Small Town Murder - #554 - Murky Murder Motives - Fort Pierce, Florida

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

This week, in Fort Pierce, Florida, a missing attorney has a lot of enemies, but when he's found in a hurricane shelter, burned with acid, it seems like a true mystery. Then a woman, with a major criminal past, comes forward with a horrifying story of a truly awful murder, involving equal parts cruelty & stupidity. Will she be believed, or was she the real killer??Along the way, we find out that oysters shooters pair well with local bands, that attorneys don't always follow the law, and that nothing that can be bought at a grocery store can completely burn a body away!!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.

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Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial, and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca to sign up. 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 wonder E app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yay and choo choo. Oh yay indeed Jimmy, yay indeed.

My name is James Petragallo, I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. He is on it today, look at that. Thank you folks so much for joining us. Oh my goodness, all aboard the murder train. There it goes. Pulling away from the station. We got a wild episode for you as usual on Express. You know, we will stuff a three hour murder story into an hour and it's going to be wild stuff. So check that out. Definitely.

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It's that for an hour. You can't beat it. So bad. Then for Small Town Murder we're going to talk about remote viewing, which is when the CIA thought that if you concentrate hard enough you can see into a cave 5,000 miles away. And guess what? Didn't really work very well. But we'll talk all about that and more.

Patreon.com slash Crime and Sports. And you get a shout out at the end of the show as well, then to the regular show anyway. So that said, I think it's time everybody, what do you say? I think it's time to clear the lungs. Let's all arms to the sky, let's all shout. Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this everybody.

Let's go on a trip, Joe. All right, we are going to Florida. Yes, which it is freezing right now, so it doesn't sound too, too terrible. We're going to Fort Pierce, Florida. Where's that at? That is on the south, it's southeast. It's north of Palm Beach.

Opposite of Fort Myers. I don't know, I'm not good with my Florida geography. Fort Myers is just south of Tampa on the west side. On the west side. This is on the east side. Yeah. It's about, it's over there probably I would say. Yeah. It's about two hours and 45 minutes to Miami. I bet it is. Straight down. Yeah. It's a little out of court.

Directly across from Fort Myers. About a quarter to a third of the way up the Florida line. Right. About an hour 45 to Chilota, Florida, which was our last Florida episode. That was the webcam model madness. That was the crazy guy with the upset. Yeah that was a weird one man. This town population here 46,409 median household income here. Normally the rest of the country it's almost $70,000 here 40,323. What in the fuck is going on there?

I don't know what's happening down here. Maybe it's just super cheap. Maybe all the prices, it's just stuck in the 90s. Everything, it's 1995 when you go over there. You don't need money. No, no, they still have Dell computer stores over there. Gateway shops with the big cow spots. Was that Gateway?

That was Gateway. That was Gateway, yeah. That took a minute to remember. What was the other compact for some reason? Oh, yeah. Oh boy. Those were like aerodynamic, like they were going to be going down the freeway. Like you were going to use them in a truck bed as you went down the freeway at 85 miles an hour. You had a good fuel economy with it. Didn't want you to get too much drag.

Why would they make it look like that? No idea. Median home price here, $274,000. So not that high compared to the rest of the country, but high. If you make 40 grand. Sure is. Yeah. Not too great there. A little bit of history of this town. The first permanent settlement of the current city was in the 1860s. It was incorporated into a municipality in 1901. It was the largest city on Florida's Atlantic Coast between

Daytona Beach and West Palm Beach until 1970 when Melbourne was bigger. So it had some population here. They had there's a neighborhood of Lincoln Park, not in Chicago. This one is the area north of the area north of Moores Creek originated as Edgar town. And so that was there. And a couple reviews of this town here. There's some fun ones for this town.

I mean, you had to really, it's hard to go through them and pick them out. Here is five stars. Fort Pierce is a hidden gem. By the way, every sentence has three exclamation points after it. So they're very excited. There is so much to do. Wow. okay. More than any other town on the treasure coast. Still has a small town feel and more people

are realizing what a beautiful place it is. Housing is so much more affordable too. Brand new homes in the mid to high 200s. That's pretty good. That's not bad. Yeah, so there you go Four stars great place to live besides gunshots sometimes some Besides you know besides the deadly projectiles flying through the air. It's great And then this is the best too, but that's most places is it no it's not it's really not What are you talking about Everybody out there is there constant gunshots around you? There's areas I can tell you that have constant gunshots. Mostly downtown areas.

It's not everywhere. It's really not. Rent used to be really cheap until recently. So people are finding out that it's cheap there. I think that's why. Yeah, and it's expensive other places. Go find somewhere cheap and And it's gonna go up before you know it they will people find it here is one star

Fort Pierce has to be one of the worst cities in Florida. Yeah, there's gunshots It's everywhere. The city is the definition of crime drugs and gangs There's 40,000 people here. How many how many gangs can there be? If I had the chance to move I I would. If I could give it zero stars, I would. It is quite honestly a hell on earth. Jesus Christ. Fires burning and poked in the ass with a trident. That's rough. That's a rough one. You're here for eternity? can't get out Yeah, I do not feel safe out on my own even in my neighborhood, which is one of the quote nicer ones is terrible Safety and numbers the way they said it Well, and well, there's still gunshots flying around all over the place. My neighbor is constantly being arrested on drug charges When I said that's a real personal thing.

Just him. Probably doing a lot of drugs. When he's home from jail, he's always selling or doing drugs and always goes on rampages outside. I think this is just, maybe if you move to a different house, you might be better off here.

Imagine living next to that. It's terrifying. The entire city of Fort Pierce is terrifying. Yeah. Jesus. It sure sounds like it. They are scared of everything. Things to do here. Okay. The Fort Pierce Oyster and Seafest. Yeah. I'm all about this shit. This sounds great. It's along the waterfront in downtown Fort Pierce. Sure. Two-day festival celebrating Fort Pierce waterfront and all of its bounty with delicious oysters tasty seafood dishes landlubber foods landlubber live entertainment and a

bevy of arts and craft and merchandise vendors it's free to come in good that's nice we love pets but we ask that you please do not bring them with you oh that's better than no fucking dogs ever like some of them say we respect the shit out of them Yeah, and some more cells you got raw oysters steamed oysters Fucking Rockefeller Italiano char grilled oysters right oyster shooters with vodka or beer But the entertainment schedule that's what we're all about when you, when you're drunk with a belly full of oysters, which By the way, I've done before not recommended Not not too drunk. That feels real gross. Yeah, if you've ever seen mad men There's a time when Don Draper sets Roger Sterling up to get sick

Yeah By pretending the elevators out after giving him lots of vodka and oysters And then he walked up a bunch of stairs and threw up everywhere. Go exercise. Yep. I did that in Vegas one time and it was like 110 outside and that shit was fighting in there. I was like, oh God, I gotta go sit down

in the air conditioning. This isn't good. These oysters are boxing. They are boxing the vodka and the vodka's winning I think. So 2024 schedule here was Scott Benj or Bengy, B-E-N-G-E. I don't know, he's playing the coveted 10 a.m. slot, which is what all musicians really strive for is to get on at 10 a.m.

I'm done by lunch, babe, this is great. You have belly full of oysters. Oh man, Sweet Justice, Bamboo is playing at four o'clock, Keith Anthony Pan man Nope, I don't know that sounds country, right? Yeah, anything Keith Keith. Yeah, Keith is yeah, Johnny debt pre-stage Johnny debt priest Johnny debt pre-stage. Oh that priest priest is part of the net part of the name Johnny debt debt

Johnny is in debt The opposite of Johnny paycheck, but on it on it opposite of Johnny death Look if you lost the hey the case with Amber Heard You'd be Johnny debt And then they're gonna play more Johnny debt Jupiter trailer trash will be there That's a good band. That's fun They seem funny and then Bobby G and then finally bamboo will close it out there. Yes, Bobby G. He plays a different horn Plays an oboe and people are like really annoying. It's not really a solo instrument. You know what I mean?

So that said let's talk about some murder, shall we? Let's do this here. Bobby Bassoon G. He comes out with a big bassoon, and he's like, come on. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr at all. So, do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do multiple places it's different, so not positive. But he goes by Ashley either way, you can forget Ronald ever existed. Ronald or Ashley, maybe his last name? Maybe his middle name. Oh, God. One of them is his middle name, one of them is his first,

but he goes by Ashley either way, so who gives a shit, basically. Ashley Paolo is his last name. P-O-L-L-O-W, like pillow with an O. He's born in 1952. He graduated from Castle Heights Military School in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1970 and went to the University of Memphis and the University of Memphis Law School as well. That's a successful southern man. He's very successful. Yes, he's, well, not in all

things. We'll talk about this, but yeah, he's a tax attorney. That's what he does He's admitted to the Florida bar in 1980. He's gonna get married We'll talk all about that in more detail in a little bit later and have four children as well and then get divorced also Oh, so damn it. Yeah, he's uh, he's interesting One of his daughters said well, I guess he met his he met his wife at the University of Memphis and moved with her to Florida. There they got married and had kids. So he started his law practice down there. They later divorced his father. His daughter told people that he was a very doting parent,

but he was something of a workaholic. So I know that. And I guess if you're starting out a law practice, you kind of panicked, you got five mouths at home you gotta feed. Yeah, and also student loan debts, probably who knows what else. So anyway, yeah, his daughter said he did struggle with depression. He had a breakdown, moved to Fort Pierce

and gave himself a fresh start. So I guess after college and law school and all that, he kind of. I bet a lot school and all that, he kinda. I bet a lot of lawyers do that at the beginning. Just like meltdown, like how the fuck am I gonna make it now? From what I hear, like law school, medical school, any kind of like specialized graduate school is very stressful from what I understand.

I guess it would be because you put everything into this and you're at the tip of the arrow. At the end of it, there's a crescendo of like either a dissertation or you've gotta take the bar exam. Yeah. At the end of it, there's a crescendo of either a dissertation or you've got to take the bar exam. That is not easy. That's a lot.

Yeah, it's a lot of stress, I guess, and your whole life depending on it and hinging on it. You've got yourself in all this debt and you've got to get out of it. The nice part about the bar is a lot of very famous lawyers have failed it several times and then still passed. Oh, tons. Tons. That's crazy.

You can fail it a million times and come right back. Come right back. It's like a road test. Yeah. Now he's got it. It's crazy. You can fail it a million times and come right back. It's like it's like a road test Yeah, now he's got it like a road. Yeah, I know people have failed the road test four or five times It's like they let you just drive If you fail more than three times, they should put like a special placard like your dominoes pizza delivery person on top of your car Watch for him took him a while. Yeah, he knows now but he didn't for a long time. He knows just the minimum. So his sister, Ashley's sister, Jackie, described him as nice and kind. She said he's a very nonviolent person. His disposition is very laid back. He's a lawyer. Yes, so just keep that in mind. Very nonviolent disposition, very laid back. Cut to 1999.

There is an article that is headlined, lawyer has violent past record show. Oh, violent past. That's nice, yeah. Multiple. Oh, yeah, yeah, he's got some stuff here. This article goes on to say that Ashley Palo's parents, ex-wife, and girlfriend had warned for years that his erratic and violent behavior would someday endanger

his life or the lives of others according to court records. Wow. So non-violent very laid-back apparently. To somebody. There were psychological evaluations restraining orders threats and bizarre behavior records show. What is going on? How many tax attorneys? He's so mad like even like I can see a criminal lawyer You know because they gave the bombastic showmanship as part of it and their tax lawyer is supposed to be pretty fucking buttoned up Right. It's like the least worrisome of all the crime. Yeah. Yeah, you wouldn't it's crazy I mean, I guess you're I don't and it depends on on which side he's on. Is he fixing things for people or ruining people?

Well, he's he's a lawyer, not for the IRS. So he's helping people get out of tax problems. Yeah. But one incident that could send the Boca Raton tax attorney to prison for life was a simple shove at a Boca Raton restaurant this summer. That's because Paulo, 47 at the time, 99, shoved Julius Melnick, 75, at the doorway of 2J's Gourmet Deli. You're beating up old men at a deli? What the fuck are you doing?

How hangry were you? What an asshole. On August 2nd, Melnick fell against a wall and broke his hip as Paolo stood over him and yelled, what's your problem? I've kind of broken hip now. My fucking hip is broken. My pelvis is shattered at the moment.

I might die now, that's why. Well, let's see here. As a result, Paolo was charged with aggravated battery on a person 65 years or older, which in Florida, that's a lot of the population. So those laws are strong. They're strict as fuck. That carries a penalty of 30 years to life in prison.

You don't fuck with old people. I guess not. Not in Florida, you know, fuck, there's so many of them. They're like, let's put them away forever if they touch us. We can do whatever we want. We'll drive our golf carts shit faced in front of them. Incredibly slow. Anybody gets angry about it.

30 years to life! We own this place! Holy shit. I've worked my life away in Jersey for this. I did it. Connecticut, you know the taxes I paid? Outside of Greenwich. To drive this easy-go.

Oh my god. So Melnick then died on October 27 Oh my god he did? From pneumonia in a hospital due to complications Complications from the hip? God damn it The medical examiners that were related to the incident He killed him He killed him

Oh boy That's not the murder by the way No That's not the small town murder here Because it's a bonus murder Over some capicol Holy shit. Over an Italian fucking combo.

What's happening? Wow. Because of the medical examiner's ruling that the death was a homicide, Boca Raton police last week added a charge of third degree murder. They put homicide on the ticket because of that? Yeah. Wow. They did, yep.

That murder charge, however, is punishable by a maximum of 15 years in prison because of what the state's attorney's law office called an inherent flaw in the statute. Yes, you let old people write the elderly law and it makes no sense with the rest of the laws. They're trying to protect themselves from ever getting shoved over a salami. Good God. Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the state's attorney's office said he'll lobby to have

the laws changed so third degree murder charges carries a harsher penalty than aggravated battery. That seems logical. Yeah, yeah, murder battery. It's different. Holy shit. Now they say that Ashley has one prior arrest in February of that year, 1999, for battery and violating a restraining order. He's a problem.

He really has a short temper. I guess so. Despite the allegations of abuse against him, Paolo has never been disciplined by the Florida Bar since being admitted to the bar in 1980. In 1998, court-ordered psychiatric examination, Paolo denied having the urge to hurt anyone and said he was under stress at work because he was trying to find more profitable cases. Well, people in tax trouble usually aren't they don't have the most money to pay. If they had money they'd pay the fucking tax bill.

Drug dealers, that's who you should defend. They have a lot of money. They pay in cash, it's great. Paulo began exhibiting violent behavior shortly after meeting his wife in a psychiatric facility in Tarpon Springs more than two decades ago. They met while they were both in the psych war, him and his wife. And then they said, let's have four kids. Let's figure out life together. Yep. According to restraining orders and other Palm beach County court orders, Jean Dwayne, Palo and Ashley Palo. What? Yeah.

His wife's name is Jean Dwayne. Jean Dwayne. That's his wife and his name is Ronald Ashley. Very confusing. Yeah. They met in 1973 at Ann Clote Manor, which is not a ski resort in Vail, where they were both being treated for behavioral disorders, quote unquote. They fell in love, left and clout without medical authorization and got married. They, which when you go into a facility like that, they say, try to find someone and fall in love with them and run away and get married. That's the best course of action for you. Really the best treatment you can have. Any rehab center will tell you that. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Drug, drug addicts and you've got behavioral, just behavioral

disorders. According to the final divorce ruling there in 1997. It didn't work out. Didn't work out. The lengthy and bitter divorce is peppered with dozens of allegations of abuse, including an account of a beating that's alleged to have occurred

within one week of their marriage. God damn. This guy I met at the mental institution, isn't it the guy I thought he was? Weird, right? He beat me up, crazy. Strange. Jean Palo said the beatings continued through their marriage. Damn this guy I met at the mental institution isn't it the guy thought he was weird, right? strange Jean Palo said the beatings continued through their marriage averaging two to three times per month Jesus Christ in 1990 poor woman that's fucked in

1995 she filed a restraining order against Ashley Palo saying she and the children needed protection Against his malicious, brutal and violent temper. I would say so. Poof. They wrote that Ashley had trouble with his temper, ego and lack of maturity and at times he exhibits erratic behavior. That's from the evaluation.

Paulo was also accused of abuse by a girlfriend, of course, who filed a restraining order against him in January, calling him a quote, psychotic alcoholic in court records. Very nice. Shirley Powell, 40, said in court that she feared for her life when Powell, Powell and Paulo got together, came home. Let's just rearrange those letters and make you mine. What do you say? Came home one day in a rage and began kicking and hitting her like a maniac and foaming at the mouth.

Whoa. He has rabies now too. What's his deal? I don't know. He's got a lot. The taxes will make you angry. I guess. They're frustrating. They can be very, those long forms. Frustrating. They change laws every fucking year. Who knows what's happening? You gotta keep for eating. In June 1998, Paolo asked a judge to commit his son after he said Ashley Paolo destroyed everything in his house. That's David Paolo asked that. Please commit my father because he wrecked the whole house. He's losing it.

He just destroyed the whole house. It said his son in court record went on to say, he will not talk to anyone, has not been to his office in a week, and has left his law practice unattended and has been drinking in excess. Oh boy. Complete meltdown is what that is. One of his employees, Donald Murray, said in court records that Palo's home was littered with food and beer bottles and that he was acting incoherent as if he was hallucinating.

He goes, I'm just trying to acclimate myself to Fort Pierce, Florida. Yeah. I'm just getting comfy. I'm getting comfy and no one will think I'm local if I act like this. I'm going to do this and wear this Tommy Bahama shirt. Where's my oysters? I want shooters. Wow. A general, I want shooters. Wow. I want shooters. A General Master, a court officer who researches and mediates issues for judges recommended

that Ashley Palo be evaluated at Fair Oaks Hospital in Boca Raton Report Show and it said quote, this is from the report, General Master's report, the patient's behavior and history indicate mental illness. Patient has recently demonstrated an active danger to others through violence and threats of harm, as well as danger to himself, exhibited by repeated auto accidents. He's crashing cars too. He's a dude out of... He can't do anything safely.

Fucking control. Yeah, out of control. So that's 99. Then in 2000, they dropped the murder charge against him. Yeah. I don't know why he maintained that he accidentally bumped into the guy. That's what he says. And a teenage cashier who witnessed the incident now says he doesn't think Paulo meant to harm him. Oh, so he thinks he was... At first he said he pushed him down and he said, I don't know, maybe he didn't mean to harm him. So who knows?

Well, that would explain why he said, what are you doing? Because yeah. What's your problem, he said. So the guy who died, he died from pneumonia and a blood infection, which were complications from a broken bone. He went septic, man. Yeah, that's fucking brutal.

Fuck. So then Ashley is pretty quiet for about 10 years. Figured it out. Or at least figured out how to not be in court documents constantly. And why? Yeah. Keep it on the down low here.

So January, 2010, he resurfaces with the police and is arrested on charges, including organized dealing in stolen property and second degree grand theft. Following allegations, he traded another person's bobcat construction equipment to pay a debt He stole a bobcat and traded it because he owed so gave it to someone he owed money to Here you go. This is those are incredibly traceable. Oh god. Yeah, they have vins don't they yeah Fucking I don't know. He was like here you go And guess what arrested for it stupid I would like to know who that debt was to but he's what the original charge was like Organized dealing

Yeah, that makes it sound like racketeering. He just stole one dude's Bobcat unless there was a lot more No, no, that was the tip of the iceberg. Yeah, I think that was there was more racketeering conspiracy to like steal shit and sell it Yeah, I think maybe that wasn't the first Bobcat. He's fencing. He's drove off on he's like they leave the keys in these fucking things May 17th 2010 John Wilson let's talk about him here. His girlfriend worked for Ashley and Wilson was convinced the two were having an affair He thought they were having an affair by the way. They weren't having an affair. Oh, John's John is a little paranoid

Yeah, a little a little jealous So Wilson Because he's so enraged over this alleged affair insecure. He attacks his mother. Yeah She has nothing. Yeah, not what you expected me to say, he attacks his mother yeah she has nothing yeah not what you expected me to say right attacks his mother it's a mad lib and stabbed her in the neck Wow stabbed his mother in the neck yeah Florida's not crazy no no this is very normal behavior this is totally way to hear how this all ends it's even crazier then he went over to Ashley Palo's house to kill him too.

He's like, I'll kill this motherfucker. Well, I've already stabbed my mom. Fuck this guy. Later on, Wilson said, quote, I completely lost my goddamn mind. Clearly. There's no way of getting around it. No. At least he said it though.

It appears as though I've made a big mistake. I completely lost my goddamn mind. He said that with this, with a shrug. I don't even, I have no idea. Hands up, I'm, whatever you want to judge me on it, I don't know. I guess guilty. I mean, I lost my goddamn mind. Wilson's assault on Paolo was interrupted after a neighbor witnessed the fight and tried

to intervene. Wow. And then the cops came and you know it was a melee and they took this guy to jail and later on he said he completely lost his god damn life. So Ashley, at least for once he's a victim and not a victim of violent crime. And he survived. Yeah, yeah, no nothing happened here. So then Thanksgiving 2010 comes around. Ashley, during Thanksgiving he talks to some people, he talks to his dad talks to a friend of his

Pretty much yeah, I was attacked a couple weeks ago. I tried to stab me haven't been arrested recently. That's good So you in the mental hospital? Nope They did he cut her up good He did, he caught her up good. Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, there are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. From covert experiments pushing the boundaries of science to operations so secretive they were barely whispered about. Each week on redacted, declassified mysteries, we pull back the curtain on these hidden histories.

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To listen ad-free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America. Shame! Shame! Shame! But when a social media fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall, that was no protection. Claudine Gay is now gone. We've exposed the DEI regime

and there's much more to come. This is The Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe and WNYC's On the Media. To listen, subscribe to On the Media wherever you get your podcasts. So it's like a turkey on Thanksgiving. So he talks to people on Thanksgiving.

And then kind of after the 28th of November, he kind of just disappears, kind of, but that's not that unusual for him. Yeah, the man's been in the psych ward. He's a little flaky when it comes to work stuff. Sometimes he'll stay home and drink and that sort of thing. He's got a big case he's working on. Yeah, so he's not the type, if he doesn't show up

Monday morning, they don't immediately send the fire department. They wait till Thursday afternoon to start calling him and knocking on his door and shit. So December 7th one of his employees, a young woman contacted police to request a welfare check on Ashley Palo saying he hadn't been to the office in days and he had like an appointment for the last couple days. He usually doesn't miss that kind of thing. So it's like this is aberrant behavior even for him. So they said, she said, once, well, once I left his workplace, I was still friends with some of the other people who worked there.

I tried to call Ashley and it just went straight to voicemail. She at the time didn't even work for him. She just knew all the other employees because she used to work there. What does he usually do when he disappears? Yeah, so she said, I'll call him and went straight to voicemail. So that's what she did. So that's why she called for a welfare check. So when investigators arrived, they noticed right away there's several packages on the doorstep. So it's 2010, everybody's got packages. So right away, you notice, okay, well, he probably hasn't been here in a few

days, but who knows, maybe. I mean he's not using this door. No, people could leave, they can go plays in a tub. I go in and out my garage all day long. If somebody leaves something on my door, I might not see it for a while. You might not see it for a minute, who knows? And maybe, and also, he drinks a little bit,

and he might be. Well, unreliable. Yeah, exactly, so I mean, whatever. So they said there's no damage to the door or any kind It doesn't look like anybody was breaking in or anything like that So they said that from what they heard that his home is normally in disarray He said it's gonna be a mess. Everybody told him it's gonna be a mess in there Oh beer bottle hard to decipher if there's been a crime half-eaten beef and shedders and shit. It's gonna be bad

It's gonna be hard to do you're gonna have to move some stuff to figure it out So and it was they said they could tell it looked messy inside The one one of the cops said one of the back doors was open the deputy freely walked in to check on his welfare Yeah, and that's that's what we hear is normal here. The house is usually open So he leaves his back door open all the time here. So they go in, they don't see him. He's not in there. You expect me to go in there.

He was dead in the thing. No, he's gone. They go, okay, he's not here. Nothing appears to be missing. TV's in place. I mean, all valuables are all there. All the big stuff, it's still there. Including his vehicle is in the driveway and his keys are on the counter.

Where the hell would he go? So that's strange. So they talk to his family, the cops get a hold of his family out of state and they ask them when's the last time you talked to him? Maybe he's at home with his family or something. They said no, we haven't talked to him since Thanksgiving. It's the last time he called. So his family was very concerned too.

His sister said his car was there, his keys were there. I watched too much Oxygen to know that when somebody goes missing it's not great. She's just sitting there going, my husband's going to kill me. My husband's going to kill me. Just fucking knife at her chest peering over at her husband waiting for him to make a wrong move I will stab you up. Don't you even worry about it every snaps twice? So then they further they're like, okay. Well, he's not in the house his cars here. No one's seen him He's not at work all the places he would go. He's not at and hasn't been Wow, so they are like, alright

Well, let's search the rest of the property for clues basically. So they search all in the backyard and in the backyard they find a custom hurricane shelter. Cool. Yeah. So they're like, okay, well we'd like to take a look in there and there's a lock on it though. It's locked. So they had to break it open. Um, it's there. They break it open. When they walk in, they immediately notice that there is Ashley, they found him. He is laying inside, dead as can be, wrapped in a rug with a bag over his head.

He didn't do that. That's not a suicide. No, his body was decomposing. Padlocked in. Yeah, padlocked in, body decomposing, because I mean, it's December, but it's still Florida. But it appeared his clothing had been burned but not by fire. By what? That's the weird part here. I'll read from

the police report. It says was called out to the scene for the suspicious death. Upon arrival I was directed to the fallout hurricane shelter located on the northwest part of the property. The shelter contained a white male lying face up. The head was facing south and the left facing north and the feet facing north. The body appeared to be decomposing. Say again? Body appeared to be decomposing. No.

What? The head facing what? The head facing south, the feet facing north. Wow. What? That means his head is on backwards? What? Head means his head is on backwards? What? Head facing south?

Whichever way you're, if you're laying down whichever way your head is facing, your feet are facing the opposite way. Are they? Wait, aren't my feet facing, what, wait, hold on. If you lay down on the ground, your head, no matter what direction it is, your feet are the fucking opposite direction pointing, because you're pointing in two separate directions Hmm. I'm confused Because I'm sitting here my feet are facing north my head's facing north because you're sitting up

Looking in the same direction if you were laying flat on the ground. Oh, it's on the ground your head It's not which way his eyes are looking. Oh, he's laying, we think he's standing there. I thought it was like wrapped in a rug standing in the corner. He's lying and lying face up. I'm like, wait, his head's on backwards? Am I confused? No, it's you. The body also had long pants pulled long pants pulled down and Was on what appeared to be a piece of carpet the body appeared to have been placed in that location The body was removed and transported to the medical examiner's office When it was the body was removed and it was determined the body had also been burnt Huh the due to the condition of the body there was no immediate signs of trauma so Huh the due to the condition of the body there was no immediate signs of trauma so

Yes, what they figured out later on that it was he's been burned with acid. Oh Boy, he's had acid poured all over burned his chemical burn. Yeah burned his clothes burned his body Yeah, that's fucking up the decomposition to making it happen faster sure accelerate note so the autopsy here the medical examiner performed the autopsy they say the Identity was verified and fingerprints. They say that Ashley died due to manual strangulation The neck showed signs of bruising on the left side of the neck under the skin It also showed hemorrhaging in the same area It was discovered that the bone in the voice box and the hyoid bone on the left side were broken. Homicide. The body appeared to be

burnt by radiant heat, not flame. A state fire marshal investigator looked at the photos of Ashley's body and advised it appeared to have been burnt by indirect heat, not of an open flame. The detective conducted a search of a three county area for recent structure fires but was not able to find any fires which matched the time frame of the homicide. So like maybe there he was in a fire and they took him out and put him over here but no. And yeah that didn't work. So by the way that employee that reported a missing they go back to her. Yeah. They're like you seem to know shit about him so what do you know? They spoke with her?

She said fuck I didn't fucking do it. They were like you're the one that called us She had a totally lock solid rock solid alibi. So definitely wasn't her that killed him She did though offer a potential lead. She goes I know a guy who tried to kill him six months ago John Wilson, right? Maybe go see that guy So they go alright. Well, let's go find John Wilson. He's not in prison. He's 29 years old turns out He's in jail right for killing his mother for fatally stabbing his 56 year old mother. Yeah Definitely not they said definitely not him. He's got the best alibi ever He's definitely not they said definitely not him. He's got the best alibi ever

In prison, yeah, he said at first at first look There's no connection with that crime back in what may with this one the police said so the investigation they asked whether Ashley had any known enemies And they found out quote There's a lot of frust a lot of people that did vent for some frustration with the advice that he gave and the Taxes that he completed for them that we are aware of I guess he gave the wrong advice to a lot of people in their affairs They went around talking to people to see if who you know if anybody's mad at him clients and the clients were like Oh good fuck that guy. Yeah, literally they were like I wish I would have fucking done Tell me I could write off my summer home that like god god damn Yeah, I don't do any business out of it. He should have known that The cop said we know that mr. Paulo was around for Thanksgiving. We know there was some interaction with him on Thanksgiving Day

We just want anybody that saw him who might have been with a might we might have been with on Thanksgiving and the days following Thanksgiving that's what we need help establishing. When he disappeared exactly. They say that he worked, he lived alone, worked out of his house a lot, which was messy. They said, we know Mr. Apollo did taxes for people. He did engage in legal advice to people. He interacted with a lot of people in our community, both on both on the side of law and against the law. So there's a lot of people that could kill this guy basically. The suspect pool is huge. So his family, his mother offers a reward. His mother was 81 at the time, Pearl Polo here.

She's got reward money, huh? 81 year old named Pearl and there is father David who's 86 at the time. They put up a $50,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction they want this shit solved they want yeah, that's that's big time David dad said he sounded like he was fine when he talked to him day before Thanksgiving. He said he cracked a joke or two So they're looking around these sheriff's officials They're looking into everything finances finances, anything that could be. I mean, they're just, they have no clues. So then they learned that back on December 3rd, one of his employees tried to cash a $1,250 check at a SunTrust bank, but the bank wouldn't cash

it because the signature wasn't consistent with Ashley Palo's signature card. So they said they did a search of his records. It was found that checks were cashed by a Michelle Lockridge. Michelle. Michelle Lockridge, an employee of Ashley Palo on 12-3-10. Lockridge attempted to cash the $1,250 check. They said, interviewed bank teller Gerba Amiel at SunTrust Bank here. Gerba Amiel told me that on or about December 3rd,

Michelle Ockridge attempted to cash a check in the amount, or on the account of Ashley Paolo for the amount of $1,250. Gerba Amiel told Detective that she has had many dealings with Ashley Paolo's accounts and stated the signature on the check did not look correct and appeared to be forged. Uh-oh. She told the Detective that she compared the signature on the check did not look correct and appeared to be forged. Uh oh. She told the detective that she compared the signature

on the check against his signature card and said the signatures did not match. They also said that she called the clerk here, the whatever the fuck, the teller, called Ashley's cell phone, but there was no answer, which she said was very odd for Ashley not to answer the phone, for the bank, if she calls him, he answers.

So Michelle Lockridge, who the fuck is that? Wanna know. Michelle Lee Lockridge is her name, she's 40 years old, she works for him, and so does her boyfriend, live-in boyfriend, Thomas Barnard, who is 34. So these two both work for him. Barnard does handyman type work and

Lockridge does clerical shit for his law shit. Now they live together, romantically involved. They said they last saw Apollo on Saturday, December 27th, dropping off his car because he had gotten too drunk the night before at a dinner to drive himself home. Which doesn't sound like him. Sounds like he'd give it a whirl. He'd give that a shot. Yeah. He'd be like, I think I can get there.

I'll be all right. So Barnard said the two went to work on Monday, November 29th, him and his girlfriend, but Ashley Paola wasn't there. But then Lockridge claimed she said that he was there but it was just locked in his room. So their stories together don't match up with each other which is weird. So that's strange. Then they look into them a little bit more. Barnard and Lockridge both have a pretty extensive criminal history.

Lockridge a really good history. Really? She's the worst. Oh yeah she recently served 10 years in prison. God damn! Stemming from charges of fraud and was currently on probation. Now it's serious. This is this is a lot. And she's got some fraud going on. She's got all sorts of shit. She is fucked right now so now they're really looking at her pretty hard. So they they sit him down and. They said let's do some interviews because I was just casual they showed up at their house Hey, have you talked to him? Yeah, they got conflicting stories. So now they sit him down. They interview Michelle first

She said she went to work 1129, but didn't see Ashley She said she thought he was at a court hearing for the day now the first time they talked for her She said he was locked in his room She said that when she left that day she locked up the house But he was at a court hearing for the day. Now the first time they talked to her, she said he was locked in his room. She said that when she left that day, she locked up the house. She said she went to work on 1130 the next day, but the doors were locked and Ashley Powell wasn't home.

So Michelle told the police that she tried to call Ashley's cell phone several times, but he wouldn't answer. Lockridge was asked how she was paid. She said it was once a week. She was then asked how she was paid on 12-3 if she stopped working for him on 11-30. If you haven't seen him to that, how did you get paid on 12-3? She said she was paid in advance on 11-26, November 26th. Asked if the check was for the amount of $1,250 she said yes

So then they asked Michelle if she went to Ashley's house to ask him why the check wouldn't cash She said no she just went home Okay now at that point they began to point out some inconsistencies in her story and she quote became Angered and wanted to leave you're not leaving me, I wanna go home. I'm done with this. So then they go, let's bring Thomas in since these two don't coordinate shit. So they interview him. He said he spent Friday night, 1126, with Ashley Paolo.

And he said that he went out, they went out to eat and have drinks. Barnard said Ashley Paolo was too impaired to drive home, so he drove Ashley's car, dropped it off at his house, and drove home. Everybody's just driving places and getting shitfaced and being like, now what? Now what do we do?

Drop this off, I'll go over there. You don't do some fucking planning before you go out? No, fuck no. This is Florida drinking. We just drink. Barnard said that on November 27th, the next day, he returned the car around noon. He said he hung out and smoked some weed

and had some drinks with Ashley, leaving at about three o'clock in the afternoon. So from noon to three, he was drinking and smoked, crossfading. A tax lawyer. A fucking 2pm crossfade. That is some shit. He said that Barnard said he was called on 1128,

so November 28th, by Ashley. So he said called on 1128 so November 28th by Ashley So he said Ashley called me on the 28th Thomas Barnard said Ashley's was wanting him to purchase some crack cocaine for him. Oh Ashley gets after after Ashley likes to party man Barnard said he would usually get it for him But he was working on his relationship with his girlfriend Michelle and did not want to leave the house. They're having a little chat. Not right now, we're doing some team building.

Yeah, we're doing some stuff. We're doing a fucking a joint therapy session over the phone here. Figuring out our love languages. I'll be over with the crack later. Yeah, maybe a little later. Barnard said he went to work on Monday, 1129 and Ashley Paolo wasn't home. Thomas Barnard said that Ashley Paolo's bedroom door was deadbolted as if he left the house. Barnard said they worked the rest of the day, locked up the house and left. He said they

returned on November 30th, but the house was still locked up and Ashley wouldn't answer the phone. Barnard said he already had a job lined up and he was upset with Ashley Paolo because he's done similar things in the past. So he's like, I don't even care, I got another job lined up, fuck that guy. Fuckin' my day and I'm not gonna deal with it. So because of the inconsistencies with Michelle's story, they go, let's bring her back.

Let's bring her back a second time. She's fun. See if we can get her to say anything. Let's get her pissed. Let's get her, well, let's see if maybe she thinks say anything. Let's get her pissed. Let's get her Well, let's see if maybe she thinks about it Let's get her good and mad see if maybe this will spit something out at us here So she said that again She said that she and Thomas went to his home Ashley's home on November 28th in the morning

And or she said she went there by herself and got a call from Thomas Oh, and he told her that quote, something bad happened to Paolo. Oh, there's a crack. That's something bad. She said that Thomas returned to their Vero Beach home, but because Thomas wouldn't tell her what happened, she just went to Ashley's house. Okay. So they said that apparently this, by the way, Michelle initiated this.

She called them and said, I'd like to talk to you about this. She then said that Michelle said that Thomas admitted to killing Ashley on Sunday, November 28th. So she knew this the last time that she talked to the fuck. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Has changed that she now wants to say. Yeah.

Well, she's got other charges and everything else. She just did 10 years, so she's doing more fraudulent shit. She's never getting out. Yeah, so I guess Thomas had told her that he choked Ashley Paolo in the front office, which is located inside the residence of his home at 6405 Oleander Avenue. Michelle told the police that Thomas took Ashley's cell phone and

kept the phone in his vehicle until a search warrant was served on their residence at which time he disposed of the phone. So basically his phone and that's perfect for the cops because now you can have Thomas's phone and this guy's phone in the same place as him, pinging every tower so you know he had the phone, which is interesting. Cell site locations on both of Ashley's phones confirm they were transmitting at the same tower at an Indian River and St. Lucie counties at separate times. So one of his phones was with him and one of his phones wasn't. This fact indicates simultaneous movement of both cell phones in proximity to the particular cell towers. Not bad. Interesting.

Michelle then told us that she went to Ashley Paolo's home on Monday, November 29th, and saw what she believed to be Ashley's body rolled up in a blanket. She told us that her daughter saw Thomas Barnard hide something at the base of a tree on the property of the child's babysitter He hid some something to do with this murder under their babysitter's tree weird. That's weird Well, no one will look there I guess Michelle Ockridge then told the cops that she believed Thomas was hiding drugs and searched the area Described by her daughter Michelle told us she found two master keys and a key to a deadbolt. Huh. She took the took the cops to the location where the keys were recovered, were there, and two master lock keys and a deadbolt key wrapped in

cellophane. The items were found. The items were taken to the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office where the master keys were matched with the master padlock found on the Hurricanes shelter. That's not good. Not good at all. Michelle, although she knows where all this stuff is. Right. That's the thing. Michelle also told the cops that she returned Ashley Palo's residence on the 30th there

and Ashley Palo's office was in disarray as if a struggle occurred in it. Michelle said that the desk chair was on its side and Ashley's vitamins were scattered about. Michelle said there was a dried, thick red substance on the carpet next to Ashley Paolo's desk. She then described the substance as looking like dried makeup. No. Yeah, I don't think so.

She cleaned up the red substance with OxyClean. That's a good commercial. That's a good commercial for OxyClean. It'll get dried blood up. That's a good commercial. That's a good commercial for OxyClean. It'll get dried blood up. Billy Mays. Billy Mays who's dead as fuck. She said that she found Ashley's body wrapped in a blanket with a plastic bag covering his face in a bedroom closet. She said she was very upset and sat crying next to the body. Why would you do that? You would run away and go cry in another room.

You wouldn't sit next to them. It's not your mother. Yeah. 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. From the award winning masters of audio horror, I see a face right up against the window, bleach white, no hair, black eyes, a round hole for a mouth. It's flat, Taylor.

It's completely flat. I don't know what that is. I don't know what kind of a head is flat. Look. What is that coming under the door? It's blood. Get back in your car. Lizzie, it's okay. I'm here now. Josh Get back in your car. Lizzie, it's OK. I'm here now.

Josh, get in your car! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Starring Bethany Joy Lenz, Clive Stanton, and Michael O'Neil.

Welcome to the Dark Sanctum. Listen to Dark Sanctum Season 2 exclusively on Wondry+. Join Wondry Plus and the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made, a seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Raden was found dead in a canyon near LA in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Laney Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer

who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry. But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad free right now by joining Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of the cotton club murder early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus. So she said, it's your boss. She said she tried to lift his body,

but couldn't. She said she called Thomas and said they needed to call rescue or tell somebody. I'm sure she was so distraught, but Thomas told her no. Thomas, she said, told her that she, that she would be blamed for his death and that somebody else did this. Somebody else. Just... Wild. Who? Someone else. They.

They. You know, they. They are always doing shit. The vaguest of answers. Anybody else. Anybody. So after Michelle returned to her house, Thomas reportedly agreed to go back to Ashley's home. When they went back, they argued over calling for assistance. So then they went back to their house in Vero Beach. The next day, they returned to Ashley's house where she said Thomas moved his body to the storm shelter.

She told Thomas to be careful, but didn't help carry the body, she said. She said Thomas pushed Paulo down the steps or she said Thomas pushed Paulo down the steps into the into the shelter and poured liquid lightning drain cleaner on him whoa yeah that's what he burned that's what he burned him with liquid lightning drain cleaner which is I mean I mean it'll fucking eat hair. I mean, imagine what it does. It eats all kinds of scum.

It'll eat whatever's in that pipe. That is something right there to pour on someone. She said that Thomas told her he was protecting her by pouring the drain cleaner on the body, so she didn't get in trouble. She said that Thomas said authorities would blame her for the death because she had a criminal record. And she knows all about it.

You're a criminal, stupid. So they go to Ashley's house, the family give permission, and the police go in, and they do a search again with black lights and luminol and all that kind of shit. And on the carpet by the desk, they find a stain consistent with the one that Michelle described. Bunch of makeup. Carpet removed, and there's a stain all the way down

to the concrete floor. Wow. And that tests positive for blood. Uh oh. So that's a problem. So much for Maybelline, Michelle. Yeah, maybe it's Maybelline, maybe not. Don't think so.

Maybe it's fucking viscera. So on the next day, they interview a guy named Christopher Higgins. He's a coworker of Thomas and has known him professionally for two years. It's weird to say Thomas does professional things, professionally. He's his work friend.

Yeah, who gets crack. Who gets crack for his boss. Christopher Higgins told the detectives that he and Thomas had worked together from August 2008 to June 16th, 2009. Christopher Higgins said he spoke to Thomas Barnard sometime before Thanksgiving and Thomas was inquiring about a job. Thomas called Christopher Higgins on the Monday after Thanksgiving and said he needed to make

some money to feed his family. Okay, Christopher Higgins assisted Thomas J. Barnard in gaining employment at J&L Tax Group in Vero Beach. Christopher Higgins told detectives that on either Tuesday, January 18, 2011 or Thursday, January 20, 2010, both he, meaning Higgins and Thomas went to lunch together at Chili's in Vero Beach. It's very Florida. Oh yeah. The conversation during lunch and after lunch on the drive back to their office including it included a discussion about oj simpson and His book if I did it. Oh

Which I've read it. It's stupid come out then. Yeah, it's dumb. Yeah, just come. It was a big deal at that point That's the one where he puts a hypothetical description of the murders It's talking about that over it over a plate of fucking Southwest. Oh my god. Those are gross by the way. Yeah. Corning in your egg roll. Nice. Those for your fucking spicy buffalo chicken fingers. So Thomas told Christopher Higgins he had to get something off his chest and proceeded

to give a detailed account of how he killed his former employer Ashley Pala. OJ Simpson precipitated this. Yep, they said, let me tell, I got it if I did it too. Let me tell you this, Thomas told Christopher that he and his girlfriend Michelle had been planning to kill Ashley Paolo and take over Paolo's clients for some time. Are you lawyers?

How? What the fuck are you talking about? You're... What? You're a fucking sprinkler repair guy. How the fuck does that work? You installed the ceiling fan. And she does clerical work.

She's not even a paralegal, never mind a fucking lawyer. Thomas told Christopher that he and Michelle had joked about how Ashley had nobody and they could kill him and continue his business without anyone knowing. How? Wow. Thomas told Christopher Higgins that he killed Ashley Palo on Saturday, November 27th Palo had accused Michelle of using his credit cards and stealing from him Thomas told Christopher Higgins that he told Michelle about Ashley's accusations and Michelle told Thomas to kill him

He is accusing us of this and she said kill him Are they on drugs? Yes, everyone here is on drugs. What the fuck are they talking about? I think everyone's on drugs. Have to be. Except maybe Higgins. They're so fucked up they don't know what reality is. That is, yeah, that's what I mean. Go ahead and kill him. So Thomas told Christopher Higgins he first attacked Ashley Paolo by striking him in the face, hence the blood because you don't usually bleed from being strangled. He then grabbed him from behind in a choke hold. Thomas told Christopher he then finished him off by strangling Ashley Polo from the front with his hands around Ashley Polo's neck

while Polo's body was on the floor. Thomas told Christopher Higgins it took eight minutes to choke him to death. Yeah, Jesus Christ, that's cold-blooded man. Thomas told Christopher Higgins there was some blood, and Thomas wrapped a plastic bag around his head to help contain the blood. Thomas also told Higgins that he and Lockeridge returned to Ashley's residence on Sunday, November 28th to dispose of the body,

and he had purchased four bags of acid from a Publix located somewhere between Vero Beach and Fort Pierce. First of all, acid comes in a bag. I Yeah, what hey for plastic bags of acid he purchased hmm I guess like a ziplock bag I don't know parking lot was this in the store or like is it in like a box the guy open a trench coat and sell That to you like what happened there packaged like fucking Franzia? Like Canadian milk? I'm not sure how this works. I don't know maybe it comes in a nice box.

Thomas told Christopher Higgins he put Ashley's body in the storm cellar, poured the acid over his face, hands and neck to erase any evidence of the attack. The acid was already starting to burn the body and created a large amount of smoke. What? Smoke. That's how nasty this liquid lightning is. That's a good ad for liquid lightning if you want to clear your drain out. When Thomas closed the door to the Starham cellar, I traveled to the Publix on Oslo Road and 43rd Avenue

and found only one item on the shelves that fit the description of the acid that he had. So this cop went there to check it out. The item was called Liquid Lightning Drain Cleaner manufactured by High Tech Laboratories. Liquid Lightning is contained in a plastic bottle within a clear plastic bag. So that's how it works.

Okay. Product information on the Liquid Lightning bottle says it contains virgin sulfuric acid, which is very corrosive and will cause severe burns to the skin. It needs double fucking plastic, you know what I mean, barriers to contain it. Fuck, then they, two of them, then they ended up finding that they purchased where he purchased it.

His cell phone records matched up with being on that store at the same time the purchases took place. And they're cleared out, they only got one left. Yup, that's it right there. And also video surveillance from a Walgreens parking lot located south of their video showed a vehicle matching Thomas's vehicle exiting the Walgreens parking lot driving toward the prima vista crossings Plaza where the public stores located at the same time she was purchased yes the water found in the storm cellar was

examined at the crime scene and had a zero pH factor indicating a strong presence of acid in the water. Wow. Fuck. That is wild. They also got video from a Home Depot in St. Lucie here where, St. Lucie West, where they find Thomas buying a chain and padlock to secure the body in the storms bunker Yeah earlier in the day they you know, they'd watch the video. They're like, well there he is

They even show him receiving his change leaving the store checking his receipt Making sure he was charged making sure he wasn't screwed over here. So they arrest Michelle for bank fraud Yeah, cuz she definitely stole that money. Yep, she does that. She did everything there. She's in jail. And she, I guess at one point had told Thomas she would take the fall for him if he would take care of her kids. But she needed to know exactly how he did it. This is how she got him to admit the whole thing. Oh, wow. She said, listen, I'll take the fall. You take She said, listen, I'll take the fall. You take care of my kids, I'll take the fall.

You just have to tell me exactly how you did it. On this phone call. So my confession matches up with that. So that she said Thomas told her and then she went to police and said, this is exactly what happened. Okay, now they, yeah, that's interesting. Now the charges, she faces a charge of accessory

after the fact. And we don't know. Yeah, they said the reason Thomas Barnard gave for killing Ashley Paula was that Ashley Paula was going to report Michelle Lockridge to the authorities for stealing from him. Thomas Barnard also stated he and his girlfriend wanted to take over the business, and that would be a great way to do it.

Then they said they were suspects from the first week of the investigation, which they were. So at trial for him, they present nine witnesses against him, including a pathologist, Dr. Roger Middleman, who told the jurors that Paolo died from asphyxiation and all that kind of thing. They also saw a series of horribly gruesome autopsy photos.

I cannot imagine, gross. As you can imagine. They said red dots found in his eyes indicated. He'd been deprived of air. This is a case of asphyxia Yep, but Tiki exactly and they said it's consistent with manual strangulation Okay. Now will he testify? He has to he said quote. I will not testify what not gonna You have to refute her story Oh, she said this and this happened. What the fuck you you're just gonna say well She's the only one that knows you're all you're gonna hear from me And he must be a real idiot where the judges the lawyers are like don't send him up there. Yeah, that's gonna be bad

Yeah, yeah, if you do testify that gives them the opportunity to talk to you. They have to talk to go into That's when character shit can come up. Hey, so 1998, this is the somebody, yeah. So you know how to get crack? Yeah. Where do you get crack? Can you get me some crack? They said, is that your decision?

He said, yes, sir, not gonna testify. There's a bit of a little fight over whether a cellmate will be able to testify. Okay. See, they, I guess, apparently, this is the defense attorneys, tried to get a cellmate of Michelle's to testify, and the cellmate said they had a story,

but the judge would not let the cellmate testify. The cellmate was going to tell the jury that while incarcerated together, Michelle confessed that she had been having an affair with Ashley and accidentally choked him to death during rough sex That's some rough ass sex to choke it took eight minutes For a grown man to choke another grown man to that couldn't come in eight minutes. That's what I mean until he died If you die before you come that is a problem

If you die before you come, that is a problem. So they said the judge said that the potential witness was a six-time felon and ruled that her testimony was not trustworthy enough to allow. Nor is that story physically impossible. It's the whole thing. It didn't happen. Silly. It's physically impossible. So during closing arguments, the assistant attorney general here told the jurors that

Ashley was known to be an erratic but brilliant tax lawyer. I didn't hear brilliant anyway. No, I heard a lot of people are mad that he gave him bad advice. That's what the cops said. Book could be erratic and unstable and difficult to work for. So the prosecutor said, so what was his fate? This guy who was hard to work for well he was brutally murdered and stuffed down into a storm shelter

on his own property by someone who worked for him and the defense lawyer what do you even say here he told jurors that the prosecutors were pinning the murder on the wrong person he said Michelle committed the murder during an angry rage not sexual now now it's angry she said that Thomas is only guilty of helping him just helping his girlfriend dispose of the body and clean up the scene they did the lawyer admitted to the jury that yes it was my client in that video you saw from the Home Depot buying the chat pay that's doing what his girlfriend padlock. That's all it is

He said that Barnard also yes sure he did buy this or sulfuric acid That burned his body But he said that Barnard's only crime was helping his distraught girlfriend destroy evidence and hide the corpse and bond crack and Once in a while buying crack. But that's a different... He's not on trial for that, ladies and gentlemen. They said there's no evidence that Tom committed murder. That's all on Michelle Lockridge. Now the rebuttal from the prosecutor at the closing, they said that it's a great theory until you evaluate

the evidence. Right. The defendant is guilty as he was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder. There you go. The verdict comes in six hours it took them. Oh it's over for you. Six hours. They find him guilty as shit. Yeah. Super, super guilty. Yeah. Here the, this is Ashley's sister, the one who said he was nonviolent, said she was very pleased with the verdict. She said it was tough but in a way it wasn't tough. I wanted to see justice I was here to see justice and it was worth it, but it was painful to get through You guys see autopsy photos and all that so during sentencing here Her his sister wrote a letter on behalf of the family including you know his children and parents and all that called

Thomas a cold-blooded murderer who robbed them of a kind and gentle man. He said, this brutal murderer took our beloved Ashley from our midst without a care or concern. His premeditated acts are those of an animal. For the rest of the days of our lives, we'll remember and honor our beloved Ashley and as we do, we'll remember the pain that we continue to suffer as a result of his untimely death at the hands of this killer. So the judge says you, son, may fuck off life without parole. Oh it's over for you.

Goodbye. 35. Holy. Dunzo. Through the whole thing away. All of it. For what? Liquid lightning, babe what for what that's

I mean you didn't even get anything you were gonna get nothing anyway what twelve hundred fifty dollars was that the was that they think that like Ashley wouldn't be around and they just keep continuing to cash checks and clients would pay where's money gonna come from if he's not doing services that's what I mean well they were gonna do it my get like what was the can what was the plan here this is a crack plan is what yeah. Yeah, that is a very cracky plan So Michelle takes a plea deal asked it Yeah for the because it was part of her testimony and all that so they tell her you ma'am may fuck off

30 years in prison for her. Yeah as well because it's also she's you know fraud and she's on probation You can't participate in a murder when you're on probation. I'm sorry. Can't do it. You just got out. So the prosecutor afterwards said the jury, the five women and seven men, made the right call. He said, I'm very pleased for the family of Ashley Palos.

Some have traveled a long way for the trial. I think the evidence was overwhelming that the defendant committed this murder and indeed the jury saw it our way. They took a while to do it and it was a case with over a hundred pieces of evidence so I don't blame them for taking their time sorting through it. Six hours? Yeah, that's not that long at all. Taking their time.

Go in there and sign it. People work longer shifts at gas stations. Fucking part-time is longer. So his attorney though, Thomas' attorney said he's plans to appeal when he says he's obviously very hopeful of the appeal but accepting of a situation. So Thomas at this particular moment is at the Tomoka Correctional Institute Tomaka Correctional Institute down there in Florida. He doesn't look like he's doing too great. He's going to be there forever. He doesn't look like he's doing too great. I think he's gonna be there forever.

And Michelle is at the Homestead Correctional Institute and her current release date shows as 8-26-2039. Whoa, they're going over the whole thing. Yeah, by the way, she has like 20 aliases under her alias. Really? Just so many fucking aliases, yeah. It's a lot. God damn. This is all rolled into her crime, her grand theft too,

because her probation, that got tacked onto this. She's a bad person. She's not a good person. We'll talk about her family too, because it's... What? Yeah, I got about two minutes to talk about this. Ronald is buried here at the Barron Hirsch Cemetery in Memphis, I assume, in his family.

He was 58 years old. Golly. 2016, Michelleemetery in Memphis. I assume in his family. He was 58 years old. 2016 Michelle's in prison her son Frederick Matthew Lockeridge is 15 years old Yeah, he is ordered to be held on five hundred thousand dollars bond What after being waved up to adult court in connection with the death of his ten-year-old sister? What her body was found Sunday afternoon in a white dress behind their fountain home where investigators said Lockridge placed her shortly after shooting her twice with a rifle. Oh boy. Her whole family is destroyed because of her. This shit rolls downhill and her father, I'm sure their father's not a

great guy. If Thomas is a guy she goes out with, the father's probably similar. Lockridge pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder despite allegedly confessing to three different accounts of how his sister died. He was arrested Sunday after search crews found Isabella's lifeless body covered in towels in an abandoned bus behind their home. They reported she'd been cleaned and dressed in a white sundress after being shot twice and they believe Lockridge sexually battered his sister. Dude. Gross. Not a scruple to be found. Is that Florida too? Absolutely. Yeah. You kidding me? When questioned Lockridge

confessed to killing Isabella at about 3 a.m. claiming he mistook her for a deer. In the house. In the house. In the house. There's a deer in the house. Shit. And it's a 10 year old girl. I better, there's a deer in the house. I better shoot it and rape it.

Yeah. Because that's what I do when there's a deer in my house. I rape it. What the fuck? Good Christ. The teen later told police he mistakenly shot Isabella because he saw someone attacking her Who shaming at somebody else then in his third statement

He said he accidentally shot her in the chest while showing her how to use a 22 caliber rifle Which is where he should have started right? That's the most believable one They're all still bad. Oh, they're terrible. You don't show somebody how to use a gun by putting it in their chair Let me here you go. They said she started making gurgling noises. That's what he said I did not know I did not know exactly how to deal with it. So I shot her again Oh my god, they didn't call 9-1-1. I shot her again The other story is real the deer one's unbelievable. That's I shot her because somebody was raping her and putting my jizz in her crazy

Accidentally hit her. I'm notizz in her. That's a crazy, accidentally hit her. I'm not a great shot. Never said I was. It's pretty amazing. Wow. After the incident, he allegedly snatched the firearm in an abandoned home where the authorities later found it. The siblings were two of four children living in the house.

Isabella and Lockridge had different fathers but were related through their stupid shit mother who's currently serving 30 years in prison. Holy shit. He'll be prosecuted as an adult by the way. And he was. And then he ends up in January of 2017, he pleads no contest to first degree murder in the shooting death of his sister.

He is sentenced to at 15 years old you young man may fuck off 50 years in prison best of luck plus 10 years of probation that's a that's gonna be a great kid when we release oh he's gonna be great he's going right he won't have SS tattoos on his face or anything I'm sure that's he's gonna he's gonna do terrific down there so that everybody is Fort Pierce, Florida. What a terrible place. Wow. There's not a redeeming person in there. 10 pounds of murder in a two pound bag

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