My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - MFM Minisode 389

Episode Date: June 24, 2024

This week’s hometowns include serving coffee to a serial killer and a weet woo whistle story. Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3UFCn1g   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is exactly right. Guys, gals, non-binary pals, hello, I'm Kurt Braunhuler. And I'm Banana Boy number two, Scotty Landis. And we're here to tell you about our hilarious strange news podcast, Bananas. Every week we invite a guest to discuss the strange, fascinating, and just plain bananas news from around the world. The headlines and weird news are lighthearted, unexpected, but always so so fun. Like the British man who ran a four hour marathon while drinking 25 glasses of wine.

Great guess. Lots of comedy. We would love to have you join us. So don't miss our new episodes of Bananas every Tuesday. Follow Bananas wherever you get your podcasts. Bananas. Bananas. Bananas. Hello. Hello. And welcome to my my favorite murder. The mini-sodes. That's right. We read you your emails. It's email time, everybody.

Are you ready? Do you want me to go first? Sure. The subject line of this email is, are you mad at me? And then it just goes right into it. That's the only reason I can think of as to why you haven't picked this hometown yet. And then it says, I'm from Seattle, dot, dot, dot, you are from Seattle. And then it goes right into it.

That's the only reason I can think of as to why you haven't picked this hometown yet. And then it says, I'm from Seattle, dot, dot, dot. You already know. One afternoon in 2001, my mom took my sister and me out of school to see a movie because fuck fifth grade social studies. She knew it was important. We grew up in a questionable neighborhood, so we often traveled to a neighboring city to go to the Good Theater. To get there, you had to pass through a creepy road called Peasley Canyon. It is long, winding, and poorly lit. This particular day, we turned a bend, and there were probably 50 people in bright orange and yellow vests digging up the steep canyon.

We all thought it was odd, but went about our day. When we got home, my mom turned on the five o'clock news and immediately yelled, Oh my God, that's Gary. No, that's what they meant by I'm from Seattle. You already know. Oh my God, Gary Ridgway. So she ran to the back of the house to grab my dad and they watched the news in shock. The man whose mugshot was on the screen was that of Gary Ridgeway, the Green River killer. And what we had driven by earlier in the day was police digging for bodies and or evidence. My mom had been a barista years earlier and Gary frequently stopped by her coffee shop

on Pack Highway. She said he was always really polite, they had small talk, and she regularly told him what was new with my sister and me. Unfortunately, my mom, Julie, passed away when I was 22 from brain cancer. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm 33 now and there isn't a day that goes by that I do not miss her. She was a warrior that took no shit and she was my other half. She taught me to fuck politeness and always trust my gut long before I found

MFM. She also made me a paranoid freak. Folks, don't let your children regularly watch Dateline and CSI. I beg you. Jules forever. Stay sexy and be careful of who you serve coffee to. Dana. Oh my God, Dana. Wow. I mean. Yeah, that's just a big one. It is the like, my mom met a real life monster. Yeah, and nobody knew. You couldn't tell. You can't tell.

Yeah. At all. Jesus. So crazy. Okay, this one's sad. It's a PSA hometown slash carbon monoxide PSA. Trigger warning deaths of children and adults. It starts high T as like aunties in Spanish. My parents are from a tiny village in Mexico and there's never a shortage of crazy stories coming out of there.

However, today I'm writing in with a carbon monoxide horror story. In a neighboring town, there was a house with 12 people living inside, a couple with their adult children, their adult children's spouses, and their own kids. Basically, the adult children built additions onto their parents' house and live there with their own families. About two weeks ago, a pot of food was left burning on a stove overnight. I mean, I could see myself doing something like that. I have definitely, not overnight, but I have done that. Yeah, just forgetting that you put on water to myself doing something like that. I have definitely, not overnight, but I have done that. Yeah, just forgetting that you put on water to boil

or something like that. They think the pot might have overflowed a little, put the stove's flame out and messed up the pilot light thingy. As a result, carbon monoxide seeped out and flowed into the room adjacent to the kitchen where one set of parents and their three young kids were sleeping.

Unfortunately, it's pretty common for doors not to have traditional locks and instead be bolted from the inside by something. So by the time other people in the house realized what had happened and tried to get into the room, it was too late. The parents and the three kids from that room by the kitchen were found dead,

and a baby that also lived in the house but in a different room died soon after. Six of the 12 people in the house died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Horrifying. Terrifying. I can't fathom so much loss in one house and my heart truly goes out to that grieving family.

After my mom told me about it, she said, quote, yeah, your great uncle also died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Your grandpa had to pull his body onto his horse and take him home to their mom and... Mmm. My mom loves to drop traumatic bombs like this in the most normal tone ever.

Since hearing all this, I ordered a carbon monoxide detector for my apartment and was shocked to see that it was less than $20. Everyone, please go buy one. Yes. Karen and Georgia, you two are a huge part of why I got myself on antidepressants and why I fostered a cat. Hey. Two amazing things to do for yourself.

And then it says, which I immediately failed and adopted. He's an orange cat named Jimmy. And yes, I also have ADHD, hence the parentheses. Like all three of those sides were in parentheses that I just said. I've been listening since 2016 and I love you both so much. Thank you and your entire team for all you do.

Heart emoji, stay sexy and beware of carbon monoxide, Steph, she, her. That's a rough PSA, but so necessary because I think people don't think about it. I think the stories are so horrible that are like that. Totally. People don't talk about them. Managing money is hard, but you don't talk about them. Yeah. They'll also monitor your spending and help lower your bills all in one place.

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who have saved $500 million in canceled subscriptions. When customers use all the apps features, that comes to about $740 of annual savings per member. So stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com slash murder. That's RocketMoney.com slash murder. RocketMoney.com slash murder. Goodbye. No matter what your plans are this summer, a world cruise, or a staycation on the couch, we all need a little escape. And one of the best ways

to get away is by listening to audiobooks on Audible. Audible releases thousands of titles each year, including bestsellers and new releases. But the entertainment doesn't stop there. They also have popular podcasts and exclusive Audible originals to get lost in. And because you listen while you do other things like waiting at the airport or cleaning the kitchen sink, you can always find time to enjoy all the great content on Audible. The Audible app makes it easy to listen to your all-time favorites or discover something new on Audible. I was kind of bored at my house and I was like looking for a little inspiration while I was doing laundry and

I remembered hearing about Rick Rubin's book, The Creative Act, A Way of Being. And so I went on Audible, downloaded it, and suddenly just doing household chores also involved me opening up my mind about the creative process and what it takes to be involved in it. There's lots of different ways to pass the time. It felt very enriching that this is the way I chose to do it. There's more to imagine when you listen. So sign up for a free 30 day audible trial and get your first audio book for free when

you visit audible.com slash murder or text murder to 500 500. That's audible.com slash murder or text murder to 500 500 for a free 30 day trial and your first audio book for free. Goodbye. Okay. We'll take a little left turn here. I love this story. 30-day trial and your first audiobook for free. Goodbye. Okay. We'll take a little left turn here. I love this story. I love this email. The subject line is a worthwhile things in walls story. Hello all, long time listener, sixth-ish time writer. Maybe today's the day. It is the day. Today's the day. Before I begin, I want to say thank you for what you do. I just adore you both. Anyway, here's my Things and Walls story. When I was 13 years old,

I scored my dream job working in my small town, two cinema movie theater. A couple years after being there, a few of us noticed a door that blended in with the wall at the rear exit of the theater. This door was located in a small dark vestibule-like area between the two sets of exit doors. The door was maybe three by three, painted black like the wall surrounding it. One night in between showings, when we had a 90 minute break, we decided to pry open the back exit and check out what was behind the mystery door. Armed with our cinema-issued flashlights, most commonly used to bust horny or misbehaving teenagers in the theater, we wedged open the door and climbed up and through the opening.

I really thought we might find something like a small storage closet, but we found our Narnia. Behind this door was a huge room with a ceiling up to the exposed rafters, an old couch circa 1975, a couple of chairs, a lamp, and a coffee table. Basically an outdated and dusty relic of a living room. The room was directly behind the movie theater screen so we could see the movie playing in an inverted format. Oh my God. This room became our secret hideout between movies

and it became the sacred spot where we shared our 90s teenage angst, had a few make-out sessions, snuck in warm beers and smoked oh so many cigarettes. I can only imagine the theater's customers' confusion in seeing smoke come out of the screen, but oddly nobody ever complained. Wow. No narcs in your town, that's pretty cool. come out of the screen, but oddly nobody ever complained.

Wow. No narcs in your town. That's pretty cool. Who set up that room? You may be asking or not, but I'm going to tell you. Well, the generation of teenage cinema workers before us had set it up because one of the guys was the owner's son. So he knew about the room. They never told any of us though. And we had to discover it on our own. That's right. You had to earn it. You had to care. You had to be curious. You had to open small weird doors and take the risk. We too never told the next generation of employees, but I like to think that each generation found it and made the same kind of incredible memories we did, minus the cigarettes, but probably plus the vapes. Stay sexy and use your flashlight wisely. Nicole Sheeher. Oh my God.

Use your flashlight wisely. I like that. That's so cute. Okay, this one's called, I accidentally stole an old man's dog and posed as a possible team kidnapper? Question mark. And then it starts, hello,

said in the same way your intro begins. So I just had to do it. Not only am I writing it for the first time, And then it starts, hello, said in the same way your intro begins. So I just had to do it. Not only am I writing it for the first time, but I am also listening to your latest episode, Blobs and Goo. So that's an answer to what are you even doing right now? Getting it all done at one time in one email. That's right. But honestly, I just paused it because I can't focus on what I'm writing, despite your lovely intro banter. Here's my story.

A few years ago, I had a baby and then decided to train for a marathon to lose some baby weight and have something outside of the baby to focus on, you know, as people do. So it was December 23rd and I was running with my faithful sidekick, Lou, Minnie Ossie, who'd run herself to death if she could, when I spotted a little wiry haired dog near an upcoming turn with no other humans in sight. I stopped to look at its collar, which didn't have a tag, so I decided to put it on my double sided leash and run the three miles home. It was very slow, so I encouraged it. I named it McGillicutty and cheered the little guy on using a bad Irish accent. When I got home, my husband was like WTF, but also kind of used to me finding lost dogs

on my runs. It was a Sunday and the shelter was closed, so we packed our new baby, the human one, into our car as well as our new dog addition and drove around the neighborhood trying to spot someone looking for a dog. As we did this, it started getting dark because it was 4pm in Montana in December. We pulled up to a department complex near where I'd found McGillicuddy and saw a set of teen girls walking toward an apartment. Since we were looking for anyone walking around, my husband was driving super slow. My husband rolled down the window and yelled, Do you happen to know the owner of this dog? It's in our trunk.

If you come closer, you can just look in the back window and see it. Fucking man. That doesn't even sound like it doesn't even. It sounds like an English translated sentence where it's like you started, you buried the lead. Also, is the dog in the trunk? What's happening? I must have an SUV, but it's also like, Hey, AI, write up a like, how do I get these teen

girls to look in my car? You know what I mean? It's just such ridiculousness. Yeah. Give me some luring language. Yeah, exactly. To which they stop dead in their tracks, fear in their eyes. So obviously he said, we're not creepy.

We have a baby. Which somehow made us less sketchy. They quickly ran to their apartment and we were like, whoops, and laughed, and eventually gave up and took Miguel Cuddy home for the evening. The next day my husband took her to the shelter and as he was getting her out of the car, an old man pulled in, rolled down his window,

and he screamed, Molly McGee! And she went running towards him. Oh. My Molly McGee. He started crying and offered my husband money for taking care of her, which he didn't take. The old man asked where we found her and I guess she was like a hundred yards from his apartment fence when I scooped her up and took her three miles down the road.

But what a great Christmas Eve miracle I gave him. Anyway, stay sexy and don't steal old man's dogs? Question mark. Elise. gave him. Anyway, stay sexy and don't steal old man's dogs, question mark? Elise. Well, you cannot leave a little scrappy dog by itself, even though it's right near its own apartment. We can't have another dog. I know that.

I know it's like we shouldn't and we can't, we won't. But sometimes if I see a dog like at the park that's walking off leash and I don't immediately see its owner, I get so excited where I'm like, our new dog. Of course we're taking a dog. Yes, of course. And it's exciting. And it's like, suddenly you get to be the hero and you keep this dog from anything bad happening.

Because that idea, that's all my TikTok is, is people, a little puppy being discovered in like a field or something. Oh my God, my dreams. Like the best. It's like you can't, you can't purposely get a do dog or another dog, but you can accidentally happen upon one and then it just, that's your dog now. Then it's you didn't do anything. It's the law. It's God's law and will. It's God and the Lord's law. This podcast is brought to you in part by Honey Love. Just admit it, you're in a love-hate relationship with your underwire bra.

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It says, Dear Captivating Karen and gripping Georgia. Oh my God, love it. Those are our new nicknames. I'm a day one listener, thanks to my sister Naomi, who played the John Benet Ramsey episode in the car one night. Wow. Was that your first story? Yeah.

Dang. Oh, it said it right there. I didn't register. I'm a day one listener. I was literally about to be like, guess what, Naomi? You're a day one listener. Oh, you said that already. Oh no, and it's Naomi is the sister.

Okay. Anyhow, in Minnesota 355, you asked for stories about large families, how you get all those kids around and FOMO about family events from before you were born. Here is that story. I'm the eighth of 10 kids from, and I'm guessing the pronunciation here, Geylong in Australia. Could be Geylong, could be Geylong, could be a whole other choice that isn't obvious. My parents, Frank and Louise, have 10 kids range from 40-ish to 18-ish to answer common questions.

Number one, we're all full siblings. Number two, the ratio is six girls to four boys. And number three, yes, my parents had a TV. And then there's an eye roll in parentheses. So I think that's a joke about her parents doing it. In the early 90s, my dad bought an old limo to transport the seven older kids around. They called it the beast. Apparently it used to be an airport boardroom for a big company in Melbourne and had seven rotating leather seats, a bar, and a dividing

window. Dad said he loved being able to close the dividing window to block out the no. I bet. Oh, that is the best. To block out the noisy kids in back, apparently Naomi would wind down her window and wave to people on the street like she was the fucking queen

and like she was the fucking queen as in quotes. They had the beast for about five years until dad decided it was ridiculous to drive seven kids around in a bloody limo. This all happened before I was born. So obviously I have severe FOMO love everything you do, especially surrounding mental health. Love to you both. Sheree. Oh Sheree. That's such a good one. A gigantic family driving around in a limo. Fuck yeah. When you were a kid, a limo was like a dream.

The greatest. Yeah. Okay, my last one's another Wheat Woot whistle story. Why, hello, you all. I just listened to a mini-sode episode where a listener wrote in about two young girls hanging out in a basement when they heard strange whistles coming from behind hanging partitions. I loved how Georgia couldn't whistle and was laughing so hard at the wheat-woot description of the whistle. I forgot that's where it came from. This reminded me of my own wheat-woot story.

So I wanted to share. When my kids were three and five, around 15 years ago, we took a family trip to Hawaii. While my kids and husband were playing on the beach, I decided to take a quick walk to the local mini-mart to buy some popsicles. I had to pass by some houses to get to the store and on my way there, I heard that cat calling whistle. While internally flattered, wow, do I still have it after giving birth to two kids? I externally rolled my. Wow, do I still have it after giving birth to two kids? I externally rolled my eyes.

Pervert. I finished my task of buying popsicles and on my way back, I heard that we would whistle again. I rolled my eyes again, but was curious. So I turned back to look. The offender? A fucking parrot sitting on the porch of a house. Talk about getting put in my place of instant humility.

I told my friends and to this day, we still crack up. I hope you all are cracking up as well. Stay sexy, but not so sexy, or you have to roll your eyes because of cat calls from a cute parrot, Susie. It's like the parrot was fucking with Susie. That's so funny. I dare you to look over here. I dare you to look over here.

Oh, it's a parrot. It's a parrot. Also, it's a parrot. It's a parrot. Also, it's like a parrot doing an impression of a perv, which is so triple funny. Yeah. Well, you got to wonder like who taught it how to do that to people walking by on the beach. Someone knew. A guy that wants to cat-call and can't do it anymore.

Yeah, that's exactly right. This is what it used to be like back in my day. Is that it? That's it. Oh my God. exactly right. This is what it used to be like back in my day. Is that it? That's it. Oh my god. All right. Well, thank you guys for listening. If you want to watch what just happened that you just listened to,

there's video of it, parts of it on the fan cult. Yeah, it's really compelling because my hair is doing the weirdest shit and I'm trying not to fix it the whole time. Yeah, it's hard. I'm trying not to wipe my nose the whole time because I have allergies. So fun. You guys, the visuals of a podcast bring a whole other world to your feet. Engage.

And fascinating. It's so exciting. All right, stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? 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 Squillace. Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail.com. And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My FavoriteavoriteMurder and on Twitter at MyFaveMurder. Goodbye.