Small Town Murder - #368 - Good Fences, Dead Neighbors - Monterey, Tennessee

Episode Date: March 11, 2023

This week, in Monterey, Tennessee, a man who may have the worst job in the United States, also has a family beef, over a fence that his brother has erected, across the man's driveway. This en...ds up in one of the craziest days imaginable, complete with some of the most cold blooded murder that we've ever heard of, a blazing fire to cover it up, and finally, a proclamation that he "will never be taken alive"! A real mess! Plus, we really need to know what "scrap food" could be!Along the way, we find out that there are some exits that you just shouldn't take, that fences don't always make good good neighbors, and that you need to be careful while in the "back field"!!Hosted by James Pietragallo and Jimmie WhismanNew episodes every Thursday!Donate at: patreon.com/crimeinsports or go to paypal.com and use our email: crimeinsports@gmail.comGo 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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening early and ad-free on Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yay! Choo-choo yay indeed jimmy yay indeed my name is james petrigallo i'm here with my co-host i'm jimmy wissman thank you folks for joining us so much all aboard the murder train we are pulling away from the station and oh man do we have a crazy story today this is we're gonna have to figure some stuff out in this one let's just put it that way real quick at the top of the show a couple of things to go over i'm gonna get through them quickly quickly shut up and give me murder.com get your tickets now tickets for the whole year
Starting point is 00:01:14 are on sale you better hurry salt lake city sold out in like 14 hours somehow so that was crazy yes these tickets are selling chicago yeah. Boston is almost sold out already. You guys are savages out there. Thank you. It's awesome. Thank you so much. So get your tickets right now. Rest of the year.
Starting point is 00:01:31 And especially March, we are still tickets left for two shows in Seattle and two shows in Portland at the end of the month. The 23rd, 4th in Seattle, 25th in Portland. And those are different shows. So if you go to two shows, you go to both shows in Portland, you'll see two different shows. So just so you know, two shows in Seattle, same thing. So get your tickets there. Also, get your tickets to the virtual live show, April 20th, 420 virtual live show.
Starting point is 00:01:55 I'm getting Jimmy super stoned and then telling him a murder story. And it's going to be so much fun. We're going to have a blast, just like a regular live show. But you're right in your living room. And that's available for seven days afterwards. Also, after the 20th, so you can get it whenever you want. ShutUpAndGiveMeMurder.com is where you get all that. Also, keep your eyes out.
Starting point is 00:02:14 Your Stupid Opinions is coming. It's happening. The world is all reviews, and we're going to make fun of them. We're going to make fun of people's bad reviews, whether it's an Arby's in Tallahassee, Florida, or a baby aquatics class in Walla Walla, Washington. We're going to talk about weird stuff and how people complain about it. It's coming out sometime in the next six weeks, so keep your eyes open for that. Keep your eyes open. We'll pump it up as it gets closer to it.
Starting point is 00:02:38 And, of course, Patreon.com slash Crime and Sports. All the bonus stuff. Crazy stuff this week, by the way. For Crime and Sports, which you get access to of course you get the whole back catalog new episodes every other week we are going to talk about that crazy picture of the death row baseball team yeah from 1911 with a child in the middle for some reason who is that kid is he the most dangerous or is he just hanging out bad kid yeah and then Small Town Murder, really fun stuff. We're going to talk about defunct theme parks.
Starting point is 00:03:07 Oh. What happened? Won a lion attack? There's all sorts of crazy stuff we'll talk about. So that's Patreon. Oh, yeah. Patreon.com
Starting point is 00:03:15 slash Crime and Sports. Get in there, get your bonus stuff, and get your shout out at the end of the regular show. Right. That said, let's do this, Jimmy.
Starting point is 00:03:22 Let's do it. I think it's time to sit back right now. Clear the lungs. Where are you? Are you getting some meat at the deli section in the grocery store? Are you waiting for them to slice it? Well, when he...
Starting point is 00:03:33 Slice some capicola? As soon as they slap that capicola up on the scale, you look that butcher dead in the eye when he goes a little over, okay? You just look him dead in the eye when he goes a little over, okay? You just look him dead in the eye and you shout, Shut up and give me murder. There you go. And maybe you'll get a discount. There you go.
Starting point is 00:03:55 Let's go on a trip. Jimmy, what do you say? Or he tells you, please get out. Or he's like, I'll take a little off then, I guess. I guess a little over is not enough. Too much. Too much? All right. So that said, let's go on a trip. take a little off then i guess i guess a little over is not enough too much too much all right so that said let's go on a trip we're going all the way down to tennessee today again
Starting point is 00:04:11 oh yeah it's been a while since tennessee we're going down to monterey tennessee as a matter of fact yes monterey beautiful coastal tennessee oh yeah beautiful coastal tennessee i'm sure it's mont terry or some shit but it's montere I'm sure it's Mont Terry or some shit, but it's Monterey, everybody. It's between. This is out there. Some French guy named Terry's place. Yeah, you know him, right? It's Mont Terry.
Starting point is 00:04:36 That's how we do it. He sits right up on top of that holler. This is between Nashville and Knoxville, so kind of central Tennessee. If you're driving through Tennessee, this is an exit you pass and you go, whew, glad we don't need gas when we stop there, I think. What the fuck is that place? I'm not sure. Population, 2,889 here.
Starting point is 00:04:56 Very small. Small place. Median household income, $24,770. Whoa, the land that everybody forgot. Yeah, this is a rough little area. And when I tell you the story, you're going to go, oh, so this is like 1932. This is like Great Depression. No, no, no.
Starting point is 00:05:16 This is 2009, the story. My God. And it sounds like it's happening during the Great Depression. It's crazy. So the median home cost here is 174 300 how i don't know i think that's because a lot of the homes have a lot of land on them so okay you'll probably get a trailer pretty cheap here or something like that maybe you inherited it from somebody because yeah yeah you can't afford that on that any day of the week so um the little
Starting point is 00:05:44 bit of history here the monterey is rooted in a settlement that developed around a landmark known as the Standing Stone. This is in the late 1700s. The stone was used as a guidepost for travelers along Avery's Trace, which I believe is probably where the I-40 is now. I would think because they cut it through the hills. You know what I mean? in the in the middle there so um and it's believed to have earlier served as a boundary marker between the territories of the cherokee and shawnee tribes so oh they just set a rock there huh it's been there a long time yeah don't go past here this is uh the low rises are mine is what that is like the wire the other side of this rock is dangerous that's
Starting point is 00:06:25 right so uh by 1805 three families had settled this permanently and the standing stone inn was established to cater to travelers oh very nice someone will figure out a way to make money off of something yeah so uh then there was a lot of coal going on here. The Cumberland Mountain Coal Company bought a shitload of property here. Yeah. And what they would do is they'd buy the rights to under your land. Sure. So people would be like, I get to stay here and you pay me? Sounds great.
Starting point is 00:06:56 Yeah. And then when they're, you know, a lot of times the land would collapse. When the shit caves in. Yeah. They go, well, that's all right. So they had a contest to name this town. OK, because they're they're building. This was like a company town at first.
Starting point is 00:07:09 So a contest was held to name this town and a guy named Major Robert John Moe Scripp, which is funny because he's got Scripp in his name and it's a coal company. He submitted Monterey, which means king of the mountains and coal was king so there you go it made sense yep so uh very deep it's deep shit man it's deep shit mine like a coal mine deep like a like a coal vein reviews of this town um here's a five-star review uh monterey is a small town of 3,500. We're at 2,000 feet elevation, so it's in the mountains. It's in the hills. No shit. Our summers are mild.
Starting point is 00:07:50 I think mild is what they're going for, and usually cool because we're on the Cumberland Plateau. The city is currently extending our water and sewer services, which will open commercial building opportunities. That's helpful. Running water? services which will open commercial building opportunities that's helpful we're running water we're desperately in need of more businesses and job opportunities and they need turlets that's the problem uh we are more of a bedroom community we've recently added to our tourism opportunities i don't know about that uh four stars it's a small town and most everyone is nice exclamation point Well, that's nice. It's helpful.
Starting point is 00:08:36 Two stars. Here we go. Middle Tennessee has always been my home, but I have seen this area gradually decay with drug use and apathy towards education i do not see this situation getting better as was middle tennessee was always a bastion of education before this right yeah um and plan to move as soon as i finish getting my education uh two stars not a lot to do here but if you're looking for peace and quiet you will love it the community is close-knit and are skeptical of outsiders. Yikes, that sounds like a 70s trucker movie. Pulled on in with a flat tire and they tried to take him and kidnap him.
Starting point is 00:09:18 It's like a Chuck Norris movie. Took everything out of the back of the truck and man left left me naked in the street that's it there's a nice new train museum in town but it will take you four but it'll only take 40 minutes to see it's a quick little train museum one star places are not clean or sanitary looking business organization is sloppy and customer service is not top priority because they know they've you have got to go to that store or drive to a further town with bigger stores. It's also they probably don't have the means, dude. Yeah, it's one guy working there.
Starting point is 00:09:53 They make no money. Yeah, it's 24 grand a year here. So things to do, the Monterey Depot Museum. And it's a replica depot, but more it's got trains. And they also have, I'll read from their thing here, but it's a the train. It's a replica depot, but more. It's got trains and they also have. I'll read from their thing here, but it's more than trains. It's about everything from prehistoric Indians to coal miners, lumbermen, soldiers and people of the mountain community. Monterey's official motto, quote, where hilltops kiss the sky. I'm saving that for now.
Starting point is 00:10:20 Oh, man. The actual the town is actually higher in edge of elevation than Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Well, boy. Oh, man. The town is actually higher in elevation than Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Well, then. Now, they claim that there will be boutiques, food trucks, and bring the kids to enjoy the kids zone. And, of course, there'll be, and this is all capital letters and three exclamation points, tons of banana pudding. Great. I don't think you expected that, probably. But there's a banana pudding tasting.
Starting point is 00:10:47 $5 each person, cash only. You bet. Wow. First place winner gets $1,000. Wow. For what? The best banana pudding. A grand.
Starting point is 00:11:02 A grand for your banana pudding. I guarantee you somebody won that with jello one year it's like this is delicious i love the way it says banana pudding uh banana pudding tasting five dollars each person cash only starts at 11 a.m at the big white barn oh you're supposed to know what that is the big white bar the big one you make a left at the old water tower where the old water tower used to be you make a left there you make a right at the old water tower where the old water tower used to be you make a left there you make a right at old man johnson's farm and you'll be by the white big big white barn but if you do what if there's there must there's got to be more than more than one
Starting point is 00:11:36 right beats the shit out of me white barn this is the little white where's the pudding seems big to me i'm here for pudding come with a bib on and shit and a spoon in your hand uh that said let's talk about some murder shall we let's do it now i can't overemphasize this this starts in may of 2009 okay it's very recent not may of 1929 the market didn't just crash and, you know. Okay. So let's talk about some people. Let's talk about an older lady here.
Starting point is 00:12:11 Vida Clark is her name. Vida. Okay. Vida. Now, Vida lives on a property over here, and she lives near her sons. Well, actually, she's got three sons, Jerry Clark, Kevin Clark, and Roy Clark. That's oldest to youngest. Those are the clark boys last name clark clark yeah yeah yeah vita clark jerry clark kevin clark roy clark god damn it so uh now roy roy now kevin uh jerry doesn't jerry owned
Starting point is 00:12:44 the property that everybody lived on. I don't know if he inherited it from the father because the father seems to be dead here. Or he jumped off a cliff when he understood the people he was living with. He goes, wow, this is crazy. He may have just left. So Jerry's joint and everybody's living with him? No, no, no. He doesn't live here.
Starting point is 00:13:00 He doesn't live here. He owns the land and he sells. There's a big plot of land his mother lives in a house with the younger brother roy the youngest who's an adult but still lives with mom and they live there and then he sells half the property the adjoining property basically to his brother kevin who builds a house on it and moves in there so great kevin and his wife susan live in the one house and then Roy and Vida, mother and son,
Starting point is 00:13:28 live in the other house and Jerry lives somewhere else. So that's how it goes. Now Kevin Clark, interesting life he's got. It's a hardscrabble life for Kevin Clark here. He and Susan are struggling? Well, Susan Beth Clark is his wife and Kevin works the
Starting point is 00:13:44 third shift for the sanitation crew at the Purdue Farms chicken processing plant in Monterey. What? Okay, as comedians, if you were going to say, like if you were going to compare something to I'd rather do X, Y, Z. It would be I'd rather work the third shift sanitation crew at the Purdue Farms processing fucking plant. That's what I'd rather do than do that job. Then serve this to you.
Starting point is 00:14:15 That's the worst. Like, can you think of a worse job? No. Mike Rowe has probably done that job. That's a bad job. People who work in sewers are like, at least I'm not picking up chicken parts and fucking stuck in it. I mean, this is crazy. Is he doing the sanitation of the fucking butchering? It's the sanitation crew at the chicken processing plant.
Starting point is 00:14:37 So imagine what's left over to sanitize. It's disgusting. Gross. That's disgusting. So now Kevin's future ex-wife will call her susan beth clark because i mean obviously so together they lived in the like i said on a property that adjoined the property owned by vita clark or lived on by vita clark and roy clark now kevin's had some issues lately he's not quite the same as he's been. Oh. Okay. His work schedule has been changed to third shift.
Starting point is 00:15:07 Oh, he was on second? He was on, I don't know which one, second or first, but now he's working overnights at the chicken processing plant, which is not. He's not happy. It's not sitting well with his mental acuity and well-being here. Sure. He is currently taking medication for what's been called quote panic anxiety and depression anxiety as well so you should have disclosed that to his boss i would assume so um but yeah this is literally making me take medication because i'm so depressed because i work in the middle of the
Starting point is 00:15:37 night at the processing plant but in this area in the sun In this area when the median household income is $24,000, if you have a job at the processing plant, you're trying to keep it. I mean, third shift or not, they kind of got you by the balls there. It's miserable. And then they're going to chop them off and part them out. Got you by the gizzards. Got you by the gizzards there, buddy. So, man, that's just a rough life. Oh, my God. How do you oh my god how do you
Starting point is 00:16:06 plan for that that's a demotion though right to work that shift unless everybody rotates or unless he was made like head of the crew but he's got to start in third shift that happens you've got to do that shift right if you want to be foreman you got to work come in at 11 bitch that's the only way you get it just plan your life's going to be miserable that's all there is that's um man i mean hope to get off of a ship shift eventually don't worry ronnie on on second shift he's retiring in six years he's got the diabetes and his leg turned blue last week so i don't think he's gonna last much longer i'll tell you what six years i'll tell you what boy you will get that job they're gonna take his foot i'll tell you they're gonna take his foot so you tell you what buddy you just hope for farts but plan for
Starting point is 00:16:50 shit pal and everything's gonna be fine that's not like a country folksy saying feels like my life hope for farts and plan for shit that's what we all do so now now Susan said that she thought Kevin was taking his medication as prescribed by the doctor. But then he started having changes in his personality, such as forgetting everything, forgetfulness and things start slipping his mind. She then learned that he's been not taking it as prescribed. She's been doing all sorts of shit here. So she took him to the doctor who switched his medicine to, as Susan put it, quote, the opposite of what he was taking before. I don't know. This is the opposite.
Starting point is 00:17:37 I'm going to give you now. This is the antidote to what that was. I don't think that's what he said. Right. You know how you were taking this? I'm going to make you go the other way now this doctor by the way was like a guy who lived in a hollowed out tree probably and was like had like a bird as his assistant i'm not sure we don't know give him salt peter or something i don't know what's going on give him some hard tech he'll
Starting point is 00:18:02 be all right so they she said it, quote, really messed with him. Now, a guy named Michael Hartung, he's the ex-husband of Kevin's sister. So he's Kevin's former brother-in-law. And he knew, obviously, Kevin, and he knew that whole thing. He actually helped Kevin build the home that Kevin lives in on the property there. So he said that they had a pretty good relationship. You know, they got along. However, he also said that several times out of nowhere, this hard tongue guy, Kevin Clark called him at work and threatened him for one. called him at work and threatened him for for what that's the thing well he said that kevin told him that he better treat his sister right and then threat not that he didn't he wasn't mistreating his sister he just got a wild hair up his ass just to tell him that you better mind your p's and q's around my sister i got this feeling he might not be i'm gonna let him know what'll
Starting point is 00:18:59 happen if that's the case you know what i'm thinking about it and someday he might want to be mean and uh i'm gonna stop that right now i'm nip that in the bud right now he said that he better advise you against that my friend that's right he said he better treat him right and threatened to quote whoop his ass if he didn't okay so ass whoopings are on the table now so this posed that's right so this michael hartung told his wife who's's Kevin's sister, about it and said that Kevin seemed to be doing this after drinking. He said it sounds like he's drinking when he's calling me. He gets angry and, you know, he's looking for someone to lash out at. So this guy recalled that Kevin would get, quote, real intoxicated and sometimes he would, you know, be on pills and stuff.
Starting point is 00:19:41 So he's taking pills and drinking at the same time. This guy said, though though it escalated to the point where he became what he called really concerned about the whole thing so um he said that um a couple times that um kevin came to his house and tried to get him and his wife kevin's sister to go to church okay and that was he just pop up out of nowhere and be like you need to come to church and they're like like, you're nuts. I'm, you know, maybe, but not with you. You know, maybe we have our own plans, but.
Starting point is 00:20:12 We've been going to church. You haven't seen us because we go to a different one. Don't worry about it. We're avoiding you. That's what we're saying here, buddy. The point is, we don't go to that one because you're there. Remember that barbecue we had last weekend? No, because we didn't invite you.
Starting point is 00:20:24 That's why. But we had one. It was potato salad and everything. But we ain't inviting you to church folk yeah scared of your crazy ass so um uh may 12th 2009 again keep can't tell you some more to keep the year in mind through this whole thing okay susan gets home from work at about 5 30 p.m kevin's wife and she said quote there was a fence across the driveway that had yellow bags on it across her driveway new new fence new yeah came home from work now my driveway's fenced off with yellow bags with yellow bags on it plastic bags she said that no secondary driveway was there to access her house as most people don't have two driveways so she said the driveway was blocked by the fence that's the only driveway to her house so she said the sight of the fence made
Starting point is 00:21:18 her this is her quote physically ill what this is amazing okay the sight of the fence making her physically ill now she has to for now feeling all ill she has to she's quote forced to drive up a field drive up a field not in a field or through a field up a field to get to her house and then she quote nearly damaging her car how do you nearly damage something why are you so sick about fences is it yellow tape is it does it say crime scene on it she came home and there is a a legit fence built so she can't get through into her driveway so that is a problem i would assume that you're physically angry would be the thing i wouldn't be nauseous about it probably she's so mad she's sick got me sick mad and uh nearly damaged her car which isn't a thing that doesn't happen so wow she said that she got in the house she was obviously physically ill and all sorts of
Starting point is 00:22:18 ornery about it but yeah she didn't immediately wake kevin up because he was sleeping because he works third shift. So you don't wake a third shifter up at five o'clock and say there's a fence in the driveway. He's like, I have to pick up chicken parts at two in the fucking morning. I don't care. This can wait. Will it be there when I wake up? Yes.
Starting point is 00:22:39 Great. If not, problem solved. There we go. Shut it. Shut the fuck up. So she said that he was sleeping and she started cleaning the kitchen instead. Fuck it. At one point, okay, this is where we need some interpretation, people.
Starting point is 00:23:04 She, and this is a quote, she went to the back field to scrape out some scrap food. Okay. What the fuck does that mean? Does she have turnips growing back there or something? I think she was cleaning the cast iron is what she was doing. She took out the pan, went out back, and scraped it out of the pan. The shit that we were not going to eat, it's all burned shit on the pan. To the back field? How far out into the field do you need to go
Starting point is 00:23:26 if you how where does the back field start does it start like right after the patio i would feel like there's a yard and then there's the back fields beyond that so i feel like she went you know out in the yard is another thing. There's a few clicks before you get to it. Yeah, the backfield's another area, I feel like, that we haven't gotten to yet. To scrape out scrap food. It's not scrape out scrap food. That tells me that you're going to use that. I feel like she's not getting rid of scrap. She's collecting scrap food is what it sounds like.
Starting point is 00:24:04 She's putting it in the yellow bag. It doesn't make sense. Went to the backfield to scrape out scrap food. That's her statement? That's her quote. Went to the backfield to scrape out scrap food. And nobody asked for clarification because they knew what she meant? That's the thing.
Starting point is 00:24:21 I guess in Middle Tennessee you went, well, where was she? She's scraping out the, she's in the back scraping out the scrap food. People are like, oh, okay, I'm following now. She's in the back field. Yeah, oh, I'm following now, the back field. Yeah, that's where we all go to scrape out our scrap food, too. I don't know. I don't know what.
Starting point is 00:24:40 I thought about, like, does she have, like, a cool storage out there or something where you would have, like, food? The scrap food? Scrap food, yeah, like odds and ends that you've collected that you're going to save to use. Is there a particular varmint that's considered scrap food and you've got to go out in the backfield to get it? Or to scrape out some scrap food. So is it, like, in the ground? That's the way you bait it. Yeah, or is out in the backfield to get it. Or to scrape out some scrap food. So is it like in the ground? That's the way you bait it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:07 Or is it in the ground? Do you bury your scrap food? You've got to find the scrap food holes, and then you open them up, and there'll be a whole den of scrap food. Is there refrigeration? What's happening? I don't know. I'm really confused. Well, apparently she's not the only folk out in the backfield here because while out in the backfield scraping out some scrap food, I suppose. I just keep – every time I say it, I look up to make sure that I'm not – that that's actually what it is.
Starting point is 00:25:40 And I'm like, it's scrap food. what it is and i'm like it's it's scrap food um and she overheard vita and roy kevin's mom her mother-in-law and her brother-in-law roy uh here and sharon miller who's another person hanging around heard people scraping everybody's scraping out some scrap food the backfield gets real real hopping at about six o'clock at night it's a lot of traffic in the backfield back then um now that's what i mean 2009 we're scraping out scrap food i don't know what's happening we got a scrape a scrape you can't even say it i don't even know this is so foreign it's so weird this is like when we found groundhog for breakfast and when we found uh scrapple this is like the very weird moment i feel like we've discovered some
Starting point is 00:26:21 very strange we don't know anything about it scrape pile out there oh man go scrape the scrap pile god damn it jesus christ the hell you've been doing all day like is that what happens are those words ever said to people i don't know turn the scrap pile over turn it over let's go jesus gets good better stuff on the bottom there's apple cores and shit on the bottom you're gonna want that it's getting real hard you gotta flip it over so it decomposes. When I hear scrap food, I picture what you feed to pigs. When I see people dropping in a trough with corn cobs and old apple cores and shit that you don't want.
Starting point is 00:26:55 All the shit you won't eat. Yeah, I feel like that's what it is. Why is she scraping this? Organic trash. Yeah, at least tell him to bring home some chicken from the purdue place or something so she overhears uh while she's out here susan overhears these three in the field quote whispering and snickering and laughing now don't you be whispering snickering and laughing at me god damn it so you don't whisper snicker and laugh at people in the
Starting point is 00:27:26 hills when they're scraping out scrap food you just don't do it it's a it's not trying to concentrate it's a known thing that you don't do obviously so she said she then said susan that she believes that the three of them who are whispering snickering and laughing wanted her to wake kevin and tell him about the fence like she thought they were baiting her, you know, trying to troll her into an over-response. Tell me he's the one on mental medication. Yeah, that's what I mean. She's doing real weird shit here. Fascinating gal.
Starting point is 00:27:57 And she said because she thought that they wanted her to do that, she didn't do it. She didn't wake him up because that's what they want. And I'm not giving them what they want because they're snickering and a whisperer so they thinkers um they really all have a theory for everything over here so it's still in internal monologue happening 24 hours all the time well yeah nobody's knowledge then again happening in there you're scraping out your scrap food you know that's an everyday occurrence you're really you know you're, your mind wanders because your body is an autopilot at that point. So you start thinking about things and you can really get deep in subjects. You should hear her talk about like, you know, origin of life and like where the universe came from.
Starting point is 00:28:35 It's deep. It's deep shit. Shit's really happening. It's deep, brother. So instead she woke him up at 9 just like usual. That's when he has to get up at 9. And at that point she woke him up and said, get up that's when he has to get up at nine and at that point she woke him up said get up you got to clean up chick discarded chicken parts at three in the morning and then also it's time to sweep the feet you can't get in or out of the driveway because
Starting point is 00:28:57 someone done built a fence in front of it now let me tell you more. He responded, quote, you're kidding. That's all he said. You're kidding. Then he looked out, saw that she wasn't kidding, and there is, in fact, a fence in his driveway. So he called his older brother, Jerry. Get Jerry on the horn here, okay? He tells Jerry that he, he tells Jerry that Mom and Roy put a fence across my driveway. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:25 This is ridiculous. So Jerry said that he suggested that Kevin complete a driveway that he started to build on another part of the property. Just build another driveway is the solution to this. That's the easy answer? That's the easy answer is to quote, avoid trouble. Listen, so you don't need a driveway right now. You started the driveway. Just build another driveway. Who cares, right? A yellow bag fence is stopping you. This is crazy right away. Everything everybody
Starting point is 00:29:58 does is like, what? What are you talking about? Why are you doing that? Down the fence. If somebody put it up in the time that you were gone feels like you could probably take it down pretty quicker probably quicker you know you probably got a truck with a he has a rusty truck with like a rusty bumper i feel like absolutely fucking push that thing right over who cares it's all a light-hearted 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.
Starting point is 00:30:33 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 f***er lied like a liar like a liar and if you're a weirdo
Starting point is 00:30:51 like us and love to cozy up to a creepy tale of the paranormal or you love to hop in the way back machine and dissect the details of some of history's
Starting point is 00:30:58 most notorious crimes you should tune in to our podcast Morbid follow Morbid on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts
Starting point is 00:31:04 you can listen to episodes early and ad free by joining 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. 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,
Starting point is 00:31:24 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. So he, yeah, so Kevin said that, that's ridiculous. He said he should be permitted to use the existing driveway. Oh my God, that's a sticking point.
Starting point is 00:31:53 Said that he's going to hire a lawyer to look into the issue. Sir. I will pay you in scrap food. Do you take feathers and feet? Y'all take scrap food? So, I mean, I'm perplexed here. So after he said that, Jerry told him, quote, well, do whatever you need to do. In other words, I don't give a shit.
Starting point is 00:32:20 I don't live there. That's between y'all and I don't give a fuck what's happening. You've taken this conversation as far as I'm capable of taking it. I don't live there. That's between y'all and I don't give a fuck what's happening. You've taken this conversation as far as I'm capable of taking it. I don't care. And then Kevin told him, quote, I believe I'm just going to take care of this myself. So he went from, the plan went from other driveway avoid trouble. I'm going to hire, I'm going to bring the law into this too. I'm taking care of business on my own.
Starting point is 00:32:44 I got this yeah so jerry said at that point he encouraged kevin a second time to just use the other driveway man just this isn't worth it right it's not that hard and kevin just said i'm gonna take care of it wouldn't say what he was gonna do but he just said i'm gonna take care of it and then after he finished he hung up the phone kevin and turned to susan and said quote i can't worry about it now i've got to go to work yeah i got i got disgusting putrid chicken parts to clean up guts and gizzards and blood and gross shit more sympathetic i can't be oh my god that's a brutal job that's a brutal job man that's. I give him credit for going there every day.
Starting point is 00:33:25 So Susan said that Kevin wasn't even mad or upset. He, quote, just seemed real puzzled. Why would they do that? This is so weird. It's almost like a trick. Like, are they going to just take it down and laugh later? Is it, like, not in the ground all the way? It's just a joke?
Starting point is 00:33:42 Like, is this a mic? Is Ashton around? Exactly. Is this punks? Is this a practical jokers thing? Is it 2001? What's happening right now? Are there four best friends laughing at me somewhere?
Starting point is 00:33:54 Yeah. Is there a piss poor actor that's somehow on this show that's going to be way more famous than he should be in 20 years? Taking up valuable top of the chartthe-chart podcast space. Is that? Is he here? Hello? Hello? That guy acts like shit.
Starting point is 00:34:14 They all do because they're not actors. That's what I'm saying. I can't do it. It's just dudes. Here's a guy. So anyway, at work that night, he goes to work to work he's real puzzled he goes off to work it says that night he's a guy he works with name is uh william brockett and uh it goes by tim sometimes because he's william timothy brockett so sometimes he's billy and sometimes he's timmy and
Starting point is 00:34:39 i don't know sometimes he's billy tim billy I mean, well, he's trying to avoid Billy Tim, and he's trying to just be different things to different people. So Kevin came in hot to work talking about this. He's pissed off at his brother. This fence. God damn it. William said that he was going off, quote, about a fence that had been put up across his driveway. He said that Kevin told him that if the fence was still up when he got off work that morning and went home he's gonna kill that son of a bitch his brother i suppose oh okay yeah the fence i'm
Starting point is 00:35:11 gonna take a baseball bat and just kill it rather than take the take the start with take the fence down before we go to fucking before you jump from lawyer to murder let's take the fence down and worry about it that way you gotta assume the fence and driveway is on his property otherwise why would you put the driveway there if it's not if it's on somebody else's property move the fucking drive the fence yeah but it's like family and i don't know where the property lines are because jerry sold him a chunk of who know who knows if jerry properly what'd you do jerry parceled out this land? Did Jerry get a surveyor out there, do you think?
Starting point is 00:35:49 Do you think a surveyor works for Jerry? I don't. No. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no. Very few Jerrys have it all together. There's no little guy with that thing on a tripod looking through it finding it. None of that's happening there. Beep, beep, beep, beep.
Starting point is 00:36:00 Nope, none of it so uh now brock cat here uh billy tim he said that you know he didn't take it seriously because he's just he's blown off steam he said that he just thought he was blown off steam he said that kevin seemed very frustrated about the fence but who cares you know what i mean so this billy tim said that he told kevin he should call an attorney to deal with the situation and even gave him the name of an attorney that he's dealt with before. God damn it, I had the same idea. Yep, and he said that he took the information, but Kevin just told Billy Tim that, quote, it just burns me up how my brother acts.
Starting point is 00:36:36 That was the words he used, burns me up how he acts. So according to Billy Tim, Kevin said that his mother had always taken up for Roy. Yep. Yep. Yep. Roy's the thing. He says, oh, he's taken up for Roy and Roy can't do anything wrong ever. And she's always got excuses for everything that that little ass bitch Roy does.
Starting point is 00:36:55 Little fucking Roy. Roy, Roy, Roy. He's very angry about Roy. Okay. So jealous of Roy. He's got a Marsha, Marsha, Marsha thing going on here. So jealous of Roy. He's got a Marsha, Marsha, Marsha thing going on here.
Starting point is 00:37:11 And Billy Tim said that, quote, it seems like there was a lot of frustration from the past years, you know, had boiled up to this. So eventually they began to work, you know, with their chicken parts. And that's pretty encompassing. And the fence didn't come up again for the rest of the shift. This was at the top of the top of the day. Wow. We clocked in bitch yeah this motherfucking fence god damn it and then once they were up to their elbows and chicken shit it was over yeah it's hard to remember that yeah so billy tim left before said that kevin left
Starting point is 00:37:36 before 5 a.m you know from a shift and explained that kevin said he intended to buy a weed eater from billy tim but had forgot the weed eater and he like paid for it but he intended to buy a weed eater from Billy Tim, but had forgot the weed eater, and he, like, paid for it, but he forgot to get it out of Billy Tim's truck. So there's the weed eater in there. He said that when he saw the weed eater was still in his truck, he tried to call Kevin, but Kevin didn't answer. And there's good reason for that, because he's busy.
Starting point is 00:38:01 He's got a lot of stuff going on here. So he returns from work in the morning. Oh, he's been cleaning up chicken parts and smelling that crap all fucking night long and now he comes home to a fence across his driveway. Oh, Jesus. He returned from work. He told her that he needed to, he told Susan,
Starting point is 00:38:17 look, I need to mow a neighbor's yard before it rains, supposed to rain today, and I quote, cannot deal with this today. So I got other shit going on. I've cleaned up chicken parts. Now I got to mow a lawn.
Starting point is 00:38:29 That's how my day is going. Back burner the fence for a minute. We got to back field the fence. Put it with the scrap food back there. She said that she told him that they could discuss the fence with her brother, who's an attorney, by the way, when she finished her shift at work. Kevin said, that sounds like a good idea, and she left for work in the morning. So it seems like they never see each other.
Starting point is 00:38:52 He sleeps. Yeah, they got a revolving door in this house. That's tough. So Susan, maybe that's why they end up getting divorced later. So Susan says that Kevin called her at 6.35 a.m. and he was, quote, not in his right self is the way she put it. Kevin said to her on the phone, quote, it's been took care of. That's the quote.
Starting point is 00:39:15 Exact quote. I'm not. Oh, boy. By the way, I'm not countrifying any of these quotes. I'm going to give you exact court document fucking state of tennessee you know stenographer quotes here um said tennessee court clerk the same because people get mad they think i'm like countrying it up i'm not i'm not making fun of this this is what they're saying quote it's been took care of i've called the fire department and the police department
Starting point is 00:39:39 oh that is really um not enough information those guys are concerned about offense huh that is not enough then she said what are you talking about and then he said this quote they're not going to take me alive oh my god which is not what you expect to hear at 6 30 in the morning that is the most accelerative conversation ever from it's been took care of i called the police and paramedics they're not gonna take me alive they ain't taking me alive where did we how did a half hour ago when she was leaving for work he was going to mow a lawn so this makes no sense whatsoever he couldn't deal with this we're gonna talk to my brother about it later now they're not taking you alive what's happening so you were about to mow a lawn she is terrified obviously she calls jerry clark and
Starting point is 00:40:28 he said he didn't want to go on up there that's what he said that's what jerry said i don't want to know anything about it thanks a lot so then she telephoned kevin's friend who's a pastor named kevin phillips and asked him to go investigate will you go see what the hell's going on over there what kind of job does she have where she can't i think you should okay i know that you there's hours you have to work and stuff but if you go to your boss and say hey just talked to my husband he said something's been quote took care of he's called the police and fire department and then said they're not taking him alive i need to go for a while i'll be back before lunch i feel like somebody would say sure no problem take care of your business i'm sure they would be as horrified as as anybody oh my god those three sentences right in a row plus if you let
Starting point is 00:41:12 her go take care of it you're gonna get a story when she comes back to work at some point you're gonna there's gonna be something happening so um now susan said that kevin has made no didn't make any threats to her about anybody never said he was gonna do anything uh she said that Kevin didn't make any threats to her about anybody, never said he was going to do anything. She said that she had not seen him fight with his brother Roy at all, but she had seen Roy stare Kevin down. And she'd seen Roy Clark tell Vida Clark that Kevin was staring at him when, in fact, Kevin wasn't even staring at him. He was staring at Kevin. These are quotes from court documents.
Starting point is 00:41:44 These are adult men. There are quote marks around this. People with college educations and law school, people who went to school for like eight years are sitting in a room discussing this. So Vida calls 911 here at some point during this. When she calls 911, she reports that her quote, her son had come to her residence at 141 hassler road and quote shot both of them oh that's what she said that's what she said her son had come and shot both of them she told the 911 operator that her arm is quote almost is about blowed off is what she said oh dear god and then she made no other sounds that's the last thing my arm's about blowed off and that
Starting point is 00:42:24 was the last thing you heard from her. Oh, boy. So the operator dispatches police to the scene, which seems like the right thing to do. Also, neighbors call 911. Neighbors Jewel Bell Melton and Paul Walker, I assume. Of course. He had to take a... Look, he likes to think he's one of the regular people.
Starting point is 00:42:43 Yeah, this is pre-death, I think, 2000. I don't know when he died, but... I think he died right around here. Right around now, right? Yeah, well, maybe he's not. Maybe he disappeared. Maybe he just went to the hills. Maybe he needed a fast ride after this.
Starting point is 00:42:57 Yeah, that whole thing could have been a big ruse. He's just living in the hills. He was just leaving this scene. That's it. Real fast. real fast and furious they saw smoke coming from the residence at 141 hasler road vita and roy's house so she said she uh went was on her front porch when she saw this is her quote she saw 141 hasler road go shebang huh shebang is her the house blew up um i don't know if it blowed up or i mean i don't know what shebang
Starting point is 00:43:36 yeah i think shebang there's no other shebang she said that she thought the house quote probably caught on fire, blowed up or something. That's her exact quote. Like I said, I'm not, this is the exact quotes. Okay. Blowed up or something.
Starting point is 00:43:54 So she, uh, she recalled shortly before the house was on fire that Kevin had, Kevin had called her and asked her if she knew that the fence was up down there. You know about this damn fence down here? She's like, in front of my house. I don't fucking care. That's, gee, tough.
Starting point is 00:44:11 She said that she told him that she did and that Vida Clark had told her about the fence. So she said that Kevin said, quote, God bless you and hung up the phone. Oh, my. That seems terrifying. This is all pre-7 a.m. also. But it's really, it's 6 p.m. to this guy. Yeah. Oh, to him, it's the middle of the day.
Starting point is 00:44:32 Yeah. So she then, the neighbor, she said that she was awakened by gunshots. That's how she, the whole thing started going on. Or no, Paul Walker said he was awakened by gunshots at 6.30 or 7 a.m. He said it sounded as though the shots had come from Vita Clark's residence. We're starting to put together a bit of a scene here. He said he called a neighbor who said that he had not heard any shots. So Paul Walker said he later heard more shots. Then when he went to make coffee and returned to the window, he saw smoke coming from V clark's residence that's
Starting point is 00:45:05 the calmest motherfucker on the planet shots no shots i don't know let me get some coffee the mountains look pretty today is her house on fire shit that's a morning so during all this before the cops get here and everything jerry clark arrives okay after after everybody there after suit because susan had called him after kevin called susan called him he said i don't want to deal with it but he did he went over there when he arrived he'll later say quote it was in flames oh god he also said that listen to this he saw his mother lying in the driveway oh my god his wounded obviously hurt mother jerry clark said that no one else was around so obviously when he tried to go perform cpr on his mom right no he quote he quote kindly got
Starting point is 00:45:56 himself out of sight what his mother he saw his there's a burning house and there's blood and his mother's lying in the fucking driveway, which isn't a normal. Yeah, that's not normally where she watches the family feud. And now she's lying in the goddamn driveway. I will kindly remove myself. That's what he said. Kindly got myself out of sight. Rather than helping his mother. Mom, are you okay don't die please he
Starting point is 00:46:27 left like he told a bad pun yeah and just zipped out gotta go wow um that is something else man um so uh also later on he will he's executor of his mother's estate later on. Oh. And he'll end up suing Kevin for a million dollars. So Jerry really is above the fray here. Jerry is a wildcat. Jerry's a wildcard. Holy fuck. Dude, this family is wild, right? Ma.
Starting point is 00:47:01 Ma. She didn't even do that. I don't need nobody thinking I did this. I don't want to be on the scene when this comes up. Shit, I don't even want to be a part of this. Jesus Christ. Is that correct? Who could see their mother lying there and be like,
Starting point is 00:47:15 well, I better skedaddle. Like, are you nuts? Help your mom. Fuck, your car's there with the door open. They'd realize you just got there. This is how your mom and you're trying to help her. So the sheriff's department shows up here, obviously. The Overton County Sheriff's Department, they show up in response to Vita's call.
Starting point is 00:47:35 They park several hundred yards away from the residence due to the nature of the call. They don't know if there are active shooters going on. So they use trees as cover and make their approach to the house. And they had been advised that the shooter was still on the scene by dispatch. They don't know, but they told him to keep an eye out. So meanwhile, there's a house on fire. It's on fire. So Sergeant Garrett, who's one of the guys, he approaches the house.
Starting point is 00:47:59 As he does, he encountered some, quote, individuals who told them there was a body near the house hey there's a body near that burning house how many people saw the body first and did nothing so sergeant garrett observed the body lying three or four feet from the house and after clearing the area he and his deputy here dragged the body away from the flames okay okay he said that the house was fully engulfed in flames they set up the perimeter of the house waited for other officers as the other officers made their approach toward kevin's house as they approached they saw kevin standing in the doorway of his back porch with a camouflage rifle in his hand oh Oh, boy. Okay. Now, this is where it gets crazy, as if it hasn't been already.
Starting point is 00:48:47 Kevin, he's wearing a field jacket, like a hunting fucking thing. He tells the officers to get back. Fall back, he says. They're like, this is kind of our job. This is pretty much what we do. This is our whole, you know, this is our World Series here. There's a house on fire, dead people. you know we gotta do something so they uh initially did fall back but then took another path toward his house remember there's a second driveway jimmy all right so
Starting point is 00:49:15 the sergeant garrett he recalls that as he began to cross a fence he heard what sounded like two 22 caliber bullets okay so as uh when this is going on he uh he hears this jesus christ man that's wild he just hears bullets as he's going over a fence who the fuck knows what's going on here so anyway he uh he hears what sounds like.222 caliber shots. Then Deputy Ledbetter, quote, came across and was turning to cover for another deputy, John Mackey, when Sergeant Garrett heard a larger boom that came from a larger caliber. At that point, Deputy Ledbetter grabbed his shoulder and hit the ground and said, I've been hit. Oh, no. Now he's shooting at the cops from back there as they're trying to approach. Big rounds. This is over a fence. this is a fence a removable fence so unnecessary this is fucking nuts so the sergeant uh bends down he removes ledbetter's shirt and examines his chest underneath
Starting point is 00:50:19 the ballistic vest and saw a large amount of redness in his shoulder area. So the vest actually helped. Thank God. Yeah, the redness wasn't blood pouring out, so that's good. So the sergeant here negotiates with this guy here. The pastor had shown up on call. The pastor showed up. Can I help? And they were like, get in here.
Starting point is 00:50:40 Let's go. You sure can. So at that point, when the sergeant and the pastor are negotiating with kevin kevin uh surrenders peacefully at that point puts his guns down all this to come on out and comes out yeah this is wild man so when they enter kevin's house after they arrest him they observed quote a small kitchen-like table it had two guns on it pointing out the window he set up a hole like well this is where i'm going down they'll never take me alive they also observed a camouflaged jacket on the floor and they um all the other deputies had the
Starting point is 00:51:17 same feel and uh they said that when they grabbed vita clark's body it It was quite hot. It was next to a fire. Right, right. And that when he grabbed her, it was just warm-like and, you know, just a real jelly feel is what he said. Newly dead. Newly dead. Had no rigor yet.
Starting point is 00:51:33 Yeah. So the autopsies, holy shit, because Roy Clark, they end up finding as well. Younger brother Roy. Roy, Roy, Roy. Autopsies of Roy and Vida,
Starting point is 00:51:43 who both are killed here. Roy Clark's body had been burned to a point that portions of the body had started to disintegrate because of the burning. Actually, actually cremating him. That's that temperature it rose to. They said the feet had been burned off the body completely. Shit. And that part of the skull had been burned away, exposing his brain. Oh, my God.
Starting point is 00:52:07 His skull, bone, had been burned away. Oh, boy. In addition, quote, the body had also been injured by a shotgun wound. Okay. There's that. Based upon the location of the wound and the pellets found inside Roy Clark's body, the doctor determined that Roy Clark was shot in the back left flank. Was that like your shoulder, like up there?
Starting point is 00:52:28 Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Pellets from the shotgun lacerated his spleen, left kidney, liver, diaphragm, pancreas, and the mesentery of the intestines, which is where the vessels run to support all of the intestines. That's shot in the back, lower back. With a shotgun at close range. The doctor said that the absence of soot from Roy Clark's airways
Starting point is 00:52:51 established that he didn't breathe in smoke from the fire, so he was dead before the fire was lit. Additionally, the level of carbon monoxide in his blood was akin to that of a heavy smoker, but not at the level consistent with being alive during a fire. The doctor also determined that the cause of his death was a shotgun wound to the abdomen.
Starting point is 00:53:09 The doctor, Deering, testifies later that Vita suffers at least two and maybe stray pellets from more than two shotgun wounds. So she's got two shotgun wounds and maybe more. In addition, she had thermal injuries.
Starting point is 00:53:26 Fire. Burning to her head, torso, legs, and right forearm. A shotgun wound to the back of the left side of her neck. Ouch. Jesus. Injured her vertebrae and spinal cord. And some of the pellets exited as they came out of her mouth, knocking out the teeth, lacerating the lips and face around the mouth.
Starting point is 00:53:46 What? Oh, my God. Jesus Christ. That is dark, man. That's fucking morbid. He shot his mom that way. That is his mom. Shotgun to the back of the neck, like a Gambino family member.
Starting point is 00:54:00 And the blast comes out of her mouth. That sounds like a horror movie. Yeah. That is disturbing. There's no way to interpret that sounds like a horror movie. Yeah. That is disturbing. There's no way to interpret that other than aiming to kill. He's trying to kill her. Close range. The second entrance wound was on the back of the left arm, and it followed a downward trajectory.
Starting point is 00:54:17 That's why her arm's about blowed off. Yeah. The doctor said that Vita also had a number of separated pellet holes kind of scattered across the back. He said that these wounds would have come from the blast to her arm or from another blast altogether. Now, the problem here is she called 911. So what does that tell you? She's a tough Southern lady.
Starting point is 00:54:40 It happened before that second blast is what that says. Oh. So she called 911. Oh, because she only had the arm shot by then. The arm was about blowed off and she could speak. She shot her in the fucking neck. Let me hang up that phone and execute my mother. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:54:57 That's wild. They said, and this is what the doctor says, the doctor characterized the wound to Vita's neck as lethal. characterized the wound to Vita's neck as lethal. He said that it would have been impossible medically for Vita to call 911 after suffering that wound and absolutely impossible for her to be able to speak or anything. Holy shit.
Starting point is 00:55:14 It nearly severed her spinal cord and did sever the left vertebral artery as well as fracture her jawbreaker teeth and seriously injure her lips, mouth and tongue. So there's no way she could have done it. Dialed it, spoke, anything anything she got on said oh my god i need help he hung that fucking phone up and blasted her in the neck and made it unbelievable shit came out of her mouth over a fence what the fuck doctor said that she would have fallen immediately after being shot and would not have been able to move vita's blood contained an elevated level of carbon monoxide,
Starting point is 00:55:47 indicating she lived long enough to breathe the smoke from her burning home. He shot his mom, then went and set the fire, then came back and said, oh shit, mom's not dead, she's calling 911. And shot her again. And shot her again. It's 911, mom, call them. And this is disgusting. That's too much.
Starting point is 00:56:04 Fuck, man. Fire investigator here shows up, Agent Greg Whitaker of the State of Tennessee Bomb and Arson Unit. He's called in. Oof, this is fucking terrible. Divides it into three crime scenes, which are Kevin's house, Vita's house, and where the body's found. Three crime scenes. Begins his investigation by walking around the fire to try to develop fire patterns and looking at the damage to the residents to determine where the fire could have possibly
Starting point is 00:56:34 originated. That's the point. As he circled, he saw numerous shotgun shells located on the outside of the residence. He was just shooting into the house. After the preliminary examination, he processed the scene from the area of the residence. He was just shooting into the house. After the preliminary examination, he processed the scene from the area of less damage to the area of greatest damage, out in. So the right side of the residence had the most damage.
Starting point is 00:56:56 As he conducted the investigation, he made a video and everything. He said he found bodies of a human. That's Roy there in the kitchen of the burned home. The body had suffered severe damage, obviously. He said an unusual burn pattern was on the exterior of the residence, consistent with use of an accelerant to start the fire. At Kevin's residence, they found gasoline in quart jars, along with some foam- type products that you can use to make bombs. He's making Molotov cocktails over there.
Starting point is 00:57:28 What the fuck, man? Yeah. They said that it was, they concluded the fire was an incendiary fire. It is a set fire. He said there's no way that the fire could have started at its point of origin other than being set. No possible other sources of the fire existed. So, definitely burned it through. He threw Molotov cocktails at the house.
Starting point is 00:57:49 At the house. It's fucking nuts. So the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, they come in. Obviously, they need a bigger police force here to deal with this. So the local sheriff isn't enough for this. So they say that um they seem
Starting point is 00:58:06 to do a good job in the initial thing though they i mean there's they did what they could christ yeah not bad they didn't do a bad job i didn't hear anything that i would laugh at that's i mean we we hear a lot well i mean we make fun of a lot of bad investigations so if you don't fuck up maybe we go hey half decent job i guess. So they recover also the Ruger 22 and Winchester pump action 12 gauge shotgun from Kevin's house. Murder weapons. They collected his jacket and tested it and found shells and one slug in his pocket. So they got all of that. Every piece of evidence that you could, you know, you could have.
Starting point is 00:58:42 It's all there. They also collected his clothing and boots and took all the evidence for testing and everything matches up to everything. Obviously they, they, uh, during the processing, an agent discovered a casing from a 12 gauge spent shotgun round on the
Starting point is 00:58:57 right side of the crime scene. Another on the left side, another partially intact 12 gauge shell casing on the ground. He also found the skin to a metal door that bore a gash to the right of the doorknob. There was also holes in the doorknob itself as well as holes in a dent in the door. He made like to shoot out his door. Yeah. He made like little turrets.
Starting point is 00:59:21 So the forensic examination said the shells were fired from the shotgun found at his house and everything matches up he said the birdshot pellets obtained from the victims in the autopsy were consistent with or within the size weight specifications of those shells determined to be fired by that shotgun also forensic evidence uh ties, boots, and clothing with gunshot residue. It couldn't be more of a physical witness-based. It has every bit of evidence that you could possibly have unless he, like, you know, wore a GoPro during this would be the only way you could have more fucking evidence during this shit. You went live. Yeah, this is crazy. So the charges are first-degree premeditated murder, obviously, of his mother and brother.
Starting point is 01:00:06 And yeah, it's also the felony murder of Vita Clark and the aggravated assault of the deputy John Mackey and Sergeant Robert Garrett. And also reckless endangerment of Deputy Derek Ledbetter, who was shot. Right. Yeah. It seems like more than attempted murder. Yeah. Yeah. Could be fired a shotgun at him. That's right. I mean, that to me is. And hit an officer. Yeah. That seems like more than attempted murder. Yeah. Yeah. Could be fired a shotgun at him.
Starting point is 01:00:26 That's right. I mean, that to me is and hit an officer. Yeah. That to me, if you shoot a shotgun at someone, you're trying to kill them. No one's doing that for fun. You know, so witnesses, every witness that by the way, he tried to get witnesses to come testify for him. Kevin, every witness that he asked to be subpoenaed said they were not going to help him and that they could only hurt his case.
Starting point is 01:00:46 Every single one of them are like, dude, you don't want me to say the things I'm going to say. So they get Susan up there, obviously, because she's kind of in the middle of this whole thing. She said that Kevin's attorney had an investigator come out and take pictures of the house. She said that there was a photograph of the fence at issue that was introduced to the jury uh she did say she recalled an incident prior to this when kevin shot repeatedly at his car they're saying any other prior acts of violence and she explained though that he was using the car for target practice because it was going to be sold for
Starting point is 01:01:19 scrap so he was like fuck it wouldn't it be fun to shoot up a car which is what 12 which is what you know 16 year olds do when they're left with shit. So they said so. It wasn't violent or anything like that. Anyway, obviously, he is found guilty of everything you could possibly be found guilty of. And the district attorney said he would face a minimum of 51 calendar years for first-degree murder. A minimum of that. For one.
Starting point is 01:01:45 For one. So sentencing comes around A minimum of that. For one case. For one. So sentencing comes around. Oh, boy. You, sir, may fuck off. Sentenced to life sentences for each of the two murder convictions, and it's ordered that those be served consecutively, not concurrently. So you're never getting out.
Starting point is 01:02:08 They then ordered the sentences for the remaining convictions to be served concurrently with the life sentences because, I mean, yeah. So there we go. He's off. 2018, he appeals this whole thing. Really? Oh, he's trying. He really does. He's trying.
Starting point is 01:02:21 Well, this is what happens when you try cases in these small places is the problem. There's a juror named Travis Ballard who had improper communication with billy tim brockett he knows billy tim from a motocross event they hung out at together one time literally that's how he met him two travis pastrana fans they hung out one time and billy tim had uh testified via video they said used a video of him and uh apparently this juror called billy tim that night and said quote i saw you on a video today and then talked a little more uh the juror said that he didn't recognize brockett's name as it was given but he knew because he knew him by tim not bill so that's why and then he said that uh but he knew because he knew him by Tim, not Bill. So that's why. And then he said that, but they're saying, the defense here, Kevin is saying that this communication violates his right to an impartial jury. I mean, the jurors shouldn't be calling the witness that they just, that's probably bad.
Starting point is 01:03:17 But I mean, it doesn't mean. If we're talking about the difference between a 252 stroke and a 454 stroke, then shit damn, this ain't even murder. It's not. I i mean jesus it's barely aggravated assault at that point right i mean i think you know that's it's not great but it's not enough to overturn the mountain of preponderance of but that wouldn't have changed anything right you murdered your mom man yeah and brockett said they didn't talk about kevin further it was just like hey i saw you on that video that's crazy what you've been up to how's your dirt bike doing
Starting point is 01:03:49 like that's and then they got off the phone damn i miss jeremy mcgrath man he was good jesus christ he'd go upside down and shit so he contends though this violated violated his rights obviously and also ineffective assistance of counsel on several counts he says that he was not happy with the way i didn't win so it was obviously awful well he said that they allowed things in they shouldn't have allowed it and the count imagine being that lawyer like what do you do did you told everybody what you're gonna do you called people you gave a play-by-play you shot your mom while she was on the fucking phone with 9-1-1 asking for help do you know cold-blooded that is you told this whole story in three sentences to your wife on
Starting point is 01:04:30 the phone your wife was scraping scrap food none of this is helpful that's what i'm getting at you're fucking me over here bro and i don't like it so you're ineffective you know it was ineffective you motherfucker you're an ineffective murderer and fence taker downer that's what you are just pay your taxes and shut the fuck up jesus christ so there you go denied that was in 2018 so he's still in prison and will be for a very very long time oh thank god tell me that story sounds like it took place in 2009 yeah it sounds like they're prairie people that are just trying to survive and somebody boxed up their their their driveway and they're fucking pissed you can't touch my land they're scrolling through facebook on their phones while this is going on should i set mom's house on fire or like this my high school girlfriend's post like which one
Starting point is 01:05:22 should i do that's what's happening in reality this is fucking bonkers that's monterey tennessee everybody and that is one crazy ass story if you like that story get on whatever app you're listening on give us five stars it helps a lot it sounds weird but it helps drive you up the charts so it takes two seconds it takes way longer to put these shows together hook us up thank you very much also head over to shutupandgivememurder.com. Get everything there. First of all, all of your merchandise you can get there. Everything from shirts to skateboards to cups to everything.
Starting point is 01:05:52 It's on there. Folders and shit. Get your stuff. Then get your tickets to live shows. Holy shit. Live show tickets are on sale the entire year. All tickets on sale right now. And get them fast because some of these are
Starting point is 01:06:05 hurry i mean in boston in a day it's almost sold out at the wilbur already salt lake city gone sold out already gone denver's gonna be next and then there's this one that they're all going so chicago get those tickets holy shit all the big old venue we can't wait to get there dallas charlotte atlanta san Diego. Get your goddamn tickets. Minneapolis, Philly, D.C. They're all for sale right now. And get your tickets also for the virtual live show, 420, April the 20th. Want to see a live show?
Starting point is 01:06:34 Can't get to a live show? You can get to your living room and your TV. So watch us. It's just like a regular live show. But we're going to be hanging with you in your living room with a very stoned Jimmy, which is hilarious. So can't wait for that. Come and see that. It's going to be hanging with you in your living room with a very stone Jimmy, which is hilarious. So can't wait for that. Come and see that. It's going to be a shitload of fun.
Starting point is 01:06:48 Shut up and give me murder.com is where you get all of that. Follow us on social media to get updates for stuff. We had people go, oh, I didn't know there was a pre-sale that was two days before the regular ticket sale. Well, if you follow us on social media, you'd have a pre-sale code and you could have gotten in there. Instead, you're in Salt Lake City and you're shit out of luck. So we are sorry no we're honestly we wish there was more but we are at uh small town murder on instagram at small town pod on facebook at murder small on twitter so follow us and you can get all your updates and we'll uh we don't really we don't flood you with stuff we just put up episodes and remind you about live shows once in a while we're not one of those exhausting absolutely so get on there do that patreon.com slash crime and sports that's
Starting point is 01:07:30 where you get more stuff bonus stuff bonus episodes over 150 of them in the back catalog anybody five dollars a month or above you get access to all of that and you get new episodes every other week and we keep coming with them and they're so much fun this week which you're going to get for crime and sports we're going to talk about the pictures that we keep seeing and are sent to us of black and white 1910 death row baseball team and there's a fucking little blonde eight-year-old kid in full uniform sitting in the middle sitting between two rapists it's the craziest thing you ever want to say what is happening right now so we'll find out
Starting point is 01:08:05 what was going on there for Crime and Sports. Then, for Small Town Murder, this is so much fun, defunct theme parks. Oh, yes. Theme parks that went out of business, bad ideas, stupid shit,
Starting point is 01:08:15 terrible, horrible tragedies, people murdered and killed and a tiger attacked a lady. We'll talk all about it. Patreon.com slash Crime and Sports is where you get all of that and more. And we're very excited. Thank you for doing all of that.
Starting point is 01:08:29 If you want to follow us on social media individually, very easy to do that. Shut up and give me murder.com has links to literally everything show related that you could possibly want. So do there. Get on that. Keep coming back week after goddamn week. And until next week, everybody, it has been our pleasure. Bye. week after goddamn week. And until next week, everybody, it has been our pleasure. Bye! Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Small Town Murder early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
Starting point is 01:09:13 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. 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. Enter federal agent V.B. Loro, who has been investigating a local church
Starting point is 01:09:50 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 own family. But something more sinister than murder is afoot, and someone
Starting point is 01:10:05 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 in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.