My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - MFM Minisode 386

Episode Date: June 3, 2024

This week’s hometowns include the I-70 Killer and a badass mom from Brooklyn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is exactly right. You know when you watch a great movie and you're so bummed when it's over, but then you realize it's actually a series and you get to watch more? I mean, there, I think there are a few things that make me happier in this world. Well, Karen, have I got news for you. The critically acclaimed blockbuster series, A Quiet Place, is releasing a third movie. A Quiet Place Day One is the new prequel to the first movie that started it all. In theaters on June 28th, we'll finally learn about that fateful day when the world went quiet.

Watch as a new group of characters figure out how to survive in a world where any sound means death. Plus, Day One stars some of the most talented dramatic actors including Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolfe, and Juman Unsu. Experience the day the world went quiet. Day one is only in theaters June 28th. And to experience day one today, text be quiet to 929-202-sh. That's an S with three Hs at the end.

Text be quiet to 929-202-7444. Day one, only in theaters June 28th. Goodbye. On the 12th season of Tenfold More Wicked, we investigate a series of compelling mysteries from the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, where problems started generations before Lizzie Borden's murders made her a household name.

Join me as we cover the misfortunes that have befallen this infamous town for more than 150 years, including the Great Fire of 1843. Season 12 is out now on Exactly Right. New episodes on Mondays. Follow Tenfold More Wicked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome to my favorite murder. The mini-sode.

Oh my God. Here it is. It's so different. It's so cute. You want to go first? Yeah. Okay. I have a classic hometown for you.

Okay. Great. It's called my mom's I-70 killer connection. Dear Karen, Georgia and MFM crew, time listener, first time writer, you told us to ask about stories during Thanksgiving and my God, the one I got from my mom was an absolute chilling one. And I didn't even technically ask for it. I live in Kansas and we surprisingly have a handful of notorious murders that took place here. The most well known of which is probably BTK, but there's also Richard Eugene Hitchcock in Cold Blood,

and of course, the Bloody Benders. There's also the unsolved murders perpetrated by the I-70 killer, which is what my story is about. In 1992, my mom, two years before she was my mother, was working at a bridal store in Wichita, Kansas. Her store had two others in town that were part of a small franchise,

one of which was known as Le Bride, which is such a classic small town bride store. Yeah, it's like you're getting married in France. Oh my God. But in Wichita, my mom loved this job and she appreciated all that she learned from the two women in charge. On a Friday night in April, a little while after closing, my mom was at Le Bride helping the owner dye shoes. The next night, April 11th, the owner Patricia Magers and an employee, Patricia Smith, had to stay late once more because a customer was coming by to pick up his cummerbund. A man approached the store and, assuming it was his customer, he was let in. Unfortunately, this was not the man they had been expecting, but instead the I-70 killer.

He took both women to the back of the store and shot them execution style. Shortly after this, the actual customer did arrive and had a brief interaction with the killer, but was able to leave and provide police with a physical description. I wonder how they figured out it was that same killer. It must be the description, right?

And security footage or something like that? Maybe it was the 90s, yeah. Both of these women and the killer's other victims had long curly dark hair, as did my mom. The possibility that it could have been her if she had decided to help out on Saturday instead of Friday, or if he had entered the store just 24 hours earlier, chills me to the bone.

Even still, the story is devastating and the deaths are senseless. It's been 31 years since the crimes of the I-70 killer. And though the case is cold, it's not closed. Police departments in Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana are still hoping it may be solved one day, possibly with the help of new DNA technology. If this does get run on your podcast,

I urge anyone that might have seen or heard anything related to these crimes to call Crimestoppers in any of these three states. Thank you for everything you do. I could gush about you two forever, but this is long enough as it is. Just know that I'm a huge fan and if I ever get the chance to meet you, I will cry tears of joy. Stay sexy and seek justice, Hannah. Hannah. How is that not solved? Well, do you think it's cause it's along the highway,

the way that it happens where it's like interstate, the crimes don't get reported from state to state. But also like DNA, I'm always like use the DNA, but like I never think about the fact that it's like, maybe there isn't DNA left, you know, or isn't usable DNA, but. Right. Sucks. And it's just early enough, it's the nineties before there's real process set up for that.

Totally. Yeah. So crazy. So awful. All right. The subject line of this email is anecdotes about Jan Baselrud from a local. So I told the story of that. He was the Norwegian soldier who basically

survived the Nazis chasing him. And it's that amazing story. So, hi, Georgia and Karen, long time listener. Thank you all for every episode. I love listening to Karen's telling of the Jan Balzrud survival. That's how you're supposed to pronounce it. My family lives in one of the villages described, and last summer, we hiked to the hole where Jan was hidden by Norwegians from the Nazis. It's said that local sheep herders and reindeer herders knew about this cave from their grazing and movement of animals. During the war, my family's town was occupied by Germans, and my grandpa, then a teenager, and his large family were kicked out of their home so that the Nazi occupiers could use their home as a

holding place for animals. Removed from the only home they ever knew, my grandpa and his brother took a boat to a nearby island where my grandpa entered the island's only town store to ask to use the phone so that he could attempt to contact and reconnect with dispersed family. The young girl behind the counter at the store was my grandma who ignored her boss, rudely whispering loudly, just make sure he pays and shared the phone with my grandpa. That was how they met and fell in love. Oh my God. Come on. My grandma used to tell me stories about local Norwegians who would hide and protect German deserters who had fled the military and were attempting to remove themselves from the war. One neighbor hit a German deserting soldier in her barn from the German troops and gave him warm wool socks

for his journey on. Only after he left, she realized that the initials of her husband had been sewn into the socks, leading to much fear of retribution. Another Norwegian neighbor I grew up with, my grandmother's age, had a love affair with a German occupying soldier, a Nazi, during the war. And after the occupation, her head was shaved to shame her for her dalliance with a Nazi. I hope you found these anecdotes interesting. Thanks for all that you do.

Ingrid. Ingrid. Oh my God. Ingrid from Norway. What a fascinating little snapshot of time. And basically survivors stories of a situation like just the idea that everyone in that time had to go into that survival mode and do what they needed to do. So crazy. There's a lot of talk these days about how the right daily routine can help you think clearer or sleep better. But what about a simple routine that makes you feel safer? That's where Simply Safe comes in.

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So the fact that I can double arm myself, one with my dad, of course, but also with my security system, I mean, that is peace of mind, and it's protection for both me and my dad, let's be honest. Yeah, and also if you hear something, you're like, that's not an intruder. Marty just got up and went outside to see the sunrise.

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And with ZocDoc you can. ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare highly rated in network doctors who are close by and that you can instantly book online. And because ZocDoc lets you filter by insurance provider, you won't waste your time looking at doctors who aren't covered. Every provider has reviews from real patients so you can get a sense of what they're like.

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How are you picking doctors at all? It's such an important job and the thing that you're going to the doctor for obviously is something that you're concerned about and it's important to you. So you're just supposed to pick based on their doctor headshot that they have on a website like it makes so much sense and it is such a useful helpful tool to have ZocDoc. So go to ZocDoc.com slash murder and download the ZocD dot com slash murder. Goodbye. Okay, this one is a PSA big time bank scam. Oh, dearest MFM family, long time listener, first time mailer. After listening to the PSA about scammers in Minnesota 383, I had to write in and share my experience

of being scammed in March, 2024. So it's just happened. I like this. Yeah. First, let me say, I never answered the phone for an unknown number ever. Well, on this fateful day, I broke with tradition. I Googled the number that was calling

and saw that it was my bank. So I answered to see what was up. So like due diligence. Yeah. Done. It says it's your bank. Not enough. The woman on the phone asked if I had been making purchases in Atlanta, Georgia, and I assured her I did not.

I was currently at a conference in Utah. She said these purchases must have been fraudulent and she was going to close my card and issue a new one. It seemed like a normal procedure for when fraud happens. In order to confirm my identity, she sent me a passcode that I had to read back to her. I gave her the code and she let me know she would take care of the situation right away. Little did I know there were no fraudulent purchases in Atlanta. Several hours later, I received another call from my bank. This

time it was my real bank and they were calling to let me know that I had been scammed. The scammers from the morning had used that magic passcode to reset the password on my account. You know when you have to reset the password and it's like, okay, we're gonna send the phone number that we know is associated to your account this code? I think that's just what they did. Yeah, they were like, they middle manned that code process.

Oh God. Then they broke in and placed two wire transfers totaling $9,948 to their bank account in Florida. So it says, in today's money, that's $9,948. In today's money, that is a shit ton of cash. My bank tried their darndest, and says, he says sarcastically, to get the money back with the scammers that already moved it to yet another account. So my bank simply shrugged their shoulders and said there's nothing they could do.

To add insult to injury, I requested that the bank insure the money that was stolen. And they said, no. They claimed that I gave the scammers permission to access my account. And so the transaction was authorized. Wow. It says the audacity.

This is a major national bank, by the way. Needless to say, I was livid. I'm a true crime fiend. And I thought I would always see this kind of con coming from miles away. Yet here we are. Almost 10 fucking grand is just like gone. The banks that go fuck yourself, it's gone.

Well, of course they are, because they're the ones that would have to pay it back. So that's when you close your account and you go to your city bank that's funded in your city or credit union, take it elsewhere. I hope this cautionary tale keeps listeners on the lookout for bank fraud. If you ever get a suspicious call,

hang up and call the company back. I learned that I should have done that after the fact. Stay sexy and never answer the phone, Brett, he, him. Brett, you're so right, it's so true. Don't answer the fact. Stay sexy and never answer the phone. Brett, he, him. Brett, you're so right. It's so true. Don't answer the phone. What's the benefit? When's the last time you've answered the phone? It's like, this is exactly what I wanted to happen and more. In today's day and age, it's just, there's no reason to answer the phone. Also these scams, like people are, it's so goddamn sophisticated.

But that's not, that's the least sophisticated scam. How, except for the fact that the phone, you could Google it back to the phone number, but how many people actually Googled it? Like do that, you know? And I think what you just said is so smart, which is if you are on the phone with somebody that's like, you have to do five things right now. Yeah. Oh, you have to go, I have to get off the phone with you.

I'm going to call you back and see what they do. Yeah, yeah. Because they don't want you to do that. They're gonna start telling you that it's an emergency and try to keep you on and like... Boom. It shouldn't matter if you're gonna hang up and call back the number on your card, they shouldn't care. No, because any person helping you is just another person at the customer service call center, right? They don't have anything invested in how quickly you get it done. It's your problem, not theirs.

Totally. Fuck. I'm yelling at everyone and that no one is around to hear it. Okay. This is the satisfying answer email to that email. Okay. It says, my mom mugged her mugger. And then it says lighthearted in parentheses.

Hi, Karen Georgian, MFM team. I started listening to you guys a few years ago and have desperately wanted to write in, but could never think of a story worth sharing until I remembered one of my all time favorite stories about my mom. I've sent this in a couple times before, but last week you asked for mom lore. So I thought I would try my luck again. See, that's the attitude we're looking for. Please just try again. So my family moved from Brooklyn to Florida when I was really little. When I was about nine years old, my mom took a trip back to New York to visit some family. We'd lived in Florida for a few years at this point, and my brother and I asked our mom if she would get us some new CBGB shirts, because ours were pretty worn out. And for those who

don't know, CBGB was a historic rock club in NYC, a bit of a tourist trap at that time, but cool nonetheless. Evidently, my mom was wearing a Key West shirt while she was shopping there, so she didn't necessarily give the immediate impression of someone who was born and raised in Brooklyn. As soon as she walked out of the store, she was mugged. Well, almost mugged. Her attacker knocked her to the ground from behind, took her purse and shopping bags and took off. Immediately, my mother, with her knees and palms bleeding,

got up and chased him down. I'm gonna stop here and say, do not do this. Don't do it, don't do it. Do not do this. It's not worth it. Do not do this. Meanwhile, here's a hilarious story of someone who did it. When she caught up to him, she knocked him to the ground, gave him a decent beating, took her shit back, and then stole his cell phone. Oh my God. Oh my God. Then she

proceeded in all caps to call his mom and tell her everything her son had just attempted to do. After that, she took the time to call all of our English and Irish relatives, long distance charges were still a thing at that time, and continue to make phone calls until the phone eventually died. She kept that quote unquote trophy in her sock drawer forever. I'm obsessed with your mom. Yeah. This is a woman who grew up in Brooklyn. Yes, totally.

She's not fucking around. No, there's no, she fucking mugged her mugger. She mugged her mugger. She mugged her mugger. And fucking got one up on him. Yeah, she's probably what the one percentile of stories that it would go like this. Again, do not do this. Don't do it.

My mom unfortunately passed away very suddenly five years ago. I'd never listened to podcasts until then and you ladies provided much needed humor and company during the darkest time in my life. For that, I can't thank you enough. My mom wasn't much into podcasts or technology of any kind really, besides that guy's phone, but she was an old school murderino and I know she would have loved

you guys. She was a total badass and an amazing woman and I miss her every day. If you're reading this story, know that I'm stuck in traffic somewhere freaking out to be hearing this. Hey, hi. Hi, hi. Thanks for your time, stay sexy and don't get mugged. But if you do, tattle to their mom, Noreen, she her. Oh my God, Noreen, thank you for that incredible story. I just hope you always know, Noreen,

whenever you get into like a hard place in life or things are rough, that's your mom. So you're gonna be fine. You know what I mean? You have the DNA of a Brooklyn warrior in deep embedded in you. It doesn't have to be on all the time. You don't need it to be out all the time.

She didn't just take her shit back. She just, I can't get over it. She called his mom. She called his mom. Oh my God, I'm gonna cry. Listen, the truth about body odor is this, armpits aren't the only culprit. So why aren't we using deodorant that's meant for more?

That's a great question, Georgia. And Lume has the product that can do it all. Lume whole body deodorant is safe to use anywhere on your body. That's right, anywhere. And it provides 72 hour odor control. Lumi was created by an OBGYN who saw firsthand how body odor negatively impacts people's confidence and their quality of life. Amen. Lumi is thoughtfully formulated without parabens or baking soda and it's

pH balanced. And since it's powered by mandelic acid, Lumi stops odor before it starts. This product line comes in all kinds of fresh scents like clean tangerine, toasted coconut, and lavender sage. I have started keeping Lumi deodorant in my car because sometimes I forget to put deodorant on or I put it on yesterday and forgot to do it this morning and you just need it. And that lavender sage smells so incredible. I'm such a lavender freak and this one delivers.

And it keeps you smelling fresh all day. Yeah, it's important. Summer's right around the corner. You can't have a hot girl summer if you smell like anything other than toasted coconut, lavender sage or clean tangerine. That's right. Lume Starter Pack is perfect for new customers. You'll get a solid stick deodorant, cream tube deodorant and another two free products of your choosing. Plus you get free shipping. And as a special offer, new customers get 15% off all Lume products by using code MURDER at lumedeodorant.com. Use code MURDER for 15% off your first purchase at lumedeodorant.com.

And when you do, you'll save over 40% on the already discounted starter pack. That's L-U-M-E-D-E-O-D-O-R-A-N-T.com. Promo code, murder. Goodbye. Goodbye. Here's my last one. This one's called The Clown is Down. And then it says too early for spooky Halloween stories? Never.

No, not in May. It's also not spooky. It's funny. It just starts, hey, picture it. It's Halloween 1991. I had just turned eight years old and was dressed in my sister's hand-me-down clown costume. So it's not complaining, that shit was legit. I'm sure it was homemade and amazing, right?

Yes. My mom was taking my sister and I trick or treating around the neighborhood with some other kids and their parents. As happens in, and then it's NEPA, then it says Scranton represent. So I think it's Northeast Pennsylvania, which I didn't know how it's NEPA that it says Scranton represent. So I think it's Northeast Pennsylvania, which I didn't know how to fucking NEPA.

Yeah, no one's heard of that. That isn't from there. And then but those will be the most aggressive people being like, I can't believe you pronounced it NEPA. Scranton represent. So as it happens in fall in Scranton, the sun was rapidly setting and it was dark not long after we started. All of us kids were racing each other house to house and I had decided to run through a yard because it was a more direct route to the next front door. Cut to me being clothes lined flat onto my back, wind knocked out of me and someone yelling, all caps,

clown down, the clown is down. Clown down, the clown is down. Clown down. Turns out the owner of that home had put a wire up around his yard, which was invisible in the dark, at an eight-year-old's neck height. He said he did it, quote, so the kids don't run through my yard. You fucking psycho. Yeah. I ran full force into that wire, neck first.

While my mom laid into the guy, I laid on the ground gasping, trying to catch my breath. Yeah. I was subsequently dumped at a neighbor's house to recover while the rest of the kids loaded up on candy. Stay sexy and don't put a fucking booby trap up for children, Kate Elizabeth. Jesus Christ. Can you, what the fuck?

Also, what's in your yard that's so goddamn precious that you don't want some kids on Halloween running through it? Ah, clothes lining is the worst. There's a similar story that my cousin tells all the time where they were going to as what they believed to be a prank when he was like 13. They ran a wire across Bodega Avenue,

which is essentially the highway between Petaluma, the city and now where we lived and toward the ocean, people go 90 miles an hour. And they hung it out there and then saw that a motorcyclist, they just thought somebody would like snap it with their truck and it would be like loud. But whatever they were thinking, they see this motorcycle is coming

and they had to run to get it down before they killed a person. Like they didn't think it all the way through until they put it together and this guy was coming. Oh my God. Thank God they got there in time. Tell us your, the worst you ever got hurt as a kid stories. I don't know. Is that something we want? What about your almost really fucked up bad stories? Yeah,

it could be that or could be psycho neighbor stories. I don't think we've gotten a lot of those. We've never done psycho neighbors. Let's do psycho neighbors. Yeah. Okay. Here's my last one. It's very enjoyable. It's kind of similar in terms of stupid hijinks. Okay. And it starts Dear Podcast Royalty. Oh, my God. In episode mini-sode 383, you combine two conversations I knew I had a story for. It happened long before my son was born, so I may get a factor two off, but this is how

I remember it. At a pub one night, my friend's girlfriend will call her Jane drank too much. Before last call, Jane got what she was sure was the best idea ever. She made a plan to climb up into the vent diehard style to hide until all the staff were gone. And then she would, right? And then she would come out, let us all back into the bar, and we would continue the night. Oh my God. That's a brain that's been stewed in alcohol for like five hours. I'm just imagining having to talk.

I'm the not drunk friend trying to talk that friend out of it. Right. But their eyes are like gone from their brain and you can't connect. And they just keep explaining to you why it's such a great idea. She went into the woman's bathroom and saw the perfect vent jackpot.

Jane began to hoist herself up. However, unlike John McClane's character, this silver vent was being held up by a wire. Oh my God. As she lifted herself up into the vent, the entire roof around the vent collapsed and the jig was out. Yeah.

Yeah. The bouncer ran in to see the fuss and Jane yelled, that woman just tried to climb into the roof. She ran that way and pointed out the door. The bouncer turned around to follow the said other woman and Jane bolted. Needless to say, our night ended there. Okay, she's so drunk, she's going to climb into a vent,

but she's sober enough to think of that brilliant out. So smart. Like, Jesus, careful of Jane. Yeah. And then it just goes, I've been a listener since the beginning when I was postpartum with my first. You got me through postpartum depression and daycare drop off. Thank you for normalizing

store bought serotonin. Also note, I used to daydream about coming to a live show and hope one day that you'll head back up north to Western Canada, Edmonton specifically, so I can attend and share all the Canadian candies. Stay sexy and don't trust the drunk girl. Asha, she, her. Oh, conniving drunk girl. That's like the scariest. Yeah. Someone that's got a little bit of a scheme in her brain. Yeah. Mischievous. I think when you drink Goldschlager, I think that's what it does to you.

It brings out the evil plans. Yeah. Which could be fun. Sure. Tell us about your evil plans. Yeah. Which could be fun. Tell us about your evil plans. I don't know. Tell us about your bathroom mind, Jesus. No, no. Cancel that.

Just stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? This has been an exactly right production. Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck. Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo. This episode was mixed by Liana Squalacci. Email your hometowns to MyFavoriteMurder at gmail.com.

And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My Favorite Murder and on Twitter at MyFaveMurder. Goodbye. Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My Favorite Murder and on Twitter at My Fave Murder. Goodbye.