Small Town Murder - #544 - Moronic Murderers - Washington Boro, Pennsylvania

Episode Date: November 16, 2024

This week, in Washington Boro, Pennsylvania, a woman is found dead & bloody, while still inside of her car, hidden in a cornfield. What unfolds from there is an uncovering of one of the worst executed murders in history. Two grown men, paid to kill, couldn't physically overtake a 40 year old convenience store manager, so they take things to extreme measures, with violent & ridiculous results. This conspiracy is found out, and everyone scrambles to avoid the death penalty!!Along the way, we find out that tomatoes can be their own sandwich, that it's much harder to impersonate a cop, if you don't have a uniform, and that if you can't execute your murder plot, as planned, maybe it's not the time to improvise!! New 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. Redacted Declassified Mysteries is a new podcast hosted by me, Luke Lamanna. Each week I dive into the hidden truths behind the world's most powerful institutions. From covert government experiments to bizarre assassination attempts, follow Redacted on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. ["Wonderful Wonders of the World"]

Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yay choo choo! Oh yay indeed Jimmy, yay indeed. My name is James Metragallo, I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you folks so much for joining us today on another absolutely insane edition of Small Town Murder Express. You know by now this is way more murder than we can fit in an hour.

We're going to cram it in there, and it's 10 pounds of murder in a two pound bag. Let's get it on here, all aboard the murder train. Pulling away from the station, just have to say before we start, head over to ShutUpAndGiveMeMurder.com. Get tickets for live shows, tons of live shows. Well, not tons of them, actually.

We have two that you can buy right now. There's actually more than that. Austin, you're up next. And then there's a couple tickets left for New York, few tickets left for Boston. Phoenix is sold out. And if you're listening to this, and it's before November 13th,

you can still get the virtual live show. Get that right now. We had costumes, the story was insane, just like a regular live show, except in your home, and for all you know, it's live at that point who cares get it now Check it out. Thank you to all of you that did absolutely It was so much fun to have so many people be a part. It was great

So that is shut up and give me murder calm you also by the way listen to our other two shows crime in sports and your Stupid opinions then when you're done with all of that get the rest of what we do here here head over to patreon And when you're done with all of that, get the rest of what we do here. Head over to Patreon, patreon.com slash crime in sports is where you get all the bonus material. Anybody $5 a month or above, you get a gigantic back catalog of bonus episodes that you've never heard before, hundreds of them there. Then new ones every other week, one crime in sports, one small town murder, and just take them all. We just give them to you all.

There you go. Have them all this week, which you're going to get. This is awesome for crime and sports. We're going to talk about pedestrianism, which was a very popular sport in the 1800s that turned into like crime and drugs. And it's the craziest thing you'll ever hear. So it's fat. I love old timey stuff like that. Then for small town murder, we're going to talk about the documentary, The Devil on Trial, which is about someone trying to use demonic possession as a defense in court, which is crazy. Oh, boy, is it interesting. It's wild.

Then we're gonna talk about just in general, exorcism type things and kind of the history of that and how that goes here. So do that. That is patreon.com slash crime in sports is where you get all of that and more. And you get a shout out at the end of the regular show as well, where Jimmy will mispronounce your name. So that said, I think it's time everybody.

Let's all sit back. What do you say here? Deep breath. Let's clear the lungs, arms to the sky. Let's all shout. Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this everybody. Okay. Let's go on a trip, shall we? Let's do it. We're going to Pennsylvania this week. There we go, we're coming, we've been in the South

a little bit, now we're gonna head up North, go to Pennsylvania. This is Washington Borough, Pennsylvania. Those are two separate words, that's why I said that, like that. Washington, space space borough. B-O-R-O. How do you...

Really? Yes. It makes no sense at all here. So Washington borough. It's in southeastern Pennsylvania, about two hours from Philly, about two hours west of Philly is how it is. So kind of towards central Pennsylvania, I guess. About an hour 25 to Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, our last Pennsylvania episode, the serial

killing nerd, which had the, they thought that Dungeons and Dragons was a big part of the murder and all that kind of thing. And it was kind of a wild episode here. This town, very small population, 729. Tiny town, under a thousand. Median household income here is high. I mean real high north about sixty nine thousand the rest of the country here one hundred eight thousand four hundred thirty eight dollars Is the median household income not sure median home price here is low, too

That's the other thing crazy high salaries. We are breaking the news. I don't know what's going on here 241,200 dollars is the median home price, which is very low. So it's great. None of this makes any sense is what I'm finding here. Drop a history here. This place was started or the kind of, you know, first inhabited by a French Canadian fur trader named Martin Chartier and his son Peter established a trading post here in 1718. And a monument was erected on the spot in 1925. So there's a monument of these fur trappers. I don't know what they're doing, trapping fur.

I don't know how you put that in brass or whatever, but they're copper. They did it. It's also called the Borough of Washington or Washington borough in the past. Then they for some reason said let's put a space between Washington and borough. That makes sense. It's the most bizarre idea. Really weird. It was incorporated in 1827. There's a lot of river. It's right on the river, the Susquehanna I think. So you're getting a lot of river stuff, jobs on the river, and you know, things going in and out back in the day here It was the site of the first colonial error era animal powered ferry. I don't know what that means

How do you do that? How do you force? I don't know if they tied Whales to it and made him swim couple of dolphins I'm not sure if there's they they have cows that only go one trip back and forth Is there drowns in them? They'll get to the middle then you got to cut the rope and coast to the end They have cows that only go one trip back and forth because they're drowned. They'll get you to the middle, then you gotta cut the rope and coast to the other side. Use your oars for the rest of it. I'm not sure how it works here.

So but due to the decline in river trade and jobs, the borough of Washington was dissolved politically and became a part politically of manor townships. So if you call the cops, the manor township cops call out, show call the cops, the manor township cops call out, show up or whatever. But they're still their own town in the dress form. So the reviews of this town, few of those.

Here's five stars, they're all good reviews too. So here's five stars. It is a nice place to live. The location is close to other towns, cities, and the highway. We can get to other places quickly and easily Well, that's helpful If you're the best part of your town is that you can get other places faster. That's not saying it's not a hole

That's not five stars for your town Pretty good place. You don't have to stay here is a weird thing to say. It's like living in a cave and being like there's a ladder Yeah, there's a ladder and it's cool. So It's like living in a cave and being like, there's a ladder. Yeah, there's a ladder and it's cool. So four stars, good, clean, healthy. Wow. OK, this is a community that is perfect for young and growing families to live and play. Well, only 700. Oh, that's it. Not many people have found it.

Four stars. Although Washington borough is a very small town, it is connected with a very close community. The neighbors are very friendly and are always willing to help out. The scenery is amazing and sits upon the Susquehanna River. So there you go. That's the town. You can see it. It's a little tiny town.

It feels like Amish people and their buggies will be passing by and you're like, okay. And there's a river. And there's a big river next door there. So we love rivers. We like rivers. Things to do in this town. The Washington Borough Tomato Festival. Okay.

This is tomato country here, that's the thing. Pennsylvania, I've said this before, my grandmother used to go once a year to Pennsylvania and her and all of her sisters would go together and fill their cars with tomatoes to the point where they had tomatoes around them. It was just a face, the inside of the car was just a tomato with a face. That's all it was.

That's how they drive home. Oh, hmm. Okay, those don't. And then you make sauce for the whole year. Oh, okay, so you make it all up and then can it, I guess? You jar it, yeah. She'd put it in these big jars. But I mean, there was a four day thing

where all the daughters would be there and it'll be peeling and boiling and fucking doing this and making this of sauce and oh yeah every year But then after that you could just reach in and grab a thing of sauce. It was nice after that Yeah, so the annual Washington Borough Tomato festivals held every year on the second and third Saturday of July and it benefits a fire rescue organization and Also celebrates the area's tomato growing heritage. There is food, games, music, and plenty of fun for the whole family.

In all of the summer's delights, few things compare to a fresh tomato sandwich or a BLT. A tomato sandwich? Yeah, tomatoes. Yeah, if you're not, I don't know if every ethnicity, but you'll eat tomatoes. Just tomato? You can eat just tomato or like my grandmother used to just slice a tomato and put a little

salt on it and that was a snack. You know what I mean? It's that little bread. You know what I mean? So just kind of a tomato thing. The festival kicks off here. They said naturally there will be plenty of plentiful tomatoes and tomato sandwiches for sale. There'll also be live music from Borderline. Yeah. Madonna covers. Have we heard of them before? Borderline?

Yeah. Possibly. I don't know. I feel like we have. And then there's another. This one I think we have heard of. There's another one here, another performance after that from Three Hour Tour is the name. We have?

We just had that. We have absolutely heard of Three Hour Tour. 100%. That's crazy. There's a circuit. There's a, the bigger, we found the circuit, okay. The bigger county fairs that go on that have like, you know, some population centers in them, that's ludicrous. He's there for every one of those, okay. Nelly if he's not available. Yeah. Then for these smaller festivals that nobody, you know in tiny towns. It's three-hour tour. They're gonna They're gonna get all of those gigs. That's amazing. They're trying to work their way up to opening for ludicrous There are a bunch of bands that listen to our show cuz it

Yeah, yeah, and and they recognize some of these towns as they're traveling and they love Yeah, and they recognize some of these towns as they're traveling. I bet. And they love, they love, I've heard it from a bunch of them, they adore when we just bash these shit small town towns. Well yeah, they don't want to go there. They're going there because they need $700. They're not going there because they really want to play to the people of- Because they love tomatoes.

Washington borough, fucking Pennsylvania. Yeah, can't wait for the tomato sandwiches. Well, we're headed to Amish country anyway, so on the way we might as well stop here pick up a few bucks. And get a tomato sandwich. Jesus Christ, that said, let's talk about some murder. What do you say everybody? Here we go. Tomato sandwiches for all. Let's do this. We'll give the murderer a nice big tomato sandwich this week. We'll send them one. Is it like tomato slices with shit between them or is it tomato slices on bread?

Tomato slices on bread. That's it? Yeah, I mean I'm sure there's, you know, seasonings or herbs or basil or something or whatever the fuck you wanna put on it. I had a tomato sandwich today. Yeah, I did. It had turkey and cheddar and there was also tomato.

It's not bad. It's a tomato sandwich. They're trying to showcase the taste Turkey and yeah cheddar and there's also They're trying to showcase the taste of their locally grown tomatoes, so if you put turkey and bacon in it Then you fuck it all up Don't say oh, it's gonna be delicious, but you don't taste it So murder here, let's talk about this we We gotta talk about a couple first of all here. Rod and Barbara here, okay. Rod and Barbara. Roderick Herman Fry is the husband.

He's born in 1937, this guy. His parents, by the way, this is how old he is. His parents, his dad's name is Cyrus. Not a lot of that going on nowadays. Cyrus Strickler Fry is his dad's name and his mother's name is Helen Mary Fry. So I find that hilarious. And by the way, Herman is his mom's maiden name. That's why it's his middle name. Okay. Old school shit there. He marries Barbara Jean Schen, and she becomes Barbara Jean Fry after that,

F-R-E-Y by the way. She is born November 15th, 1938, so same deal there. She's from Manor Township, which is the town right next door, and technically this town now. And her parents are Benjamin and Ada Domback, okay? Now, Benjamin, I have to say about this guy,

because he sounds like a fucking, like a cool old guy. He was the 1985 Valley Manor Golf Champion, and from 78 to 80, he was the Pennsylvania State Bowling Association Senior Champion. Is that right? Yeah, so Dad is really good at, you know, non-games that don't involve running Yeah, well bowling isn't rich guy shit, but that's what's there

You don't find guys who are great at golf and bowling those are two things golfers don't ball bowlers don't golf usually My dad's a my dad's a bowler if I gave him a golf club a bag of golf clubs He would not even know what club to hit what with he wouldn't fucking care because he's never played his life You know what club to hit what with he wouldn't fucking care because he's never played his life you know what I mean yeah sure and my stepfather is a golfer and I don't think he can fucking bowl a 50 if you gave him 10 frames pinball I bet he can do that it's probably good yeah so in October 1956 they get married okay I mean she's 18 years old and he's 19 years old they get married they're gonna have some kids here In the late 50s they have a son named Kevin then in 1960 they have twin boys named Wendell Lee and Wesley

So they go with the W Wendell and Wes here in 1960 now in 1969 they both get involved with the Turkey Hill Company and Turkey Hill does ice cream dairy all that kind of shit Oh East Coast Turkey Hills in every grocery store for ice cream. Yeah, they've got ice cream. It's not bad at all So that's the it's kind of like the Tillamook of the East I would say Turkey, yeah, look doesn't come out come out east. I don't know. I don't I don't think I see it much out here No, is that right? No, but they do have to get a bunny and shit like that. I don't think so see it much out here. No, is that right? No, but they do have turkey bunny and shit like that I don't think so. I'm not sure. I'm not sure I buy my all my ice cream from Stewart's cuz that's my favorite ice cream here So I never buy it from the grocery store. You don't even get your turkey Creek or turkey what turkey hill? No, I like Stewart's the best because it's also fresher and they ship it right to the stores right there. That's good

Yeah, and it's down the street from my house. I like that. So she gets a job. She is the Turkey Hill Minute Market Manager. Oh, okay. Minute Market. Minute with no E, by the way. It's so fast in and out, they don't even have time to spell it all the way, because it's so fast. Convenience store. Let's get time for seven letters.

No time, let's go. Six? How many is it? Six. She is twice selected as Turkey Hill Manager of the Year, by the way. Manager of the Year manager of the year by the way Manager of the year of their all their corporate shit of a hundred stores. She's the manager back. No, no 74 and 78 Okay, which is it? Okay, 74. I give it to her as a clean win 78 I feel like they might have felt bad for as we'll talk about here I feel like maybe they were like man, she's still showing up to work and she's had a tough year

So yeah, she won in 78 while working at the Wrightsville location They say they select about four managers of the year from among a hundred stores So yeah, they're given awards for cleanliness inventory sales labor relations and manager attitude Okay, you go now Rod her husband is a Turkey Hill delivery man. He delivers shit to the stores. Yeah, he's a four day a week guy who delivers milk to the Turkey Hill stores from the Turkey Hill dairies. So that's what he does. So yeah, they're all tied up in Turkey Hill. They have a house at 40 Mill Street in Washington borough it's a four-bedroom two-bath 1,532 square foot house that still stands today and has built 1900 so it's old

Old little house and put with the picture of it on Zillow is just woods with an RV parked in front of it Somewhere behind that RV move that RV Is this fucking van, or is this house? 1977, Wendell, their son, is killed at 20. Oh no, it's just west now. At 17, yeah, it's just west. He's killed in a car crash on Route 441 in Conoy Township. So yeah, he was driving a truck at a high rate of speed and crashed it in

a single car crash. So he did it to himself on that one. So they give her the manager of the year in 78. That's why I said, I feel like maybe it's just, I feel bad for her. Like she's been through a ton. Jesus Christ. So by 1978 to the couples having problems, they're having marital problems, which after the death of a child is very common. It's yeah extremely common here Also, this is less common But Rod is also fucking whoever we can on the side too. So yeah, that doesn't help that used that's not gonna help Yeah, it's not let it's the child dying is less common But you know when a child dies, that's a less common reason to fight is you're also fucking everybody also.

That's gross. Losing a twin is even more uncommon. Yeah. And then depending on how you two grieve over it, it may drive the other into the arms of seven or eight different ladies. He grieves with his penis and other people. That's how he grieves. As penis is crying. It's how he grieves. His penis is crying.

It's crying out for help, that's the problem. Gently my penis weeps. It weeps. So in 1978, while this is going on, he decides, they decide, she files for divorce anyway. She's had enough, yeah. But then the proceeding is dropped at some point in 78. So they decide to get a divorce and they decide not to get a divorce. So who knows what's happening. But Rod, he keeps having affairs. It

doesn't matter. So that's just a... he's not gonna stop that at all. By 1979, they're having even more problems. November 4th, 1979, they separate, meaning he moves out of the house completely. He goes and moves into a trailer a few miles away and she remains in the marital home here with the 17 year old remaining live twin. I think he's 19 at this point, but they live together. So yeah, they're doing that. He moves out. And that's how that goes. Now, November 7th, 1979, Barbara is, Wesley sees her at about 11 p.m. on November 7th, 1979 before they go to bed.

And she's gotta get up early in the morning for work. Her job sounds rough. She leaves for work at about 430 in the morning and gets there at five, which sounds like a fucking nightmare. That's a nightmare. She might as well go milk cows. You know what I mean? She might as well be at that part of the cooperation because she's up anyway. Be early on the end of this if you're up that early. Yeah, why not? Yeah, at least when you're done, you're done. So November 8th, the next morning, she leaves for work at about 4.30 a.m. and to go to the Turkey Hill Minute Market

in Wrightsville where she's working. She's usually at work by five, but that's like when she starts her shift, but she gets there before five usually because she's a conscientious manager that wins awards. Yeah, you gotta beat every, if you can't, as the manager, manager be there early then you don't have a leg to stand on lecturing people.

You gotta be there with cow milk and gloves on 15 minutes early. 15 minutes before start of shift if you're not early or late that's how she works. So about 6am Wesley gets a call from people at the store wondering where she is. She's never late. I mean that doesn't happen. So they're like an hour late. An hour late, she left an hour and a half ago. Yeah, so it's a 15 minute ride.

So she definitely shouldn't take an hour and a half. So he then called all the hospitals in the county to see if maybe, because she looked out the window, her car's gone, so it doesn't take her an hour and a half to get to work, so he figures she must've gotten a car accident, she's probably in the hospital. Starts calling around to all the hospitals. So by the time he's done, it's 8 52 a.m. and he reports his mother missing to the Manor Township police at that point.

Took him two and a half hours to make those calls. Yep. I told him two and a half hours to call. I don't know how. I guess at first, I don't know. I don't know how long it takes to first, I don't know. I don't know how long it takes to call. How many hospitals can there be in this county? You know what I mean? I guess a lot because they're small ones. Yeah. What do they do? Will they take the name and then just go walk door to door and see if that person is in that room? I don't know if also he sat there for a while going, well, I don't want to get the cops

on it. If she like stopped somewhere, you know, something, she's not in the hospital, then it's her choice to not be at work. I don't know. But he ends up calling at 852. And there's a lady named Mrs. Wakefield. She is at the store that she works at. She's the one who called the sun. And she said she figured something must have happened to Barbara. And she asked Wesley to quote, to come up to route 441 to see if there was an accident. So then she said I'll check police departments. You call the hospitals and we'll get back with each other. Mrs Wakefield said quote I was almost certain she was dead, which is crazy.

A person is an hour late for work. You're like I'm pretty sure she's dead. I'm already making funeral arrangements picking out a dress This is insane. Like You are really skipping ahead of the line here lady She was gone a week I can see you go okay, I'm pretty sure she's dead but fuck She must be dead. I don't know. Yeah, so they said where the hell is she they the cops are looking for they said She's five foot seven two hundred twenty pounds and wearing a brown leather brown leather shoes red slacks a heavy black pullover sweater

And a dark blue windbreaker It's November in Pennsylvania, so it's cold but not freezing So then at 420 p.m. Okay 420 p.m. There is a guy here named Roy R Nissley and He is he has a farmer who's got a cornfield and all this shit out here, right? There's this guy so it's 420 after he sparks up his afternoon, dude here he he heads out to the cornfields here and he he's just looking around and then he ends up coming upon a car in his cornfield. He found a car that looked like it had been

driven into the cornfield that's just sitting there and yeah, he's working on his cornfield. He started to work the west side of Franklin Road and had gone across the highway to the east side to check on a field of standing corn there. He came upon a car about 100 yards off the roadway in the cornfield. The vehicle had been driven about a car length into the standing corn. So just enough to be inside of it.

Just enough to hide. The hood was up and it appeared the motor had been left running, although it was not running when it was found. It was in the on position, the key and all that kind of shit. So there was a circle of charred and burned corn and other viscera around there directly beneath the engine as well. All sorts of burned shit there. Like it was on fire and he looks in the car and sees a woman inside the car.

And Nissley said, I was shocked to see that woman laying there. Which, you know, you go out to, you go out to inspect a cornfield, you don't expect to find cars and ladies. So he said that she was slumped against the door inside the car on the driver's side, and there is blood in the car that he can see. So he goes, hey, I'm out of here, Miss Lee says. He said some of his neighbors had reported seeing headlights in the cornfield during the early morning hours and hearing a motor running in the cornfield. They told him that later.

Miss Lee said he woke up between four and five a.m. and heard a car apparently speeding along Central Manor Road, not far from this. So he reported this to the Manor Township Police at 420, and they came and they confirmed that not only was this woman dead, but it's Barbara Frye. So no gun is found at the scene, although she is bloody and appears

to have bullet wounds in her. Along with other multiple situations. Oh yeah, she's been through the wringer here. So they said they went there, they took a helicopter out and made several passes over the area where the body was found, seeking some evidence that another car may have been parked in the cornfield area.

That's what they're looking for, to see if they can see that. Because they said whoever did this to her must have had transportation to and from the scene because her car's here. So unless this Roy Nissley guy did it, which they highly doubt, then you know. It's his cornfield, but yeah. So wounds. Okay.

The autopsy says that she died from a single gunshot wound that entered her left arm Then went into her chest and severed a major blood vessel from her heart So but there's other injuries as well shot through the chest Severely beaten about the face and head and has big nasty bite marks on her left arm Big yeah, like someone's was, like Ted Bundy shit here. Like someone was trying to bite her, which is, you don't, that's not, it's not expected usually in a shooting.

You don't see a shooting in a car and expect the person to be bitten up too. So they said that the fatal bullet passed through her left lung, pulmonary artery, heart, right lung, and exited from the chest. It was a large caliber weapon, by the way. He said that the woman died in a matter of seconds from massive bleeding. He said the murder weapon was certainly not a.22, I would say.30 caliber or larger.

So besides the bullet wound, though, they said an extensive amount of injuries to the body, nearly all of them blunt injuries as well Including multiple large lacerations of the scalp They said there were five lacerations on the front and another on the left side Small to medium bruises and abrasions of the forehead face nose left forearm in both hands So there was a fight here She in the driver's seat of this car? Yes, driver's seat leaned up against the door.

What in the fuck? Bruises and abrasions of the left arm, including a human bite mark. They made sure to say that they said this woman was bitten by a human. An animal didn't come and open her car door and fucking bite her. They said the bite mark was from then, it was recent, it wasn't an old bite mark or anything. Later on he's asked, did you make a comparison of the marks to see if she bit herself? And he said, no, who the fuck would do that? Why?

It's on her shoulder. Doesn't make any sense. They indicated five to 10 a.m. was the time of death, which is, they never know what the fuck, when the hell the time of death is. And it's wild here. They said the windbreaker had one bullet hole and the sweater she wore underneath had three bullet holes. Mostly in the area of the left sleeve and left chest, but there was only one bullet track through the body. And they said they learned that a bullet

dropped from the woman's clothing during removal of the body. So there was more than one shot fired, the other one just didn't... Her sweater stopped it! Yeah, somehow. The other one went all the way through her body. Arm, chest, lungs, hearts, and out the other side, and this one didn't penetrate her and fucking fell out of her clothing. Low powder velocity or something? Very, very weird here.

So now the first person they want to talk to is Rod, of course, Low low powder velocity or something very very weird here. So Now the first person they want to talk to his rod, of course, because that's you know, he just moved out He said he was home at the time of the murder at his trailer He said he had not didn't hear about his wife's death until 8 or 8 30 that evening four hours after she was found And that was when other close relatives were told by police and then they called him So yeah, he lives on Donnerville Road in a mobile home about three miles from the scene. This holiday season, give your loved ones only the best from L.L. Bean. For 80 years, L.L. Bean has been making their Scotch plaid flannel shirts the same way, better than everyone else's. Their Scotch plaid is brushed on each side to create a smooth and cozy feel.

And at just $79, this long-lasting plaid is a perfect way to stay comfy all winter long. Give only the best gifts from L.L. Bean at Oakville Place, George and Mollinbury, and CF Shops at Don Mills. Shopify doesn't just meet you where you are. We meet you where you're going. Shopify doesn't just meet you where you are, we meet you where you're going. Shopify is the only commerce platform relentlessly focused on one thing and one thing only, commerce. We challenge the status quo so that your business can do bigger, better, and focus on building what's next so that you're always moving further, faster. For enterprise brands that believe there's a better way,

there's Shopify. Learn more at Shopify.com slash enterprise. And he said, they said, do you know anybody who would want to hurt your wife? And he said, I can't think of a motive that anyone would have to kill her. She's a fucking Turkey Hill store manager. Who's after her?

You know what I mean? Yeah. Somebody bought bad milk or shitty ice cream or something. They're upset. So the cop said there was no signs of robbery, no signs that she'd been sexually molested in any way, shape, or form. Really?

The lieutenant said it's really a mystery. Total mystery. Beaten and shot. And bitten, beaten, bitten, and shot. Yeah. It's very fucking weird. And then parked in a cornfield ever so gently. Ever so nicely here. And the lieutenant also said that the husband lives about three miles away

and there's no evidence that he was anywhere near here. He said, quote, you can't classify him as a suspect. No. So you take him out of there. Cheating husband who just is in the middle of a divorce and he's not even a suspect. Now you really have a mystery. What the fuck? Gotcha gotcha, yeah. So one of her friends said, I don't know anybody who didn't think she was an awfully, awfully nice person. We're still in shock over Barbara.

We all hope whoever did this is discovered and apprehended. Right. So at this point, they believe that she was murdered prior to daylight. That's the inclination here. And elsewhere, right? Well, that's what they're trying to figure out. They said they didn't feel that she'd been killed by a complete outsider. So they said, it's not a serial killer because people started to panic. Oh God, is this somebody doing this? And they said, no, no, no, we don't think this was an outsider that's going

to kill other people randomly. They said we think we were has pretty personal Yeah, we think we are having success We think we are focusing in the right direction The cop said but that means nothing because they don't have any evidence at this point They said the chance that two people were involved in the murder is a possibility The body was found in her own car and appears the killer would have needed to get away vehicle if he acted alone He would have had to halt her vehicle on foot and driven the woman to the cornfield where he had a second vehicle waiting So that wouldn't make much sense, right?

It would make more sense for one two people to be doing this And they said quote it had to be someone who knew the area knew her schedule and the way she went to work I hope to God I hope God forgives us for feeling the way we do, but we're very suspicious, is what her family says. The police say they have some good leads, quote, some leads, some good leads, but not positive leads. What the fuck does that mean?

Nothing. Yeah, that doesn't mean anything at all. It means we talk to people, we got nothing, get back to you later. We have a lot of questions is what that means. More questions than answers here. And this was by the way less than a mile from her home this happened.

Oh my. Five fucking minutes here. Also. That's almost fucking haunted, right? And her car windows are shattered also. Not the windshield in the back window, only her, the door windows are shattered as well. So they talked to Roderick, the press does, and he said that he's uneasy over the fact that nobody has been arrested yet. He said, it makes you half wonder if you want to ever go out.

Stay inside your house. Could be some maniac out there. He said that he was home at the Times. They said, where were you? And he said, I was home at the time, other people told me. And they said, how did you feel? And he said, quote, I was all broken up. Which is the way. Why does it keep coming up? I don't know, you're laughing about, we laugh about this, cause that's Kuklinski, the ice man.

When he's found out about Roy DeMeo being killed, he said, how'd you feel about it? He goes, I was all broken up about it, with a big smile on his face. It's a very Italian sarcastic thing to say when you don't give a shit. My grandfather said it all the time, I'm all broken up about it with a big smile on his face. It's a very Italian sarcastic thing to say when you don't give a shit. My grandfather said it all the time. I'm all broken up about it. It's just the way it is. But he, they said, well, do you know who could have done this? And he said, quote,

she keeps things to herself. She never told me much. So he said, I don't know who she was hanging out with, what she was doing. Um, they talked to their pastor now. Apparently she attended the Grace Evangelical Congregational Church on Creede Avenue in Millersville and the pastor Philip Ghost White, he said the entire Frey family were members of the church. He said that he often said hello to Barbara after Sunday services and paid one visit to the home after he learned there were marital difficulties.

Mind your business, fuck off. What are you doing? I hear you guys are having problems. Okay. Worry about you. Let's worry about you. Let's talk to your wife and see if everything's perfect. What are you talking about?

He said, I didn't know the family situation that well. To me, she was a melancholy person. She seemed always to be pretty distraught and concerned about her marital situation, which also she's still recovering from her son being killed also. So if you add that into the fold, you can understand why she'd be a bit of a downer, you know. Plenty of reason to be melancholy. A little melancholy. This guy estimated there were more than a hundred people at her funeral, which was held at the Kraft Funeral Home. Mac and cheese for all, everybody.

He said that Roderick, the woman's husband, was present and seemed very distraught. He said, I think he was crushed by the whole thing. It was a complete shock to him, the pastor said. They said, who do you think might be responsible? Because no one solves crimes better than pastors. Who do you think could have done this? And he said, it sounds like she knew something about someone they didn't want her to know. Someone didn't want her to have that information and they killed her.

I don't have any concrete facts except that she was indeed killed. We all have theories. I'm really wildly speculating right now. Just wildly throwing fucking... Bullshit at the wall. Throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing if it sticks. Wildly casting aspersions all around. I think she maybe found all the messages in Da Vinci's paintings. Oh my god.

And they couldn't let it out. I think she found the NSA's secrets. I think that the CIA is involved in this. She's heard of some JFK stuff. Wow. So that's what left her in a cornfield. And that's the pastor. So imagine what people are sitting around coming up with. You know what I mean? Boy is he fun. Fuck. Because December 5th comes up and there's no progress. So that's almost a month. Wow. So people are really going wild with their own theories now. No. To a pastor to believe anything at all. That's anything. I just think that she had info. She's a fucking Turkey Hill convenience store manager. What information could she possibly have

gleaned from anybody that would make her murder worthy. She's been privy to some shit, James. She knows how the milk is stored, that's what it is. She's seen the microfilm. She knows how the ice cream is made, and you gotta take her the fuck out. So, it remains unsolved. Relatives and close friends said they're scared by the knowledge that the killer or killers are still at large. They also say they're in a state of shock over the death, and they we think the cops said we think we're having success. We think we're focusing in the right direction. Yeah, which is not making me feel better. He said we have to check a couple things this week. There's a lot of false rumors going around. This week we're gonna run them down. Yeah, there's a lot of false rumors apparently.

He said that people have, he has talked to concerning the murder have been cooperative but scared. Her work friend said that they're surprised that there's been no arrest yet. Here's Edna Wakefield, the lady who was sure she was dead after an hour. She's mean as shit. Edna, area, she's a manager here, was a close friend of Mrs. Frye and also Peggy Rhodes, an employee at the store. They're both surprised the case is still open.

Edna and Peggy are both surprised. Somewhere there's high schools with secretaries missing. You know what I mean? Like those are high school secretary names. And they think that all cases are solved lickety, lickety split. And then they call Ferris Bueller's house and see why he's absent. This wasn't her name, Edna, I think. Uh, was it?

I think it was. Maybe Peggy. Or Peggy. It was one of the two. I'll tell you that much. He said, I think they just had to pick up. I thought they just had to pick up the person is what Peggy said. I don't get it. Like we haven't figured it out. She thought just go pick somebody up. We see a dead body and we just go get people. We go grab somebody and pick them up. Peggy also said she didn't seem to think she was in any imminent danger. She said she saw her. They worked together on the 7th and Barbara

told her, see you tomorrow. She didn't say, not going to see you tomorrow. Have a good night but I'll be long dead by the time you get here." So Edna Wakefield recalled having a phone conversation with Barbara the evening prior to when she was killed, and she said most of it was business, a few personal things, and she described her as a quiet type person and said that she described him as a, Rod as a quiet type person and said that Mrs. Fry was outgoing. So at work she's outgoing, at church she's melancholy. There's no, who knows. So her kids.

And everybody that's 10 minutes out of Edna's life is dead. Dead, fucking dead. Oh, my husband, he must be dead. He's like, just, I stopped at the store for a six pack. What the fuck? I was cutting the lawn, didn't you hear the mower? Good lord, man. Jesus Christ.

I fell asleep in the den. What do you want? What the hell's going on here? I took a nap. They called the coroner. I took a nap next thing you know there's a goddamn fucking slab in my room here. They're gonna wheel me out on a gurney. She's got a fucking headstone in the living room she's polishing.

I wake up to two guys putting me in a bag for fuck's sake. Calm down Edna, Jesus Christ. The zipper woke me up. Yeah, I was like, hey, what are you doing? Leave me alone. So he said they talked to her son, Kevin, and he expressed concern for the safety of his family saying it might be somebody after his family and they could all be next and he asked the newspaper that nothing be printed about the phone conversation he has with them. He's scared. Then Wesley

said no comment. He didn't want to comment on it at all. Yeah can you imagine she's been murdered seven different ways sitting in a car. Sitting in a car, hitman, mafia guys. She's a fucking convenience store manager. This is wild. They're acting like she's got international secrets somewhere. What an aggressive way to murder somebody when they. Oh, strange.

Very little to do with much. No, they talked, and Rod said that he only talked to his wife for about five minutes the whole week there. He said, because they'd been separated. He said she they've been you know separated. He said she didn't seem too scared or anything and he said that he's been trying to contact Rod said this trying to contact the trooper in charge of the investigation for the past few days but can't get a hold of him. And so he said I don't know. He said have the police told you any progress? He goes this guy won't

call me back. He said I got the impression they were on to a lead so maybe they they're busy. Yeah, they're out there running around. They don't have time for the phone Yeah, he said that you know, he thinks that the police are doing all they can to solve the murder He said he's still in shock over the murder and they said do you think the killer will strike again? And he said it's hard to say Play 70s. He said maybe they'll do this again. I don't know. I mean, it's everybody be careful two days later He's arrested Rod is by the police. Oh, is that for murder? Yes for murdering his wife I don't know. I haven't decided yet. You think there'll be more murders. I don't know Book and see if anybody's pissed me off. Hold on a minute

As soon as I get enough money to buy more ammo, maybe. Maybe. Well, no, he's not arrested alone. It's also Charles D. Ziering, Z-E-H-R-I-N-G, who's 22 years old, 20 years younger than Rod. He's arrested as well, and a third man is also arrested here that we'll talk about. They're all charged with murder and conspiracy. So let's talk about this. What the fuck happened? What the fuck happened? Because we end up finding out what happened because everybody's, everybody spills the

beans here, which is also hilarious. Shit, we didn't get this far. Let's tell on each other, everybody. So going back to May of 1979, months before the murder, six months before, Rod meets a guy, Charles David Ziering, who's 22 years old. Ziering installs alarm systems and used to be the manager of a Turkey Hill store in Cleona. And he also, Ziering is also a private investigator, so he installs alarms, he's a private investigator, he also slings ice cream.

Yeah. He's a busy guy. Yeah, he's a private investigator, he also slings ice cream. He's a busy guy. So they met through their employment and had a series of conversations about his marital difficulties. That's what he'd say, hey, how's it going? I have a fucking wife and they talk and we're fighting. So they'd talk about that. Ziering, who is described as a quote, paranoid schizophrenic who collects exotic weaponry and anarchists slash survivalist literature.

So those are actual problems. Those are three separate problems rolled into one. Any one of those three things I'm going, yeah, fucking I'm worried about this guy. Paranoid, exotic weaponry collectors and anarchists slash survivalist literature collectors, all crazy. He's all three horrible that he could own weaponry when he has that exotic weaponry Jimmy, not even fucking not a pocket knife. No, he wants Japanese samurai sword.

And yeah, I got me a 17th century Japanese sword and a rocket launcher from Vietnam two things I got and a bazooka an anarchist fucking catapult I learned in the anarchist cookbook how to make the anarchist catapult my favorite thing about the whole thing is the Anarchist Soup because it was delicious. I never thought to put the spices they use, but man, I'll tell you, that cookbook is something. It's also flammable. You can make napalm in the most delicious spring soup, all in one book. You put it in a super soaker and spray it in your enemy's eyes.

Oh, it's the best, man. Never would have thought about it. So apparently this lunatic, Zering, suggested to Rod about three months before the murder that maybe the solution to your wife problem is to, quote, waster. Maybe you just waster. Just was her. So Barbara apparently had refiled for divorce during this, like right before the separation. And at that point is when he said, OK, fuck this.

Yeah, let's kill her. OK, let's get rid of her. So now what how does he says that? What does it cost? What will you take to kill her? You know, obviously not going gonna do it as a favor. Right. I'd like to be paid in exotic weaponry, please. He says- Exotic spices are my Antarctic cookbook.

He said five grand is my price. Wow, incredibly affordable. In 1979, that's way more money than that is now. Yeah, that's two cars. That's a lot back then. That's actually like not a cop price back then. Right. Nowadays that'd be a cop price.

No, it's two cars. It's probably 30 grand, 25 grand, probably five, six times about. Yeah, but you can't buy two cars for that many. No, no, no. Those were also awful cars. They were terrible pieces of shit too. Terrible pieces of shit now still cost 30 grand.

Yes, but no cars a piece of shit now, that was the thing. I see what you're saying. All new cars are like- It's reliable. It'll get you 100,000 miles. Yeah, they all have like computer systems and all this crazy shit. Back then it was like, here's your piece of shit, Pinto. The Justy does not equate to a Nissan Max so much today. No, exactly. a pinto was

2,800 bucks and it was because it exploded if you ran into it, you know So He has he gonna get five grand because he doesn't have five grand. What do you have to pay him? so what he does is he calls Barbara up Rod does and Convinces her that he should get some money as an advance from the upcoming divorce property settlement. He's getting... He had her pay for her own murder. Get the fuck out of my life! Are you kidding me?

Oh my god! He said, give me money. She did and he said, here, go kill that bitch. Oh my god, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. The fact that they're in the middle of a divorce because he's cheating on her and she's still willing to give him an advance on the money and not tell him to fuck off, not tell him to fuck off tells me

that she's not murder worthy. This is not a candidate for murder here. She's a decent person. And she's not the problem, you are, man. Yeah, so he said it was expenses for moving out and all that, I could use five grand, so she issued him a check for $5,000 drawn from the Colonial Savings and Loan Association.

Oh my God. He paid 3,000 upfront to Ziering. Didn't even give it all up? He does. It's a before and after. Upon completion. Can't just give him the whole five grand. Yeah, but.

He'll run off into the hills. So he gives him an upfront, which is normal. I mean, that's fine. He gave him that about three days before the murder, three or four days. Now on the evening of November 7th, Zering met with Rod at Rod's residence, the trailer, and Rod told Zering, this is how Barbara goes to work. This is what time she leaves.

This is the route she takes. And it was his understanding, Rod's, that at the time Zering would be accompanied by another person and they were going to, the whole point was to rig the car so it looks like she got in a car accident and died. That's the point. But look how it ended up. Nowhere near that. Shooting, biting, beating, not even close. And the cars in fine shape too. That's the other thing. No accident at all. Wow. She ran into a cornfield and the car fired

a bullet in her chest and then beat her over the head and bitter with its human teeth. So it was the intention. Here's what it was. They were going to knock her unconscious, take her elsewhere, run her car into a tree, and put her in there and put her head up against the steering wheel like she bashed her head into the fucking steering wheel and killed herself. That's the plan. Okay, I suppose.

Yeah, I said 1979 forensics, that could work. Maybe. So Rod asked his wife, Barbara, to meet him early in the morning at the convenience store that she managed so that she could deliver some lunch meat that she was to slice for him. Okay. I don't know what's going on. He gave-

I've got a chunk of cubed beef. Apparently she gave him five grand and he gave her a ham to slice for him. Like I don't, this is a very strange separated relationship going on here. I'll be around to pick up my chipped ham. Weird. So that same night Rod spent the night with his girlfriend, the night before the murder. Now on November 8th, the other person involved is Richard Helberlig, or I'm sorry, Heberlig,

H-E-B-E-R-L-I-G. He's 33 years old, so we got a 22 year old, a 33 year old, and a 42 year old. None of these people should be hanging out with each other, and they're all in the same murder plot. Right. So what they did is they intercepted Barbara on her way to work to kill her.

They acted as police officers. They put a fucking, they put a lights, they had a light, they they put it on their car and they put the light on and pulled her over that's how they did it like a fucking mob hit like Kara Kappa and the other guy the mob guys that did that the mob cops that would just arrest mobsters and then go murder them They were gone. They pull them over take them away and kill them They killed like 50 people for the mob in the 70s and 80s. Oh yeah, they were some of the most prolific guys in the world because they just pulled some,

it was like they disappeared. Their car was on the side of the road and they were gone, never to be found again. Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes, even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot

of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities. From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily comes the new podcast The Real History of Dracula. We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker rated ancient folklore, exploited Victorian fears around sex, science and religion, and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night.

You can binge all episodes of The Real History of Dracula exclusively with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus and the Wondria, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. You don't believe in ghosts? I get it. Lots of people don't. I didn't either until I came face to face with them. Ever since that moment, hauntings, spirits, and the unexplained have consumed my entire life. I'm Nadine Bailey. I've been a ghost tour guide for the past 20 years.

I've taken people along with me into the shadows, uncovering the macabre tales that linger in the darkness. And inside some of the most haunted houses, hospitals, prisons and more. Join me every week on my podcast, Haunted Canada, as we journey through terrifying and bone-chilling stories of the unexplained. Search for Haunted Canada on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Did you know that after World War II, the U.S. government quietly brought former Nazi scientists to America in a covert operation to advance military technology? Or that in the 1950s the US Army conducted a secret experiment by releasing bacteria over San Francisco to test how a biological attack might spread without alerting

the public? These might sound like conspiracy theories, but they're not. They're well-documented government operations that have been hidden away in classified files for decades. I'm Luke Lamanna, a Marine Corps recon vent, and I've always had a thing for digging into the unknown. It's what led me to start my new podcast, Redacted Declassified Mysteries. In it, I explore hidden truths and reveal some eye-opening events, like covert experiments and secret operations that those in power tried to keep buried. Follow redacted declassified mysteries with me,

Luke Lamanna on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen ad free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. At what point do you think they realized that it was like, you know what I mean? At what point did they realize that they were about to be killed? Probably, well, at first not at all because they were detectives pulling them over.

Right. But after... And they were thrown in the back of a car. After a while, everybody knew what they were doing, and they were like, oh shit, if you got pulled over, then those two showed up. You knew you were fucking dead at that point. It was over. You knew you were fucked.

Yeah. And one of the guys was in Goodfellas, too. Really? Yeah. He was one of the guys in the bar scene in Goodfellas. They used him for that. Interesting, right? What the fuck?

So, because he knew a bunch of mob guys. So they pulled her car over. They intended to beat her unconscious and staged a car accident, but they couldn't knock her out. These two guys beat the living shit out of her and she kept fighting back. That's why they bit her. They bit her because she was attacking them.

She was no fucking- She was gonna win. Shrinking fucking violet here. She was, she weighs 220 and she's not fucking around. She will kick your goddamn ass. They couldn't knock her out. She was fighting off two grown men on her own. It's funny how if you've never knocked anybody out,

how fucking hard is this? Oh, it's real hard. It's an actual art. It's like Funny Farm when they're beating the guy who goes, you're not knocked anybody out, how fucking hard is this? Oh, it's real hard. It's an actual arf. It's like Funny Farm, when they're beating a guy, he goes, you're not knocking him out, you're just beating the piss out of him. That's the same thing, it's so hard, just keep punching him.

Hey, you can't knock somebody out by hitting them in the shoulder blades. No. So that's what happened here, they couldn't do it. So apparently, what happened is Heberlig panicked and just took his gun out and shot her in the chest because she was winning. She was fighting them and winning. They literally resorted to biting her. Wow. Like that's how much she was winning. So that fucked up the whole accident thing here. When they pulled her over apparently, well we'll

get to that in a second, but they then they moved it into a cornfield and tried to set the car on fire. That's why everything's burned under it. They tried to burn it. The fire went out and didn't destroy any of the evidence. It was just terrible. It's just a lady laying there beat up, bitten with a massive gunshot wound in her fucking chest.

Would you just crumble and hit your knees and just start crying about how terrible you are at this? I'm so bad at more. I would go, I'm never doing this again, obviously. I couldn't even knock out the Turkey Hill convenience store manager lady. Very Sarah Boone of you going, I'll never drink again. I'll never drink again.

I swear to God. I'll tell you guys one thing. I'll never drink alcohol again. Oh, all right. Well, she's punished herself, Everybody. Let's let her go. Moratorium on the giant bottles of wood bridge. So during the course of their investigation, the police came across the $5,000 payment from Barbara to Rod.

That's what got this all going. She gave you five grand. At first, Rod told authorities, cause they said, where's the money now? Cause he said, I don't have it. And they go, well, where is it? And he goes, I gambled it away. Oh, and they're like, no, you didn't. We checked around. You haven't been anywhere. So then he said, fine, I paid it to Ziering not to kill my wife though. See, it was an extortion payment to prevent him from killing her. That's what it was. So they get Ziering in there and he says that, by the way, he wasn't certain that she was dead

when they left her in the car. She was dead though, we found out. She died very quickly. He shot her in the fucking heart. She was dead. He didn't know, but we find out later that she died very quickly. I guess that Ziering told the trooper here

that he was scared to death after Mrs. Frye was shot. He said her vehicle was taken to the cornfield. He said that he didn't know for sure she was dead. He said that they waited for her to travel north on Route 441 and they pulled out in front of her to stop her vehicle using the red police type lights that they installed on his vehicle. He bought it at U-Haul by the way. Is that right?

You can just buy that at U-Haul? Apparently in the 70s you could buy that at U-Haul? Apparently in the 70s you could buy that like a bong whatever they had all sorts of shit there. At the U-Haul we picked up flashing lights and some hand cuffs. Yeah some uppers they got it all. So Ziering told her to get out or Ziering told the cop that he got out of the car and asked her for her driver's license. She refused to roll down the window and give completely. She did a sovereign citizen thing. She rolled it down a crack and said, I'm not giving you my driver's license. This is far enough. She pulled, she knew it was

a bullshit stop. She had to have, she had to have, that's why she, she had to have been scared because they're not in police uniforms. They didn't go that far to like rent cop uniforms. If they did that, she would have went with the ruse probably. So she refused to roll it down. So then he broke her window out and started to hit her. And she was, nothing was happening. And she knew for sure that this was a bullshit stop. Not normal here.

So he said that Rich Halberlick got excited and shot her with a.44 caliber revolver. Golly! Big old gun. So then he said that he got into her vehicle and drove to the Manor Township cornfield, then they returned in his vehicle, the two of them back away from the scene here. He said two days after the shooting, he paid Heberlick $300 for assistance in the murder. He got five grand, he paid Heberlig $300 for assistance in the murder. He got

five grand. He paid his boy $300. Talk about subcontracting. Fucking cheap. Good lord. They threw away the.44 gun in the Weavertown quarry. They could never find it, by the way. They got quarried. Yeah. He also said that Zerring explained details about the murder in a ledger book that was in a desk drawer Located in his bedroom in a trailer of course he dire read this he dire read it Yep, they said a second search discovered the ledger book referred to by him He uncovered the book containing the inscription not for anyone's eyes failure to adhere will cause death I'm sure the police will go ahead and adhere to that

In there there's also two newspaper articles concerning Barbara's murder case contained in there in there also figure notations under under the name under fucking under no under His name what's his name fucking fry right right right what are the figure numbers well they indicate the following payments $1,000 October 29th 2000 November 2nd 2000 November 9th yeah also indicated the last 2000 was made for his for the attempt to kill obviously he said this is for murder like he put a memo on it other writings nobody will read writings showed that he had hocked a ring given to him by Rod Frye here.

He also indicated in the book that he reported his.44 caliber revolver stolen to the Bethel Township Police Chief on November 15th. So an earlier search at the residence found various weapons and ammunition. They said they found a box of 44 caliber cartridges, some of which had an X scratched on the top of the projectile. Oh, he's trying to get them to break up the earth? Yes, yes, trying to make them more deadly. They said that the bullet that killed Fry had an X cut into it. So they connect those.

He also said that he examined the box of 40 bullets. 35 had an X cut into it. So they connect those. He also said that he examined the box of 40 bullets. 35 had an X cut into the head. He really put some time into this. He also had a 12 gauge shotgun found in his bedroom, box of shotgun shells that was similar to a shotgun shell that they found in the cornfield, because they just found one on the ground. So he must have had it in his pocket or something

and dropped it. And another shotgun shell found on the berm of Route berm of Route 441 about a mile away from here. They also found a pistol grip box for a grip that would be used for a 44 caliber weapon. And he said, Zerring said he had apparently purchased the 44 caliber weapon from Martin Levin's Sporting Goods in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. And he said that he purchased the bullets as well and The red lights from U-Haul. He's given his whole fashion outfit here. Oh my this from there And he said who are you wearing? Who are you wearing?

Well, you haul and Smith and Wesson they make a very nice thing together And Smith and Wesson, they make a very nice thing together. Yeah, the Osherman sporting club. They're all denied bail, obviously here. Three, all three are arrested. Roderick's trial, all right. Seven women, five men on the jury. And they said, the prosecutor said that he was anxious to kill his wife if he thought he could get away with it.

He said that his wife has been talking about divorce and filing for it, and he was upset that most of the family estate would be turned over to his wife has been talking about divorce and filing for it and he was upset that most of the family estate Would be turned over to his wife and so that he said that he wanted they say he wanted to kill his wife So she couldn't enjoy her money His money. Yeah So the defense argued that he acted under duress Hey, you can't plan a murder in a hit and pay people under duress That's crazy Hey, you can't plan a murder and a hit and pay people under duress.

That's crazy. Man, that guy is really good under pressure. Well they said that Zerring kept pressuring him for the money, for money, and that he eventually paid him $5,000 to leave his wife alone, is what he said, which is fucking amazing. Now Zerring is going to testify, that's a bad witness for Rod here. There's evidence also brought in by Rod that Zerring is a scary, domineering person while Fry was susceptible to domination. And they said that several witnesses testified that Zerring was quote a strange man who had a fetish for weapons and often made threats. A problem.

Yeah. Or a great hit man. Also, they brought in a ton of inmates that testified that since he's been in jail, Zerring, he scares, the whole jail is scared of this fucking guy. Really? Even though he can't knock out a 40 year old convenience store manager,

they said they don't know what he's gonna do. They said he's crazed and he boasts in jail that he's extorting money from Rod Fry and intended to kill Rod Fry when this is all over with. Oh, is that right? Now Rod testifies. They said, did you meet on the evening of November 7th, the day before the crime with Zaring?

And he said, yes, he came to my residence. Do you recall what time it was? Around 11 o'clock. Did Mr. Zaring threaten you in any way? And he said yes He said how was that? Broad said he told me that if I would even talk to the police about this. I would get the same thing my wife got What is their understanding of that? And he said that I'll be shot too

He said did he he tell you how or who this would be done by who you'd be shot by and he said yes They said well, what was it? He said, he told me that the second party that was involved in this knows what I look like and they know where I work and they can get me at any time. For 300 bucks. For 300, yeah, this guy's a cheap fucking date too. They said, do you believe this to be true? Yes.

Do you have a fear of Charles Zerring? Yes. And would you explain to me why you fear him?" And he said, because he might have me killed now. Because I paid him to murder my mom. You know how that goes. I mean, shit. So in the closing for the prosecution, they call him a cold-blooded contract killing. They said the thing was, purely for money, not for hate or passion. I have a hard time thinking of a contract that could be worse. They said to the jury. Sure. The defense said, hey,

come on. You know, he said, he said, Mr. Ziering is not a nice guy. Mr. Ziering through the Commonwealth's own witnesses and through witnesses we produced was proven to you to be a man who always had guns, always had weapons, armed bombs, had books on anarchy, etc., made threats. People consider him a little crazy. Did Mr. Ziering coerce Mr. Frey in any way or Frey? He said in this situation where there was a sequence of events, you heard about the hiring and following of Mrs. Frey for two months.

Was Mr. Frey suckered? Was Mr. Frey convinced maybe this was a good idea? Did it go along that kind of scenario? Is that what happened here? He said, I can't believe that Mr. Frye just suddenly decided to have his wife killed and went to Mr. Ziering and said, here's some money, kill my wife. It seems that's exactly what happened actually. I can believe that. He said, I don't believe that at all. I think there was duress in this case. I think when Mr. Fry tells you that he was threatened, he was threatened. Whether he was threatened before or after he paid the money or for what purpose he paid

it, he was threatened. He was threatened before Mrs. Fry was killed. When he tells you that one morning at the Turkey Hill parking lot, Mr. Zering appeared with black all over his face and a sweatshirt and held a gun and flashlight in his eyes. That is a threat. That is coercion. That's duress.

He said, the psychologist told you about Mr. Fry and what kind of man he is. He has a 91 IQ. He's not a super intelligent person. Oh, is it dum-dum? That's average, by the way. 90 to 110 is right in the average range. And they're- They call him a dum-dum, low average.

They're saying he's obviously a fucking idiot and he's very average. They said he's not someone who I don't think could coldly and calculatingly do this kind of thing without some pressure from another source. I suggest to you again the pressure for Mr. Ziering and that this thing took a sequence of events. It wasn't as if Mr. Fry went over to Mr. Ziering and said, here's $5,000, kill my wife. That's not what happened.

The payments were sporadic payments and the Commonwealth cannot refute that. This thing took a course of action. It went along. It got more serious, more aggravating as it went along. But there was duress. And that's all that's required in this proceeding. If you believe that Mr. Ziering coerced, threatened, placed Mr Frye under duress prior to the death of Barbara Jean Frye, that's enough. He's entitled to be imprisoned for the rest of his life, but that's it. If you believe that, if you believe he

didn't do it at all, then do that. So, okay. The verdict comes in. They deliberate for six hours on this and they find him guilty of first-degree murder. First-degree murder. He got five grand from a lady and then paid it to a man to kill her. To kill her. Made her pay for her own death is crazy. You cheap fuck. So the sentencing comes around and his mother, father, brother, they all testify that his

personality is not cold-blooded. He couldn't have done this unless he was under duress or was coerced. His father said he's never been in trouble before. And he gets on the stand himself, Rod, and he asserts that his guilt-phased testimony that Ziering had threatened him and his family was true, and he stated that he had never told anyone that he would kill his wife if he could get away with it. Someone testified to that. The death penalty can only be imposed if the jury feels aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigators, as we talked about all the time. Aggravators are, only aggravating circumstance presented to the jury is that the defendant

paid or was paid by another person or had contracted to pay or be paid by another person who has conspired to pay or be paid by another person for the victim of the killing. You hired somebody, which is cold. Cold shit. The mitigators are no significant history of criminal convictions. They say he's under the duress,

under the influence of extreme or mental or emotional disturbance. The capacity of the defendant to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or conform to his conduct to the requirements of the law was substantially impaired. They said that he is as a 91 IQ and his attorney said that the psychologist said that his low IQ makes him susceptible to pressure. Okay, so the judge asked him before sentencing, anything you want to say for yourself? And he said, nope, I'm good. You didn't even say life's like a box of chocolates or anything? Not a fucking thing, nothing.

No dumb shit thing you could think of at all. All right. He didn't call the guy Jenny or anything. He said then the attorney asked the judge to reconsider the whole thing here. And the judge said the sentence of the law is that you, Roderick Herman Fry, be taken hence by the sheriff of Lancaster County to the State Correctional Institute at Camp Hill and from Vents to the State Penitentiary at Rockview or such other places that may be designated by law or executive order that you there suffer death during the week fixed by the governor of the Commonwealth in a building

erected for the purpose on land owned by the Commonwealth. Such punishment be inflicted by either warden or deputy warden of said penitentiary or by person the warden shall designate by causing to pass through your body a current of electricity of intensity sufficient to cause death, an application of such current to be continued until you are dead. You, sir, may fuck off. Death in the electric chair." Electric chair.

Electric chair. Jesus. That's what he said. So he would be, I believe, the ninth person contend to the electric chair here, but an electric chair, a death sentence hasn't been carried out in Pennsylvania in 19 years before that. The last man to die in the electric chair was Elmo Smith, convicted of the rape murder of a 16-year-old in 1960, which is much worse than what happened here, I feel like.

Zerring and Heberlelig, they have their trial. They don't have a trial. They have a non-jury proceeding where they both plead guilty because they're fucked. And then they also had to testify, but they have a deal here in place to not get the death penalty. You sirs may fuck off life in prison for both of them.

Okay, okay. But he got the death penalty. Yeah. And they did killings and beatings. It's just strange. Yeah, but he Bummed five grand to murder. That's wild. That's unbelievable. That's why but that's what I mean Usually it's the person who does the hiring gets more time than the people who do the killings unless your name is gypsy rose And then it's the opposite then you get then you get to go have babies Then you can you get to fucking be a an Instagram presence

Yeah, and be a mom. While your mentally challenged boyfriend sits in prison. And I'm not saying he should be out, I'm saying they both should be in. No, for sure. Yeah. If she admitted it, we've gone over this before. I'm on her side right up until murder and then I'm like, hey, calm down lady. Take it easy. Take it easy.

So then Zering tries to pull back his guilty plea because you know Why not that sucks? Yes, like this sucks and they say you can't do that get in there 1984 Rod is going to appeal this whole thing and he is turned down and By that they said this was on the face on the basis of his death pen sentence being excessive or disproportionate As opposed to the penalties imposed on the co-defendants. There's that. There's does the death penalty procedure violate the 8th and 14th amendments of the Constitution? All these different things here.

So the stress factors. Is death penalty, Pennsylvania death penalty statute unconstitutional in itself? The whole thing is going over. In 84 they tell him, no, eat dicks. You're dying. You're done. 1988 comes around, lawyer petitions the state again, and an attorney has vowed to take extraordinary steps to prevent an executioner from carrying out the state's first electrocution in 26

years. He is on the chopping block. So they file a petition. He's basically five days away from execution and he gets a stay for another appeal. Yeah. Doesn't mean they didn't, you know, lower it, but it's for another. I'm going to consider it. Sure. They're going to consider it. Um, they said that the petition said said that Frye, under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act, which requires petition contain issues not previously raised in court. And some of these were things about had the jury, had these facts been presented to the jury, Roderick Herman Frye most likely would have been found innocent in the penalty stage and sentenced to life in prison.

Because they said that they're so stupid what they're saying, the whole thing, they're saying that the jury didn't know that the other two weren't gonna get the death penalty, basically, is how that works. So, under, if they found out the other two didn't get the death penalty, they may not have imposed the death penalty on him,

they would have given him life too. June 12th, 1988, there's a big editorial about how we should just fucking electrocute the shit out of him. They would have given him life too. June 12th, 1988, there's a big editorial about how we should just fucking electrocute the shit out of him. The whole thing is really into there. In 1992, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals vacates the order that remanded the case for further consideration. So basically told him to fuck off. 1997, the Third Circuit this time based on different reasons disagreed and said that the fry did deserve a writ and in 1997 granted it and they vacate the death sentence and Commute his punishment to life in prison without the possibility of parole

his family's thrilled and His family says this from Zarin for themiering and Helberlig to get one thing and they actually did it and for Roderick to get this, anyone who calls that right isn't right in the head. I don't care who thinks that, that's what I tell them, meaning he shouldn't get the death penalty while they get one, which sort of makes sense, I guess. It's their family. They're going to say that. His dad died the day before his sentence was commuted, by the way. Is that right? Cyrus died the day before.

Cyrus died thinking his son was going to ride the lightning. Then 2015 comes around and Roderick Fry, 78 years old at the State Correctional Institution at Green, dies of natural causes. After 35 years in prison, Barbara is buried at the Masonville Mennonite Cemetery. Yeah, she was only 40 when she died. That's rough. Her birthday was seven days away when she got killed, by the way. That sucks too. So there you go, everybody. That is Washington space borough, Pennsylvania. Hope you like that. If you like it, tell everyone you know about it.

Get on Apple podcast or this one or spotify, whatever the fucking goddamn app you're listening on. Give five stars. It helps tremendously. Tell the world about it. Tell your friends, tell everything. Follow us on social media. We are at small town murder on Instagram at, what is it. Tell your friends. Tell everything. Follow us on social media. We are at Small Town Murder on Instagram, at, what is it, Small Town Pod

on Facebook. And do all of that. Definitely also get Patreon, patreon.com slash crime and sports. Get all your bonus material, hundreds of episodes, $5 a month. Anybody over five bucks, you get that. Better than a cup of coffee. Let me tell you something. This week, Crime and Sports, we got pedestrianism, crazy 1800s sport that turned into like violence and drugs and shit. It's wild. Then for Small Town Murder, we're going to talk about exorcisms in general and the devil on trial, someone trying to use demonic possession as an excuse for a crime in an actual trial, which is fun. We'll get to that. Shut up and give me murder.com. Tickets for live shows. Austin actual trial, which is fun. We'll get to that. Shutupandgivemurder.com. Tickets for live shows, Austin, Texas, Europe next.

Still a few left for Boston and New York as well. And the virtual live show available till November 13th. Get that, you can watch it as many times as you want. Still available to purchase right now. It's fucking worth it, it's a lot of fun. So get in there, do that, keep coming back and seeing us. And I'll have a lot of fun with all that shit. Yeah, be safe, chef.

Be safe, and until next week, everybody, it's been our pleasure. Bye. If you like Small Town Murder, you can listen early and ad free now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen early and ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands.

But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse and behind his facade of wealth and success was a litany of bad investments, mounting debt, and multi-million dollar fraud. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show Business Movers. We tell the true stories of business leaders who risked it all, the critical moments that define their journey, and the ideas that transform the way we live our lives. In our latest series, a young refugee fleeing the Nazis arrives in Britain determined to

make something of his life. series.