Morbid - Virtual Live Show! Texarkana Moonlight Murders & The New Orleans Trunk Murders

Episode Date: July 25, 2020

Looks at this! This is our very first virtual live show from July 23, 2020 held at AS220 in Providence RI. Alaina covers the Texarkana Moonlight Murders and goes over all the fine details with her 1940’s magnifying glass! Ash takes us to New Orleans and covers the Trunk Murders of the 1920s! Get ready for a wild ride back in time. We apologize for the somewhat subpar audio but we were at the mercy of someone else's microphones!  Make sure you check out our new Parcast original show, Crime Countdown! Trust us Weirdos, you will love it! :) Thanks to our sponsors!  Upstart.com/morbid See why Upstart has a 4.9 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot and hurry to Upstart.com/morbid to find out HOW LOW your Upstart rate can be. Checking your rate only takes a few minutes! *Your loan amount will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will qualify for the full amount. Hello fresh!! Go to HelloFresh.com/80morbid and use code 80morbid to get a total of $80 off, including free shipping on your first box. Additional restrictions apply, please visit HelloFresh.com for more details 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.

Hey, Rannosh. Hello, weirdos. So this is just a little announcement before this episode, because this episode is a live recording from our recent virtual live show. Yes, because we know that some of you live in different time zones and weren't able to, like, stay up all night or wake up on very early in the morning to see it. You had other priorities. You know, we get it. So we wanted to give you this. We wanted to give you it.

But in that same vein, it's... It was our first virtual live show. So we were working with microphones that are not ours. Not ours. Did not have a pop shield in front of it. Our family group text is really annoying. Our family group text is popping right now. But yes, so there are a couple of like plosives that are like po, poe, poe, and they're going to be all up.

Oh, my God. You know what it is? I just sent a gif of two chains. That's what it is. So we just wanted to warn you guys ahead of time. It's not for the entire time. No. There's my little bead that I was wearing, kept hitting the microphone too.

So you might hear that. There's just a couple of little moments that you might be like, what's that sound? But I promise. It's worth it. You know, again, this isn't us like sitting in our like pod lab doing this. So we apologize for the audio quality. But we're doing our best here. And with that being said, enjoy the live stream.

Please enjoy it. Bye. Bye, guys. I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is the weirdest live show ever. We have Annie in the audience tonight. She got to cheer us on over there. We got Annie over there. We got you on your couches.

Yeah. What's up? Guys, this is strange. Awesome because COVID sucks. It does. And at least we can do this and we can all be together. Yeah. Exactly.

So yeah, so this is kind of weird, but we're going to keep it pretty much the same that we do all the time, where I'm going to do my probably way too long case. Cool, cool, cool. And then Ash is going to do her case, which is probably not that long. We would do trivia, like we do it our other live shows, but like we can't. So we'll try to work that into the next one because hopefully this is the first of many live stream. We can send you all out little clickers to answer with next time. Yeah. And I don't know if anybody sitting on their couch right now is wondering, like, what the hell are you wearing?

What's happening? What's going on? This is just what we wear in live shows. This is just who we are. I don't know. I always dress like this. Yeah, obviously. Yeah, that is Ash as a person.

Honestly, that's you as a person. It really is. So we decided to theme this out because everything's a bummer, so why not wear costumes? Exactly. That makes everything better. So my case is from the 40s, so I decided to be like a 40s detective. Check out that magnifying glass. Check it out.

Look at that eyeball. And Ash is from, I can't tell what decade she's from. Boopoop, bido. She's doing a 20s crime. I don't know if you can tell. Just in case you weren't sure. Just in case you weren't sure. But this is going to be fun.

We hope that we're going to do this again. Yes. This is the first of many, we're hoping. So everyone crossed their fingers. This works. Everybody stay put. All right. So I think we should just jump into our case.

I feel like that's what the people are here for. Unless we should just talk about our outfits some more. I mean, check out this boa. Also, just as a side note, before I start my case, we kind of made our sets, like, split down the middle. I don't know if anybody can tell. It's like half Ash-centric and half Elena-centric. So that's fun. We have like a David Bowie candle on your side.

Yeah. You know, there's a Bill Nye one down there. A lot of glam on my side. Not sure if you can see that. Hope you guys liked it because it took a long time to put together. It did. But, so I'm going to start my case. So I don't know if you guys could tell from the intro video, but I'm going to be doing

the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, which is wild. Normally I would pause for, yay. Yeah, Q Annie. Hello. We got it. On the task. So you guys might know this case from the movies that were made about it, the town that dreaded sundown.

I'm going to talk about that later, especially the infamous trombone scene. That will mess you up. If you haven't seen that movie and you watch it tonight after this, just like a forewarning, that will mess you up. It's going to stay with you. Yeah, that doesn't go away. So we're going to start the case here. I feel like that would make you so dizzy if you did that the whole time.

And I'm going to get sick. A little vertigo to start us off. But I actually stole that joke from Annie, so I got to give her. run it for it. I didn't even know that. So this is the Texarkana Moonlight murders. I think it's kind of more of a groovy

name than the actual crimes are. I 100% agree with you. It's one of those situations where the name is like way too cool for what actually happened. What actually happened was pretty terrible. Big bummer. Yeah. The moon has no place in this at all. So these murders were a series of

eight attacks and they resulted in five brutal killings. And they took place in 1946, which is why I'm dressed like the 40s. I don't know if they talked like that back then, but... They definitely did that shoulder thing that you just did. I feel like everybody did. They were like, it's the 40s.

Look at my shoulders. It's the 40s. That might have been more 20s because it's very flapper-esque. Yeah, that's how you move your Bella. Exactly. So this was a quick one. It wasn't like it took months and months or went on for years. This was like blink and you missed it situation.

Four murders happened in only three months. That's kind of crazy. Yeah, it was boom, boom, boom. No cooling. off period, no nothing. It made that noise. It was like boom, boom, boom. It was like, yikes, yikes, yikes. And this perp,

yep, perp, you see, this perp attacked young couples on lover's lanes. Oh, so he waged a war on love. Love. So, he was like, what is love? We hate him. And then he was like, I'm gonna hurt you. Oh, no.

Yeah, no good. So Texarkana is the Twin Cities, because I know when I first heard this case, I was like, what is Texarkana? I remember we were watching the movie and I was like Texarwada. Texar what? I was like, is it Texas or is it Arkansas? It is neither. So it's the Twin Cities.

It was established December 8th, 1873. The name's origin is kind of mysterious. The most accepted origin story about why it's called Texarkana is because it's located on the state line between Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. So they made a compromise. But that's where you get the Texark part. Oh. Where do you get the Anna?

Where do you get it? A woman named Anna. Well, it's really close, close. To Santa Ana. It's really close to the Louisiana border. Oh. Yeah. So that's where you get the Anna.

Text arc. Anna. And that was your geography lesson with Elena. I felt like you should know. That's all. And, you know, that's a nice story. It kind of like wraps it up cleanly. It makes it like, all right, I get that.

But there are other origin stories that people like to like float around. You got to sprinkle in an urban legend. There's one that's like about a, steamboat called the Texarkana, but like, boring. Yeah, that kind of sucks. One I love is about a guy named Swindle. I'm here for it already. And he was a businessman, which it's like a businessman named Swindle.

Like, whoa. He's going to swindle you a deal. Yeah, I don't know if I would believe him. He was a businessman. He was running a general store in Louisiana, and he became known for creating and selling a drink called Texarkana Bitters. And boo, I love bitters. The name was born.

There it is. Don't think that's what happened at all. all, but it's a fun story. I like Swindle. I like Swindle. And then there's one that a lot of people like as well and it has to do with the railway system there. People say that when the Iron Mountain Southern and St. Louis

Railroad, excuse me. St. Louis. I'm like, roon-roon. Railroad were being built along a line through the area that is now Texarkana. The railway surveyor named Colonel Gus Noble. A noble. The name alone. Actually was the one

who came up with the name and he just took a huge sign, just plopped it in the earth and was like, town's name is Texarkana now. He seems like a dad. That's like a dad joke. Well, and I think people were like, well, your name is Gus. So yeah. Yeah, I believe you Gus. Okay, Gus Gus. Colonel Gus. Like, you got it. Colonel Gus. Yeah, so they just went with it. Um, and again, I'm just telling you this because, you know, three of these murders happened on the Texas side of town and one happened on the Arkansas side of town and like the other one happened here and there.

So did that make it kind of like messy? It did a little, well, not really. Oh, okay. They worked together. But I just didn't want anybody to be like, wait a second, what, the Texas side, the Arkansas side? Right, right, right. I give you my little geography history lessons, that's all. I loved it.

You know me. You all know me. I hear you. Yep, you know me. Whoa. Yeah, see, you know me. So it's strange guys, but we're having fun. This is fun.

I like this vibe. I missed you guys. I miss you so much. I want to feel your warmth in front of me, but someday. I feel like I'm doing like a vlog. Yeah. It does feel that way. Welcome to my YouTube channel. That was good.

So this killer was never caught. I know. That messes me up. This is an unsolved case. We love an unsolved case. We hate an unsolved case. That's the thing. We want to solve it. Will we by the end of the night, guys? What do you think? I have a magnifying glass, so I think we can solve it. I am not dressed to solve a case tonight. I'm pretty sure I am, and I'm pretty sure all you need is a magnifying glass.

Some tights with a seam up the back. I mean, let's be real. Some sensible shoes. If I'm out. If anything, you would be the one solving the case and I would be the one tripping over my heels. Like, I'm here. I'm here. Do I get credit?

That's right. That is exactly what would happen. So not only did this case itself itself get a name that is like way too cool for reality, but the killer also is one of those who got a nickname that was way too cool for him. Oh, I don't remember his nickname. What was it again? He was called the Phantom Killer or the Phantom Slayer. I like the Phantom Slayer better.

Which it makes him sound too mysterious and like... Well, he was mysterious. He didn't get caught. But I don't like that. Like, stop naming them cool mysterious things. Yeah, because they like that. And they like cut out the newspaper clippings and put them on their fridge. Yeah, and you know what? And besides the obvious reasons why he sucks, like he kills people.

Yes. He sucks. That'll do it. He also wore a burlap sack on his head with the eyes in the mouth cut out. Okay. When he did it, which... What? I'm just like assuming, I don't know why I'm assuming this, but I'm assuming it's

kind of hot in Texarkana. It makes an ass out of you and me. Can you say ass live? I don't know. You can. Sure. But don't you think it be really hot under there in Texas? Oh, I would think so. In Arcana? In Arcana? I was just said. I think it would. I think so. I think so. Is it hot there? Hey, Texas and Arcana. And Arcana. Let us know. So we're going to start with the crimes. Are you all ready? Sit down. All right. And he's ready. You're all ready.

Somebody over there is ready, I bet. Okay. Somebody outside is ready. They're ready. I know it. So February 22nd, 1946. That's where we start. Here we are. Time warp.

There you are. We're here. Cool. So sometime around midnight, I don't know where this crazy metal box came, but here we are. I got one too. So sometime around midnight,

25-year-old Jimmy Hollis and 19-year-old Mary Jean-Lary parked in their car, just being young, just being in love. Oh, you know. I'm already going to be sad. Just parking in the woods, trying to, you know, do their things. Just hang out in the car.

I don't know what they were doing. You know. I'm not going to speculate. You know, just hang out in their car. Well, they were both actually married to other people when they met, but they were both in the process of a divorce, so it was okay. So it was nothing scandalous happening here. Totally fine. They had gone to a drive-in movie, and it was actually like a double date with Jimmy's younger brother, Bob, and his date.

It was very wholesome. Yeah, that's real cute. The wholesomest. Everything about this, every single. crime you see in this case is so wholesome. Like, it starts off so wholesome. The crime is so wholesome. The murder is just so wholesome. No, that's not it at all.

No, no, no. It starts off very wholesome. Everything was going swimmingly on their date. They dropped Bob and his date off. And then because things were going swimmingly, they decided to drive into a lover's lane. Oh, my God. So cute. You know, they were having a great date. Lover's lane. So hot right now. So hot right now.

So at one point, Jimmy got out of the car and he said that he was getting out to look at the stars. Wow, wholesome as fuck. People were confused about this at first when they were asking him. They're like, why did you get out of the car to look at the stars? But you know what? Have you ever seen the stars away from city lights? Because yeah, you get out of the car to look at them. That shit is exhilarating. You should do it. So I think that's exactly what he was doing. I get it, Jimmy. So he got out. He's standing in the middle of a dirt roadway, very isolated. He's looking up at the stars. And suddenly there's a flashlight just shown in his face, right in his eyeballs. Oh, no good.

That will startle you. And you know what happened? It's like right now, those lights are blinding. I can't see behind those lights. There's a flashlight in my face. Yes, I get it. That gives me Golden State killer vibes. It does. Yeah, like blinding with a fire tactic. It really is. It's not cool. So the man that was doing this was a total asshole

and just started yelling at him. And in fact, the first thing he said to poor Jimmy, who was just looking at the stars just hanging out, was, and I quote, take your fucking pants off. No. Can you imagine you're just looking up at the stars in the middle of a dirt roadway on your date that's gone great? Nope.

And some man walks up to you, blinds you with a flashlight and is like, take your fucking pants off? No, I won't imagine that. Thank you for asking. No, thank you. No, that's the scariest shit ever. Seriously. So Jimmy was like, I think you have the wrong guy. You called the wrong number.

We have not discussed removing my pants before now. So he was like, the guy got pissed. Oh, no. Because he was like, no, I have the right guy. And he was like, dude, I don't want to kill you, but I will if you don't. take your fucking pants off. What? Yeah. Yeah, like, I don't know what that was all about. I don't really know. He did this

a lot. That's strange. According to the book, The Phantom Killer by James Presley, you know I love a book. She loves books. I love citing a book. Jimmy said he immediately, which this just like broke my heart. Oh no. So are you already? Hold on to your hearts.

Jimmy immediately started to think what would Dick Tracy do? Like, oh my God. Stop. Stop it. A pure Jimmy moment. He's so pure, I can't handle it. So he finally, he's like, all right, I'm going to take off my pants. So he finally gets his pants off to try to make this guy calm down.

And as soon as he gets his pants off, does what he wants, the phantom hits him in the head twice with some metal object. They think it's like a lead pipe or something like a trumpet. Not a trumpet. That comes later. Oh, sorry. You're jumping in. Jumping. Wrong information.

Sorry. I think it was like a lead pipe. is what they think it was, or possibly a pistol, but they lean more towards lead pipe. Okay. He fell straight to the ground, and the phantom started kicking him and stomping on his chest. Oh my God. Like just kicking the shit out of him. That's a lot.

Yeah. Later, Jimmy said he felt metal spikes on the bottoms of his, like, boots. So he, like, came prepared, obviously came prepared for this. With metal spikes on the butt. Like, what? How do you even do that? Meanwhile, poor Mary is still in the car. And she just thinks Jimmy's looking at the star.

Oh, no, she's screaming and crying. Okay, she heard this. Because you could see what's happening. Because Jimmy wasn't like far away. He was right there. Okay. And she said she heard some like crack. And she thought that like, she was like, I didn't know what I thought.

But what she had heard was Jimmy's skull crack. Oh. No. Yes. What I wouldn't give to hear all of you go. Seriously. But yes. That's nasty.

Yeah. Not good. Ew. She gets out of the car and like a true badass. She grabs Jimmy's wallet out of his pants on the ground and she's like, look, he doesn't have any money. Right. Because she's assuming this guy wants money because what else does he want? So he screams at her, you're a liar.

And then he's like, go get your purse. And she's like, I don't have a purse on me. I was on a date and he was being a gentleman and he was paying for me. She's like, I didn't bring my purse because dates call for free dinner. Yeah, she was like, I am not free of my purse. Thank you. And when she didn't have a purse on her, he took what she said, felt like a lead pipe. and slammed her across the head with it.

Oh my God. She went down and then he then, and this is horrifying. I mean, was it not all else? It was, but it gets worse. She goes down. He hit her with the lead pipe. She goes down and he gets right in her face and he just screams, take off, run.

Okay, bye. Like, sir, you just hit me in the head. Bye. You just incapacitated me. That's why he did it though because he's like, you can't run. Like I read that. I was like, ah. That's terrifying.

Also, that's like in your nightmares when you can't run. Oh, that's exactly it. Oh. And so she said somehow she got back up after being hit in head with a metal pipe. Wow. Started running. She's in like heels and a dress. Like, she's running down the road.

She looks like Elena right now. Exactly. And she runs off and like beers off somewhere. And he yells after her, not that way, go up the road. What? Yeah. Why is he giving her directions? So she was like, okay, sir.

So she just runs where he says. And she said she peaked back behind her and she could see him kicking and stomping Jimmy, like just go into town. This makes no sense. Yeah. It's insane. So she's running her ass off down the road, just hoping that he's not going to turn the pistol and just shoot her. Or just like run after her. Because she saw that he had a pistol.

Yeah. He can just shoot her while she's running. And she's screaming, stumbling, then out of nowhere. What? He stops beating and. stomping Jimmy. Does he start running at her? And takes off, you just ruined my moment. Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that that was happening.

But he takes off running at her. That just made me want to barf. Like, stops what he's doing, just looks up at her, and then takes off running. Guys. I was like, I can't. That's a nightmare. And obviously he caught up with her pretty quickly because, again, she's, one, been hit in the head. Right.

She has heels on. It's dark. She has no idea where she is probably. knows where he's going, apparently. So he catches up to her super quick and asked her why the hell she was running. Because you fucking told me to. And she's like, dude, you told me to run. And he goes, you're a goddamn liar.

I feel like you're very GD confusing. I don't like you. Oh, my God. I'd be like, you know what? Maybe I am a liar. I don't know. I don't even know what I'd be like. So she's like, I was just trying to make out with this bespeckled man.

dinner, we had a good time, the stars. So she was just paralyzed with fear at this point. She's like, I don't even know what to do. And after calling her a liar, he took the lead pipe and crushed her head again with it as hard as he could. So wait. Also, she's recounting this story and so is Jimmy. They live. What?

Mm-hmm. So she fell down bleeding from this giant head wound and then he pulled her underwear off. Oh, no. Yeah. Why did you have to know? Well, this is really rough guys. So like, trigger warning. Alina really loves to like mess people up.

I do. I'm sorry. This isn't my fault. It's just part of the case. And it's a rough one. Go ahead. So he pulled her underwear off. And what she thinks he did was assault her with the pistol. Yes. Oh my God. She said she literally begged him to kill her.

Yep. And then he was just gone. Wow. Just gone like a phantom. And she said later, she wondered. if someone had driven by, but she didn't know for sure how it happened. Like, she was like... Well, because her skull was crushed in. Yeah, he said he just left her in the road, bleeding, assaulted.

And then Jimmy is, like, so far away and she doesn't know where Jimmy is. She has no idea. So, but here's the thing. What? Mary doesn't just lay there convalescing, as I probably would have done. As I feel like I'm doing right now. Oh, my God. She immediately thought of Jimmy.

Like, immediately the thought was Jimmy, and she was like, I got to get him help. Oh, my God. Love. I hope that you tell me that they fell in love forever. They gave it a shot. Damn it. She ran to a home. They gave it their best shot.

I'm upset. This is a very upsetting case. So she ran to a home, scream, knock on the door, screaming for someone to get out. A man unset inside is like, whoa. And he calls the sheriff. Right. Because she's probably covered in blood also. Oh, yeah.

So while this is happening, you're like she might be covered in blood. No, I'm like she is. She definitely is. So while this is happening, Jimmy has somehow lived through all. of this, woke up and was with it enough to remember everything, how would have happened? What? Yeah. And so now he's terrified, though, because he's in the middle of the pitch black, in the middle

of the road, in the middle of the woods. Well, and he probably doesn't even know how long it's been since he had no pants on. Oh, my God. And his glasses were thrown somewhere. And he can't see. Yeah, and he's bleeding profusely from head wounds. So he ends up crawling to the main road, like getting himself crawled to the main road. Yeah.

Crazy. flags down a car a man and woman get out he begs them he's like hi look at me i am clearly in distress yeah and so he's like please just get me to the hospital and the woman looks completely unfazed uh which is very strange and he said the guy driving the car yelled at him not to get in the car because he didn't want blood on his seat what an asshole are you kidding me wowzer like yike like your car sucks let me and i'm dying but then he was like i'll get you an ambulance I'll call. Gee, thanks. Wow. Well, luckily, because Mary was such a badass, an ambulance immediately pulled up. Because she already called. Because she already had the neighbor calls, so she didn't need that guy.

I feel like they're meant to be. Well, and police were never able to locate this dude that said he would call an ambulance. Which is interesting, because also, what were you just doing in that area? Yeah, like, what were on with you? So Jimmy went into a coma for a week. Wow. Mary was able to really only describe the mask that the guy was wearing and his voice, which she said she said she thought it belonged to a black man. Okay. They originally considered it to be a jilted lover situation, but none of that panned out.

Jimmy was released 15 days later, and he was struggling with nightmares, like hallucinations. Obviously. I mean, he was in bad shape. Right. He was interrogated after this, after he was released. And he told police, quote, I think he is a young white man. Not over 30 years old and he's desperate. Now he said that he didn't think he was wearing a mask.

Well, maybe he like wasn't at first. And he said, he was like, what I could see was that he wasn't wearing a mask. And he said, so now it's two different ports. Well, he's also been having hallucinations at this point. So. True. But it's like, I don't know. Me either.

Jimmy is very adamant that it was a white man and he didn't, he wasn't positive about the mask, but he said it was a white man. I could tell. Okay. She's positive. It was a black man. Okay. So that's weird.

Well, and she said he's wearing a mask. So it's like you're only going off a voice. You're going off a voice, which is not a good indicator. Yeah, that's stupid. So that's all that came out of that. I mean, they couldn't find any clues, nothing. So all they had was the two of them saying what they thought it was. So now they're like, oh shit, let's hope this doesn't happen again.

That's way to be hopeful, Texarkana. Let's try. Your old Richard Griffin, a Navy vet, had begun dating. 17-year-old Polly and Moore in February, 1946. KK. I know everybody's like, okay. It was the 40s. The age gap was not a big difference at this point.

No. You got married when you were like 19. Yeah, so it just wasn't like scandalous or anything back then. On March 23rd, 1946, they went on a date in Richard's car. Cute. A car date. This was a kind of double date situation again. It's weird that they like kind of start that way.

Did they go to the drive in too? Well, they were meeting Richard's sister. her boyfriend at a restaurant and then they were going to a movie because really that's all you could do back then right um so after eating dinner they split and richard and polly were headed to the movie and the other two were going somewhere else got yeah they got through the movie having a great night then they decided to have a nightcap snack at a cafe until like 2 a.m. hell yeah which a lot of these couples stay out to like 2 a.m and i'm like get it well they're young they're in love they're hungry like wow i can't stamp that long. So they were driving back to

Polly's house when they turned off into a lover's lane. Because love. Love. It was going well. So they were there for probably, you know, they were there for a bit, you know, doing things like hanging out in the car. Reading poetry. Highfiving each other.

Things you do on a lover's lane. Elbow bump these days. I've been to so many, obviously. The man in that. So then another car pulls up next to them. Thank you. And they're thinking like, oh, it's just another smitten couple.

No, I don't even like when I'm like in my apartment and another car pulls up next to me. I'm like, it's okay, I'll leave. It's cool. It's fine. You live here. Well, you own this now. It's cool. So the man in that car snuck up on them.

Yes. And he put a pistol into the window. Oh, my God. He yelled at Richard to take his pants off. What's up with the pants? I don't know. What's with the pants? Are you watching right now, Phantom Slayer?

No. He did. What's with the pants? So he tells him to take off his pants and then immediately shot him. twice in the back of the head. So what are you going to do with his pants? Trade blood everywhere. All inside the car. It's gross.

People aren't positive how he got Polly out of the car because nobody survives this to tell him. Well, he probably just dragged her out. It seems like he could do whatever he wanted. Well, what's weird is he got her out of the car and he put her on a blanket outside of the car and shot her twice there. What?

Maybe she tried to get out of the car to run. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. But there, was no sexual assault noted. Okay. She wasn't found on the blanket, though. So how did they know the blanket was there? Well, I'll tell you.

I had a feeling. They only know that he shot her there because the blood had soaked through the blanket and into the ground below. There was a big, huge puddle of blood there. Yeah. But she was found in the car. So they knew that she was definitely shot there. He had shot her and then placed her back in the car just sitting up like she was a lot. Like he staged her.

He staged her. He's like slumped over. Terrifying. They were not found until the next day when a passing driver saw them and thought it looked weird. Like they were just passing by that car and they were like, that's a little strange. So they called the police and a huge crowd came. That's never good. They're recording off the scene.

I definitely would have been there. A huge crowd came to destroy evidence. I would have been among them. All they had to go on was the bullets and maybe like some partial fingerprints on the car. But they didn't even really know what they had at this point. The ballistics report from the Texas Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Identification and Records said the gun was a 32 automatic pistol. It had six lands and grooves with a left-hand twist. Okay.

I learned about these things in my anthropology class. Does that mean he's left-handed? Not sure. Cool. But it was something like a cult, I guess. Oh, okay, gotcha. They kept this evidence to compare to the last one, basically. to see.

To see. I talk to Jimmy and Mary and see if they could tell anything about the pistol. Right. And then maybe, I mean, they don't want this to happen, but if it happens again, they can compare at least. Yep. Yep. A $500 reward was posted. They already had interviewed more than 50 people in four days after the murders.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. This guy is a legitimate phantom. So it just, boom, nothing happened. Went away until he struck again, right? 16-year-old Paul Martin. No.

Was from Kilgore. And he was well-liked. His friends described him as, this is the sweetest. Does it really sad? Quote, a short boy with the best attitude you ever saw. Oh, my God. I don't think he had an enemy in the world. Everybody loved him, and he just loved people.

Wow. Put a knife through my heart. Cool. Thanks. It's not going to end well, unfortunately. Betty Joe Booker was 15 years old. Wow. This was the youngest phantom victim, by a long shot.

She was super smart, super driven. She had a part-time job at 15, which was especially back then, and especially a girl. Yeah. It was a huge thing. She was also getting straight A's, and she also played the saxophone in an orchestra. She was doing the damn thing. She was doing the damn thing. She and her mother, Bessie, were literally best friends.

Betty and Bessie. That's the cutest thing ever. The closest you could be. They had suffered a lot of tragedies together. Betty Jo's father. died very young. He was like 33, I think. Oh, wow. And it was when she was really young.

And then her older brother also died at 16. Oh, my God. This poor mom now. She lost everything with everybody. Everything. So they were very close to each other, just mostly out of survival. Because that's all they had. They were just best friends. Her mother later

described their relationship as, quote, I worshipped her. Oh, wow. Yeah. That made my heart do a little thing. Yeah, be in the heart real. for that. Paul was smitten with Betty Joe. Stop. Smitten. He loved her. Oh, I love love. He had like a plan. He was going to woo her.

And on April 12th, he was in town from Kilgore in the town where Betty Joe lived. Right. He had plans. He was like, I'm coming to town. Oh my God. I'm going to take you on a date. I'm going to take her to the movie, a midnight movie at that. Shut up. Special midnight movie at the Paramount Theater. Wow. And she was going to be playing with her bands that night because she's awesome because she's doing it and he was like I'm going to pick you up after your band like your band playing what's that called a show a concert that thing when you play instruments that yeah it was a show thanks for that laugh I was going to say we got a laugh thanks for that laugh everybody at home is like a concert it's a show you idiot all right yeah a band

concert okay and so it ended up going much later past the night movie thing. Because Betty was great. And I'm pretty sure Paul was like with some other friends. They were planning to go to the movie. And he was like, I'm not going to go to go get Betty Joe. Stop. Like he's just a sweet. I keep telling you to stop. I don't mean to. Stop it. Stop. So she didn't get out until like a little after 1 a.m. And he waited outside of the VFW where she played to pick her up. That's romantic. And also, wow, what a long band show. It was a very, that's what I'm talking about. A lot of these, it's like 15 year olds are out at like 1 a.m. Yeah. Ma would have been like get your ass home and Ma if you're watching

am I right? She's right Yeah I'm right and The thing is too She wasn't even like doing this band thing Until 1 a.m. Then going straight home She was going on a date after They were going out and it was like whoa What time did things close? Get it girl

Never Because it was so late obviously they couldn't make the midnight movie But he had waited patiently Like a freaking prince Because he really loves her A prince he was So they were planning to maybe grab a snack or something, hang a bit before going home. But Betty Joe had a routine.

Yes. After she did her band things, those things that bands do. Her concerts. After she did that, she would always drop off her saxophone at home before she did anything else. Yeah, because she never took it with her. Why would you want to lug that around? Because one, she loves her saxophone and two, it was very expensive. Right.

She didn't want to have to deal with the responsibility of lugging at places. Yeah. So she asked Paul, you know, can we drop it off in my home? And then we can go out. And he was like, sure. Why not? Sure, because I love you. Because I love you because I'm smitten.

So, but on the way there, he was like, all right, we're going to go there. We're going to go home and we're going to drop off your saxophone. But like, maybe we can just take a little dip off the side real quick. Oh, no. Don't do it. Spring Lake Park for a bit and just hang. You don't have to. And then we'll go drop off your saxophone.

And then they were figuring that, I guess some of her first. friends were having a slumber party and they were going to stop by that like they were on the move they were just going to go hang out there for a minute they were movers and shakers they were just they were doing it another laugh they were planning got it again so they parked and just you know looked into each other's eyes they just parked and moved and shake because they're so freaking wholesome they were probably just like babe you're cute I got you babe that's too soon I got you that is too but I like what your head's at so as they sat a car pulled up next to them Again, no, nope, I'll leave.

Again, I have not been too many lover's lanes in my time. That guy has. That motorcycle has a bit. He's like, broom, broom, lover's lane. He's definitely been doing a lover's lane. I'll tell you about a lover's lane. If you're watching guy on motorcycle, we know you. So, but I'm saying if somebody pulls up next to you after reading this case,

just get the hell out of there. I already do. Don't worry. I already do when I'm at a lover's lane. I already do it when I'm home. You frequent them often, I guess. So somebody pulls up next to them. A man gets out, walks over to Paul's side of the car, and shows them a gun.

Which must be the scariest thing ever. I can't fathom somebody just being like, look what I have. No, it's like a movie. It is. So the next morning before 6 a.m., Mr. I'm sorry. Nope, I thought I skipped something, but I didn't. You're good, you're good. The reason we don't have like a clear picture of what comes next is because they did not survive.

Right. But the next morning before 6 a.m., Mr. Mrs. Weaver are two like wholesome, this little couple. Leave it to Weaver. They take their child on a walk and I think they were going to like Grandma's house or something here. End up finding Paul's body. That's not good. Paul was shot

four times. Once in the head, once in the face, once in the right hand and once in the shoulder. In the hand? The right hand was probably putting up the hand to stop. That always messes with me though. It does because it just makes you picture like defense.

Right. You know. So Sheriff Bill Presley and Texas police chief Jack Runnels were first on scene. They noted that there was blood across the street from where Paul lay. And they thought he might have crawled across the street. To try to get help. And then died where he was found. God. Which again makes it awful.

Very heavy case. It's a very heavy case. That's why we picked such a lighthearted set. So no one knew Betty Joe was even with him except her parents and some of her friends. So the police weren't even looking for her initially. They found Paul and they were like, well, this is just he got killed. They didn't realize Betty Joe was in the car. Oh, no.

And then a search party is launched. It's six hours and suddenly they find Betty Joe. Because they started looking for her because her friends from the night before were like, oh, no, she was with Paul. Right. And then her parents were like, yeah, she didn't come home. So that's not good. Yeah. So they find Betty Joe six hours later, two miles away.

What? Yeah. Do they think she like tried to get away or do they think she like tried to get away? or do they think she was brought? No, I think she was brought, or maybe she did try to get away, but either way, it's a very strange, because she was found slumped along a tree.

Oh. And she had been shot once in the chest and once in the face. Oh, in the face. It also looked like somebody had tried to stage Betty Jo. She had a coat that was, like, buttoned up, and they had buttoned it up to her chin, and then they had placed her right hand

in, like, her upper coat pocket. What? So she was, like, sitting there like that. It's so weird, too, that he stayed. is the women. Yeah, it's strange. Right, at least for the last two. And it's really weird staging, too. Yeah, not even to like look like they're actually... But that's not a natural position to put somebody in. No. She had also been sexually assaulted. Oh. And her saxophone was missing from Paul's car and has never been found. That's like when we did, um, the other one where the clarinet was never found.

Yeah, the clarinet. Oh, the Texas killing fields. Bump me out. Hey weirdos Guys we have super exciting news So exciting! It's big. It's huge. It's the fact that They had both been killed with the same 32 caliber weapon as the first murders.

So we've got a theme here. We're connecting dots. Not much in the way of clues other than that but the town was losing it at this point. Because they're like who's next. And again, this is like boom, boom, boom. It's happening one after the other. So people in the town are like, okay, who's next, when's next?

We can't go to Lever's Lanes. That sucks. We can't go anywhere. Like, that blows. So they started bringing in anyone with a record or anyone who looked shady. They were just bringing them in. They put, they were interrogating people left in right. Now that's not nice because some nice people look shady.

But they were just like desperate at this point. They're like, we just need to find this guy. They put up roadblocks and shit. The Texas Rangers decided to try to pretend to be couples parked at Lover's Lane. Oh, wow. try to lure him out that's daring he never should because he was he was on to them and they even picked like female officers and male officers to make it look like okay wait can you imagine sitting in that cop car like obviously not a cop car I'm dumb but that marked cop car be like I wonder if he's gonna show

no but you know what I mean yeah that not cop car and what a weird awkward situation you're sitting there with like your partner yeah what are you talking about so you think he's gonna come think he's gonna come you hear anything dressed in like regular clothes trying to look like you're on a date and you're like yeah so what are you doing after this this is cool what does your wife think of this um it was now that the phantom nickname came to be this is when all of a sudden he was just he was a phantom because he was mysterious there it is the editors at the gazette were like we need to call this creep something spooppy i think that's a direct quote and they well you said it like very 40s and they were like something spooky and they did their shoulders and they were like it needs to be snappy so city

editor, Cabin Sutton, was the one who said, quote, how about calling him the phantom? He's been elusive like a phantom. Listen to you, Sutton. And everyone there was like, oh. Pro-motion. I don't know why I just said pro-motion. Get that man a raise. Give him his own column.

Give him $3 an hour. An article with his own byline. Yeah. Above the fold. I don't know. Newspaper talk. Double spacing. John knows.

John, get in that chat room and throw. Tell us what a newspaper thing is. Yeah, talk to John in the chat room. John used to be the editor of his college newspaper. Look at that. Fancy. Fancy. So people started buying guns.

No one left their windows open anymore. A curfoo. A kerfoo. They put a kerfoo in place. They put a curfew in place. They put a curfew in place. It was the first of its kind. They put a curfew in place.

And a reward went up for $6,425. Which back then was like $80 billion. approximately. Yes. So it's kind of like the Golden State Killer case. We saw it with Richard Ramirez that as soon as these like night stalkery kind of people like prowlers at night happen. Right.

All of a sudden everyone's buying locks. No one's leaving their windows anymore. No one's just sleeping with like no wall on the side of their house. Everybody realizes that fresh air is for dead people. Precisely. This is the precise moment when everyone realizes that and they start stocking up stuff. Yep. But, yeah, so tips are coming in everywhere.

Of course, not all of them helpful. Because people want to be involved. Two tips came in that were very helpful. Well, that's good. Very, very helpful. I don't know if you can see. So they're not helpful? How helpful they were.

Is that what you mean? Very helpful. Two women called in and they said, I have some information for you. And they were like, cool, where did you get that information? Hit me with it. In my dreams? No. Were they psyched?

kick and they were like cool cool cool it just tells about it and they're like yeah writing it down totally yep but so weirdly enough nothing came out of those they literally told them that the tips came from their dreams i had dreams let me give you the information on them and they were like please don't you would think that you would even like maybe leave that part out that your info came from a dream like make something else up they wore it on their sleeve they were like this came from my own subconscious that's dumb yeah um so neighbors were starting to shoot at each other what because they were just shoot first, ask questions later.

Wait, why? Like at night, if one of the neighbors was like walking into their house and they heard a noise, they'd be like, bah, well, that's dangerous. Yeah, people were just really starting to lose it at this point. The whole town was obsessed with the idea that a sex fiend was on the loose. Well, he is telling people immediately to take their pants off. He was sex fiend, and he was assaulting women. Right. And if you saw the newspaper article in the beginning little, like, intro video, it says sex fiend. Yeah, it does. She was like, can you put that in the slideshow? I was like, yeah. Put that sex fiend thing in the slideshow.

How many times can I say sex fiend on a live feed? You're done now. A lot, sex fiend. So in the next week of May, the phantom killer attacked what are his last official victims. And it was very different. So do we, okay, question. I interrupt a lot. Hopefully answer.

Do we think that it's a copycat because it's so different? No. Okay, go ahead. We don't. Okay. I'll shut up now. Thank you. That was a good question, girl.

The answer is always no to my questions. No. But I like where your head's at. So Virgil and Katie Starks were husband and wife. Oh. They knew each other forever. They were both turnings 37 soon. Twins.

But not actually. No, but I get it. They had a nice farmhouse together. I know this. And they were in the community of Miller County, Arkansas. Okay. Virgil was known as. As a progressive farmer, that's how he was described, which I love.

Like all inclusive crops. I feel like that's my new, like when someone's like, is that what you want to be? Who do you, like, who are you as a person? I'm a progressive farmer. Yeah. Deep in my soul, I feel as though I'm a progressive farmer. A progressive pioneering farmer. I think it's a good thing to be.

I don't see anything wrong with it. I don't. Katie was known as a popular, very sweet person. They both loved children, had lots of nieces and nephews. and nephews, no kids of their own, but they had lots of nieces and nephews, and they were amazing with them. Like, family was like they adored them. Yeah.

Great people. They didn't feel unsafe, especially this night that we're talking about in question because they were not too teenage lovers on a lover's lane. But they were lovers. They were safe in their home. Right. Where you are safe. But now it's like, nobody's going to the lover's lane anymore.

So now he's going elsewhere. Right. He's taken it to the home. Right to the people. To the progressive farm. Unfortunately. So they were both friends with Sheriff Bill Presley, who we mentioned before. Oh, damn.

As they got ready to turn in for the evening, Katie said, you know, like, I hear a noise outside. That's never good. Which, you're in a farmhouse. Could be the chickens. I've lived around woods, like, my whole life. You're always hearing noises. So it's like, I understand why she was just like, what? That's weird a noise.

And Virgil was like, whatever. So she mentioned it to Virgil. And he's like, it's probably fine. suddenly a man with a 22 automatic rifle was standing right on the other side of the window in the living room. Oh my God. He shot into the home, shot Virgil, who was sitting in an easy chair listening to the news on the radio. Like, you cannot get more wholesome

than sitting in an easy chair listening to the news on the radio. Have you ever seen the movie A League of Their Own and the dad is like turning the dials to listen? That's what I'm thinking. That's what I picture. That's exactly what I thought. He shot into the home, shot Virgil in the back of his head through the window. Oh, wow. Twice. So Katie ran out into the living room because obviously she said she didn't even hear the gunshot so much.

She heard the breaking glass. Well, yeah, I get that. And initially she thought that Virgil like hurt himself, like fell into something or dropped the glass or something. So she runs into the living room, immediately sees Virgil, tries to help him because he's bleeding and slumped over in his chair. She runs to the phone. And in those days, it was a hand crank. phone. No thank you. It wasn't like you just grab your iPhone and show it your face and it turns on. So it was a hand crank phone. She goes to crank it and before she can even crank it, the phantom shot her twice in the head. Oh. One shot went into her cheek and the other went through her mandible, her lower jaw. Oh my God. Show us. Lower jaw. Wow. Did you plan that? I didn't. That was actually very happy. I was off the cuff. I really did not plan that.

You're like, see, I didn't plan it because it's hard to put back. Sleep well, sweet prince. So he shot her through the, that's not funny. He shot her through the mandible, that's not funny. Her teeth literally exploded onto the floor. Oh, because obviously it's your bottom job. Yes. She was alive.

What? She was alive. Wait, okay, I won't ask questions. But she figured another smart lady. Play dead. She was like, I'm going to drop to the floor and I'm going to stay there. So maybe the man outside would think I'm dead too. Yop.

Because she's like, he's going to be watching. He's going to be waiting for me to get up or move. Right. And then he's just going to shoot me again. So I'm going to stay here until he leaves. Eventually she crawls herself into the bedroom once she couldn't see him anymore. Uh-huh. She had a 45 revolver, but she couldn't find it in all the chaos.

Of course not, because you can never find important things when you need them. Of course. So she ran into the living room and she sees the man crawling through her kitchen window. What? The scariest thought, crawling through her kitchen window, so she ran out the front door, across the highway, and ran straight to her sister and brother-in-law's home. Oh. Oh, wow. How she has the wherewithal and just like the thought to do this when she got shot.

I was going to. Yeah. Yeah. This dude A.V. Prater knew Katie and knew something awful it happened to her. He came out of his house and was like, holy shit. Because she's banging on the door of her sister and brother-in-law's home, and they weren't home. So he comes out and he's like, oh my God, what's going on? And this is just like, this is like a movie.

Yeah. This doesn't seem real because what he did was he fired his rifle once into the air from his porch to alert the rest of the neighbors. Shut up. So it's like the neighbors all had this thing where they were like, if someone shows up at your door. Shoot into the air. And their head is busted. Shoot that rifle into the air and all of us are going to come out and we all have our time. We'll come a flock in.

So he alerts the rest of the neighbors. of course neighbors came out because they know that's A.V. Prater's rifle that's shooting up into the air. Everybody knows that. And he's like, listen, you got to go get your car because he said Mrs. Stark's been shot. So they rushed her to the Michael Meager

hospital and during the drive, this is so crazy. What? She takes a tooth. She just spits one out of her mouth and it had a gold filling in it and she handed it to one of the people in the car and said, I really don't want to lose this. Wow, she had a lot of wear with all that night.

She just spat it into her hand and was like, can you hold that? This was expensive. This is important, please hold it. I love her. And they did. They were like, got it. Well, how are you going to say no to her? No.

No way, Katie. Like, I don't do teeth. I'm sorry. Sorry. Earlier that evening, Arkansas State Troopers, Max Tackett and Charlie Bored or Boyd, excuse me. Boyd. Boyd Fowler. You don't get it.

Boyd Fowler. I want to see if anybody gets that. Boyd Fowler. That's what we call each other, but it comes from something. It does. Everybody's like, what? It's on Netflix. So Max Tackett and Charlie Boyd, they were Arkansas State Troopers, and earlier in the evening before all this chaos, they had driven past the Stark home.

And when they had driven past it, they, obviously, they knew the Stark's. Yeah. And they noticed an older model car parked, like, weirdly off to the side. He parked his car there? Yeah. Yeah. And at first he was like, that's strange, but they were on their way to like do something else. So he was like, you know what? Like whatever. We're just going to, we'll check on it later when we're on our way back. It's not really, it's not strange enough to warrant us like stopping. Yeah, like maybe they have people over. I don't know.

Well, when they drove past the house again on their way back, it was gone. Cars gone. Knew it. And this is when Katie was en route to the hospital. So this person pieced. Wow. Immediately when she left the house, he got in his car and pieced. once they found out everything had happened they realized this is the killer's car but other than that there was nothing to go on did anybody get a make or a model or a license plate it was an older model car

like every car then exactly so unfortunately that's all they could go on the town went absolutely bonkers again similar thing to like richard ameer's right state killer people were buying a million locks again their gun sales went through the roof People were buying guard dogs. They were boarding up their windows and doors that night. I would. Basically, what I do every night. They were just doing now.

They were investing in a simply safe alarm system. It's crazy. There was a curfew put into place that all businesses had to close before sundown. Which is where the town. The town that dreaded sundown came from. Which is the best name for a horror movie. I'm not going to lie to you. That's a good-ass movie.

It's a great name. The Texas Range. and police from four other counties started patrolling the area, every single resource was pulled into this case. Well, yeah. And it just stopped. Because everybody was locked away in their house. He just stopped. He never did it again.

Maybe he died. I don't know. Me either. I'm assuming he did. Over 400 people were detained or arrested in connection with this case during the whole thing. Yeah. And Ewell Sweeney, or Sweeney, excuse me, was a town. I love a good townie and a good story like this.

He is a townie. A regular at the bar. He was also a major suspect in the case and many still believe he's the guy. What's his name again? Yule Swinney. So why? Do we feel like he's a good fit? He was arrested in 1947 but not for murder.

He was arrested for car theft. Okay. His wife Peggy then confessed that he was the phantom. Well, that'll do it. But by law at this point, she could not testify against her husband. Because why? Law. Okay. Law, you know. So later she took the confession back because he told her to. Yes, but when he was arrested for car theft, he said to the chief deputy Tillman Johnson, Tillman Johnson, hell, I know that you want me more for more than just stealing cars.

So he confessed, kind of. So he was just kind of like, I know what you're getting me for. Wow. He was in and out of prison a ton, ended up dying in 19. Oh, wow. Yeah. And that was it. So wait. Maybe it stopped because he went to jail. Maybe.

We don't know. My cranium is cranking. Well, that's another thing that they believe is like that's a lot of things fit with him. I feel like it might have been him. His picture was in the slideshow. Do we have anybody else? Well, we have, so we really don't have any other suspects, suspects. But what's funny is that the urban legend that I'm sure everybody has heard of like the two people in, you know, in their car.

and they're making out after their date and they hear scratch scratch scratch on the car door. Yep, yep, yep. And then when they come out, there's like a bloody hook on the car door. No thanks. I've read in several sources that it could have come from this. Like the most recent version of it, the one that we all know, could have come from this case. Where does the hook come from, though? Well, Urban Legends always twist things into like.

You're right. You know. You're like, wait, it doesn't fit. I'm like, mm-mm, no. And he also didn't like scratch-scratch at cars, but you don't know that. We've got to turn it into something. So the last thing I just want to mention is the movies, the town that had dreaded sundown. The original one was in 1976, directed by Charles B. Pierce.

And it used the tagline, the incredible story you are about to see is true. It is. Where it happened and how it happened. Only the names have been changed. That's generous to say about that film. There's one scene where it is supposed to be representing the murder of Betty Joe Booker. The trumpet. Yes, the 15-year-old.

Um, she was the saxophone player. Right. Well, they changed her instrument to a trombone. And you may be like, why would they do that? That's a strange artistic liberty to take. And you're right. It is. But the reason that they did it was they wanted to have the killer tie her to a tree in the film, which they did.

They did. Yep. And then they had the phantom attach a knife to the slide part of the trombone, which would take a lot of time. He then maniacally plays the trombone through his burlap black sack with no hole for his mouth. Do you remember watching that together? So bad. And stabs her each time he plays a note. Which is not funny.

And in the end of the film, you see the killer waiting in line to watch the film. It's like very meta. But that scene is one, it's the silliest thing you'll ever see. But it's also terrifying all at the same time. No, that's terrifying. But like what a weird scene to decide to put into a movie that didn't happen. That did not happen. That's not how Betty Joe Booker was killed.

They should have put that in a very small thing on the bottom when they were like, this is all true, except that one part that we put in. This very silly murder situation we concocted did not actually happen. It's also kind of rude that they did that. Yeah, she was not stabbed. She was not tied to a tree. Yeah. She was shot and she was just found by the tree. Right.

And they didn't even show her being staged. It's just silly. I don't like it. Bless you. So, yeah. Because it's a very meta-film at the end. You see the killer. like his boots waiting to watch the film.

I love meta. They play this film every Halloween in Spring Lake Park in Texarkana. Let's go. It's like tradition. And that's where Paul and Betty went on their date and everything. Oh, that's sad though. There was a 2014 remake that was more like a sequel to this original one. It kind of played on that Halloween screening in the original film because it begins

with the people at the screening, the annual screening of the original film. and then it has some maniac trying to copy the original killing spree. Doesn't it end up, I'm not going to tell you, never mind. I'm like, isn't it though? Spoiler. It was only 2014, it's not long enough to spoil it. That's true. So it was also the last thing I just want to mention because it's important.

Last thing. It was mentioned in Scream when Sydney says, geez, it's like the town that's strutted sundown when they do all the curfews. And Dewey says, hey, I don't love that one. It's about a killer in Texas, huh? And he says it really stupid. I love it. Because he's Dewey. So that is the Texarkana Moonlight Murders. Good job. Thanks, Annie. I need to take my gloves off to tell my story because I can't scroll. The gloves are coming off. The gloves are coming off. The gloves, the bracelet. That's it. Let me close this crazy future machine that I found. Wow. Alina, that was really good.

Thank you. I appreciate that. The issue here, though, is that I'm going to have to take you. Oh, honey. that eyeball. Don't do that. It'll make me dizzy. Oh, I got nervous even though none of you are here right now. Oh, the nerves. Oh, okay. We have to do our shoulders to go all the way back to the 20s. Okay. We're here. And I found this. Charleston, isn't it like this? I couldn't tell you. I don't know. So. From a decade. From a decade. The case that I found, I just threw a feather in my face, was bananas. And I was telling you about it. Yeah, this is a crazy case. I was like, so I'm like looking for things to do in the 20s. And I was like, what could I do? What could I do? what happened that there's actually record of. And then I saw this newspaper clipping, which you also saw.

You did. You know which one it is. You know what it is. And the New York Daily News put out this headline on October 28, 1927. And it says, headless wives in two trunks, one husband held. I love one husband held. Like held where? And also, please tell me more.

Yeah. Like I also talk about like clickbait before clickbait was a thing. Oh, yeah. That was clickbent. That was quickly for sure. Yeah. So the day before in the French quarter of New Orleans, the bodies, I know, we really do. The bodies of two women were found by their housekeeper.

And the housekeeper's name was Nettie Compass. Oh, Nettie. I'm sorry. So she just, you know, walks in in the morning to, like, do her job. She probably just had some coffee and then, like, yacked it up everywhere. She was like, I'm going to Charleston while I clean, doodah. And then she was like, no, I'm not. Ah.

The two... Like how Ash was on that haunted hayride? Ooh! Oh, and I have pearls to clutch today. Oh, ooh. So the two women that she walks in on that, well, are headless and in trunks, she doesn't know that yet. She just sees a lot of blood.

They're Teresa and Leonide, who went by Lonnie, which is easier to say, so thanks. Sure is. The two of them are sister-in-laws, married to a pair of brothers. The brothers were Joseph and Henry Moody. Moiety is a fun last name to say. So shout out to you if your last name's Moody. So as always with my case, we're going to scurr, rewind. So Henry, Joseph, and the women were all originally from Neuabaria in Louisiana.

And then they met and they all fell in love. I couldn't find anything about where they met or how they fell in love. But they did. But they did. We believe it. Yeah, because here we are. That had happened. Well, they move in together, which I'm like, that's a lot to move in with like your sister and brother-in-law.

That's a lot. That's a lot of people. This must like each other. Cramped corridors. And, okay, so they move in together on the second floor of 715 Ursuline Street in the French quarter of New Orleans. Okay, I'm there. Here you are. Here we are.

They rented this place from Joe Caruso. Okay. And I'm sure you're thinking like, cool, why do I need to know their landlord's name? I don't really care. It's important, I bet. It is, you do. And that's all I'm going to tell you right now. You know how I know that?

Because you have a magnifying glass. Well, that's important information. You just discovered, you're going to discover some important information, so lift that up. Okay. Mr. Joey Caruso is an important name in this case because Teresa, who was married to Henry, had eyes for Caruso. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

And apparently, Mr. Caruso had them back. I don't know why I have to say his name like that, but I do. Mr. Caruso. And then there was like, Mr. Caruso. There was rumors going, that door just opened and, oh, my God. Is this place haunted? It's the phantom. I'm not even fucking with you.

It's not even a joke. A door just opened behind us on its own. Okay, I'm leaving now. We summoned some spirits from different errors. Can you send them back? Please go back. Oh, and it's just pitch-blot. Okay, sorry, this is rude.

So, yeah, so Mr. Caruso had the eyes back, and there was all these rumors going around town about them canoodling behind their spouses back because Caruso was married too. Oh, which is not cool. That's not good. And also, major points, if the word canoodling just made you think of Mr. Duval for mean girls. It did make me think of that. Because you know I throw a mean girls reference in whenever I can. Also, this hand is getting a lot of motion. Oh, I went very like.

You always talk with your hands. I do too. So they're together. All these rumors are going around. They're both married. That's never good. You know. Now, that's Teresa.

So then we're going to go to Lonnie. She was also, like, not super happily married with her husband, Joe. Not to be, like, messed up with Joe Carissa. A lot of Joe's. A lot of Joe's. The women, like, weren't really happy with the brothers because they weren't bringing in the cash. Uh-oh. And that, you know, money problems always lead to murder, I feel like.

And then because they weren't really bringing home the dough, the women had to get jobs. And they were like, we don't want to. We just want to flap, flat, flap all day and canoodle around town with our side pieces. So this is annoying. And they also had kids. So they were like, I have to raise the kids. They took jobs as seamstresses. And then they may have done like a little bit of sex work.

So they were really busy. They're mad at their husbands. Really busy. And they're like, we hate you. Yeah, that's just the moral of this. You know, we just hate you. So anyway, Lonnie and Joseph got separated when Joseph walked in on Lonnie embracing another man. I'm going to go out.

I'm going to say that embracing means something a little bit scandalous. Canoodling. I feel like you should like, they were doing something scandalous. I'm going to like, I feel bad. I'm throwing feathers everywhere. I love it. So he was like, yeah, bye, don't embrace anybody except me. Stop embracing men.

Don't do it. He moved away with the two kids that they had. So there's also kids involved here. I hate that this kids involved. So Lonnie stays behind in the apartment with Henry, Teresa, and there are three kids. So there was like five whole kids living there. Five whole kids. Now subtract two.

There's three kids, Lonnie, Teresa, and Henry. Okay. And it sounds like a little bit of a less than happy family. Seems it. You know? So again, depending on what source you're reading, the woman either, the women either decided they were leaving town one night or they were just going to have like little girl's night. And they were like, listen, Henry, we're going out or we're leaving. We need you to watch the kids.

Watch the kids while we leave forever. Right, exactly. Watch the kids. Their trunks were packed. They were ready to go for their girls' night or their vacation. I'm just going to go with the fact that they were dipping. Yeah, I'm going to go with it. Because, you know, the trunks were packed.

They were. So they're like, Henry, we need you to watch the kids. And he's like, okay. So I think it was like the day before that they told him this. And then the next day, the day that he's supposed to watch the kids, he just goes to the bar all day long. Oh. He's like, fuck that.

I'm going to get sauced. So does he just leave the kids? Well, no. He just like leaves them with the women. Oh, okay. So they're mad too. So in the early morning and after, the morning and early afternoon, he just gets sauced, like completely

super drunk. And then he just comes home and decides to take everybody out for a bite to eat. Okay. Which is like, I mean, I guess you would be kind of hungry at that point. You're always hungry after a long morning of drinking, right? I'll get insoucest. You're getting soused. So, they go out, they get their

bite to eat, and on the way home, some like busybody Susan lady pulls Teresa aside and she's like, hey, listen, everybody knows about your plan tonight to run away with Caruso. Caruso. Also, I just want to say Caputo because of the Long Island video.

Obviously. You get me. Thank you. So she pulls her aside and she's like, you know, everybody knows that you're running away tonight. And you know who hears this? Henry. Henry heard it, guys. He heard it in his ear.

He heard. And he was pissed. He wasn't happy. Nope. So they head back home and like everybody goes to bed except for Henry because he's pissed. Because he's stewing. Pissed, sauceed all of the above. And, you know.

it's just not going to be good from here. No, it's not. I'm just warning you. I don't think things are going to go well. So he's, oh, I close my document shit. I'm like, I don't know what happens from here. And that's it. And I'm just, we'll tell you what happened next time. So no.

I got it back open. So he's mad. He's stewing and he's like, you know what? I'm going to do something about this. My wife isn't running away. I hate Lonnie. She's a bad impression on Teresa. So he gets up.

He takes a cane knife and heads into his wife, Teresa's bedroom. And he just starts swinging and swinging and swinging. And he decapitates her. Wow. And then he keeps swinging and swinging and swinging. And he cuts off both her arms, both her legs, and some of her fingers. Wow. Then at some point she got some kind of, obviously, like, wound to her back.

Oh, I thought you were like, she got a wound. She got a wound at this point. She got another wound to her back at some point. He takes off her wedding ring off her potentially severed finger and shoves it in the wound that's in her back. Well, now you do. You're welcome. I could have got my whole life without knowing that.

You're welcome. I could have got my whole life without knowing a lot of things that you tell me in these cases. That's very true. Payback. That's really messed up. He shoves it in her back. Wow, what was the reason for that? Because she was cheating on him.

That's symbolic. Like, how is it a symbol to shove it in the wound on her back? I don't know. I don't know. So he's not done. He goes to the back bedroom, which is Lonnie's bedroom, and he does the same thing. He decapitates her. He severs her limbs.

I don't understand why he had to cut the fingers off when he already cut everything else off. It's like, that's a lot. And he stuffs her in a trunk. And then he goes back and he stuffs Teresa in her trunk, and he dips. Wow. And these were potentially the trunks that they had packed to get out of there. Where are the kids? I know I wrote that in here at one point.

And the whole time I was reading this case, I was like, where are the kids? And you know what? Nobody finds out. But they lived. All right. They didn't get hacked up. Well, they're probably not now. So the whole scene is obviously like a bloodbath.

And then this is crazy. Are you ready for this little tidbit? No. So strangely enough, there was this submission that Lonnie had written into a magazine and they declined it, which is really sad. Oh, cool. I didn't have to put that in their book. So they find it covered in blood. And it's basically this like cautionary tale to young women about like this woman who finds love after being in a super unhappy marriage.

And she wrote, quote, please think ahead of you and do not make the mistake I have made because it does not always turn out the right way. And then she says more and more. And then she says, be careful. Marriage is a life sentence. Isn't that so cryptic? Can you imagine thinking of marriage as a life sentence? No, I think of it as like a nice union. Isn't that what they call it a union?

A union. That's what they call it. You get benefits. That's what those people call it. You know, also so weird that she wrote that, like, had no idea what was going to happen in her life. Because people speculate that this tale was actually written even before she had moved to the French quarter and met her husband. Yeah, so it's almost like a weird premonition.

I know. I hate it. She should team up with those two ladies in Texarkana that had dreams. I know, she should. Yeah. So now we're going to whoop back to Nettie walking in on the scene. So she shows up to clean and she screams so loud when she walks in. She's absolutely terrified, obviously.

And she runs back downstairs and grabs two insurance men who are walking by. And she's like, I love those. She's like, you, insurance suits. Suits over there. Pause what you're doing. and then instead of calling the police right away, the two insurance men tip off this local reporter, George William Healy. Okay. And then instead of calling the police, Healy calls another reporter and he's like, you got to come see this.

And then they realize, you know, hey, we should probably call the police. You probably should have started with the police. You know, 9-1-1. Yeah, this is a pretty big deal. Yeah. Wow. Oh, my God, Chromatica 2 went to 9-1-1-1. So then, I just had to make that joke.

so then I'm so glad you are who you are thank you I'm glad you are who you are so the cops got there um Nettie goes upstairs again George is there lady Gaga's there and they follow the blood trails this is where she came up with chromatica is exactly the inspiration they follow the blood trails into the first bedroom and one of the reporters lifts up the trunk and they see the arms and the legs and the torso and maybe the head, I don't know, it depends where you read, in the trunk. And they're like, oh my God. And then there's, oh, my God. Oh, my God.

There's like blood everywhere. They find the note that Lonnie had written when they get to her back bedroom. And at one point, they find fingers in the bed. That's real gross. This lady just lifts up a finger and she's like, I severed finger. There's fingers in the bed. Which is great. And she actually goes, look, a lady's finger.

Lady fingers. I know. Those are cookies, right? And now it's ruined for you. Tiramisu, tried if you haven't. It's great. Oh. I say it like it's a new dessert.

Nobody wants to eat dessert right now. Tirmasoo. So she finds fingers in the bed, and there's like everything is strewn everywhere. There's children's clothing strewn about. That makes me sad. There's clumps of hair within everything. There's just human remains everywhere because they were gutted. There's brains everywhere.

Everywhere. There's nastiness everywhere. The police, they come and assess the scene as they do, and they're like, Lady Gaga, you have to go. Just kidding, I should stop that now. And the coroner comes, and his name is Dr. George Rowling. So he determines that the women must have first been bludgeoned by something, and then decapitated and dismembered, which is like, wow, you don't say. No way. But he noted that whoever did this must have had some kind of experience with knives, and he thinks it's like a butcher.

because he noted that they knew not to cut through the bone, but instead to cut through the joint, which is not information I should give anybody. That makes a lot of sense, though. It does. I'm sure that makes sense to you, too. It's really hard to cut the bone. Yeah, you need a bone saw, right?

You do, you need a bone saw. No, thanks. Even then it's hard. I know. That's messed up. It is? So, yeah. Then Joseph Moiety, Henry's brother,

he probably knew exactly who was responsible for this. Oh, yeah. And he goes right to the police, and he's like, I was involved too, which he wasn't. So I'm like, wow, good brother. What a sibling. I know.

And the police are like, cool, that's awesome. Where's your brother Henry? And he tips off the officers that his brother Henry was probably going to hop on a ship and skip town and be like, bye. I mean, who wouldn't? He just gruesomely murdered a lot of people. He's going to get out of here. And slowly take out of town. Yeah, right, especially then.

The slowest get away. Not a motorboat. So the police chief, Thomas Healy, got another Healy. he radios out to all the outgoing ships and he's like yeah if this guy comes on the boat call me maybe take him off and he described him as a very hairy dark hair dark-eyed man and he said he has he has a couple tattoos on his arm and one is of a naked woman oh a naked lady tattoo right that was really scandalous for the 20s not everybody had naked women on their arm not everybody does now no actually I do isn't that kind of funny oh yeah you kind of do that's whatever but they're

tasteful. Scandal. Scandal. That's why you're a flapper. Oh, Lonnie. So wouldn't you know it, that was the tattoo that tipped off workers on a freight ship called the gem. Cute.

And it was headed toward Texas and they were like, he got on, Henry got on the boat with a fake name and they were like, we see your tattoo. We know what you're up to. You're hairy. You're hairy. You're very hairy. You're hairy. The situation's hairy. We're calling Mr. Healy.

And so they do. Good. So, and this is only two. two days after he killed the women. So, like, he didn't really plan this getaway too well, which I'm glad. Yeah. He confesses to everything, and he's like, yeah, Joe wasn't involved at all. And the police are like, yeah, we didn't think so.

And he said he contemplated this for a while. So already he's like, hit me with the first degree murder charge. Because I've been thinking about this for quite some time. Quite some time. He's like, first I thought I was going to kill myself, but I didn't want to. And then he said he thought of killing the children and himself and just leaving Teresa to like, But he was like, I couldn't bear the thought of her running off with Joe Caruso for the rest of her life. Not I couldn't bear the thought of killing my children.

I didn't want her running off with Caruso. Well, he seems a little like not good. So he also tells the police, yeah, he is tapped because he tells the police, if I ever get my hands on Joe Caruso, I'll chop him up into little pieces. You're like, well, thank you, sir. And goes on to say, not big pieces like my wife, but little pieces. I'll make him look like something that's been run through a sausage mill. A sausage mill.

He says this to the police. I think he did it. I think he did it. Well, he said so. I think he did it. And by the way, Henry had worked for a bit as a butcher's assistant. Oh, he knows tendons. Exactly.

I was going to say, remember the whole joint thing? Yeah, yeah, boom. Also, remember sausages for later on, but not right now. I'm remembering sausages. Ding it in your brain. Dangin it. Henry was tried separately for each murder and by two different judges, which was like kind of crazy. Yeah. And his defense tried to argue that he was temporarily insane because he was like soft.

Because he seemed it. Because he seemed it because he told the police that he was going to kill somebody else. But that didn't work out. And he was sentenced to two terms of life in prison. Wow. Which was actually lenient for the time because they could have hanged him. Oh. Is that how you're supposed to say it like that, right?

Yeah. Cool. So. I feel like they kind of felt bad for him that his wife was like maybe cheating on him. But also it's like, why did you feel any kind of remorse for this guy? Yeah, no. Crazy. And now you're probably thinking, oh, that's the end of the story.

But it's not. Sausages. Yeah, you got to remember. Sausages. Plus a little more. Henry served 16 years of his prison sentence like pretty quietly. He was a good prisoner. And he was such a good prisoner that they made him a trustee or like a trustee.

All right. And he got a little more freedom than like the other people there. Okay. So while he was alone, he used that freedom, duh, to escape prison. Oh. He literally just casually hops in a taxi and he's like, hey, can you bring me to the train station? I'd like to get out of there. And the taxi guy's like, that's my job.

So yeah. And he brings him to the train station and he hops on a train to Chicago. Boom. See you later. Goodbye. Except not. It seemed very easy. He was able to fly like under the radar a little bit for two.

years but then he was stopped for suspicious behavior you got to lay low you got to lay low I mean he did for two years I also I couldn't find out what he was doing that was so suspicious but he was just being hairy and also just reminded me a naked lady tattoo on his arm he was like humming don't be suspicious don't be suspicious don't be suspicious did you get that I'm like that's suspicious but did you get the reference no I didn't you didn't no Parks and Rec. No, I don't remember that. I'm sorry, okay.

Should we end the line? End it now. It's done. You love Parks and Rec. I do love Parks and Rec. I don't remember that, though. That's okay, I'm sorry. So, they get him for not being

suspicious, but really being suspicious. And he gets sent back to Louisiana, and they're like, you gotta stay here, but not for long, because the warden and Henry were like bros. The warden was like, you know, other than that escaping thing, he's been like a pretty good guy.

He took a painting while he was in prison, and he was actually like kind of good at it so good in fact that his one of his paintings ended up in the Baton Rouge's governor's mansion what and I don't know if it's still there but tell me I couldn't find it I don't know I think it was a person so he was like they recommended his release and they not only released him but pardoned him so his pardon was signed in 1948 by governor jimmy Davis. He chopped two women up. And just a little fun fact, Jimmy Davis was also a singer. They called him the singing governor. That's a very clever name. It's so cute though. For a governor that's saying. You know. So now you would think like after he got pardoned for savagely murdering two people and also escaping prison and I guess he's friends with the governor now, he would like turn his life around and do something good. I bet he didn't. You're correct because you have a magnifying glass. I know. In 19. In 1556, he was staying at a hotel with his girlfriend, and they got into this argument, which I read was about shopping money.

Like, she was like, can I have some money to go buy some clothes? Like, and he was like, no. And he shot her in the chest. Oh. He was like, no, and he just pulls out a gun and shoots her in the chest. No, in fact. Well, they were arguing. And crazily enough, she survived.

And he went back to prison, obviously. Because they were like, you can't do that. You cannot do that, sir. But this time his sentence was only five years. For shooting someone in the chest? Because it was only attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Oh, just that old thing. You know, but what if he did murder her?

He wanted to murder her. It wasn't, you know, I just... He wanted her to die. I don't get it. But luckily, he died in prison from a stroke in 1957 before he could, like, go kill anybody else. Wow. And I told you to remember sausages. I got sausages on the brain this whole time.

So this story, like this whole Jimmy story, cannot be told at all without mentioning a ghost. So we got murder and ghosts for you tonight. My feather is in my face. It's okay. Thank you. So I lost my place. This case, sausages, sausages. This case reminded people back in the 1920s when it happened of the sausage ghost, which they thought was just a spooky tale, but they were like, sounds strangely familiar.

Sounds hilarious is what it sounds. It does sound hilarious. It's not. Sausage ghosts. I assure you it's not. In fact, I was telling Ma this morning and she was like, I could have gotten my whole life without knowing that. It was cute. So the sausage ghost.

I just feel like every time you know the sausage ghost is around because you smell like coles. Sourcrow. I love that. Well, the story goes that this couple, they fell madly in love. They were like super young and they opened a sausage store together. I'm going to close my computer. I know the tale. So I know this one.

I know this one. So they fell in love. They start this sausage company together and business is like booming. And it's booming for years and years and years. And they're just making sausage and being in love. I love that. And they're growing old together. But this guy was like a real jerk and he didn't want to grow old with this lady because

she was getting wrinkly. That's not cool. Right? He was mad that she was wrinkly and old. I was thinking they were like this cute sausage making couple. Oh, honey. So she's getting wrinkly. pissed off about it so he goes and gets this like super young girlfriend what a bean guy

doosh nozzle yeah I was gonna say what a douche so he is like hopping around canoodling with this little girl not little girl but young girlfriend and one night and his he's still married one night him and his wife are cleaning up shop and he she's in the front and he's like doing something in the back and he all the sudden comes up behind her strangles her drags her back into the the back room and pushes her into the meat grinder. Whomph. Now that's not all. So then he just goes about his life, but everybody's like, where'd your wife go?

And I don't know what he told them. And people start noticing that their sausage tastes a little different, a little different. And so one night he's cleaning up shop, getting ready to go out with like his girlfriend, probably. And he hears this loud thud from the back room. and he goes back to check it and his zombie ass wife is crawling out

of the sausage machine and she's like I'm gonna fuck you up and so he runs into the street screaming and yelling and crying because his wife is gonna fuck him off and people are like what's wrong and he's like nothing no never mind and it happens night after night after night

she just keeps crawling out and she was like tonight I'm gonna fuck you up yeah she's ready to do the damn thing So it happens night after night after night and people are like, this guy's going crazy. Now business starts to slow down. But then like some guys traveling through town, he's like, oh, sausages. So he stops to get a sausage and he bites into a sausage and he's chewing. And he's chewing and he's chewing.

And all of a sudden he's like, oh, ow, that hurt. And he spits out her wedding ring. And he brings it to the police. And the police go and they arrest the man. that killed his wife by pushing her in the sausage grinder. And when they get there, he's literally in the corner screaming and crying that his wife is crawling out of the sausage grinder to get him. And they're like, no, she's not because he killed her.

And that's crazy. So they send him to an asylum. And every single night in the asylum, he's like, oh my God, she's going to get me. She's coming to get me. Like she came to the asylum with him. And then this new guy takes over the sausage shop and he says, like, obviously the lady wasn't crawling out of a thing to get him. But she was still like hanging out around there.

saw her and then the husband and the asylum complete suicide because he's just done with this whole deal he's like she's going to get me i'm going to get me and the guy that took over the sausage shop he said that the day that the guy died is the day that everything stopped happening and the wife wasn't haunting the shop anymore she was like he's dead finally exactly and do you know what do you know where that sausage shop was i don't know where it was i don't know where it was Ursuline Street where Henry Moody killed his wife and sister in law. Wow. Oh my God, I loved that.

So yeah. Wow. That was the tale of Henry Moody killing everybody and also a little dabble of ghost. Of paranormal. I loved it. Thank you. I loved the sausage ghost. I loved your case.

You love it. I just tried to itch my head, but I have a weird pillbox hat on and I itch them. Don't do that. That was so much fun. It was fun. And you know what? We got one person cheering us on and I hope everybody was having fun. Woo! And even though we can't hear you, we can feel it. We can feel it coming through the camera. And hope you enjoyed the cases. Yes. And hope you enjoyed our crazy outfits. Yes. Because this was fun and I feel like this is how I want to dress all the time. I'm going to go to Target like this tomorrow. I just want to hold a magnifying glass all the time. Do you want to go to Target tonight like this?

And just feeling, hey, we're looking to investigate and I'm just looking at tap dance. But we hope this is like the first of many of these live streams. And hopefully we'll be able to do some that will accommodate people in different time zones. Because I know there were people that were like that. For sure. Like four in the morning where I am. The other day we were like, we're going to wake up at 7 a.m. and do a show for like anybody.

Yeah. If you want it, you got it. Yes. So let us know if you liked it. We can't wait to meet the people for the meet and greets after this. Yes. And we love you guys. We love you.

And we hope you keep listening and tuning into our live shows. And we hope you keep it weird. Bye.