Let's Go To Court! - 101: Holiday REMIX

Episode Date: December 25, 2019

It’s time for a remix! In honor of the holiday season, we are re-releasing last year’s ridiculously fun holiday episode. But we’ve added some new stuff, too! There’s a new set of holiday-themed questions at the end, plus SUPREME COURT inductions. Plus: Someone’s mom bought them a SUPREME COURT induction for Christmas. Was it your mom? Listen to find out! Around the holidays, a lot of people bake cookies for their neighbors. It’s supposed to be a nice, friendly gesture. But boy, can it backfire! Teenagers Taylor Ostergaard and Lindsey Zellitti learned that lesson the hard way when they anonymously left a plate of cookies at Wanita Young’s house. Their late night cookie drop scared the crap out of Wanita. She was so shaken that she went to the hospital the next day, suffering from what appeared to be a heart attack. Then Brandi tells us about the time Santa robbed a bank. The robbery took place on December 23, 1927, in Cisco, Texas. A man dressed as Santa Claus entered First National Bank. His armed accomplices followed. Together, the men terrorized the customers and emptied the bank’s safe. Afterward, Santa and his gang took off. What followed was the largest manhunt Texas has ever seen.   And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: The book, “The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese,” by Adam Freedman “Family says they are under attack in cookie caper,” Associated Press “Nation rallies around girls sued by neighbor over late-night cookies,” East Bay Times “Teens sued for cookie delivery to neighbor,” ABC News In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “The Santa Claus Bank Robbery” by Boyce House, Startling Detective Adventures “The Night the Posse Chased Santa Claus” by Maggie Van Ostrand, TexasEscapes.com “Santa Claus Bank Robbery” by Walter F. Pilcher, Texas State Historical Association “Santa Claus Bank Robbery” wikipedia.org

One semester of law school. One semester of criminal justice. Ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, remix! Merry Christmas, motherfuckers! Is that inappropriate? It's the holidays, Brandi. Sorry. I was not expecting that.

How rude! No, happy holidays, everybody. Yes. So, first thing, right off the top. This is a re-release yes and you're gonna love it it's last year's holiday episode we picked holiday themed crimes i still remember your case very well it was the santa bank robbery yes nuts yeah and you did you cheated and did a case about cookies that did not happen at christmas I'm sorry. Are you not going to eat cookies at Christmas time?

Yes, I absolutely am going to eat cookies at Christmas time. So we hope you'll enjoy listening to this episode again. But if you're like, I'm going to get a re-release, I can't. No, you should. Because you've got to stay tuned until the end. That's right. We've got exciting stuff. And you know what?

We've got questions. We've got inductions. It's very exciting. And by the way? We got questions. We got inductions. It's very exciting. And by the way, someone's mom got them the gift of Patreon. So someone's mom, we love her, reached out to us a couple weeks ago and was like, I want to get my child. I'm not going to give away any. Don't give away any details.

my child i'm not going to give away any don't give away any details i want to give my child the gift of lgtc patreon which who could blame her i mean it's the gift that keeps on giving at the seven dollar level which is what this wonderful mom sprang for you are a supreme court member yeah and you get bonus you don't even know who you are yet you get bonus episodes you get into the discord you get our monthly video they're gonna get to see us make sausage brunch oh my gosh i thought you were gonna say make sweet love i got very uncomfortable why would i say that they're gonna see us get to make sweet sausage brunch yeah guys so if you want to um join the supreme court for $7, you get to see our sex tape. What? What?

That's what you thought I was going to say? This is a Christmas episode. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays, everyone. Happy holidays. Here's us banging. Happy whatever you celebrate. That's right.

We'll catch you on the flippity flip. Flippity flop. Flippity flop. We'll catch you on the flippity flop. And enjoy a holiday episode. We'll catch you on the flippity-flop and enjoy a holiday episode. One semester of law school. One semester of criminal justice.

Two experts. I'm Kristen Pitts. I'm Brandi Egan. Let's go to court. On this episode, I'll talk about the dangers of baking cookies for your neighbors. And I'll be talking about that time Santa robbed a bank. Oh, Santa. Merry Christmas, ladies and gentlemen. And Happy New Year. Yeah. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa. Merry Kwanzaa? Did I say Merry Kwanzaa? No, I don't know what they say. Is it happy Kwanzaa?

Oh, I don't know. I don't know. Well, happy holidays. Happy holidays to everyone. Yes. Whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate. Thanks for tuning in to this very special holiday edition of Let's Go to Court. I put up my Christmas tree just for this occasion.

Oh, what have we been looking at for? Shut up. Three weeks before this. Now the listeners don't think they're special. You get that propel nice and stirred up there, Kristen? Here we go. Getting those electrolytes. I need them.

I'm feeling very lightheaded. If you pass out on this episode, we'd just be par for the course for how this day has started. Yeah, guys, just so you know how this is going. Brandi showed up. At our previously agreed upon time, which was 5 p.m. I put it in my calendar. Hold on.

I'm going to look at my calendar. Okay, here we go. Pulling it up. The lie detector says. Oh, shit. It says 5 o'clock! Yes! Damn it. Well, the important thing is I knew

in my head it was 5.30, so I got back from a run at like 4.45. Maybe 4.50. I was like, I've got to run. I'm gonna go take a shower. I went upstairs. Kind of just run I'm gonna go take a shower I went upstairs kind of just stood around for a second and then I heard Norman talking to someone and I was like oh my god oh my

god Brandi's showing up half an hour early I would never show up half an hour early how dare you I would never like legit that would never happen because would. I would see that as being super rude. This week, I showed up an hour early to something. What? You know me. I'm not an early person either. So for my novel writing group. Are you operating on some kind of different time zone this week, Kristen?

I think I am just like, something's wrong with me. Something's very wrong. So like, I don't know. I was all stressed out. I had this novel writing group that I always go to on Thursdays. So like we always meet a little before five. I don't know what the hell I was thinking.

Like I stopped being able to like recognize time. I got there a little before four. I don't know. And I like, I never beat her to the place. So I was like, I texted her. I was like,

Hey, I snacked us a booth. And Kitty was like, uh, right, right now. You did this now. And I had to be like,

Oh, whoops. So we'll see how we do on this episode, folks. I can't wait to see what happens. It probably won't be good. All right, well, first things first, I do know that I'm going first. Excellent. So that's a step above.

That is, yes. A step above what? Above that one time when we had that really awkward banter in the beginning. Yeah, where you were like, kept waiting for me to start. Yeah, and it was my turn to start. Oops. Okay. Brandy.

Around the holidays, some people like to bake cookies for their neighbors. I don't bake them for my neighbors. Just because I don't really know my neighbors that well. How long have you lived where you've lived? Like 10 years? Yeah, what about it? And both my neighbors have also lived there as long as I have. So I don't know.

We're just not a close neighborhood. It's not really a neighborhood. So kind of a weird little. Collection of weirdos. Just homes. Just like a couple of homes and then a park. Okay. So anyway, I bake cookies.

I think I said bake weird. You said boik. I bake cookies for my friends and family members and stuff like that. Yeah. Yeah. You bake amazing cookies. Thank you. I do sometimes bake cookies for my neighbors for the holidays.

But man, I'm about to tell you this story. Is that going to keep you from ever doing that again? This will scare the pants off of all the nice people listening to this podcast. Excellent. Ready? Prepare to get your pants blown off. Pants blown off. Okay, so just to be clear, this terrifying crime did not take place around the holidays,

but I do think it's timely because this is a time of year where you do take big- I see you've cheated on our holiday-themed episode. I really don't think I have because this is a timely warning for people, you know? Okay, let me just say for a second, it was your idea to do a Christmas-themed episode. Maybe it was my idea for me to listen to a Christmas theme. And I succeeded. Wonderful. Okay, we're in Durango, Colorado. 18-year-old Taylor Ostergaard and 19-year-old Lindsay Zaletti were hanging out when they got an idea.

Why don't we make some chocolate chip cookies and some sugar cookies and take batches to our neighbors? Excellent. Okay. So nice. Nice? Really? It seems nice. Hmm.

That's one person's opinion. No! They said, hey, why don't we make this kind of fun? We'll do it anonymously. We'll make up these little plates, and we'll put a heart-shaped note on each of the plates that say, Have a great night from the T and L Club. All right.

Lindsay later said, We just wanted to do something nice for other people, to let them know other people care about them, even though they didn't know who it was. Okay, this is shaping up oddly, because I would never eat cookies just left on my front porch by a stranger. Okay, well, maybe you're descended from royalty or something. You're afraid of being poisoned. You would eat random cookies left on your front porch? Here's the thing. When you say it like that, I would say no, but there have been times like at work. I remember there was one time at work.

I like went to a meeting. I came back to my desk and there was a cupcake just on my desk. No note, no nothing. No one else in the office was eating cupcakes. You looked around to see if anyone was looking and then you just inhaled it in one bite. I didn't even look around that much. I just ate it. And it wasn't until later that I thought, God, I'd be easy to poison.

Yeah! So I don't know. I might eat them. I'm pretty particular about where my food comes from. You're particular about food in general. What do you mean, where it comes from?

I don't... Do you do a potluckluck yeah so you go to a potluck i typically won't eat anything that comes from a house that i've never been to before that's because i don't know what conditions that was prepared in uh yeah no i'm i'm with you yeah i think okay i think big potlucks like at work and stuff are super gross because you just don't know. You just don't know. I'll eat something at them if I can see that it's clearly like packaged from the store.

Yeah. Or if like my good work friend made it. Yeah. Those are like the instances where I'll actually eat it. But like, okay, so for for example i bowl in a bowling league yes so the wednesday so next the wednesday before christmas i realized we're recording before christmas so some wednesday the wednesday before christmas we do like they do like a food night where now people know that we're not talking to them live yeah i think they already knew that

um people bring in treats and they put it all out on a table and whatever. I don't know any of those people. I'm not eating any of that. Never been to any of their houses. Unless I can clearly tell that that was purchased and brought directly here. I'm not eating it. I admire your self-control. I really don't have that much self-control obviously you do though because like i can tell you if if i'm in a potluck situation yeah i'm kind of snobby i've kind of got

my nose in the air but if something looks good enough yeah here's the other thing i also don't try dips usually because i don't like mayonnaise. And I'm always worried that they're mayonnaise based. You know, people get those like dip mixes. Yeah. They make a dip and it's always mayonnaise based. So I don't eat dips either. You're cutting yourself off from a lot of fun by not trying to dip.

But I have never been to a get together that I didn't have fun at, Kristen. So now I want to invite you to some shitty get-together. I bring the fun with me. You know, it's true, though. You do really bring the fun. I'm trying to think if I've ever been to a get-together with you that was lame. Probably not.

No, it really always has been a good time. Okay. Arrogant bastard. So, Lindsay and Taylor made the cookies, got into their car, and started driving around their neighborhood in rural Durango. Their rule was, if a house had its porch lights on, they'd stop. They'd run up to the front door, knock, leave the cookies, and then run away.

At about 10.30 p.m. What? Yes, I am with you. They're doing it at 10.30 p.m. What? Yes. They're doing it at 10.30 p.m.? I'm with you. So here's the thing, and I can't remember the exact time frame. They started, I think, at like 9.30, and they just, you know, they're in this rural area. They kept going, I agree with you completely.

It's too late. It's too late. It's way too late to be ringing people's doorbells. I don't care how much thought you put into those cookies. Yeah. At about 10.30 p.m., they knocked on the door of their neighbor, Juanita Young. But here's the thing. Juanita was terrified.

Her house had been burglarized not that long ago. So she's just sitting there in her house at 1030 at night and she sees these shadowy figures outside. Yeah, that would be terrifying. And they're banging on her door. Yeah. So she yelled,

who's there? Who's there? Who's there? Three times. No answer. And they said nothing. Yeah. And so she just

got out her shotgun and shot through the front door. The girls stayed silent because they wanted it to be a surprise. Eventually, the shadowy figures ran away. Juanita was freaked out. She immediately called the police and soon an officer arrived the officer kind of checked things out looked around and determined you know there doesn't seem to be any crime here there's no vandalism no evidence of anything

sinister it's just a plate of cookies but Wanda kind kind of wasn't, wasn't, or I'm sorry, Juanita. You are the worst at people's names. You change people's names all the time. I'm so lightheaded right now. Oh my God, do you need to eat something? You know, okay, folks, I'm. Tell them about how you're trying to make your skeleton smaller. Here's the deal, guys. I'm... Tell them about how you're trying to make your skeleton smaller. Here's the deal, guys.

I'm super cheap. I've got a wedding I'm going to in, like, two weeks. And, like, I went shopping for a dress, but there's one that I really like. It's a little snug, so I'm doing keto. And I am about to pass out right now. Okay, because you have nowhere to lose weight. It's just bones. Well, I appreciate that greatly.

Like, your skeleton takes up, like, a specific amount of room. You can't make it smaller. Tell that to this dress that is hugging me in all the wrong places. So, yeah, I, uh, you said I might be having the keto flu. I bet you have it. I might be having it too. How do I look though? Beautiful as always radiant.

I know that's not true because I stink real bad. I can't smell you. So that's good. Lucky for you. I still have this sinus thing. Oh God. Okay. you so that's good lucky for you i still have this sinus thing okay okay so wanda juanita yeah wandra whatever she's still freaked out her husband isn't home she felt really uneasy so she took her 86 year old-old mother and adult daughter, and they all just spent the night at her sister's house. She's like, you know, these weirdos were at my door at 1030 knocking.

Don't like it one bit. So Juanita goes to her sister's house, but she could not get herself calmed down. The next morning, she was still upset. She was shaking. Her stomach was in knots. It's kind of hard to know what was going on. It seems like she was having a panic attack. But at any rate, she went to the emergency room with symptoms that seemed like a heart attack.

Somehow, word got out about what happened. The girls found out that their attempt at this nice gesture had just scared the shit out of their neighbor, and they felt awful. This was totally not their intention to send their neighbor to the hospital. Taylor said, We had no idea about the burglars. We felt so horrible when we found out that we had caused someone harm or made them feel upset. So they wrote Juanita an apology note and said, essentially, we are so sorry. Yeah.

Did they leave it with a plate of cookies on her doorstep at 1030 at night? At midnight, they went not aggressively. They wore ski masks. Should they not have worn ski masks? Yeah, I think that might have been what did what put it in their parents reached out and said please let us pay for your medical expenses we're so sorry about all this we insist but months went by and things got a little weird both the Ostergaards and the Zoletti families were like hey we want to pay your medical bills.

We will absolutely do it. Just show us the bill. Yeah. And then Juanita says that they then said, once we pay for your medical bills, sign an agreement saying that after we pay your bill, we're all squared away. Yeah. Juanita thought about it. But she didn't like that. She didn't think that the girls' apologies were sincere.

Really? Yeah. Wow. I know. I know. I think they're going way above and beyond what would have been necessary. I agree. Wow. Come on, Juanita. She was angry.

She thought the girls needed to learn a lesson. And the best way to teach them that lesson was by saying, Let's go to court! So Juanita sued Taylor and Lindsay in small claims court. She wanted her medical expenses paid plus $3,000 in additional damages, including for lost wages. What wages did she lose? I'm not really sure. It was hard to find the exact court documents on this, but I think she was being kind of silly.

Yeah, sounds like it. I also, for the record, think it was crazy to knock on someone's door at 10 30 at night yeah but i mean but i think saying oh my gosh we're so sorry that was never our intention yeah i think that's enough i agree and especially let us pay your medical bills yeah wow great yeah we're all squared away. Apparently not. So they go to court. The girls had dropped off cookies at nine different houses that night. And six of the people who received the cookies wrote letters, which were entered into the court record, saying that they really enjoyed the cookies.

Ultimately, the judge, Doug Walker, sided with anita with juanita though he ordered taylor and lindsey to pay about 900 to cover juanita's medical bills he said they'd been out pretty late doing this. He kind of sympathized with Juanita, but he said he didn't think that Taylor and Lindsay acted maliciously. After the judge handed down his decision, Taylor sobbed. That day, neither of the girls talked to the media. They said they didn't want to say anything hurtful, so they decided not to say anything at all. Yeah.

I don't blame them. I think that's crazy. You think the judge made the wrong call? I don't. I mean, I'm glad he didn't award Juanita. I agree. All the extra stuff. I don't know.

I think that. I think it was a nice gesture of them to offer to pay the medical bills, but to now have it court ordered. Like, yeah, I think it's kind of ridiculous. I, I think it is.

I think you have to ask yourself what's reasonable to expect when I go and knock on somebody's door at 1030 at night and I don't answer? I think it's reasonable to expect that, hey, they could get kind of freaked out. I don't think it's necessarily reasonable to expect, oh, my God, they're going to get so freaked out that they're going to have a panic attack and have to go to the hospital. Exactly. You know, I don't think you can really. I totally agree. But anyway, Juanita did talk to the media.

She said, Wow. Yeah, you're making a face. You think they learned a lesson about being nice to their neighbors? Okay, your face sums up the world's reaction to this story. Yeah. Because in an actual court, Juanita won. But this story made international news.

In the court of public opinion, the girls won. Yeah, I agree. People felt terrible for the two girls. They were like, oh my God, they were just trying to do something nice. Yeah, you know, maybe they didn't do it the exact right way, but what kind of message does this send to them? Yeah. People didn't like the court verdict, so they took action. Otis Spunkmeyer.

The cookie company? Yeah, created a kindness cookie in honor of the girls. Oh, that's nice. And to generate some good PR for themselves. Of course, Kristen. Some news sources didn't name, they just said a cookie company. And I was like, oh, that's shady. They don't want to get any publicity.

Then they gave Taylor and Lindsay a year's supply of cookie dough and countertop ovens. The fuck's a countertop oven? I assume it's one of those like ones that you're like, oh, is that a weird microwave? Oh, no, it's one of those oven things. My in-laws have them. They love them. Okay. Do you know what I'm talking about?

I've never had that conversation before, Kristen. Oh, what's that? A weird microwave? No, it's one of those countertop ovens. With like a twisting nipple motion. Okay, well, I did that with one hand. You're doing it with both hands. I think you're fantasizing

that I did it with both. Is this your sick Christmas hit? You turned on your oven? Good God. Brandi, this is a family podcast. I don't think it is. Our explicit podcast is great for kids.

That's right. No, it's not. Please don't let your kids listen to this. Denver radio station KOA covered the story, and at one point they decided, hey, why don't we see if we can get people to donate enough money to cover what Taylor and Lindsay owe Juanita? Yeah.

And boy, did they. The girls only owed Juanita like 900 bucks. I think it was like 930 bucks. Yeah. But the station raised 5,000. Oh, that's awesome. All the extra money went to a charity for Columbine High School shooting victims. I think this was around the early 2000s.

Everybody wanted a piece of this story. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno called. So did the Today Show. But Taylor and Lindsay turned them down. So did the Today Show. But Taylor and Lindsay turned them down. Lindsay's mother said they turned down the Leno show because they were afraid he might make jokes at Juanita's expense. Wow, they really are sweet girls. Yes.

Yes. Oh, that's terrible. Then John Elway reached out. Who's that, Kristen? He is a football player. Shut your mouth. Do you want to tell everyone about a jerk you were when you offered me $10,000? I offered.

We were talking about basketball players the other day. I am a big college basketball fan. Not a big NBA fan, but Kansas Jayhawks huge fan Rock Chalk Jayhawk and so we were talking about it at lunch the other day and first I asked Kristen to name five NBA players which I did she did fabulously and then I told her I told her first of all her NBA players were all like have been retired for 20 years so I asked her to name two current players. I did that, right? She did it.

And they were both somehow related to the Kardashians. What are you saying? I know those guys from the hours I've spent watching basketball. So then I told Kristen that I would pay her $10,000 if she could name me the, was it, did I ask for any current college basketball player? No, you were like the center. I asked specifically for the center for the Jayhawks. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. He's seven foot tall. Otis Spunkmeyer. Kristen, as I predicted, could not come up with his name. You should have seen the look on her. I will give you $100 if you can remember his name right now. This conversation happened three days ago.

You know, I'm very flattered that you dropped the price so much because it shows that you feel like my memory is pretty good. I feel like there's maybe a chance you can come up with it. I remember. So it's an African name. I just told you he's African. Did you just say it? Oh, damn it.

No, I can't. As a bouquet. You guys, I did remember. I just didn't want to take $100 from Brandy. This close to Christmas? I can't. As a bouquet. You guys, I did remember. I just didn't want to take $100 from Brandy. This close to Christmas? She just wants to buy those Christmas shoes for her mom. Oh, God.

Oh, I hate that song. I hate that song so much. Can you baby? God. God. Okay. Torture. For real torture. Yeah.

Recordings of children singing Christmas songs. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I don't care for it. Also, With or Without You by U2. I know you love. I don't. I don't like U2. I am a huge music person.

And I know they're a huge popular band. Cannot stand U2. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I thought you were going to fight me on this. I'm not. I knew that would surprise you because I knew you were going to be like,

I know you're a fan. You like music. You're so good at imitating me. Anyway. So they turned it down because they didn't want anybody poking fun at Juanita or Wanda or Anita. Or any of her other aliases. Oh, then John Elway reached out. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Who I'm totally familiar with because he played football and has been in many commercials. Ask me anything. Wait, do you not know anything about John Elway? I just, Zach and I went to Colorado last year for our 10th wedding anniversary. And we had our anniversary dinner at Elway's Steakhouse, which is owned by John Elway. Well, congratulations. That sounded sarcastic. I really do congratulate you two.

Thank you. Let's see. Okay. God, I'm going to say this for the 50th time then john elway i know i know he wanted to meet taylor and lindsey but they were like nah really so taylor was the captain of her basketball team, and they had a game, so she didn't want to ditch her team. And Lindsay had already committed to judge a livestock show, and she didn't want to go back on her word. Judging a livestock show? It said that she was, like, set to go to college in Kansas.

I'm thinking K-State for sure. For sure. Yeah. Agriculture. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it. Letters poured in with support for the two girls.

And even though their legal expenses were already covered, people still wanted to do something. So people started donating to Taylor and Lindsay's college funds. Wow. They also donated to scholarship funds for Columbine High School students. That's cool. Yeah. Things did not go as well for Juanita, though. Maybe because she was being an asshole.

Well, you might feel like maybe her husband, Herb, was the real asshole here. Okay. Or not the real asshole. Maybe like they were a good match. What did you call him? Herb. Oh, that's right. I like they were a good match. What did you call him? Herb. Oh, that's right.

I thought you said Herb. No, no. His real name is Parsley. Everyone hated them. They got hate mail. That would be really rough. Yeah, no, it's... I do think she made the wrong decision, but...

But yeah, you don't... Yeah. I don't think she could have predicted international hate mail. No, definitely not. Nor is that warranted. No. Yeah. People have too much time on their hands.

Well, and you're no better than she is now. Yeah. Yeah. Which, again, I think this happened in the early 2000s. So can you imagine if it happened today? Oh, my gosh. Juanita and Herb have no idea. No idea.

It got so bad that they unplugged their phone at night because they were getting so many nasty calls. From the charger? It was the landline. Then random people started leaving elaborately wrapped cookie baskets on their door. Oh, shit. At like three o'clock in the morning. Someone even sent them an envelope filled with Oreo crumbs. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. Not cool. And a waste of an Oreo. No kidding. Maybe. Do you know what I'd do for an Oreo right now? I can imagine. I'd turn the knobs on my oven. Turn that oven right on. I wonder if maybe it was a full Oreo when they put it in the mail and through the processing became oreo crumbs that's it we're gonna abandon the podcast and we're gonna do a series just investigating this little wonderful i think it really depends on how far it came from yeah where was it in a padded envelope because oreos kind of stick

together pretty well they do but if it's going through a sorting machine. Uh-huh. I'm just thinking that thing's flinging all over the place. I wish you guys could see Brandy's impression of a sorting machine. It's like. And then there's conveyor belts. It's going up. It kind of looked like you were trying to do like the walk like an egyptian dance but

you were way too hyper yeah that was my conveyor belt impression yeah very good juanita said i cannot believe that the american people have made superstars out of these girls what a terrible lesson they have learned that they they can take half-truths and, with the assistance of the media, generate such an unwarranted outpouring of sympathy and financial support. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. Girl, back down. Yeah. Calm down. I mean.

Yeesh. Half-truths. Yeah, where are the half-truths? And, like, yeah, they're getting a lot of sympathy and financial support. They didn't ask for any of it. No, and they didn't go on Jay Leno because they're trying to be nice. Wow. She said that the negative attention was so bad that she was thinking about resigning from her job as volunteer director of the local

food bank. She'd been running the food bank since 1990. Wow. Yeah, I think that's unnecessary too. Like, why would you stop? Yeah. Oh, gosh. Herb told the Associated Press, we've gotten horrendous phone calls, tons of hate mail, threats to our life. It's horrible. Nobody didn't say anything. Right. So I don't know if maybe later they did some interviews or something. Wow. He said, so i don't know if maybe later they did some interviews or something wow he said now they are caught in something they can't control which hi what spreading kindness yeah and raising money for scholarships yeah they've lost control. Those assholes. Yeah. So apparently Herb took his anger out on the girls.

Taylor's parents requested a restraining order against him. They said he'd been making harassing phone calls. I'm sure he was. Yeah. He sounds a little unhinged. Yeah. He admitted that he did call the Ostergards when he found out that Taylor and Lindsay were talking to a newspaper. Apparently, he told them the gloves were off.

Okay. Again, all started with cookies, folks. Careful out there. The Ostergards were granted a temporary restraining order against Herb Young. Things got so bad between the Youngs and the Ostergaards that they sat down together with their church elders. So both families are Mormon. But ultimately, Herb said,

I'm sorry to say that I will probably never go back to church again. Which again, why would that? Why? What is that solving? I'm not going to work at the food bank anymore. I'm not going to go to church anymore? Why? What is that the solution? Yeah, what is that solving? I'm not going to work at the food bank anymore. I'm not going to go to church anymore. Why? Why?

You're the one that's making the decision to let this negatively impact your life. Do you think maybe he was just like, eh, kind of been looking for an excuse to not. Right? Yeah. Yeah. After all was said and done, Taylor and Lindsay said that the response after the lawsuit was really affirming. They said they'd keep performing acts of kindness and that they were really sorry about what happened with Juanita. Lindsay said, we felt sorry for her and we still feel sorry.

We didn't want to cause this lady any harm at all. The end. Yeah yeah i don't uh i think that herb and juanita handled that completely wrong i agree yeah that's terrible um this did make me think though one time this was a couple years ago, we were over at my parents' house. And, you know, my parents live on quite a bit of property and they have a gate around their property. And it was like a summer night. It was like maybe, gosh, maybe 1030 at night, maybe a little later. All of a sudden there was a knock at their front door.

Which to get to their front door. Yeah, you're walking about a quarter mile. Yeah. And you'd have to get past a gate. So it was kind of like, holy crap. Luckily, Peanut, the most vicious attack dog of all time, was there. And this was before the diabetes. So just imagine her.

We go. We open the door. Peanut's going crazy. And it's like five dudes. What? Yes. Yes, it was like five dudes standing there. They had like fishing equipment.

And they were like, oh, hey. And my dad was like like what's going on and he's kind of like we're all i mean this was freaky oh yeah um that's like a about to be like a home invasion uh yeah and man these dudes could have i mean with no effort whatsoever my dad was like grab peanut by the collar yeah he was going nuts but he clearly wasn't holding her back at all. I was like, okay. And they were like, you know, teens, early 20s. And they were like, oh, we just wanted to know if we could go fishing.

And my dad was like, no. Okay, it's private property. Goodbye. Isn't that the weirdest thing? That's so scary. It was the weirdest thing that's so scary freaky that's so scary but i like i after looking at this i wonder like were those just like kids who had just it was the summertime they just lost track of time and they were just being dumb right hopefully hopefully i mean nothing ever happened so so. Thank goodness. Yes.

Okay, let me go pee real fast. And then on our Christmas episode, we'll talk about a real Christmas story. Oh! Burn! Burn! Okay, smugs McGee. okay smugs mcgee i'm gonna talk about that time santa claus robbed a bank i'm so excited for this okay so the majority of this comes from an article in the march 1930 edition of startling detective adventures the article is called the santa claus bank robbery by boyce house he reported on this case at the time it happened and he sat in court during the

resulting trials on december 23rd 1927 the streets of cisco texas were like something straight out of a christmas carol city sidewalks busy sidewalks were dressed in holiday style as the shoppers rushed home with their treasures in the air there was the feeling of christmas the town square was filled with people rushing around to finish the last of their shopping, and children watched in delight as Santa Claus walked through town. Santa smiled as the kids ran up to him to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. But if their parents had been paying better attention, they would have seen that there was something a bit off about him.

Oh, no. First of all, he was skinny. He'd been doing keto. Yeah. He was also suffering the keto flu. Then there was his suit. It was cheaply made with thin red fabric, and it was lined around the edges with dingy cotton, not fur.

And finally, if anyone had looked closely enough, they would have seen that he was wearing ordinary clothes beneath the Santa suit. Oh, God. His pants and shoes clearly sticking out of the bottom. People let their children... Okay, 1930s. Yeah, it's 1927.

Okay. Today, I'd be like, that guy's a pedo. Yeah. But this Santa was playing to the kids and he stood there stroking his whiskers as he listened to the children's Christmas wishes. Then, when they were done, he continued his walk down Main Street and entered the First National Bank. Inside the bank, a cashier looked up from his desk and said cheerfully, Hello, Santa! But Santa said nothing in return.

Instead, he walked to the center of the bank and stood at that desk where customers fill out their deposit forms and stuff. And again, the cashier called out to him, Hi, Santa! And again, Santa said nothing. Rude. Then, as all eyes were on the silent Santa, three armed men charged into the bank yelling,

Stick them up, everybody! What? No! At first, the people in the bank thought it was some kind of joke or skit or something. But when the men yelled it again and one man fired a shot into the ceiling, they realized it was no joke. One man gathered all of the employees and customers. One man stood guard just inside the door. And the third man stood armed at the teller's window. While all of this was going on, Santa walked through the cashier's office into the

teller's cage and grabbed the gun that was kept beneath the drawer there. Oh no! Now there were four armed men and one of them was Santa Claus. That's terrible! Santa Claus pointed the gun at the teller and ordered her to open the safe. The same one who'd been trying to say, hey, Santa. Different one. That was a cashier. This is the teller. So the cashier is the guy that writes like the cashier's checks and stuff.

He's like a step above a teller. Oh, excuse me. He's got a whole office. Teller has a cage. Did you work at a bank once? I mean, you seem very defensive and knowledgeable. My sister worked at a lot, a couple banks. Yeah.

So he points the gun at her and he's like, open the safe. And as she did so, he pulled a sack labeled Idaho potatoes out from under his suit and he began loading it up. In all, he stuffed it with $12,200 in cash. Ooh, adjusted for inflation.

And $150,000 in securities, which I looked into this. We had a question about what the securities were. It's like stocks and bonds. Oh, okay. According to one article I read. Adjusted for inflation. Yes, bring it on.

It's about $170,000 in cash and almost $2.1 million in securities. Whoa. Yeah. Not bad. Not bad at all. Not a bad haul. What the four armed men had failed to notice

at this point, though, was that shortly after Santa walked into the bank, Mrs. B.P. Blassingame and her... Sorry. It sounds like you made that up on the spot. It's a real name. B.P. Blassingame and her six-year-old daughter, Frances, had followed in behind.

Blassingame's daughter had seen the other children talking to Santa and wanted to tell him what she wanted for Christmas, too. So they had... That's so fucking weird. Also, but... Why did I say that sentence so weird you know what it sounded like it sounded like you had everything written on an index

card and you had to flip it right I just didn't anyway Blast and Game's daughter had seen Santa talking to the other kids and she was like mom I want to tell him what I want for Christmas and so they rushed across the street because they were kind of on the other side of the square they rushed across the street oh no so they walk

in on this armed robbery? By the time they get to where Santa was talking to the other kids, he had already headed off. Right. So they followed him to the bank. Oh, no. As soon as Mrs. Blassingame had realized what was happening inside the bank, she and her daughter had not complied with what the armed men had told everybody to do. So they gathered everybody together.

But Mrs. Blassingame hadn't listened. She and her daughter were inching slowly closer and closer to the side exit. Oh, my. And no one had noticed. Oh, my God. So, like, one guy's watching everybody. Well, not everybody. One guy's watching the. Well, not everybody.

One guy's watching the front door. Uh-huh. One guy's watching the teller cage. And then Santa is in the safe. Right. And so Mrs. Blassingame gets the door open about the same time that Santa got all of the money into the bag. She opens the door, unlatches the screen door because this is the 20 so there's not air conditioning so lots of places had like these exits with these like screen doors so they

could open it up and get like an airflow through the place wait it's a screen door you say we still have screen doors today i think it's weird that a bank would have a side door with a screen on it. I agree, but I think you're over explaining the concept of a screen. Shut up. Anyway, she takes the latch off, which is like a hook, and you put the hook in through the other side. I'm not getting it. And that just keeps the screen door from just like slamming against the door jam in the wind. I'm afraid I just don't quite understand. So she pushes the screen door open and she tells her daughter to run.

And she is taking off after her through the door when one of the men realized what was going on. And he yelled, stop or I'll shoot. Oh, God. But this brave woman could not be stopped. She took off running and she kept running even after she heard a shot ring out. She ran down the alley across a vacant field all the way to the police department where she informed authorities that there was a bank robbery going on at First National Bank. a bank robbery going on at First National Bank.

With the exception of Mrs. Blassingame's escape, everything in the holdup had gone according to plan. With the loot loaded into the bag, the four men headed toward the side door where their getaway car was waiting in the alley. When one of the men peeked out the door to see if they had a clear shot to the car, he saw that there were police posted on both ends of the alley one of the bandits armed with two guns began shooting

in both directions oh that only works in a movie buddy this is what happens next is like a fucking movie okay so he looks out he's like there's police at both ends. Yes. Our getaway car's right there. So he takes two guns and he's like cross shooting. No. Both directions. Out this door. It starts a full on like gun battle. Really?

Yeah. But these robbers will not be deterred. They're like, bullets? Fine. No big deal. So they start gathering up all of the people that are in there. No. And they're using them as human shields.

No. They force them out into the alley. And by this time, the people in town, the citizens of cisco have heard the shots ring out well yeah so what do they do they come running they grab their own guns texas i forgot it was texas they grab their own guns they come running towards the alley there's people everywhere there's guns everywhere bullets are flying every which way these four guys have shoved all of these people out into the alley and they're almost to the car and they are like we gotta we gotta do something to keep them from shooting at us once they get in the car so they grabbed two little girls oh no that were in the bank horrible there's a 10

year old girl named emma ray robinson and a 12 year old girl named laverne comer they'd been in the bank at the time of the robbery so the men grabbed them and forced them into the car because they figure i'm starting to think so what was her face bp yeah what's your blessing game yeah i don't know how i forgot her lesson. I thought she was nuts for sending her six-year-old and herself out of there. But she must have known these guys were super bad dudes. Yeah. Yeah. And clearly they were.

Yeah. And they did this. Oh, my gosh. So they're like, if we get these two little girls in the car, they're not just going to randomly shoot into our car as we drive away. Oh, my gosh. Because the risk of shooting these girls would be too great oh so they shove these girls in the car they all get in the car meanwhile one of them's still like shooting around

these little girls like at the police at the people in the alley and they take off and they take off so fast that they like are going around a corner before the car doors even shut and one of the little girls about falls out of the car they, grab her at the last second and pull her back in. This story is crazy. It's crazy. Holy. So they take off. I've gone completely off script,

so let me figure out where the fuck I am. I like it when you get so into it i know so they take off and the scene they left behind in the alley was a grisly one over 200 bullet holes are counted police chief ge bit bedford and police officer george carmichael lay on the ground critically wounded. Bedford and Carmichael would both succumb to their wounds later. Bedford died on Christmas Day while Carmichael held out until January 17th. Six other citizens were also wounded in the gun battle. Terrible.

Yeah. citizens were also wounded in the gun battle terrible yeah the bandits didn't stop until they made it to the outskirts of town they stopped to take inventory of the situation the car had taken on heavy damage from the gunfire one tire was flat and they were losing gasoline fast but due to bullet holes in the tank like so like at first they thought they'd forgotten to fill up the tank and then they see like no it's coming out it's actually like one of the shots hit the gas tank and so it's just like losing gas and then among the four men two of them were injured one man was critically injured while s Santa had been shot in the jaw and the leg. Shot in the jaw?

Shot in the jaw, yeah. Boy. Deciding that they needed to ditch the getaway car, one of the men stopped an Oldsmobile driven by a 14-year-old boy accompanied by his parents and grandmother. Oh, no. The men forced the family out of the car, but the quick-thinking boy locked the ignition switch as he was getting out of the car. Oh, no. super wounded he's bleeding everywhere um so they load him into the car they load their hostages into the car they load their loot into the car and then they get in the car and then they find out that they can't start it because he's locked the ignition and by this point had the family like they've like run run off yeah whoa yeah so they're like fuck we can't start this car

oh so they're sitting there they're trying to figure out what to do and then they start hearing noises the pursuers are like on they're on their way they can see them in the distance they're like we've got to go so they made the decision to go back to the other car so they move their hostages back to the other car they move to the other car they go to get their guy out that's been shot really bad he's dead he's dead they leave him behind sure they get in the car they go to get their guy out that's been shot really bad he's dead he's dead they leave him behind sure they get in the car they peel out of there wait did they take the money nope what left the money behind that is amazing left the money behind so they're driving and they're like, the only thing we can do is go down like these country roads and get, there's like, they call it like, in these articles, they call it like brush and thicket.

It just keeps getting like heavier and heavier. So they just keep driving this car like as far into this as they can. They're not being pursued anymore. But at some point the car stops. They can't drive anymore. So they abandon the car. And when they abandon the car and take off on foot they leave the two little girls in it oh geez the car was later found the girls

were fine okay thank goodness but now these guys are on foot and the search continues oh my god and they don't have money they have nothing they've got nothing now they've got nothing but one of the guys killed and one of the guys shot. Okay. At what point did they realize they'd forgotten the money? I don't know. Can you imagine? No. Because you know it was one of those, you got the money, right? Yeah. I thought you got the money. I thought you got the money. Yeah. Over the next couple of days, the town of Cisco was on edge as the three remaining bandits were still at large. The Santa Claus robbery was on the forefront of everyone's mind, even small children. Oh, that would be so disturbing.

During a Christmas Eve service at a packed church, when Santa Claus made an appearance, a little boy cried out in a shaky voice. Santa Claus, why did you rob that bank oh poor little guy because yeah to these little kids yeah it's santa yeah how could he how could santa do this so sad the search for the men spread out from cisco and a few days after the robbery the men were spotted in south bend texas which is about an hour from cisco and another gun battle ensued you're kidding me they're like driving down this road and like all of the surrounding towns had been alerted like they might be coming so this police officer is like sitting on this road and he sees like this little roadster like a little sports car with

three guys in it and he's like what's that and the car's like swerving and then he sees one of the guys has a gun oh god and so like i don't know how suddenly there's all these police there. I don't know exactly how it happened. Yeah. And the guys get out of the Roadster and they take off on foot and they're running in all different directions. And one of the guys that happens to be there happens to be like the most famous like Texas police officer ever. He was like, I'm sorry, I don't remember his name. Hold on. I can find it real, real super fast.

Barney Fife. Barney Fife. Cy Bradford. Okay. Cy Bradford. Okay. Cy Bradford. He's one of the most famous. They called him a peacekeeper, but he was also a really good shot. Oh, well.

I guess there are a number of ways to keep the peace, huh? So he, like, takes focus on the guy that was Santa Claus. He's ditched the Santa Claus costume by now. I would hope so. So he doesn't really know that it was Santa Claus. But that's who he's kind of following. And he just starts taking shots at him. He shoots him.

He hits him. He goes down. He doesn't come back up. Oh, well. So they take him into custody. Meanwhile, the other two have disappeared. They're gone. They search for him, or for them. There's two of them, for a couple of days in this area.

At one point, the two guys were hiding under the ledge of this giant boulder, and the searchers were standing on top of it. No! It's like a fucking movie! Yes. This is one of those things, if you saw it in a movie you'd be like this is stupid yeah so they take the guy that was santa claus into custody and he is like he has like an armory on him he's got all these guns he's got tons of ammunition it's just like in his jacket

belted on him and they said it was like the most heavily armed man that they'd taken into custody like to date at that point wow okay so they've got him in custody meanwhile the other two are still out there so they've expanded like the search like i said before everybody in the surrounding towns knows that there's these two men so police in graham texas get a call on december 30th from this guy who owns a boarding house and he's like hey so graham texas is like an hour north of cisco okay so he's like hey i've got these two guys that are looking to rent a room, but they seem super sketchy. And I just saw that one of them has a gun in his belt. I think they might be the guys. Yeah. So police respond. They come. They take these guys into custody without incident. They are so weak. That shocks me. They're so weak from being on the run for almost a week now. All they had eaten to that point was two oranges and some stolen cobs of corn.

Oh, that sucks. Yeah. So they're so weak. They just were looking for somewhere to stay the night. And so they couldn't have even fought if they wanted to. There was just no way. So they take them into custody without incident did they fit into their dresses though they did yeah they went to that wedding and they looked great

that's all that matters really right it turns out like during the time that they were on the run they had become so delirious that they kept accidentally ending up back in cisco i love it they'd have to be like oh shit well those poor guys they were probably just driving around on instinct right and then like at some sometimes they had like they stole a couple cars and they'd have a car for a while and then they'd wreck it and then they'd have to go off on foot again. Like it was just a shit show. Is it weird that I'm almost feeling sorry for these guys?

Yeah, it's terrible. So who were these men that robbed the bank and set off the largest manhunt in Texas history to that point? They were idiots. Yeah. And like they said that this crime was like at the, the details of it were so lurid at that time and everybody was so involved in it that it like overshadowed any tales of like the wild West or anything like that.

It was like, it was crazy. People were like, can't believe something like this is happening in modern day. Like not even a manhunt was to this scale was used like during during the James Gang searches and stuff like that. Wow. Yeah. Crazy.

So, the gang. Marshall Ratliff was the man dressed as Santa Claus. He was a Cisco native, hence the disguise, and had just been paroled after serving a tiny portion of his sentence for another bank robbery oh geez so it's kind of a weird deal so one article said he was actually pardoned by the governor another said he was paroled by the governor so i don't know which is true but he was sentenced to like 90 years or something like that for a bank robbery. And he served like a couple of years and then was let out. Oh, that's weird. He was specifically released for sure by the governor.

Yeah. That's super odd. Super weird. Was he well-connected? I mean, he had to have been, right? I don't know. It seems like he's a nobody, but. Oh, that's weird.

Super weird. In that bank robbery. So it had happened in another town, but he'd been tracked to Cisco, where he was from. And he'd actually been arrested by police chief Bedford, the same guy who was shot and killed during the shootout in the alley. Yeah. His surviving accomplices were henry helms he was the man that was armed with the two guns yeah and robert hill they were both ex-cons that he'd met in prison i'm really disappointed that they didn't have cool nicknames i know right i was really like

there were no nicknames i totally expected they would have nicknames. I know, right? I was really... I don't like there were no nicknames. I totally expected they would have nicknames, too. Damn. Okay, fine. It's kind of a bummer. So he'd met them when he was in prison at Huntsville Prison in Texas. Right.

As for the robber who died from his wounds that he suffered in the gun battle, he was Louis Davis, a relative of Henry Helms, and he had no criminal record. Damn. Damn. Yeah.

Kind of feel bad for that guy. I mean, he got himself into it. Yeah. I mean, I think you lose me when you start involving little girls. Yeah. That's probably true. Marshall Ratliff was the first to be tried. No one in the bank could identify him.

He'd been in a Santa suit the whole time. It sounded like his Santa suit sucked, though. Okay, so some of the articles called it a Santa mask that he had on. So I'm wondering what a Santa suit of that time period looked like. So maybe he did have like a full, like fucking creepy i bet he did i bet he did yeah probably did yeah i mean no wonder like imagine how hard kids would have cried when they saw that santa god i mean kids cry when they see regular santa so creepy fucking mask santa did i ever tell you a couple years ago ali uhie, my niece, was going to meet Santa.

You know, everybody wants the picture of the kid on Santa's lap. Yeah. She just shook his hand. Nice to meet you, sir. Yeah. Which I love. She shook his hand. She said what she wanted for Christmas, and it was very businesslike.

That's hilarious. So no one who was in the bank that day could identify Marshall Ratliff because of the Santa suit. I don't know why I said that again. Was it because of the screen door? It was because they had seen him through that screen door. Okay, remember. Which again, what the hell is that? This is a door, okay?

It's see-through, but it has a screen to keep like bugs and stuff from coming in. But it allows the wind to pass through it so you can get a nice breeze going in those hot summer months i've never seen or heard anything like this shut up i'm just making fun of you because normally I'm the one who says the obvious stuff. I know, over-explained stuff, yes. One person could identify Marshall Ratliff, though. Who? One of the little girls that they had taken.

So it was the 10-year-old girl who was named... Fuck. Emma Rae Robinson. I thought she was the younger one. Yeah, that's the 10-year-old one. The other one was 12. Oh, I'm sorry. Good.

Wow, trying to catch me there, huh? I was, because I said Wanda and Juanita and stuff. So it was the 10-year-old Emma Rae Robinson who could identify Marshall Ratliff. Because when they had gotten in the car and he was trying to, like, figure out his injuries, his jaw was really hurting. Right. So when he took off the mask or the beard, I don't know. Yeah, whatever it was. To see what was going on.

She recognized his face as a citizen of Cisco. Oh, my God. She knew who he was immediately. Wow. Good for her. She testified in court. He was charged with robbery with a firearm or multiple firearms, which at the time was a crime eligible for the death penalty in Texas. Yeah.

So he didn't testify in his own defense. There wasn't a ton of evidence because there were so many shots fired. It was hard to say who fired what. Yeah. So really, the biggest testimony was the little girl saying, yeah, I recognized him in the car. That's crazy. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 99 years. Wow. In response to that sentence, he said, that's no hill for a high stepper like me. And then he died in prison? Oh, did he?

Yes, he did. No, the governor did not let him out again. I guess we'll have to listen and find out, Kristen. He was later charged again for the murder of chief Bedford. And for that, he was found guilty and was given the electric chair. Oh, it's Texas.

Buzz buzz. Henry Helms was the next to be tried. And he sat through trial with his head down only looking up in interest during one point in the trial and that was when they brought in his four guns as evidence so the whole time he's like sitting there not looking at anything and then he's like that's my shit yeah and then when they brought his guns in it was said that he like looked up with interest and like his eyes lit up like, yeah, super crazy. Because so many of the weapons that were used in the crime were his, the jury sentenced him to death. Wow.

When they did so, though, like several of them were crying or had tears in their eyes. It was definitely something that was a very difficult for them to do but it was the punishment that they felt fit the crime yeah robert hill was the last to be tested to be testified to be trial tried um and unlike the others he confessed to his part in it. He testified in court. Robert Hill was the last to be tried. And unlike the others, he confessed to his part in the crime. And he took the witness stand.

He was only 21 at the time. Wait, he confessed, but he was a witness? Yeah, so he confessed, but he didn't plead guilty necessarily. He confessed to what he thought that he should be held responsible for. Oh, okay. So he played a part, but he said he just, you know, he didn't shoot anyone. He just was there and he watched the whatever. I think he was the one that watched everybody.

Okay. Or whatever. Okay, so he didn't, like, take a deal or anything. No, he was the one that watched everybody. Okay. Or whatever. Okay, so he didn't take a deal or anything. No, he didn't take a deal. He was still tried, but he testified and downplayed his involvement. Well, sure, it was all those other bad guys. He told the jury that he'd had a really tough life. He was an orphan, and he'd bounced around through the system.

And in one time had been placed in like a, a boys reform school, even though he'd committed no crime. Like that's typically where they sent juveniles who had done things and he'd never done anything, but that's where they sent him. He just didn't have anybody to take care of. Yeah.

And for what it was worth, it seemed to work a little bit. They didn't sentence him to death. They sentenced him to 99 years. Oh, God. So after he was taken to prison, he escaped almost immediately. What? Yeah.

He escaped like three different times. And they kept bringing him back. So it was like three different times that he tried to escape and they brought him back each time the third time he was out for several weeks before they caught him and then they put him under like higher security and he wasn't able to escape again it took three times before they finally put him in higher security yeah exactly ridiculous so what happened did they carry out the death sentences on these guys? Yes.

It's Texas, right? What the hell? Do I not know Texas? So Henry Helms and Marshall Ratliff, once they got to prison, they both put on these kind of acts where they started to, it's believed that they were pretending, but maybe they weren't. They both claimed that they were insane. And they both appealed their sentences to the Texas Supreme Court. And said that they were insane and they couldn't be. Sorry. Court! And so they were insane and they couldn't be sentenced to death because they were

insane. And so the Supreme Court looked it over in both cases and in both cases it was deemed that they were sane. Wow. Yes. So all of Helm's filings for insanity were deemed what's the word?

Not good. Unsuccessful. And on September 6th, 1929, he was put to death by the electric chair. Wow. The same cannot be said for Ratliff. So he was doing the same thing. He was pretending to be insane. At one point, he laid down in his cot and he didn't speak or move or get up for like days.

Oh, my God. Yes. And so they were like moving him to a different portion of the jail because they really believed like maybe something has happened to him he's really either gone into a state or he's had some kind of something happen to him yeah and so he was in this less secure secured portion oh my god oh my god do not tell me and then one night he got when they were locking up another portion of the jail he got up from his cot he went downstairs he got the keys to let himself out no yeah but the jailer caught it all happening in this big like ruckus ensued and so they're like having this fight this argument somehow like a word gets out in the town that this is going on at the jail. And townspeople just start coming to the jail.

So by this time, somehow Ratliff has gotten a gun. Uh-huh. But the jailer's daughter also worked at the jail. And so she comes in and she saves her dad and she gets the gun away. This is nuts. It's nuts. It's nuts. It's nuts. So they get him secured.

Yeah. They're like, okay, clearly this was a fucking act securing you. Yep. No problem. Whatever. Well, by now, this huge crowd has gathered outside of the jail. People are pissed. They're like, why hasn't this guy been executed yet?

It's, I don't know, fucking September by now? Something like that? November. It's November. And they're like, this guy should have been executed by now. He was sentenced to death. The other guy that was sentenced to death is already executed. He's already put in for an insanity plea.

That was denied. This guy should be executed. So a group of men force their way into the jail. You're kidding. And they're trying to get up to him. They can't get there. Finally, the jailer gets them out, and he kind of regains control of the situation. Holy shit.

For a second. Then a larger group overtakes it and forces their way in. And they get Marshall Ratliff, and they pull him out of the jail. And they're carrying him through the streets. This is the craziest story you have ever told. And at 9.30 p.m. on November 19th, they lynch him in the town square. No. Yep.

Holy crap. They took justice into their own hands. Texas style. Texas style, y'all. Whoa. They hung Santa Claus. Oh my God. Right before Thanksgiving.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. No one was ever charged with anything in relation to the lynching. Whoa. Mm-hmm. Because nobody saw a thing. Nobody saw a thing.

That's right. In Cisco today, there's like this little, there's like this pole in town that's kind of picking it off. Yeah. A little picket fence it's got a little marker that says it's the official pole that he was hung up on and lynched from you're kidding me yeah it's not really known if it's the actual real pole but i'm just surprised somebody would want to mark that well know me too and uh that's the story of the time santa claus robbed a bank that was amazing wasn't that crazy that puts my little

cookie story to shame there was no shootout in mind no shootout no, no lynchings. Just a panic attack. That's right. And small claims court. Small claims court. Boy, weren't those cases great? They sure were. You know what? I didn't remember them at all.

Norm, what do you got for us? Well went to the uh let's go to court discord chat you guys familiar with this what so you get into that by joining at the appellate or supreme court levels and our patreon it's like a 90s chat room with our moms and no sexual predators no none that we know of yeah okay wow way to bring it down that's pretty dark no one's asked me my age sex or location so i think we're good okay uh we have so i went in the discord and i asked for christmas themed questions okay holiday theme because i want to make sorry i asked for holiday themed questions excellent um so let's get started uh the weirdest uh most poorly thought out gift you've ever received

this is from gadry oh okay i have one that came right to my mind weirdest maybe not poorly thought out but okay so i never had stuff growing up that had my name on it because i didn't it's not that common of a name and so they they just didn't have stuff that really had my you know you get like and if they did it would have been with a y yeah and so for christmas one year my grandma my well, as we call her, so my mom's mom, got me a ruler with my middle name on it misspelled. What? Yeah. That's hilarious.

So my middle name is Michelle, but I spell it with one L. And yeah, so she gave me a ruler that said Michelle with two Ls. Thanks, granny. Thanks, granny. Thanks, Granny. It's the closest she could get. Can you think of one? I can't really. I'm having trouble.

Not for me, but my friend Joe got one of the worst gifts I've ever heard. What was it? What? This story cracks me up. So he was roommates with my friend Jeremiah. And so they celebrated Christmas together. And Jeremiah's mom, I guess, didn't know much about Joe. Joe's a really great guy.

He's really funny. Joe's great. Well, Joe got a t-shirt that was this, like, you you know those paintings of like the wolves howling at the moon yeah okay it wasn't that but it was in that kind of style it was a giant like locomotive train going all the way around this black shirt and the subtitle of the shirt said the night train oh my gosh joe was very confused yes i'd be so confused by that you know he's oh thank you oh yeah what can you say the night train the night train train that's gotta be one of those awkward gifts i've ever heard of pulling into the station

what about you kristin um it better not be anything that I gave you no you give good gifts yeah um uh you know what uh in middle school my grandma got me day of the week underwear which just seemed seemed a little too old so it said like sunday on it well yeah that's day of the week that's one of the days yeah that's weird i know it wasn't well no no what she did to kind of be fair to everyone was she kind of bought everyone the same thing so all the girls got the same thing all the boys got the same thing yeah and it was like it didn't matter that there was a huge age difference yeah but it was a great reminder to change my underwear. Yeah. When you look down and it says it's Thursday,

and it's actually Saturday. Like, oopsies. Neo Black Mage, favorite Christmas song? Oh, we were just talking about this. We were just talking about this. Okay, I think I've come up with it, and it makes me sound so dorky. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by NSYNC.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by NSYNC. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! That's a good one. You and I both love Christmas music. Oh, yes. Okay, so since you're going full on dork, let me pull up my, I have my Christmas playlist. Hang on. Norm, you got a favorite?

Oh, Ding Dong merrily on high okay here we go honesty time okay hansen's version of what christmas means to me but i love so many christmas i do too now the one we both hate. Ugh. Christmas Shoes. Can I buy these shoes from my mama, please? Oh, God, it's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size.

We heard this song on the way back from lunch. And it was sung by a grown man. Yeah. And it was very awkward. Yeah. I mean, I think he says daddy. He does. Yes, he says daddy. Several times. Yeah. I mean was very awkward. Yeah. I mean, the song is- I think he says daddy. He does. Yes, he says daddy. Several times. Yeah.

I mean, come on. Dude. Oh, daddy. Harry, sir. Daddy says there's not much time. Well, it was like, daddy says there's not much time. It would be bad enough when,

it's bad enough when the song is sung by a little girl. But a grown man talking about daddy saying stuff. Oh, daddy. It's a very different vibe valerie wants to know real tree or fake tree oh okay oh boy oh boy the whole thing touched i wanted a real tree so bad this year david and i were like we're getting a real tree absolutely doing it and so i talked to my mom about it. My mom's like, are you sure you want to do that? Why not?

She's had experience. I was like, yeah. And she's like, I need to tell you something. She's like, I promise I'm not trying to talk you out of this, but you're going to want to know this. And I was like, okay. Okay. So my parents' friends got a real tree a few years ago, brought it home, set it up, decorated it, beautiful, whatever.

Inside that tree was a spider nest that hatched and invaded their home. They had to fumigate the fucking thing. Oh, no. I was like, fuck no no fake trees going up on a tuesday on a tuesday yeah got the club going up on a tuesday no we do fake trees too i'm i'm sorry i know that's not the cool answer but it's not my fake tree is beautiful yeah yeah but i wanted a real tree so but i did get a we did get a real wreath instead with a bunch of spiders in it so many spiders aaron j boo also known as jaboo favorite stocking stuffer that's a good question i always like the the plastic candy canes with the Reese's inside. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Ooh, yeah. My mom always does the best stocking stuffers. She does a mix of really practical stuff. We get cotton swabs. Oh, yeah. But also the candies we love that we never buy for ourselves. And then there's usually nail polish or some jewelry and stuff.

Love it. Beresh wants to know if you two have a favorite Christmas memory with each other. Oh, I actually do have one. Do you? Yes. So one Christmas you were super sick. Like, and you were like, I didn't get out of my pajamas today. Like I haven't gotten out of my pajamas in days.

We were in middle school or maybe we had to have been in high school because I can't I drove to your house okay okay I drove to your house and I wrapped up a can of Campbell's soup and had to open it on Christmas oh Brandy you're so sweet um let's see I remember doing like you know maybe it's just because I still have the photos on my desk. Uh-huh. But we did a weird photo shoot in winter. Like, with clearly a disposable camera out in the snow. We thought we were so artsy. You got on the trampoline as you would. I don't know. We just had so much fun. Because, like, winter break was just time to sled.

Do you remember I had that little hill yeah on the side of my yeah why am i obviously obviously you remember what am i new no you are not you've been around here for a long time this is a good one uh patrick what is your charity of choice to give to or volunteer at during the holidays oh okay so i have one that i do that i've done work with before johnson county christmas bureau is an organization that obviously operates in johnson county and they provide um christmas gifts and and food and all kinds of stuff for um families in the johnson county area i think they do like 14 000 families every year that are in need and so they like i they do like a a tree

auction to raise money and so i've done like i've decorated a tree auction to raise money. And so I've decorated a tree and donated that to them before. I've made wreaths for their silent auctions and stuff. It's a really cool organization. That's awesome. Yeah. So I have two answers to this. My favorite, just because I think it's fun, is my favorite is like sometimes the Salvation Army will have like a tree with like the name of

a child in need and you know some of the things they'd like and like their shoe size their clothing size I just think that's so fun to go shop for a kid so that's something then this year my extended family you know it's one of those things where it's like okay we could all go out and get each other something yeah that we probably don't want or need. So instead, my sister organized for us to do something for through the Northeast Community Center. And they do these hygiene kits for refugees. So it's just like, you know, basic stuff that is expensive to buy, but you have to have. So we just kind of pooled what we would have spent on each other and did that.

That's awesome. Yeah, it just feels good. Yeah. I'm always big on, it just feels good. Yeah. I'm always big on Habitat for Humanity. Yeah. One, because I love, like, home repair stuff. So it's, like, fun for me. But they do good stuff.

Yeah. Usually when, like, if a sibling is like, what should I get you for Christmas? I usually just say just donate to Habitat for Humanity for me. Yeah. I say get me a PlayStation 4. And get me a PlayStation 4. And get me a PlayStation 4. Yes.

Okay. Ooh, this one's not bad. Travis. Not bad, Travis. What you got? Wants to know, do you prefer Secret Santa or White Elephant? Ooh. I think I prefer Secret Santa.

Oh, do you? Yeah. Because you get something you want. Yeah. You get something you want and somebody buys it specifically for you, so it's more special. It is more special, and I really like giving gifts, so that's more fun for me. I like picking

out a gift for someone, yeah. And as someone with anxiety, the whole stealing aspect of White Elephant really makes me uncomfortable. It does make me anxious too, yeah. What? You two need to nut up really makes me, it does make me anxious too. Yeah. Yeah. You two need to nut up. I mean,

it's not really stealing. Wow. Wow. You're not going to get arrested. Oh, thanks for your, you might be mad. Thanks for your sympathy on our anxiety.

No shit. Why don't you guys just nut up? Fuck. I like white elephant. No, because then I steal somebody's present and I end up with it. And for three days after I'm like,, are they pissed because I stole their present? Oh, my gosh.

Legit. That's how it works, Kristen. Oh, you two. I'm sorry. I guess this year I'll just nut up. Yeah. Maybe we should just calm down. What an asshole, Kristen.

Happy holidays. Well, I hope you two have learned to know that i'm taking your christmas present back no you can't you feel too bad about it i would true story oh those are great questions those were great and this was really fun and it's nice to be able to take some time off. Oh, yeah. It's really nice. Because we hate doing this podcast. We do not. We love doing this podcast so much. Is it time?

I think it's time. To reveal the person's gift. Or should we save them for the very end? I do have this person at the very end of the list. Okay. So let's do Supreme Court inductions. Uh-huh. And somebody's mother.

Well, I mean, I guess they'll find out because it's the last one. Never mind. Beautifully planned. You guys, we are still doing favorite TV shows. Okay, for this week's inductions, I would like you to put a Santa hat on. For this week's inductions, I would like you to put a Santa hat on. Or, you know, whatever other holiday-themed headwear you might have. All right.

Very good. Bike helmet, whatever. Whatever. Also, if you're wondering how to become a part of this, just join our Patreon at the $7 level. That's right. And you'll get inducted, and we'll tell you nothing more about it. Yep. I'm sorry.

I feel like we plugged it at the beginning. Should I plug it again? No, it's fine. All right. All right. And you'll get inducted and we'll tell you nothing more about it. Yep. I'm sorry. I feel like we plugged it at the beginning. Should I plug it again? No, it's fine. All right. All right. Our gift to you is we're not going to talk about the Patreon anymore. Sophie Kennedy. Stranger Things. Anastasia Brown.

X-Files. Amanda L. The Office. Emily C. It's Always Sunny. Mandy. Amanda L. The Office. Emily C. It's Always Sunny. Mandy. Matlock? Mandy, how old are you? I used to love Matlock. Do we have an 84

year old patron? I am with you, Mandy. Grandpa Simpson's favorite show, by the way. Maria Yasuk. The Good Place. Stevie Schoonerd Real Housewives of New York Rita Courtois

Supernatural Patricia Jaramillo Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Lily Grey's Anatomy Kimberly J Buffy the Vampire Slayer Patrick Coleman

Will and Grace. Angie. Wentworth. And Grace Harris. It's always sunny in Philadelphia. According to your mom, your mom wasn't 100% sure. She wasn't for sure. That was her best guess.

But I think it's pretty cool that your mom got you this for Christmas. Welcome to the Supreme Court. Happy holidays, everyone. We hope you have a great holiday season. Stay safe. Eat a lot. Or don't eat a lot. But, you know, have a good time.

Yeah. However you choose to celebrate. You know, eat nothing if that's your thing. Oh, that'd be terrible. Yeah. It seems like a real missed opportunity. You should probably eat something. Something, yeah.'s your thing. Oh, that'd be terrible. Yeah. I mean, it seems like a real missed opportunity. You should probably eat something. Something, yeah.

Probably some cookies. At least reach your daily, you know, minimum calories needed. Is that how we're ending this? That's how we're ending it. We'd like to see you in the new year. And now for a note about our process. I read a bunch of stuff, then regurgitate it all back up in my very limited vocabulary. And I copy and paste from the best sources on the web and sometimes Wikipedia.

So we owe a huge thank you to the real experts. For this episode, I got my info from Newspapers.com, ABC News and the East Bay Times. And I got my info from Startling Detective Adventures, Texas Escapes dot com, the Texas State Historical Association, and Wikipedia. For a full list of our sources, visit LGTCpodcast.com. Any errors are of course ours, but please don't take our word for it. Go read their stuff!