Small Town Murder - #500 - Episode 500!! Slaughter At The Shack - Citronelle, Alabama

Episode Date: June 14, 2024

Episode 500!! Citronelle, Alabama! A gruesome scene unfolds in a rundown house, on a rural dirt road. A night of barbecuing with friends, and watching a movie turns into a slaughter, when someone comes back, high on meth, to get what he feels is rightfully his... his ex girlfriend. Axes, and two different guns are used to carry out this butchery of an entire house, with a couple notable exceptions. This ends in a wild escape from certain death for 2 lucky people!!Along the way, we find out that you should take better care of your tree, if it's the whole history of your town, that if you're fighting in the first month of a relationship, it probably won't work out, and that being a little high doesn't excuse the murders of six people!!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.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Small Town Murder early and ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. She was a romance mystery writer. They gloomed on the fact that she writes stories like this. There are murders in all of the books. From Wondery, the makers of Ghost Story and Feta, this is a story about a murder that rocked my little community. Binge all episodes of Happily Never After ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express.

Yay and choo choo! Yay indeed Jimmy, yay indeed. All aboard the murder train and a very special ride on the SS Murder today and that is episode 500 today. We've made it all the way to 500. So we definitely want to say thank you all for hanging out with us for 500 episodes, or however many you've been along for.

And just thank you for supporting us. Thank you for spreading it. Just thank you to everybody that supports it. Gotta say thank you to Sarah, if she's done a ton of work on this. Thank you to Allison, who does research for us. She's done a terrific job, and she's been a big part of it for the last couple years. So, just thank you to everybody, all the listeners, the whole team.

500, man. This is something to be proud of. We're never proud of anything. We go to a theater and it's big and sold out and we go, yeah, they'll turn on us eventually. And then let's be proud of something. We're're never proud. We always do we go walk away We go, you know, let's kick ourselves in the asses So there we go 500 that's something to be proud of I'm excited Definitely head over to shut up and give me a murder got calm get your tickets live shows

Minneapolis you're up next so get those tickets for there and sell it out big make it I'm gonna be our biggest show ever You can beat Chicago. Don't know what you want to do Minneapolis the Vikings want to beat the Bears So, you know, yeah, I would imagine so the twins want to beat the White Sox and you're gonna beat Chicago here Hopefully maybe we'll see but we love Chicago too. Anyway moving on do that get patreon patreon.com slash crime in sports Hopefully, you know it by now. $5 a month or above. Get you a whole bunch of stuff. Hundreds of back episodes.

New ones every other week. This week we're gonna do Ed Gein part two for Small Town Murder. We're gonna get into the weird psychology and the, how the house was disposed of we'll say and things like that. And then for crime and sports we got New England Patriots cheating scandals, a ton of them so check that out.

You'll get access to all that stuff and you'll get a shout out at the end of the regular show, patreon.com slash crime in sports. That said, I think it's time everybody. Let's dive right into this. I think it's time to take a deep breath wherever you are out there. giant 500th episode. Let's do it. Let's all shout, Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this everybody. Okay. Hey. Let's go on a trip, shall we? Let's go. Alright, let's do it and we were looking for a special episode this week and thank everybody for all their suggestions too. We were overwhelmed. Some of you didn't follow instructions. You sent them to the wrong places and they didn't

even get looked at for it. If you sent them to Jimmy, he went, well, that's not for me. And he moved on to the next message. So, oh, you missed. You got the wrong guy. Yeah. That's the thing. If you send it to the whatever. So I looked through a lot of them and we ended up finding this and it's just a wild episode. It is definitely 10 pounds of murder in a two pound bag here. So let's go on a trip down south here, way down south too.

This is way, way down south. It's Alabama. Okay. We are going to Citronelle, Alabama. Oh, like the candles. Like the candles. Not a mosquito to be seen here. Nope, like the candles. Like the candles. Not a mosquito to be seen here. Nope, and it's named after the plant,

because it grows here. So this is in southwestern Alabama. So it is down there, 40 minutes outside of Mobile. And if you know Mobile, Mobile is on the Gulf there. So I mean, this is as south as it gets down here. It's about, let's Oh, it's a it's a while to our last Alabama episode was chinchula, Alabama and that was episode 447 which was bargain bin Bundy. So it's been a while since we've been back here

population of this town 3940 and Where our murders take place place this week to is just outside the town on a rural dirt road. I mean this is like, this is small town murder as it gets here and that's why we had to make sure. We didn't want to have one like in a suburb of somewhere. We wanted it to be real gritty, backwoods small town murder action for this.

Yeah, median household income here, well below the national average. It's $50,956. It's usually almost 70. Median home price though, everybody buckle up for this shit. 159,000 bucks. Good lord. You couldn't get a trailer in Phoenix for that. No. That's insane.

No, no, no. And the motto here, they have a motto, the best kept secret in southern Alabama. I bet you hurricanes have heard of it. They have. There's a tree that was, we'll talk about it, but in the things to do it gathers around a tree that was taken out down in a hurricane,

which is interesting here. I thought the best kept secret in southern Alabama is that those two cousins were fucking over there. That's what I thought the best kept secret was. But I guess the whole family knows about that probably. So history here, the first Europeans here were the French in the 18th century. Because this was, yeah they came 1700s.

They heard that the land had healing herbs and mineral springs, so they came here. And it ended up being settled in about 1811. The name citronelle is French derived from the citronella plant. And the town became a popular resort destination in the late 1800s, which is interesting They had healing waters here back then they'd go anywhere with a hot Arkansas had tons of resort spots because they had

Natural self guys. That's mud. It's just sulfur water. Yeah. Hmm. What smells that's the healing waters. That's what stinks Rotting a lot of hotels were built to accommodate these people and then yeah now that's all gone though We know 3,900 people live here in 1955 Oil was discovered here. Is that right? So today this town is known as the oil capital of Alabama So yeah, that's right. I believe, uh, Jed Clampett was the guy who found it if I'm not mistaken, seems like. So reviews of this town, five stars.

Citronella is a small community town. Is it a community or a town or both? There we go. There's plenty of good people. There is plenty of good people who live in the surrounding neighborhoods. The schools in Citronelle are excellent for such a small town. There's plenty to do in terms of outdoor activities such as going to the golf course or swimming in the lake. There's a lake. There's a lake.

Things will crawl up inside your body. That's something to do. Yeah. They'll swim up your pee hole. That's not good. All up your pee hole and your butt hole. You think it's water tight, but those things are, they sneak in.

Any submergable holes getting things in it. That's what I mean. You ever seen a bug sneak through a spot? They can smoosh down to nothing. That's how it works. So four stars. I am from Citronelle, Alabama, and it's a small town, nothing big.

It is like a town I prefer to live in than a big city. That's a sentence. It is like a town I prefer to live in than a big city. Really exposing that top quality education that Alabama offers. Tell me how good the schools are, please. The backwoods are great and a peaceful relaxing place to live. I like the woods, that's fine. There are things that need improvement,

but what town slash city does not need that? Overall, it's great. So take it good with the bad. Sure, bureaucracy. Sometimes there's some bad shit. Grain of salt, shit happens, whatever. Nothing's perfect. Three stars, I've lived in Citronelle all of my life,

and while I do feel there is a sense of community here, the small town life can also be stifling. Yeah. Oh wow, everybody knows everybody, which can be a good thing, but it can also be very negative. People here also don't care for their views to be challenged or disagreed with.

Right. I think that's everywhere. I don't think that's exclusive to Alabama. And it's nice when everybody knows you. Right up until everybody knows you. Yes that's the thing when you have oh boy I'll tell you after the show, but I had a weird conversation today boy that just Never mind Never mind cuz they might listen so I don't want them to blow my house up anyway things to do here here we go

the surrender oak festival blow my house up anyway. Things to do here. Here we go. The Surrender Oak Festival. Okay. This is a festival around both a surrender of Confederate unit and a tree that blew down. We'll combine the two. We'll combine. Well, the tree was, it's called the Surrender Oak because that's where the surrender happened. And then a hurricane took the tree down. Right up its ass, wow. Right up its ass, so yes, it's the festival, the first Saturday in May, it's the celebration, or they do a reenactment of the last surrender of the Confederate Army east of the Mississippi River,

which occurs very specific, in Citronelle on May 4th, 1865. They were trying to find something to have a festival about and they're like, did you hear about this shit? They say the closing scenes of that awful bloody drama, the Civil War, were witnessed in this vicinity. Lee and Johnson had surrendered because that already happened. Mobile had been occupied by Union forces after the Battle of Mobile Bay, but no one organized a body of Confederates that could be called an army that remained in the field the last army of close to

9,000 soldiers surrendered on May 4th here And that's what they did under a white a large white oak tree in citronelle Yeah, that's what they did flag and they called it the surrender oak Because it's white because it's white exactly surrender oak because it's white because it's white exactly it's perfect white flag and then and then mother nature didn't like it at all didn't like it well and we don't even know what year either in 1902 or 1906 depending on the source it would bleed down from a hurricane so i have no idea so they made walking canes gavel, and other items as souvenirs out of the tree. Wow.

And they have a few of them in the Smithsonian actually there. So not bad. Really? Yeah. They put a memorial marker, they placed it on the spot here, and the city of Citronelle planted a young live oak tree in the approximate location of the surrender oak. They didn't even know where it was? Nope.

They don't even know where it was because it was a hundred. They didn't even know what year it fell down They're like was it a real special tree. It's totally special and then they reenact their lowest moment It's a very strange festival how hilarious that they lost the tree Goddamn we lost the war we lost the tree we lost it all Dan this town No, so this town. Now, so this town looks very quaint, I will say that.

It looks like a nice, cute little quaint. It looks like where Reese Witherspoon would have a romantic comedy in 1999, you know what I mean? Horse and buggy rides, children's train rides, a petting zoo, this all says Civil War reenactment, doesn't it? A turpentine demonstration here see how that is

watch this I'm came off right there cleaned it with the turpents I like that's a demonstration put it on a pretty girl's mouth and do what you want there you go shocked on Native American dancers a moonshine still no sad right they say next to it they're's gonna show you a wooden bowl maker demonstration Hmm show me how to make a bowl and a cross cut saw Demonstration watch us saw things yeah, and then finally the surrender reenactment ceremony which will take place Obviously the culmination of the evening. So there's a lot of people laughing at that is insane the culmination of the evening. Hope there's a lot of people laughing at that.

That is insane. That said, let's talk about some horrible murder. Let's do it. Let's do this. This is insane what we're talking about here. It's episode 500, how can it not be insane? Great. You have to do this. Let's get into this. Let's talk about a couple of people.

First off, let's talk about a couple. This is Joseph Adam Turner. He is 26 years old in 2016. So that's where we're going to start. So pretty recent here. 2016, Joseph Adam Turner, Joseph, he has a girlfriend that they're, you know, they live together and everything. She is Shannon Melissa Randall. She's 35 actually. He's 26. She's 35. Yeah, so they get together. They have a three-month-old son named Darren. So they have that's coming along here and at this point.

Joseph here, the guy, he also has a sister that hangs out with them a lot. Her name is Lynetta Lester. L-A-N-E-T-A, Lanneta, Lanneta Lester. And Lanneta here, Lanneta's got kind of a wild life since she's hooked up with this guy. She's got a boyfriend. Oh, was she married? How'd she have a different last name?

I have no idea, they probably have different dads. Yeah, this is, when I show you the house that everybody resides in, you'll go, nobody has the same father in this house at all never no so yeah she's got a very explosive relationship with a guy named Derek Ryan Dearman DER man he's 27 he's from Leakesville Mississippi which isn't too far from here they started dating that we're gonna catch up with them in August of 2016, and they only have been dating since January 2016. Pretty new relationship. And it's like

complicated and they have... Already? Oh, they live together and then they're fighting and she goes, it's eight months, just break up, it's not working. Wow. If you have explosive fights in the first six months of knowing someone. Oh, it's over. That's not, that has no future probably, you know? You gotta get along for a while anyway. You're not gonna work that out. No, no, you just don't like each other,

you just got together. They had their relationship status on Facebook said in a relationship with each other in February of 2016. Not complicated, just in a relationship. With each other, picture together, the whole deal. And they were together from January to August, and he's very abusive toward her the whole time, by the way.

Multiple people see it, it's like he doesn't. God, it's on the surface too. Oh, he doesn't even hide it. No, this guy's a lunatic. Well, he's high on meth most of the time is the problem. When you're high on meth, I feel like your judgments are a little off and they are for him.

Evidently, yeah. Seems like as people do a lot of weird shit, they probably wouldn't do normally on meth. You ever see people riding bikes around at four o'clock in the morning scratching their face? Without meth, that's not happening probably. It's a fascinating life. I don't, I still, for the life of me,

cannot gather. You know what the end is why start and if you can do look I'm not a coke guy never was just not my thing But there are people I know that did I've done coke for a long time and they know how to deal with it And then there's people it's destroyed their whole lives So it's yeah, but meth is like I never known anybody to be like just a casual meth user for the last time I only use it to party once in a just a casual meth user for the last 10, I only use it to party once in a while, it's never like that.

No. It's like smoking crack, once you get to that point, it's not a party anymore, it's a need. You're missing teeth and your family doesn't recognize you. Yeah, open sores are not the best look for anybody. So a man said his family, at this time, provided a home for Derek and Lynetta earlier in 2016 near Leakesville, Mississippi and this man said that

Deerman was pretty much all the time on meth so that was a problem. He rent a place to a guy and now he's a meth head and that he would take Lynetta out in the woods to do walks walk her into the woods in rural Mississippi and beat the shit out of her out there just beat her on the woods so no one would see it he just take her out there and beat her up in the woods which is that's disturbing because she probably knew that she was being taken out there to be beaten I figure after the first time you know yeah you go I'm not going in the woods anymore.

We've done this twice, both times. So Charlie Passerelli, Jr. I didn't think we'd have a lot of passerelli's down here, but apparently we do. Charlie Passerelli, Jr. said he knew Dearman for years and he said, quote, he was taking her out there beating the crap out of her. He's beaten the crap out of her out there. He said that he always figured that that Dearman was just buying or selling drugs and that's kind of how it was. Now Derek Dearman has been married before.

He's only 27 but he is has been divorced for six years and has two kids with a woman. Yeah, Crystal is her name, his ex. She divorced him in 2010. She said he always had a temper, especially when he didn't get his way. People on meth are usually so reasonable. That's really strange. They're usually just real approachable and open to suggestion, new ideas. I wonder how much goes his way.

Probably not a ton when you hear a little bit about this story. She said he's very violent. Also is the problem. She said quote, I once woke up to him holding a knife to my throat in bed with my baby in the crib right there. He's made threats the entire time. We were together and after we separated He's a terrible crazy person. What is well this guy since he was a teenager He's been on and off with the meth with pills with other shit here Apparently after finding lots of records on him the courts did here

He had a history beginning at the age of five of disciplinary problems He had a history beginning at the age of five of disciplinary problems. So this is like systemic as fuck. Bad ones tantrums where he'd like tear apart a kindergarten classroom and shit like that. Yeah, like a like a rock star. So he terrible living situation, very tumultuous at home. And his parents will say the same thing later. He's got all of his records throughout everything say that he's aggressive, he has defiant behavior, he had a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder

as well. Hmm, what is that one? He can't be not a twat, that's what that is. Yeah, authority ain't for him. I've been looking this over and I mean, we're not big on authority, that's why we're comedians, but at some point we're like, you yeah I can't sometimes you gotta get along to go along you know you understand there's certain things you can't do yeah you

know what I mean I can't like you know strap up human to the roof of my car and drive 95 miles an hour down a main street of a small town problem that's probably illegal you know you can't scream fire in a theater, you can't. There's things, and these people are like, I'll scream, fucking fire all I want. How dare you tell me not to fucking have people transfer the bombs. I'll scream fire the bombs.

I don't give a shit. So, just a complete theme of being a, just a no respect for anything. Not even, not just authority, just anything. Just a complete asshole. No dad, no mom. Well, they're around, around but they're they can't control him ever since the time he's a little kid if they have you know they're divorced and they have a lot of problems and he takes it out on the world basically weird in 2003 he was

in a car accident which is when he was let's see 13 months so when he was 14 13 14 he was in a car accident where I've been or 13, 14, he was in a car accident. In, in, where? Driving or not? No, no, no, he was in the car. Where he and a woman survived, but two people died in the car accident. Oh, shit! Yeah, killed a 21-year-old and a 34-year-old

in the car accident. One of the people who died, Larry Hill was his name, his mother, whose name is Betty Davis, by the way. Is that right? Yeah, she, she said that he was a nice kid back then. He said, quote, he used to stay at my house all the time with Larry. Why was her 21 year old son hanging out with a 13 year old and having sleepovers? First of all, I'd like to know about that. So there's no ages. Like, why would you want to hang out with a 13 year old when you're 21?

I guess you're both drinking. Yeah, you know Probably you probably dating the same chick. So yeah, you know So they said that he the kid Dearman when he was a kid served as a pallbearer at the funeral and everything when he was 14 and he said it didn't seem to really affect him He didn't seem to have like, you know PTSD or anything like that But who knows if they actually tried to get him any kind of counseling or anything after being a child watching two people die before your eyes. He may have been already fucked up long beyond long before this. Yeah this is around when the meth starts too. Okay. So let's fast forward

to August 17th 2016. It is a Wednesday okay. It's a Wednesday and Dearman here, Derek and Joseph Turner, get together, that is his girlfriend's brother. They get together at his house, well this house is barely a house really. It's a place where Dearman stays? It's the, no, it's Joseph Turner's house and dear man is sort of allowed there Sometimes when he's not on meth and trying to beat up the guy's sister, so It's on Jim Platt Road is the name of the road where it's out there if you're in that local area They they were together on the Wednesday the 17th to chop up an old trailer So

So fascinating right so that so that dear man could sell it for scrap. Oh So this is what we're do this is he's like bubbles from the wire basically like he's got a shopping cart full of aluminum He's gonna go sell for drug money a holiday Rambler skin So that night Dearman spent the night with his girlfriend here at the home of the brother. So they let him stay over. Yeah, Lynetta stays. They're having a good day, I guess.

So they've chopped up a trailer. It's Miller time and then we're going to relax. So the next day, Randall, who owns owns the home that's his girlfriend who's pregnant there who owns the home too with Turner's told Derek she didn't know that he was going to be able to stay there and the brother already told Derek that he could stay there. So they let him stay the night and the next day she was like you can't stay here anymore. I don't want you in my fucking house. I don't like you whatever. So Lynetta had her brother take her back to a home in Loosdale, Mississippi where the two were staying at the time, Derek and Lynetta. Okay. That night, Dearman beat

the shit out of her in Loosdale. So they didn't doubt. Yeah. So that gives her a beating apparently and he's also high on meth because he sold all his scrap metal So sure that means he's got meth money So she called her brother and said connect Can I come back to your house on Jim Platt Road there and stay with you because he's beating the shit out of me And they were like yeah, we told you not to leave in the first place for Christ's sake We left your air mattress set up on the kid on the living room. We knew you'd be back so today We left your air mattress set up on the living room. We knew you'd be back So today your place over there on jim platt road is the funniest thing you've ever seen over there on jim platt road

I hope she's not exactly like I think she did probably that's the thing because they Everything I see everybody keeps referring to it. They keep saying a house on jim platt road like every Interview and stuff. It's about j Platt Road, Jim Platt Road. So it's stuck in my head like this endless loop of Jim Platt Road, Jim Platt Road, Jim Platt Road. It's all I'm gonna think of all night. So Thursday goes by pretty uneventfully besides her going back home to her brother's house.

Then Friday comes around, Friday, August 19th, 2016. So at the Jim Platt Road househouse it's an isolated home by the way all by itself sitting out here on a dirt road west of Citronelle so it's not only neighbor they had was a trailer and it's chopped of smithereens scream all you want ain't nobody gonna hear you that's what we're talking about now so everybody decides to have a low-key weekend. We have Lynetta We have her brother and her brother and Shannon her brother's girlfriend who's pregnant by the way, I'm sorry No, this one's coming up is they have a three-month-old. Sorry named Darren. Then there's two other friends here Justin Caleb Reed who's 23 and his wife Chelsea Marie Reed who's 22 and pregnant

Five months pregnant 22 years old so Justin is trying to figure out a way to go to college because he wants to be a video game developer He's got a lot of he's good with electronics So instead he's having a cookout 98 dream. Yeah, he's got yeah. Yeah shit kids now still are crazy for that shit because Unbelievable, but they want to play I'm not develop them. That's what developing them is though Is it it's half playing them? It's what game would I like to play and then you get to program? We have to have so much creativity too. It's not just computer It's not just like technical savvy you have to have a whole you have to be able to imagine a world

That's entertaining enough to charge someone a hundred dollars to dick with and create a goal that's that's different and new I mean yes you don't have to create a new just kind of guys to kill something yeah just kill what weapons will you use to kill these people over there so here they are Chelsea by the way is Shannon's niece. So, Lynetta's brother's girlfriend's niece. Everybody's sort of related here. So these are young people to be just hanging out wildly. Yeah, they're just, well they're hanging out at the house.

They decide to have a nice, easy weekend. Friday night they have a cookout. Robert Lee Brown comes over. He is Shannon's brother. So Shannon's brother's there. Shannon's niece is there with her husband and Lin- It's a big party, shit. It's a big party. Everybody's sort of related a little bit and they're going to have a big cookout and then they settle in to watch a movie together. So it's a nice, nice night, nice and relaxing. 2016, it really sounds

like a 1993 night they're having. It does. We went to Blockbuster, we rented fucking. Doing nothing for the stereotype of Alabama is 15 years behind everybody. Yeah. They're doing 15 years ago shit. That's exactly right. Then they all got on MySpace afterwards and they were like checking to see their top friends list. So.

Pull out their AOL CDs and get right there online. Man, get on a chat room and really start cooking, you know what I mean? Meet some people. We've all been there, turning to the internet to self-diagnose our inexplicable pains, debilitating body aches, sudden fevers, and strange rashes. Though our minds tend to spiral to worst-case scenarios,

it's usually nothing, but for an unlucky few, these unsuspecting symptoms can start the clock ticking on a terrifying medical mystery. Like the unexplainable death of a retired firefighter, whose body was found at home by his son, except it looked like he had been cremated, or the time when an entire town started jumping from buildings and seeing tigers on their ceilings. Hey listeners, it's Mr. Ballin here, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast. It's called Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries. Each terrifying true story will be sure to keep you up at night.

Follow Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries wherever you get your podcasts. Prime members can listen early and ad free on Amazon Music. Scammers are best known for living the high life until they're forced to trade it all in for handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit once they're finally caught. I'm Saatchi Cole. And I'm Sarah Haggye.

And we're the host of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once a facade falls away. We've covered stories like a Shark Tank certified entrepreneur who left the show with an investment, but soon faced mounting bills, an active lawsuit filed by Larry King, and no real product to push. He then began to prey on vulnerable women instead, selling the idea of a future together while stealing from them behind their backs.

To the infamous scams of real Housewives stars like Teresa Giudice, what should have proven to be a major downfall only seemed to solidify her place in the Real Housewives Hall of Fame. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Scamfluencers early and ad free right now on Wondry+. So Justin and Chelsea here, the young couple, 23 and 22, they got married shortly after they graduated from Citronelle high school They've been they were high school sweethearts. They got together. They don't really have a big plan in life One of their friends said they were kind of spur-of-the-moment fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of people Yeah

You can call us white trash if you'd like, but that's what we are. That's, yeah. We're just living it day by day. In about four months, they're going to have a baby, so they got to figure something out. They're living at her aunt's fucking, like, in their aunt's living room, basically. So this is, you know, this isn't very, we got to get it together. Pull it together, everybody. I've been through this. This is a tough time. Yeah. It's a living room basically. So this is, you know, this isn't very, we gotta get it together. Pull it together everybody. I've been through this.

This is a tough time. Yeah. It's a tough time in your life. They had moved to Fresno, California for jobs in the summer of 2015 and about after a year they moved back and now here they are. So they had just gotten back a couple months ago from California. Feels like weed clipping, right? It's something like that maybe.

Yeah, probably. We're gonna go work the crop, I guess. Go work the harvest when it comes in. So when they got back, they told everyone Chelsea's pregnant. So this particular day, Friday the 19th, Derek has been doing quite a bit of meth for a while. I think he's probably on a bender from when he sold a scrap metal. Because you don't just like, you know, you don't go, oh it's 9.30, I'm gonna turn in.

I'll smoke more meth than the morning. Like you just keep going with that shit if you have it. So this night, Lynetta is staying at her brother's house, like we said, everybody's there, Joseph Adam Turner, Shannon Randall, and the Reeds, and the other guy too, Robert Lee Brown, they're all there, five people. The, oh Jesus Christ, oh and the littleeds and the other guy too, Robert Lee Brown. They're all there, five people. The, oh Jesus Christ, oh and the little baby too.

Six people, yeah. Three month old, yeah. So he is told there, I guess he comes over at some point. He shows up, Derek does at the home, and he's told you gotta get the fuck outta here. She came back, she's still got a black eye from two days ago when I picked her up from your house after you beat the shit out of her. Get the fuck out of here. Right. So

he says, all right, all right. Yeah, yeah. Fine. Fine. Fine. Derek leaves. I feel like he's been kicked out of quite a few places, right? He probably knows how to leave. He knows how to live. One thing he knows how to do is turn on his fucking heels and head toward the door because everywhere movies, restaurants, Arby's parking lots, he's been picked out of everywhere. He's built the tide ship and goes, I don't think I'm welcome here. You know, if I was a suspicious person,

if I was a paranoid person, I'd say, y'all don't want me here. I'm not a man who likes to stick around where I'm not wanted. So that's what he says, I'm out, I'm me here. I'm not a man who likes to stick around where I'm not wanted. That's what I mean. So that's what he says, I'm out, I'm out of here. I get it. Three hours later, he shows back up.

All right. Hi, like it never happened. I'm back again. How y'all doing now? Yeah, how about after you watched fucking Pulp Fiction? Are you, after you rented that from Blockbuster in 1994, are you, are we good? So he shows up and that's when he is told in no uncertain terms by the brother of his

girlfriend here, Joseph Adam Turner, tells him that not only do you have to leave now, you're no longer welcome on my property. 86th, babe. Ever come back. Just like every Taco Bell in the metropolitan mobile area, you are not allowed in here. So get the fuck out. Listen, James, and I'll tell you this, that's a temporary order too. I've been back to many places.

Oh, so many. So many places. I got kicked out of a whole development, like an entire community one time. Neighborhood? Jesus. The whole neighborhood. The cops told us, me and three of my friends. The HOA told us, a visitor, no more. No, no, no. This was the police told us, if you come in this area again, I'm going to arrest you on sight because...

For trespassing. Yeah, because, well, we were buying drugs. Because you don't live here. Yeah, and we were also causing problems, I'm sure. But still, that's not right. I've gone back since. Oh, there was not one time that I was told, don't come back, that was undeserved.

I earned every one of them. I totally deserved it. I was only there to buy drugs, so I totally get it. But now, one of the first things I did when I came back here and moved back home and I was driving around was, I went to that neighborhood and drove all around. I'm like, ha ha ha, that cop who kicked us out is probably fucking dead by now.

Dead or retired, fuck it. Yes. Yes. Take that. Felt really good. Nobody will recognize me now. Kick this out probably fucking dead by now Yes Take that felt really good. I recognize me now. Yep. I feel like Dearman might have those moments himself probably So he comes back tells him he's no longer welcome and Shannon says you know what fuck this no longer welcome And I'm calling the cops to how about that? Let's get the police involved You never even thought I would never think for a second that they Would like get the authorities involved this group They do they call the police department and they say Dearman's on the property and we don't want him here

So it's trespassing they're gonna come get him So the officers showed up at the home by the time they got there though here he took off Yeah, so they patrolled the area surrounding the home looking for him but they couldn't find him. So hopefully he's been scared off into the night he's like hiding in the bushes from cops that are you know creeping around looking for him. That'll make you go away right? You don't want to be on meth and have to talk to cops.

Yeah you don't want to be on anything. 3 a.m. though he comes back. Wow. Third time tonight. What a time to be there. He is very persistent and a.m. Though he comes back Wow third time tonight what a time to be he is very persistent and a real asshole these I feel bad for these These people are trying to have a nice night You know what I mean trying to barbecue some ribs and they're they're doing their best And trying to have some a nice barbecue, and I wonder what that was on the menu by the way

Hamburgers and hot dogs are we talking like chicken thighs? What are we talking here? Or is it wild southern Alabama shit? Or is it groundhog for breakfast? What are we doing here? Is there some strange game? I don't know. So 3 a.m. Derek comes back, he's super high on meth, obviously, and everybody's sleeping in the house.

Now, Lynetta is sleeping in the living room. She is awoken by a tap on her shoulder. She turns around, the tap is as Derek is reaching through the living room window tapping on her shoulder. There's no screen. What? Just in August in southern Alabama, the amount of mosquitoes in that trailer,

in that house have got to be It's more mosquito than than wood at this point. It's just Reach through a window and tap somebody awake. That's crazy So she's like what the fuck do you want? And he says this is amazing. He said I really really please don't don't don't you know freak out? Don't tell everybody I'm here. I just want something to drink and a cigarette. So I came all the way here.

I live in Mississippi, mind you. I came all the way here to tap on your shoulder. So she said, you got to leave, dude. No, I'm not giving you a cigarette and a drink. Get the fuck out of here. So he got pissed off at that point. Rightfully so, know, you wake people up through a window at 3 in the morning They don't have a cigarette for you. Just wanted an Arizona iced tea and a cigarette man Jesus So and it's not cans to it's the jugs they got there

So she said no, I'm not going outside I'm not dealing with you you. Fuck off. And she rolled back over, went to sleep again. He dicks. Pulled the window shut. Yeah. That's it. So that's how it goes. So he, wow, he decides, huh, what should I do now? Well, I'll go to the sliding glass door in the back,

and I'll break into them. OK. Or on the front of the house, so I'm sorry. So they were locked. He retrieved an axe from the front yard. Came in. Those sliding glass doors are pretty easy to pop. And something tells me a guy who's been on meth for 15 years knows how to pop open a sliding glass door to steal shit from places. He knows. So he does that and then he comes into the house with an axe. Everybody's out cold sleeping, by the way. No one sees him. No one knows he's there.

He's just standing over these sleeping people with an axe in his hand at 3.30 in the morning, high on meth. Like, it's the most... This is going to go so bad, right? It's fucking horrible. He takes the axe and first person he sees is Robert Lee Brown, who is a friend, the guy who came over. He's asleep in the recliner in the living room just inside the door of the house. He no other way to put it. Axes him multiple times in the head just starts Wow axing this guy in the head clearly

Just cleave the fuck out of this guy with an axe. Okay, 26 year old Robert Lee Brown Now Lynette is asleep on an air mattress there in the living room like I said that she's got the air mattress and We always say the air mattress is a fine start again, especially when you're meth addicted fucking significant other is trying to beat the shit out of you so she's asleep there he she never she didn't hear the axe attack this guy was sleeping and he just beat axed him up and she stays asleep so he then walks down the hall he leaves her asleep just walked past her walked down the hall, he leaves her asleep. Just walked past her. Walked down the hallway into a bedroom that was occupied by Lynetta's brother.

And. Turner. Yeah, Turner and Randall. And their three month old baby. Oh no, what? He takes the axe and first person he goes after is Turner, the brother, because he's the one he's probably the most mad at.

And he multiple times strikes him in the head with the axe. Yeah. Okay, then he, Randall wakes up, what the fuck, she's holding the baby, by the way, she wakes up, so he starts attacking her with the axe in the head. Oh boy. And walks away from them, doesn't axe the baby.

Wow. Then he goes and finds, he does that, so then he goes into another bedroom, it's a two bedroom, where he finds Chelsea and Justin Reed. Oh, god damn it. Pregnant Chelsea and Justin Reed here. He, I guess Chelsea awoke from all of this and was like, what's going on? So he attacks her multiple ax shots to the head. Multiple ax blows to the head.

Then turns to Justin. Justin had pulled a gun out. Attaboy. Justin's got a gun, but he turns around and whacks him in the head with the ax and keeps coming at him and then wrestles the gun away from him You gotta use it man. So now he's got a pistol and an axe. Uh-huh This is fucking horrible. So both Chelsea and Justin everybody to Brown in the living room Randall Lee bird. They're all Are not Randall Lee. What's his name?

Robert Lee Brown Robert Lee Brown. I want to get it right Jesus guy getting attacked by an axe for Christ sake this poor bastard So they none of them are dead everybody's alive. I mean though they've been struck in the head with axes. They've all Jesus They're all still alive and in pain. So next he goes down takes the gun from Justin and he shoots Chelsea Starts firing shots at her then he starts firing shots at Justin as well then he goes into the next room and shoots Turner as well the brother he's out of ammo though what's what's a fella to do right well you pick up the nearest shotgun if you're not there's a shotgun in the house too so he takes the shotgun and shoots fucking Randall in the back of the head while she lays and well She's still laying with holding the baby. Oh

Babies unharmed completely fine not a pellet hits the baby. That's yeah, it's a fucking that's pretty amazing uninjured Yeah, what's three months old? It doesn't know what's going on. It doesn't know if it's, you know, is it time to eat? That's all they know. They don't know shit. So he then comes back to the living room where Randall Lee Brown is writhing from his ax wounds and he shoots him in the head too. Now, Lynetta is sitting in the living room now. The gunshots woke her up. She's like, what the fuck? Now he's standing there covered in fucking blood I mean yeah head-to-toe horror movie with an axe in one hand and a fucking shotgun in the other and menacing ass weapons and this guy's got no head on the recliner over in the side of the chair and you know you heard all these shots and you know your brother and his wife and all your friends are

down there too this is horrifying it This is horrifying. It's fucking horrifying. So Derek then takes the keys to Randall's car, grabs her keys, grabs Lynetta, says you're fucking coming with me, doesn't kill her, also goes, grabs the baby. We're taking this with us too. Oh boy. Me, you and the baby. We're starting over. That's it. This is our baby. We're going to Mexico I don't fucking fucked up raising, Arizona ever. It's way worse way worse way worse

This is Jesus Christ. This is it the lady that was on the couch is she still there? She's that's his girlfriend Lynetta. Oh She's the one who got the tap on the on the on the arm. She's on an air mattress in the living room. So Holy shit now Brown is dead Robert Lee Brown is dead by the front door The Reeds are in the second bedroom and everybody the Turner and Randall are in the back bedroom. Everybody's dead as shit now They're all fucked. So So now they take off him in a stolen car with his estranged running away from him ex-girlfriend

and a baby that's not even either of theirs. He goes to his sister's house in Leakesville, Mississippi. Yeah. Okay. They stop there, you know, just stop over. Hey, how you doing? Just wanted to come by for a cup of coffee here. Yeah. Just stop over. Hey, how you doing? Just wanted to come by for a cup of coffee here. Yeah, meth isn't known for most logical behavior,

but this is, what are you gonna do, man? Your linear thinking tends to be off when you're- Where are you going? There's no plan, that's the thing. He went over to get a cigarette and a drink and ended up doing this. So there was never a plan for this to happen and escape. This is not, he's just like, give me a cigarette and a drink. No, well I'll break in and fuck all these

people. So maybe he's not, I'll kill them, not fuck them actually. Now there's five bodies, you need a shower and you're in a lot of trouble. Yeah, five bodies and a five month old baby too. Or five month old in the womb baby that's you know, trying to have. So the whole thing's obviously horrible. So he leaves his sister's house, stops at a friend's parent's house, and says, take this baby here. Watch this baby for it.

They know he doesn't have a baby. Right, he's in the fire station. If your friend's, if your son's friend's meth head, if your son's meth head friend shows up with a baby that you know is not his and says hold on to this for a While I'm calling the cops immediately right now right now. They just were like all right well pick it up whenever This is nice. Oh boy cutie. Okay, so that's insane drops the baby off then takes Lenetta to The friend to his friend's trailer to go to sleep because he's got a company's coming down now Once they wake up

Okay, they wake up they go back to that friend's parents house to pick up the baby Thanks for watching her while we watching him while we slept Then he goes then he goes to his dad's house. Going to dad's house. So while they're there, Dearman gets out of the car and goes up to his dad's house, okay? Leaves her in the car. While he's not looking, she jumps in the driver's seat of the car, throws it in fucking reverse, and takes off peeling off like the duke's a hazard with giant dirt clouds behind her. She's got the baby? Got the baby in the car.

Oh boy. Takes off, heads right to the Citronelle Police Department. Okay. With the baby, shows up there. And what a story does she have to tell? She shows up walking in a Haggard looking like fucking Linda Hamilton from Terminator, but with a baby in her arms just like sit around Crisscross applesauce. I got something to tell you Wow. Do I have a fucking tail for you?

so They turn up there. She tells the officers what happened His father convinces him to turn himself in Derek Derek. His father's like, because they take off and the father's like, what happened? He's like, oh boy, let me tell you. Shot a bunch of people, killed them, kidnapped them, a baby she took off with the car. So he heads to the local police station.

His father convinces him. This is. What do I do, dad? I don't know, cops? It's something, not here. Somewhere, I'm thinking something away from my house probably. Off the property is going to be the solution to this. A drama treasure map.

There's an X far away from my house. As a dad, you got to convince him that the cops is the safe bet, right, for him, for his safety. That's, who knows? The whole clan could come after him at this point. Like the whole family could come out of the hills. We have no idea. Or I think he's just convincing him that what you did was terrible. And there's that. So

his dad drives him to the Green County Police Department where he, he sort of turns himself in. He goes in, he goes, I'm going to turn myself in. And they go, well, for what? And he goes, I, for not paying child support. Okay. And they look through their shit, their computer or their, whatever they got down there and I don't know what they're doing. Speaking spell or whatever. And we'll get the books. Yeah. The written on green, green County, Mississippi.

She, I don't know what they're doing down there. So he, they say to him, um, there's no, we don't have a warrant for you for that. Your dues are paid. You're good, dude. I'm sure they're not, but just the ex didn't turn him in because she probably doesn't want him to come stalk her now. So then the father says, you got to tell him what you actually did, son. So he does.

He tells the officers and he says this, this is his explanation. When he says hurry, he means Lynetta in this, his girlfriend. He said quote, through all this, I truly thought everybody was trying to kidnap and hurt her. After everything, I told my girlfriend to grab the baby

and get in the car. She did so out of fear of me. He said I was on a lot of meth and I was delusional. I didn't know what the hell. He said I honestly thought they were kidnapping and holding her hostage and hurting her, which come on dude, you were asking for cigarettes. Give me a break. She jumped in the car because she saw you murder five people. Yeah, she was terrified because obviously he's capable of it. Then he said, quote, if I can't have her nobody, they couldn't have her either. That's what he said. Oh boy. Classic.

So it's a classic one. So the, the mobile County sheriff's captain, Paul Birch said quote, it's unprecedented here. We're breaking records. Everybody come on down. He said that this was a experts would term this overkill excessive violence. He called it obviously horrific He said they were down for the night sleeping and he had enough familiarity with the house when he entered I guess you could say in a rage and he's disabling people as he's in there He was able to overpower them before they were able they were able to protect themselves What a sterile thing to say. That's really, yeah, not just like, holy shit,

did you, what the, there's fucking brains everywhere, man. Burn this out. He didn't yank the fucking positive cable off their batteries. He pulled a spark plug, that's what he did. He caved fucking heads in, officer. Yeah, so, this is, caved heads in, then was like, not good officer. Yeah Caved heads and then was like not good enough

Yeah, the district attorney said in her 20-year career She's never encountered a crime where there was five people who were brutally and viciously murdered and that's what we have here so August 23rd 2006 now this is three days after this all mess happens or two days after 23rd 2006. Now this is three days after this old mess happens or two days after. He's being escorted to the jail from a court hearing here from his arraignment or whatever. And the press is there. He stops and has a chit chat with the fucking press. What's he say? They let him stop in the parking lot. I'll show the picture on social media because he's surrounded by people with cameras and mics and he's just standing there like he just, you know, you know,

you just won the Powerball. What are you gonna do with it all? He's like, well, you know, I'm gonna pay off my house, first of all, I mean, that's been bothering me. Interest rates and all. He hit the half-pour shot at the fucking Thunder Gang. It's so strange. So yeah, he said he was high on meth

and he said, quote, drugs were making me think things that were not really, think things that's not really there. Oh boy. Drugs were making me think things that were not really think things. That's not really there Drugs were making me think things. That's not really there It's hard to say in his vernacular here So nancy's love story could have been ripped right out of the pages of one of her own novels She was a romance mystery writer who happens to be married to a chef. But this story didn't end with a happily ever after. When I stepped into the kitchen, I could see that Chef Brophy was on the ground, and I heard somebody say,

call 911. As writers, we'd written our share of murder mysteries. So when suspicion turned to Dan's wife, Nancy, we weren't that surprised. The first person they look at would be the spouse. We understand that's usually the way they do it. But we began to wonder, had Nancy gotten so wrapped up in her own novels, There are murders in all of the books.

that she was playing them out in real life? Follow Happily Never After, Dan and Nancy on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Happily Never After, Dan and Nancy early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus. When the matriarch of a prominent Princeton family is found stabbed to death in her locked basement,

investigators look from a serial attacker to her family, to Princeton University students. One hot-blooded investigator sees a conspiracy. Is he way off base or does privilege let you get away with murder? You can listen to In the Shadow of Princeton exclusively and ad-free with Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple podcasts. He said that I came down and realized, once he came down, he said, I realized what was really going on.

I turned myself in because I was sober and knew what was the, I knew it was the right thing to do. Holy shit. He also then expressed his love for Lynetta. I love you Lynetta. And then said to all the family members, quote, don't do drugs. What? He said, don't do drugs.

You'll murder everybody. It's just normal. Don't do drugs is the, that's the fucking lesson here that he's trying to. You know, you guys, that egg frying really doesn't stick, but I'll tell you what, Todd. Yeah. This chick's brain's on her bedroom wall.

What do you think of that? The inside of a young man's head. That'll do it. Then they said, well, what do you think should happen to you? And he said, I deserve to die as he was led away. So the injuries here, Dr. Stacy Turner of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, which She's got to tell us.

Yeah, she performed the autopsies on three of the victims and certified the autopsies of the other two. They said all five castrated a pig that day. I was going to say, yeah, she, she also just got done milking a cow earlier and taken down a sorghum field. So she's got a lot going on right now. What going on? Yeah. I don't know why. I I apologize Alabama, but when I read Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences I was like, come on. I'm just kidding. That's a joke.

That's a joke. I make fun of New York worse, so shut the fuck up. I don't want to hear it. Fishkill New York. Making fun of pigs. Popped the balls off a pig this morning. So they said despite the fact that all the people were wounded after the attacks with the axes and in great pain, the victims continued to resist his attacks like Justin tried to

defend himself with a handgun, but he was able to wrestle it away. It's a 45 by the way. Good Christ! That's your big boy. That's who he's wrestle it away. It's a 45 by the way, quite a good boy. Christ. That's your big boy. That's who he's shooting people with. That's a big fucking gun. Wow.

Used it to shoot him and three of the others. And then he picked up the 12 gauge shotgun he found in the home and shot Randall with that. And then Brown too. So immediately this house becomes a tourism spot. Immediately. There's no turning on of people here, James. Two days later, there's just crowds of people

taking pictures in front of it, and all that kind of shit. Gross. And they said that they've been, it's a secluded area, you're only coming out to this house to go to the house. And one neighbor said, you've got 10 to 15 people a day trying to come in for sightseeing.

And this neighbor said that the what makes the extra car and foot traffic strange is that some people have brought children to see the home yeah and he said why would anybody want to bring a young into a crime scene that's exactly because the Wi-Fi is down that's why can't get wah-wah wubbzy to put that. Oh, God, no. So two weeks after the murder, the house burns down. What? The house burns to the fucking ground. Okay.

On purpose, right? The detectives, they had gotten all the evidence they needed out of it first, but the volunteer fire department was called to the place it burned down, and the sheriff's department said they got a tip from someone in the community that about the fire before it happened. Heard that house is about to burn down. That house, I'll tell you, I don't know about that wiring. I'll tell you what.

That house is about to be on fire y'all. Oh man, so a relative of the owner of the home gave a news outlet the chance to photograph the video and video the burned down home and they said quote they said hopefully having having the disintegrated home and the pictures out there in the media will prevent people from coming here now I think they burned it it's all it's a win-win you burn it down you get insurance no one comes here anymore and it's salt of the earth of this thing Okay, so other people still come They probably do just look at the spot. He says quote. They were treating it like the Manson house or something

People just need to stop and think about the fact that this whole neighborhood has just been rocked So another neighbor said having no idea what went on in that house Don't you all think our nerves are fried every time? I see every time something goes bump in the night. I'm running So they relative said they didn't know who burned the house down, but they're relieved to have it burned down. That's what they said Could it be more obvious that this was burned down on purpose? Yeah, I don't know how it burned down, but I'm so goddamn glad it is Oh boy, they said it's a blessing that it went up and I don't know who did burnt down, I don't know how it burnt down, but I'm so goddamn glad it is.

Oh boy, they said it's a blessing that it went up and I don't know who did it or why they did it, but it's gone. I wonder. So he has court-appointed attorneys, Derek does, he pleads not guilty. Then a week later he fires his attorneys and says, I want to plead guilty, it changed my mind. So he does that, he goes to this arraignment to see if he's allowed to do that. He writes a handwritten letter to the court indicating that, you know, I want

to do that and to be able to do that and to be able to basically proceed pro se your own lawyer pro pro whatever the fuck it is, you have to they have to do a mental evaluation on you to make sure you're not just saying you're guilty because you're insane. You're like, I'm guilty. I also fucking killed Abraham Lincoln. You never know. So they do that. They asked, it's what he wants, that he meets with the court without a lawyer. And they found that he had knowingly, freely, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to assistance of counsel. They do appoint advisory counsel to be present and available to assist him because he can't just sit there by himself. He doesn't know what the fuck to say. He's a fucking

meth head. He has no idea what he's doing. So the district attorney says all this shit about you know what he did the whole thing and killed these people's brutal cold-blooded blah blah blah his response is quote Everything the district attorney has said is true Okay, that whoa you're bad at this man not good not a good lawyer not a good lawyer There's lawyers and oh no the opposite of that Robert Lee Brown the victim in the recliner his father said he's already forgiven Derek Wow what a wow what a Brown, the victim in the recliner, his father said he's already forgiven.

Derrick. Wow. What a nice man. Imagine how nice he is if you're nice to him. You kill your you kill his son and he's nice to you. Imagine if you like, bring over a six pack. Holy shit. He's gonna do anything for you.

He said, I can't bring my son back. I forgive this guy because he don't know no better. I feel for his family. What a sweet young man. Nice man. That's incredible. I don't even know how a person can get to that, but I'm jealous of it to be able to do that because I can't. I'd be like, I'll kill him and the rest of his family too. So in jail here, he said that he's talking and he said said quote, I am guilty, plain and simple. I turned myself in and I want to plead guilty. Once I got moved over to County and spent a week down there sleeping every day, my mind is coming back to me a little bit more, a

little bit more, a little bit more. I was just in shock. I couldn't comprehend the magnitude of what happened because those people were good people. They're just nice people that he killed that were trying to protect his sister from being beaten. Fascinating, fascinating choices he makes. Fuck yeah, this is why it's episode 500. We had to pack in a lot of murder into this. Now you know as I get better and better sleep I'm tending to figure I'm really a dick. Less meth more sleep really does something to the brain.

I'll tell you what. Stay up too long. You start saying and seeing some weird shit. Real weird stuff. I don't know what's going on. Now under Alabama law, even if you plead guilty to capital murder, there must be a trial also. They must have a trial even if you plead guilty. So you're already pleaded guilty, but they have to make sure that you're that you're not just a crazy person pleading guilty

Because this is a death penalty case. So obviously he killed five people and an unborn baby So yeah, and it's so his the only defense they really have for him is too much meth just too much Yeah, they said that they did intellect. He's got an IQ of 96 and his intellectual functioning in the average range He's you know, he's an average guy. He can you know, he can make a plan and carry it, you know That's that's totally dead average. Is it really? Absolutely. They saw a thing of like different IQs in different states Pretty much a hundred is dead average Everybody's around a hundred some better a Some are 102 and some are 97. Is there a reliable online test I can take

to see if I'm dumb? Yes, absolutely. There's good IQ tests out there. You should check it out. Let's see how dumb we are. This is gonna be embarrassing. So they say he's fine, he can make a plan. He can say I'm gonna go to the gas station

then go to the grocery store and get these items and then do it and return home with things. So like he's a competent man. Now the verdict comes in, not much of a, for the jury to decide, they say he did all this terrible shit and he's like I totally did that man, yep, it was terrible.

I was on a lot of meth and I did it. So guilt or innocence is not really in play, it's just the sentencing that's going to be really the thing, whether it's going to be the death penalty or life. So they find him guilty on 10 counts of capital murder. 10. Yeah. It's a weird, weird thing that they double charge you on certain shit. Oh, maybe because of the ax and then a shotgun ax and then a gun. Maybe that's it. Possibly. Yeah. So it's a weird little quirk of the law, then a shotgun, axe and then a gun, maybe that's it? Possibly, yeah.

It's a weird little quirk of the law, but we'll find out that it shouldn't be there anyway. So, during sentencing, they said the judge noted that he saw the reports for psychological evaluations, and he asked Dearman about his request for his attorneys not to enter any mitigation evidence during the sentencing. And Dearman said he didn't want to use his religion as a crutch or require his family to be put out and have to go on the stand and testify. I don't want to, you know, I don't want to be a burden on nobody. So that's wild. I'll just take the death penalty. He said that he felt that this decision was best for him

and his family regardless of the outcome. And he understands that could be the death penalty. So that's fine. But the court says the lawyer, the advisory attorney has to put on some mitigation form. We can't just railroad this guy through. Like on appeals, that's not going to look good. So the argument is intoxication negated his ability to form the intent to commit the murders. That's basically what it is. They talked to a couple people, one lady he knows that worked at a gas station that night. She said that he did not look the same as he normally did that night and that his eyes were quote sunk in. You know, yeah, methengy methengy and also he was acting antsy and kind of hyper.

He just described a meth addict perfectly So yeah, they did that they talked to other people It's he's doesn't even he doesn't even believe in this but The they also talked to the person he dropped the baby off to the next morning and that person said he seemed fine Didn't look high at all But they also didn't ask questions about where a fucking strange baby came from either. So why do you have a giant? Why do you now have a baby?

Who would give you a baby at eight in the morning? Are you kidding me? So yeah, that's insane. So he admitted to using the axe to injure the people and shoot them. The prosecutor said, in this case, I know that Dearman has done something unusual. He has represented himself. And in this case, you know, as to why I can argue, why. So you could see him in another setting so that you could feel sorry for him

because everyone feels sorry for lawyers. That's the most, you couldn't get a more sympathetic group out there than lawyers. There's not a million jokes about them all drowning in the ocean at the same time or anything. They all have giant houses, undeservedly so. That's what I mean. There was jokes about Bundy at 10 Bundy at the time where it's like, it's one thing if you're going to be a serial killer, but now he's a fucking lawyer too?

No, fucking execute this man. There was jokes about they heard them when I was a kid. So they said you could see him in another setting, feel sorry for him so that you could empathize with him so that he would seem real to you. He is real, but what he did far outweighs anything else in this case. What he did was real and what he did was heinous, atrocious and cruel. What he did is deserving of the death penalty. Give him that. So they said there's two aggravating factors the jury finds. That the capital murders were committed during the course of a burglary because he took shit about a baby in a car and a shotgun and an axe.

He just took a baby straight took a baby. Yeah. And that he intentionally caused the death of two or more persons by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct which is considered an aggravator. Additionally, they found that the crimes were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, compared to other capital offenses. He told the jury that, you know, yes, I did this, I put on this mitigating evidence,

but don't listen to that. He doesn't have any real significant prior criminal history. I found like a speeding, like going 75 and a 50, and then some other shit that I don't know what the code for it was. I couldn't figure it out. But that was like 2008, 2009. Seems like there's a lot of reasons to arrest him, but not really. So the mitigating circumstances they find

are that he has no significant prior criminal history. He's never- He generally follows the law. Never been like in jail for armed robbery or attempted murder or anything. They also find non-statutory mitigating circumstances that Dearman accepted responsibility for his conduct. He is the most, I did it, you know,

my bad guy I've ever seen in a murder. Most ultra-hardy guy. Yeah, he gets, the prosecution says all these terrible things and you go, I can't argue with one word of that. Like, I'll do better. No, I won't kill me. That's his thing. Right. You all should kill me because this is as good as I can do. I can't do much better. Nope. Also that he expressed regret and sympathy to the victims' families. However, the court determined any mitigating evidence regarding Dearman's childhood would be outweighed by his history recorded in the mental health records. They said that no evidence of Dearman's record or character prior to his admissions of guilt

for these crimes constitutes a mitigating factor. During the defense presentation in the penalty phase, his dad took the stand. He was all put out here. He said, I take full responsibility for how my son was raised. This is just a responsibility taken family, boy. Sure enough. They're not on meth. Several other family members spoke mostly about his years growing up, making reference to him getting involved with drugs from a young age.

He testifies himself, Derek, and he said, the state presented evidence and there's nothing I can do to make it right. It doesn't mean I don't try. I put my mitigation on behalf of my family. I'm only doing this for them, is what he said. The judge said, quote, it clearly appeared the't does have such rational understandings. His answers to the court's questions were responsive and his understanding of trial proceedings was above normal. Eye contact was maintained during questioning and nothing regarding his appearance or

actions was abnormal. They said you're not crazy. There is no drug use to mitigate these murders even if you did it He said those mitigating factors were found not to exist after the axe attack took place Dearman then callously shot each victim Then you sir may fuck off ten death sentences All ten ten you and all your friends. That's a lot to hand out Wow, we're almost a hard dozen Ten. Ten. You and all your friends. That's a lot to hand out. Wow. We're not.

Almost a hard dozen. Yeah. We're going to warm that chair up times ten and just do it once and explode your little ass. Just keep doing it until you're a pile of ashes. Like a cartoon. And there's one. There we go.

Fire them back up again. Well, wait for the smoldering to stop and then do it. That's they're gonna do so profiting off the murder is something also after the sentence is handed down the DA Asks the judge to prevent Dearman and his family from profiting from his story by signing movie TV shows or any kind of book deal The judge agrees to that request in principle But he said he would need a motion written up at a later date And you know He has the right to object which dearman then shouted out. I have no objections to that request I'm good

Then he turned around looked at his dad his dad put up a closed fist like you know you do and he gave him He gave him one back like yeah, we ain't selling shit death kill my son back like, yeah, we ain't selling shit death. Kill my son. Atta boy. Atta boy. So he speaks after the sentence, the press talks to him on the way out again and he says, quote, they knew that I wasn't in my right mind. They knew that the sober me would have never done those horrible things.

I wasn't even going to litigate my conviction, but I allowed my family to get up there and plead and plead the courts, you know for to not seek the death penalty Yeah, so he appeals in 2022 and he does get a small victory They got take some of those death sentences away, right? They take they take away some of these For they said four of the five convictions He argued that four of the five convictions violate the double jeopardy principles which prevent a defendant from being tried and convicted on multiple counts of capital murder when they involve the same victim. The court concluded that on all remaining counts the death penalty was the proper sentence

in his case. So they do strike down four of the capital murder sentences and charges. We still got six to go. You only got to die six times. That's all. 2024 in February there's an appeal. So it's this year. He claimed he's not competent to plead guilty

is the thing, that he wasn't competent to do any of that stuff. He alleges the trial court's failure to hold a competency hearing, because he tried to get a competency hearing and they wouldn't give him one. They just had him interviewed. What's this?

Is this another trial? Well, I don't know what he wants here. I don't know. You're not going to get a new trial. That's ridiculous. Yeah. Maybe if you can get it knocked down to life without, I guess. I don't know what he's trying to do here.

So he argues that the findings of one of the doctors that he was not competent to span trial provide exactly the reasonable grounds for this particular appeal. One doctor, though the state doctor, says that he was not experiencing symptoms of a severe mental disorder at the time of his crimes. Although he was abusing methamphetamine, he appears to have been aware of his actions and their effect on the victims and have been able to discern the wrongfulness of his behavior, which is the legal threshold for crazy or not here.

So another one here, Dr. Alicia Ellis Cox performed a psychiatric evaluation. She stated that Dearman presented symptoms that were indicative of bipolar disorder, PTSD, and polysubstance use disorder and remission. He's got to be, there's something between his ears that's wrong, regardless of the drugs and substances he's on, he's fucked up this day. He's fucked up in the head for sure. So they said also diagnosed him with attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder, mild neurocognitive disorder, the criteria for which is met when an individual exhibits evidence of modest cognitive decline from a previous level of performance in one or more cognitive domains that does not interfere with capacity for independent functioning, also stimulant use disorder and unspecified depressive disorder." So they said, another shrink said, to summarize, Mr. Dearman knows the charges against him, the roles of the participants in trial and the plea bargain process.

Basically, he understands everything, so he should have done that. Well then they also say that the prosecutor asked improper jury questions here, which they do a lot of times. That happens a lot. Said that they used the comments about his choice to represent himself. They made comments about that, and they weren't allowed to do that to the jurors. That's what he said.

This fuckin' moron thinks he's better than me. Makes he's better than me. I'm a lawyer, goddammit. So the Alabama Supreme Court denied the application to appeal a sentence and upheld six of the murder convictions there, because he was trying to get rid of the other six. They upheld all six.

That's February, April 4th, 2024. He wants to die. Fucking kill me now. Changed his mind. Yeah, he just realized there's no winning this. This is, yeah, this place sucks, man. So he said he's dropping his appeals and wants to be executed.

He wrote letters to the governor. He's 36. He says he's at peace with this decision. He says, now it's time for the victims and their families to get the justice they rightly deserve to start the governor. He's 36. He says he's at peace with this decision. He says, now it's time for the victims and their families to get the justice they rightly deserve to start the closure. That's what he said. He said that he has not yet told the victims' families of his decision. He said, quote, I've laid many nights thinking. I've laid, not awake, just laid, laid many nights thinking, what would I say to them if I ever had the chance, the opportunity

to say something, meaning the victim's families. He said, that's part of the reason I've made my decision to have my sentence carried out. Words don't have any weight in this situation. The only thing I would say is that everyone was hurt by the actions to forgive me, not for myself, but for them. That way they will free their heart up and be able to truly heal. He said he only did the appeals process for his family

He said they said Derek just give us a few years in this appeals process We deserve that it's our right as your family to fight for your life, and I said, okay That was almost six years ago, and I feel like I've given them a fair chance He said drugs turned me into a very unpredictable unstable and violent person. That's not who I am. The person that committed these crimes and the person who I truly am is two different people. Well those people are dead aren't anybody anymore that's the problem. He says it doesn't change the that doesn't change the facts that the crimes were committed. So he says that he wants to do a lethal injection and he says quote the execution I mean does

it scare me yes and no he said because they asked him about the failed executions because Alabama had a couple of botched ones there where the electric chair didn't work and remember that one that was crazy couldn't get they couldn't get veins. Yeah, it's a mess. Was it there where a man lived for like several botches? Yeah, and then survived the whole thing? Yeah, that's crazy. He said on one side you have, you know, worse complications

for whatever reason, you know, it's very agonizing and painful. I mean, there is a chance. Alabama's been known to have trouble with their execution process. He says, actually, that's like a challenge. You fuckers can't kill me you pussies what's up? We'll put a pillow over his face. He said I'm actually going through with it I think about the least of all my mind is so focused on trying to make sure to do the right thing and he said that he's got a spiritual advisor a reverend who said

though I'm vehemently opposed to the state of Alabama having the right to kill him Derek Dearman is competent to make his own decisions and I'll continue to prayerfully stand beside him as he proceeds and he also said there's guys in general population that committed way worse crimes than half the guys on death row guess what not what, not Derek. Yeah, not you. Not Derek. No, no, no.

This is pretty fucking bad. Unless, yeah, I mean, a lot of them, there may be people who did some sexual things to kids, but you shot a pregnant woman. Like, you didn't even give that kid a chance to. No. Wow, man. The only way he could have put a cherry on top

is if he fucked the baby's face and then crushed his skull with a big clap, you know what I mean? Like pushed in a soft spot would have been the only fucking way. What a scumbag. What a sick thing to say. That poor kid has no fucking parents now. Nope. Yeah.

And we'll never know them because it's too little. That's horrible. And there was another baby, you know, like this is, that's the second baby that Jesus fuck, this guy's a monster. He's a fucking monster. So they said there's some guys here on death row if you would let them go today They would never commit a crime and be productive members of society Maybe him he ain't him bro, bro

Dearman said he is preferable this dying is preferable to spending the rest of his life in the system here He said but that's not why he wants to be executed He said am I doing this because I can't live with myself to spending the rest of his life in the system here," he said, but that's not why he wants to be executed. He said, am I doing this because I can't live with myself? No. I made this decision for different reasons. One of those reasons is so all parties involved, not just the victims and their families, but my family as well can get some kind of closure and healing and begin moving forward.

Sometimes they do this shit to like take a stand and like be remembered. Nobody remembers the convict who wants to be put to death. You know what I mean? Nobody knows it. No, they remember the guy with the botched or like he went kicking and screaming. Yeah. You know, like six guys that have been six guys names that have been executed outside of that. You can't know it unless you fucking Google it. Or you got to have great last words, really great last words like Gary Gilmore, you know what I mean? Shit that'll launch a marketing campaign that'll be decades long. That's the type of shit you gotta do. So anyway, there you go. That is Citronella,

Alabama, episode 500. We knew it had to be a wild one. We had to mix a lot of elements, multiple murders, some rural shit. Didn't want it to be in a suburb of a city and all this type of thing. Yeah, it needs to be somewhere terrifying. I'll tell you what, I think we fucking nailed it. There you go. Yeah. Found it.

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For sure. You want to follow us on social media? Shut up and give me murder comm has links to all that shit come hang out with us and again Thank you so much for 500 episodes worth of hanging out with us. Thank you said everybody. Thank you to you Jimmy Thank you to me James. Thank you to the audience. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, Allison Thank you everybody that contributes to the show Thank you Sarah, thank you Allison, thank you everybody that contributes to the show. I have Orin, Joe, the whole team, Shelby, everybody that contributes to the team here. You've done an amazing job everybody and it wouldn't be possible without all these people

and you. So thank you so much. We're going to keep going. There we go. We'll keep going. You know when we're going to keep going? Next week. We'll be back next week. And until next week everybody,

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