Rotten Mango - #217: The IHOP Murders - Waitress Willing To KILL To Keep Her Job

Episode Date: November 30, 2022

“Welcome to IHOP (International House of Pancakes), how many people in your party?” Dee had the routine down to a science. She knew what to say, when to smile, when to talk about her kids, when to flirt so she could keep the tips rolling in. Today was not her day though. She wanted to throw up. Her hands were shaking and she was messing up everyone’s orders. She ran to the bathroom to splash water on her face. She reminded herself how important this was. She took out the crumbled piece of paper in her apron that a customer had left for her. It had “$3000” written on it. That’s how much it would cost to kill the man she wanted dead. He needed to die in order for her to keep her job. 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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in all states or situations, prices vary based on how you buy. Betta Bing Betta BOO. Welcome to this week's main episode of Rotten Mangle. I'm your host Stephanie Sue. Welcome to IHOP. How many people are in your party? Great. Write this way.

Is this table okay? Can I get you any drinks started before you guys look over the menu? All right, coming right up. Dee had the routine down to a tee. She knew what to say, went to smile, went to talk about her kids, went to flirt so that she could get the best tips rolling in.

But today was different. She felt the bile sitting at the top of her throat, threatening to come out at any second. She could hardly remember any of the orders, or which tables were even hers. She ran to the bathroom to splash water all over her face, cold water, and she looked into the mirror. You have to do this, Dee. Your life depends on it.

You have to, you can do it. Her hands were shaking as she grabbed the jumbo-sized oregano bottle in her purse. She opened the lid, took a big gulp. I mean, it always helped when she was anxious. She went out to the tables, a fake smile plastered on her face. She was smoothing out the wrinkles on her apron. D, are you okay?

Guy on table five needs more syrup. Yeah, okay, got it, don't worry. D walked over to the man sitting alone, thinking he needed more syrup? But instead he paid his bill and handed her an napkin as he walked out There was a number written on there not his number not a phone number. He wasn't hitting on her It read three thousand dollars. That's how much it would cost you to kill the man that she wanted dead and to keep her job at I hop to kill the man that she wanted dead and to keep her job at IHOP. She shoved the napkin

into her apron hoping none of the other customers saw and tried to finish her shift, knowing that very very soon he would be dead. She's a hit woman. As always, full show notes are available at rottonmingleplotcast.com, but if you want all the information out there on this case, you will want to read this book because even just this Psychology behind this case it's it's fascinating. It is unlike any other case that we have really talked about You're going to think that this case is gonna go one way and then it's gonna take a you turn end up in a weird land where strange things Just keep on happening and you don't even understand any of the parties involved like their motives are not the typical motives that we deal with. So the best deep dive that I could find on this was a

book called Without Mercy by Gary Provost and it is so detailed. The author went through transcripts, cord files, police files, hundreds of interviews and they do such an amazing job at including all the necessary details that provide just so much insight into the psychology of the people involved. So with that being said, a lot of people will do crazy things in order to avoid being fired. I mean for good reason, I get it. Our entire livelihoods depend on our jobs and the idea of losing that job is terrifying.

It's a life-altering moment that can really make or break a family. Now, most of us will do whatever it takes to not get fired and by whatever it takes, it means, you know, maybe suck up to your boss and let all be nice, bring some cupcakes to the office. That type of stuff, get your work done on time. But some people, they will blur the lines of morality so long as they can keep their jobs.

Some people are willing to lie to keep their job. It wasn't me that embezzled the money, it was Kevin. Some people will throw other people under the bus to keep their jobs. I wasn't working on the project, it was him. But would you ever be willing? Would anyone be willing to kill for your job? One way Triss that I hop would. So before the maple syrup ran dry, two people would be

dead. And it all started with D. Now D did not have killer instinct. I'm just going to tell you that straight up. D Kestiel was born in Tampa, Florida. She's a Florida girl and she was not a killer from the get go. Like nothing in her childhood, nothing in her personality. Would you look at and say, oh yeah, she's got some homicidal tendencies. I wouldn't mess with that one. Nothing. So her dad, Tom. Okay, to be fair, Tom was something else. It was a bit of a shit show. So follow me on this one. But Tom was living in Florida with his wife, Ona. This is not Dee's mom. They're married, living together, not getting along well. But you know, marriage is rough. Tom feels like there's a disconnect.

We don't have the same interest. My interest is alcohol and young woman. And obviously, Ona, my wife, your interest are not alcohol and young woman. I mean, how would we ever relate to each other? So he finds another woman outside of their marriage that loves alcohol as much as he does, and enter into the picture, Mistress Peggy. Peggy and Tom are out all hours of night, just getting drunk, getting nasty with each other, and it wasn't long before Peggy is like, hey Tom, don't be mad. I'm pregnant. Tom wasn't mad. He was over the moon. He ran to his wife, Ona, slapped divorce

papers on the table, ran out, married Peggy, Peggy gave birth in a year to D, and within that year, Tom slapped divorce papers on the table, ran out and remarried his first wife, Ona. So he was like, this whole mistress thing, I wasn't working out. Like even when you were my wife, I don't know, it's just not, you know, great guy, really decisive. He knows what he wants in life. It's very loyal, great redeeming qualities this one. Peggy also was just not in a space to take

care of their daughter D. She had physical health concerns. D was mainly raised by her grandma, which she was a really great grandma, honestly. She gave D everything she could possibly want. You know how most grandma's like to spoil their grandkids a lot? Well that was D's grandma. She brushed her hair, clothed her blade with her. I mean, they their grandkids a lot. Well that was Dee's grandma. She brushed her hair, clothed her, played with her. I mean they didn't have a lot of money but whatever they had, it went to Dee. Dee felt like her grandma was the only one in her life that cared for her. The only one that really loved her. Dee was so happy, so content her life was so stable, and then there was a knock on the door. It's your daddy, Tom! And my wife, Ona.

Ona say hi, this is my kid D. So grandma, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna take D and raise her ourselves. I know, I'm telling you, this is a really weird dynamic. It was an interesting situation. So D moves in with Tom and his first wife and third wife and current wife, Ona.

I mean, it's very confusing. And they pretty much just raise her as their kid. And surprisingly Ona was good to her. They adjusted very well, Dee would go fishing and camping with her dad, aw, she loved it, Dee loved being outside, she loved being with nature, I mean the smell of trees, that wet soil smell, she loved it, the melodies of the birds, she had no idea, as a kid looking up into the blue sky. That one day as an adult, her only contact with the great outdoors would be through a small window

with bars on it. D loved outdoors with her dad, or really anything that had to do with her dad. If it involved D's dad, Tom, D was there. Okay, D later admits that she loved her dad a lot. A lot, a lot. Maybe a little too much, she said. He was a bit toxic. Okay, D later admits that she loved her dad a lot. A lot, a lot. Maybe a little too much, she said. He was a bit toxic. Okay, the guy Tom, I mean, if you couldn't already guess, he was a bit of a character. He had a short fuse. He would throw a loud temper tantrum

and just completely become hysterical at the smallest inconvenience. Let's say he's practicing golf. He tries to hit the ball with his golf club. He misses the ball. You know how sometimes you, it's like a, I don't even know what you call it, but you just don't miss the ball.

Or you just don't hit the ball, right? Like a skill, like a concentration. I don't know, who can you blame, but yourself for that, right? You can't blame the ball. Tom was the type to take his golf club, walk to the closest street, and just go at it. Like it was a pognada, and he was waiting for something to pop out of it for missing the ball. Yeah, go at it. Like it was a pognada and he was waiting for something

to pop out of it for missing the ball. Yeah, they said it's a short fuse. I would say it's a non-existent fuse. Like you're just blowing up all the time. When they went bowling and he missed his spare, he would verbally scream at his bowling ball. Can you imagine being at your local brunswick? I mean, I would shit myself.

Full grown man screaming at his ball until he's red in the face, spit just splattering everywhere, and his family is just sitting there waiting for him to be done. Yeah, no, I would leave. I would pack it up. I'm going to be honest with you. But most of the time, Tom's anger was witness by D, but not pointed towards her.

Like, he wasn't that violent with her. He wasn't that abusive with her. Except once. And D would remember this day for the rest of her life, it would forever stay a mark in her heart she would never freaking forget it. She was 14, it's a hot scorching day in Florida, just disgustingly sweaty. The type of day where you're constantly breaking out into a sweat just by walking a little too fast.

Just by talking a little too fast. If you move a little too quickly, you're gonna break that into that agitating sticky feeling, the prickling at the back of your neck and you just wanna open up the freezer and cool off for two seconds. The humidity makes you confused. Are my arms sticky and moist because I'm sweating

or is it just humid? I don't understand. So it's that kind of day. D is wearing a halter top in shorts. I mean, she's in the comfort of her own scorching hot home. Ironing clothes. So yeah, it's freaking hot. And this one kid, it's called Madam.

He's from D school. He pops in for a little visit. And Adam was super into bowling. Okay, D was super into bowling. She could actually go professional. She almost did go professional. It's a whole thing. Okay, so after all the yelling, the bad thing.

Yeah. Adam would just sit around watching her iron clothes and he's like, oh my God, so then I did this and I got a spare and then I did this and I honestly, their conversation was super mild. It was not something a parent would be concerned about if they overheard. It was kind of a nerdy conversation about bowling.

He was talking about strikes and balls. Literally the bowling kind. Like, it wasn't a sexual inn you end or anything. He was just talking about how big his balls are, you know? But right after Adam left, Dee, come here real quick. Dad's calling her into the living room. Coming, Dee walked into the living room

and stood in front of her dad, waiting for him to say something. What, what is it, dad? Come here. What? She could tell her dad was pissed. I mean, she had no idea why, but he was pissed. She walked closer and closer, and Tom's hand came up fast and hard and he slapped her across the face. Look at what you're wearing, dressing like a damn slut for the boys. You're indecent. You're as cheap as piss, and then he beat her. D said she could forgive the beating. She did forgive the beating, but the, you're as cheap as piss, and then you beat her. Dee said she could forgive the beating.

She did forgive the beating, but the words you're as cheap as piss, I mean it gutted her. She would remember it forever, she would never forgive him for that even when he died. So yeah, there was some trauma, and clearly something going on with Dee's dad, but other than that, even Dee claims she had a happy childhood. She loved sports, extra curriculars, super involved in school. She even got a car for her 17th birthday, even though it meant that her parents would literally go into debt to getting it for her? I mean, she got what she wanted.

But there were some big hiccups in her life, like the fact that she started getting drunk as early as 13. And it wasn't just that, that pure pressure drinking. I mean, that's kind of how it started. But she loved alcohol. Like, do you remember when you're that age, you try alcohol? It's disgusting. You're like, why do adults like this?

This is gross. I thought wine would taste like grape juice. It doesn't. It does not at all. Do you thought it had to do with the fact that her body tolerated alcohol well? Other kids would pretend to be cool and, you know, kind of hold their

noses while they take shots of tequila and then chase it down with some sprite, but not D. She never threw up, she was never hungover, never had a headache after drinking too much, she actually loved it, she loved everything about it, she loved the taste, the smell, the burning sensation of it burning down her throat when she swallowed it, so she's taken shots of alcohol and other things Because at 17 she starts gaining weight as weird for D She's like I never gain weight like this and you guessed it She was pregnant. She told Ona first probably because she was terrified at her dad's reaction

But Ona was not a good support system. Okay, Ona was nice to her, but not a good support system All she said to D when she found out that she was pregnant was, oh my god, your father is going to kill you. Which is accurate. Tom flew off the handle. He wasn't violent. He didn't beat Dee likely because she was pregnant, but he was screaming at the top of his lungs. You're going to ruin your life. I'm going to kill that son of a bitch. You know what? No. You're getting an abortion. That's what we're doing an abortion. He took her hands stormed down to the doctor. I'm sorry, but there's no way for us to safely perform this type of operation in the second trimester because it could endanger D's life and just like that, D was having a baby.

Her boyfriend, we're gonna call him Harry. Harry decides in this conservative town that they were just gonna have to get married before the baby comes out. So it was agreed. They would wed and hopefully live happily ever after. The wedding itself felt very high school. D was basically like, okay, like I'll come pick you up at the ceremony,

see what your house at 10. But when D drove up in her white dress, one of Harry's best friends was standing outside his front door, like he's a like his secret service And the groom is the president. Do you know where this is going? He's not gonna show up. Hey, where is Harry? Harry's not going. What? What do you mean?

He's not going and he's not gonna marry you. What? Why? He said, look he doesn't want to ruin his life and if you take him to court, I'm gonna testify that I screwed you and I can get five other guys to say the same thing. We'll say that you don't even know who the real father of the baby is. Now leave Harry alone. What? Yeah. D was stunned, heartbroken. Sure, Harry wasn't the catch that she was hoping for in life, but she was kind of getting excited about the idea of the wedding, her family, and this, this was just cruel. It's not like Dee was ready to get married and have a baby in high school. I mean, Harry was being so selfish. When Dee's parents found out they flipped out on Harry's parents and the two actually

did end up getting legally married. But they never lived together, it was just so that she wouldn't give birth out of wedlock. They were never truly a married couple. And Dee was never truly a mom to her baby boy. She actually gave birth to her baby boy on her 18th birthday, and she called him Tommy after her father, Tom. Now, Tom, senior and owner, they were upset, but they were infatuated with their new grandson. They literally treated him like their own child, and D did too.

She was more siblings with Tommy than anything. She virtually had no parenting responsibilities. She would go out, date, drink, bowl, work as normal as if nothing in her life had changed at all whatsoever. Tommy actually believed for years that D was his sister, not his mom. Meanwhile, Dee is out there dating millionaires. You're like, wait, which has happened? How did she upgrade from Harry to millionaires?

Okay, let me explain. So after dropping out of high school, Dee gets a job as a secretary for the mayor of the city, 60-year-old Henry Melander. Henry was an old married man, no offense. Is that offensive? No offense. All married man. No fence. Is that offensive? No offense. All married man's out there. And she was 18 years old and he mainly hired her for her looks and youth. Look, it sounds creepy and it is, but it's not the worst possible thing in the world

because he never made her feel uncomfortable. So for him, it wasn't that he wanted to get with young girls. He actually liked being seen around young women because I guess it made him feel like he had arm candy. And he felt like a pimp. I don't know. Okay, this guy is weird. He was the mayor though.

So in fact, Dee said she loved him. He was like a mentor and a father figure in her life. He introduced her to so many business and political connections. He taught her a lot. His motto in life was, money talks, bullshit walks. Great mayor, great mayor. Yeah, I feel like it should be the other way now.

What? Bullshit talks, money walks. I see, yeah. Yeah, right. I don't know. He's old. Yeah, he's fooling once. Never gonna get fooled again.

Okay. And his money talked, okay? When Dee got a parking ticket, he was taking care of. When she was pulled over for a DUI, it was taking care of. What did Dee learn from this? Was it to never drive under the influence ever again because she could seriously injure herself or others on the road? No.

She learned that in life, if you knew the right people, any problem, every problem, could be fixed, paid off, swept under the carpet, or even ignored. Later while on death row, D would say passionately that she wouldn't even be sitting in prison right now. Henry Melander, the former mayor, was still alive. Henry introduced her to a ton of millionaires, sons of millionaires, heads of the industries, future governors, and sometimes, men that had occupations that you would be smart

not to ask too many questions about, you know? Just know that they made their money and the less you know, the better for you. D went from dating men like Harry, the ones that needed high school buddies to stand guard in front of their parents' house to protect them from the girls, to men who were 15 years older and owned yachts.

I mean, they were powerful, rich, and sometimes even famous. But Dee had a rule. She would only date if they were singled, no married man ever. Do you really like these men? She even later theorized, I don't know. Maybe I was looking for a father figure at the time.

Who knows? I'm not a psychiatrist, okay? But these were some of the best years of her life. She went on dates on yachts, ate the best food, traveled to bougie hotels, she drank some of the finest wines and liquors. Dee said, usually she would have a first date with one of these men. Get drunk, have sex, and if she didn't get drunk, she wouldn't have sex. And then there would be no second date.

These said the booze made her more confident, carefree, happier, but it also made her more sexually compliant. And then she got pregnant again. This time the father was not hairy, but a rich 20-something-year-old general-generational wealthy man. We're going to call him Ben. He was the youngest son of one of the most powerful families in all of Dade County. You don't know Dade County, it's a county that Miami is, and I believe in Florida. Yeah. God, it's an old money. Old money, and we're talking in a big fat county with a lot of big rich people, you know. He's from one of the wealthiest families.

Yeah. And according to the author who refuses to name this person, the family is still prominent in Florida to this day. Yeah. And together they developed these taste for scotch and they made a fetus. D was not ecstatic. She did not want to go through this again. And contrary to what some might be thinking right now, D was very practical when she was younger. I don't know what happened when she got older, but she was very practical when she was younger. I don't know what happened when she got older, but she was very practical when she was younger. She said that she understood her position in these types of relationships, which is, it doesn't matter if she had a baby, she would never marry this man. It just wouldn't happen.

Their family would never allow it. I mean, these older rich families saw her as fun eye candy, but not really a human on their level if that makes sense. So she told Mayor Henry about it. He gave her $500 and she went in for an abortion. Now, this abortion, she was a bit too far along. D said her doctor couldn't go the normal route. So I'm thinking no medical, no surgical abortion, they had to pump air into the uterus to cause an abortion, to force a miscarriage essentially.

And Dee was sent home after they pumped air in her uterus. And when she goes home, she's like, what am I gonna do? Just wait for it to happen that feels like hell. So she went shopping. Okay, she's out there shopping in her water break. So it's like a miscarriage. Her water's gonna break and it's gonna feel

like you're giving birth, but it's gonna be a miscarriage. I believe in technical terms. Well Dee thought, you know, I'm just gonna be out with my giving birth but it's gonna be a miscarriage I believe in technical terms. Well D thought you know I'm just gonna be out with my friends I don't want to be anxious just sitting around pins and needles and right there in the middle of Miami's busiest shopping district she went into labor right next to the lady shoe section her water just straight up broke and splattered on the ground and boom D rushed home, the pain was excruciating, and finally, she lost the baby.

D said, and I quote, I just flushed it down the toilet. I mean, I guess it, I thought it would have been like a ball of stuff, but it was a baby. What a horrible experience. I will never get that moment out of my mind. The next morning, I was still in a lot of pain and I called the family doctor, and when I went in to see him, he said it's a good thing I got there in time

because the placenta was still hanging inside of me and I would have been dead within 24 hours. The incident left D's uterine lining very scarred and it would be a very long time before she was able to conceive naturally again. Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into warrior I in the break room

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Peloton app available through free tier, or pay subscription starting at $12.99 per month. 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.

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Apple podcasts or wherever you get your shows. I'm not a big guy man, but I love being that dirty mother f***er. But this is kind of the mark where these troubles would really start. Because of this abortion, let me explain. She's just 20 years old. Because of this abortion, her whole life would change. She had upgraded from being the secretary of the mayor to being the Secretary of Florida Power and Light, which is a super impressive position to be at at such a young age. She was the Executive Secretary at Florida Power and Light. I mean, she had such a bright future ahead of her.

She's 20, but everyone looked up to her. Nobody was upset that this young girl had this position. She knew what she was doing. And I guess she just thought, you know, honesty is the best policy isn't that what they say? Now, she wasn't going around announcing to the world that, hey guys, announcement everyone, I missed a few days of work because of an abortion. But if somebody asked, she just told them the truth. She was like, oh, yeah, I was out because I had an abortion. Well, she was fired from her job because of it. Yeah. People were very upset at what she chose to do with her own body.

It's weird. But they were very upset. And, dee, drowned her sorrows in scotch, and then decided, you know what? They're lost. I can still do this. I'm still young. There's so much I want to do. Maybe I'll be a cop or a pediatrician.

You know, I love kids. And by the time that she was fully recovered from the abortion, dee was bowling five times a week. She was the best female bowler in all the leagues in town. She was even elected as the youngest woman ever to be on the board of directors at the Women's International Bowling Conference. What? Look, her name is getting around.

There were whispers. She's gonna go pro. I can just feel it. Pro bowling scouts would even come to watch her. Things were looking up. But when the bowling scouts interviewed D's friends to get a better idea of these personal life, the overwhelming response was, well she drinks, and the scouts did not like that. So it was then, drowning her sorrows yet again.

She ran into her second husband at a bar because remember Harry? Yeah, this is going to be her second husband. We're going to call him Liam. Liam was drinking a margarita and Dia? Yeah, this is gonna be her second husband. We're gonna call him Liam. Liam was drinking a margarita and Dia's like, what is that? I've never had that before. He's like, it's a margarita. And what do you know? Just like Scotch, Dia was like, hey, I think I like Tequila. It's good. And remember, where there was alcohol, there was sex. And Liam was Dia's perfect type. Okay, keep this in mind because this becomes important later But D loved a giga chat. Okay, I'm just gonna be honest. She loved a super

Physically macho style dude tall muscular handsome well dressed, but like super buff super giga chat That was her thing so they get married and three out of the four weeks the dude was great And you're like what kind of scale is that like three out of four weeks three weeks out of the month so apparently there's something called a moonlight alcoholic meaning three weeks out of the month Liam was super chill so where he would go camping witherk, he would go on a drinking binge and become physically and verbally abusive. But 75% of the time was good enough for D for a while, because D? She was sober at 0% of the time, she considered it an even trade. D was a crazy high-functioning alcoholic. She was holding down a secretaryal job.

She was managing her bank accounts. She was drunk on the job, driving home, drunk all the time, constantly drunk. But you would never know it. You would have no idea if you just met her. And when she was 28, she gave birth to her first daughter, Susan. Dee was in love.

She quit her job to be with Susan full time and both parents quit drinking for a while and they were in this honeymoon phase and they wanted to be this happy, stable family unit, but it wouldn't last long. He got so drunk one night. Liam grabbed a gun, pulled the safety off, and Dean knew a little bit about guns, okay? She used to go hunting with her dad and she knew that this gun had a soft trigger, meaning in his drunken state it would be so incredibly easy for him to kill her and Susan.

So he's screaming at her, you say one word and I'll blow your head off. DeConley said no problem, okay? Liam? I'm gonna take the kid and we're gonna leave, okay? She left. She grabbed Susan and left, called the police. Now Liam had connections with the police and they decided not to arrest him, but then De called her old mentor Mayor Henry and her connections went out in the end.

Liam was arrested without any paperwork. And Dee got a job as a police dispatch for the city. She loved her job. All the cops at New D said, good old Dee, nicest gal you'll ever meet. That's kind of an interesting pattern of how everyone describes Dee. Everyone will say some version of, she's the nicest person you will ever meet I swear to you. So why on earth would she sentenced to the death penalty then? More often than not, nice people don't end up there.

I guess you could say it started when she moved to Tampa. She moved back to Tampa, so she went from Tampa to Miami and then back to Tampa. That's a whole thing, okay? In Tampa, Dee was reunited with her biological mom Peggy, who was super unstable. It's actually speculated that Peggy killed her husband because he was violent with her. So in Tampa, Dee meets her third husband, Chris. And you guessed it, Chris is an alcoholic. Dee didn't even like Chris.

She felt pressure to marry him because everyone kept telling her, oh my god, you guys are so cute together. No seriously, you guys are like made for each other. Plus, you're a single mom and he doesn't mind. I mean, you should totally get married. So she's like, okay, you guys are like made for each other. Plus, you're a single mom and he doesn't mind. I mean, you should totally get married. So she's like, okay, totally. So they did.

And they had two kids together, taught in Wyatt. And for a while, things were okay. They were both high-functioning alcohol. Like, they were making their money. They were paying their bills on time. They were driving drunk. Like, you would never know that they had deprooted alcohol addiction problems

if you just met them. It's crazy. But then Chris's kidneys, you know, they were overworked and they gave out. Chris was hospitalized, suddenly Dee was swamped with all the bills. She was just a secretary. There's no way that she could even see a way out. She was drowning in bills. I mean, there was no life raft coming to save her. So she starts borrowing money from the company to the tune of a hundred thousand dollars. What company? The company that she works for as a secretary is just another big gas company. What kind of company will lend you two hundred thousand dollars? Well, she stole it. She embezzled it, but she called it borrowing because I mean, she felt like she was going to pay it back.

I don't know how she was going to pay it back when she was already behind on bills. But um, yeah, yeah, she didn't really have a plan yet. So she was embezzling money essentially and she was caught. Not only was she fired, but she was effectively banished from the white collar job market. She could never work another secretaryal position after that. So she had to start bartending and waitressing, which I mean, can you imagine it's only going to fuel her addiction to alcohol more, being surrounded by alcohol every single day, all day, all night, non-stop. So side note, while bartending, she meets a customer, a regular named Michael Mike Irvine.

They call him Mike. It's important. Just remember Mike. So D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. She's like, he's not that exciting. He's got kidney issues and he's always sick and I just want someone unstable, okay?

Then she meets her next husband, Cass. Her and Cass get married and he's an ass, okay. This was a terrible idea. Cass is super abusive. He's insanely jealous. He would beat up D just for talking to other men. He was violent with her. The instability in the house affected the kids so much

that 11 years old. Susan is 11, her much that 11 years old. Susan is 11 her daughter 11 years old Susan is like I'm moving out. Can you imagine an 11 year old moving out because she can't take it anymore Now it's not specified where Susan went. I'm assuming she went with a relative, but I mean that's crazy Deand Susan were actually stay in touch. They did have a close bond, but it really impacted Susan's life and and were actually stay in touch. They did have a close bond, but it really impacted Susan's life. And with the horrible influence of Cass, Dee started to give up on her life. She was depressed. She wasn't even interested in being a mom anymore.

She let her two sons just basically raise themselves. If they were bored, she would drop them off at the mall and hand them a few dollars of spending money. Dee was getting fired from every job she had for drinking on the job. She would get drunk and yell at her bosses sometimes. She got up in the face of one of her bosses and said, whether you like it or not, I'm not working tonight. And then left.

I mean, can you imagine like your schedule to work and that's what you do to your boss? It's definitely a fireable offense, I think. D was downing two bottles a day and that was business as usual for her. And finally, she gets a new job at the International House of Pancakes. IHOP Dee would get drunk, drive to work every day, and then drink on the job, and then drive home drunk only to drink more. And honestly, the amount of drunk driving in this story is shocking, but also confusing

how she never hurt herself or worse hurt someone else on the road which side note for some bizarre reason that had to do with drunk driving D felt like I hop was her last chance she was like this is the only hope I have in my life because anything further than I hop I can't drive to drunk this is like the perfect mileage to not get caught driving drunk this is close and then anything else that was closer, she had already been fired from.

So she just felt like IHOP was her last hope as far as employment went. This is very important. In D's mind, I don't know how it worked because it's very bizarre, but she was like, IHOP is my last chance. Okay. Not the chance to quit drinking, but. Yeah. It's because of the chance to get drunk while I still go to work.

Yeah. And she really needed the money. So Cass wasn't bringing in consistent money, and in fact, he would just disappear for weeks at a time on a drunken binge. So, I mean, it was just really up to her. She was like a single mom at this point. These friends said, you know,

Dean was really nice. Dean kept the cleanest house that I had ever seen. Dean and I were never really close, but I liked her a lot. She was always there with a favor, always anxious to help you out. I moved away and I never saw her again, but when I read in the papers that she had been sentenced to die in the electric chair, I was stunned.

Dcast deal was the nicest person that you could ever meet truly. So again, how did the nicest person that you could ever meet end up on death row? It started with the abuse from her husband, Cass. You know the one that was never around, never helped with the kids, but when he was around, he would beat Dee to an intro for life, and a lot of Dee's friends knew about it, and they hated Cass for it.

I mean, a lot of people regarded Dee as the nicest person you could ever meet. So imagine anyone, the nicest person you know, and they're being beat an inch of their life by their partner, you would hate that partner, wouldn't you? But at least she had friends like Mike. Remember Mike Irvine, one of the customers, he always joked with her. Hey, if you're done with cast, just call me. I'm cheaper than a lawyer, and at least you'll never bother you again. Hinting that he

would kill cast for her. No, sure, she knew it was a joke, but it felt nice that someone was willing to kill for her, at least even joke about it. I mean, yes, he's just saying this to be nice, but it made her feel special, it made her feel wanted and safe and, yeah, okay, she bragged about it at eye-hopped her co-workers during the slow times. And maybe, maybe she exaggerated it a bit, okay? Because I mean, everyone knew it was a joke, right? So what did it matter if she embellished it for dramatic effect?

He-he, she had a friend that was willing to kill for her and if anyone else needed to hit Man, she could call him up. He he because he's a hit man. Everyone laughed, but of course one of them would go to their boss. The manager of the IHOP franchisee store was Alan Bryant. So this is not a corporate owned IHOP. This is a franchisee. So Alan Bryant is the manager and the owner of the IHOP, the guy's name is Art and Alan and Art are married

So they're romantic partners and it's very intense So you never really tell the manager of this IHOP something that you wouldn't want the owner to know because it's not completely separated It's almost like a family business, right? So they go to the manager. They're like Alan. I heard one of the employees who Was talking about how she knows a hitman and I just thought I don't know. It's just very inappropriate to talk about it work, okay? Alan's like, okay, duly noted, I'm gonna have a talk with her and I already needed to talk to her about something. She's been doing a lot of weird

things that work that maybe most bosses would not approve of, like the oregano bottle. You're like letter oregano bottle. Memorial Day weekend was a busy weekend for IHOP. They were running a pancake promotion, so I mean it was packed. Dee could not catch a freaking break. She was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, sweating her feet were aching, she had gone hours without a drink, not water. I'm talking whiskey, I'm talking scotch, and she felt like she was going to faint. She was making mistakes. Her hands were shaking, she knocked over customers' glasses while serving them, knock them onto customers.

She was not on her A game, and that's when she realized, okay, I need to get some drinks in me or also I'm gonna lose my job. She started smuggling a jumbo-sized oregano bottle to work in her purse and filled it with scotch. She would pour herself an iced tea at work and then pour some oregano in there, put it back in her purse, and stay drinking on the job. Sometimes she would straight up chug a oregano out of the bottle when nobody was looking. Nobody suspected that she was drinking on her job. They didn't smell like booze, you know, they didn't question if she was stealing an oregano bottle from the store if she just kept it out in her at all times, like maybe she just really liked oregano. None of that.

Except for one cook. It's called John. John knew what she was doing and he kept it a secret so long as he could take some oregano sips as well. Well, one day, he set off a chain of events that would lead to D being on death row. He took a sip of D's oregano bottle and left it out on the floor near the cash register, rather than putting it back in her purse. Dee didn't find out before he was too late.

The manager slash the husband of the iHop owner, Alan, he's walking in. And he's headed straight to the cash register where the oregano bottle is on the floor. And her eyes nearly popped out of her face. She saw the oregano bottle and she's freaking out. Okay, like oh my god. She's staring at Alan. He's going through the bottle and she's freaking out. Okay, like oh my god. She's staring at Alan. He's going through the cash register, logging the money. The goddamn oregano bottle is still there near his feet and Alan's trying to make some small talk. Hey D. You okay? How's it going?

D was nervous. Her eyes are shifting between Alan and the bottle back to Alan, back to the bottle back to Alan. Um, busy. It's trying to get quieter though. You want me to send one of the girls home? No, I'll let them stay. It's okay. You want some coffee? I can grab you some coffee. Sorry, no time for coffee. Gotta run.

Phew. D-shoulders slumped down in relief. Alan was gone. He didn't notice the bottle close call. D didn't think to hide the oregano bottle. She just thought it would, she would get it later. That was her biggest mistake. A few minutes later, Alan walked right back in through the door and headed straight

for the oregano bottle on the ground. It seemed he noticed the bottle and he started to process what was inside it later in the car, and now he was back, aggressively sniffing at the oregano bottle like a dog. Dee felt sick. Alan didn't say anything. He didn't even turn and give her a look. He calmly twisted the cap back on the bottle, it on the floor with had been and he left I don't know. Why do I feel like that's even scarier? Yeah, why is going on?

Do you and home convinced that she was gonna get fired very soon? She cried to her daughter about it Susan tried to convince her to stop drinking if this job means so much to you mom then just stop Deys mild and agreed she would for a while and for two days She just kept telling herself anytime she wanted to reach for a bottle. No, my life depends on this, my life depends on this job, and I am not drinking so I don't lose this job. And around 2pm on Tuesday. Alan called. Dee, can you come to the restaurant this afternoon?

I know it's your day off, but I just want to talk to you about something. Um, sure. Alan, what time? 4 o'clock. Dee hung her hand and she calmly walked over to iron her uniform. I mean, she knew she was getting fired, but still, she wanted to put some effort into all of it. She saw Alan waiting for her at the back of I-hop, and he sounded nervous. Maybe he was too nice to fire her.

Hi, Alan. What's up? Come on. Let's go for a ride. And the two of them sat in the car while he drove around aimlessly, and it was silent. D was confused. She had to ask, uh, where are we going? No place in particular.

More silence. You mentioned going to an organ recital with art? How-how is that? Dulles piss. Art's driving me nuts. He's jealous and possessive. It's like living in a prison. Oh.

Okay. Sorry to hear that. Look, incidentally, I know about the oregano bottle, D. Huh? The one with the booze in it, it's yours, isn't it? Yeah, I thought so. I'm not gonna tell Art about it. He would fire you in a minute if he knew,

but I understand, really, I do. People who like us, we gotta stick together, you know? D lead out a sigh of relief. Oh my God, she's not getting fired. I'm gonna give it up, I swear, I'm gonna stop drinking. How so? The alcohol doesn't do me good,

and I should have given up a long time ago, honestly. It's for the kids, I owe it to the kids to give up. Good, good for you. Silence. And then his voice sounded angry while he said his next few words. I gotta get my break too. From art, he's driving me crazy.

And while Alan drove around aimlessly, he ran to about how miserable art was making him, how boring he was, and then he asked her, if she had been to Monty Trainers and Coconut Grove. The fancy restaurant, Monty Trainers? Yeah, no, was quite lovely. We ate there after the recital. I'll take you there sometime.

Dee couldn't believe it. Instead of firing her, Alan was inviting her to a fancy restaurant and coconut grove, a very expensive area, and then more silence. Dee, I know it sounds crazy, but someone told me you know how to make people go away. But you know someone that would kill for money. What the fuck is going on in this eyehop? So, a little bit about the manager and the owner of the eyehop. Let's start with the owner of the eye-hop.

Let's start with the owner. His name is Arthur Vinesia, and we're going to call him art, because that's what everyone called him. His parents were immigrants from Spain, and they did really well for themselves. Art was able to explore his interest at a young age, and maybe his name played a role in it, but he was super artsy. Like he loved art, music, oh, any creative expression he was into. He actually became the president of the South Florida theater

Oregon society. He freaking loved the organ. He loved to play. It was like a lifelong passion for him. Later as an adult, he was this savvy businessman. He got into real estate, made a lot of smart investments, accumulated quite a bit of money and assets. estate made a lot of smart investments accumulated quite a bit of money and assets. So while balancing all the businesses that he ran, all of his artistic hobbies aren't really didn't have a lot of time for friends and hanging out. A lot of people said art was a heavy introvert but he was super kind. They said, I mean, we only have nice things to say about the man. Like God, he was some really nice fellow. I never heard him say anything bad about anyone in my whole life. There was nothing that art wouldn't do for you. He was intelligent, so kind, so well-mannered. But of course, he was very private. Like, I never really knew

him that well. So he was very, very private. And one thing that I know about super private people is that they're, once they let you in, they're, you're there forever. Like, they're very picky about who they let in and once they do, I mean, they really trust you. So 33 year old Art meets 18 year old Alan Bryant and he lets him in. And at this point, Art was already established in the world. He had this beautiful home in coconut grove.

He had real estate holding, stocks, bonds. He loved a pretty relaxed lifestyle and Alan, the 18 year old, you super attracted to that and to the table Alan brought Company youth and yeah, he's very attractive Alan Bryant was super soft spoken. He had almost this gentle southern vibe about him He would refer to everyone as Mrs. and Mr. or a maim and mr. If even if they didn't he didn't need to side note Alan was so charming that a lot of woman wished and prayed that he would change his mind about being gay,

or they hoped that he was just pretending to be gay. Which is like what a loaded sentence, you know. But it wasn't just the looks that Art was taken by. Art had a bit of a savior complex. He loved to help people, and Alan came from this broken home and had a rough childhood. And Art is like, I got you. I'm gonna help you out. But Alan also had a dark side.

He was addicted to pills and cocaine and he would cheat all the time. Primarily with Cuban men, he loved Cuban men. He would cheat and cheat and cheat and Art would find out and then they would get into physically violent fights with Art primarily getting the brunt of the abuse, like he's being cheated on and then being covered in cuts and bruises all the time. But instead of breaking up with Alan, Art bought him an eye-op. He was like, maybe if you're busy, maybe if you're a manager of eye-op, you're so busy that you're not going to get into trouble.

It was more of like a parent and child type of relationship. So they've been together for eight years. They moved from their big house in Coconut Grove to the Redlands, which is about 20 miles from downtown Miami, but it's like farm central. The name Redlands comes from the fact that the soil is literally red, but it's so good at growing plants. This area is one of the world's biggest suppliers of Christmas trees and palm trees. They have huge avocado farms in the area, bean plantations, I mean everything, and art

wasn't all of it. He bought five acres of land, just woods. There wasn't even a road or a shack on there. They had to bulldoze a path to the middle where they set up this makeshift house. The idea was, the two would live there for a while, and if they loved it, they would start building their dream home. Their mansion there. The house saw shed that they were living in was more like a one-bedroom apartment. It was not lavish at all. And it was right in the middle of the property

hidden on all sides by palm trees and pine trees. It was incredibly private. On the side, they had this huge metal barn that was much larger than their house. You know the type of metal barns that you might see people park like mini planes on like an airport hanger? Yeah, it was like that. Alan had three greenhouses on the property and he would storage plants in the metal barn while he sold them to a wholesaler. This guy's very busy. This guy's living his dream, but he's very busy. And it really was right place, right time, wrong person. There must be a million people in this world that would fall in love with art and would fall in love with this type of life, but Alan just wasn't

one of those people. Alan was known unanimously by everyone that knew him, love with art and would fall in love with this type of life, but Alan just wasn't one of those people. Alan was known unanimously by everyone that knew him, worked with him, even passed him on the street as a pathological liar. I mean, it's a bit of an exaggeration, but everyone said that he was a pathological liar. They said it was to the point where, if you ask Alan, hey Alan, what time is it? And he tells you three o'clock. If your watch said three o'clock, instead of thinking Alan was telling the truth, you

would think that he's lying and your watch is broken. That's how often and how much he lied about everything. Everyone at IHOP could see right through his lies. Except for, well, D. D seemed to be infatuated with this man. D said this about Alan. Oh, sometimes when it was busy at the restaurant and the kitchen was all bogged down, all the cooks couldn't keep up the orders and Alan would come in and he would have turned out every single order and every customer would be served.

He was a whiz! I mean, he was a wonderful waiter, he could have succeeded in anything, like he could certainly turn the charm on. Nobody else agreed, so I definitely think that she was saying Alan was some rosy tinted glasses because what? She was definitely overplaying his contribution at IHOP. What's odd is that Alan was not even D's type at all. For one, she was 44, he was 25.

She never really liked younger men, she also loved Giga Chad's, and Alan was not that. D insisted that she didn't have a crush, she only wanted to impress him because he was her boss, that's all. Besides, Alan was in a very serious romantic relationship with a guy, not art, Patrick, his Mr. Patrick, the man that he was cheating on art with, right? They were very much in love, so it's not like Dee stood a chance, even if she had a crush. But there she was, offering up her friend Mike as a hitman. Let's talk about Mike. Mike was as normal, regular, mundane, just think about any

boring synonym for that because he was that type of guy. Like, he worked on a gas station and as an auto mechanic and he was just a nice person. He loved kids, he would work on people's cars for free. He knew cast before he met, and everyone that knew Mike considered him friendly, generous, just nice. Later, even the state prosecutor would say, Mike had no violent tendencies. He was just, and I quote, a country bumpkin. His ex wives, they all divorced him because he cheated, but they said that he never raised his voice at them.

He never was violent with them. I mean, it doesn't make sense. Why was he offered up on a silver platter as a headman? Maybe Mike was drunk and he wanted money for booze. Unlike Dee, Mike rarely drank. He frequented bars and lounges to hang out with people but he wasn't a drinker. Oddly though, he did drink a gallon of milk a day. That's a lot of milk. And I'm serious, it's a bit strange. I mean, I highly doubt that the milk made him violent but like, why are you drinking so much cow-titty milk? It's a lot of milk. Some people were like, well, maybe he was a violent homophobic. Maybe that's why he was even considering the idea of murdering art as a hitman because why else? But no, Mike was really a live and let live type of guy. He didn't hate anyone. Well, then was it for the money?

People added that to he made a decent, relatively comfortable living. So why on earth was he offered up as a hitman? And why did he take the job? Some say that Mike was just the type of guy that couldn't say no. If you ask him a favor, he would do it even if he didn't want to, which I don't know. I don't think I buy that. I have a hard time saying no to, but you better believe I would never kill someone. So at first, D tried to tell Alan, no, Mike's a teddy bear. I don't know where you heard that or who you heard that from, but he's a real sweetheart, you know? So he's

not a criminal. No, I think sometimes he sells dope, but he's super gentle. Like he would never do anything violent. He's a really sweet guy. So it's not true. He's not a him, man. A hit man. Jesus Christ, not Mike. He's like a teddy bear. He was just joking. He always said to me, if Cass and I ever designed a breakup, hiring him would be cheaper than a lawyer, you'd take care of it, that's it. You mean he would kill Cass, an only Cass? Yeah, but even that, I think he's joking.

Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit. Are you really trying to have someone killed? Forget it, just forget it. Dee said after those words of a silent and she started to feel bad and sad and she wanted to help. She wanted Alan to like her, she wanted to be on his good side. Well, I can't imagine Mike killing anyone, but maybe he might know someone who could? I kid you not, this is the conversation that Dee ends up on Death Row 4, because allegedly, she felt bad about letting Alan down. Now, I don't know if I buy this either, because I mean I just don't get it.

Like you are doing all of this because you don't want to let someone down and you don't want to get fired because that would ruin your life. But going to jail would also ruin your life. Which side note, Alan never even implied any consequences for D if she didn't help him. So maybe there were other reasons of why she wanted to and we're going to explore those later. But once Dee decided to help, her life did get better incrementally. Alan started changing up her shift instead of doing the night shift, she got the highly coveted 6am to 2pm morning shift.

Alan said it was because he wanted her to have time to start talking to Mike about hiring the other guy for them. She needed to plot this whole murder from 2pm to I don't know, 6pm right? So she would meet up with Mike. Hey D, you still married to that son of a bitch, Cass? Yeah, not for long. Good, you finally saw the light, huh? I saw the light a long time ago, Mike. Then you ready for me to kill the bastard?

Don't tempt me, Mike. Don't waste money on a fucking lawyer, okay? I'll take care of Cas for you. Is the bastard ready to die? I doubt it. Doesn't matter. You just give me the word and I'll kill him for you. We'll grind him up in the trash compact or something. Side note, Mike sounds serious, but he was friends with Cas first,

and most likely he was joking. But somehow, in the process of joking about it, Mike would become a hitman. So I guess it's really not a joke after all. Hey, can I ask you something, Mike? Yeah. Would you really kill somebody? You mean like, for money?

Yeah. Why? Well, I know someone that wants somebody killed. Do you expect Mike to say no, but instead he said, who? Someone I know. Not me. No, I'm not a killer. Yeah, I didn't think so. But I do have a friend who'll do it. Really? Sure. Of course. I mean, we want to want your friend to know who we are, but we can deal it through you, right?

Okay, well then I'll just go tell my friend who wants somebody killed if you just tell me the price. Well, it depends who the person is. You know, how hard he is to hit a lot of things. I bet it's like gay manager of yours yours and he wants to knock his lover off. What? Maybe you're right. You bet I'm right. It don't take no genius to figure that out. My friend would need some more info first.

Like what? Like who the hit is, where he lives, what happens, what kind of car he drives. You know, when he's normally home, a photo. We're gonna need a photo. Okay, I'll see what I can do. And literally just like that, they started plotting a murder. But in the end, he would be a double homicide. So they agree on the price of $3,000, which might came into eye-op, wrote it on a thing,

pretending to be a customer, gave the napkin to, I don't know why they did all of that, okay? I don't know why. And then they end up at the gun store, D and Allen, trying to buy the murder weapon. Declamed, she didn't want to be there, but she was still in her eye-hop uniform, and Allen pressured her to go with him. She... No, freaking woman. Yeah, in her eye-hop uniform. Just like after work. Yeah. She had some knowledge of guns, since she had gun camping and hunting as a child, and Allen told her, I need you, I don't know anything about guns. Now at the gun shop, Alan was acting strange. He was moving around the storm with his arms

behind his back, looking down at the glasses, glancing at the guns really as if he was dragged in here by his friend and the last thing he had on his mind was buying a gun. And when it came time to pay, Alan starts patting his pants. Oh my god, damn it, damn it, I forgot my wallet. We'll have to come back. And they walk out, but before they get into the car, he stops and says, D, this is silly. Why should we come back? You can buy the gun.

For some reason, he had cash. Handed her the cash for the gun. And for some reason, D went in and bought the gun under her name. So yeah, fine. Alcohol does do funny, not so funny things to the brain, but I refuse to believe it was just that, and her being too nice to say no. Who just willingly buys a gun under their name when they know it's about to be a murder weapon? On the way back from the gun store, Alan was gushing about his lover, Patrick. He talked like a love-six school girl. I mean he's

the man that I've been waiting for my whole life, You know, we have something special. We really do. I just hope that he realizes how good I am for him. God, I just love him so much. It hurts. Well, why don't you just move on and move out? But what if Patrick leaves? You know, I need to keep him happy and in my life. I mean, we talked about the kind of house we want to live in, how to decorate it.

You know, I want to show him the world. He straight up wanted arts money to shower his lover with it. So knowing all of this, and D is apparently a good person, nicest person you'll ever meet, according to everybody that knew her, why the hell did she go through with all of this? I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. The first theory is that D is straight up mesmerized by Alan, and she is so afraid of losing her job

that she would do anything to please him. So she had a crush, and she wanted to keep her job. The second argument, which a lot of DAs would believe, is that maybe Alan promised to give D some money after art was gone. And three, D's own theory about why she behaved this way was that she never really believed anyone was getting murdered. She claimed that she believed that Mike was a teddy bear and she thought that he was just f***ing around with them so that they could scam Alan out of a few thousand dollars. And what was Allen going to do? Go to the cops?

Officer, please, you have to help me. I was trying to kill my lover and the hitman scammed me. I mean, let's be real. There's no way. Dee even said, Mike would refer to Allen as the little homophobic slur. So maybe he was a homophobic, okay? Some speculator was a little bit of everything. If it happened, she would get some money out of it, but an order of function and to really go through with it, she would deny that it would ever happen in her mind almost as a coping mechanism.

D later said, I don't understand myself. Why I didn't just tell him to take the job and shove it? I don't know. Back then, if Alan called and said, meet me in 10 minutes, I did it. It just doesn't make any sense. The men I like were always real macho types and they never intimidated me, I never jumped for those guys, so why did I do it for Alan?

Maybe it was because I wanted to keep my job. And I guess to add some weight to these theory, which I'm not 100% on board with that she just believed, no murder was taking place, the arranged hit just kept getting postponed. But Alan was spending money, like was going to drop dead tomorrow. So Alan is out there spending his money constantly stealing money out of the register to buy his new lover a new pair of shoes or a new wallet, and even writing checks from Art's account that he knew that we're going to get declined. He just thought, what's the point of trying to keep up with appearances, the guy's going

to die anyway. But the hit was stalling so long that Art and Alan had this explosive fight. Art found out that Alan had been stealing money from the I-Hop register and bouncing checks. D saw Art as the I-Hop pissed off. His face was red, he was screaming, I could kill Alan that son of a bitch. But when D really looked at Art's face, her heart twingeed a little bit, because he didn't seem angry.

He seemed sad. He seemed more betrayed than hurt than anything. I'm going to kill him! Arch stormed out, but the next day he came back and he was the one with strangulation marked around his neck. Dee was so confused. Oh my God, Arch! What happened to you?

Alan started strangling me on the property, and then I pushed him off. It was awful. He had his hands around my throat. He was squeezing so hard. He could have killed me. I swear it. I was scared to death. He said he hated me. I punched him. I slapped him. He slapped me. Claught at my face. I mean, it was awful. We were spitting and kicking and screaming at each other. I don't know what would have happened if Barry hadn't called the police. He ran outside. The police ran in. Alan had run into the bathroom and swallowed all the pills

in the bathroom medicine cabinet. I was freaking out. The police got there, they had a baby talking out of the bathroom. Like, come on, Alan, it's okay, you're gonna be okay. Just tell us what pills you took. Now he's in the hospital. Dee was surprised, not that Alan would do that,

but more so that art seemed more concerned about the guy that tried to kill him than the fact that he had almost been killed by the man he left for the past eight years. At one point he even turns to D and is like, did Alan let you borrow $3,000? Remember, that was the exact amount for the hit on the art's life. What? He said he let you borrow money for the divorce.

Oh, no, no he didn't. Oh, he lied in like Disney. He said that he was helping you get a divorce and that you were his best friend. In the midst of all of this, Dee was a little too happy. Best friend? Did he really say best friend? Yeah, he said you were getting divorced, but that's not true, right? No, sir.

That's not true. Sorry. Dee felt like she was betraying Alan by even saying that. She had the urge to run to him at the hospital and take care of him, which is just so bizarre. Like it's so out of left field I'm so confused. So when Alan gets just charged from the hospital, the two book a motel and they stay with each other. Alan was pressuring Dee to make sure Art died ASAP because soon it was going to be too late

and Alan wouldn't be able to get his stuff. And Dee is like, wait I thought thought the hit is off, Alan. I mean, it's too much. There's too much drama and art set that you guys are getting into voice. I mean, now you can be with Patrick, right? On what? I can go be with Patrick on what salary, huh? You think I'm gonna work as some waiter down at the Florida turnpike?

How could you do this to me, Dee? You had no right to call off the hit. It wasn't your money. You have no right to stop it. I'm sorry, I had no idea. I just thought it was over because art kept saying you guys are over. No, what? I'm your friend. Believe me, not art. Of course our relationship is an over.

This is nothing we've had fights like this all the time. Alan waved his hand in the air, confident that he could get art back. Anyone on Rance about how much he loved Patrick and hated art? Which side note, while they were out the motel, remember that Dee was married to Cass, the super abusive one? Well, he's like, why the hell is my wife at a motel? He somehow tracked her down, came banging on the door, and he was fuming. Dee opened up the door, Alan was hiding in the bathroom for some reason, and she's like,

what the hell Cass? Who are you with, God damn it, I know there's a man in here somewhere, where the hell is he? I told you, I'm with Alan for Christ's sake, It's just Alan. Oh, you expect me to believe that? Where is he? He's in the bathroom, Cass. Any old. Well, I'm staying right here until he comes out and it better be a homophobic slur in there or else there's gonna be hell to pay. Alan finally came out. Hey, Cass, how you doing? And the emergency was over. The situation was incredible, not in a good way.

Just freaking incredible because who are these people? How do you even find people like this? And by noon the next day, Alan and Art had made up and Alan moved back into the house. And Mike got a guy named Bill involved in the hit. Bill wrote to be exact. Bill was like the most stereotypically tough criminal type of guy. He was a Vietnam vet, and a lot of people said Bill went to war one guy and he came back completely different.

He wasn't evil or mean or bad, he was just different. He was introverted, it was hard to understand why he didn't want to be around people anymore. Some people said that Bill was one of the nicest person that they'd ever met. It was just a lot. Anyway, Bill was the type of guy that would carry around a razor blade knife for no reason, and he would soon use it to slit art's throat. He did quite a lot of prison time too for stealing a lot of things. And there, a psychiatrist said, Bill has an adequate personality development syndrome, which meant, as a result of his life experiences in trauma, this individual does not develop the necessary controls in terms of making decisions relative to what is right and what is wrong. So that's Bill.

A little fun trivia about Bill, he likes to spell his name with 1L, B-I-O. So anyway, now that the police have already been called to arts house about the fight between Art and Alan, remember, you would think that Alan would want to lay low. Nope, he wants to up the ante. He's willing to pay Mike and Bill an additional $10,000 to make sure that art died and to make sure that art died very, very soon. So June 18, Saturday night was the new day. Mike and Bill were going to pick up Alan from my hop where Dee would be working her shift,

do the deed, and then drop him back off. Totally normal business, not shady at all. Do you remember that Alan was waiting to be picked up and he was losing his mind? He was talking a million miles an hour about the most random things, taping his fingers on the counter, talking to D. What do you think of the decor in here?

You think I should change it? Man, no, maybe I'll stop smoking. You know what, I'm gonna change your uniforms. The uniforms are too boring. I want you girls to have a little style. Yeah, I'm gonna quit smoking. Hey, did you see that artist exhibit recently? The cool artist exhibit that they did?

Anyway, the weather's been looking nice. Hey, look at that dog. That dog that's outside. You ever been to a dog race before? They talked about everything but murder until right around midnight, Mike's car pulled up and Alan walked out. Dee said it was in that moment she knew this was real, that there would be no more ripping Alan off,

that Art Venetia was gonna die soon. Indeed did nothing. She didn't call the police, she didn't try to stop it, she sat there, poured a big heaping glass of scotch into her iced coffee, and downed it. She said, what could I do? Call the police and say, what? There's going to be a murder and I'm involved. Hell, I don't even know where they lived. So instead, Dee stood there, paralyzed in fear in the eye hop, downing scotch and thinking about all the things in her life that were failing.

Her failed marriage, her bills, her as a mom. I mean, everything looked bleak. And after about an hour, Mike's car pulled out. Alan got out and Dee scanned him up and down as he walked in. Thank God, there was no blood on his clothes. Maybe, maybe that's a good sign. Maybe, maybe they didn't kill art, but they did. The first words out of Alan's mouth were, it's over.

They really did it. Dee couldn't do it anymore. She got into her car, nearly blackout drunk, and somehow drove all the way home. Now, there are multiple versions of what happened that night. Each guy tends to just put the drove all the way home. Now, there are multiple versions of what happened that night. Each guy tends to just put the blame on the other person. So clearly, Mike wants to put the blame on Alan and Bill.

Bill wants to put the blame on Mike and Alan and Alan. Like, I had no idea what was going on. I didn't even know that art was getting murdered. I never even put out a hit on these people. Like, what, what, what? Most likely, the story went that Alan, Mike and Bill drove to Arts House, stormed into his bedroom to overpower him Mike held arts hands behind him while Bill slashed his throat and Alan most likely watched but it gets crazier the next day Alan

approaches D at i hop and is like hey I need your help cleaning the house understandably D was upset about it I mean she was about to lose it and he put pressure on her He's like Dee don't fall apart on me. Okay, I need you and for some reason that's all it took After her shift Dee agreed to help clean up the crime scene I mean, I think at this point There's obviously more going on than Dee is trying to get us to believe because she walked into arts room saw his lifeless body His throat cut still in his PJs and decided to help clean up the scene They stuff arts body into the closet and the garage, shoved it with bloody sheets, towels, pillows, anything that had to do with murder, anything with blood, they put it in the closet

with arts body. I mean, truly, I don't get D. She had to have been in love with Alan, or she must have been promised money because there's no way she did this to keep her job and I hop like come on now. After stuffing arts body into the closet, Alan started pacing out loud. Shit. What am I gonna do? I'm gonna tell people that he went to North Carolina, right? That makes sense.

He has property in North Carolina. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ah, do we light his body in the woods or something? Uh, yeah, I'll figure that out, but at first I have to tell Mrs. Fisher. Who's Mrs. Fisher? His mom. Oh, what are you gonna say? Yeah, I'll say that art said goodbye to her before leaving to North Carolina, but she's too

senile to remember. Okay, I mean, does she live nearby? When did you say bye? No, she lives here. What do you mean she lives here? Right out in front was a little trailer. His mom lived on the property. What?

Yeah, Dee was practically shouting, you right here, you murdered art right here 20 feet away from his mother? I didn't murder him. Oh no, you just stood by when someone slid his throat with a razor knife. Will you please calm down, you're getting hysterical. Dee was sobbing and waving her arms around wildly hysterical? Ellen, I can't- Can you imagine why I'm so hysterical because you just got me involved in a murder in the man's mother lives 20 feet away?

Well, we'll take care of it, okay? Take care of it for God's sake. You can't take care of it The man is dead art is dead You killed him and you got me involved in that. This not a dream Alan we're not gonna wake up from it. Well you've got your friend Mike. For what? Well is it an obvious we have to kill his mom now. No no no I didn't sign up for a killing spree we're not gonna kill some old lady.

Well dear what do you propose we'll do with her? I don't f**king know let her live how's that for a novel idea? No she's old she's seen how she can't even cook her own meals, we had to shut off the gas because she kept forgetting to turn her stove off. Well then I'll feed her. You'll feed her. Yep, from the restaurant, I'll bring meals over, whatever has to be done, I'll do it, okay? Anything, Alan, just don't kill her, I'll take care of her. And just like that Dee did, she started bringing food from my hop twice a day and became attached to Arts Mom Bessie. Yeah.

What is going on? That's what I'm saying. This is the most bizarre thing ever. Bessie didn't do much. She had a cat. She watched TV. She slept 16 hours a day. So caring for her wasn't that hard.

Dee stopped by twice a day with food and Bessie would ask for art a few times. Dee would brush it off. And Dee said that she became attached to Bessie in a strange way. Which I don't know how to feel about that, or if I can even believe it, because at the same time Dee was helping move Arts Body from the closet into the metal barn. So how attached can you get to a murder victim's mom after you just murdered the victim? And Dee was starting to unravel for sure.

She was overworked. Now that Art was dead, Alan felt like he needed the new manager of IHOP because he felt like he was the de facto owner. So in his mind, he made Dee the manager, which she was getting paid less because she wasn't making tips. She had to work more. She was working 16 hours a day and was making less money than when she was working eight hours shifts. Wow. Meanwhile, Alan is living his best life. Nobody knew that art was dead yet. He was taking money from arts bank accounts,

renting an upscale house for him and his lover with arts money. They redid the entire place. He even bought Patrick a new car. He was stealing $3,000 a week from the cash registers at IHOP. That's $12,000 a month that he's just burning through. He never went back to arts home or at least not often.

So twice a day, D would go and she would smell what she felt like was a rotting corpse. She would see Art's dog, a doberman just starving, waiting for his owner to come home, and D said it broke her heart. She started drinking three bottles of Scotch a day to drown her feelings, but whenever she was getting close to snapping, Alan would shower her and gifts and take her on lavish dates, like dinner dates, which

again, I think she really liked him because she would get all dolled up and he would play into it. Alan was also putting pressure on Dee, asking her to ask Mike and build a killbessy as well. He would try to guilt rep her and say, look she's so old, she's gonna die anyway, we're gonna be doing her favor, she'll never have to find out what happened to her son this way. So it happened. Mike and Bill agreed on the price of $2,500 and Deek called Wayne's backhoe service to dig a trash pit on the southeast corner of the property. It was 18 feet by 18 feet by four feet. And the owner of the company, he came out to help dig because the soil is very hard.

You can't do it with shovels. They had machines come in and they just remembered a nasty smell in the property. They dug the hole and left. Bessie was strangled to death. And Bessie's dead body, as well as arts dead body, was put in the very bottom of the trash pit and then they covered it with old mattresses and whatever else trash they could find, they called Wayne's backhoe service again to cover up the pit, which they did.

And Alan thought that all his troubles were over. Except for the fact that he spent all the money. Yeah. Wow. So IHOP had to be taken away because they weren't paying the bills, they weren't paying the franchisee bills. They didn't own IHOP anymore.

So D lost her job. She was so broke she couldn't pay her rent. And when she went to ask Alan for help, he's like, well, I don't really have cash, but there is a house that's sitting empty that you could live in. So she moved in to Art's house with her kids. The one that Art was murdered in. It's remarkable. Like, all these people involved.

I don't even know what to say about these people. Alan sold Bessie's trailer for $4,000 and it only gave D $300 worth of the profits. And when Alan was out of cash again, which he was constantly out of cash, his burn rate was insane. He refinanced arts house and somehow they got away with it. They didn't even ask for an ID. Alan became a notary so he could make D the power of attorney for art. They sold arts yacht, his organ literally everything and and everything and even then Allen was still out of cash I mean he was spending like there was no end finally they had to sell the property and D told her daughter everything She was at a breaking point where she felt like she was next she suspected that Allen would kill her next They helped call the police for D the bodies bodies were dug up, and D was arrested for murder,

which she was genuinely confused by. She could not comprehend how she could be charged for murder. If she didn't do the murdering, she wasn't even there when the murder happened. She was just so confused. Listen, I think D is definitely delusional for sure. So D, Alan, Mike, and Bill were charged with murder. All of them were sentenced to death on Sparky, which is the name of Florida's busiest electric chair. But they would never have their date

with Sparky. They were all overturned and commuted to life in prison instead. I believe all of them are still in prison, except for D. Who died of natural causes. And that's the story of the International Homicidal House of Pancakes. Wow. It's a lot. Yeah, what is what a bizarre bizarre story. Yeah, this is like I don't even know how to understand these people's motives and what they were thinking and what these people, if they were in a movie, I would think this is so unrealistic, this is dumb.

But it also makes you really rethink what the hell is going on in that eye hop. And that's it for today's case and I will see you guys on Sunday for the mini-sode. Bye!