Let's Go To Court! - 63: Too Much Betrayal & the Reluctant Lottery Winner

Episode Date: April 3, 2019

Steven Beard woke up on October 2, 1999, in horrible pain. His stomach was split open. His intestines were exposed. When he called 911, he couldn’t tell the dispatcher what had happened — he could only say that he desperately needed help. It didn’t take investigators long to discover that Steven had been shot in his sleep. But who would want him dead? Then Kristin tells us a story that, at first glance, makes no sense. A man walked into a QuikTrip, bought a couple of lottery tickets, and despite the overwhelming odds against him, won $16.5 million. Great, right? Not so much. He refused to claim the prize money. Iowa lottery officials were stunned. Who wouldn’t want $16.5 million? Months passed. The man still refused to come forward. Lottery officials smelled something fishy. 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: “Court says Iowa lottery rigging investigation took too long,” Associated Press “Just a dollar and a scheme,” episode of American Greed “The man who cracked the lottery” by Reid Forgave for the New York Times In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Marriage, Money and Murder: Steven and Celeste Beard” by David Krajicek, crimelibrary.com “Celeste Beard Johnson” episode Snapped “Marriage, Money, and Murder” by Bill Hewitt, People Magazine  

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 a reluctant lottery winner. And I'll be talking about betrayal upon betrayal upon betrayal!

I can't handle all this betrayal! There's so much betrayal. Okay, that was the most vague intro you've ever done, but I'm so intrigued. Right? Yes. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. It was October 2nd, 1999, when 75-year-old Stephen Beard was startled awake in his Austin, Texas bedroom, he felt unbearable pain in his abdomen. And when he reached down to kind of touch it and feel it.

Was a knife sticking out of it? Instead of finding his belly, his hands landed on his intestines. Oh, no. Oh no. Oh God. Right? Yeah. Steven was conscious, but he was in great pain when he reached for the phone to dial 911.

I need an ambulance. He told the dispatcher. My guts just jumped out of my stomach. Oh, what buddy? They blew out. Oh God. Yeah guts just jumped out of my stomach. Oh, what? They blew out. Oh, God. Yeah, they blew out of my stomach.

They're just lying on my stomach. Oh, my God. Okay, said the 911 operator. They're lying on your stomach? Yeah, how the hell did that happen? I'm in awful pain, Stephen said. How did this happen?

The dispatcher said. It just happened. I woke up. I just woke up. After another brief exchange, the operator said, I'm having a hard time figuring out what happened.

And so was Stephen Beard. He didn't know how this had happened. He just knew he needed help. And then he said maybe my favorite thing I've ever heard on a 911 call.

I don't know what happened. I've never had this happen before. Oh, no. Okay, it's not funny. No, it's not funny. But it's kind of funny. Well, he was clearly drugged, right? Drugged and then sliced open.

And then he comes to and... Why are you looking at me like that? That's what you think happened? Well, it sounds... You know what it sounds like? What? That case I covered a long time ago. Yeah, with the...

Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. And her... I'm making a lot of hand gestures and no one can see it's just so gruesome he cut her open with the box knife and yeah it was the stuff her intestines back in yeah yeah sorry for everyone who's like gee i wonder what episode that was gee i wonder what it was even called it was quentin odell was serial killer in the making episode 14 maybe holy shit okay i have to check now because if i if i am right i want a fucking cookie okay i mean i wish i had cookies but i eat all of them immediately when they come into this house episode 14 i don't know shit is just up here in this brain. And if it wasn't just lodged in there, I could probably cure fucking cancer.

Well, this is why you're so good at trivia. And tomorrow night, we're having our annual trivia night. I'm so excited. I already saved something on my phone to send to you, but I'll bring it up now because I feel like we're going to need it. Okay. Okay. Hang on. I'll bring it up now because I feel like we're going to need it.

Okay. Okay. Hang on. So every year we do a trivia, like a charity trivia night. And it is tomorrow. And Kristen thinks we win every year. In a way, we do. We've never won.

And Norm and I are always pissed about it. Andisten's like didn't we win last year no kristen we did not win last year we did not win the year before we did not win the year before that well much like a loser i can't find this thing on my phone but what it is i mean you two are so funny. Like, we talked about trivia night the other night, and Norman even remembered the two categories where we sucked the worst. Lumberjacks. How the hell do you...

And trees. Oh, you happy? Which, those seem too close together. They do. But how do you... Like, you know what i remember what that we everybody had a good time i just hope everybody has a good time i remember what i wore i remember the snacks that were prepared can't tell you anything more

anyway now that i was right let me get back to my hot pink tube top rice crispy treats no just kidding neither of those are correct okay so emergency personnel and police were immediately dispatched to stephen bear's 5300 square foot home it was stephen beard it is stephen beard it seems that i have dropped a letter here. Did a bear come? A bear came! And then Stephen Beard was also there. And then there was some emergency personnel. It was very crazy. This guy's intestines had just jumped out of his stomach. He'd never had it happen before.

Stop. Stop. We can't keep laughing about that. He said it. Stop. about that he said it but i feel for him because can you imagine fielding these questions right one operator who's like i don't understand what happened and you're like me neither listen lady i have no idea um so he lives in a 5300 square foot oh Oh, they in this article, which most of this stuff comes from an article by David Kradicek for Crime Library.

OK. And in this article, he calls it a mini mansion. But well, that doesn't seem not real mini. No. And the mansion is located in the pricey Toro canyon which is just west of austin okay so steven is passing in and out of consciousness he's in a ton of pain but he still had the presence of mind to ask the dispatcher to call his wife celeste who was sleeping in a separate wing of their sprawling home but the calls from the dispatcher went unanswered celeste slept through the ringing phone the house was locked up in dark when emergency crews arrived they peered through the windows until they spotted beard lying in bed bleeding they had to break a patio door to get inside

the emergency crews looked him over and it looked like it was i mean his whole stomach was open it looked as if maybe he an incision from a past hernia surgery had failed and his guts had just kind of split open. Oh, God. So that's what they thought upon first glance. That that was what happened. So they, and he's a big guy. He's like 300 pounds. So they're like, they wrangle him onto a stretcher, holding his guts in place,

and they life flight him to an area hospital but they're like you know clearly he's had some kind of medical emergency some perhaps this thing has failed and this is all just natural causes until they made a discovery on the floor of his bedroom what do you think they discovered kristin A knife. No! You would be wrong. May I take another guess? Yes. May I take another stab at it?

Sorry! I didn't even have it in my head! Can I take another stab at it? Okay, we should pause here and say we are recording this at night so it's getting a little wacky. This is another episode of Let's Go to Court After Dark. I'm sorry.

I couldn't remember what we called it, so I couldn't join in. I really thought you were going to join in with me. I was about to say late at night, but I realized that sounded so stupid. It's after dark. Yeah, that sounds really cool. Sounds like a place I want to be. Late at night is just like, why am I here? Okay, do you want to take another guess for real what they found on the floor of his bedroom?

Razor blade? No. What? It was a freshly fired shell casing from a 20-gauge shotgun. Whoa! Yes. This was not a failed incision at all.

Stephen had been shot. So he's flown to Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. Brackenridge? Brackenridge, Kristen. I'm sorry. How dare you

attempt to correct me when I have no idea what I'm talking about. He's flown to the hospital. His wife, once they managed to fucking wake her up, and her twin teenage daughters, whom Beard had recently adopted, followed him to the hospital in a police car. to the hospital in a police car. Once there, the teenage girls were joined by their boyfriends, and all five kind of sat holding vigil in a hospital waiting room. Paul Knight, a sheriff's investigator, was sent to the hospital to ask questions, to question them, see what they knew, what had been going on,

really ask a few questions and question them. You could tell. I 100% could could tell you have a terrible poker face yes i realized that i said ask them question and question them you think i don't know when i say something stupid christian i get it all out tonight i need you smart for trivia night. So he was done questioning, interrogating, asking questions. Yes. So he asked the question that every homicide questioner must question to the loved ones any idea who would have done this right christopher dosey the boyfriend of one of the twins spoke up he said how about that crazy Tracy? So who was crazy Tracy?

Well, before we learn that, we need to know a little bit more about Celeste and Steven. Celeste was raised in Ventura County, California, one of four adopted children of Edwin and Nancy Johnson. She had a really rough childhood. It was not a happy one. She claimed that she was abused by her adoptive parents and her adoptive brother. Adoptive brother. And so she left home very early.

She even was, like, her adoptive mother was had mental health issues and was institutionalized at times. So she was left at home with the adoptive father and brother who she said abused her. So it was just it was not a great a great situation. Yeah. She attempted suicide at a young age. And then at 17, she got married to another teenager. And they got married because she was pregnant. And she gave birth to her twin daughters shortly after.

The marriage was brief and believed to be physically abusive. There were restraining orders involved, all kinds of stuff like that. Not a great situation. So it didn't last long. She was divorced by 1983

so I think she was I don't know 18, 19 by then. But she did not let this dissuade her she was definitely the marrying kind she soon wed Harold Wolfe who was an air force mechanic but they divorced by 1991 this is an odd note but Celeste has long claimed that her divorce lawyer paid for her to have a boob job after that divorce. What? Yes.

So she got a boob job and people were like, well, how did you pay for that? Because she didn't have any money. She's like, well, my divorce lawyer paid for it. So she and the divorce lawyer were together. Oh, Kristen. I know it's an outrageous thing to say I think that's such a weird yeah

so then from there Celeste moved to Arizona and she was not doing well she was struggling to make ends meet hey what do you want for your birthday like do you want a new set of tits or like just can you imagine yeah it's weird yeah definitely okay we can move on i just

just wanted to were you are you offering to buy me a new pair of tits you know how cheap i am can you imagine the boob job i'd get you you know what we've talked about this before if you're going you want to go balls to the wall on the boob job yeah i mean if it's gonna be okay i almost i here's what i almost said uh-huh if it's gonna be inserted inside you it better be good i mean it has so i'm not i mean you're not wrong kristin sorry you can Kristen. Sorry mom and dad. This is Brandy talking. How dare you? How dare you? So she apparently got into some more trouble there. She reported a car stolen and then was caught actually burning it and so

whole fraud situation. She was convicted of insurance fraud. And she spent three months in jail. Only three months. Yeah, I know, right? Okay. So then comes along husband number three. His name was Jimmy Martinez.

And Celeste called him BMW. Care to venture a guess at what the BMW stands for? Gee. Oh, wait. It stands for something. It's not because he drives a BMW? It's not. It's an acronym.

I don't know. Big Mexican Wiener. Ew! What? What? Yeah? What? Now that's what she called her husband. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. So this marriage, surprisingly, did not last either. And Celeste found herself single again and now living in Austin, Texas. She was now in her early 30s and she was just trying to stay afloat. She was working as a waitress by 1993 at the Austin Country Club. And among the regular customers there were Stephen and Elise Beard, both in their 60s with grown children. Oh, oh boy.

Elise was an avid golfer and Stephen really preferred the indoor activities, you know, like hanging out at the bar. Same. But Elise actually was diagnosed with cancer and died pretty quickly. And she passed away in October of 1993. And Stephen was not about to be alone. Yeah. And within weeks of the funeral, he began pursuing companionship from none other than Celeste Johnson Bratcher Wolf Martinez.

Oh, God. That's a lot of names. I don't know that she actually went by all of those last names. Surely not. You gotta drop a few. Yeah. They had their first date three weeks after Elisa's death. Oh, God.

Yeah. three weeks after elisa's death oh god yeah stephen beard was 68 and celeste was 30. that's disgusting really yes are you sure i'm positive never been more sure for their first date beard treated celeste to a lavish Italian meal at Mama Mia's restaurant in Austin, and they enjoyed a nightcap at his home. Then, Stephen allowed Celeste to drive herself home in his $50,000 Lexus. That's probably going to get a 30-year-old to sleep with you. I mean, you know, you're making these faces. But if you're 68 going for the 30-year-old, you know they're only in it for money. So, yeah, you should.

Oh, 100%. I mean, my opinion, yeah, give them the keys to your fucking Lexus. Take them to Mamma Mia. Tell her to get all the eggplant parms she wants. Yes. You know, like. I would like to just give a special shout out to David Kradzicek, the writer of this article for this next line that he pinned.

Okay. Then Celeste must have said to herself this could work out nicely Alexis beats the hell out of a BMW I don't know wow getting steamy David Kradicek let's go to court after dark

Oh yeah Getting hot in here So Beard did really the only thing He knew how to do He courted Celeste With an open checkbook For Christmas in 1993 He gave her a $16,000 Cock ring, a $3,000 wristwatch, and a Ford Explorer.

All for Christmas. He also invited her to move in with him. And she did on January 1st, 1994. January 1st, 1994. In their first year of that relationship, Stephen kind of took care of all of the stuff that was in Celeste's past that was still kind of hanging over her head. She had a $20,000 restitution bill from that insurance fraud case. Uh-huh.

Done. He took care of it. He agreed. She had, like, lost custody of her children at some point, and he agreed to pay to get them back in the custody, whether that meant he needed to adopt them or whatever. Yeah. He was willing to do it. After 13 months of living together, Stephen and Celeste agreed to make their relationship legitimate.

To make their relationship legitimate. But first. Stephen made Celeste sign a prenuptial agreement. Oh. She would get $500,000 and not a penny more if they divorced. If she became his widow. Oh boy. She would stand to get much, much more. Mm hmm.

Because she was the beneficiary listed in his will. So. He had the forethought to get this prenup, right? He wasn't a dumb guy. He was really a self-made guy. He'd worked for everything he had. He had served in the Navy, and then he started out in radio and advertising in the 50s and 60s, and climbed his way up until he was like an executive of a Fox network in Texas.

And he was worth millions. So the two were married in a lovely ceremony at the Austin Country Club on February 18th, 1995. And their honeymoon was a bit of a train wreck because Stephen was 68 and had trouble performing. Couldn't tap dance, as they say. Could not tap dance. And he required, so this is 1995, if you'll recall. No Viagra yet. Uh-huh.

So what they did was... Oh, God. What are you about to tell me? You had to... So there was a similar treatment to Viagra that was around. There was stuff you could take, but it had to be injected into the penis. Oh, God. With a needle.

Oh, God. And so Celeste did it, and then said she was so traumatized by it that she couldn't possibly have sex with him. Well, yeah. What do you inject into the woman? Yeah. Mind-numbing cream? I mean, that's terrible. So she did have sexual intercourse with him that day.

And according to her, she only ever had it with him one other time. I don't blame her. Yes. I've got to take my hands away from my face. I'm sorry. You don't want to be injecting any penis stiffening serums into anybody's penis? I mean, if it can't happen, it can't happen,

right? I mean, you're 68. Want to celebrate that new bride. Well, but you can't have her, buddy. After that, things were not going well, if you can imagine it, for the new beard family. Why didn't they inject some fun into things?

Celeste was no longer willing to give him the injections. And so they just didn't have sex. Sure. And at one point, it was like four months after the wedding or something like that, Stephen Beard actually filed for divorce. Oh, wow. He was like, I'm not not gonna stay married to her but the two negotiated and they came up with a solution he withdrew the petition for divorce and uh they came up with um the sunday service agreement ew Ew. Oh my God.

Is this what I think it is? Which meant that every Sunday. She had to have sex with him? Nope. Nope. She had to give him oral pleasure, Kristen. Ew. This is gross.

Yeah, it's really gross. But. That seems illegal. Well, yeah! God! Yeah, it's not awesome. This poor woman. I mean, I know she

shoots him. Oh, do you? Yeah, I do. Sorry, I do. Perhaps he forgot the intro to this case. She shot him and then one of the twins shot him and then the other twin shot him? Nope. But you are right. There are three people involved.

So far, we've only heard of two. Okay. Keep your pants on. Sorry. They're already off and i need an injection um yeah so she actually how could you not laugh sorry i was distracted that was not i didn't care for that at all celeste was not a fan of this arrangement really but it gave her the thing that she really wanted out of him which was money okay she called it the sunday suck ew her daughters would later say that she would they'd be doing something or whatever and she'd be like all right guys i gotta go i gotta go do the sunday suck ew she told her she would

say all right girls i gotta go i gotta go make some money yeah ew so this worked for a little bit but steven really came to realize what he hadn't realized in the beginning i guess was that celeste was just with him for his money really and so he set her up with an account with the five hundred thousand dollars in it that she would be owed if they divorced and he thought like you know if she has that money maybe she'll spend less of my money you know whatever he was wrong she spent that five hundred thousand dollars in six months whoa on what everything okay yeah and so he was pissed because he thought like okay this is what you're going to be owed if this goes south i will go ahead and give it to you now you do with it do with it what you want and she just blew through it well yeah i mean i think it was a dumb fucking move. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. At this point, Celeste has become not a big fan of her husband. Uh-huh. Sure. She's unhappy with their arrangement, with the Sunday suck. Yeah. She is, she only refers to him behind his back as the fat bastard or the old fool. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Pretty bad. And many people overheard her on multiple occasions saying, with exasperation, why doesn't he just die already? I mean, he's only 68. I was going to say, you're going to have to get a way while. Ooh. I mean, he's only 68. I was going to say, you're going to have to... You've got to wait a while. You're going to have to be older. Yeah.

Well, unless you take matters into your own hands. Oh. Do you think that's the betrayal that I'm talking about? I mean, clearly from your reaction, it's not. Hmm.

But all signs are certainly pointing to it. Hmm. Hmm. Wouldn't you like to know? Listen and find out. I was about to turn this off. So she's unhappy with her marriage.

It's sexless. And so she decides to kind of rekindle an old flame with old BMW. Hmm. And so she's secretly driving like 40 miles to see him several times a week. She would slip out of the house after Stephen went to bed. He often went to bed

at like 930. Yeah, because he's an old dude. He's an older. And that sometimes she would spike his food and drinks with sleeping pills so that he'd fall asleep earlier. Yeah.

Not great. So in drinks with sleeping pills so that he'd fall asleep earlier yeah not great so sometime around new year's in 1999 steven had had enough he was like i know what you're doing you're spending all of my money you're sleeping with somebody else i'm gonna file for divorce and so celeste threatened to kill herself oh if he divorced her and that's how she ended up in saint david's pavilion for mental health was there that she met crazy tracy it was march of 1999 when steven sent celeste for treatment at saint david's pavilion and there she met tracy tarleton and tr Tracy was immediately smitten with Celeste. A few weeks later, she wrote her a love note. It said, Celeste, you are so beautiful. I think about your long, silky body and your incredible long legs,

and I just can't stand it and then I think of your incredible face and I want to stand outside your building and wait until I get arrested whoa we won't even talk about what happens when I think about your sweet, tough, sexy voice. Wait, we can talk about the body? We can't talk about the voice? No, right? Is that how all you listeners feel? So, Tracy was a 35-year-old woman who had led kind of a troubled life with bouts of narcotics and alcohol

abuse. And she had suicide attempts in her past and some a lot of mental health issues. She had actually grown up a fairly privileged life with her father was a lawyer she graduated from texas a&m with a degree in biology but she didn't like any of that and so finally in 1994 she found a job at a bookstore um in austin and she loved it she loved it there she worked like 60 hours a week there and it was like you know austin's a super eclectic city like they're now not at the time but now they're they're like city motto is keep austin weird like yeah i invented that you did not and she really felt found like she had found her place there um she had been um kind of a closeted i don't know why i said kind of she was a a closeted lesbian her life, and she felt like she could be out and who she wanted to be there.

And so it was very freeing with her. And she had a very open-minded circle of friends through this bookstore, and she was finally comfortable sharing her sexuality with all of them. But in February of 1999, she suffered, like like a very public nervous breakdown at work. She was like shrieking and yelling obscenities and threatening violence. And it was at that time that her family and friends checked her into St. David's Pavilion in Austin. St. David's Pavilion in Austin. So she got there a month before Celeste did. So this is Crazy Tracy.

Okay, so now we're back to the hospital waiting room that night. Remember, Christopher Dosey's like, yeah, I think I know who did this. It was Crazy Tracy. And he wasn't the only one suggesting that Tracy might have had something to do with this. When the news of the shooting of Stephen Beard kind of broke, a number of people stepped forward

and said her name as a possible suspect. Just about everyone everyone in fact with the exception of celeste beard so when celeste is asked she's like i have no idea who would have done such a thing no no idea at all and literally everybody else is like yeah i think it's crazy tracy so celeste set up Tracy to do this? Oh, do you think so? I'm always wrong when I make these predictions. But it certainly seems that way. So two days after the shooting, detectives go to Tracy Tarleton's apartment.

And they ask her if she owns a 20-gauge shotgun. And she said yes. And so she was like an avid skeet shooter and she so she was like yes i have one and she kind of reluctantly gave them her gun it was actually like a very valuable gun it was like italian it was like i don't know a thousand dollars i don't know how much guns cost yeah i was gonna say some reason, that doesn't strike me as a ton of money. It was engraved with her name. It was made in Italy. You can get a lot of stuff engraved with your name.

So police send it off to the lab for ballistics tests. And sure enough, it came back positive for matching that spent shell casing in Stephen Beard's bedroom. On October 8th, six days after the shooting, Tracy Tarleton was arrested and charged with assault. Because at this time, Stephen Beard was still clinging to life. Oh, right. Why not attempted murder? Just assault? Yeah, I think that's really interesting.

Yeah. Huh. So, whoever had shot Stephen, Tracy, had done so in a dark bedroom and had taken kind of poor aim. Luckily for him, they missed his brain and his heart, but his digestive organs were just decimated.

He went through seven surgeries to repair all of it. And the immediate threat to his life seemed to pass. He was released from the hospital, but he was put on heavy antibiotics because injuries to the intestines and stuff can lead to sepsis and all kinds of scary infections. He was released from the hospital on January 21st, 2000, and he died four days later at home.

Oh, no. He had been in the hospital for months. That seems suspicious. He died of a blood clot. Oh. Yeah. Ugh. So at that time,

the charges against Tracy were upgraded to murder. Some accounts say that Celeste was the perfect, you know, wife during all this time. You know, she was by her husband's side, taking care of him, making sure he had everything he needed. And then there was the evidence that suggested that this might not be true yeah because at the time of his death or after his death steven beard's accountant went through his finances to kind of get everything in order for you know the execution of the will and everything and he discovered that celeste had spent 321 000 in october and november so while he was in the hospital what'd you spend it on i don't know oh my gosh and uh by december 10th so that

amount was for october and november then by december 10, she'd spent another $249,000. And then, the six weeks after that, ending in March, she spent an additional $100,000. So we don't know what for, but definitely not on, like, hospital costs for him. No. Okay.

Gotcha. Just blowing through money. So, this looks odd. You know, she's spending Just blowing through money. So this looks odd. You know, she's spending all of his money. It also looks odd that this woman that she had this maybe relationship with or that had at least wanted to have a relationship with her, they believed had shot her husband. And investigators were like, yeah, i don't think this is a coincidence yeah here so they believed that celeste had probably encouraged or asked or paid tracy to shoot steven absolutely but tracy maybe many things but she was not a snitch oh no tracy poor tracy yeah i mean really yeah

they offered her all kinds of deals if she would talk but she refused to speak to them she sat in the jail awaiting trial, made zero statements month after month. So she had been held on the murder charges, and then she was officially indicted after a grand jury had agreed that there was enough to move forward for murder. Because there was some question about whether it was murder, whether it was his death really death really you know could you say murder because he died of a blood clot and all of this stuff and so a grand jury was convened and it was decided on February 16th 2001 that she could be charged with murder and she was indicted on those charges and then something Tarleton had a revelation, you might say. She was sitting in jail, reading a newspaper. Wait, Tracy had the revelation?

Yes. Okay. What'd you call her? Tarleton. It's her last name. Oh, okay. Okay. Sorry.

Tracy Tarleton. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Had a revelation, Kristen. Uh-huh. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Had a revelation, Kristen. Uh-huh. She was sitting in jail, reading a newspaper, when she saw something about her beloved Celeste.

Celeste had gotten over her loss and had gotten remarried. Oh, no. To a bartender and musician named Cole Johnson. They had a lovely private ceremony in the beautiful mountain town of Aspen, Colorado. Mm-hmm. And Tracy was fucking pissed. I bet she was. She had thought that she and Celeste were going to be together.

And here she was duped and dumped for a man. Betrayal. Betrayal. Betrayal. She was enraged. And you know what she did, Kristen? She made a a deal she asked to speak to the prosecutors and she took a fucking deal so the prosecutors 18 months had gone by at this point she's been sitting in jail for 18 months hasn't said a word uh-huh and the prosecutors come in and they you know they arrange the meeting or meeting or whatever. And the first words she said are, I did it for Celeste.

Tracy tells the prosecutors that she and Celeste had been in a sexual relationship while they were in St. David's. They had actually so they actually were both in St. David's together. And then they transferred together to a different mental health facility in Dallas called Timberlawn. And while they were there, they were actually caught being intimate. Oh, well, yeah. So it wasn't all malarkey, Kristen, as you wanted to believe. No, I for sure believed that they were together. It was said that buckets of

ice water couldn't even keep them apart. What? I don't know. They literally like I don't know they were it wasn't allowed at this facility and they were literally being pulled apart constantly and given

like i on one occasion they were like one of them was given like a cold shower afterwards so she's just spilling all of this stuff to the prosecutors and she's like you know i thought that they we were going to be together they'd had trysts after they both left the mental health facilities like tracy really thought this was something and it seems that celeste was using was using her so tracy thought very highly of celeste and she believed that Celeste thought the same and she believed that they would even get married someday and that Stephen was the obstacle to her happily ever after. an episode of i believe dateline covered this and they talked to like a a psychologist who said that they actually believed that this was maybe a version of some of her mental illness and she like aggrandized things and so she felt that the relationship was more than it actually was yeah um

but it didn't it didn't go well they actually came up with like a bunch of ideas together to off steven beard and actually even tried a few things they poisoned his food a couple of times and nothing worked and then finally celeste and steven were supposed to go to europe for like a several week trip. And the day before it, Celeste called Tracy and she's like, I'm not going to be able to do it. I can't survive a trip with him. I need you to help me. And that's when Tracy came over and shot Stephen.

So she the prosecutors give her a deal. If she will testify against Celeste, testify to all of this, she'll be sentenced to 20 years in prison. And she's been betrayed. So once Tracy gives all of this information, agrees to testify, Celeste was arrested and charged with murder on March 28th, 2002. A judge set her bail at $8 million because she had so much money accessible to her. Yeah.

So Celeste had sold the mansion after the will, because she got everything. Well, remember, it was a tiny, mini mansion of only 5 000 square feet yeah so she sold it um and got like two million dollars and just a few months one year and four months later she had blown through all of that and only had seven thousand dollars left how how do people do this? What is she buying? I don't know. There must be things we don't know exist. I mean, seriously.

It's nuts. Somehow she did manage to scrape up enough money to hire herself a good lawyer. She got the best defense attorney in the state of texas if not the united states a little man you've probably heard of a little man i don't know why i said i think he's normal size i don't think he's small um dick de garin does that name sound familiar no he oh the name i'm blanking on the name the the um avocado jinx guy robert durst he represented robert durst oh okay okay yeah yeah yeah like he was involved in the whole the documentary and all of that too yes and so he's like the best criminal defense attorney

in the state of texas and one of the best in the united states So she somehow managed to afford him. Okay. Yeah. But as her trial went underway, the prosecutor told the jurors, Celeste Beard couldn't stand Stephen Beard. She talked to people about how she hated him. He disgusted her. And what happened here is a simple case of a greedy manipulative defendant who took advantage

of a mentally ill woman who was in love with her she told tracy that was steve gone they could be together i think that's a pretty good yeah synopsis of what happened i mean it seems accurate yeah i totally agree so tracy tarleton took the stand for a total of 15 hours over three days that oh yes that sounds brutal she took the jurors all through the love affair and through the murder scheme and told them exactly how it happened. She said, I just saw this woman that I loved in a desperate situation trying to find a way to survive this man that was so awful as I was led to believe. She had a plan. She wanted me to shoot him at Toro Canyon with my shotgun. And I was willing to shoot him.

And I went and I did it. She finished by saying that she and Stephen Beard had been betrayed by the same woman. I feel really bad for Tracy because I completely think that she was. She was taken advantage of. 100%. 100%. for Tracy because I completely think that she was she was taken advantage of 100 100 relatives friends psychologists and colleagues from the bookstore where Tracy worked all testified that they believed that the women had had a sexual relationship the prosecutor produced evidence such as photographs love notes cards that were further proof of a relationship

but dick de garin said that mountain of evidence was a fantasy of a predatory and aggressive lesbian. Oh, what? Yes. I think that's a terrible argument. The defense boiled their entire argument down to three words. Tracy is crazy. No, fuck that. Fuck that, right?

see no fuck that fuck that right and i don't like where i think he's going with the lesbian thing of like oh she was after her she was trying to recruit someone no no calm down i think you're picking up exactly what he was trying to put down. He went on to say, this is a case of fatal attraction. No, shut up. Tracy Tarleton is psychotic. She's been diagnosed as having delusions, as hearing voices that aren't there, as seeing things that aren't there. Which I think is probably totally true. And someone took advantage of that. Right.

100%. Yeah. Knew that this was a totally vulnerable person and knew that they could show them a little bit of affection and that they would do exactly what they wanted them to do. Yeah. She preyed on her. Yeah, it's going to be a lot harder to get a healthy,

totally balanced person to go shoot your husband. Yeah. So why not pick her? Yeah. So during all of her pretrial depositions and everything, Celeste had denied so much as kissing Tracy. She said it had never happened. It had to be pulled apart. Yeah.

So that statement was read to the jury. And they were like, there's like dozens of eyewitnesses here that are saying otherwise. Yeah. Including Celeste's own daughters. Oh my God. Who testified that there was absolutely a relationship

between Celeste and Tracy. Uh-huh. The daughters together spent three days on the witness stand and they said that she had completely married Steve for his money. For his money. I don't know what i said her is money her money they testified that she would sometimes make comments like why doesn't he just die already

um i mean no detail was spared in their testimony they were asked what the sunday suck was and they testified that that was every Sunday Celeste was required to give Steve a blowjob that's so bad yeah they said she would she would rant she would do it and then she'd rant about it to them and then she'd run off and either go see

Tracy or go see Mr. BMW. I'm struggling because I feel sorry for Celeste, too. Yeah. I mean, it sounds like she was abused her whole life and then... I agree. She got with this abusive guy. Yeah. I mean, I... Yeah. yeah i mean i

yeah i don't i don't know i mean i don't think that he deserved this obviously no i don't think he did either but he kind of sunday sucked bankers and accountants testified um about celeste's extravagant spending they said that you know the prenuptial agreement said that she would get only five hundred thousand dollars but that if he died she would stand to gain about six6 million. Roughly half of his estate was what was left to him in his will. Left to her in his will. The prosecutor ended up or wrapped up the testimony by saying money is what this whole case is about. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I agree.

The jury deliberated for 23 hours over three days before finding her guilty yeah guilty i'm surprised she was convicted i'm surprised it took that long yeah i thought that was a long time for them to deliberate yeah yeah i wonder if there was like one person that was holding out for lunch and well no and i say this because i don't feel sympathetic to celeste but you do i do yeah well i think if you if you if you believe and i think i do believe that she had an abusive childhood. Yeah. To me, it seems like, okay, she'd had a string of terrible experiences with men. Yeah.

And then this 68-year-old man, I believe, selected her because she was young, because she was pretty, and also because she was vulnerable. Yeah. No, I mean, you're right. And so I do feel bad for her. And then he implements this rule, obviously. It turns out she was not so great herself. But I, yeah, I don't know. What? You're making faces say the thing i struggle with is that i think clearly some part of this i mean she agreed to that was worth it to her for what she

was going to get out of it like it was a business transaction i have have to do this. I have to put up with this and I get this in return. Yeah. That's I think where I don't feel as sympathetic for her. Sure. Cause she entered into it at somewhat willingly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And it's like, that's tough cause you don't know the dynamics. Yeah, exactly. It is kind of that situation where like I'm with you because you're young and hot. You're with me because I'm rich. Rich and old, and I'll probably die. Yeah, then, yeah, we know what we're getting into.

Right, yeah. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in the case, and she was given a mandatory life sentence. But they did get to do do like a the victim impact statements at the sentencing and steven beard's son said i hope you burn in hell yeah but even worse than that were the statements from celeste's daughters her daughter daughter, Christina, said, you say we turned on you. Well, you turned on us. You turned on the entire Beard family.

He let you into his home. He loved you, honored you, obeyed you, and you violated him and murdered him. Shame on you. Wow. Yeah. I thought that was pretty crazy crazy did the daughters love this guy um or is it more complicated than i'm trying to make it no i think they probably did yeah that's

not what celeste believes really celeste believes that that statement and their testifying against her was all an act so that they would get their part of his estate. Oh, wow. Because they're legally his children. Ooh. Yeah. Ooh, that's a dark possibility, isn't it? Yeah. So who knows?

Ugh. Celeste will be 80 years old before she is eligible for parole and that's the story of the murder of stephen beard so stephen beard was betrayal betrayed by celeste and tracy was betrayed by Celeste. And so what did Tracy do? She betrayed Celeste too. Betrayal upon betrayal upon betrayal. Got whiplash over here. Okay.

You ready for this? I am. A lottery winner. We just had a crazy lottery thing again here did you buy a lottery ticket no i already know you know i'm too cheap powerball was just like 756 million or something like that i know what my chances are none did you buy a ticket no why not you i wanted to and I forgot. Well, guess you won't be a millionaire.

No, this is a little different because this is a reluctant lottery winner. Yeah, I mean, I heard you say that and I don't really know what that means. I think you'll get it real fast. Okay. First of all, thank you to Reed Forgave who wrote an incredible article for the New York Times. I'm doing that shitty thing I always do where I don't tell you the headline now, because it'll give it away. But again, Reed forgave. This is like all coming from his amazing article. The year is 2010. And it's Christmas time in Des Moines, Iowa. The hot lotto jackpot is going nuts.

It's growing and growing and growing, and people are pumped. To play, you pick five numbered balls and one hot ball. balls and one hot ball. Are we 12 year old boys? When I got through numbered balls and neither one of us laughed, I was like, we got this. Lost it at the one hot ball. That is one hot ball. Can't say the same for the other one.

So you get all six right and you win a ton of money. How much money? You're about to find out. Okay. So as the jackpot grew, more and more people bought tickets. The odds of winning were one in 10.9 million. Uh-huh. Would anyone win?

One person might. On December 23rd, a man walked into a quick trip off I-80 in Des Moines. Love me some quick trip. Everyone does. You know, guys, if you're outside of the Midwest, you're missing out. You are missing out. They are amazing. They're so clean.

Uh-huh. A million fountain drink choices. Yes. Ugh. They've got hot dogs. They've got all... And they always say, see you later. See you later. That's right.

Yeah. Makes you feel like family. They know you're coming back. So this guy walks into Quick Trip. He's a pretty big dude. He's got on a black sweatshirt with the hood up he has a baseball hat underneath the hood he's got a black jacket on over everything no pants what i'm just kidding i'm just kidding let me guess black. I just realized I'd only described his top. The waist up. So he walks up.

Totally porky pig in it. So he walks up to the counter with two hot dogs. The cashier said, hello. And so did he. And the cashier said, couple of hot dogs? And the man said, yes, sir. The cashier gave him his total, and the man casually asked for two lottery tickets. He got them, paid for his things,

went out to his SUV, and drove off. Then, on December 29th, 2010, the hot lotto numbers were chosen. 3, 12, 16, 26, 33, and 11. What's the hot ball? That's right. 11 hot ball. Calm down, Missy. The next day, Iowa lottery officials made a big announcement there was a winner yeah it's that dude dressed in black with the hat on no pants they didn't release any surveillance footage or anything but they just said hey hey everybody just so you all know uh the quick trip off i-80

in des moines sold the winning lottery ticket this week someone Someone just won $16.5 million. Holy shit. Right? Yeah. Days went by. Tons of people called in. Oh, yeah, I bought the ticket. I lost it, though.

Uh-huh. Oh, oh, I bought the ticket, but someone stole it from me. Oh, hey, my friend just died, and he played the lottery all the time. So should I go to the junkyard and look through his car for that ticket? Oh, my gosh. These were just some of the calls. Oh, my gosh. So it was obviously These were just some of the calls. Oh my gosh! So it was obviously fairly easy

to weed out the bullshit. Lottery officials had the video of the man they knew bought the ticket. They had the serial number of the winning ticket. None of these people matched the description of the man in the video. None of them had the right ticket.

For a little while, people thought, okay, maybe the winner is talking to a financial advisor or something. Yeah. But the days dragged on

and that just seemed less and less likely. Like, what is, what's this dude hemming and hawing about? Three months passed. the real lottery winner still hadn't come forward six months passed still nothing lottery officials were like, what the hell? Yeah. They held press conferences. At one of them, this guy who was like in a suit was like, hey, you know, someone has the ticket

and the Iowa lottery wants to give the money away. We want someone to come in so we can like show you the money, give you the money. Come on in. Yeah. Come on, buddy. The people who worked for the lottery had never seen anything like it. Yeah, sure.

Sometimes people don't bother to claim small amounts of money. But this dude won sixteen point five million dollars. Right. Where was he? The guy had one year to claim what he'd won. And if he didn't come forward by the deadline, he'd lose all the money. Then, on November 9th, 2011,

Iowa lottery officials got a call from a lawyer. He was calling from Quebec, and his name was Philip Johnston. And sure enough, he had the serial number for the winning ticket. So Mary Neubauer, who is the VP of External Relations for the Iowa lottery, was like, hey, great. If you don't mind my asking, how old are you? And what were you wearing when you bought the ticket

so just a quick note you really cannot see this dude in the surveillance tape but you kind of get the vibe people kind of got the vibe just from the voice you know everything they were thinking 40s okay so philip is like oh yeah yeah I'm in my 60s, and I was wearing a sports coat and gray flannel. You just jumped like a mile. Oh, my God. You scared the shit out of me. What's the matter with you? That scared me so bad.

You pee a little? Oh my, this is why Casey doesn't want to play taboo with you. Like, you hit that buzzer. That's how that sounded. That was meant to be a buzzer. So, he was wearing a sports coat and gray flannel dress pants. No. No. Nope. Which, I gotta say, that's just a bad guess. Gray flannel dress pants no no no which i gotta say that's just a bad guess gray flannel dress yeah i mean could you be more specific no kidding i was wearing tweety bird pajama

oh was that the wrong guess should i just said jeans immediately mary was like no nope that's not what the lottery winner was wearing. And the age didn't seem right either. Eventually, Philip was like, yeah, you caught me. I told a little fib. I'm actually just helping a client. He got the winning ticket, but he doesn't want to reveal his identity. So kindly hand over the money. No. And Mary's like, hey, you know, I understand why you wouldn't want to come forward, but you can't do that in Iowa.

Yeah. Iowa isn't one of those states where you can win the lottery anonymously. You have to come forward. You have to reveal your identity, which I think that sucks. I agree. Phillip said, well, if that's the case we might just have to withdraw the claim to this money we might just have to walk away what brandy why are you making that face and why who is walking away from 16 million dollars a guy that already has 18 million dollars so mary had kind

of the same reaction his fleece was white as snow she's like your client is so obsessed with being anonymous that he's gonna forego 16.5 million dollars so they ended up getting off the phone with each other and mary was just like fucking weird that is so weird weeks went by then, an hour and a half before the deadline when the ticket would expire, two lawyers walked into the Iowa Lottery offices. They had the winning ticket. The lawyers said they represented a trust based out of Belize. The president of that trust was

Philip Johnston. Oh, I heard him before. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Ray Flannel Pants. Yeah. That didn't sound anything like the noise I made. We are going to get feedback. Other people pooped their pants when they heard you do that the first time. No one saw it

coming. Nobody pooped their pants when they heard you do that the first time no one saw it coming you guys you can come forward anonymously this is not the iowa lottery let us know so the the lottery people were like this is strange they started asking basic questions okay you guys have the winning ticket but who bought the ticket yeah the lawyers were like i don't want to say oh they pulled a stewart finally the i had tv reference in case you didn't pick it up in case you're too young and cool in case you're as cool as we are finally the iowa lottery people were like you know what this is so weird we're not giving you the money yeah wow can they do that i mean i guess they can they're the bosses they make the rules yeah they can. They're the bosses. They make the rules.

Yeah, they were basically like, no. In fact, they thought it was so weird that they called in the authorities. Soon, the state's attorney general's office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation launched a probe. Oh! So I'm quoting from an episode of American Greed as I couldn't resist. You killed me. I feel like I have for sure

complained about this on the podcast before but when I worked at a newspaper I had an editor who like I mean the word probe was in at least three headlines a week. Yeah. And, you know, on the one hand, you can't blame him because, you know, you got to bump up the font size. An investigation is too long a word.

But my God, the probes. My God, the probing. My God, the probes. It went nowhere. The investigation lasted for like three years years and the thing did not have wheels it became sort of a joke around the office but finally after years and years of a whole lot of nothing the deputy attorney general dropped the file on the desk of a young prosecutor named Rob Sand. And he said something sarcastic like, happy birthday.

As far as cases go, this was a shitty one. But Rob loved this kind of stuff. He loved going after financial crimes. He called them crimes against gratitude. This guy has like the cutest little baby face you've ever seen in your life. Rob looked through the file and quickly realized that the only real card he could play was the surveillance tape from that quick trip. The only way to find this guy was to release the video to the public and hope someone would recognize him. So I saw this in some other other article that like.

So this was one of the few quick trips where they had actually they captured video, but they also captured audio. Yeah. When you said that earlier, I was like, what security camera captures audio? Yeah, this was this was like, I guess, a super high-tech quick trip. The other interesting thing is that in the article, they talk about the man who bought the tickets having a very distinct kind of twang to his voice. And like, I mean, like, noticeable. They felt like, man, we released this thing. People are going to know. So I watched an episode of American Greed about this,

and I was, like, super stoked to listen to this audio. I don't know if I'm, like, Midwest trash and the twang is lost on me. You can't hear the twang? I can't. I mean, it's not like, oh, there's a twang there i don't know i i felt really weird because i was like it sounds like a normal dude to me oh my gosh but anyway that's just my issue so this seemed like a massive long shot in the tape you hear the guy speak a few times but you i swear you cannot see this dude's face at all like you get a sense of

him yeah but you just yeah there's just nothing it's just like this blurry 74 second clip of a guy you can't see buying hot dogs and lottery tickets man those quick trip hot dogs though they're so good i have to tell a story on norman okay and if he gets embarrassed i'm gonna cut this he did not know that there are buns available what's he just taking the dog it's in the steam drawer, buddy. So at Quick Trip, just so you guys get a sense.

They have a giant roller grill. They've got taquitos, they've got hot dogs, they've got spicy hot dogs, they've got everything, those weird buffalo chicken tube things. That's what Norman would always get, is the weird buffalo chicken things. He did not know that underneath the roller there's like a steam tray where you

pull out and you can get buns. A plastic container with a bun in it. And then you open that up and you put your dog in it. Norman had been going to Quick Trip for years before one time we went with my parents and my mom opened that drawer and he was like, Oh! Angel's sake!

Was he wondering like what the fuck people were doing with these hot dogs? Part of me wonders if that's why he got the buffalo chicken thing. Probably! I don't understand how all these people are eating these hot dogs without a fucking bun! Hey, he looks great from the carbs he cut not knowing about those buns. So Rob figured that releasing the video was the only way to catch this guy so in october of 2014 oh my gosh time has passed he released the video what

what crime has this man committed what do you what are you okay this is that's such a good question right now what are you thinking right now i i literally do not know it's so weird he bought a lottery ticket in disguise and then he didn't claim the money the fiend what's the's the worst, like, think of the worst explanation. He's a secret serial killer. I don't know. Well, why would, no. What? Is that where your mind always goes?

Like, why wouldn't he claim a lottery ticket? Yeah, because his face would be everywhere and people would know that he's a serial killer. How would they know that he's a serial, okay he's okay fine yeah just someone who doesn't want their face out yeah okay because maybe they've done some bad stuff before yeah that's what i'm saying okay incredibly people did recognize the man in the tape. And all the people who recognized him had links to the lottery. The receptionist for a lottery office recognized him. An employee at the main lottery recognized him. What? A web developer for the Iowa lottery recognized him.

At first, some of them couldn't believe it. But the more they listened to the tape and the more they studied the tape, the more certain they became. The man in the video was Eddie Tipton, and he was the information security director for the Multi-St lottery association what uh-huh which means he can't buy lottery tickets nope nope pretty funny huh that he can't buy lottery tickets any fucking wins uh-huh yeah the odds are like yeah how did he hmm how did he fix the lottery wait what brandy whoa he 100 fixed the drawing how did he do it no this is just like he had incredible luck and then realized oh oh. Oh, I totally forgot. I can't buy lottery tickets. Oh, what a dummy. Wasted the $16 million. So the Multi-State Lottery Association

supervises lotteries in a bunch of different states and territories, and one of those states was Iowa. Still is, I assume. I think it's still called Iowa. Last I assume. I think it's still called Iowa. Iowa. Last I heard. Everyone was stunned. People loved Eddie.

Growing up just outside of Houston, Texas, Eddie had been kind of the classic computer geek. He went to college at the University of Houston and studied information technology. He'd done well at the Multistate Lottery Association. He got promotions, and he made almost six figures. What are you doing over there? I was trying to, like, stick my straw in further

because there's only a little bit of drink left, but I was making so much noise, so I was trying to do it in slow motion so that you wouldn't hear it. Instead, I looked over. I can't even. Describe the look on your face. Neither can I.

This is why we need to videotape this stuff. you need to diet coke do you i mean you weirdo good to the last drop i hate to tell you she's gone it's done that's a dead soldier there no and then like when someone leaves like a half empty one behind they call it a wounded soldier no what what circles are you running in that's insane I want to have finished drinks. I want to. No, no, I've never heard that. That seems so offensive. I've never said it. So the one time you said it, you said it while we were recording ourselves? Yes.

Any other horrible things you want to say? Yes. Oh, jeez. I'm sorry. Do you want a Diet Coke? You just want to sit there? Thank you, I'm great. So he wasn't a flashy guy. Okay, I had trouble with this.

So his car had more than 300,000 miles on it. Holy shit! Yeah, but he did have a big 5,000 square foot house. Mini mansion, I've heard those called. Well, that's when they're 5,300. This is only 5,000. But they also said, but he did a lot of the work on it himself. I don't know. Some of the descriptions of how he lived, I'm like, but you also said he worked 60 hours a week.

How did he do all that? Right. On 5,000 square foot house. How's he doing most of the work on it himself? No. Eddie was close to his family back in Texas, but he was all alone in that huge house. And he was lonely. He wanted a family of his own, but that didn't seem to be in the cards.

So he threw himself into work. And luckily, there was a ton to do. And he did it all. He wrote software, he handled network security, he worked on web pages. The dude worked 60 hour weeks and it seemed like he'd figured out a way to rig the lottery in his favor. Sure sounds like he's rigged the lottery in his favor. By that point investigators had discovered that the man who gave the winning lottery ticket to those attorneys was a Texas man named Robert Rhodes. So, did Robert and Eddie know each other? Obviously.

Authorities did what any good investigators would do. They looked on Facebook. Yeah. So, in this particular instance do they looked on facebook yeah so in this particular instance they looked on linkedin but i mean like there's a lot of facebook in this so they went to eddie's linkedin page scrolled through his friends list discovered that sure enough eddie and robert knew each other yeah obviously in fact eddie used to work for robert's software company systems evolution eddie was the company's coo for six years investigators later learned that the two guys were long-term friends oh they'd vacation together long-term friends like how

we're long that's what i meant okay like i liked that it was like us. Yeah, just like us. Just like how I got that lotto ticket, and I was like, Brandi, you're going to have to take this. I couldn't pass and be shit in my face. In January 2015, authorities had enough to arrest Eddie. They charged him with two counts of fraud. In his opening statement, Prosecutor Rob Sand told the jury that this was a classic story about an inside job. He said, a man who by virtue of his employment is not allowed to play the lottery, nor allowed to win, buys a lottery ticket, wins, and passes the ticket along to friends to be claimed by someone unconnected to him.

This story, though, has a 21st century twist. How did Eddie do it? Yeah, how did he win the lottery? Truth was, Rob wasn't sure. But he had a theory. Okay. Rob told the jury about the room where the multi-state lottery association draws the winning numbers so it's a pretty small room and it's always under video surveillance

it's secured all the time right i'm a lottery expert i said that like it was fact and i made it up but i assume it's secured all the time You assume it's not just like some laptop sitting out at Starbucks, right? No. So it's always under surveillance and there are two computers in there. They're in locked boxes. Rob argued that Eddie went into that room while two other people were in there. And when the people in there weren't looking, he installed a flash drive into one of the computers. And when the people in there weren't looking, he installed a flash drive into one of the computers.

And on that flash drive, there was malicious software which took control of the computer and then deleted any evidence of its existence once it was done. He messed with the video surveillance system to make sure that none of this was caught on camera. And that's how Eddie got the winning winning lottery numbers but they can't prove that so it's interesting it's a great theory but how do you prove that he didn't have to prove how he did this just that he bought it and he shouldn't have yeah and that he tried to get the winnings through fraudulent means so technically he did you're right that's totally true yeah thank you technically didn't have to technically did not have to prove that he fixed it yeah what do you think of that theory uh yeah

i mean i think it sounds workable okay but oh i'm guessing it's not. I mean, it could happen. To me, it sounded far-fetched. Okay. And I think it helps to see how far-fetched it is when, like, in the episode of American Greed, they showed footage. And it's, like, this small room with three people in it. And, like, how the... I mean, he's... It just doesn't seem...

Yeah. Defense attorney Dean Stowers was like, I don't think so. That sounds like a dumb movie. I call that one the Mission Impossible theory. So he was actually pretty good. I know. So he just made fun of this theory he was like really so he used his magic software in the presence of two colleagues and he did all of this completely undetected

so the prosecution did not enjoy being mocked and rob was like hey shut up everybody that was just one theory you know there are a number of ways he could have rigged this thing. He wrote the code. He had access to the random number generators before they went out to other states. All we have to prove here is that Eddie illegally bought lottery tickets, which is not allowed because he's a lottery employee. And we have to prove that he tried to claim the prize money through fraudulent means. That's all we have to prove.

We don't have to know the ins and outs of how he did it and come on he for sure did it eddie's defense attorney dean stowers made a pretty straightforward argument the guy in the surveillance video not eddie the guy tell me more okay you ready for this i'm sorry i got that song stick in my head the guy in the surveillance video had a beard and at the time of that recording eddie did not have a beard. Oh, yeah. Dun, dun, dun. That's not convincing me of anything. He brought Eddie's brother, Tommy, to the stand, and he asked him, did Eddie have a beard that Christmas?

And Tommy said no. But it seemed pretty clear that the man in the tape was Eddie. Yeah. Colleagues had recognized him, and the prosecution showed that at the time those tickets were purchased, Eddie told everyone he was out of town, but his cell phone records showed that he was in town. And also, he had been on the phone with his BFF, Robert Rhodes,

for 71 minutes. In closing arguments, the defense focused on the prosecution's theory about Eddie obtaining the lottery numbers with the thumb drive. Dean quoted Albert Einstein, saying, Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will get you anywhere. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. The jury found him? Guilty. Yep. And the judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Holy shit! Right? Right?

10 years? I was shocked. I was shocked. That seems like a lot of time. I was thinking like 30 days and five years of probation or something. And don't you dare do that again. I mean, what the fuck? I, yeah, I was...

Ten years? I was really, really surprised because... People kill people and don't get that much time. Uh, yeah, I... I mean, a nonviolent crime... Yeah, I mean, a nonviolent crime. I'm telling you, the fucking American justice system, financial crimes are punished so much harder, it seems like.

Yeah, but to me it almost seems like, and also a factor is how rich are you when you get caught? Because this guy wasn't super rich. I't well i don't know i made six figures and he had a 5 000 square foot home i mean the funny thing is like in some of the stuff i saw they were like he made barely six figures but how did he afford barely scraping by with six figures but they said like he made barely six figures how could he have afforded this $500,000 home? And I'm thinking

I, you know, that seems I think that's totally doable. That doesn't seem like a stretch to me. Especially if you're a single guy. Yeah. So there was parts of things that I read that were kind of like you know, I don't quite get that. Yeah, I agree with that. Anyway, Eddie appealed, and his case went all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court!

So remember how the investigation into this cheating scandal lasted for, like, years and years and years and years? Eddie's lawyers thought that was a problem. They argued that the length of the investigation was unjustified and that the statute of limitations had expired they had a pretty good i say that sounds pretty good well and i didn't do a deep dive into the investigation but it really did seem like yeah kind of a shit job because and i hate to be all crappy to people because i'm sure they had other things to investigate and you know probably much more dangerous criminals out there but I mean it really did seem like

we'd sure like to talk to this person oh they're kind of hard to get hold of yeah I'll try again in three months you know it's just you know yeah yeah definitely was not a top priority yeah so they had this pretty good case going to appeal. But there was just one problem. Shortly after Eddie's first trial ended, Prosecutor Rob Sand got a phone call. The area code was 281. That's a Texas area code. It is. It's Houston. 281-330-8004. There's this rap song.

Mike Jones, who he gave out his phone number in his... He did? Yes, that was his actual phone number and I don't know why I still remember it. I'm fucking telling you, I could cure cancer if shit wasn't stuck up here. Wow. You don't remember Mike Jones? Do you remember Paul?

Say my name enough and I'm taking you home. Yes, I remember Mike Jones. You don't remember him giving out his phone number? No. No. He and Paul Wall were good buddies. Let me see your grill. Your grill.

Your grill. I am so sorry for anyone who is tuning into this for the first time. This is an After Dark episode. We're off the rails. We are. So this was a Texas area code, as you pointed out. Thank you so much to Mike Jones. Who?

So Rob answers the phone. Oh, I forgot to say. They covered the area where Eddie used to live. Sorry. Shut up. And the caller was like, hey, I just saw an article about Eddie Tipton going to prison. Something about a lottery scam. And Rob's like, yeah.

And the guy goes, did y'all know that Eddie's brother Tommy Tipton won the lottery? Maybe about 10 years back? What? Uh-huh. What? Yes. Yes. So he was fixing the lottery.

Hmm. Hmm. What was going on here? Maybe it's a big coincidence. No, it's not a coincidence! You know, maybe it's faith. Maybe it's God. No!

Rob was like, oh, shit. Oh, no. So he called the FBI, and he got agent Richard Renneson. Rob told him what he'd just learned, and Richard goes, hey, that's my Bigfoot case. My Bigfoot case? Yeah. Okay. So what the hell did he mean by that? Well, Richard said that in 2006, a man named Tom Bargis reached out to law enforcement with a weird story. So Tom owned a ton of firework stands in Texas. So basically, he made huge money. Texas Tom's Crazy Fireworks.

Do you think this is the guy? You know what? You know Papado Seafood? And I was like, Brandy knows everything about Texas. So basically, this dude makes a ton of money twice a year. Right after the Fourth of July and right after New Year's. And after those holidays, he'd have just tons of cash on his hands. So a little after New Year's, a local justice of the peace who tom sort of knew called him and he said i got a half

a million in cash that i want to swap with your money and tom of course thought that was super weird yeah so he reached out to the police and that's how fbi agent richardennison got involved. They put a wire on Tom and they had him meet with the Justice of the Peace and the Justice of the Peace had these crisp beautiful bills and he wanted Tom's like nasty sweaty wrinkled

bills. Yeah. And by the way Justices of the Peace apparently make like 35 grand a year so you know authorities were like, uh. Something sketches up here. Yeah. The FBI was like, okay, this is clearly some sort of public corruption deal. So they kept an eye on the guy and they ran serial numbers on all the bills.

Then a couple months later, Richard got a call. It was from a sheriff in LaGrange, Texas. And the dude was like cracking up laughing. He goes, you know that justice of the peace you've been tracking? Well, he's at the hospital in Houston. He has two broken legs. What? Would you like to know how

he got two broken legs? Did Bigfoot do it? Bigfoot broke his legs? He fell out of a tree. It's not nice. It's not nice. But he fell out of a... He fell out of a tree while he was hunting Bigfoot. But I was both of his legs.

At this point, Richard is like... Bigfoot heard the thud and ran off. At this point, Richard is like, what the fuck? He's like, enough is enough. So he went to meet with the guy and he's like, dude, here's what we know about you. What's going on here? Yeah. And the guy goes, well, I'm a member of the Bigfoot field. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. This is so ridiculous. The Bigfoot Field Research Society. Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. Oh, excuse me. It's a very real organization about a very fake thing. So he's like, I'm a member of this organization. And a while back, I went to Colorado to hunt Bigfoot.

While I was out there, I won the lottery. But here's the thing. I can't stand my wife and I don't want to share. I didn't want to share my winnings with her. So I had my friend go collect the money and I gave him 10% of it. Yada, yada, yada. So Richard double checked everything the man said. And sure enough, I mean, it all checked out.

He was about to finish the interview. When the guy turned to his lawyers and was like, can I show him? What's he going to show? What's he going to show? So there was this plastic grocery bag hanging on the back of his chair and so he grabbed the grocery bag and he pulled out a plaster cast of a footprint no bigfoot's footprint but it was like the size of the fbi agent's foot So Richard, not being polite at all, was like, that doesn't look like Bigfoot. And the guy was like, it was a juvenile.

It's a baby Bigfoot. You jerk. So by the way I think I want to shout that anytime someone offends me it was a juvenile so by the way obviously this justice of the peace. I'm sorry.

That wasn't true. You okay? Yeah. You're good. So this justice of the peace wasn't just some dude. It was Tommy Tipton, Eddie's brother. So that investigation ended in nothing, but in light of what authorities now knew about Eddie they knew

it was no coincidence that Tommy had won a lottery. Authorities started combing through years worth of lotteries from anywhere where the multi-state lottery association did business. This was a huge job. They had data on 45,000 winning lotteries. They had to go through all of Eddie's friends and family. And they were like, okay, did any of these people win the lottery? And I think, I really think they just like pulled up his Facebook friends.

Yeah. I mean, yeah. Cause that's the easiest way to do it. Absolutely. Sure enough. In like 2007, Robert Rhodes,

Eddie's longterm friend won $783,000 in the Wisconsin lottery. Another one of Eddie's friends won $644,000 in an Oklahoma lottery. Holy shit. He's fixing the lottery just as I suggested. You suggested? I didn't suggest it to him. I suggested it earlier in this case as a theory. Brandi goes around to all the lottery officials and she's like, I suggest.

I suggest you fix the lottery. Excuse me, sir. Might I humbly suggest? Were I to be in your position, I might fix the lottery. Two of Eddie's friends won $15,000 each in the Kansas lottery. In total, they found

six of these instances. Investigators went and met with these people. I thought this was interesting. One of the Kansas winners was Amy Warwick. Are you okay? Are you still thinking about bigfoot he's out there brandy i have to break both my legs to find it i will damn it tell me about the winners in the kansas lottery the guy was 31 feet up in the tree

one of the kansas winners was amy warwick she immediately spilled the beans she was like i went on one date with eddie then we just became friends and then one day he called me and was like, I went on one date with Eddie. Then we just became friends. And then one day he called me and was like, I have a winning lottery ticket and I can't claim it because of my job. If you claim it, you can keep some of it as an engagement present. All right. So it seemed that some of these people had like varying levels of involvement. Yeah. And many of them thought they were doing something that was like, not illegal, but maybe shady.

Yeah. You know. More of like a frowned upon thing. Should I not have done that? Yeah. If I had known. Yeah. I didn't know I couldn't do that.

Yeah. What are you quoting? i was quoting seinfeld i just noticed we were both giving each other knowing looks and i felt like there was something off so the prosecution started building its case so far this was a lot like eddie's first trial investigators knew something fishy was going on. They knew he'd rigged the system in his favor, just as Brandy suggested. Yes. It was all my idea.

But they didn't know how he rigged it. Are we going to find out? Yeah. Yay. I fucking love this case. Do you really? Yes. Luckily, Wisconsin still had the computers they'd used for their 2007 jackpot.

They were sitting in storage, which I think was kind of a no-no. They were supposed to destroy everything, but luckily Wisconsin was not on the ball. So they busted them out, and an expert went in to try to see if the computer could reveal any clues. Sure enough, the guy found several lines of code that shouldn't have been there. This next part is somewhat complicated, so I'm just going to give the bare bones. It's not like Eddie picked all the numbers. And he didn't always know which numbers would win every lottery in every state. Like, it's not that simple.

What, did he narrow it way down? Right. Yeah. So what he did, what he did with this code was if the lottery drawing was on three specific days, so May 27th, November 23rd, or December 29th. Then the random number generator basically wouldn't do its normal job. Instead, it would switch.

And instead of selecting truly random numbers, it would select from a much smaller handful of numbers. So thanks to this code, Eddie knew when to buy the tickets. And he knew that if he played from a relatively small group of numbers, and he played all of those possibilities, he'd win the lottery. Yeah. So back in Iowa, when he won 16 points, it's funny, because that was my first thought when you told us the winning numbers, was my first thought when you told us the winning numbers really is they seem so close together oh wow i didn't even think about that yes that's really interesting yeah another interesting thing

so these dates you know they're just three dates but they pointed out they're all close to vacation times oh yeah so he could like be away yeah interesting have an excuse to like leave and not yeah noticed around the office so back in iowa when he won 16.5 million dollars everyone else's odds were like one in 10.9 million his were like one in a couple hundred oh my gosh that was his scheme when his brother went on his Bigfoot hunt in Colorado, Eddie knew that he could easily predict the winning lottery numbers there. So he was like, Tommy, while you're in town, you need to play all these numbers. And he handed him this big legal pad filled with numbers.

And he was like, just play all of them. Authorities had finally figured out how eddie rigged the game but remember he was still sitting in prison and his case was getting appealed so prosecutor rob sand went to him and was like look i know what you did i'm gonna give you a plea deal and as part of this plea deal you have to tell us everything but if you lie or if we figure out that you know someone else who is somehow linked to you wins the lottery this plea deal goes bye-bye and we'll bring a ton of new charges since eddie's previous conviction was sort of on shaky grounds with the statute of limitations argument, Rob said, OK, regardless of what the Supreme Court ends up deciding, if you take this plea deal, we'll vacate your conviction.

And that ended up being a pretty good idea because the Supreme Court did end up returning his conviction. By this point, Eddie's brother Tommy was obviously in trouble too. And Eddie's long-term friend had already pled guilty for his involvement and was working with the prosecution. Betrayal upon betrayal upon betrayal. I would never do that to you, Kristen. I wouldn't do that to you either. I'd be like, I'm never going to talk. Okay.

No, I'm not. So Eddie took the plea deal. As part of his agreement, his brother was only sentenced to 75 days in prison. This part did make me feel something for Eddie. Like his brother had kids. And so he was concerned about making sure that you know his brother spent as much time with his family as possible but at the hearing eddie and his attorneys downplayed what he did he just helped his friends and family he was just doing something nice for people who needed a little extra money. No. No. His attorney said

that basically what Eddie had done was count cards. No! Why do you say that? That's not the same! Yes it is, Brandy. He didn't go into the casino with a gun. I agree he didn't do that. He just counted cards. No, he didn't.

Because he changed the game. Yeah. It's counting cards if No, he didn't. Because he changed the game. Yeah. It's counting cards if he stole half the deck. Yeah. Yeah. Right? Yeah. It's not the same.

Yeah. And even that doesn't work. It's like everyone else is playing with the full deck. Yeah. No, it's totally wrong. The judge found all that bullshit pretty annoying. Yeah. And he was like, you're really downplaying your actions, buddy.

Actually, I don't know if it was a male judge. The judge, so-and-so. Him, her, they, whatever. Yeah. In interviews and statements, he talked like this was just something kind of that happened to him. It was kind of interesting. He was like, you know, I just put in the code to see if it would work. And it did.

No. You know, it just kind of was there. It's kind of tempting. Well, he tried to like office space it. Be like, oh, I was only supposed to steal a fraction of a penny. Uh-huh. Then I stole a stapler and millions of dollars someone i think it was the prosecutor said something like it's really tempting when you've

got a money tree in your backyard like you can't just stop yeah and that's exactly it yes the prosecution argued that eddie was just common thief, not some criminal mastermind. My understanding is he didn't even like really write this code. It was just a code he found and he plugged it in and you know, it worked. Okay. What do you think he was sentenced to for that? I don't know because I thought the 10 years was crazy before.

So, okay. Well, jack up the crazy. What do you got? 45 years or crazy before. Okay. Well, jack up the crazy. Exactly. I've been on 45 years or some bullshit. That's crazy. The judge sentenced him to a maximum of 25 years in prison. Holy shit.

I know. That's insane. I kind of agree. So people speculate that he'll probably get out in like seven years. Eddie was ordered to pay $22 million dollars in restitution does he have 2.2 million dollars well here's the thing so his he and his brother between the two of them i believe they had quite a few rental properties i mean i i doubt that all adds up to 2.2 million, but I don't know. And that, Brandi, is the story of the biggest lottery scam in American history. That was fucking amazing. I loved it.

I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I, the Bigfoot thing. Right? Talk about a plot twist. Holy shit. Did not see it coming. I, the Bigfoot thing. Right? Talk about a plot twist. Holy shit. Did not see it coming. No.

Not at all. You got any show notes this week? Okay. I, only off the top of my head, so they're going to be half wrong. Okay. Do you remember the milkshake murder, that case you did? Yes. Yes.

Okay. So, I believe it was grant reached out to us on twitter and you know how we had been freaking out about like the lady going and getting five thousand dollar haircut yeah he suggested maybe did did we mean five thousand yen yeah i don't know and i saw that and i looked back at the articles that i pulled from and maybe but it did not specify that okay i mean i he's probably on the right track because i mean i can't imagine what fucking haircut cost five thousand dollars i don't know six hundred dollars is more believable i agree yeah um then i keep meaning to mention this thing and i keep forgetting, but Jessica was the person

who a while back was like, you ruined Subway for me. You ruined McDonald's for me. Don't come for Chipotle. And then you did. You came for Chipotle. I came for Chipotle real hard. Oh, that's... I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry. And I'm still burning. Apologize for that. We might cut that. This has been just disgusting. This has been ridiculous. At the end of that episode, we were like, well, you know, did this really ruin Chipotle? So we asked. Yeah. Jessica, let us know. know did this really ruin chipotle so we asked yeah

jessica let us know yeah did this ruin chipotle for you okay so jessica poor jessica tweeted i'm gonna read this tweet i start up let's go to court during my nice birthday afternoon three minutes later i've never been so betrayed by a podcast we're so sorry jessica and then later she wrote at least i still have wait i'm not falling for this again and then i i don't have this tweet in front of me but i believe her wife kate uh later tweeted at us and was like uh yeah, you ruined that. Yeah, exactly. She's like, yeah, what am I supposed to get her for dinner now? So, sorry, Jessica.

Sorry, Kate. Guys, I'm really sorry for Kristen's actions. I was about to say we didn't mean to, but then I was like, no, I did it knowingly. You totally did it knowingly. Yeah, well. Yeah. You know, I just wanted to put the code in and see if it would work i mean i had the code i just wanted to see if it would work um boy have i got something to talk to you

about okay i just read about this today and i wish that we could do a whole podcast on it but i just don't think it's going to be possible it What is it? There's not going to be enough information. This woman today filed a $500 million lawsuit against TGI Fridays. What? For their potato skin potato chips. Uh-huh. Because they do not contain any potato skins.

Ew, what do they contain? They're made of potatoes. Oh, well then get over it, lady. Yes, they don't have potato skins in them. And she was led to believe that by the, she even cited some Idaho potato farming coalition as leading her to believe that potato skins are healthy so she thought when she was eating these TGI Friday's potato skin potato chips that she was ingesting a healthy snack oh I completely I am I'm sobbing right now guys I don't know if that's clear okay I'm so upset in what fucking world is a potato skin just correlated as a healthy snack?

I can tell you that when I need a healthy meal, I had right to TGI Fridays. I got to tell you, from my horrid summer that I worked there as their worst waitress ever. The most popular. They still talk about it today. Remember that lady who, well, that girl who dropped the ranch dressing on that dude's lap. The most popular entree there was the sizzling chicken and cheese. And it was just a skillet. Oh, disgusting.

Yeah. I can't even tell you about it. Gross. Yeah, not good. Very healthy, though. Yeah, super healthy. So my prediction, I'm putting this out there right now. That she gets $100 million.

Is that this case will be thrown out immediately. We are legal geniuses. See how this thing shakes out. We are legal geniuses. See how this thing shakes out. I will be following it and I will update our listeners at a later date. I just laughed so hard when I read that article. Yes.

You know, the thing I'm, well, two things that I'm obsessed with right now. Theranos. Yes. Yes. Oh my gosh. I did a deep dive the other day. Did you really? Yes. I did the same thing. Oh my gosh. I'm obsessed dive the other day did you really? yes I did the same thing oh my gosh I'm obsessed with it I love it

it is nuts there's a documentary right now on HBO oh there is? yes it's funny because it doesn't oh yes yes I did I saw it I mean I haven't watched it but I did see that it's on there it's funny the ratings aren't great for it so I was like oh no it's gonna be bad I was fascinated great for it. So I was like, oh no, it's going to be bad.

I was fascinated. I was totally fascinated. I'm not going to watch Abducted in Plain Sight. It only has a 54 on Rotten Tomatoes. That sounds nothing like me. No, I'm fascinated by this woman. Yeah. And the thing I like about this documentary is that I feel like they do kind of a nuanced job of like, you know, a lot of these entrepreneurs, they do make shit up.

Yeah. And when you're doing this kind of thing, you so it's it, you know, obviously she was full of shit. And obviously, you know, there was terrible stuff going on there. But you they do kind of take you into. Yeah. What startup culture is like. OK, I feel like there's another case that's going on right now that is like in the same vein. Not in the medical field, but about like fraud and stuff.

Not in the medical field, but about like fraud and stuff. Yeah. Have you been following the Soho chick, Anna? Anna Delvey. I am. My mind is blown by this. Obsessed. Yes.

I've been obsessed since last summer. Yeah. Also, now this is just stuff we're obsessed with. The college admissions scandal. i'm i'm so obsessed i'm watching like the same news clips no one has new information there's no new information but man i guess we really do like legal stuff we love this stuff i guess i think it checks out i think it shows I think he chose because this is like the most fun ever. Should we talk about our goal? Our goal is 200. We're sitting at 197 right now.

I'm so happy. I know I need to save the happiness until we get to 200. Yeah, save it until we get to 200. But my gosh, you guys have like blown it out of the water. Thank you to everyone who has left a rating or a review on itunes and uh well if you haven't then we're very disappointed in you we're not mad we're just disappointed um but also you know while you're doing that, I'm sure you're going to have your computer out. Right? Head on over.

Find us on social media. We're on, I don't know, a bunch of them. What are we on, Kristen? Brandi, come on. Twitter. I love how I just get to sit back. I know. You never say anything.

We're on Twitter. We're on Instagram. We're on Facebook. We're on YouTube. We're on Reddit. Find us any of those places. And then join us next week. When we'll be experts on two whole new topics. Podcast adjourned.

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 the Just a Dollar and a Scheme episode of American Greed, articles from the Associated Press, and most importantly, the article The Man Who Cracked the Lottery by Reed Forgave for the New York Times. And I got my info from an episode of Snapped and an amazing article for Crime Library by David Kradicek. 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. It was a juvenile!