My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - MFM Minisode 196

Episode Date: October 12, 2020

This week’s hometowns include a creepy neighbor and a murder in the woods.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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And welcome. To my favorite murder. The mini-soad. That's right. That's Karen Kilgara. That's Georgia Hartsterk. Hi. What's up?

How are you doing? Are you hanging in there? Good. You better be, because you have no choice. That's really all you've got. That's all you have left. On the phone with my dad's friend, I go, does this seem like it's getting better? It's better than me.

And he was like, what? What are you talking about? What did he say? He won't even pretend. He won't even acknowledge. It was like, I think I've read like three articles that were like, these lawyers are this mad, and these judges aren't going for it. And these whatever, where it was like, yes, yes, logic is coming back to her.

And then I tried to get the confirmation from home gym, and he wouldn't give it to me. You can get it anywhere else, except your own father. He's the only one I want her from, and he's the only one who won't give it to me. It's called withholding. Try it sometimes. It's called the Juliana Hatfield song, everybody loves me but you. Why dad? Why?

But hey, this isn't about us. This is about you. Hey, I didn't mean to start off heavy, we're just trying to do a true crime write-in show. Yeah, you write in your stuff, we read it to you. Do you want to go first? Sure. You know, I love going first. That's great, because I love going last.

It's my passion. It's just a subject-lined headline, hometown story. And the greeting is, my loves. Here, let me give that less vocal fry accidentally. My loves. Oh, there. Cool. I come bearing a gruesome and very recent story from my hometown of Patch Hog on Long

Island. Patch Hog, New York, on Long Island. And in parentheses it does say pronounced Patch Hog. This past Tuesday, October 6th, my sister and I left the house at about 11 a.m. to grab some coffee. As we were driving, we noticed that a block away from our house, police had the entire street blocked off. We peeked down the road to see crime scene tape and the medical examiner.

We knew something was up, but we only found out the full story later that day. The tale goes that on Tuesday morning around 10 a.m., police attempted to pull over a car in a generic traffic stop. The vehicle fled and made a turn down a side street. Once the police had caught up to the car, it had crashed into a utility pool. When the officer finally walked up to the driver's window, he saw that the driver was bleeding profusely from the neck. He had slit his own throat.

By the time the EMTs arrived at the scene, the man was pronounced dead. And after ID-ing him, authorities went to his home, one town over, to notify his next relative, Ken. Instead, when they got to the door, no one answered, so they forced entry. Inside they found the bodies of a man and a woman who were later identified as the driver's father and sister. Their bodies had been in the house for 12 days before being discovered. Holy shit. And then that's it.

The sign off is stay sexy and just stay away from Long Island. Forever yours, Mary. Wow, yeah, you don't do such a drastic thing because you outran the cops just for the hell of it. No. That's like the shit I'm caught. This is it. That's, yeah, that's a big final act kind of horrifying thing.

But still, you know, I think it's very human to be a rubber necker and to be like, whoa, there's a bunch of stuff happening down there. But like, even if it was just a car accident, you know, it might have, just to find out that it's like layer upon layer upon layer just be so freaky and horrible in your neighborhood. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. This is just called hometown story.

Hello, lovely ladies, Steven and pet babies. I have a story for you from the Pacific Northwest. As we have learned in many episodes, Canadians are not are not all nice during a recent backyard socially distanced hangout with my mom and dad. I plugged the MFM pod and was thrilled when my mom expressed her interest in true crime and even suggested I send this story to you wonderful humans. My dad grew up in the 80s in a city called New Westminster in the Vancouver, British Columbia area.

He's always loved being outdoors. So he and his friends think the outsiders would get out of town for extended camping trips, fishing and generic tomfoolery in the forests of the great British Columbian wilderness at any opportunity they had. Sounds fun. On one weekend as my dad's small group of friends were camping, they noticed a smell that they assumed was an animal that must have been decomposing somewhere in the vicinity. It's never an animal decomposing.

It's never a mannequin, but it wasn't close enough to ring any alarm bells, flash forward to the next week and the body of my dad's missing 15 year old classmate was found in the same area as the campsite that they had been staying at and he had been murdered. This boy was the victim of a serial killer named Clifford Olson who operated in the lower mainland from 1980 to 1981 who claimed the lives of 11 young people in the Vancouver area. This sicko would post part-time job ads targeted towards young people promising two good to be true wages in order to lure kids to him and away from their parents under the guise

of work. Another weekend not long after the morbid camping trip, my dad and some friends were walking through the empty city streets leaving a house party. So at 3 a.m. when a white, windowless van screeches to a halt next to them and a man tries to entice the teens into taking a ride home, they were rightfully freaked out and decided the best course of action was to swear and yell at the guy until he slammed the passenger door and sped away. He has no proof that this was really Olson, but even if it wasn't, trying to lure intoxicated

teenage boys into a van in the middle of the night is next level sketchy. This was really long, but I hope it's worth it. Love you guys. We're taking the time to read the story that has been on regular rotation during our family campfires and road trips. I hope everybody at the MFM crew and all the fellow murderinos are safe, healthy and happy. Always remember to follow your nose and never get into a van with strange men while a serial killer is on the loose SSDGM.

God, that's so insane. Like a kid is missing from their class and then they go have this experience while camping and then find out they were basically near his body, the knowledge that they smelled that and then like it probably was the guy in the van, right? Like no, there's probably probably if it's in, if it's in the town and it's like that's the town he was working in, could who else see because that's the thing that's so weird about it is like the windowless van community. It's what it is literally like house painters is certain like certified delivery people

and straight up serial killers. It's such a small and maybe sometimes like a CYO basketball group, but it's like a windowless van. There's no need. No, no windowless. Maybe a band on tour once in a while, but they bought it from a fucking serial killer, probably their van, you know. Right.

Yeah. The subject line of this one is the neighbor and the world record. Greetings all. Hope this finds you healthy and masked. I love your show. And when you asked for interesting neighbor stories, I had to gift you this little gem from my dad. My dad has been telling me the tale of his grandpa, my great grandpa's neighbor, my whole

life and now it's time to pass it on to you all. In the 60s, my dad was a teenager and would spend his summers working on my great grandpa's ranch in the black hills of South Dakota. Have you ever been to South Dakota? I don't think I've been to either Dakota ever. You think it's pretty? Gorgeous. Just like super, like I think it's like prairies and obviously some black hills in the background.

Right. That sounds nice. My great grandpa's nearest neighbor was a sheep rancher named Claude Willis. According to my dad, Mr. Willis was a big man of few words. He always had on boots, a sweaty cowboy hat and a cigarette hanging from the corner of his lip. And then in parentheses, I'm picturing jack plants and city slickers. My great grandpa bought sheep from Mr. Willis and my dad would spend his summer days back

and forth working between the two ranches. As the years passed, Mr. Willis suffered a stroke, left his ranch and moved in with his son and daughter-in-law in California. Hold on because here comes the WTF moment. On November 15th, 1969, Mr. Willis and his daughter-in-law got into a heated argument. It was at this moment that he decided to unburden himself of a secret that he had held for over four decades. His name was not in fact Claude Willis.

His name was actually Leonard T. Frisco in 19- How does this come out in that fight? I don't understand. Oh, yeah? Well, I'm not who I said I was all these years. You know what? Well, shut up for a second because I'm not who I say I am. Oh, you think you're better than me?

Let me tell you something. I'm way worse than you even think I am. Exactly. Okay. Yeah. That makes no sense. Well, and my name is in Leonard T. Frisco. Okay, in 1920, Mr. Frisco attempted to steal a Model T, some guns, and ammunition.

During his apprehension, he murdered two police officers. He was captured and sentenced to life in prison, but he escaped in 1923. He had been living as Claude Willis ever since. Holy shit. After his confession. Yeah. After his confession, which I bet he regretted the second that fight ended. He was just like daughter-in-law, you can't trust your daughter-in-law.

He was a man of few words until he wasn't. Yeah. After his confession, his son and daughter-in-law turned him in and he went back to the Nevada State Prison after 46 years on the run at the age of 77. Your dad, you find that out about him? Yeah. A lot of bummer. That's...

Yeah. Okay. Leonard T. Frisco lived a full and successful life under the radar and managed to secure himself a longstanding spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest escaped and recaptured prisoner. My dad has a lot of tales from his past, but this one is my favorite. Stay sexy, stay safe, and if you want to break a world record, I'm sure there are easier ways to do it, Emily.

Holy shit. So Claude Willis slash Leonard T. Frisco is the longest running escaped and recaptured prisoner that there is. Amazing. 46 years. Wow. Wow. That's a good one.

These are all dad themed, I think. Yeah. It's dad time. So is my next one. You know Father's Day is coming up next year and we want you to be ready. That's right. Hello, ladies. Oh, hello.

Hi. Is this Steven Merchant? I just listened to the last Minnesota and I couldn't help but send in some more details on the Idleweld Park Daniel Tiger Little Boy fell out of the roller coaster story. Thank God. Uh-huh. Thank God. Okay, good.

Good. So I, along with my dad and four siblings, have worked at Idleweld for many years. It's a popular summer job for kids in the Pittsburgh area starting at age 14. Right operators have to be 16. They wanted to clarify. I worked there for nine summers and my dad was there for more than 12 years. My siblings and I all worked in the food department and my dad was the lead carpenter on such a dad job.

Putting the nails up in the roller coasters. That'll fix it. Basically. Yeah. The roller coaster in question was a wooden coaster and during the off season, my dad was rebuilding sections of the track. So yeah, that's exactly what was fucking happening on the day that this accident occurred. I was working at my non Idleweld job when I heard the news of what happened.

My heart instantly sank to my stomach because I was afraid that it had something to do with my dad's work and can and could implicate him in some way. Luckily, it wasn't the fault of the coaster track, but the fact that the two brothers were seated together in a car and switched places once the train left the station, leaving the smaller boy on the outside of the car. I think he was also standing up, which made it too easy for him to fall out as the coaster went around a curve. And then it says in parentheses, this could have obviously been avoided with seatbelts.

My dad was one of the first employees on the scene, but fortunately the first aid building is located right next to the coaster and EMTs were with the boy immediately. As the last e-mailer said, he was life-flighted to a nearby hospital. From what my dad heard in the months following, the little boy recovered well. I believe he has some minor lasting effects from the accident, but on the whole is doing well. Phew. Well, I just wanted to share some more.

That's a miracle. Huh? That's a miracle. Yeah. To be thrown off a working roller coaster and not only live, but be okay with minor. I mean, Jesus Christ, seriously. I just wanted to share some more insight on that accident as it is also struck super close to home for me.

Stay safe and wear seatbelts on roller coasters, Amber. Thank you, Amber. Don't go on. That was really good. That was good information. Uh-huh. I'm never going on a roller coaster again. Am I the only?

I feel like I can definitively say that and just be fine with it. Yeah. And at this point, I think it's healthy to be letting go of things like roller coasters. I think so, too, for at least a little while, although I would like you to, when everything gets normal again, I would like you to re-approach the Tower of Terror because I think I think you'd have really good time. Is that a roller coaster? Kind of.

That's the one where you basically drop in an elevator. It's like a broken elevator. I like that. I like that. But there's, but it's all about the lead up where you're, it just builds suspense and tension and then you just get in an elevator and it drops. It's awesome. I'll do it for you.

To impress you. Okay. I think that it's the only thing that will impress me. Forget about your good spelling. Forget about all those other ways you try to impress me because aren't you the one that you said you had an edible and then you had to leave like you couldn't go on it? I went on that. Yeah.

Yeah. But this time I'll be sober. It'll be great. No, you don't have to be. Oh, thank you. Looking for a better cooking routine? Meal planning, shopping and prepping handled Hello Fresh has you covered. Hello Fresh makes home cooking easy and affordable so you can stay on track and on budget in

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Goodbye. What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill or are they made to kill? I'm Candace DeLong and on my new podcast Killer Psyche Daily I share a quick 10 minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the criminal masterminds, psychopaths and cold-blooded killers you hear about in the news. I have decades of experience as a psychiatric nurse, FBI agent and criminal profiler. On Killer Psyche Daily I'll give you insight into cases like Ryan Grantham and the newly

arrested Stockton Serial Killer. I'll also bring on expert guests to dive deeper into the details, share what it's like to work with a behavioral assessment unit at Quantico, answer some killer trivia and even host virtual Q&As where I'll answer your burning questions. Hey Prime members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast Killer Psyche Daily in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today. This just says hometown story.

Hi friends. It feels like you literally are my friends now. I was once just a sporadic commute listener but then 2020 happened. Now you are there for my long dog walks trying to cook and all my laundry folding of solely sweatpants and moomos. God, I feel that one's so hard. Feeling this. I never considered writing in until you asked about creepy neighbor stories.

So let's just dive in, eh? Back in the day, and then in parentheses, I'm 32, my mom would take my brother and I out trick or treating. Our neighborhood was pretty epic for Halloween. The houses were fairly close together, no street lights, just flashlights, and every house participated. There was this house in the neighborhood that all the kids would say for last. Why?

Because it was awesome. This dude would go all out. He would transform his depressing single story to a haunted house any kid would love. Each year was themed. I'm not sure if my vivid memory is of just one year or all the years that we went there combined into one. For example, I recall a science theme where this dude, I guess that's his official name now, was dressed as a mad scientist and all the kids could do interactive experiments

like rubbing electric balls to make their hair stand up. This was also the only home in the neighborhood that the kids would be invited into. Finally, the coolest part was seeing your picture he took of you the previous year on the wall. So you know, when I was Lisa left I Lopez, I could see myself pictured on the wall as a wizard. One year changes a lot. So let's recap.

A single man opening his house up to children, playing dress up, taking their pictures and keeping their pictures on his wall. You'd think all these glaring red flags would have smacked all the parents in the face, but this was the 90s. Fast forward to years later, dude was arrested for child pornography. Who would have thought, right? I don't know, literally anyone. So don't let creepy dudes take pictures of your kids, and if all signs are pointing

to weirdo, don't ignore them. With love, Lisa from Philly, where, you know, bad things happen. Oh God. Oh my, like, I want it to be real. I want him to be a good person and like cool and like kind and it's just like fun for him because he never had kids of his own or something. Why does he have to be a pervert and prove everyone right? It's just, he's just a perv that's taking advantage of our national holidays, our beautiful

Wiccan based, pagan based holidays and using them to his own for his own uses with and then kissing up to the moms. Okay. This one. My last one's called scandal at the science fair. Oh shit. Yeah. Hello, murder mams and the mustache man.

All right. Mm hmm. I vaguely remember an episode from forever ago when you guys talked about a dentist who contaminated his patients with HIV. I don't remember any of the details. Did this actually happen? Was it all a dream? Who knows?

But it did remind me of a more innocent version of events that happened at my former elementary school and for reasons unbeknownst to all of us today is the day that I decided to share it with you. Every year, third and fourth grade students were allowed to prepare a science fair project on the topic of their choice, you know, a bunch of a trifold poster boards, seven year olds milling about the hot gym, the whole deal. Well, one girl who herself was diabetic decided to do her project on diabetes in an effort to thoroughly impact other young scientific minds.

She wanted to give her classmates a firsthand experience of what it was like to have to prick yourself with a needle every day to check your blood sugar. Bad idea. And she only brought one needle. Terrible idea. Oh. By the time the teacher caught on about 25 kids had pricked themselves with the same Lancet.

No. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh. Kid ideas gone. Right. Kid ideas.

Kid ideas. I didn't mean to kill you. That's right. Kid ideas. Oh. When I was in elementary school, I stayed as far away from shots and needles as possible so I don't know what these kids were thinking. I'm sure this was an absolute nightmare for the school administration, but the health

department was called and fortunately no diseases were spread. So no harm done, I guess. Thank you all so much for the joy you bring into my life, listening to you in my long solitary drives to and from college, so much more enjoyable, although I did get extra freaked out when I needed to stop for gas at night. Stay safe and maybe check your kid's science fair project the night before. Oh, that's so little girl and like that's so like they all wanted to like try to understand what she was going through like 25 kids were like, yeah, let's do this.

It would have been fine if she had followed the idea. If I was her teacher, I'd have been like, look, F, because do you use the same needle every time? Right. No, you don't. You put it in your biohazard box over in the laundry room or whatever. You have to keep that same standard here at the science fair project. I feel like as a teacher, you should catch on early that if anything has to do with blood,

you know what I mean? Like if any of the students are doing a project where blood is involved, maybe not to blame her. She just crap, you know, it's overcrowded classrooms these days. Yeah. Well, let's, yeah, let's not be teacher blamers, but I would say that was a teacher who maybe didn't do one pass through and just get the full sense of what we're, okay, we get what your actual science fair project is about, but what will you be doing within your time

here at the science fair? Will there be blood? Important. There will be blood. There will be blood. There will be blood. If you're seven years old. Oh, shoot.

Save those stories. My favorite murder at Gmail or on the website, we love when you guys write in, it's the best. Yeah. We, we rely on it and we thank you for participating in it. Stay safe, stay strong and stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye.

Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? Yeah. Okay.