Going West: True Crime - Linda Stoltzfoos // 306

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody, big thank you to Madison and Morgan for recommending today's case. Takes place in Pennsylvania. If you guys have a case that you want us to cover, make sure you email it to us. I still sometimes see recommendations slip in through DMs or comments and stuff like that. And we don't really ever check that kind of stuff. I mean, we do

Starting point is 00:00:39 check comments on our social media accounts about messages. We just get so many. Right now we have hundreds of cases on our list, but we are always welcoming new suggestions. So if you have something that you want to send us over, please send us an email going westpodcast at gmail.com. That is the best way to get in touch with us. Yes, and sorry for everybody who has left us different messages. You know, we probably did not see them,

Starting point is 00:01:05 and I apologize for that, but if you do send us an email, those emails get vetted and we see them a lot easier. Yeah, sometimes I like happen to look at DMs and messages and I'll catch a couple, but it's more rare. So thank you guys so much. Thank you again to Madison and Morgan, and let's dive into this one today.

Starting point is 00:01:21 All right, guys, this is episode 306 of Going West, so let's get into it. In June of 2020, an event-year-old Amish girl went missing during the walk home from her Pennsylvania church. Within the first few weeks of her disappearance, while putting together eyewitness accounts and surveillance footage from the area, police were able to unravel the devastating truth putting together eyewitness accounts and surveillance footage from the area. Police were able to unravel the devastating truth about what really happened to her. of Linda Stoltz-Fouce. Linda Sue Stoltz-Fouce was born on November 18, 2001 in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania.

Starting point is 00:03:05 I wonder if that has anything to do with that old saying. Bird in the Hand is worth two in the bush. Oh, it actually is, I can't believe you guessed that. Yeah, very interesting. It is a census designated place and it was named after a hotel in the village that is named after that phrase. So you're,

Starting point is 00:03:22 you're completely right there. Nice. So Linda was born into a large Amish family, including parents Susie and Lloyd, and nine siblings named Sadie, Ada, Sarah, Anna, Susan, Steven, Eli, Lloyd, and Luke. That's a lot of siblings. Oh yeah. So before Linda was born, her family settled on a large farm property in rural Pennsylvania. And the family has lived there ever since, where they belong to the old Order Amish Church.

Starting point is 00:03:50 And for those who don't know, Pennsylvania actually has the largest population of people of the Amish faith in the United States with about 89,000 members. Yeah, I actually went there one time, and I was super surprised to see horse and buggy, like basically all over the road. Oh yeah, it is huge and there's actually a lot of misconceptions about the omnis, including that they are not permitted to use electricity. And this belief is based off the tenets of the religion, which are faith, family, community, and simplicity, because they believe that the rejection of modern conveniences, such as phones, televisions, and farming equipment bring them closer to God.

Starting point is 00:04:28 However, these days, many Amish families choose to opt into some contemporary amenities, including generator-powered electricity for refrigerators and indoor appliances, as well as indoor plumbing. They are also permitted to ride inside cars, although not in their church clothes, remember that, and driving cars themselves is frowned upon. So like Heath said, lots of horse and buggy. So basically, according to our research,

Starting point is 00:04:55 maintaining a simple, modest life is of the utmost importance. The famed Likester County, Pennsylvania, in which Linda was born and raised, also nicknamed Amish country is really characterized by horse drawn buggies and known for its homemade goods, crafts, and food from local Amish farms. Linda grew up attending parochial school which are small private schools governed and taught by local members of the church. She was known to be

Starting point is 00:05:22 quiet and studious and she centered her life around her faith and her family. Linda was also pretty tall for her age growing up, eventually standing at five feet ten inches tall and used her height advantage to play volleyball with her peers. Outside of school she enjoyed attending youth group and diligently helped with her family's household chores and also farming responsibilities. A local farmer who shared land with the Stoltzfu's family remembered quote, there was no talk of makeup trends, dreams of owning a bends or the latest album by the weekend. He described a polite, kind and warm teenage girl who had the innocence of a child but wisdom

Starting point is 00:06:02 beyond her years. While Linda was shy, she was always happy and she seemed pretty content simply tending to her duties on the farm, especially since you know this was the only life that she knew and she was exposed to. Her grandfather recalled quote, Linda was just different, she was special. I love everyone of my grandchildren, and Linda just conducted herself differently. While the rowdy grandsons keep me busy, there's Linda. She'd just be gently reading a book on the couch. So after graduating, Linda was working as a tutor at a local school for children with

Starting point is 00:06:36 learning disabilities, because she just loved helping people, and she had a loving nature about her. And she was really looking forward to getting married and having children, which is something that most people in the Amish community do between the ages of 20 and 22. And at the time this story takes place, Linda was just 18 years old. So that type of life change was supposed to just be a few short years ahead of her. On Sunday June 21st, 2020, which was Father's Day, 18-year-old Linda attended church as usual. She did have youth group later that afternoon,

Starting point is 00:07:09 and something that she usually did was return home after church and before youth group to change clothes, and that's what she would have done that day. But Linda stayed late at church, like after the rest of her family and the parishioners had returned home themselves, but she stuck around to watch dishes in the church kitchen. Lilian Ebersol, who was another church attendee, is believed to be one of the last people to

Starting point is 00:07:33 have seen Linda after church that day. After walking outside, the two chatted in front of the barn for a while before parting ways, and Lilian remembered Linda walking down Stumptown Road and toward Beachdale Road in rural Upper Leacock Township. Lillian recalled that she was wearing her formal church attire, of course, consisting of a white apron and white cape over a tan dress, and that she was carrying her shoes and walking barefoot. Now as the day progressed, her family was really confused why she hadn't arrived home because they knew she was gonna come home to change her clothes before youth group

Starting point is 00:08:13 and they knew that her formal church clothes were still missing from her bedroom. So it's not like they had missed her. She had not come home yet and they knew this. And her friends who were waiting for her at Youth Group assumed that maybe she wasn't feeling well and that she was skipping their meeting that day because they didn't know that her family was also wondering where she was. But when evening fell and she still hadn't returned home, her family began to panic.

Starting point is 00:08:42 You know, punctual and responsible Linda was not one to go unaccounted for. So in the early hours of Monday, June 22, 2020, the next day, the police were summoned to the Stoltz-Fouce family home to begin investigating her potential disappearance. Later that same day, volunteer groups were organized to commence searching for 18-year-old Linda alongside the fire and police departments. that same day, volunteer groups were organized to commence searching for 18-year-old Linda alongside the fire and police departments. One neighbor described quote, People were scouring the neighborhood, people down along the creek, people in canoes,

Starting point is 00:09:14 you know, just everywhere. In the first 24 hours, authorities and volunteers searched via drone, ATV, by horse and on foot, accompanied by dogs as well, but to no immediate avail. By the end of the first day of searching, a vigil was held for Linda by her community. Now police initially entertained the idea that Linda had grown tired of the Amish lifestyle, and maybe she had just simply fled the church. As they do.

Starting point is 00:09:42 Yeah, I mean, a lot of us have probably seen Breaking Amish, which is a very popular show about people leaving the Amish communities. So the police are just kind of thinking maybe she's a teenager, maybe she just ended up leaving. Yeah, it's a natural first thought, but... Yeah, so the lieutenant leading the search efforts explained, quote, not all family members who are aware of what their kids are thinking. So that's why it's important to touch base with friends and maybe there's a backstory

Starting point is 00:10:08 or maybe there's, you know, a desire to do something that the family members weren't aware of. And of course, while some people do depart the religion, about 90% of people born into the faith stay in it. And it just, it didn't really make sense for Linda to disappear in her church clothes and without any other belonging so randomly. Yeah, exactly. But please were so convinced of the possibility that they took the only known picture of Linda and Photoshopped her into plain clothes to mimic what she may look like if she had fled Amish country and was dressed in something other than her church clothes. Photos are mostly discouraged in Amish culture and there was only one to work with. But you can see her face quite well in it, so luckily they did have something to spread around to get people searching. But

Starting point is 00:10:56 her family maintained that something was wrong and that Linda was simply not the type of person that would leave like that. Lillian Ebersol confirmed that Linda was, quote, a very content person who was happy with her lifestyle. She had never shown any interest in leaving like Esther County or her religion, and she wasn't known to be engaging in any behavior considered illicit by the community, such as having like a cell phone or a boyfriend.

Starting point is 00:11:22 Her closest friends were questioned by police, and all of them agreed that she would have never left on her own accord. Lyndon, her friends, had gathered on the previous Friday evening, and her friends were called that she had been in good spirits and that she was acting totally normal. Thus, the police affidavit alleged quote, �During interviews with family and friends, it was determined that Linda loved her family and would have no reason to leave unexpectedly. The following day, which was Tuesday, June 23, 2020, the search expanded to include

Starting point is 00:11:54 Enterprise Drive and Old Philadelphia Pike in Bird in Hand, in addition to the roads in which Linda was known to have been walking that day. Linda's community combed the surrounding farmlands, of course just hoping to come across any trace that she had left behind that could lead to answers of where she was. But there was still no sign of her. The day after that, which was June 24, the FBI joined the search efforts as well, and they brought with them a $10,000 reward for information.

Starting point is 00:12:28 So with this, billboards brandishing the only photo of Linda's face dotted Route 30, which in this area runs through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New Jersey, and missing posters papered like a Sir County and the neighboring County. And in a lot of missing persons cases in modern day, as you guys know, families will start like GoFundMe's or they'll start Facebook pages or Instagrams or TikToks to help spread the word, but her family was very unacustom to one using computers and two using social networking sites or social media sites. Yeah, I mean, it just wasn't like commonly used.

Starting point is 00:13:04 And still isn't. Of course, some Amish people do use computers, but someone in their community did use computers and was familiar with social media. So they made a Facebook page to help spread awareness about Linda's disappearance to even more people. A statement made on behalf of the family on the Facebook page, red quote, now that the primary and secondary search of the family on the Facebook page red quote,

Starting point is 00:13:25 now that the primary and secondary search of the local area have been completed, the primary way you can help Linda right now is through prayer. On June 29th, 2020, so over a week after Linda went missing, police announced that they needed to speak with anyone who was walking down or driving on Mill Creek School Road, Stumptown Road, Beachdale Road, Gibbons Road, or Mill Creek Road, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., determining that Linda had likely been abducted within a 15-minute window on Father's Day.

Starting point is 00:14:02 The search expanded yet again on July 1st, and police and volunteers also swept each area at least twice to ensure that they weren't missing anything. So growing frustrated at their lack of findings, Lieutenant Matt Hess, who was the public information officer for Linda's case, said, quote, there's only so many times you can search the same area over again.

Starting point is 00:14:25 So in addition to ground searches, hundreds of tips were pouring in. With that, police began questioning locals in the Amish community just attempting to put together a timeline. One couple walking down Amish Gap Road that afternoon, around 1.30pm, recalled seeing a young Amish woman in the passenger seat of a car. They waved to her as they always did to other members of the community, but she declined to wave back. The couple was really curious about this because she was wearing traditional church clothing, which is Daphne mentioned, was not permitted inside cars, as well as a black head covering which was not actually part of their traditional church outfits.

Starting point is 00:15:11 When the couple was shown a picture of Linda, they confirmed that they believed that it was Linda that they saw in that car. They then gave the police their account of a small red car with a male driver. Backtracking from where the couple believed they spotted Linda in the vehicle, police started scanning surveillance footage from nearby homes and businesses. And crazy enough, one local who actually lived

Starting point is 00:15:35 in the nearby East Lampeter Township had just installed new cameras on his property and caught something crucial on them. The man recalled quote, "'It's horrible, absolutely heartbreaking.'" But said that he was also thankful to be able to make the footage available to investigators, adding quote, "'I've always had cameras everywhere we've lived.

Starting point is 00:15:58 When we put cameras up, we never thought anything like this would ever happen. They were able to track the video and were able to actually see what happened and review the video and be able to get pictures and a positive ID. Very surprised. I never expected anything like this to happen in this neighborhood. So alongside this man's footage, with the public's assistance, police were able to glean security camera footage from five different sources, which is kind of amazing because you wouldn't really think that there would be all this security camera footage in that area. I mean, it's rural country,

Starting point is 00:16:33 this is Amish country, but somehow they got all of this security camera footage. Well, and luckily they did, because if they didn't, I don't think they would have a case against their suspect, the suspect we're going to get into in a moment at all. Yeah, 100%. I mean, this really broke this case open. So with the help of the FBI's computer forensics laboratory, investigators spotted a suspicious vehicle on video footage in the 500 block of Beachdale Road. At 12.42pm, a red sedan could be seen traveling down Beachdale Road, and it appeared that someone was sitting in the front passenger seat. The car was identified as a red

Starting point is 00:17:15 four-door key aria with black trim and an added spoiler on the bumper and a bumper sticker that read L.C.M. on the left rear window. Then another witness came forward claiming that he too had seen someone that he believed was Linda in the passenger seat of a red sedan while riding his horse and buggy. So like the couple, this man also waved at her but she did not wave back and she appeared static in the front seat just staring straight forward. Multiple Amish women in the community also told police that they had seen that very vehicle circling the area on both Sunday June 21st, the day Linda went missing, and the day before.

Starting point is 00:18:01 By July 1st, 2020, the rumor mill was really working overtime in this tight-knit community, and police had to urge likeister county residents, both inside and outside the Amish Church, to stop spreading rumors about Linda and her disappearance, and that they were doing everything they could to bring resolution to her case themselves. I just kind of wonder what these theories or rumors even were, you know, like, what is there really to say about it? You know, they have video footage, they're looking into it. What else can you really say?

Starting point is 00:18:33 Well, a lot of the rumors were really just about her leaving the Amish religion willingly and that she had gone off and kind of run away. And then the other rumors were really about her having officially been met with foul play. Whereas at this point in the investigation, police thoroughly believed that she had been abducted and likely been met with foul play, but they have not found her remains or any real physical evidence. All they have to go off right now is the video cameras, which are very very useful. And as they dive into the moors we're about to get into, they find a lot more. But people just saying that

Starting point is 00:19:10 she ran away from her religion and that she was met with foul play. It's like, hold your horses, like we're working on it, you know. And right around this time is when a huge discovery was made because the police identified this suspicious vehicle as a red Kia belonging to Hustow Smoker, who was a man living in Paradise, Pennsylvania, which is just about 8 minutes southwest of Birdon Hand. Hustow also worked in nearby Gap, Pennsylvania, located about 17 minutes away from where Linda was from.

Starting point is 00:19:42 So on July 8, 2020, investigators surveyed the area in which Hustow worked, which was a water treatment center called Dutch Land Inc, and observed his car parked outside, which was an exact match to the one in the surveillance footage. Police then tracked his movements and followed him home from work at 5.25pm that day to his apartment on the Lincoln highway. Then, the following day, police approached and spoke with Husto for the first time. But Husto, feigning ignorance, denied knowing or even having seen or heard of Linda and maintained that he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Starting point is 00:20:24 But surveillance footage was really beginning to prove him to be a liar. Because while they were reviewing video footage from the area, Hustos Carr could be seen pulled over on the side of Beachdale Road at 12.36pm on the day that Linda went missing. Now four minutes later, a young woman in white was seen walking along the opposite side of Beachdale Road. And as she passed, a figure emerged from the car and crossed the street approaching her. The two then walked back across the street to the vehicle together and shortly after

Starting point is 00:20:58 they drove off. Now, back at the beginning of the investigation, just two days after Linda had vanished, police had responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle parked behind a business in Ronx, Pennsylvania, just down the road from Bird in Hand. This particular vehicle also matched the description of the vehicle that was captured on the security camera footage. The caller alleged that a man had walked around the building, peering inside the doors and windows, and then just left. The following day, the car could be seen there again.

Starting point is 00:21:32 So putting together the movements of this vehicle on the day of Linda's disappearance, with tips that had come in from various residents, police visited this business in which the caller claimed the car had been parked. And on July 10th, after surveying the area closely, the Pennsylvania State Police recovered some of Linda's clothing that was buried about 7 inches into the ground, including her dark colored stockings which had been knotted together. Before that quick break, Heath told us that police found the clothes that Linda was believed to have been wearing on the day that she went missing. The recovery of the clothes was a devastating discovery, but it also led them one step closer to locating Linda. Her family confirmed that the buried clothing

Starting point is 00:22:47 was the church clothing that she had been wearing that day right down to her dark colored stockings. The sight of the discovery of her clothing was about three miles or close to five kilometers from where she disappeared. So it wasn't too far, but it was out of the immediate area. Now accessing cell records for Hustle Smoker, authorities were able to determine that he was in the vicinity of the Bronx area where Linda's clothing was found, making them believe

Starting point is 00:23:17 even more that he was the one to bury them. While they still lack the knowledge of Linda's whereabouts, they had enough circumstantial evidence to connect her disappearance to 34-year-old Hustos Smoker. And let's dive into his past a bit here. So until the age of 7, he was living on the streets in the Dominican Republic, though some sources kind of differ on this, like some say that he was actually from Costa Rica, some say the Dominican Republic, so we're not totally sure. But either way, after this, he was adopted by a men and a couple named Deb and Vernon

Starting point is 00:23:53 Smoker. By the way, I know a lot of people kind of group Amish and men and nights together. They did both originate from the same religious movement, but men and night followers have kind of embraced a slightly more liberal stance on a lot of issues than the omnis, such as technology and electronics in the home just to name a couple. So Hustle's parents are not reportedly strict followers of the faith, but they did belong to the local men and night church. Growing up in Likester County, Hustle was an all-state

Starting point is 00:24:25 wrestler and a pretty decent student, but shortly after graduating high school, he started to lose his way. At the time of Linda's disappearance, Hustle was still on probation from another string of crimes. At 20 years old, he and his brother Victor had committed a crime spree consisting of multiple burglaries and robberies. Between August 8th and 13th of 2006, so 14 years before Linda's abduction, the two had used BB guns to hold up multiple stores and farmers markets in the area. But basically the employees and the customers that were being threatened by the brothers were not aware that it was a BB gun.

Starting point is 00:25:03 They thought it was a real gun, so they were terrified. And Hustle was sentenced to 12 and a half years, to 30 years in prison for this, but the judge explained to Hustle and his family that he could have imposed a much worse sentence, but that he instead decided to construct a sentence for which, quote, "'Sisity is protected, but that you could still come out and lead a reasonable life,' you know, believing that Hustle could be rehabilitated, and possibly become an upstanding citizen after a hard stint in prison." But for what we know now, this is such a frustrating decision, obviously hindsight's 2020, but

Starting point is 00:25:39 if you was only kept in prison, this would not have happened to Linda. So his parents were present at the trial and they were supportive of the judge's ruling and agreed that a lesson needed to be taught. Deb Smoker admitted in court that Hustle had, quote, "...bend trouble since we got him, but added that they would continue to be there for him during his sentence, and that he had a large extended family and community at church to fall back on. Vernon echoed that he believed in serving an appropriate amount of time for crimes that he committed,

Starting point is 00:26:12 but also kindly asked for justice. Who still himself said to the judge, quote, they raised me better than this. I'm sorry for what I did and the people I hurt, including my family, but I'm glad they're here. So with good behavior, he served the minimum prison term while his brother and co-conspirator Victor was released in 2016. But Husta was still on probation after his release, meaning he was required to adhere to a very strict set of rules, but still, he had been free for just 16 months when he abducted Linda.

Starting point is 00:26:48 So in the case of Linda's disappearance with the odds stacked against him, Hustle was arrested on July 10, 2020, just three weeks after Linda's abduction. The district attorney announced his arrest the following day and also announced that they had reason to believe that she had been the victim of serious bodily harm, though they did not yet confirm how they knew this. Sadly, a couple weeks later on Monday, July 23, 2020, fearing the worst, investigators halted all volunteer and community searches, and though they believe they had the man responsible for Linda's disappearance, they still didn't have Linda.

Starting point is 00:27:29 And because of that, rumors just continued to circulate the small community, and of course people were really talking about Hustos' rest, and this actually revealed one particularly strange rumor that happened to be true. Linda and Hustow were technically related. So one of Hustow's adoptive grandparents had been born into an Amish home, and coincidentally, the two were third cousins, but obviously not biologically related because of Hustow's adoption, but technically they were related distantly. So this likely didn't have any bearing on what happened to her, like I don't think they knew they were related, but it's definitely really odd detail. At the one month mark of Linda having gone missing, Hustle was supposed to have a preliminary hearing,

Starting point is 00:28:19 but with no remains, investigators were just at a complete loss. So police, the FBI, and the Lycuser County District Attorney's Office continued to just beg the public for information and widely circulated the image of Hustos Carr and, of course, the photo of Linda hoping to generate another tip. The last time the community had been rocked by a crime of this magnitude was 40 years prior, and a somewhat similar scenario. In New Holland, about 20 minutes from Birdon Hand, a 14-year-old girl vanished and was found murdered two months later. On July 31, 1980, Evelyn Fisher was summoned to clean the home of a 29-year-old man named

Starting point is 00:29:04 Gerald Zimmerman. Evelyn was on summer break and the home of a 29 year old man named Gerald Zimmerman. Evelyn was on summer break and she cleaned houses to supplement her family's income. And according to Gerald, he was moving out of a rental home just around the corner from where Evelyn lived with her family, and needed to leave it in pristine condition, as you know, all renters should. But the last time Evelyn's family saw her, she was rounding the corner walking toward Gerald's house. Later that day, a man now determined to be Gerald himself, drove by the Fisher's home and asked her brother, who was in the front

Starting point is 00:29:36 yard at the time, if he knew where his sister was. Now by 6 pm, so 7 hours after she had left for the cleaning job, her family knew that something was wrong and reported her missing. But at this point, Gerald had had multiple run-ins with the police before he was even connected to the crime, so obviously this guy was a huge piece of shit before what he did to Evelyn. Police were called to his residence that evening, responding to a possible hostage situation but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Starting point is 00:30:07 Then the following morning police were called again when he was threatening to kill himself and he was transported to a psychiatric hospital. Months later on October 9, 1980, Evelyn's body was found in a wooded area on Rank Road in New Holland, so just down the street from where she lived with her family, which was actually on the same street that Gerald's home was. Police determined that Gerald had tied Evelyn up, transported her to the woods, beaten and assaulted her, and then left her there to die.

Starting point is 00:30:40 With this discovery, Gerald was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. And as you can imagine, the case shook this small and usually very safe community, just like Linda's disappearance. And for the most part, things felt pretty safe for multiple decades until Hustle made the terrible decision to abduct 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfuz. In late July of 2020, Evelyn's mother Ruth Fisher, who was now in her 80s, visited the Stoltzfuz family on their farm, paying tribute to their girls and commiserating about the horrors they had experienced.

Starting point is 00:31:15 After Linda's case was drawing comparisons to Evelyn's for their shocking nature, the Likester County Commissioner responded, quote, �Strangeer abductions are very rare. Likester County is a very safe county. But they do happen from time to time, and when it does, it's devastating and it's scary." On August 5th, Hustle appeared in court for preliminary hearing, and prosecutors obviously had their work come out for them with no body, but police had additional evidence, a zip tie found buried with Linda's clothing that was believed to have bound her hands.

Starting point is 00:31:51 Search warrants for his phone records revealed that he had texted and called his brother repeatedly around the same time that Linda is believed to have been abducted. Based on all the evidence stacked against him by this point, Hustow was officially charged with murder on Monday, December 21, 2020. But this very cold and snowy winter made it increasingly difficult to continue searching for Linda's remains, though they felt confident that she was out there somewhere. Then, a team consisting of members of the East Lampeter Township Police, the FBI, and the Pennsylvania State Police, located human remains.

Starting point is 00:32:34 Now while they needed to be tested to confirm their identity, the search party was certain that they belonged to Linda, and even more incriminating, they were found in the brush alongside a railroad track in gap Pennsylvania right behind the water treatment center where Hustle had worked. The following day her family had their answer because confirmed by dental records the remains were Linda's. the remains were lindas. So this guy didn't even go out of the way to take lindas remains to a different place. He just right behind where he worked. So ridiculous. I mean luckily we don't you know we don't want him to have hidden her remains far but yeah he was right behind his work. So the Lake Ister County District Attorney who

Starting point is 00:33:22 has Heather Adams said quote in a preliminary review, the coroner has determined the remains are female of relevant age and dress and shoes are consistent to those worn by Linda on the day of her disappearance. Yesterday's discovery, while sad and shocking for some, it was a good day for law enforcement, it provided closure. That family can give their daughter a proper burial and that's meaningful. She was found on railroad property wrapped in a tarp. Officials believed Smoker killed her within hours of the kidnapping and buried her where her bra and stalking were found along Harvest Road. They believe he then moved the body several days later to where it was found yesterday.

Starting point is 00:34:08 Okay, so he did actually move the body, but that's the weird thing here is like he buried her in like a rural area, and then, you know, when police were kind of catching onto him, he dug her up and then literally moved her right behind where he worked. Yeah, exactly. This guy is an idiot.

Starting point is 00:34:28 Well, on April 26, 2021, her family was finally able to lay her to rest in a proper ceremony where more than 100 people gathered at the Meyer Cemetery to memorialize her, and the street was lined with nearly 70 horses and buggies. Authorities determined that Hustow had initially buried her body and clothing in the shallow grave in Ronx, Pennsylvania, but later, fearing discovery, like he said, he dug her body up and moved her to her resting place in Gap, but he left behind her clothing. In autopsy revealed that she had died of strangulation from a shoelace, and that Hustow had then stabbed her in the neck to confirm that she was dead, which is just so horrifying and brutal.

Starting point is 00:35:15 She was just walking home. Yeah. She had also been sexually assaulted during the attack against her. But back at the courtroom, Hustow's lawyer built his defense around trying to evoke pity from the courtroom, and I fucking hate when this happens. So he explained that Hustow would grown up with nothing in an orphanage, and that he had been physically and sexually abused, and that he had lost his birth mother at a young age.

Starting point is 00:35:39 Which is horrible if true, but it doesn't give you the right to do those things to innocent people. No, it does not give you the right to do those things to innocent people. No, it does not give you the right to kill someone. And while serving his sentence for the robberies, his sister passed away, so his attorney insisted that Hustle was just someone who had lost his way, saying, quote, I still have a hard time coming to grips that the person I've come to know is the person charged with these heinous crimes. There's no logical explanation for what he did next.

Starting point is 00:36:06 To this day, he wishes he could take it all back. It's just so frustrating to hear this because like you committed some crimes, allegedly regretted it and apologized and said you knew better, then you went to prison for 12 whole years, and then you get out and you do this to an innocent young woman like like I don't have sympathy for you dude like yeah zero sympathy and then the fact that he's like you know oh well and you know the first time he was arrested it's like oh well he came from this you know good religious family and you know he's saying he's saying that he knows he messed up

Starting point is 00:36:40 and that he was raised better than this let's you know, like, take it easy on him. And it's like now he's trying to use the same excuse, exactly, in a murder trial. Yeah, like fuck you dude. No, you don't get these two chances after two major fuck ups. Like you rob people at gunpoint, yes it was a BB gun, but still.

Starting point is 00:37:01 And you go to prison, like I said, like, and then you just do something way worse, and you're expecting people to feel sorry for you. Yeah, well, I mean, the defense is always going to kind of play that victim card for situations like this because, you know, that's their job, but it is very, very frustrating to see. So while not reflecting an actual diagnosis, his lawyer claimed that Husto was severely depressed in an alcoholic and that he had been drinking when he abducted Linda. The only aspect of that June day that Husto denied and continues to deny to this day is that of the sexual assault.

Starting point is 00:37:38 Now Husto read a statement at the trial that said quote, I thought I would know what to say, but what words can I say? Other than I am sorry to Linda's family, the community, and my supporters, I robbed the family of time and memories. All I can say is I'm sorry. I was raised better than this. Yeah, you said that last time. Yeah, you did.

Starting point is 00:38:00 I'm better than this. I was loved better than this. I am sorry." So no motive was ever discovered or at least not released, but it's been reported that Husto was struggling financially after being released from prison because this crime was clearly not motivated by potential financial gain. Tragically, it appears that Linda was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that Husto saw the opportunity

Starting point is 00:38:25 and he took it. Hustos' smoker pleaded guilty to charges of violation of his probation, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, possession of an instrument of crime, kidnapping, and murder. While initially declining involvement, he was offered a small reduction of his sentence in exchange for leading investigators to the body, so that is how they eventually found Linda's remains. On July 23rd, 2021, Hustle was found guilty and sentenced to between 35 and half and 71 years in prison.

Starting point is 00:39:02 Linda's family declined to attend the trial. Their lawyer stating on their behalf, quote, they are not here because it's too hard for them. Their lawyer added that forgiveness being a cornerstone of Amish faith, the family was working to forgive him for what he had taken away from them. They're bright and loving Linda. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and on Tuesday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. Thank you again to Madison and Morgan for recommending this case. It's such a devastating story.

Starting point is 00:39:50 We're so glad there's resolution but just such a senseless crime. And if you guys have cases out there that you would like to see us cover, make sure that you email us going westpodcast at gmail.com. We're always trying to catch up on those, but like I said, we have a list of hundreds of cases. We're always welcoming more, but it might take us a second to get back to you or to cover the case that you're recommending. Yeah, you know, this, this was a really interesting case today because we don't often talk about the Amish community. I don't think we ever have. I don't think we ever have. Yeah, and just how safe it normally and typically is, and just how tragic it is that somebody took advantage of this young innocent woman who was just mining her own business. Absolutely agree. So thank you guys so much

Starting point is 00:40:35 again for listening and we'll see you next week. All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you

Going West: True Crime - Linda Stoltzfoos // 306

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