Morbid - Episode 153: The Hex House Murder

Episode Date: July 5, 2020

It's a weird, 1920's murder involving magic, hexes and a straight up river witch. On Thanksgiving Eve in 1928, John Blymire had reached the end of his rope. He was down on his luck for the past year and he was convinced someone had hexed him. After multiple visits to witches and healers, he was told his fears were valid and that his neighbor was the one responsible for his bad luck. So he plotted to remove the hex placed on him, and he was willing to do anything to achieve peace. https://the-line-up.com/hex-hollow-nelson-rehmeyer https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rehmeyers-hollow https://www.jsonline.com/videos/archives/2019/10/29/hex-house-creepy-tale-murder-witchcraft-york-county/2494760001/ Thanks to our sponsors! Embark This summer, Embark has a limited time offer just for our listeners! Go to Embarkvet.com now and use Promo code MORBID to get $50 off your Dog Breed and Health kit. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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That's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y-P-O-D. Audible.com slash wondery pod or text wondery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days. Angie has made it easier than ever to connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well. Whether it's routine maintenance and emergency repair or a dream project, Angie lets you browse home on her reviews, compare quotes from multiple local pros, and even book a service instantly. So the next time you have a home project, just Angie that and start getting the most out

of your home. Download the free Angie mobile app today or visit Angie.com. That's ANGI.com. Hey weirdos, I'm Alena, I'm Ash and this is Morvid. What? It's huge. It's not little tiny small because we don't even do that anymore. No, and actually this is not huge at all. This is going to be like a pretty normal episode. And that's weird because it's your episode. I know, but I figured you know what, we've done a lot of heavy episodes lately, a lot of

long episodes lately. Long. So we just want to throw a couple little ones in there. Little nuggets. Little nuggets. I think we all need just like a little shake off from the past couple weeks. Yeah.

A lot. And first I wanted to say that we do know everything going on with the Vinessequian case. We do. It's bonkers. We've been following it. We just haven't covered it or said anything about it yet because we want to cover it in an episode

because it's a tie-on. Wow it's wow wow is all I can say and we want to cover it from beginning to end so we were just waiting for all the stuff to develop because it's currently developing right now right so to answer people who are asking we are going to cover it we just wanted to wait for more stuff to come out we don't want to jump to gun on too many cases and then you know things come out and we end up having to do another episode Which is not like a big deal But it's just if we can get it all into one episode. It's nice. Yeah

It gives you the whole picture. Yeah, it's just nice to have the full narrative So hopefully we'll have a little more. We're gonna do it soon. I promise we're not gonna wait on it We won't wait for like the entire thing to be right now Probably like within the next couple of weeks. Yeah, for sure. And then another thing I wanted to mention was her. So I don't know if anybody watched that show. I'll be gone in the dark. OK, I like didn't watch it yet. I'd so good.

I know. I can't believe that we started the podcast on the Golden Stick Killer. And I haven't even watched it yet. I suck. I'm telling you guys, this show is amazing. Michelle McNamara is someone I am so sad that I didn't get to know in life.

It's, she just, she's everything you want a human to be. It's insane. I gotta watch it. Oh, watching it, you're just like, yes. Is it, it's oxygen? Nope, it's HBO. HBO. It's a Sunday nights, I think.

So we've been, John and I have been recording it and we watched the first one together, which we never had to watch shows together. I know, that's cute. It was actually him who was like, I want to sit down and watch this. Actually, I'm gonna have to watch it here. I don't have HBO.

You will, there you go. So we'll have to watch it together. And it's really good. And there's like a lot of familiar faces in it. You're gonna see like Karen, kill Garof is in it. What? Billy Jensen is in it. What?

But it's so good. I can't wait to watch the rest of the series. So I just wanted to recommend that. And we had a couple of people asking since our first episode was the Golden Seikiller episode in Woo Boy. We are very... Yeah, that audio says. I'd like to take a little more polished now

than we were back then, but... I think we recorded that episode sitting on your couch. We sure did and We sure did and I think they were like $15 microphones, so yeah, no sound proofing at all good times people have been asking you know Are you gonna do like an update? Are you gonna do like another? I think we I think we should Give another crack at the gold to stay killer because a lot of out after our episode obviously. So I think we'll end up giving another crack, especially with the new, you know, the new, um, the new show and everything. It's like, it seems like a good time to start talking about it again. So we'll do that too. And that'd be fun to those there. Yeah, those are a couple that you can look forward to. I think the other, the only other cleanup corner that we have is the tickets to, well, first

of all, all of our live shows for 2020 are going to be moved to 2021. Yes. Because of the current coronavirus pandemic issue, what have we? We just want to make sure it's basically none of these venues can really tell right now when they're going to open, how many people they're going to be able to have in the place. We don't want you to be having to sit like every other seat feeling on safe.

We don't want us feeling unsafe. Like everybody's got to feel good coming to these shows. We want it to be a fun experience. We want to be able to meet everybody and not have to be like, cool we can wave to you from over. We don't want to be like panicking on stage. We hear somebody sneeze And again, this is just you know, we don't know when venues are opening closing capacity all that stuff We just kind of have to go by them and we're totally willing to go by them because we really want to have good shows

Yeah, absolutely and every ticket any ticket that has been purchased is going to transfer to any rescheduled date that we have. Yeah. So if you have a ticket right now to a show, it is good for whatever the rescheduled date is, even though we don't know all the rescheduled dates. But we'll tell you right. We will. As soon as we know, I'm a call you all personally. Yes, just kidding. But and then if you for some reason want to refund something came up, you can't make the rescheduled date anymore. Like happen, like happen weird situation. Right. Um, just whoever you bought tickets from, whether it be the venue or like some site like ticket master or something like that, you just have to bring it up with them because as much as

we would love to help you, we just we don't have any say or power over. Yes. Like refunds or we don't have, we don't have the money ticket for you. So we don't have any say or power over. Yeah, like refunds or something. We don't have the money ticket for you. So we don't have the ticket master people or the venue people they're the ones to talk to about that. And they'll be able to help you out with whatever needs to happen. We just didn't want anybody being like, oh no, like I could afford these tickets now,

but something came out for. Right, that's a pandemic. I could go to this state, but I came out or right I could go to this date But I can't go to this date now and suddenly being like, oh, what do I do? Totally understandable because of course these shows have been given multiple dates at this point because pandemic blah So we totally get it. We just wanted to give you guys the information of where to go just in case nobody should have to be hanging on to check it so they can't use. No, hopefully you can all use it.

I hope we all get to see you guys. I've on to see all of your weirdo faces. Because the longer that we have to wait, the better the show is going to be. Because honestly, we got all this extra time to make it awesome, so it's going to be worth your while. And we told you that some really exciting things we're gonna happen in July and look what we just announced. It's right. And we still have another announcement that we're not currently saying yet. So we hope you guys are psyched for the new podcast show Crime Countdown.

It's still we're still gonna be doing the same amount of morbid. Nothing's gonna change with morbid. It's just extra. It's just more. And it's gonna be really fun. We've had so much fun so far. And we're so awesome. Yeah, we're very excited to work with them. And we're very excited for you guys to hear these. I think you're really gonna like them. So I think that's really all we had to touch upon. And I think we can just get to this weird case.

What is your case? So this weird case that I chose, we were trying to do, you know, trying to go away from you know current events and You know big long things, you know, it's like let's just do something like weird and old love that Something like you yeah, just some weird old like me. Yeah After I insulted you. That's not an insult to me at all kidding. I'm totally I'm 100% weird and old No, you're weird, but you're not old Did you? That's not an insult to me at all. I'm kidding, I'm totally kidding. I am 100% weird and old. No, you're not.

You're weird, but you're not old. In relatively in this podcast, I am. Honestly. So, this is the hex house murder. Okay. That's right. The hex house, that's right. That reminds me of, oh, where am I,

oh geez, that Scooby-Doo, the hex girls, oh. The hex girls. Girl. I don't hex girls. Girl. I don't know what that is. Because you're weird and old. The hex girls was like this band on Scooby-Doo when they were fun. I don't remember anything about it

because I smoked way too much weed before my friend to love developed, but like, whoa, it was great. I mean, it sounds rad. It was good. Honestly, I'm gonna go home and watch Scooby-Doo after this. I'm totally in, I'm totally in for this. Well, this is a nice, not a nice. This is a

horrific, quite the opposite of nice. A horrific 19-roar and 20s murder. Oh, but it's a weird one, man. That's just a lot of weird stuff in this. So, it centers around a guy named John Blimeyer. He was born in 1895 in York County, Pennsylvania. All right. He was from German-American ancestry. His family had come over. That part of Pennsylvania had a lot of German-Americans.

Like, your county is kind of like Pennsylvania Dutch county. You know what I mean? Oh, okay. Yep. So during this time period, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah. So during this time period and in this area of the country and with these, you know, these certain counties, magic, witches, hexing, healing magic, all that. Even though, hexing. They were huge.

Hexing was huge. It was like a thing then. I love that. Hexing wasn't like that, like, like, hexing. It was literally like, oh no, I have the flu I've been hexed. That's amazing. That wasn't like something that you'd hear someone say. I'd be like, you okay though?

Like what? You'd be like, probably. Hexing was not taken lightly back in the day. No. At that time you were like, you've definitely been hexed. You should find out who did that. Like it was a very serious thing. And which is around this area and this time period also referred to themselves and were referred

to as powwawers. Powwawers. Now powwowing is not technically witchcraft. It's a lot of people confuse it with witchcraft because it's like it's centered around magic and rituals and you know it has pagan influences. But what it is, it's basically folk magic powwowing. Okay.

And it centers around helping and healing. That's a lot of it's shamanic. Is it almost like I'm raky? A little bit. It's like yeah it is a little bit I'm sure raky is kind of like involved in that whole thing. Sure. But it's like a practice like the powwars are you know generations of powwars. That's cool. That's cool. But like a practice. Like their powwars are, you know, generations of powwars.

It's like a witch, but like a little different. A little different. I don't know if they want to be called a witch. So again, it centers around helping and healing. It's mainly practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch in that area at the time. When they had first settled there, they were intrigued by the Native Americans use of spells

and incantations and seemingly magical healing abilities. And they kind of observed their meetings and they found out they were called pow-wow's and they took the term to become their own form of healing magic. That's so cool. So it's kind of like a nice thing. It's not pretty positive. It's just everything sounds good so far. At least the idea of pow-wowing is supposed to be a positive healing experience. That's

all it's supposed to be. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers, and often for committing only minor offenses.

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You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wonder App. What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill? Or are they made to kill? I'm Candace DeLong and on my podcast Killer Psychie Daily, which you can find exclusively on Amazon Music. I share a quick 10-minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the criminal masterminds you read about in the news.

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It was also really intertwined with Christianity, which is interest. That is because it was magic and stuff. It just seems like those two things like wouldn't really go together. Not really like dueling forces. But usually the practitioners considered themselves, they identified as Christian, but they took part in these pagan rituals of magic. So it's like really interesting to me this whole thing. In fact, they use the Bible quite often as a method of producing incantations and spells. Really? They use it almost like their spell book or their incantation book. Because they believe that the power has to come from God and not from the devil. Well, that's good. So they look at it like that. Yeah. And the other, there are other like Bible that they look to. You know, like Bible quote unquote, right? The Bible. Their Bible of sorts

is this book called the long lost friend. And it's supposed to be like the power's like real incantations spell book. Okay. The power power, like I said before, is passed down and there's a tradition which I was like, oh, that's like, have you ever heard like the seventh son of the seventh son? That's in powwow magic too. Oh, really? This is like, apparently like the seventh son

of the seventh son has like crazy power, like weird, unique power? Because isn't seven like a very prominent number. I know it's like, it has a lot of like influence in different kind of ritualistic kind of situations, but that just was interesting to me. And people were all about magical healing at this point, instead of medical doctors.

Oh, okay. So not. Yes. So not. Yes. So we love the holistic approach. Absolutely. But like doctors are helpful. But like let's believe in medical science as well. Yes.

Let's have them both go hand in hand. Right. That's what I want. So they we all with your doctors are about your holistic healing. Exactly. Like there's room for both. Mm-hmm. They would go see healers using charms and potions and herbs

and spells to convince people that they were being cured or that they were being cursed or hexed. So ceremonies were a huge part of these folk healing processes and the practitioners were well known and well respected in their communities. So powwires were known like, hey, my neighbor down the street is like a really great powwowr.

Like he does. He does. Awesome shit. And it was like, if you're sick the street is like a really great powwowr. Like he does. Like he does. See him shit. And it was like, if you're sick, go to him and he'll fix you up. It's almost like the neighborhood chimer practice. It is, it's like, I know a guy. I know a guy, he can fix this up. And so they were respected.

They had like people knew what they were doing. And, where does this all go wrong? I know right now it's like, this is wonderful, right? And powwowr's also, the tradition is that they don't Take payment for their practices. What do they kill you? They don't tell you you have to pay them They will accept payment if you donate it to them So kind of one of those like you should yeah, it's kind of like when someone leaves firewood on the and like the side of the street And it's like free firewood. That's like a little thing for donations

Right, right you could just walk up and take that firewood on the edge and like the side of the street and it's like free firewood that's like a little thing for donations. Right, right. Right. You could just walk up and take that firewood but like, but you really gonna be that big with jerk. I just said a shill hagg. Don't be a ship pack. You just take the firewood. You got to leave a couple of bucks. I keep like, like, intertwining words. You do. I don't know what kind of like thing you've been inflicted with. I don't know. I've been hex. I just said inflicted Afflicted is what I meant. What's happening? I've been hex. Oh, no. Normally I'm the one hex. Oh, no Totally kidding. Nobody's hex in here. Not now at least Hex in in the street. Not any more at least. Okay

So families relied on these powwowers not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. Not any girls. it's a book. By the way, a common cure was to tell someone with a wound to repeat, blood thou must stop until the Virgin Mary bring forth another son. Oh, which I'm like, hey, cool. Don't apply pressure, just say that over and over. Don't have to do that, just say that, which that statement I'm like, yeah, like that's it. Like, you got to stop blood until the Virgin Mary has another son. So that's like, stop forever, don't believe. Right. So it makes sense.

But like, maybe put a little, a little pressure on it while you do that. Just a little dab. See, room for everybody. Throw medical doctor in Mary. Right, it's a medley. To be like, maybe put a compress on there. While you say this or chamber.

Exactly. Again, this room for everyone at the table. So John was born into, not my John, this John. John was not John. John was born into a powwow family. He was not. That'd be awesome if you let this fucking agree. But he was not, he could not heal me.

So John was born into a powwow family. His father and his grandfather were powwars, and we're apparently pretty powerful, pretty respected. Cool. Could really do the shit. They taught John all the ways of their practice from really early in his childhood. I mean, like four years old.

Oh. You're magical. Let's do this. Like four years old. That's a great thing to do. Which my kids are four years old, and I can't imagine the siddowing upon them the kind of responsibility of like healing people. They can barely go get their juice cups by themselves.

But I literally told one of them to go get their juice box and she walked out on the patio, stared off into the distance and said, I can't find it. Like that was it. So it was like a solid two feet away from. Yeah. I don't see her, you know, commanding these healing powers that she possesses right now at least not now, but at four he was seeing visions. So he would hit the powers were bestowed upon it. They were he was he was one he was down the line. And at like seven years old, he had healed his own grandf's urinating issues. Oh, yeah. His grandfather Andrew was having some trouble, you know. It happens to the best of us. Right, and little seven-year-old John was like,

I got you. I don't know exactly what he did, but he healed him right up, KK. Yeah, and it was like a ritual. Like a seven-year-old did a ritual. That's pretty bad. He did a ritual. A P ritual.

So, and it worked. Okay. So, he didn't have the greatest childhood, as I'm assuming you could probably guess. Because he's like steady working. He's steady working. He didn't start school until like eight years old. That's confusing.

Which is late. And correct. One might say. Like three or four years too late. Yeah, a little bit. So, and most of this was because they were too focused on him becoming like a power and focusing on that and they weren't really concerned with him actually doing anything academic. But you know, he was at eight years old, he went to school, but he was also sick a lot. He was like a sickly kid. Well, why didn't they figure that out? Well, you know, I guess you can't well He did they actually did they had other power hours heal him okay, and we're gonna circle back to that afterwards because it connects to the rest of the story actually

All right, I'm ready so good on you. Thank you So his teacher is described him as slow and he was referred to by psychologist as dull slow Oh, that's really nice of them. Which back then didn't, you know, it means little bit, it just basically means lower intelligence back then. Like it just means like, dull means like you're just not, like almost like dense.

Yeah, exactly. Like it just means you're kind of like not super quick with the uptake. So at 10 years old, he started working digging potatoes for a neighbor who had a farm. Well that's fucking great. Yeah and the neighbor's name was Nelson Raymeyer and he lived about eight miles away from the blind buyers. So he left school at 13 years old. And he started when he was eight. So he had five years of schooling. Pre-solid academic career. I wish that's what mine was, to be honest with you. That's all it should have been.

That really is. I mean, probably that's what it totaled up to. Probably. And he left school 13, started working in a York cigar factory at 13 years old. But again, remember, different time. Right, right. But he continued to practice pow wowing

and he was getting pretty good at it at this point. So that's great then. Because he was spending a lot of time doing it. So pow hours, again, like I said, they don't ask for payment for what they're doing. So you can't really make a living off of it. It's just something you have to kind of, but people, they're like super good,

and you like people are like take all my money. Exactly. And that's what it is, because so a lot of it has to do with your personality and you being engaging to make people believe that you're really doing that. That's like half of being a hairstylist as well. There you go. Except you get paid too. That's correct. So it's a little different but the same. Yeah. Now one day when he was leaving work at the cigar factory, he saw a rabid dog like foaming at

the mouse. Oh no. And this dog was charging at him and his co-workers. Oh no. And they were freaking out. Everybody was like, holy shit. So they're trying to run back in the factory, but it's like chaos. He calmly walked up to it, set a spell while holding it like his hand on its face, mimed

the sign of the cross on his head, and the dog immediately stopped foaming and snarling, and then followed him home wagging its tail. No fucking way happened. And everyone was like, whoa! I love when you do that. I put like, I'm shook. Everyone was like, holy shit, I thought you were going to do it again. Whoa! Thank you.

They were like, wow, that's crazy. You're a powwowr, you just did that shit. Right, so then that became his living after that. And when they were like, this is it. Like you are the shit. You just did the damn thing. We watched you. Like a whole group of us just watched you. Now, you would think like you're like, oh, like you said, now it's his living. Right. This is actually when shit went really bad for John. Why? He just saved a damn dog.

He started getting really sick. He was losing weight rapidly, like couldn't keep weight on. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't eat. He saw this not as a genuine sickness though. He wasn't like, oh no, what's wrong? I should go to a doctor. He obviously was like a hex's placed on me.

And it was probably placed on me by some jealous powwowr whose piss that I am stealing their thunder. Wow, okay. Which makes sense logically. It does. Now, his only job at this point in his bind was to get this hex gone. He was like, I gotta get this hex off me. I can't live like this.

Hex be gone. No, yet we gotta get this gone. Unfortunately, in powwow magic, you need to know who hexedew in order to remove it. I mean, you know what, that makes sense. It kinda does, but it's like a real bummer. Cause, Cause Hari's supposed to find out.

Well, it's like, who's gonna walk, who's just gonna be like, huh? Hexdew motherfucker. And then just like walk away. And you're gonna be like, oh, it's him. I feel like you would do that to Malia Wins. But, not if I knew that you had to know who I was to get it off. Yeah, that's true. And I'd be like, who is it me? It couldn't be me. Yeah, I'd be like, not me, what that you had to know who I was to get it off. Yeah, I do that. I'd be like, who was it?

It couldn't be me. Yeah, it's like not me. What are you talking about? But he did try and like failed many times with his father and his grandfather. They tried everything to get the sex off of him. They were unable to figure it out via magic. So he started becoming paranoid. He was obsessive, super nervous, like twitchy. Well, he also like wasn't sleeping. He wasn obsessive, super nervous, like twitchy. Well, he also wasn't sleeping. So that's probably what.

He wasn't sleeping and wasn't eating. And he had lost his own abilities to perform healing rituals. Oh, no. Yeah, so he was starting to freak out and he was becoming desperate. He consulted every witch he knew. They said upwards of like 20 plus witches,

he talked to, and like powwars, trying to get this fixed. Nothing came out of it. His first suspect he pointed to in like powwawers, trying to get this fixed. Nothing came out of it. His first suspect he pointed to, he was like the first person he thought that hexed him, was the ghost of his great grandfather Jacob. So how the fuck are you? Because in front of ghosts. Well, and it's like, yeah, obviously, you're the ghost of your great grandfather did this. Well, so why did your great grandfather care if you were good or not? Apparently, his great grandfather was the seventh son of the seventh son that gives you all that crazy us power from the dead. Now he came to this conclusion that it was his great grandfather Jacob

because one night at exactly midnight he looked out the window and a barn owl who did seven times and he was like, Welp? Definitely great grandpa. I mean it makes sense seven times. And he was like, Welp, definitely great grip, bud. I mean, it makes sense to me. So he was like, I see it. I get it. Actually, anytime owls who I get like really fucking nervous because it's actually a bad fucking omen. So like, I honestly feel that.

Owls who hooting in our bad omen? After a certain time, and I forget what time it is, so anytime I hear it, I just get really fucking nervous. I love when I hear hooting owls. I don't to me. It sounds ominous as fuck Oh, I love it. It means we feel spooky and I love it. No makes me feel like something bad's gonna happen It makes me feel all warm I should Google what time it is so that I can have at least like a little bit of you Should you should do it happiness? Well, so we heard the the owl the barn owl hoots seven times his great grandfather There's a seven son of the seven son

So he said seven times seven son. It's definitely great. He's like whoop there it is whoop whoop there It is so he moved away from the home because it was near the family burial ground where great grandpa Jacob was buried And he thinks this seventh son isn't gonna fucking follow him to wherever he goes next. Oh, yeah So he moved into several rooming houses and he started working odd jobs. For a little while, it seems like it worked moving away. Okay. He was getting a little better. Just a little better. So during this time, he was around 18 years old. He met a woman named Lily. They got married.

I love you. Now, apparently during this time, I mean, it's not awesome. Oh fuck. Apparently during this time, his hex was, you know, starting to get better, but it was then it started creeping back. So he was feeling a little good at this point. He found Lily, they got married, but like shit's not gonna stay that way. Okay.

So he went to a medical doctor because he still wasn't feeling, he still wasn't feeling quite himself and he was like, I just want, you know, let's go check it out. Yeah. Which like, good on you. It's about time, bro. He went to a medical doctor, told him the whole thing and the doctor said, you're only hexed because you believe your hex. Right. He was like, it's totally a psychosomatic thing. Like, you have convinced yourself your hexed and that's why you're feeling physical ailments.

Yes. Because you've convinced your own mind that you were hexed. I totally believe in that. And I fully believe that. Now, John was like nah, but he's still, he was like no, this is not it. So then he was like, you know what, whatever, I feel okay. Like I'm not feeling as bad as I did before. So I'm just getting to know this doctor and like move on.

So you wasted your time going to a doctor, okay? So then his first and his second children died within days of being born. Oh, that's very sad. Which is very sad. Yeah, and so John started spiraling. Which obviously, I think anybody would, obviously. He was suffering from constant headaches.

He weighed less than 100 pounds at one point. Oh my God. He was just like sick, twitchy, nervous. Like he was just like sweating all the time. He was diagnosed at one point. Oh my god. He was just like sick, twitchy, nervous. Like he was just like sweating all the time. He was diagnosed at one point with hypochondrial melancholia. What is that? Which is like, like a like a super duper sad, like smelling colias like depression. But like a very different like a very very distinct form of depression. And he was also diagnosed with nervous exhaustion. Okay, so he was fucked.

He's really creating a storm in his own head. Right. And it's like the doctor was trying to tell him, like, you're creating this yourself and like, you really need to get help for this. And he was like, no. He was like, no, it's a hex. And I need to figure out the hex.

And it's like, if he had just concentrated on the fact that this is in his own brain, and gotten help, I don't know if any of this would have happened, that happens. So he began seeing, at this point, he's like, all right, I'm gonna see a powwow doctor, a very powerful powwow doctor named Andrew Lennhart. Nowhart now Lenhart was really feared and really respected He was so feared that the police wouldn't even fuck with him

Why they just let him do his shit was he like doing like bad shit? Well because people said the only way to remove hexes he put on people was to conjure the devil himself to do it for you Okay, so of Hex's he put on people was to conjure the devil himself to do it for you. Okay. So he was a situation. I guess. He was a lot. And so I think the police were like, we're not, no. Even they were afraid of him.

Even the 1920s police that like I just picture being like really goofy. They were like, it ain't me. And just be like, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, and they just all have like Billy Clubs and all this like dance and that's just like what I picture That's good to be they probably were let's be real we're gonna get an email of somebody that was like my great great 1920s police officer and they did not go So no, I think they did so But they were like we're not fucking with that so they just let him do it's like real nice police

but they were like, we're not fucking with that. So they just let him do, and it's like, real nice, please. They just- Well, he was just hexing people. They just let him be this fucking fearsome manipulative dude who was like, he was also a little bit helpful. He really wasn't though. Oh.

So, he's scary. And so, Lenhart told John, whoever hexed him was close to him. Uh-huh. And by doing that, he made John look at the only person who was really close to him, his wife. Yeah, honey, you were- Poor ex before that.

Poor Lily. And he was like, so Lily was like, what? Like, no? Like I didn't even know you when you got ex. Yeah, she's like, I don't understand this. So she went to her father because I guess at this time, this had happened before where like a wife had thought she was exed or a husband had, and they had ended up shooting the other one.

Like it was a thing. Oh, and so, yeah. So Lily was like, I'm not about to get shot. Yeah, she was like, I'm not getting involved in this. She had already been dealing with his like, his like, graze- Graziness at this point, because he was just so obsessive about this hex.

Right. And so, and I mean, she's dealing with the grief of losing two children. She has one young child. There's a lot going on. Lily's like, no, not dealing with this. So she went to her father and she was like, help. I don't want to do.

So her father was like, all right, we need to get him to see a psychologist. Right. And this psycho, so he did. Well, that's good. And the psychologist diagnosed him with psychonorosis and said he had to be committed to a state hospital in Harrisburg.

And they were like, he needs to be committed for treatment, which is, which at this point, I want to be like, yeah, he's getting treatment, but like, those were not great places. Yeah, back in the day. Yeah, it's like so you're just like, oh, like, fuck. I don't think that's going to help him. Like, I, part of me is like, yeah, treatment. Then the other one's like, oh, not then. I don't think that's gonna help him. Like, part of me's like, yeah, you treatment. Then the other one's like, oh, no. Not then.

So no, that's not good. So during this time, Lily did file for divorce. Oh. And after 48 days of him being committed in this hospital, he just walked the fuck out the front door. He just wasn't having it anymore. He walked out and no one took notice, no one asked where he was.

That's telling. And I mean, to be fair, I guess a pair, I did read something from somebody working in the hospital, one of the psychologists and he was like, we were so overworked and over like we were understaffed and they were giving us like hundreds of patients to be aware of.

And they were like, we just, we couldn't keep track of everybody, which is like, okay. Not good. But like, that's not a good way to run a state hospital. We don't do that. That's actually probably the way not to run your state hospital. Yeah. I'd say that's like a really bad way to run it.

Yeah. Now, so he just, he got out, he, he wasn't going back with Lily obviously because she divorced him. So any thought he extra or she acts out, excuse me. At this point, I think at this point, he's like, I don Lily obviously because she divorced him. Mm-hmm. So any thought he X-ter or she X-temps Excuse me at this point. I think at this point. He's like, I don't know if it was Lily We're all of a sudden he's like whoops. Yeah, okay. Yeah So he started working at the cigar factory again and he when he was there He met a teenager who was around 14 years old and this guy's name was John Curry. Okay. Now Curry had a shitty childhood of like abuse and neglect.

His like stepfather was like a piece of shit and beat the shit out of him. And his mother was just like very like didn't care. Like just let it happen. So he was like screwed. So he was convinced that his whole life was a hex. He was like, this is a hex. The reason that this is a hex. There's been times where I wonder that too, John. So you're like, you know what, John Curry, I got you. Now, unfortunately, it was just

shitty parents. Right. Obviously. Isn't it always. No, but he and John were like, whoa, let's be best friends because hex is because we have that one big thing. He comes like, Hexan, you know, we're all we're hex. It's a Hex Club fun. He also met a guy named Milton Hess, who believed his wife Alice in himself were also Hexed. Oh, so this is about to be like a bunch of angry people band together who think that they're Hexed and I'm scared about this.

Yes, so Milton Hex was a farmer. They had had a lot of stuff. Did you say Milton Hex? Milton Hess. Oh, I was like, no, Milton Hess was a farmer. They had had a lot of did you say Milton hex Milton has oh No Milton has was a farmer he and his wife and he had kids They had like a lot of success on their farm. They had a very like nice life But recently their crops had suddenly sucked their cow wasn't producing milk animals stop being whatever their animals needed to be So they got hex just what you're telling me so Milton was, that's why I know that they're were hexed.

Right. So John is like, see? I'm not crazy. We're all hexed. Okay. And they're just like reinforcing each other at this point, which is just not good. That's how cold start.

It sure is. So now he's even more obsessed. And he decides to seek out this old lady named Mrs. Nopt, who also was known as Nellie Null, the so-called River Witch of Marietta. I mean, which sounds awesome. Sounds like a fucking title in a half. It sounds like a movie I want to watch, or a book I want to read.

Or somebody I want to hang out with. Yes, right? I want to hang out with the River Witch of Marietta. Or I want to be on our good side, that's for sure. I want to play her in a movie or something, it sounds awesome. You know what, I think you'd do it justice. I think I would too, I could be a River Witch. So this witch, she's like super old, I'm pretty sure she's like in her 90s, she's like

one of those very wise old witches. This witch was like, alright, a member of the Raymeyer family hex you. Okay. Now the Ray Meyer family were those farmers who lived eight miles away from John's family growing up. The ones he dug potatoes for. Oh, oh, oh. Yeah. So John was like,

their work and you got hex by all. So John was like, wait, what? And she was like, I don't know, this is the Ray Meyer family. She was like, she's like, I'm 90, I told you what you need to know. I just give the message, I don't explain why. So he was like, what? I don't know. And he, so he was like, you know what, you're going to have to prove this to me because I don't know if I believe it.

So he went to her for a total of six sessions. And according to Power Wowing, among the Pennsylvania Dutch by David W. Crable, which I mentioned earlier. It's a book. It's a book. It's a book, guys. She revealed this information really slowly, like a business savvy powerhouse that she is, because is she getting paid for the sessions?

Yeah, because she's getting paid for these sessions. So first session, she was like, yep, you were hexed. And he's like, well, confirmed to the hex. The second session, she was like, a man did it. And then the third session, she was like, he's old. Then the fourth session, she's like, he lives in this country. We're getting good, then the fifth session. We're getting good. The fifth session.

We're getting there. The fifth session, she does get a little more like specific. She says, you've known this person since you were a child. Okay. And then the sixth session, she's like, boom. Raymeyer. Nelson Raymeyer. Okay.

And so he's like, no. And so she's like, no, he's known as the Witch of Raymyer Hollow. Which again, another metal name, right? Look what? These people are so big here. They're doing the big thing. But so she's like, don't you know? Like, he's a powerful witch.

And he's like, what, what? Or wouldn't he be in Warlock? Well, no, they're called like, well, they're power hours. So I shouldn't say much. But he was known as the witch of Raymyre Hollow. Okay. So, John is like, what? And then he's like, wait a second.

And he's like, I, and I think I wrote in my notes that he was shocked because this was potato Raymyre. But it's a good old-time. So you're in a, and he was like, I've worked for him when I was 10. What are you talking about? And she's like, I know. I told you you know him since you you were little you didn't dig up the potatoes as well as some other people did Well, then he's like wait a second. You're right about him having powers

And he's like when I was super sickly as a child and he healed me and he said three separate times my parents my father brought and grandfather brought me to Nelson Raymeyer and he cured me Three separate times so then why would he hex him? Well, that's he's like so why would he hex me? He like took care of me like he actually like did and his father and grandfather said like he did He healed you right no one else could so she was like yeah, I don't know She's like tell you you want to know what that sure sucks But I don't know what to tell you why and then she was like okay to remove this Hex you need to get some of his hair and you need to bury it six to ten feet underground or you need to steal his copy of the long lost

Friend which is like the powwowers thing and burn it you need to do one of those things and the hex will be removed forever Now he kept seeing her because he's like okay I need to I need to know more about this. You need to be like, I'm gonna keep seeing you. I'm gonna keep giving you this $5 for no reason. And she was telling him all this shit, telling him, you know, like, he definitely did it. Like, how long he had been doing it. She's just beating him all this stuff.

And eventually, he was like, oh yeah, he also put the hex on John Curry and Milton Hess and his family. Oh, she's like, you know, you're good friends. You know, you're bros. So this is when they were like, whoa, wait a second. Now, also, he was like, you know what, this is all sounding correct because you're giving me a lot of information that makes sense. Right.

But he was like, you need to prove it to me that this is Nelson Raymeyer. And not like one of the other Raymeyers. Right, right, right. And so she had him put, he put like a dollar bill on his palm. And she did some kind of incantation, pulled the dollar bill away. And there was a picture of Nelson Raymeyer in his flesh. Well, that's strange. Yeah.

So that's, that's real stressful. This is all confirmed. I mean, as confirmed as one can be, this story, this happens. Okay. The details like that? Yeah, that's from John, who's saying, like that's what happened.

Okay. Now, November 27th, 1928, John Blimeyer, John Curry, and Milton Hess's 18 year old son, son, Wilbert. Uh-huh. Drove to the Raymeyer two-story family farm home in Spring Valley Park. They had a ton of rope and were armed with sticks. Oh! He wasn't home initially, and they searched for the book in his house, but they couldn't find it.

Okay. And they were initially, according to them, they were planning on just getting the lock of hair, getting the book and leaving. Right. They were only bringing the rope just lock of hair, getting the book and leaving. Right. They were only bringing the rope just in case, bringing the sticks just in case. So they couldn't find him in there, couldn't find the book. So they went to the home of his estranged wife, Alice. And she said, which is kind of funny, she was like, he's probably out seeing some woman.

Okay. Which I'm like, whoa, Alice. Sorry, Alice. Okay, Alice. So she was like, he's probably out seeing some woman. He'll probably be home later. Like, I don't whoa Alice. Sorry Alice. Okay Alice. So she was like he's probably out See this woman. He'll probably be home later like I don't know what she's like don't bother me Get it Alice. So she it's so they were like, you know, well wait and we'll come back So they waited they came back later and it was like after it was like close to midnight

They said at this point and when they saw that he was home They knock on the door he invites them inside because he he's nice I bet now Nelson was in his 60s He was more than 200 pounds and standing at six foot three big dude big dude He was not tiny. He was not and he was like built like he was a big guy right now They said they want they were like we want your spell book or a piece of your hair Like they just like why are you gonna hex me? And he was like, nope. So they attacked him. Like immediately.

Yep. He fought super hard. It took all three of them to even try to hold him down. I mean, he was like given it is all. At one point they testified that finally after like a ton of struggle, he agreed to get the book because at first he was like, I don't have book, like what are you talking about? I don't have that book. Right. But now he's like, I'll get you the book. Just like, let me go. I will get you the book. So they let him go and they say that he lunged at them. I doubt it. And then they tied it,

so they attacked him again, like beat him with the sticks. They tied him to a chair and they beat him mercilessly. Oh no! At one point they used the rope to try to strangle him, but eventually they just settled on beating him to death, and they literally beat him to like beyond the point of recognition. Oh god! Way overkill. Blimeyre said that John Curry was the one to get real like strike the death blow, and that what he had done was picked up a piece of firewood

and beat him until blood poured out of his ears. Oh, God. Splimyer said he then yelled out something like, thank God the witch is dead. And he said it was at 12.01 am on Thanksgiving day. That Ray Meyer died. Okay. Then they stole all the money in the home

because they said they wanted to make it, and I love this, they're like, we wanted to make it look like Rob. So we just had to take the money. We had to take all the money. Now how much money was in the home? Somewhere between 97 cents and $2.80. So they checked the couch cushions. Yes, exactly.

They searched for the book, found nothing. So far it's like that he wasn't even the book. Right. Now they then wrapped his body in a mattress and a blanket, dumped Caracene on him and lit it on fire. Oh, weirdly, he didn't burn the fire just stopped and never spread to anywhere else in the house. And this is a rickety old farmhouse. That's crazy. That's what I'm like Tinder. Right. And we're gonna get to lay something crazy, like, cause this house still stands today. Ooh. Now, whoops, they forgot that they literally asked his estranged wife where he was the night

that they murdered him. Are they gonna murder Alice too? So no. But basically they fucked themselves out of getting away with it like right away. Right. Like they literally, like Alice is like, uh, yeah, like they were asking where he was. She'd be teed-o-twelf minutes before they killed him.

They asked me where he was. They probably walked up to her house with rope and sticks and were like, where's your husband? She's like, I don't know. Probably with some Hussie. Now, a neighbor found his body November 30th. And immediately it was traced to those three dumbasses again. By else.

It was like, yeah. So they were arrested, they confessed everything immediately. It went everywhere. All the papers covered it, and it was called the witchcraft murder and the hex murder. Like, people couldn't get enough of it. Because people love that shit. We love a hex. We include it.

We love a hex murder The press made the Pennsylvania. This was sad the press made the Pennsylvania Dutch community look crazy Oh, they made and really treated them unfairly just based off of these assholes They made it look like this is what powwow magic is and like Right, they made it they made a mockery. Yeah, they made it seem like they're all just witches doing like silly magic And like they're all just witches doing silly magic and they're all worshiping the devil. So it's not that silly.

The hell stood and burned. And it's like, stop, they're all just trying to heal people. Right. And then I even asked them for money for it. So the trial called the York Witch Trials started January 9, 1929 and was presided over by Judge Ray P. Sherward would and it was a circus. Okay. The press covered every second of it.

I mean, it was like one of those. I mean, yeah, it's like they're gonna have a field day. Yeah, you would open up the paper every day just to see what the fuck was going on in this thing. Right. So the judge, this judge in particular, was not super into anything magic and was like, this is nonsense. Right. Like he was just a no-nonsense dude.

He was like, no, I'm not into this magic, huha. So he even had any mentioning of witchcraft or magic removed from all the confessions when they were committed to record. So the motive was changed to robbery. I mean, and Blimeyer also was pretty cold during this whole thing. Like he did not suddenly go like, oh shit. Well, because his whole life has been a hex, I guess. And he said that since Nelson Raymeyer was buried along with his hair,

that his hex was removed. And he was happy about it. Wow. He was like, well, his body's buried. And so is this hair now. So the hex was removed. And he said he was totally justified in his actions, he would do it again, and that he had no regret.

Okay, so how long was he sentenced? So, Blymeyer and Curry were found guilty of first degree murder, and Hess, which is Milton's 18-year-old son, that he sent with them, Hess was convicted of second degree murder. They were called the York Hex Slayers. The York Hex Slayers, which is like a great softball team name or a great band name. January 14th has received 10 to 20 years in prison,

but Blimey are in Curry and ended up receiving life sentences. Oh, okay. So Curry and HES were eventually, so the two other ones that are not John Blimeyer. Yes, they were peruiled in 1934 they lived their lives after that and were like chill didn't do anything else. Okay Blimeyer was refused parole a ton of times and then in 1953 at age 56 he was let out on parole. Oh wow. He became a janitor, bought a house, chilled out for the rest of his days. He lived into the 1960s without any incident.

Okay. He just lived out. Now, John Curry, he was the one that was like the 14-year-old. He served in the military during World War II and became like a well-known artist. Oh wow. Which is very bizarre. That is. Yes, so apparently, I mean, things went well for him after that. But fucking horrific.

Like, what the fuck? Right. It's just so crazy to me that like he just comes out and he's like, well, just gonna be a regular guy now. And it's like, what? Now Ray Meyers' great grandson now owns the home that it happened in. Okay.

And the home is known as Ray Meyers Hollow, the hex house, which is like, whoa, or Harry Menor. Or hex murder house. So many, many things. Many things. And he leans into it, which I commend him for. I mean, you've got to make a profit. Now, apparently you can come to view the place where Nelson was killed and the floor board are still charred. And he put Plexiglass over them to protect them. Yeah.

So you can look at the charred floor board. That's really creepy. He also has a clock nearby set perpetually to 1201. I mean, fucking mean. Which, wow. A local fire company, the North Hopewell Winterstown Fire Company, Hosa Hayride and Tor of the site, in October. Oh, let's go.

I don't know. I want to go really bad. And according to oxy.com, some family and friends of the murders, of the murderers believed Nelson was a witch and that he was fucking with their family members, like still to this day day like the members of like Wow, like from the grave and they are like well No, they think like that when you ask them about this. They're like, oh no

He did like he was hexing them like they did that for a reason Wow, and then some of Nelson's family still maintain He was just an old farmer who kept to himself and like did not do anything of the sort This is a very wild case. So nobody knows if Nelsen Raymeyer was really hexing these people and holy shit. It's like really what reason would he have to hex people? I don't think he was hexing them. I don't know.

If I have to really, really put my all my money on it, all my noodles in one pot, I'm going to say that, I don't know, I made that up. I'm going to say that Nelsen Rayme Ray Meyer was just an old farmer just needed somebody to dig up his potatoes. I mean it feels like maybe he was like he was probably like doing Pat Wild magic because it was so common. Right. And it would have been in his family and all that. But I don't think he was hexing people. Yeah, I mean I don't really think so either but. But that is the story where we to say of the hex house murder? That was a good one. It's just such a strange one that I was like I got to cover this. Yeah, it is weird as well. And sad poor Nelson Raymeyer. I know R.A.P

Like John Blimeyre, you gotta get your shit together. I mean you're dead. So everybody had to get their shit together. It sounds like So yeah, well like nothing happened to the sleepy hollow, the river witch, the river witch, no, I mean, I'm assuming she probably died shortly after that, cause I think she was like a thousand. Oh, okay, so, well, there's that. The river witch, well, the sleepy hollow river witch, it's a mood.

It's a whole last mood. A grandiose mood. Okay. All right. Well, thank you for listening to that wild-ass tale. It's Boogie Tester. Telling it a little. In the meantime, if you want to see pictures of any of this, or come with us to the place at some point,

we'll be doing that on Instagram at morbidpodcast. You can hit us up on Twitter. A morbidpodcast. You can send us up on Twitter. A morebid podcast. You can send us a Gmail. Morebidpodcast.gmail.com. And we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it. Weeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Thank you. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music.

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