Chambers of the Occult - EP# 37: Final Curtain Call & The Spotlight from the Shadows: Grady Stiles Jr. the Lobster Boy Pt. 2 & The Van Meter Visitor

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

Send us a textThis week on Chambers of the Occult, we bring the curtain down on a killer's final act and light the fuse on one of the strangest cryptid encounters you’ve never heard of.J returns to center ring with Part Two of the chilling saga of Grady Stiles Jr., the infamous Lobster Boy. Now charged with murder, Grady’s life twists even further into spectacle and scandal. From courtroom manipulation to carnival revenge, this true crime tale takes its darkest turn yet. Abuse, betrayal, and a murder-for-hire plot all collide in a finale that proves karma doesn’t need claws, it just needs patience. Justice may not have worn a badge, but it came armed and vengeful.Then, Kai lifts us out of the darkness and into the skies, sort of. In Van Meter, Iowa, in 1903, townsfolk reported something bizarre: a nine-foot bat-winged creature with a blinding beam of light shooting from its forehead. It left strange footprints, reeked of decay, and shrugged off shotgun blasts like dust. Was it a dinosaur? A demon? A misunderstood cryptid parent on a stroll? Known only as The Van Meter Visitor, this case is strange, sweet, and slightly smelly.One tale ends with a killer in a recliner.The other begins with a beam in the sky.And both will leave you wondering what really hides in plain sight.

He didn't run, he didn't hide, he shot an 18 year old kid in the chest, and then he sat down. Calm as ever, and he said, take me, I'm ready. Grady Stiles Jr., the infamous lobster boy, was no longer just a shyed show star. He was a murderer. And this was just the beginning. Before the trial, before the media circus, before the revenge, he was just a man with clawed hands, and a grip no one in his family could escape. I'm Jay.

I'm Kai. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. This is part two of the story of Grady Stiles Jr., also known as the Lobster Boy. Chambers of the Occult may contain content that might not be suitable for all listeners. Listener discretion is advised. The Lobster Boy. If you haven't seen part one, which was our last episode we've put out, make sure to check that out before this one.

It really does set the vibe. It sets the tone, the context for what we're gonna be getting into today. Yeah. Which I still don't know about. I did no research after that part one episode. Yeah, I was about to ask you. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest. If you actually did any research.

No, I didn't look at anything. Good. Because for some of the listeners, it might have been like they're binge-watching or watching. So for them, no time has passed. For you, however. I wish I was you. It's been a couple days. Yeah, it's been, what, a week? Yeah.

So basically, you're having to wait a week for the new episode to be released on TV. I was. Yeah. Yeah. I was. I had to wait a week. It's like the next episode in the series. But I'm excited.

That was a good little quick recap at the start. So I'm ready whenever. Yeah. Listeners, if you enjoy this two-parter, let us know. We might do more of them. If you didn't like waiting, let us know. But yeah. Would they be waiting two weeks for this? Because are we putting out? This is going out tomorrow. Oh, this is going out. Okay. Sick. Okay. So I'm staying up to now to get this out tomorrow for them. Gotcha. Okay, so next week is going to be our collab episode.

Got it. Okay, cool. Or old news nonsense because it's the first of the month. Or both. I don't know. Probably the collab, collaboration. Yeah. Listeners, keep an eye out. Something's coming your way. Yeah, it's gonna be fun. It's a great episode. We recently did a collab with another podcast. So, yeah.

Yeah, so either way you're getting either old-ness nonsense or getting a collaboration. You're getting a little treat. Yeah, you're getting something a little different. From these regular episodes, so. Exciting stuff, make sure to little treat. Yeah, you're getting something a little different from these regular episodes. So, exciting stuff. Make sure to stay tuned. Yeah. But yeah, so let's continue with this.

So, we left last episode with Grady Stelz Jr., also known as Lobster Boy, you know, being interrogated by the cops and being informed that Jack, his daughter's fiance, was now pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, which the case was now officially a homicide. So now Grady Stiles,, lobster boy, would be a murderer awaiting trial. A murderer who didn't like even care that he killed this kid. Nope. Like I said, he just sat, waited for the cops to show up and then he said, take me. I'm ready. And I do remember. I still think it's so funny. He said, take me. Oh, seriously?

I'm ready. Yeah. And I do remember. I still think it's so funny. Well, you said funny, and I do remember that you said, how did they put the handcuffs on him? Did I say that? Well, yeah, you were like, how did they?

Because, you know, lobster hands. Claws. I'm so funny, guys. Oh my God. Which, you make a good point But at least he complied Okay So anyway at this point. It's 1 18 a.m. On September 28

1978 and Grady Stiles is officially charged with first-degree murder. Okay. At this point, this charge is serious, not just because of the crime, but because in the state of Pennsylvania, which is where this whole case is taking place, first-degree murder carries the death penalty. Damn. Okay. Damn. Okay.

Yep. So at this point, the authorities knew that they were dealing with a unique defendant. Because, of course, Grady Stiles couldn't walk. His claws, hands, his deformity didn't apply just to his hands, but to his legs as well. He used his claw arms to drag himself across floors. So he had massive upper body strength. And he couldn't really sit in a standard courtroom chair. And his appearance alone made him a spectacle. Yeah, of course. I mean, that's why he got so popular

and like famous in the first place, right? Yeah, he worked in. So I'm sure that, yeah, I'm sure that complicates things got so popular and like famous in the first place, right? Yeah, he worked in... I'm sure that... Yeah, I'm sure that complicates things as well with this whole process. Of course. He wasn't just the accused, he was the center of attention. Which is what he was his entire life. He was used to this. And while he was awaiting trial, Grady was held in jail.

But even behind bars, he wasn't quiet. Because like we know, he loved to talk. When he was a child, he was a charmer. When his wife left him, he came up with a story of how his wife was the villain. So now that he was behind bars, he talked to officers, journalists, anyone that would listen. And once again, he crafted a story. He painted a narrative that he was a good father that was just pushed too far. He was a disabled man trying to protect his underage daughter from a no-good boyfriend. And this was when Grady's lack of remorse wasn't just noticeable, it was also chilling to some people.

So this is when Anthony DiCello, his public defender, is assigned to Grady's case. And he spent hours interviewing him before the trial. He needed to get Grady's story straight without contradictions. But what stood out wasn't the content. It was delivery. Because when Grady talked about the murder, his tone was flat, clinical. There was no remorse, no hesitation, not even anger.

It's almost like if Grady was just walking someone through a grocery list. And then DiCello would later recall, he didn't show any feelings at all. It was just facts, like he was reading from a manual, he would later say. Weird. Yeah. But the moment the conversation shifted to his sex life, Grady lit up. What? Yep.

So, talking about the murder, completely monotone. No, he doesn't care. As soon as the sex comes up, the monotone is replaced with something- That's the good stuff. Exactly. That's what he wants to talk about. And then, this is the-

He said, everyone I had sex with wanted to have sex with my claws. Huh? Yep. I don't want to picture that. Yep. He told Iccello with pride and thick in his voice, they love it when I use my claws. I'm so scared right now. Oh no, yeah, yeah.

Going through this research and then finding that there was a section that he talked about this was very disturbing. Because in one side it's a murder case and yet he starts talking about his sex life and I'm like, how is this relevant? And it kind of just paints the picture of... the type of person he is.

Who, yeah, and how he acted, his whole demeanor with this whole murder, and, you know, killing this kid, and how he handled all of it after it, yeah. Yep. So, Barbara, his wife at the time, she kind of nodded in agreement from her seat beside him. And as to prove his point, Grady shared another disturbing story because a teacher from his daughter's school at Donna's once came to the house to discuss her attendance because Donna hadn't been going

to school regularly because she had fallen for Jack, her boyfriend at the time, the one that got killed. So Donna, instead of focusing on school... Focused on him. Yeah, she focused on him. And then Grady told DiCello, this teacher, she really liked my claws. We had sex right in the house,

and she just kept coming back and back and back because of this. Okay, I'm calling bullshit on that one. Like, that's definitely a lie. And it has to be. Don't know, because there's no more talk about this. I mean, I'm thinking, okay, what year was this again? This was 1978. Okay, so they had readily available phones.

The teacher could have called him to talk about it, but she decided to show up to his house? And if he showed up again and again, maybe? Okay, I guess maybe like she used this conversation as an excuse to like go over to his house because she like intended on having sex with him. And then maybe because he was like a kind of quote unquote local celebrity or like, you know, like.

Exactly, yeah. I don't know. But yeah, apparently to DiCello, it became like painfully clear that to Grady, his deformity, or like what the world saw as his like limitation, he saw as his greatest asset. Because his ability to seduce normal women gave him like a sense of triumph to like be all odds. I was about to say good for him. You odds. I was about to say good for him. You know, I was about to say good for him. Like body positivity, like he's, you know, taking charge of who he is.

But it's like, he's using it because he's a fucking like player and he's taking advantage of women. At the same time, yeah, I mean, we know he's a horrible person at this point. We know that he abused both of his wives, his children. He killed an 18, 19 year old. I forgot how old he was. In cold blood. Yeah. Yeah.

And then the cello said when he talked about that, it was like, he just won a war. Like he survived something monumental and came out victorious. So this wasn't a man that was weighed down by guilt or self-loathing. This was a man that celebrated his power. However grotesque it was, a man who saw his body, just like you said, not as a prison, but as a weapon.

He wasn't hiding his shame. He was flaunting his freakishness like a badge of honor. And to him, the carnival wasn't some backwater stage of misfits. It was his kingdom. Because we already know that Grady didn't see himself as a sideshow act. In his mind, it wasn't a freak tent. It was Carnegie Hall. Grady Stiles wasn't just an attraction. It was Carnegie Hall. Grady Stiles wasn't just an attraction.

He was the attraction. He was a dominant figure in a world built on a spectacle. But the prosecutors, of course, were not buying it. Because Jack, Donna's boyfriend, had been unarmed. He had only just come into the house to look for the wheelchair that had been stolen from Grady. Something Grady himself had likely moved to set up the confrontation. Wow. So he like planned this out.

That's what the theories were at this point. Yep. And the shot had permeated, fired from a 32 caliber revolver that Grady had purchased just two weeks earlier at a pawn shop. And not only that, Grady had shot through the door, catching Jack in the chest. Jack had stumbled out of the house bleeding profusely and collapsed on the streets. And according to the evidence, Grady fired not once, but

twice. to the evidence Grady fired not once but twice. So the trial... The trial... Where did I leave off? There we go. The trial brought national attention because here was a man born with lobster claws on trial for cold-blooded murder. He couldn't walk.

Yeah. He had other chronic illnesses. And he had a public defender. And pretty much he painted himself a sad story. defender and pretty much he painted himself a sad story. His lawyers argued that he couldn't possibly survive in prison, much less on death row. They claimed that he was a crippled man who acted out of passion, not premeditation. They emphasized how he feared for his daughter's safety that pointed out to his deformity health issues and family dysfunction And it worked Of course it did of course it did

Of course they were gonna believe him. Mm-hmm Okay Because in 1979, the jury found Grady guilty of third degree murder, not first. And the court acknowledged that he had intended to kill Jack, but they believed that it came from rage, not from planning. So it was a crime of passion. Kind of, yeah. They said that, you know, it wasn't premeditated.

But the real shocker came during his sentencing. Because Grady's severe physical disabilities, there was no prison facility in Pennsylvania that was equipped to handle him. He couldn't climb stairs, he couldn't go to the bathroom without assistance, he needed care. So the judge considering all of this gave one of the most controversial sentences in Pennsylvania's legal history. 15 years of probation, no prison time. 15 years of probation? With no prison time. 15 years of probation. With no prison time.

And no prison time. Yep. So he was convicted of murder and then sent home with a warning. Basically. Is essentially how this went. Yep. That is crazy. is essentially how this went. Yep.

That is crazy. Grady Stiles, a man who murdered his daughter's boyfriend in cold blood, was sent home on probation. Okay. The judge said, this man is incapable of being incarcerated in a facility that can meet his needs without violating basic human rights. I'm not so sure that a prison term would not be cruel and unusual punishment in this case.

Unquestionably, though, the crime was a serious offense. I can see that, honestly. I definitely can understand where they're coming from, if it being cruel and unusual, and unconstitutional and whatnot. However, why did they choose to pay attention to this now? I don't feel like the police or the government or anyone really would have cared or did care in most situations. Like, like, American, like, American history, like, historically, we don't give a fuck about people with disabilities.

Like, that's how America is. Yeah. But they just decided to this one time with him. That's, that's crazy. I don't know if it's because it was such a huge spectacle because people knew him because word got around because you know They knew him as lobster boy. I Generally don't know why? But yeah, Grady went home Wow This man returned to the carnival

He returned to his family and he returned to the life that in many ways He picked right up up where he left off. The only difference- Just a small little hiccup. Yep, the only difference is that now people around him were not just afraid of his strength, they were afraid of his rage and the fact that he had gotten away with murder. Wow. Because at this point,

Grady Stiles walked out of that courtroom in 1979, a free man. He wasn't just free, but he was smug. He had killed an unarmed teenager in front of his daughter, confessed, shown no remorse, and still

got away with it. No jail cell, no orange jumpsuit, no accountability. He got away with it. The justice system looked at his deformities, at his claw-like hands, his broken body, and declared him too disabled to be punished.

And quickly they would realize that this decision was in mercy. It was a mistake. Yes, it was. Because Lobster Boy didn't change. Why would he? Yeah? Why would he? He got away with everything. Mmhmm.

He's gonna keep on doing it until, you know, he faces consequences, which he probably never will, you know? This is why this is a two-parter, Kai. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh god, okay. I'm rules. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh god, okay. I'm ready for it. Are you?

So, greater return to the carnival circuit and to his wife Barbara. Settling once again into the life beneath the canvas. But the man that came back wasn't humbled by his murder trial. He was emboldened. And he had beaten the system. And he was, of course, worse than ever. He left Pittsburgh shortly after the sentencing, and he never paid DiCello the $14,000 legal fee that he owed.

The fuck? mm-hmm The cello would later recall he never even said thank you never I mean yeah, that makes sense why would he? The money he saved went towards organizing his own traveling sideshow went towards organizing his own traveling sideshow. Okay. So, Grady would no longer be Lobster Boy working for anyone else. He's working for himself. He would now be working for himself,

running his own crew. Tan acts strong. He would be a traveling spectacle that would only answer to himself. And it was within this insulated carnival that Grady thrived. He didn't have to hide his temper. He didn't have to soften his rough edges.

He didn't need to ask for forgiveness. You gotta remember," said DiCello. These people were in the same boat as their own little protective world. You wouldn't associate them with. They realized that they were very defensive people. Very defensive, DiCello said. And pretty soon, the drinking escalated. The violence became routine, the threats came like clockwork. And like before, he was especially cruel to his children.

Donna, Cathy, Glenn, Grady III. At this point, they were all teenagers or young adults. They had grown up under his father's fist and they knew one thing with certainty. Their father was untouchable. Because he got away with everything he had done. I'm sure, you know, of course they were just so scared of what he was gonna do next. Yeah. Grady used his freedom as a weapon. At the carnival, he would sit proudly in his wheelchair, drinking in hand, boasting to

the other patrons like, I got away with murder. They couldn't lock me up. No prison could hold the lobster man. And he wasn't exaggerating. He'd flaunt the court's decision like a badge of honor. He told people he could do it again and no one would stop him. He would say this to Barbara. He would say to the kids over time, over and over. And they began to believe him.

The bruises on Barbara's arms, they were like, over and over, and they began to believe him. The bruises on Barbara's arms, they returned. Sometimes they were handshaped. Sometimes they were caused by being thrown against furniture. And the kids, they quickly stop dreaming of escaping. But... But one person hadn't forgotten what Karate had done. One person had been there through it all.

Teresa. Ooh. Ooh. Ah. His first wife. Yeah. After years apart, and despite everything that she endured, Teresa found herself circling back to the man that cost her so much pain. My god.

that caused her so much pain. My God. Yeah. So, during the 1980s, during her life with Glenn, the midget man... Come again. That's what he was known at during the circus. Yeah.

He had turned into a quiet but difficult existence because Glenn's business failed after a welding accident left in a wheelchair full time. So money was tight and while there wasn't outright violence in the household, there was consistent emotional drain because Glenn needed Teresa's help constantly and their relationship became strained. So Teresa was worn down by years of hardship and longing for stability, and she began to romanticize her past with Grady. So, in a strange twist of fate, it was Grady, a newly single after Barbara divorced him, who reentered her life. Oh. Weird. Okay. I mean, he brags so much about, you know, all these women he's getting. Like, why go back?

I mean, I think it was just the teacher. Okay. I think it was just the teacher. Yeah, okay. So he re-entered her life. He promised her that he had changed, that he had found God. As they all did. And that he was sober. And Grady was sober for a while because he had been diagnosed

with, I think it was like kidney failure or something. So he needed to be sober. So he needed to, yep. And that the old lobster boy, the violent man had, that she once led was gone for good. And in Teresa's vulnerable state, she wanted to believe him. Not just because she remembered him, remembered his sweet side, but because she had kids with him,

that she lost custody for without even having a chance to fight for. Yeah. Yeah. She would start speaking to him on the phone, then she would visit him. She would see that he wouldn't drink, that he wouldn't have those reaching fits.

And she would eventually pack up and move in with the kids. She would move down into Inlewood Drive in Florida, where Grady lived. And by 1989, Teresa and Grady were officially remarried. Wow. So, 10 years after the murder, essentially, she's back with him because she believes he's truly a changed man. Oh Yeah, Teresa cuz you gotta let that sink in the woman whose life had been ruined

Who had watched him terrorize their children who had survived his fist his threats? married this man again and For a moment, it seemed like it could work. Oh, Teresa, no, honey. Yeah. I'm sorry. No, it, yeah, I felt bad for her as well. Because also strangely and almost shockingly, Grady styles he approved of Donna's

new husband. So after years of control and threats and even the murder of her previous boyfriend, you would expect that no man would ever be good enough for his daughter. Yeah. Or why she would even try to gain her dad's approval for a guy. Or honestly, the fact that if I was the guy, I wouldn't even want to be in this family. I'd be worried I'm going gonna get murdered by her dad. Like, what?

Yeah, it's interesting because so many things change at this point, but it's very questionable what is happening. So, Donna meets Joe Miles. And when Donna met Miles, after the whole chaos of her teenage years, after she ran away and she survived her fiance getting murdered, Joe was a breath of fresh air. He was gentle, grounded, and he met Donna in Florida. They began dating, they fell in love quickly, and it wasn't long before they were engaged. Like I mentioned, the wild part was that Grady actually approved.

As a matter of fact, Grady gave Donna and Joe his blessing. Wow. And according to accounts, he didn't even make a scene about this. There was no threats, no whiskey-fueled outbursts, no guns. He just looked at Donna and he said, Do you love him? Are you in love with him? Does he love you?

And when she said yes, Grady simply said, Okay. That was it. The same man who had murdered a teenager boy for dating his daughter was suddenly handing her over to another man. Yeah. Why?

See, something that I clicked in my head just a minute ago when you were saying it, I was like, hmm, maybe he approved of this Joe because he saw a lot of himself in him and that would turn out to not be a good thing. But I'm sure that's what you're gonna get into. So. Yeah, well. good thing, but I'm sure that's what you're gonna get into. So, um...

Yeah, well... So, some believe that Grady was trying to turn over a new leaf. Others think that it was all about control. That too. Maybe he felt safer because Joe wasn't talking... Joe wasn't taking Donna away like Jack did. Okay. Or perhaps he was simply too worn down by age, alcohol, and guilt to fight it anymore. Whatever the reason, Grady even gave them $300 from his pocket to help pay for the wedding.

Money that he had earned from a show. It's definitely about control. Could be. But Donna saw the money, she was stunned. This was not the reaction she would expect from him, from the man that had taken the life of her previous lover. Yeah. And this was one of those rare moments that, for Donna, she saw her dad as kind of like a former shadow, the greatest out she knew was kind of gone If not at least

Pushed to the side mom and mom entirely yum But I got so those hope you know she was like oh my god. He has changed. He's Approving of this he gave me his blessing. He's helping me pay for this wedding Maybe things are different It didn't last though. Hmm. Because the drinking came back. I'm not sure at what point or what made him go back into drinking,

but Grady Stiles just took the bottle back up, and he started drinking again. And when he starts drinking, and worse and worse all over, the abuse comes back. He came back into his old patterns. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Verbal abuse, physical. The man that Teresa once ran from was back again. And Teresa had fewer options left. She had nowhere to run. She was older, she was wearier. She was more tired than ever before. And on the night of 1992, during a card game in New York,

Grady snapped. He dragged Teresa by the hair into his trailer, shouting for more liquor. She refused. So he tried to rip the hair out from her scalp. Then he- Oh my god.

Mhm. Then he pushed her down, hands at her throat, screaming. And it was only when he let go that she realized that this wasn't going to end differently. So what did she do? Could she do anything? She stayed. Whether it was out of fear, trauma, she remained. The only difference is that this time, others were watching. Her daughter Kathy and her daughter Kathy's husband Joe,

they were growing more and more furious to the man who dominated that family with terror. Yeah. Good. And it was this night. They should be angry. That a seed was planted. They're gonna kill him. He does die.

Oh my god. You said this in part one. Was that foreshadowing? I know, I was wanting him to die so badly. Oh my god. Well, Grady's behavior on the Carnival Circuit had only gotten worse. He was drinking, he would micromanage every aspect of the show, he would refuse others to take control. Tension escalated between him and Joe over everything. From

show scheduling to money, and at one point Grady accused his own family of stealing money from the ticket box and bragged to Merman, the magician, that he couldn't trust this shitty people working for me. At this point, Grady was filled with paranoia and he was eating him alive. Merman recalled Grady ranting about how Teresa would walk out of the trailer, slam the door, and curse about the bastard he was.

I could kill him, she'd say under her breath. Half as a joke, half as a warning. And the warning would soon become a plan. Let's go, he does die. I knew that you would be behind this. Please. So, while traveling from town to town, the conversation started small. A whispered comment here, a buried look there, until one day in July, it became a full sentence.

I want him dead, Teresa said. Kathy didn't flinch. I want him dead, she echoed. In that moment, mother and daughter were bound by something deeper than blood or fear. It was a mutual understanding that they couldn't live under Grady Stiles' shadow

anymore. And they sure as hell were not going to die by his hands. His claws. Fair. By his claws, yes. (*both laugh*) Mhm. Over the next few weeks,

the conversations became less and less abstract, less emotional, more logistical. And more direct. Yep. How were they gonna do this, right? Exactly. They had reason to believe that Grady suspected something.

He was threatening to cut ties with the entire family and start fresh with a new crew next season. Next year, we're not bringing any of the family, he had told Mermin. I'll get rid of everybody in the hell with them. It wasn't just abuse, it was exile. For Teresa and Kathy, that meant survival was slipping away. Their jobs, their home, their fragile safety net. Grady had them by the throat in every way that counted. They whispered in the trailers,

in diners off Florida highways, behind carnival tents while the audience clapped for dancing bears and fire eaters. Who would do it? How much would it cost? Could they make it look like a break-in? Could they make it look like a break-in? Glenn was the first to float a name. A teenager named Chris Wyatt was 17 at the time, but old enough to know how to hold a gun and desperate enough to use one. So Chris had hung around carnivals for a while. He was looking for somewhere to belong, and he had fallen in with Glenn, who had who saw the boy as pliable, loyal, and impartly expendable. He looks up to me, Glenn said. He'll do what I say.

Teresa wasn't convinced at first. Chris was young, reckless. But when Glenn offered to handle the arrangements to be the middleman between the money and the bullet, Teresa let it happen. Glenn reached out to Chris. She said it was a job, one that could save lives.

We'll pay you, Glenn told him. You won't get caught, he promised. He deserves it, he said. The price? $1,500. Sheesh. Oh my God. Teresa had it ready.

She saved it from months of the box office, skimmed and carefully siphoning from Grady's carnival earnings. So Grady wasn't crazy. Teresa was taking money from the box office. Money for Grady's killing. Ironically, Grady had paid for his own execution. And once the money was promised, there was no turning back. Now, on November 29, 1992, Grady was drunk. He was always drunk by sundown. And he had spent the day yelling at little Grady about stage setup, cursing about the

rain that had washed out the crowd and demanding beer. By the evening, he was slouched in his recliner, watching Ruby, a 1970 horror flick that he loved. Teresa had fed him dinner, poured him another drink, and then quietly left the room. Outside, Chris waited. He slipped through the shadows of the trailer park like a ghost. A.32 caliber Colt Automatic in his pocket borrowed through Dennis Colwell,

a family associate who helped secure the gun because Chris was too young to buy one himself. Teresa left the back door unlocked. Okay. Chris crept in. Grady didn't even have time to turn his head. The first bullet entered through the back of his skull and the second into the base of the neck. The third struck just behind his ear.

Blood pooled in the creases of his recliner. His strength slipped from his hands, spilling across his lap. Chris stood frozen for a moment, staring at what he had done. The body twitched once, then nothing. The television continued to drone. Ruby, the movie, still flickered across the screen. Chris turned and left the way that he came, slipping through the back door.

The gun still warm in his jacket pocket. Grady was dead. I don't like the guy, obviously. But I didn't think you were going to get into like that much detail with this murder. Like I was able to just picture it all in my head. Wow. Yeah.

I think it, you definitely glossed over it. I didn't say anything, but like, how did they just find the guy who was ready to commit a murder? Well, he would, Chris was like a teenager that would like hang around the carnival. He was trying to commit a murder. Well, he would... Chris was like a teenager that would like hang around the carnival. He was trying to find a place that he could belong. He liked the carnival.

You know? Kind of how like, um... his first wife, um, Teresa, also lingered around carnivals because she liked them. Chris was very much the same way. And so he just wanted to fit in and he was willing to do a lot in order to do that. Yep. Okay.

So... You know, it was kind of funny. You were like, yeah, you know, he sat down and watched us, so Teresa brought him dinner. She could have just like poisoned his food or something. Yeah. Like easily. I don't know, but she chose to have a kid shoot him three times, so.

Once again, if, I don't know, I think that we're thinking if I poison him, that can be tracked down to me. If we make it look like a break-in, then. Okay, yeah, you're right, I didn't really think of that. Yeah. That makes sense, yeah, it just looks sort look like a break-in, then... Okay, yeah, you're right. I didn't really think of that. That makes sense. Yeah, it just looks sort of like a breaking and entering, like turn into murder type of

thing. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, so it was Grady's son, Grady Stiles III. He's dead. Yeah, who would discover the body first? Finally! It would be around 1130 PM that he walked into the trailer expecting another night of

grumbling and drinking. Instead, he found his father slumped in the chair, unmoving, blood soaked in his shirt and in the cushion. Dad, he called out. No response. He stepped closer. The glow of the TV illuminated the mess, and that's when he saw it.

Blood from Grady's ear. Grady's eyes were glassy. His mouth hung open. The smell of iron hung thick in the air, and panic hit. Grady III backed out of the room, his breath caught in his throat, he stumbled towards the neighboring trailer, he banged at the door, he screamed for someone to call the police. It was Grady's son, Grady the Third, like I said, who discovered the body. And by the next morning, word had spread.

Lobster Boy was dead. Shaw execution stalled in his trailer. For some it was shocking. For others, especially those who knew him personally, it felt like it was inevitable. Inevitable. It was coming. Yep. Yeah.

Finally catching up. It was coming. Mm-hmm. At first, the authorities tried to treat it like a possible robbery. But things didn't add up. Nothing was ransacked. Valuables were still there. Door wasn't broken into.

Nope, the door had been left open, not kicked in. Exactly. And then it came the whispers from the neighbors. From fellow performers. From inside the family itself. It wasn't long before detectives began conducting an informal interviews beginning with the person who seemed to know the most, Glenn Newman Jr. They found Glenn at his trailer

trying hard to not look nervous. We just want to ask you a few things, Detective. We just want to ask you a few things, Detective. Willette said calmly, not yet reading his rights. Glenn nodded. And as the questions began, Glenn rambled. He was cooperative, but clearly strained. Within a few minutes, he was already naming names. Deflecting the blame, redirecting the focus.

Listen, he said, his voice crackling. It wasn't just me. Teresa, my mom, she talked about it first. She said she couldn't take it. She said she needed him gone. We let it lean forward. Gone how? She didn't say it like that, Glenn Stammered, but I knew what she meant.

That was enough. Detectives escorted Glenn to the station, where he gave a full-tape statement. He explained how his mother had come to him weeks earlier, desperate, shaken, how she said she feared for her life, how Grady's drunken violence had become a threat to everyone in the trailer park, to the family, to the kids. Mom paid me $1,500, Glenn said, voice barely above a whisper. Said it was for the guy who'd do it. I knew someone.

I passed the money along. That someone was Christopher Wyant. A teen who had floated around the carnival scene, young, aimless, and needing cash. Glenn claimed it was Wyant who pulled the trigger, not him. And that's when the domino fell quickly. That same night, the detectives pulled up to the Stiles residence. They knocked on the door. Teresa answered. She didn't ask why they were there, she just nodded.

She grabbed her jacket and she said, I'll go with you. And it would be on November 30th, 1922, at 10.30 p.m. at the Butchman Plaza interrogation room that Teresa sat across the detective Willett and Figaroa. Her hands trembled slightly, but her eyes were dry, not scared, not bracing. Willett was patient. He read her her Miranda rights. Then he slid over the consent to interview form.

She signed it. Teresa, he began. Glenn told us the whole thing. There was a pause. And then Teresa said, My husband was very abusive. To me, to my kids, He'd beat us when he drank,

And he always drank. I just wanted out. I wanted him gone, But I didn't pull the trigger. Wille asked, But I didn't pull the trigger. Willett asked, So did you, so you arranged it? She nodded.

I gave Glenn fifteen hundred dollars. He said he'd take care of it. I didn't know who exactly. I just needed it done. When asked if she ever met Chris Wyatt, she admitted that she had, but insisted she never asked him directly to kill Grady. The arrangement, she said, was made between Glenn and Wyatt. She simply paid knew it. I could feel it.

Interesting little loophole. That she didn't like- I didn't arrange it. It was their deal. I just paid for it. You know? I didn't know who was getting hired. I just gave him the money for him to hire someone to do it. I Don't know how much of a loophole that is because yeah, I don't know like it's not really gonna

It's like a hitman for hire. Like you still hired someone to kill someone Yeah And on December 1st 1992 at 1115 a.m., Christopher Wyatt was taken into custody. He was still just a teenager. Christopher looked like he hadn't slept in days. When they read his rights, he didn't resist. But he also didn't speak. He refused to give a statement.

He asked for an attorney. That silence would speak volumes later in court, especially when Glenn's testimony, the recovered murder weapon and Teresa's confession all would line up against him. Meanwhile, Detective Willett was already working another angle. Another tip from Glen. He opened the trunk of the LTD and found a dirty rubber boot Chris had worn that night. Muddy, caked with evidence, and guided by a family friend, Colwell the police entered a wooden area near Bullfrog Creek and there near the Palmetto tree they found a 32 caliber Colt automatic pistol. Still loaded. There it is.

caliber Colt automatic pistol. Still loaded, there it is, ballistics would later confirm it was the murder weapon. They were getting the evidence that they needed. So by the time that the clock struck midnight at that point authorities had the whole trifecta. The motive, the means, opportunity. And with that, Mary Teresa Stiles, her son Glenn, and Christopher Wyatt were all charged with first degree murder and conspiracy. It's insane. Yeah. Like, they... Grady gets off with less than they do.

Oh. But Teresa's story is far from over because now her defense would hinge in something rare. Battered Wife Syndrome. Yes. LAUGHS Yes. So... Good for her.

Let's start with the trial of Christopher Wyant because they were all given their separate trials. On January 18th, 1994, in Hillsboro County Courthouse, Christopher Wyant, now 19 years old, sat at the defense table in a worn Miami t-shirt, old prison pants, a far cry from the cocky kids some people had known in Gibson town. And he was first to face jury charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The prosecution painted him as the hired gun who pulled the trigger without hesitation. It was premeditated, a clean execution, they told the jury, three bullets to the head. They played the confession tapes, they showed the murder weapon,

they brought up Harry Glenn Newman Jr. who testified about planting the payment. Chris said, I'll do it, no problem. Glenn told the court he knew what he was walking into. To strengthen the motive and intent, prosecutors even took the jury on a video tour of the retracting Chris' steps to show how calculated the murder was. No rash decisions. This was the plan. The defense had little to work with because Chris had refused to testify. His lawyers painted him as a confused, manipulated teen who never meant to kill anyone. But the jury didn't buy it. After a tense deliberation, Chris Wyant was found guilty of murder in the second degree

with a firearm and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. He was sentenced to 27 years. He was sentenced 27 to life. God damn. Yeah, you got it worse than Grady. Oh yeah. And then we have Teresa Stiles and her trial. On July 11th, 1994, her judge would be Judge M. William Graybill.

And from the start, her trial would be different because, like I said, it wasn't just about murder. It was about fear, trauma, and whether a woman so abused could be held criminally responsible for orchestrating her husband's death. Her defense attorney, Arne Levine, took an unorthodox route. He admitted the crime, but pleaded that it was done out of necessity. She had no way out, he told the jury. It wasn't revenge, it was survival.

They called it battered spouse syndrome. Battered. Mm-hmm. It was a rarely accepted legal defense in Florida at the time. To argue it, Levine had, he lined up expert witnesses. There was Dr. Sydney Muren, a psychologist that testified that Teresa was in a constant state of fear, suffering from long-term abuse, depression, and dependency. They also had Dr. Arthuro Gonzalez, a Cuban-born psychiatrist who reinforced the diagnosis. And they also had Dr. Lenore Walker, author of The Battered Woman, was reinforced through the proceedings as well. So they showed photos of bruises, they called her children, including little Grady, who recounted the screaming, the punches,

the way Teresa once held her ribs after being kicked. Even the neighbors remember Grady yelling, I'll kill you and your family. Even with all this, the prosecution was pushing hard. This was no act of self-defense, argued prosecution Ron Haynes. She paid a kid to kill her husband, then lied about it. He questioned why Teresa could hire attorneys for custody battles, maintain property records, even run aspects of the family business, but suddenly be helpless when it came to murder. He also emphasized she wasn't even in the trailer when the shots were fired.

The jury deliberated for two full days. And finally, on July 27th, 1994, the verdict came in. Guilty of manslaughter with a firearm and guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. Teresa was stunned. So didn't cry, but Kathy Berry did. She wheeled herself out of the courtroom in grief. The judge sentenced Theresa to 12 years with parole eligibility. And she had already spent almost two years behind bars awaiting trial. So yeah, 10 more. Now, there's also Glenn Newman Jr., Teresa's son.

Harry Glenn Newman Jr. had been the one that arranged the hit. He admitted to receiving $1,500 from his mother to make it happen. He passed it on to Wyant, who pulled the trigger. And despite his confession, Glenn cooperated fully with authorities, offering a detailed account of how the plan was formed, even identifying the murder weapon where it was buried at. Because of his cooperation, he struck a plea deal. Conviction was conspiracy to commit murder and the sentence time served plus probation. So it was controversial, but it was a strategic move on his side.

The prosecution needed Glenn's testimony to secure the conviction of both Teresa and Wyant. The public didn't love it, but the law valued the inside man who flipped. As for Dennis Caldwell, Dennis was the man who obtained the murder weapon, the.32 caliber Colt. Because Wyant was underage and he couldn't buy one, Caldwell claimed that he didn't know what the gun would be used for, he thought that it was just for protection. But under interrogation, it was clear that he had at least some knowledge of what it was going to be used for. So the conviction was accessory to the fact.

And sentence, well, it was never publicly disclosed. But it was likely that it included probation or a reduced charge because he most likely also cooperated. So the story of Lobster Boy is murder exploded across nation headlines. It was the kind of case that that tabloids dream of. The kind of tabloids dream of a carnival family, a murder for hire, and a man for his freak show fame and private monstrosity. The public, like everyone else, was divided with Teresa. Did they take her side?

Did they say no, she should be behind bars? No battered wife syndrome? But the family attempted to move on. After the trials, after the family was fractured, Grady Stiles III disappeared from public view. He reportedly lives under a new name. He tries to escape the legacy of his father. Donna, who had lost her first love to her father's rage, moved in with her husband, Joe Miles, who Grady strangely proved off.

And then Kathy Barry, Teresa's daughter, remained one of her mother's most vocal supporters, especially after witnessing the years of abuse firsthand. As for Teresa, she served a reduced sentence and she was eventually released. And later years, her later years were quiet, no interviews, no statements, just a woman trying to live out the rest of her life, far away from the spotlight. And in the end... Oh, I just... And in the end, the story of Lobster Boy wasn't one of carnival fame or grotesque curiosity. It was the story of what happens when generational trauma is left unchecked,

when power is abused behind closed doors, and when desperation becomes deadly. Grady Stiles Jr. was born into a world that both applauded him and exploited him, celebrated in the spotlight and feared him in the shadows. His murder wasn't random, it wasn't senseless, Murder wasn't random, it wasn't senseless, it was a scream, a final violent exhale from a family that had long since run out of air. And in the end, Grady Stiles Jr. got away with murder once. But Karma came crawling quiet, calculated, and clawed. And that is the case of Grady Stiles Jr. also known as Lobster Boy. I'm gonna...

I'm gonna clap for that case. And the main reason I'm gonna I'm gonna clap for that case and the main reason I'm clapping is out of spite for him and to yeah be a little humiliating because I don't think he can properly clap with those claws so fair no yeah fuck you and your claws Brady Styles He's somewhere a little bit warmer now a Lot warmer yeah Yeah, I don't even know how I came across this case I case, I just went down a rabbit hole and it was very enjoyable and very dark and very emotional. Oh that's awesome. And I'm glad that you got to go down this rabbit hole with me and listeners as well. So next time that you think of something generational, think of trauma.

Unfortunately, yeah, generational trauma is all too common. Something that all of us need to work on healing and breaking the cycle from. Yeah. Yeah. I have a couple pictures I'm gonna send your way. I don't know if the listeners are gonna want them. This is actually where I'm gonna put the listeners to the test if they wanna see the pictures of Grady Styles, like his, the crime scene pictures

of the bullet to let me know, cause we can put this on the website. But otherwise, yeah, definitely. I will share with you, however, some of the pictures of when he was taken into prison, when he was taken into the courthouse, and when the family members were given their mug shots and all that stuff. You can also see when they took him into, like, I wouldn't say like the cop car, but the special vehicle because he was in a wheelchair. So they had to like accommodate for him. And then you can also see Teresa Stiles, the gun that was used.

Also the couch where he was sitting at. And like you can see a picture of them back there as well, where they seem kind of happy. And then like Theresa Stiles slumped over at the defense table during the trial. It's a little unsettling, but... Oh, I bet it is, yeah. It's a little unsettling, but... Oh, I bet it is, yeah. Ah, yeah. So... Thank you for coming back for part two, listeners. Yeah, thanks for finishing this.

I'm really glad I got to hear the end of this story. I think you were very happy knowing that he got killed. Yes, I was. Yes, I fucking was. I think he would have been... I think I deserve to die. Sorry. I mean, I think. Yes, I fucking was. I think it would have been- I got a chance to die. Sorry. I mean, I think just from part one, finding out that he didn't get killed in part one really upset you. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I did. But yeah, Kai, take us away from murder, because I'm done with the dark stuff. Oh, I'm taking us far away from murder. Thank you. I'm taking us, you know, for our paranormal case here today. I didn't want to do, I like spooky, serious, paranormal case. I wanted something short.

Really weird. Okay, but still sweet. Are we talking about fairies? No, I mean, it's like a little more like ominous than that, but it's like, reading through this, I'm just so amused. I'm so amused by this story. Cool, don't know what we're getting into, but I'm ready amused by this story. Cool. Don't know what we're getting into, but I'm ready for it. Is it in the States?

It is, yeah. Ah, cool. Don't know where we're going. Cool. So, okay. So picture this. It's 1903. And you're in Van Meter, Iowa. Oh, I already don't know what we're doing. Okay.

No? Okay, cool. Perfect. Um, it's, you know, a small farming town. It's, uh, close-knit. Um, you know, everybody knows each other pretty much. Like, the... It smells like corn. You know, everybody knows each other pretty much like the It smells like corn, okay, you know, I'm thinking did you ever watch Footloose? That's the kind of town I'm picturing like a small town everyone knows each other Actually, yeah. Okay.

I mean, you know, like, so yeah, quiet town, you know. Nothing ever happens. The chimneys, nothing's happening. The wildest thing happening. Wait, what's up with the chimneys? Oh, it's just describing the houses. Oh, okay. You know, they're the fireplaces.

Okay. You know. But yeah, like you said, the wildest thing happening is like It's like the new shipment of boots is arriving at the general store this week something like that. Like, you know a little Little normal town. Mm-hmm But then out of nowhere people start seeing a

thing something okay people start seeing a thing, something. Okay. It's not a raccoon, not a bird. Not a possum. Not a possum, no nothing like that. Because we're talking about a nine foot tall bat winged humanoid weirdo with a spotlight coming out of its forehead. With a spotlight? Are we talking the creature from the depths? I don't even know what we're talking about at this point like from the forehead

like a futuristic Cyclops Anyway, yeah, it's a thing, you know? One guy tried to shoot it, that didn't work. Another guy also tried to shoot it. I assume that didn't work. And by night five of this creature's appearance in town, the entire town was like up in arms. They were like full like scooby-doo investigation pitchforks and torches pitchfork ready That's what I'm picturing. It's this small town where nothing happens. Yep. Yes

They were sick and tired of whatever the hell this thing was leaving these strange three foot wide claw prints, making creepy noises, leaving a terrible smell lying around. Okay, smell as well. So they run after it, they chase it down. Eventually, it vanishes into an old mine Never to be seen again

Kai No What? Wait, you can't be done with this. Oh I'm not no Okay, you were like never to be seen again and I'm like you can't stop with this here No, I'm not. I'm not okay. It's not this short, okay? This is the story of the van meter visitor van meter visitor

Mm-hmm Ever heard of it? No No, Okay. I mean, I'm not doubting you, but at the same time, Van Meter visitor. Cool. Cool. Tell me more about it.

Okay, so it's happening in Van Meter. It's 1903, it's fall. You know, this is not the place where giant flying monsters are supposed to show up. Oh, that's right, it's flying. Yeah, dude. I forgot about that thing. I thought it was just like a walking thing with a flight, but it flies.

Yeah, like the most drama that there is in this town is like somebody's cow wandering into the wrong cornfield or some shit like that. Teenage pregnancy, you know, or someone cheating on someone. The basic high school drama. Okay, so our case starts in the city of Van Meter. It was founded in 1869. It had just about a thousand-ish people, I believe, population. That's not very big. Also, this town had been around for like 40 years before they saw this thing. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Very young town. Yes.

Very young residents as well. So this started at about 1 a.m., the early morning of September 29th, 1903. A local businessman by the name of Ulysses Griffiths, he was driving into town, the small district, like business district of this house, when all of a sudden he just saw like the strangest just spotlight shining from one of the roofs of the buildings. It was some bright light. He thought it was maybe a worker

and he was ready to get out of his car to tell them off about it. Like, why are you shining this goddamn light? He got out, he took a look, he called out to whoever was operating that light and then it moved. It leaped to the next rooftop, then to the next. And then eventually just flew away. No, no, no. So Griffith the next day does what every sane person would do

and he tells the entire town about what he saw. I don't know if that's something a sane person would do. People didn't believe him, right? But okay, exactly, exactly. They were like, what the fuck are you talking about? Like what? Okay, Griffith. Except for a couple of people because a couple of people did say

that they also noticed this strange light outside. They didn't really think too much of it, but definitely was not something they could explain. So the day goes by, people are intrigued, right? What is this story that's going around? Is it real? Is somebody making this up? Is this a prank that somebody's playing on the town? Who knows? Who knows? Are they drinking too much? So the next day happens. Exactly, right? The next day happens, it's again, very late. It's around 1.30 in the morning on September

30th, 1903 when the next... Is this night number two? Or night number three? Night number two. Okay. Number two. When the next like, major encounter happens. So, not too far away from the home of Griffiths, who saw the other, there was the office of the town doctor, Dr. Alcott, A-L-C-O-T-T. Dr. Alcott, he sleeps in his office a lot of the time is how it was described. So he woke up, He saw this bright light shining outside. He heard the stories. He didn't know

what was going on, so he grabs his revolver. He runs outside. He's ready to confront whoever the hell is doing this to them. Who the veris on the rooftops. Exactly. He gets to the rooftop, he spots that light. It's not shining directly at him, right? So he could actually see it. And he described it as a large, like, at least eight foot tall humanoid creature with large bat-like wings and a horn or a beak of some sort

that had a light just shining right out of it. That's so weird to try to picture. Because it doesn't make sense. Like, I can't picture it.'t make sense. Like I can't picture it. No, seriously. Do you have like a drawing of this? A picture of this?

Like reference pictures? Yeah. Cause the way I picture it, like I'm picturing a very like childish drawing cause that's the only thing I can picture. I can't actually picture something. I picture like a sketch of like a little kid drawing something Yes, like this is this is a sketch like an artist made like

Using like references of how it was described in like rough sketches from old newspapers. It looks like a fucking Pokemon That's not what I expected. I was gonna say it looks like a dinosaur. Yeah, yeah, but with a beam. It's like a... Like a laser beam. Yeah. Like if it works for like the FBI or something and someone put like a... That's so weird. I actually thought it was like a person with wings. No, no, no, no. So it's described as a humanoid feature, or like humanoid, but in drawings

it is leaning more like bat-like or dinosaur-like. Okay. So, of course, there's not like great record. What is the second one that you sent me? Because it looks like it's grabbing a horse. Yeah, I have no clue. It's not like great records. What is the second one that you sent me? Cause it looks like it's grabbing a horse. Yeah, I have no clue. Okay. Okay, that's great though.

It's just like, it's like part of an old newspaper article. Anyway, yeah. So Dr. Alcott, he is like, what the fuck is this thing? So he goes to like open fire and as soon as he does it, it turns towards him and blinds him with the light. But the light is just blinding, like it's not hurting them, right? No, it's not like a death ray or some shit. It's just a light. Okay, that's what I find it interesting. Like, what's the purpose of it?

Yeah. So, he opens fire. He unloads his revolver at this thing, up on the roof, and it's just completely unfazed. It stares at him. It's almost like it doesn't even register bullets or flying at it, anything like that. Dr. Alcott runs back inside, he shuts the doors, and the creature just seemed to have vanished. It up and flew away.

The creature just seemed to have vanished. It up and flew away. See, the way that my brain has pictured this through the story has evolved until now we have a drawing of it. At first, I pictured a very cyborg-like creature. A cyborg? A very cyborg-like creature. And then now it's very pterodactyl type of creature. It's like dinosaur pterodactyl.

Yeah. So like it has completely evolved, like devolved I would say. So, keep going. So, the third night happens. Night number three. So at this point it would be October 1st. Nothing really happens. It's more of a quiet night. Throughout the night, residents of the town notice,

you know, strange noises coming from outside. They'll smell sort of rotting, terrible scent. It's also described that the doctor smelled that scent outside when he opened fired on this creature. But other than that, the third night, nothing really happens. But there's a lot of fear, right? Businesses are staying closed. People aren't going outside. They don't wanna risk encountering whatever this thing that's been terrorizing their town. Are they closed during the day?

At this point, yeah. People are, not every business, but there's that fear, right? People are cautious. They're not sure what's going on. Oh, wow, okay. The fourth day happens. And this is when the third main encounter is recorded. Who sees this creature now?

There's two versions of this actually. And do they have a gun? The... Sorry, sorry Everyone has is walking around with a gun in their pocket Yeah, so there's two different versions to look at this from in all of like the research that I've done The name Clarence done pops up and so Clarence donen pops up. And so Clarence Dunn is described as the like bank manager of the local bank who sees this. But in a newspaper clipping from back then,

it's not Clarence Dunn, it's Peter Dunn. And Peter Dunn is described as just a bank cashier. So I'm not sure. Mr. Dunn? Like, yeah, I'm not sure like who it was, but either way, either person it was, the story goes the same. Mr. Dunn, yeah.

Okay. Mr. Dunn was not convinced. He wasn't sure, he hadn't heard it himself. The rumors were spreading, but he had to see for himself. So he stayed at his bank. Late one night, he stayed up, you know, doing some extra little work, counting some of the money. And while he was inside of this building,

it was quiet. Not a sound, simple night. Until he heard a strange noise come from outside right around midnight. It sounded like it was up on the roof. You know, something maybe dropped down. It's jumping between the roofs. And that piqued his interest.

So, he walks over to the window and immediately he sees above him it's lit up by this bright light. It shines down through the window. But apparently he was able to squint through it just enough that he could see the the winged creature Behind that light and what did mr. Dunn do? He racked his shotgun. Oh a shotgun Okay, mr. Dunn He racked his shotgun and he fired straight through his window right at this creature once again

Completely unaffected Wow Another shot racked another one nothing Does the creature the creature? It fled at this point. Okay, second shot. It flies away Once again eyes away. Once again, unfazed, unscathed by the barrage of bullets. No scream of pain or anything from the creature. Nothing.

Wow. The only thing left behind were a weird set of unusual three-toed footprints found in the dirt. A dinosaur print. Yeah, right? At this point I'm thinking that this is a dinosaur. footprints found in the dirt. A dinosaur print. Yeah, right? At this point, I'm thinking that this is a dinosaur. Yeah.

Yes, yeah. So... Wow. After this, you know, there's more reports. These people are credible. First, it came from a reliable, well-known, well-respected businessman. Then it came from the town doctor. Then it came from the town doctor.

Then it came from the bank teller, essentially. Like these were respected people. It wasn't just random people in the town. Also they have nothing to gain from this. No, seriously, yeah. There was a lot of panic. And some other people described seeing things, spotting the creature,

perched on top of a light post at night or laying on top of the roofs. But nobody really else saw these strange lights or heard any of these sounds for really the rest of the day. But at this point, the night of the fourth night, the fourth night is coming to an end and the town is fed up. The town does not want to deal with whatever this is anymore. Okay. So, go ahead. No, uh...

Listen, I get that there's something jumping between the rooftops, but it's not really doing anything. It's not actually, it's literally not doing anything. That's what I'm saying, like, it's not really bothering anyone. It still would be creepy as fuck. Yes, like it's not really doing anything other than like blinding the occasional person that bumps into it. Like, leave the poor dinosaur alone. At this point I'm calling it a dinosaur. In my head it's a dinosaur now. Like, I get it. Like, yeah you've never seen it. It might look scary. It's making bumps in the dark in the night, like in the rooftops.

But like you wouldn't do anything if you see a deer running through the town. Like, leave it alone. You wouldn't do anything if it's a ferret or like a raccoon. Maybe you would scare a raccoon off because it's like in your trash. Okay, but this is like a big fucking winged bat creature. Yeah, but at the same time, it's not doing really anything. Like, leave it alone. But yeah, I get it. It's new, it's scary. We want to kill things that are scary. Humans are bad at cohabitating with other things that are not humans. Even with humans, we're bad at cohabitating.

We're bad at it. Yeah, we want to take over or kill or, yeah, everything. Exactly. I get it. I get it. But just saying that leave it alone. Anyway. They're fed up. They did not. They did not leave it alone. Something has to be done. So a group of townspeople. They got together, pitchforks and armed themselves with their rifles.

And they set out in the direction of the nearby coal mine, because that's where it had been sort of seen flying in the direction of. They figured, oh, maybe it's staying at the coal mine. They walk over, they approach, and they start to hear those same strange noises that were heard before, that same smell from the coal mine. They walk up and the creature steps out. Of the coal mine? Yeah, revealing itself out of the shadows. But it wasn't alone.

Ah! It had, like, a baby? No way! I was gonna say if it was a child. They described it as, like, a mini version, like a smaller one, like next to it. Just, was it just one or was there multiple? It was just one. Please tell me that the town people left it alone. Please tell me that they left it alone.

They were about to shoot. No! But as they shot, or as they were going to, they both flew away and they took off into the night sky. Kai, sorry. I swear, if you were pulling my leg about this story, I am gonna be so upset. Because I have never heard of this story. Look it up, man.

Like, it's such a wild out there story, but this is such a cute story at this point. Right? It's, okay, yeah. Okay, so they fly away. The townspeople are like, fuck! We missed our chance! So what do they do? They stay at the coal mine. Overnight, they're like, what if they come back? What if they return? And they do. The next morning, the creature, its kid, they come back back and what do the townspeople do? They open fire.

They unload a barrage of bullets in the direction of these creatures. But it doesn't matter because what they simply do is disappear into the darkness of the coal mine. Oh, so like they kind of flew of the coal mine. Oh So like they kind of flew into the coal mine They flew back in Were there any like screams of pain because they shot them Nothing. Okay, this creatures are completely unscathed unfaithful. Are they made of like smoke or something? No clue

But um Was never seen again. It was in that coal mine and the townspeople while their logical decision was Let's seal it up. Yep, of course So they did. Let's go and seal it I'm down I'm so down. But the Van Meter visitor has never been seen since. 2025 is the year to change that. However, the town of Van Meter does host an annual Van Meter visitor festival.

So they still kind of celebrate it. Wait, I am so happy that I'm not the only one. does host an annual Van Meter visitor festival. So they still kind of celebrate it. Wait, I am so happy that they actually celebrate this. When? They do, yeah. Do you know when? It's around the time, so like fall, like September, October, I believe is when it is, so yeah.

Oh my God. I actually have a couple of newspaper clippings. Yes. Or yeah so this is from, was actually posted in the Saint Paul Globe from Saint Paul Minnesota so this is a Minnesota newspaper article so like it even spread a few states over further. Yeah. So this is posted Saturday, October 10th, 1903. So just about a week after all this happened. Wow.

It says, the town of Van, or the title is A Winged Monster, creature emitting a dazzling light terrifies Hawkeyes. The town of Van Meter, containing 1,000 persons, is terribly wrought up by what is described as a horrible monster. Every man, woman, and child in the town is in a state of terror, and fully half of them fail to close their eyes in slumber except in broad daylight. The monster put in its appearance Monday night. U.G. Griffith, an implement dealer, drove into town at 1am and saw what seemed to be an electric searchlight on Mayer and Griggs' store, while he gazed at it, sailed across to another building, and then

disappeared. His story was not believed next day, but the following night, Dr. A.C. Alcott, who sleeps in his office on the Principal Street, was awakened by a bright light shining in his face. He grabbed a shotgun and ran outside of the building, shotgun, revolver is what I said, but who knows, where he saw a monster, seemingly half human and half beast, with great bat-like wings. A dazzling light that fairly blinded him came from a blunt horn-like protubance in the middle of the animal's forehead, and it gave off a stupefying odor that almost overcame him. The doctor discharged his weapon and fled into his office, barring doors and windows, and remained there in abject terror until morning. Peter Dunn, cashier of the

only bank in the town, fearing bank robbers, loaded a repeating shotgun with shells filled with buckshot and prepared to guard his funds next night. At two o'clock, he was blinded by the presence of a light of great intensity. Eventually, he recovered his senses sufficiently to distinguish the monster and fired through the window. The plate glass and sash were torn out and the monster disappeared. Next morning, imprints of great three-toed feet were discernible in the soft earth. Plaster casts of them were taken. Oh! That's pretty cool.

I wonder if they still exist somewhere. Probably. I want to see them. That night, Dr. O.W. White saw the monster climbing down a telephone pole, using a beak much in the manner of a parrot. As it struck the ground, it seemed to travel in leaps, like a kangaroo, using its huge featherless wings to assist. It gave off no light. He fired at it, and he believes he wounded it. The shot was followed by an overpowering odor. Sydney Gregg, attracted by the shot, saw the monster flying away. But the climax came last night. The whole town was aroused

by this time. Professor Martin, principal of the schools, decided that upon the description it was an antediluvian animal. Shortly after midnight J. L. Platt, foreman of the brick plant, heard a peculiar sound in an abandoned coal mine, and as the men had reported a similar sound before, a body of volunteers started an investigation. Presently, the monster emerged from the shaft, accompanied by a smaller one. A score of shots were fired without effect. The whole town was aroused and vigil was maintained the rest of the night, but without result, until just at dawn, when the two monsters returned and disappeared down the shaft.

Wow. It's the whole ass story. Yeah. Of course, it could have been somebody pulling off a prank, right? You know, it could have been a kid the first night. In 1903. No, it could have been like the first night, you know, maybe it was kids with a spotlight playing around and then it turned into mass hysteria and then they saw a bird or something and then thought it was this or something and thought it was this big creature. Maybe it was a hoax. But then what did they see by the coal mine? Like by the mine?

I have no clue. Because that's a huge group of people seeing the same thing. I did actually see a sort of a theory that people think, like modern, it was like people think that they, it could have just been a big bird that people really exaggerated. So I'm gonna send you a picture of a great hornbill. It's a type of bird.

And once you take a look at it, you'll be able to see like, where they kind of get the idea from. Mm hmm. Sorry, let's let me send. I would believe it could be a bird, but the spotlight throws me off. Right?

But that's the thing, it's like what the fuck? And also describing it as nine feet tall. Yeah, like how, I guess it was only seen at night, so like it could have been yeah staking for things there could have been like sleep deprivation or Humanoid as well. Oh Yes, exactly. Where is this picture at? I like have it saved but it disappeared humanoid at nine feet tall

That's a dinosaur. Cool, I just sent you the picture. Oh, love this. Right? And what is this bird called? A great hornbill. A great hornbill. Unless they're nine feet tall, I would not believe it.

I don't know, I don't know. Right, like I have no clue. Also, are they? They're not found in North America. Probably not. Somebody thought it was probably someone's exotic pet bird that escaped. It's always someone's exotic pet. Yeah. Like when we... Anyway, that's the story of the Van Meter Visitor.

Thank you. I hope you liked it. I really love this one. Van Meter Visitor. I want to go to whatever festival they have and I want to know like what merch they sell, like what drawings they have or like if they have that cast of that three... That would be cool. Yeah, that would be really cool. Print, yeah. And if they still have that mine sealed up because I want to check it out. That would be fun. I would pay money to go in that mine in a tour. I'm like, hey, show me. I don't know.

I'm like, what are the chances that it's as stupid as it sounds, a dinosaur? Like an unearthed dinosaur that was like trapped in ice and preserved, but it melted and it came back to life. I don't know. It could be something. I mean, of course Let us know your theories visitor visitors listeners Welcome yeah, or if you're the van meter visitor even let us know. Yeah, my face got red Yeah, or if you're the van meter visitor even let us know. Oh shit my face got red

Okay, well thank you though this was a fun one that's something I did not enjoyed this one Expect at all. I really thought we were going to like a lake or something. No, no, no, no No, I wanted to steer clear from like a location today. I was like, I just want something fun and stupid. Oh, this was fun for sure. Yeah. Yeah. All right, well that's the episode, I believe. Thank you. That was fun for sure. Definitely took us away from the darkness,

which I really appreciate. Thank you, Kai. Yeah, of course. And listeners, keep an eye out for next week's episode. That's a bonus one for y'all. Like always, send us an email, send us a text. Let us know you're out there. Please.

For all we know, you're just another Van Meter visitor. Please. Yeah, don't make Kai back some more. Take care, everybody. Thanks for being here once again. Smurf. Bye. Thanks for listening to Chambers of the Occult. For photos, sources, and anything else mentioned during the episode, check out our website at chambersoftheoccult.com. You'll find everything you need there if you do find

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