True Crime All The Time - Eddie Lee Mosley

Episode Date: February 22, 2021

Eddie Lee Mosley had a very low IQ and didn't make it past the 3rd grade. He worked some low-paying jobs but eventually turned to crime. He was convicted of an armed robbery at the age of 18. By 1973, Mosley was suspected of at least one murder and almost 100 rapes in the Northwest part of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss the prolific predator Eddie Lee Mosley. He is definitely one of the worst killers in the history of Fort Lauderdale, and may very well be one of the worst predators in the history of Florida. Two different individuals, Eddie Smith and Jerry Townsend were imprisoned for some of Mosley's murders. Each of those convictions resulted from false confessions. Many people have said that police ignored the criminal actions of Eddie Mosley because of the area in which he operated. They believe that police didn't want to spend the amount of time in Northwest Fort Lauderdale that it would have taken to solve all of these crimes. Authorities believe that Mosley could be responsible for as many as 30 murders and well over 100 rapes.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital ProductionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 221 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in True Crime. Mike Gibson, Gibby. What's going on? No much, man. How about you? I'm excited. Yeah.

Do you hear the excitement in my voice? Always hear that excitement. It's there. You're always excited. It's palpable. It is palpable. That too. I mean, we have a lot to be excited.

We do about. We have a great episode on tap for our T-Cat listeners. we have our 200th episode of Unsolved that's out right now. Yeah. And we're covering the infamous double murders of the Grimes sisters. Yeah. It's definitely a must listen. It is.

It is. You know, two sisters. There's so much intrigue. You know, this is a case that the amateur sluice, the online detectives have been pouring over for years and years and years. Right. But it's a must listen. So definitely check that out. We've got some new Patreon supporter shoutouts to give. Let's do that. We had Josie Davis. Hey, Josie. Jennifer Cleveland. What's going on, Cleveland? Lethese Raleighford. Well, hey, La Thice.

Kalea, Metsker. Hey, Kalea. Meemaw. Hey, me, ma'am. You're not going to say what she said on Patreon? I love me some meme. I love me some me ma'all. Yeah. That cracked me up. Michelle Campbell. Hey, Michelle. Kiffin Pinas. Hey. This is what I'm going with. You don't want to say what it might sound like.

No, I don't because I don't think that's what it is. All right. Well, hey, appreciate it. Pinaws. And there's about five or six variations I could try. It is. Brian. Hey, Brian.

Kim Lowry. Hey, Kim. AJ. What's going on, AJ? Janice Paige. Hey, thanks, Janice. Crystal Robinson. Hey, Crystal.

Summer Hay. Appreciate it. Summer hay. Rebecca Fisher. What's going on, Rebecca? Jessica Carmel. Oh, Carmell. Carol Lynn.

Hey, Carol. Julie Beauregard. What's going on, Beauregard? Amber Bailey. Amber. Jason Snaza jumped out of the highest level. What's up, Snaza? We had Candice Polk.

Hey, Candice. Lacey Terwilliger. What's going on, Tuilliger? Jeanette Jay jumped out at our highest level. Thanks, JJ. And last but not least, Jesse McQueen. Well, thank you, Jesse. And then if we go back into the vault,

Gibbs. This week we selected Lark. Good old Lark. Been with us a long time. We appreciate all the Patreon support we get. The new, the continued. We had some great PayPal donations as well from Lauren Porter. Hey, Lauren.

Pamela Cooper. Thank you, Pamela. And Judy Larson. What up, Judy. So thanks to all of you as well. All right, Gibbs. We've got everything out of the way. So the question is, are you ready to get into this episode?

of true crime all the time. I'm so ready. Yeah, me too, because this is a big case. It's probably a pretty well-known case. You know, we've been doing some lesser-knowns. And I thought, all right, I want to do a big case. So we're headed down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to talk about serial killer Eddie Lee Mosley. Mosley's M.O. was to rape women and then strangle them with a piece of clothing. He often dumped the bodies of his victims, near churches, sometimes inside churches. And obviously that's something we'll get into because it's strange. It is strange. Police believe at a minimum, he murdered nine people in the 1970s and 80s, but most likely that number is much higher. Some detectives have said they believe he could be

responsible for as many as 30 murders. They also believe he's responsible for over 100 rapes. Wow, that's a big number. Yeah, he's definitely one of Fort Lauderdale's most vicious criminals and may very well have been one of Florida's most prolific predators. You know, if some of these numbers are correct. And I think people will see as we go through the episode, because authorities have only linked him to a certain number of victims through DNA, but they suspect him of so many other murders. I don't think there's any doubt. His number could be very, very high. So if you just take his acts, the acts committed by Mosley, they're horrific. But what makes this story even more unbelievable is that not one, but two men were wrongfully convicted for his crimes. So you have that story to tell also how police handled

those cases and how that left Mosley out at times and gave him the opportunity to commit additional violent acts. I will say, I think this is a tough case for a number of reasons. First off, there are a lot of victims, many of whom are believed to be victims of Mosley. But like I said, there's only so many that they've tied him to directly through DNA. Right. And then I think, think the timeline is tough because you know this guy operated over a period of about 15 years yeah yeah he was very active so you know for for a long period of time now he had some breaks and we'll talk about those and why those were Eddie Lee Mosley was born in 1947 in Fort Lauderdale Florida he was one of 10 children a lot of kids that is a big family a lot of kids so you know a

A lot of times I think, boy, two's a lot. Well, I think one's a lot sometimes. You've got two. I've got to. Yeah. Sometimes they're, uh, they're quite a handful. Brady punch stuff, you know? It is enough.

And I don't even have, you know, the big eater that you do. I mean, your son, he's a big boy. He is. You know, tall, big. Yeah. And I'm five full of muscles. Yeah. And I'm sure that grocery bill is, uh, stout.

Yeah. It wasn't cheap. Put it that way. But Eddie had a very severe intellectual disability. Gibbs, I've seen his IQ listed at different times of his life at between 30 and then somewhere in the 50s. Really? Yeah. So we're talking about a guy who was functioning on a very, very low intellectual level. Right. He didn't do well in school.

And that's probably not surprising. I don't even know what type of programs they. would have had for someone like Eddie Mosley back then, someone with his type of disability. If we're talking in the, what, 50s into the early 60s? I'm not sure if they even had programs back then. Yeah, I really don't know when a lot of those started coming online. I have read some reports that said at the age of 13, he was still in the second grade, second third grade.

Hey, look, I did a repeat stint in the second grade. Yeah, but you weren't 13 years old. No. You know, I think it got to the point where they just said, this isn't going to work out. Right. You're 13 years old. You can't pass. You got to go.

Like, you literally can't go to school here anymore. Unless you're Billy, Madison. Yeah, the idea that I got. Because that was basically it for his schooling. So you have an individual with a very low IQ who didn't make it out of the third grade. What's he going to do? You know, he worked his.

series of low-paying labor jobs, did lawn work. He collected junk and anything that he could sell. You know, a lot of people said they saw him pushing a shopping cart around town. Oh, there he goes, right? There goes Eddie. He's got a shopping cart. Probably collecting cans and things like that. Yep. Anything that he can, you know, use to sell, make a little money on. He also began his life of crime pretty early. He racked up a number of arrests before he even turned 18 in 1970. Mosley was convicted of armed robbery and did an 18 month prison stent. So he would have been about 23 when he went in.

Let's say he's 25, you know, when he got out. But really it was after this 18 month prison stent that he really started to ramp up his crimes. Well, he might have a few things while he was in prison. He might have. You know, he might have from other prisons. there, you know, soaked up some knowledge. Yeah. In the early 70s, there were hundreds and hundreds of reported rapes in the northwest Fort Lauderdale area. By 1973, Eddie Mosley was a suspect in nearly

a hundred of them. So, you know, I think we're going to be talking about this quite a bit, you know, because I said he carried on for 15 years. Now, he was caught a couple of times. And he was caught a couple times and we'll detail those. But essentially, he operated for on and off a 15 year period, but as early as 1973, he was a suspect in 100 rapes. And for pretty good reason. He matched the description of the rapist who was described by many victims as a young, tall black man with an athletic build and a score on the left side of his face. And apparently, he was, you know, from everything I've read, Gibbs, it wasn't like this was some big secret. You know, many outlets reported that neighbors referred to Mosley as the rape man.

Wow. And parents warn their daughters to stay away from him. Like, there goes the rape man. That's not good. No. But it makes you wonder, and I think we're going to be asking this question a lot, you know, how was it that police weren't able to stop him? Right.

Put him away. for a significant amount of time. Yeah. So he's already a suspect in almost 100 rapes. People in the neighborhood are calling him the rape man. Can we not figure this out? Can we not, you know, surveil him, get some evidence on this guy? You know, eventually 40 victims positively identified Mosley as their attacker.

But police only charged him with three counts of sexual battery. I mean, it's almost like that's an insult to the victims that came forward. Well, I think it is. Yeah. I think it is. Now, one of the things that definitely comes from this case is, okay, northwest Fort Lauderdale, predominantly African American neighborhoods where these crimes are taking place. Right.

The victims are almost exclusively African American females. How much effort did the police really put in to, trying to stop this guy, trying to solve these crimes because of the demographics. Sure. Yeah. And there's a lot of charges that, you know, have been levied against that police force back during the, you know, early 70s, even into the 80s saying, hey, you know, these guys, they didn't care.

They knew all this stuff was going on. Was it their focus? Wasn't their priority? No. Yeah. It was like, I think people have thought they didn't feel as though these victims were worthy of their time, their energy in trying to stop it. I think you can make that case when you have 40 different women come forward and say, yep, this is the man that attacked me. He is sexually assaulted me.

Right. But yet, why was he only charged with three counts of sexual battery? I believe it's because the authorities looked at these women and said, okay, you're not credible. We're not going to charge him because we don't think you'll make good witnesses. I'm not saying this was true. I'm saying this is what I believe police may have been thinking. But to go back to your original point, I think you're exactly spot on. This neighborhood just didn't seem to be a priority for the police.

But Mosley had already committed. what is thought to be his first murder, that of 34-year-old Vetta Turner in 1973. And it would come out later that police had looked at him as a possible murder suspect as far back as 1973. But they never moved forward with, you know, any charges. Again, I think people have levied the charge that they just didn't investigate this guy enough. Okay, you're saying he was a suspect. Well, then what did you do? Mosley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on the sexual battery charges and sent to a Florida

state hospital in Chattahoochee. He spent about five years in different psychiatric facilities and then was led out in 1979 and returned to his parents' home in Fort Lauderdale. I think to me gives what's interesting is the differing information found in his psychiatric evaluations. You know, in 1974, a report said that Mosley could not differentiate right from wrong. That's a problem. It is a problem. But then you get to 1979 and you have reports completed by different doctors saying, you know, this guy has made tremendous improvement. One report specifically said he was unlikely to reoffend again.

And you'd like to know what occurred in that five years to make that change. or what was going on with him in 1979 specifically that made a doctor think he was not going to reaffend because I'm telling you right now this doctor could not have been more wrong. Right. Not only is he going to reoffend, he's going to do it over and over and over. Or do they need more bed space and decide, hey, let's go ahead and let this one back out on the street. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Because in July of 1979. So you know he couldn't have been out that long. He raped and murdered a 13-year-old girl named Sonia Marion.

Her partially clothed body was found in the press box of a football field at a high school in Northwest Fort Lauderdale. Now, Gibbs, you think police would have looked hard at Mosley at this point, right? He's got this criminal history. Right. He was a suspect in rapes. and at least one murder. Yeah. Before he was sent off to the state hospitals.

And he had just recently returned to his parents' home in Fort Lauderdale. Should have been definitely in the top list of who should we go visit. You would think. Yeah. Right? Let's take a look at where he was, see if we can find anything on him. But later that year, the police arrested a 27-year-old mentally and intellectually disabled carnival worker named Jerry Frank Townsend. It's been reported that Townsend has the mental capacity

of an eight-year-old. So he was originally arrested for the rape of a pregnant woman in Miami, Florida. But it was during his interrogation by police that Townsend began confessing to murders. And a lot of them. Six. In all. And I don't think this is that out of the ordinary. You know, when we look at cases now that happened back years ago, especially when we look at wrongful convictions and we look at what have been proven to be false confessions, this is oftentimes what we see. Here's a man operating intellectually on the level of an eight-year-old. Right. So when he's being questioned and questions probably a nice word for it, interrogated, grilled, what is he most likely going to do, right? He's probably going to say what he thinks

the people in the room want to hear. Yeah, or what they're telling him they need to hear. Well, either way, right? That's even worse, but we've seen it all too often. I mean, you know, you can go back and look at the interrogation of someone like Brendan Dassey from, you know, making a murderer. And there have been so many others where to most people, it's pretty obvious that, you know, a lot of these people didn't know the details of the crimes that they were confessing to. They got details wrong.

And it was just almost as if I will say whatever you want me to say if you'll let me out of this room because I cannot go through this. Well, there's a whole series on Netflix. just about that. Oh, false confessions. Yeah. Yeah.

But Townsend was convicted of the six murders and one rape and sentenced to seven concurrent life sentences. Normally that would mean what? Yibs, you're going to die in prison, most likely. For sure. But one of the murders he confessed to was that of Sonia Marion. And it would take years to prove through DNA that it was Eddie Mosley, not Townsend who had killed Sonia.

Townsend also admitted killing a 15-year-old girl named Nahomia Gamble who went by Naomi. She was found raped and strangled in 1973 and she's another victim who police believe was killed by Eddie Mosley. So I think we have to talk about this conviction of Jerry Townsend. I mentioned it right up front, right? not one, there's two people. Yeah. That are going to be convicted for some of Mosley's crimes, for sure. This one was pretty much a sham from the start. And gives, I don't say that lightly. I mean, you know me. I don't like to bash the police. I don't like to bash, you know, prosecutors unless it's absolutely warranted.

Right. In this case, it's warranted. Oh, it certainly is. You know, years later, a big settlement was paid out after it was proven that both the investigation and prosecution just was bad. You know, first off, Jerry Townsend had time cards that showed he was at his job when some of these murders were committed, you know, in his confession, he gave. the incorrect name of victims.

He told detectives details about how he left the bodies that absolutely did not match up with how the bodies were found. And those should be all red flags. They should. Yeah. They should. If you're doing the police work correctly, if you're going where the information is leading you as opposed to trying to fit this suspect and everything about him into this narrative,

this box that you've already created. This rush to get that arrest, that conviction. You know, sometimes they just need to step back. You know, if you don't have it, you don't have it. Don't force it. Yeah, I hope nowadays we're better at that. I don't know if we are. But this seemed to happen a lot when you go back into 70s, 80s,

80s, even into some of the 90s cases that we've done. He told police that he beat one of his victims, but the medical examiner's reports clearly showed no signs of trauma to the body. And then I think, you know, when you get to trial, you had detectives on the stand testifying that Townsend had said to them things in interviews, very incriminating things that weren't on the interview tapes. And this is. is something that, you know, gets me every time regarding these wrongful convictions. Because, you know, in this case, apparently later on, much later on, when they were reviewing this prosecution, they went back and they listened to the tapes. And what they found was that they were

repeatedly turned on and off. Conveniently. Conveniently during the interview. And I think everybody knows. That's probably not a great sign. It's another one of those red flags. Yeah, because we've all seen a number of cases where it turns out that the reason for that is because there's someone coaching the person being taped while the tape is off, right? And then magically the tape starts back up and all of a sudden this person's right back on track exactly where the detectives want them to be. And again, I think, you know, you have to remember this is a man who had the intellectual capacity of an eight-year-old. He was eager to please these detectives. It probably didn't take much, just a few details here and there to get Townsend pointed in the direction that they wanted him to go. But he was convicted and Townsend spent the next 22 years in prison.

22 years of his life. Wow. It wasn't until 1998. that a Fort Lauderdale police detective named John Curseo started looking into a couple of the cases in his area for which Townsend had been convicted. One of those cases was the murder of Sonia Marion. Curseo found that Marion's shorts that had semen on them back in 1979 had been preserved as evidence. Obviously, they couldn't do much with it back in. in 1979, but in 1998, they could, right? As long as they could get enough for a DNA sample, right? They could do some testing. They can go ahead and process it. It took them a while,

but in October of 2000, they were able to get a sample. And when it was tested, it came back as a match for none other than Eddie Lee mostly. So Gibbs, I know we're jumping ahead here in time. Right. But, you know, this wrongful conviction to me. me is so interesting that I think we kind of have to see it all the way through because, you know, it took another year. But in 2001, all of the convictions against Jerry Frank Townsend were vacated and he was set free. After being in prison all that time. Yeah. I mean, you know, again, think about losing 22 years of your life for something you did not do. Well, that's, yeah, that's the key. If you did it, I don't feel bad for you at all. Yeah. You should lose.

those years. You should have to spend them in a cell thinking about what you did. Now, some of his convictions like Sonia Marians were disproven through DNA. Others were vacated because of the way that the confessions were obtained from Townsend. In fact, I guess it was so bad that the Miami police chief ordered a review of every case that these two detectives had ever worked on. That's how bad it was. Well, it sounds like that's exactly what they needed to do. Because if they did it with one,

they probably did it with more than one. There did seem to be two cases that prosecutors wanted to retry Townsend on, but they said too much time had passed for them to have any hope of getting a conviction. So was this guy guilty of anything? I don't know. Well, the problem is,

the previous detectives and prosecutor ruined it to take it further. But even if he was, he did 22 years. Depending on what, if anything, he had actually done, he might have served whatever time or even more time than what he would have gotten. But I think it would have been a hard sell anyway. Yes. It's hard to retry somebody after 22 years. I mean, for a defense attorney, you're loving that.

If they try to take you back, because you're going to throw. wrote in their face on how they put him in prison for 22 years for something you didn't do already. Hey, TCAT fans, if there's something interfering with your happiness or preventing you from achieving your goals, better help is there for you. Better help will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist. I tried it out. I answered a few questions and I started communicating with the therapist in under 48 hours. This is not a crisis line. It's not self-help. is professional counseling done securely online. They make it incredibly convenient.

You can log into your account anytime and send a message to your counselor. You'll get timely and thoughtful responses. Plus, you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions. So you never have to sit in a waiting room again. BetterHelp wants to make sure they facilitate a great therapeutic match. So they make it easy and free to change counselors if needed. And it's more affordable than traditional offline counseling and financial aid is available. BetterHelp wants you to start living a happier life today.

Visit betterhelp.com slash T-CAT. That's BetterH-E-L-P and join the over 1 million people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional. And they have a special offer for true crime all the time listeners. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash T-Cat. Okay, so I thought that was interesting, but let's jump back to Eddie. At some point in 1979, after he murdered Sonia, Marion, he killed 21-year-old Terry Cummings. Then Mosley moved to Lakeland, Florida, where his grandfather lived. And what do you know?

Two women went missing in 1979 and 1980. It's been said that police looked at Mosley. They even, I think, brought him in for questioning, but they couldn't tie him to either disappearance. But I think the mere fact that he was questioned probably made him think, you know what, I should go back to Fort Lauderdale. Yeah, I'm out of here, man. I'm not going to stick around here.

And he did, but was very quickly arrested for the attempted rape of a girl. Now, this time he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison, but his attorneys appealed his case, stating that his original defense attorney should have cited his intellectual disability and most likely should have raised some type of an insanity defense. And the appeals court overturned his conviction. And then instead of retrying him, prosecutors worked out a plea deal. If Mosley would plead guilty, they would sentence him to five years. And that's exactly what happened.

But Eddie had already done three plus years. And, you know, so he gets this plea deal for five years. Right. gets credit. He gets credit for good behavior or whatever they call it and they let him out. Yeah. Right then and there. Right. Right when he did the plea deal. So he walked out a free man on November 16th, 1983. And within a month, police believe that he raped and murdered 35 year old Geraldine Barfield and left her body behind a church. And when I talk about some of the victims, I might say, police believe. Some of them I will be more adamant. And that's really based on some of the DNA that

comes later. Right. Yeah. And because some of these, they still have never been able to tie him conclusively. Well, look, I mean, we know he's a habitual rapist. I mean, when you had 40 women come for it at one point, thought to be involved in 100, this is his thing. This is what he does. And then you take it a step further and talk about murder, right? Rape, then murder. If he really did start in 1973, you know, I think that's where you get into the area gives of, you know, how many murders could he really have committed? Yeah. A lot if you think about it. But back to Geraldine Barfield, a group of boys found her body on December 16th. On Christmas Day, 1983, the body of 54-year-old Emma Cook was found.

Mosley had raped and suffocated her. But very quickly, right? He's let out of prison. And within, what, a month and a half, he's thought to have raped and murdered two women. Didn't take any time for him to do it. After this plea deal that set him free. In 1984, Mosley was charged with rape again.

And this time, a jury acquitted him. And I couldn't find a lot of details on the case, but, you know, it seemed to me as though his attorney did a pretty good job of blurring the lines between, you know, whether or not this was consensual or non-consensual. But the jury found him not guilty. So what does that mean? He's out. He's free to do what he wants to do. And in late 1984, Mosley murdered 29-year-old Loretta Young Brown. Her body was found on November 26th in a cabinet behind an altar at a church. A month later, he murdered 22-year-old Teresa Giles. Her body was found on December 19th behind the altar at a different church. And there was a lot of articles, Gibbs and in some of the Florida papers about, you know, how scared

some of these congregations were. You know, reverence coming out and talking about, you know, who in the world would do this. Right. You know, not only are they raping and murdering, but then they're leaving or staging the bodies at our churches. Yeah. It's got to be alarming. He's got some type of fascination for sure with the churches. And, and I, I'll tell you right now, we'll never know what it is. I never found it. Maybe it was his way of saying, well, I did this terrible, horrible thing, but I brought the bodies to the churches. So maybe. I get credit for that. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. Again, this is an individual operating at a very low level. Right. So it's hard to really know what his thinking was because I don't think he ever explained it.

In April of 1985, Eddie broke into the house of eight-year-old Shandra Whitehead. Chandra's older brother was asleep in his bed. Their mother, Dorothy, was working late as a nurse's aide. And the kids were home alone. So when Dorothy pulled into her driveway late at night after her shift ended, she saw a man standing outside of her home in front of a broken window. I saw some conflicting. reports. I saw somewhere she actually saw him as he was climbing out of the window. Right. Somewhere, you know, by the time she saw him, he was just standing outside the window.

Either way, it's not good. He's by the window. He's by the window. The window is broken. So she yelled at this man and chased him off, but never got a good look at his face. But she had to have been extremely frightened. She ran inside the house and she found her eight-year-old. daughter, Chandra, nearly dead. She had been beaten, raped, and strangled. Shandra was rushed to the hospital, put on life support, but died nine days later. As police were investigating this, they found a couple of witnesses who claimed they saw a man before the attack on Chandra would have occurred. So police had both of them work with a sketch artist to draw up a composite, one of the witnesses' 19-year-old Chiquita Lo,

picked a man out of the lineup. Shandra's mother, Dorothy, also picked the same man out of a photo lineup, even though she had told the police she never saw the man's face. Police arrested the man that both women identified, 38-year-old Frank Lee Smith for Chandra's rape and murder. Frank Smith, much like Eddie Mosey. mostly much like Townsend had an intellectual disability. Smith also had a long rap sheet. He had spent about 15 years in total behind bars. So not a good guy. No, I mean, he had done some bad things in

life. He was convicted of manslaughter at the age of 13 and convicted of murder at the age of 18. At the time he was arrested, he had been on parole for about four years. Smith pleaded. not guilty to the charges against him, but he was convicted on what pretty much everyone said, Gibbs was a very weak case. Yeah. There was no forensic evidence, no eyewitnesses to the attack. You know, really, this was a trial that came down to Chiquita Lowe, who identified Smith as the man she had seen in the neighborhood prior to the murder. Now, police said Smith confessed. to the crime during his interrogation, but there were no tapes to back that up. So here we are again, the issue with the recordings or lack of recordings.

Yeah, this time we don't even have recordings. What we have to go on is the word of police or detectives saying what he told them. It just didn't seem like it was a very strong case, but he was convicted anyway. Yeah, I think if you look at it on paper and many people have looked at his case over the the years, the Innocence Project and other folks, we'll talk about it more. I think they'd point to all those factors, right? No physical evidence whatsoever. You really have a couple of people saying, you know, I saw this guy.

Okay. You saw him do what? They didn't see him kill anyone. You know, add on top of that the fact that Shandra's mother said, she never saw the guy's face anyway. So you really have to question how she was able to pick someone out of the lineup. It's a tough case for sure. But jurors voted 12-0 when they recommended a death sentence. And that's exactly what the judge gave him. So, you know, not only was this guy convicted on what was almost universally agreed as very weak evidence. Right. He got the death penalty. Not good.

It's not good because four years later, Chiquita Lowe recanted her testimony. You know, by this time, she had been shown some pictures of Eddie Mosley. And she said, that was him. That was the person she saw, not Smith. She also said that she had been pressured by prosecutors to incriminate Frank Smith. There you have it. And I think, you know, that's another thing that we often see. in a lot of these wrongful conviction cases.

You know, prosecutors so hell bent on trying to get the guilty verdict that, you know, at times they crossed the line. You know, we've seen where witnesses have been threatened with some type of charges if they don't say this or that. And some of these have been proven, right? I mean, we're not just talking theoretical. These, these are cases where it's been proven that police and or prosecutors have not just crossed the line. I mean, they went so far beyond it that it's caused people over the years to really kind of lose faith, I think, to some degree.

Because if this can happen, then what's to stop it from happening to me? Or you or someone we love or no. and that individual they do that too, sits in prison and rots away. And that's what happened to Frank Smith. Yeah. You know, he languished in prison for years, even though his attorneys tried, you know, all different types of appeals, you know, years down the road, they wanted DNA testing done on evidence found at the crime scene.

But even then, the state fought them. And I hate harping on this, but this is, again, something you see. where not only do prosecutors really want to get a conviction, man, they fight like hell when something potentially threatens that conviction down the road. Well, sure, because if you can overturn that conviction for wrongdoing, what does that mean about any other conviction that you had during that time period with any of those individuals involved at that time? Well, they're going to be scrutinized to a much greater degree for sure.

But when you talk about DNA testing specifically, why would the state put up a fight? Right. DNA testing is going to prove whatever it proves, right? Whatever the outcome is. Right. Why would you put up a fight if the whole goal of this thing is to know the truth? Yeah. Well, you put up a fight because you probably know that you are wrong. And or you don't want to take any chances of losing your.

conviction. They even referred to Eddie Lee Mosley in some of their appeal documents because you know, by this point in time, Mosley's been caught. DNA would later prove that Eddie Lee Mosley killed Chandra Whitehead. But by the time they did the testing and this came out, Frank Smith died on death row from cancer in January 2000. How terrible was that? Yeah. Wow. So you figure what?

He, like Townsend, spent 21 years or so incarcerated, not just incarcerated on death row, developed cancer and died before they even figured out that he didn't do it. And Gibbs, you and I talk a lot about wrongful convictions, especially on our Unsolved podcast. To me, this one is horrible. They all are, but, you know, when you look at this one, not only did a man die on death row for a crime he didn't commit, police never really fully investigated Mosley. No. Who they were definitely aware of back then. And that just left him free to commit more crimes.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that it's thought that this was the first time that posthumous DNA testing had proved a person. innocence. Okay, this is the first time it was proven. Right. Think about how many times did someone die on death row or was put to death before DNA testing really came around. That starts to get scary, thinking that most likely there have been X number of people executed who really didn't commit the crime for which they were convicted. it. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, those numbers had to be probably greater than they are now. Because like you said, you have the DNA today that you can reverse some of those potential sentences. But back then, you didn't have anything to help you reverse it. There really was a lot to this case. I mean, so much so that we can't go into all of it, you know, one of the things that I did find interesting was that it turned out Eddie Lee Mosley was related to

Chandra's mother, Dorothy. I think they were cousins. I don't know, first cousins, second cousins. I don't know what the exact relation was, but they were cousins. It also came out later that Chiquita Lo had told authorities right up front that the person she saw had what she called a droopy eye. The old droopy eye syndrome. Yep.

Droopy eye syndrome. Frank Smith didn't have a droopy eye, but you know who did? I'm guessing Eddie. Eddie Mosley. Yeah. So, you know, police had thought for a long time that Eddie Mosley was doing some very bad things. He'd been caught, but let out. And he had beaten some pretty nasty charges.

In February of 1987, the body of 24-year-old Santrell Lowe was found raped and strangled in a junkyard. Now, this is one of the murders that I don't think has ever been linked conclusively. to Mosley, but police believe he was involved and gives her so many women, girls, females who have been found dead over the years. I'll say it again, it's scary to think what the true extent of Mosley's crimes could really be. I think we'd be shocked. I'm already shocked for what we do know. Yeah. I can't imagine what we don't know. And, you know, not to forget that, At this point in time, because we had to back up, right? There are two men in prison for some of the murders that Eddie Mosley committed.

But according to detectives, they had their eye on Mosley. Now, some people have disagreed with that and thought, okay, if you really had your eye on him, you would have caught him doing something. Police also said that Mosley's family over the years kept them from talking to Eddie. The way they painted it was that the family was shielding him from questioning. It took a simple theft of all things to lead them down the right path. It happened on May 17, 1987, around 1 a.m. in the morning.

A patrol officer saw Eddie Lee Mosley pushing a shopping cart full of plans down the sidewalk, about a half a block away from the nursery where he had just stolen them. So of all the things he's done, all the things he had been suspected of, charged with convicted, acquitted, it was a shopping cart of plants that brought down this prolific serial killer slash serial rapist. So finally got him. Yeah. Yeah. He was charged with burglary and taken to jail. And really it was once they got him into custody and they began to interview him that Mosley started to talk. On Tuesday, May 19, 1987, Eddie Lee Mosley was charged with the murder of Emily Cook. So he admitted to her murder. He later admitted to the murder of

Teresa Giles. And he was charged with her murder as well. In all, Mosley implicated himself in nine murders. But the DA decided to only present two charges for the murders of Cook and Giles to a grand jury. In July of 1987, a grand jury indicted Mosley on two counts of first-degree murder. So you think, all right, they got him. This guy is finally going to pay for all of these bad things that he's been doing. Yeah, not somebody else. This time, it's going to be him. But in October of that year, Eddie Mosley was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial for murder. psychologists testified that when Mosley was asked the difference between right and wrong, he showed his right hand and his left hand. When they asked him what year he was born,

he said 19 Fort Lauderdale instead of 1947. That's a problem. It's a problem if those are true responses and not the actions of someone who knows he's in big trouble. Sure. I mean, you're observing him, if he knows that you're listening and watching his responses, could he craft him the way that he felt would be beneficial? Sure. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Because there was at least one mental health expert who testified that at the level he was operating at, he could not have made this stuff up. Now, whether that's true or not, I don't know. One psychologist testified that the ideal situation for Mosley would be returning to his parents home and attending a nearby clinic. That's what he thought would be the best solution? Sure. Okay. Sure. Now, a Fort Lauderdale

detective told the Fort Lauderdale news, that may be ideal for him, but it's not the ideal set up as far as black females in northwest Fort Lauderdale are concerned. And I think this goes to your point. The detective said if he were ever released, based on his background, he would kill again, probably within a month of his release. The detective said that Mosley is extremely streetwise and manipulative. He clearly understands the system. He has been manipulating for years. So when these psychologists say this stuff, that's where I would want to respond and say,

if you strongly and firmly believe that's true, let's let him move in in your neighborhood for a while. If he gets past the first two years, maybe he can go ahead and expand, you know, his area where he lives. But until then, see how he does next to your family and you for that time period.

I thought you were going to say, well, he's got to move in with you. Well, well. Because you do have to wonder. Yeah. Would the statement be different

if that person, knew that the individual was returning to their street. Yeah. Around their kids, around, you know, their neighborhood. Yeah. Are you that comfortable with that, sir, or madam? Maybe not. Because I could tell from your voice, you were shocked by, you know, what that psychologist suggested.

I obviously was, too, given the history and everything that this man was suspected of doing, let alone the things that he confessed to. That seemed to be kind of a way out there statement to me. Another psychologist told the court that Mosley's IQ was tested and it came back at 51. So again, you know, in the beginning I said 30 to 50. This psychologist said 51. So I don't think there's any doubt. whatever the number was, it's very low.

You know, probably half of what the average individual's intelligence is. And well below kind of the established mark of what is normally said to be 80. Right. He's, he's well below that. Right. Yeah. But you can also see from the different comments that detectives made that, they didn't completely buy all of the things that the psychologists were saying,

or I should say, the things that Mosley had relayed to the psychologists. You know, these detectives felt as though this guy knew what he was doing more than what he led on. He hid bodies. He did things so that he wouldn't get caught. So I know they say he has a low IQ, but yet he's been able to operate. over the last 15 some years. Yeah. And I think that's what the police are looking at or I think that's what they're basing their

statements on. Now, there are many people that would argue, yeah, he was allowed to operate because you as the police didn't look at him. Right. The way that you should have. Now,

and the police are maybe saying, oh, he's craftier than what most people give him credit for. That might be a little. C-Y-A-2. Sure. Yeah. For them not being able to put the dots together, to put the pieces together much, much sooner. So what happened as a result was that Mosley was never convicted of his crimes. He spent the rest of his days in various state hospitals, incredibly. Detective John Curcio, the guy who nailed down Mosley's DNA on Sonia Marion Shorts, found out that Moesley's. He found out

that Mosley was being granted supervised visits. Really? Yeah. Apparently, he was being allowed to go to stores, visit places in the community, because the doctors had decided that this monstrous serial killer had earned what they called community contact. Community contact. Yeah. Hmm.

Are you shitting me? To me, this is the last person you want having any contact. with the community. I think what genius allowed this to happen? Yeah, I get it. The guy has an intellectual disability and he was found not competent to stand trial. I understand that part. You can argue it.

You can agree with it, whichever way you want to go. What I don't understand is, you know, once that decision is made and someone is sent to a state facility a state run mental hospital that it's like we're going to forget what this guy was charged with you know the evidence that they had against him the DNA and we're going to say ah i think he's doing better we should let him go to walmart we should let him out to do this and that i would you like to be one of those victims uh family members inside walmart and seeing him in the same aisle with you shopping. Yeah, that wouldn't be good.

I don't even want to be shopping myself. Yeah. Not knowing that, you know, this prolific monster is in the same store as me. Now, he supervised. What does that mean? Are we talking armed guards? Are we talking Barney Fife without a gun? Right.

Is just walking along with him. I don't know. I don't think we would be happy with what they label Supervisor. supervised. I don't think it would meet my expectations on what it should be. No, I wouldn't be happy with that, but frankly, I'm not happy with the community contact at all. But does it have something to do with the fact that he was never convicted? Well, I believe it does. So you have a guy that was suspected of a whole bunch of different things. Yeah. But when it came down to it, he was never convicted of these murders because he was ruled incompetent to stand trial. But yet two,

other individuals. Yeah, they had no problem who had very low IQs themselves. Yes. And one, for sure, not only had an intellectual disability, had mental difficulties as well. They were able to send those guys away for, you know, a long time. One did 22 years. The other one died at prison awaiting release or hope to get released someday. You know, we're often outraged in these.

cases you and I. Doesn't take much, right, to rile us up about certain things. This case has got it all when it comes to outrage. You're outraged that this guy got away with all of the things he did for so long because you can go back in time and look at specific periods and say, okay, police really should have had him on their radar. They should have looked at him closely. And if they could have nailed him, then he doesn't go on to kill so many more people. He doesn't go on to rape so many more girls, women. For me, that causes outrage. Right.

And then I think everyone's outraged by the fact that, you know, two individuals are put in prison for crimes they didn't commit. That doesn't mean they were great people. No, but they certainly didn't deserve to do time for something he did. Yeah, absolutely. In May 2020, Eddie Lee Mosley was transferred from the Sunland Center in Mariana, Florida, a place that houses patients with developmental and intellectual disabilities to Jackson Hospital, where he died. He was 73 years old, and the medical examiner ruled that his death was caused by COVID-19 pneumonia. That's some nasty stuff, man.

Yeah. Again, I found it interesting because that's exactly what we're. what you had. It was. Yeah. We were all worried sick. I did read a very interesting newspaper article where the staff writer, and I would say his name, but I can't remember what it was. He was talking about, okay, we've had X number of COVID deaths in Florida. This was back in May after Mosley died. And he said, they're all tragic, but I don't think anybody's losing any sleep over this one. You know, we're talking about Mosley. Yeah.

I think Gibbs, as we wrap up this case, one of the big questions that people have is how police just couldn't put it together, that Mosley was committing these rapes and murders. You know, one of the things I haven't talked about is the majority, I mean, basically almost all of them occurred within about a mile radius of where he lived. We set it up front. People in the neighborhood called him the rape man. And when you analyze his timeline, you can see how the crimes with his signature, because he did have a signature to his rapes and murders, they seemed to stop while he was either in prison or in state hospitals. Like I said, many people have accused the police of not investigating the murders because of the areas where they occurred.

Yeah, they just weren't a priority. then, you know, it was like they just picked right back up after he was let out various times. Doug Evans, Fort Lauderdale's first black detective, told the Sun Sentinel in 1987 after Mosley was arrested, ain't no way in hell. If the investigations had been carried out the way they should have been, Eddie would have been walking the streets. Bodies were falling like flies. If this had happened in a white middle class neighborhood, Eddie would have been history after two murders. And again, I think he's speaking directly to the fact that people believe that because this was a predominantly African American low income neighborhood, right?

Police just didn't give a shit. They didn't do their job. They didn't want to go in there. They didn't want to talk to the people that they would have needed. to talk to to properly investigate these murders. Well, I don't think he was too far off with his statement. No, I don't think so. I really don't because there was just too much activity and he was too well known.

You know, by police in the neighborhood. It just seems like they should have been able to put something together. And this is a guy who, you know, never even got out of the third grade. Yeah. You're telling me he was a criminal mastermind. He thwarted police with all of his tactics. No, I just think they allowed him to continue to do what he did. He was hopefully known as the rape man. Yeah. And obviously, one of the big things in this case is the wrongful conviction of two different people for his crimes. We said it, but it's scary to think that a person could die on death row. Another person could spend

22 years locked up for crimes, you know, they didn't commit. In some of these cases, back before DNA testing was a thing, we're seeing it, right? Police, prosecutors, even the jury, they got it wrong in some of these cases. And I think that's especially true in cases that centered exclusively around circumstantial evidence, including eyewitness testimony, right? We talked to about Townsend's case specifically, it basically came down to eyewitness testimony and really down to one eyewitness. Yeah. Chiquita Lowe.

And she recanted her statement later. She did. As far as Mosley's crimes are concerned, I don't think anyone knows the true number, the full extent of the things he did during those 15 years or so, DNA has linked him to eight murders. But police know the true number is much higher. Again, I've seen varying reports that he's a suspect in anywhere from 15 to 30 murders and well over 100 rapes. Yeah, the rape man.

No matter what the number is, this guy was an absolute monster. Yeah, terrifying. But that's it, Gibbs, for the case of Eddie Lee Mosley. Interesting, no doubt. But it's also a case that makes you think, pisses. you off, kind of all of that at the same time. I mean, I feel bad. And when I say this, I mean minimally, I feel bad because where his IQ was.

Yeah, sure. But I also know that if you're going to be identified to someone that has killed at least eight or more people, raped at least 100 plus people, that goes out the door pretty quick. you know, after being in and out of state hospitals for a number of years, I think a lot of people will wonder, did this guy really not know right from wrong because of his very low IQ? Or when it came down to it, was he just smart enough to tell or show to the psychologists what they needed to hear and see? Just smart enough. I think that's the question.

I don't know the answer. I don't know the answer. We got some voicemails. You want to check those out? Let's hear them. Hey, Mikey. It's Emily here from Sunny Clearwater, Florida. I've been wanting to call you guys, Ashley,

but I just have never found the time to leave you guys' but I decided today is the day because I typically don't watch Patreon videos, even though I subscribe to you guys. No offense. I just don't. I don't really like to watch them and rather just listen to you guys. But I finally heard my name. And the funny part about hearing my name finally.

is a name you said before mine, which was Jennifer Hanna. Hey, how you doing? My mom's name is Jennifer and then my sister's name is Hannah. So when you said those two names and then said mine right after it, I was like, what in the heck is going on here? But you guys are great. Keep up doing what you're doing. I started listening to T-Cat right after New Year's, and I'm just about to episode 50.

I started backwards, started some newer ones and went back. So now I'm going to go back to the beginning to listen to the ones that I haven't heard that you guys have posted. I appreciate everything you do and keep your own time ticking. Well, we appreciate that. We appreciate the voicemail. We appreciate the Patreon support. You know, Gibbs, we put the weekly things in our monthly episodes out on both video and audio for Patreon.

I don't know why anybody would want to watch our ugly mugs, but some people do. Some people don't. Yeah. But the great thing is you have the choice. You can go either way. I'm just jealous. She's in Florida, Clearwater, where it's nice and warm. You barely got to my house because of all the snow.

I feel like we're in a snow glow, man, and that kid keeps picking it up and shaking it really hard. That damn kid. I know. That's what I feel like. Hi, guys. This is season from Illinois. I just wanted to tell you how pleasant it is to listen to all of your hilariousness during these weird and crappy times of the 2020. This morning, I had my toothpaste slip off my toothbrush when I turned on the water, and I thought of Gibby.

It was just kind of funny. made me laugh. And I just want to tell you guys, I think you're great. And I appreciate all that you do. Stay safe and keep you on time taken. Well, we appreciate the voicemail. I think the real question is, when the toothpaste fell off. Yeah. Did you scoop it back up with the toothbrush? Or did you say, nope, that toothpaste is lost. I now have to replace it with new toothpaste. Depends how tight you are with your finances. Well, that's just as to say, you and I, I have different views on that, I think. Yeah.

That once that happened, that's what she's referring to. You and I were talking about it. Once that happens to me, that, that toothpaste is now gone. It's no good. No, it is no good. Yeah. Even though it's my sink. Yeah.

I'm the only one that uses it. My wife has her own sink. I must now get brand new toothpaste. I cannot, unlike yourself, scoop that toothpaste back up and use it again. Or use it. I don't know if I could do that. Oh, you do that. You know that you do that.

As long as I do, I was the only sole person using that sink. You've calculated that that is like 1.076 cents worth of toothpaste. You're right. And you can't allow that type of waste. No. No, no. It's too costly. Hey, Mike and Gibby.

I love the show. It's my first time covering in. A few episodes back, a voicemail person called in asking for Gibby to do a newfie accent. And I can't remember if it was on T-Cat or on Saul, but just to give you an idea, it's like a weird, bastardized Irish accent on mock feed. So there's that. You can try it if you want.

But I did call for a case suggestion. Wayne Bowden from Montreal. That's Montreal, not Montreal. He's also called the vampire rapist. He's a real gross person who killed three people in Montreal and one in Calgary. And unfortunately, I also should. share a last name with him. Thankfully, as far as I know, he's not actually related to me, though I did nearly have a heart attack when I first found this out. Anyway, I've never heard a

podcast actually cover his murder, so it'd be really cool as you guys did. And I'm sure some of us Montreal T-Cat-Chans can help you with the French pronunciation. Anyway, keep your own time ticking. Bye. I think I got the French stuff down. It's Montreal. I've always called it Montreal. You don't call it Montreal? No, and neither do you. I just did it. Now, we're going Calgary. Cagery? So it must be Montreal. I always, yeah, I used to root for the Montreal Expos, and that's how I said it back in the day. Yeah, I didn't root for them, so I didn't have to say their name. But Bowden is someone I know we have on the list. I'm vaguely familiar with the case. It's one that we will definitely do. Hi, guys. I was, this is Cheryl from Prescott, Arizona. I was just

listening to the Michael Jackson episode. I was living in Winfield, Missouri at the time, which is between O'Fallon and Wright City. I remember that quite well because I was a single mom living out in the country, and we didn't know where this guy was going. But when he shot the man in O'Fallon, the reason that they thought, and this solved speculation, is because he was driving a retired police car that he had bought at a police auction. So when he pulled up to the stoplight and the gentleman was in that retired police vehicle, they assumed that he shot him thinking he was a policeman because he still had the spotlight on it and all that.

But I remember that quite well because I was huddled in our home out in the country with just me and my little girl. And we were watching it and listening to the news just tracking where this guy might be because, you know, we were vulnerable. So anyway, another great episode. So love you guys. Have a great day and keep your own time ticking. All right. Great information. I never saw that anywhere. Yeah. But that's fascinating. She was living through it. Because we had one thing in the mailbag. All right. He was sent in some true crime books for possible future episodes and sent us some Valentine's Day candy. Awesome. He also asked to hear more about my dogs. So I never pass up a chance to talk about my dogs. I love your dogs. I have two. I have two. dogs. I have an older chocolate lab named Bodie. Yeah. He's lazy. He just kind of lays around. Resumbles you a lot. Looks like me. Yeah. Jowls and everything. Absolutely. And then I have a little, little white Maltese named Bailey. Which is more like your wife. Yeah. It's kind of my wife's dog. Yeah. I love her too. But always snipping at your heels. She spends pretty much all of her time with my wife.

Yeah. But that's my dogs. All right, buddy. That is it for another episode. of true crime all the time. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.