My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - MFM Minisode 53

Episode Date: January 15, 2018

Karen and Georgia cover your hometown stories from Las Vegas and Phoenix including a mysterious intruder, a dungeon room discovery, a quick thank you, and more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is exactly right. We at Wondery live, breathe, and downright obsess over true crime. And now we're launching the ultimate true crime fan experience, Exhibit C. Join now by following Wondery, Exhibit C, on Facebook and listen to true crime on Wondery and Amazon Music. Exhibit C, it's truly criminal. Welcome to My Favorite Murder, the mini-soad, where we read your stories you send to us right back into your face.

Get ready for your own life, read off paper. Did you ever know that you wanted to hear your own fucking email read back to you? Yes, you did. You've always known that. We've always known that. That's that empty feeling inside of you. That's that thing that makes you smoke or eat or get high or whatever. What it is is you just want your own email read to you.

You just want to be validated, you know? You just want to be like, told that you are... Village. Village. And today's the day your validation is coming. Exactly. Get ready. For your own shit.

Do you want me to start? Always. The subject line of this email is, I'm sure he would have put his hands up if he had any. Oh no. Okay. Sometimes, when I read things like this, I'm like, Stephen, I'm going to have to pull you aside by the ear and have a real talk with you. I don't want to be trending on Twitter for the wrong reason.

It's like he wants us to walk that dangerous line. Okay, so listen to this. You guys aren't taking enough chances. You guys are. Stephen... It turns out Stephen is like monster energy drink edgy. He's... Yeah, he's extreme sports.

Oh shit. Stephen, this whole time, we thought you were a sensitive soul. Look at him. No, he peels out all the time. He's bright red. He's the color of a monster energy drink. I mean, I have a motorbike, so... What?

What? Well, you're from Orange County and I think that's a law. Is it like a dirt bike you ride around town with no helmet? Yeah. It's really cool. Oh, hell yeah. The hottest. Dig it.

Let me take the opportunity right now to say hello and thank you to motocross writer Jimmy Buttons, whose name I saw on a TV in a bar called The Hideaway in Petaluma when I was so drunk, I could barely sit on a bar stool and I looked up and there was some motocross thing happening on the TV and just the name Jimmy Buttons came up and I must have laughed alone for like five minutes, I was like, that's the best name ever and he's like a motocross guy. Jimmy Buttons. Jimmy Buttons and Paw Angans together as commentators for fucking motocross sports.

I only love men who have noun last names. Sorry. Nonsense. They don't belong there. Right. It's like if you made up a name, it would be a bad made up name. Someone would go, can you try to make up a different name because Jimmy Buttons doesn't make sense.

It's like an episode of the Brady Bunch where they're like, what's your name and you're like Paul Glass, George Glass because you see a fucking glass. That's right. Just whatever's there. Come on, Jimmy Buttons. Come on. Jimmy Buttons. No, he doesn't have to try harder.

He's a fucking champion. It's his real name. He's a champion and it's real. It's his real name. Georgia Hard Stark. Fucking two random words. Okay. Okay.

Here we go. Oh, I could. You could be one. I could. Oh, hard is a more of an adjective. All right. Ladies and Steven, don't like that. So I was work swing shift in Las Vegas.

Oh, sorry. So I work swing shift in Las Vegas, which is 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Oh, honey. You sleep during the day. As I'm pulling into my gate one morning while listening to your podcast, number 31, Namaste Sexy. Oh, that's fun. I noticed this garage door was open that was open when I left for work at eight.

I know I knew an older lady in her eighties lived there and that she had a habit of leaving her garage open to let her dog wander parentheses. She obviously knows nothing about murder and just welcomes murders into her home. She obviously knows nothing about dogs and that you don't just let them wander the neighborhood. Certainly not through the garage. Let them wander places where there are less cars. Yeah. As I turn the corner, I saw this younger gal standing in the middle of the road right

in front of the garage. So me being a concern for this old lady, I decided to take another lap around the block by my house. This time I saw the girl and looked into the garage and saw a man standing in the back of the garage, completely still staring toward the street. Holy fuck, I immediately dial 911 and the dispatch has me drive by a few more times and has me give a description of the suspects. The girl was just wandering in front and the guy was completely still when I drove by

every time. She told me to park where I could see the house but still be safe and let her know if they start running. The cops show up within five minutes, at least six cop cars. I watch as three officers approach the garage and I hear them yell with their guns drawn, put your hands down. No. No, sorry.

Put your hands up. No, no, no, they're doing it wrong. The word down was, okay. Put your hands up. This is the police. Put your hands down. I answered your question. This is the police.

Okay. Put your hands up. This is the police. They repeat this a few more times. Oh my God. Oh my God. But I don't see anyone leaving the garage. What the fuck?

The cop comes over to me and asks me what I saw. I explained I originally just saw the girl which made me drive by again. He says, yeah, we have her. Then I saw the guy which was creepy and I was concerned for the safety of the homeowner. The cop chuckled and says, get ready for it. No. It's a cardboard cutout. Oh no.

Put your hands down. I thought he was kidding but he was not. He says, yeah, it's a cardboard cutout. I thought it was real as well until I repeated put your hands up and he remained still and then I realized he was pretty glossy. It was a cardboard fucking cutout that tricked me and the cops. What was the girl doing? Well, let's see if we find out.

He was still every time I drove by because he wasn't real. He was staring into my soul every time I drove by because he couldn't blink. He couldn't have run because he doesn't have legs. Still super weird that the chick was wandering at 4.30 a.m. but I got tricked by a cardboard cutout. Thank you for making me more aware of my surroundings and more prepared when the person actually has his hands and is living. See you in January in Vegas.

Continue to say sex. You don't get murdered. Amber. Amber. 100%. Great job. Great job. What was that girl doing?

What was that girl doing? You maybe saved her life. Maybe they took her in and she was having a drug problem. But when she started going detoxing cold turkey in the station, that lovely and witty cop who wasn't a dick and was really fun and light and lively about everything, went in, brought her a coke, they fell in love, she went clean, now they have four beautiful children. It's been quick. It's been amazing.

Well, they were quadruples. They got it done all at once. Oh, I'm so happy for them. In vitro. Amber should have fucking officiated their wedding. No, she did. Oh, she did. She did.

I didn't read that part. Oh. Because I just thought, who cares? Yeah. No, that's gorgeous. I love it. Okay. Here's, this is called, yeah, I found a dungeon in a wall.

Oh, fuck. It says my favorite murderino, no, my favorite murderinos and all associated pets. Okay, great. All right. I'll take it. Thanks. I'm sitting here listening to your latest podcast where you ask about finding things in walls or floors.

I've wanted to write in before, but even though my hometown is Las Vegas, I don't know any good murders from growing up. I'm not even sure I'm into true crime as much as I'm into Georgia and Karen giggling over the absurdity of life. Sweet. Fair enough. We'll take it. But walls and floors, oh, I can tell stories of that.

In 2010, I got my real estate license in Phoenix, Arizona and proceeded to find all the creepiest places in town from the meth room hidden in a garage to the underground lounge with the one way glass looking into a pool. What? Where was that? That you had to enter through a secret door in the backyard. Oh, sorry. It's a normal pool in ground pool at someone's house, but then you can go into a little creepy

cellar underground lounge with a one way glass looking into a pool. Don't like it. I immediately just think of like, and you didn't shave your legs when you're swimming in that pool. Yeah. But then they all they care about is the children, you know, they don't care about your fucking shaved legs. No.

Yeah. Do you see into the pool like mermaid style? That's what it is. Gross. Okay. So one day my coworkers and I decided to throw an open house at a neighborhood in an affluent area of town. The house had been four closed on and was empty.

I get there late and I go to hang out my coat in the closet, but something seems off. The wall at the back of the closet seems closer underneath the shelf than above it. Yes. These are the things. Pay attention. Shapes. Sounds. Eyes.

Open them. I asked what that was about and none of my coworkers knew. So I looked under the shelf. Your coworkers were boring. You're fucking interesting. I looked under the shelf and I find a simple hinge lock. Once opened the back of the closet swings open to a all caps hand dug narrow stairwell. No.

Hand dug. Uh huh. Going underneath the house and then in parentheses, this track neighborhood does not have basements. It's wired and has a light. So I turn it on and go down. I find a 10 by 10 concrete lined room that locks from the outside with a single hanging light bulb and toilet. Dude.

This is not good. Ladies, we didn't sell that house. We didn't touch that house after that day. I never found out what happened there, but clearly it wasn't great. I hope to see you all when you go to Phoenix soon. Please visit antique sugar downtown. Georgia will love the dress. Stay sexy and don't get murdered, Christy.

Fuck. Why on earth would you ever need a fucking 10 by 10 concrete lined room that locks from the outside with a single hanging light bulb and a toilet? Whatever. Nothing good is happening. You cannot justify that in any way. There's no way. Christy, we're going to need an update.

You need to do some fucking local. What is it called? Microfishing. Yeah. At the library. Yes. Who lived there? Please.

Who dug that? Go to the county. Pull some papers. Pull some papers. Has anyone been disappearing in that neighborhood? Here's the thing. Hand dug scared the shit out of me. Single light bulb scares the shit out of me.

That could have been a carpet lined beautiful shag carpeted room with a great couch and a widescreen TV. The fact that the lock is on the outside of the door is horrifying. That's horrifying. That there even is a lock. Why would anyone need a lock either way? Yeah. You're already down in the goddamn cellar.

Yeah. Like I can get it if it's like, it was carpet lined up like, okay, they're a drummer and they're like wanting to do their like math teacher jam ban, you know, whatever. You know. That kind of thing. Yeah. But this is problematic. Yeah.

I'm going to need more information. It's problematic is the name of the band, the math teacher jam band, the problem. The problem. Fuck. I'm on fire. It's so good. All right. Okay.

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What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill or are they made to kill? I'm Candice 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. Hi gang. You sounded so desperate.

So this is my, so this is the story of my mugging almost turned kidnapping turned whole new level of driving skills. Oh shit. Shit. Okay. So I've been an art teacher, a high school art teacher in Arizona for three years and I love my students and my job. Unfortunately, the neighborhood I work in is pretty fucking sketchy.

My coworkers always told me to avoid the campus at night, but before seven, I could always count on the coaches, athletes and parents who are hanging around. One evening before seven, I might add about a year and a half ago, I was walking back to the school from some face painting event at the elementary school across the street. She's painted like the clown. What's his name? Pogo the clown. Pogo the clown.

No, she's not. So as I turn the corner to the parking lot, I see that, oh fuck, my car is in the middle of a completely empty parking lot. I rushed to my car when I see what I first thought was a student running toward me, but it's actually a guy with a knife. No. Mm-hmm. When I tell him I have no money, he forces his way into the car, making me get into the

passenger seat and says we're going for a ride in parentheses. Shit. What the fuck? At this point, he takes my glasses and throws them in the back seat. I'm talking a million miles an hour to get him to change his mind. After a few minutes, he takes my phone, asking me for the password a thousand times and says, if you want to live, don't move, I'll be right back and gets out of the car. Without my glasses, I'm completely blind, but I wait 15 seconds, scramble into the front

seat and immediately haul ass. Girl. Yes, girl. At this point, it's dark and all I can see are fuzzy taillights and street lights. I love it. Oh, my God. You're being forced to drive blind to get away from this fucking situation. Do it.

Who cares? Who cares? Drive into a fucking car. Drive into a McDonald's and get people there to help you. Exactly. People will come out if you do that. Yes. Just crash into something that will make someone mad and you will immediately have someone

there with you. Screaming and someone else will run. And scare the other person. Okay. Well, luckily I'd worked there for a while though, so I managed to make it home off of mostly memory. They never caught the guy, but I'm convinced the only reason I can function is because of how supportive law enforcement, my friends, family and coworkers were.

My boss even insists on the buddy system for teachers staying after school. Therapy helps too. While the whole thing gave me a newfound interest and maybe obsession into true crime, and I fell in love with this podcast. I'm proud to say I stayed sexy. I did not get murdered and I'm so excited to see you guys live in Phoenix. Wow. SSDGM.

Aaron. Aaron. Fuck Aaron. Congratulations. I wonder who that guy was and what his plan was and what he was thinking that the person really weighed? No, he was on drugs. Yeah.

I bet you he was on drugs. Where did he go? He just wanted some money. Yeah, that's because also how fucking stupid of like weight here. Oh, sounds good. Yeah. No. Get laser eye surgery, everyone.

Yeah. That's a good idea. Get laser eye surgery. And you know what's really interesting? My sister said this to me and this was from back when the fires were up in Northern California. My sister goes, never let your car go near empty. Yeah. Don't, don't do a thing where you can get yourself stuck.

You're right. You're, and I fucking like cruise in on fumes. Constantly. I do it constantly. Oh my God. Don't do it. Just have your shit prepared. Get your shit together.

Me. Also, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to have spare glasses in like a glove box or something. So I, I don't wear glasses, but the thought of like being blinded that way terrifies me. Like one of your senses being fucking easily ripped away. Yeah. Scares the shit out of me. Yeah.

Just because of glasses. Yeah. Yeah. You right now. Let's do laser surgery on you right now. Let's do it. Because you are just a floating blur. Are you serious?

No. I'm a doctor right now. Let's do this. Oh, shit. Well, I have a, my last one is a, is a look how great we are one, but, but look sometimes this is where the skippers are going to want to leave. Fuck you. Skippers.

Put your glasses on and stick around a while. This is called just a quick thank you, dear George and Karen. I'm not sure that you will read this because you probably get tons of emails all the time, but I figured I'd send you an email anyway just in case. Guess what? We're reading it. A few months ago, my aunt introduced me to your podcast and since then I've become absolutely obsessed.

I've spent the last seven months in treatment for an eating disorder, commuting around an hour each way every day to get the treatment, to get to the treatment facility. I spent 12 hours in there doing therapy groups, eating meals, et cetera. Every day on my drive, since my aunt introduced me, I've listened to your podcast. I wanted to thank you and Karen for not only being so open about mental health and the importance of it, but for giving me a good laugh and a great listen on some of the hardest days on the days where I felt it's, it felt impossible for me to get up and start the fight all over again.

I at least knew I had something to look forward to during my car rides. I don't think you guys know how much of a difference your podcast has made, especially in my life. Thanks for everything you do. Keep on keeping on. Never, never stop fucking everyone and stay sexy and don't get murdered. You guys rock. Amy.

And so I went, I've been in fucking rehab for anorexia before and the eating meals thing like as being part of the treatment is a huge thing and that kind of hit me. So yeah. Well, they, they force you to do it and you have to, and all the girls are like, I think they put something in here that makes you gain weight and it's like, no, you're just eating regular meals now. Yeah. So, I don't know.

Yeah. I relate to, but I have it in the other direction and it's, it, no matter what direction you have it in, eating disorders fucking suck. Yeah. It also gets stuck. I guess the thing I would like to say is you get stuck in these weird tiny loops of obsession and the practice is just making those moments longer and not giving in. Yeah.

Like it's a discipline and it's hard to do, but it's basically power through remind yourself of just your brain and powering through. And I know this is, I'm not saying this is a solution, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, all this stuff is a practice and a reminder. Yeah. Until it starts to stick. But you're, so many people go through this. So of course, so many women go through it and it's just basically you're, you deserve

to live a full life and a good life and to be healthy and happy. And what a wonder as someone, as people who came out the other side and I don't have those issues anymore. I mean, I have issues, but not those specific ones of like how great it is that you do finally get a focus on something else other than what you're consuming and what you look like and how, you know, and it's, you're able to take care of yourself and it's a fucking incredible feeling. And you get there.

Yeah. And the, the weird thing too about, cause there's no, nothing blew my mind harder than the first time I took my eating disorder in the other direction and lost an insane amount of weight. The first time I quit sugar and flour and I didn't know that I had body dysmorphia until I looked exactly the same to myself and I had lost 80 pounds. And my aunt called and was like, you look like you're dying. Start eating again.

And I was like, what are you talking about? And honestly, all I could see was how fat my butt still was. And that's when I knew I was like, Oh, I'm in the middle of this and I can't trust myself because this is a real thing. Like I'd always read about like people talking about body dysmorphia. It's bullshit. And like you, when you see it on like a lifetime movies, it's like, you see this big fat, you know, it's not, it's not extreme like that.

It's basically telling yourself you look like trash at all moments of your life. It's hyper focusing on tiny things that no one sees and using that as your reason to not live. Right. I don't love my fucking body, but I love living and eating so much more than that and being happy and not obsessing about it. I'd rather fucking have a little gut and not be obsessing about my weight all the time than be skinny.

Well, here's the thing too. It's you get to live and, and when you, those diseases affect your brain and the more the further into it you go, the more you become convinced of a thing that isn't true. And you know, which is that your worth is in your, in what you look like, right? Which it's not. No. At all. And but also you're not alone because so much, many of us go through, it's a very common

thing. Yeah. And it's really hard. So fucking keep fighting. Amy. Kick ass. Amy. Amy.

Do it. Do it. You're doing it. Kick ass. That was a good one. That's nice. That's good. I like that.

Yeah. Let us tell you. Let us tell you about our problems more than your problems. Cause we've done it. All right. We're going to do it again. I'll fucking, I'll listen to your problem and I will fucking pass you and overtake you on the left.

And I will be like, here's my problem. And listen to me, um, and that's why this is my favorite murder night. It's not your favorite murder. You're fucking favorite murder. It's mine. It's mine and hers. Everything's mine and hers. It's ours.

Uh, stay sexy and don't get murdered. Bye. You want a cookie? Yeah. He said, nah, nah, want a cookie? Oh, that was a yeah. Yeah.