Small Town Murder - #9 - Jealously Turns Into Multiple Murders in Burlingame, Kansas

Episode Date: March 15, 2017

This week, we check out the tiny town of Burlingame, Kansas, where a jilted husband takes his anger out on everyone in sight. The events, and aftermath have left this town in shock, and disbelief at one of the most heartless acts possible. Along the way, we figure out exactly who is running the tilt-o-whirl, the wrong way to try to get a threesome going, and how much moisturizer a person should take while fleeing from a murder.Hosted by James Pietragallo & Jimmie WhismanNew episodes every Thursday!!Please subscribe, rate, and review!Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts!Head to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things Small Town Murder!For merchandise: crimeinsports.threadless.comCheck out James and Jimmie's other show: Crime in Sports Follow us on social media!Facebook: facebook.com/smalltownpodInstagram: instagram.com/smalltownmurderTwitter: twitter.com/MurderSmall Contact the show: [e-mail] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Small Town Murder early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. What if you married the love of your life and then stood by them as they developed 21 new identities? What would you do? This Is Actually Happening is a weekly podcast that features extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. Listen to the newest season of This Is Actually Happening on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. This week, we look at Burlingame, Kansas, where one man's jealousy and rage ignited the anger of the whole town. back to Small Town Murder.

Yay! Yay, Jimmy. Excited to be here today? Fuck yeah. That music always excites me. You got to get pumped. I love it. My name is James Petrigallo.

I'm here with my co-host. I am Jimmy Wissman. And like we said, we're super excited to be here. Thank you so much for joining us. First of all, thank you guys so much for all the iTunes reviews this week. We can't thank you enough. That is our lifeblood. It keeps us on the charts.

It keeps us going. We haven't fallen off once. Thanks to you guys. Thank you guys. I love saying that. I do too, really. It feels good. Thank you.

But it's all you guys, honestly. We can't do anything. We're a couple of comics. That's it. At this very moment. We still don't have a network, which might be changing very soon here but we'll get into that at another time that's not important right now but for right now we're just a couple of comics trying to put something out that we hope people enjoy so thank you guys for spreading the word

and all the itunes reviews and keeping us out there i hope you enjoyed last week the our shirley winters i that that that I I was baffled. I was so just straining to figure out what is going on in this person's head. I'm more interested in what's going on in the police department's heads, how they can't piece that shit together. Where are you guys at? You figure the first couple dead kids. It's a it's a tragic it's a tragedy and it's so sad and you feel bad for it. And the third one, you're like, God, she has no luck. And there's three more. You're like for her. And then the third one, you're like, God, she has no luck. And then three more and you're like, okay.

And then 17 fires keep happening. It's like – Everywhere she goes, there's – At some point, you just got to go, listen, carry some water with you. Everywhere she goes, piles of ashes and dead children show up. So, yeah. Terrible woman. Terrible, terrible woman.

If you listen to last week, Shirley Winters up in Otisco, New York. Yeah. We just want to say before we get started here, just going to do a quick disclaimer, like we like to do here. Just want to say, like we said, we're comedians. The information we present is real. It's well-researched. Trust me, I don't sleep days to put this together.

So it's a well-researched thing. We try our best to get all the facts right and get everything right. But we are comedians. We're going to make jokes about this. Oh, yes, are we? We never, ever intend to denigrate the victims or the victims' families or anything like that. That's not what we're about. We're not a couple of shitheads who think it's okay to make fun of dead people.

No. We're really not. Honestly, we have families. We have children. We have the whole deal. So we're just trying to make sense of this and present it in a way that's not so gloomy and doomy. Give you some entertainment. Absolutely.

But if you are of the mind that true crime and comedy don't belong together you should probably stop listening right now seriously you should stop listening thanks for giving us a shot but i don't think it's going to work out it's like you're not for me no it's like we're not for you it's like a bad internet date and you got set up and the second you walked in you go that doesn't look that much like the picture and i don't like this. If that's fine, we're okay with that. We're happy to part ways. We'll shake hands. But if you want to sit down and try to have a good time with us

and weave through the tale of misery and try to find some kind of fun in it and also hear a good story, then thank you for being here. This is your shit. You are on board and we appreciate it. Without further ado, Jimmy, shall we? Let's do this. Let's do this. Let's do this. We are heading to Burlingame, Kansas this week.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it? No. Sounds flat. It sounds flat. It sounds like a place with a very dreary carnival, doesn't it? Sounds very brown. Yeah, just like one carousel and a tilt-a-whirl that squeaks too much and doesn't seem very safe. The zipper's not on par.

A guy with one arm is operating it, and you're like, did he lose his arm? He lost it on this ride. On this ride, for sure. I don't want to be here. And he sued, and now he owns the ride, and now he is the operator of said ride. And he doesn't seem like he keeps it up to standard, I don't think. He can't grease it. He doesn't have two hands.

He's just like, that's all right. That's why it's squeaking so much. That's the whole point. He needs to get some WD-40 in there, hire a couple more carny freaks and get this thing moving. But it's in eastern, like northeastern part of the state, basically. Kind of eastern, central, a little bit north. What's east of Kansas? Missouri.

Oh, okay. So it's like, is it like musty and humid? It's humid. There's tornadoes. The weather's humid. There's tornadoes. The weather's terrible. It's no good. Chilly in the winter. Hot as shit in the summer.

Lots of tornadoes. Not a place where you'd go, yeah, let's go there for vacation. You know what I mean? It's 25 minutes outside of Topeka. Oh, all right. So if you can find Topeka on the map, I believe that's the capital of Kansas. That's the capital. That's right.

So if you look at a map of the U.S., find Kansas. If you're from overseas, good luck. It's in the middle. It'll be a little star. It's one of those square ones. This is right by there. Yeah, it's one of the square ones right in the middle there in Nebraska. It really doesn't matter.

It's all pretty much the same thing. Right. Yeah, it's about 25 minutes outside of Topeka. Like I said, it's in Osage or Osage County. I don't know how they say it there. Osage. I'm sure I'll get. Well, that's the other thing, too.

a county I don't know how they say it there Osage I'm sure I'll get well that's the other thing too if we mispronounce counties and shit like that I we appreciate the tweets correcting us but we really don't give a shit I'm gonna be honest with you guys I'm doing so much research on this case if I miss the pronunciation of

a county that I've never heard of I'm really not concerned with it and I don't need to know it because I'm never gonna say the name of it again ever I'm never gonna be in Osage and I don't need to know it because I'm never going to say the name of it again, ever. I'm never going to be in Osage County, Osage County, Kansas ever. And it's funny, too, because the ones in the south, the ones in Kansas and in Texas, like that area of the country, Texans are fucking sticklers. They're like, that X is silent. They give a shit.

Calm down. They really care. It's okay. It's zip code 66413, area code 785. I'll give you a little hint of that. The town's history here. The town came about in the 1850s. It's right after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

Basically, people started coming there right away because then they would give away land. They were like, look, we need to move people in so we can get the Native Americans out of here, basically, and establish something for ourselves, ridiculously. Set the scene for Wizard of Oz to start. Yes, pretty much. It's basically the railroad came through Topeka in 1868, came from Topeka and connected it to Burlingame, and that made it a town, basically, at that point. But before that, it was just kind of people figuring it out. Is that basically what Kansas was?

Was it just like a go-between between the east and the west? Yeah. And like it's a passing through area? Yeah, it's a passing through and we tried to set up settlements there and set up towns and set up territories basically so we could say it's ours. All right. That was the reason why. Fascinating.

In 1856, they had a huge malaria outbreak and for some reason, half the people were like, this place sucks anyway. I'm leaving. And then some people stayed for some reason, and they were there when the railroad came through. Once the railroad came through, though, that was a – any town back then in the 1800s, if the railroad came through, that's a viable place at that point. You can move goods out. You can make a business in them. You can bring goods in.

You have a real town. That's the key part is getting things. Getting things and also being able to make things and then ship them out to people. Being in the middle of the country and being away from things that you want. It's the getting things there that matters. That's huge. A population of this town currently is 892. Wow, right now?

It's a small one. Wow. This is a small town. It's a very small town. I think I know 892 people. Exactly. That's what I mean. That's fascinating. I think I have more Facebook friends than everyone in this town. It's a very – I think I know 892 people. Exactly. That's what I mean. That's fascinating.

I think I have more Facebook friends than everyone in this town. I'm positive of it. And I don't know that many people, but that's – whatever. It's a small town and area. It's 0.89 square miles. It's a very small little town. There's all little towns connected there. The population of 892 has actually been dropping.

It's down almost 13 percent since 2000, which isn't really that many people in the scheme of things. But for that town, it's people. I don't know why they moved. Not sure. It's 100 people per square mile. Yeah. That is so much land, so much room. No, it's one square mile with 800.

It's 892 people. It's like 1,000 people per square mile, basically. It's pretty spread out, too. It's not even that dense. That doesn't seem great. Not even that dense. Slightly more men than women, which is odd because women are more population, but it's kind of flipped with them.

Median age, slightly older. It's about five years older than the average. 42 is the median age, about 37 normally. Average in most age demographics, less 25 to 34 year olds than average. Another one of these towns where the people kind of get out and get out of college, that sort of thing, and they leave. They go far away where there are jobs.

There's no room. Yeah. I don't know if these people are just going to Topeka. I don't know, whatever. But it's really spread out. It's not condensed at all. Does it seem dense? Not at all.

I saw the neighborhoods. They're just spread out. I'm fascinated by this. It's not that much. I don't know why that sounds crazy. I don't know. A little more than twice the average of people in the 85 and plus age range. Neighborhoods are just spread out. I'm fascinated by this. It's not that much. I don't know why that sounds crazy. I don't know. A little more than twice the average of people in the 85 and plus age range.

Okay. A lot of old people there. All right. And we're going to find, we're going to talk. We're going to see some of these old people. All right. We're going to hear from some and hear some unfortunate things that happened to one. The race and religion of it breaks down. It's 95.94% white.

It's a very white town, as you. It's 95.94% white. It's a very white town, as you might expect in Kansas. 62% is the average. 0.0% black. 12.24% is the average. 0.0% Asian. Not even a restaurant, guys. Not even one restaurant. 5% is the average.

1.16% Native American, which is more than the average, but you'd expect that there. 2.90% Hispanic, which is more than I thought. Yeah. Still way below, about 14% below where average is, but still way more than I thought. 97.10% non-Hispanic, if you can do that math. 40%. This is a thing that I found odd. I expected this to be a big interreligion.

Mm-hmm. Wouldn't you think Kansas? Yeah. I'm picturing lots of white dresses with that weird bib on them. Yeah, basically like Mennonite ghost children that everybody dresses when they go to church, I feel like. Yeah, that's what I feel like. 1800s Mennonite.

Have you ever seen Mennonite children? It's freaky. They're like ghost children because they look like they're from the 1800s. Oh, okay. I see what you're saying. They're super pale. No, no, no. because they look like they're from the 1800s. Oh, okay. I see what you're saying. They're super pale. No, no, no. They're dressed like they're from the 1800s.

I don't know what we're talking about right now then. You don't know what Mennonites are? I know. There's a church down the street from me that's a Mennonite church. Well, think about this. They dress like it's like 100 years ago. Okay. So when you see little kids dressed from like Little House on the Prairie, it looks like

they're ghosts that you're seeing because kids don't dress like that. So you're like, it's ghost children and you want to run the other direction. I was in a restaurant. Like it's a Stephen King book or something. Like this kid just wanders by and you're like, that kid clearly is not from this century. That's what I mean. I was in a restaurant one time and there was like a wedding party coming in to eat of Mennonites and there was these kids running around and I thought I was hallucinating.

I was like, are there dead children in here? What is going on? This is scary. Their dress looks like a bed sheet robe or something. They just look like Little House on the Prairie dresses. It was strange. I was looking for Michael Landon. It looks like nightgowns.

That's what it is. Yeah, like a nice nightgown. But only 41% are religious there or actually say they're religious. 49.6% is average. Now, I don't know if they just said none of your business, because that seems like there they'd be like, my religion is my business. And they just check not religious. Yeah.

Maybe that's what it is. I'm not sure. But OK, mostly Methodists and other Christian, as it's listed, Baptist, Lutheran, all this sort of thing. 0.0% Jewish. Of course. Not a big shock, honestly, in a small Kansas town. 0.0% Muslim. Again, not Not a big shock, honestly, in a small Kansas town. 0.0% Muslim.

Again, not a whole lot of Muslim culture. Some bad shit happened here. Burlingame, Kansas. Average number of married and divorced people. Way less never married people than normal. So people get married there. Okay. 21% of the people have never been married in Burlingame.

Average is about 33%. Is that right? Yeah. So they're- A third of the country have never been married in Berlin game. Average is about 33%. Is that right? Yeah. So they're- A third of the country has never been married. Yeah. A third of the country has never been married. That's fascinating.

It is. So 21% here. So people get married there. They absolutely get married. Or if they're young and they're not married, they move away. The people that stay are married. Twice the widowed population, because there's so many people 85 and older, I assume is why. Politically, breaks down about 33 percent Democrat, 65 percent Republican.

So that's about what you'd expect from Kansas. They go red every single year. Jobs there, 4.5 percent unemployment, which is lower than the national average. So there's jobs even though there's not a lot of job growth there. Average household income is about $32,000, which is $20,000 less than the national average. But it's okay because we'll get into the housing prices in a second. My favorite part of that housing report. I love the housing report. I'm like, what goes on here? How would you live here? A lot of people in this town make between $20,000 and $40,000. That's like a huge percentage of them. Only point seven four percent make over one hundred and fifty thousand point.

What percent seven four percent. Wow. Not even one percent. The average is about 10 percent make over that. So it's it's much lower here. It's because most of the jobs, it's twice the amount of construction jobs as normal. It's a lot of not a hundred thousand dollar jobs in construction. It's a lot of unskilled labor or that sort of thing. It's not a whole lot of that. Four times the healthcare support work as normal. Really? Four times. Well, I guess with the elderly people, yeah.

So many old, yeah. Old. Old. I was going. Old next to it. I was going with, well, I guess with elderly, and then you're old. Old. People are old.

That's the way it wraps it up. Old. You have that many people over 85, you need like three people per person over 85 to make sure that they don't choke. Just stay careful. My grandmother, I have two grandmothers that are both alive. They're both over 85. Really? And both of them need, you need to watch them basically.

One will just wander off and not know where she is. That's awesome. And the other one will try to do things and hurt herself. I mean, not that it's, you know what I mean? Yeah. It's pretty awesome though. I got a, there's a, there's a home in my neighborhood that where there, it's for elderly people and at least once a month, the people that run it are wandering around going, have you

seen the elderly lady? Yeah. It happens. Put a leash, put a bell on it. What the fuck? One of my grandmothers, she just broke her hip, so I don't think she'll be doing that. No. But yeah, she's okay, though.

She's all right. She's senile as shit, so she doesn't know where she is either. So hip or no hip, she doesn't really, she's okay, though. She's all right. She's senile as shit, so she doesn't know where she is either. So hip or no hip, she doesn't really. She's 92. She's trying. She's like, I got one more. It's fine.

One thing that's good, she forgot how racist she is, I think, right now. She's not as racist as she – I think she just forgot, honestly. Like, she forgot, oh, yeah, I don't mind Dominicans. Like, it's the weirdest thing. We're happy with that anyway, so good job, Nana. Good for you. That's awesome. Let's see here.

0.0% of the jobs are in engineering, computers, and science. Zero. Zero. 0.0. That's why people who are 25 to 34 leave, I bet, too. About 5.5% is average, so that tells you. Only 0.81% police fire, too. There should be more, as we're going to get into later.

They could use a couple extra deputies in this town, as we'll see. Cost of living, now we'll see why it's not so bad to make $20,000 to $40,000 there. $100,000 being the average for cost of living. Say that's a set average for the country. Burlingame is a $77,000 in cost of living. Utilities are less than average. Everything else is about right, except the housing is $39,000 of $100,000. Wow.

Way cheap. Median home cost there is $39,000 of $100,000. Wow. Way cheap. Median home cost there is $72,000. It's about $185,000 for the north. So that's a lot. The prices have depreciated over the last 10 years, I guess, because people are leaving. So the houses are going to go down about 7%. Most of the houses, 75% of the houses there are worth between $40,000 and $100,000. Wow. So that is what is there.

What do you get for that? It's actually, we're going to find out. Only 0.80% of the houses are over $200,000. That tells you a lot. 0.80. 0.80. Not even 1%. But that's the same percentage for people that make over $100,000 a year.

Exactly. That makes sense. It's even. So let's go to the Burlingame Real Estate Report and find out what you get for that cost. 40% of the houses, by the way, are built in 1939 or earlier, pre-war. What? Pre-war.

They were built before Hitler invaded Poland. No kidding. That's early. Before we found out about the Russian winter, these houses were built. That's built. That's insane. That's insane, right? A two-bedroom apartment there goes for about $727 a month, which is $300 less than the national average, which still seems

too expensive to me. That seems crazy if you can buy a house that cheap. Yeah, you'd be better off buying one of these houses I have here. Three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,700-square-foot house on South Oak Street goes for $110,000. That's a nice-looking house, too. Three-bedroom, two-bath, $110,000. That's a nice-looking house, too. Three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,962-square-foot house, $67,900. Why is that one so damn cheap? That's not bad. I don't know if it's area or what, if one's on a historic street or whatever.

I have no idea. One's been renovated or something. And the pick of the litter, this thing looks like a stately manor, huge lawn, beautiful green lawn that goes up the house. Really? It's on a little hill. Gorgeous. Four-bedroom, three-bath, 3,700-square-foot. Monster. lawn that goes beautiful green lawn that goes up the house a little hill oh gorgeous four bedroom

three bath 3 700 square foot monster i'd call this place stately stately and it's on east santa fe avenue which is on the same street as city hall as we'll find out in a second so i believe it's probably in a nice area only 265 grand which is amazing comes with a corncob pipe i'm sure it does yes and that's awesome with a corncob pipe a butler sure it does. Yes. That's awesome. With a corncob pipe, a butler with one. Or if you just want to get a tent, you can get 60 acres of nice farmland for $117,000. That's not bad. That isn't bad, I guess, if you want to build something. 60 acres, that's a lot.

Yeah, it's not bad at all. Schools, I have to go over some. When the town is.8 square miles, that's like a third of the town. That's not bad. 60 acres. Yeah, I think that one's like right on the edge of town because, you know, they say they count town with the things that are unincorporated. Yeah.

So schools, one thing I have to go over here, there is only nine students per teacher there. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. That's like how the education should be amazing. There should be, Steve Jobs should be coming out of there. Except they don't teach science in Kansas is the problem. Kansas is like ground zero for not teaching science.

Yes, absolutely. They're the ones, huh? And don't even fucking, if one of you emails us and says, oh, you guys don't pick on Kansas for not liking science, you're listening to true crime, which is forensics and science. If these people grew up in Kansas, you'd be listening to us go, I think somebody did it. I'm not sure, though, because we don't fucking know because there's no DNA. There's some white goo over here. I really wish I had a microscope. Man, that looks like it came from a dude.

I know that much. Yeah, let's go. I'm not going to go off on a tangent on that shit. I don't care where you are politically. Science is science. It matters. God damn it. Teach your kids science.

Please, if you teach your kids science in Kansas, I apologize to you personally. But if you're one of these people who don't want it, then eat shit. Four-year graduates of college there are about a third of the average nationally. I figure because people leave when they're younger. One-third of the average of masters. 0.0% doctorates. Great football team for the high school, though. Really?

Terrific. The Burlingame Bearcats, top notch. They were 11-1 this year. Wow. And ranked 29th nationally in the whole country. Not even in Kansas. They were like third in Kansas. Nationally.

Nationally, 29th. Are we sure that the ages are bumped up in the town? Are we sure that they're not just adults playing? Not even 900 people. How do they feel that good of a football team? That's pretty impressive. It must be coaching, I assume. It's the only thing they do.

Other little thing here about the town, little interesting stuff. If you Google just Burlingame, Kansas, on the first page of Google is the Cary Funeral Home. Really? The Funeral Home is one of the top eight things about the whole state that they want to tell you about. You can die here. You can die here. Yeah, it's unreal, man. The town motto is where rail crosses trail.

That's on everything. Super clever. Everything. Says about the town on the town website, they have, quote, hometown values, hard work ethics, and a friendly atmosphere. Yeah, interesting. You're selling to me. And May 20th, 2017 is Burlingame Rodeo Days.

Oh. So get to that if you're looking for something to do. I'm into that. I dig rodeos. Let's get into our portion of this, the crime. Uh-huh. Crime part. Property crime, burglary, larceny, theft is about 10% higher than the national average.

Really? Yes, which is odd. And violent crime. Those goddamn football players. They're doing that. Well, I think maybe they're doing this based on our experience in crime and sports. Violent crime, murder, rape, robbery, assaults, 21% higher than the national average. You betcha.

That's the football team. Oh, that's got to be football players if there's that much rape going robbery, assaults, 21% higher than the national average. You betcha. That's the football team. Oh, that's got to be football players if there's that much rape going on, I would say. That's just hazing. So let's get into a couple people who end up in Burlingame eventually here. Let's start off with Karen and James Kaller. We'll call him Kaller or Kaller. I've heard it pronounced both ways. We're going to call him Kaller.

James Craig Kaller, he goes by Craig, so we're going to call him Craig Kaler. Craig Kaler and Karen get married in 1986. Craig Karen Kaler. Craig and Karen Kaler. Yeah, that's rough. That's a rough one. Living in Kansas. Living in Kansas. Well, they weren't living in Kansas at this point. They're both

from Kansas. She is from Burlingame. He is from Meridian, Kansas, which is nearby. They get married in 1986. At the time, he's 23. She's 21. So they get married. It's a nice young couple. Young kids. And they have a good future in front of them. They, like I said, married in 86, and they have girls in 91 and 93. They have a girl named Emily in 91, a girl named Lauren in 93. About 1999, a son named Sean comes along.

Oh, look at them. Nice family, right? They live in Weatherford, Texas. At the time, Craig has a good job. He's like an engineer type guy. He works for the water and light department later. So he's got a good job, actually. He would later say that when they were in Weatherford, they had the perfect marriage at that time, which right away I know he's a fucking liar right there because nobody's marriage is perfect.

No. There's not a perfect marriage because everybody sucks. Everybody fights. Everybody fights because everybody's an asshole. No matter who you are, what gender you are or anything else, you're an asshole. It's just no fun. No. It's no fun to base your life around somebody else's.

It can be. It can be great. But if you wake up in the morning with the shit attitude, it's not going to be great. No one should say shit's perfect is That's what I'm getting at. So anyway, 2006 comes along. They're still in Weatherford, Texas. They're a nice family, right? Looking good.

Karen strikes up a friendship. She's working at a gym in Weatherford, Texas. God damn gyms. As a fitness instructor, Karen is, right? She meets a woman named Sunny Reese. I know where you're going with this. So I'm like, don't worry. But you're right, though, anyway.

You're right to go. They're both fitness instructors, Reese and Karen. So they meet then. They become friends. They're pals. Now, in 2008, this leads into this, 2008, after what's described as years of interest in pursuing a lesbian relationship. Craig gives Karen permission. He says he wanted to let her get it out of her system.

Of course, he tries to set up a three-way situation first, obviously. He tries to set it up with Sonny Reese and her because he knows them. And he's like, well, maybe we can get this going. Maybe I can scheme on you to help me get my wife on board with this. Well, his wife is on board with a girl, just maybe not with everyone involved. Let's get your girlfriend on board, and then that's going to fucking convince you. So he's asking for a threesome, but just Karen and Sonny hook up, obviously. So, you know, Craig's left out here.

Sonny said about the relationship that he knew about it. Sonny says, quote, Craig knew from the get-go and was very accepting. He agreed to everything. He was very very pleased that's what she said i says that he would tell his choice phrase that's right tell him karen to get it out of her system yeah she says that he used to give both women roses at the same time he would be like you know he was trying to he's so dumb he's an idiot he's so jaded, he's just trying to be possessive. That's what your dick does, man. You're just, every guy is just like, I want to bang everything.

Stop it. Just fucking focus on one, you idiot. Relax. You got three kids. Calm down. Exactly. Why are you spicing it up now? It's too late.

It's not in that way, too. Don't do it in that way. You know, rent a movie. Get a movie on the fucking, you know. He had 10-year-old daughters. Go to whatever site and watch a porno. a movie on the fucking, you know, 10 year old daughters, go to whatever site and look at it, watch a partner. I don't know, whatever you got to do, drink a glass of wine, smoke a joint, do whatever you got to do. Like, like in a movie that's analyzed this drink a glass of wine, smoke a joint, but I figure it out.

Figure out a way for you to get along this. It's terrible. But anyway, July 2008, he's telling her to get this out of his system because they're moving to Missouri anyway, and he figures we're going to move. We're going to leave her in the dust. That's no problem. We ain't leaving her in the dust. Well, the thought of it doesn't get left behind. July of 2008. Real quick, going back, that was in Meridian when the fucking, right?

Kansas. No, no, that was in Texas. Oh, okay. Was Weatherford when they had the perfect marriage? That's when they had the perfect marriage. Yeah, perfect marriage because there's another woman that he's trying to fuck. Yeah, well, this was before the woman came in that he's saying it was perfect. And then he came in and I guess he thought it was more perfect for a minute and then it kind of went sour for him.

It was going to get great. Yeah, he thought so. So July 2008, the entire Kaler clan moves from Parker County, Texas, which is Weatherford, to Columbia, Missouri for a job for Craig. It's a terrific job. He takes a job as Columbia's director of water and light department. Wow. Which is a really good job. He makes $150,000 a year, which, as we know, puts him in the top half a percentile in Columbia.

But still, he's the highest paid city employee in Columbia. So, I mean, it's a good job for him. And if you live in Columbia, Missouri, $150,000 goes a long way. Yeah. It really does. It goes a long way and you can have a real nice life with your wife and your three kids. Right. And everybody can be happy and send your kids to college.

It goes a long way in just about any town. Yeah. Oh, really? But, I mean, in the Midwest, in a smaller town, it's going to go longer than it goes in New York City or something of that nature. Right. Reese said to Sonny Reese, the fitness instructor gal pal here. smaller town. Right. It's going to go longer than it goes in New York City or something of that nature. Reese said to Sonny Reese, the fitness instructor gal pal here. The problem.

Yeah. Well, they had a problem because the women were in love is what she said. She says the women are in love. He gets mad about the whole thing, obviously. They're arguing back and forth. She's in texas sunny but they're the wife and and her are karen and sunny are still you don't say she's still going back there to see her that sort of thing so in a text message sunny said to kaylor quote she's only staying with you because it's best for the kids she does not love you the way you think ask her and you will see

that i am right by the look in her eyes oh so, God. So she's calling him out. Like, look, she wants him to go away, basically. And Karen is starting to get tired of this marriage, too. He's getting more possessive. He's getting more controlling. As we see here, as it comes up to New Year's Eve of 2008, almost 2009, but January or December 31st, 2008, Craig and Karen, they have a big fight. Okay, a huge fight. And this reminds me of OJ a lot. It really does because this is OJ, the main physical.

There was some physical abuse, but they had a huge blowup, OJ and Nicole. This is about OJ, but on a New Year's Eve of like 1989. So that was kind of the catalyst for it to really unravel from there. So this is the same type of thing. They have a fight. They're both drunk. They're at a party. They have a huge fight.

They end up out in the street having a physical altercation. Really? It escalates to physicality. Unbelievable. Yeah. Craig ends up pushing. It's a fight over Reese, too. They're arguing about her, obviously.

It's even creeping into, well, he's drunk. So at this point, this is when he's bringing it up. Like, hey. Are there friends around? Oh, yeah. It's at a party. Oh, he's saying some horrible things this point, this is when he's bringing it up like, hey, are there friends around? Oh, yeah. It's at a party. He's saying some horrible things. So that's why they go outside in the street. So now they're fighting in the street like, you know, I don't even know what like complete hooligans now. Well, like a woman that wants a lesbian relationship and a man that wants to keep his wife. I was going to say they're not really

fighting. He's fighting and she's trying to get away from him. So it's not really fair to call them hooligans. It's mainly her going, leave me alone, and him going, hey, come back here, and harassing her. Stay with me, and she's saying no. Yes, so eventually he pushes her pretty hard, and she falls down and hits her head on the street, which is not great. Yeah, not a good move, asshole. Next day, Karen tells Craig that she's leaving him for Reese on New Year's Day. So happy New Year, asshole. Why are you leaving? There's asphalt in my fucking on New Year's Day. So happy New Year. Why are you leaving?

There's asphalt in my fucking skull. That's why. You see that? I have little pebbles in my hair still. I really want to get out of here. My forehead's still black. I can't wash it off. Horrible.

So January. I have oil on me from the road. January 2009. Unbelievable. You can't. I don't know why. I don't ever understand this, too. Why do men go to the physical? physical why because it's the last straw listen in this situation i get it i i can i i'm

trying to understand i guess he feels so fucking small at this point yeah but he's a midwest guy that's losing his wife to a woman but that's gotta hurt so bad you wanted it you push yeah you know what you're not wrong responsibility i'm just saying i see it through his eyes i can see Losing his wife to a woman, that's got to hurt so bad. But you wanted it. You pushed for this. You know what? You're not wrong. Take the responsibility of it. I'm just saying I see it through his eyes. I'm not agreeing with him.

I'm just saying I understand. No, I understand. But still, it's like I get hit. That's the thing. I get his feeling, the feeling like that, but the reaction to it and the actual activity that he does. It's a crazy reaction. It's insane.

I've broken so many walls and doors being mad over girls. I've never punched a girl in the face or pushed her down or hurt a woman. Good. Glad to hear that. I've hit some things. I don't want to do any stories about you. I've definitely hit some things. So good.

So Karen at this point fears Craig. Yeah. Clearly. She believes that he was hacking into her email. He thinks she's spying. He's spying on her, which he probably is. Yeah. He's checking her phone.

He's doing all sorts of things like that. So in January 2009. The things he probably is. He's checking her phone. He's doing all sorts of things like that. So in January 2009. The things he's read. Oh, man. Yeah. That's got to sting. So January 2009, Karen files for divorce. So that's that.

After 13 years, or I'm sorry, 23 years, they are about to get divorced here. And they're still living together, though, until March. March 16th, she goes to move out. She's trying to take the kids, and she's going to leave now and move out on her own. This causes a monstrous fight. As you might imagine with a possessive, controlling guy like this, huge fight this causes. Yeah, and they've got to hash out, like, visitation, all that stuff. And she's just going to disappear, and now he's just got to sit there and wait for paperwork to tell him things.

Well, yeah. So he ends up, he's trying to like get close to her. He's trying to hug her and she's trying to get away from him. And he ends up roughing her up a little bit again. Again? She has bruises all over. Doesn't actually hit her, but he roughs her up. I mean, he can't do that.

She has bruises all over her arms. He's throwing her around, things like that. So he is arrested for domestic violence. Good. And she files for an order of protection. Again, good. The right way. We have her. This is her statement on the order of protection of why she needs an order of protection. So this is interesting coming from her mouth to find out what she was feeling at the time. She says about the order of protection that, quote, over time, it has become apparent that Craig is controlling. I have learned along the way that he is capable of using force. The issues vary, but I figured out how to keep things from becoming ugly.

When money is a problem, I wouldn't tell him what things like groceries, clothing, et cetera, cost. When it was about sex, I decided it was easier to give him what he wanted every night than to refuse. On the occasions I would refuse, he has been known to be forceful and mean. I'm afraid it will escalate so far that someone is going to get seriously hurt. Yeah. So that's a good reason for a daughter of protection.

I wish he would have put the things he said in there. Well, yeah. I wish, yeah. Because I want to know. He's said some horrible things to her. Oh, God. Probably in front of the kids, too, which doesn't help anything here. Called her horrible, homophobic words.

Yes. Like the word twat in there somewhere. Just horrible things. Whatever you can think of. I'm sure he oh you know he said it you know he had to say the worst things he could think of before he resulted in violence probably he said all those shit if he put his hands on her that didn't work i guess and so i'm gonna go after he's just trying to make her feel what he feels inside that's apparently so in. Well, he's about to feel worse because in September of 2009, because of his domestic violence charge, the water and light department fires him more, more accurately, accurately asks him to resign because it looks bad for the city that their director of a department

and the guy with the highest salary is going to go to pay a lawyer for his domestic abuse charges. Not great for the town. So he is given, though, he's given a pretty sweetheart deal to get out of here, I have to say. He's given a two-month salary and one-month severance also. That's not awful. It's not terrible if you're going to fire a guy when you don't have to give him shit, probably because he got arrested like an idiot.

You get a third of $120,000 right up front and you get to go find a new job. You were the director. It's got to be. And you're resigning, so it's not like you're being fired. No, you would imagine. I think that's why he agreed to do it. You would imagine that he would just try to put his life back together at this point like a smart person. At this point, he still has the opportunity. That's the thing. Yeah, he absolutely could.

But instead on. Well, he's trying here. October 9th, 2009, he files paperwork in court for relief of child support payments because he doesn't have the income coming in anymore. The support payments that he's been paying are $2,030 a month and another $1,500 for alimony. So he's paying $3,500 a month, which is a decent amount. That's Steve. That's a lot. That's $40,000 a year we're talking. That's a decent chunk, but it's a third of his salary basically about that.

He says in documents that he's – this is funny too because in these documents you have to explain why you're not going to pay and for how long you think you might not be able to pay. He says in the documents that he expects to remain unemployed for, quote, a substantial period of time. I don't know how you can expect that. I'm expecting to be completely worthless on the job market. That sounds like a guy that's just trying to figure out a way to get out of it. It is. Well, he's a bit of a mess, too, because he's going to right around this time, too. He also says he can't take any money out of his retirement because the divorce proceedings are going on.

So he's like, I can't take money out of that to pay. What do you want from me? Basically, blood from a stone is what he's trying to get across. Now, the domestic violence charge is still on the table. to get across. Now, the domestic violence charge is still on the table. He is supposed to appear in court in Columbia, Missouri on December 3rd of 2009 at this point to see, to hash out the judge just about the criminal charge there. I guess that's why they wanted to fire him before that went public, I would imagine. Now, also, too, on the divorce, the settlement hearing for the divorce is set for December 5th. So that's two days later. So he's got a busy week.

My God, what a horrible week. That's a shit week. Now, the divorce trial is set to start December 21st. Merry Christmas. Yeah. That's really a great holiday for everyone involved. December's completely fucked for him. For him, for everybody. No one wants to go to a divorce trial.

That's brutal for even if you're the person pushing it. Right. You don't want to do that. And at Christmas time, Jesus, you go home and that's got to be a miserable Christmas, man. Sit in your living room alone. And stare at the kids. Be like, yeah, yeah, mommy's fine.

It's all right. She's all right. It's fine. Okay. So in late October, the reason why he said I think he would be unemployed for a while and everything, he moves to Meridian, Kansas, which is right by Burlingame with his parents. He moves back in with his parents. So, I mean, that's two years ago.

Think about this. Two years ago, he had a family that he said was the perfect marriage. They lived in Weatherford. They had a nice house, family, kids, all this. Now he's got no job, no house, and he lives with his parents in Kansas and no wife and no kids. So I could see him being depressed at this point. Yeah.

But what he does to personify that is not okay. Now, he notifies the Missouri court of the move on November 25th that he'd been there for a month or so. Now, Craig thinks that he's mad at his daughters, too. Really? His daughters are 16 and 18 at this point. Oh, they're siding with mom. And he said, well, he's mad at Karen saying that she turned the daughters against him

and now they don't like him. So now he's like, well, you don't like me. I don't like him. I don't like you, which is you're an adult and those are your daughters. You go to them and try to make a relationship. Have a talk. Have a conversation. Their daughters are doing well, actually.

Daughter Emily attends the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. And Lauren is an honors student at Columbia High School. So the kids are really upstanding kids. They're straight shooters. They're, you know, straight-laced kids. Pharmacy jobs are fucking – that's high paying. It's a great job. It's a terrific job.

No, these kids could have a good future. They have, you know, at least if their parents can figure it out, they can – whatever. So Craig is allegedly not interested in his daughters whatsoever. He only wants visitation of his son, 10-year-old Sean at this point. That's not very cool at all. No, it's not cool at all. Karen's divorce lawyer, Dan Pinkleton, which sounds like such a... Dan Pinkleton? What a scumbag. If you were writing a Hollywood screenplay and you were like, I need like a scumbag agent, what do I call him? You call him Dan Pinkleton. That sounds terrible.

He's a divorce lawyer, so you know that he'll suck the blood out of a carpet. Right. He sounds like a guy that's just like, listen, you can get everything. You can get the car. You can get the house. You can get the retirement. You can get everything. Yeah.

Well, he's not wrong. You put up with him for 23 years. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, yeah. But he's going to do that to a great person. He's a scumbag divorce lawyer. I mean, you know, come on. And then you're going to give me 15 percent of that.

I'll take a chunk of that, please. He said that Craig is controlling. He said, quote, from the facts I heard, I think he was a misogynist. He was never interested in his daughters, only his sons. I don't know if I think that's more about being, I don't know if that's misogyny, but it's more about being just a shithead and a terrible human being. He got the misogyny part right, but he's saying it wrong. That's exactly right. It's the part where he's going to force his wife to have a lesbian relationship in front of him and

then rough her up right that's the part that's the misogyny exactly this is just him being a spoiled brat and going you don't like me the kids don't like me anymore he's being a bitch here literally a little tiny he's like you're being a little bitch aren't you meaning a little kid who's just not a woman sorry so. So Craig, just you have to be clear. You never know. Craig set up visitation to see Sean over Thanksgiving weekend that year, 2009. Not the girls, just Sean. Really?

Just to take Sean. Okay, so we go to November 28th, 2009. This is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Okay. If you're not in the U.S., we have Thanksgiving. It's the fourth Thursday of November. It's really stupid why it's not a set day, but fourth Thursday of every November, whatever. We watch football.

That's what we do. That's true. They need to set up the NFL schedule, so they really need to have a set time. Look, it's on a Thursday. We need to know that. So anyway, Sean spends the Thanksgiving holiday, spends Thursday and Friday with his father, Craig, at Craig's parents' home in Meridian, which is nearby.

Now, the 28th, like I said, is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It's said by Sean later that Craig went to the ATM to get some cash before the mother picked, before Karen picked Sean up. He said he went to, for some reason he was going to get cash. He didn't know why. He didn't give it to the mother or anything. He just went to get cash. But that comes back later.

Now, so he ends up, Sean ends up with his mother back in Burlingame. They are at Karen's grandmother's house, which is his great-grandmother. Sean's great. Her name is Dorothy White. She's lived in Burlingame for centuries, I'm pretty sure. She's 89 years old. She's lived there forever. Her whole family's there.

You know, it's a nice Thanksgiving with all the girls and everything like that. Lauren and Emily, 16 and 18, are also at the house with the family. Sean comes in. They're having a nice time here at the great-grandmother's house. That night, November 28th, they're all in there. Sean is back with the mother, with Karen. They're all in there. And a neighbor of Dorothy Wright, a man named Trevor Gibson, said that he sees a noisy and unknown vehicle in the area.

It's a red Ford Explorer. He sees it go by. And this is what a small town it is. This draws attention. I don't recognize that car. So literally him and his girlfriend go outside to watch it. Really? They literally go outside to watch it.

It's a thing you do in a town when you don't recognize it. Good in this case. But normally it's like. That's fascinating. Yeah, it's really. Imagine that's what you're doing. What are you doing tonight? Waiting for a car? Waiting for a weird car to drive by. Might show up, might not. Just gonna watch it. It's a mystery. It's a mystery and we're gonna undertake it tonight. We're gonna crack the case.

Let's crack the case. So, he sees the car park about a block from Dorothy White's home. Gibson watches a man exit the vehicle and walk down the road. This peaksiques suspicion like you would not believe. He is, the Joker is in town. They're freaking out. They literally go up to the vehicle with a flashlight and look it over.

Yeah, they see it has Missouri tags. So they're like, okay, it's an out-of-stater, which makes them even more suspicious now. Forget about it. Gibson eventually says, quote, we thought that person person was stealing that's how small town it was they see a car like he's gonna steal things that guy steals he has to he's from missouri they all steal in missouri sounds like he needs a catalytic converter i hear it yeah it's wow he needs a muffler on there so he calls burlingame police this guy what not even just looks at it and goes that's queer we'll see what happens you know what i mean? Write all this down.

That's funny, but he actually goes and calls the cops. He calls Burlingame Police, but it's such a small town. They have.81% police and fire that he cannot get a hold of anyone at the police department. The cop isn't sitting at his desk to answer the phone. No, I just picture him with his feet up on the desk and his hat tipped

down and he's snoring. The phone's ringing. He's snoring, a a little hat going that's it just going away so he most people would give up at that point they've really gone above and beyond did they drive to the fucking station no no they called the burlingame utility department to see if they knew where the cops were they're like you've seen the cops around they're like i don't know if they tell them call 9- call 911, jackass. What are you calling us for? We work on lights and gas.

We have no idea what you're doing. He calls 911 and he's told that there's nobody in the area to come right now. But he should keep an eye on the vehicle. You keep an eye on that. We'll get there as soon as possible. We'll be there sometime tonight. They could use a deputy or two in this town, as we said. So Gibson and his girlfriend, Michelle Davidson, said right after that they hear gunshots.

So now they're really. So much for stealing. Now they're really. Their interest has peaked, obviously. A little while later, Gibson sees the man from the Ford Explorer walking back to the Explorer with something in his hands, an object in his hands. He says they yell at him. Hey, stop right there. And Gibson runs over with his flashlight.

Who is this guy? Wow. He is nosy and ballsy, too. You don't know what he's got in his hand. I'm not doing that ever. No, I'm going to keep an eye on it. He drove down that way when he left. I don't fucking know.

I'm writing like crazy right now. That's what I would be doing. Writing down all kinds of information. You got the tag number. What more else is there? You've done your job. You've got cameras at this point. Take a picture, man.

Take a picture. Exactly. You've done your job. Go back in your house and put Wheel of Fortune on. What are is there? You've done your job. You've got cameras at this point. Take a picture, man. Take a picture. Exactly. You've done your job. Go back in your house and put Wheel of Fortune on. What are you doing? So he yells at him, goes up with the flashlight. Man puts the object in the back seat and drives away ignoring Gibson. So that's shady, I would say.

That's not normal in this town. No. So what ends up happening is an Osage County Sheriff's deputy, Nathan Perling, is dispatched after to check out the suspicious vehicle. He's sent out there. And also there's a call from a young boy saying that there's been a shooting, too. But he doesn't know where that is. That's in the area. But he's here to check out the weird car. He just heard that on the radio also.

He's here to check out the weird car. So he's saying, you know, that happened. So basically at that point, too, it's called out to him to check on Dorothy White's home because there's a life alert. Oh, boy. You know life alert bracelets? I've fallen and I can't get up? She has one of those. Really?

And she's fallen and she can't get up. And so she alerts them. It's just dinging. It's dinging. And also, too, they record some audio because you say what the problem is. I've fallen and I can't get up. They hear that. You know what I mean?

So anyway, he is looking for the Ford Explorer. And he figures at this point, suspicious vehicle, shooting in the area, probably related. Let's call. He calls it in. The Ford Explorer is probably related to that. They do that. He informs the truck is involved. Everyone's looking for the Ford Explorer at this point.

He goes up to check on the life alert status, but doesn't know what's going on because he heard there was shooting to Detective Deputy Perling. So Deputy Perling grabs a rifle and gets in a position behind a tree in Dorothy White's front yard just to see what's going on. Doesn't hear anything. So he makes his way up to the front porch and he looks in the window and he sees Dorothy White, 89 years old, sitting in a chair in the front in a recliner with blood all over her. So he forced, he said, I forced my way inside. Obviously, he wants to help this poor woman. So he enters into Dorothy's home and sees her in a recliner holding her stomach, attempting to nurse a gunshot wound in her stomach.

What a terrible sight. Terrible. An 89-year-old woman. An 89-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her belly. What a terrible sight. Terrible. An 89-year-old woman. An 89-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her belly. In her own home, too, especially. She probably had a nice little old lady nightgown on, like I feel bad for. So probably, like I said, I have two grandmothers, so I hear if someone shoots an old lady, I'm like, you son of a bitch.

What kind of dick? So he says, Deputy Perling says, quote, I stopped and looked at her injuries and told dispatch that we needed as much medical attention as we can get. Yeah. Luckily, there's twice the health care in Burlingame, but not enough fucking cops, clearly. But they have that covered. All the health care that we've got. Send them all.

Send the cavalry. Help her out. Yes. So as soon as another deputy arrives, that's when Perling starts searching the house because it's not safe to go on his own. No. He doesn't know if there's somebody waiting in there to ambush him. Right. So he waits for another deputy to cover him. But if this guy will shoot on his own. No. He doesn't know if there's somebody waiting in there to ambush him.

Right. So he waits for another deputy to cover him. If this guy will shoot an old lady, a deputy doesn't matter to shit. Exactly. So he literally stays right by Dorothy until another day. And another deputy arrives pretty quickly after that. Once he calls in, hey, this is going on, then all of a sudden it's urgent. The guy, who knows, that other guy, Gibson, calling in suspicious.

He might do that. He calls shit every fucking week. That's what I mean. They're like, is it fucking him again? That's why they didn't answer. I bet they had him on caller ID and they're like, I'm not taking his call again. No, it's a suspicious truck. It's the guy down the street got a new car. Stop it, you asshole.

You know how many shit things we investigate for nothing over this idiot? Somebody's driving their combine down the street. Get over here fast. This kid's on a four-wheeler. Come on, hurry. And they're like, no, we don't care. I'm pretty sure this kid on his bike's going faster than 25. It seems like it.

I ain't got a speedometer or nothing. I don't have a laser gun or nothing. I think that's how fast it's going. So the deputy, Deputy Perling, begins to search the house to see if it was clear. He goes into the kitchen and he finds Karen Kohler, or Karen Kahler, lying on the kitchen floor with gunshot wounds. She's still alive, but barely. Another

deputy arrives after that and they also hear crying coming from the second floor. Oh, fuck. So Perling leaves this deputy with Karen and runs upstairs to the second floor and he finds 16 year old Lauren Kahler with writhing in pain from gunshot wounds.

This is the saddest shit ever because I have a 15-year-old daughter. So when I hear anything about a 16-year-old, I immediately picture her and it just makes me infuriated. So he tries to tend to her. He asks her who did it. She says her dad, which right there is like – I don't even know what to say to that. It's horrible. I'm speechless to this.

I can't even fathom hurting my children over a relationship with my wife. Yeah. Never. And you don't expect that as the deputy who did this to you. I don't know. You know, whatever. Some guy broke in. Some guy, some crackhead, something not blowing my dad, which is ridiculous.

She tells him, quote quote don't let me die i don't want to die oh jesus horrific and really kind of ruined my whole day when i read that honestly i've been depressed all day i can't imagine it's i mean it's worse for them obviously and i'm saying it's me being depressed is a bad thing but that that fucked me up today honestly so pearling said he comforted her as best he could, and then she died up there with him, which is so sad. So then he went down to a dying old lady. Then he sees a dying woman, and then he goes up and is with a 16-year-old while they died after their father shot them. The victim gradually got younger.

Horrible. It's horrible. That's so bad. So once she expires, Perling goes back downstairs to find 18-year-old Emily dead on the living room floor, also multiple gunshot wounds. So this guy went in and slaughtered his whole family. And he reloaded. Yeah, he reloaded. And also, too, well, where's the son?

We'll find that out in a second. Dorothy White, once they get her, Dorothy White's alive still. Fantastic. The other three are dead. Dorothy White's alive still. Fantastic. The other three are dead. Dorothy White stays alive. A medical technician, they helicopter her to Topeka to get her medical attention. And she says to the technician, quote, Craig just came in and started shooting. So now, and Karen also identified him to the other deputy. So now three of these people have all said Craig did it. And we're going to get to what the son saw as well. Karen, like I said, would end up dying from her injuries.

Dorothy would survive for now in the hospital. Later that night, a deputy sees an Explorer drive by, a red Explorer. A loud one. A loud one. So he turns around, and by the time he finds it again, it's abandoned in a driveway, and the driver is gone. So they impound the truck because it's the Missouri plates and everything. I'm sure Gibson wrote the tag down. They process it for evidence and police set up a two mile perimeter around the truck. They search for seven and a half hours to find the driver of the truck in this area and they

can't find him. Around 7 a.m. that morning in Shawnee County, because this was right on the border where he drove the truck of Shawnee and Osage County, a deputy is flagged down by a driver. This driver asked the deputy if they had caught the murderer yet because there's a man walking down the road in a ditch. First of all, that's funny, too. One guy walking. He must be the murderer. He's walking.

That's a small town shit right there. There's a guy driving. He's a thief. He's walking. There's a walker. The guy walking. That's him, right? That's got to be.

But it's a cold November morning. And it makes sense. Yeah. So, yeah, he said there's a man walking down the road in a ditch. So Shawnee Deputy Ed Nelson finds the man walking in a ditch and approaches him, and the man said, I'm the guy you're looking for. And it was Kaler. So there's Greg Kaler. They found him.

Nelson said he appeared cold and tired because he's been walking around all night. And he murdered four people. And he murdered four people. That's exhausting. Hopefully he feels like shit a little bit for that. I hope that took something out of him and it wasn't just the cold. I hope that the only reason he's walking is because he actually fired all the gunshots and he just didn't have one left.

He had some, too. That's the sad part. We don't know where the gun is, though, as we'll get into. Kaler tells Deputy Nelson that he's armed with a holstered revolver, too. He's got that on him. Also, he's carrying a few big, long knives. He's got pliers, gloves, a flashlight, a hunting bag, and hundreds of dollars in cash. Good God.

Yeah, it's the OJ kit, basically, without the disguise and the ride to Mexico. Right. And without an ex-teammate to drive you around. So he had an Explorer, too. Maybe that was his version of the Bronco. I don't know. So Kaler tells Nelson that his wife had filed for divorce and was having an affair. He's arrested without incident.

They just arrest him. He's less than a half a mile from the truck. So he was that close. They searched for that long. Complete coward. In the Explorer, they find a rifle shell box, just a box for the shells, with a.223 caliber engraved on the side, which is the same caliber as all the shootings. They found casings on the floor.

The gun was never found, but they did find the clip near him in the ditch. Along with several other clips, they found a hiking backpack. This is in his truck with a hiking backpack with supplies like soap, hand lotion. Really, dickhead? You kill your whole fucking family and moisture is your concern? Asshole. That's just what he was using to tug his wife and his girlfriend. Hand towels, toilet paper, cotton balls,

beef jerky and trail mix and a large amount of canned goods. That is a teenage boy dream masturbation kit. He's not like an ex-Marine survivalist, though. He's a guy who works for the Department of Water and Power. He's not going to survive. How long do you think

it'll blow over in a week and not have enough jerky for that? He's got a ton of bait and supplies and then some jerky. Jesus. So December 1st, Dorothy dies from her injuries in the hospital, which is super sad, obviously. They arrest Kaler. He makes his first court appearance the day after and it's his appearance to be charged and seek bail. He's charged with one count of capital murder.

Capital murder is the death penalty murder. But he only got one? That covers all of them. Everybody. That covers everybody because it's in one scheme basically, which makes you eligible for the death penalty because you killed multiple people in one deal here. Also, two, first-degree murder too. That's the backup in case the jury doesn't want to convict on death penalty. They said, well, here, we'll put four counts of first-degree murder on top of that.

Osage County District Judge Philip Fromm set bail at $10 million. So not fucking – might as well set it at nothing for that. I mean the whole town isn't worth $10 million. You couldn't sell every house. He doesn't have that. No. You'd have to put every house in town up to get that. Maybe you'd still be short.

Honestly, I think mathematically you would. Sets the next hearing for December 10th. Also, too, the judge asked Kaler if he can afford an attorney. Kaler responds, quote, I have some funds. The judge says that's not going to cut it. And he appoints the state's death penalty defense unit in Topeka to represent him, because if you don't represent somebody properly, then it doesn't count. I got a knapsack full of cash and I got some jerky and some beaten supplies. I got trail mix.

Anybody need cotton balls? Are there any attorneys in town that work for beaten supplies? You think? Anybody? So longtime neighbor. They talk to some neighbors at this point. Longtime neighbor who used to fish in Dorothy White's pond. So they go back forever. Her who used to fish in Dorothy White's pond. So they go back forever.

Her kids used to fish in her pond. So, I mean, she said, quote, they are fine people. Fine people. She's a wonderful lady. Everybody in town basically said Dorothy was a treasure. She's an 89-year-old lady that everybody knew and loved and never did anything. It's my grandma's name. Everybody calls her Dot.

They're all – they're just – That's such a great old lady name. Yeah, they're wonderful old lady names. Now, defense attorney Tom Haney, he's not going to dispute whether Kaler actually committed the crimes or not. He's not even disputing that. They have ballistics. There's a lot of evidence. Everybody said he did it.

Right. Anyway, so he instead will try to show that his client was not sane during the killings. Okay. He accuses Sonny Reese of wrecking his family and driving him, quote, to the tipping point. No, no, no, no. He ruined his family. Yes. By trying to.

Yeah. He knows what he was doing. This is what happens, fellas. He knows what he was doing. Just so you know. Now, Karen's attorney, the divorce attorney, Pingleton, the fucking scumbag here, says that Reese and Karen were in love. Yes.

Because he's testifying in this because he knows a lot about the proceedings. And she's dead, so it's not really a thing anymore. Now, they go to trial, August 5th, 2011. Sean, who's now 12 years old, 10-year-old son, he testifies as to what happened that night because he's the witness to all this. He says that he went instead to stay with his dad. His dad went to the bank. Sean went back to Dorothy's with his mom. Sean says he and his mom had found some old coins in Dorothy's house,

probably from when she was younger or whatever, and they were cleaning them in the kitchen sink. They were using, you know, solution to clean them. He says, quote, my dad came in through the door and shot my mom. I just heard her collapse on the floor from the shot. So he was asked if he saw where she was hurt. And he said, I just caught a glimpse. I think she was holding her leg. This kid is 12 and he's holding it together in court talking about his mother being killed in front of him. So this kid is strong. And I really, really got to give it up for this kid because he is tough. Sean says that he then ran outside to save himself. He said,

quote, my first thought was to go back inside and get a phone. So I was trying to find a way to get back in. I started to open the door and saw my dad go by again. So then I closed it. Yeah. Which makes sense. He's afraid. His dad's got a gun.

He's shooting everybody. If you're not afraid of him in your personal time, in your personal life, and you see him murder your mother, you're going to be scared. You're going to be a little off by that. When you're 10. Yeah. Sean said he heard about one or two more shots and then decided to run to a neighbor's house. He's like, I'm never getting back in there.

He runs to a neighbor's house. No one is home. There must be at the Burl game rodeo days. They're not there. So he runs to another house and he says, quote, I told them to call 911 because there had been a shooting across the street at Dorothy White's house. I told them my dad had shot my mom, my sisters, and my great-grandma. Like, Jesus, this poor fucking kid. It's the worst.

So Sean describes the gun. He knows all this shit. This kid is slick, man. He described the gun used by his dad as a.223 caliber that he'd seen his dad use once when they lived in Texas. Wow. He said he knew guns because his grandfather, Craig's dad, had recently taken him hunting, deer hunting.

Awesome. So he knows his guns, and that came in handy for him. The defense tries to object to the testimony of the medical tech that Dorothy talked to. Yeah. Saying that Craig came in and shot us. He said they're trying to say it's hearsay, but the judge admits it, saying it's a, quote, dying declaration, which is actually a legal term. Absolutely. She thought she was going to die die and she was making a declaration.

So it's not hearsay at that point. She's saying, I'm telling you this because I'm not going to be able to tell anyone. Hearsay. I heard it from her goddamn mouth. Yeah. Well, that's, you know, normally that's not allowed unless they know they're dying. There's even a specific thing where they'll part, they'll split hairs and just as to whether someone knew they were going to die or didn't know they were going to die to see whether

it's legal to, to put it in. It's crazy. were going to die or didn't know they were going to die to see whether it's legal to put it in. It's crazy. So in addition to Sean, Lauren, Dorothy, and Karen all identifying him, also Kaler's blood is inside the home. A jacket is found outside Dorothy's home with Kaler's business card in it, just in case. Here's my phone number two on top of my blood and my shell casings and every other piece of evidence I could possibly leave behind in a crime scene.

Take that. Plus the neighbors seeing him there, the truck. Right. I mean, it's airtight. Right. You're fucked. Slam dunk. Yes.

So at trial. And you said, I'm the guy you're looking for. I'm the killer. Yes. He didn't say I'm the killer. He said, I'm the guy you're looking for, which you can take that as pretty much an admission of guilt. Now, at the trial, the recording from Life Alert is played. And they ask Sonny Reese for some reason if she can identify who the person was.

And it's Lauren, she says. She recognizes Lauren's voice. And Lauren says, quote, somebody is going to kill us. He's in the home. That's what they hear screaming, her freaking out. So that had to be horrific to hear that in court from beyond the grave for the whole family uh reese also testifies that craig didn't bring the women together because the divorce attorney had said that craig got the women together and she said no we met before that and whatever that was craig that was pingleton's story because that

was sounded better for divorce yeah yeah that's what that was yep she said no it's that doesn't matter now that's how they get that's how they get all this stuff. Yeah. She said she wanted a threesome like we had talked about. Pingleton said that, quote, Karen indicated to me that Craig wanted to bring another partner into the marriage. She indicated to me that Craig wanted to do a threesome. So that's it there. This is all in court. It says that the women left him out and conducted a lesbian relationship in front of the kids, which he was pissed off about, which he wouldn't have cared if he was involved.

A psychiatrist said that Kaler was, quote, severely mentally impaired at the time of the killings, which I don't really care how mentally impaired you were. It's called jealousy. Yeah. It's not mentally impaired. You're jealous, you dick. Well, this idiot says that he was, quote, heavily influenced by his major depression and unable to make rational decisions. Okay.

He knew to go get beef jerky and all that shit. And a rifle. He planned it pretty rationally. Prosecution expert says that his depression was not severe enough to render him unable to differentiate right from wrong. Right. Yes. Now, August 29, 2011, the jury is coming back. The jury's out for verdict at this point, which I don't know.

I would think they'd go, can we just do it from here? Do we need to really leave and come back? Because my knees kind of bother me today. I'm just going to say guilty from here. Jury took 55 minutes to reach a verdict, which is a bad sign for you when there's every piece of evidence in the world. That's a long time. Well, it takes 45 minutes just to fill out the paperwork. Oh, and they got to do each count, too.

Yeah, and literally it takes 45 minutes to an hour to fill out paperwork. So they even buzzed through the paperwork to get this done. They come back with a verdict of guilty of capital murder and guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one aggravated burglary charge, too, for breaking in and whatever the hell he stole from the house there. They recommend death for him. My goodness. Sentencing is on October 11th. Now, on October 11thth they have victim statements before

sentencing. This is when we get to see what an asshole this kid is. This guy's an asshole. I mean never mind what he did. That's clearly we don't need any more evidence that he's an asshole. This is even more where you go oh yes no I will plunge that shit in his arm. Fuck this guy. So there's

Karen's sister Lynn Denton said that Karen can never enjoy anything. And she said she feels bad because she can still go outside and enjoy the day. Kaler interrupts her in the middle of her statement, yells out, quote, a beautiful sunny day outside. What? Now keep this here. Now she talked again. So they shut him up.

She talks again about getting to see her nieces on Halloween and Thanksgiving and a trip they took to Riverwalk in downtown Wichita. And Kaler interrupts again saying, and with Sonny, too. Don't forget that. So that's why he said a beautiful sunny day outside. Oh, gotcha. He keeps saying her name. Yeah. But he's doing this over victim statements.

What a jerk. The worst thing you can do is attack a victim. It all revolves around him being jealous. That's it. All it is. Denton said, quote, her sister, there are no words of how deeply I hurt because of these tremendous losses. I loved Grandma White, Karen, Emily, and Lauren very much, and I will miss them until the end of my days. Sean Kaler, the son, wrote a note that said this is so sad, too.

He said, quote, I do not want my dad to receive the death penalty because it would be hard on my grandparents. I do not want my whole family gone, which, of course, he doesn't. He's not wrong. No kid wants their parents gone. But, I mean, your dad sucks, kid. Your dad is a pile of shit. Judge Philip Fromm said, quote, the court at this time for the crime of capital murder

will sentence the defendant to death under the law. So he's a take a hike asshole. Kaler attorney Tom Haney said, quote, it was totally anticipated today. There's never been a Kansas judge who overturned a jury's recommendation for death. So that's just the way it is. The jury recommended. Now he goes through his appeals, goes to the U.S. Supreme Court. That gets tossed out.

Go fuck yourself. Basically what they're doing now in December of 2016, it went to Kansas Supreme Court because Kansas has had a weird thing about striking down death penalty cases. They struck down a bunch in 2015. Really? And the people got super pissed off and started voting out these judges and having like trying to have recall elections for these judges. They were super pissed off about it. So because they had some problems in the way they just the way they hand out the death penalty in Kansas like everywhere else. So basically they're sitting around now waiting for a decision on this. There's Kansas judges out there that are under super high pressure.

And they are scared to death of losing their job. So they assume that they're – because there's like three executions on the docket that they're reviewing and his is one of them. So we expect it to stand so the judges don't get voted out. No date is set for the execution yet. That would come after this is done. And hopefully, very soon, they will kill this asshole. And I can say, he died too. We can have an update because I don't like this fucking guy.

This is going to be our first update. That's exciting. I hate this son of a bitch with a passion. I do not like him. What a scumbag. He's a squirrely asshole yelling out while people are trying to make it. They first update. That's exciting. Oh, I hate this son of a bitch. I can't wait. With a passion. I do not like him. What a scumbag. He's a squirrely asshole yelling out while people are trying to make it. They're trying to. He's trying.

It's a victim statement. Shut the fuck up. Fellas, this is what happens. Don't fuck up. Don't ruin a good thing. That's disgusting. If you got a wife, just fucking make it work. Yes.

If you don't want it to work, don't try to invite other chicks in. No. Just fucking make. Let it go. Divorce and go your own way. So that's Craig Kaler, and that is Burlingame, Kansas, a place where I don't really want to be. No.

I don't want to be anywhere near this guy either. I don't want to visit. That's small town murder's case for the week, guys. That's all I would think about if I ever visited that town. It's so sad. Yeah, that's not going to be enough. There's nothing else there. How do you live there and nothing about every day?

You can see the house from the whole town. Oh, there's that house over there. It's only.89 miles. If you like what you hear here, please give us an iTunes review. Five stars would be wonderful. Tell us you like us. Tell us you like, I don't care, broccoli. It doesn't matter.

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pleasure bye See you next week, guys. It early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. In May of 1980, near Anaheim, California, Dorothy Jane Scott noticed her friend had an inflamed red wound on his arm and seemed unwell. She insisted on driving him to the local hospital to get treatment. While he waited for his prescription, Dorothy went to grab her car to pick him up at the exit, but would never be seen alive again. Leaving us to wonder, decades later, what really

happened to Dorothy Jane Scott? From Wondery, Generation Y is a podcast that covers notable true crime cases like this one and many more. Every week, hosts Aaron and Justin sit down to discuss a new case, covering every angle and theory, walking through the forensic evidence, and interviewing those close to the case to try to discover what happened. And with over 450 episodes, there's a case for every true crime listener. Follow the Generation Y podcast on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Generation Y ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus.