the police in the press a little bit and they'll just claim their innocence the whole time. Secondly, they're white and all the police and prosecutors are white. So in a town like Valdosta, we can only imagine that maybe some of this is at play. I believe so. And this might be the most important part. Number three, their dad is a decorated FBI agent. Like I said, in a town like Valdosta or really anywhere, that's going to have a lot of
Starting point is 00:53:49 pull. A lot. So allegedly, according to a homicide detective from DC who was called in to be one of the federal investigators on this case, he said that people were talking about how the dad, the FBI agent, had been scaring them before they were able to talk to the police. So this one woman said, I don't know. This FBI agent dad keeps coming up to me asking me if I talked to the police yet and he would wait outside my workplace just staring into my shop.
Starting point is 00:54:15 Now of course, the dad is like, I never did that. He's denying all of it. I have no opinions on any of these. I'm just going to leave it at that because these are, like I said, really so happy people. Now, the US Marshals did raid this house. Which house? The FBI and the two brothers' house. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 00:54:34 Which by the way, search warrants, they were signed off on by judges. Like, you gotta get them signed off. The US Marshals came full tactical gear. So I'm assuming that there was enough reason that the judge felt compelled, yeah, let's search this person's house. And the brothers said that they were shocked, they were interviewed, and they said, I want
Starting point is 00:54:49 everyone to know the truth, and I mean they can ridicule me, they can say whatever they want, but in the end, the truth will prevail and everybody will find that me and my brother have been innocent and always will be innocent. An anonymous email was sent to the sheriff's office from a teenage girl from the same high school, and it's said, and a lot of the names are redacted because they're minors, right? My best friend was at a party with another friend, and they were upset about something because Blank had said that her and her best friend started talking, and by the end of the night, that person had told her that everything, that the whole nation had
Starting point is 00:55:25 been wondering for the past year. She told my friend what really happened to KJ. Listen, Spooktober is coming up and I really want to make Spooktober amazing for this podcast but also my YouTube channels and I did not notice how much pressure I had been putting on myself and how much anxiety that's been causing and like feelings of, oh no, what if this spooktoper sucks? Which is why this podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you feel like there's something that's on your mind, or maybe you just want to talk to someone or you're like, hey, if I did this, I think I would be a little bit happier. Or maybe this is something that I need to deal with in order to achieve my goals.
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Starting point is 00:56:31 matter the fact that I moved. I don't have to go through the process of like breaking up with them, finding a new one, or even if I travel out of the country, I still can talk to my therapist. You can log into your account at any time and send a message to your therapist when you get a timely and thoughtful response Plus on top of that you can schedule weekly and video phone sessions So you never have to sit in that uncomfortable waiting room as with traditional therapy Side note they're also committed to like facilitating great therapeutic matches
Starting point is 00:56:58 So they make it easy and free to change their piss if needed I've actually changed a couple of times before I found the one that I'm currently with and I just feel like like it helps to know that like, hey, if it's not working perfectly, I can talk to somebody else. And it's just so easy. So BetterHelp wants you to start living a happier life today. Visit betterhelp.com slash rotten that's better, H-E-L-P, and join over the two million people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional. In fact, so many people have been using better health that they are recruiting additional therapists in all 50 states. So special offer for Rotten Mangle listeners, get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com.
Starting point is 00:57:35 Slash Rotten. Blank said that little over a year ago, she had sexual intercourse with KJ while dating Blank said that little over a year ago she had sexual intercourse with KJ while dating Blank. When he found out when her boyfriend found out that she had cheated on him with KJ, he threatened KJ, so KJ told him, will meet me in the old gym after third block and have your knife ready. So Blank, the boyfriend, brought his friend, met with KJ, and killed him. He's also been heard admitting to killing KJ more than once at parties.
Starting point is 00:58:08 His brother, Blank, also got drunk at a party on the 4th of July and told many people that Blank, his brother, killed KJ and he was tired of keeping it a secret. Who's this person? I mean, a lot of people on the internet speculated to the FBI brothers. But we're not sure. Yeah, we're not sure. Now, the police found out who sent the email. They tracked the girl down and they claimed that she did not have any first-hand accounts,
Starting point is 00:58:34 that she was just basing this off of high school rumors, high school speculation. She meant well, she wasn't trying to like throw a bomb on the investigation, but her information just was not credible, because I think a few people in the note had alibis. So for example, one of the brothers was on a bus headed to a wrestling match with his team. The time that the police believed that KJ died. The other brother happened to be in class on the other side of the school during the time
Starting point is 00:59:02 that investigators believe KJ died. Again, like what does this mean? class on the other side of the school during the time that investigators believe KJ died. Again, like what does this mean? I don't know, because if even the CCTV footage can be tampered with, I'm sure you can tamper with these records. Easily. So in 2014, Kendrick's family sued the school, the school district, and the board of education. Because they said that one of the brothers, the FBI brothers, had bullied Kendrick and attacked him before, sometimes even in front of the teachers, the FBI brothers, had bullied Kendrick and attacked him before,
Starting point is 00:59:25 sometimes even in front of the teachers, so much so that Kendrick's mom had complained to the school, but they didn't do anything. You guys never did anything. And now my baby's dead, you know? So in 2015, the family also filed a $100 million lawsuit against the FBI agent dad, claiming that this FBI agent ordered his two sons to kill Kendrick. Jackie would later dismiss this lawsuit, but then she got hit with the lawsuit. For legal fees and defamation from that family. I think the Johnson family, they were just so passionate about getting justice and like who can blame them, they're just panicked. Like imagine the feeling of you know something happened and everyone's gaslighting you essentially.
Starting point is 01:00:10 Like oh the police are like what are you talking about, nothing happened. The whole town is like stop causing so much hassle. What are you talking about? So they had kind of accused people without evidence and in the eyes of the law technically, yeah that can be seen as slanderous and defamatory. Do we blame them? Personally I don't, but they will later set a lot of court and they have to pay $200,000. So in 2016 anonymous gets involved. Not an anonymous person, but the
Starting point is 01:00:37 anonymous hacking group. And they said that this was a forking cover-up and that the students are scared that they had talked to students from this high school and these students are scared to come forward with information. They were getting threatened. The biggest threat was that graduation was gonna be, it was gonna be gone. These students would never get to graduate. The police wanted to surprise any students that actually knew the truth. That's what anonymous said. We got to do something, but nothing really came out of it. Then in 2018, Jackie filed an affidavit that said someone, redacted person, someone unknown person,
Starting point is 01:01:11 confessed that their friend had killed KJ. And he had hit KJ in the neck with like the end of a 45 pound dumbbell. Then they went and deleted the high school CCTV footage. Now, all of this kind of adds up like the dumbbell and the injury that he had on his neck. Maybe that makes sense. So if they were able to delete the CCTV footage, I feel like some people think, well, maybe it's a faculty member then.
Starting point is 01:01:36 I feel like it's a student with a parent who is really active in trying to make sure that their child is not going to go to jail. If this is true, I just can't imagine a faculty member doing that. And then comes out it's a faculty member. So the family have their third autopsy. And this confirmed the second autopsy's findings. And the pathologist actually reached out to like four other pathologists who confirmed they also think that he died from blunt force trauma to the neck. pathologist who confirmed they also think that he died from blunt force trauma to the neck. So January of 2021, Jackie is now suing the FBI family and the county of Lowns County and of March of 2021, a couple of months ago.
Starting point is 01:02:18 Kendrick's case was finally reopened in Georgia. Now I don't know what that means because Tom LaHarsford, her case was reopened in Georgia. Now, I don't know what that means, because Tom LaHarsford, her case was reopened. But like, is something happening? I don't know. Do we know? We don't know. Who knows?
Starting point is 01:02:37 Maybe they're working tirelessly behind the scenes. Maybe they're just like saying it's reopened, so that maybe the public won't be as mad at them. That's it. That's it. That's the latest update. And technically, it's reopened so that maybe the public won't be as mad at them. That's it. That's it. That's the latest update. And technically it's still unsolved. I mean, I really don't know where to stand with this because truly I don't want to ever point fingers
Starting point is 01:02:53 at someone without having like crazy evidence. I don't think that he went in there willingly. That's all my personal belief, my personal belief with zero experience. I just don't think that he went in there. I wish someone say something. Yeah, like these two. I don't understand the anonymous part. They couldn't even figure out what's going on.
Starting point is 01:03:13 No. So everybody just too scared to say something. Yeah, I think with the thing with anonymous is like, maybe they could find out, maybe they know. But I wonder if it has so much to do with dealing with minors. And if these minors and if these minors are like, listen, I'm terrified. I don't think it would be in anyone's best. That means there are some really powerful people at play. Yeah, which I'm thinking like, I
Starting point is 01:03:34 think that's why a lot of people are pointing fingers at the FBI family because like their parents. Again, how much power can one individual like that have? To me, it seems like the school is putting a lot of pressure on kids, no? Yeah, it seems like the school is putting a lot of pressure on kids. No? Yeah. It seems like the school is trying to make sure that this gets suppressed. Right. So the changing CCTV, the kids are graduation. You know, all of these sons very involved with school. I don't know. Maybe the people who run the school have, they have their own reasons. Maybe their reasons are the same reasons that maybe another powerful parent would want this to be on the news.
Starting point is 01:04:12 It's just again, one of those small towns where everyone is so easily connected. You just can't imagine this happening in a bigger city. I mean, worse things happen in bigger cities, in the sense of like how does someone or group of people because that's what I imagine have this much pull. And you have to wonder just to put in perspective I'm going to end it here. What if it was the FBI agent's white son who went missing? You know that's what a lot of people say. We're not saying it's the FBI agent's son but there are rumors like listen if the son of an FBI agent who happens to be white ends up dead with suspicious circumstances, and there are rumors that Kendrick, the Black High School kid, was allegedly aggressive with this white son of an FBI agent, you think that the case is going to be handled this way? You think they're going to lose CCTV footage? You think they're going to just organs are going to disappear? You think so? I don't think so. Let's be real.
Starting point is 01:05:05 That's not gonna happen. Now Kendrick's sister in the documentary, she did say this and this made me cry and call my sister. She said, tell your sibling that you love them every day. It doesn't matter if you're mad or if you're disagreeing, tell your whole family that you love them because anything can happen.
Starting point is 01:05:22 You won't be able to tell them that you miss them, so don't take your family for granted. Let's go tell your family you love them. And I hope you guys enjoyed this week's mini so let me know what do you think happened and I hope it gets answers. And I'll see you guys on Wednesday. Bye! Thank you.

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