Small Town Murder - #325 - The Devil's Gift - Alvo, Nebraska

Episode Date: October 14, 2022

This week, in Alvo, Nebraska, when a home is found, engulfed in flames, everyone thinks that the couple who lived there must be burned to cinders. But when only one of them is found, wrapped in a blanket, and mutilated, beyond reason, a search is on for an answer. The answer isn't very difficult to find because the killer fully admits to what he's done, but has a very unique excuse, involving the devil, strangely placed imaginary babies, and keeping certain parts of the victim because "they would have wanted him to have it"! This is wall to wall wild!!Along the way, we find out that Nebraska loves their testicles, that the devil generally doesn't leave babies for you, inside of host bodies that he has possessed, and when you murder someone, they don't want you to have any of their body parts!!Hosted by James Pietragallo and Jimmie WhismanNew episodes every Thursday!Donate at: patreon.com/crimeinsports or go to paypal.com and use our email: [e-mail] to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things Small Town Murder & Crime In Sports!Follow us on...twitter.com/@murdersmallfacebook.com/smalltownpodinstagram.com/smalltownmurderAlso, check out James & Jimmie's other show, Crime In Sports! On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Wondery, Wondery+, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You're listening early and ad-free on Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yay and choo choo. Oh, yay Town Murder Express. Yay, choo-choo. Oh, yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petrigallo, and I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you folks so much, all aboard the murder train, pulling away from the station, chugging along here. We have a crazy episode for you, and in the middle of this episode, you're going to notice something, and then we'll talk about it i'll tell you when it when it becomes obvious we'll talk about it because

there's an elephant enters the room yeah there's a point to this so it's pretty crazy uh here we go before we get started very quickly a virtual live show october the 27th get your tickets right now halloween it's going to be a halloween spectacular just like a live show you're going to see the pictures and everything like that. Only difference is instead of being in a theater, you're in your living room. So that's how it works there. So come out and do that. It'll be available for seven days

after that. Lots of fun. We cannot wait to do this. So shut up and give me murder.com or moment.co slash smalltownmurder. Either one of those places are a good place to go. patreon.com slash crime and sports is where you get all the bonus stuff five dollars or above cup of coffee everybody that's a cup of coffee you can have a whole back catalog of over 100 episodes to binge and new

episodes every other week and this week what you're going to get you get access to the crime and sports bonus to the small town murder bonus this week for crime and sports bonus, to the small-town murder bonus. This week for crime and sports, personal ads are back. Oh, yeah. Oh, those are so fun. We're going to talk about, we go through the old newspapers and find desperate people in the 80s looking for love, and we are going to talk about it. It is hilarious.

They're so fun. And then for small-town murder, we're going to talk about, back by popular demand, small-town festivals, county fairs, weird things like that. We'll get into everything. It's going to be so much fun this week. Can't wait. Patreon.com slash Crime and Sports. That's a lot of show, so we've got to get right

into this, Jimmy. Let's chew on it, Jimmy. So much murder to do here, so let's sit back, everybody. Clear the lungs, why don't we? And wherever you are, and hopefully not too public of a place. And let's all shout, shut up and give me

murder. Let's do this, Jimmy. Okay. What do you say? Let's go on a trip here. We are already doing it. We're going. Don't you hear the motors? They're going. Oh, cranking, revving, the people, they're shoveling coal into the, whatever that is, and choo-chooing along. I think that is and chewing along on the track.

Let's do it. We're going all the way to Nebraska. OK. Oh, boy. Yeah. Alvo, Nebraska. A.L.V.O. Alvo, Nebraska.

You know, ever heard of that? No, no. It sounds industrial. No, it's nothingness. There's nobody there. There's like 100 people here. It's wild. Absolutely.

It's in eastern Nebraska. It's 30 minutes to Lincoln and 40 minutes to Omaha. So it's like in between these places, there's nothing in between these places. It's like when you drive from Tampa to Orlando. It's about four hours to McCook, which was our last Nebraska episode, which was threesomes in the heartland. That was wild stuff. I remember that. Yeah, dirty. Dirty corn times there. Juicy. Juicy. It has a motto, this town. Oh. And the motto is, quote, it is unique. Okay. That's the motto, the whole thing.

It is unique. No, it's not, probably. I hope they didn't pay for that. I'm sure they did here. No other community in the United States is known by the name of Alvo. It's the only one. It's the only one here. Early settlers came in about 1869, put some post office in, a couple of schools, and the railroad was the main reason why this exists.

The railroad went by here, so they stuck a town next to it. Like everything in the West. Yeah it. Like everything in the West. It's everything in the West. It got its name. Where'd it get its name from? Apparently the first child born after the, when people started coming here, they named her Alvo. She was the daughter of the railroad master. So they named the town after the little girl.

And it's not even a good name. No. Poor girl had to go by Alvo her whole life. Alvo. Alvo, which sounds like Alpo, which is not great. Yeah, it does. It's not good. Sounds like cheap dog food.

Yeah, it's not great. So Alvo, I don't know if it's like a combination of family names. Like we have Allah something and Volusia or some shit. And they mixed them together. I don't know what it is. So reviews of this town here. This is for the next town over because Alvo is so small. There are no reviews of it.

The reviews say in a word, the reviews would be I blinked and missed it. That would be the review. So this is Eagle, which is the next town over and not much bigger or more grand here. Here is five stars for Eagle. Okay. I have met so many nice and welcoming people in Eagle, Nebraska. Well, what I would like to see change is growing the business communities and having more.

Well, then it's a town and a bigger town and a city, and then you don't have welcoming people anymore. Lincoln's close. Go there. That's what I mean. So you can't have welcoming people anymore. Lincoln's close. Go there. That's what I mean. So you can't have it both ways. You either have to have friendly people and nothing to do or things to do when people are assholes.

You can have it one way or the other. Pick one and choose. Four stars. Eagle is a very friendly, family-oriented community. There are many youth organizations such as boy scouts and girl scouts yeah they're everywhere what they're bragging we have boy scouts of america they're everywhere we have we outside our grocery store cookies you can buy any cookball samoas you can buy thin mints we got it all either buy cookies or coupons that you'll never fucking use.

One or the other. Eagle is located 15 minutes from Lincoln and is connected to the Mopac Trail, so it's incredibly easy to commute. Within the city, there is a park, pool, and many local businesses. the Cass County Sheriff's Department and the volunteer firefighters keep our town relatively safe, especially for a town close to a big city like Lincoln. Oh, yeah. That big city Lincoln crime is going to spill over. It's going to spill, man. I'll tell you what.

There's 138 people here. Really? 138 people. And I have to give one weird stat. 18% of the people here are five to nine years old 20 what kind of weird children of the corn crazy shit is going on in this town man that's too much so it's weird anyway the median household income 41 250 which, you know, not terrible. And it's a little lower than usual. And the median home cost $189,800.

So not that, you know, not that expensive. There's nobody here. I mean, not a lot of demand for shit. So things to do, the Ashland, oh, Jesus, the Ashland, Nevada, or Nevada, Nebraska. Ash, let's try again. Ashland, Nebraska Testicle Festival. You see? Hell, yes. Yes.

Our testicle festival is held annually on Saturday of Father's Day weekend. Really? Does it have to be Father's Day weekend? It does. Though he ate the nutsacks. If you look around at one of our festivals, you'll see people eating beef fries, which is balls, drinking cold ice cold beer, out dancing to live music and participating in our ball eating contest. Well, you know, you got to embrace it if you're going to fucking have it, I guess. Why not? Ball eating.

Ball eating. I was like, wow, they're not? They said ball eating. Ball eating contact. I was like, wow, they're not even, no euphemisms, no beef fries, ball eating. Step on up, get one. Medical terms or anything? Nope. Come have some balls. Who wants a, who can eat the most fucking balls? That's what we're looking for.

Get a mouthful of balls around here. The party goes on. That's what we're looking for. Get a mouthful of balls around here. The party goes on. That's a party. The party goes on in our 10,000 square foot ballroom. And we have an outside beer garden set up with spools or stools. So there's plenty of room for everyone. In the ballroom. In the ballroom.

Come on, everybody. I wonder if you need, like, is it a black tie affair? The ball eating contest? That's fantastic that they have a ballroom come on everybody and i wonder if you need like is it a black tie affair the ball eating contest that's fantastic they have a ball a ballroom it's the ball eating contest in the ballroom you know that's a that's a black tie affair i'm sorry it's black tie babe that's that's crazy i'll tend that wow okay the ballroom 10 000 square foot ballroom mind you a lot of room for balls in there somebody said where should we hold it so we're like well we have a ballroom i mean clearly in the ballroom of the hotel right obviously thank you i'm sure it's not even an hotel i'm sure it's like a fucking corrugated steel you know it's a work shed but they're like it's a ballroom today

today it's the ballroom because we need as many ball puns as possible man so the elvis festival here the nebraska elvis festival is at the graduate hotel and a three-day package including um a bunch of performers you've never heard of yep uh ted torres martin elvis won't be there and i'm not interested in this unless they make all what is this all 12 of these performers participate in the ball eating contest that's the only reason that is the only fucking way i have any interest in this bullshit at all you have to do it at the same time do you have you play the band yeah you play the music they eat the balls everybody fucking does their thing wasn't elvis a fat guy let's just yeah yeah oh he could put him away this is putting away nuts yeah elvis could have

put away some some testicle i'm telling you that right now incredible i can't believe there's a festival around it there's a lot of them too they go on all over the country really absolutely that's not the only one there's tons of them they're fucking everywhere dude it's crazy what is that people they like to eat crazy shit and go look at me me. I ate 40 balls. I don't know what it is. I'd never taste that. It's not. The texture would be bad, I would imagine. It would be rubbery, and then it would pop like one of those gum with the fucking shit in the middle. But I don't think there would be anything in there.

And if it would be anything in there, it would be sperm, and I don't want that. I just see an animal that you eat. You eat the meat. I'm not eating the fucking genitals of an animal. I'm not eating it. I'm not doing it. I don't have much interest in that. No, not at all.

So, holy shit. That said, let's talk about a murder. Great. Okay. Now, here we go. Let's go back to 1980, shall we? Yeah. Let's get it on here.

1980. We have to talk, shall we? Yeah. Let's get it on here. 1980. We have to talk about a guy here first. Paul J. Rowe is his name. R-O-W-E. He is 27 years old at the time or 32 years old. It says it differently in multiple different publications, so it's hard to tell. More of them say 27, so I guess 27. Either way.

Now, Paul is a trucker, an independent trucker is what he is here how town of 100 people independent trucker um his dad fascinate me right that's a that's a that's a you got to go get your own contracts and such is that yeah yeah he works for several different people doesn't like you. He doesn't work for a specific company exclusively or anything like that. Takes that truck home. I guess so. His dad, Wayne, he has a bunch of brothers too, but his dad, Wayne, is a career state policeman as well. So his dad's been on the force for 30 years or whatever. So that's the kind of family he comes from.

Bunch of boys. Dad's a cop. Blah, blah, blah. Tough man. Yeah, come from the the plains in nebraska here so he has a wife here uh that he married named lane jorgensen row okay lane jorgensen row now um they live on a farmhouse they have like a chicken coop they have uh you know all that kind of shit here like uh very nebraska it's very

nebraska it's a plainsy looking place it's not like a if this isn't a cul-de-sac with a bunch of fucking mcmansions or anything like that this is it's dusty and they're out there and they have their chickens and they have their things like that and not a lot of manicured bushes no i i picture dorothy from wizard of oz's house here That's what I kind of picture when I was told. Yeah, lots of dirt, dust ball action. You know what I mean? So either way here, they have, you know, that day, well, in 1980 here, Paul being a truck driver, he works for Gordon and Charles Gans. And they're a father and son team who operate the Alvo Elevator.

I assume grain, that would be probably in this region, wheat or some shit. And they have known Paul Rowe for about a year previous to this. And they said that Paul worked for them driving a truck when they need him to. He drives the truck back and forth. So they said that he's the best help they ever had he is just paul is a hell of a stand-up guy yeah real good cat here and uh you know they like his his wife's a hell of a young woman there she's wonderful too the two of them make a handsome couple and a couple of fine young people they are, tell you what. They're just, everything's happy here.

So May 1st, 1980 comes around, all right? Now, the Ganzes here that he works for, they, on this day, they went with a guy that works for them, a hired man. And they went to their house, the row home, to pick up. Sounds weird to say row house because I picture Baltimore and I picture the wire. But they go to the house here to pick Paul up for work because they have the truck there. So they're going to pick him up. When they pull up to pick him up, they don't find what they would normally find, which would be Paul waiting outside for them with a thermos in his hand or something. Instead, they discover the house is on fire. my god when they pull up it's on fire

like it's blazing not just some smoke coming out of the windows you see fucking fire it's a lot of fire so these guys being grain elevating you know middle america tough guys here are they're not gonna watch it burn they try to get into the house. They figure, holy shit, Paul and his wife are probably burning to death in there. Their cars are outside. What the fuck?

You know what I mean? So yeah, they try to get into the house, but they're initially the, the cloud of, and the force of the smoke drives them back. Sure. They actually can't get into the house.

So Gordon, um, then they ended up, uh, somebody had called the fire department and the eagle fire department came and uh because that was the closest fire department member they said in that review the fire fire department's keeping us safe relatively safe so they did come once the fire had engulfed the house and it was just about over they did show up but they were

there and they started you know putting water on it and everything like that once they started putting water on it they were able to try to get in there and search and the ganses were fucking getting trying to get in there too i mean everybody was like jesus christ these people have have to be burned to cinders in here you know so they go in there um and they look around and down in the west bedroom they see a foot sticking out of some blankets. And the guys go, oh, hey, hey, oh, hey, I'm backing up now. They take off. They don't want to disturb anything. So they tell the fireman, hey, you might want to maybe this is more you than me, basically.

You might want to check that out. And they go, yeah. They go take a look at it and go, hey, police probably would be the people to talk they need to do this so uh yeah it's a human foot sticking out from under a pile of bedding in the bedroom in the west side of the house so now wayne who is paul's father the he's the state policeman here he got word that his that his son's house was on fire. Sure. He gets a call, and Gordon Gans calls him and says, hey, your boy's house is on fire. You know, that might be bad.

He literally said, your boy's house is on fire. Paul might be dead. So he's like, well, shit, Jesus, got to deal with that now. He had to put his coffee down and put down the sports section of the newspaper and be like, for Christ's sake. Goddamn Paul catching shit on fire, dying. So he drove to his son's home. Wayne did.

He said when he got there, the fire was burning briskly. So cooking. That shit all looks dry, too. Yeah, fast. That looks dry. Everything in Nebraska looks pretty dry. It looks like Arizona. Drop a match and it's going up.

Everything from Tennessee to Colorado looks real fucking yellow. Well, yeah, I guess so. Arkansas is all woods and shit like that for the most part. Yeah, it's swampy. It's close enough to the fucking ocean, I guess. Then it clears out and gets into the Dust Bowl area. It's a little bit different. It's not real tropical.

No. Once you get into like Oklahoma, Nebraska, all that area. So Kansas especially. Then the rain just makes mud. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's true.

So anyway, he goes. He wants to know who the fucking body is, Wayne, when he shows up. Is it Paul? Is it Paul? Is it Paul? He finds out it's not Paul, but it's actually his daughter-in-law lane no yeah she has been taken by this fire here so um now wayne rowe goes back to lincoln and now paul's nowhere to be found they haven't found paul in the house the fire didn't burn to

the point where he would be like incinerated so i mean he would be there still so he's not around so wayne rowe goes back to lincoln where he's he lives and meets lane's family and um yeah because they had come from there to because they heard about this too so they're all like meeting up like oh my god our kid's house burned down and your daughter's dead and all that kind of shit so um either way they figure they find that her body is partially burned lane and there's no carbon or smoke found in the trachea. Oh, indicating that she's already dead. Yeah.

Before the fire even started, the lead policeman here says we don't have any suspects in mind or anyone picked up yet. They said they didn't have enough information at present to even term it a homicide. So they don't know if she that's what they tell the public but that's not really the truth they know pretty quickly that this is definitely not an accident she didn't like die in her sleep and then the house burned down at all yeah we'll find out usually too uh they don't they don't attach to each other no well i mean it could happen i mean the odds i mean you could die in your sleep and your house could that's like getting struck by lightning and then going, fuck, I'm going for a swim to get that off. And then a shark bites you.

That would be the equivalent of that. It's very odds are low. And then you won Mega Millions. Well, yeah, that's why you went to the beach to begin with. You know what I mean? You got struck by lightning and we're like, oof, got to get that sting off. Jumped in the water immediately bitten by a shark. So it's bad stuff.

Anyway, here, though, they're looking for Paul. They're like, where the fuck is Paul? And if anyone has any information on what the fuck happened here, it would be Paul. Sure. We would assume. So they seek him. He's trying to find him. The day goes on.

They can't find him. This is the whole day. They can't get a hold of him. So, yeah, what the hell happened? where's paul what's going on here well before we find paul let's uh let's find out exactly what happened that night okay find out a little bit about paul here now she is oh my god i don't even know how to uh i don't even know how to do this, but I'll give you what he says here, what his story is later on. He says that he never hit his wife at all. That didn't happen, so that wasn't what did it.

He said that he came home about 11 o'clock the day before the fire, and he'd been at a bar drinking. It came up 11 p.m. the night before. He was drinking beer and dancing at a bar before that. He came home. Lane was in bed. He said he had another beer, went to bed in the room that he and Lane usually slept in. But Lane was sleeping in a guest bedroom for some reason that night. So he assumed that it was because she had to get up at like 430 in the morning.

So, you know, he didn't want to wake him. So he said he fell asleep without disturbing her later he heard a noise got up to investigate found lane at the bottom of the steps unconscious and bleeding from the nose oh so looks she fell down the steps it sounds just like the staircase now right you know i found her she was there he said he attempted to revive her did cpr and everything like that, and, you know, didn't work. So he felt like at that point that she was gone and, you know, she was dead and he was so sad. So he wanted to join her. So he attempted to shoot himself, but the weapon wouldn't fire is what he said.

Just couldn't do it. It wouldn't work. It wouldn't work. So what he did next involves a claw hammer, razor blade, and some pliers. And we'll get into that in a moment. What they find on her is that, this is what I mean, they didn't think it was an accident and they knew it was a homicide. Her right breast had been completely removed. Wow. Just gone with a razor blade, like cut off surgically, basically.

An incision with a sharp instrument had also been made in the torso from just below the sternum through the, this is, sorry, gross stuff here, but the whole thing, from the sternum through the vaginal and rectal areas. Wow. All the way around. All the way around. All the way around. And then peeled apart like a frog in seventh grade to expose internal organs. And the internal organs,

some of them had been mutilated inside of her. Wow. Okay. She has a skull fracture in the area in the back of her left ear and has a sternum fracture as well. So this she didn't just fall down the steps and explode, obviously. So that's not a thing that would happen. They said the skull fracture and the autopsy was of such such a nature that it would have ultimately resulted in death anyway. However, the immediate cause of death was bleeding, which was a consequence of the mutilations where the artery in the right leg was severed.

She was alive when that happened? Yeah, unconscious but alive. Unconscious but alive. In the pathologist's opinion, the skull fracture occurred before the mutilations, which would make sense. You'd have to render someone immobile to do that to them. The basis for an opinion was obviously, in his words, that in order for the mutilations to have occurred, the victim would have had to have been unconscious because there was no signs of resistance as indicated by absence of any defense wounds or bruises on the arm. And you'd figure somebody would struggle through that.

You would probably struggle through that. So, yeah, she had no defense wounds. That means he just bashed her in the back of the head golly when she wasn't looking um yeah he further expressed the opinion that the victim was still alive when the incision was made and the artery was severed the conclusion was evidenced by the absence of blood in the heart and blood vessels indicating the heart was still beating when the cutting occurred sweet fuck then he uh wrapped her in a blanket poured gasoline on both floors first and second floor and set the house ablaze and left what in the shit man okay now i have to tell you right away um that also her breastbone several ribs were broken he also by the way but they also said that could have been um cpr that could have been somebody if you so yeah they said there's

that but either way um i yeah what what would make you do this like this is a lot now so mad the reason we're doing this case because i thought this was a crazy coincidence and a weird thing and how psychology is very parallel, is if you listen to this week's regular episode in Framingham, Massachusetts, it is an extremely similar case. Way too similar. To the point where their initials are LJ, both the women. No kidding. Their initials are the same, man. Like that's how similar it is. And wait till you hear what his story is.

And I just thought this is amazing because this is 15 years difference. Yeah. One guy is a highly educated master's degree holding actuarial scientist in Boston. And the other guy is in a dusty place in Nebraska with a hundred people where he independently drives grain in a truck you know what I'm saying you can't get two more different people different walks of life and they're doing the exact same fucking thing and wait till you wait till you hear his his mentality for it too his his uh reasoning and rationing it's you're gonna go what the fuck

man are these people twin brothers it's insane so in the food i don't know what's going on here they're in different places i don't know um so wow um paul here let's see where the hell is paul okay where'd he go well there's a guy named richard beckenhauer okay richard beckenhauer lives at 2025 south 18th street in lincoln and he is a student at the university of lincoln here and he or university nebraska lincoln he woke up in the morning that morning and he found paul rowe sleeping on his living room floor okay he knew paulowe, so this wasn't a stranger sleeping on his floor. He knew him, but he was like, he just let himself in while I was sleeping and fell asleep on my floor.

So Beckenhauer said, I was surprised to find him, but not shocked. It wasn't as if a stranger was there. So I guess he said Paul woke briefly and said that he was supposed to haul some livestock that day but he didn't think he was going to do it so that's what he said crashed out on his floor i'm crashing man yeah just on the not even on the couch just on the floor so beckenhauer said quote it seemed like he wanted to sleep again so roe then so he woke him he goes why don't you go sleep in my bed i have to get up anyway so row then goes in beckenhauer's bed while beckenhauer finishes writing a paper for school and then goes

to class he just leaves him there so he comes home after class about 2 p.m and finds paul on the phone talking to his brother dan and a few minutes into this call be Beckenhauer says Roe starts crying. Paul just starts crying. And then Beckenhauer says, he indicated to me that Lane was dead. And he said that he found him at the, Paul tells him that he found Lane at the bottom of the steps. She was unconscious, couldn't revive her, and he's heartbroken. So this Beckenhauer guy said, quote, I asked what he did after that, and he said he he didn't know he said he freaked or something and that it seemed like the devil was there he got in the car and left and wound up at my house okay now um yeah this is petrified right at this point he's like what the fuck is happening here

so yeah i would be fucking petrified, wouldn't you? This guy. But he didn't say, I killed her, but he just said that I think the devil was there, I found her dead, and then I came here. So you might think he just kind of snapped, and holy Christ, this dude's like, you know what I mean? Like, he might be so lost in shock or grief or some shit. The second the devil is referenced

and no other description is made, I'm worried of what this guy's capable of oh absolutely yeah but it's i mean you might think he's like in shock or something he's like i don't know i felt like the devil was there and i left and who the fuck knows man so um paul later would say about his life and all this he said quote it was perfect i had it made what can i say he said that they were they had they had a tractor trailer they owned. They made enough money to pay all their bills, and they were doing great. So the main question you might wonder is, why didn't he call an ambulance when he discovered her?

Yeah. Yeah, you would imagine, right? If that's the case, yeah. He said, I thought about the ambulance, and I almost did it. Well, that makes it worse. If you thought about it and then decided against it like if they were like why didn't he call an ambulance and he went ambulance fuck why did i a fucking ambulance yes obviously i saw he was like stress and i did surgery instead

he said i thought about it then i decided against it like that's crazy don't trust them he said but there's a lot of confusion going on in my mind about that lane was breathing kind of bad and i felt like if i helped her breathe easier then i could call so like i'll call i'll do some cpr get her cranking again and then i'll call and be like hey yeah there's still a problem here so he then said quote i was going to give her artificial respiration and I didn't close her nose. She said that when he tried to blow in her mouth, blood blew in his face from her nose.

And he said, quote, it just freaked me out. I was off. What can I say? It still got an effect on me. Okay. So he then says, wow, at the time I was the only person on earth. What? There was no one else.

It's like the earth is a plane like this table. He said, whoa, once a guy goes, the earth is a plane like this table and then swe is a flat circle whoa once a guy goes the earth is a plane like this table and then sweeps their hand across it i go i mean i gotta go to the bathroom and then i leave for good like you're on a bad date or some shit we don't need some psychologists in there he said and i'm in the middle i'm the only person left on earth me my feelings and lane and she was gone how narcissistic can you get holy shit i was about me me my feelings and lane two out of the three things are about me and that makes sense because i'm the only person on earth so who else's feelings would matter it's just me he made his feelings an entity yeah me my, yeah. And my wife who's dying. Her, too.

There's that. But my feelings. She's gargling. There's blood all over my face. Oh, my God, man. I understand that anybody who's paid attention to the media would have to come to the conclusion that I killed my wife. Hi. My name is Zach Stewart-Pontier. I'm one of the filmmakers behind The Jinx, and I'm excited to bring you The Official Jinx Podcast.

We'll be revisiting all six episodes of Part 1 and watching along with Part 2 as it airs on Max, starting April 21st. Bye-bye. The Official Jinx Podcast. Listen on Max or wherever you get your podcasts. It's all a lighthearted nightmare on our podcast, Morbid. We're your hosts.

I'm Alina Urquhart. And I'm Ash Kelly. And our show is part true crime, part spooky, and part comedy. The stories we cover are well-researched. He claimed and confessed to officially killing up to 28 people. With a touch of humor. I'd just like to go ahead and say that if there's no band called Malevolent Deity, that is pretty great. A dash of sarcasm and just garnished a bit with a little bit of cursing.

This mother****er lied. Like a liar. Like a liar. And if you're a weirdo like us and love to cozy up to a creepy tale of the paranormal. Or you love to hop in the Wayback Machine and dissect the details of some of history's most notorious crimes. You should tune in to our podcast, Morbid. Follow Morbid on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

So that's wild. Her left breast also was partially incised and torn, but most of it appeared to still be attached to the body. God, i hate that phrase uh it's horrible the uterus while still attached to the body by some loose soft tissue was freely movable and almost completely cut out of her body both uh both were severed um i guess the both our arteries were severed and had an incision in it in her legs and the body displayed signs of being burned, obviously. And they said the doctor ended up concluding that the head injury was caused by a movable object striking the head. They said it would have been couldn't rule out the possibility that the head injury was caused by a fall, but it's very unlikely.

You never know. But it's, you you know odds are against it basically so either way here this poor richard beckenhauer guy oh what a you don't feel like a dick for bringing this guy into it poor bastard you're like oh shit so at this point he was calling his brother on the phone let's find out the other end of that phone call because wow can you imagine being on that the whole the families are all gathered at the row household in lincoln here and um he's doing that about two o'clock wayne rowe said the phone rang he answered it and he said quote i heard paul's voice he said dad i need help and and his dad said quote i said i know you do paul we want to help you we've heard about it

we saw we saw yes you need a lot of fucking help here so apparently um his brother was on the phone too on an extension and they both talked to paul and paul said quote lane is dead she fell down the stairs she was bleeding and i took her upstairs and she died in my arms yeah but what about the other part man the what now fell down the stairs and her fucking body popped open and her uterus fell out you've heard of that before right that's what happens sometimes that's a bad story paul that's why girls don't play football jimmy didn't you know that that's why you can't let a little girl play football because if they get tackled too hard their uterus will pop out of their bodies that's what happens they're only allowed to play kicker because

you can't super weird yeah super weird super strange yeah uterus pops out their breasts fall off it's crazy it's just wild how fragile and when you do, it's like they really take it serious because – Like you tried to take their uterus out. A 10-yard penalty exploding the kicker. Exploding her internal organs. It's horrible, man. This is awful. So either way, Paul agrees to meet with his brother Dan to talk things over.

And then Wayne, the father, who was a state patrolman, he called the state patrol to tell them what Paul said. So he goes and tells on his son, too. So that's how you tell these people aren't Italian. Even if you did that, you'd be like, listen, you're going to turn yourself in. I'm not going to. I'm going to make you fucking. Like an Italian dad would drag him down by his collar and go, he's got something to tell you. You tell him.

I'm not talking to him. Tell him what you fucking did, you bum. This fucking guy, I swear to God, you embarrassing son of a bitch. No, I'm going to pay for your lawyer, but I'm disgusted with you right now. That's an Italian parent. I'm not going to talk to him. You talk to him. I mean, I'm not going to rat or nothing.

That's on you. So Dan said that he picked his brother up at Beckenhauer's house, and they drove to Pioneer's Park. And Dan said, I really didn't know what to say what the fuck do you say at that point hi murderer brother how are you this is crazy weird right yeah want to get some arby's like what do you say he said paul was crying he appeared to be in great pain well yeah i would hope so um i believe he decided we should pray to find out what to do. Oh, boy.

Okay. Now, once you hear his story, you'll realize he doesn't need any of that. He's got other issues here. He said, Paul was silent. When I was praying, it came to me that Paul should be in the hospital, that it would be the best place for him. I told him it was important that he trust me and the family and that it was important to let the family take care of him. So Paul then takes him to the hospital. Okay.

I'm sorry. His brother, Dan, takes Paul to the hospital to Bryan Memorial Hospital psychiatric unit where they put him in there. Okay. Now, later during the day, the cops are still looking for him, but he's in the hospital. So the cops find out he's in the hospital and they go there. They go into his room and they arrest him. He's like under arrest, but still allowed to be in the hospital.

Basically, they just like handcuff him to the fucking bed. Now, that's the only difference. But you're not leaving here. Yeah. The doctor in the psychiatric unit whose care Paul was placed under here said he believes that Roe was legally insane and psychotic at the time he was committed. He said that the other thing is that a former occupant, they're going to try to say through this that the stairs were really hard to negotiate and lots of people fell down the stairs. So it's totally likely that this happened.

But they're still not explaining the exploding uterus theory. The body open and the house on fire is a problem. House on fire, all that sort of thing. And wait until you hear this evidence here. So now he said that he was now science said a blunt instrument moving caused the injury and all that sort of thing and then a razor blade and everything now roe says that his they're going to say that listen he just found his wife unconscious and that he was temporarily insane at the time causing him to mutilate the body and burn down the house because that's what you would do with insane grief you'd

be like i have to cut the object of my grief up and then burn my house to the ground. So the doctor said, though, quote, that's not the type of injury you'd expect from a fall down the stairs. So they said the skull fractures are caused when moving shit hits a stationary object. Basically, like if your head smashes into something, that skull fracture is different than something smashing into your head. Yeah, of course. Because even the angle of the fracture is going to be different, too. And they found a claw hammer at the top of the staircase, by the way. Jesus.

The evidence. And they said that the head of the claw hammer couldn't have caused it. No. No, no. They said this was made by the side of it. Oh, shit. It was turned sideways. That's the kind of fracture it was No. No, no. They said this was made by the side of it. It was turned sideways. That's the kind of fracture it was. One of those there.

So, yikes. Also, they found pliers taken from the bedroom that she was found in. The pliers, they found burned pieces of skeletal muscle in the pliers. He was pulling her apart with pliers? Yeah. Wow. They said there's no pattern bruise was found on the skull fracture, and the pattern bruise would have been like the imprint of something.

So he says it's – they ask him, is it the side of the hammer that's been used? And he said, yes, that would leave less of the pattern more than the like waffle end of a hammer. So either way. Wow. This is fucking this is wild here. So the investigators, like I said, they find that no blood was found on this hammer, though. That's the weird part. No blood found on this hammer.

Strangely enough. So whatever the wound was that that that that that thing inflicted didn't bleed? Apparently not, which is possible. It could crush the skull without bleeding. I mean, that's happened to Bob Saget. So they said that only carpet fibers were found on the hammer. They found blood on the sheets, blankets, pillowcases, and in the, that was all the same as her. So it was all her blood everywhere, obviously.

Now, holy shit, the fire investigator, he says that he found that the fires were started on the first and second floors of the home and that between two and a half and four gallons of flammable accelerant liquid was used to start the fire. A whole jerry can. Of fucking gas he just emptied in the house that is a lot of gas it's a shitload of gas that's just all of it and so also they found are these just deadly stairs maybe so carolyn hatfield who lived with her four children in the house for 10 years said she fell down the stairs once and her children fell down the stairs several times.

One kid even was taken to the emergency room because of a sprained ankle. Yeah, but these are children. Children don't climb stairs very well. Yes, and the other thing is none of them had giant holes in their skull. Right. That's the other problem. So we'll get to, he's going to testify and he's going to say exactly what the fuck he did and it's wild that's what his reasons are haven't even been stated yet wait till you hear they're just as crazy as framingham that's what i mean this is just like a weird psychotic crazy excuse that

people make so here we go um the jurors they would say they had a fight right away about the jurors because they said that they were asking the jurors if a person, as a result of the shock of the sudden loss of a loved one, do you think they could go temporarily insane? And that was like their litmus test, the defense, basically. So the county attorney said that, you know, he was trying to psych out the jurors and thinking that that's a possible thing. So Paul's dad testifies, Wayne, and they asked him on the stand quote this isn't easy for you is it no it's not really can't imagine how not easy it is for me so glad you asked such a deep question you know how much ball breaking i'm gonna get from my cop buddies for this hey you're this guy whose son cut off his wife's tit that's perfect this is great yeah i'm doing fantastic so his uh his

defense is that okay he he he didn't kill her now i didn't bash her head in that was the stairs but he did in fact mutilate her and set the fires that happened that's true. Okay. Okay. They did argue about the amount of liquid, though. The defense said that this guy's probably guessing two and a half and four gallons. That's all it is. It's guesses. And he said that the fire expert said he could accurately gauge the amount of liquid fuel used based on his experience with flammable liquids and their physical properties, plus his experience studying arson and all this. They teach us this. That's what he said, basically.

And you can see the burn pattern of the spill. Yeah. You can see where liquid was in a fire. That's the other thing, if you're any good at it, especially if they put it out before it's ashes. So now experts come in this case. Doctors come to his defense here. Two psychiatrists say that he.

Oh, boy. OK. Well, his story is that. OK, how do I put this? OK. The devil had taken over his wife. OK. OK.

Devil had taken her. So in order to keep her like a relevant being, he needed to bash the devil. He needed to get the devil out of her basically. Okay. Then he thought, well, this is just my wife's devil pod body. It's not the real wife. He took her right breast because he thought she would want him to have that. Yeah. And then he cut her open.

Why would you cut her open? Well, the reason for that is that he figured that his wife, knowing that the devil was taking her over, would have left him a baby in there. Like a fully formed. She's like 5'10", 130 pounds, by the way. You can see if she's got a fully formed baby. She's like 5'10", 130 pounds, by the way. You can see if she's got a fully formed baby in there. He cut her open saying that's why he was pulling the uterus. We're going, where's the baby in here? They're supposed to shake the baby out of the uterus.

There should be a baby is what they say. So the psychiatrists say that he believed he was going to be able to remove a child his wife had left for him in there as like a like one of those machines where you put the quarter and you pop the thing off oh look at that a baby's in there is he out of his fucking mind yes uh i would say this this behavior is out of your fucking mind so they said that he told both psychiatrists he surgically removed his wife's breast because he believed she wished him to have something to remember her by. Obviously, clearly. Yeah. So now the state's doctor, psychiatrist, said that he was not suffering from any condition or conditions that affected his ability to behave properly.

So I just freaked out and thought the devil was in my wife. So I took a baby out of her. That is not an excuse. Like, if you don't have a mental illness, you just don't have that breakdown for five minutes. That's not a thing, unless there's, like, an underlying mental illness is what he's saying. Like, you can have temporary whatever, but that's very temporary. He went right. Bob Ross beat the devil out of her and then yeah that that killed her so i had to

then take the baby out and she forgot to put it in there you wouldn't wrap her up and then burn the house down that's something that's trying to hide the crime or feels bad about the crime that's what i mean if you were crazy you don't feel bad about it you don't wrap her all up like that this was after drinking and dancing like a happy thing. Yeah, drinking a bunch of beer. What the fuck happened? I don't know if they got... He came home at 11 o'clock smelling like fucking beer, drunk, said he was going to be home at 9. She probably fucking said, hey, asshole, what the fuck, man? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Like reasonable fucking people that are married. Hey, why were you out so late? What are you dancing? Who are you dancing with? Was it fucking Katie, that fucking whore? Who knows what the hell they were arguing about. And then he said, and bashed her in the head with a fucking hammer and then said, holy shit, what do I do? Somehow this is what he decided on, which is fucking crazy.

What the shit? They said there's no evidence of psychosis or severe neurosis to qualify for a non-responsibility on the part of Roe. A normal brain wave tracing and brain scan also this is 1980s 80 by the way but still they said they could find nothing that could distinguish that that could make him not distinguish right from wrong there you go so holy fuck man yeah so this is jesus christ man this This is fucking wild here. Now, Paul testifying, they said, his attorney said, did you kill your wife? Okay, now, he said, no, I didn't. No, I didn't.

Okay. And they said, did you love her? And he nodded. And the judge said, your answer is what? That's to be audible. He says, yes, yes. So then he tells, you know, what happened there. He said he went to the Royal Grove nightclub in Lincoln and he had where he, quote, drank four or five beers.

He said his wife had to work early the next day and had told him she was too tired to go out with him. But his wife had to work early the next day and had told him she was too tired to go out with him. So he drank beer, came home, drank a beer, smoked a cigarette, went to bed around midnight. She's asleep in a separate bedroom. And they said, what's the next thing you can remember? And he said, quote, I was awakened when I heard a noise which sounded like it was coming from the stairs. He said, yeah, I found her at the bottom of the stairs, blood coming out of her nose. He said, quote, the first thing I did was kind of tap her on the cheek, you know, like in a movie, like wake up, slap and quote. I didn't get any response. I picked Lane up, took her

upstairs and put her on the bed. I laid her down on the bed and it sounded to me like she had something in her throat. So he said he gave the story about the mouth-to-mouth quite a bit of blood came out her nose and he said he remembered her heartbeat and breathing became less and less and remembers then taking her downstairs and putting her in the bathtub he said i thought maybe the water would bring her around or wake her up also i wanted to wash her off in the bathtub get a wet cloth yeah what's going on i don't ever know she's bleeding um he said uh he took off a t-shirt uh she was wearing and rinsed it out and used it to wipe off his wife there's no towels in the bathtub right by the bathtub there's no towels you don't keep anything to wipe a fucking wet thing in a bathroom okay closet real

close so then uh the lawyer said tell me what happened then and he said i felt lane needed me and i decided the only way i could reach her was to commit suicide so he said he got a shotgun for the closet from the closet put it under his chin and pulled the trigger and nothing happened and he didn't mention loading it at all. Probably. He said, I felt there was an evil force keeping me from lane. So he described, kept describing what he called an evil spirit or the devil in his house at that time.

He said, I felt that the devil was there. And then I thought lane had left me a child or something. This is, he's in front of a jury saying these words or something. I felt like maybe she left me a child or something. He's in front of a jury saying these words. Or something. I felt like maybe she left me a child or something. You know, devil and weird stuff.

So I decided to cut my wife open and start dicking around with her organs. Are you fucking kidding me? She left me a baby. That's it. Yeah. It's a nice leave behind. Very nice. So he used the razor blade to cut into her.

And she wasn't pregnant or anything. And no baby. He or anything and uh no baby he said after he found no baby he started to feel sick and cold you should be you just cut your wife open you should feel very sick a minute ago holy shit then he said well i did set the house on fire because i did it to burn the devil out of the house and that way i could keep lane for myself because because i'll burn the devil out and then me and her like sit on the house and that way i could keep laying for myself because because i'll burn the devil out and then me and her like sit on the couch and watch wheel of fortune while she's a fucking charred cinder that sounds kind of beer did he drink dude somebody must have put something in

there so this is wow did somebody put acid in his drink james i've never come to these conclusions. None of this shit here. So during, they also said, by the way, that he had gone out. This was, by the way, their wedding anniversary. Did I mention that? Stop it. Yeah. They bring that up on cross. They're like, was this or was this not your wedding anniversary? Yeah.

He's like, yeah, it was. And he said, and you went out without her. By yourself. And yeah. And he went yeah he said he danced with a woman at the royal grove who'd been married who'd been married only a few months and quote was feeling kind of down about her husband who spent a lot of time at the local bowling alley so he's gonna make her feel better and comfort her and you think you feel bad about

yours this is my anniversary i'm out alone yep that's that's it here so she said that uh he said he he knew how lane felt about him always going to bars he said lane spent a lot of time at softball and other sports his sport was trying to fucking finger other guys wives while they were out at things so he said that he gave the woman his phone number and he said that he ended up he said he told her about it, but she wasn't upset. But then he killed her because the devil was there on her anniversary. You told me you gave a woman your phone number and danced with her because she was feeling sad because her husband wasn't paying attention to her. While you're not paying attention to your wife because you're out at a bar talking to another woman. So, yeah, the the prosecutor then gets to close this out and he says paul rolled paul rowe told you he took first took his wife to the southeast bedroom a spare bedroom of their

home and that lane rowe was bleeding from the nose he also told you he never took her to the back bedroom or bed but he later took her to another bed in another room. So he's like, he goes from there. He says that there's a lot of blood on this bed, more than just a couple ounces resulting from a nosebleed. Talk about all of that. He goes through basically all of his statements and says, this guy's full of shit, obviously, clearly. Come on. obviously clearly come on he goes you're you're being urged to believe that lane row got up in the dark that all of a sudden this five foot ten hundred thirty pound female active in all kinds of sports that all of a sudden on this occasion on this night she falls down the stairs and then

he said quote maybe the devil went in and hit her on the head then carried her downstairs and laid her down that's just as believable as the story that she fell down the stairs. Yeah. He said, then the defense says he had no motive to kill his wife. That's their closing. It takes an enormous leap in logic to a situation where a man comes home and intentionally, willfully,

and with malice kills his wife. A person who would lie, a person who would lie would make every bit of testimony fit with the facts in this case. The events are explainable only in Paul Rowe's testimony. So that's what the prosecution says back. a couple. They loved each other. They worked together. Does a man set a fire in his house, which is situated on the main road, do so in the early morning hours when people are using that

road on the way to work to cover up a crime? No, they do not. There was no motive. There was no crime. Just a tragedy. Oh my god. The balls. And then his balls fell and made an audible sound on the ground as they 40 pounds each each of ball, broke through his pants.

Couldn't hold them anymore. And the city considered changing the festival to him. Yeah, I was going to say. And then he was the grand marshal of the testicle festival. So this 2.30 p.m., the jury goes in for deliberation. 9.30 p.m. that evening, they have a verdict. They have to wait an hour and a half while they call all the lawyers in and everything. And he is found guilty of second-degree murder.

What? Second-degree. They're saying it wasn't a— Yeah, it's how the law was. So here comes sentencing. The judge gets his words in here. This is a good use, sir. Here we go. The judge says, quote, the court chooses to stigmatize this as the crime of crimes. The method here was the most cruel, in my opinion. Oh, boy. He said he set a fire in an effort to

cover up the greater crime of second degree murder. The evidence is strong that the deceased was still alive when the defendant began cutting her up like an animal. He then said that he entertained, that Paul Rowe entertained no thoughts of seeking a priest or a doctor or a person trained in first aid, or Lane's removal to any place where others might aid her in whatever way in her last moments, or retain the breath of life in her. You, sir, may fuck off life in prison.

Yes. So he gets life in prison for that and then not less than three years and not more than five years for arson as well. Really? So, yeah, there's that. Sentences are to run concurrently. So there you go. So if one goes, he still has the other. So he gets transferred to jail here.

Now, one of the jurors that they talked to, it was nine women and three men in the jury. They said that about after, you know, what was it, like seven hours of deliberation and two votes, they said that they were ready. The first, the initial vote was 11-1 to find him guilty. Somebody was going, I don't know. Somebody was actually thinking that. She was open, man. Yeah, that's what I mean. So after the conviction, Paul says, quote, I was just an average person with good and bad points. I wouldn't say I was an angel, but I felt like I was doing my part to be an asset in the community. Lane and I worked hard to get in the position we were in. He said, I can. Then he talks about their family.

I can see they're bitter. I can see they want to hold someone responsible, even if it's me. Then he says the guy that did it, even if it's the guy who did it and admitted to it in a court of law. He says, in my mind, I feel responsibility toward what happened. Really? Do you now? Wow, that's really novel. That's crazy, isn't it? That's the only thing we have in common, sir.

A sense of guilt. It's something I'll never lose. But legally, I know I wasn't responsible. It's the only thing that's satisfying to me. He said, the whole thing is confusing i'm still not right in my opinion i can't think like i used to at least i know i can get some help hopefully it'll do me some good you're saying uh murdering your wife in a very vicious way changed you as a human being yeah i can't get back to it it's weird once i tried to you know

remove a uterus with my bare hands and a set of pliers, it's just my life hasn't been quite the same since then. I saw the internal organs of a loved one, and now I'm different. That's wild. You know what his mother says about it? What? Quote, I don't think I ever saw him hit anybody with anything. Paul would never hit anybody. That isn't his nature.

He's so strong, he would never have to do anything like that. Oh, Mom. Oh, mom. Oh, my God. His family dumped all this money, ruined their retirement plans and all kinds of shit like that. His father said, with all the experience I had in law enforcement, when this case came about, I felt completely lost about what to do. It's really a dilemma when you've had the power to decide whether a case should be prosecuted, put together evidence, and have influence over the charges that are filed. It's a terrible experience for anyone to go through. I'm sure.

I'm sure it's awful. So there were some things here where they said the sheriff was spying on them on the trial, on him and his lawyer during the trial period. So they had a full statewide investigation to see if the sheriff was fucking spying on him and his lawyer and he wasn't apparently that was the conclusion anyway january 82 he appeals this whole thing and the nebraska supreme court orders a new trial for paul what based on the fact that the jurors did not have they the judge did not instruct the jurors that they had the option of finding him guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter because of that

they said sorry new trial um conviction set aside everything but the arson conviction and sentence still stays so he doesn't get released or anything like that. So, yeah. Otherwise, it was just, you know, whatever. Sort of a, I don't know. The Supreme Court said it this way. The defendant, Roe, came home after a night

of drinking and dancing. He found his wife not in the bed, which they customarily shared, but in another room. His sexual desires were urgent. Fulfillment of his desires was rejected.

This resulted in a quarrel, the result of which was striking his wife with a hammer. His rage was so great he mutilated her sexual organs. I think that's the theory. That's probably it. She came home drunk and horny. She was like, I got to be up before 30. Get off me, you drunken asshole.

He got mad and beat her over the fucking head because that's what happened. The girl at the bar teased me a lot and wasn't going to put because she's newly married so we're married so let's do it yep also they said they shouldn't have allowed uh the gruesome photos of her in court well that's your that's your handiwork asshole so late 1982 new trial still guilty as shit of yeah manslaughter or second degree though yeah second degree murder so it doesn't matter this time though the sentence is new sentencing oh you sir may fuck off 25 years this time not life 25 to life 25 25 okay not 25 to life just 25 25 that's it he got a great deal he got a great deal 1989 parole hearing he finally admits to what he did sort of kind of here um he sort of did um yeah uh they said they end up saying

though um uh quote the brutal and inhumane manner in which lane jorgensen was murdered and then horribly mutilated by roe should be reason enough to keep him in prison for life. This is what one of the people said, as was the sentence in his first trial. He's most definitely not reformed. He's not rehabilitated. So Roe says this during the during the thing here. Quote, I'm the most sorriest person there is because Lane's death was the result of my doings and there's not a day goes by i don't think about it and wish i could change what happened um so he asked the

board to consider an educational release program so he continues he can continue his studies as well um wow that's wild uh there her family uh lane, said, how can you sit there today and ask us to excuse this lie? And you've just recently admitted the crime and not addressed the crime. Right now you're playing the victim and you're not the victim. The victim has been buried and put to rest. So they said, you could say you're sorry. And he said, I'm sorry. I've been sorry every day. I know you've been hurting and I wish there's something I could do. He then said, tell Wayne for me, meaning his father, that he's sorry as well. And they said the family was not having any of his bullshit. Basically, they said, please don't give him any freedom of any kind, all that kind of shit.

So the decision was a two to two vote deadlocked, which is the tie goes to the house. You stay in jail. So there we go. But they do end up letting him out on work release over the next year. What the fuck? He's in. He's driving a Nebraska Land Express Inc. He's working for them, driving a delivery truck for a while there.

He is also out. Where was he doing here? He's allowed out on eight to 12 hour furloughs so he could shop in Lincoln. He also worked in the governor's mansion in the work release program, but was removed from the assignment because he had an affair with another female inmate who was working there as well, which is going to happen. Oh, my God. 1990 parole hearing. The board receives 121 letters opposing rose parole and 27 in support okay that's what they really they they do here this time

they vote three to one to parole him 1990 this is jimmy this is like he his parole date is like barely 10 years after the actual murder it's fucking crazy so with the conditions that he continues psychiatric counseling maintain employment and live within with his parents in lincoln the family as you can imagine not thrilled about this i can't imagine yeah the brother the brother said he was very disturbed by the board's decision and how the fuck could they do that? He said, we're not. What does he say? Oh, we are not full of thoughts of hate or revenge. We are a kind and loving family. But we do have thoughts of justice and concern for the safety of the public. Should murderers like Roe be set free? He cannot believe that Roe is yet rehabilitated or able to function normally in society, which makes sense, I would say. They said the victim and the victim's family and the friends don't get out ever.

And now he gets to get out. They called him reprehensible and they called the board's action irresponsible. And, yeah, not happy at all. They said they were going to fucking write every letter to everybody they can. The family said, I feel betrayed by whatever system it is that allows this to happen. I feel betrayed by the politicians who appoint these people and allow this to happen. Nebraska's different, man. I guess so.

But this is also 1980. It's a different time. So I found that fascinating that you couldn't get two more opposite people. One guy's 27. One guy's 40. 40 highly educated yeah lives in a different area they couldn't be more different people than the people this week and they did the exact same thing and pretty much one guy said my wife is an alien fucking vampire yeah and then this guy said the devil took her and then she left me a baby. So they both mutilated their wives for very simple reasons that they had to make some big bullshit story out of. So psychology. Yeah.

One got out. Psychology spans decades. Fucking regions. Lifestyles. So socioeconomic religion. You name it. It spans it all, man. I mean, they couldn't be more different. Those people. So there you go. That is Alvo, Nebraska. And quite a disturbing little tale, I would say there. So, yeah, it's fucking gross, obviously. So that was terrible. And if you like that show, though, tell the world about it. Just don't say how gross it was. Get on whatever app you're listening on. Give us five stars. It does help a lot.

Helps drive us up the charts. Head over to, well, follow us on social media at Murder Small on Twitter, at Small Town Pod on Facebook, at Small Town Murder on Instagram, as well as you definitely want to go to shut up and give me murder dot com right now. What are they going to find there, Jimmy? Oh, my God. Everything's there, James. Very good. Good pitch. give me murder dot com right now what are they going to find there jimmy oh my god everything's there james very good good pitch we gotta bring any kind of merch you want also october the 27th

virtual live show get your tickets right now it is available for seven days after that you can watch it once watch it 10 times watch it on the last day it's available do whatever the hell you want with it just like a regular live show but in your living room instead of in the theater salesman very good here so do that get your tickets it's going to be so much fun that is shut up and give me murder.com is where you get those and all your merchandise also patreon.com slash crime and sports all the bonus stuff you get. Two new episodes every other week. Whole back catalog.

Anybody $5 or above. This week, crime and sports. Personal ads. You bet. Holy shit, those are so fun. Old personal ads from newspapers. And then for small town murder, of course, we will do the small town festivals. Damn it.

That's right. More like testicle festival. You wanted to hear us talk about the testicle festival for a couple more minutes probably, and we wanted to talk about it. This week we will be able to talk about all of these weird little small town festivals. I can't wait. And not have to worry about those pesky murders that come afterwards. Genital festivals.

That's right. It's patreon.com slash crime and sports is where you do that, and you'll get a shout out at the end of the regular show. Thank you so much for hanging with us. It's been a crazy episode. You want to hang out with us on social media? Very easy. Just go to shut up and give me murder.com.

Links are all there. Holy shit. Pull the brakes. God damn it. Pull it into the station until next week, everybody. Thank you so much. Have a good one. Bye. Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Small Town Murder early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today.

Or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. Welcome to the small town of Chinook, where faith runs deep and secrets run deeper. Welcome to the small town of Chinook, where faith runs deep and secrets run deeper. In this new thriller, available exclusively on Wondery Plus, religion and crime collide when a gruesome murder rocks the isolated Montana community. Everyone is quick to point their fingers at a drug-addicted teenager, but local deputy Ruth Vogel isn't convinced. She suspects connections to a powerful religious group. She suspects connections to a powerful religious group. Enter federal agent V.B. Loro,

who has been investigating a local church for possible criminal activity. The pair form an unlikely partnership to catch the killer, unearthing secrets that leave Ruth torn between her duty to the law, her religious convictions, and her very own family. But something more sinister than murder is afoot, and someone is watching Ruth. With an all-star cast led by Emmy nominee Sanaa Lathan and Star Wars Kelly Marie Tran, Chinook is available exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.