Small Town Murder - #572 - Murderous Male Stripper - Wantage Township, New Jersey

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

This week, in Wantage Township, New Jersey, a crazy relationship between a male stripper, and his law student girlfriend seems ready to explode, since he's opened credit cards in his infant's name, and hid naked women under his son's crib. In the end, this woman's mother ends up brutally murdered, with a weapon we haven't heard ever used in this way. Was it all just self defense??Along the way, we find out that there are farms very close to New York City, that when your mother hates your boyfriend, she'll always hate your boyfriend, and that that the worst place to hide a naked woman, is under your son's crib!!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.

Love winter? Then you'll fall in love with Winter in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This charming and historic town is the perfect place to lace up your skates, cozy up by the fire after a day of wine tours or beer sampling, or simply melt into a puddle with a luxurious spa day. Wander through one-of-a-kind boutiques and indulge in world-class dining where every meal is an experience to savor. Winter in Niagara-on-the-Lake is more than a season. It's magical. Come explore Niagara-on-the-Lake now or plan your adventure at niagara-on-the-lake.com. In the depths of an Atlanta forest, a clash between activists and authorities ends in

tragedy. I'm Matthew Scherr, and on my new podcast, We Came to the Forest, we expose the hidden truths behind a shootout that left one activist dead and countless lives forever changed. Binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest ad-free on Wondery Plus. Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yay choo choo! Oh yay indeed Jimmy, yay indeed. My name is James Petragallo, I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you folks so much for joining us all aboard the murder train.

Pulling away from the station we have an absolutely wild one for you today, as it always is for Express, and every other episode too for that matter, but Express, it's so compressed that it just seems crazier. So we have some wild stuff. Before we get to that, shutupandgivemurder.com is where you get tickets for live shows. And if you wanna come to a live show in 2025,

I highly suggest and recommend that you do it right now because a lot of these are selling out we have Madison's sold out we got San Diego's about sold out couple of tickets left in st. Louis Grand Rapids sold out Portland sold out you got to get in there Seattle DC Philly and Chicago are where there's some tickets available. Get those tickets right now. Shut up and give me murder.com. Get your merch while you're there. To where? To a live show, of course. Listen to our other two shows, Crime in Sports, which you don't have to like sports. We're doing a whole series on Evil

Can Evil right now. It's barely sports. the guy's just flinging himself off of jumps with a motorcycle and crashing it's a lot of a lot of fun you also should listen to your stupid opinions of course which is hilarious show where we go over reviews of everything under the Sun and then if you listen to everything and you need more patreon is where you get it patr eon.com slash crime in sports is where you get all the bonus material Anybody five dollars a month or above you get everything and I'm talking about Soon as you subscribe a huge back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes You've never heard before and then new ones every other week one crime in sports one small-town murder and you get it all damn it

This week what you're gonna get for crime and sports it's disaster potpourri yeah industrial disasters amusement park disasters hot air balloon disasters you name it it's disaster time we'll talk about we'll talk all about how can you be melted at work we'll talk about it then for small town murder we're going to talk about psychics that actually succeeded oh we've done so much debunking of everything. I'm like, let's find out when something actually worked. So we're gonna figure that out and figure out how that happened. So we'll talk about all of that and more. That is patreon.com slash crime in sports.

And you get a shout out at the end of the show as well, the regular show. That said, I think it's time everybody to get into some crazy murder. I think it's time to sit back. What do you say? Let's all clear the lungs, arms to the sky, and let's all shout.

Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this everybody. Okay. Let's go on a trip, shall we? All right, we're going to New Jersey this week. There we go. Let's stay, silence is what everyone, oh, okay, great. Wantage Township, New Jersey, to be exact.

W-A-N-T-A-G-E, Wantage. That's how they say it. It's in northern New Jersey here. It's about an hour to the northwest of New York City, which I know sounds so weird if you're not from the area. You go, but New Jersey's over here, and New York's over here. Yeah, but the city goes here and Jersey's inland. It's a whole, it's a whole thing here. So what? Northwest, northwest of New York City. Yeah. That's a long distance. Yeah. Very commutable though. An hour from

the city, two hours to Philly and about an hour and 40 to Neptune City, New Jersey, which was our last New Jersey episode, episode 529 murder audition, which was a crazy episode. That's the one where the kid got caught in the car. His friend filmed him and did the whole sting operation on him because he killed that girl for no reason. It was horrifying. So we'll talk about that. This is in Sussex County, area code 973 population of this town ten thousand

eight hundred thirty one. Okay so a pretty small town to be an hour from the city. It's not bad. Median household income here is pretty high compared to the national average. National average is about sixty nine thousand here it is eighty eight thousand five sixty three and the median home price, super low to be commutable to New York City as well. $300,000 for the median home price, which is lower than the national average actually. This isn't the most fancy town going,

but it's not that bad either. Here's a little bit of history, just a drop here. It was named for Wantage, England, of course. Oh, yeah, and It became a precinct this town on May 30th 1754 so it's been around Precinct yeah quite a while. It's been a township since 1798 and Was in first one of the it was included in the initial group of New Jersey townships So it was a hundred and four originally and this was one of them here. Here are some reviews of this town the initial group of New Jersey townships.

Here are some reviews of this town. Five stars here. Wantage is beautiful. A quiet rural town. You will find everything from majestic rolling hills with no shortage of farm animals and natural wildlife to historic sites and buildings and vintage shopping boutiques. For the outdoorsmen there are ideal locations for fishing, hunting, and for hikers. Among other trails, you can climb to the highest point in all of New Jersey, High Point Monument.

Located less than an hour's drive from major cities, Wantage offers a peaceful, scenic escape from urban living. Which sounds like a real estate agent wrote that for Christ's sake. Wow. Here's three stars. It's a rural area It's great If you just want to be away from the hustle and bustle you need to be able to drive as all of the stores are 20 Minutes away by car. So I mean it's it's kind of a rural e area. There's no public transportation in the county Growing up around here was okay as long as your parents are involved.

As long as they're hanging out with you in the woods. With each other? Yeah, I don't know what's going on. It's not a good area to retire in. It's the Northeast, yeah, it's cold and wet and expensive. Three stars here, I've grown up here for the majority of my life and I really like it. I love seeing all the animals everywhere.

Sometimes it's sheep, sometimes it's cows. I love seeing all the animals everywhere sometimes. It's sheep sometimes. It's cows we get it farm animals If you said sometimes, it's a yeti that would be interesting otherwise Don't know you definitely have to get used to the farm smell though Yeesh, yeah, I just wish places were closer together. You can't really walk place to place So and it smells like it's an hour from the city though that's not bad and then finally three stars only a few restaurants Mexican Greek and an inn and there are two diners that's it I can't believe there's no Italian joint around here. It's fascinating that that's the only thing

they want to talk about. Done. That is like, OK. That's it. That's it. Not even if it's good or not. Just only a few restaurants. These exist.

Bye. We have these. Things to do. Just filling me in on this, just what we have. Things to do the Wantage New Jersey Harvest Festival, which takes place at the Holy Spirit Orthodox Christian Church. Around October-ish?

It's September 29th and 30th. So yeah, admission is free, obviously, because I don't know who's going to pay for... What do they have here? Food vendors, live music. They have... It says it's on church grounds. And they have... Let's see.

I see no... they don't really talk about any of the activities. They say there is American and Slavic foods. Great. So that's nice. And then there's two bands playing. Okay. We have the Culver Gap Bluegrass Trio.

Yep. Which they leave no mystery of what they're doing. We get it. There's three and we know what you're playing. And then finally the Snake Oil Willie band, which sounds awesome. I want to see Snake Oil Willie. That's what I want to see. He only has one eye, right? Snake Oil Willie. It's just bad music, but he's passing it as good, I guess. That said, let's go ahead and talk about some murder, shall we? Thank God. Jesus, let's do it.

Let's talk about a young lady first, Virginia Leota, just like Ray, L-I-O-T-T-A. She goes by Gina, Virginia Leota, which I guess if you took the I out, there's Gina's in the name. I suppose it's close. It's close. A lot of them go by Jenny, some of them just go by Verge.

Jenny, Verge, Verge is a big one in the news. Verge is real popular. My mom had a friend named Verge. She was a mess. Oh, she was this crazy, loud, drunk lady and we'd have to go to her house and she was a disaster. I like Vi or Vi, both of those are good. That's not bad.

Yeah, Verge is just weird. Gina's usually not for this. Not Virginia, not Virginia not Virginia, but she goes by Gina. She's born October 1969 and she has a brother named Joseph as well Joey Leote over here So she grows up in this area. Her mom's name is Elizabeth lot lot and Elizabeth is born in 1937, so obviously a good amount older than her daughter. Now Elizabeth here, they're like an educated family.

Nice. Like a smart family. Sure. Now it's funny, because Elizabeth didn't start out like that. She didn't start out as having like money and status in a town. She was born in West Virginia as one of 13 children of a coal miner. So her life could not be any more different than it was when it started. It could have gone way worse.

Oh my God. She could have been in one of our West Virginia episodes. Think about it. So instead she, that's impressive. She'll end up being a professor of economics at Pace University in New York. Which I don't think when you're born as one of 13 kids to a coal miner in West Virginia in 1937, you're gonna go, she's gonna be a New York City professor someday, teach us all about math.

Like that's good for her, man. Now she has the two children and gets divorced very young. Oh. When the kids are very young. So like early 70s her and her husband get divorced. So she ends up raising them alone. And while she's doing this she puts herself through college to become an economics professor. Unbelievable. Elizabeth has some stick-to-it-ness to her. Yeah, that's very rare. Yeah. She is hardcore, man.

She also puts Joseph through medical school. What? And puts Gina through law school. Yeah. Was she a stripper? No. Back then, too, it was a little easier. You could actually afford college, but still.

I mean, those are some of the hardest ones to do. Yeah. And also just, she's smarter. Kids have to be doing, so I mean, to come from where she came from and then end up putting her kids through law and medical school. Wow, she did about as good as you can do.

That's like American dream shit right there. So by the time the kids are adults, Gina and Joseph here, like I said, she is a professor of economics at Pace in New York, and her health is declining pretty good here. And when she gets into her sixties, her health starts to decline a good amount. Now, a few years back in the early 2000s or late 90s, late 1990s, she buys a house described as as her dream home great. It's on 40 acres of land. Oh Yeah, she bought an estate dream home to fuck. Yeah It's isolated from the other homes in the area She would eventually like her kids to build houses on this property on the property Yeah, and nearby have a big compound basically sure she's gonna move a little bit of the West Virginia Holler into into the 40 except they have 40 acres it's not a trailer on the front lawn in front

of the house which is good so 1992 Gina she meets a man okay boy he's an interesting fella here Paul Foglia F-O-G-L-I-A. Is she done with medical school at this time? The son went to medical school, her brother Joseph. She went to law school. Oh, she went to law school. Yeah, yeah. At this point, I don't think so,

because she is only 23 years old at this point. Okay, yeah, so. In 92. So Paul Foglia is born in October 1960, so he's a good nine years older than her. Wow. To begin with. Now, they met when she was a social worker. So Paul Fogley is born in October 1960, so he's a good nine years older than her to begin with. Now, they met when she was a social worker and he was a male stripper.

Hell yeah. That's how they met. Now, Paul has an, he's a real interesting guy. He does a lot of stripping, number one. He's like a six foot one, 200 pound, like muscular guy who strips. And it is fucking hilarious that he has like long dark hair, which when he's younger and you know, stripping was probably great for him. But later on, his hair is terrible, okay. But he still, he still styles it like he still has the same amount of hair.

Like he likes like a, it looks like a Johnny Depp hairstyle is the best way to fucking describe it. Like a ponytail with like bangs that long bangs that come down in the front. But he has like no hair up top. That's the fucked up part. So he's just got like this, it's such a mess later on. The ponytail is to pull it over the bald spot. People used to scream and shove money in this guy's pants,

and now they're like, oh, get your horrifying head away from me, oh my god. Dude, it's bad. He's also worked as a mechanic before, but stripping's his main job, though. That's what he mainly does. Also a personal trainer when that comes up here and there. But also a stripper.

But also he likes to strip and strips a lot and We'll find out where and when also Now the relationship between him and Gina is on and off all the time because yeah, he's a stripper Well, yeah, and he's a mess too. He's absolutely a fucking mess on top of these that has no he's the most irresponsible Person who's ever walked the earth He's a fucking mess early in the relationship Gina discovered that he had a whole other girlfriend that he didn't tell her about So there was that Also, he would call Gina obsessively at work

And not only would he call her at work, he would call her boss up to make sure she was working, not call her. To make sure the story was accurate. To make sure she's at work right now, she's actually working though, like at her desk and the guy would be like, do you work here? That's too much. You want to just come take a shift of a supervisor? You can't do that.

No, it's absolutely crazy the first Thanksgiving they spent together this is fucking great to Gene invites Paul over to Elizabeth Lotz house. You know for a family Thanksgiving You know what I mean Paul by the way is from a different completely different background. He's his family is trailer people Yeah, like he's yeah, there's no one. No, I don't know where his family is trailer people. Like he's, yeah, no one knows where his father is, he lives in a trailer with his mother most of the time. Nobody had any forethought to try to have some generational cycle breaking. No, no, no.

Absolutely not. And he comes home, you know, stinking of 45 different women's perfume to a trailer with his mother. So that's not great. Wow. So at this Thanksgiving dinner, Paul comes over, he takes a fucking bite of the food that Elizabeth has made, this feast for the family, and spits it out.

Why? Tells her it's gross, your food is terrible. Okay, this is first time there. You pretend it's good. You can't choke something back, man. I hate Thanksgiving food. I go every year to my brother's good. You can't choke something back, man. I hate Thanksgiving food. I go every year to my brother's house and I eat it. It's Thanksgiving food that he's having and he's not,

you know what he's eating. Just eat it. Spit it out. You've had it before, you dick. You've had it dry, you've had it without taste, you've had it, just eat it. It's fucking fine. Chew it more.

It's ridiculous. Well, she used salt and he doesn't like salt. On what? I mean if it's not over, wasn't over salty. She used salt to season her food and he does not like any salt. So he spit it out. So everyone's supposed to eat plain unseasoned food cause this weirdos, he just doesn't come over. Cause the, yeah, because Gina's stripper friend doesn't like it.

Okay. Wow. So that's, her mother was quote, highly insulted, is the way Gina plays by this. I would say so, yeah. Yeah, you come to my house and do this, it's not making a good first impression. Gina said that her mother also disapproved of Paul's dancing and had concern that he was quote,

doing other things and sleeping with people for money and prostituting himself. I think all of those are the same thing that she thought. All of them. Doing all those things you know sleeping with people for money. Also Gina said quote she was concerned that he could be in homosexual relationships He's dancing around them dancers. They are all gay. You know that come on now. Nobody can keep a rhythm who's straight. That's ridiculous That's an awful large That's a big leap. It's a big fucking leap, but wait till later. Um, so early in the relationship,

Elizabeth lot told Gina that Paul was quote, trying to control her and was stalking her from the beginning. You say, Oh, she said, get away from that gay stalking dancer stripper weirdo. Get it. Who can't eat salt. Get them away from here. That's so funny. It's fucking hilarious. And you bring a guy home in 1992 to your mom in New Jersey who's from the West Virginia hills and shit and you're like, here's my stripper boyfriend and she's, get him the fuck out of my house.

Obviously they're going to say. He dances, I bet he fucks too. And if Joseph brought home a stripper woman, the mother would probably have the same reaction. Yeah, get her out of here mother of probably the same reaction. Yeah Yeah, she probably has dried semen in her hair get her out of here So a little bit about Paul's past he has not been a squeaky clean kind of fella here He has a pretty good police record as a matter of fact While this is all going on while they're all together, know, through the 90s into the early 2000s, in the early 2000s, Paul catches an assault charge

against his own mother. Paul! Paul is- You can't hit ma! Knocking his own mom around in the trailer. You can't hit mom, that's just a- Paul, please, with the stereotypes, you're really- Yeah, you can't do that.

You know what I mean? Jesus Christ, man. He's also... That's not his first time arrested, obviously, here. He was arrested in DeKalb County, Georgia in 1980 for trespassing and larceny. Oh, boy. He was arrested in West Caldwell, New Jersey in 1982 for larceny. And he was also arrested for disorderly conduct in Wayne, New Jersey in 2003.

So none of these things are like, you know, mastermind criminal shit. He's not robbing banks or anything like that, but it all shows a lack of judgment and self control I would say. He's kind of a dick. Kind of a dick. Now Gina and Paul are going to end up having two sons together. Oh, she is going to be tied to this man. Kind of a dick now Gina and Paul are gonna end up having two sons together Oh, she is gonna be tied to this man

Now Gina said that he tried to find other employment He spent set but instead of finding it he spent several hours a day lifting weights and doing aerobics and going to the gym Which doesn't pay any money, unfortunately their first couple or their first child's born in 1999, and this is amazing. The night before his baptism, I've never heard of this before. Even for small town murder, this is going far.

Okay, the night before their first child's baptism, they were living together, Gina and Paul. Gina, something happened and Gina heard a noise and went and checked on the house and in the middle of the night found a naked woman under her son's crib. Paul brought a woman into the house where his wife and his soon to be baptized son are sleeping and was

fucking her and they made a noise and woke Jean up so this woman ran and hid under the baby crib naked. That happened. So imagine. That's a night. You go in to get your infant. Yeah. And you're like, what, what?

And there's a naked woman under there. Yeah. That has to be. I heard a noise. There's a fight nothing. I don't know. I was sleeping. Wow, that's gonna cause the baby Holy shit, I just hired a new nanny Paul probably said yeah, it's her first day I told her no clothes so we know she's not stealing things. Yeah, that that's what it is I said, you're not allowed to wear clothes because the last lady stole from us. She's from another country. Leave her alone. That's her culture She's Lithuanian. That's how they do it. Just relax So the that is fucking amazing that's that's a lot there was another time when

Okay, oh he also lied to her and didn't tell her that he'd been married before also And she had to find that out Because she's a lawyer, you know knows how to write that shit up Also, they had a huge argument Because there was a guy who was friends with Gina and friends with her for a long time and obviously He didn't like that very much Paul so they would argue all the time and he ended up having a big argument where So they would argue all the time and he ended up having a big argument where Paul

hid in the bushes outside this man's house and then popped up to start yelling at him and causing a big fucking scene. So that is wild. Now Gina is going to end up graduating from law school in 2003. That's when she finally graduates. Cause she was going kind of on and off and you know, it's hard when you have two kids to go to like everyday Law school yeah, so she does that Somehow they continue this relationship Through all of it through the naked woman under the crib that that's a deal-breaker, and I would hope I would think that would be Where it's like okay this relationships over. There's literally a naked woman in my son's room under the crib. This is crazy

I smell sex on her still if you saw that in a movie. Yeah, you'd go. Yeah, it's funny, but it's far-fetched That's like it's something that would be like the hangover. You know what I mean? Like a naked woman jumps out and the wise what the hell's going on here It's like Tyson in the closet and gonna beat me. Yeah, Phil Collins song. Is there an Asian in somebody's trunk? What's happening? so anyway, she gets pregnant again in 2003 from Paul my god Jesus so Elizabeth mom was very upset that Gina was having another child with this fucking idiot. She's like, oh my god Seriously, please tell me someone else knocked you up. So the son was born. Um, and Gina said that she believed that Paul

loved his children, but he didn't support them financially at all. Okay. Now for all intents and purposes, they quote break up, but they don't really break up. They're still kind of together. This is a very toxic, sticky relationship. It's ugly. Yeah. It's ugly. So Gina is living with her mom in this nice big house, in the dream home. And I guess while this is happening, Elizabeth does not want Paul to visit the home when she's not there. Right. She said, I don't want him here when I'm not here. He can obviously visit his kids, but I don't want him in the house when I'm not there. So that's interesting.

Gina said, quote, I was hoping he would get a job and find an apartment where the kids could visit. Yeah, right. That'd be nice. Yeah. I trusted him. I thought if I supported him, he would come through and we could have a little life together, but it never happened.

She still thinks it's been over 10 years of this crazy shit and she's still like I just thought he'll just get it together one of these days like that's unfortunate dude I mean at what point do you go I can't fix him I can't yeah it's not fucking happening this is the type of person that has like 14 toasters because she can't throw them out after they break. It's like, holy shit, I feel bad. He's a lot. So Elizabeth said that he can only come to the house two days a week to see his sons.

I don't want him here anymore than that. So that's how it goes. And Elizabeth does not take any shit. She doesn't back down. She once, they talked about arguing with, because Elizabeth was always arguing with Paul, and one of the family members said, you know, you don't know this guy though, you can't be arguing with grown men anymore, he could hit you and or he could do something to you and she held up her fist and said, if he ever tries to hit me, I'd paste one on him. That's what she said.

Paste one on him. So she's gonna punch him herself here. She's a tough old lady. There is an incident in the hospital here. Gina was sick during her second pregnancy and she was hospitalized and became sick in her room. Okay. The only person there is Paul and he just left without even getting a nurse.

He just said, well, you're sick. You dropped her at the door? No, no, she was in the room being sick and he was like, well, I'm going to take off now. I gotta go, this is gross. No one else was there. Yeah. He put the little bucket next to her and was like, not much more I can do. You're fat and it stinks in here.

It's gross, man. I'm going to go. It's all pukey in here. You know how that goes. So she said Gina called for help until three or four in the morning and just laid there throwing up. Oh my God. Another incident at the hospital here. She was in the hospital, like checked in.

In a bed. Paul was supposed to pick their older son up at school and when Gina called him, he told her his car broke down and he's far from the school school so, you know, sorry. Can't do it. Can't do it. Yeah. Oh well.

So now she's got to try to figure this out from a hospital bed. Physically impossible at the moment, sorry for you. She began, she said she became hysterical and began calling other kids parents and she finally reached one. She explained the problem. The parent told her that, what are you talking about Paul is sitting here with me eating a can of tuna fish he does he do that out of the can he's just eating what kind of a weirdo goes to their son's school and he's tune out of a can that's

just and told fascinating human and told Gina this but he's there so like he did it just a fuck with her while she was in the hospital, which is really weird. She told, Gina told her mother about that and Elizabeth said, well, that's the kind of thing that idiot does. Sounds like him. That sounds like him. So as of 2004, they're still involved

in this horrible relationship here. He at this point is working as a bartender, Paul is, at the phone booth bar, O N E by the way yeah which still exists under a different name I think it's the Irish cottage now but it was the phone booth bar it is neither a phone booth nor an Irish cottage nor an Irish cottage and also you can't name it the phone booth bar now because no one would know what the fuck that was why does does that say Fonnais? I don't understand what Fonnais is. Maybe it's a French place. This could be maybe it's fancy.

Everybody we have some exciting news that we want to share. If you want to go on an adventure with Generation Y we'd love for you to join us. January 26th through the 30th, 2026, we'll be sailing from Miami to the Bahamas on Wondry's first ever True Crime Cruise aboard the Norwegian Joy. Aaron and I will be there to chat, hang out, dive into all things True Crime, and we're thrilled to be joined by some familiar voices in the True Crime podcasting world. Surti and Hannah from Red Handed, Sashi and Sarah from Scam Fluencers, and Karl Miller from Kill List. Super excited to hang out with them too. We've got some cool activities, interactive mysteries we can solve, testing our forensic skills with a blood spatter expert, and so much more. So for

some sun, fun, and just the right amount of mystery solving, come join us. If you'd like to know more and secure your spot, visit exhibitccruz.com for presale information. He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood Walk Cafe, Sean Diddy Cone. Diddy built an empire and lived a life most people only dream about. Everybody know there ain't no party like a Diddy party, so. Yeah, that's what's up. But just as quickly as his empire rose, it came crashing down.

Today, I'm announcing the unsealing of a three-count indictment, charging Sean Combs with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, interstate transportation for prostitution. I was. I have brought bottom I made no excuses. Disgusted so sorry. Until you're wearing orange jumpsuit it's not real now it's real. From his meteoric rise to his shocking fall from grace from

law and crime this is the rise and fall of getting. Listen to the rise and fall of Diddy exclusively with Wondery Plus. So he's also got a, by now he has a ton of credit card debt, obviously, and even is in the process of being in trouble for forging his son's name on a credit card application. His son's name. At the most it's a five-year-old. God damn it. Or it's an infant, either one. Gina says even though everyone thought she split up, they split up because she was too embarrassed to tell everyone she was still with him.

She says, quote, we didn't split up. The relationship was ending. I was ambivalent. I was ambivalent for 12 years. You can blame me for that I still wanted to be a family with my sons. My whole life was an embarrassment I often said yes, we're going to get married. Everything's fine. She'd tell people that oh, so what's going? Oh, yeah No, we're getting married. That's what she'd tell people Unbelievable, man. I Guess there was certain times Gina said that her mother Elizabeth had criticized Paul in front of the children as well

I mean one of them is an infant so that doesn't matter but the other one She said also that she that Elizabeth often spoke badly of Paul in front of his son Joseph Gina's brother said that Elizabeth and Paul would occasionally have confrontations, but not frequent confrontations, but they would have some things. Now, like I said, mom's goal is to die eventually and leave the property to the kids so they can build houses on it

and have this property going on. Yeah. Here's some other relatives here. This is an outlier of an opinion here. This is Elisabeth's sister-in-law, so Gina's aunt, I guess, said that she saw Paul a few times at family reunions held every year about a week before Christmas,

and said he seemed mannerly. What is it? Okay. And said said when you just go meet someone for dinner or for a social get-together you only get a first impression of them. We didn't see any bad side to him. Except for when he spit the food in people's faces. That was Thanksgiving. That wasn't the family reunion. We knew that. So yeah. So at Christmas when the whole family's there, he knows how to pull it together and be full of shit. So, summer of 2004, there is an argument between Elizabeth and Paul. She called him a bum and he called her a quote fat pig. That's how that went.

All right, you fat pig. That's what he said. Those are equal. Don't make me take my cock out and dance all over this fucking living room because I will right now. You're a bum. Yeah, well you're a fat pig. That's right.

That's it. Wow. Paul said she just doesn't like me because I'm quote not professional. Okay. Yeah, that's what it is. That is fucking amazing. And the funny thing is here, he had, the family talks about how he quote, lost five jobs in five years as a mechanic

and never had a goddamn dime saved. He's a bum is what they're saying, period. You fat pig. September 24th, 2004, 10 p.m. here. Okay, Gina here is driving home from a family dinner at their uncle's house in Tatawa, T-O-T-O-W-A. She's calling her mother on the cell phone, calling the house, and Elizabeth is not answering the phone.

No list. Repeated phone calls, and she's not answering the phone. Which is odd for Elizabeth here, so Gina is worried and driving home quickly. She's got her two sons with her. One of them is an infant like five months old and the other is you know six years old or so. So they arrive at the home here and she said she knew something was wrong instantly. The sliding glass door was open which it usually is unlocked. That's normal

She said quote I could see into the house from the sliding glass doors in the back I first saw my mother I could see her clearly lying face down in the family room I could tell something was wrong even from the outside. Yeah face down in the family room is not a normal That's not how she usually watches Jeopardy probably. Yeah. Yeah, that's not that's how she thinks best to do the Daily Double I think so Gina said I thought she had a heart attack. She was just laying there with a table on top of her It's a wooden folding tray table on top of her. Oh one of those like Like a heavy dinner trays, but like a heavy one. Not a okay chintzy one Her thick got glasses were broken and laying on the floor next to her

Yeah, so Gina tries to call nine one one from her cell phone, but for some reason she couldn't remember to hit send This is how your brain she used her cell phone Ten times on the way over yeah hitting send every time but your brain when it goes into freakout mode Yeah, can't even do the simplest tasks It is fascinating because like I always have dreams about like not being able to operate my phone But anytime I've ever been in a car accident or needed like police. I'm always panicked. I can't do it It's so hard figure figure it out. So she couldn't figure it out She threw her cell phone down because she thought it was broken or something. She just never hit send

so she grabs the landline because her mom has a landline and Calls 911 operator starts telling her to do CPR on her So she's like, okay, I gotta go over there and you know tend to her So Gina says I leaned over to check her pulse and that's when I saw the wounds. I saw a lot of blood. I saw her scalp and torn skin. Oh boy. I tried to describe it to 911, but I didn't want to scare my child. I told him to turn around and look away.

Yeah, this is traumatic for a six year old to see grandma with her fucking skull cracked open. Yeah, her skull. Wow. Not what you expect from grandma's house. So, Gina said she flung off the wooden tray table that was on top of her mother and reached down to turn her over.

She said, I wanted to help her, but I just knew she wasn't there anymore. Part of me knew she was gone. I didn't want to hurt her anymore. So she didn't wanna start moving her around. So she said she studied the wounds of her mother and said she came to the realization that quote She didn't fall someone did this to her

She said and I thought they could still be here I grabbed my children and ran out of the house as fast as I could Absolutely, you have no idea if you walked in in the middle of this and now they're gonna come kill you and your kids. So The police arrive and the medical people arrive and they say she was struck with the folding table while she was in a horizontal position The yeah laying down they opined that she died from blunt impact trauma to her skull and brain Having sustained a skull fracture to her right side that was likely fatal and caused by significant force With a table someone took a fucking heavy

TV tray and bashed her skull in with it Wow Which is we've never had that as a murder weapon right no this week We have had Visine and a fucking tray table two things we've never had before it's a banner week for small-town murder I'm telling you that is That is crazy the the yeah the murder martini The murder martini as I named the episode call it so She was killed by that they said that the injuries she had to her head were similar to those of victims of a car accident Wow, that's the force she was hit with. Yeah, that's hard. The medical examiner said her skull was cracked

in mosaic fractures, which requires significant force to create. And she said her brain shifted from the impact and caused bleeding and hemorrhaging. This is hard, man. There's a photo of her skull with, you can see exposed brain in it. Like it's horrifying and absolutely horrifying.

They said that they asked how those are caused the mosaic features of the skull. She said the right side of the skull was hit with a heavy flat object with such force that it cracked her skull in a radial pattern similar to a mosaic tile design that expanded out to reach across the top of her head. That's how fucking hard she was hit with a flat object. Wow, from the side all the way over. Yeah. It radiated.

Wow. The inner structures of her skull were also found to be fractured from the blow. The evidence at the scene dictates to me what happened there. This is what the medical examiner is saying. The home was well kept with some disarray, but there were no signs of struggle or forced entry. There was a glass lamp and picture frame still standing on the table right next to the victim. The home seemed untouched other than the victim's condition. Just wasn't an attack.

Not a robbery gone wrong. There's one target in this house and it's her. That's it. Not even the lamp like nothing So they said could you possibly get fingerprints off the murder weapon off the murder weapon and they said unfortunately they are there's a lot Of blood all over the table, but they said wood is not a good material to get fingerprints from It's grainy. Yeah, it's not it doesn't the ridges will take's not, it doesn't stick very well. The ridges will take away, yeah. It doesn't, and also there's a moisture thing, it'll suck moisture in, wood, and things like that,

so it's not a very good keeper of fingerprints. Yeah, yeah, it'll take the oils from your skin and disperse them and it won't have the right pattern. I would figure the grains would disguise the ripples in the finger, but. That too, it's just. It would consider absorbing the oils. Yeah, the finger but that's what it's it's it's it's it's absorbing the oh yeah I've heard that too and it's not an even surface either

ever would no matter how even it looks it's not so it's it's hard so chaos ensues at the house here obviously yeah a neighbor sees all the emergency vehicles and comes over she takes the older son back to her house so so can you please take my son out of this you know murder scene possibly now this lady next door takes the son and also calls up the phone booth bar yeah to tell Paul what's going on yeah for some reason I don don't know how the mother's neighbor knows that to call the phone booth bar for Paul, but she does. She says you need to come to the house.

So Paul arrives at the neighbor's house about 20 minutes later. So investigators are processing the crime scene and securing evidence for analysis. Like I said, no signs of forced entry, nothing appears to be stolen whatsoever, and there's no evidence of any sexual assault or anything like that. Just a beating. Just I'm mad at that lady's skull, period. So Gina and Paul go to the local police department with the detective here and they call up the phone booth and confirm that he had worked there during the evening like he said I was at work all night.

You know you guys where were you guys okay no one was there. So they call up the phone booth and they said yeah no Paul did have a shift tonight but he did leave for quote a period of time when he claimed to be ill. Okay. So the detective went to the phone booth and got the videotape from the surveillance cameras in the parking lot to see exactly how long he left, when and how ill he was. It shows him arriving for work at 6.01. This is what kind of an asshole he is. He's late already. He's already late.

He's gonna run in there, put on his apron like, oh oh yeah, no, no, like, shh, get there five minutes early for a bartending shift. You fucking jerk off. The guy showed up late. He showed up late. Then he left the premises at 7.51 p.m. and returned at nine. Useless bartender. No shit.

Which is, so he was gone for an hour and nine minutes from the parking lot, which is plenty of time The bar is six miles away from Elizabeth's house by the way Wow, so he went to work for an hour and a half and was like I got a murder. I gotta go murder somebody So was he sick though? Maybe he was out there throwing up the whole time Well an hour and a half is long enough at work to find out whether or not you can hack it for the other You can get through the day or not. Yeah. So they said fellow employees and a patron of the bar said that he didn't appear to be ill that evening But he claimed he was. They said he left the bar and they said when he returned he was disheveled, sweaty, and had bloodshot eyes.

He apologized for leaving in the middle of the shift, but the manager fired him anyway. So that's another job he just lost. Yeah. Couldn't even keep it at the phone booth. Now you'd say, why was he there when they called him then, if he got fired, because he got fired and said, okay, and then went and sat down and ordered food. Who the fuck gets fired and then is like, all right,

I'll just patronize the joint. I'll be a customer instead Never heard of that That's why take it out of my last check So he they said he appeared nervous was pacing and repeatedly went to the men's room Then left the bar after receiving a phone call, which was the phone call saying come down here Okay, now they get Paul in there and they're quite they advise him of his Miranda rights And he denies kill. They said did you kill her and he said no, of course not. That's crazy He admitted his relationship with her was shitty, but he's like I didn't I never left the bar

Yeah, and then they were like we heard you left the bar This is when they already know that he left the bar and he says well I might have left for 20 minutes to get some air or something then they said well everyone says you were gone for more than an hour. And he says, okay, maybe I was gone for, for longer than 20 minutes, but I quote, absolutely never left the parking lot. They were like, but we have, okay. And they have video tapes of them leaving.

Are they also collect his shoes and clothes and get DNA samples? He's pissed that they're even questioning him. He's very upset. Yeah. Two days after the murder, he asked Gina about having his regular visitation with the kids. Gina said, quote, he said, when can I have my visitation? I said, my mother's just been killed.

You can't be serious. He was mad. He was like, Sunday is my day with the boys I don't care whose skulls been fucking mosaically fractured in the house I'm coming over grandma's dead so September 29th 2004 five days later they find out that his shoe tests positive for Elizabeth's blood in a DNA sample on his shoe so he's arrested and charged with murder. No one else has blood on their shoes. Yeah, that was quick.

So five days, they just had to get the DNA back. They got it and were like, that's our guy. So they introduced forensic evidence that the blood on the shoe resulted from impact spatter and that he had been standing within 10 feet of the blood source at the time, where a murderer would be. Oh no. Fuck. he had been standing within 10 feet of the blood source at the time, you know, where a murderer would be.

Oh no. Fuck. They also, in the arrest affidavit, they name a man, we'll talk about him later, who claims he's had sex with Paul and is a close friend of his and says that Paul admitted to going to Elizabeth's home that night with the intention to kill her. He fucked a man after this? No, no, beforehand, but they're still buddies.

So when you fuck a man, you got to, you know, you stick, you stick close afterwards. You tell them your secrets. All right. That's pretty wild here. We'll talk more about him. And Joseph Leo, to Gina's brother, said, I knew what he had done, I had a fairly strong suspicion of what he had done. Paul's mom couldn't feel less like that.

Paul's mom Joan, I'll read this right from the paper, quote, Joan Foglia emerged yesterday from the worn trailer she shared with her son in Finn's mobile home park in Wayne and said her son did not commit the murder. Quote, my son is innocent. He didn't do any of this. I can't take this anymore. And I live in this shitty trailer. It's all bad.

She said that she doubted that her son will ever get to serve that she not even her son that she said I'll probably never get ever get to serve that she not even her son that she said I'll probably never get to see my grandchildren again because the lots have money and we don't That's that they can keep the kids away from us a neighbor of his who's known Paul for ten years that he was shocked about this He said I I heard about a month and a half ago that everything was good between him and his girlfriend He said quote. I thought they were getting married. Now at the county jail, okay, there's a guy named Alan Casey, who's a fellow inmate here. And yeah, he said to this guy, he tells this guy that he went there with the intent of

killing Elizabeth. He says he loved Gina and he loves his children and he wanted to live with them. But he told the cellmate there that the only way for this to happen was for lot to not be there Okay, I can't move in there. I can't move into this nice house that I don't have to pay for if this woman is there Yeah, I need I need my my fat pig's mother to be gone Gotta have in fat pig of a mother-in-law future mother-in-law So he also said that he knew that she'd be alone that night because he had earlier spoken to Gina and knew that she

was going to a family dinner. And Gina does say that yes, she did tell him that earlier that night. So he told this cellmate that when he appeared in Elizabeth's home the night of the murder, she threatened to call the police on him, because he showed up. So he said he, quote, snapped, pushed her to the ground, and hit her with the folding table. God damn. Fuck, that part's probably true.

Because she said, I'll call the cops. Get off my property, I'll call the cops. She said, your kids aren't here, there's no reason for you to be here. So now he's in jail, awaiting trial. In 2005, he sues Gina to see the kids more, from jail. And a judge enters an order requiring Gina to, quote, supply three photos of the children to Paul's council

along with copies of progress reports and report cards every three months. So she's gotta provide three new pictures and report cards. That's it. That's it, that's all she has to do. She does not comply with that order. Really? Yeah, she says, fuck him.

So he files a motion to enforce it and find her in violation of his rights. Then the same judge entered a motion granting his an order granting his motion, saying that council fees and costs associated with Gina's noncompliance with the court order shall be awarded to Paul in the event of any future failure to comply. So now it's going to cost her money. She complied with the court order for a period of time there. When it didn't call, yeah, was going to cost her money. She complied with the court order for a period of time. There. When it didn't cost her money. So 2008, the trial.

Here it comes. OK. During the opening, the prosecutor says Elizabeth Lott came closer than any other person to revealing the secret. Now the secret was he has a gay lover. That's the secret. It was a secret he was willing to kill to protect.

That's why he went up there, which is a stretch to say that honestly, I Don't care. I'd say I don't give a shit why he went over there wanted to move in the house and couldn't so there you go the mother-in-law future mother Liz already suspected he's a fuck's dude. That's what I mean. That's that's what she thought the whole time Yeah, but he also while he's in jail He sends a handwritten two-page letter to Shannon Karate or karate who's a former girlfriend of Joseph leota Gina's brother. Okay, they have a kid together in this letter He states, please Shannon help me. You know, I didn't want this. I've repented with a contrite heart

I don't know what you've heard or believe, but I did not provoke this horrible thing that happened. This is a weird way to put it. I didn't provoke this horrible thing. It's a very weird way. Well, then why did you provoke it? Who cares? It's very fucking weird here. Um, she, he said that she, she wouldn't allow in the letter, he went on to say that Elizabeth wouldn't allow, allow him to sit at the family table during Sunday dinners. And this woman who was there said that Elizabeth often demeaned him in front of whoever was in the room, including his young son. She said, she never saw Elizabeth physically threatened Paul and that Elizabeth arranged

a visitation schedule and did not allow Paul at her home when Gina and the boys were not there. And that also Elizabeth never restricted Paul from seeing his sons outside of her property and said that she would never have let him in. If he was alone there, she would have never let him in. Absolutely not. It takes one guy out there to say, who's that Kyle who thinks Kyle who thinks he can just get on a f***ing microphone on a podcast and start publicizing this s***? From iHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV comes a new true crime podcast, Crook County. I got recruited into the mob when I was 17 years old.

Meet Kenny, an enforcer for the legendary Chicago outfit. And that was my mission, to snuff the f*** life out of this guy. He lived a secret double life as a firefighter paramedic for the Chicago Fire Department. I had a wife and I had two children. Nobody knew anything. People are dying. Is he doing this every night? Torn between two worlds. I'm covering up murders that these cops are doing. He was a freaking crazy man.

We don't know who he is, really. He is my father. And I had no idea about any of this until now. Welcome to Crook County, available now. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the 1980s, a rose swept the country. Hey, Mike, I really like this white Zinfandel.

Well good, good. Now put it down, I'm gonna try another one. White Zin became America's top-selling wine. But most don't know that this sweet drink has a sour history. What began in 1986 with counterfeit bottles… A big fraud. A multi-million dollar fraud. Sent investigators chasing one of the most powerful families in the business, the Lachartes.

But the closer the feds got to them, the more dangerous things became. It's a story of deceit. At the time, I was paranoid. Threats. You touched my kids. I will kill you. And murder.

With a.22 caliber bullet to the head. What started with a scheme to mislabel wine spilled into a blood- blood soaked battle for succession. Welcome to Blood Vines. You can binge listen to Blood Vines exclusively and ad free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts, or Spotify. A few miles from the glass spires of Midtown Atlanta lies the South River Forest. In 2021 and 2022, the woods became a home to activists from all over the country who

gathered to stop the nearby construction of a massive new police training facility, nicknamed Cop City. At approximately nine o'clock this morning, as law enforcement was moving through various sectors of the property, an individual, without warning, shot a Georgia State Patrol troop. This is We Came to the Forest, a story about resistance. The abolitionist mission isn't done until every prison is empty and shut down.

Love and fellowship. It was probably the happiest I've ever been in my life. And the lengths will go to protect the things we hold closest to our hearts. Follow We Came to the Forest on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus.

She said that, he wrote in his letter that Elizabeth quote said and did really mean things So just break her skull into a hundred pieces then that makes sense make a mosaic out of her head Wow I tried to leave she came at me. Oh he's claiming that his whole defense is self-defense for a a sickly 67 year old woman. Meanwhile, he's a six foot one, 200 pound in shape male stripper. Yeah. And he was afraid afraid for his life, afraid for his life.

He said that Gina wants me to go away for the rest of my life and it wasn't even my fault on quote. Not my fault. He said he obviously didn't plan the killing because afterwards he went to the police station for questioning with blood stains on his shoes. Wow. And the letter also includes several insults directed at the Leota family as well. So there's that.

Fat pigs and everything else. They also introduce his quote prior bad acts which are his neglect as criminal record and the fact that he's a stripper they lump into that as well, like he's not to be trusted. They said quote, the fact that this defendant has neglected his son, has been unfaithful to his girlfriend, has been employed as a male stripper, has amassed substantial credit card debt

and has forged his son's name on a credit card application. That's said during the opening. Now there is an objection, and there's a big sidebar here, citing the testimony that he was a, quote, male dancer, and that's not even relevant here. The judge overruled the objection, finding the testimony to be proper introductory testimony to establish the nature of the relationship, and also ruled the testimony about the defendant calling and checking on the odor was relevant because it went to the issue that he was raising, which is the provocation defense.

Okay. Gina testifies about the first time they met about Thanksgiving dinner. When asked about the way Paul dresses and his attitude at the dinner, this is the spit the food out, it's too salty dinner, there's more objections. And it's a they have another big sidebar over that. The judge says this is the entire relationship that existed among these people since they met each other. The defense attorney says it's not what took place between the witness and the defendant It's how mrs. Lot reacted to what took place whether she was justified or not is not relevant

The passion and provocation goes to the action not the reason for the action. It's an expression of lots dislike That's relevant not the reason for it So they're saying even if Elizabeth had all the reason in the world to hate this guy, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about when he came over, could she have hated him and attacked him, period. Whether it's relevant to hate him isn't really, or you know, whatever.

And in a fashion that was threatening. Yeah. So the prosecutor said that the evidence is to the motive of the defendant and demonstrated why Lot hated him from the beginning and the judge overrules the objection. They're going to let all that in. Okay. Paul testifies on his own behalf, which if you're going to say an old lady attacked me and I had to kill her, you better have some words to back that up here.

You better have some proof, some show something. He said he was sick the night of the murder and left the phone booth, though he claimed it was with permission when it wasn't because he got fired. So he lies right there on the stand. He had spoken to Gina by phone and she was upset. He believed it was due to the constant tension between her and her mother. And he thought that they had argued that day. That's all about you though.

Stupid. He decided to go to Elizabeth's home and speak with her about their problems. I'm going to lay it all on the line here. He said he saw her watching TV through the rear sliding door. He said he tapped on the door and Elizabeth let him in which we know probably didn't happen right away. The back door is open all the time. They said the car he said the conversation deteriorated into a battery of insults where

she called him names and he called her a witch. It's a fat pig witch. He then claimed that Elizabeth came at him swinging her arms and she picked up the folding table and swung it at him. ECW. She's going full fucking wrestling here. She cut a promo on him, picked up a table. She's going to cut my forehead.

Holy shit. That is crazy. She said, he said that she swung it at him, hitting him in the left arm causing a minor laceration, which by the way, he didn't have at the bar or the police station. He had no laceration at all on him. He said he grabbed the table from her and hit her on the head. He said when she fell to the ground, he hit her again and then left the table on top of her Only two times and two times this poor woman's head one It's the one good flat shot the wall she was laying down is the one that really got flat

Part of that probably is because her head was on the ground too. So there was pressure on the other side. So He said that after she hit him with the table, quote, I went into a blackout and a blur rage. He said he was in rage because Elizabeth told him he was quote, not good enough for his dog, for her daughter, his kids, his sons. And then if it was up to her, she'd take his kids away and he'd never see them again. And then he killed her. Which is, you know, that's proportionate. She suplexed me through light tubes and it was crazy.

Hit me with a barbed wire bat and I just had to bash her with the TV. I said we're turning these ropes to barbed wire and we're getting inside the cage. I'm tired of this shit. Unbelievable. So during cross-examination he acknowledged that he had given a number of different accounts of his activities on the night of the homicide to law enforcement authorities. He also admitted that in an attempt to have his bail lowered he supplied a false certification in which he claimed the police had coerced him into

providing a formal statement immediately after arrest. He never indicated any of those prior statements however that Lott threatened him or hit him with the folding table. That's new information he just came out with at the trial. There was other evidence that inferentially challenged the credibility of his version of events. For example, when he was initially interviewed, they observed no injury to his arm,

which they were looking for shit like that. He also claimed that when he returned to the phone booth after the homicide, his frequent trips to the men's room were caused by nausea and his need to care for the cut, but surveillance videotape doesn't show any injury either. On cross-examination here, the prosecutor extensively questions him about his debts and the fact that he has lost five jobs in five years as a mechanic. They say, do you remember replying for a credit card in your son's name?

And he said, for Alex, it was just a joke. What's the joke? There's what's the joke between me and the person who's gonna read this credit application who are you joking with? What's the punchline? And they said it was a joke and he said I never used it and they said quote it was a joke it was a joke you do something that affects your son's credit and he said I never used it and they said and you laugh about. And he said, I never used it. And they said, and you laugh about it? And he said, I didn't.

I didn't know any better at the time. I put his name on it, I got, and they said, forged a credit card application, forged your son's name. I didn't know any better at the time. It was sometime in the last three years this happened. He was in his 40s. The man was in his 40s. He didn't know that was not okay. I've grown a lot in the last three years. Oh man. So then they questioned him extensively

about his failure to pay child support. They also bring up the naked lady under the crib, hiding in the bushes to attack the friend. Then they talk about his dancing and here's where it comes. Okay. They say, well, you're dancing. Let's talk about that. You say dancing. We're not talking about the polka or the tango or anything. He's, he says, no, I worked in Chippendales in New York. Oh, which was a big deal. And they said, right. And you also danced at feathers, right? A gay club. He's just putting his top one up there.

Yeah. You know, he's like a comic who just lists the best club he's ever played at, not all the other shit holes. And he said one time, I didn't like it and I quit. And they said you used to strip for money. And he said, no, I worked out on a solo flex machine, but that was in like 1994. What? Yeah. Okay. Gets better. They said, no, you've danced. on a Solo Flex machine, but that was in like 1994. What?

Yeah, okay, it gets better. They said, no, you've danced. You took your clothes off for money. That's what you did for a living. And he went, oh yeah, yeah. What? Okay, so. Oh, you don't understand, the Solo Flex.

It gets better. The Solo Flex thing is gonna get explained here. They asked if Elizabeth knew anything about his dancing, and he said he did, and then they said, and she knew that you stripped at gay clubs? And he said, no, and that was only twice, and I quit. He said once before, now it's twice. We've now gotten to two.

So. Just two weeks. Just two weeks, I just worked there two years, that's all. I just blew two guys, that's it. After a while, it's really gonna get, they said, you know that she suspected you were involved in more conduct than just taking your clothes Off right and he said I had no idea and they said you didn't know and he said I said I had no idea They said she never called you a male whore before look. I had a Nordic track Yeah stuff I was doing

She said he said no she did not So the judge permitted the prosecutor to inquire about his relationship with Brian shell That's the guy who gave the statement to the police He claims he was shells quote personal trainer and that shell quote offered him money to do body worshiping Okay, that's facts. No, it's not. The court takes a break and the jury sends a note asking the judge, what the fuck is body worshiping? We don't know what that is.

Do you know what that is? So the prosecutor over the defendant's objection and contrary to the judge's earlier ruling, limiting testimony, was permitted to continue with this line of questioning. They said, when I was cross-exam cross examining you before you had a sexual relationship with Brian Shell, right? There was a sexual component to it. He said for him, it was sexual, not me. Okay. That's the ultimate gay denial shit that I've ever heard in my life. He was doing the suck and I was just sitting there. That is not,

and I don't care. It's get suck all the cock you want., doesn't fucking matter to me, I don't give a shit, but I'm just saying that's what dudes who are embarrassed about this say. Oh God, the prosecutor says, what does that mean for him it was sexual, what are you talking about? And Paul says, he got a sexual thrill out of watching me work out or touching my body, that's the solo flex, that's what he was doing.

So the prosecutor said, that's what I'm trying to get at. There was sexual contact between you and Brian Shell and there was money exchanged, right? And he says, at the time there was, yes. Which makes him a male whore, according to Elizabeth. That makes you a male prostitute, for sure, yeah. So the state contends all this evidence is relevant to rebut an unfair and inaccurate attack against the victim and to provide a proper framework for the jury to fully evaluate events leading up to the murder.

They said it all falls under the rule 404 exclusion of crimes, wrongs or acts because the testimony only showed his behavior was boorish, indolent or self-indulgent and not that he had a propensity to commit murder. So it shouldn't go along with that. In closing, the defense attorney says this wasn't a murder. This isn't a murder. He said this is a heat of passion manslaughter coming after years of ill treatment of Paul by this terrible woman who provoked him. He also she said you you you heard him talk about how she swung a table at him in a rage.

What's he supposed to do? She hit him first. Right. I don't know. Don't be in her house is what you could do, I think. Yeah, I mean, just leave. So the verdict, 10 and a half hours of deliberation for this jury, which seems like a lot, right? For this.

Yeah, I mean, he left work and went back Yeah, all we're deciding is manslaughter or murder. He admitted he did it so it's just is it gonna be manslaughter or murder It's six men and six women on the jury. They find him guilty of First degree murder. Yeah. Yeah Possession of a weapon which is the fucking table, which is hilarious. A tray is a weapon in court with intent to use it unlawfully. Yeah. Yeah. And criminal trespass as well. During sentencing, Joe, the brother there, Gina's brother said, this man could not hold a job changing a tire and she was paying for his two children. That

one thing in the world that he couldn't change was my mother's mind All that anger was focused on my mother's head There is so much vitriol for an unemployed man. They fucking hate this fucking bum You non tire changing Fucking dick out of your pants bum people hate a man. Oh, we'll not get it Especially these Jersey guineas are like you don't even support your fucking kids. You're a bum So they sent some you sir a fuck-off life in prison with parole But not for 30 years. That's good. Yeah, and he's like

He's like 47 or something. So it's a good amount. He's not gonna be doing much stripping when he gets out put it that way One of the jurors by the way said some people's opinions vary, but everyone recognized Everyone else's motives and just wanted to make sure justice was carried out correctly. We knew our responsibility We took it very seriously and that caused us to be very careful in the decision made So this guy said too, this is his first time on a jury and he said I had no idea It was gonna be a murder case. I hope I don't have to do this ever again 2009 they continue to fight in family court here about the photographs and this goes back and forth and we're not gonna get into The details because we don't have time 2010 he appeals this whole thing

and it is on mainly the admission of extensive prior bad acts evidence and the court's failure to provide a limiting instruction to a deprived defendant of his right to a fair trial. That's his one thing. Now there's a, it's called the Caulfield test, I guess, that you can tell if this should go in. And they say that this test requires

that one evidence of the other crime must be admissible as relevant to a material issue, two it must be similar in kind and reasonably close in time to the offense charged, three the evidence of the other crime must be clear and convincing and the probative value of the evidence must not be outweighed by its apparent prejudice. Also, he has several points. Point two, trial judge's refusal to more specifically instruct the jury. Point three, prosecutorial misconduct.

Point four, the court erred in excusing juror number seven after two days of deliberations in order to accommodate the jurors vacation plans. Point five, the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him to a life term because a proper analysis of the aggravating factors does not support such a sentence. That's how it goes. They find the whole thing. They say reversed. Wow. Shouldn't have let that shit in that you let in, basically. I mean, the man killed a woman, went back to

work, was fired and then admitted a pot and then admitted it. Had some chicken fingers and then fucking went to the police station. Blood on his shoes. With blood on his shoes. Yeah. Gene is pissed. Yeah. Gene has said those jurors did not convict him because he took a credit card out my son's name. They didn't convict him because he was a male stripper or a bum. They convicted him because he killed my mother he can bring in whatever evidence he wants but we can't put it into context this is meddling by a court and they don't know what they don't care what they affect what they don't care what effect they have on people they turn around and say no it's okay to blame

the victim that's what this decision does then he sues her again to see the kids more, and that fails. 2012, new trial. Here we go. They say, the defense attorney says this new trial is gonna be a lot shorter. They won't be able to paint the same picture of Paul. The fact that he was a male stripper is banned from the retrial.

But it comes up again, though. It still comes up, because it has to. Yeah, because you gotta ask, what do you do for work, sir? That's all of that, what have you been doing? It just comes up, why was she mad at you? Well, that's the truth. If you're fired all the time, how come you have money? How else do you make money?

Yep, Gina said she tolerated verbal, that Paul, they asked him if Paul tolerated a lot of verbal abuse from Elizabeth, and the prosecutor objects to all of that, so there's a lot of objecting and things of that nature here. They said Gina testified the day before the murder happened. He and Gina had sex for the last time before they broke up. Wow.

That was it, so that's what they were saying. That was the end of it right there. And Gina said, my discussion with the defendant was that I had had enough of splitting up. We decided we'd have sex one more time than split up. He must be a great fuck. That's all this is. He has to be right. Has to have a good dick on him. I think right. Unbelievable. Has to be fucking swinging a hammer. That's all I can imagine. So in closing, the prosecutor said, Paul had a clear mind and a clear intent of murder that night.

In all of those 12 years, he never once went to talk to her alone. The one time he did, he beats her to death. Nothing more clearly defines his intent that he went there to kill her. They said he knew that she was home alone with no car, knew that Gina and the children were at a dinner party away from the house on the first day of a new job. He leaves after an hour and drives over to the house, parks halfway up the driveway, walks around the back to an unlocked door. They said Paul was under control when he aimed that tray table at her head and chopped at

her like an axe. After he did this, he didn't call 911, he didn't try to help her. He left her for dead and called Gina to ask how long she would be before she got home. Wow. Okay, the defense attorney said this should be a passion provocation manslaughter, 10 years tops. Come on. Quote, this is not a murder.

This is a family tragedy. What was it? Some balls to say, man. That's crazy. He left work for this. This is not a family. Lied all about it. Yeah. He didn't go, I couldn't help it. Oh my God. And yeah. Uh, they said, uh, what was it? What was it that converted Paul from a person who would never do something to this to, into someone who did? We know what happened. Let's look at why.

He suffered from verbal abuse and much more for years. Jesus Christ, she said that was this was the nature of the her extreme hatred for him. This time verdict comes in two hours of deliberation fast this time and guilty again. Okay good. Sentencing, uh Gina's brother by the way chastised his lawyer, Paul's lawyer for his conduct during this, and called him a monkey at one point. Which is hilarious, I think. You know, fucking dumb monkey. It was a white guy's too, so it's not a racial component.

He just called him a monkey. Gina said, how could you do this to these little boys? When your retrial came up and I had to sit your six-year-old son down and explain to him what his father had done before he heard it from somewhere else. This is what you did to these boys. You don't care about us. You only care about yourself. I truly feel you're without a conscience, Paul. What I say doesn't matter. You've only thought of yourself anyways." He said, my mother was right about you. That's hilarious. That stings to hear. This justice is a cold substitute for what you took from me

I'm haunted all my thoughts lead me back to the horror you created you destroyed everything Wow, whenever I Jesus Christ My best memory of my mother was when I was four years old I was watching her get ready to go out She pulled her hair back and put it up in a braid. Now whenever I do my hair and remember that I brace myself because I know the image of her lying on the floor with her hair soaked in blood and her skull open is coming. Then his son gets up there on the stand, his teenage son, and said the day I was told you were the killer of my grandmother I died. I can't remember my grandmother's voice but I do remember seeing my grandmother under a wooden table and my mother screaming

You gave up the right to know me when you killed my grandmother I hope you stay in prison till you die and he also called him a killer a bastard and a child's life destroyer Paul says quote this is he's got a whoa He said I didn't want to go back to prison for life because I didn't go there to do that to your mom, talking to Gina. I should have never done that to your mom and let my son find her like that. Then he says to Gina, I think about you every day.

Whoa, I never, I never meant for this to happen. I loved you, Gina. I loved your, I loved our family. I don't know what happened to me that night. The judge says, she suffered repeated blows. It was a vicious attack. I cannot't know what happened to me that night. The judge says, she suffered repeated blows. It was a vicious attack. I cannot accept this defendant's claim that he did not mean to kill her. You sir may fuck off life again. 30 years before parole. Yeah. He appeals all of that. And obviously that doesn't matter. I don't like this trial

either. Oh, they said, no, no keep on keeping on fuckhead. They actually said that the brutal circumstances surrounding the victim's suffering justified the life sentence. Virginia right now appears to be practicing family law in New Jersey. So she looks to be thriving and doing great. Good for her because she's been through a lot and we feel bad for her. By the way don't take it out on this guy. There's a LinkedIn profile of a guy named Paul Foglia, and he's the assistant vice president at Excess Casualty, which is the worst fucking thing it could be, because that was an excess casualty.

That is bad shit. Is that insurance? I imagine. I think it's insurance. So there you go. That is Wantage Township, New Jersey. Very quickly run through the end here. Definitely follow us on social media

at Small Town Murder on Instagram, at Small Town Pod on Facebook. Definitely shut up and give me murder.com. Get your tickets for live shows. Chicago, St. Louis, you're up next in May. A lot of them are selling out. Get your tickets right God damn now. Shut up and give me murder.com.

Also get your merch while you're on there. Patreon.com slash crime in sports is where you get all of your bonus material. Five dollars or above will get you Hundreds of episodes immediately of shit You've never heard before and the new stuff every other week one crime in sports one small-town murder you get it all this week crime in sports disaster potpourri Industrial shit hot air balloons you name it. We'll do it amusement park for crime or for small-town murder

We're gonna talk about when psychics actually succeeded in finding bodies and stuff like that. We'll talk all about that. Patreon.com slash Crime and Sports and you get a shout out at the end of the regular show. You want to follow us on social media, shout out at givememurder.com as a list and drop down menus. 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 dot com slash survey. It was late past midnight when they broke into the farmhouse. Never in a million years would you think that you'd see your parents house taped off by that yellow tape. Wrong. And they said, your mom and dad have been killed.

They left behind a wall of blood and the key to a secret. It was a very brutal crime scene. One of the worst I've ever seen. Murder in the Moonlight, a new podcast from Dateline. Listen now.