Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - She Murdered Her Abuser - The Sarah Gonzales-McLinn story

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

This is the story of Sarah Gonzales-McLinn

An all-new season of the secret lives of Mormon wives is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus. Mom Talk has just been blowing up. Whitney and Jen are dancing with the stars. Taylor is a bachelorette. Saying that out loud is crazy. Like, that is huge. But all the cool opportunities could close apart. It's causing issues in everyone's marriage.

My whole world is falling apart right now. It's chaos. Watch the Hulu original series. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for Bumno subscribers. Terms apply. So one morning, the employees of this pizza restaurant, they all show up to their shift. But today, the restaurant is empty.

Like no one had showed up to open it. Now, the franchise owner, normally he's there to unlock the place. But this time, he isn't. In fact, no one had heard from the guy in several days. Now, shortly after all that, police, they go to the owner's house to do a welfare check on him. And they knock on the door, but no one answers. So they walk over and they look in the window, and that's when. they see a body on the floor.

Now the guy, his name's Howe, he's 51. And one day he hears about one of his former employees, this girl, Sarah. He hears that she's having a rough time in her personal life. She's got some depression, her parents are splitting up, and some other horrible stuff. Sarah's only 17. So how he decides to call her, and I guess console her. And she tells him she's been having problems with her parents, so he's like, all right, why don't you come live with me for a while?

And I'll take care of you and I'll help you get you. your life back on track. So then bam, Sarah moves into Hal's house and they become roommates and so far it's going pretty well. Because Hal he's like the cool dad. He always keeps booze available for her and apparently drugs too. He even offers to pay $6,000 for the nose job she's always wanted. And so to Sarah this seems like a really good deal. Until, after six months in this new living situation, Hal comes to Sarah and he hits her with some devastating information. He does He tells her that he loves her and not in like a fatherly way, in like a romantic way. And since she's 18 now, he feels like it's appropriate to go ahead and make a move on her.

And so Sarah, she's like, oh, Hal no. And she shuts him down. But from there, Hal doesn't let up. Time goes on and he keeps trying to get with her and she keeps saying no. And then one night he gets frustrated and he threatens her. He says if she doesn't hook up with him, he'll kick her out of his place. And poor Sarah, she has nowhere else to go. So that night, she gets black out drunk, and she finally gives in.

And then later, after they're done, Hal wants to ensure that it happens again. So he gives her an ultimatum. He's like, listen, if you're going to keep living here, then you have to pay rent. And he also tells her she needs to reimburse him for food, gas, cell phone, car repairs, her dog's vet bill, and of course that $6,000 nose job. And obviously, Sarah can't reimburse him. him. She doesn't make that much money. So she keeps on smashing with him, because that's sort of her way of paying him. And this new smashing for payment routine, it keeps going. It continues anywhere from three to five

times a week, and Sarah just hates it. And aside from that, Hal just doesn't treat her well. He belittles her, he threatens to sue her for the money she owes him, he takes her paychecks away from her when she gets them, so she has no money at all. It sucks. And then at some point, he tries to pay for her to get breast implants. But the doctor they go to refuses because she's so young. So then Hal decides to get her butt implants, which cost about $10,000. Not to mention, she doesn't really want them. But she ends up getting them and he expects her to pay him back for the cost of the surgery, which of course means more coerced smashing. And of course Hal is a total creep. He goes and he starts bragging to his friends about how awesome it is that he bagged an 18-year-old. The whole thing is just gross.

But all this really starts taking a toll on Sarah's mental health. And pressure starts building up. And she feels like she's going crazy, like she's a caged animal. And she doesn't know what to do with all this rage. And she starts freaking out and she buys a rabbit from a local pet store. And she like unalives it with a knife. And that doesn't help her feel better at all. So then finally, after living with him for 10 months, Sarah just snaps.

And she decides she's going to unalives. So then one night, when Hal isn't paying attention, she gets some sleeping pills and she crushes them up and she puts them in his beer. And he drinks it and about an hour or so later, he passes out. Then she zip ties his wrists and ankles and she gets a large hunting knife and she unalives him right there in his own house. And for the first time in a long while, Sarah finally feels free. So much so that she uses Howell's blood to write freedom on the wall of his house. Yeah, I know, this story's weird. But then she steals house car and she joyrides to Florida. I mean, she knows the police is going to be after her soon. She just wants to visit

the ocean one last time before it happens. So she visits the ocean and then 11 days later, police catch up with her. And boom, she's arrested. Here's her mugshot. So she goes to trial, she's convicted of first degree murder, she takes a plea deal, and she's sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison, but later it's reduced to 25 years. Shout out to Topeka.