Rotten Mango - #135: “Wanna kill grandma? lol” (Case of Wendy Gardner)

Episode Date: January 30, 2022

15 year old James gathered all his friends at the bowling alley and dragged them outside. He wanted to show off his 13 yr old girlfriend and his brand new car! The kids were shocked - how did James get a new car? He doesn’t even have a license but they were too excited to care. They all packed in the car. Windows down. Music on. Speeding on the streets. James and his girlfriend felt free for the first time in their lives. Well almost free - they had to get rid of the body in the trunk first. Book Rec: “Kill Grandma For Me” - by James & Jim DeFelice (the best deep dive you will find on this case!) Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com 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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Welcome to this week's mini-sode of Rotten Mango. I'm your host Stephanie Sue, and we're just going to jump right into this story. 15-year-old James and 13-year-old Wendy. They strolled into that bowling alley. Ooh, they felt like they were on top of the world. Did you see that turn that I just did? The way that I reversed parked, skirks skirks. Some of their friends were at the bowling alley and they overheard them.

Wait, what? You drove over here? How? You don't even have a car. No matter of fact, you don't even have a license. How did you drive? James smirked. Yeah, but fact, you don't even have a license. How did you drive? James smirked. Yeah, but I did. Didn't I? You guys want to go for a joy ride? I'll take you for a spin, losers. They go outside, they pack up into that car, he grabbed his girlfriend's

hand, and they start speeding down the dark side streets. They're blasting music, rolling the windows down, sticking their arms out, and they felt free, truly free. But Wendy and James knew that they weren't free. At least not yet. They had to get rid of the body in the trunk first. As always, full source notes are available at RottenMangoPotcast.com, but there is a really good book on this case called Kill Grandma for Me by James DeFelice and Jim DeFelice.

Now the authors, they did extensive interviews, court documents, they poured through transcripts, other documented sources, found out everything that they could on this case. Wait, so this author is not the same James from the story? No, different James, you really keep it. He wrote it while he was driving the 15 year old car. Again, no, the 15 year old wrote it while he was driving the 15-year-old car. Again, no. The 15-year-old wrote it while he was driving the car. No.

And you know, they found out everything that they could on this case. And truly, this is the best deep dive I could find. It's so well-written. I highly recommend giving it a read. And this is one of those lesser-known cases that it's just not that much talked about, but it's wild. So what happened? The story all starts with a little girl named Wendy Gardner. She was actually born Gwenvier Gardner, but they called her Wendy instead, and she grew up in this super small town called, I want to say it's called Socrates, like Socrates, right, or is it Socrates, right? I'm sorry. It's honestly a pretty quaint family from the town.

How do I know this? Because apparently Jimmy Fallonon is from there and does it get more wholesome than that? Probably not I'm kidding by the way, but that's a fun fact that you did not know about Sojourties Wendy was also known by the town as being this like very sweet and intelligent little 12 year old girl She always had good grades. She was artistic, she friggin played the flute in the church choir Like it doesn't get more cute little rule of biting. Wow your child is so well behaved. Then Wendy Gardner, she even had a diary in the whole shebang and actual diary with a lock on it and a keep-out sign on the front It read to anyone who finds this diary and reads it unless you are given it or asked to read it I hope you burn and hell Love Wendy Gardner

PS if you don't go to hell I will kill you myself and send you to hell So like I said she was truly an innocent pure little 12 year old girl I wonder if there's Diaries like fingerprints. I remember growing up. There was like lock diaries that I loved at Target. Yeah. Like where you have to get the keys. Oh, oh, so good. But I guess people can just do it on their iPad now, right? Exactly, but I don't know what I was even writing in that diary.

Nothing of importance. I thought I was like a lane of Gilbert from Vampire Diaries, but I wasn't. I had no thoughts in that brain of mine. So many ways. On the first page of Wendy's diary, they were able to read it. We were able to read it. I'm not in hell yet, but I might be going. It said, My life is so unpredictable. I don't know when I'm gonna be happy. I don't know when I'm gonna be sad, disappointed, or mad. If I'll be able to be in love or just in a stupid messed up game that my boyfriend's are playing on me.

So far it's giving me strong, heavy, 12-year-old angst vibes like, oof, life is tough, right? Which there's no shame in that, nothing wrong with that, it's all the process of growing up. I do think that Wendy was dealing with a quite bit more than a normal 12-year-old would be doing though, so Wendy and her 10-year-old little sister, Kathy, they both lived with their grandma Betty. So sometimes she's just called grandma, sometimes Betty, sometimes grams. Now this grandma is their dad's mom and their dad is named Buzz. You know, they called him Buzz. He really did not care for his kids. He really ever came to visit them. He went months without as so much as a phone call. And when he did call, it was like, hey kids, how you doing? Put grandma on the phone, I need money. Like that was the situation. He just

was not a great person. He was an only child growing up. And since the day that he graduated high school, he was just always drunk every single day of his life. He was constantly being arrested for drug abuse. And one of his biggest accomplishments that he said so himself was that he and his dad fought all the time Till the day that his dad died they fought on the day that his dad died and he was really proud of that He was like, yeah, I'm stubborn But he said it in my god Fighter I put out for what I believe you know like it was weird Maybe it showed how strong will he was,

because I just, I can't imagine how this is a brag. But I digress, right? At some point, Buzz meets a woman named Jan. She was also abusing drugs. So naturally, the relationship is gonna be as good as you can imagine. They're both abusing drugs, they fight all the time, they spend every single penny that they had,

or didn't have on drugs, and then they repeated this whole cycle. And eventually, Jan gets pregnant. And those closed turns that that even while she was pregnant with Wendy, she was still using cocaine and heroin. So almost back to back, they had Wendy and then later Kathy, and as quickly as they had kids, they broke up. Honestly, Wendy doesn't even remember much of their dynamic. She just vaguely remembers the moment right before they split up for good. It was this huge, explosive fight they fought for hours and hours, they were in tears, they were yelling,

and it reached a breaking point when Jan ran into the kitchen, opened the bedraug, grabbed a knife, and threatened to stab buzz in front of their two kids. Was this fight over? Was he cheating? Was it about parenting tactics? Maybe they're just different. Was it about ethics, morals? No. It was about who smoked the last cigarette. So the two of them, they split up after that and Jan later contracted HIV. So she just kind of disappeared from the girls' world. Like she didn't care about them. She never called them, I don't even think she ever visited them one time when Buzz

took them and threw them at his mom. Now grandma Betty was just kind of off on the sidelines watching all of this unfold, and she just couldn't bear with this idea that her two granddaughters would deal with Buzz for the rest of their lives. So she went to court, filed for custody, and she won. Buzz didn't care, like he was like, okay, good riddance, take them, thank you so much. So since Wendy was five, and Kathy was three, Grandma Betty was the one raising them, and she was alone, completely alone. Her husband had died a few years ago, so she's this single

parent, but much older, without many resources, like she doesn't have a well-paying job. She's financially strapped for cash all the time, but she devoted her entire life to them. She handwashed all their clothes. She went to all their soccer games. She dragged them to church every Sunday, and they were taught to be respectful. Don't step out of line. I'm gonna be honest.

Grandma Betty does sound a little bit strict, but not in a bad way. I mean, they had structure, they were well fed, they were well-clothed, they were taken care of. I, you know, it's one of those situations where you're not gonna have the most fun growing up, but it was a stable life. And Wendy was killing it in school.

She was doing everything right. But when she hit 12, she was ready to rebel. Oh, she was ready. She said, grandma, take me to the mall. But I don't want you coming inside. I just want you to drop me off. I'm gonna meet my friends there. And she's like, absolutely not.

That is a dangerous place. That's a 20 minute drive from here. You're too young. I demand to be in the mall with you. So Wendy's pissed. She's like, are you kidding me? All my friends are already going to the mall. So she storms out of there.

She calls up her friends and lets them know I can't come to the mall. My grandma. And she phrases it like this. It's because she doesn't want to miss her freaking soap operas. So you kind of start seeing like this shift in Wendy, where I mean she's rebelling, but it's not that bad. Like her idea of rebelling is like cursing at her friends, writing in her diary, and just

being a little brat. But not serious, she just wants to go to the mall. And on top of that, Wendy just kind of added out for her grandma. Kathy was always the golden child, or at least that's how Wendy felt. Kathy always got the new shoes. She got the hand-me-downs, even as the older one. What? Because Wendy's feet were smaller, and they had friends in the area that had similar feet

sizes, I guess, to Wendy. But nobody had Kathy's foot size, she had big feet. Kathy was always the one that grandma Betty would kind of talk nicely to, instead of yell at, like she always did with Wendy. And Wendy knew it wasn't Kathy's fault. She didn't blame her little sister, like some people might have. It was always Grandma's fault. Why is she even playing favorites with her grandkids?

Like, I just want to know. She kind of had an idea. Because anytime Grandma and Wendy got into a fight, Grandma would yell at her, you're just like your mother, Jan. And that was a harsh, harsh statement to make. These girls were raised to think that their mom was like the root of evil. I mean, the epitome of evil, the woman who ruined grandma's precious son as if he wasn't already ruined, but you get the idea. I mean, I guess any third party would argue that he was just as bad, but this is his mom. She saw what she wanted to see. Anytime Wendy acted out it was because she was cut from that same ungodly cloth that Jan was. See the abble doesn't fall far from the tree.

She would say things like Wendy, you better straighten out if you don't want to end up like your mom and I'm gonna be honest. This is really unsolicited, pretty harsh words to stay. Because most of the time, Wendy from Betty and everybody else's perspective, she was a straight and narrow kid. She was a good kid. She was nothing but sweet and polite. She got good grades. Sure, she cursed once in a while.

She was a brat once in a while, but that was absolutely normal. So it's kind of clear that grandma's bias was just shining through. Whenever Kathy did something good, or Wendy got good grades, they were just like their father. Grandma Betty definitely had some blinders on about her own son and it was just bizarre. The people around the family said that the only reason grandma Betty said those things to Wendy and not Kathy was because Wendy looked just like her mom. The resemblance was uncanny. And this is actually something that is pretty predominant in Korean culture, I believe. Maybe it's not. I've just been told by many

Koreans and also my own family. So let's say you and I have three kids. Your parents are going to naturally gravitate towards our kids that look most like you. And my parents are going to gradually gravitate towards the kids that look like me. That's interesting. So your parents are going to towards the kids that look like me. That's interesting. So your parents are gonna favor the grandchildren that look like their kid. Not the spouses kid, not the nicest kid, not the cutest kid, but the one that looks the most like your own child.

Maybe it's the nostalgia. Maybe it's like, oh my god, they look just like you when you were a kid. Maybe it's that, or maybe it's like, you think this is more percentage of your kid than the significant other? I don't know what it is, but apparently that's a thing.

I mean, like even now, Andrew's mom, this is my niece's grandma on the other side, she's always like, oh my God, Sophie just looks like Andrew, and then my parents are like, oh my God, Sophie looks just like Stephanie as a kid. Stephanie. It's not even my kid, but they're like, no, no, no, the resemblance is uncanny.

So it's like a thing in Korean culture, very fascinating. Maybe Grandma Betty was doing that to Wendy. She just didn't like her because she looked like Jan instead of Buzz. I'm not even sure why Grandma Betty liked her son so much. They were constantly fighting. He was disgusting to her. Very nasty. He only ever came to visit the girls, quote, visit.

As in, he just needs money. So he's like, oh, mom, I'm visiting the girls, by the way, do you have 500 bucks? I need it. I need it bad. She would turn him down and she would say things like, I don't have that type of money anymore. Every penny that I make is going to the girls right now.

Your girls, the one that you fail to take care of, and now I'm taking care of them. And the only time you ever come around to see your old mom is when you need something. And he would scream, screw you, I didn't even need your help. Just shut up, mom. I would have been fine on my own with these girls.

You just can't help yourself. You always butt in where it's not your place. And he would storm out of the house. But this is not the worst part of grandma. So that's kind of the relationship with what's going on in the house. And Wendy is getting increasingly more pissed off because grandma is, you know, she's setting more rules.

She's saying things like, you're not allowed to talk on the phone with any boys. At all, not even a two second conversation. You can talk to all the girls you want, but not about, I better not hear a voice voice. I'm gonna get on the line. Okay? And it sounds not that bad, right?

But when you're 12, I mean, that's the end of the world. So Wendy would start going behind her grandma's back to see if she wanted to date someone explore her sexuality. And starting at just 12 years old, Wendy was actually pretty sexually active. And now that she's gonna start high school soon, it's only gonna get worse, you know? She's only getting more excited. She was nervous.

Sure, there'd be more opportunities. Like she would get to play on a high school soccer team. Oh, she loved soccer. She had this type of personality that thrived on praise. She would rather walk away than embarrass herself on the soccer field. That was the type of person she was. And there would be so many more boys, which is exactly what she needed. Right now, Wendy was so upset with an ex-boyfriend of hers. She even wanted to write a book on him, about

the death of him, rather. Well, to be fair, he wasn't dead, and the book is going to be fiction. But what a great way to channel your angry energy, right? So the nuts of dead ex-boyfriend's name was Pete Stewart. What did Pete do to her? We need to know. Well, they had been dating on and off for about two years. And honestly, it was almost always Wendy who would break up with him. But then one day, he got sick of it.

It's just too much, Wendy. I'm getting whiplash. Do you love me? Do you not love me? I can't do this anymore. It's over for good this time. He had the audacity to break up with her. And she was pissed. She told her friends, I just know. I know it. I know that he's out there telling all of his friends that I'm an easy

He's such a Yeah, they're 12. Okay. This really makes me terrified to have kids. Okay, not just because it's a girl But like I'm terrified to have a son a dog. I don't care, okay? I'm just terrified. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She was getting more and more pissed. It only made her more mad. But at the same time, she was falling for a new guy named Cal Hanson. He lived about a mile away from Wendy's house, which was perfect for her, because she could use her bike to go see him. She didn't need a ride from grandma, but she didn't go off in. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like he was that interested in her. Sometimes she would come home and she would get random calls from Cal's friends. And they

would say things like, you don't even want to hang out with Cal anyways. He's no good for you. He's just using you. Sometimes they would call and switch their tone and say, stay away from Cal. You're just using him anyway. So it just seemed like one of those 12-year-old relationships where Cal is like, oh, do I like her? Do I not like her? Hey, like, can you guys call her and say, stay away from Cal. You're just using him anyway. So it just seemed like one of those 12-year-old relationships where Cal is like, oh, do I like her? Do I not like her? Hey, can you guys call her and say all these weird things? So it's very confusing.

Wendy wrote about it in her diary. She even had a little index to explain her terminology. Like if she ever wrote, me and Cal, number one, that meant they kissed. Number two is a French kiss. Number three is make out. 3.5 is four play and four is what she called a home run or home base, which was sex.

Well, three to four was quick. Yeah, like she had three for like kiss one, two, three seems very 12 and innocent and I like it. And then she's like 3.5 and 4. Oh yeah. Oh, like, well, there's a lot. What's going on? So at the same time, you can see that Wendy didn't really know much about sex, even though

she has all of these little terms in her diary because she wrote about how she almost had sex with Pete. And she was scared to give him a blowjob because she heard that it would make guys faint. She was also dealing with her own sexuality. She wrote about how she led an ex-boyfriend of hers, make out with her, even though she didn't like him anymore, even though she didn't really want it because she was so desperate. So it's just all kind of confusing. Then she would interject these profound sexual thoughts with rants about Pete. And they went

something like this. Pete is so annoying. He doesn't deserve to live or die. But I think I'll kill him. So he can die. He tortured me. And now I need to torture him. She also misspelled torture as T-O-C-H-E-R. So she's like, okay, whatever. I'm gonna write him a threatening note in my blood. That's what she writes in her journal. It's gonna she writes in her journal. It's gonna say, death lives with you, or rather near you, signed snap dragon. And then she wrote a little asterix.

But I always say I'm gonna do a lot of things, but they never really happen. And you're like, what the heck is a snap dragon? Well, same. Apparently it's a movie that came out back in the day, starring Pamela Anderson, who was a serial killer, who of course seduced his men to bed, and has some steamy foreplay with them, and then kills them. Makes for a great movie, and this was one of Wendy's favorite movies. She wrote about how she had a dream that she was making out with Pete, and this triggered her, and she's slamming these words down on her diary. She wrote that I would rather chop him up and murder him,

even if that meant getting arrested for murder, than make out with him ever again. So she's got a lot of energy. Got a lot of emotions. This is post-breakup. Yeah, post-breakup. But you know what, I'm sure I've written some wild things post-12-year-old breakup, okay?

She did not, her whole diary was not filled with negativity. I mean sometimes she wrote about positive things. She wrote about one of her new best friends Brenda. They always hung out all the time and she said that Brenda was really good about making sure that Wendy wasn't too angry. So for example, Wendy had a moment where she was so pissed off at a neighborhood boy. He had called her, she can you believe it? So she's pissed. She tried to punch him and she was so pissed off at a neighborhood boy. He had called her, can you believe it? So she's pissed. She tried to punch him, and she was screaming,

I'm gonna beat the shit out of you, you little whist. But Brenda held her back, and she wrote about it. She was like, thank God for Brenda, because what if I got arrested? Because I could have murdered him. Wendy had another friend in her life.

Her name was Melody. She wrote about this extensively in her diary. It's like, gossip girl. But they weren't that close, mainly because Melody had done the ultimate betrayal. Melody had broken her trust. The way it happened is like this. Wendy told Melody. Guess what, Melody? Over the summer, I got my period. And Melody said, wait, me too. And Wendy said, really? Well, what did it said really? What did it look like? What did it feel like?

Huh? Wendy knew that melody was lying. So I think melody was in a situation where she felt embarrassed that she hadn't gotten hers yet because I remember when I was young, like everybody wanted their period until you get your period. And you're like, wow, this sucks. But it's like a moment in your life where you feel like you're an adult now all of a sudden. Really?

Yeah. So everybody wanted their period. And so I get it. I get what Melody was doing. She was just embarrassed. Maybe she was the last one in her friend group to not get her period. And oh, Wendy did not take well to this.

She said that this was lying. And lying is the ultimate betrayal. How dare she? So they had a falling out, but they became friends again. And Wendy was pretty stoked. She wrote, I can tell Melody everything because she's a true friend. True friends stay together even if you get into really big fights. I learned a few lessons today.

One, don't let your feelings hurt another person. Two, always resolve fights. And three, don't hold grudges. These lessons are good for anyone in life. Believe me, I know, I'm on the verge of trying it out myself. So now at this moment, enter into the high school mellow drama James Evans. Now, let's give you a little lowdown on James Evans. He was born in Kingston, and by the time that he was two years old, his parents were divorced.

James' parents, like Wendy, they had a very volatile relationship. His dad was very abusive towards his mom. His mom spent some time in prison. It's unclear which he was serving time for, but she did. And despite all of this chaos, James kind of grew up normally. Like he was kind of a happy, go-lucky kid.

He was outgoing, he got good grades. But after his parents separated, even though James' dad won custody, James was living with his mom and his sister. And out of nowhere, James after his parents separated, even though James is dad one custody, James was living with his mom and his sister. And out of nowhere, James's dad shows up, knocks on the door and is like, hey, kid, you're coming with me. And he's like, no, I'm not. He physically resisted.

He's like holding onto doors, holding onto bed frames. Like, no, I'm not. I don't want to go with you, dad. Like, you suck. All I remember is you beating up mom. Why would I go on a go live with you? And James is dad is like, no. Well, you have to, because there's nothing you can do about it. She has a criminal record, and I technically have custody over you, and I'm taking advantage

of it, so come on, let's go. So he's forced to go with his dad, move 100 miles away from his mom, into this upscale rural community, and he freaking hated it. He tried to run away multiple times. He started failing classes, he was under achieving all of a sudden. The only thing that he really liked about living with his dad was that he could spend time with his dad's mom, his grandma. She was wheelchair-bound and honestly she loved having her grandchild around, like she

loved his company, and she really doated on him. She would make him his favorite meals, she never judged him. She never made snarky comments. And James said that he loved her so much because she was the only one in his life that accepted him for who he was, just the way he was. Wasn't saying like, oh, what you need to do this? Or you should try this. And she helped support him through tough times.

And it got really tough. A boy that James went to school with was killed in a bicycle accident. And it really affected James. He wasn't that close with a boy, but it was so shocking to him. And the way that he coped with his trauma was to fantasize that this boy would return from the dead and kill them all. And they would all be together wherever they go after. James' therapist let her say that James describes this incident of this boy being killed on a bicycle

as if this boy was his best friend and was on his way to see James when he was killed. Like, that's how he tells the story. That's how he feels about it. That's how he sees the incident. When in reality, I mean, I'm sure very traumatic, but it wasn't his best friend. They weren't even friends.

It was just a boy from school. James also said that everybody that was close friends with the kid who died was also going to die, and he was gonna die soon. So that's just kind of how he started coping with this trauma. He starts acting out, he tries to run away more often. He's really starting to test his dad's patience, and eventually enough was enough.

They placed James inside of a group home close to Socrates, which is where James' mom now lived. And you're thinking, why didn't his mom just take him? I think at that moment it had been years and she's not doing well financially. I think that he was so rebellious, they thought, even if he goes back with his mom, like, this is his rebellion coming through. This is like his teenage years. So they just had to put him in this group home. It's the best option. They have counselors there. He could talk to them. It's supposed to be good for him. But in reality, I'd add the opposite effect. Like just a complete opposite. One time his mom visited him and he's wearing these brands, fanking new, crispy sneakers.

Where did you get those? At the store. With what money? Oh, we all just walked in and took them. What? Yeah, well, the kids here, we just walk into the store. We try on the shoes pretend like we're going to buy them. And when nobody's looking, we put our old shoes in the box. We put the old shoes in the box back on the shelf and walk out of the store with brand new shoes. It's like an exchange. James is almost so pissed. Like, you, you, you, are you kidding me? That's theft. That's stealing. You can like an exchange. James is mom was so pissed like you you're kidding me that's theft that's stealing you can't do that. And he said whoa whoa mom don't get mad at me it's not my idea I'm just going along with the other kids it was their idea they started it. Now I'm sure she knew this wasn't true

because James was known for causing trouble like he's the one that starts fights he stabbed a kid once with a pair of scissors and one time a counselor counselor at the group home, I guess, pissed him off by telling him, hey, you can't stab people with scissors, that he bashed her entire car with a baseball bat. So, James is definitely not the one to just go with it if he doesn't feel like it. After about a year in the group home, 15-year-old James decides he's gonna run away. Now, coincidentally, his sister, Donna, who's 12 years older than him, caught him. She was an ambulance driver. So she's driving a patient to the hospital

and she sees this kid on a bike. Not at home, just like during daytime hours. Because you know, when you really think about it, it's like, what kind of kid is Monday through Friday, outside, out in a battle, like 11 in the morning? Not, you know, it's weird. They're not within adult, you're skipping school. Something's happening.

Just daytime hours and she's like, oh, let me look a little closer. Maybe the kidney tell up. I'm an ambulance driver and she gets a little closer and she's like, that kid is mother-forking James. My freaking brother, this was in the first time he ran away, so she just kind of huffed and she puffed and I don't know, the patient back there was, there was probably something wrong, okay. She had first time he ran away. So she just kind of huffed and she puffed and, I don't know,

the patient back there was probably something wrong. Okay, she had to get to the hospital. So she kept driving and she could almost hear him laughing. And they always had fights about stuff like this. Donna was a very, by the book person. She was incredibly hardworking, typically very moral and she just wanted James to live up to her standards and he never could.

So they fought like hell, but she was one of the very few people that James actually respected in life. Why would you break into these apartments? For money, for drugs, whatever was in there. Why aren't you afraid of getting caught at doing this? No. Who's going to catch us? What a police.

It was the height of the crack era, and instead of locking up drug dealers, some New York city cops had become them. I would suit up in my uniform and we're gonna want some drug dealers, and I know how to do it really well. This is the inside story of the biggest police corruption scandal in NYPD history and the investigation that uncovered it all. Did you consider yourself a rat? 100% I save my soul just like everybody else does.

Listen to and follow the set, an Odyssey originals documentary podcast series available now in the Odyssey app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. I'm not a big guy, man, but I love being that dirty mother f***er. So once James was found from his runaway attempt, everybody agreed that James should probably just stay with his mom. At least that way he won't run away and we don't lose track of the kid. Counselor's from the group home would still visit him at his mom's place, know immediately they said upon entering his room at his mom's place. It was odd It was like filled with boxing posters But also stuffed animals and then oddly posters of cigarettes like a

Mara Barrow poster Camels, you know like all these cigarette brands just filled with posters James's mom really felt a lot of guilt for sending him to this group home. She actually believed that it was all her fault because he only got worse since he went to the group home. The counselors, they felt the opposite. They said, no, it's Dino's fault, which is James' mom. She just loved him so much, but she was unstable and volatile and she always enabled him. So if neighborhood kids reported James as a bully, she would get priled up. She'd get up in those kids' faces and scream,

Who? My son? There's no way my son would ever do something like that. Psychiatrists say it's because James wanted to be a hero of deep down. Not a bully, but he didn't know how to be a hero. So he ended up just being a bully at the end of the day. Anyway, like I was mentioning, this is all happening in an incredibly small town, a very super quaint family-friendly town

where word gets out if, you know, something scandalous happens. Everybody knows everybody vibes. So of course, Wendy and James had both heard of each other. Even the Wendy's 13 and James's 15, they run in different circles. They'd never really met each other until one day. During the summer, they were at the Woodstock Festival, and a group of kids started playing tag. And they straight up just started chasing each other. And James said, sparks were flying. He said

there was electricity in his soul, it was destiny. He loved her. And so from then, they just kind of started dating. They would play tag with the neighborhood kids, and oddly, I don't know, I can't see it. Like Wendy's shirt and oddly I don't know I can't see it like Wendy sure but I don't know if I was playing tag at 15. I feel like I thought I was too cool for tag at 15. I mean like yeah as a 26 year old I play it all the time now but when I was 15 I was probably trying to do like you know bad girl things. Anyway the two of them they write their bikes together they play soccer they went on walks and everybody thought that they were a weird couple. Wendy was pretty quiet she was very shy and withdrawn and if you didn't read her diary and if played soccer, they went on walks, and everybody thought that they were a weird couple.

Wendy was pretty quiet, she was very shy and withdrawn, and if you didn't read her diary, and if you weren't one of her closest friends, she honestly seems like your textbook, shy, smart girl. With no problems, just pure innocent, pure-hearted. Unless you lied to her about getting your period, because she'll rip your head off. Meanwhile, James, he was just always angry and violent and loud. But they had some common ground, I guess. You know, they came from broken households, they just wanted love and acceptance.

And well, sex. They said that their first kiss lit a spark and it turned into fireworks. And later it would turn into a forest fire that would destroy everything in its path. But not, we're not quite there yet, okay? So that November, Wendy turned 13 and things are changing. She stops paying attention in class. All she could do was daydream about James. She tried to keep her grades up, but she was just so distracted. She spent all day writing him notes in class that would say things like, oh, inside note, she always wrote his name with a dollar sign instead of S.

So it'd be like, jame dollar sign because, you know, romance. So she would say, hey, jame dollar sign, what's up? How's it hanging? I don't wanna stay after school today, but I have to make up classes and I have to tension. If I fail, I don't even wanna look at this teacher's face. She's such a bitch.

Almost as bad as my grandma. Actually, no way. Nobody can be that bad. I want to fuck you and touch you and fuck your dick. I want us to make love till we drop. We're gonna do it even harder than last night. And I want to do it with you in the shower. That would be so cool. I hate going to school because I keep thinking of what we would be doing if we weren't in school. Like, I could Your day and you could eat

You could suck my tit and then we could do it real slow And then it gets even more graphic We will gradually get faster and faster till I have so many orgasms and ice cream and you get so horny you all over me So this is all happening in class and this is 13 year old Wendy, right? So I mean, they were, I don't know, okay, I don't know how to feel, I get it, teenagers need their privacy, but what is happening?

This is too much, way too fast. This relationship is not headed to a good spot. She would also end it with, I love you and I want you and signed Wendy Gardner horny bit. Wendy was changing a bit after meeting James. She was spending her time writing notes like this instead. She skipped class, got detention, she forged her grandma signature and on one occasion she even stole her neighbor's pairs. So I guess her neighbor had like a pear tree. So she started stealing those

pairs and then threw them at the neighbor's house. Not even to eat the pears, just like fork you in your pear tree. I'm gonna throw them at your window. Like, I don't know. Like, maybe she was mad at the neighbor. I have no idea. Something weird's going on.

Some of Wendy's friends noticed her great slip and they accused her of not actually even sleeping with James. So there was a girl named, let's call her Penny. And she passed a note to Wendy that said, he's hot, referring to James. And Wendy wrote back, he's mine. So Penny passed another note to Wendy pretending as if this is the note that she's going to pass to James next. So it said, hey, James, I don't believe you and Wendy actually did it.

You have to prove it to me. And now Wendy was pissed. She wrote back. At least I get some bit. Then Penny wrote back. Wendy is a gussling gutter. Wendy wrote back. Stupid sucking pimp eating who doesn't even know where her elbow is to your slits. I'm sorry. I'm so terrified. I'm I tell you there was one time I was at a trader Jones parking lot and there was a group of teenagers walking by I physically got back in the car because I'm really terrified of teenagers. I feel like they could just make me cry just by looking at my outfit. I feel like they'd be like

what is she wearing and I would burst into tears. 26 year old me could not handle that type of attack. The full-on attack. And then Wendy decided to write another letter to Penny that said, you fuck so many people that you can fit an elephant in your fucking sea and you smell like rotting fish that you eat every day, you up aty bitch. So I mean, it's safe to assume that their friendship ended pretty quickly after that. But none of this would even compare to the sh**t storm that Wendy had coming her way. Grandma Betty was calling in to speak with the school. She had been skipping too many classes.

Her grades had dramatically dropped from A's to C's within weeks, and Gramps knew. This new shift was because of James. She knew about him, and she didn't like him one bit. Wendy would always say, it's because Gramps hates love. She's never experienced real love, the way that I'm experiencing right now. She's never been loved, the way that James loves me.

And James is like too perfect and loves me so much, and I just know that grandma is a jealous... No, the real truth was that grandma just hated that. Her grandchild, who's 13, was sexually active and hanging out with someone who had a bit of a record. And he was, you know, the neighborhood's worst rule-breaking kid. Gramps was worried that Wendy would turn out like Jan, and it's just making it all worse in her mind.

So Betty tries everything to prevent the two from having sex. She even called the frickin' chief of police. She said hello. None, one, you need to come arrest my granddaughter. She shaved her legs today. I think it means she's gonna have sex. She would say, the kids are in their bedroom right now

with the door closed. What can I do? The chief of police would roll his eyes and say, Grandma Betty again? You gotta stop calling me. Sure, James is a dropout, maybe a criminal in the making. But as for now, he's just a high school kid having sex with his girlfriend. That's not a capital offense grandma. The worst we can do is I can arrest him for trespassing. You can't do that. My granddaughter will blame me. Is there anything else you can do to prevent this?

And you would say grandma, I gotta go. There's real crime out there, you know? And you would hang up. And grandma Betty, she was pissed. She huffed and she puffed and she just, all she wanted was Wendy to stop having sex. Why was the chief of police treating her like this? I mean, is that so much to ask? So the question is, you know, who's that fault in this situation? Is grandma really evil? Is the way that she's treating Wendy pretty malicious? Are her intentions good? Well, let's get to know her a bit, right? Grandma Betty was born in a very rural area, like a most satown where cornfields and apple orchids. It sounds pretty, but it wasn't. She grew up in the depression. Her husband fought in World War II.

Afterwards, he starts working as a heavy equipment engineer for a cement plant. He died But it wasn't, she grew up in the Depression. Her husband fought in World War II. Afterwards he starts working as a heavy equipment engineer for a cement plant. He died suddenly at 54 years old, and Betty was shocked. She was devastated. She started going to church at this point because she didn't know what to do with her grief and what to do with herself. And it was then that she became incredibly Catholic, like deeply Catholic. She was active in the church.

She didn't just attend Mass. No. She followed the Catholic principles, morals, values, every day, every waking second of her life. And she hoped that her adopted grandchildren would be just as religious as her, but her dream to cut short from the minute that Wendy walked into the house.

So in the Catholic church, there's kind of these two big milestone events when you're young. First is your baptism, which is usually done with babies that don't really have a say since you're two young. It's just something your parents do, right? But then in your early teens, these same people will have a confirmation ceremony. And it's literally to confirm their faith in the presence of a bishop. So it's saying, yeah, it was baptized when I was young, but now as, you know, this student to be adult, I am accepting this faith and I'm committing to it

by my own free will. And it's like this renewal in your ballot to uphold the Catholic church values. It's this huge milestone, it's incredibly important. I remember growing up, like people would skip school to do things like this. Like I think you have to like even study. There's some studying involved.

Anyway, Wendy announced her grandma that she wasn't going to study for confirmation. And Betty took it personally. This could only mean one thing. That Wendy was turning into her godless mother, Jan. And godless women are all the same. They resort to drugs and they get into sex work and she was going to be a Satan loving sex craze little girl. So this was like a huge turning point in their relationship.

The two of them, they start fighting more and more. Neighbors even heard a lot of violent yelling coming from inside their house, and it was just bad. But even again, there was nothing the chief of police or grandma could really do. This was just the way it's going to be. She was a rebellious teenager. So back to James and Wendy. They're infatuated, and they're having tens of sex. Even when Wendy didn't wanna have sex, she felt like James was pushing her to do it and she didn't wanna disappoint him so she would just go along with it.

And then one day her period was late. Now mind you, she had been having her period for a year now and I had never been this late before. So she writes him a letter. If I'm pregnant, I want you to punch me again as hard as you can. Now I have so many questions about this letter. Like, when did he punch her? Why did he punch her?

Was this not her first pregnancy scare? And do they really keep punching her? Every time she has a pregnancy scare, do they think that that's what you need to do? Like, what is this letter? Thankfully, Wendy wasn't pregnant and he didn't need to punch her. Again, very shocking stuff.

So one evening, Wendy comes over to James' house as usual. And you know, they spent a lot more time at James' house because Dina, which is James' mom, actually seemed to like Wendy. I mean, she thought that Wendy was a nice girl. Sure, the two kids, they were taking things a bit fast. They were always having sex in the house and Dina begged them, hey, can you please at least not do it inside the house because, you know, I'm here. What are people going to gonna think of me but they were kids in love and who could blame them that's Dina's mind is weird so that evening Wendy said hi Mrs. Evans and she went upstairs to hang out with James and then within a few minutes there was this

frantic shouting so Dina rushes up to see what the commotion is about and James is holding a knife on one hand and Wendy and the other and he's like mom take it take this take Mom, take the knife. What the hell is going on? So she's shaking, she's taking the knife and he explains to her, sorry, Mom, Wendy just tried to kill herself. We were talking about breaking up and she picked up the knife and she tried to kill herself. And he was like, what?

Thankfully Wendy wasn't seriously injured, but it was just so shocking. She promised Dana and James, okay okay I'll never hurt myself again. But I mean, this whole situation was unnerving. Their relationships seemed unhealthy, dangerous. But Dana didn't even know the full story. Wendy had been self-harming, and we don't know if this is frequent or if it was isolated episodes, but I mean it's clear that there was something going on with Wendy that wasn't being addressed.

She was never seen by a mental health professional, and we don't know what's going on but I mean she definitely needs help, desperately needs help if anything. And the adults, they just kind of pushed her away. The next time Wendy came over, Dina even suggested that she should go home. You're not really welcome here. But she refused to listen and she had sex with James instead, which Dina disapproved of but she didn't want to argue with sex with James instead, which Dina disapproved of, but she didn't wanna argue with him, so she turned a blind eye.

So they're doing it, and while they're doing it, there's a knock on the door. It was the cops. They demanded Dina take Wendy back home to her grandma, and Dina's pissed like, what the hell? You think I'm keeping here or something? I told her to go home. She won't listen.

I don't want her here either. But Dina never did anything about it and even after this incident She was too scared that if she pushed James too hard He would run away and she would lose him forever So she was really enabling all of this behavior the best that she felt she could do was nag him and say well Please at least use protection I'm sorry. What I mean he's 15 and that's the best you can do. Like this is kind of wild.

So they kept having sex at James's house. Sometimes Wendy would even sneak out of the house when Gramps fell asleep, go to James's house, and then return by the time that Gramps was awake in the morning. Deena tried to get Wendy to sit on on these counseling sessions that James was still having, and even then, nobody could get through to the two. They would just say things like, these old people can't tell us to chill. They don't have no idea what real love even is. They've never felt real love.

James was a little bit more confused than Wendy in the sense that he would mention sometimes that he loved Wendy, and he felt like she was the only person that got him, the first one that really loved him. But on the other hand, he had no idea what she wanted. Sometimes she brought up breaking up, she'd be like, we're gonna break up. But then immediately, she would grab a knife and threaten to cut her wrist in front of him. If he was like, okay, like if that's what you want,

let's break up. And she'd be like, are you sure you wanna break up? And then she would just be pointy and threatening to harm herself in front of him. One time she did slit her wrist in front of him. And then another time, she held the knife up to his throat. But he still loved her. That's just how she was. Besides, he always found ways to calm her down. If she ever threatened to break up and he went along with it, she would threaten to end her life,

so he would just get down on one knee and he would start singing a random song and she would lighten up a little bit. And James really did this all out of love. Like he just wanted to protect Wendy. He knew that Pete, her ex-boyfriendfriend was horrible. We don't know if this is true. That Pete was still threatening to hurt her. Even now, months later, Wendy always tested him and was like, so Pete set this to me today. And James would jump up. I'll go find him. I'm gonna hunt him down and I'm gonna beat that kid up right now. No, no, no, it's okay. It's okay. And she would calm him down. I think it's mainly a test.

She's trying to see, am I gonna get a reaction out of this guy? Is he gonna jump up and defend me to the death? Like what's gonna happen? Is he gonna protect me? And he always did, like always. She was the best thing in his life. He particularly loved her letters. And it would say things like,

James, I love you so much. It wasn't your fault. All the stuff that's happened so far, most of it was my fault. I was so f**king stupid. Do you think I should go see a psychologist or a counselor? I don't know, the past two nights were way too perfect. I'm just really glad that they happened only because of you. I can't believe my grandma tried to con me into dumping you. When I got home this morning, I tried lying to her and that didn't work, so I had to tell her the truth, and I can't hold it on any longer. I love you. I snapped today on the bus going to school because she was just pissing me off. So this whole letter, I mean Wendy's still harboring just a buttload of hatred for her own grandma,

and there were allegations of abuse that were floating around at the same time. So we know that grandma Betty was trying to contain her own like wild grandchild daughter, right? That's a vibe, this uncontrollable teenager. But Betty was oddly strict too. A neighbor once remembered one-time wedding, Wendy lost her sewing needle in the grass. And grandma was so upset that she went outside, grabbed Wendy by the boob, by the breast. Like that's what they said, okay, by the breast, and dragged her back inside. Wendy would then turn and go tell people that Grandma Betty was abusing her.

She would tell neighbors that Grandma would push her down the stairs, crack her head against the bathtub because she was using too much water. At one point, CPS was called, but there was no indication that they ever completed an investigation. Either they thought Wendy was lying straight off the bat, which even then I think that they should investigate regardless, or I don't know, maybe it's CPS doing what CPS does and they let some cases slip through the cracks. I don't know. But Wendy even had quote proof of this abuse.

She showed up at the neighbor's house once with welts on her face. Oh my god, Wendy! What happened to your face? Please don't tell anyone. Grandma was abusing me. Don't call the police. It's bad enough already. As she finds out that I told on her,

it's only gonna get worse. And in that moment, the neighbor's phone rang. It was buddy. Hello? Where's Wendy? Is she there with you? I think I saw her going into your house. Uh, no, no.

I haven't seen her. I'll let her know that you're looking for her though. And the neighbor let Wendy spend the entire day at her house. That poor thing. Wendy even confided in her. One time grandma, Kathy and I were watching TV together. And there was a scene where a woman smacked her daughter across the face. And I pointed and I said, grams, that's what you do to us.

And she was so mad. And she said, never talk like that ever again. And she smacked me just like that across the mouth, just like the show. The neighbor felt so bad for her. But everyone that knew Betty denied all of these abuse allegations. Even Wendy's own sister Kathy

stated that there was no abuse going on in the house. Sure, Betty was strict and sometimes she punished you a bit harder than the crime, but it wasn't true, there was no physical abuse. Maybe she took away your phone privileges for longer than warranted, but there was no abuse. Besides, all these people claim that the abuse allegations all started when Betty threatened to send Wendy to a group home. So, one day, Wendy called James and a sister Donna. Remember the ambulance driver? Well, she's a medical service worker and she's very familiar with signs of abuse.

So Wendy calls them over and when they get to her house, her wrists are bleeding. There's a large slash on her. At first, Donna thought maybe Wendy attempted suicide, but the gas just didn't fit the normal pattern. So she's like, oh my god, what happened? It's my Grounds. And Donna, right then, and there, wanted to call the police,

but Wendy talked her out of it. Please, please, you can't. It's only gonna get worse if you do. Okay, fine. But this is the first and last time Wendy that I'm letting it slide. I'm begging you, you need to talk to a therapist. Honestly, I'm not sure how Wendy got the slash on her wrist that night. Self-harm, I don't know. Accident, I don't know. On purpose, I'm not sure. But a lot of people do not believe that it was grandma But James did and he's dealing with all of these emotions

Meanwhile Wendy's having more on her plate. She started writing letters to her own mother Jan Maybe to address her own feelings, but in the letter she wrote things like hey mom I still love you and I have a place for you in my heart But at the same time I hate you and I want nothing to do with you. You're a bitch, but I might write again. Jan read it, tore it up, tossed it in the trash, never responded. Meanwhile, Grandma Betty was writing too. She was having a moment of self-reflection.

She wrote in her journal that all this fighting, all this yelling, all this arguing with Wendy was doing nothing but driving a wedge between them. It was making them further apart. At the end of the day, she loved her granddaughter and wanted to be a part of her life. But it was a very short-lived moment of reflection because Betty went off on Wendy later that same day. So it's weird. But maybe things were going to get better since Christmas is literally right around the corner. The holiday spirit was amongst them and Betty applied to the court for Wendy to be declared a person in need of supervision

Which essentially lets the court decide if this person needs counseling or needs to be placed in a group home So I think Betty wanted to send Wendy to a group home But the courts wanted her to try counseling first But Wendy didn't care. I mean the fact that her grandma even started the court proceedings means that it was inevitable sooner or later She's gonna spend the rest of her teenage years in some depressing home with a bunch of other depressed kids. That's how she says it. And to top it all off, it's gonna be away from James, and to burst this little rising

anxiety bubble, grandma started documenting every single time Wendy acted out. It's like she's gathering evidence for court. I think that Betty probably wasn't being malicious. I don't agree with the way that she dealt with punishing her grandkids, but I don't think that she was out here trying to make them miserable. I don't think she was trying to ship them away. She was just way in over her head. I think Betty had no idea what it's like raising kids all over again.

Maybe she wasn't even the best person to raise butts, right? But maybe she just didn't want her kids to be neglected. She went too far, sometimes she pushed too hard. There was a lot of tough love and not enough regular love, and I think deep down, she wanted to rescue her grandkids and she did everything she could. She had no money and with what little money that she had she spent it on them. Her fridge was always well stocked. It wasn't a luxurious, great life of surplus,

but it was a life that was suitable for kids. I do think she messed up a lot and she didn't express herself in the way that she should. But there's a lot of mistakes in parenting that always happens. But it didn't matter. None of this mattered to Wendy. Because to her, Betty was evil. She was vile. She was disgusting, manipulative, and needed to leave her alone. So that's Sunday on Christmas Day. Wendy left the house in the morning and she spent the entire day with James. She couldn't even look at her grandma, not today. So the young couple they exchanged gifts. James bought Wendy a sexy black spandex dress. Okay, cool, so romantic. She put it on for him and they spent the whole day giggling, cuddling, daydreaming, having sex, talking about how they were going to get married, lived together forever, maybe in Puerto Rico. That sounds like the perfect place to live, and Wendy kept complaining about her grandmother James, that she only filed that stupid petition because she wants us to be a part.

You know that, right? She thinks that that group home is going to put me back on the good old godly path. We'll fuck that bitch. The old bitch wouldn't know love if it smacked her across the face. Instead, she smacks me across the face. That petition. You know what? She can't stop me from seeing you. In fact, I'm gonna spend the night and she can't do anything about it.

James try to calm her down. Come on Wendy, it's Christmas. You haven't been home all day. At least call Gramps and tell her you're here and you're safe and wish her a Merry Christmas and ask her if you can sleep over. Wendy is shocked, but not too shocked because sometimes James would switch it up and play good cop. Sometimes he'd be bad cop but today he's being good cop, right? Okay fine. I'll call, but I'm only doing it for you. Hi grandma, it's Wendy. I'm at James's.

Can I stay the night? No! Are you insane? I don't want you there at all. What makes you think I'd let you spend the night? And Wendy snapped. Fuck you bitch. I'm staying here no matter what you say.

And she hung up. And she looked over at James and she kept saying, she's such a bitch. She's such a bitch. She's such a bitch. He calmed her down and told her, why don't you try again? Just one more time. It's Christmas.

I'm sure you can convince her. This is your present. Calm down. She picks up the phone. OK, it's OK. I know. You're right. I can get her to say yes.

It's my Christmas present. It's my Christmas present. But before Betty can even pick up, she slams the phone down. I can't do what I'm just pissed. There are times to turn. She dials again. And this time grandma starts talking before Wendy can. Wendy is at you.

If you keep calling, I'm gonna call the police. And she hangs up. Wendy's raging now. I want to kill her. I want to kill her. She makes me so mad. It's okay. It's okay, Wendy. She makes me mad too.

But I love you, Wendy. And he's trying to calm. She makes me mad too, but I love you, Wendy. And he's trying to calm her down, he's hugging her. I love you, Wendy. I know, I love you too, but right now, I'm not sure what that is or what that means. And in that moment, James very romantically said, were you marrying me? What?

Okay, and she's like, I will, but we're too young to get married. I know, but Wendy, remember what I told you? We can go on a boat. We can get married as long as we're outside of the US. I want to, but not right now. I'm not sure. I just want to kill my grandma.

That's all I want to do. Well, if I kill her, will you love me? Yeah, but I don't think you'll do it. Do you want a bet? I don't know, James. I still don't think he'll do it. After she kicks you down the stairs Wendy you don't think I'll kill her. So he's been told over and over again that grandma Betty is incredibly abusive.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see James. And the two of them spend the rest of the Christmas plotting, how to kill grandma. Honestly it was a therapeutic for Wendy. She seemed to like she was renting. A gun gun makes sense but we don't have a gun. That's a good point Wendy. Maybe I could get one. Now that takes too long. We should do it as soon as possible before we change our minds. Why don't we just stab her? Um, probably too much blood. Why don't we snap her neck? I mean I guess that sounds good. What do we do with the body though? Should we chop her up into a million little pieces? No, no, that's too much blood yet again.

And do you really want to see someone's arm getting chopped off in their head? I read that their eyes bulged out when you chop off their head. Oh, ew, that's gross. Okay, never mind. I guess we could just throw her in a ditch. She'll rot before they find her. How? Like, in a wheelbarrow, cover it with something

and wheel her into the woods, and then get rid of her like that? No, that's a bit risky. I guess we could throw her in the back of her car trunk. I was thinking the same exact thing just now. And they ended their planning session with some hot steamy sex, and continued to have sex the next day and

into the day after. They also continued the murder plot and one did just keep saying I just want to kill her so badly. Okay, okay, we're going to do it. I'm going to protect you from her from that abusive. But instead of killing, they went bowling where they talked more about how to get rid of grandma and they were pretty paranoid. I mean, they were constantly looking over their shoulders to see if someone was listening. Then December 28 came around. Neither of them could fall asleep. Wendy, do you really want me to do it? You won't do it. So I don't even have anything to worry about. Well, if it means that much to you, I'll do it. I'll do anything for you, Wendy, whatever. And they woke up and they started planning again.

They couldn't risk Kathy just being there. They had to get rid of her. Why don't we tie her up and leave her in the attic? And by the way, James, when we tie her up, you can f*** her instead. Because I'm tired of you doing it to me all the time, especially when I don't want it. Just don't kill my sister. But Wendy, you know we have to kill her anyway.

You know that, right? Yeah, I guess I know. Why? Because she's going to be a witness? Yeah. So they decide that night was the night to do it. But first they had sex for another three hours. I'm sorry, what? Who even has the energy for all of this? Like what? They put on some dark clothes. James puts on a shirt with the Tasmanian devil on it. They walked to Wendy's house. And this time it felt like the walk was so long. They stopped halfway there. Are we really gonna do this?

Yes, James, I won it done. We planned it for too long. Let's just get it over with. They stop in front of Wendy's house and they see Betty in the basement. What's like a split level home? So it's not like underground, it's like halfway basement, you know, and Betty was seen through the window

outstretched on her armchair, watching TV. Kathy was in the kitchen when the door opened, and at first Kathy was like shocked, and then she relaxed when she saw his Wendy. For a second, and then she 10 step, and she knew there was gonna be a huge fight tonight. Wendy's like, come on Kathy, let's go downstairs and see the Christmas presents with Graham.

No, I don't want to call. Come on, Kathy, I haven't seen you two since before Christmas. Reluctantly, Kathy followed Wendy downstairs. And near the staircase, there was James waiting to go down with him and she's like, ah, fork. Kathy's like, oh, no. The only reason that he would be here too is that they're telling Grandma that they're trying to get married or something. Like something weird is coming, she knew it, it's not gonna end well and she just wanna be there for the fight.

So Wendy and James, they had downstairs first together. James had his leather gloves on and Betty stopped paying attention to the TV and you could see it on her face. She was already pissed. What's going on? Wendy walks over, turns off the TV. And Betty says, I said, what's going on here, and the whole thing was uncomfortable. Wendy was staring at James, who was staring back at her, and she was so confused.

She thought he would have jumped on her by now. There's eerily quiet. Betty screamed, I said, what's going on? And James snapped, shut up, it's none of your business. Yes, it is, this is my house. Get out. Betty, at this point, is walking towards James. He's not even looking at her. Instead, he's looking at Wendy and asks her, Wendy,

we're going to do the plan, right? So say what you have to say. And Wendy just screams, just do it. So James lunges at Betty. Wendy goes to the stairs, lunges at Kathy, and tells her, be quiet. Be quiet. And starts dragging 11-year- Wendy goes to the stairs, lunges at Kathy and tells her to be quiet. Be quiet and starts dragging Elevinal to Kathy up the stairs. She's kicking, she's screaming, she sees James on top of grandma like trying to strangle

her with his bare hands. He wraps her, his hands around her neck and he starts squeezing as hard as he can. Betty tries to fight back with everything she has, she's flailing wildly, and James' plan was to, quote, snap her neck, like the movies. But it wasn't happening. 67-year-old Betty was putting up a fight. James looked to a mei and he told her, remember this, bitch. You're never going to be able to hit her again.

And he continued choking her, but he was getting nervous. She was supposed to be dead by now. He's getting exhausted. It's not like the movies. So he needed another plan. He found a kite cord nearby, wrapped it around her neck. He kept tightening and tightening and tightening. Meanwhile, Kathy has been dragged upstairs and all she can hear is just loud screaming noises. Kathy, stop. If you don't stop screaming, he's going to kill you too. Kathy shut up and she quietly asked her sister, why are you doing this? Kathy remember what she did to us when we were younger?

How she beat us? No, she didn't beat us. Yes, she did! She beat us! She kicked us down the stairs and smashed us into the walls! James is it done? No, not yet! It's almost done though. She's starting to piss herself. Kathy was freaking out. She was shaking uncontrollably. All she could hear was her grandma screaming downstairs and then a thump and then silence and James yelled, she's gone. And he rushed back upstairs while singing jingle bells. Wendy followed him into the kitchen. And she said, what's that red stuff on your arm?

Probably the juice your grandma was drinking. James, she wasn't drinking any juice. She had water. Oh, shit. Then it's blood. When I choked her, I tried to snap her neck and it didn't work, so I had to use a kite string and I closed it around her throat and she started bleeding.

You promised. I thought you said that there was going to be no blood. That's what I thought, too, but her throat and she started bleeding. You promised! I thought you said that there was gonna be no blood! Well, that's what I thought too, but her throat swelled up. But wow, she's dead. She's really dead. Yes, and nothing's gonna hurt you Wendy. She can't hurt you anymore. Did she say anything before she died? No. So the two of them, they go downstairs to look at Betty's body. And Wendy was so happy. She said, ah, this is great.

I'm gonna go upstairs see what Kathy is doing. Why don't you drag her body into the garage? So Wendy sits down with Kathy and tries to convince her of this abuse story all over again. But Kathy refused. She wasn't even listening at this point. She was in a translate state. James, we can't hurt my sister. You can just tie her up. I don't want you hurting her. I don't even think I need to tie her up. She's like hypnotized. She's not going anywhere. So they left her like that for a while while they got rid of the evidence.

There was a lot more evidence than they anticipated. So the rug in the basement was stained with blood, but it's a big rug. So instead of getting rid of the whole thing, they were just going to cut the bloody parts out, like little patches. They got steak knives and started to rip it apart. They put the ripped-up pieces into garbage packs, so there's just holes in this massive rug. Like that's not suspicious at all. And when they were done with that, they started looking for Betty's checkbook. They found a bank account with $400 in it, and then they found another $500 stash of cash. James was so

giddy he shoved the bills under Wendy's nose and ordered her to smell it. And then while they were digging through Betty's room, Wendy had found a photo album of pictures of her as a baby, of Betty and her son, of young Betty, and she starts crying. And she said, she's dead. I loved her, James.

I don't know why I actually thought you'd kill her. And James is looking at her like excuse me What the fork did you just say and she went on to say I guess you just didn't look like a killer to me James I can't understand how you could do something like that. I Guess you don't know me then. I guess you don't know most of me. I Wish I never met this part of you Well, you did Wendy and now you're stuck with me and she starts crying harder Then the young couple go back into the basement

and now mind you, Betty's body is in the garage and the only thing separating them and her corpse is about three feet in a garage door. That's it. They get on to the pull-out couch, get some blankets and they lay down. And Wendy was exhausted. She felt too close to grandma Betty.

She said she was laying inches away from where Betty was murdered and it was making her sick, knowing that she's just laying in the garage, staring at them. We have to get rid of her body somehow. And James nodded, we will. But after we have sex. So Kathy said she woke up around two in the morning that day and felt like this was awesome sort of sick nightmare. She had heard these weird noises coming from the basement and she went to investigate. She thought maybe it was the TV. But then she realized, no, it was Wendy. She was moaning. She was having sex with James. And so she's standing there like, oh God, like in disbelief, like, are you kidding me? And Wendy saw her, started calling after her,

and then chased her naked and said, oh my God, oh my God, wait, stop, Kathy and Kathy tried to cover her eyes. And she said, oh, come on, you've seen me naked before. Come down with us. I don't want to know what she meant by that. I don't know if she was like offering up her sister, her 11 year old sister to her boyfriend. I don't want to know, but you can only imagine. Kathy shook her head and went back to bed.

The couple went back to having sex and then they knocked out. They had nightmares, they woke up again, had breakfast, played Nintendo, had sex, and then did it all over again. And just, it was bizarre. Wendy would break down randomly, and she would say, I still can't believe it happened. Why did it have to happen? Oh, I don't know, because you set it up, planned it, executed it, and then murdered your grandma. Maybe that's why? James would just hug her and cry. I'm a killer. I didn't really want to do it, but I did it for you, baby. I love you so much. And they would have sex again.

And it was like this never ending cycle of hell. And when they woke up, it was time to get rid of Betty's body. So they went into the garage and James kicked Betty in the face really hard and said stupid bitch. So I don't know. Like there's like remorse, no remorse. I don't know.

They lift her body, place her in the trunk of her own car And they just left her there and started living life again And then he catches one D with a pair of scissors trying to cut herself and he snatches it from her and he says get a grip We're not killing ourselves and we're not hurting ourselves, okay? Well, then what do we do James? I'll tell you what I'll tell you exactly what we do Let's go to pizza hut So the three of them, Kathy, just dragging her feet in a trance style, are walking to Pizza Hut. And what are the odds? They run

into another friend by the name of Barry. They're like, Hey, Barry, we're going to Pizza Hut. Do you want to come? Ah, sure. He joined them. He later said he never noticed anything wrong. Everything seemed completely normal. They were laughing and joking around as normal. They were even playing music, particularly Snoop Dogg's song, Murder Was the Case, or the Gravedigger's song, had one that was called Six Feet Deep. Yeah, the irony. So they eat pizza hut and then they head to the grocery store. They, you know, stock up on snacks, candy, they're rich, remember? Then they head home and have more sex, plain, and hendo, all the wildbatties in the trunk, but when suck gets old, they pack into the car. So now it's James, Wendy, and Kathy in the car, and they start driving while Betty's in the back. James doesn't even have his license. So they stay off the

main roads, they're using the side roads, they're screeching, halting, breaking. It was a rough drive. He had never driven before. But finally, after the world's most anxiety-inducing half hour, I'm sure, they made it to their final destination. You're like, are they disposing of Betty's body? Are they turning themselves in? No. They came to the frickin' bowling alley. They ran into more friends. James is bragging the whole time about how he drove. He takes them for a little spin. Meanwhile, Betty is still in the trunk. Kathy was left at the bowling alley, with a 14-year-old kid by the name of Andy. And she was just standing there in a translatelike state, and he approaches her and says,

Kathy, you good? Sorry, I- sorry I about your grandma heard what happened by the way. You know? Yeah, James told me everything. He said one of his friends came by with a gun and blew her head off. No, that's not what happened at all. And the floodgates opened. Kathy spilled everything to Andy. She barely knew the guy. He wasn't a trustworthy person, but she was dying. And I guess he tried to step up to the plate because once Wendy and James got back,

he begged to walk Kathy home. She seems tired. I don't want her to walk home alone at night. So I'm gonna walk her home. Wendy was very suspicious, not because she thought that they were gonna turn them in or that Kathy had said anything, but she looked at Andy and said, all right, brought Killy

if you try any funny business. She's still a virgin. So the two, Andy and Kathy leave. And he tells her, I think you should just run away. That's the only solution you have. I can't. They'll find me and kill me too. So instead of walking her to the police station, they walk back home to Wendy's and Wendy and James were already there having sex yet again. Andy sticks around for some reason, and around one in the morning, James and Andy and Kathy, they're feeling a bit of hunger, so they decide to go to the local diner, and they leave Kathy there.

What if she leaves? So the three of them decide to lock Kathy into her room by tying a string in a light bulb to the door. I mean, it's not keeping her in, but they would know she left her room, because the light bulb would break. It's bizarre. They did this at our school field trips, but with tape on the outside of the hotel rooms. Uh-huh.

So it's like, I guess that's what they were trying to do. But they didn't really need to worry. Kathy was knocked out. She was so traumatized. I think I can't imagine what these days were like for her. So the three of them drive to the diner, where the average burger and fries, the meal, was $5. But somehow they managed to blow $35 for the three of them. Like they were just going all out. But being that it was nighttime, there was a lot of police activity, they started

getting freaked out. So they decided that they were going to get rid of the body in the rural area of Palinville nearby. And this was Andy's suggestion to which I'd like to add. Why are you still here, Andy? and this was Andy's suggestion to which I'd like to add. Why are you still here, Andy? So it's a pretty deserted area. It's a mountain town, if you will. And they drive by dozens of places. Like I'm talking ditches, abandoned farms, forest grows, burnt down buildings, and they do not agree on one spot.

I think they just couldn't bear to look at Betty again. So Andy is in on all of this right now? Yeah, but he thinks that grandma was shot. Well, honestly, I don't know what he thinks. But he's just going along with it. So they don't dispose of her body. They just come back home. In the next morning, Kathy wakes up to see James and Wendy

just pommeling armfuls of candy and snacks into the car. We're leaving Kathy, let's go. Take whatever you need. We're not coming back. So Kathy packs her teddy bears. I mean, she's only 11 years old after all. And they pack up into the car. and the first stop was the mall. They walk around, they buy random things, they ate McDonald's.

But they were getting bored. I mean, they had already eaten like four times today, and they went to the mall and the bowling alley is closed, and it's like, what now? We got all the money in the world, but what now? So they bought jerseys, more mixed tapes, they bought bras, lingerie's, and I mean, it was a lot. They bought matching sneakers.

They went to the arcade. And by the time that they left, this whole day, they only had $100 left. And instead of going on the run, they wanted to sleep in their bed, so they went back to the gardener house. The young couple had sex, they dozed off. Meanwhile, Kathy was restless. She barely ate, she barely talked, she was just dragging her feet for days now. She didn't know what to do, she had just gone through the trauma of watching her grandma be killed

by those closest to her and she genuinely felt like she would be killed. So in this translike state, she throws on her coat over her PJs, runs out of the house barefoot in the freezing cold, ran to her neighbors, started banging on the door the minute. That they opened the second that they opened that door. She didn't even ask to come in, she just blurted, grandma was murdered, and she's in the trunk of the car right now. Yeah, the car that's parked on the driveway, grandma's dead inside of the car.

So the neighbor immediately calls 911, and the dispatch was like, okay, so the little girl who's 11 said that her older sister was like 12, killed her grandma, okay. All right, in this small town where the homicide rate last year was zero. Zero people were murdered. Okay, yeah.

Who are you talking about anyway? Who's the little kid? What? The gardener family? The Dispatch Rose, because they knew that there had been some serious allegations, some disputes that were like taking place in that house. Betty was always calling the police about her granddaughter, but there's no way, right? There hadn't been a murder in this small town in like 15 years. So the police drive to the gardener house, they start banging on the door.

James jumps up and he's like, we gotta go, we gotta go. He boaks it to the garage door without even putting clothes on. He was just wearing his loony tunes, boxers shorts. But it was too late, the cops swarmed the house and they were inside. One didn't freak out. She was naked, she pulled the blanket back over her, and she went back to sleep. The cops burst in, wake up! Where's your grandmother? I don't know. Meanwhile, the other cops, they pop up in that trunk, and sure enough, there was Betty's decomposing body.

So the kids were taken to the station. Kathy was the first to be interviewed and the police were shocked at how articulate and intelligent she was. She told them the whole story in great detail. She even remembered small details. One time Grandma Betty and Wendy were fighting and Wendy screamed at her, I'll kill you, I'll kill you! So she gave a lot of strong testimony. James was not as impressive to the police.

Honestly, they had no sympathy for him. He was a cocky 15-year-old, and he smirked the whole time. He was angry, defensive. He started lying, and at one point he had the audacity. So he looked at the cops, and he said, no one's ever going to put a handcuffs on me. And then he realized it wasn't going to work. So he said that he blacked out, and he thinks he's the one that strangled grandma. Why do you think that it was you? Well, when I woke up the next day, I had cord marks around my hand

and I had a flashback of me on Wendy's grandma's back and I was strangling her. I don't know why I did it. Maybe she was fighting with Wendy and I was trying to protect Wendy. And then at the end of the interrogation, they asked James for his jersey that he was wearing, that he bought at the mall

and he was pissed. Why are you taking my clothes? I bought those. You bought it with money, you stole. But they're mine now. Wendy was last to be interviewed, and she agreed to have the police tape it. And she straight up told the whole story matter of fact

from beginning to end, no motion. It was like she was telling them about a mundane boring family holiday, but with a strangled grandma at the end. So the trials, I mean, the kids, they looked like kids in the courtroom. Wendy was 13, she still had her teddy bear with her, which honestly was so strange because the whole time she never showed any remorse other than feeling sorry for herself.

The judge decided to try them as adults, buzz stood by his daughter, everybody else did not, nobody else in the family did. In prison, James was interviewed even though his attorney told him of a bajillion times not to be, but there were some wild stories going around about James. They said that he microwaved cats when he was little. And so the interviewer asked him about it, and in the same breath, he said, they do call me the king of the microwave. And he winked. Like, what does that mean? So the press took it, and they ran with it. James was seen as this troubled microwaving kitten maniac who was obsessed with having sex with his girlfriend and killed her grandma while he was So the press took it and they ran with it. James was seen as this troubled, microwaving kitten maniac

who was obsessed with having sex with his girlfriend and killed her grandma while he was drunk. And because this story was doing so well, Wendy had to be portrayed as this little innocent girl that went bad and was manipulated because of bad boy James. And to be honest, Wendy had a much better attorney than James. That might have something to do with it.

James needed damage control. So his attorney had him evaluated by a third-party psychologist who concluded that James had an unhappy violence-filled life and he blindly and reflexively unintentionally killed people to protect his beloved girlfriend. He always grew up watching women he loved being beaten and he felt helpless. Not anymore. So during James's trial, his attorney argued that yes, he did kill his, you know, Wendy's grandma, but he did it under extreme emotional disturbance. And then Kathy took the stand. For 30 minutes she told them about how they called Betty up. James sang jingle bells after killing her, how they had sex and spent all their money on food and clothes. Not so emotional disturbance anymore.

James was on guilty of second degree murder, but since he was under 16 at the time of the crime, even though he was charged as an adult, he couldn't be sentenced as an adult in this state. So he was given nine years to life. He was granted parole after 18 years. He was 35 years old when he got out, and that was in 2014. We don't know what he's been up to after that. OneD's trial, her defense argued that James, the bad boy, had power over her. And he had anti-social personality disorder and was a full-blown sociopath Wendy's trial, her defense argued that James the bad boy had power over her.

And he had anti-social personality disorder and was a full-blown sociopath who liked to use pain, force and seduction to get what he wanted. But Wendy, she was just vulnerable. I mean, the whole thing is kind of annoying to listen to because Wendy truly was the mastermind behind the doll and now she's hiding behind James. I mean, they're both horrible. They both hyped each other up, but she was the one with a bigger motive. She had a lot more to gain from this

She was found guilty. Thank God, but she was given seven years to life and she was paroled in 2004 10 years before James But remember she was 13 at the time of the crime So she spent most of her sentence in a youth facility and only spent four years in actual prison and To be fair, I don't really care that she was only 13 when she committed murder. It wasn't in self-defense, and I think Justice kind of failed this case. What are your thoughts on this one?

And we don't know what she's up to either. Nope, just bizarre. I hope you guys enjoyed this week's mini-sode that wasn't so many after all, and I will see you guys on Wednesday for the main episode. Bye. for the main episode. Bye!