True Crime with Kimbyr - Bloodbath in Beason: The Gruesome Case of Two Families Torn Apart

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

In this episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, we uncover the chilling story of two families in the quaint farming town of Beason, Illinois. What began as a picture-perfect life unraveled into unimaginable tragedy. Known as the “Bloodbath in Beason,” this haunting case reveals the dark secrets lurking beneath the surface of a small-town community. Join Kimbyrleigha as she dives into the heartbreaking tale of love, hardship, and betrayal, leading to a night that would change everything forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was the fall in a small farming town in Illinois. A family of six was winding down for the night and doing their normal routine for the next day. The kids were getting tucked into bed and the parents were finishing up their chores. There was nothing out of the ordinary. But sadly, they would never see the sun come up. This case has been referred to as the bloodbath in Beeson, and you'll know why soon enough. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to my channel. I'm Kimberlea. And if you've never been here before, it's nice to finally meet you.

When you hear Illinois, you may quickly think of Chicago. It's a big city, and you probably imagine the hustle and bustle, the streets alive with activity, people rushing to work, tourists exploring the city, and locals enjoying the vibrant atmosphere with the iconic L-trains weaving through the cityscape. But chances are you probably haven't heard of Beeson, Illinois. It's a small town about 200 miles away from Chicago, out in the central part of the state.

Beeson only has a population of about 200 people. Very different from the over 2 million people living out in Chicago. It's a completely different experience. Beeson is a rural area surrounded by farmland and rolling hills. It's quiet. It's a slower-paced kind of life. It's probably the smallest town I've talked about on this channel. Look, here it is on the map. That's it. They've got a post office and actually not much else. There's a strong sense of community there and And the town is known for its close-knit neighborhood. People are friendly and welcoming, and there's a strong sense of belonging.

Neighbors know each other. It's a family-friendly environment. The town is a safe, family-oriented atmosphere, and residents prioritize raising their children in a wholesome and nurturing environment. The people who live in Beeson tend to be more conservative, which is reflected in the town's politics, the religious beliefs, and their social norms. There's a lot of church-going individuals who seek out living in Beasin

because of the strong Christian presence there. Residents are likely to attend church regularly and hold very traditional religious values. It's small town suburbia, where life is sweet, and the worries are few. This image of the Picture Perfect America has been instilled in us by countless movies and TV shows. We think of small towns as being exempt

from the turmoil and the chaos that engulfs the rest of the country. It's as though death and destruction wouldn't dare those white picket fences and quaint main streets. Maybe we feel a sense of safety in small towns because we think fewer people lived in the town, so it would be more difficult for people to hide their twisted desires,

or the less people, the less likely that a psychopath would be among them. But the reality is that even in the smallest communities with familiar faces, danger can be right beneath their surface. And when that day, danger finally reveals itself, there will be streams of blood that wash through the once-picture perfect town. And that is the story I'm telling you today. I want to introduce you to two families that called Beeson, Illinois, their home back in the late 90s, Rick G and Ruth Constant. So the G

and the Constant families. Let's start with Rick G. He was known for his strong work ethic and determination. He's a hardworking man who initially worked for his stepfather's construction company in Lincoln, Illinois. That's the town that you would make a trip to if you needed anything. It's about 15 minutes away. That's where the schools are, the Walmart, the restaurants, and their tiny airport. There's more things to do there, but it's not a huge town either, but much bigger than Beeson. There are about 15,000 more residents in Lincoln. That's also where Rick's stepfather William Kohler, who everyone called Pudge and his mother, Judy, lived. Rick's biological father Raymond died in Vietnam when Rick was only five years old. Eventually,

after picking up contract and work wherever he could, and trying hard to save money for his and his daughter Nicole's future, Rick's dedication and perseverance finally paid off. He was able to purchase property at the edge of town in Beeson, and instead of helping out at his stepdad Pudge's company, he opened up his own construction company, G. Construction. He bought a ranch-style home with a two-car detached garage and an above-ground pool and lots of farmland where he kept chickens, among other things. I don't know how many rooms were in this house, but at least a few, because in order to pay off his mortgage and bills, Rick decided to offer room for rent to a woman named Ruth Ann Constant and her two young children, three-year-old Justina, and one-year-old

year old Dylan. I mentioned Ruth in the beginning and the constant family as the other family I wanted to introduce you to. So initially Ruth became Rick's tenant. But it didn't take long before there was chemistry between the two of them. Ruth was a loving woman who was very outgoing and funny and friends close to her said she was a jokester. She was really good and making you smile. She loved and cared for people, especially her children. Rick was hardworking and gentle. He was giving and generous and he was an extremely loyal and devoted to his family and helping others. His aunt recalls that Rick was just the type of person who would take in anybody's kids and love them and give them a home. Rick and Ruth were a perfect match, and eventually he asked Ruth out on a date on Valentine's Day. It was a memorable

occasion that marked the beginning of their romantic journey together. The date was filled with laughter and heartfelt conversations and a deepening bond between the two of them. Their relationship continued to flourish, and Ruth found out that she was pregnant. The couple then took the next step, and in 1997, they got married. At the time, Rick was 34 and Ruth was 27. Rick's biological daughter Nicole was 15, and Ruth's daughter Justina was four, and her son Dylan was two. Soon, Ruth and Rick's baby boy, Austin, would be born, and they had a full house. As a matter of fact, even though they only had four kids in their blended family, their friends thought of them as the real-life Brady bunch from the popular TV show back in the 70s where a couple comes together with three kids of their own,

making them a family of eight. The G's were still a big family, and there were more children to come. While Rick worked to provide for his growing family, Ruth stayed home and cared for all the children. And just a year later, Rick and Ruth welcomed a second child, a baby girl Jessica Lynn G. And they were overjoyed. However, that joy quickly turned to sorrow. because they discovered that little Jessica had tragically been born with a very severe neurological condition. It left her with disabilities and she was confined to a wheelchair. This eventually required her to have around-the-clock care and be in a facility that can ensure that her unique needs could be met appropriately. It's very sad and I just want to point out that this was a very, very hard decision for this family to make and they did not take it lightly.

As you can imagine, it's devastating. So please let's try to be loving and understanding. There wasn't anywhere in Beeson where Jessica could receive the care that she needed and the G's could not afford it on their own. Therefore, she was relocated 50 miles away in Peoria, Illinois and temporarily became a ward of this state. Now, Rick and Ruth did their best to overcome their heartache

of losing their daughter. Rick continued to work to provide for his family, and Ruth took care of the home, which now had playground equipment out back for the kids to play on, and the family were members of the Park Meadows Baptist Church in Lincoln, where they would gather together every Sunday. Dylan was known by his friends to be popular and very outspoken. On the other hand, Justina was described as a very quiet girl, who took pleasure in listening to Bible stories shared by her friends from church.

Friends said that despite being more of a homebody, Justina's younger brother, Austin, did love coming to church with her as he got older. The older kids were actually bust into Lincoln for school during the week, and over the week. years, the younger children would join them. Every morning, they would make the four-minute walk to the tiny little post office in town and wait for the bus. The postmaster, Jody Duncan, she had been in the position since 1999. She watched the G's children grow up, first Rick's daughter, Nicole, and then Ruth's older children, Justina, and Dylan, and as the years went on, Austin began coming in as well. Over the years, the children would gather in the post office lobby, and Austin would sit on on the floor, finishing his homework because he said he was more awake in the morning, and it was

easier for him to get it done then than after school. She said that these kids were great kids. They never gave her any problems. They were polite and well-behaved. Well, kind of, because Ruth's son Dylan began showing some signs of trouble beginning in kindergarten in the year 2000. He had a lot of energy, and that led to him acting out, which isn't that out of the ordinary for a young child, his teachers would frequently have to write reports about his behavior and give them to Rick and Ruth, and together they would try their hardest to come up with things to work through it. That same year, Rick's daughter Nicole had actually turned 18, and she had been dating a local 21-year-old guy named Christopher Harris.

The two of them were getting more serious, and eventually the couple decided to get married and move in together. They moved just one minute away on the other side of the small town of Beeson, staying very close to friends and family. Not too long after this, Nicole found out that she was pregnant, and she and Chris welcomed the G's first grandchild into the world, Alyssa Harris. Ruth and Rick were excited for the new arrival, and Nicole and Chris would frequently drop little Alyssa off with Ruth during the day

while they went to work. Now Rick's parents, his step-dad Pudge, who I mentioned, and his mom, Judy. They also spent a lot of time helping with the kids, and now Nicole and her little family as well. There was a lot happening in both households, especially when it came, to Dylan. Things hadn't exactly gotten better over the years. He was still acting out and got even more aggressive. There wasn't much to do in that small town. And it's as though Dylan would get out his energy and aggression in class. And the closer he got to puberty, the worse his behavior

became. The only thing that seemed to keep him calm was playing video games in his room by himself, which he started to do for hours when he wasn't in school. Ruth and Rick did their best, but with Ruth being alone a lot and Rick working so hard. It was difficult, especially since business was scarce, and Rick had to take all kinds of jobs all over to make ends meet. Then Ruth found out she was pregnant again and had a newborn baby in 2006 when Dylan was 11. It was a lot for this family. The G's final baby to complete their family was sweet little Tabitha G. Of course, the older children helped out as much as they could, but it seemed like no one could really control Dylan. And by that time, Ruth had taken him to a physician, Dr. Philip Rossi,

who diagnosed him with ADHD and began treating him with medication. This did seem to improve Dylan's behavior slightly, but it didn't stop him from acting out and even going beyond just horse playing at school. He started to play rough with the kids in the neighborhood and immerse himself in violent video games in complete darkness in his room all alone. And by And by 2007, when he was 12 and his hormones were really going wild, Ruth was desperate. She told the doctor that she was worried if he didn't get the help he needed, his actions could escalate. And Dylan would either seriously hurt himself or someone else.

And Rick echoed the same type of statement to his mother Judy, saying if they didn't get Dylan under control, they would all wake up dead one day. That sounds pretty serious. So at this point, Dr. Rossi decided Dylan should go see a child psychiatrist. So Dylan met with a therapist named Olivia Messena for a psychological assessment to get that referral. But Dylan wouldn't stay consistent with coming in for the evaluation period. So the therapist never actually referred him out to anyone. Instead, he continued to take his medication.

But that also stopped around the end of 2007. And Dr. Rossi stopped seeing Dylan altogether by 2008. I wish I could say things got better for the G family, but it didn't. In 2009, Rick's construction work really began to decline, leading to financial struggles for his family. This definitely did not help, especially when it came to getting treatment for Dylan and the things that he was dealing with. He became even more isolated. The 14-year-old was spending most of the day alone in his room, avoiding everyone, and still immersing himself in video games. But he had started to get some of his energy out by helping Rick with construction jobs when he wasn't in school,

both 14-year-old Dylan and 11-year-old Austin attended Lincoln Junior High School in Lincoln, where Dylan wrestled for the Trojan wrestling team and was pretty popular with the girls. Even though he sometimes sported dark circles under his eyes from staying up late playing video games, his blue eyes still sparkled, and girls noticed that he was starting to go from a boy to a man. He would ride his bike throughout the town with his brother, Austin, who was active in band and chorus, and the two had friends who had joined them as they tried to stay active and entertained in their small town. 16-year-old Justina attended Lincoln Community High School and little three-year-old Tabitha

was in the early education program at the local preschool. That summer, Justina and Austin attended an area Bible club. Both children were attentive and polite, and Justina had just become a born-again Christian. And in late July of that year, Nicole and Chris had their second baby, a little boy. boy that I'm going to refer to as Charlie. Chris was working as a cook at the Steak and Shake in Lincoln while studying architecture at Lincoln College. He got all A's and B's and was hoping to get into that industry after he finished his courses. In his free time, he enjoyed taking his family boating on the area of rivers and lakes. Nicole was taking care of Little Charlie when he wasn't over

at Ruth's being cared for by her and Nicole's siblings, and 9-year-old Alyssa was in school during the day. Ruth had even made a few very close friends over the years. One in particular, Natalie Klein lived right next door. Natalie and her husband had four kids of their own. The couples would get together when they had time to hang out, especially when the kids would go to sleep a night. These people lived a very simple life. However, it was a very active summer for everyone. As it was coming to a close and the crisp fall air was moving in, replacing the hot, humid weather. The kids were going back to school, and a new year was right around the corner. That September, Rick, his stepdad Pudge, and one of Pudge's grandsons, Adam, were helping out over Nicole's house.

They were installing new carpet. They probably needed it with a new baby that would be crawling in no time at all. Sadly, tragedy would strike this family and shake the small town of Beeson to its core. It was after school on September 21st. 10-year-old Seton Landstrom, who was best friends, would take. Dylan and Austin was racing over to the G's home to show off his brand new bike. Once he got to the front porch, Little Seton saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks and not run up to the G's front door.

There was blood all over the porch and smears of blood on the door, which was open about a foot. Seton was scared. He didn't know what to do. So he just yelled out, is anyone home? And he didn't get a response. So we hopped on his bike. And he rode as fast as he could to Nicole's house only a few blocks away to get help.

His face was as white as a ghost when he got there, and he encountered Pudge and Adam working on the house. As soon as he saw them, he shouted, there's something wrong at Dillon's house. You better get down there. The urgency and fear in this little boy's voice made the men get up and immediately jump into Pudge's pickup truck and race over to the G's house. Adam was the first one to get to the porch, where he too saw the bulls' blood, as well as a knife at the bottom of the porch steps. He relayed this information to Pudge

who was still back at the pickup truck making his way up to the home. Pudge said that the family raised chickens, so maybe they were just butchering some of them. If only that were the case. As Adam carefully stepped past the blood on the porch and proceeded into the house through that open door, it was completely dark inside. He began feeling along the wall for a light switch as he called out Rick's name, followed by Austin's, but he got no answer. Then, when he was finally able to turn the lights on, that is when he caught the first glimpse of the absolute carnage inside that home. The light illuminated a scene that would haunt Adam for the rest of his life.

Lying in the hallway was the lifeless body of Rick G., face down in a thick pool of blood. Adam was frozen in his tracks. He didn't dare go any further. He turned and ran outside to Pudge and told him, call 911. Though he didn't know what to tell the police, as he wasn't inside to see it for himself, it was apparent by Adam's demeanor that it was serious. It was at that moment that Nicole Rick's eldest daughter pulled up

at the J's house wondering where her grandpa and cousin had gone and why they hadn't come back to the house yet. That's when she encountered Adam Pudge and seen outside the house. She could tell that something was very, wrong, and she begged them to tell her if her family was okay. They informed her that something had happened to her father, and the police were on their way. She was shocked and confused, and she begged Pudge to please go inside and make sure Ruth and the children were okay. She explained that her family was in there, including her three-year-old sister, and she wanted to make sure they were okay.

Following Nicole's urging, Pudge retraced Adam's steps up the porch and went inside the home on his own. With the lights on, his eyes took in more than Adams had. There was blood everywhere, not just a huge puddle underneath the body of his steps on Rick, but Spatter was up and down the walls and on the ceiling. It was the stuff of horror movies. It was actually worse. The reality of the scene. in front of Pudge was more terrifying and more horrific than anything that could be created for a fictional

story because this was his family. Pudge fell to his knees, and Adam took hold of him and dragged him outside just as the police were pulling up. It had been 12 minutes since Pudge called 911. Logan County Sheriff's Corporal Michael Block and Illinois State Trooper Paul Hennessy made contact with everyone outside before proceeding into the house with their guns. drawn. After crossing the threshold of the front door, they were greeted by a large pool of blood, about two to three feet wide, just like Austin and Pudge had witnessed. When they got closer, they could tell that Rick's head was demolished. His body beaten, yet they couldn't tell how he was killed. They assumed that he had been shot in the head with a shotgun due to just how much damage had been done.

It was horrifying. They had never seen anything this gruesome, and they hadn't even made their way into the other bedrooms of this house. As they continued down the hallway, they could see damage to the walls of the house as though they had been punched and smashed in, and then they were confronted with a second victim. 14-year-old Dylan, who was only wearing a pair of shorts, was lying lifeless on his right side, frozen in the fetal position right outside the entrance of the home's main bedroom. His wounds were worse than Ricks. He was badly beaten across his entire body,

and his head looked like it was in the same condition as Rix. Again, the officers assumed it had been caused by a shotgun. Blood was sprayed all over the ceilings and the walls, cast off from the horrible devastation that had happened in that home. Where were the other family members. It didn't take long to find out. As the officers entered the main bedroom, there was Ruth, wearing her nightgown, lying on the floor. It was evident that the damage to her skull was very significant. Half of her head had caved in. It was unreal. It's just one after the other, and each one is as bad as the one before or worse. And as they pushed on, they moved into the attached bathroom of that room, and that's where they found little 11-year-old Austin, dressed in only a

pair of underwear while lying face down on the blood-smeared tile floor in that bathroom. It was obvious that this family was not expecting to be confronted by such evil. It appeared like they had been caught off guard while just getting ready for bed the night before. Bedrooms. They're supposed to be a safe place, but for the G family, they were a place of horror. The officers moved on, trying to clear the entire house, not knowing if the killer was still inside. They walked down that same bloody hallway where Dylan remained, and they walked past him and continue down the hall to 16-year-old Justina's room. For many teenage girls, the room is where they spend time talking to their friends. It's their safe sanctuary. They pick out their

next outfit, and in Justina's case, she would read her Bible in there. You'd expect to maybe see posters of her favorite band or actor hung up on the wall. But instead, there was more blood. It was smeared and seeping into every surface of the room, including the bed where Justina's lifeless body was found. She was on her bed, lying on her stomach, and what was left of her head was dangling over the side of the mattress above a puddle of brain matter. She seemed to have suffered the most brutal injuries out of anyone in the entire family. And unbelievably, the scene was about to get even worse. If it wasn't already horrific,

there were simply no words to describe what came next. The baby. Where was she? As they exited Justina's room, they went into an adjacent room and at first they couldn't see any more victims, but then they spotted something on the floor of a dark closet.

It was the sight of a three-year-old's body crumbled on that floor in a pool of blood with skin above her right ear peeled back that broke these officers' heart. Yes, they were professionals, but nothing can prepare you to see what those men saw that afternoon in the G's house, especially such a young child, just mercilessly beaten until no life was left in her. As they stood there in shock, looking at this whole scene, furniture broken, glass shattered, dense to the walls. They tried to imagine what type of struggle had occurred and who could have wanted this family destroyed.

And then out of the corner of his eye, Corporal Michael Block saw something move. He could not believe it. Had he just seen baby Tabitha move? As he watched in shock, he saw it again. Tabitha was trying to lift her tiny arm. Michael shouted to Trooper Paul Hennessy, oh shit, Paul, she moved. And by some miracle, the three-year-old little girl was alive.

Paul jumped into action. He quickly holstered his gun and he rushed to. to the baby's side, he knelt down beside her, and he felt her back to make sure she was still breathing. He was going to check for a pulse, but in her condition, he didn't want to check her neck because he was afraid he would injure her. He quickly radioed for paramedics to get on the scene as fast as they could. Paul then turned his attention back to little Tabitha, and he asked her, honey, are you okay? Can you hear me?

She groaned in response. She truly was alive and responsive. she was clinging to life. Luckily, paramedics had already been notified before Paul's call, and they were waiting right outside to get the message that the house was clear, and they could enter the scene. One of the paramedics ran inside, set their bag of equipment down, and they immediately started to assess the scene.

Paul let them know, she's alive, and you need to get her out of here now. Then the paramedic just scooped her up like a baby in his arms and raced out the door to the ambulance. There was a glimmer of hope in the midst of all of this darkness. They hoped that Tabitha would survive. But the closest hospital with the capacity to save her life was over 50 miles away, an hour drive from Beeson. As the paramedic raced outside,

Nicole realized that her baby sister was still alive. She was shocked and devastated by the sight of this tiny, battered body being carried out of the house. Nicole became hysterical. She wanted to run inside and be by her loved ones, not knowing how gruesome this scene was. And of course, officers had to hold her back no matter how loud she screamed that her family was in there and that she wanted to see them. They ushered Nicole into the back of the ambulance and it sped off towards the nearest hospital. But when they arrived there, they realized that Tabith's vitals were not looking good.

They picked up a nurse to assist them with the transport and they lifelighted her to the trance. Trauma One Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois. By this time, word had traveled. Little Seton had raced over to a friend's house nearby, the home of Stormy Whitney, a friend of the G family. She was in the kitchen when Seton stormed in screaming, they're dead. They're dead. They're all dead. And Stormy was thinking that Seton was being just a little bit traumatic,

especially for a 10-year-old. And she looked over at him and she told him, chill out. Stop watching scary movies. She's like, no one is dead. This is Beeson. Unless they're old, they're not dead. But then she walked outside. And that's when she saw a bunch of lights flashing in the direction of the G's home. At that moment, her phone started blowing up with text messages and calls.

What happened? The town had never experienced anything like this. And everyone began gathering on their porches outside, trying to gain insight on what was going on in their usually quiet little rural town. Moments later, Nicole's husband, Chris, showed up at the G's, and someone had called him from work and told him that something horrific had happened to his in-laws. Chris left his workplace and headed towards Rick and Ruth's, and upon his arrival, Chris was met by the police who confirmed the heartbreaking truth of the murders. However, in the midst of the chaos and tragedy, there was hope. The police informed Chris that Tabitha, the three-year-old, had miraculously survived and that she was on her way, to the hospital with Nicole.

And without a second thought, Chris jumped back in his truck and drove with urgency towards a trauma center where Tabitha was being rushed. This poor family, it's absolutely unbelievable what happened that day. And Beeson is not big enough to have a dedicated police force. Instead, they have to rely on the Logan County PD out in Lincoln. But they don't have to rely on them very often,

since they don't have crimes like this. At that moment, the two-frey-year-old. The two first responders, Logan County Sheriff's Corporal Michael Block, and Illinois State Trooper Paul Hennessy, were left with the task of walking through the crime scene looking for clues to what happened inside the walls of the G's home until they could organize a task force. So the officers went back inside and began taking notes and examining the scene for clues. One thing they noted was that a computer had been taken from the home. However, it seemed like that would be extreme overkill for this to have been a mere robbery. and they knew there had to be more to this story. Now the coroner was on the scene ready to transport the bodies.

Each one needed to be officially identified and examined. You can't hide this much commotion in such a small town. It's not every day that they see a coroner's vehicle outside one of their neighbor's homes. Since Nicole was the only immediate family member that the police had contact with, they called her informing her they needed someone close to the victims to go down to the coroner's office

and make an identification. Nicole was not going to leave her sister's side, so she gave them her grandmother Judy's number. This is Rick's next of kin. And she hadn't been informed on the murders yet. Nicole called her to prepare her for what was to come. When Nicole made that call, she couldn't hold back her emotions. She had to let Judy know that her entire family was dead.

With Tabitha in terrible condition, she may not even make it. Through tears and sobbing, Nicole let Judy know the news and told her they needed her to go identify the bodies. When ending that call, she said, "'Grammy, you're all I've got left now. Drive safe.'" Wow. How heartbreaking. This poor family, of course, everyone, was in total shock. It's hard enough to understand losing one person that you love so dearly, but all of them, all six, an entire family essentially wiped out in one night,

It's unfathomable. Judy was given photographs of each victim, and she identified them in family photos, each one, Rick, then Ruth, then Justina, Austin, Dylan, and of course, Little Tabitha. I can't even begin to imagine the pain of having to see your loved ones in that condition.

It's beyond me how these people are able to keep it together after so much emotional trauma. That night, Dr. John Ralston, Forensic pathologist carried out the autopsies. He photographed every inch of the victim's bodies and categorized their injuries. But in this case, each of the victim's injuries were so numerous, they overlapped one another.

And it was hard to figure out how many individual injuries they had. One thing was for sure. They were brutal and intense, and they actually were not from a gun. I know that the first responders thought that they had been caused by a shotgun, but they weren't. Each member of the G family had been bludgeoned to death, which is so much worse because they suffered. And with each blow, they got weaker and weaker and each died from

multiple blunt force trauma injuries.