Criminal - We Lost Them

Episode Date: May 23, 2014

On April 13, 2014, former KKK member Frazier Glenn Cross pulled into a Jewish Community Center and ambushed William Corporon and his grandson Reat Griffin Underwood, killing both. He then killed another woman named Terri LaManno a short distance away.  What does the family left behind do when they are thrust into a national spotlight? How do they figure out what to disclose and what should be private? Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.  Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for Criminal comes from Apple Podcasts. Each month, Apple Podcasts highlights one series worth your attention, and they call these series essentials. This month, they recommend Wondery's Ghost Story, a seven-part series that follows journalist Tristan Redman as he tries to get to the bottom of a ghostly presence in his childhood home. His investigation takes him on a journey involving homicide detectives, ghost hunters, and even psychic mediums, and leads him to a dark secret about his own family.

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I just don't think I want to hear it from her. You know, my father was killed from a shotgun blast at close range. Um, and the phone was ringing. And normally I don't answer the phone in the bathroom. Just getting ready to wash my hands, and I looked down, and it was my brother-in-law. And for whatever reason, I answered it. I was you know Len what's going on and it was a very quick conversation it was like Will Mindy just called me and said something about she was frantic and said something about Popeye being shot we call my dad Popeye that's what the the grandkids all call him. And I said, what?

This is Will Corcoran. In April, his father and nephew were shot to death by former KKK member Fraser Glenn Cross, also known as Fraser Glenn Miller, outside of a Jewish community center in Overland Park, Kansas. Cross then killed a third person in another location, a woman by the name of Terry Lomano. It was a huge news story at the time. Frazier Glenn Cross Jr. is a well-known neo-Nazi. Police say he used a shotgun, killing two outside the center.

Inside, about 75 mostly young children took cover in the building's theater. The Overland Park community is mourning the victims, none of whom were Jewish. Will was at his daughter's cheerleading competition when he got the call. You know, I'm thinking, at the shooting range, he accidentally shot him. I mean, you know, I didn't even know what to make of it. And the phone rang, and I looked down, and it was Mom's cell. And so I walked out to where I could hear, and she told me, she said, you know, your father's dead.

Family members of murder victims are often captured on television, were shown their grief, and we watch them try to respond when they're asked impossible questions. They're given this nightmare of a task, trying to introduce their loved ones to the world while at the exact same time eulogizing them. What we rarely hear is the family's personal timeline, how they decide to tell their story, what to share, and when.

I'm Phoebe Judge, and this is Criminal. The late Dr. William Corcoran Sr. was 69 years old. He was a doctor, a hunter, and close to his family. He'd taken his grandson, 14-year-old Reet Underwood, to a talent competition. Reet's mom, Mindy, was at a lacrosse game with her other son. But when that game got rained out, Mindy headed to the community center to try to catch Reet's performance. When she drove into the parking lot, there weren't any police, no ambulances.

There was no sign of emergency. She just happened to be one of the first people on the scene. That's when she recognized the body of her father. So from a distance, she saw him laying there with the door open, thought that was strange, thought he'd had a heart attack or something. You know, your mind is racing. And I'm quoting her now. You know, she got up there and looked at him and knew immediately he was in heaven. Went around to the other side of the car and there were two men cradling Reet.

And very quickly, a bystander or someone else there whom she calls Mickey, I'm not sure the last name, I don't remember, but I think he's a volunteer, a worker there at the Jewish Community Center. Literally, I think, grabbed her up in both arms and whisked her into the doors of the community center, which were probably maybe 30 feet away off to the right. That seems like I can't even imagine. Yeah, I can't either. We've not talked about it, and I don't know that I'll ever really talk about it with her. Will and Mindy's mother arrived on the scene. She forced her way through the police barricade and found Mindy inside the community center. That's when they called Will at the cheerleading competition to tell him that his father was dead.

When they walked back outside, Reet was gone. No one would tell them what hospital he'd been taken to. Police say they do have a person of interest in custody. A shotgun was used and possibly a handgun and assault rifle, police said. No motive has been released. The FBI is also investigating. When did you find out about Reid? Well, we were probably...

I'm thinking we were probably about 25 to 30 minutes outside of Tulsa. And the phone rings. And it was Len's cell. And this is the worst call I've ever received in my life. He's not so much sobbing or screaming. I mean, I've never heard someone's soul cry. But I'm telling you, I heard a man's soul cry. It was awful.

And he just said, And I just remember I kept saying, What? Reet's gone. Reet's gone. And I just remember I kept saying, what? Reet's gone. Reet's gone. We lost him. Reet's gone. Will and his wife took their kids home to Arkansas and began the three-hour drive north to Kansas. It had only been a few hours since the shootings,

and Will got a call from a PR woman at the hospital where they'd taken Reet. She was working on a press release and wanted Will's approval. She'd made a comment about maybe waiting to release the names until, you know, sometime when the police department would do it either Monday or Tuesday. And it was literally right then when she said that that something kind of, a switch went off, and I kind of got my second wind and said no we you know okay thank you and then I texted my sister and brother and said we you know we can't do that Will works in insurance in Arkansas but he used to be in TV news so he knows something about what

it's like to make calls to perfect strangers and ask invasive questions he knows what it's like when your job is to make someone else's private life public. That old news guy kicked in, knowing that the media is going to get the information they need. They may not be able to release the names, but they're going to find it out. So you either let the wave crash over you or you ride the wave. And I guess it was just instinctual. You know, I wanted to get out in front of it.

I knew they were going to find pictures somewhere. And I told them, you don't want the first picture of dad. And Reed also has a driver's license permit. I said, you don't want the pictures of dad andet to be out there to be their driver's license photos That's not what we want. That's not who they are and more on those two that we've confirmed were shot and killed today Family statement released read in part. Dr. Corcoran was a well-loved physician who moved to Johnson County to be closer to grandchildren He cherished his family and more than anything had a passion for others. Reid was a 14-year-old freshman in Blue Valley High School, a school he loved. Reid had a passion for life and touched so many people in his young age.

We take comfort knowing they are together in heaven. Just 14 years old, Don, one of the victims in today's shooting. Of course, we will learn more about that third victim who is yet to be named. All three morning shows I think had called. Mindy chose the Today Show because, frankly, she likes Savannah Guthrie. Never met her. She just likes her. You know, just one of those things. There were people that called that I did not feel comfortable with that I turned down. Local, national, print. You could just kind of hear an edge to their voice. They didn't sound the least bit sympathetic. They just sounded like they were doing a job, you know? Will was scheduled to

talk to CBS at a church in Kansas City. He expected an intimate sit-down, but when he and his sister arrived, the church was mobbed by reporters. And there are satellite trucks everywhere, live trucks everywhere, cables running here and there. We walk in and look off into the main, you know, narthex, and there's a bank of cameras and, you know, the whole news conference scene, you know. So we went in as a family, went into just a side room, kind of a little chapel off to the side and just kind of gathered ourselves. And I said, you know, Mindy, this news conference is not anything that was in the plan. I said, if you're okay, they're here and we can certainly go and talk to them. If not, you know, we don't have to. What do you want to do?

And she said, no, I'm okay. I talked to the transplant group today. That was not an easy call. And hopefully my son will be a tissue donor, possibly an organ donor. They don't know. He was 14 and he had his permit and he had already signed up to be a donor on his own and they knew that. Your sister speaks with such detail about the events and it's so surprising to hear her, not only, I mean, I have no idea the strength and courage to be able to stand up

and do that but also to speak so in some ways rationally about about what she saw and wanting everyone to know hey this is exactly what you want to know what happened this is exactly what happened did that surprise you at all you know i it did it did surprise me. Her strength of character, you know, and all that, no, not at all. None of that surprises me. But the way she's handled herself with such dignity and strength after losing her son and her father and seeing her father, you know, lying in the rain on the blacktop you know obviously dead you know to be able then to to articulate that um yes that that that did surprise me did you ever think about while this was happening about how your father would have been handling it? Yes and no. You know, we've talked about this after the fact. You know, you look for any little glimmer of something.

There are ways we think this could have ended worse even than it did. How? Well, if dad would have somehow survived and Reed had been killed, that would have been a slow, torturous death for my father. It would have killed him, but it would have taken a while. I want to ask you one question, and that is, do you think that you did, that the way that you handled this, that you did justice to your father and Reet's memory? I felt like the decisions we made were good.

The pictures we released, the news release that we did early on were great pictures. The information was good. And, you know, I do, I feel like that we did my father and re proud. And I think we continue to, and maybe helping people figure out how to get through it. You know, that it is okay to release the names and release some pictures. It's okay. Tell your story. Tell your loved one's story the way you want it to be told. It's going to get told one way or the other. You may as well be the ones, you know, trying to do the telling. Reet's mother, Mindy Corporan, telling Fox 4 News her son was a beautiful singer. She was proud to post video of her son's performances on YouTube. Reet was 14 and he wanted to sing. He was with his grandfather at the time of his death.

Frazier Glenn Cross has been charged with three murders, Will Corcoran Sr., Reet Underwood, and the third victim, Terry Lomano. She was 53. He's being held in a jail in Johnson County, Kansas, awaiting trial. Criminal is produced by Eric Menel, Lauren Spohr, and me. You can find out more

information about the show on our website thisiscriminal.org, or on Facebook, and also on Twitter, at Criminal Show. If you like what we're doing, you can subscribe on iTunes, where you can find all of our previous episodes. I'm Phoebe Judge, and this is Criminal. We'll see you next time. is the city-sized crossover vehicle that's been completely revamped for urban adventure. From the design and styling to the performance, all the way to features like the Bose Personal Plus sound system, you can get closer to everything you love about city life in the all-new, reimagined Nissan Kicks.

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