Morbid - Episode 369: Listener Tales 51

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

You guys have seemed to enjoy the more "themed" Listener Tale installments so we've decided to do another installment! This one is Family Madness! We've got all kinds of stories brought to you by you, for you, from you and all about you and your family madness. There's accused murder, there's actual murder and even the hiring of a hitman gone wrong. You guys truly have a writing gift and we feel so lucky that you feel like you can share these stories with us. If you have a Listener Tale, send it on in to [e-mail] with "Listener Tale" somewhere in the subject line.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 wandery pod or text wandery 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. Just bring them your project online, or with the Angie app, and answer a few questions. With Angie, you can book instantly at an upfront price, or request and compare quotes from multiple pros, so you can find the best price for your project.

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 Alina. I'm Ash. And this is morbid. I think both of our, because mine's just getting back to normal, both of our voices really sound a little strange. Yeah, Alina happened to curse me last episode because you were like, ah, she's not prone to losing her voice, which is the truth. I have never lost my voice in my entire life.

Until the day before yesterday, I, like, Drew's usually sleeping in the morning when I leave, so I hadn't talked to anybody. And I walk at Alina's kitchen to, like, start work for the day, and just, like, hang with the kids for a second. And I go to speak, and my voice just simply does not come out. Yeah.

I was like, oh my God. Yeah, that's what happens. It was not great. You're the way you described it so perfectly. You feel so claustrophobic. You do, because you feel like you can't yell. You can't get out what you want to get out. It's like a really trapped feeling.

Can't sing in the car. No. And we got to go to the ritual and providence of the ghost show at the beginning of the week. And both of us had no voice. I think that was a bit of a contributing factor. It certainly was. Definitely for a prolonged mine, I know that

because I just was like, no voice, be damned. I'm going to make it come out. But we met a ton of you. And it was so fun. And it was so much fun. Everybody was so sweet. Every single one of you that came up and said something like you made the night awesome.

And it was so much fun. You were also sweet. I was so excited to be able to just like scream about ghost with a bunch of you. And it was literally the best show I've ever been to. Oh, John and I both agreed that we have never seen you. And I've gone to like a lot of concerts with you and John has as well.

I've never seen you happier or just like more excited. Oh yeah. We got in the car and that's literally what John said. He was like, I've never seen you happier than I just saw you. I wish that you had been at Harry with me because that's how I felt at Harry. Yeah. We both had like our super happy concert experiences like weeks apart.

It's true. I'm going through like legitimate post concert, like sadness. Oh, absolutely. Because I'm suddenly, every time I listen to them now, I'm like, I'm not going to that show tonight. I know. I'm not going to that ritual tonight. I know. I'm not going to that ritual tonight. I'm really sad.

I think we're just gonna like travel around, like, you know how people follow fish? Yeah, we'll just follow ghosts. Follow ghosts. What do they call the people that like follow fish? Are they called like fish heads? I don't know. I feel like they're called something.

Probably fish heads. Something like that. I'm not really sure. We need to come up with a name for people that like follow ghosts. Oh, they're ghouls. Oh, okay, yeah. And the one, I figure like the way that I will get over this is just by talking to Tobias in a couple of days.

Cause we're doing that. Like, I think that'll help. That'll help. Yeah, I feel like that'll help get me through a little bit. I'm so excited about that. I can't even describe to you. Like, low key, shitting a brick. I'm like right now my stomach is doing like freaking out

because I'm like, oh my God. Yesterday, I think you guys are honestly really gonna like this. I'm just a lot more hot. We were working on kind of just like an outline for it yesterday. And we, I feel like it's not the typical interview that like Tobias usually gives or is used to like having, you know. We're trying to make it a little, a little weirder, a little, a little more like fun.

Yeah, we want to learn a little more about him that you usually don't learn. So we're trying to get some silly questions in there. Some of your questions are going in there. We picked the questions. We picked, I think we picked like 15 and we're gonna tell him to pick like five. Yeah, so he's comfortable with. So he'll be hand picking whatever questions he answers, which is another really cool thing. So if your question gets answered, just know he hand picked that.

Yeah. So that's really cool. And I think you for all the ones that you guys sent in. Yeah, you've sent in some really cool questions. Like a lot of them were really unique and like I was like, I want to that too. Yeah, so I was like yeah, please answer that and I found out that to buy as a gap person And I'm really fucking excited about that. So So there's that I didn't even know that. I love it. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun We're very excited about it

And I just had to say like how much fun we had at the show the other night It was just a blast and it was really cool to meet some of you It's always fun to meet you guys especially places like that When we can all just like freak out over where we are Yeah, I think because everybody was just so excited that it was like and it was like the perfect kickoff I think yeah for public it really was it was the perfect way. I know it's wild The book is out there you guys have been It's wild. The book is out there.

You guys have been in Crayol. I have no words. I have no words. You made me feel amazing. You've made this week amazing. And I literally have no words. I'm like speechless about it. And I can't wait to like, to give you more.

Give me, give me. Because I'm not done. Not done, that's not it. I know. I wish I could say not one and done I can oh that one you kind of said things. Yeah, I mean there's well It's there's there's more to come but wait sure. There's more. Oh, there's more. There's exciting things coming so Hang hang on tight But it's been really cool to see how much you guys have like embraced

Ren and embrace the story. It's been really cool So thanks so much for that you guys have embraced, Ren, and embraced the story. It's been really cool. So thanks so much for that. You guys rule. It's also really just cool to see it in stores. Now we got to go to Target the other day. And it was just like, and we went to Barnes and Noble on part time, just like Alina or Cart, but you're in the rent.

It's just so cool to see it in stores. And see it on a shelf near Stephen King is just something I never thought would happen. So it's just, yeah. It's so surreal that I don't think my mind is still grasping it quite yet. So that's fun, but it's been a great week. You did it.

I did it. You did it. We all did it together. You did it. Hey, everybody helped, but you did it. We all did it. But, everybody helped, but you did it. But we all did it. But with that being said, we have a themed listener tale episode for you guys.

Yeah, I feel like the themed ones are like, you guys are digging those. Yeah, you're digging them and we're digging them. They're fun. And honestly, shout out to Deb Deb for like, uh, actually, them. The them. Yeah. We never really thought of doing that.

Yeah, we always try. We would try to sometimes and then be like, oh, but this one's We never really thought of doing that. Yeah, we always try, we would try to sometimes and then be like, oh, but this one's funny, so we're just thinking, yeah. But she like goes the extra mile and really themes these. I think we've done home invasions and that time I met a murderer

and those two seem, you guys really liked those. So today, we're gonna to listen her tales, crazy families. Cookie, cookie families. Because who doesn't have a crazy family? Get ready for all of us to feel like, oh, okay, mine's not as bad. Mine's not as bad. Would you like to start or would you like me to start?

I don't want to. Yeah, I can start either way. So the first tale is my uncle, the murderer, who is now a dog trainer. All right, so it sounds like it's been turned around. I hope I hope so. All right, it says, like it's been turned around. I hope I hope so. All right, it says, first of all, I will start by gushing over you two wonderful humans

because you beautiful bitties bring so much excitement, entertainment, and overall goodness to my life. Wow. Thank you. You bring the same to Harvard. Yeah, you beautiful bittie. I love listening to beautiful smart and well-smoking women dive into the worst crimes known to man.

My name is Ashton and please use my name because I will lose my ever-loving shit if you to men. My name is Ashton, and please use my name because I will lose my ever loving shit if you read this. Fuck yeah, Ashton. Oh no, you gotta go find your shit now. Go find it. I'm a registered nurse, so you're a superhero. Hell yeah. So works at an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment center.

My job can sometimes get quite heavy, I imagine. Seriously. And I enjoy having YouTube unwined and relaxed with. But any who, my morbid curiosity with true crime started when I was a we eight year old fat kid. Get it? morbid curiosity. Insert wintry face here. I gotcha. It all started on June 20, 2003. My brother's first birthday. We had just had supper and we were outside playing on our swing set. My dad was pushing my brother and sister on the swings when we pulled out his giant 2000

style cell phone. He answered an incoming call. I remember the color from his face began to drain and he walked away to finish the phone call. I watched him stand behind a large oak tree and witnessed him rub his forehead multiple times. My dad's tell of true distress. My mom came outside then and was briefly confused,

seeing us kids on the swing set by ourselves. I pointed to the tree and she walked over to be beside my dad. I watched my dad hang up his phone and say something to my mom. My mom immediately burst into tears and my dad supported her weight as she began to crumble to the warm June ground.

My eight year old mind didn't even realize that my family's lives were now different than they had been ten minutes prior. Suffice to say, the birthday celebration was over. No. My parents rushed us into the house and explained we had to leave right away to go to my grandparents' house. We were living on the east coast at the time and my grandparents lived three hours away. I remember thinking, we never take trips this late. I kept asking my mom for some kind of explanation, but she just kind of brushed me off and kept stuffing our belongings into suitcases. She told me we would be staying with our godparents. Another red flag for me is when we visited,

we always stayed with my grandparents. After 30 years or so, a frantic pack, 30 years. Probably, probably, I was going to say, you were what, eight, so it was probably, probably, probably, 30 years. Yeah, it was 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, they're so frantic packing, we loaded up in the car and drove into the warm summer's evening. When we arrived, it was late.

We were tucked into my into bed and my parents promised to explain some things tomorrow. I even, I remember even before I knew the word fuck, I was thinking, what the fuck? The next morning, when I woke up, my parents were already gone. My godmother told me that they were with my grandparents and we'd be back within a few hours.

I was pissed. My curious mind was spiraling and they had promised to explain exactly what in the fuck it was going on. When my parents arrived back to my godparents' home, my godparents took my little brother and sister outside. My parents instructed me to have a seat on the plaid 2000 style couch.

If you know, you know. Oh, I know. My parents, it's so funny to hear the 2000s be like a thing. Because usually I'm like, I'm so happy. Yeah. My parents sat on either side of me and my mom began to talk. We are down here because your uncle did some very bad things.

Looking back on this statement, it was indeed the understatement of the whole fucking universe. My mom went on to explain that my uncle was in jail. She described jail as I earlier said I was just eight years old and my experience with jail stretched about as far as seeing western films with my grandpa. I remember feeling very confused, but the conversation was quickly over and I was told not to ask any more questions. In typical eight-year-old fashion, I became obsessed with this mysterious family secret and listened in on any adult conversations that I could. Wasn't that, like, weirdly the most fun when you were here? Yeah, it was exhilarating.

I mean, there were like a lot of different... This one's a little different. There were like a lot of adult conversations that I feel like I was just like there for because of like how I was raised. Yeah. So I like, I love a hot goss. Exilierating to just like listen to it. I'm also a gem and I still like from an early age, I was like harvesting the good goss.

Yeah, you were just trying to get the tea. Yeah. The next day, I still was confused as a bug on a windshield. That's adorable. We went to the jail. I saw my uncle or at least who I was told was my uncle. He looked horrible. He was pale and his face was full of scabs and various stages of healing. He looked sunken in and way too thin.

He spoke with me over the disgusting bacteria covered jail telephone. I again felt confused and uncomfortable with the glass between us. I don't remember the conversation, but I have to believe it wasn't of any importance. Probably the brief comment on my schoolwork or my team's recent softball game. When I left the booth, we went into the JL's lobby. The entire lobby was filled with our family only. Not a single unrelated individual was within sight. Family members were going in and out of the booth to see my uncle. This continued for several hours.

Months later, my mom explained what a trial was. Again, I was eight, and I'm sure the explanation was incredibly sweetened and dumbed down. I remember asking to go to which my mother immediately shut down, and that was that. She was gone for a full day, leaving early in the morning and returning after I was already bathed, read it, read to, and tucked in.

After that day, life returned to semi-normal. I remember my mom crying a lot in those days and constantly being on the phone. Fast forward two years on a random Sunday afternoon while my mom was sprawled out in our dining room scrapbooking. I decided to pounce. I was determined to finally get some answers. I just spit it out.

Why is Uncle Clyde in jail? My mom obviously shook by my sudden ambush. Just looked at me. I could tell she was resistant, and she began giving me the, we can discuss it when you're older, but I was not taking that any longer. I kept pestering her until she gave in.

That's when she asked me, do you know what murder means? Oh man. In fact, I did know what murder was, or at least the basic concepts. I frequently watch salacious crime shows when my parents weren't around, but always kept Disney Channel on the recall button,

just in case one of them were to pass by the living room. Do you remember the recall button? Yes. I feel like that's not even a thing anymore. Yeah, because I think now when you hit like last on your thing, it does some wacky. It shows all the things that you've recently walked. Yeah, makes it more complicated.

It's like, no, I just want to flip back to the other channel so nobody knows what I'm watching. I used to do that shit all the things that you've recently walked. Yeah, makes it more complicated. It's like, no, I just want to flip back to the other channels so nobody knows what I'm watching. I used to do that shit all the time. And then it just says, hashtag conservative Southern Baptist parents, if you know, you know. I told her I did know what murder was and she began, do you remember Cory, Uncle Clyde's friend?

Actually, mother, Cory was Uncle Clyde's boyfriend, but again, whatever ignorant life you choose to live as your business. Of course, I remembered Cory. Cory was around for as long as I could think back to. He came to all of our family events, and I remember him always being incredibly silly and playful with me in my siblings.

That's when she told me that my uncle had murdered Cory. And that is why his residence for the foreseeable future was now four stone walls in cold iron bars. Oh, that's all I got out of her that day. Over the years, we always visited him. I've seen the inside of several prisons, actually. I don't really think that's a flex I think it is, but I think it's a cool statement

to use whenever playing two truths in a lie. All right, as I veaged, I've done my own research, and here's what actually happened. My uncle and Cory had a very volatile and abusive relationship, that's really sad. I know. On several instances, Cory filed police reports for physical abuse, a whole Cory.

That's awful. At the time of the murder, Cory had an active restraining order against my uncle. But from what I've heard, those two toxic mother fuckers, because they not stay away from each other. That happens a lot. It does. Shortly before the murder, my grandparents' home was broken into, and a very expensive hand

gun was stolen. In the midst of a heated argument, Cory confessed to breaking in and stealing the gun. Said the gun was then fought over, and the gun went off, quote unquote. And Cory was fatally injured. If you ask my uncle, if you ask me, sorry, if you ask me, my uncle shot him in a fit of rage. My uncle's red hot temper was well established, and I believe in that moment he lost his shit. And also doesn't help that both men were using

massive amounts of drug and alcohol during their relationship. Instead of calling to the police to report what had happened, my uncle panicked and buried Corey in his backyard. Oh wow. That wasn't just any house he lived in. It was my fucking grandparents' rental home. Oh. My uncle continued to live his life

all while Cory's mangled body lie in his backyard. After not hearing from Cory for a while, his family reported him missing. The police immediately began questioning and surveying my uncle with his track record, all neon signs were lit and pointed at him. They couldn't establish any real proof and my uncle wasn't talking. This chaos continued for six months.

Holy shit. Finally, nobody had any idea. Six months. Finally, on one fateful day, my uncle decided he was going to drive to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and end his life. He had a large number of narcotics and decided to dose himself up and drown in the ocean. Wow! After floating around for a while, he got out of the ocean and checked into a hotel. There, he made a phone call that changed the course of his life forever. He called my aunt and confessed to the entire fucked-up scenario.

My aunt called police who arrived at the hotel and hauled my uncle away in handcuffs. My uncle waved his rights to a trial and took a plea deal for 25 years in prison. I could talk all day on the craziness that surrounds our family related to this crime. All in all, it was a very shitty time. I think one aspect of true crime that isn't talked about much is how the family of the perpetrator

doesn't even recognize the person who actually committed the crime. Yeah, that's very true. That is true, because I think we have said it before, like, I can't imagine what that other family is going through. Because that's a totally different kind of victimization. It is. And it's like that family loses their person too

in like a totally different way. Yeah. I don't endorse or accept the choices that led to the loss of this man's life. Nor do I blame him for going to my uncle's house that night. I have no idea what was said when in those four walls that night, but boy do I wish I did.

I think I'll always question exactly what happened. There are a few good things to come out of this mess and I try to focus on them. Prior to this incident, LGBTQ individuals struggled to obtain restraining orders in their same sex relationship in the state of North Carolina well because conservatism.

However, after Cory's death, an initiative titled Project Rainbow Net was formed and established relationships with the LGBTQ community and assisted them in times of domestic violence. I haven't heard of that. I didn't even glad to know that that exists. The organization assists domestic abuse victims in obtaining restraining orders when law

enforcement is less than helpful. I've attached articles regarding this and the horrific tales of other same-sex relationships and they're strive to achieve justice just because of their sexual orientation, total bullshit. My family is some of the most conservative people I've ever met, but as for me, baby, rainbow all day, every day. Oh, yeah. Another positive is that my uncle now trains dogs in prison, who eventually will leave him and go into the care of a family with a child who has special needs.

It's like a mullendelevel. Yeah. Blind, deaf, autistic, and epileptic children have all been given dogs that my uncle has trained. He receives a dog as a puppy, and the puppy lives with him in his cell until the dog is fully trained. Usually this process is two years or so. With a 25-year stint, my uncle has nothing but time. He is so good at training dogs. He is now the supervisor of other inmates who also train dogs. I wish you weren't in prison climbing the corporate ladder, uncle, but hey, I guess we can all have it all. I want to believe my uncle is a changed man,

but how do we ever really know? But at least he is serving his community in a way that maybe if he wasn't in prison, he would have never been able to do. That is true, and that's a nice way of looking at that. And I do believe that it's like, to train dogs, it has to change you in some way. I think animals have a way of changing you

and totally believe me. Being able to train them to be with children that need specific things and people that need specific things. You have to change fundamentally in some way. Absolutely. And presumably, his uncle, or his or her uncle, I'm sorry, is sober now and that changes a person a lot. Yeah, exactly.

Hopefully, hopefully there's some change that came out of this. But that's my story. I'm sorry for the lengths. Never apologize. I can already hear y'all say never be. But still, it felt right. Sending love, peace, happiness, and joy to your beautiful family.

Oh, I love you. Y'all are the best. You are. Keep it weird. But not so weird that you abuse your boyfriend. Kill him with a stolen gun, bury him in the backyard, then flee to the beach, try to kill yourself, then confess to an innocent woman try to kill yourself, think,

invest to an innocent woman who will never sleep again, since she had to turn you into police, but do keep it where they continue to fight for the LGBTQ community, and train dogs for special needs, children, because that is what any good human being would do. Love you, Aston. Aston, Aston.

How'd you first share that with us? And thank you for sharing the articles, because I really had no idea that was a thing. I know, neither did I actually. So I'm really glad that you shared those because I want to look at them. I am very intrigued to look at those for sure. Absolutely.

What if you were trafficked into a cult over shot nine times, or fell in love with a vampire, or went into a minor surgery and woke up one week later, paralyzed? What would you do? I'm Whit Missildine, the creator of this is actually happening, a podcast from Wondry that brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events, told by the people who lived them. From a young man that dooms his entire future with one choice, to a woman who survived a notorious serial killer, you'll hear their first-person account of how they overcame remarkable circumstances.

Each episode is an exploration of the human spirit and personal discovery. These haunting accounts sound like Hollywood movies, but I assure you this is actually happening. Follow this is actually happening wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wonder App. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder's 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. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made national headlines. The judges were earning a fortune, carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment, an America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wonder App. Alright, our next one is Listener Tales 47, Question Mark, Question Mark, Question Mark. Not quite, but close. Not quite, yeah, but not too far off.

Dirty John, but worse edition. Oh God. Alright, let's go. Hey, Weirdos, it's me, Courtney. I've always wanted to say that. Actually, your awesome show has inspired me to start a podcast of my own. Yes, Courtney. That's awesome, but of a different genre.

I'm a social worker working with adults and children with disabilities and their families. So my podcast is actually for parents, caregivers, and service providers of those individuals called adjusting the sales and it's still in its infancy and planning stages. That's awesome. I don't know when this was sent in.

Let me look really quickly. This was sent in in August. So who knows? So maybe it might be at this point, but look out for stages. That's awesome. I don't know when this was sent in. Let me look really quickly. This was sent in in August. So who knows? So maybe I'll have this point. But look out for it. Yeah, definitely. Again, it's adjusting the sales. So it has a great idea.

A great idea. That is. Very needed. Anywho, I have the confidence to start this podcast and hear my own voice on recording. Yuck. Tell us about it. I feel that.

Because I obsessively listen to this show. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My writing you today came as I was listening to Listener Tales 46. It dawned on me that something wild, crazy, and crimey did happen to me. Well, not actually directly to me, but I was very much in the middle of this disaster. You might think this is a regular run of the mills dirty John Scenario, but old ladies,

it has a twisted ending. Oh boy. Actually, just remembering it up out of me, excuse me, actually just remembering it up out of my crystallized brain, Cavities, has me feeling anxious all over again. Names have been changed for an anonymity, except for my own, I always start

to say that it's a hard one. In 2015, my mom asked if she could video chat with myself and my sister, Jeannie. My sister and I were living together with our boyfriend's while in college, and my mom wanted to wait and video chat once my sister got home from work, so I knew something was up.

I thought she would be telling us some bad news, somebody was sick in the hospital, et cetera, but I was completely thrown off when she held up her left hand and showed us a gigantic diamond on her ring finger. Oh, she explained that she had met a man Rodney on an online dating site and that they had fallen in love and that they were getting married. This was super quick and Janie and I were both immediately skeptical. Since my mom's last-last-long-term relationship had ended with the man we think

of as a stepfather, she had been in and out of relationships with men that she had met online. We hadn't been a fan of any of them, really. But they all ended fairly quickly, and she always swore she would never remarry. So when she held up this whopping engagement ring, after not knowing him for long at all, my intuition told me something was wrong. Nonetheless, we congratulated her

and played along like good daughters because we've learned the hard way that you cannot criticize my mom when she makes decisions. Oh man. Really, baby. Unfortunately, my sister had given her attitude about a boyfriend a few years prior to this when Janie was in high school and I was in college. That led to my mom making Janie leave home and move in with our dad.

Oh, jeez. My mom said we had to be respectful to any man she chose to have in her life. And inadvertently my sister had to leave or chose to leave and did not return. So our relationship with my mom had been rocky for years. But at that moment was a turning point. And there was a huge wedge that we are still working on today. I'm sorry. Yeah.

So that might explain why, excuse me, so that might explain some why we didn't feel we could or should have questioned her decisions on this. I completely understand that. My mom made plans to come to our college town the upcoming weekend so we could meet her new fiance. During their visit, Rodney made several comments about his triplet daughters and how close they all were, how he talked to them every day and visited them monthly and that they were all very impressive.

He told us that they were all pursuing elaborate careers in Ivy League schools and that he sends them a thousand dollars each month in allowance and that once he and my mom are married, he'd do the same for us. I'd be like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, this is too good to be trusser. He also asked how much my mortgage was as we all lived in the house, my boyfriend, and I just purchased. And he told my sister that she should start looking for a house too.

Once he and my mom were married, he would pay both our mortgages every month. This really annoyed my boyfriend as he felt like it was too flashy of an offer and that he was trying to buy our approval as my mom's fiance and just blowing smoke. I totally got up. I agreed, but I also felt that a piece of me

was not going to argue and wanted to believe that our financial problems would be over with that kind of monetary support. Yeah. I thought he must be a really, he must really be a family man and takes care of his daughters like this. So he must also want to take care of his step, but daughters out of his love for my mom. I hate that I was a 19 20 year old. I would have been the same way. I would have been hoping. I think.

This was real, you know? Anybody want? I mean, somebody's like, I'm going to pay your mortgage. Youold. I would have been the same way. I would have been hoping. I think it was real, you know? Anybody want, I mean, somebody's like, I'm gonna pay your mortgage. You're like, let's fucking go. Yeah. Red flags were popping up all over the place. Even on that first weekend of meeting him, we all went to a restaurant for lunch

and ordered bar food, nothing expensive, just sandwiches, burgers, et cetera. And when the bill came, my mom grabbed it and slid it to Rodney, literally saying, girls, he can afford this. we will take care of it. Oh boy. With almost a wink, but lo and behold, Rodney forgot his wallet back at the house.

Ah. Mm-hmm. My mom ended up paying Rodney. My mom ended up paying, and Rodney said he would pay her back. Through the weekend, Rodney had shared many stories with us about his life and all the horses he owned, the properties he owned, and the money he had. He had houses scattered in our state, but he was currently living in Texas for an oil, for oil field work. When mom and Rodney left on Sunday afternoon,

Janie and I were talking about him and how we were feeling. Janie said, isn't it weird that someone with all this money wouldn't pay to have his teeth fixed? I thought this comment was very shallow and still being hopeful in naive, I said, maybe he just doesn't care about his teeth and he has so much money because he prioritizes other things. Yeah, but Jayny and both our boyfriends were not buying in. Apparently my boyfriend even caught Rodney alone

during their visit and threatened to break his legs. My wife Rodney remiss treated my mom. Wow, that's pretty epic. I don't break people's legs, but like that's fun. But like that's protection. Yeah, that's like, yeah, exactly. Don't mess with her.

I rolled my eyes at that and said, great, that's a good start to this relationship, but my boyfriend and a husband. Yeah, he said something was off and he had a bad feeling. That's, that man knows. Some people just have intuition. That's how John is, John always knows. Yeah, exactly.

He always knows like when somebody's not right. Mm-hmm. My mom then called us on Sunday evening, only a few hours after they left, and said that Rodney wanted to buy a house in our area with at least five bedrooms for his daughters to have a place to stay when they visited and with land for his horses

and that they wanted to also be able to spend thanksgiving there as a family. So they were going to start looking immediately as it was July. This is all happening so fast. I know. I'm just waiting. I'm like, it's, it's going to turn. It is. My sister and I were completely shocked to hear this because my mom had never mentioned wanting to move closer to us all. In fact, she had been saying for years that she would move to retire.

I just like just moved to retirement that she would move to retirement. She would move to Florida after retirement to be near her brother, 15 some hours from us. Also, if he was so close to his daughters, why didn't he want to move to them? She said they were looking on real estate apps and inquiring about properties, and that they would be back in a few days to start house shopping. She is. Because my boyfriend and I had just bought her home literally a week earlier, she asked us about our real, real chair. And she also mentioned that their budget would be around a million dollars.

That is a huge budget for our area. My house is a huge budget anyway. That's a huge budget for sure. My house was a tenth of that amount. We realized that he must be extremely wealthy. Hence we assumed, sorry, I'm like totally fucked that up. That was a huge budget for our area. My house was a 10th of that amount.

We realized that he must be extremely wealthy. Hence, we assumed was why my mom had decided to marry him. Got it. I did it. I went to work on Monday and while eating lunch in the break room with my boss and coworker, I told them all about Rodney and his extravagant promises and plans. They were both very skeptical and were kind of like, wow, good for her, but had disbelief in their voices and their body language. We all went

back to our respective offices and a few hours later, when my boss called me and asked me to come to her house immediately. I went to her office and she said, are you sure his name is Rodney Howard? I said, I guess so. He had texted me his name so we could have one another's number. So unless he misspelled his own name, it had to be accurate. She turned her computer screen to me and showed me that she was looking at property tax records and that

nobody with his name had paid taxes on any properties. She had gone back many years with no results. I thought that was odd, so I sat down and we did a search to see if he had any registered livestock. Since he supposedly owned dozens of horses and not surprisingly none. The sinking feeling of anxiety came over me and I knew I had to start digging deeper. If I was going to tell my mom that her fiance was lying to her, I would need to be convincing. Oh yeah, these are always the situations where you need to have like all the proof.

All the receipts. I told my sister and boyfriends that night after work that we had found what we had found, excuse me, and they were not surprised, but they also weren't super alarmed. They were like, he probably just exaggerated that stuff. As I mentioned previously, criticizing my mom's choice of boyfriend

does not go over well with her. She becomes very defensive, and I felt like she would shut me out if I didn't have any solid proof of his lies. Maybe they were right and this was a coincidence of some kind. There must be some kind of misunderstanding. So that night I started searching on Facebook and Google the names that he had given us of his triplet daughters. I found all three accounts, um, and immediately friend requested them all. As soon as I saw their profile photos,

I wanted to vomit. They were absolutely not triplets. It was very obvious that two daughters were twins, but the third was much older. What? Why would he lie about that? That's a weird thing to lie about. It's a very strange thing to lie about,

because you could just say, I have three daughters and two of them are twins. Yeah, like what? I decided that this alone was enough to bring to my mom's attention, so I did call her. My mom was very surprised when she opened the screenshots of the Facebook photos. She said she had no idea why he would lie

about them being triplets, but that she was going to question him about it. Really though, after the initial shock, she started to play it down. And was like, thank you for bringing it to my attention, but don't worry, I'm sure he has an explanation. What the explanation? Like this literally no like valid explanation for that. Yeah, like I'm trying to think of one right now and I'm usually pretty good at that,

but like nope, I'd be like, mom, can you come up with one right now? Yeah, like there's literally none. What do you think it would be, mom? Which one are you going to take? Yeah, exactly. She was defending him, and I could hear the defensiveness and almost annoyance at me for finding this out in her voice. I decided not to tell her about the property taxes and the livestock search that I had done just yet.

Good trolley, good idea. I don't blame you. I wasn't gonna get anywhere. No. She called me the next day from work to tell me that she had confronts in him about his daughters, and he said that when they were first chatting through the dating app, it was easier to say triplets

instead of saying that he had a set of twins and a third older daughter. Okay, here's the thing. I have three daughters. Yeah, like you literally have that situation. You have that situation. I never, once in my life, have been like, wow, it'd be easier just to say they were triplets.

Like, no, you don't have triplets. One. Yeah, or you three. Like no, you don't have triplets. One. Yeah, or you three. Why can't you just say I have three daughters? Yeah, and then you meet in person and like you maybe you should picture your twins. I have twins, yeah.

What? So weird. So instead of explaining the details, he just said he had triplets because he didn't think they'd ever really meet and it was an unimportant detail. Wow, that's really fucking strange. That's really weird strange. Really weird.

I'd be a pretty large red flag. But then when they were actually dating, he couldn't go back and tell her that he had lied initially because then he would look like a liar. So he just kept referring to them as triplets. He said, I didn't want to look like a liar. So I just kept lying. So I lied again.

Like, what the fuck? I was like, why? It makes you look like more of a liar, sir. I love that he's like, I didn't want to look like a liar. And it's like, you lied. I didn't want to look like a liar. So I just became one, wow, the fuck. She believed this ignorant story and told me that while it was

a stupid thing for him to say, she understood because people often exaggerate themselves online. That's just such a weird thing to exaggerate about that. Yeah, that's the thing. It's like, you don't get, it doesn't make you cooler that you had triplets instead of twins in a single. Right, I feel like some people would think that though. That's how we make me see more cool.

That's really weird. It's also a very big thing to lie about. It's not like you're 5'11 and you're really holding six feet. Exactly. What? It's just very strange. So strange.

Me being me, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt and was like, OK, maybe that's an explanation. But still thinking that something was up, I checked on my friend request on Facebook and discovered that the oldest of the three sisters had accepted hell, yeah. Great. Let's see what's in there.

I began coming through her photos and realized that. The lies continue. Oh, no. The reality of where his daughter lived and the school she attended was the complete opposite of what he had said. He said he paid for her to have a bougie town home while she attended an Ivy League school.

Yet I'm seeing photos of her sitting in a kitty pool beside what was obviously a mobile home in a mobile home community. And of her dogs, Nell Gondonakouch, the wall behind the couch had that piece of trim running down the seam of the panels, like in a mobile home, and she's posting about homework assignments

and about her nursing program at her community college. Stark differences from what Rodney had said. And it's like, there's nothing, that's the thing. It's like, she's going to school. It doesn't have to be a nursing program. So why is he lying about that? That is not like something to be ashamed of. She's doing not at all what she should be doing here. She has a home of her own.

Yeah, she's like, she's like, get me a school like, that's really shitty. Those are things to be proud of exactly. And that's just shitty that he's like lying to try to make it seem better in some way. And it's like, that's shitty, just like love for her. And that's the thing because it makes it seem like you're like embarrassed. That you're not like proud of her. Yeah. I messaged the daughter and I played dumb. I said something like, look for her. That's the thing, because it makes it seem like you're like, I'm better. That you're not like, it's proud of you. Yeah. I messaged the daughter and I played dumb. I said something like, hey, my mom and your daughter

are about to be married. It's cool that my sister and I will have step sisters who are triplets. She responded immediately and said, he did tell me that he was engaged, but not sure why he would have said we're triplets. I barely know my sisters. We have different moms.

And I was in foster care, basically, my entire childhood. So I don't have a relationship with them. What all has Rodney told you? Wow. I thought, big go, here comes the tea. I told her that besides his daughter's being triplets, he also claimed to support them all financially and that they were all in Ivy League schools pursuing law, medicine, and engineering.

She responded that all of that was the farthest from the truth and that he had done this before. Bindis honest about himself to a girlfriend. She said her sisters recently dropped out of high school and lived with their mom and that she had no family and she was completely on her own in nursing school at the local community college. Good for her, for like just gonna say something.

Yeah, what a badass. Like doing it on her own. I told her I appreciated her being honest with me and I told her I was going to tell my mom what was going on. She agreed that I should do so and she apologized on her dad's behalf. I'm so sorry that she shouldn't have to do that. Yeah.

She said that virtual, excuse me, she said that virtually had no relationship and that she has only started speaking to him in the last few years since aging out of foster care. That's so sad. She also said that she's never received a penny of money from him and that she would guess her sisters haven't either, but that she really didn't know for sure. What is this man? Like, that's why, like, there's some beautiful things that come out of online relationships. Absolutely. And like beautiful stories.

But there's a lot of these kind of stories. And it's so scary. Be very, very careful. Like I have to say, I am so fucking glad that I met Drew when I did. Oh my god. Because even like everybody knows Drew and I broke up for a little while,

and I was both of us were online dating. And even the horror stories that I have from that are nowhere near this, but like, no. I can't imagine having to sift through that many fucking asshole. And just seeing how like the internet is in general. I know. Especially now, I feel like right now,

if you're on line dating, like hats off to you because when I like ghosting is a thing. Well, the internet is truly a fucking cesspool now. Like people have gotten worse and worse. I feel like it's just getting more and more toxic. And there's all like fake profanity. I feel like people are just like, really out gotten worse and worse. I feel like it's just getting more and more toxic. And there's all fake profanities. I feel like people are just really out there to hurt people. At this point, I feel like with everything that's happening

in the world, I think a lot of people are angry. A lot of people are feeling out of control. And these kind of people are taking to the internet and they're going to hurt people. It's scary. Because it's going to make them feel more powerful or in control of their own shape. And it's like, be careful.

Because that really does feel like that is the landscape right now. Totally done. And I imagine that like an online dating kind of thing. It's scary. Would be like close to a nightmare. And it's finding a diamond in the rough. Especially like if you haven't met the

actual person that you're speaking to and person yet, like just be careful about what you share about yourself and just be really careful. Even this is so gross, but revenge porn is a thing now. Oh yeah, it's a cesspool out there. It's so fucking gross. It's really the worst time because everything that's gone on in the pandemic and stuff,

people lost jobs, people, there's angry. Lost homes, people are just angry. there's angry, you know, lost homes, lost like, people are just angry, they were angry that they were stuck inside, they were angry about, and I feel like you can see it. You open any social media site, or you open anything on the internet, and you can see the anger that people do.

And you love people. And you love political stuff, and everybody is just so like, fucking venomous out there. And it's like, I can't imagine trying to trust someone thoroughly over the internet right now. And it's sad because some of my, we've talked about it before that I grew up with AOL.

When AOL first came out, I grew up when it was created. And at that point, there was still some weirdos out there. There's always people on the internet. But it was a little more pure at that point, there was still some weirdos out there. Like there's always people on the internet. But it was a little more pure at that point, I feel. And like I have friends from that time when I was like 13, 14, all that, that I still talk to. Yeah. And it's like, and they were still there people

that I, and they're like actually good people. But it's like, you have to be, it's so different now. It is so different. There's so many more like, you have to be, it's so different now. It is so different. There's so many more precautions that you have to take now. Yeah. Share your location and make sure somebody knows exactly where you're going and, you know, don't go somewhere else afterwards

unless somebody knows you're going to be there. I truly can't imagine. It's scary. That's off to any of you who are navigating the online. Well, and then think about what our children are going to experience? Like I've had scary experiences online before. Yeah, I can't even imagine how much further technology

will advance and the even scarier things that like our kids will have to think about it. And be careful about. Yeah. So back to the dirty johns in the morning. I sent my mom a house in our town that was on the market and their price range and that had a pasture for horses. She said that she would show it to Ronnie and get back to us.

I said, where does he live now? I'll look it up and I'll see if it's a style. Oh, smart. She said that she hadn't been to his Texas home, but that he had taken her to his main house in our state and that they'd gone horseback riding at another one of his farm houses. She said she didn't know the address exactly, but she knew the area and she could identify the houses. I started searching for houses on Google Earth in that county. There weren't a lot of options, so it was easy to find with her descriptions, and it happened to be for sale.

I texted her a picture and she said, yep, that's it. He's selling it so we can buy in your area. I noticed that it said this particular house had been on the market for hundreds of days, longer than they'd even been together. So I could smell the BS. I scrolled through the photos, but there was nothing that alarmed me.

Then I noticed the realtor's name, last name Howard, his wife, maybe, or sister. Someone with the same name, the same last name selling his house, or is he the realtor? That's what I'm thinking. Or did he take the name from that? Oh, true. You're probably on to something more. Facebook showed me that she was his ex-wife. My mom said that she'd been to that house. I quickly started looking up the farmhouse she mentioned with the horses and saw that

it too was for sale. Again, listed with his ex-wife. I realized that he must be taking my mom to these houses that are for sale and empty, and using his wife's realtor codes to access the keyboard. Wow. That's fucked. It was time to bring everything to the forefront and tell my mom. No matter the consequences,

he could get her into big trouble if they were caught sleeping in somebody else's home. And how dangerous for her to be hanging out at a stranger's home while he's working or riding their horses or the real owners come by. I called her and I told her that while she was at work so she could speak freely without him present in the background and told her that there was more that made me suspicious. She seemed to steal herself before asking me when I found. I told her about the conversation that I had had with his oldest daughter.

I actually read the messages out loud to her. She was completely shocked and confused and really had no way to defend him. I said, there was more. And told her that I found the houses he had listed on Realtor. And that I could see that he had not been paying taxes on those properties and was also not an owner. She said that she went into them, excuse me. She said that when she went into them, excuse me, she said that when she went into them,

they were really very empty because they were staged to sell, but things were, but there were a few personal things such as one or two photos on the fireplace mantle, a picture on the night stand, basic toiletries, etc. I told her I was fairly certain that he knew his ex-wife's realtor codes and must have staged the houses before bringing her over, because his ex was the listing agent. My mom was silent and so shocked. She said that she'd been horseback riding several times and had stayed in both of the homes with him

and alone when he had to work. That's so fucked up. Like, the fact that she just like slept in a random person's home probably. Yeah. And like unknowingly. Oh, yeah. She said that she was pretty convinced

that he was lying about all of this and that she was going to confront him. Regarding his wealth, however, she said that she knew that was real. She said he told her that he would go to other countries and buy gold for much cheaper and when he came to the US and converted it to dollars,

it was worth much more. Like what? Okay. I feel like I don't know. Gold, what? Neither she nor I know how any of that works, but I told her that I had serious doubts. She said that she had not paid any of her bills since they'd been dating,

and that he was covering all of her expenses. Are you sure? Ah, she also said that she had gone to the bank with him, and although she didn't go in to see the teller, he brought the statements out to the truck and let her look over them as they drove away. And she saw that he had millions in his account. Oh, that's weird. It's giving me also...

Did you watch Bad Vegan? No. The Netflix, it's giving... It's really good, you should. It's giving me this kind of vibe. We'll never know how he was paying her bills, but I am sure the statements were forged, and that he probably was in the bank getting free suckers and dog treats using the bathroom

and not making a deposit or withdrawal. Wow. She said she felt sick and that she couldn't even finish her work that day. She said she was going to drive home and confront him. I begged her to call my dad who lived a mile away from her, so he could at least be in the driveway

or on standby in case this total stranger was dangerous. Yeah. She refused and said it wouldn't get out of hand and that she was just going to tell him she knew the truth And then make him leave but that can make somebody like that really angry They were just talking about that. Yeah, my sister and I Hours from our mom's home living in our college town so all we could do was wait for her to call About an hour later my mom called and let me know that she did question him and that he admitted to all of the laws. He said it was all true and that he lied

because he wanted to appear to be the perfect man online thinking that he would never actually meet any of the people he was chatting with, but that when he did begin to develop feelings for her, he couldn't tell her the truth for fear that he would lose her trust. It's like, but we didn't even have any trust. He couldn't tell her the truth for fear of losing her trust.

Like, we don't have trust. This is all built online. You had to lie to me so that I would trust you. That doesn't even make any sense. She did make him leave and told him that she would need a lot of time and space to decide if there was any chance for them to get past this. No, no, no.

He left with no scene. Good. She told us that they had been already planning their wedding and that they were actually trying to have a small-scale wedding before Thanksgiving. She's skipping us. Yeah, because he was probably trying to rush her into this.

They were moving much quicker than I'd even realized. Rodney was very pushy and wanted to make their marriage official before buying the new house. Rodney called my mom incessantly for weeks, and she would ignore the calls. My mom said that she wasn't ready, and she felt very betrayed and embarrassed to have trusted so blindly.

She told Janie and I that she hadn't totally written them off in her mind, but that she wanted to see how she felt about him after some time apart, and that they would essentially be starting over if they did decide to stay together. After about six or seven weeks of separation, it was September and she told us she was likely not going to get back together with him. She felt too betrayed and that she was having trouble moving past it. Rodney was still calling almost daily and sending messages constantly until one day it just stopped. Looking back and talking about her with it now, we weren't exactly, excuse me, we weren't sure

the exact day it stopped, but it didn't seem like it faded. Like, you might expect somebody to call in text less and less until it stops completely. It was more like constant and then nothing. We joked that he probably found his next victim and that she didn't reach out to him and she didn't reach out to him to my knowledge. That's what I was thinking. You can hear me out on the phone, see the answer.

You can do the other two. Fast forward to March six months and she had heard anything from him. And I'm scrolling through my timeline and I see a post from his oldest daughter. I'd not been in touch since our first conversation but we were still friends on Facebook. She posted that although she and her father did not have a relationship, she was still sad to hear of his passing.

Oh wow, that's really sad. I called my mom and I told her that it seems like Rodney had died. I asked her if he had any kind of health issues and she said that he did have a heart condition but that she didn't even know if that was the truth at this point. I started googling, looking for an obituary and found his mug shot.

Wow. He was charged with sexual abuse by a parent guardian custodian person of trust and died it, excuse me, I'm 929-20, the day after he sent his last message to my mom. That's so sad. His oldest daughter thinks he died, and really he's in jail. First, first, he's buying her guardian, custodian, or person, and trust.

So like, so he sexually abused a child. What the fuck? Holy shit. Oh my God. I knew he didn't have a relationship with his own children, so I went to his ex-wife's Facebook again and started scrolling back as far as I could go. I started seeing posts of him and her with her very young daughters. Oh no. I will never know if those little girls were his victims, but I have a feeling they were. His wife had posted some things about how you can't trust anyone, encouraging her

ex for the evil he'd done, but nothing specific to the crime. I'm sure her attorneys recommended that she did not post the details. I felt so sad for her and her babies in that moment and disgusted that he'd been in my home. I couldn't imagine what my mom must have felt. She herself having two girls. This is horrible. What a fucking monster. This information explained exactly why he disappeared, but did not explain his daughter's post. I soon came across a news article with his name explaining that he had been killed in prison.

Yeah, child sex offenders don't do well. The article read that he was attacked in the weight yard and stabbed to death in the head and neck by another inmate on March 19th, 2016. I think Ron Niemann in with a target on his back as a child sex offender and the internal justice 19th, 2016. I think Ronny went in with a target on his back as a child sex offender, and the internal justice system did its work. He was truly the slimyest type of person,

and while this was all a shock to the system, I'm not sad about the outcome. When we talk about his whirlwind of a few months, it's almost like a lifetime movie. It truly is. Really. When the show or podcast, dirty John came out,

I told my mom to listen because it was so similar to her story. She refused and said that this was a time in her life. She just did not want to recall. I don't blame her at all. My mom started dating her now husband, Jerry, in January of 2016. They were actually together

when this Rodney stuff came back around March. I remember her not wanting Jerry to know about the situation because it wasn't a good look for her. and she didn't want him to think that she was drama. She eventually told him and he started referring to me as Jo Kendo. Oh my god. I love that. That's the leader. Go Jerry. Sounds funny. We like Jerry. He even offered to get me a social security number so I could check him out. All in all, I like Jerry and the family approves,

but I did do my digging. Good. I like Jerry too. I do too. Thank you for reading my story and I hope to hear it on the show. But if not, that's okay. It's almost therapeutic to write it all down and get it out, I bet. While it was a short span of time in the grand scheme, this was a traumatizing event for all involved. I did delete Rodney's daughter from my Facebook and I can't even remember her name nowadays. It was a short-lived drama that feels like a dream now. I attached one of the dozens of news articles for you to see and his mug shot so that you can feast your eyes on this slime ball.

I did change his name, not for him, but to protect my mom as she's still insanely ashamed of the situation, even though it was not her fault and he manipulated her completely with false promises of a perfect life. She likes to pretend this never happened, so I will project her from that. Thank you ladies and keep it weird Courtney.

Oh, he... Yeah. Let me see him pulling it up. That makes sense. Oh! I get it. Yeah. He looks like that.

Like he just looks like a slime ball. He does look like a slime ball. He truly does. Oh, I'm so sorry that you went through this. I'm sorry your mom went through it. I'm sorry his family went through this. His ex family went through this. I'm sorry for everybody he affected.

My God. Like what a fucking tornado of a human. I hate those kind of people that just leave destruction in their way. In their house. Just ruin everybody who they come in contact to. Peace is a shit. Ugh.

I seriously just don't understand human beings sometimes. I don't understand people who just want to hurt people. I was literally just, I was letting you finish. I was going to let you finish. I was going to let you finish. And I was just going to say, I just don't understand like wanting to hurt someone. Yeah.

And I'm sure that it's not always the intention of wanting to hurt somebody. No, it isn't always in the beginning. In the beginning. But as it starts to unravel, you know what you're doing. Exactly. And someone like that, and that's the intention from the get-go. Like, you're, you're disgusting.

Like, you're a child abuser. You can get the fuck right out of here. But yeah, so thank you for that tale. Yeah. My goodness. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ So the next one we're going to talk about is called, Alice went down the rabbit hole, but did not land in Wonderland. Did you open this PDF? I was just gonna say this is one of the most beautiful PDFs I've ever seen

They put a border on this and a fucking title in the my favorite shade of pink like wow And it says hi, Ashina. I have attached a PDF a beautiful one with our story All names have already been changed. Sorry that the two pages with pictures are a tad hard to read We also wanted to provide you with some news article links so that you could do a little research yourselves. Thank you for that. Yeah, thank you. This tragedy is pretty recent, but my fiance

felt like this would be a good way for us to verbalize what happened and help us to move forward to. If you do not wish to tell it, we completely understand. Love your podcast. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for wanting to share.

Yeah, thank you for sharing this. I mean, something. This is like beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for wanting to share. Yeah, thank you for sharing. I mean something. This is like beautiful. I know. Ashenalena, for all intensive purposes, all names have been already changed in this story. Palette cleansers may be needed, so I have included some small breaks with photos of our pets. Thank you for that. I love that. Now to start, let's lay some groundwork for this story. There's a bunch of people involved, so we'll start with the who's who and how they relate. We have us, we go by Veronica and Stacy. We are engaged, we know you love love.

Love love! Stacy's dad will go by Rodney. Another Rodney, that's weird. Her stepmom, we will call Susie. That's weird that you both chose Rodney as a... I know. We will call Susie. Susie has two children, Bert and Ernie.

I laughed way too hard choosing those names. Drew would be so happy that those are the ones you picked. Lastly, we have Susie's mom, Gladys. Gladys. Great names, you chose. Basically, Susie and Rodney were married. Susie had two children, Bert 33, and Ernie 35. And Rodney has one daughter, Stacey 31.

Gladys is the grandma. Veronica is Stacey's fiance. All of the above live in the same state except for Stacey and Veronica. We're about a 6.5 hour drive away. It's important later on. God. This story really takes place over 20 some years if you look at causation, but we're going to stick to a few specific days that's around the events you're about to read.

Causing is a really great word. And is a great word. Bert struggled with mental health his whole life. He was misdiagnosed for years with bipolar disorder, then correctly diagnosed with schizophrenia. Several medications had been attempted, however, Bert often stopped taking them because he quote, felt better. On Thursday of this particular week, Susie took birth to his doctor. The doctor suggested that birth be put on new medication to which

birth swiftly responded with, quote, good luck with that. At this point, the doctor was concerned and informed Susie that he needed inpatient help. She declined per usual. Susie had this idea that she could care for him better at home. Sound sweet, right? Wrong. Susie gave birth a room in the basement, hardly any lights. She barely spoke to him or tried to include him in family events outside of eating together. It's like, why would you not just want to have the animation treatment? Why would you not have the animation treatment?

If you're treating him like a fucking animal. Oh, how we wish she'd listen to the doctor this Thursday afternoon. Okay, now it's time for the rabbit hole that stemmed from many years of anger and hatred that bird accumulated. Hold onto your butts and your friends butts because it's a doozy. Oh, I'm nervous. I know. Friday of this week was Ernie's birthday.

Originally, Susie and Rodney were supposed to go away to vacation with friends. However, plans were canceled so a Sunday dinner could be held for Ernie's birthday. So Sunday comes around. This is the day, guys, so prepare yourselves. And Susie goes and picks up Gladys from assisted living for the birthday celebration. Poor Gladys, she had recently broken her hip and required more assistance than normal. She couldn't even walk. But Gladys was known as a bionic woman and no one doubted that she could survive a bombing and tense her tornadoes. Around noon on this seemingly happy day, Bert sat outside smoking a sig with the neighbor. We can call him Mr. Goose. Just having a nice conversation. Suzy and Gladys were together inside, starting to prep. Ernie off probably scrolling through social media since he loved the limelight. Jump forward about an hour, Mr. Goose brought over his new and improved hot rod to show off to Rodney. They decided to go

for a short 10-15-minute drive than parked in Rodney's driveway. Sadly, this was the last happy moment on this Sunday afternoon for the entire family. Oh no. So full disclosure, there's no completely accurate account of this story. All that can be said for sure is that during the time Rodney and Mr. Goose were in the driveway, Ernie came running out of the house screaming, Bert has a knife. Ernie was already covered in blood and sprinted across the street to the neighbors, followed quickly by Bert. Oh, no. Bert cornered him by the shed and kept attacking Ernie until two of the larger male

neighbors pulled him off by his shoulders. It's at this time that Bert looked at his hands and asked what happened. It's fully believed that Bert had a break from reality, and all of this pent-up anger took over. When police arrived, Bert calmly sat in the grass. He did not resist arrest. Ernie had been stabbed in the chest, cut across his face, and several areas near his left eye, and had a cut along his ear to which later he would state,

quote, he tried to cut my ear off. Oh, sadly, Ernie is the most unlucky and lucky member of his family. But we will get back to him later. This already seems hard to comprehend, but trust me, that is the least horrifying part of this story, because there were four people in the house when Rodney and Mr. Goose went for their joy ride.

Our best guess is that Ernie was upstairs in his room. Gladys was seated at the end of the table, and the, excuse me, in a seat at the end of the kitchen island. Susie in the kitchen prepping dinner, and Bert, who is most definitely in his basement room at this time. And then we got pre-palette cleansers because shit's about to get wild,

and it's too beautiful. Beautiful baby puppy puppy dogs. They are so beautiful. On the left is Roscoe, our sweet three-year-old epileptic pup on the right is Kiwi are rescue eight-month-old pup. Oh, Roscoe and Kiwi in Roscoe. Kiwi in Roscoe, I love you. I would travel the world with you. I love you. Okay, back into it. You see, when Rodney saw Ernie run out, followed by Bert, he immediately ran into the house. The door from the garage leads to a small foyer. Directly in front of this door, there was a small but wide set of five to six wooden stairs

leading to the kitchen. What Rodney saw will be an image that never leaves his memory. At the top of the steps laid Gladys, covered in blood and appearing to try to speak. To the left, in the heart of the kitchen near the fridge and the stairs leading to the basement, Susie was laid out on her back seemingly lifeless.

Rodney checked for a pulse, but could not find one on Susie. Some of the other neighbors rushed in to help as well. Emergency services were called and arrived quickly. Gladys was taken to a level one trauma center along with Ernie. Unfortunately Gladys was determined to be brain dead and removed from a ventilator a few hours later. Oh Gladys. She had survived like, I'm sure she was like the bionic woman. EMS attempted to intubate Suzie on the kitchen floor, but were unsuccessful.

It is believed that she was considered DOA dead on arrival. Death was pronounced, however, after transportation to a less critical hospital. Later we came to find out that she probably died instantly from her injuries. But again, we'll come back to that. Bert was taken to the same hospital as Susie for a three-day psychiatric hold. At the end of his hold, he was transported to a maximum security psychiatric facility to await a rainman. As for Ernie, I told you we'd come back to him.

Ernie survived this tragedy due to a medical condition he was born with, called Cytus in Versus. All of his organs were positioned in a mirror image to their normal position. Wow. Ernie was stabbed in the chest, an injury that for most people would lead to bleeding out in seconds due to the proximity to the heart. Right. In this case, Ernie's liver was nicked instead, leading to his survival. So his liver? Because where he was nicked is not where his normal heart would be. So then do you know where his heart would be? It was a mirror image. So his heart's on the right instead of that?

Yeah, it's like on the mirror image of, so all of his organs are on a mirror image of where they would be. I've never heard of that before. That's really wild. I was so lucky. I don't actually know where a lot of organs are. Because when it said liver, I was like, wait, wait.

For some reason, I thought your liver was closer to your stomach. Well, and that's, it's how lucky that that happened to be a condition that he was born in this situation at least. Right. I'm sure it's probably led to some issues. Of course. In this situation, life, she's, they also put in another pellet cleanser because that alone

was a lot. Thank you for that. Thank you, Kat is sitting. And also, they have a bearded dragon named Pear. And Apple the Cat. We call her Apple Sauce when she's saucy. So wait, she's sitting like a human. I'm dying.

I love her. I love peach. That was a needed palette color. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. So, all right. So, where the heck does Stacey and Veronica come in this? I was wondering that.

Right here. One of the neighbors called Stacey will let her know that there were ambulances in police outside of her childhood home. If I remember correctly, the words were, quote, I'd find a way home right now. Stacey attempted to get in contact with her father immediately, but the call would not go through. Veronica tried calling as well. You see, at this point, all we knew was that Susie, Gladys and Ernie were being taken

in the ambulance, and Burt was in custody. We had no clue where Rodney was, or if he was okay. We wonder now if some type of signal blocker was used to keep the lines open for emergency services, and to prevent interference in the investigation. The phone never rang when we called. We heard three beeps, and the call was dropped. No voicemail or message that the call had failed.

If you know anything about this or a part of this happening, we're truly are curious. I honestly haven't. I haven't either, actually. But what you said makes a little sense. Maybe that is it. Yeah. Let me tell you when shit hits the fan, we are on it. Stacey called work to let them know she'd be out and quickly packed the bare minimum for both.

Veronica called out of work and after contacting at least six people found someone to come stay in the house and take care of the zoo. Unfortunately we have we unfortunately we have to have an in-home center since our three-year-old pup is epileptic and requires 13 pills a day. Within 25 minutes everything was handled and we were in the car starting our 6.5 hour I forgot about about that. Oh, I didn't do. That felt like it took years. We received contact from several family members with updates and information. We called to make sure the family dog was okay and safely at someone's house.

I was going to say like dealing with that, but then you're also worried about your own animal. Almost too. Of course they're being taken care of, but you're not the one doing it. Exactly. You're still worried. Well, and apparently there's also a family dog at this other house. Yeah, exactly. Like, thankfully, you worry about.

Thankfully, she was unharmed and outside during the whole ordeal. Good. As we approached the house, police officers were still outside. We drove to Mr. Goose's house where Rodney was sitting with the plan to stay there for the night. About 30 minutes after our arrival and sitting with Rodney, the police called and informed us that they were done in the house.

We drove Rodney and Mr. Goose back to the house. Mr. Goose's hot rod was still in the driveway and needed to be taken home. Rodney wanted to grab a few things for the night to stay with Mr. Goose. Where Rodney was inside, we both walked to the neighbors to check on the dog and asked them to keep her for the night. Worried that Rodney may try to stay in the house or clean it, he's a bit stubborn.

Veronica went back over and called him to see if he needed help. As expected, he said no, and he would be out in a few minutes. When he came out, he quickly closed the door behind him. We are almost certain that he didn't want anyone to have to see the crime scene that was left behind in the kitchen. Side note, they do not clean up crime scenes. You can hire someone, but they cost more than we both have in our savings. But to be fair, our savings is pretty empty. Womp. That is wild that they just don't clean up crime scenes.

I didn't realize that. As crime scene cleanup, that's what they are for. Like, you have to actually call these people and be like, I need this crime scene cleaned up. And pay for it. Yeah. So what do we do? We decided it's best to get in and clean up ourselves that night because blood is harder to clean when it's dry and coagulated, that is true. Oh my God. Veronica's a nurse and blood doesn't face her. Stacey insisted on helping and also had never seen a crime scene before.

Veronica took a few shots of whiskey at the neighbors and we both headed back to the house. Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. There was a lot of blood from the looks of it, Susie blood out on the floor. Also scattered around the kitchen floor were shattered plates, food, broken eye glasses and earring, and a broken-beated bracelet that we believed belonged to go at us. With plastic bags around our shoes and gloves on, we started by bagging up all of the items on the floor and the blood soaked rugs around the kitchen. After two hours we had it, 98% of the way cleaned. We left for the night to stay Stacey's aunt house with the intention of finishing the cabinets the next day.

As we mentioned before, no one truly knows what happened in that kitchen. When Ernie woke up and was taken off the ventilator, he gave some minor clues. Based on that, the injuries that each person had, and what we could see while cleaning up the blood, we have a pretty good guest offer up. We believe that Susie said something to set Bird off. He most likely went downstairs and grabbed a knife. Susie was most likely facing Gladys as she prepared for dinner. Based on Susie's injuries, she never saw it coming.

She was stabbed in the back of the head. Oh, oh my God. And most likely died before she hit the ground. Gladys most likely said something to try and stop it. It's likely that Bert jumped over, partly over the island and threw her to the ground, based on the location of the blood in the broken arm chair arm. Ernie most likely came down and tried to stop Bert.

All we know for sure is that Susie had the most stab wounds. Explain to us as her head looked like swish cheese. Oh my God. And Gladys was also stabbed once in the head. Truthfully, we'll probably never know what happened, but we'll make sure to keep you posted. That's all that we have for you today. We know it's a lot, and we hope we portrayed it

in a somewhat palatable way. Keep it weird, but don't keep it so weird that you get locked in the basement for a long time and build up a lot of anger and have a psychological break that makes you murder your family and scare the family dog. Bye.

Wow. What a tale that was. Oh my goodness. I am shook, shook by that. That is insane. First of all, thank you for sharing that with us. Exactly. Because that is harrowing.

And you told it in a way that was extremely palatable and extremely respectful to the scene that I've shared. Yeah, definitely. But my goodness, I'm so sorry that you and your family had to go through that. And that you had to go, that Veronica and that you had to go, that Veronica and Stacey had to go back in there and clean that up on their own. I can't imagine how traumatizing just that would be a lot.

That's something that's gonna stick with you, and you should never have to go through it. But my goodness, and thank you for the palate cleansers, because those were really, much needed. Really beautiful. And I love your animals. God, I love your animals. You two are wonderful people.

You are. I'm sorry you had to deal with that love your animals. You two are wonderful people. You are. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I know. What do you think? You got time for one more? I think we have time for one more. I know these were nice and long. I know.

So, do you want to choose the one that I read? Oh yes, let's see. Because whatever ones we don't read today, we'll move to another one. So maybe we can do another installment of crazy families. Of like, wow, family stuff. That's what it should be called, wow, family stuff.

I like that, because it's relatable for me. So let's see. We have, I don't know, I feel like my mom is a wannabe murderer. I was just gonna say the eat, my mom is a wannabe murderer. I mean, it's really the yeet that spoke to me. I bet it did. Okay, all right, so it says, Hey, Weirdo's, my name is Sarah.

You can use my name. I am 23 years old and I'm from upstate New York. Beware, here comes the obligatory, I'm a big fan, Spiel. I found your podcast mid last year and have listened to every episode four times. Oh, thank you. My God.

Your podcast helped pass the time when my newborn baby was in the PICU for RSV. We know what that's like. Oh, I know what that's like. RSV is so scary. And I had to be with her alone. She's fine now. Yeah.

So glad. I spend about eight hours a day listening to y'all talk. And I swear, I hear your voice is more than I thought than that of my husband. Well, anyway, let's get into my deep dark trauma and mommy issues in Put a Fow format with a smiley face. You're not alone, sister. This story takes place before I was born.

And honestly, should have prevented my entire existence as a whole, but my mom is a master manipulator and my dad's a sucker, Hallowell. I love how it always amazes me how you guys tell these stories. It's like, it's pretty admirable that you're able to tell them in such like a light-hearted, like, yeah, humor is a coping. My dad was home, truly. I have two older brothers, 114 years older than me, Steve.

And the other six years older than me, Nick. This story takes place when Nick was about two years old and Steve was 10 years old. With the bar being on the floor, my mom's somehow was in hell when it comes to being a good while. At this time, she was a nurse at the hospital over area. She'd been cheating on my dad with a surgeon at the same hospital.

Eventually, the surgeon lover decided to leave my mom for a man. It's unclear if he was bisexual or maybe a closeted gay man, but either way, my mom was embarrassed and wasn't going to let somebody, quote, make a fool of her like this. I feel like that tells you everything we need to know. My mom, the idiot she is, started asking around the hospital where she could get a gun because she was going to kill him.

Word got back to my dad about this and he decided to be the hero. And maybe some would call traitor in this story. After hearing about my mom's plan, my dad told her he knew a guy who would do it for her and said he would set up the meeting for her. Little did my mom know she was actually meeting with the undercover cop that was a friend of my dad. Wow.

I don't think your dad is a Trader at all. I think he was like, you need help. Like, you need to be put behind bars right now. Yes. So the day came to meet with her newfound hitman for her ex lover. My mom loaded my two-year-old brother in the car because all good moms bring their toddler to a meeting with a hitman.

They're hiring to kill the man they cheated on their partner with. I'm astounded and drove to the local Walmart to meet said man behind the building. The meeting goes on and my mom starts talking for one reason or another. I'm not sure if she could sense that something was up or if she genuinely changed her mind, but now the plan was just to cut off his hand so that he could never perform surgery again instead of killing him. Wow, wow.

My mom was arrested on the spot and my brother sent to the police station to wait for my dad to come get him. Due to a technicality and a plea bargain, she was charged with conspiracy. But since she talked to herself out of the murder, she only got six months in a county jail. Wow. Six months.

Wow. My dad tried to, excuse me, my dad tried to file for full custody of my brother, you know, due to the fact that my mom is apparently out for blood and doesn't mind the toddler watching. Wow. But lost because New York is heavily into mother's rights and reunification. My two favorite things. So he stuck around and stayed with my mom so he could always be around to protect my brother. And then he had stayed around just to protect the kids. Yeah. And then oopsie Daisy. Here I came four years later. Oh boy. One of the craziest things about this story to me

is that I had no idea about it until about a year ago. I'm 23 now. But when I was in middle school and starving for attention that my mother never gave me. Oh, I'm so sorry. I used to tell people that my mom went to prison for conspiracy to commit murder. I always thought it was a lie.

Oh my God. And I told people that as a lie, don't come for me My mom doesn't believe in therapy and that lady gave me a lot of trouble. Hey, no, he's coming for you Don't worry. I mean trust yeah, we know But it was actually true. No one really understood why I was always so scared of her But if I go missing it was her and I'm counting on y'all to do a bad episode about it No, get away from her. I have some more stories I made right in.

Like the time I was out of trap house and watched a girl drop dead in front of me and they got rid of her body and I was told that it never happened. You should write that one in. Yeah. Yep, yep. Or the time I dated a homicidal maniac

who tried to kill me in my own home but I fought like Helen survived. Oh my God. I've gone through some shit. Well anyway, I cut my mother off completely four years ago and I haven't looked back since. Good. Sometimes you just have to draw wine in the sand. Oh, yeah. Try as she might to pretend our family is picture perfect and I'm still her perfect little daughter. Keep it weird, but not so weird that you cheat on your living partner

and father of your children with a coworker and then he leaves you for a better looking man and you suddenly become homicidal and mentally unstable and try to hire a hit man to kill him. Behind the Walmart and your po-down, but it's actually an undercover cop and you get arrested while you're talking to their watches the whole thing. Yeah, don't keep it that weird. Love ya. Wow. Oh my god Sarah. I am... I am at a loss.

I just love that we were like, yeah, let's just head on that one. We're just gonna end on this very light one. Holy... Wow. That was bonkers. We just love that we were like, yeah, let's just head on that one. We're just gonna end on this very light one. Holy, good no thing. Wow. That was bonkers. I am, I don't even know what to say. That was a whirlwind. Yeah.

A true whirlwind of a tale. Oh my, oh my goodness. I think maybe we can do, there's one more that's like, kind of not super long, maybe we can end on that. Let's do it. We're like, let's just keep going. We're just gonna keep going. We'll do one there's one more that's like, kind of not super long, maybe we can end on that. Let's do it. We're like, let's just keep going. We're just gonna keep going. We'll do one more because why not?

Wow, okay. But when you do it, I'm gonna do, my uncle is an accused murderer. All right. Hi, Gals. I never thought I would have a listener to send in, but my grandma reminded me of this story when we had dinner last week.

I love the union your grandma had dinner I know if you buy some small miracle eventually read this on the pod I just want to say I love y'all so much. We love y'all so much. We love you You have kept me kept me lots of company while I work from home And I honestly feel like I get to spend my days chatting true crime and spooky ukees with my friends You do we are your friends. Oh, I mean I congrats on your book. Thank you I ordered your book from waterstones. I live in Texas just to get assigned a copy. Nice. Ash, congrats on your pending nuptials. I'm getting married in December. Congratulations.

Congrats. So I understand both the stress and excitement. However, I'll cap the fan girling here and get into the story. Thank you so much. I know. Thank you. The listener tale is about how my uncle is an accused murderer. My family still thinks he's innocent, so I'm going to change all the names in the story. You can call me by my extremely generic middle name, Maria. Let me set the scene. My uncle, Jose, is my mom's first cousin. His dad and my grandpa are brothers. Back in the 70s, Uncle Jose was dating a woman, well called Jane. Jane was in a long distance marriage and had a child with her husband, with her husband, sorry, I was just like,

I'm gonna keep talking like there is no punctuation. There is, you did well. Jose was for lack of a better term, her mistress. What's the male term of a mistress anyway? Fucking patriarchy. A mistress, I guess, not a mistress. A mistress.

My grandma claims that Jane is the only person she's ever disliked. As Justin Bieber once said, my mama don't like you and she likes everyone. Apparently Jane was caught up in some shady shit buying and selling drugs and occasionally trading sex for a fix. Her dealer lived several hours away and as a result, she would often leave her child in the care of my uncle for days at a time. So even though Jose spent a lot of time at my grandparents' house, my grandma told him to never bring Jane around. After all, my mom was about 11 or 12 years old at this time.

My aunt Lucy about 14 and my uncle Eddie about 4. Grandma didn't want bad influences in the house. Don't blame grandma. One night my grandma had a horrible nightmare. She dreamed that one of her daughters, my aunt Lucy, was being strangled and stabbed to death. Oh, it was one of those visceral nightmares where you wake up thinking it actually happened. I hate those. She woke up from this nightmare at about 2.30 in the morning, shook my grandpa awake and immediately told him about the dream. She went to check on my aunt Lucy since the nightmare seemed so real and found her fast asleep in the

room she shared with my mom. My grandparents both had work in the morning, so grandma eventually decided to try to go back to sleep so she was rested for the next day. In the morning, my grandparents went to work like usual. Partway through the morning, my grandpa called my grandma. Did you hear the news? What news? She asked him. I'm coming to pick you up. You replied, we'll talk about it at home. Uncle Jose had called my grandpa. That morning morning he had found Jane dead in her house, violently strangled and stabbed 25 times. Oh my god. Time of death. Somewhere around four in the morning, less than two hours after my grandma had woken up from her dream. The child was asleep in her crib unharmed. The police did all they could, but you know, it was the 70s.

Forensic barely existed. Jose was questioned because A, he found the body, and B, he was the boyfriend, but nothing came of it. The case went cold. This happened in a fairly small town, and it was the only cold case there for years and years. Life went on. Uncle Jose moved to California where his parents and siblings lived, and understandably didn't come back to visit.

Personally, I only met him once or twice when we were out west to visit that branch of the family. The case was reopened a handful of times over the years, but there was no movement in the case until a few years ago. In 2019, the Gone Cold Podcast, I know that one, I do too. That's a great podcast. A Texas-focused true crime pod did an episode about Jane's case. This garnered a surge of attention and the police decided to reopen the case one more time. This time they seemed to

find something new. The police had never disclosed why, but they named Jose as the prime suspect in the case. Texas Rangers traveled out to California later that year to interview Jose, and rumor has it that when he answered the door, he said, I knew you would be coming for me. The DA was just a few weeks away from presenting the case to the grand jury when Jose died unexpectedly, due to diabetes-related complications. Officially, the Texas Rangers closed the case, posthumously naming Jose as the perpetrator. Again, my family staunchly believes that Jose didn't kill Jane. As my grandma says, he wouldn't hurt a fly.

Was it a drug deal gone wrong? Was it the estranged husband? Was it the local club owner who had raped and beaten another woman a couple of months before? Either way, the story has been passed down in our family, not only because of the gruesome nature of the crime, but because of my grandma's weird premonition. Right.

Hope you enjoyed my listener tale. As always, keep it weird, but not so weird that you find your dead girlfriend in her apartment, call the police, find out your aunt had a premonition about the murder, move to California, become the prime suspect 45 years later, and die before they can indict you. Definitely don't keep it that weird. I would agree. Wow. I would not keep it that weird. What a agree. Wow. I would not keep it that weird.

What a case to land on at the end. Yeah. That's even worse that like, you never, you don't have the real, right? You know what I mean? Hopefully you can get the real hard. Fair. True.

There. Because that's always really hard. There's gotta be some kind of DNA if it was that violent of a crime scene. But my goodness. Damn, you guys. Families, am I right? You're right.

Families. Families, amen. Well, thanks for sending those in, guys, because those were really intense. They were, and thank you for like feeling safe and have to share with us. We appreciate it. Yeah, we appreciate it. And we appreciate you, and we hope that you keep listening. And we hope you.

Keep it. Weird. But not so weird as any of these familiar. Yeah, just, you know, be a good family, I suppose, but. It's hard. It's real hard. There's always one. There's always at least one. There's always at least one, usually, several.

Popeye love you. Family. Bye. Bye! Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.