Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder - Ep. 33 | The Most DISTURBING LIVE TV Moments In History

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

In today's episode, we see where spontaneity meets unpredictability in the TV world. Let's dive in and re-witness these moments together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live television, a place where spontaneity meets unpredictability. It's a place where a human error creates bloopers and unscripted moments that sometimes make us laugh. But occasionally, the unspeakable unfolds. From hostage situations caught on camera to tragic accidents and shocking revelations, these live moments remind us that reality can be far more disturbing than fiction. These are the most chilling moments ever broadcasted on live television. Crime, conspiracy, cults, serial killers, and murder. All things that I love to consume, and I know you do too, you sweet little munchkin, beautiful, intellectually minded freak.

In this video, we're diving into some of the most disturbing events ever captured on live television. Stories that left audiences frozen in fear and forever changed those who lived through them. So viewer discretion is advised. But without further ado, let's unbuckle our seatbelts, go Mach 5 down the highway, slam on the brakes, and let's bust through this windshield into these disturbing live television moments together. So first up, we have the KNBC TV hostage TV moment. So one evening on the KNBC Channel 4 news station, something horrible unfolded that shocked viewers and those in the studio alike.

On August 19, 1987, it was a normal day in the studio on the news. And it wasn't until 4 p.m. that day when a man would walk into the studio, under the guise of a guest and walk up to one of the live television reporters and put a gun to his back. And that man was named Gary Stollman. And the reporter was David Horroitz. So for some background on Gary Stolman, he was the son of a former employee named Max Stollman, who had talked about his son's mental health struggles and how he frequently got in and out of mental hospitals. Due to his delusions, if you will.

Max Stollman said, I do have a sick son. he has been hospitalized a number of times. Therefore, he had used his connection with his father to get himself on live television that night. So as David, the reporter, was reporting the news as you do. He would hear Gary's footsteps behind him and naturally would kind of look behind him to see what was going on, because he was live on television at the moment. And when he looked down, he would see a gun pressed up against his back. Things about shopping by mail order.

Pardon me? And it is kind of crazy how calm David was during this whole interaction. And as soon as he saw the gun, Gary would hand him a piece of paper to read on live television. What is this? Let me see what it says. All right. He's got a gun to his dad. All right, well, let me read this.

Folks, we have son on the set who's standing here and would like me to read, to read this, this, this, this, this, this, this copy which was just handed to me. And during this whole altercation, David would be talking to the audience saying, oh, this man has a piece of paper and he wants me to read it to everybody, kind of letting the news station know what's going on. I mean, obviously, everybody's freaking out behind the cameras, but David was just trying to get everybody to remain calm. So David began to talk to the man, just asking where he's from and who he is,

just trying to get to know him a little better to calm down the situation. Do you want to tell me your name or not? What is it? And Gary, where are you from? And after around 28 grueling seconds, everyone watching scared and terrified at home saw their TVs turn to black. So the live feed had cut out at this point. But David and Gary did not know this at the time. And this was good because Gary had a gun to his back and he still needed his message read out to the world.

So David would comply, you know, because he had a gun to his back and he would read the note aloud. And the note read as such. I was warned in 1981 by someone with connections at the CIA to stay off the computers, that they didn't trust people on computers. When I began receiving disturbing calls from my parents, which led me to believe that something terrible was going on, I was then forced into a mental hospital in Tallahassee, where I learned that my brother-in-law had been driven insane in the same,

in the same manner that someone was trying to do to me. Just gibberish, essentially. Nothing that would have done anything. thing to audiences, but thankfully, the news network had cut the feed. So he was literally just reading it to the people in the studio at this point. But again, Gary didn't know. So after David finished reading the paper that Gary gave him, Gary would put his gun down on the desk very calmly. And then the other reporter, John Beard, took the gun away and Gary was pulled off the stage and tackled to the ground. And Gary would later tell the police that he never meant to harm anyone. And the

pistol that he was holding against David's back was actually just an unloaded BB gun. And those grueling seconds on the air had everyone tensed at home. But the unreleased footage that has actually lost media apparently went on for seven minutes. So we actually only heard a part of the note, and the rest of the note is supposedly just rambling manifesto talking about how he believed a clone from the CIA and aliens had replaced his father. So he was clearly very unwell. And David, the reporter would later talk about the whole situation.

I've covered enough hostage situations that I've been in Vietnam, and I know that when someone points a gun at you, you do what they tell you to do, and hope that someone's going to save you. And you just try to maintain as much cool as you possibly can, because I realize that if you do anything out of course, as far as this person's concerned, I don't know whether the guy was a terrorist or a wacko

or somebody that was trying to get even for something. You don't know who's there. I have no idea what I would do in that situation. I mean, I think for me, I like, there's, there's fight or flight, but I'm, I am like, freeze and flail. That's what I do. I would just completely freeze. I'd probably just comply as well, because what are you going to do in that moment? Like, even, like, trying to get it.

I mean, I know it wasn't a real gun, but I'd be too scared that they would, like, knock off a shot there. I don't know. You just never know what you're going to do in those situations, but thank God for David, the reporter, because he kept his freaking cool. But so how did Gary end up getting in the studio? Well, a female news anchor, Christy Wilde said the responsibility may have fallen on her. Explaining that she had actually had a phone call with Gary asking to get into the studio, stating he was Max Stollman's son. He called me to get in. You can't just walk in here.

He called me and said that he was Max Stolman's son and he lived in the east and that he had never had the opportunity to see his dad while he was on our air and could he come down and watch the show. So obviously, she didn't know any better. And after this realization, they realized the danger of the gunman walking into the news station to force reporters to share his message. He had a pass. I noticed the pass on his chest. And nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary until David is on. He's standing behind David. And at first, we thought it was just someone who was mixed up, confused, didn't realize he was in the way. So the security was then corrected to make sure that this incident would never happen again.

And the decision to cut the cameras to ensure those who have malicious intentions couldn't share their viewpoints. messages on air and disturb the piece was very, very quick thinking. So Gary Stollman would be charged after this, obviously, but then would be later dismissed of the two charges and instead put in two years of probation. And he would then be sent to an undisclosed mental facility where he supposedly still is to this day. But that is it for the KNBC Live TV moment and we move on to Tommy Cooper. So Tommy Cooper was a renowned comedian and magician. And he would get his debut and start of his career after showing up on the BBC show new to you in March 1948. And I went into a chemist, see, I went into the car, and I said the man behind the

county, he was right down behind, I couldn't see him, I said, excuse me, I said, have you got anything for hiccups? I said, excuse me. That's a bit harsh. And he said, have you got anything for hiccups? And he jumped up and he hit me right across the face with the clock. I said, what do you see that for? He's there, oh, you have got hiccups now, have you?

I said, I've never had them from my wife at the car. And he was best known for his mix of magic and comedy. Two of my favorite things. Usually doing tricks that looked like they had failed, but were revealed, in fact, they had not. And this would bring him countless success and frequent bookings with a successful career of over 40 years of entertainment. However, in a biography of Fisher, people agreed he was not a very kind man.

despite his very happy comedic demeanor. He was known to be quite tight in the show business. In one story, it states that instead of paying a taxi fare, he slipped a tea bag into the driver's pocket, telling him to have a drink on me, which is pretty funny to me. I mean, listen, I'm going to steal that joke, but I will not use it as a substitution for money.

I'll pay the person, but then also give him. him a tea bag and say have a drink on me because that's funny. That's funny. And I also won't put it in their pocket because that's a little weird. But it's not, that's not cool. All right, it's, that's not cool to do. But anyway, in the 1970s, he would fall into an addiction to alcohol that would further erode his character, becoming less professional and even club owners stating that he would stiff them, meaning he would either rush his performance or show up late. And after suffering from multiple issues such as Lombago and bronchitis and even bad circulation in his legs, he put down the bottle a little bit. However, he still was heavily smoking cigars and reportedly

40 a day. 40 cigars a day. And this was obviously a serious pain on his health and would lead to his undoing. So on April 15, 1984, Cooper would book a show at Her Majesty's there in Westminster, London, to be exact. And it would be live on weekend television for the show live from Her Majesty's. And before the act began, he asked his assistant to put on his cloak. And while buttoning the coat, he began to stumble and eventually fell completely. And the audience started to abrupt in laughter, obviously assuming it was part of his act, because his whole act was that his magic tricks would fail and eventually he would show that they actually worked. But his whole schick was that he was very clumsy and failed and forgot things.

So the audience thought that that's what was going on. So he would continue to slump over more and more, eventually letting out a growl which is what people do when they're having a heart attack or stroke. But the audience would continue to bellow in laughter, and Tommy Cooper at this point was dying. And the studio thought that this was part of the shtick. The whole audience did, so he was literally just lying there, dying,

and nobody knew what was going on, and they were just all laughing at him. It's just terrible. Like, it's awful. Nobody deserves that. But eventually, obviously, they would figure out that it was no longer an act. after several minutes.

And they would decide to go to commercial while the orchestra played music to hide the fact that there was a now dead man on the floor behind the curtain that had dropped. And two people, Dustin Grey and Les Dennis, had to do their act immediately after the commercial break had ended, hiding the fact that something was wrong altogether. And behind the curtain, they did try to revive Cooper till the ambulance could arrive. But unfortunately, they couldn't do anything and his death would be an important. announced the next day and the horrible end of Tommy Cooper in front of not only a live studio audience, but with many people watching on live television was just so incredibly disturbing. So the next live TV chilling moment is the Bradford England fire. So May 11th, 1985 was a day like any other.

A match between two soccer or football teams if you're in England. Sorry, that's a terrible accent. Anyway, the teams were playing on a spring afternoon. And the two teams were the home team, which was Bradford City versus Lincoln City and was the final game of the season. And the match was held in the Valley Parade Stadium, a stadium with a sitting capacity of over 5,000 and standing capacity as well. However, in the afternoon, a horrific fire would break out that would kill over 50 people and injure over 200. So the stadium itself was built in 1886. In 1911, it was finished and changed to support the Bradford City Association Football Club. In years after its construction and use, a county councilman mentioned several times that it was in need of repair.

Even mentioning that a loose cigarette could catch a blaze. And if destiny isn't more cruel than that, I don't know what is, because that's exactly what happened. So in the match mentioned before, against Bradford City and Lincoln City, they were currently. currently tied nil-nill or zero-zero. And at 3.44 p.m. five minutes before half-time would start, a small glow was spotted three rows from the back of Block G. And a story after the whole thing went down would explain how the fire really began and ironically, like I said before, a lit cigarette would start it. According to an interview reported by John Helm, who was the television commentator, he would

personally describe how the story went down in the express newspaper. Quote unquote, a man over from Australia visiting his son got two tickets to the game. He lit a cigarette and when it was coming to the end, he put it out onto the floorboard and tried to put his foot on it to put it out. It slipped through a hole in the floorboard. A minute later, he saw a small plume of smoke, so he poured his coffee on it and so did his son. It seemed to put it out, but a minute or so later, it was suddenly a bigger whoosh of smoke, so they went to get a steward. By the time they got back, the whole thing had taken off. So when the cigarette was dropped down between the floorboard, it was, there was years and years of just garbage and food wrappers and all this stuff that had accumulated underneath and like chips of wood and everything.

Literally like the perfect kindling basically. So when that cigarette hit it and on a dry day especially, it just lit up. And we've actually got a fire in the stand on the far side of the ground. And that looks very nasty indeed. And seeing the fire, many began to look for a fire extinguisher, none could be found. And the wind was unfortunately extremely rough and hard that day. So this would just stoke the fire and engulf the wooden stand in less than five minutes, which is so scary.

And the game has obviously had to stop. I saw the smoke about a minute ago, but now that fire is beginning to rage. So confusion spread out and many were lost and unable to escape the stands. And to make matters worse, some of the egg. exits were locked at the back and could not be opened. Some of them would be forced opened, but for most they were left locked. So people began to run out onto the field to escape the fire, continuing to spread so rapidly. But the mainstand was completely engulfed in fire, and the fire brigade arrived four minutes after being called, but it didn't matter at that point.

And the scene afterwards was just horrifying. Some of the bodies were trapped under the rubble that had fallen from the stands, and even some still sitting upright in their chairs. and just charred beyond recognition. And as for the on-theme of the video, this was all broadcasted. And later, the uncensored version was put onto the news minutes after the event had taken place. And the stands at this point were completely destroyed and charred

and nothing was there to scavenge or rebuild. And some of the survivors that had injuries, which is around 265 people, obviously had to be treated, but they were also still wearing the clothes that had caught on fire. And all these people were broadcasted as well. And I'm a total on fire. Is your coat still? Yeah.

How bad, you got badly burned? I have got very bad on my back as well. It was just overall a completely horrifying situation. I mean, these people went to this football game to enjoy the game and have a great day. And within five minutes, 50 people lost their lives. Over 200 people were injured. And a stadium was completely engulfed and completely burned.

down. And at the moment, there is calm, but most of the people on the pitch simply can't believe it. They just do not know what to do or where to go. The heat, the blaze is quite astonishing. And look at that for a picture. It's the saddest sight of one could imagine. And afterward, from there on, cigarette smoking was completely banned in any stadium with wooden seats. So that this would never happen again, obviously. And the club was then marked two-thirds. responsible and the city council one third for their misuse and lack of precautions to fire safety, which fair enough, you know. So my heart goes out to all the families affected by that. I know it was a long time ago, but still, I mean, it's just terrible. But it does bring us to our

next live TV chilling moment, which is Blueblazer. So if you were alive in the 90s, you were probably watching Prime Television. And for the wrestling fans, they were all watching W.W. which was actually WWF before. However, something horrible would happen just at the end of the 90s on May 23rd, 1999. Professional wrestler, the Blue Blazer, would perish in a horrific way, not only in front of a live audience, but on live television as well. The Blue Blazer was known by a few nicknames, the Blue Angel and The Rocket, but friends knew him as Owen Hart, a man born in Alberta, Canada on May 7, 1916. And he began his career as an amateur wrestler at the University of Calgary. And it wasn't his first choice of career, but he enjoyed what he did.

And he decided to continue wrestling in multiple different wrestling media, eventually even wrestling for New Japan pro wrestling for several tours. And on May 27th, 1988, he defeated his opponent Hiroshi Haas, becoming the first non-Japanese wrestler to win a title. And not too much later after that, he would be signed and brought into the WWF that same year. And when he fought in a paper view match at the Survivor Series 88, he teamed with the likes of the Ultimate Warrior. And it wasn't until March 11, 1989, that he would fight against Mr. Perfect in WrestleMania 5, where then he would decide to take a little break from the WWF. But it was in 1994 that his career would skyrocket as the Blue Blazer would become more of a villain, if you will.

And why was he the villain, you ask? Well, he would be going against his older brother. Brett Hart. And this was caused by him messing up a team match alongside his brother. But the mess-up involved his brother getting eliminated and the crowd booing Owen. And later on, in a different match, Brett was supposed to tag in his brother, but didn't, allowing the match to stop. And in anger, Owen would kick his brother's leg. And this seemed fake, but behind the scenes, he was truly angry at his brother and actually kicked him. And eventually, he would go against his own brother in WrestleMania 10, where he would win against him.

So he would stay in the WWF and continue his successful fights, now cemented as a popular wrestler in the community. However, after years and years of fighting and gaining success and skyrocketing in the WWF, one match would completely ruin it all. In 1998, Owen would bring back his iconic blue blazer persona, almost as a bit as a fallen superhero. And they decided at the Over the Edge pay-per-view event on May 23rd, 1999,

Owen Hart would be lowered by a set of harness and a grapple line to almost fly into the ring. And this was done at the Kemper Arena for a match against another wrestler, the wrestler being called the godfather. And the scene was meant to play out like this. He would begin his dramatic entrance being lowered at ring level. Then, at a safe height, the ropes would release, dropping him onto his face for a bit of a comedic effect. And in order to accomplish this, a quick release was made,

so it could happen instantly for the dramatized effect. However, it didn't play out like they had planned. The beginning would work out as planned, where he came out on the ropes and he was really high above the ring, 78 feet approximately, and he would know about the quick release, but he would not be told how sensitive that it was. So when he got above the ring at 78 feet,

he moved around to kind of get more comfortable, and he dropped. And he would land directly onto his chest. And viewers would just watch in horror and the monitors switched to commercials almost immediately. And when the commercials ended, only the crowd was filmed. And this is a piece of lost media today viewed how Steve Irwin's death footage is meant to be private from the public. And the announcer Jim Ross repeatedly told those watching live that something bad had happened. And it wasn't in the storyline arc. So Owen would immediately be rushed to a trauma

medical center in Kansas City, but unfortunately, they could not revive him. And the cause of death would be internal bleeding from blunt force trauma, and he would die at the very young age of 34. And after Owen's death, the WWF and Vince McMahon, which he's, there's a whole documentary about him on Netflix, which I highly recommend you watch, but kind of a piece of shit. He drew in controversy when the company chose to continue to play the pay-per-view after his death. And after specifically Jim Ross announced Owen Hart's death on the live broadcast, which is just fucking insane. I have the unfortunate responsibility to let everyone know that Owen Hart has died. And after Owen's death, his family obviously sued the WWF. And after a year and a half,

a settlement was reached on November 2, 2000, which saw WWF pay the estate of Owen Hart $18 million with the help of Panela Fisher. And Martha, who was Owen Hart's wife, used some of the settlement to establish the Owen Hart Foundation. So just, just like heartbreaking, so much negligence involved and it just didn't need to happen. And screw Vince McMahon. Like, for real.

So it's incredibly sad, but his legacy lives on as one of the most entertaining performers of all time. And the next story is about Lauren Giddings. So Lauren Giddings was an ordinary woman who was studying law at Mercer University. She lived in Macon or Mason, sorry if I'm pronouncing that wrong, Georgia, and was hoping to take the bar in 2011. She was an overall very happy person who hoped to make a difference, not just to make money, but to genuinely make a change in the world. She was hoping to become a public defender to help those left's fortunate who couldn't afford the top help that they needed. So just an overall angel, if you will.

However, before she could take the bar, she would vanish without a trace. And her family, obviously worried about where she went, called the police and an investigation started. But the same day that she had gone missing, June 30th, her torso was later discovered as well. Officers decided to check the sewers hoping to find the rest of the body to truly identify if it was her. Police are now searching storm drains near Lauren Gideon's apartment, for clues in the law grad's apparent murder. The city engineering department joined the homicide investigation to help navigate the city drains.

Because supposedly the torso had been hacked off by a saw of sorts, and her body was cut into pieces, but no other parts of her were found at the time. So the media jumped on this case immediately and began to report on the story, talking to her neighbors, and one of those neighbors being Stephen McDaniel. And he would talk about how Lauren was her neighbor, and that he was really,

really worried about her stating no one had seen her since Saturday. Person that was living there. Yeah, Lauren was my neighbor. Um, we're just trying to find out where she is at this point. I mean, no one has seen her since Saturday. I mean, the last time anyone heard from her was an email that she sent out and no one's heard from her since. He did know her pretty well, given the fact that they both graduated for Mercer back in May. And the interviewer would then ask him about how they found her body in the parking lot nearby. and about the torso that the police had found in a garbage can nearby. And Stephen would then have a reaction that was interesting to say the least.

What about in the parking lot area? I know they've been doing a lot of, I think that's where they have recovered the body or whatever they recovered from there. Body? Had you heard anything there? Had you seen anything there? I mean, we don't know if this is the same person. You know what I mean?

Like, they took out a body there earlier. We don't know if it's the same person or not. That's how we're trying to ask people if they know who live there. Are you okay, sir? I think I need to sit down. Okay. Seemingly shocked and almost nervous, tensing up and at a loss for words. I mean, he just found out that somebody he knew pretty well just died and that her torso was found with the garbage.

So, I mean, the reaction is pretty understandable. And this would be an obvious reaction to anyone close to her, a friend, a mother, etc. And after this initial reaction, Daniel would walk to the side and say, sit on the curb, composing himself before returning back to the camera to continue the interview. I don't know anyone that would want to hurt her. She was as nice person as there is. And he would then start rambling about who would want to hurt her since she was just nice to everybody. And this was only really suspicious to those who are more experienced on examining psychological responses. Usually it's a sense of denial or anger and this is what made him.

a suspect. So later, Stephen would go to the police station to give a statement. Anyone brought to tears from their neighbor and friend's death would be important to discover some clues, obviously. But this interview was very long, supposedly lasting 12 hours. And during the interview, he said interesting things. They noticed he had scratch marks on his body. Show me that scratch again that you showed me earlier. That was it a... What did you say happened there? I think I scratched myself in my sleeve. to which he claimed he did to himself while he was sleeping.

Don't we all? But despite the constant accusations and questions, Stephen would not confess. But he would, however, get arrested for burglary, supposedly stealing condoms from nearby units that he lived near, which is a weird thing to steal, but okay. So they decided to investigate his place thoroughly, because they're thinking he's a fucking weird dude at this point. Who steals condoms, you know?

Eventually stumbling upon a USB drive. This device would have recordings of Lauren's apartment. One of them recorded on the night that Lauren disappeared and supposedly died. And they would also find a hacksaw with blood on it, guessing it's Lauren's blood, obviously. So the evidence was substantial and definitely enough to build a case around Stephen McDaniels. And in August of 2014, he was charged with her murder. And he would state that he used the master key to gain access to her apartment, where he would strangle her and dismember her in the bathtub.

He had a very obvious obsession with her, unhealthily obsessed, obviously, and the news would report his charges. 25-year-old Stephen McDaniel is charged with felony murder tonight. That's according to the inmate search on the Bibb County Sheriff's Office website. McDaniel has been a person of interest in the murder of Mercer Law grad, 27-year-old Lauren Giddings, that happened on June 30th. At this time, we cannot confirm. he is charged in this particular incident.

However, McDaniel has been the focal point in this case as Giddings neighbor at the Barrister's Hall apartment complex in downtown Macon. And watching that interview back knowing that he's the murderer is incredibly chilling, just knowing that he got caught. What about in the parking lot area? I know they've been doing a lot of, I think that's where they have recovered. So body or whatever they recovered from there. Body?

Had you heard anything there? So Stephen obviously got arrested, went to jail, but he has tried to get out multiple times. Even representing himself in court, Ted Bundy style, which is just... Cringe. But thankfully, he is still behind bars, and today he is located at the Hancock State Prison in Georgia. Rotten there, bitch. And the only silver lining in this whole story is that if the news had not been filming that day and had not interviewed Stephen, he may have never been found. But that is all for today's video.

I know it was a little bit different than my normal true crime one. So let me know what you thought of this kind of video down below. And if you have any other suggestions for videos, and also I just want you to know, I appreciate you guys. I've been really loving doing the true crime type content. So I appreciate you guys watching it and always want to hear what you want to see down below.