Morbid - The Horrific Murders of Austin Wenner & Jessica Lewis

Episode Date: July 25, 2021

On June 19 2020, a group of tik tokers stumbled across a suitcase on a Seattle beach. They used the app Randonautica to get to the exact location and thought maybe there would be money in the suitcase.... Instead they realized something much more sinister and called police. Inside, the suitcase were the remains of Jessica Lewis and Austin Wenner, a couple who’d been together for nearly 8 years.  Thank you so much to Cori Nelson for joining us on the show!  You can follow Cori on Tik Tok @Corixgabrielle As always, thank you to our sponsors: Hellofresh: Get up to fourteen free meals—including free shipping! —when you use code morbid14 at HelloFresh.com/morbid14. Babble: Now, when you purchase a 3-month Babbel subscription, you’ll get an additional 3 months for FREE! Just go to BABBEL.com and use promo code MORBID. NomNomNow: Try Nom Nom today and you’ll get 50% off a two week trial. Go to TryNom.com/MORBID Bestfiends: Download the 5 star-rated puzzle game, Best Fiends FREE today on the App Store or Google Play Embark: Go to Embarkvet.com to get free shipping and save $50 off your Embark Breed and Health Kit with Promo code Morbid Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And I'm Corey. And this is morbid with a guest. Woohoo! Guys, we have Corey on the show today. Corey is a TikTok star, a legend, a true star. And she's going to tell us all about herself. Well, you just made me sound a lot cooler than I am. So thank you for that. Thank you for that. I'll send you like $5 quick pay after this. Love it. Thank you. But yeah, yes, TikTok star, I guess. Yeah, you're at like $2.1 million?
Starting point is 00:01:00 Yeah, that's crazy. That's wild. Yeah, it was like in, I think it's just been a little over a year at this point. Wow, that's a lot of growth for one year. That's crazy. That's astronomical. It's been an insane journey, an insane journey. How did you like get started?
Starting point is 00:01:18 Like what made you go to TikTok and what kept you there? So it was like right before COVID hit and like we were like preparing for this what you guys call a panorama. A patricia, whatever it is. Right. And so I was super bored and I'm a clinical therapist. And so I was like, yes. Yeah, it's interesting. That's for sure.
Starting point is 00:01:46 And so I was like, you know what? I have like a creative side. want to lean into that. So I started doing TikTok videos about just like mental health and like quick tips, you know, like different like therapy techniques, information, education about mental health and raising awareness for it. And so that's how I started. And then after a while, I was just so, I was burnt out from it because I do it 40 hours a week at my job. And then this is like my, yeah. And it was my outlet. So I was like, I got to have it. be something different.
Starting point is 00:02:23 So I leaned into it. Yeah. And so I leaned into, I was like, okay, well, what else am I? And obviously when your mom, you have no other identity. Yes. Oh, yeah. Right. And so I was like, all right, I'm just going to do mom content.
Starting point is 00:02:39 Like, this is my life. Having a kid is a shit show as you know. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So I just started saying the things that nobody. says. And I was like, you know what? I love that so much. I feel like I needed it in the beginning of like, I mean, my daughter's four. So I mean, she's still obviously in the early stages. But like even just like the baby stages, I'm like, man, I wish I could have heard this. Yeah. And so I started it and it
Starting point is 00:03:09 took off and I'm super grateful for it. And yeah, it's been an amazing journey so far. I can only imagine. And then did you start using it recently to figure out like, some of your family dynamic and stuff like that because you're adopted? Right. Yeah. So I, okay, so long story short,
Starting point is 00:03:30 I knew I was adopted ever since birth and just going to start it off that like my mom and dad are my mom and dad. You know, I don't call my adoptive parents. Yeah. Like they went to my ass. I'm sorry. No one else did.
Starting point is 00:03:43 That's like how we are my mom and dad. She's my mom. Yeah. Say nothing otherwise. Exactly. Exactly. So I, but I was always curious. So I reached out to my birth mom when I had my daughter.
Starting point is 00:03:56 And long story short, it was great. And then she just turned to a psychopath and it didn't work out. And then that was the first time I was like, well, you know, I guess it takes two to make a baby. So like, what about my biological father? You know, that was the only time I actually ever thought about it. Right. What's the other half of this equation? Exactly.
Starting point is 00:04:16 Yeah. So I reached out. I tried to do it myself, like, researching because I knew his name and I just, like, wasn't finding anything. I'm also, like, horrible at the internet. It's surprising. But I just, I can't work it. Like, me doing an email is, like, a huge accomplishment. So, yeah, so I went on TikTok and I was like, okay, well, I have this following. Maybe they could help me. Here's my cat. Sorry. The cutest little meow I've ever heard. That was awesome. No, you're fine. With guest appearance, bye. Kevin. The best.
Starting point is 00:04:53 Kevin is the best. Oh, my God. And so I made a video and I was like, hey, guys, this is the information I have. This is the name. This is the area where I know he lived in. And at this point, I knew he had passed away. And the only information I had for how he passed away was through like a brain tumor and that was all I knew. So, oh my God, within a day, I had hundreds and hundreds of
Starting point is 00:05:22 messages of people being like, I think this is what I found. Oh, I love this. This is your family's Facebook. This is like your, you know, it was insane. And so I followed up on those leads. That's wild. And I eventually found where my, so he was with like a bunch of different families. He had a bunch of different kids. But his latest family was who I got in contact with. And so his like latest wife. And he had three kids. And so I reached out to like my half siblings. Right. And they were like, oh my God. Like we had no idea you existed. Like this is crazy. Like, you know, like I would love to like set up a conversation with you. And I was like, yes. Like I need to find answers. Like as an adopted child, like it's just super healing. And always something.
Starting point is 00:06:14 thing you think about. For sure. Biological, you can't fight it. Right. And so I did a Zoom call with them and I was like, okay, so like, what was he like, what was he as cool as me? Like, what are we doing here? Is that where I get it from? Right. Well, then here we go. And then they're like, they're like, oh, you don't know. And I was like, oh. Oh. You're like, oh. You're like, What are you about to tell me? Whenever someone uses those words, that particular sentence, you're like, oh, here we go. What's following that? My heart started pounding.
Starting point is 00:06:54 I was like, okay, like this, like what was he like, I knew he was a drug addict, but I'm like, okay, so maybe he just did something like drug-wise that was like not approved of. Sure. Not savory. You're like, you can literally be anything at that point. You have no idea. Right. And they're like, yeah, well. you know, he passed away and I was like, yeah. And they were like, well, he was in prison.
Starting point is 00:07:20 He was life in prison at the time he passed away. I was like, I'm sorry. But why though? Like, what? Okay. I'm like life in prison. Like you got to kind of have a crime for that. A big old crime. It's got to be felonious. Whatever's coming next. I was like, okay. So, so for what? And I'm like, like, do I even want to know this answer? Do I just hang up now? Like, I didn't know what to do. And so they started explaining it more. And they were like, well, you know, he was super abusive. And I guess to them and the wife at the time. Oh, that's terrible. And I was like, yeah. And I was like, I am so sorry. Like the fact that I even like had to trigger this or bring this up. I'm like,
Starting point is 00:08:04 you guys don't have to tell me. Like, you know, it's okay. Because I don't want to trigger them anymore. Right. And they're like, no, it's fine. Like they've been in therapy. They're like, you know, We've processed this so much. And I was like, okay, well, whatever you feel comfortable telling me, and I didn't push it at all. And so supposedly he was very abusive throughout the whole thing to a point where, like, his wife, ex-wife, was pregnant and pushed her down the stairs. She was like, lost the baby. He was super abusive to the kids. And so finally, the mom was like, get the fuck out of here.
Starting point is 00:08:43 like get out of here. I'm like, hell yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's an asshole. And so I guess he retaliated, got really upset, and tried to mass murder his family.
Starting point is 00:08:59 Oh, gosh. By arson. What? Oh, my gosh. This must have been so intense to hear. I was like, because you're never prepared to hear. Like, how do you prepare yourself to, like, learn that?
Starting point is 00:09:16 Exactly. What? Right. I was... You're like, okay, I'm receiving this, but I don't know how. I swear for the next week, I was, like, calling my mom, my dad, my boyfriend, my best friend. And I just kept repeating the story because I was like, I can't, I can't grasp this concept. That, like, my biological father trying to mass murder his family.
Starting point is 00:09:37 My God. Right. And so, yeah, it was by arson. He tried to like lock all the doors somehow and set them on fire. I did not push for more details after that. And he eventually got life in prison and died in prison where I was like, thank fucking God. Like yes.
Starting point is 00:09:56 You kind of deserve to die, you asshole. I mean. Oh my God. Wow. So that connection to true crime, I guess. That's what I'm saying. I'm like, you know what I was kind of like meant to go on this because I'm like true crime by blood.
Starting point is 00:10:10 You are. I love it. I love that you describe it by a word. I literally told my therapist, it was so funny. And I was like, do you think like I'm like destined to be a murderer? She's like, what? No, but I don't blame you for thinking that. I get that.
Starting point is 00:10:25 Because I have like strange motherhood connections. And I'm like, am I going to be my mom? And they're like, you're in therapy. There's no way that that's going to happen. You've chosen therapy. Right. Right. You chose a different path for sure.
Starting point is 00:10:39 Yeah. And it's so funny because, like, I got my domestic violence certificate. I'm a recovering addict. I obviously am a clinical therapist, mental health-wise. So it's like everything he was, I, like, did the opposite. And it's just so interesting. It's so interesting to see how that plays out. Well, that's such a, like, thing to show, like, nature versus nurture.
Starting point is 00:11:05 Yeah, right. It can just happen. Right. You can fight again. nature. Yes, it was insane. So, yeah, so that's how I'm a murderer by blood. Wow. My goodness. Welcome. Welcome to the show. I guess we were meant to have you on. It's so funny because Corey reached out to me on Instagram and she was like, I have a huge connection to true crime. Like, I love more, but I want to be on. I was like, oh, I'm obsessed with
Starting point is 00:11:30 your TikTok. Let's do this. But I had no idea. It was like all of that. It's so crazy. And for some reason I had it wrong. I thought it was your grandfather. So I was emailing and I was using grandfather, you're probably like, what is this girl talking about? No, I don't, I probably said grandfather again. I barely have my life together, so I likely said grandfather. No, it was my father. Wow, that's wild. That's so insane. And it's funny because when I, when I, because Ash brought up your name and I was like, why do I know that name? And then I was like, oh, I follow her on TikTok and I've been obsessed with several of her videos. That's the core you're talking about. I was like, I feel We definitely like sent them back and forth before.
Starting point is 00:12:09 Yes. Me and my husband have sent them back and forth because we're always sending like parent TikToks to each. Right. Just to be like, this one's so perfect. How do people, the accuracy in which people know our lives because it's true. The humor that needs to be added with being like a parent is just needed. Like it's survival at that point. If you don't have a sense of humor, I don't know how you survive.
Starting point is 00:12:31 I'm not even parent and I feel like as an aunt I need a sense of humor to survive the day here sometimes. Yeah. that's how my best friend is. So we call her aunt and she's like, it's like three hours and she's like, I'm sorry, like I have to go. Like I have to exit at this point. I need to leave. That's me when I leave sometimes.
Starting point is 00:12:48 I mean, like, I love being here, but there's some days where I'm like, Ducees. And I'll just stand on the porch waving at her and she drives away like, take me with you. I have so much fun in your place alone. That's so funny. It's so true. Well, I feel like there's no real transition into this case because
Starting point is 00:13:07 whoa, this is like a crazy case. Have you heard of the TikTok suitcase murders? So I know you had like mentioned it and I was like, don't look it up. Don't look it up. Yeah, I want to be surprised. I wanted to be surprised. But I only knew like a little bit about it. So I'm like really excited to kind of get into the nitty gruey and details because all I remember is that they wouldn't take it down. Yeah, that's a big part of it. For a while. So yeah, that's all. That's all I am aware about it. That's like basically all I knew about it when I was getting into it. And then I got into it. And I was like, oh, okay, I'd really like to be out of this now because it is gnarly and ongoing somewhat.
Starting point is 00:13:48 I only saw that one TikTok about it, like that quick little thing. That's all I really saw. And actually, even though they took that video down, I went on the other day just to see if I could find like the kid talking about it at all and you can't. But there's so many other creators that are still using that particular video. So it's still circulating TikTok all the time. So it's still going around. Yeah. It's still going around.
Starting point is 00:14:10 Like other people using screen captures or like something like that, which is shitty. Because if you're somebody on TikTok and you are sharing that video, just know that the family doesn't want it out there. No. Absolutely. It's so disrespectful. Yeah, that's somebody's daughter. That's somebody's son. That's somebody somebody.
Starting point is 00:14:27 And it's like very graphic. That picture. Once you know what it is, like when you don't know what it is, it can look very innocuous. But like, once you know what's happening here, you're like, that is. A lot. Right. That's a lot. That was just on TikTok.
Starting point is 00:14:40 All right. So let's get into it. Let's do this. So our story starts with Jessica Lewis and her boyfriend, Austin Wenner. Jessica Lewis was 35 years old, and she was living in Seattle with her boyfriend Austin Wenner, who was 27. They had been dating for like eight years at the time of their death. And everyone who knew them said that they were just like super goodhearted people.
Starting point is 00:15:01 Jessica was born in Maple Valley. And by all accounts, she was like a super hard worker. First of all, she had four children, so you guys know that's a job in the self. Oh, yeah. Four children. Yeah. Oh, yeah. She also had two jobs on top of that.
Starting point is 00:15:15 One was where she worked at an assisted living. And then the other one was a nursing home. So she had her play. I was going to say, and she's choosing, like, jobs outside of her already completely. You have to be selfless job. Right. She's choosing other selfless jobs. She was clearly just like a very good-hearted person who wanted to help other people.
Starting point is 00:15:35 Yeah. Yeah. And Austin was born in Kent, Washington, and he was known among his friends as cash money, which I just thought was like really great. I'm obsessed with that. Like I love that. He also was a father. He had one child of his own from a previous relationship. I didn't get like a ton of information about his background just because there really isn't a lot, but they were just like super, super in love. And you could tell they were happy together. Oh. Now at the time, I break my heart already. I know, I know, I know. And it gets weird. Like, there's a lot of things that, it seems like there's a lot of things people did know that they were doing, but there's a lot of mystery in this where people didn't know exactly what they were up to. So I'm also just going to throw a trigger warning out
Starting point is 00:16:13 here. There's like abuse that we're going to get into. There's also like sexual abuse that we'll get into later on down the line. So if you want to sit this one out, feel free. But not you, Corey, and not you, Elena. We're stuck. You guys are stuck in this. We're in this together. So at the time of deaths, they were renting a room from this man. They were renting a room in a house. And this man was 62-year-old Michael Lee Dudley. And boy, is this guy a fucking dud. He lived in the house along with his tenants. So he was like living with them. This house was on Obam Boulevard in Buryon, Washington. He was charging them $1,500 a month for one room. Girl, that's more than my rent. that's literally like essentially what my rent is and I have a whole ass apartment for just a room
Starting point is 00:17:02 one room I was going to say they just rented the room and like a common room like I'm sure they had access to the kitchen or whatever but they literally were renting a room like how I just wow and I was glad because along my research process like other people were like what the fuck and you're like okay now it's a big red flag me yeah red flag and they were having a hard time making the rent month to month because, you know, obviously they're living in this situation, like they're having a hard time with money. Like, they don't, they can't get a place fully on their own. And it's like, you would think this guy would kind of help them out a little bit, but not at all.
Starting point is 00:17:35 And he was getting more and more angry with them that they weren't making rent every month. And then he said that it wasn't only the rent he was upset about. He also alleged that they had brought criminal behavior into the house. Was that ever specified? Like, somewhat, but it's not like totally determined. So we'll get into it because it definitely seems to be true that there was something criminal going on around the time that Jessica and Austin were both murdered. Multiple witnesses came forward after their deaths and they said that there was an issue going on between Austin and the Samoan Americans living in the area. And no one was quite sure what had got on between them.
Starting point is 00:18:12 But one of the witnesses said that it was either over COVID-19 relief cards or some kind of, quote, check thing. Huh. What was criminal was the $1,500 rent payment. Yes, what was absolutely criminal. That was definitely something criminal happening there. So in addition to the COVID-19 relief cards or the check thing that was going on, I'm like, what does that mean? But they also were saying that Austin had stolen vehicles on the property that he had stolen from Samoan people. Okay.
Starting point is 00:18:45 But that was never, that's never been like, what's the word? fill it in for me, you got this? Confirmed. Confirmed. Thank you. I don't know why I couldn't think of the word. I was going to say that's never been specified, and I don't know why I was going to say that. I was going to say that too, so we're on the same page.
Starting point is 00:19:02 Okay, good. I'm glad. So, yeah, that's never been confirmed. But whatever was going on was definitely escalating quickly because another witness, who was left unnamed in the affidavit, said that Austin told them he had pissed off the wrong Samoan man and that the man had put Austin's name on a bullet and left it in the mailbox of Dudley's home. Jesus.
Starting point is 00:19:24 Yeah. And in addition to that witness's statement, Austin's aunt had come forward and confirmed that same story. So it seems like that is confirmed. Oh, wow. Wild. That's intense. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:19:35 And then on the morning of June 9th, which is the morning that they were believed to have been murdered later that day, so the same day that they were murdered. But before that, they were at Austin's mother's house, the two of them doing some yard work and they were hoping to earn some money from his mother. And she said that they were both in a state of panic. And they told her that people had broken into the room where they lived. They were carrying guns. And after they beat the two of them, they demanded money.
Starting point is 00:20:02 Wow. Yeah. I'd be panicked as well. I would also be panicked, yeah. Absolutely. It's escalating. This whole thing just sounds like straight out of a movie. I'm like, what is going on here?
Starting point is 00:20:13 Like, how did this all start? I have no idea because they're so. much because, like I said, it still is ongoing. Like, the man who they think did this hasn't even gone to trial yet. So it's like, what? It's just weird. So now that same night, the night of June 9th, 2020 is the night that, like I said, they believe Austin and Jessica were murdered.
Starting point is 00:20:33 Neighbors heard a man yelling, please don't do this. Just let me leave. And then heard multiple gunshots. So they immediately, excuse me, called 911. The call was placed around 7.15 p.m. that night. Police showed up. No one answered the door. And so they left. What? They literally left because nobody answered the door for them.
Starting point is 00:20:58 After someone calls and is like, I'm pretty sure if someone's getting murdered next door and they're like, we should knock on the door. No one answered. They're like, I heard gunshots. And it's like, nope, somebody probably got killed in there. And someone yelled, please don't do this. Just let me leave. And then you heard gunshots. And you're like, knock, knock. No. Anyone, okay, okay, we'll go. Everything's probably fine. Eh, never mind.
Starting point is 00:21:20 Yeah, seems like everything's fine in there. Everything must have, the situation must have rectified itself. They went to sleep. It's cool. It's like, what? What? Wow. Crazy.
Starting point is 00:21:30 So obviously, Jessica and Austin were murdered that night, but their bodies weren't found until June 19th, which was 10 days after they were believed to have been killed. Man. Now, as we know, like we were talking about in the beginning, their bodies were discovered by a group of TikTokers, and the TikTokers were using this app called Randonautica. Have you guys ever heard of that? Yes. I have never heard of that. Okay. I had never heard of it either. It's a crazy app. I went in a deep, dark hole, like, just like researching
Starting point is 00:21:57 Randonautica. I swear, I spent like two hours just being like, what the fuck is this? So the app is for people to use if they want to like explore a certain area or have some kind of adventure. Now, when you download the app, you're asked to set an intention for what you want out of this whole thing. Like you could say you want to see something inspiring. You want to find money. You want to find money. You could say that you want to see something that makes you uncomfortable. And the app will generate like a set of coordinates for you to find. What? And there's all these stories that like people will find these things that they're intending to find. And I have a couple of these stories right now. So people get like intense
Starting point is 00:22:35 outcomes from this. And you do have to wonder like what is staged with this and what's not, especially for like TikTok content. Like I think some people are definitely taking an extra You know who did a video, not a video, a podcast episode on this is, and that's why we drink. Oh, did that? Yeah, they did like a random, randomautica adventure. I didn't even know they did that. Yeah, I don't know what episode it is, but we'll shout it out if we can. It's a good one.
Starting point is 00:23:01 Do you know what they ended up finding? I don't know exactly what they ended up finding, but I think it was like a, there was some weird things that like lined up with what they were looking for, I think. Yeah, it is weird. So I found a BuzzFeed article. Sorry, go ahead. I was just going to say, is it still up? I think it's still an app. You can still use it, yeah.
Starting point is 00:23:18 So I found a BuzzFeed article where one set of users stumbled across just this wide open field, and they went in the middle of the night, and there was just a man by himself just walking around this fucking field, a little alone. Not a chance. Did they ask to find something uncomfortable? Because that would be uncomfortable. I couldn't find what their intention was. But then...
Starting point is 00:23:38 Unsettle me. And then just bring me there. This one for... The next one somehow is scarier than that. So clearly Randonatica is just like wild and out. Oh no, now I want to use it. I know. I'm like, I'm ready to hop on this.
Starting point is 00:23:52 I'm getting up this. Right? Let's do this. Let's find something that makes us uncomfortable. Another set of users, I don't know again what their intention was, but they stumbled across this like small little village in the middle of the woods. And there was all these like structures, like little like houses and like hut things that were clearly put together by people.
Starting point is 00:24:12 Like, I have to assume. And they were, like, using, like, trees and branches. It was, like, very cool, rustic chic kind of vibe, but also, like, Blair Witch kind of vibe. Also terrible. Yeah. So, those are some of the things that people stumble across. I have no idea what is going on with that. I think before I could get burned, I'll just burn myself at this point.
Starting point is 00:24:33 Yeah, right? Yeah, seriously. That's how scared I would be. Right? I feel like I got this. Don't worry about it. I'm going to head out of here. But either way, Randronautica has tips for people.
Starting point is 00:24:44 that are new to using it. And some of them kind of seem to be in place as like precautions. They tell people if they don't normally venture alone, then they should go with a friend or a group. They say that it's best done as a daytime activity, which you're like, but why though? Because at night they're going to lead you to a field with a random guy just standing in it. They also say that you should be sure to have your phone totally charged and to use situational awareness.
Starting point is 00:25:09 Because they're like, don't blame us. I'm like, y'all know what you're doing here. what's happening? Doing something weird. What do they mean by situational awareness? I have no idea. Common sense. If you stumble and you need to be specific. You're going to leave right now.
Starting point is 00:25:24 Yeah. Okay. Okay. You're like, I don't want to do this anymore. But either way, these TikTokers got a lot more than what they expected. So that's what they used when they stumbled across this suitcase. And the app generated a set of coordinates that ended up being on Al-Qaeda. Yeah, Elki Beach in Seattle.
Starting point is 00:25:44 And they saw that there was this black suitcase, like, right in the spot where their coordinates had led them to. So that's just, like, obviously a weird coincidence. This is a very wild way to find this. Very weird. It really is. So they thought that it was part of the app. Like, I don't know if, to me, I'm like, oh, did they say that they wanted to get money?
Starting point is 00:26:03 Because they thought that the suitcase was full of money. So they started opening it. And then they were, like, poking it with a stick just to kind of like, I don't mess around with it, I guess. But as soon as they started opening it more and more, this smell permeated the air. And they said that it was the worst smell they had ever smelled in their entire lives. Oh, my God. They all know what that means.
Starting point is 00:26:26 And immediately they called 911. Now, I'm not sure how long it took for the police to show up because in a couple of sources, it said that it took hours for them to come. I read that too somewhere. And I'm like, based on the fact that they left when they thought that somebody could have been being murdered. Like maybe they did take hours to show up. I was going to say it's not that far off. Maybe something's really going down around this area. They came to the suitcase, knocked, no one answered, and they left. Yeah, maybe that's what happens. Like literally. They were like,
Starting point is 00:26:57 nope, don't see it. All right. Sorry, got to go. So when they got there, the suitcase actually wasn't where the kids said it was going to be. So that's why I'm like, yeah, I think it took them a while to get there. But somehow, I mean, I'm assuming like the tides or something probably had something to do with it. And the suitcase had gotten back into the water and there was a bag floating nearby because the bag that was in the suitcase got free. Now, it appeared to have a torso inside of it. Oh, my God. Wild. So they called the harbor unit because they were like, hello, back up, please. And while they were waiting for the harbor unit to arrive, the police found another bag floating in the water just a little bit farther away. Now, this one was a large duffel bag. And as they discovered that bag, a smaller white bag
Starting point is 00:27:41 floated from underneath it. Now, all of the bags had the remains of 35-year-old Jessica Lewis and 27-year-old Austin Wunner. So horrible. Three days after that discovery, another bag was found with more additional body parts belonging to the couple. In the same river or body of water? I couldn't find what body it was, but it said it was different bodies of water.
Starting point is 00:28:07 I just couldn't find, like, the exact one where it was. So whoever had done this had clearly. tried to separate them out and hide them. That's horrible. So sad. I just said the fact that people found this just doing like some fun little adventure doing a random nautica thing. A random app that's just supposed to bring you like weird stuff like a random guy in a field.
Starting point is 00:28:28 And they found like you can't make this up. If somebody wrote this in a movie, you'd be like that's ridiculous. Like that would never happen. Well, a lot of people on the TikTok happened thought that it was fake. Yeah, I would have. Like I think I remember seeing it. and being like, yeah, fuck that's not real. Right.
Starting point is 00:28:45 And that's so traumatizing for the people that have found it. Yeah. Like, that's not easy on them. Oh, my God. There's no way to prepare yourself for that. And there's no way to ever. I mean, you literally stumbled upon someone's child. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:00 Like, you know what I mean? No matter how old they are, they were someone, someone. Right. Like, you just stumbled upon pieces of them in a suitcase. Like, that will stay with you forever, I would think. Yeah. Yeah, you can't unsee that. Mm-mm.
Starting point is 00:29:11 Mm-mm. Now, I guess we'll blame this on trauma because even after knowing what they had discovered was a human body, one of the kids from the group, like we said, still decided to upload the video. Yeah. And he captioned it, something traumatic happened that changed my life. We found this black suitcase. We were joking that maybe the suitcase would have money, but the smell was overwhelming. And then alongside the caption, he added a couple of hashtags, and among them were hashtag crime, hashtag murder. So I do feel like he kind of wanted to go viral with this. How old are these kids? Do you know? I don't know their exact ages, but I think they were probably like 16, like around that age.
Starting point is 00:29:50 So I think one of the things you could probably say, like, by no means am I justifying it because it's not okay. Young and straight. But like as a 16 year olds, I think they are of that generation that grew up sharing literally everything online or seeing that everyone shares everything online. They never had a period of time where they were. weren't sharing everything online or seeing everything being shared online. Right. So I think it's just another thing. Like, this traumatic thing happened to be.
Starting point is 00:30:16 I'm going to share it online because that's what we do. And I don't think they, I hope that they didn't think farther than their own nose there and just weren't thinking of the fact that this is someone's life and this is someone's family member. This is someone's friend. Yeah. You know. See, I definitely, like, I think in the beginning of it.
Starting point is 00:30:33 I would hope it's ignorance. And I think it definitely was. But then it got to the point where they were asked to take the video down and they were refusing. Okay. And that's just, so that's just fucked up. Yeah,
Starting point is 00:30:42 that's fucked up. Well, so their brain isn't even fully developed yet to speak like in that rational logic way. But also like, if they didn't take it down, I'm thinking of like obviously getting that shock value, getting followers,
Starting point is 00:30:54 getting attention and all of that. And it's like you almost begin to crave that more than the ethical side, especially when you're 16. Because that's just an important thing to you. Right. Right. Exactly. No,
Starting point is 00:31:07 I totally agree with that. Yeah. And you're right, it did go viral, like super, super viral. And actually TikTok, like, itself, like they asked, like, TikTok to take it down. And TikTok said they couldn't really do anything about it because technically it didn't violate any of their guidelines, which is a load of BS because there's so many, like, plus size models that I find on TikTok and their videos get taken down all the time for violating guidelines when, like, other creators don't get taken down for wearing the exact same things.
Starting point is 00:31:38 and then this is two people's bodies that we're finding, like dead bodies, and that doesn't violate your guidelines? That's so messed up. It drives me nuts. TikTok drives me nuts sometimes. I bet. I see it all the time with like some of my favorite creators like you where like all a sudden they'll put up a video and be like, well, this got taken down three times and
Starting point is 00:31:58 I'm not really sure why. And it's always something completely innocuous that you're like, why? Yeah, like that could take them down? Like there's nothing in that at all. And then that doesn't? Like, what is the standard here? Right. I once had a video, sorry, educating, like, my daughter on, like, different types of families,
Starting point is 00:32:17 like, adopted families, gay families, all this. And it got taken down. And I'm like, what? What does that violate? What does that violate? It's like that should be shared widely. I don't understand. Like, what?
Starting point is 00:32:29 Thank you. Yeah. That's wild to me. It's so ridiculous. Like, I follow Remy Bader and she's, like, a very body positive, like, girl. that she's an influencer and her videos will get taken down sometimes where she's trying on clothes and it's like she's not being inappropriate at all. It's so weird. I don't think there's an actual standard. I feel like there's some kind of weird picky, choosy thing. I think so too. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:32:54 It's like whoever's working that day. Yeah, exactly. If Susan is working, your videos are getting taken down. Whatever mood they're in. Yeah, right, literally. So like I said, load of BS. And the family of the victims continued to ask that the video be taken down. And finally it was. But at that point, it had been viewed over 30 million times. Wow. So that's ridiculous. And nobody actually knows if it was the creator that ended up taking it down or if it was TikTok themselves. That's still something that nobody really knows what happened. That's interesting. Yeah. Now, before the video was taken down, Jessica's Aunt Gina, who is like really prominent in this investigation and she's like very vocal and has been very vocal throughout the whole thing.
Starting point is 00:33:35 She organized a GoFundMe that was originally set up for reward money, like before they had known the person that was involved in this. And she posted to the GoFundMe. TikTok should have pulled the video down the moment it was confirmed that it was human remains. They should have pulled it the minute Jesse and Austin's names were leaked to the public. They should have pulled at the moment the family asked them to. Countless times. If possible, if you too could please ask TikTok or the creator.
Starting point is 00:33:59 She used his name, but I'm not going to just because I think he's like younger. Yeah. If you can please ask TikTok or the creator himself to please remove the video off their website, I'd greatly appreciate it. These were real people. Both TikTok and the creator got their celebrity status. Now please have some respect for human life already. Their parents are going through enough. Yeah. I mean, that shouldn't even be a thing that she has to like plead to have that taken down. I feel like it says so much about like this generation as a whole that that even has to be like put out somewhere. And where social media is as a where we. are right now that it's like she had to make a like a desperate plea to get that taken down. Yeah. It's bad. Yeah, it is. It really is.
Starting point is 00:34:41 So the King County Medical Examiner was able to determine that Austin had actually been shot once in the torso and that was how he died. And again, he was believed to have been killed on June 9th. Now, Jessica was determined to have been killed the same night as well, but she suffered seven gunshot wounds. Wow. Now, I saw, both of them were also determined to have been beaten before they were killed. And some people theorized, because again, nobody knows exactly who was involved with this. They have one man that 100%, in my opinion, Blake did this. But they do think he had help.
Starting point is 00:35:16 So one theory is that Jessica was killed first and maybe was being, like, tortured in front of Austin. And that's why there's such a difference in the manner that they were killed. Oh, that's horrific. It's terrible. So from like what I've heard like especially like you guys in other in other episodes like that's personal then, right? Like having that beating and then being shot that many times. Yeah, I would like it. I would think so personal or at least like motivated by in my opinion money.
Starting point is 00:35:46 Yeah. I'm going to say trying to get something out of Austin probably. I think there definitely must have been like something that was in there in the person who did this opinion like stolen from them. Yeah. I think. Or a punishment for Austin. Yeah, a punishment. It's like the person he loves.
Starting point is 00:36:02 Exactly. Like I said, I mean, they were together for eight years. Yeah. They were so in love. So I think that's like gut-wrenching. It's so sad. And Kathy Taylor, the forensic anthropologist, looked over the autopsy report herself. And that's when she said that this was likely with the aid of other people.
Starting point is 00:36:23 Now, the reason she believed that to be true was because the cuts made to the bodies were disorganized. And it was clear that the cuts had been used using, excuse me, had been made using different tools and in different manners. Oh, okay. That's interesting. Which is definitely interesting. But then it's like I've seen cases like, again, that we've covered where different tools are used because this is so terrible. But, you know, maybe a blade gets dull or maybe they just. Or one works in some way and doesn't work in another way or breaks or.
Starting point is 00:36:51 Exactly. So it's like, yeah, maybe other people were involved or maybe this was the person we think it was. and he just had to use different tools to do this. Wow. Didn't have to, but did use different tools to use this. Well, and shooting is also a really, like, it sounds terrible, but it's like a quick method of dispatching someone and, you know, disarming someone. So it's not like they were stabbed or something else or like that would take more than one person.
Starting point is 00:37:16 You know what I mean? That, like, indicates more than one people. Like when it's shooting, it can more go towards one person. Yeah. You can easily disable someone quickly with one shot. I can see that. And I have a quote later on from a person involved that we'll see. It does it.
Starting point is 00:37:31 I just don't think multiple people were involved. But I just don't. I'm not totally sold, but where I'm at right now in the research process with this whole thing. And like from what we know, I do think it was either solely this guy and like maybe he had one person that helped. Okay. But before we get to that, we'll finish this part of it. It was believed that they were killed and dismembered inside because there was a lack of insects on the body. but there were also some strange findings.
Starting point is 00:37:57 There was a grass found inside of Jessica's mouth, and there were animal feathers found on the bodies. What? Animal feathers. Animal feathers. Do they know what kind of animal? They weren't. I don't think they were able to determine exactly what kind of animal,
Starting point is 00:38:12 but Michael fucking Dudley had chickens on the property. Yeah. I would say that's pretty interesting. And some internet sleuthing done by a YouTube channel called Popular Crime, They actually got all of the affidavits and everything put together. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I don't know how they got them, but I'm like, thank you for getting those because that was so fucking helpful. And I actually found them through one of our favorite YouTubers, Stephanie Harlow. Oh, I love her.
Starting point is 00:38:37 Who also did a video on this. Shout out to her. Go check out her video. But popular crime found out that Michael Dudley actually at one point in time was using Airbnb to rent out Jessica and Austin's room before they lived there. And a guest who stayed in their particular room was. the one to point out that, yeah, he did have chickens on the property and once a chicken had actually gotten into their room through an open window. I was going to ask that if they entered the house at all.
Starting point is 00:39:05 So, like, yeah, I guess it makes sense that there would have been feathers inside of that house and apparently particular room. Like, can chickens jump like that? I think they fly like a lid- chicken like I do chickens fly like can we confirm me like I'm like I think if they bounce I don't like I think if they get a little bit of leverage they can they can yeah yeah a little bit eat themselves through the window yeah just eat themselves but either way chicken got in there my dudes I don't know how but so I guess it's not out of the realm of possibility that the feathers got
Starting point is 00:39:41 onto the bodies while they were being dismembered inside of the house yeah and if it was I don't know if there's a basement in that house or anything like that? Okay, because I was going to say, if there's another room in that house, that chickens could have gone that it's easier to access. Yep. Maybe. Or even just think of like maybe this guy went out and fed his chickens and like had to wrangle them up. I don't know if you wrangle chickens, I guess you do. But maybe he had feathers on as the chickens or something, you know. Yeah, you don't know. And trailed them in. I don't know. I don't have chickens. So I don't know. Anything's a possibility here because I don't have chickens. When chickens are involved, anything is possible. including double-yoked eggs, which are some of the yumiest eggs.
Starting point is 00:40:20 Yeah, and they're good luck. Just putting that out there. Yeah. So, investigators were finally able to obtain a search warrant of the home on Abouam Boulevard on August 19th, 2020. So it did take a while, but search warrants do. They found bullet holes in the walls and in a nightstand and blood in Jessica and Austin's room. So all the bullet holes and the blood and everything was found in that specific room. And they had also found that the room had a fresh coat of.
Starting point is 00:40:46 paint. So that's interesting. Very interesting. They also while over there found a nine meter, oh my gosh, nine millimeter handgun in Dudley's truck, I believe. Okay. So he was being questioned and he told the investigators he knew that the blood was from Jessica cutting herself earlier, but other than that information, he was like, yeah, I don't know how those bullet holes got there. Because you know like bullet holes just randomly form in our houses sometimes and we don't know how they get there. I was going to say that's not one of those things that you're like, Yeah, you know, there's just like a hole in the wall and maybe like a mouse made it or maybe we bumped into it. It's like, yeah, I don't know how that bullet hole got there.
Starting point is 00:41:25 Yeah, it's like so crazy. My kids were playing the other day. And a bullet hole happened. A bullet hole just materialized. It's like a wormhole. It's like, like, what? Like that doesn't happen to everyone. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:35 Like what? You guys don't get rid of a bullet here? What? Without a gun or a bullet? He's like, I actually wanted some advice from you guys on like how to figure this out. Do I just putty over that or is it going to come back? What's not? It's like one of those stains that won't go away?
Starting point is 00:41:48 What is this? It's also like, who do you think you're talking to, sir? Like, this is the police. They know that bullet holes don't randomly just fucking occur. I would hope so. And they were less than satisfied with his answers. He also had stated that the couple had locked him out of the house twice that day. So I think they were like, oh, cool, now you're just giving it up to us that you had motive to do this.
Starting point is 00:42:07 Yeah, right. So he was immediately arrested for the murders. Wow. Now, I'm assuming they had some other stuff, but like I said, this is still ongoing. So I think there is some stuff that's available to the public. And I think there's other things that are kind of being kept under wraps right now. For sure. Maybe because they do think other people were involved.
Starting point is 00:42:24 It's smart. So three nights after Dudley's arrest, and this is where I get to the point where I'm like, are other people involved? Three nights after he got arrested, three people were arrested because they were reported to be trespassing on his property. The police got there while they were in the middle of trying to tow a car away. Yeah, that's a sus. That's so suss. You're being suspicious. Yeah, like, don't be suspicious.
Starting point is 00:42:52 Don't be suspicious while we tow this car off of a murderer's property or alleged murderer. I couldn't find any information about who these people were other than there was two men and one woman, well, one woman who was arrested. I couldn't find anything about the type of car that they were trying to tow away. But, like, it does make you wonder about something we heard about earlier those allegedly stolen victims. vehicles that people were saying Austin had stolen and brought onto the property. That makes a lot of sense. Because it's like, was somebody trying to get their stolen car back without involving the police? Or, on the other hand, was it somebody trying to help out Michael Dudley because they knew that
Starting point is 00:43:29 maybe there was evidence in a certain car? That's what I'm wondering. But then I'm like, did the police not search the cars on the property? Yeah, it's strange. But maybe they didn't, I don't know. Well, maybe they only had, because I think that's the other thing that I was wondering, because I know they got a search warrant for the house. but then I believe that 9mm handgun was found in his truck.
Starting point is 00:43:48 And I think you usually need separate warrants for like vehicles and like a house. I would assume that they have searched these cards already. Or maybe it was one of those things where they had a search warrant for that, his house and his car. But then when they showed up, there was other cars on the property and they didn't have warrants for those particular cars. I'm not sure. Maybe. I don't know if it would be because it's on the property that it would be contained in this whole thing. thing, especially with like murder charges and the fact that he's being arrested on murder charges. Right.
Starting point is 00:44:19 And then the other thing was, like I said, you couldn't find anything about like whose car this was. Like, I don't know who it was registered to. It was just that these three people, like, again, not even named were in the middle of tow in a car. Just toe in a car. On his property. So we still don't know, like whose it is? No, still don't know.
Starting point is 00:44:36 Which is weird. And there's a lot of random people involved in this case. And those last three are not the only ones. because later in the investigation, police were able to speak with a woman who actually moved into Jessica in Austin's room the night that they were presumably killed. I'm sorry, what? Moved into that particular room the night that they were killed. Like, what? With the bullet home.
Starting point is 00:45:01 In the wall. Yes. Oh, it gets crazier. It gets crazier. So she was taken to the house by another friend who I believe put her into contact with Michael Dudley. Now, Michael Dudley, I think, like, takes in people, but I don't think he does it out of the kindness of his own heart. I think he does it so he puts them in a position where they owe him something kind of thing. Wow. So this woman was going to be staying there.
Starting point is 00:45:25 She moved in her things and then she hopped in the shower. And I guess before she got, or excuse me, she got in the shower before she ever saw the room. So she showered and then she walked into what was supposed to be her room. The story's so weird. And it only had figured her right here. There was a pile of clothes in the middle of the floor that was her floor at this point. And she said there appeared to be some kind of figure laying beneath them. And she saw a hand sticking out of the pile.
Starting point is 00:45:55 No. No. No. At that point, wouldn't you just be like, skirt? I'm going to get the fuck out of here. I'm out. So I think she had already been dropped off by that point. And it doesn't sound like she had a way to get out of there unless she asked him to
Starting point is 00:46:10 leave. So then it's like, what do you say to this man to get yourself out of there other than like, hey, I think there might be a dead fucking body in my room? Like, you want to tell me about that? Oh, my God. When she got there, she told police that she noticed earlier in the evening before she saw the body in her room that his glasses were broken and she and that he had multiple what she called defense wounds and scratches all over his body. Oh. Now, when she asked Dudley, what the fuck was up? He told her, oh, I'm going to clean up the room. But can I actually just take you somewhere else? Like, you have anywhere else you could go while I get this finished for you?
Starting point is 00:46:48 As if that wouldn't be something he would do in the first place? Right. Like, what? Now, she was like, I agreed because I needed to get the fuck out of there. But that she agreed. And he was like, hang on one sec. I just have to like do something really quick. And she saw him laying out huge sheets of plastic in the basement before they left.
Starting point is 00:47:09 Now, she apparently jokingly asked him what had happened, and his response was this. Let's put it this way. His gun misfired. Mine didn't. What? I also have no idea if she ended up going back there and, like, staying in the house after seeing a hand, a potential dead body, and hearing this man say to you that he essentially killed someone.
Starting point is 00:47:35 And what do you do in that situation? Like you said, she's in a real bad person. bad situation there. What does she do? Because you can't just like run out the door. He's going to chase you. Like, if he's a murderer, this is bad news? And then it's like if you don't come back, is he then going to come hunt you down? Because now he knows that you know he did something. And if you don't have somewhere else to go, what do you do? Wow. That's, like, I would just be like, oh, cool, you know, like. Fun. It's so smart. I got to go run to the grocery store and never come back. It literally never come back. Right. Now, another witness who is also left unnamed in this affidavit
Starting point is 00:48:09 used to use one of the rooms in Dudley's house as like a storage kind of area. And she had met Jessica and Austin on multiple occasions. And when she asked Dudley where they were, he allegedly told her, you're not going to have to worry about them anymore. Nice. Wow, he's really being conspicuous. Don't be suspicious. Wow. Like what an idiot.
Starting point is 00:48:32 Seriously. Like you're just telling everybody. What an idiot. Those are the kind of dudes though or kind of people in general that think. that they're above at all and they think everyone around them is so stupid that no one's going to catch on that's actually like what stephanie harlowe was saying she was like i don't know if he just thought he was like gonna get away with this like if he's some kind of narcissist and he was like nothing's ever going to happen to me probably and it seems as though he is because in a second we're going to get into his past and you're going to be like what the actual fuck yeah but before i was going to say oh go ahead no i was just going to say the first thing that came to my mind even earlier was like he's a narcissist just for even like how he was talking to the cabs like you think yeah right right he thinks he's going to get away with it because he's like some god complex or whatever because he's like no one's as smart as I am so I'm sure I can say I don't know where those bullet holes came from and they'll just take that that face value because I'm so pretty
Starting point is 00:49:23 that's already no sir now before that woman who was like he said like you're not going to have to worry about them anymore before she asked she also said that she saw garbage bags in the back of his truck that smelled foul. And then on a completely separate occasion, he had asked her if she would drive a U-Haul to Portland for him. And she was like, I don't know what she said. The answer is always no. Don't drive anything.
Starting point is 00:49:49 Absolutely no. But she found out that the U-Haul allegedly had Austin's belongings inside of it. And the plan, quote, unquote, never materialized. Air bunnies, so they just never got around to doing that. But I feel like she knows a little bit more than she's saying. Seems like it. Seems a little suspicious. A little sus.
Starting point is 00:50:09 Yeah. So now let's look into Michael Lee Dudley's past. This is where if you have made it this far, I'm just going to remind you again, trigger warning, trigger warning. We're going to talk about sexual abuse and a lot of other terrible things. Cool. So we're really dealing with a monster here. This guy's rap sheet includes a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, multiple
Starting point is 00:50:30 vehicle thefts, a DUI in Oregon, and a V-U-S-C-A. felony, which is violation of a uniform controlled substance. Oh, okay. And people closest to him have said some very terrifying things as well. His ex-girlfriend, I believe you say her name is Merrill, Scoredon. She said that she couldn't believe that he would do something this evil. But she did say there was an altercation where he, quote, started to hit me and grab my hair out of my head.
Starting point is 00:50:58 He threw me onto the floor and hit my head into the hardwood floor. Then he threw me and my stuff on his patio out the door. and came and hit my head on the patio, did that with one hand and held a gun in the other hand. Oh, my God. Wow. That's a poor woman. I can't even imagine. And she said, that's horrific.
Starting point is 00:51:16 She was like, I can't believe I'm the person saying that I can't believe he would do something, like murder somebody. I was going to say that. But she was like, I just couldn't even believe he would do that even after everything that I went through. I mean, who would ever picture someone that they were like in a relationship with at some point could be capable of that, even if they are like a monster in your relationship. Right. You always hope I would think that they're never thinking that they're going to turn into a brutal murderer. Right. And you would hope that they didn't. Now, that night obviously left him with another charged ad to his rap sheet, which was assault.
Starting point is 00:51:47 Now, in June of 2018, Michael Dudley's own daughter filed a sexual assault restraining order against him. Oh, my God. This is, this gets really dark just so you guys know. The report stated that he sexually assaulted her over a period of nine years and that it started when she was 10 and, didn't end until she was 18. She told police that he had drugged her on multiple occasions and raped her multiple times. Oh, my God. She was forced to share a bed with him and forced to watch him watch pornographic material. Oh, my God.
Starting point is 00:52:21 Among other things. She went on to say that he took out his gun on multiple occasions while this was all happening to threaten her and to staying quiet. And she said, even now she was afraid to leave her house to go to work. like she was afraid to go anywhere. Michael Lee Dudley didn't face a single charge for this because his daughter was told she should have filed the report as a domestic violence report instead of a sexual assault report.
Starting point is 00:52:47 Oh, fuck off. Fuck off. Like, why would you not just say like here's the paper to do that instead? We'll just put it onto a different fucking paper for you. That is so sad how they failed her. They failed, like hugely. There's not even a word for the way that they failed her. Right. Well, they failed her. And then on top of like not following through with that, you have no idea the repercussions.
Starting point is 00:53:10 This would have happened. And they just failed a lot of people. The system fails a lot of people. It's so sad. I just can't imagine like going through that and then find and again, getting up the courage to go and get the restraining order. Like that's scary of itself because people don't follow. You don't know what's going to happen. And then to have law enforcement look at you and be like, yeah, you didn't file that the right way. So we can't. do anything. I'm sorry, what? Like, how can you not do anything about that? And that's the thing, the courage it took for her to just file that and to just do that, right? And to have it just, like, shot down in her face like that is, wow. And then it makes you not want to obviously, like, go through that process again to, because like we said, to even get yourself there, then it's like, do you even want to go through that again? Because you're thinking the same thing might happen. You've lost trust in the system. Right. Right. Like, if they can't protect you,
Starting point is 00:54:01 who can. Like, I can't imagine that feeling. And then, That's your father. Like that's her own father. The amount of times this poor girl was failed by just everybody. Yeah, the person who's supposed to protect you. Whenever parents do that kind of stuff to kids, it's like... So fucked up. The people that are supposed to protect you and, like, keep you safe.
Starting point is 00:54:18 Those are the people who you're supposed to be able to go to when things are scary in the world. So it's like when they're the scary ones in the world, it's like, I can't imagine that feeling. No. Me either. Now, Gina. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, I was just going to ask, was there other siblings?
Starting point is 00:54:32 Did you say that? I couldn't find if there was or not. I just saw that the daughter had said that that happened. Okay. Now, Gina, Jessica's aunt, who I had mentioned earlier, she later said that all of these allegations made against Dudley by his own daughter, lined up with things that Jessica had told her. She told police, this is a direct quote,
Starting point is 00:54:52 sometimes he would break their car so they couldn't leave. He put trackers on people's cars. Anytime he ever got into a dispute with anybody, he would tell them to leave, but try to keep them in the house. Oh, he's a monster. He's so scary. This is an animal cruelty warning as well. She also told police that he had killed a dog in front of Austin and Jessica to scare them
Starting point is 00:55:16 and then left the body of the dog in front of the house so that they couldn't leave. She said, this is terrible, terrible, terrible. He beat this dog to death with a hammer because it got one of his chickens. He just left it out there for the other dogs to look at and sniff. He's a freaking psycho. My God. Dude, like, I just don't understand how this man did all of this and was just walking around. I was going to say, like, I don't understand how he was, like, not put away for something.
Starting point is 00:55:46 Yeah, so much earlier. How he was able to get to this point to be able to do something like this. It's like a psycho to say the absolute least. Wow. So in court, Dudley was charged with two counts of second degree murder. Like I said, he hasn't gone to trial yet, but his bail was set at $5 million. And in March of. this year, though, his defense
Starting point is 00:56:05 attorneys, Bradley Barshies, I believe, say I say it, and Harry Steinmitz requested that the bail be reduced to 500,000 so that he could get out of jail and be put on electronic detention at home. They said that he was being treated so unfairly.
Starting point is 00:56:23 I'm sorry. What? Are we supposed to treat you fairly? No. Jesus. And he said that, or his defense attorney said that the state of Washington still hadn't finished gathering the evidence against him, so that should be reason enough. Eleven people wrote letters to the judge vouching for Dudley, but I can't really imagine that the judge cares how popular you are as a human when you're on file for two murders.
Starting point is 00:56:47 Yeah, I don't. That's going to help you of. But they were trying to paint him as like this amazing man. He had gone to California and helped people put out wild fires and stuff like that. But it's like, yeah, people tend to do those things to try to cover up what a terrible fucking person they are. Wow. Jessica, Gina's, excuse me, Jessica's aunt Gina again said, or she was there at the hearing over the bail,
Starting point is 00:57:11 and she told the judge she was worried about him getting out for multiple reasons, one of which was that, again, they believed he didn't act alone, but nobody else is in custody yet. So it's like, what? Like, he could just link up with those people. Yeah. She also pointed out that his own family tried to sell his home for money while he was in jail so that they could pay for the bail. But obviously they can't do that because it's like an active crime scene.
Starting point is 00:57:35 Crime scene, exactly. And she also said that she was contacted by somebody who was unnamed who was so terrified that if Michael Dudley got out of jail, he would directly come to that person and kill them. And it's just at this point, it's like, I see no reason why he should be. No. Like there's no valid reason that he should just be allowed to leave. He should be in jail for the rest of his life, regardless of whether he did these murders, but all. Obviously, at this point, we know he fucking did. But simply because of what he did to his daughter and his ex-girlfriend and a dog, it's like, wow.
Starting point is 00:58:11 This guy does not need to be out on the streets. No, he definitely doesn't. Luckily, the judge... Sorry, go ahead. Please tell me he didn't get out on bail out. No, he didn't. The judge denied the request to lower the bailout. It stayed at $5 million.
Starting point is 00:58:23 So he's still, nobody's going to be paying $5 million for him to get out of jail, I hope. Oh, God, I hope not. He was arraigned on September 8th of 2020, and he pleaded not guilty. to the two charges of second-degree murder. Now, his trial was supposed to take place on October 1st, but it did not. And I haven't found any update past the arraignment. But I know that trials can be pushed off like a ton of times. And especially with COVID and everything, I'm sure it's laying literally everything in the world.
Starting point is 00:58:50 And then again, like we said, they were still trying to gather evidence against him. So I think that obviously has something to do with it. But just to wrap this up, it's really important to both of these families that Jessica and Austin were known for who they were in life instead of how they were murdered. So, as always, I just want to end it on a quote from the family. I have two. Jessica's aunt Gina said, I don't want them to be remembered in a violent way. I want them to be remembered for their humanity and their kindness.
Starting point is 00:59:15 She said Jessica was a beautiful ray of sunshine and she was a very thoughtful person to others. And Austin's mother said, he had faith, a big heart and loved the outdoors, country music, campfires, trucks, dogs, Jessica, and his family. Aw. I just got goosebumps while I read that. That's so sad. So we're definitely going to have to update this as soon as anything happens in the trial. And I'm so, so hoping that, number one, they find out if other people were involved and get them arrested ASAP Rocky.
Starting point is 00:59:46 And also hope that he gets put in jail also ASAP Rocky in prison forever. I know. Let's hope that, I mean, let's hope the right guy is being convicted and that he is convicted. Seriously. Yeah. We can only hope so. the right guy. I mean, it definitely sounds it.
Starting point is 01:00:04 I will say that. What do you guys think about the other people involved? Like, Elena, you go first. What do you think? I mean, honestly, it sounds, of course, it's always probable that there's more people involved. It's always probable because more people makes a crime easier. Right. But it also makes it harder because more people can't keep their mouth shut.
Starting point is 01:00:24 Like, more people is going to be messier. So, and the way it was done, he definitely could have. have done it himself because you incapacitate two people with a gunshot. That's easy to do. Yep. Especially in a room, if you're sneaking up on them in a room, just opening the door and doing it. And he was known to like lock people and like not let them get out. He's known to trap people in there. He's got it's his house. He knows it. He knows it like the back of his hand. They don't. He's got a lot of areas that he can take them. He's got a lot of,
Starting point is 01:00:52 I think it might just be him. I don't know if more people involved in the actual act. Maybe more people are involved in the planning or the leading. or knowing about it, but I feel like it might just be one person in the act. That's pretty much what I think. What do you think, Corey? I definitely think the same. I think just because of how evil this man is. Seriously.
Starting point is 01:01:14 What I thought is like, okay, so yeah, I think he did it himself and all that. But like maybe he had some threats to other people that like they owed him something or they were just like terrified of him. Or like they, I don't know, took the car or something or tried to. go clean up in some way. Like I think he was just an, yeah, I think he's just an evil person and got other people involved somehow. Yeah. Because there's definitely something to those people towing that car off the property.
Starting point is 01:01:43 Yeah. They were doing that for sure. And so soon after he was arrested, it just, it's strange. It feels like there might be a string of just mess behind this. That is. A hundred percent. That it's going to have to be unraveled and maybe being unraveled right now. And that's why it's probably taking a little.
Starting point is 01:02:00 a while because it's probably a web that they're going to have to untangle of what's going on. Yeah. Yeah. So that is the case of the TikTok suitcase murders. Wow. That's rough. That was a rough one. Yeah, it was really tough.
Starting point is 01:02:14 I hope, hopefully everybody got my trigger warnings in time and I know. I was able to skip ahead. I think so. Yeah. It was a doozy to research. I was like, I had to walk away from it multiple times. Yeah. This is tough.
Starting point is 01:02:25 There's so many layers to that one. Yeah, that really is. Especially with it still ongoing. I know, I know, seriously. That's the thing, because this could be ongoing for a while. I think it might be. Yeah. Especially where there's like, it was supposed to happen in October the trial, and then
Starting point is 01:02:39 you haven't heard anything. I feel like maybe they got some new information or found some new evidence that they're working through. Yeah. I think we'll definitely keep this on our radar. Oh, yeah. Yeah. For sure.
Starting point is 01:02:50 And you know what? If you see that video, don't share it. Yeah. Like, just don't share it. Yeah, don't share that video because the family does not want that video out there. and it's really shitty that people aren't listening to that. Yeah, just listen to the family. That's all you need to listen to.
Starting point is 01:03:06 Just have some decency, like, respect. Yeah. Just some human basic respect. Yeah, exactly. I know it's really hard these days, but really try to pull that good side of you up. Yeah, and just know, like, it's a visual of the crime and it's, you know, once you know what is happening, like, that's their family members in those bags. You don't need to see that.
Starting point is 01:03:26 That's a lot. Not for you to see. No, definitely not. But thank you so much for coming on and doing this with us, doing this sad, sad case with us. Thank you. Seriously. It was an honor to be here despite how dark cases can be. You are welcome back anytime because this was so much fun.
Starting point is 01:03:45 You're going to have to come back because we'll have to update. Yeah. Once we get the update, I need to come back on this one because I'm invested now and yeah. We're in this together. We're all in this together. We are. We'll start our own task force. Yeah, there you go.
Starting point is 01:04:03 I can't talk today. I mean, I can't talk any day. I'm so here for it. Yeah, I love it. And plug anything that you have like upcoming or anything you want to plug at all. I'm not that cool. I don't have the cool things coming up. Just if you want to have like listen to tragic mom stories,
Starting point is 01:04:20 kids stories, just tragic life stories. Follow me. I'm Corey X Gabrielle on TikTok, Instagram. He won't be disappointed. I definitely will. Maybe you will. I don't know. You won't. I can vouch. As a fellow parent, I can vouch. If you're a true weirdo, you're definitely in for this. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. But yeah, I appreciate you guys. I appreciate you guys having me on so much. It's been so fun and amazing. So thank you. Oh, thank you so much for coming. So happy to have you. All right, guys. Well, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you do any of this. No.
Starting point is 01:05:02 Or share that for you. Don't keep it so weird that you keep sharing that. Yeah. Don't do it. Bye.

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