Let's Go To Court! - 276: A Hunting Accident

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

When Leonila Stickney died from a gunshot wound, her fiance Russell Bertram was quick to provide an explanation. The former police chief told investigators that she’d died in a hunting accident. He explained that she’d been in the passenger’s seat of his truck when he climbed into the driver’s seat. As he climbed in, he’d pointed the gun in her direction. He claimed she’d grabbed the barrel of the gun, keeping it pointed at herself, and leaned in for a kiss. Then the gun went off. He was totally innocent! Nothing to see here! Infuriatingly, investigators bought his story. And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Brandi copy and pasted 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, Brandi pulled from: “The Hunter and the Hunted” episode Accident, Suicide or Murder “Jealousy, greed marked 2016 murder trial of former South Dakota police chief Russell Bertram” by Erik Kaufman, Mitchell Republic “Former South Dakota Police Chief Murdered Pregnant Fiancée And Blamed It On An Accident” by Joe Dziemianowicz, oxygen.com “Leonila Stickney” podcast episode, Forensic Tales “Ex-Police Chief Convicted of Murdering Pregnant Fiancée Years After Claiming Her 2009 Death Was an Accident” by KC Baker, people.com “Why would a former police chief kill his young fiancee? Jealousy and greed, prosecutors allege.” By Sarah Larimer, The Washington Post “State v. Bertram” findlaw.com YOU’RE STILL READING? My, my, my, you skeezy scunch! You must be hungry for more! We’d offer you some sausage brunch, but that gets messy. So how about you head over to our Patreon instead? (patreon.com/lgtcpodcast). At the $5 level, you’ll get 52+ full length bonus episodes, plus access to our 90’s style chat room!  

Are you ready? Ew, why'd you say it in a bedroom voice? I didn't. That was bedroom voice. Well, it wasn't intended to be. Naturally sexy. I suffer from the same affliction. One semester of law school.

One semester of criminal justice. Two experts. I'm Kristen Caruso. I'm Brandi Pond. Let's go to court. On this episode, I'll be talking about a hunting accident. No, you won't. Why do you say no, I won't?

Because I know you. I know too much, and I know that you've never once in your life covered an accident. It's always made to look like an accident. By some philandering spouse. Okay. Are we going to have to bleep all that? No, leave it all in. I think that's very much on brand for my typical coverage.

Absolutely. And maybe it's right for this one. I guess we'll all have to listen and find out together. I mean, I already know because I researched the case. Oh, great. Peel back the curtain there. How are you today, Brandi back the curtain there. How are you today, Brandi? I'm wonderful.

How are you? Did you have to get shitty to any trick-or-treaters last night, Kristen? No. Nice to see you again. We shouldn't discuss that again. We've got a lot of new listeners, and these

new listeners, they don't know that sometimes when a child comes back for a repeat performance at my house, I sometimes say, good to see you again. They don't need to know that I'm passive aggressive to nine-year-olds. Okay. Anyhow, I was about to be passive aggressive with you right now. You were? Why? Everyone. Does anyone just tell me if this sounds, you know, familiar for your life? Like, are you ever like the really responsible one?

Okay. And like no one else is responsible around you. So you just have to like pick up all the slack. Yeah, Kristen got to be the hero today. I did. And so she is taking every opportunity to brag about it. I don't mean to alarm you, but Brandi and I both have, of course, business credit cards for the podcast. And Brandi, like Mr. Magoo, like misplaced her card. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. And so it fell on me. How long did you go without a card, Kristen, because you never opened your mail? I have ADHD. I have ADHD. And when mail is addressed to me, it's not really for me. It's for a place on my desk. And there it shall sit.

Yes. I believe that I left my card at the restaurant when we went to lunch last week. I had that realization that night. So I froze my card. Okay. And then I forgot that I had done that. Oh, no. And so then in a panic before I came here today, I tore my purse apart looking for my card,

did not find it. And so I have already ordered a new one. And so I do think I'm very responsible with my card. I don't know. Because here's the thing. You ask me, hey, Kristen, where's your card been all week? And the answer is in my wallet. Okay. Everyone, I'm very irresponsible when it comes to anything involving important papers, documents that need to be signed,

anything really. So this is a big moment for me. It is a big moment for her. And I think we should all really celebrate this one moment right here. Okay. Because it's not going to happen again. All right. Oh, you know what we should do? What?

Plug our Patreon. Yeah. What do you want to say about it? I want to say amazing things about it. Yeah. Prepare to be dazzled. Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

53 bonus episodes. I think there's fifty two. Oh, OK. Fifty two bonus episodes. Equally exciting. Fifty two bonus episodes at the five dollar level or higher. My goodness. Yeah. What else? Monthly Zoom calls. Whoa. Oh, my gosh. So many things happened on this month's Zoom call. We talked about a lot of stuff on this. No one has mentioned, though, that London was in the background making us fake ice cream with her ice cream stand. She was scooping ice cream for us. Yeah. So that's the kind of.

Premium content that we're serving up. Wow. With a cherry on top. A hard plastic cherry that you can't eat, but that looks pretty good from far away. That's our Patreon. That's it. Also, are you rich? Are you wealthy?

Are you part of the 1%? Do you have a hot tub? Obviously. We have a hot tub? Obviously. We have a hot tubbers only level. Hot tubbers only level is the Bob Moss that's $10 a month. You get your episodes early. You get them ad free. You get 10% off merch.

That's right. And all the stuff that those lower level people get. Okay, calm down. I have a hot tub, so I can be very condescending. I don't have a hot tub. So you just have to sit there. And take it, that's right. Shall we get started?

Yeah, let's get started. Okay, a couple of shout outs. First to an episode. Snapped. No, but it is an oxygen program. Of course, okay. My favorite oxygen program. Oh no, is it that gross homicide for the holidays?

No, that's not my favorite. Well, okay. Do you even know me? I mean, I thought I knew you, but then you lost your credit card. And I had to be the adult. Actually, I'm pretty sure I know exactly where it is. Okay, now the story improves. I'm pretty sure it's at the restaurant where we had lunch last week.

We have no way of knowing. Accident, suicide, or murder. How did I forget that? You haven't brought it up in a while. I haven't. I haven't, which is why I went specifically to that program in search of a case this week. So you're saying this wasn't an accident. Was it?

An accident, a suicide, or a murder? No, I'm saying it wasn't an accident that you— Oh, I get it now. It was such a thinker. Okay. This is my Dixon cider. It's no accident that I picked this case. That's kind of what you were saying?

It's definitely what I was saying. Okay, I'm getting it now. Everyone else got it right from the jump. My God. All right. Also, shout out to Eric Kaufman, who wrote an amazing piece on this case for the Mitchell Republic. Where's the Mitchell Republic? Well, this case takes place in South Dakota, so I assume it's a very small South Dakota paper.

But it was an excellent piece. Top notch. You know, you say top notch a lot. Do you mean it? I do. All right. I do. It was a very good piece. All right. Thank you,

Eric, for your very good piece. Yeah. I don't know where the Mitchell Republic is headquartered. I'm very sorry, Kristen. Okay. Fine. It was the afternoon of October 24th, 2009, On the line was a man who said, yes, my friend just got accidentally shot in the, I'm on my way to the hospital, Gregory Hospital. Call them right away. Wait, call the hospital? Mm-hmm. Just give him a heads up.

I'm headed that way. I think is what he was looking for. Somebody meet me at the door. Okay. That kind of thing. Okay. Okay. I think is what he was looking for.

Somebody meet me at the door. Okay. That kind of thing. Okay. I believe the dispatcher then, you know, got a little more information, figured it all out. I don't have that information available to me. Sure, we're with you. I only heard a snippet of the call. Yeah.

And that's all of it. Okay. The man on the line was 56-year-old Russell Bertram, a Sioux Falls resident and a former police chief of the Harrisburg Police Department, which is, I believe, a small-town police department in South Dakota. Okay. The friend that he mentioned was his 26-year-old fiancée, Leonila Stickney, who went by Nila. How old is he? He's 56.

Oh, boy. You got thoughts already? Yes. Do you want to discuss any of them, or would you like me just to keep going? I know how I feel about age gaps. I hate them. Within six minutes, Russell shows up at the Gregory Hospital, and come out and they meet him and they rush Leonela into surgery.

She had taken a shotgun blast directly to the chest. How does that happen accidentally? I'm going to tell you how it happened accidentally in a moment. All right. So they rush her off to surgery. Meanwhile, the police show up and they pull Russell aside and they start questioning him about what had happened, what had led to this accident. And he said that he and Leonela had been out pheasant hunting. They'd been road hunting, which I was not familiar with.

So where you drive along the road and you shoot out the passengers? You stop the car and you get out and shoot. But yes, essentially, you drive along until you see bird activity. Stop. You get out of the car. You shoot. You get it back in the car. Okay.

My dad used to go. I don't think he's gone in a couple of years. My dad used to go pheasant hunting every year in like north central Kansas, where his family's from originally. They don't do road hunting, though. Like they trudge through fields for hours. They're real men. That's not what I mean. That's what I mean.

It sounds terrible. All of it sounds terrible to me. Absolutely. I don't want to do any of it. No. I don't understand how people get into it. I feel like you've got to be born into it. I agree.

I was not born into it. No, no. I've no interest in doing it. So why would you ever start? Okay, great. So Russell says that he was road shooting, road hunting, I'm sorry, that he'd gotten a couple pheasants, driven a little ways, saw some more bird activity, gotten out, shot a third pheasant. a little ways, saw some more bird activity, gotten out, shot a third pheasant, puts it in the back of the truck, and then walks around to the driver's side. And he's going to put his shotgun into the cab of the truck and rest it kind of in the

passenger seat area. Where was his fiancée? Happens to be exactly where his fian his fiance, Mila, was sitting. So he's got a hold of the butt of the gun, which does mean that he is pointing the gun directly at his fiance. Yeah, that doesn't seem like good gun etiquette. It seems like terrible gun etiquette. And we're talking about a former police chief here.

Oh, I didn't even think about that. When he says that as he's doing this, Leonela grabs the barrel of the shotgun just to kind of move it out of the way a bit. And she leans to him for a kiss no give me a fucking break and it was at that moment yeah that the gun suddenly went off and leonela was struck in the chest by a shotgun blast. Uh, yeah. This did not happen. It was an accident? No, it wasn't. Well, pretty quick to judgment there, Kristen.

I was born this way, baby. Well, no, I mean, you know, first of all, I feel like you don't get into a car pointing a gun at another person. I'm not a hunter. I'm not a gun owner. So granted. All right. I guess I don't fully know. I agree. My guess would be that you would be pointing the barrel of the gun down.

Yeah. Away from humans. And yet if someone is Which I think is his argument is that he was going barrel in. No. No. And also, okay, so let's say some idiot

is pointing at... What? These guns have safeties on them. I think the first thing you do when you're done shooting a pheasant is you put the safety back on, don't you? Not if you're planning to murder someone. That's really true.

Oh, if I'm wrong, I'm going to be such an asshole, huh? Maybe you're pulling a brandy over there. Oh, all right. All right. So this is his initial statement to police. He was just putting the gun back in the truck, barrel first, no big deal. When Leonela grabbed it to move it out of the way because she wants a kiss. She just had to kiss her father slash fiance.

Okay. He's an old man. He's 30 years older than her, yes. Yes. So, all right. When the gun then went off. Leonela suffered a basically contact shot from a shotgun to the left side of her chest. She was rushed into surgery at the hospital. When they opened her up, it was damage to multiple organs.

Shotgun shells have pellets inside of them. So the pellets had just gone everywhere inside of her body. Yep. And Leonela died on the operating table. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how you would survive a shot at this close range. Yes. The coroner later said that this type of injury has like a 0% survival rate.

There was just no chance. One of the pellets dissected her aorta. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When Leonela passes away on the operating table, Russell Bertram is actually at the site where the accident took place.

He's with the police walking them through what took place, kind of reenacting it for them. Did they ask him to do this or did he? Yes, they asked him to take him to the spot where it had happened. Sure, show us how it happened. Took his truck, you know, showed everything. And they did see, you know, there were three pheasants in the back of the truck, and one of them was a little bit warmer than the other ones. So it did seem to kind of match with his basic story that he was telling. And it seemed initially to investigators that this was just a tragic accident. No, it didn't. It truly did. What are you talking about? They completely believed his story.

No, I guess I'm not stunned that a former police officer is automatically believed by other police officers. But this story is so fucking stupid. Correct. He walks into the truck, gun pointed at her. Yeah. She grabs the barrel of the gun and then smooches him. Mm-hmm. That's ridiculous.

Yeah. Yes, it's ridiculous. But her death was originally ruled an accident and just a basic investigation into their relationship was done. And during that investigation, they learned more about Leonila. Leonila grew up in the jungles of the Philippines. She was raised in poverty, and she came to the United States in 2004 looking for a better life. Russell is the man's name?

Correct. Russell's white? Russell is white, yes. Yeah Correct. Russell's white? Russell is white. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yes.

And Leonela is a young Filipino woman. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. This disgusts me. It's horrible. These officers were... All right. So, okay.

The accident... Racist idiots is what I... I don't know why I had that. Yeah, okay. The accident. Racist idiots is what I, I don't know why. Yeah, why'd you hold that back? I don't know. I don't know. So, Leonila had come to the United States in 2004. The accident, suicide, or murder episode says that she met this man named David Stickney in the Philippines. And then she returned

to the United States with him and married him. The court record phrases it differently. Okay. They call Leonila a mail-order bride in the court record. They said David Stickney wrote her a letter. Right. She responded by coming to the United States and marrying him with a very specific arrangement that marrying him would mean that she got basically a green card and would be allowed

to work in the United States and be able to send money back to her family in the Philippines. And David Stickney was like 70 years old. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How gross. And at that time she was like 21. Ugh.

Mm-hmm. So did he die and then... No. So she moves to the United States. She marries David Stickney around 2004.

They have a son shortly after that. And for like four years, she stayed married to David Stickney. They raised their son together. And then in 2008, Leonela was like, I'm done with this marriage. She was working at an assisted living facility, I believe, a nursing home, something of that nature, and sending money every month back to her family in the Philippines. And then by 2008, she was like, I don't want to be in this marriage anymore. So she ended up filing for divorce, leaving the marriage, and she left her son in David's care.

He had custody, but she did see him regularly, came to visit. She just, she moved out of the house. Right. And it was shortly after that that she met Russell Bertram. Oh, boy. Okay. I just can't imagine how hard that would be. I can't either.

I can't either. how hard that would be. I can't either. I can't either. You're marrying someone no one else wants to marry because you're trying to give your family a better life. Yeah.

That is a massive sacrifice. It's a huge sacrifice. I'm sorry. No 21-year-old woman wants to marry a 70-year-old man. No. This was something, it was a sacrifice she made to better her family's situation. Yeah.

Absolutely. Yep. And he has to know that. That's the other thing is like, that's what's so gross to me. Exactly. Is you know no one's marrying you because they want to be with you. Yeah. Ugh.

Mm-hmm. All right. So Leonila and David Stickney are going through a divorce. You know, she's kind of dating around a little bit. You know, she's kind of dating around a little bit, and she meets Russell Bertram, who was significantly younger than her husband. Yeah, gee, I wonder why this guy wanted this vulnerable young woman. Exactly. They learn this during this kind of initial investigation, and then they get the information from the forensic pathologist about her death.

Not survivable incident, like she, you know, massive damage to her body from this shotgun blast. But they also discovered that Leonela was a few weeks pregnant at the time of her death. They went to Russell Bertram, and they told him this. And he said he had no idea that she was pregnant and that it couldn't be his because he'd had a vasectomy years earlier. Okay. And so they're like, okay, that's interesting information and possibly a motive. Mm-hmm. But he says, I didn't I knew I had no idea she was pregnant, had no idea. All right.

So in this initial investigation, when they're completely believing Russell Bertram's tale of what happened that day to kind of see if they can verify what had happened. They do like three days after Leonila was killed, they do examine the shotgun for fingerprints to see if they could find Leonila's fingerprints on the barrel to verify his story. But the gun came back clean. Her fingerprints weren't on there and Russell Bertram's fingerprints weren't on there. Hmm. So he'd cleaned weren't on there. Hmm. So he'd cleaned the gun. Obviously. Yeah.

Yeah. But again, the police were like, well, this doesn't, you know, it doesn't confirm his story, but it also doesn't show that his story is false. Well, but it kind of does. I think it kind of does, too. Why would you wipe the gun clean? Give me more info on the gun. Like, was he allowed to just have it immediately afterward, or did they immediately take it into...

I would assume they took it as evidence, but I don't know. That's what I would assume, too, is you would immediately take it in as evidence. Yeah. And if you're immediately taking took it as evidence, but I don't know. That's what I would assume, too, is you would immediately take it in as evidence. And if you're immediately taking it in as evidence and there are no prints on it, that's really fucking weird. I agree. Now, it's a little less weird to me if for some reason he was allowed to have the gun. And I don't know, maybe every time you use your gun, you clean your gun.

I would assume that's how it works. I assume people clean their guns a lot. I don't know, maybe every time you use your gun, you clean your gun. I would assume that's how it works. I assume people clean their guns a lot. I don't know. We've heard that song. Still cleaning this gun. Oh, yeah, I do know that one. This initial investigation takes place, and on November 30th, it's kind of all ruled accidental. And on November 30th, it's kind of all ruled accidental.

The official cause of death comes back from the medical examiner, and it is listed as accidental. And the, you know, seems like that's kind of the deal. And everybody's kind of willing to believe what Russell Bertram has to say, you hate it to your face. Yeah. Okay, so who's going to advocate for this woman? Well, we'll get there in just a second. So it's interesting, at this point in the show, they do bring up that there's this old saying in South Dakota. What is it?

If you want to murder someone, you take them hunting. That's a South Dakota saying? Apparently it's a South Dakota saying. That sounds totally made up. Well, they say it on this show, Kristen. I understand that. It just sounds a little made up to me, but okay.

So, Leonela is shot and killed on October 24th. By November 30th, this thing has been ruled an accident and basically case closed. Everybody's moving on with life. But then, in December, David Stickney, Leonila's husband that she was in the middle of divorcing at the time of her death reaches out to investigators and he's like hey I just got some really

weird information that I think you guys should hear and they're like what do you got? Yeah. And he's like I have just learned through I believe he was sent a letter. I'm not really sure the exact specifications here. But he somehow found out that Leonela had more than $900,000 in life insurance taken on her.

And that Russell Bertram was the sole beneficiary. Give me a break. Right. Not her son. Not her family in the Philippines. Uh-huh. Russell Bertram. Not even her husband.

Okay, hold on. When they do an investigation into a death like this, they don't look for that kind of stuff? So I don't know. I would think even just the insurance agent would be like, you want $900,000 in life insurance for this, what, did you say 26? 26-year-old woman. 26-year-old woman who works in like a nursing home?

Yeah. That should be red flag, red flag, red flag. I agree. So David Stickney's like, I just got this information that this life insurance policy is being paid out and it is not going to me. It's not going to

Leonilla's son. It's not going to her family in the Philippines. It's going to Russell fucking Bertram. Yeah, I don't think so. And so the police were like, actually yes, that is very much of interest to us. Let's go talk to Russell. So they pull up at Russell's house

and they're like, He's got 12 hot tubs. Like, did you want to mention anything about some life insurance that you may have taken out on Neela? And he's like, oh, that little policy, that old thing.

So he tells them that it had been Leonila's idea to take out the life insurance because she was a really bad driver. I was drinking when you said that to me. Are you kidding me? And she was really worried that she was going to get in a car accident and die and that her family in the Philippines would not be taken care of. So why didn't the money go to the family? Well, so she... Oh, let me guess.

Let me guess. Let me guess. The arrangement was the money would go to him and then he would make sure that the money got to the family. That's correct. Oh, yay. That's correct. Hero wrestle.

That's correct. Okay. So he says that they met with an insurance agent in person together and that it was all Leonela's idea that she had taken out a $750,000 life insurance for a five-year term. You're kidding me. That's already super fucking suspicious. We have a 26-year term. You're kidding me. That's already super fucking suspicious. We have a 26-year-old woman? Yeah. Keep going.

Come on. I want to hear from the life insurance agent who's like, no, she actually wasn't there for this. No, so she was there for this. Okay. She was there for the $750,000 life insurance. I don't believe for a second it was her idea. No, of course not. I believe that Russell for sure took her there to do this. She was there for the $750,000 life insurance. I don't believe for a second it was her idea. No, of course not. I believe that Russell for sure took her there to do this. And

then after that, he by mail took out an additional policy that was $20,000 plus an additional $150,000 should she die by accident.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's all just to take care of her family in the Philippines. Mm-hmm. No mention of her son, though. Right. Honestly, though, okay, if we're going to pause, that part wouldn't be as weird to me if you've got a son with. So David was the husband.

Yes. If you feel like your son is definitely going to be taking care of financially. OK, that's one thing. But, you know, your family in the Philippines like they're. Why did I say it like that? Philippines. If you know your family is relying on you, then I could see. Sure. That does could see. Sure.

That does make sense. Absolutely. I don't understand why you'd have your new boyfriend as. A fiance. Oh, excuse me. Fiance. Fiance. Yes.

All right. Anyway, I hate this. Okay. So he tells him, yeah, you know, it's her idea. Got it together. I'm just supposed to distribute the money to her family, you know, in the event. I'm just the good guy here. That's right.

Just me. Good guy, Russell. And... No, Brandy. Brandy, I am going to freak out. The investigation kind of stalled for a little bit after that. That is... Ugh.

Fire everyone. Yeah. So nothing happens after this sit down with Russell when they talk about the life insurance. I don't fucking know. Because he was a former police chief? Probably. Oh. Ugh. Yeah. Because this is rural

South Dakota and they're like, we know you. I hate this. So then, like a month later, police go back and talk to David Stickney again because he's like, what's going on with this? Is nothing happening here?

Right. And they're like, well, we don't really have that much to go on, you know. Well, what do you mean? You know, it's kind of been ruled an accident at this point. So there's no reason to continue investigating. How about $950,000? Was that the number? I mean, it's like $920,000, but yeah.

All right. Excuse me. Yeah. $920,000, but yeah. All right. Excuse me. Yeah. $920,000. Yeah. In the event of an accidental death. Yeah. And look at that.

$770,000 in the event of a unnatural, or I'm sorry, in the event of a non-accidental death. So they go back and they talk, because David Stickney's like, I'm sorry, what's happening here? Like, there's nothing, I haven't heard anything else about the life insurance. Like, I'm very concerned about this happening here? Like, there's nothing. I haven't heard anything else about the life insurance. Like, I'm very concerned about this. Where are we going with this? And they're like, well, you know, it's kind of just been ruled an accident. You know, la-di-da, whatever. And he's like, okay, so you've talked to Russell Bertram?

And they're like, oh, yeah. You know, he's very forthcoming. He's very cooperative. You know, whatever. And then he's like, what about Nathan Meter? Have you talked to Nathan Meter? Who's Nathan Meter? And that's exactly what they're saying. They're like's like, what about Nathan Meter? Have you talked to Nathan Meter? Who's Nathan Meter? And that's exactly what they're saying.

They're like, who the fuck is Nathan Meter? And he tells, David Stickney tells him that that was Leonela's boyfriend at the time of her death. Oh. And so they're like, you don't say. We haven't heard anything about this gentleman. And so in January of 2010. Well, they might have if they'd investigated.

Might have, yeah. So in January of 2010, they go sit down with Nathan Meter. And he said, yeah, I've been dating Leonila for about three months. Things got, you know, pretty serious pretty quickly. We really hit it off. How old is Nathan? That I don't know. He looks considerably younger than both David and Russell. Yeah. But still much older than Leonela.

Yeah. I would guess he's in his 40s. All right. But I don't know that for sure. Okay. Yes, he's in his 40s. All right. But I don't know that for sure.

Okay. And he said that Leonela had just kind of stopped talking to him out of nowhere. And they're like, what do you mean? And he's like, well, she told me that she was pregnant at the end of October. Like October 22nd. She told me she was pregnant, that she was pretty sure that it was mine. Yeah. But that she needed some time to kind of think things over and decide what her move was going to be. Yeah.

And so she asked me to give her a little bit of space. And so I did. He's like, but then like two weeks went by and I didn't hear anything from her. And so I reached out in early November and asked, you know, can we meet up? Can we please talk? Anything. And she responded. What?

Mm-hmm. She responded saying, I can't see you anymore. I'm married. And he was like, what are you talking about? Like, let's have this conversation in person, that kind of thing. And then he quickly realized that he was not talking to Leonila when he got the next text message that asked, please tell me, how do you think I was in bed? What? Mm-hmm.

So he said he just stopped responding at that point. That is so weird. Mm-hmm. So he said he just stopped responding at that point. That is so weird. Mm-hmm. Because it was clear that he was not talking to Leonela. Yeah. And at that point, he didn't really know what had happened. He thought maybe... Yeah, like, this is weird.

This is weird. Maybe she was just giving him the brush off. He didn't really know. But he stopped talking, and then he never heard from Leonela again. And so the police at that point were like... Is Russell the biggest fucking weirdo on Earth? Maybe. Stop talking. And then he never heard from Leonella again. And so the police at that point were like. Is Russell the biggest fucking weirdo on earth? Maybe.

Like, why would you? And so then at this point. Also the dumbest weirdo. Because, I mean, it would have been so simple for him to pick up the phone and say, hey, there was a terrible accident and she passed away. Yeah. Yeah. Instead you do this. You do this. And then, yeah, and now it's January.

And now Nathan finds out that Leonila had died two days after she had told him she was pregnant and that she believed the baby was his. Yep. Yeah. And so police are like, hmm, I wonder who sent those text messages. It is a real mystery. Well, this has been a real mystery to them so far. I mean, really, like that's how all this. This is embarrassing.

That's how the show phrases it. Like, who was behind those text messages? Like, Russell, it's not a question. Russell was for sure behind the text messages. These TV shows need to stop treating us like we're idiots. Right. Yeah. So at this point, they're like, maybe Russell Bertram is not being as truthful with us as we had initially thought.

I wish this stuff was covered in a more real way. Yeah. Yeah. What do you mean? Well, if it were covered in a more real way, first of all, the show wouldn't be titled Accident, Murder, or Suicide. I don't know what it would be titled. But to me, this is a story about just a travesty of just a total lack of care, a total lack of an investigation. Absolutely.

And so I think the more realistic thing that happens at this point in the story is that these investigators are steaming mad. Yeah. Now, maybe they don't know that they need to be angry at themselves. Mm-hmm. But that's what you would be if you'd been so easily duped. Yep. Because they knew what was up. As soon as they got this information, they had to know what was up.

So once they find out about these text messages, they do know immediately that it is Bertram, Russell Bertram, who's been sending them. And so then they decide to look into Russell Bertram's past, investigate him a bit, which for some reason to this point they had not done at all. At this point, they had not done at all. So at this point, they discover that Russell Bertram had filed for bankruptcy shortly before Leonela, shortly before meeting Leonela, I believe, and that he was currently in debt for almost $100,000, just short of $100,000. So this money came at a really convenient time for him. Yep. So this money came at a really convenient time for him. Mm-hmm. Yep.

They also learned at this time that Russell Bertram had been married and divorced three times previously. So they went and talked to his three ex-wives, and they all had the exact same story to tell about Russell. They said that he was obsessively jealous. Oh, boy. That he had a history of searching their phones, getting phone records. Oh, God. Yep. And that each one of them, after they had filed for divorce, had sought a protective order against him. for divorce had sought a protective order against him. One of them even mentioned him holding a shotgun in her direction. I'm sure. And threatening her.

Okay, question. Yes. So you've got three protective orders against you. Do you still get to be a police officer? I do not believe that he was a police officer. So he hadn't. Well, I guess I don't know that for sure. I believe he retired from the police force in 2004.

I imagine three three marriages, though. This happens in 2009. There's probably some overlap there. Yeah. Gosh. OK. Yeah. Yeah.

I bet there's some overlap there. Yeah. Mm hmm. Or that at least one of some overlap there. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Or that at least one of them happened before maybe he became a police officer. I don't know. All right. All right. I don't know. I don't know the exact timeline here.

And so I don't know the answer if you get to be a police officer. I'm guessing the answer is yes. Yeah. I'd love to hear it. Yep. Yeah, it's great. I'd love to hear it yeah it's great so at this point

Paul Swedlund I don't know how it's pronounced S-W-E-D-L-U-N-D who is the South Dakota Assistant Attorney Attorney Journal that's what I was going to say Attorney General and it's not even abbreviated. I did. Attorney General.

And it's not even abbreviated here. It is spelled out. Said, at this point, we believed he had a very strong motive to try and get some money quickly. Yes. Yes. That's true. At this time, the investigators put together the theory that... Wait for it.

Russell Bertram had gone through Leonela's phone, learned about the pregnancy, and then murdered her. No way. But made it look like an accident. Gosh, how'd they put all that together? And so quickly. So that he could claim the life insurance money. Yeah. A lot of good detective work went into that.

Yep. So in January of 2011, two years. I mean, not quite two years, but, you know. Yeah, yeah. Too much fucking time has passed. They question Russell Bertram again. See, okay, now, I will say this. I think that the one advantage you have with this time is that now we can go back and be like, show us the records from where you sent all that money to her family.

Yes, exactly. Oh, OK. We'll get there. All right. We'll get there. OK. So in January of 2011, so really like a year and a few months have gone by at this point. They sit down with Russell Bertram again and they're like, you know, we've gotten some information here.

You know, is there any chance that you might have known that Leonela was pregnant? Because before he had said he had no idea. Right. And he admits that he did know she was pregnant, that she had told him. That's very interesting. I wonder why he admitted it then. Yeah, I don't know. And at that point, he also admits to sending the text messages to Nathan Meter.

I mean, you kind of have to. And he said he just wanted to be sure that Leonela had been seeing someone else. He wanted confirmation that she'd been unfaithful. That's why he sent those messages. All right. And again, nothing fucking happened. Brandy.

Brandy. Nothing happened. Nothing. Months went by. In October of 2011, nothing even like with the fucking criminal case happens. This is a civil suit is filed. In October of 2011, a civil suit was filed in regard to that $900,000 of life insurance. Yeah.

That was in Leonela's name. So David Stickney filed that suit and kind of for him and for Leonela's estate is how it was said. So he wanted a portion of that money to go to her son and a portion of that money to go to her family in the Philippines. He wanted Russell Bertram to get none of it. Right. And so this kind of went on for a little ways. It ended up not going to trial. They settled before it went to trial. And they determined that Russell Bertram would get to keep like $300,000 of it. But that was specifically supposed to be distributed to leonela's family

in the philippines and then the rest would go to david stickney's son leonela's son yeah it's a little bit confusing to me how the breakdown goes but a portion of it was supposed to go to Bertram and he was supposed to distribute that to Leonela's family. And then the rest of it goes to Leonela's son. And so according to this oxygen program, the investigators at that time, after that settlement came through, decided to sit and watch for a little while and see what Russell Bertram did with the money. See if he would make good on sending it to Leonela's family. If he did, great, probably nothing to worry about here. If he didn't, maybe they've got questions about his motives and if this was really a hunting accident. You're just blinking a lot over there.

I am done responding to anything regarding this story. It's infuriating. And just so we're all clear, it's not presented as infuriating in this show no this is what i hate about these fucking shows no this is just like this is what they had to do to make sure because there's not enough evidence here to charge him with a crime well yeah that's the amazing thing about not investigating anything is you don't have the evidence you need. Yeah. So maybe that's why you investigate. Also, I hate this idea that the victim's families have to do. Now, I mean, really, probably what would have got this going sooner was like a wrongful death suit.

But people shouldn't have to do that, especially in a case this obvious. No. No. There. Is that the reaction you wanted? It's better than just blinking at me. I look beautiful when I blink. You do. You look wonderful.

Uh-huh. I look like a lady who hangs on to her business credit card. Okay. Okay. I look like a lady who hangs on to her business credit card. Okay. So they're just sitting, waiting, watching. Wishing.

Wishing. Hoping. Yeah. Praying. Yeah. All the things to see what Russell Bertram does with this money. Yeah. I hope they didn't get tired.

Sounds exhausting, all this work they were doing. Two years went by. And then, I don't know, in September of 2013, one of the investigators on the case gets a little wild hair up his butt and he decides he wants to go talk to Russell Bertram again. Follow up, see if he sent any money to the Philippines. I don't know exactly what he was planning to do on this particular day.

But he went to Russell Bertram's house in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and he knocked on the door. And boy, was he shocked as shit when Leonila's sister answered the fucking door. Oh my God. Her name's Melissa Davale. Oh my God. And she was Russell Bertram's new wife. Yeah.

Holy shit. Mm-hmm. Wife. New wife. Yeah. Holy shit. Mm-hmm. Oh, this is chilling. Yeah. And now it's time for an ad. No. Oh, doodaloo.

Doodaloo. Doodaloo. Doodles. Okay. okay so this investigator shows up to talk to Bertram Russell Bertram like fucking two years after the insurance settlement stuff comes through you really want his name to just be Bertram I do well I have him listed as Bertram in my notes and like it's just messing with Bertram could be a first name it'd be a cool I kind of like it as a first name, honestly. It kind of is cool, isn't it? I mean, I hate to give this evil person any compliments, but I do like his last name. I do.

I like it, too. Okay. Okay. Anyway. So, and he knocks on the door, and instead of Russell opening the door, Leonela's sister, Melissa, opens the door. He asks a couple of questions, I believe. And then he just kind of like freaks out and leaves.

Okay. It's like, what are you doing here? And she says that she's married to Russell Bertram. And he's like, okay, thanks. Have a great day. How did he know that that was Leonela's sister? Because she looks like exactly like her. Oh, okay. Yeah. So that's was Leonela's sister. Because she looks like exactly like her. Oh, okay.

Yeah. So that's how I've heard it. That's kind of how it's described on the accident, suicide, or murder show. It's like he goes to the door, someone answers it, and it's like Leonela is standing in front of him. Yeah. Oh, gosh. He's like, what's happening here? I can't say I blame him for roadrunnering out of here. I don't either.

It would be so weird. However, I do blame him for his next step. Okay, I guess I don't know how busy these South Dakota police detectives are. Okay. But he did not return for four months. Oh. Okay. New theory.

He was not stunned. He was not... He was not scared. He was not shocked. He didn't give a shit. It's very possible. That's just my theory. When I hear that you show up one day and then don't show up again for four months.

Yeah. Is it possible we're being too harsh on these guys? I just think that this is so obvious from the very beginning to me that I don't understand. Right. It's like you want an explanation. And this is the disservice that is done when no one asks that basic question like, well, why did it take so long? Yeah. Yeah.

So I don't know why he waited four months to come back. But for whatever reason, four months passed. He returns to Russell Bertram's house. to Russell Bertram's house. Melissa is there and she explains to him that Russell had reached out to the family after Leonela's passing

and that she had started communicating with him and they'd grown close during that time. And so in July of 2013, they'd gotten married and she'd moved in with him. Yeah.

So she had married Russell like two months before the detective originally showed up on the doorstep. Yeah. Again, nothing happened with this. More time passes. I truly do not understand the timeline in this case. And with this, more time passes. I truly do not understand the timeline in this case. Did they look into whether he had sent the money to the family? So it did seem that he had been sending some money. I don't think they learned this until later.

Uh-huh. He had been sending $200 a month to her family in the Philippines. Good God. He had been sending $200 a month to her family in the Philippines. Good God. Which was less than she was sending when she was working at the nursing home. And then he's gotten this insurance payout since then. I thought the whole point in waiting was to find out what he did with the money. Right.

So if he's just sending $200 a month, we know he's up to no good. Also, are we worried about this new wife of his? Evidently not. Apparently not. They talked to Melissa the second time they come. She says they grew close while they were communicating with the family. Some more time passes. Finally, it's like January of 2014.

They question Russell Bertram again, and his story is the same. He says, you know, yes, I did look through her phone. Yes, I knew she was pregnant, you know, all that stuff. And at that point, they're like, oh, gosh, maybe he did kill Leonella. Maybe this wasn't an accident at all. And so they spoke with Melissa. There was no rush, though. They did not sit down with her until August of 2014.

I hate everyone. What is with this timeline? Why are months going by? I do not understand. This case is clearly just like when we have a little free time, we'll work on it. Yeah.

This is not a priority. At all. Not even a little bit. Yeah. The kindest thing I can think is that they were severely under-resourced. Right. But, goddamn. Yeah. You're so under-resourced, you can't do your job at all.

your job at all. So in August of 2014, they sit down with Melissa, who is Leonela's sister and Russell Bertram's wife. Yeah, we know. And they ask her about the insurance payout, whether her family had received it. And that's when they learn that he's been sending $200 a month to Leonela's family in the Philippines. And Melissa tells them at this point that he told the family he did not get any insurance payout. Oh, and he's just doing this out of the goodness of his heart. Yep. That is sick. They also learned from Melissa at this time that he had lied about what had happened that day that Leonela had been killed. He told her family that she had been mishandling the gun when it had gone off. He hadn't involved himself in the story at all.

This guy is such an arrogant idiot. And I don't blame him because he's gotten away with this for so long. Why would you worry about being sloppy? Yeah. So at this point,

they tell her what they believe happened. First of all, what really happened, like his story to police, they tell him that. And then they tell her that they actually at this point believe that that's not even true. Right.

That they believe that he murdered her. Mm-hmm. And Melissa says that she wants to help them in the case. She wants to testify to whatever they need her to testify to. She wants to file for divorce. She wants to testify to whatever they need her to testify to. She wants to file for divorce. She wants out of this marriage. And she does eventually file for divorce and she lists the reason as cruelty. Yeah. Yeah. On the show, Accident, Suicide or Murder, she is interviewed and she said when she learned all of this information that she'd been lied to, that their whole family had been lied to by Russell and that she was married to this man

who murdered her sister. Yeah. She said, I didn't want to see his face again. She said, but I have to be strong for my sister because I want to give her justice and also for my family. And so that's why she agreed to testify and do whatever she needed to do to bring justice for her sister. Yeah. That's incredible. Mm-hmm. And so finally, on September 8th, 2015, Russell Bertram was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Six years after Leonela was murdered.

And his case went to trial in September of 2016. The trial opened on September 14th, 2016, and the prosecution laid out their case to the jury. The assistant district attorney, I only have his name, Swedland. You know that guy, Swedland, Swedeland? Uh-huh. Remember him from earlier? We remember.

He argued the case along with a fellow assistant attorney general, Michael Hansen. They told the jury that Russell Bertram had killed Leonela to collect more than $900,000 in life insurance money. And that his motive was that money and jealousy over the unborn child that she was carrying. Yeah. They talked about the individual policies. One of them was the $750,000. That it does seem like Leonela was somewhat involved with taking out.

She was at least present when it was taken out. She was aware of it. But then there was the additional $20,000 policy that was taken out by mail with the $150,000 writer if she died in an accident. They told the jury that Russell Bertram took a bet with the insurance company that his fiance would die in a car wreck. Like that was the point of this policy initially was that he really thought like she dies in a car wreck, I'll get this huge payout. And then when that didn't happen, he killed her. He killed her.

Okay. They told the jury that Russell Bertram had changed his story from interview to interview. Initially, he had said, you know, he didn't know she was pregnant and then later admitted that he did know and that he'd found out just two days before she'd been killed. Before he'd killed her. Yes, exactly. And that, you know, there was changes and conflicting reports throughout the whole thing about how the gun was handled, how it went off. Like little details had been changed throughout his multiple interviews with police. They also questioned why Russell Bertram hadn't had an ambulance come for Leonela, why he'd driven her to the hospital himself. It was about a six-mile drive from where the shooting had taken place to the hospital.

They said that, you know, he had called 911, but they had asked him if they wanted to dispatch an ambulance. And he said, no, I'm on my way to the hospital right now. I actually don't think that's that weird. I don't either. I think especially if you've been out hunting, you might be on a road that's a little hard to find. Exactly. And if you know your way around, and I assume a former police officer has some training

in defensive driving. I mean, I totally understand feeling like, well, no, I'm going to take my chances. I'm going to drive straight to the hospital. Yep. They also talked about how his demeanor following the incident had been quite stoic. He'd been unemotional. Again, I don't really think this means that much, but it's something that they, you know, like to bring up at trial. Okay. For their part, the defense said that some of the details in the case might point out that, you know, Russell Bertram might have been a bit immoral. Mm-hmm. But didn't prove that he was a killer. That's my favorite thing that the defense does. They're like, yeah, maybe he was kind of a shitty guy.

Yeah. But he didn't kill her. Okay. He was kind of a shitty guy. Yeah. He didn't kill her. Okay. Except the stuff about texting her ex-boyfriend, giving different stories to her family, having this insurance.

Like, no, that's so much more than immoral. That's clearly your motive and covering up. Correct. Correct. It's really all we need. You're really reading too much into that, Kristen. You're not reading enough into it. It's just, you know, I mean, he's not a perfect guy, okay?

All right? Yeah, that's true. I can agree. Did he visit a couple of sex workers shortly before Leonela died? Yes. Does that make him a killer? No. Well, that's not what we're saying. No, I know.

But these are the things that the defense brings up as well. That is so funny to me. The defense would be like, hey, hey, it's not this thing over here. And it's like, no one's saying it's that thing over here. Did he send some pretty sexy emails to a few women? Maybe. Let's lock him up for that. I'm sure they were disgusting.

Can you imagine? He's just an immoral dude. He's lock him up for that. I'm sure they were disgusting. Can you imagine? He's just an immoral dude. He's not a murderer. Okay. I do kind of, I mean, it's just not funny, haha, but funny to me that, like, this man who is, like, they found all, they uncovered this stuff in the course of the investigation that he had, you know, frequented a sex worker a couple times, like, while couple times prior to Leonela's death. He was messaging multiple women online. But he's worried about her cheating and all of his other wives cheating. That's the way it is.

I know. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, heads up, everybody. Yeah. If your significant other is constantly worried about you cheating and all that, maybe they've got stuff going on in their own lives.

Maybe. But the defense did point out that Russell Bertram was super cooperative during this whole thing. Well, yeah, that's part of the act. Also, okay, they got this. The defense was super pissed about this. Okay. Okay. Russell Bertram took two independent polygraph tests.

Passed them both. Well, yeah, you'd better. If you're a fucking former police officer, you should know how to pass a polygraph. And then the judge wouldn't allow him in. Well, yeah, they're never admissible in court, idiots. Yes. Don't pretend you're upset. If you're really upset, then you're a terrible defense attorney.

Yeah. So he took two independent polygraph tests, passed them with flying colors, if you can believe it. I can believe it. Yeah. And that's part of the reason why those things aren't admissible in trial. So, yeah, the defense wanted them in, which is typically the opposite argument. Typically it's the defense is the one who's arguing that they can't be let in, whatever.

And they're just not admissible. No. So, whatever. Yeah, they wanted an exception. They wanted to be able to bring these in and look, see, he's told the truth this whole time. You have to do more than blink and stare at me, Kristen. Everyone knows my opinion.

Everyone knows. Hey, you. Are you wondering how I feel? No, everybody knows. Yeah, everybody knows. So just keep it moving, sister. Yeah. The defense said that the Gregory County Sheriff's Office thoroughly investigated the incident and then had made the decision not to arrest Russell Bertram.

So everybody should just calm the fuck down. Honestly, I love that argument. I love it because then it forces the prosecutor who's on the other side to be like, actually, our police fudged the bucket big time, and that's a legal term. They said it wasn't until that pesky David Stickney came around. Get out of here, old man. Daniel is a strange husband and started poking his nose in there about that insurance money that anybody thought this was anything other than an accident. So maybe everybody should look at David Stickney. Okay, now the defense has me.

Now you're actually working here. All right. All right. There we go. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. And then the defense talked about Russell Bertram's 15-year law enforcement career.

He was just, he served as a police officer. He's the best man there ever was. In Colombe, C-O-L-O-M-E. I have no idea how it's pronounced. Colombe. Feels like a silent E. It does feel like a silent E. I would agree.

From November of 1988 to August of 1991. Then he became a police officer in Parker until December of 1996, which is when he was then promoted to police chief in Harrisburg, which is a Sioux Falls suburb. And he held that role until May of 2004. So he's just the greatest man that ever lived. Yeah. Don't talk to any of his ex-wives or anyone he's ever dated ever. No.

Please, no. We really don't care how he treats women is the bottom line. That's correct. That's correct. Yep. But the prosecution then kind of used that argument for their case. They're like, yeah, he has this lengthy law enforcement career, which means he should have had a ton of training on handling a firearm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

This should be the man who's teaching classes on firearm safety. Right. Yet he loaded his weapon barrel first into the car without the safety on and just accidentally it went off. Yeah. Weird. Weird. Weird. Weird.

So that's kind of how the prosecution closed up their case, was pointing out like, sure, let's talk about his experience as a law enforcement officer and how it makes no fucking sense that he would mishandle a firearm to this degree. They said Mr. Bertram had 900,001 reasons to kill. And that was what they left the jury with. Yeah. In the defense's closing arguments, they urged jurors to find Russell Bertram not guilty if they felt any hesitation. Okay. Much like the Gregory County Sheriff's Office

had felt when they declined to press charges initially. You're in good company here. Yeah. They also said in regards to Russell Bertram repeatedly changing his story over the course of this investigation

they said, you know what? 1,542 days passed from the day of the shooting to the day of arrest, I believe. Right. And so, sure, during that time, makes sense he might forget a few details, maybe flub a few facts here and there. You know what? I agree with that. You know what I don't think is a fact you would flub? Hmm.

Whether or not you knew she was pregnant. I would agree with that. I think you would remember that. I think you'd also remember how she died. Yes. So you wouldn't give a different story to her family. Yeah. Yes. I would agree with that as well story to her family. Yeah. Yes.

I would agree with that as well. Uh-huh. Anyhow, any hooters, what happens next? He's guilty. They finished by saying, this isn't a morals case. This isn't a negligence case. No one's saying it is. This is a murder case.

So, sure, he might have been negligent in his handling of the gun. He might have been a real dick with no morals. Guess what? Collect all three. You can be all three. We've got a total shithead here.

Yes, the jury found him guilty. Yes. But they did present that defense attorney with a certificate. They did? Yeah. They liked his argument? It was a valiant effort. I gotta say.

Yeah. It's a pretty good. I think in a situation like this, this defense attorney was presented a pure shit sandwich. He went out there, did his best. Yeah. He had to know it wouldn't be good enough. Yeah. Russell Bertram was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Mm-hmm. parole. After that sentence was handed down, Melissa, Leonila's sister, said that she was gratified by the sentence and saddened by the results of the trial as well. Yeah. She said, justice prevailed, but I'm also saddened to find out that my ex-husband is responsible for her death. Yeah. How do you cope with that? My God. How?

It would be terrible. The judge in the case. Okay. First of all. What are you about to tell me? I mean, I just think this is weird and unnecessary. Point it out that Bertram had never been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor. In fact, he'd only had a couple of traffic offenses over the years. Disgusting. Shut up.

He was a first-time offender. Are you kidding me? No. Why point that out? Because when, is he going to be eligible for parole? I can't remember. No, no. Life without parole. The judge went on to say that because, you know know this is a first-time offender but that the aggravating factors were so big that you know had to give the mandatory sentence of life in prison i think the parole was their decision to not oh or give it and she gave no parole okay well then

maybe okay now now i'm sorry, Judge. A thousand apologies to you. Tell me how you're analyzing this. How does that? Okay. If I'm thinking, if I'm the judge, the reason I would mention that is to make it perfectly clear in case there's ever an appeal or anything to be like, hey, I understand X, Y, and Z that the defense is saying. I'm going to throw it out there right now and say, I understand that.

I respect that. But no, the aggravating factors way outweigh the mitigating ones. Okay, that makes total sense. At first when I read this, I was like, why is she pointing these out? I don't understand. But no, that makes sense from that angle. Thank you. I have one semester of law school under my belt, and I've watched tons of Judge Judy.

Also, okay, the judge retired between the end of the trial and the sentencing. So she came back just to do the sentencing. Was she wearing a pair of culottes? I don't know. But Russell Bertram, like, the only statement that I found that he made was thanking the judge for running a clean courtroom. Oh, shut the fuck up. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Ran a clean trial, Judge.

Yeah. I really respect the rules here. I didn't respect the rules about not murdering someone. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. So he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He appealed his conviction on two grounds. The first didn't run a clean trial.

The first was that he didn't like that his polygraph tests were not allowed. Well, my dude, that's just not allowed at all. Been that way for a long time. Uh-huh. Yeah. And then he appealed on the grounds that the evidence, there was some evidence presented at trial, I believe, about the three previous wives who had filed protective orders. Oh, I am surprised. That was a lot of evidence. protective orders. Oh, I am surprised that was allowed in. And then also the activity between

him sending the messages to people online and visiting a sex worker, that stuff he said was prejudicial to the jury. So the prosecution brought up the stuff about him seeing a sex worker? Mm-hmm. I am surprised that was allowed in. Yeah. So the appellate court upheld his conviction and said that the – first of all, polygraphs are not admissible. So fuck right off. Get it out of here. And then saying that the stuff – and I don't know for certain about the stuff with the wives. I'm not positive that that was allowed in a trial. Okay.

Specifically, I know the messages that he sent online and his visits to a sex worker were specifically mentioned in this appeal. And they said it shows motive. OK. So they said it was not it was. I don't think that visiting a sex worker shows motive. But all right. I agree. I don't think it shows.

Why didn't you read us the sexy messages he sent? I didn't see the sexy messages. I wish I did. The sexiest message that I saw that he sent was the one that he sent to Nathan Meter asking when he was pretending to be Leonela asking if she was good in bed. Gross. Yeah. Okay. Yes. I'll let it slide.

Okay. But know that I don't like it. Okay. I want to hear a gross old man's attempt at a sexy message. I don't want to hear it. You got to find the fun somewhere. I don't want to hear it. You got to find the fun somewhere. I don't want to hear it. Okay.

So Russell Bertram remains in prison and he has no possibility of parole. He is 71 years old now, I believe. I just looked him up today. South Dakota inmate locator. Yeah, he's still there. Okay. Hold strong. Hold strong. Strong. Not straw. You thought I said straw?

No, I said holding strong, but I realized the way I said it sounded really weird. I thought you said straw! No, I thought it was funny to say holding strong, because we don't know how he's doing. I have no idea how he's doing in there. I don't have a clue. And you know what?

You don't care. I don't. Nor do I. I cannot believe it took this long to fucking charge him. It's disgusting. It's disgusting. And I'm with you. I think that Leonila being a poor Filipino woman had a huge factor in that. Yeah.

Yeah. And the fact that she didn't have a family member advocating for her to these police either. Well, and how could they? Exactly. Yeah. No, they couldn't. They're a world away. And it bothers me so much. And they didn't even know the real story. Yeah, that's... No, they couldn't. They're a world away. And it bothers me so much.

And they didn't even know the real story. Yeah. And they think that this man is being so generous with them. He's sending us $200 a month. Yes. And he doesn't have to. Let's be nice to him. He's wonderful.

Yeah. It bothers me again that they know Melissa is there. They know she's married. Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're not trying to protect her. Fuck it all. Yeah. Anyway, that's the story of what was definitely not a hunting accident.

No. It was for sure a murder. We knew right from the get-go. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And you know what we know now? What?

We have to do an ad. Oh, that's right. Doodaloo. Doodaloo. And we're back from the ad. Well, Brandy, that was a horribly upsetting story. I know. And all I can do is look away from you.

Okay. And look to our Discord. How do you get in the Discord? You sign up for our Patreon at the $5 level or higher. At that level, you get way too many bonus episodes to listen to. You'll be busy for days. And you also get into

the Discord where you can chitty chat the day away. Away. And when we record, we ask you if you got any questions. Questions. And you send in your question and we answer some. And that's what we're doing right now. Oh, no, I'm in the Sam's Club app. Sorry.

That's not Discord. What are you getting? I just read. Okay, you know what I'm actually? What are you shopping for? Okay, so this past weekend we had Alexandra, my niece, over for a sleepover. Yeah. And we are super into weighted blankets all of a sudden.

Yeah. Obsessed. Yeah. And so I gave her one to sleep with. And this child, this child who wants to wake up as early as possible at our house to enjoy all the fun times. Meanwhile, her auntie is like, I will set my alarm for 630 and it will be a huge sacrifice for me to get up at 630. She slept till 740.

Oh, shit. And she told us that morning, she was like, for Christmas, I want a weighted blanket. Yeah. And I thought, I will also get you something a little fun. Yes, but yes, the weighted blanket. I love that that's what this little girl wants for Christmas. So that's what I was shopping for, if you must know. I must know.

Ooh, Amando Duke asks, when do you decorate for Christmas? For me, I'm putting away Halloween and starting Yule Christmas stuff right away. Brings me joy. Yeah, I would absolutely. I love, let's put the Christmas stuff up right after the Halloween shit comes down. Love it. I kind of do, too. I say do what makes you happy.

And like that, we're not putting ours. We've already decided. Okay. Oh, boy. We're putting ours up on our wedding anniversary, which is November 18th. It is a weekend that we have Jack, and so we're doing like a family anniversary celebration by watching Christmas movies and putting up our Christmas tree and all of that. Will you sing Christmas Shoes to your entire family against their will? No.

Oh, interesting. So when you really love someone, you don't say it to them. Hmm. Hmm. Ooh, Coochie Twinges wants to know, what do David and Norm think of Mario Wonder? Okay, here's what I know. They both love it, but Norm shamed David today for not being further in the game than he is. Yeah.

He was pretty smug about it. He was. He was. Pretty smug. He asked Brandy to text David to find out where he was in the game, and boy, was he pleased with himself. Oh, no.

Debbie Hocklesticks wants to know, would you rather have silent but deadly uncontrollable gas Oh, no. or super loud uncontrollable sneezes? Well, obviously the sneezes. Yeah, I would pick the sneezes, but I hate sneezes too. I know. I once sneezed in your car. Boy, the look I got.

Oh, my gosh. I sneezed in the car on the way back from Dallas. And I go, oh, my gosh, guys. I am so sorry. And David and Casey both looked at me like I was fucking nuts. Well, yeah, because you can't control. You can't help a sneeze. Do you know how the body works?

I do. Oh, big red. Ooh. Do you sometimes forget our Discord names are mostly jokes from the pod? I ask, as mine is definitely forgotten. Okay. I do sometimes not remember, like, where they came from. Or, like, it's such a deep cut that I'm like, that sounds kind of familiar. But this one, this is from that. Yeah, I remember this one.

It's the Australian backpacker who got held in that shed thing. Yeah, we remember you. We remember Big Red Oop. Mm-hmm. Now, some people in here have names, Discord names that actually sound like names. Yes. And then you lose me. I don't know.

Yeah. Now, Cumskillet, that is someone's actual name. That is a real name. Somebody posted earlier, Michael the Pumpkin Spice Latte, or whatever his name is right now. Slut, thank you. Slut, yeah, sorry. Cumskillet sounds like a new EDM artist, which I totally agree with. That's hilarious.

Ooh, okay. Burning Seeker says, hey, Brandy, feel any better about Art Heist now that you know why criminals hang on to the art? Okay, so I'm assuming this is the person who shared this information with us at Obsessed Fest. Okay, so this

wonderful woman told me that she recently learned that the reason criminals hang on to art after like an art heist is so that they have a bargaining chip if they're ever arrested for anything. They're like, you know, I'll hand you back the Mona Lisa if you drop all the charges, which I do like it slightly more now. I still don't like art heists, but that makes sense to me. Wait, you don't like what? Art heists. Patty, I'm going to have to ask you to roll it back. What did I say?

I don't know, but it sounded hilarious. Art heist? I still don't like Eithurst, but that makes sense to me. I think I said art heist, but maybe I didn't. All right, all right. So you're saying you like an art heist. No. So you're saying you totally get it.

No, I don't. So you're saying that you approve. I still don't get it. I still don't like it. So you're saying I'll see you next Tuesday at the Nelson on X. You can see you next Tuesday to me. That's when we're going to take. That's when you're going to be a cunt.

Listen, I'm a cunt always. I don't need a special day of the week to trot this personality around. No, I'm trying to arrange an art heist. At the Nelson next Tuesday. Yeah, the Nelson Atkins Art Museum. Look out, folks. You know what we're going to do? We're going to take the Van Gogh.

The big shuttlecock. Everyone. You're going to strap it on your back. Our local art museum has a giant shuttlecock out front. Giant shuttlecock. It's so cool looking. Yeah. And Brandy thinks it's going to fit in her backpack.

And I'm excited about it. My Mary Poppins carpet bag. You know, you are always dressed to pull off in our heist. I wear a lot of black. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I need to get one of those eye mask things.

Let's say we pulled off a crime together. Okay. Who do you think would be the first to flip? Oh, me. Yeah, you would. Me. You'd be snitching so fast. Oh, so fast. So fast. God. It would take nothing.

Yeah, you probably... Don't do it! I would probably turn myself in before anybody even had any idea. Uh-huh. You'd be like, yeah, my friend Kristen is a cunt and she got me involved in this. No, I wouldn't blame you. That's not my move at all. I would take full responsibility.

No, but then they'd say, you couldn't have gotten the shuttlecock in your backpack on your own. Who helped you? And then I would have to say that you're involved. I'm not going to lie. Well, it starts with a lie. I mean, it's not a totally honest move to go steal the shuttle

cock. Well, it doesn't start with a lie. I didn't tell anybody I'm not going to take the shuttle cock. I guess that's true. Here we are on the podcast. I'm telling people right now we're taking the shuttle cock. And we're telling them it'll be next Tuesday. Be on the lookout. Entire K people right now we're taking the shuttlecock. And we're telling them it'll be next Tuesday. Yes. Be on the lookout.

Entire KCPD is going to be at the Nelson next Tuesday and fucking nothing is going to happen. Because we'll be robbing another local museum. Ooh. Which one? The Toy and Miniature Museum.

That's too close to the Nelson-Atkins. I mean, they're going to be right there. The Toy and Miniature folks are going to be like, hey! Get over here! Oh, no. What?

Unapologetic Disney adult says, In episode two of the pod, Kristen said she would know women were equal when pads and tampons were free in bathrooms. Did you know that they are free at Disneyland? Good. They should be. Yeah, absolutely. Why are you saying, oh, no? She said, welcome to Utopia.

Because you don't like Disney adults. Disney is giving away free. Never mind. That's fine. Okay, great. I can disagree with Disney adults. But I think that the adults who go to Disney or, you know, whatever. Yeah. Should be able to get free tampons.

Wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. This is my opinion. Okay, great. Ooh. Grandma groans a lot. Asks Brandy, were you initially worried about introducing David to Kristen and Norm?

Since you guys are so close, were you worried they wouldn't like him enough to hang out all the time? Oh. Uh-oh. She's making a face. Because I have a very honest answer to this. Let's hear it. But it's not nice and that's not my favorite thing. But I'm going to say it anyway.

Okay. No, not at all. Because David is amazing and has always been amazing. And Kristen and Norm were willing to hang out with my ex-husband who was not. So. You know what? Sometimes the honest answer isn't always the nicest answer, and that's okay. It does make you a cunt, though, so I'm sorry. That's fine.

Yeah, we do like David. Yep. That's right. Like him a lot. Like David a whole bunch. Sapphire Tulip wants to know, if you could smell any famous person's house, whom would you choose? Smell anyone's house? Yes, two popped into my head immediately.

One popped into my head. Okay. I want to smell Oprah's house. Oprah's mine too! Really? Yeah, she's one of mine that popped in my head. The other one? Who?

Jennifer Aniston. I bet her house smells amazing. Hmm. Okay. That's really weird that we both wanted to smell Oprah's house. I just feel like it's got to be great. It's got to be amazing. It probably smells like no other place you've ever been in your life.

It probably for each person smells different. It's just like each person's favorite smell is just piped in. Yeah, that's totally reasonable. Should we do one more? Yeah, you got a good one? No. Okay. Ooh, Richard in Balls

wants to know, what's your go-to low-effort meal? Mine is a bean and cheese quesadilla. What's your go-to low-effort? Oh, you've got one. I can tell. You're nodding.

You're like, yep, I'm picturing it right now. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we make lazy nachos. How do you do that? You're not going to approve because there's no queso. I know what you do. Yep.

You throw a bunch of chips on a sheet pan. You put shredded cheese, whatever fixings, you put that in the oven. Well, I just do them in the microwave usually. Oh, my God. Also, here's the secret. You don't just use tortilla chips what do you use you use doritos all right boy what a sad answer my favorite that question was when you do them with the cool ranch

oh god brandies Delicious This is sadder than an SPCA commercial Oh my What do you got what's your low effort meal Eggs Yeah with some veggies like that's Yeah that's See you're looking at me the way I was looking at you You microwave Doritos,

ma'am. Yeah, it's delicious. Look in the mirror! Doesn't that affect the crunchiness? No, they stay very crunchy. How is that possible? How long are you zapping those things? 30 seconds. Just enough to melt the cheese. You don't need to heat the Doritos up.

Well, I don't know how gooey you like your cheese. Just melt it. And you dip it in some salsa. David does sour cream. I don't fuck with sour cream. I know you don't. Also, David and I have different methods. He drizzles his salsa across the top.

Yeah, that's the way to do it. I dip. I dip as I go. I need to control the sauce level. Yeah, that's the way to do it. I dip. Okay. I dip as I go. I need to control the sauce level. Yeah, that's the worst thing I've ever heard. And on that note, should we move on to Supreme Court inductions? Yes, we shall. To get inducted on this podcast, all you have to do is sign up at the $7 level or higher

on Patreon. And this week, we are continuing to read your names and your first celebrity crushes. I know that was difficult. I almost said this month and I was like, wait, no, we don't change it up every

month. And then too much time had passed. Honestly, I blame you because I was still thinking about those microwaved Cool Ranch Doritos. I knew. I've been eating that in secret because I knew you would not approve. As if I'm going to pop over and be like, wait, what the hell is happening? I pop in, I've got my Lazy Nachos. You're like, what is happening here? I just take the kids.

Come with me. Oh, God. All right, let's do some Supreme Court Inductions. Yes. Nina. Jason Bateman. Lauren Savage. Ryan Reynolds

Amanda Hillman Christian Bale Claire Webb Orlando Bloom Chrissy Schutzer Jensen Ackles Nikki Nicholas Holt on Skins

I didn't know Nicholas Holt was on Skins I don't even know what Skins is It was a show Well, yeah Back in the day. Pretty provocative show. I believe it aired on MTV. But it may have been like a remake of a British show now that I'm saying it.

I don't know. Nicholas Holt, I know from The Little Kid with the Bangs and some movie about a boy maybe is the name of the movie. And he was also the zombie in Warm Bodies. All right. Well, I didn't understand. You don is the name of the movie. And he was also the zombie in Warm Bodies. All right. Well, I didn't understand. You don't know any of those things. Three-fourths of the words that came out of you just then. Let's move on.

Laurie B. Patrick Stewart. Aleva. Matthew Lawrence in Jumping Ship. Jesus. Has anyone seen this? It's a really good Disney movie. And the Lawrence brothers were prolific on the Disney Channel in the 90s.

I bet David and Norm have seen this. David and Norm are weirdly obsessed well, no, were weirdly obsessed with Disney movies. Disney originals. They fucking love Disney originals. We've tried to get them to start their own podcast about it. Yes. They're convinced there's not an audience. Yeah. I'm convinced there are Disney adults

out there who would love it. Claire Fishman. Patrick Dempsey. Megan. Justin Bieber. Danielle. Jensen Ackles again, my goodness. Haley.

Taylor Lautner. Matilda Cheesecake. Oh, Lance Bass. You ever heard of that guy? I have, I'm familiar. Candice Valencia. Bob Dole. Bob Dole. Candice. Candice. Candice,encia Bob Dole Bob Dole Candice

Candice Candice explain yourself Michelle Sparks The studly skater boy In the movie Brink Welcome To the Supreme

Court What do we say After we do the Supreme Court Inductions? I say thank you everyone For all your support. Yeah I was waiting for it I don't know like my brain froze I was like I usually say stuff here Why aren't you saying stuff? Say the Stuff. Thank you everyone

For all of your support. We appreciate it so much If you're looking for other ways to support us Please find us on social media. We're on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Patreon. Please remember to subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen and then head to... What? What?

Subscribe wherever you listen and then head to Apple Podcasts. Leave us a five-star rating and review. Then be sure to join us next week. When we'll be experts. No, when you'll be an expert. Oh, you fucked up too.

You know what? Hey, hey, guess where my podcast credit card is? In my wallet. When I'll be an expert on a whole new topic. Podcast adjourned. And now for a note about our process. I'm not on that page. I'm so sorry. Oh my God.

I'm so sorry. Everyone, the microwaved nachos have gone straight to our brain. 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. I got my info from an episode of Accident, Suicide, or Murder? A piece for the Mitchell Republic by Eric Kaufman. People.com, Oxygen.com, The Washington Post, and The Court Record. 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.