Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - Police Ruined His Life - The Ryan Waller story

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

This is the story of Ryan Waller and his unfortunate police interrogation.

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This is your fix. I am your host Stasi Schroeder. Welcome to Tell Me Lies, the official podcast. What's the most unhinged thing of season three? Stephen, because he's so evil. I do think he is misunderstood. You see everyone base consequences. It's intoxicating.

The writers just know how to trick you. There's always a twist in this show. Tell Me Lies, the official podcast, January 6th, and stream the new season of Tell Me Lies, January 13, on Hulu, and Hulu on Disney Plus. It's Christmas Day and this guy is chilling at his house with his girlfriend. But then they hear a knock at the door and when the guy goes to open it, boom, standing there as two goons and they got pew-pues. So the guy immediately slams the door closed, but he can't shut it fast enough and the goons forced the door open. And one of them manages to stick his arm

through and he shoots the guy right in the head and he falls back and then the goon aims his pew-poo and he shoots him in the head a second time. Then the goon goes over to the living room and he sees the girlfriend on the couch and he points his pew-poo at her and he fires and he unalives her. Then they rob the place, taking whatever they want and they leave. Now the guy, his name's Ryan and the girlfriend, her name's Heather. And while Heather unfortunately doesn't survive being shot in the head, somehow Ryan does. And he's lying there and he's in pain and there are bullet fragments in his head and he doesn't know it yet, but he has a severe brain injury.

In fact, his injury is so severe, he kind of doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't know how to call for help. It seems like he doesn't even understand that he needs help. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, these two, Ryan's mom and Ryan's dad, they're chilling at home

wondering when Ryan and Heather are going to show up because it's Christmas day and they're late for dinner. And of course, they're nowhere to be found. So Ryan's dad calls him, but no answer. And then they call several. more times throughout the day, but still, no answer. And once they realize that Ryan and Heather have completely ghosted them over the dinner, Ryan's parents get worried.

So they go over to his house and they knock on the door, but no one answers. So they call police to come into a welfare check. And then four hours later, police show up. And they're knocking and they're looking through the windows and they're trying to get into the house through the back door. And then suddenly, bam, the back door opens. And it's Ryan just standing there with a busted up black eye. And he looks all confused, like he has no idea what's going on. So police, they go inside and there, on the couch, they see Heather's lifeless body. Now as we saw, Ryan,

he was shot in the head twice. One bullet grazed the side of his skull, and the other went through his nose, and the fragments went into his eye region. So his most visible injury looks like a massive black eye. So police, they take a look at him, and they think, not that he's not that he, needs immediate medical attention for his brain injury, but that he's the one who unalived Heather. So, bam, they arrest him, and they stick him in the back of a patrol car where he waits for four hours, before finally they take him to the station and there they start grilling him. Like, what happened at your house? Why did you unalive your girlfriend? And poor Ryan, he can't really tell them what happened, because, you know, brain damage. And like when they ask him the very

basic question, where do you know Heather from? He answers and says shit that just doesn't make sense. She used to be in my book name with business name. So then they ask him like what happened to his face? And he's like, I don't know. And then he starts saying he thinks it was Heather who hurt him. But like he can't even remember her name. Like he really is all over the place. But then he starts trying his best to explain that it was actually some goons who broke into his house. But he's still just not making sense. They put me in sleeping hold and like, you put me in sleeping hole with the arrows and shit. They put you in a sleeping hold?

Yeah. What is that? I don't know. I don't know. I really don't. But then finally, something in him clicks. And he starts talking a little more coherently and making more sense. And he tells police that he had been shot.

And of course, police don't believe him. They shot you with a revolver in your eye. Yeah. Is it a BB gun? No, it was a real gun, man. If they shot you in the eye. with a revolver, you wouldn't be talking to me right now. Not to mention, they don't seem even slightly concerned about Ryan's injury or about getting him

to a hospital. They are still convinced that he's lying and that he's the one who unalived Heather. And they are going to try their best to pressure him until he admits it. Ryan, you need to start telling me the truth. Your story doesn't make sense. I'm trying. I don't know. Just ask me anything. I'll tell you the truth. And then finally, after almost an hour of Ryan trying his best to explain it to the detective, the detective takes a closer look at the wounds on his face, and he realizes how badly hurt he is. Let me see your nose. Bring your face closer.

I got the fire department coming to take a look at it. They're going to probably take you to the hospital. You're taking me to the hospital? Yeah, we're going to take you to the hospital. So, after being in police custody for six hours, they finally come to their senses and they rush Ryan to the hospital. And immediately doctors see his wounds and they see that he's been shot in the face. And most importantly, they see that his wounds have an infection, an infection that actually could have been avoided if he had gotten care sooner.

So they perform brain surgery on Ryan. And he stays in the hospital for 35 days recovering. But unfortunately, it turns out, he has life-changing injuries. And he loses his left eye permanently and part of his brain has to be removed. And he regularly starts having C. So Ryan's parents, they get a lawyer and they sue the Phoenix Police Department for failing to get their son medical treatment in time. But unfortunately for them, the case is eventually thrown out due to lack of evidence. Which is weird because like, we have the video.

Anyway, the good news is that the goons who shot Ryan and Heather are both eventually caught. And bam, they get arrested, here's one of their mug shots, and here's the other. And they're both eventually sentenced to life in prison without parole. Then, about 10 years after all this happened, Ryan unfortunately has his last seizure and he passes away. It's a sad one. Shout out to Phoenix, Arizona.