National Park After Dark - Over the Edge: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Episode Date: July 17, 2023

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of the nation’s best “hidden” jewels. It’s the perfect destination, until it isn’t. The park can be a risky place to be with notoriously rough coastal waters when weather turns, but it wasn’t until 2006 when it saw its first documented fatal fall. Since then, what truly happened surrounding Juanita Richardson’s death among the cliffs of Pictured rocks has been a topic of fierce speculation. The event tore a family apart, and this story proves the most dangerous risk of all could be sitting right next to you.For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Beam: Use our link and code NPAD for up to 40% off.  BetterHelp: National Park After Dark is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off.Zocdoc: Use our link to download the Zocdoc app for free.Lume Deodorant:  New customers GET $5 OFF a Lume Starter Pack with code NPAD.For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform. So flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes, go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally, breathe. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night And you've had enough of shopping from your couch Done hoping it looks anything like the picture When you tear open that envelope It's time for a little in-person spring treat It's time for a trip to Ross

Work your magic Travel involves risk While we pack our bags and daydream Of the days or weeks ahead Full of exploration, unwinding, and new experiences seldomly are we running through potential perils That may lie ahead Depending on what our travel plans involve and where we're going, for those of us who fall more on the attentive side, we may do a quick scan for concerning weather conditions, wildlife safety precautions, or crime rates.

We are on the lookout for external threats to our safety and well-being, heads on a swivel for hazards out of our little bubble. But sometimes, the greatest risk of all comes in the form of the humans we choose to travel with. Welcome to National Park After Dark. Oh no, I'm feeling a true crime scary episode. It is a true crime story for sure. And it's scary. I'm back at it again. And we're back.

I feel like true crime is scary, period. True crime is always scary unless it's like fraud. That's not scary. Physically scary. Yeah. Well, this one is physically scary and it's obviously very sad. So I guess you're here for that. You asked for it. So I'm delivering. I asked for it, like specifically. No. You, the collective you out there. Like, I don't remember putting in any requests recently.

Well, this story was not this specific story, but this area, this location has been really highly requested. And we've never covered it before. So it's going to be up in Michigan at Pictured Rock's National Lakeshore. Oh, I love every time we talk about Michigan because so many people from Michigan always come forward and they're so stoked on their area. And I'm like, yes, hello everyone. They're proud. Yeah, like everyone in Michigan is always so proud of where they're from and it's just so fun to hear from everyone there. And they're like, oh my God. And we always get so many emails and comments recommending places to go. So I always love when we head up to this area. Yeah. Well, I will say it's not Michigan. But I never had, or we've never had, more people come through with fuller force than we, when we talked about Duluth. Oh, my. Remember that? Yes.

Everyone was like, go to Duluth. Because I think you said, like, what's in Duluth or what's even around there or something. And people rioted, like, a lot, actually. No, like, I was like, oh, shit. I'm so sorry. We'll get up there eventually. But after researching this and just obviously looking at the pictures, it's called pictured rocks for a reason.

It's beautiful. It's near Apostle Islands, right? Yeah, in that same general-ish area. Facinity. Two places I'd love to go. And just before I begin, I did want to put up a little heads-up here that this episode is going to contain discussions of domestic abuse, including verbal, emotional, and physical. Yeah, so if you're not in the space to listen to it, this isn't the episode for you.

We'll see you next time. But otherwise, tell us the story. While our story begins in a small town in Michigan called McBain, it's a small farming town with barely 600 residents and has a single stoplight. So very small town vibes. And in the early 2000s, Juanita and Tom Richardson called the small town home, along with their three children, Laceyne, Lindsay, and Levi. The three owls.

I kind of love when people do that. I know, like, I feel like a lot of times nowadays, especially, it's tied with like either the Kardashians or the Duggers having like the same letter for all their kids. This might be a wild question, but who are the Duggers? Shut. I don't know if I can continue this podcast for you, honestly. We just have too much different interests aside from being outtoured people. I genuinely have no idea.

Like I couldn't even guess. Yes, you do. I couldn't even guess. Okay. Have you heard of 19 kids into counting? Heard of what? Okay, 19 kids. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm about to blow your mind. So there's a family called the Duggers. And that's why we drank actually just did like a big deep dive on them because there's been some not so, not so chill things that have happened out of that family recently. But they gained a lot of attention back in like when we were growing up. They had a bunch of shows on like TLC discovery thing, whatever, because there are this ultra religious family that. did not practice birth control and had 19 kids and counting.

Like one woman, had 19 children. One woman. One woman. That poor woman. And all of them are named with like a J name, I think. All of them. 19 J names. Yeah.

I swear to God. All of them, honestly. People listening are like, this is super old news. I've literally never heard of this before my entire life. Okay. Hold on a second. because I don't know this off the top of my head, so I'm not that much of a diehard Dugger fan. But you wanted to know.

So it's Joshua James, Jena Marie, John David, Jill Michelle, Jessa, Lauren, Ginger, Joseph, Josiah, Joanna, Jettadaya, Jeremiah, Jerovia, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Jonathan, Jennifer, Jordan, Josie. The oldest was born in 1988. They made, like, a whole community. They sure did. Yeah, the show was really, I think, captivated the nation because it was like, holy shit, you have 19 kids. But also, like, the way that they ran, it really was like a small community. Like, the mother would and father would assign, like, whoever say I was born and then like five years later another kid was born. Like that was, that kid was like my responsibility once I came of age to babysit. And like, I took care of all the responsibilities for that kid. And then it just went down the line. It's like your parents keep having children so you have to be a parent. Yeah, it was like that kind of. It was just like it was always on like after school. Same with John and Kate Plus 8.

Tell me you remember that show. Yeah, I remember the John and Kate. I never really watched it, but I remember like the octoplets being. I said an article recently that showed a photo of them all today. So I've heard of them. Okay, it's kind of like the same thing, like along those lines as far. But like I feel like John and K plus eight was like a, it was more of like they didn't have all those children for religious reasons and purposes. It was more of like... Well, she was pregnant

with eight at one time. Right. Like, yeah. Exactly. So anyway. Yeah. I mean, that is... Or I thought it was six and then she had twins or something. Oh, maybe it was that. I don't know. Either way. I don't know people's pregnancy. We're derailing. We are derailing, but I just... I didn't know who the Duggers were and I apologize. All right. Well, now you know. Now it's like the Kardashians and the Duggers. All the beginning names starting with the same letter. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Right, right. It's like the OG before the Kardashians came to fame. Anyways, doesn't really even matter, to be honest. Okay, going back to this. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites

you've already read twice. Off campus, L. Every Year After, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Tom worked as a FedEx driver, and Juanita was a secretary for one of the local schools. They were both really active in their local church. Tom actually taught a youth group, and Juanita was part of the choir.

Levi, their youngest at this point in time, had just graduated high school and was headed off to college. So Tom and Juanita found themselves as essentially empty nesters and they were in a position to take a pretty long overdue vacation to one of their favorite places, a trip that was kind of like a second honeymoon type of deal after they were married for over two decades. Juanita was excited for the summer trip. She and Tom both loved a good adventure and had an affinity for the outdoors. They packed up their car and headed north to the banks of Pictured Rock's National Lake Shore. So about the National Lakeshore, it's located on the south shore of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's a hotspot destination for a reason. The first of the nation's four National

Lakeshores to be established in 1966, it's absolutely stunning. With 15 miles of cliffs along its 42 mile length, it's scattered with sand dunes, waterfalls, inland lakes, deep green forests, beaches, and historic lighthouses. It's open year round and enjoying activities in this 73,000 acre park is pretty easy. You have a lot of choices. Some of the most popular activities are camping in one of the 22 backcountry campgrounds, sightseeing, winter ice climbing, and ice fishing, hiking, nearly 100 miles of trails, kayaking, and wildlife watching with nearly 300 native vertebrae species. There's about 1.3 million visitors that come here every year. This number is actually up significantly from previous years. The park has seen a big spike in visitations,

and it's likely partially due to the popularity of social media and people sharing photos of the beautiful scenery, and it's just very unique looking. It's very Instagramable. Is that what it's called? Is that what the kids say? Is that what they say? You know, do it for the gram type of thing. Like, it provides a good backdrop, I would say. Despite the, the recent increase in visitation and popularity, this area has always been popular. The Ojibwe have cherished this area for thousands of years. European fur traders first got a glimpse to this area, partially because of Ojibwe guides. Paddling in birch bar canoes, their guides would pass by the rocks, recite prayers, and offer tobacco to the land alive with unseen spirits. The rugged and

stunning sandstone cliff faces that lent themselves to the name of the park have minerals from Lake Superior to thank for their appearance. Those minerals stain the rock faces with colorful hues of red, blue, green, and white. However, the park has several easily identifiable landmarks, some of which have centuries of native stories behind them explaining their appearance that has nothing to do with the minerals. Caves of all colors, for example, was formerly known as caves of the bloody chiefs. And this was a place that the indigenous Ojibway feared as a location of execution. They believed that the coloring was the blood of victims within the caves. There's also Lovers Leap, a famous stone archway that gets its name from an incident of an indigenous woman jumping to her death from a steep

cliff after her love had not returned from a trip. There are many others that have lighter and happier origin stories, but it's clear that the Ajibwe regarded the land with both love and fear, but also always with a healthy dose of respect. Land that went on to be utilized heavily in the fur trade and logging industries prior to its designation as a National Park Unit. In the early 1600s, French fur traders were the first known to physically write down specific things about the area, noting it to be, quote, the most delightful and wonderful place, but dangerous when there's any storm. It was clear to people throughout time that the sheer rock faces and powerful waters below were to be heated with extreme caution. Back to the Richardson's, though. The sun rose on the most

morning of June 22nd, 2006, to a cloudy sky. Mist hung over the lake as the pair set out for their hike on the fourth day of their vacation. They took their time meandering along the trail, stopping to munch on snacks, taking in the sights, and capturing them in photographs. They were headed for a location that they had dubbed Honeymoon Spot, a place that they had visited soon after their marriage ceremony back in 1983. Juanita snapped a photo of Tom, sitting along the side of the trail, arms placed on his knees, sunglasses on the top of his head looking directly into the camera.

He was seated on a grassy patch of earth right at their special honeymoon spot, five minutes to 11. Soon after the photo was taken, Tom left Juanita to trek back to Miner's Castle Visitor Center to use the restroom, and when he returned, Juanita was gone. At least, that was his initial report. Tom had ran for help and alerted park personnel of the situation. He said he had no idea what happened to his wife and theorized that maybe she had been attacked by a bear had been abducted or had fallen off a cliff.

It's like, those are three very different. Specific and different. Very specific. That's the thing. It's like, I don't know. Like, if I simply couldn't find the person that I was with initially, I don't think I would have been, like, resorting to those three options. I would be like maybe they went on a trail and got lost. Yeah, like, I need help locating them.

Like, yes, I need assistance, but I don't think that they were kidnapped or attacked by an animal. I don't know. Or fell off of it. cliff. Yeah. It's just like what, what would make you went to, so he went to the bathroom and his story as he went to the bathroom came out and she was gone and he assumed she had died or was abducted. Or she was like in some sort of significant peril. Yes. So yeah, seems a little bit dramatic, but okay, like you never know. Like sure. Some people freak out. Right. Scary situation.

Exactly. Sure. We'll take that for now. Jim Northrop, the superintendent of pictured rocks, organized a group and set off to her last known location. But within 45 minutes, the mystery of where Juanita was was soon discovered. She had fallen 140 feet, the equivalent of falling from a 14-story building at 45 miles an hour, before she made contact with the lake shore below. According to the National Park website, personnel from Algar County Sheriff's Department, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and pictured Rock's National Lakeshore, extricated her from the Brock Ledge of Lake Superior. She was transported by county ambulance to the hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Lindsay, one of their daughters, states that the pastor of the church called and broke the heartbreaking news to her, followed by her dad, who was audibly upset over the phone. Because remember, they were very involved in the church. This isn't just a random person. But still, it's not coming from your parent initially, which is upsetting. Sure. Tom made the four-hour drive home where he was met by his children. children. Three young adults who had just lost their mother and a husband who had just lost his wife.

They all comforted each other and held together while they arranged a memorial service for Juanita. The park has seen fatalities before. The Pictured Rock's National Lakeshore Incident Report records show deaths due to drownings, snowmobile accidents, suicides, even sandcavens, and of course, auto accidents. But Juanita was the first person in the park's history to lose her life due to a fall at pictured rocks. As of this recording, though, there have been four others since her death. 24-year-old Yupor, aka a Upper Peninsula resident, named Franklin Sade, was camping with a friend in the early morning hours of November 2011, near the top of Miner's Fall, the park's most powerful waterfall that drops about 50 feet over a sandstone outcrop when he fell while he was

collecting firewood. His friend was able to get down to where Frank had fallen. He assessed his condition and called for help. While he was reached by emergency personnel and he was rushed to a nearby hospital, he sadly passed away from his injuries. Franklin was an outstanding wrestler, a member of the community Bible Chapel, and in college, working towards a teaching degree.

Frank guided for the UP's Wildman's and Kosier's guide services and had just finished his training on the Galley River in West Virginia. His heart was full of love for his friends and high adventure. He loved life and living it on the edge. He's remembered for his charisma and compassion. His friends and family say that everyone loved to love him. On September 19th of 2018, 32-year-old 2 Nguyen was visiting the park from California when she slipped and fell while attempting to take a selfie.

She was hiking alone when she stopped about a half a mile away from the Grand Portal Point when two kayakers in the water below witnessed her fall off of a 200-foot cliff. They sprang into action and they were able to retrieve her, bring her to the shore of Chapel Beach and call for help, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. And I was unable to locate much more details on her. But I will say that there was a lot of articles using her death as kind of a springboard about the argument against, you know, doing it for the gram and taking selfies and dangerous situations. So, well, unfortunately, it is something that we're seeing more and more is that people are not, they're just not paying

attention to their surroundings so much because they're in such a beautiful place or such an interesting place that they want to take a photograph of it and people are forgetting about their own safety. I remember it was years ago now and I don't even know where it was but I remember that there was like this really tall mountain area where you could stand on top, not recommended like nothing around you. Like if you fall, you'll die and someone did the same thing where they went to take a photo and they fell off and it was the same thing where it was all over the media like, don't do this, don't do this. And it's like, of course, people want photos of your experience, but at the same time, you really need to assess the risk there and make sure that you're not

going to be harmed in the process for a photo. Exactly. Yep. Dominic Rotondi lost his footing after climbing over a barrier at the top of Miner's Castle, a famous landmark along the pictured rocks shoreline, the only cliff area in the park that's accessible by a vehicle, and fell 100 feet to his death into Lake Superior. He was sworn in and scheduled to leave for the Navy that November. His friends and family fondly remember him for his love of sports, his ability to put smiles on the faces of anyone in a room, and his lack of hesitation to help anyone in need, as well as his ability to eat three times his weight in food and not gain a pound. In February of this year, a 31-year-old man named James Bake was ice climbing along the same area with a friend when waves from the lake

caused him to lose his footing and he slipped. His climbing partner reported him missing and after several days of a long search with participating agencies including the county sheriff's department, the U.S. Coast Guard, Superior High Angle Professionals, Rope Rescue Team, and the National Park Service, his body was recovered nearly a week later by a dive team about 30 yards offshore. James was lovingly described by his family as being known for always lending a helping hand and a listening ear. He met his wife Lauren in Bible College and Faith remained a large part of his journey. He loved the great outdoors, deer hunting, and was renowned for his incredible work ethic and fondness of pizza and ice cream. A life lost, no matter the circumstances surrounding it, is a tragedy.

But what makes Juanita's case more heartbreaking is what sets it apart from those other cases. Someone else was likely responsible for it. Within hours of the recovery of Juanita's body, deputy sheriff Steve Blank sat down with Tom. And it's at this point that Tom's story begins to change a little bit. In this conversation, he added the detail of stopping at his car to change his shoes and sunglasses after his visit to the visitor center to use the bathroom. So after he used the bathroom? Yeah.

So his initial story is he went to the visitor center to use the bathroom, came right back. Juanita was gone. Now he's like, yes, I went to the visitor center and I used the bathroom. but then I went to my car to change for some reason, and then came back, and then when he came back, she was gone. And at this point, he was shouting up and down the trail for her, and because of his extreme fear of heights, he was terrified of approaching the edge of the cliff to look over it.

So he had gotten down on his hands and knees and crawled to the edge of it to peer over the side of it. And it's then that apparently this is when he saw a speck of white at the bottom, and Juanita had been wearing a white jacket and fearing that it was her that he had seen at the base of the cliff, then he ran back to the visitor center to report that she had fallen. Did he say that in his initial report, though? Because he said a bear mauling and abduction.

Correct. Okay. So that's different. Yeah, different for sure. Aside from the change in his original story, Deputy Blank's suspicions were raised based on Tom's demeanor. According to him, Tom appeared to be extremely calm and would take long pauses between his state.

when explaining the story. So to Deputy Blank, if he didn't know that Tom had just lost his wife, he could have never guessed that anything that significant was wrong. Like just the way that he was reciting what was happening seemed very odd, given the circumstances. And to add to the overall odd scene, Tom would intermittently place his head in his hands and make sobbing noises, but then he would bring his head back up out of his hands and his eyes would be dry. Like he wasn't actually crying. Interesting. So it felt like a like a show that he was putting on kind of thing. Yeah, to the deputy that seemed to be performative. Okay. I always feel like I tread lightly on assumptions of how people are reacting because people's reactions to things are so wildly different than you might

imagine that they would be. So I don't know, like it be acting weird and not acting in form of what you think. I mean, who really makes the rules of how you're supposed to act when you find out that your wife passed away, I don't know. But of course, like, if you feel like someone's acting performative, that is weird. It's just, you know, it's just, it's hard to tell solely based off of something like that. Well, of course. And that's their line of thinking as well. Like, yeah, it seems odd. It's noted, but it's not like this is, you're not supposed to be like this type of thing. There's other things. They're just starting to get a weird vibe. Right. Exactly. But again, the story gets another change only a few hours later. This third version, of events is even more unsettling. In this version, Tom states he returned from the visitor center to see his wife standing at the edge of the cliff. After making eye contact with her, she turned to face the water and jumped. When asked why Tom waited to share this information, he conveyed that he was trying to protect his wife's reputation because he didn't want people to think she was quote unquote crazy. So now he's saying that she ended her life by suicide right in

front of him. Okay, these are wildly different stories now. Like, first, she's abducted for a bear. And I can, I can also, like, just playing devil's advocate because I think that we're all like, what is going on with this guy? Just to play the other side. I can see how maybe at first you wouldn't want to say that your wife did that or believe that. And I don't know. But now I'm, like, if you're just in so much shock that they did that, you might make up a different. different story, but ah, he's getting really sketchy. Well, of course, there's something to be said about a slight variation or change in events or sequence of events. If it's the same story, like, who cares if he forgot to say he originally stopped his car to chain shoes? Like, if it's the same story

consistently and that's actually what happened and you forgot to add that detail initially because you're in shock, like, okay, very forgivable and move on. But this is something entirely different. And that's what's pretty much right off the bat indicating that something far worse and sinister is going on here. Absolutely. The following morning, the version of events undergoes yet another change. This time, alluding to the fact that it was an accident, Tom said that Juanita was standing at the edge of the cliff when he arrived back from his visit to the bathroom and she had turned as if she was going to say something to him or show him something, and that's when she lost her footing and fell over the edge. So there's essentially three versions of events in the first 24 hours of this unfolding that were concerning not only to investigators, but to family members as well.

With no evidence of foul play, Tom was free to go home to his children who collectively sided with their dad, believing that he had nothing to do with their mother's death. Like they would absolutely not hear any sort of story or version, even alleging that he had anything to do with killing their mother. Well, how do you come to... I mean, I probably might be on the same page if, like, of course not. My dad would never do that. Right. But Juanita's parents, Dawn and Janine Culver, had other feelings entirely. Oh, okay.

Don believed that suicide was completely out of the question. He didn't buy that it was an accident either, saying, quote, she's not going to get close enough to the edge of a cliff. She didn't like heights. She's not going to fall off. There's only one thing left, and that's murder. Juanita's sister, Jeanette, was instantly in the same boat. When she was first informed of her sister's death, one of her first thoughts was he did it. When I heard Cliff, you know, I mean, I can understand a car accident or something, but I said,

what happened? And mom told me, she fell from a cliff. Her and Tom were there. And instantly, I just knew. That's a huge sign. Like, if that is where your mind first goes. To your brother-in-law that you've had for over 20 years. And that's your first thought, yeah.

Yeah. So Jeanette, Don, and Janine all openly admit that Tom was never their favorite person, but supported their sister and daughter's choice in a husband because they knew that she loved him and that was her chosen partner. They all remember him being emotionally and verbally abusive and recall bearing witness to it on multiple occasions. However, Juanita's children do not remember that at all. Lacey said that she and her siblings were around them the most.

And although at times they had shared, quote unquote, playful talk, nothing harsh or demeaning was ever exchanged. Overall, painting their parents' marriage as normal and not stormy as the media was beginning to portray. So there's now this very clear division of sides within the family. Michigan State Police Detective Jeff Herwire grew up in the same town as Juanita and went to the same high school. And now he, you know, all these years later, he's investigating her death. Word spread like wildfire because remember this town is small and word travels fast. Yeah, 600 people you said, right?

And this is the early 2000s like everyone knows everyone and it's just very tight. And it's a murder or potential murder like of course people are going to catch their eye. And as a result, everyone has an opinion of course on what happened. Jeff was inundated with calls. Dozens of people were stepping forward with information regarding the couple and their marriage. And that's when details of an affair first came to light. Tom had had an affair with another woman earlier on in their marriage. And this wasn't too, too much of a secret. The children even knew about it and spoke to their mom about it directly. They remember her talking to them about what their marriage

vows meant. And to her, it meant reconciling and working through their problems no matter what was presented. And this took about a year to work through, but they came out the other end of it and continued forward with their marriage. Talk of the town was that Tom had shared with a few people that he wished they didn't work through it. Like, he wasn't as committed as Juanita was to making their marriage work and he kind of wish it just like ended things. Yeah, like he had strayed for a reason and realized he didn't want it to be in the marriage

anymore. There were also whispers of a separate, more recent affair with a woman named Kelly who worked at a store that was along Tom's FedEx delivery route. While both she and Tom, vehemently deny the allegations. Investigators uncovered phone records indicating that the two had spoken on the phone 383 times in less than 10 months. We don't even know each other. Who's Kelly? Well, okay. So to be fair, they did say that they were friends. They didn't deny not knowing each other. They just denied being romantically involved. Who do you talk on the phone

with 380 something times that you're not romantically involved with? Well, I'll tell you. you why they said that they were simply friends and all the times that they talked on the phone was they were talking about the Bible. The Duggers tie in. So, my help here with the Lord. So that was their statement originally. How many times did they read the Bible? Because that's, it's a lot. That is. So yeah, take that for what you will. I mean, it is what it is. And just as like a side know a lot of this information, like obviously this 383 time, like the phone record thing was something that was uncovered by investigators. But the other stuff, like a lot of the calls and tips and whatever, it's basically just gossip. It like when you really think about it,

nothing's definitive. It's just people spreading what they believe. It's like I heard this and that and whatever. And like maybe, you know, when there's smoke, there's fire, it's probably originates with a grain of truth, but it's small town. Then fabricated. Hot goss, yeah. Drama. Yeah. A confirmed affair, an alleged one, didn't seem like a likely motive for murder, though.

Like, to be honest. Like, people have affairs and this and that and whatever, and don't kill each other very often overwhelmingly. But there's another motive for murder that we see a lot, and that's money. The four life insurance policies of Juanitas would pay out nearly $250,000 total for Tom, which wouldn't have set him up for life. I mean, 250K is a lot of cash, but it's not something to like he can retire forever about. But it would have definitely helped clear the debt that the couple had gotten into after building a new home, which ended up being about $243,000.

So he would have had a pretty clean slate of debt over that. And you know, that's like, it's still kind of a stretch. But there's another thing that's kind of like, oof. Oh, there's a lot of things that just keep piling up here. There's going to be more things, yeah. So additionally, shortly before their trip to pictured rocks, Juanita had reported that Tom had been ragging on her to get a will. Tom requested appointments to meet with attorneys to draft a will the weekend before their trip. But after learning that a will was not necessary in the event of one of their deaths,

since they owned properly jointly, his insistence on having the will completely went away, according to their attorney. So, I mean, to insist on getting a will the weekend before your wife dies and then being like, oh, we don't actually need it because I still have the, you know, rights to everything, even if one of, she died. Like, okay, I don't need one anymore. It's fine. It's just, it's weird.

It's so weird. Yeah. If I, if Al ever starts persisting that I get a will, I'm divorcing immediately. I'm actually going to go and immediately write that he's not in the world. Okay. I'm just going to say to play devil's advocate for that. Like, I have been such like a proponent now and like advocate for having some sort of like your affairs and order in some way. Even if you don't have anything to really like, like if you don't own property yet or own anything significant, you don't have a giant estate.

Like just having some sort of, you know, your wishes written down for people. It's very helpful. Like to have some sort of living will or something like that, just in case something happens. I mean, like, thankfully, in my case with Ian, like, I knew. We had talked about things like our final wishes. Like, if something were to happen, where would we want our remains, like, to be done and this and that and whatever. But like, to have it insistent, a will has to be done before the specific vacation where

you happen to die. It's just not. Something's not adding up here. Yeah. Yeah. So talking about the Bible so much, I guess, with this woman is, like, fine. maybe, but what's not fine is what Kelly began to reveal as conversations with investigators got deeper. She revealed that Tom had given her an early Christmas present, a pair of earrings.

As just friends, I got a pair of lovely diamond earrings. Also, and this is, it's just so bad. Okay. Also, he told Kelly that Juanita had breast cancer and that she would be dead before Christmas. And she didn't, I'm assuming. She did not. So what happened? It stemmed from she had felt like a lump on one of her breasts and she got it checked out and it was clear. She did not have cancer. She did not have breast cancer. But he was just a lump. He used that as like she has breast cancer.

She's not going to live past Christmas. So she did not have cancer and she was gone by Christmas because this incident happened in the summer. All right. Everything I said about playing devil's advocate before this, I immediately. take back. Okay. Well, it gets worse. Okay, perfect. At some point, Kelly had confided in Tom that she wanted a partner who had a relationship with God, who didn't smoke or drink, and did not have a living ex-spouse. And in response, Tom said, Juanita's sick. And when she dies, will you wait for me? To which she responded, yes, that she wasn't going anywhere because, quote, that's what a friend would do.

A friend would stand by him no matter what. Ew. Okay. First off, like, it's a disgusting that he was like into that and like made that rule but who has who requires that the person that they are dating has no living exes I would have to have many people pass away for me to have no living exes I mean it says a living ex spouse so like if you are married or if you were so married either married or long term partner or something like that person is just physically know, like basically she wants to date a widow or a widower. Or someone who's never had a relationship. Right. And also doesn't smoke or drink and loves God. It's a tall order, is what I'm saying.

I thought I had expectations, but this is unreasonable. Kelly knows what she wants. Yeah, and it's fucked up. Kelly. I know. The information kept coming. Tom called Kelly the night before Juanita's death, and they spoke for nearly 15 minutes. And remember, they're on vacation together. Like, this wasn't the first night of their vacation. This was like the fourth day of their trip to pictured rocks. So somehow he had spoken to Kelly on the phone when he was on vacation with his wife.

And about what? When she was asked, like, okay, well, what was that phone call about? She said she didn't remember. Couldn't recall. What day was it? It was the night before. So June 21st because she, it was the 22nd of June that she died. So she didn't remember.

And then after that, just as a little side note, he also showed up to Kelly's front door after his wife's memorial service had completed. He showed up to her house giving her a plant, like a flower arrangement plant from Juanita's memorial service as a gift. Ew. That's disgusting. As a gift. As like a romantic gesture.

If it's not romantic, I don't know why. If this guy does not end up in jail at the end of this episode, I'm a gift. I am rioting just to let you know. Well, Kelly allegedly did not think anything of this gesture. She was like, yeah, you gave me a plan, like whatever. But Juanita's mother and sister thought it was disgraceful. Like, they thought it was disgusting like you do. Yeah.

The two of them, Kelly and Tom, shared 52 calls in the weeks following Juanita's death. But whatever was or was not going on didn't continue long after Juanita's death because Tom began asking friends to set him up on dates within a month of his wife's passing. And here's what I'm going to just interject right now and say, if this was a completely different situation, moving forward in a relationship after the death of a spouse is not for anyone else to determine other than the person who has survived their spouse, period. Yes.

End of story. However. However. This is not that situation. Having an active affair and then have decided that you're a single bachelor with your fair. It's just, it's sketchy considering the circumstances. Right. And so that's like, it's like all these like things that isolated apart from everything else is just kind of like, eh, that's weird. But all together is obviously very concerning. And that's why this is such. One or two of these things, it's like,

okay. All right. Like maybe it could go one way or the other. But when you like pile them all together into a tie it up in a bow, you're like, this is a shit storm. Exactly. Tom was taking a big, big interest in other even asking out an employee that he had seen at the bank while he was attempting to cash checks he had received as part of Juanita's memorial fund, which is like also, come on, like, gross. Stop it. Ew. Cut it. How about to your children?

Okay. This is why I don't do true crime because I just cannot with people. I'm actively throwing up in my mouth right now. Okay. So the investigator, Jeff Herwire, had an idea to work all of this to his advantage. Tom's interest in other women and all that. Tom would be set up all right with a woman that just so happened to be a Michigan state trooper undercover. Finally.

Jeff's idea worked like a charm and he commented on how Tom was pretty much their best witness throughout this entire investigation because he just wouldn't shut up. He confided in his new love interest, this undercover state trooper, almost immediately about his late wife's accident saying how as she turned and fell, He watched her fall all the way down screaming as she went. So he's like giving all these graphic details to someone he just met about his wife's death. And it's just like he was just, he could not help but keep talking to everyone about it. The undercover trooper obtained video footage of conversations with Tom,

the three variations of his stories, his murky relationship with Kelly, and the life insurance were enough for police to feel like they had enough for a case against him. and he was arrested in February of 2007, which is nearly two years after her fatal fall, and he was charged with first-degree murder and manslaughter. The trial began and the line in the sand was drawn. The family was divided. Tom and his children on one side still. His children are like steadfast.

Or still behind him on this. Mm-hmm. And then on the other side is Juanita's parents and her sister. It was going to be a tough trial. There was no eyewitnesses outside of Tom, and circumstantial evidence was pretty much all that they had. The prosecution had their work cut out for them. Once again, Tom couldn't keep his mouth shut. After being charged, Tom was housed in a cell with two other men, both of whom testified later in the trial that he said of the prosecution's attorney, her name was

Karen, that she would be, quote, the next bitch to go off a cliff. Okay, that is pretty damning. It's like, I cannot. Poor choice of words. That's right. God, I hate that. I hate that. I hate that. I hate this guy. The prosecution's theory was that Tom was a womanizer who treated his wife poorly, was emotionally and physically abusive, manipulative and insulting, and who was actively pursuing other women at the time of his wife's death. The first claim was supported by three separate witnesses, locals to McBain, who had heard him call Juanita, quote, horrible names and always acting like he despised her. And one woman even claimed to have seen her buying gas in town with a black guy. That's awful. I know. An additional witness to the prosecution testified that Juanita had been

planning a divorce, yet Tom had opposed divorce for religious reasons. Another woman came forward, stating that she and Tom had become involved months after Juanita's death. The alleged honeymoon spot came into a question as well. Juanita's father testified he never once heard of this special spot and believes that Tom made it up after the fact to justify why they had gone to that specific area. God, this makes me so upset for, like, I think what's awful about Juanita's story is all of the other women who have, maybe not in this particular circumstance, but you see an abusive relationship that escalates and goes to this. And when you hear, like, it didn't end, he didn't want it to end because of religious reasons, but at the same time, he was verbally and

physically abusive and he was committing adultery and all these other things that are also things that you are not supposed to do in religion. And then that's the reason to not and and then of course murder. It's just, it just makes me so sad for her and to hear about like another woman who went through this and obviously like didn't make it out of her abusive relationship. And most of what was being presented from both sides was circumstantial. But the, The prosecution really drove home their theory when they called the coroner as a witness. Dr. Smith described Juanita's brutal injuries she sustained on the way down the cliff side as the prosecuting attorney played a video reenactment using a dummy to show just how bad her death was.

So they're like trying to visually show how horrific this was for Juanita. And then he went on to describe a mysterious double bruise located on her right thigh, saying, quote, I think those two linear bruises are the result of one impact, something that was sort of elongated and linear, like a rod or a stick. The prosecution honed in on this, bringing up Tom's extensive experience in karate, even bringing in his instructor to testify, who stated he was on his way to earning a black belt and knew anywhere from 15 to 25 different kicks. So they're thinking that maybe he kicked her off of the edge of the cliff. and that left that weird, elongated bruise on her thigh. What in the world? The prosecution went on and then rested after five weeks,

and next up was the defense. They argued that Juanita's fall was a complete accident, and the reason for Tom's various versions of his recollection of events was due to dissociative amnesia, a reaction brought forward due to being under severe post-traumatic stress, basically explaining that the reason his story came out in peace, at different times and in various ways was due to his brain being under severe stress. Furthermore, that Tom wasn't the only person in the marriage to be unfaithful,

stating that, and this is of course all alleged, that Juanita had confided in a friend from church that she too previously had an affair. And then they kind of bolstered all of this with the children saying that they remember their parents' marriage as being nothing but a great and loving one. Well, it's nice that they were able to put on this facade in front of their children because, of course, like, that's what you want. For your children, as if anything's going on between you, you want it behind closed doors and for them to feel like they're in a happy and safe home.

So great for them for being able to hide it. But there's a lot here. There's just so much. And even if she did, even if she did cheat or whatever, they had worked through it. And now he was actively in an affair. And then she winds up dead. So I know, I know. And I do understand, like, their reasoning with the dissociative amnesia and PTSD and, like, yes, those

things do happen. And they have, you know, but I don't think it happened to Tom. It's just what. Yeah, those things happen. But I would assume that his actions after she died would reflect more of someone who was experiencing stress than what he has, how he has been acting. Yep. And then regarding the will and the life insurance, the defunds, the defunds, the defunds.

was eager to point out that Juanita made the appointment herself. And Tom had opted for a smaller payout amount saying that there was an option for a larger payout, but he settled on the smaller one. And it's like... How gracious. Yeah, how gracious, first of all. And second of all, Juanita did a lot of things for them. Like, just because you physically, like, you are the one to actually make the phone call

and set the appointment doesn't mean that she wasn't urged and pressured by Tom to do so. Yeah. Like, whatever. The bruise on her leg was excited. explained that she had sustained it during the actual fall versus before it. And under cross-examination, the coroner did say that would have been a potential possibility. Like, he didn't rule that out. He just said, it was there. It's odd. This is what my findings are. The defense also brought up Tom's three children to testify on behalf of their father's character. And they painted him to be

an honest, trustworthy man with good morals. Yeah. And I'm sure his, I'm sure he was sitting in the room while they did that too. Of course. Which is not okay. I used to work in like years ago. I used to work with children who were children of the state basically taken from abusive homes. And I saw time and time again where the court systems would ask children to testify against their parents. And time and time again, children don't do it. Or they do and they will not say anything bad because at the end of the day, those are their parents. And they don't trust that the court system is actually going to protect them.

So if they do say something that's damning against them, at the end of the day, they are going to be the ones who get in trouble. So it's like a combination of like one, I never want to say anything bad about my parents. But two, if I do, they're going to be so mad at me and I'm going to get in trouble because you are not going to help me. Right. And that's just such a flaw. You know, it's just, it's awful. And in this specific case, like his children are adults, like they're college age and older. However, it's still your dad, you know. Yeah.

Tom's defense attorney went on to point out that the prosecution had a complete lack of direct physical evidence and painted Juanita as clumsy due to a series of leg injuries she had sustained over the years. It's like, okay, so you're basically saying that because she had sustained leg injuries over the year, she was the one that toppled herself over because her leg was weak. Whatever. Talk about blaming the victim. Okay. Closing arguments were made by both sides and the jury was. was dismissed to deliberate. On their first vote, they were divided. Seven jurors thought that Tom was guilty and five weren't so convinced of that. Juanita's autopsy photo was scrutinized over and over again and debate ensued about what could have caused a bruise like that. Like the jurors were really

focused on this bruise and kind of putting the pieces together of what it could be. And then two jurors stood up and did something that turned the tides. Juror Dave Brem stood up and juror Paul Scott came up behind him, placed his foot on the approximate location of where the bruise was on Juanita's thigh, and he pushed. It wasn't a kick, just merely a firm push. And just like that, Dave fell forward because it buckled his leg. It was at that point that the jury was on the same page. Eleven hours later, they reached their verdict. Tom was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. When the verdict was read, the courtroom seemed to let out this collective exhale. There was weeping and crying and someone shouted, thank God.

The decision divided the family even further. Jeanette wonita's mom spoke at his sentencing, hearing, saying in part, quote, two years ago you chose to take her from us. Not only did you take our daughter, our sister, and our aunt, but you also took the mother from your very own children. Despite this, Tom remains adamant that he has been painted as a villain and says it's insulting to hear people say that he killed his wife. Well, I think you killed your wife, so and so did again. And so does a lot of other people. Yeah. I mean, there's so much. While he never personally testified in court, he did give an pretty extensive NBC interview from jail saying in part, quote, I was not planning on killing my wife. My wife and I were getting along as good as we had ever gotten along. And there was no plan. They've tried to

paint that into this plan that I had, you know? He planned on killing his wife. He planned on having a relationship with Kelly. Blah, blah, blah, blah. None of that is true. They put me in a wheelchair, and they wheeled me right up to her face. They hadn't cleaned the blood off or anything. Her face was, she was covered in sheets. And they had her face exposed, but wrapped around with white linen.

And they wheeled me up to her. And when I saw her broken, broken, battered face, and she was gone. I was with Juanita since 1981. And when you lose someone like that, it's like you have this big hole inside you, and nothing will ever replace that. He went on in this interview to recount the incident in detail, explaining that he was in shock, was being brainwashed into various versions of the story, and despite his version of events,

for Juanita's mother, father, and sister, it was case closed way in the beginning. Tom refused to let it rest and contested the verdict for various reasons, including claims that he had ineffective and prejudice counsel, and that various pieces of evidence were obtained without warrants. It's also important to note that inflammatory comments were made by the prosecutor, including calling one of the witnesses a whore and another a bottom feeder. The prosecution said that? Yeah.

Wow. Mm-hmm. So this is part of, I mean, I read all the reports. They're very lengthy and involved, but that is one of the reasons that he pointed to his trial was not conducted. What year was this again? 2006 or 2007 is when it actually went to trial. Okay. So it's relatively, I mean, less than 20 years ago.

Yeah. I say relatively recent. The Supreme Court did review all of these allegations and Tom's bid for an appeal, but ultimately found his arguments were meritless and his appeal was denied. Regarding the inflammatory remarks made by the prosecutor, they did address that and said, quote, generally, less emotion-laden analogies will serve just as well. in making a point. So the prosecutor was reprimanded, but basically they were like, hey, cut that out. Like, don't do that. Yeah. Tom remains incarcerated at King Cross Correctional Facility in Michigan.

And that's it. He's in there. Good. In my opinion, I mean, from the way you presented it and the evidence that we hear, I feel like he seems very guilty. I mean, the accounts that he has from just the fact that his family is so convinced that he did it. also tied with all of the strange versions he gave when at the end of the day, he said he watched her fall and knew that she fell. It's just, it's very odd to me to say anything different than that. Like, why would you say she might have been abducted or a bear? If, if I saw my loved one fall off of a clip, I would immediately send rescue personnel. Like, I would be like, get down there, but please go help her. She might be alive, you know, instead of being like, oh, maybe she was mauled by bear like go look over there yeah i mean and i think what you said originally like it's it's just very

telling when the people closest to a victim have very strong opinions right off the bat and it's opinion that like is very you don't want to be like her husband the person she loved the most killed her you know what i mean i don't know it's just it's hard it is hard and from everything that you've told us it sounds like she was in an abusive relationship And it just, it makes me very sad that she wasn't able to escape that and that she had to endure that. And that happened to her, you know, I know we've had a lot of messages from people who are listening who have escaped abusive relationships or are currently in abusive relationships. And to hear these stories where something like that happens, it's just, it's so sad. And I just hate it. I hate it. And so you're saying, I'm glad he's in jail.

You hated my episode. Yes. Okay. But thank you for telling us. All right. Well, I will end this on the note that I feel like we say this every time we do a true crime episode based episode that we know that it's something that there's a big interest in, but we usually kind of like don't do very frequently.

But we have a really special guest coming on this week on Thursday that does do a lot of true crime. So if you want your dose of true crime, in the outdoors, you should stick around for Thursday. Yeah, stick around Thursday. We'll see you then. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch your back. Thank you so much for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale or story suggestion, send us an email at Stories at NPAD Podcast.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at National Park After Dark and on Twitter at NPAD podcast. Join our outsiders-only community on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. to listen ad-free, unlock monthly bonus episodes, and exclusive content.

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