MFM Minisode 264

[0] This is exactly right.

[1] Hello.

[2] And welcome to my favorite murder.

[3] Oh, this is the minisode.

[4] Oh, hi.

[5] Oh, hi.

[6] Hi, cutie.

[7] Are you ready to hear your own emails?

[8] Read back to you?

[9] I am.

[10] You want to go first or do you want me to go first?

[11] I'll go first.

[12] Okay.

[13] It's in my hand.

[14] Great.

[15] The subject line of this is a surprise murder carousel.

[16] Hello, my dear MFMFM friends.

[17] My husband and I were chatting about creepy stuff as our baby played on our living room floor this morning.

[18] He casually brought up the time he randomly received a carousel of murder photos.

[19] I asked him to please repeat because in my head, I imagined a very weird custom Etsy carousel Chotchke or toy.

[20] But he meant an old projector carousel with slides.

[21] Got it.

[22] He explained that when he was in college, he opened the front door of his house to find the carousel sitting on his doorstep.

[23] When he picked the slides out to examine.

[24] in the photos, he saw gruesome murder scenes and victims.

[25] At first he thought they were fake images, but after looking through more, he realized that they were real because you could see the blood was coagulated in the photos.

[26] When I asked him what he did with the carousel, he looked at me incredulously and said, took them to the police.

[27] I realized after he said this, that he thought they could have been a bizarre but scary threat of some sort.

[28] It turns out the carousel had come from the police.

[29] My husband's next door neighbor was a detective and had to ask the coworker to drop the carousel off for a lecture she was doing, but they delivered it to the wrong home.

[30] No, that's too big of a mistake.

[31] You can't.

[32] It's quite a, it's quite a large mistake.

[33] Oh my God.

[34] So many thoughts on how careless this was, considering their gruesome nature.

[35] And then in parentheses, my husband said, it still kind of screwed him up.

[36] Yeah, I'm sure it did.

[37] But he never even got an apology.

[38] Shout out to small town police departments.

[39] Stay sexy and turn those murder photos into the police, Liz.

[40] Holy shit.

[41] What are fucking, oh, what's this?

[42] Like a childhood photo real?

[43] No. Oh my God.

[44] Right, exactly, because you're looking at, um, it slides on a carousel, which means, oh, fun 70s.

[45] We went to, we went to Coney Island.

[46] Look, we're all in the water together.

[47] Nope.

[48] No way.

[49] Oh, my God.

[50] Okay.

[51] This one's called In the Room Where It Happened.

[52] Starts, oh crap, I can't believe you're going to read this.

[53] greetings long time listener here with a story that seems unbelievable to me whenever i tell it but it's true it happened decades ago but the feeling of the moment is as fresh as it was then and i doubt i'll ever be able to shake it quick back story i was a single mom to a young son of nine at the time living in my hometown of san diego we lived in a small apartment in the neighborhood where i grew up a suburb called clermont quick name drop our high school was the model and source of research by camera Crow for the book Fast Times at Ridgemount High.

[54] He kept a low profile around the campus in the late 70s.

[55] My apartment was small but perfect for us.

[56] And the complex, Buena Vista Gardens, was large and known for young college students or professionals just starting out.

[57] It was also known as the site of several murders by serial killer Cleophis Prince Jr., known as the Claremont Killer, who stalked and murdered six women in the area, three of which were residents of the complex.

[58] The murders took place several years before we moved in, and he was convicted and sentenced well before that time.

[59] I chose to move back to the neighborhood for both comfort and financial reasons to get my feet back on the ground after a yucky divorce.

[60] I never felt unsafe in our little nest, and we were quite happy.

[61] One night I was up late watching the local news, and a piece came on about some legal wranglings concerning the murderer.

[62] I was a bit sleepy, but the word Claremont got my attention, so I perked up.

[63] As I listened to the story being told, I noticed there was file footage of Mr. Prince at his trial being played, then some photos of him being arrested, then a clip of the body bag coming down the stairs at the apartment.

[64] I focused on the apartment address shown in the background.

[65] As I recognized the number on the wall, the same numbers outside my door on the wall.

[66] My eyes popped open and I let out a very long, very quiet.

[67] Fuck.

[68] So my child sleeping in the next.

[69] room wouldn't hear it.

[70] I felt a massive burst of adrenaline.

[71] In those days, there was no way to hit rewind on the remote, so I was left wondering if I'd made a mistake, wondering which young woman may have lived in my apartment and imagining the horror of what happened in the very room I was sitting.

[72] Next morning, I stopped by the Buena Vista Gardens rental office and left a note for the property managers.

[73] I asked them to disclose all information about the apartment I was living in, including whether one of the murderers' victims was murdered there.

[74] A few days later, I received a call from the CEO of the company, confirming that, yes, my apartment was a crime scene in April 1990.

[75] They offered to put me on a list to be moved ASAP if I felt uncomfortable living in the unit.

[76] By that time, I'd come down from the shock, talked it out with some of my friends, and was in a different place emotionally about it.

[77] I decided to finish up the remainder of the lease and changed the way I thought about that space in the meantime.

[78] The only thing different was the information I gained of what happened there.

[79] We were happy and comfortable.

[80] so why leave?

[81] I didn't share the story with my son for many years.

[82] By that time, I was able to locate the news at the Claremont Killer on the internet and show him the magnitude of what the murderer had done in our neighborhood.

[83] I was also able to learn about the sweet young woman who lost her life in the place we had lived.

[84] It was horrific to learn our home was a crime scene while I was sitting right in the middle of it, and I think that was the moment I knowingly became a murderer.

[85] My experience was insignificant compared to the violent deaths of the six beautiful people he murdered for his own entertainment.

[86] But it is a part of my memory and always will be.

[87] Thanks for helping me remember that victim's stories often last well beyond their deaths, sometimes in unexpected ways.

[88] Thank you for making me laugh inappropriately and unapologetically lock my car doors.

[89] Stay sexy and do some research before you move into a hunting ground of infamous serial killers, Mary.

[90] Yeah.

[91] It's so weird because that's one of those stories that I remember that's like a famous cold case filed date line like all of that stuff it's just another one of those beyond horrifying kind of sticks with you it's so dark it's so awful and it you know six the idea that there were six victims before they could find and stop that person is horrifying and there's something about terrorizing a neighborhood that is just so bleak you know what I mean when like everyone knows something is going to on in that neighborhood in a short period of time and it's just terrified and it's because it's young people it's like it's intentional it's the college neighborhood so it's like people who are just starting out being on their own and it's yeah it's rough yeah i'm just going to read you the second half of this subject line because um it's a lighthearted cautionary tale okay it starts hey hey a few years ago i was leaving work when a man pulled open my door got in and told me to drive I'd just got an off a late -night shift at a cookie bakery in Boise, Idaho.

[92] The bakery's located downtown right next to all the bars, and because I'm the most paranoid person I know, I always made sure to get a well -lit parking spot close to the bakery.

[93] However, on this curse at evening, the parking lot was full, and I was resigned to the dark parking spots in the alley.

[94] I went about my shift, clocked out around 1 a .m., and began walking around the building to my car.

[95] As I made my way around, I noticed a man, leaning against the side of the building.

[96] He tried saying something to me, but I wasn't in the mood and kept walking.

[97] I got to my car and started backing up when my passenger door swung open and a man gets in.

[98] It's the man from earlier.

[99] I am so taken off guard that I can't say anything and I just stare.

[100] He aggressively says, go to Whitewater Park.

[101] So now is the time I start questioning my common sense, because instead of telling this guy to fuck off, I start driving.

[102] My mind starts going through all the episodes of criminal mind.

[103] and I remembered something about if you humanize yourself to an attacker, they're less likely to harm you.

[104] So I say a quick prayer to Matthew Gray, Goobler, and I start chatting.

[105] As I'm sharing my life story, I realize the man in my car is very drunk.

[106] I have a knife in my purse, and I start assessing how I could fight him off and escape.

[107] I ask him again, where we're going, and he just says drive towards the park.

[108] He pauses, and then he says, are you with Lyft or Uber?

[109] Oh, my God.

[110] It immediately clicks in my mind that this guy is so far gone, he thought I was his Uber.

[111] I went to kick him out of my moving car, but instead I respond just with neither, to which he asks, then how did I get in your car?

[112] Oh, my God.

[113] Dude, I don't know.

[114] I'm speechless.

[115] It's also around this time that I realize there's a large complex next to the park called Whitewater Park Apartments.

[116] I pull up to his building and let him out.

[117] He thanks me for the ride, and I wish him the worst hangover of his life.

[118] By the way he stumbled to the door, I would say my wish came true.

[119] Stay sexy and lock your car doors, Adele.

[120] Oh, my fucking God.

[121] What a twist -a -roo.

[122] We've heard this story.

[123] It happens a lot to people.

[124] Yeah, that you just get in the waiting car.

[125] Drunk people aren't all about going, is this the right license plate number?

[126] Right, right.

[127] Is this what I should be doing?

[128] right now?

[129] A car pulls up in front of the bar and you get in.

[130] And you go, here's what I think is funny.

[131] Usually your Uber driver doesn't walk by you and get into their car.

[132] Like that guy was hammered.

[133] Right.

[134] Right.

[135] Oh my God.

[136] And I want to say that you did the right thing by not telling him to fuck off if he thought he was carjacking you.

[137] Yes.

[138] You driving somewhere being compliant is probably the safest option.

[139] If he's already in the car, I think so.

[140] And you're in an alley and no one's around and yes completely yeah you did the right thing um okay da da da da da da okay i'm not going to reach you the storyline or whatever they call it hi mfm crew i'm from kiev the capital of ukraine it is important to the story and yes your podcast has reached that part of the globe unbelievable unbelievable ukraine also shout out to ukraine they're going through some potentially hazardous horrible issues so sending all you guys safety and etc yeah good thoughts care concern you're hearing and reading about your stories in the newspaper yeah we hope you're okay i've been listening to your podcasts for over two years now and i've always wanted to write in a hometown but i couldn't remember anything whatsoever it was before one time i went to my neighbor who lives in the apartment above me to wish her a happy honica she's a lovely 86 year old jewish woman who have known pretty much my whole life We got to talking, and she briefly mentioned that it would soon be the anniversary of a murder of an underground combat group leader who lived in the apartment that my family and I have been living in for the past 22 years.

[141] I didn't put these together on purpose.

[142] That's so random.

[143] Yeah, that is.

[144] I just didn't cross my mind.

[145] Being a little startled upon hearing that information, I asked her to repeat again to make sure I heard her correctly.

[146] And lo and behold, she tells the story.

[147] From January 1942 till January 1943, in said building lived a man named Sorocco Nicolet, who worked for a Soviet Union government at the time.

[148] In short, Kiev was pretty much at the epicenter of the Second World War.

[149] Ukraine lost more people than the combined losses of Great Britain, Canada, Poland, the U .S., and France.

[150] Whoa.

[151] The total Ukrainian losses during the war is an estimated 8 to 10 million lives.

[152] Oh, my, I've never heard that before.

[153] Me neither.

[154] Wow.

[155] In the apartment where we are currently residing, he held a whole secret operation, which included organizing and printing anti -fascist leaflets and reports of the Soviet Informed Bureau.

[156] The group arranged for war prisoners to escape, provided them with documents, and sent them to the partisans through the safe houses.

[157] One of the Nazi undercover agents was somehow able to place a receiver near the apartment so that soldiers that occupied the city would be able to gather evidence and prosecute the people involved.

[158] And so they did.

[159] One day, Nicolay was coming home late at night and he was snatched near the building entrance and shoved into a car.

[160] Later that night, he and other members of the organization were executed and thrown into Babi Yar, a place where mass shootings of Jewish people were happening.

[161] Upon hearing that story, I called my mom to ask if she knew about it, to which she replied, of course I have.

[162] She told it as she remembers it happening in front of her own eyes.

[163] Turns out my neighbor lived in the building all along.

[164] She was only six years old when it happened, so she remembers some parts of it.

[165] But the rest was told by her aunt, who helped hide her from Nazi soldiers.

[166] The building only has eight apartments and one apartment usually consisted of about three families in it.

[167] Everybody there knew about a sweet Jewish girl hiding in a top floor apartment with her aunt, and no one ever said anything, even under pressure.

[168] of constant searches and questioning.

[169] I know.

[170] She still lives there all those years later, remembering this huge part of our country's history.

[171] She's an incredible woman with lots of fascinating stories that I've been listening to since I was a little girl.

[172] Sadly, I don't know what happened to her family or to other neighbors who used to live here, but maybe someday she will share that.

[173] Also, I was able to confirm this story since it was mentioned numerous times in multiple sources pertaining to the topic of the Nazi occupation of Soviet Ukraine.

[174] Stay sexy and please never forget the history of World War II and the people who contributed so much to saving millions of lives.

[175] And then there's no name.

[176] Wow.

[177] Isn't that wild?

[178] Yeah, that's amazing.

[179] And it is amazing, too, I have never heard about that.

[180] Yeah.

[181] Karen, you know I'm all about vintage shopping.

[182] Absolutely.

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[200] Goodbye.

[201] This is a classic kid one.

[202] Hello, my sensational MFM family.

[203] Oh.

[204] First time hometown submitter.

[205] I've been catching up on minisodes recently and had literal tears in my eyes laughing over the childhood drinking stories.

[206] While they don't have any fun ones like that, my first drink ever wasn't until high school when my best friends and I snuck two budlights of the four of us, for the four of us, from my parents' fridge and chased every single sip of beer with cool ranch Doritos.

[207] because it tasted so bad.

[208] Listening to those stories did unlock a deep memory from when I was around eight years old.

[209] It was the 90s, so things were a little more lax back then.

[210] My family was all together at my grandma's house for a pool party.

[211] Us kids were making up annoying games that involved yelling and splashing as much as possible, right?

[212] While the adults sat on the deck around the pool, drinking, smoking, and probably doing their best to block out our annoying behavior.

[213] Good luck.

[214] Now, the classic Red Solo cups that day were reserved for the adults, so I was drinking my Coke's straight out of the can.

[215] At one point during my swim, my mother needed an ashtray, so she dumped my pop into a cup and proceeded to use the can for her Virginia's limbs.

[216] Oh, no. It then became the table's ashtray of choice.

[217] When I got out of the pool parched and blissfully unaware what was awaiting me, I ran straight to my Coke can and took a huge gulp where the adults at the table, who really realized, what was happening watched in horror.

[218] Oh, my God.

[219] Instead of a delicious drink.

[220] I think so many people have this story.

[221] So many people.

[222] Instead of a delicious drink, I swallowed a mouthful of residual pop mixed with ashes.

[223] I coughed, threw up, and was promptly lectured to buy my family about checking my drinks before taking a sip.

[224] Yes, once again, it's the kid's fault.

[225] Keep blaming children.

[226] Stop it.

[227] Oh, my God.

[228] That's disgusting.

[229] That's thinking horrible.

[230] It's so horrible.

[231] Your podcast has brought me so much joy in to my life along with important life lessons.

[232] You two were what I listened to to help me get through my panic attacks when I first started having them at 28.

[233] It helped me feel not so alone in my mental health struggles and gave me the confidence to look into therapy.

[234] I will forever be grateful.

[235] Stay sexy and never leave your drink unattended, even if you're eight and around family.

[236] Katie.

[237] Oh, my God.

[238] Like, that's like the first lesson of don't drink, like, don't leave your drink unattended.

[239] She got it early.

[240] Yeah, she got it early.

[241] So she could throw up when she was just a kid because later on, that usually happens at like a house party in high school.

[242] And then it's really embarrassing.

[243] When you drink a cigarette can.

[244] Yeah.

[245] And then barf in front of everybody.

[246] All right.

[247] This is called, the last one's called, when you make your kid a bartender.

[248] Yes.

[249] There we go.

[250] Yes.

[251] Hi, crew.

[252] Thanks for all you.

[253] do.

[254] This week, you put out a call for hometowns of kids screwing up adult tasks because they're kids, and I've got one of those.

[255] One 80s afternoon at the neighborhood pool, my sister and I were swimming while my mom and her friend were drinking wine out of plastic cups.

[256] Yes, that's right.

[257] As you do.

[258] As you must at the pool.

[259] You must.

[260] They didn't have cans back then either cans of wine.

[261] So what are they supposed to fucking do?

[262] And also, those are two moms that are like, you guys are going to just be in the pool screaming this whole time.

[263] I can have a half a buzz on.

[264] and by the time we all pack our stuff up to go, I'll be fine.

[265] That's right.

[266] Yes.

[267] We lived two houses down from the pool, so wine refills, popsicle runs, and the like were a breeze.

[268] Oh, my God.

[269] Then those moms can get chipped -faced if they want to.

[270] That's right.

[271] It's walk -able.

[272] No glass at the pool.

[273] Yeah.

[274] The plastic cups are empty, so my mom asked me to take them back to the house and refill them with their wine.

[275] It's up the 80s.

[276] It's up the 1980s.

[277] And then it says no foreseeable issues with this tab.

[278] right no way well as it turns out I'm the worst looker for things in the family I love that designation because you know who that is yes where's my whatever the fuck and they always like they do two passes and then you go when you go to help them it's like the mustard's right here it was literally in front of you literally in front of you and then they blame ghosts moving things around with them um and my attention to detail was kid like age appropriate non -existence however you want to call it i shivered at my wet bathing suit in front of the open fridge and quickly found what i believe to be the only bottle in the fridge never mind that this bottle it was brand new with foil and a muscle it and then it says wire cage thingy on champagne bottles i googled it for all of us i didn't like about that a muscle it A muscle it.

[279] I worked and worked to open this bottle.

[280] And finally, to my great shock, the court came flying out and hit the ceiling while bubbles were spewing out of the bottle.

[281] I was momentarily stunned and then proceeded to fill their cups and returned to the pool as cool as a cucumber.

[282] My mom took one sip and immediately knew what had happened.

[283] I did not open the shitty pool wine.

[284] I had opened a bottle of Don Perryon that my parents had been lovingly holding for.

[285] Four, all caps, years.

[286] Anyhow, them's the shakes when you make your kid a bartender.

[287] That's right.

[288] Why is it accessible in your refrigerator?

[289] You fools.

[290] Stay sexy and expect kid results with kid labor.

[291] That's right.

[292] Girl, get it.

[293] I think I've told you that story, but that reminds me of Adrian.

[294] There was some, like, other mom that was complaining to Adrian.

[295] as you know her my sister's friend adrian i need to say every time um and they were talking about the kids uh like kids being over at her house and one of the like their son's friends breaking this really valuable um antique and adrian like look the woman in the face and goes that's your fault why would you have that at a kid level why would you put if it's that valuable wrap it up and bubble wrap and stick it in the closet you're the idiot i hope you learn the lesson stop blaming it on your kid and And like when she told that story, I was just like, finally someone, it's like, yes, don't have the Hummel figurines out to touch.

[296] Here's one for my mom, for Janet.

[297] Don't put your nail polish.

[298] Don't leave it on your nightstand.

[299] So little Georgia goes in there and says, I'm going to paint my nails too.

[300] And then drops the entire bottle of nail polish on your duvet cover.

[301] Yes.

[302] Don't get mad at me for that.

[303] Hide your shit.

[304] Also, how about you screw it on tight and stick it in a drawer?

[305] and also in calmer times be like, hey, nail polish stains, so don't mess around with this.

[306] Yeah, and also, who cares?

[307] I'm a child.

[308] Childs do stuff stupidly.

[309] They're there to break your shit.

[310] That's right.

[311] They're there to ruin it.

[312] If you don't want things ruined, don't have kids.

[313] If that's your best duvet, only pull it out when I guess the good company comes over.

[314] Right, right.

[315] Like, what do you?

[316] Yeah.

[317] What do you?

[318] Okay.

[319] I think we've all learned some valuable lessons on this many.

[320] too.

[321] If you want to watch a video of this episode, you can at the, or, you know, stories, you can at the fan cult.

[322] And also there'll be one extra story, each of us on the fan cult.

[323] And please write in any of these, especially child injustice stories that you have.

[324] They're always really hilarious and wonderful.

[325] Yes, the how dare you use to your parents or adults are the best.

[326] We're incredibly satisfying these days.

[327] Also, stay sexy.

[328] And don't get murdered.

[329] Goodbye.

[330] Bye.

[331] Elvis, do you want a cookie?

[332] This has been an exactly right production.

[333] Our producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton.

[334] Associate producer Alejandra Keck.

[335] Engineer and mixer.

[336] Stephen.

[337] Ray Moran.

[338] Researchers, Jay Elias and Haley Gray.

[339] Send us your hometowns and your fucking hoorays at my favorite murder at gmail .com.

[340] And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My Favorite Murder and Twitter at my Fave Murder.

[341] And for more information about this podcast, our live shows, merch, or to join the fan cult, go to my favoritemerder .com.

[342] Rate review and subscribe.