SERIALously - 339: Dad of Three Shot in His Sleep, But NOTHING Adds Up | Keith Gentry

Starting point is 00:00:00 The first thing I think they'd notice when they're walking up where the guns lined up along the sidewalks. It's a nice rural area. It was bizarre that there would be a burglary there. Her husband had a gunshot wound in the head and blood all over. We have a lady on the phone that it's a possible break in her house and her husband has been shot. This is not a high crime area by any stretch of the imagination. He was a great dad, great husband, a hard worker. I'm trying to get a hold of my mother-in-law because they live right next next to my mom.

Starting point is 00:00:29 live right next door to us because I didn't want the kids in the house with all, just everything that was going on. Something speaks about this on, something ain't right here, man, I'm telling you. Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all new episode of Serialessly with me, your host and your true crime bestie, Annie Elise. And let me just tell you, okay, the case that we are going over today, it is a freaking wild one. It has so many twists. It's like a roller coaster. It's

Starting point is 00:01:25 unbelievable. The motive is just beyond insane. And when I first heard about this case, I'm just going to tell you, I immediately knew I needed to jump on the mic and talk with you about this because I was like trying to wrap my head around it, make sense of it. I was having a difficult time. But then as we continued our research and gathered more facts, more interviews, more footage, I started seeing the light. I started seeing it all come together. And it certainly is a wild one. Before we get into today's case, quick little reminder, if you are listening to the podcast version of this episode, take a quick second. Make sure that you're following the podcast so that you don't miss any future episodes. Should be in like the top right corner, maybe

Starting point is 00:02:09 bottom corner, depends what app you're using. And if you are watching the video version of this on YouTube, hit the red subscribe button so that you also don't miss future episodes. Now, let's get into this because I need to talk with you about this case. So it was just after 6 a.m. on November 9th, 2005, when a very frantic 911 call came into dispatch. It was from a terrified woman who lived in Texas, and through her just panicked, hysterical sobbing, she told this operator that her husband had been shot while he was sleeping. She also said, this is a little bit graphic, but she said there was pink foam coming out of his mouth. And in the background, you can hear her screaming out and pleading for help, saying help, he's making a god-awful sound. Now that man,

Starting point is 00:02:58 that man was Keith Gentry. And at first, it seemed like a horrific home invasion, this random act of violence that shattered this very happy, very wholesome Texas family just overnight in the blink of an eye. But as the detective started digging into the case, the story began to unravel. And it revealed one of the most unbelievable motives that I have ever heard. of in any case that I've covered. Now, Keith's loved ones were devastated, and I should mention they were adamant that the police got it all wrong. They stood by the person who the police accused of pulling the trigger. They were convinced there was absolutely no way that they could be responsible. So what was the truth? What really happened inside the gentry home that night?

Starting point is 00:03:45 Was it a break-in gone wrong? A crime of passion, maybe? Or was it something false? Or was it something far more calculated and chilling. In order to answer that, we have to go back a little bit, and we need to talk about who Keith was. Keith was your classic Texas guy just through and through. He was polite, he was hardworking. He was the kind of guy who said, yes, ma'am, no man, without ever even thinking twice about it. And he also loved being outdoors. It didn't matter if it was hunting, if it was fishing, or just being out in the country. He wanted to be outside. Now, all of that is great for background. But the part of Keith's story that really matters in today's case starts with the day that he met her. Her name was

Starting point is 00:04:27 Darlene, and to put it simply, she was stunning. She had blonde hair, high cheekbones, this like huge megawatt smile that could stop people mid-sentence. She kind of had that like Pamela Anderson vibe about her. You know what I'm talking about, not just blonde, beautiful, sexy, but this huge smile and just something about her that stopped people in their tracks. It was the kind of woman that everybody noticed whenever she walked into a room. And Keith, I mean, he was just gone the second that he saw her. And the wild part was she actually liked him right back. But Keith wasn't flashy. He was quiet. He was rugged and he was more of the like work with your hands type of guy. So he never thought that someone like Darlene would ever even look at him twice, let alone fall for him. But she did. And she

Starting point is 00:05:15 fell hard. And Darlene later said that what first drew her into Keith were his manners, his easygoing personality. Remember, he loved the outdoors. He was just like a Texas guy through and through. She also said that he had, quote, the most beautiful eyes. So not only were they opposites in terms of hobbies and, you know, perhaps what they looked like, but they came from two completely different worlds. Darlene had grown up in this very tiny Texas town called Cameron. The population was barely 6,000 people. And she was the stereotypical small-town sweetheart. I'm talking homecoming queen, a very bubbly personality, friends with everyone, the bombshell. I mean, perfect for like a lifetime movie or a Hallmark movie, right? And like I said, Keith was the quiet

Starting point is 00:06:02 type who really preferred to just go out for a good hunt than go to a crowded party. But again, somehow they just clicked. So not long after meeting, the two of them started dating and everybody around them could tell that this was a very special relationship. Keith's family absolutely adored her, and his dad, Wayman, Sr. later said, she just acted like Keith hung the moon, you know? Whatever he wanted to do, they did. But as we know, even picture perfect relationships, they do have their cracks. And after about eight months together, things between the two of them hit a rough patch. Darlene was ready to settle down, like now she wanted to get married, she wanted to be a wife, a mom, the whole thing. But Keith, on the other hand, he wasn't quite there yet. He loved her,

Starting point is 00:06:49 yes, but marriage, it just felt way too fast. So because of that, they broke up. And Darlene moved to Dallas to just start over, start fresh, while Keith stayed in Waco. But here's the thing about first loves. We've all had them, right? They kind of have a way of sticking with you. Even when you feel like you've moved on or you've met somebody new or you've shaken that feeling, they have just this way sticking with you. And even though the two of them went their separate ways, they never really let go. Also, Dallas didn't exactly go smoothly for Darlene. She wasn't loving the big city. She didn't care much for her job. And to top it all off, her car even got stolen while she lived there. So that was kind of the final straw for her. That was it for her. Dallas was out. And she moved

Starting point is 00:07:36 back home to Cameron. And right about the time she moved back home to Cameron, I guess that's when you could say fate stepped in. Because not long after returning home, she ran into Keith again. And just like that, it was like no time had passed at all. They just fell right back into it. Almost as if their breakup had just been this tiny little pause in their grander story. Which I don't know, I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder, right? Maybe. So for Keith, that breakup really had been the wake-up call that he needed. He realized that Darlene wasn't just someone that he had loved. She was the one. She was the person. She was the person. he wanted to spend his life with. So in 1999, he got down on one knee, and he proposed to Darlene.

Starting point is 00:08:17 They got married not long after, and they started living that picture-perfect Texas dream life, the one that Darlene had always imagined. They even bought a house right next door to Keith's parents. Darlene also went back to school, she became a nurse, and Keith landed a very solid job as an engineer with a local electric utility company. And sure enough, before long, their family grew. three boys, in fact, Chase, Cody, and Cade. With that, Darlene scaled back her nursing hours so that she could focus on raising the boys and taking care of the home, while Keith really worked to provide for them and became the breadwinner. And it was honestly the kind of life that people dream about, right? I mean, small town roots, three beautiful kids, a solid marriage, a house full of love, what more could you want for a love story? So when tragedy struck, just six years after the two of them got married, Nobody, not even Keith's closest friends and family. I'm talking nobody saw it coming. Robertson, Alamo, much emergency.

Starting point is 00:09:18 Hello? Okay, what's the problem? I got it this morning. I was in my country. I was in my husband's sons are all gone. And there's blood on the bed and she's going on the stuff out of it now. Okay, so he is there? He's here.

Starting point is 00:09:36 I have a show on it with me. Hang on. I say I'm going to do it. It's that's the officer, stay on. I do have officers. You don't see anybody. I don't see anybody. I don't think they're going to be allowed to think they're doing.

Starting point is 00:09:45 I don't think that door was right open. I went back there and I shut the door and then I heard the door. Did you get conscious, ma'am? I can't get it to respond. Good. That he just bring it out. It's not going to be. There's nothing to him.

Starting point is 00:10:03 It was just after 6 a.m. on November 9th, 2005, when that very panicked 911 call came through from a terrified woman in Texas. And that woman was Darlene. She told the operator that someone had broken into their home overnight and that they had shot her husband Keith while he was sleeping. And through her crying and through her shaky breaths, she said, he has pink foam coming out of his mouth, and he's making this god-awful sound, which that detail alone, just chilling. Darlene explained that she hadn't been in the couple's bedroom that night like she usually was. Her boys had been having trouble sleeping, so she stayed with them in their room. She said that everybody finally dozed off together, but when she woke up that morning,

Starting point is 00:10:47 she found Keith her husband in bed, covered in blood. The back door, she said, was open, and all of Keith's guns, gone. And whoever had done this could still be inside the house, armed with her husband's weapons. So police raced over to the family's home, and when they arrived, they found a truly horrifying scene. Keith was lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to his head, yet he was somehow still alive, still barely holding on. First responders rushed him to the hospital, but the outlook, I mean, it didn't look very good. Doctors didn't even know if he was going to make it through until the morning. Meanwhile, officers started clearing the house. They were looking for any sign of the intruder that Darlene had described. But the more that they looked around, the less sense

Starting point is 00:11:35 that her story made. Because there were no signs of forced entry, no broken windows, no splintered doors, nothing that, you know, screamed break-in at the surface. The house looked surprisingly normal, almost too normal. And that wasn't the only thing that fell off. Keith's gun cabinet, the one that Darlene said had been broken into and all of his guns gone, it didn't look tampered with at all. The glass wasn't shattered. The door wasn't pried open. It was just closed. And inside the guns, yes, were gone, but the cabinet itself, it was spotless. So if this really had been some sort of home invasion, I mean, you would expect chaos, right? You would expect shattered glass, things tossed around, maybe even a window cracked open where somebody had climbed in or out of.

Starting point is 00:12:26 But there was none of that. It looked relatively calm, almost like you never would have known a break-in had happened unless you were told about it. And then there was the weirdest part of all of this. The key to the gun cabinet was still inside the lock. Apparently, Keith used to keep this key hidden on top of the cabinet. He didn't want his boys getting to it. He wanted it out of reach from their young children, which obviously guns and weapons are extremely dangerous.

Starting point is 00:12:54 Which I will just say, let's be honest, putting a key on top of a cabinet, not the most hidden place I've ever heard of or, you know, something I would do. I'd probably have things padlocked or, you know, combo locked, something just where it's like, you know, completely airtight and nobody can get into it. But whatever. But since this key had just been on top of the cabinet normally, maybe the intruder was able to find it pretty easily. I mean, would a burglar take the time to look around for a key in the dark? I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine, but it certainly was accessible and it was possible. Although that being said, I mean, if you're breaking into a home that you know has guns and you see a gun cabinet, wouldn't you want to be in and out of that home as fast as you possibly could be?

Starting point is 00:13:41 Break in, get whatever jewelry, whatever valuables you want, and then get the hell out of there. You probably wouldn't be wandering around testing random keys like it's an escape room or like looking for random keys on top of cabinets or in drawers, right? So it kind of makes you wonder, did this person know already exactly where this key was? And if so, why or how? And there's one more thing. Whoever took those guns from this cabinet, they shut the door afterward. Now, I don't know about you, but I have never heard of a very polite burglar or intruder who just carefully closes doors behind them after committing a crime.

Starting point is 00:14:20 Usually, again, they're leaving in a panic or in a frenzy, so it's things, you know, Drown about, thrown about, doors open, cabinets open, drawers still left tap open. So from the moment that the police stepped inside, they just could not shake the feeling that something wasn't right here. One officer even turned to the other and said, something stinks about this, Gary, to which Gary replied, I think she did it. She, meaning Darlene. And that was before they even did this full sweep of the house.

Starting point is 00:14:49 Because when they did that, things got even stranger. Now, just outside the front door, just lying neatly in a pile, were Keith's guns. The same guns that Darlene said had been stolen, the same ones that this intruder supposedly ran off with. So I just want to back up for a moment and just kind of think, especially when I first heard, that I was like, wait, someone breaks into a home, shoots a man in his sleep, steals multiple guns after somehow figuring out how to open the gun cabinet, but then after going through all of that effort, just decides to dump them right there. outside the door before fleeing on foot? Yeah, if you're like me, none of that made any sense when I first heard it. And if Darlene hadn't told the police that they were dealing with a break-in, investigators might never have even guessed that that's what the scene was even supposed to look like or supposed to be. Because the truth, it looked a whole lot less like a robbery

Starting point is 00:15:43 gone wrong and a whole lot more like somebody was trying way too hard to stage a robbery. So it seemed like Darlene was definitely hiding something. The only question was, what was she hiding? You guys know I am all about anything that actually works and fits into my real life, especially when it comes to learning something new. Look, what's the expression? You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Well, I'm actually here to tell you, you definitely can. Because one of the things that has always been on my bucket list, like so many of us, is learning to speak another language, whether it's because I've traveled somewhere with my family and I just feel like a complete moron reading the menu and trying to order, or I feel like I'm traveling and I need

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Starting point is 00:18:04 listeners up to 55% off your subscription. Just go to babble.com slash A-E. That's B-A-B-B-B-B-B-E. Rules and restrictions may apply. Today's episode is sponsored by HomeGlow. Okay, so you guys know that the holidays are absolute chaos. I mean, especially in my house, between the kids, recording, traveling. I'm hosting Thanksgiving this week. I mean, the last thing that I have is time for deep cleaning. And honestly, taking cleaning off my plate is the only way that I feel like I ever survived this time of the year. And that is why I decided to try and use HomeGlow. It's a service that I had heard about in the I tried it once before and I was reminded of it. I was like, oh, I need to try this again, especially right now before Thanksgiving. And it really has been a game changer. I booked a

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Starting point is 00:19:38 or monthly cleanings at a super affordable rate. And yes, you can switch up your cleaner whenever you want. So if you want to feel even a little more sane this holiday season, take home cleaning off your plate. Head to homaglow.com slash Annie Elise to get your first three hours of cleaning for only $19. That's H-O-M-E-A-G-L-O-W.com slash Annie Elise. And huge thank you to HomeGlow for sponsoring this episode. So after being rushed to the hospital, Keith was immediately put on life support. The doctors were doing everything that they could, but his injuries, they were just too severe. They were catastrophic. I mean, a gunshot wound to the head.

Starting point is 00:20:27 And we know not many people come back from that. So it was clear. I mean, this was going to be a fight that he likely would not win. And while the doctors did work desperately to save him, the did. detectives were already zeroing in on the person that they needed to talk with first about this, possibly even a prime suspect, his wife, Darlene. And Keith was technically still alive, although barely, when they asked her to come down to the station to answer a few questions. And she agreed to it right away. However, I will say that from the start, the investigators noticed that something about her

Starting point is 00:21:01 just felt off. They said that she didn't ask once about Keith's condition, not for an update, not to know if he made it through surgery, just nothing, which I'm sure not everybody grieves the same way. I get that. But you would think that a grieving wife or spouse or whomever, even a neighbor maybe, would say, did they make it through surgery? How are they doing? What's going on? Give me the update. I mean, most spouses in her situation would be begging to see their loved ones, clinging to any update that the hospital could give them. But for Darlene, it just seemed like clearing her name was kind of the bigger priority to her. She didn't ask about him once, so it was certainly strange enough that they wrote it down in their notes as they were talking with her. Now, before they could get too far into questioning Darlene, everyone had headed to the hospital because Keith's condition had taken a turn for the worse. And doctors told Darlene that it was time to make the hardest decision of her life, whether or not to keep Keith on life support. And six hours after that 911 call was made, Keith's body finally gave out. He was gone. Police were also there when it happened, and I got to say, Darlene's reaction, it only deepened their suspicions.

Starting point is 00:22:15 Yes, she cried, yes, she seemed upset, but something about it just did not sit right with them. One investigator later said, quote, I never really saw her break down. She had tears in her eyes and mourned, but not like someone like that should have done. And believe it or not, right after Keith's death, that very same night, Darlene went straight back to the police station for another round. of questioning. Now this time, the detectives wanted to hear every single detail about what happened the night before Keith was shot, which, according to Darlene, it was a completely normal night. She told them that she had gone out with friends, she got home around 8.30 p.m. She and Keith went

Starting point is 00:22:54 through their usual bedtime routine and went to sleep like always, but that sometime around 3.30 a.m., their youngest son, who, by the way, was just 18 months old, he started crying and wouldn't go back to sleep. All three of their boys, as a matter of fact, had colds. They were under the weather. So Darlene decided to just go lay with them in their room to kind of help him settle down, help all of the boys go back to sleep, and just kind of rest easily through the night. She ended up turning on the TV, and eventually they all fell asleep. She then said that at around 5.15, she woke up, but she rolled over and kind of dozed back off, which, let's be real. If you've got toddlers, if you've got young kids, every extra minute of sleep counts. I get it.

Starting point is 00:23:33 Even if you feel like it's time to wake up, you'll turn over, go back to sleep. Hell, I did it this morning. But at about 5.45 a.m., she finally got up. And as she walked into the main area of the house, maybe heading to the kitchen or going for coffee, something like that, something just stopped her cold in her tracks. Because that's when she noticed that Keith's gun cabinet was completely empty. And she knew that all of the guns had been there the night before, and now they were just completely gone. So panic began to set in. And Darlene said that she started yelling for Keith, expecting him to come running. But he didn't. No response. So that's when she went into the bedroom, and that's when she saw him lying there in bed covered in blood. Now on the

Starting point is 00:24:18 surface, her story did make some sense. It was tragic, it was horrifying, but it was believable enough, at first at least. Still, it was odd, though, that she hadn't heard a thing. I mean, no gunshot, no intruder, no commotion, nothing. But what really made investigators pause was what Darlene did after calling 911, or more accurately, what she didn't do. She told them that she wasn't sure if Keith was dead or alive. So because of that, she just stood there, just waiting for the paramedics. And once again, yes, with grieving, with stress, with being under pressure, everybody reacts differently. But remember, a key point in Darlene's story and her background is that she was a registered nurse. She was someone who was

Starting point is 00:25:06 trained to check vitals, perform CPR, to act fast when there's distress, when there's trauma, and when seconds, literally seconds matter. Yet by her own admission, she didn't even check for a pulse. She didn't try to stop the bleeding. She didn't do CPR. She didn't do anything. And when the detectives asked why, she said she was frozen, in shock. and that her only thought was protecting her three boys, making sure that they were safe if the intruder was still in the house. And look, maybe that was true, but as the investigators were listening to her, they couldn't help but feel like something was not lining up, that Darlene's version of events from that night was missing maybe some key details, maybe more than just a few details. Now, the other reason she gave, it sounded a lot better and it made way more sense medically, though it is still debatable on whether

Starting point is 00:26:00 or not, it's a solid enough excuse. Take a listen. When I turned around, I could tell he was using all of his muscles in his stomach to like breathe. And I was like, and I hollered at him again. He didn't say nothing. So I rounded onto his side of the bed, grabbed him by the leg and kind of shook him. And I'm going, keep. And by that time, I could tell he had some pink frothy stuff coming out his mouth. And my instinct was I wanted to turn him over, but I didn't touch him. I mean, I kind of looked and thought, and I leaned in a little closer, and I could see what appeared to have been some blood behind his head. Well, I wasn't going to turn him because I was afraid something was wrong with his neck. I didn't want to do more damage. Now, at some point, in between responding to the 911

Starting point is 00:26:47 call and interviewing Darlene, the investigators had found what looked to be small amounts of blood in one of the bathrooms inside the home. And this struck them as very, very odd, because Darlene never mentioned going into the bathroom at any point. From the way she told the story, she found Keith dead, called 911, and was basically frozen in place in shock until the first responders got there.

Starting point is 00:27:11 So how did that blood get into the bathroom? And at what point did it get in there? It was suspicious. And Darlene's answer was not exactly one that really cleared things up. Did you at any time touch you? Well, I mean, I know physically did, I mean, like I shook his leg when I was trying to get his attention, but

Starting point is 00:27:33 some of my pocketage turned it on. The reason I asked is we got some Rangers at the house in Texas Rangers. They're assisting with the crime scene stuff. They found what they think might be bloody in the last for the same. I don't know. As I said, I haven't

Starting point is 00:27:54 other than touching his leg, that is the only part I leave I touched him. So you don't remember going after touching maybe any bloody area? No, I was literally my cell phone was on my dresser, which is on his side of the bed. When I couldn't get him to respond to me, I turned directly from there, picked up the phone and, you know, turned it on, and then, of course, had to wait for the service to hit and hit 911. Now, something that I find pretty interesting about Darlene's interview that I've seen a lot of people point out is that towards the beginning, her body language was a bit off. She was kind of like crouched down,

Starting point is 00:28:32 holding her arms. And then over time, she started facing further and further away from the investigator who was interviewing her. And almost like she was like becoming not detached, but just definitely moving. Now, I will say, she had claimed pretty early on in the interview that she was really cold. So, I mean, maybe that's all there is to it. She was holding herself to keep herself warm. She was crouched it down, trying to keep body heat in. I'm not really sure. However, even the investigator made note of this and eventually asked her to change the way that she was sitting. So that's just something to think on as we continue to move forward. Something else that I made a note of as being kind of interesting was that Darlene was really

Starting point is 00:29:21 adamant about her and Keith's relationship being fine and dandy and great. at the time of his death. So much so that there were even a few times during this interview where it was almost like, okay, yeah, we get it. Things are fine between you two. Like, we got it. We get the picture. I was married.

Starting point is 00:29:39 Other than trying to figure out how to raise these three kids. I was in tears last night talking to him, and he was hugging me and everything else to know. I mean, I physically, we have been through so many things. There's no way. How long y'all been married? Since the half years. Then, right in the middle of their interview, Darlene started to Tensa.

Starting point is 00:30:07 She didn't seem as cooperative as she had been earlier on, and she just stopped answering any of the investigators' questions. I don't know if it was one specific question that maybe got her all worried or what it was, but she stopped talking, she lawyered up, and she just refused to cooperate. which we got to be honest. That is never a good sign. Let's look over that and read it.

Starting point is 00:30:33 We sign it. I don't think I'm going to sign until I get an attorney so that way they can. I'm just not doing this alone because I'm just. Are you saying that you want to get an attorney? Yes. And my sisters are having a fit and they don't want me signing anything. And I know your sisters are looking at for your best interests, but as cooperative as you men,

Starting point is 00:31:02 don't let them dictate something that you know that you've been happy. You want to call on the attorney right quick? They're probably already on the phone doing it for me as I think. I mean. But we can't talk to anymore if you want to talk to an attorney. We can't talk to anyone. Because once you invoke your right to an attorney, that's it. We can't ask me any more questions.

Starting point is 00:31:30 We can't talk about the case. As I explain to you, we can't talk about much talk. Right. I'm just afraid that I'm going to get, you know, I'm trying to tell y'all exactly what I remember. And as I said, it's been a long day. And I'm just, I don't want something, me trying to tell you all something to turn around in it. come out not exactly what I meant and basically bite me in the butt. Basically is what I don't want to

Starting point is 00:32:00 happen. Now look, I do understand that you should always get yourself a lawyer, even if you are innocent. And you should never take a polygraph for certain reasons, all of that. And people love to shout out like, oh, if they lawyer up or if they don't take a poly and refuse one, it's because they're guilty. That certainly is not the case. That's actually what you should do in situations like that. You should get representation. And so you could play devil's advocate in this and say that what she was doing made sense, right? Not everybody trusts law enforcement. Sometimes there are certain methods that aren't appropriate. So getting an attorney is definitely a way to make sure that everybody is following the correct steps during an interrogation like this. And Darlene had even said that it was her sisters who were

Starting point is 00:32:42 telling her to stop talking, just really looking out for her. However, I'd be lying if I didn't share the same thought, as I'm sure many of you share, where it's like if people are lawyering up right after their spouse has gone missing or ends up being murdered, it does look a little bit suspicious or maybe like they have a guilty conscience, right? Not that it means that they are guilty in any way. It's just kind of the way it is. It's perception, right? And what's the expression? Perception is reality. So Darlene would later further explain that in that very moment, she felt like the investigators had started talking to her in a very accusatory way. Basically, telling her that they knew what game she was trying to play, that they weren't going to be

Starting point is 00:33:22 outsmarted by her. And she said, ultimately, that is what made her decide to lawyer up. It was nothing about her having a guilty conscience or anything like that. But I will say the interrogation clips, they're out there. Anyone can watch the full, unedited, entire video if they wanted to. And I can't help but notice that there are many times when the interviewer is telling her that she needs to answer every question to the best of her knowledge. Not for their best interest, but for her own. If you'll just bear with me just a few more minutes, I'm going to get you to the hospital until I can sort through what's going on, Lorraine. You listen to him? Yes, I'm listening. Everyone's a suspect right now until I can determine how your husband's

Starting point is 00:34:08 suffered this gunshot work. That's not the type of way that he could have done it himself. You understand this? No. If there was a gun on that bed, you moved it to save his integrity or anything like that, I need it on out. I did not move a gun. Okay. Did you arm your husband?

Starting point is 00:34:27 No, I did not harm my husband. You and I've been working with a pretty good relationship here. You know, I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing. That's all I'm trying to do right now. So honestly, it seemed like the investigators were being pretty neutral with Darlene in the beginning. maybe even a little too accommodating. They weren't storming in guns blazing or treating her like a criminal. I mean, if anything, it seemed like they were giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Starting point is 00:34:54 So, you know, take that however you will. But behind the scenes, the detectives were starting to shift gears. They were kind of like, all right, look, if that's how we're playing it, we can play it too. Because while Darlene might have been cooperating on paper, her behavior of like getting a lawyer involved so quickly, the weird reactions, the inconsistencies, it wasn't exactly convincing these investigators that she was innocent. And they sure as hell didn't believe that a random intruder had broken in and shot Keith in his sleep. So at this point, she was their one and only suspect.

Starting point is 00:35:27 The only thing left was proving it. So they decided to go back to square one. They needed to go back to the house. They needed evidence, something physical, something solid that would back up the gut feeling that they had. Now, luckily for them, Darlene had given them full consent. for an entire search. That meant no waiting around for a warrant, no delays, just straight to searching and straight to work. And just to like level set and keep this timeline straight with you, this was the exact same day that Keith died. That's how quickly everything was moving in this

Starting point is 00:35:59 investigation. So the police arrived to the house to search it. And inside the family's home, the investigator started finding quite a few things that made their eyebrows start to raise up. Doctors had already confirmed that Keith had been shot with a 22-caliber gun. Yes, small but deadly, so the police knew exactly what kind of weapon they were looking for. The only question being, where was it? Now, to help, the investigators worked with Keith's dad, Wayman, Sr., so that they could make a list of every single gun that Keith owned, or at least the ones that his dad knew about.

Starting point is 00:36:33 Then, once they had that list, they could compare it to that pile of guns that the police had found dumped right outside of the house. And sure enough, that comparison, that was about to tell them a lot more than Darlene probably wanted them to know. Interestingly enough, Keith's dad, Wayman Sr., told the investigators that he knew with 100% certainty that Keith owned a 22-caliber gun. And the investigators fully trusted Keith's dad. He had no reason to lie. And they trusted him for good reason because every single gun he said that Keith owned, it checked out. And as for that 22 caliber, his dad was positive about that one.

Starting point is 00:37:12 In fact, he said he had personally given it to Keith as a gift. So he knew he had a 22 caliber. So unless Keith had quietly sold it or perhaps misplaced it, which nobody believed for a single second, that gun should have been there. It should have been in the pile or it should have been somewhere in the house. But there was a huge problem. Because that 22 caliber gun, it was the only gun that was missing. It wasn't in the pile outside. It wasn't in the cabinet. It wasn't anywhere. Which, coincidence? I mean, not likely. And still, that wasn't the only discovery that the police made that day. This next one, it was about to blow this entire case wide open. Because inside the kitchen trash can, the investigators found a pair of latex gloves. Which, okay, nothing crazy at first. Except these gloves, they weren't clean. They had what looked like.

Starting point is 00:38:08 tiny dark specs on them, possibly even blood. And inside one of those gloves, a single 22-caliber shell casing. Which, yes, you heard that right, a bullet casing inside the glove and the exact caliber that killed Keith. So at that point, the investigators were convinced that Darlene was behind this. But to be absolutely certain, they sent those gloves off for testing. And it took a few weeks for the lab results to come back, but when they did, it was game over. The testing showed not one, but two DNA profiles on those gloves, Keith's DNA and Darlene's DNA. And to make matters worse for her, the gloves also tested positive for gunshot residue. So that was all the detectives needed. The puzzle pieces had finally clicked into place. They got their person. They knew what

Starting point is 00:39:01 happened. And on November 28, 2005, just a few weeks after Keith's murder, 31-year-old Darlene Gentry was arrested and charged with his death. And it finally looked like case closed. It's wrapped up, it's neat, and it's clean, but not so fast. Because if you thought that this was the end of this story, just wait, it gets even crazier. As the air turns crisp and the holidays get closer, comfort truly does become the best gift of all. And honestly, this is the time of year when I live in layers and comfortable clothing. And quince, I've told you before, they have totally become my go-to when it comes to comfort

Starting point is 00:39:48 because everything, it looks timeless, feels luxurious, it actually holds up, and it makes getting dressed and actually gifting so effortless. I recently showed you guys the whole, like, hall in my closet a couple weeks ago where I have sweaters, matching lounge sets, coats, all of these things, because Quince really has it all. And not for nothing, guys, I'm just going to tell you a life hack right now. If you're looking for a good gift for somebody, whether it's your mother-in-law, a family member, a friend, you need to get their cashmere throat blanket. I have like four of them in my house.

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Starting point is 00:41:31 than similar brands. That's why I keep going back. So step into the holiday season with layers made to feel good, look polished, and last from Quince. Perfect for gifting or keeping for yourself. Go to quince.com slash AE for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E-D-com slash A-E. to get free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash A.E. So you see, from day one, investigators were confident that Darlene was the one responsible for her husband's murder. But not everyone agreed with them.

Starting point is 00:42:18 Keith's family, his own family, stood by Darlene completely. They were adamant that the police had been. made a mistake in all of this, that she was being unfairly targeted, that the real killer was still out there somewhere. They knew how much Darlene loved Keith. To them, she was a devoted wife and mother, someone who lived for her husband and for their three boys. So the idea that she could have shot him in cold blood in the same house where her children were sleeping just down the hall, it was unthinkable. There was no way that this was the reality. So when she was arrested, the family did what they thought Keith would have wanted them to do. They all rallied

Starting point is 00:42:54 around her. They scraped up whatever they could and they posted her $50,000 bond. That's how sure they were that she was innocent. So just like that, Darlene was out of jail. She was out on bond and it's so crazy because it was done so quickly that she was actually home in time to tuck her kids into bed that night, that very same night, which it's really hard to not feel for the gentry family. I mean, they had just lost their son. They were now clinging to the one piece of stability that was left, believing that this was all just some sort of horrible mistake. But the truth? There was a lot more going on behind the scenes, things that even Keith's family had no idea about. Because detectives were uncovering details about Darlene and Keith's marriage that painted a very different picture.

Starting point is 00:43:40 Because the reality was, she did have the perfect motive for murder. From the outside, like I said, they looked like this picture-perfect Texas family, the kind of couple that you would see in a Hallmark movie, The blonde, beautiful homecoming queen, finally settling down with the quiet, hardworking guy who absolutely adored her, and maybe she was even out of his league a little bit, depending on who you ask. I mean, remember, she had that Pam Anderson vibe to her. He never even thought that she would look twice at him. They had the house, the kids, the steady jobs, and this small town life that people dream about. So it's no wonder that no one, not even Keith's own parents, could imagine that behind that perfect family photo,

Starting point is 00:44:19 there was something much, much darker. But the truth was, there was. And the biggest issue in their marriage was their finances, which for people who have never gone through something like that, I can definitely understand where the thought of arguing about money seems like something small or like something that is easily fixable. But the truth of the matter is, financial issues sometimes are one of the biggest reasons that people separate and end up divorced. And Keith had been working as an engineer for years, and he was very, very good at it. The pay was solid, the benefits were great, but there was a big downside to it. He was gone all the time. His job kept him on the road half the week, and with three little boys at home, he hated feeling like he was missing everything, the bedtime stories,

Starting point is 00:45:05 the soccer games, the day-to-day moments that build and shape their lives and their futures. So eventually, Keith decided he needed to make a change. He took a new job that was closer to home, which it wasn't an engineering position, so because of that, it came with a major pay cut. But he figured that being home for dinner every night was worth it. It was worth the offset of not having the income that they used to have.

Starting point is 00:45:29 He wanted to actually be there for his kids, watch them grow up, not just be the guy who paid the bills. But instead of that decision, bringing peace to this family, it had the opposite effect. Things started to unravel. Keith wasn't happy in his new job. I mean, not even close.

Starting point is 00:45:45 it was stressful, it was unfulfilling, and he struggled with this feeling where he just kind of was battling with himself, feeling like he had taken this huge step backward. And from everything that people have said about him, Keith just seemed like the kind of guy who would quietly shoulder all of that stress and misery, just taking it on himself and dealing with it if it meant that everybody else would stay happy. But soon, the unhappiness at work started spilling into their home life. The fighting between him and Darlene got worse. There were constant arguments. It was always about the same thing, too, money. And Darlene, it turned out, had a bit of a spending problem. And look, I am the first one who will be all for treating yourself. If you work hard, you deserve

Starting point is 00:46:29 nice things. But Darlene wasn't just, you know, outtreating herself. She was swiping these credit cards like there was no tomorrow. Month after month, their statements just grew bigger and scarier. And they were completely drowning in credit card debt. There's no clear record of just how deep they were in, but based on what friends and investigators later described, it was bad. And remember, Keith had just taken that pay cut so that he could be home more. Meanwhile, Darlene was just spending as if he had gotten this massive raise. He was working harder than ever, but the bills they just kept climbing. So it's no wonder that he was frustrated, which again, anyone who's ever dealt with like credit card debt or any sort of debt, you know. That kind of financial

Starting point is 00:47:13 stress can eat away at you, your mood, your relationship, your sleep, even your sense of security. It really does eat away at somebody. So Keith tried to talk with her about it. And he tried over and over. He wanted to fix things and he wanted to fix things together. He wanted to pay down the debt, rebuild their marriage, move forward together as a team. But the thing about that is teamwork only works when both people are actually on the same team. And from the outside looking in, it didn't really seem like Darlene was interested in playing that role anymore. And eventually, she admitted that the night before Keith was murdered,

Starting point is 00:47:50 things had boiled over once again. She had gone out with her friends, and when she came back home, the newest credit card bill was right there waiting for them. Keith saw it, and he lost it. The amount that they owed had gone up once again, and this time he had had enough. He was pissed.

Starting point is 00:48:06 According to Darlene, the argument got so heated that she actually left the house so that she could go for a drive and cool off. But when the detectives then probed and asked if that fight had anything to do with what happened the next morning, you know, Keith being shot in the head, she was very quick to say no. She said that was just all a complete coincidence. Keith and I said out and talked and the living room on her and it's just about normal things and, of course, money and everything else. and what we need to do to get out of debt and everything else. That's the one thing he is a fanatic about is his credit and I'm the world's worst at it.

Starting point is 00:48:44 He was very... The board. Can you figure this business off in a lady? Calm and just, hey, let's, okay, this is what we've got. We need to do this. Do you have any suggestions? I mean, it was a very... How you're supposed to have conversations.

Starting point is 00:49:04 Now, does it really make... sense for Darlene to kill her husband just because he was trying to rein in her spending? I mean, not exactly. If anything, she'd be able to spend even less without his income. She wasn't working. Now, Keith was only 31 years old when he was murdered. But I will say he was smart and he was prepared. After getting married, having three kids, and being the family's sole provider, he made sure that his family would be financially protected if anything ever happened to him. And it's a very harsh and daunting reality to face, but it's true. None of us are guaranteed to be here tomorrow. And Keith wanted to make sure that Darlene and the boys would be okay if something catastrophic

Starting point is 00:49:43 ever happened to him. So because of that, he took out two different life insurance policies. And they total to about $750,000, which back in 2005, that was a lot of money. It's still a hell of a lot of money today. But imagine what that kind of payout could have bought back then. Which let's actually just see what that would equate to today with inflation. Theory, with inflation, if there was $750,000 in 2005, what would that equate to today? I found this on the web. Let's see. Okay, so it looks like today, that would be worth about $1.2 million, an increase of about $500,000.

Starting point is 00:50:28 So a lot of money. So let's revisit that question one more time. Would it make sense for Darlene to kill her husband because he was limiting her spending? No. Would it make sense to kill him because he was limiting her spending and she knew that his life insurance would wipe out their debt and still leave her sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars? Yes.

Starting point is 00:50:49 And the investigators definitely thought so. Now, after posting bail, Darlene went right back to living life, as if she wasn't out on bond for murder. And almost immediately, she decided. that she couldn't keep living in the same house where Keith was killed. She told everybody that it was too traumatic for her and for the kids, which, yes, okay, fair. Under normal circumstances, that would certainly make sense. But this wasn't exactly a normal situation.

Starting point is 00:51:17 But still, Darlene had friends who were willing to help, and one of them was a local realtor, an old friend of hers named Robert. So despite the whispers around a town about her being the murder suspect, Robert agreed to help her find something new. And Darlene wasn't very picky. She wasn't looking for a mansion or a fixer-upper, just some open land where she could eventually build a house from scratch. And this was Texas, so it wasn't really difficult to find. Robert found her a few options, but there was one property that Darlene absolutely fell in love with. It was spacious, it was in a great area, and best of all, it had a pond. And Robert didn't even realize that Darlene wanted a pond, but the second that she

Starting point is 00:51:58 saw it. She couldn't stop talking about it. She's like, oh my God, this is beautiful. It has this pond. It's all this land. It's amazing. She just went on and on about how perfect it was. How the boys loved it to fish. How amazing it would be for them to have their own little private fishing spot. All of it. She was obsessed. And everything seemed to be moving along smoothly with the sale. Weeks went by and Robert was finalizing the details. When all of a sudden, he got a very strange phone call from Darlene. She said she still wanted the property. She loved working with him, everything was great, but there was one small change. She didn't want that pond anymore. In fact, she wanted it gone. She even asked if the owners could have it filled

Starting point is 00:52:37 in before the sale was finalized. So right there, right then, that was the moment that everything about this grieving widow story started to take a very, very dark turn. Today's episode is sponsored by Everyday Dose. Now, you guys know my mornings are chaos. My husband, too. We're juggling the kids. I have my recording schedule. He's going on these, like, crazy runs that last hours on ends.

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Starting point is 00:54:33 all day. Everyday dose is coffee plus benefits. Like I said, they combine high-quality coffee with powerful ingredients like Lyons Main and collagen. So it gives you that clean, sustain energy all day long. No crash, no jitters, just good. So get 16. 51% off your first coffee plus starter kit, a free A2 probiotic creamer, and over $100 in free gifts, all by going to Everydaydose.com slash A.E or entering A.E at checkout. That's Everydaydose.com slash A.E for 61% off your first order. And Everyday Dose is also available at your local Target, makes a great gift, too. So now's the time. Again, Everydaydose.com So Darlene had asked to get this pond filled in, and understandably, Robert was caught off guard because literally just two weeks earlier, that pond was the selling point in all of this, the thing that Darlene would not stop talking about.

Starting point is 00:55:40 Yet now, she was kind of giving him this ultimatum saying, fill the pond, or I'm not buying this property. It was just weird. So Robert tried to talk himself out of it. Maybe she was just nervous about her safety. She had three young kids. Maybe she was worried that one of them might wander too close to this pond and fall in, something like that. Or maybe she had read somewhere that ponds attract mosquitoes or snakes or something. He didn't know, but he was trying to just rationalize with himself.

Starting point is 00:56:05 But deep down, something about it just did not sit right. Especially, considering, you know, that she had literally just been arrested for murder, something was weird here. So he couldn't figure out how or why this pond might be connected. But the whole thing gave him this gut feeling that something was just off. So robber did what most people, let's be honest, would not have the courage to do, and he immediately went to the police. He figured, you know, worst case, they check it out, and it's nothing.

Starting point is 00:56:34 Best case, it's something important. Better safe than sorry, right? And when the detectives heard what he had to say, their ears immediately perked up. Because any time there's a murder case and there's a pond that comes into play, the investigators usually think of two possibilities, right? Either someone's trying to get rid of evidence or someone's trying to get rid of a body. Now, in this case, Keith's body wasn't missing. But the murder weapon?

Starting point is 00:57:02 It sure was still missing. So detectives were confident that there was only one reason that Darlene suddenly wanted that pond filled in. It was because her husband's 22-caliber gun, the one that was used to kill him, was probably sitting at the bottom of it. So moving in as quietly as possible, the police sent over a dive team to search that pond. And they wanted to do so before Darlene could change her mind or make another move. It wasn't a huge body of water either.

Starting point is 00:57:29 It was more like this big muddy puddle compared to an actual lake. And sure enough, within 10, maybe 15 minutes, they found it. They found Keith's missing 22 caliber handgun. They found it exactly where they thought it would be. Now, investigators knew that they had to tread lightly, because if they made one wrong move, Darlene's defense team could totally twist it. Maybe they would claim that she had been framed or that the gun had been planted. They just needed something stronger than just finding it.

Starting point is 00:58:00 So they decided to come up with a plan, a trap, rather. And they needed Robert's help to pull it off. They told him to call Darlene back and tell her the good news that filling the pond wouldn't be a problem at all, that they would get right on it, no issue. But of course, he said before they could fill it, they'd have to drain it. They'd have to remove all of the water out of it first. So Robert told her, you know, don't worry, it's going to be a very fast process. It'll probably be done within the next day or two. And there's absolutely nothing to worry about. But what Darlene didn't know was that the second that she picked up that phone, she had already walked directly into their plan.

Starting point is 00:58:37 Now, before Robert told her this information, the investigators had some of their detectives hide in some nearby bushes by this pond, hide out with some cameras and just kind of wait. It was almost like something out of a movie, if I'm being honest, because they were confident that Darlene would be showing up there in no time, like frantic about the news that the pond was going to be drained, trying to get there, trying to get the gun and retrieve it, and knowing that these workers would surely notice a gun at the bottom. And boy, oh boy, were these investigators right? Because within just two hours of Robert and Darlene's conversation, Darlene showed right up to that property.

Starting point is 00:59:14 She walked right over to the pond, and she began digging around like she was searching for something. Now, at first, she was just bent down at the edges, kind of poking the shallow bottom with a stick. But then, she got into the water, and she looked almost panicked. She knew where she had left the gun, yet it was missing. They had already retrieved it. She also knew that she was in a very heavy time crunch. The workers would probably be showing up the following day to start draining this pond. so she needed to find this gun and find it fast.

Starting point is 00:59:42 And every second of her panic and hysteria and, you know, just frantic movement, all of it was caught on camera. There was no getting out of this one. Darlene was literally standing in the exact same spot where the investigators had just found the gun. She was peering into the water, clearly looking for something, and all of it was recorded. She was screwed. So right there at the scene, the police re-arrested her. Darlene's trial began on February 6th, 2007. Her defense team argued that the prosecution's case was weak, that it was circumstantial at best. And interestingly, their strategy, the defense's

Starting point is 01:00:22 strategy and focus, it was all on Darleen's looks. They basically tried to convince the jury that someone who looked like Darlene, this petite, pretty Texas mom, she couldn't possibly be capable of murder. And her attorneys told the press that they were confident that she would be acquitted, that they would prove her innocence. But then things got kind of weird. During pretrial, Darlene's team tried to float around this wild third-party theory, that somebody else had killed Keith. More specifically, they introduced medical records showing that Keith had herpes. And so did some other random married couple whose identities were never made public. But their argument was that Keith supposedly had began having an affair and that this

Starting point is 01:01:08 mysterious couple might have killed him out of revenge. Which sounds outlandish, I know, but that's what they were going for. And the judge, unsurprisingly, shut that down fast. The records weren't relevant. They weren't verified. And they were a total invasion of privacy. So basically, the courts had like, nice try, but no. So that theory, it went nowhere. Meanwhile, the prosecution, they came prepared. Even though Darlene never confessed, they laid out a clear and very chilling theory of what happened. When first responders arrived that morning, Keith was still alive, barely, though, which meant that when Darlene called 911, she had likely just shot him moments earlier.

Starting point is 01:01:51 They also explained why the supposed break-in looked so sloppy. Because it was. She had staged it. She tossed those guns outside. She cracked open the door trying to make it look like somebody else had done it. There was just like no real mess at the scene. It didn't add up. Then, of course, there was also the nail in the coffin. I mean, the video. The footage of

Starting point is 01:02:12 Darlene at the pond, returning to the scene of her own cover-up, looking right where the murder weapon had just been found. I mean, hello, try explaining away that one. So just after five hours of deliberation, the jury came back with a verdict. Guilty. Darlene was sentenced to 60 years in prison. And despite her legal team's big talk about how confident they were, Darlene didn't seem shocked at all. She just sat there calm, almost detached. She quietly just took off her earrings, she placed them on the table, and she let the deputies take her into custody. I don't know, maybe she knew it was coming, maybe deep down she knew that she would never get away with what she had done. But even still, Darlene has maintained her innocence over the years. And then, a full decade later, in 2017, her lawyers filed an appeal, arguing that her first trial had been unfair. They claimed the court had made multiple errors, which let me just read them for you. Denying her motion to suppress, mishandling the findings of fact, refusing a change of venue due to pre-trial publicity, blocking medical records that could show third-party motive, and lastly, not pulling the jury

Starting point is 01:03:23 about a newspaper article that had ran during sentencing. The appellate court reviewed every single claim and rejected them all, so her conviction stood. And with that, Darlene will not be eligible for parole until 2037. So after the trial, Keith's parents were awarded full custody of the couple's three sons. And in 2010, a court order made it official. Darlene would have no contact with them. And it's probably just the mom in me, but cases like this always stick with me because of the kids. I have talked about it time and time again. They are the ones who are left behind. They're innocent. They're confused and they're robbed of both parents in completely different ways. Why? Because you wanted to go run your American Express up and you thought that your husband was

Starting point is 01:04:12 impeding on your ability to do that? How about go get a job again? Go get a fucking job. If he wants to stay home with your boys and help raise them, great. Amazing. That's fantastic. He's a hands-on dad. You go to work if you want to buy all the jewelry, all the crap at the store, all the material bullshit. Like, get a grip. You don't kill the father of your children and your husband because you want to go shopping. It is unbelievable. And this whole case is just wild. I cannot wrap my head around throwing away your entire life and your kids' lives over money and material things. It's heartbreaking, it's infuriating, and it's just plain incomprehensible. I will never understand. And like I all say, just get a divorce. But I don't know. Was there some hidden motive here?

Starting point is 01:04:58 did it go deeper than just the money of it all? It doesn't seem like it. Nobody knew that there was trouble, which I guess that doesn't really mean anything. A lot of people have dark secrets behind closed doors, especially in a marriage. But I don't know. It just seems like she got greedy. She was pissed that he was calling her out for it and calling her out for the credit card bills. And so she decided to shoot him to get some of that $750,000 to continue living whatever lavish lifestyle she wanted. But also it's like you couldn't have thought that you were actually going to get away with it, right? You just throw the guns outside. You throw a latex glove with your prints and DNA on it with the bullet casing in the trash can

Starting point is 01:05:38 of your kitchen. Meanwhile, you allow them to come in and search and don't demand a warrant. Like, you're the dumbest criminal that I've heard of in a while. And that's saying a lot because I've seen a lot of real dummies come across my desk with these cases. But like I say, in those cases, too, we love to see it. We love when they're dumb and stupid because it makes it so much easier for these victims to get justice, although it should have never even come to that. Now his children, although being raised by Keith's parents and loved ones, they have to deal with the loss of both parents and also reconciling in their own brain how their own mother took their father away from them. And as young as 18 months. The one son was 18 months. Think about that.

Starting point is 01:06:18 He'll never have probably any memory of his father. It's sick. It's so tragic and it is so sick. Thank you for hearing Keith's story today and allowing his legacy and his voice to carry on. I really appreciate it. And I'm curious to know your thoughts on this case. Was there more emotive? Could there have been an affair? Was it something deeper? Or was it solely about money? People do say money is the root of all evil, right? I don't know. Maybe there's some truth to that. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. As a reminder, follow the podcast if you're not already. If you are listening on Apple Podcasts, please take an extra 30 seconds to leave a rating and review. It helps push the podcast into the algorithm, helps us find more true crime besties and build our community, which I just love so much. And I know you guys do too. So thank you so much for listening. And I will be back with you on Thursday with headline highlights where we are breaking down everything happening this week in true crime. All right. Thanks so much. And until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people and just get a divorce. All right. Bye.

Starting point is 01:07:25 Thank you.

SERIALously - 339: Dad of Three Shot in His Sleep, But NOTHING Adds Up | Keith Gentry

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