MFM Minisode 180

[0] This is exactly right.

[1] Hi, and welcome.

[2] To my favorite murder.

[3] The mini -sowed.

[4] It's mini and cute.

[5] It's so pocket -sized.

[6] You wouldn't believe how transportable it is.

[7] Tiny.

[8] Is that a real word?

[9] Transportable?

[10] Is it transportable?

[11] Okay, this is where we redo your stuff.

[12] Do you want to go first, Karen?

[13] Sure.

[14] The subject line of this first one is the Cowee Tunnel Disaster.

[15] Hey, y 'all.

[16] I'm going to go to school in the Great Smoky Mountains at West Carolina University.

[17] There are hundreds of ghost stories due to our rich Apple Action history, but the Cowie Tunnel Disaster is one of the most notable in our area and is shared often throughout our student body.

[18] I was going to do this when we were in yeah, when we were in North Carolina.

[19] I think this was one of the stories that came up for the area and it's rough.

[20] In 1883, a group of prisoners set out on the Tucka C .G. River to begin their day's work, which was often in grueling conditions.

[21] It's not mentioned here, but just for everyone's information, it's 19 prisoners, all of them were black.

[22] It was common in this time to lay miles and miles of railroad track through the treacherous mountains of Western North Carolina as punishment for their crimes.

[23] 30 men stayed chained together day and night, working, eating, and sleeping with shackles on their ankles.

[24] On the morning of December 30th, icy slush had accumulated in the bottom of the men's boat that was used to get across the river to the work site, but the guards forced them forward anyway.

[25] However, everyone on board quickly began to panic as the slush melted and sloshed around, forcing the men to one side of the boat.

[26] Only 10 feet from the riverbank, the boat capsized and the first man went overboard.

[27] But because they were shackled together, 19 men were pulled into the water.

[28] one by one after the man who went before him none stood a chance against the raging icy waters and 19 men perished the great smoky mountain railroad now runs from dillsborough north Carolina to bryson city north Carolina and goes through the cowie tunnel where the men had been laying down track tourists often take the train as a sightseeing trip when visiting the area when going through the infamous cowie tunnel the conductors say ladies and gentlemen there are 19 prisoners buried on top of this tunnel and the moisture you see coming down the walls are the tears of those poor men SSDGM and you bet your ass that tunnel is haunted as fuck Kendall so I remembered this story and I just I went and read an article really quick to double check from what I remembered and because this detail that Kendall may not have known this and so this is from the Smoky Mountain News it's an article written by a writer named Garrett Woodward.

[29] First of all, one of those inmates who died one of the 19 was a 15 -year -old boy named Charles Eason, who had been sent to jail for stealing something very small.

[30] He was on a chain gang with grown men.

[31] So this is a portion of that article from the Smoky Mountain News.

[32] It said, in a February 1963 article by the Asheville Citizen Times, well -known silver writer John Paris, spoke of the legendary heroics of convict.

[33] Anderson Drake, who climbed out of the river, only to dive back in and rescue prison guard fleet Foster.

[34] So quote, Drake helped Foster up the steep bank, knelt a moment by the gasping guard, and then stood up and turned to look back at the foaming river.

[35] There was no sign of the other 19 convicts.

[36] They called Drake a hero.

[37] They said he would surely go free.

[38] But Drake didn't go and pistol missing, and upon ordering a search of the prison camp, the wallet containing $30 was found in Drake's belongings.

[39] That night, instead of thanking Drake and giving him a feast, the camp foreman ordered him into the yard, bared his back, and gave a dose of cat of nine tails, a multi -tailed whip.

[40] After the lashings, Paris reported that Drake was sentenced to 30 years hard labor and immediately put back to work on the Cowie Tunnel.

[41] Wow.

[42] And, And I question the idea that that guy who was drowning in a river, who saved, saved this guard, then robbed him of his wallet and gun.

[43] Right.

[44] It makes no sense at all.

[45] And smuggle it back to the prison.

[46] Back into prison where he couldn't have spent it.

[47] Right.

[48] It's, it's, it's.

[49] So basically, it's like he did this thing and everyone thought, oh, yeah.

[50] He'll get freed.

[51] He'll finally be free.

[52] And instead, he went in for 30 more years.

[53] I thought that was an important detail that we should add in because that was when I was reading this story for one of the live shows it was awful and it's just it's just like that and then it's like and then it's this haunted tunnel where people hear all kinds of horrible sounds and the walls drip with moisture all year long and you know all that kind of stuff yeah um this one's called my great grandfather's body was stolen from his grave whoa um this dear karen and georgia i love you guys and your voices have accompanied me through many hours of various boring jobs many car rides and many late night insomnia struggles they're with you thanks for everything you do anyway let's jump in in october 1989 the body of a 22 year old named jeffers kimbril was found in a field in columbia county florida he was the victim of a stabbing but here's the problem.

[54] This was a second time his body had been found.

[55] He had already been buried and someone had dug him up and left him in a field.

[56] Oh my God.

[57] Then two months later in December 1989, a 20 -year -old named Stephen Morgan took his own life in the same North Florida County.

[58] Shortly after he was buried, it was discovered that his body was missing from his grave.

[59] Here's where I come in.

[60] My great -grandfather died of a heart attack in November 1989 and was buried in neighboring Union County.

[61] Several months later, the ground appeared to be caving in around his grave, so county officials obtained an order to exhum his body.

[62] You know, just to make sure everything was cool.

[63] It was not cool.

[64] They soon discovered that his casket was empty and had been broken into and opened in exactly the same way as the two others in Columbia County had been.

[65] I found all of this out from an article that I found while doing some genealogy research.

[66] That's a fucking big surprise to find, probably.

[67] Just kind of scrolling one night all by yourself.

[68] I wasn't born until 1998, so I never knew my great -grandfather.

[69] And all my dad said about it when I asked him is that the body was never recovered and the whole thing was very upsetting.

[70] But here's the best part.

[71] The article that I read says that five men who were, quote, fanatics of the fantasy game, Dungeons and Dragons, had been arrested in nearby Lake City for body snatching.

[72] No. As far as I can figure, that's where the trail stops, both in the media and for my family.

[73] But being able to say, my great -grandfather's body was stolen from his grave in North Florida, most likely by some guys playing D &D, makes me really fun to have at parties.

[74] Stay sexy and find Grandpa Max Body, Ellie.

[75] What?

[76] Okay.

[77] That's crazy that it's guys that play Dungeons and Dragons because most of the people that I know that are super into Dungeons and Dragons would, are nothing like in a realm of that even slightly.

[78] That doesn't add up.

[79] I feel like there's more to the story.

[80] And I bet someone listening has like the other half of this story.

[81] Please.

[82] And so please.

[83] If you've got the Dungeons and Dragons half of that story, we want to hear it.

[84] Put five small alarm emojis up in the subject line and let us know.

[85] For sure.

[86] Okay.

[87] I'm not going to read you the subject line of this.

[88] Hello, friends.

[89] I've been binging the podcast since June just caught up.

[90] It is June.

[91] Oh.

[92] Wow.

[93] June of last year.

[94] It's been a busy month, I think, for you.

[95] Yeah, really.

[96] You're both wonderful, and I love knowing that I'm not alone in my obsession with true crime.

[97] Quite the opposite.

[98] You're nowhere near alone.

[99] Okay, enough of that.

[100] Let's do this.

[101] In the mid -1960s, my uncle Bob was a paper boy and was out one summer afternoon, collecting money from the people on his paper route.

[102] He was jumped by some older boys who robbed him, and when he put up a fight, they stabbed him several times.

[103] they took off and my uncle who had been stabbed in the back and sides proceeded to walk this seven blocks to my great -grandparents house.

[104] Oh my God.

[105] Yeah.

[106] He stumbled up the front steps, knocked on the door, and my great -grandmother answered, and upon seeing that he was dripping blood, told him, walk around the back to the kitchen, I'll never get this carpet clean if you bleed on it.

[107] What of the past?

[108] Why is the past so terrible?

[109] It was tough, and people were fucking tough.

[110] This poor man had walked.

[111] several blocks in the summer heat, only to be told to walk a little more.

[112] My great -grandparents were very old at this point and didn't drive anymore, so they called my grandfather to get Bob and drive him to the hospital.

[113] My grandfather got there, put Bob in the back seat.

[114] And according to my father and uncle, grandpa religiously followed all the rules of the road.

[115] No speeding, no running traffic lights.

[116] They eventually got to the hospital where the doctors told my grandparents that Bob wasn't too far from bleeding out, and they made it just in time.

[117] Thank God there wasn't one more red light Or Bob would have been done for Everything turned out okay Bob made a full recovery My favorite part of the story though is that my dad who was several years younger than my uncle Was in the front seat while they were taking Bob to the hospital The family was supposed to leave for vacation the next day And that obviously wasn't going to happen now My six or seven year old father turned to Bob in the back seat And started to cry and told his brother Who could have died You ruin everything Because they wouldn't be able to go on their trip Dad and Bob were close once they grew up and died only a couple months apart in 2006.

[118] They're missed, but this story and dozens of others keep them close.

[119] Stay sexy and for God's sake, if someone is bleeding out, don't worry about the damn carpet, Rachel.

[120] That's just to prove how bad the past was and that siblings are just, there's no sympathy with siblings.

[121] The damage that siblings do to each other as children should be studied.

[122] perhaps it is.

[123] You know, I have like one friend as an only child who's like, I wish I had siblings all the time.

[124] And it's like, psychologically, I am fucked.

[125] And I love them.

[126] And I'm still I love my sister.

[127] I still want a sewer every time I see her.

[128] She still owes me for therapy.

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

[130] Absolutely.

[131] And when you say vintage, you mean when you physically drive to a store and actually purchase something with cash.

[132] Exactly.

[133] And if you're a small business owner, you might know Shopify is great for online sales.

[134] But did you know that they also power in -person sales?

[135] That's right.

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[137] Give your point -of -sale system a serious upgrade with Shopify.

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[142] Connect with customers inline and online.

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[144] Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify .com slash murder.

[145] Important note, that promo code is all lowercase.

[146] Go to Shopify .com slash murder to take your retail business to the next level today.

[147] That's Shopify .com slash murder.

[148] Goodbye.

[149] but still light -hearted.

[150] Hi, everyone, I love you all.

[151] Here we go.

[152] In the world?

[153] Probably.

[154] That's nice.

[155] I think that's good.

[156] I don't remember this, but my mom has told me the story many, many times.

[157] And this sounds like a story that I swear like every mom probably has.

[158] When I was around four years old, I was swinging on a rickety swing set in our backyard while my mother watched me from the kitchen window.

[159] I was kicking my little legs and getting some air, but at the top of the arc, I leaned back too far and my hand slipped off the chains.

[160] My mother bolted from the kitchen and ran across the yard, expecting the worst.

[161] However, when she got near, she saw that I was just standing beside the swing unharmed.

[162] This happened in the spring and there was a mud puddle under the swing set, but I didn't have a drop of water or dirt on me. My mother frantically checked me over and asked me if I was hurt anywhere.

[163] I'm okay.

[164] I said, Loretta caught me. Loretta is the perfect ghost name, right?

[165] Yeah, it really is.

[166] Loretta is the name of my dad's mother, who died of cancer.

[167] cancer when I was just six months old.

[168] My mom said I was very calm and matter of fact about it and insisted it happened when she asked me again.

[169] Nothing like that ever happened again that I remember.

[170] So maybe she knew that I only needed her that one time.

[171] Or she's been around this whole time catching me more often than I know.

[172] Either way, it's really comforting to me. Thank you for everything you do.

[173] Things can feel really dark these days.

[174] And your podcast is always something I look forward to.

[175] Stay sexy and stay off swings.

[176] See.

[177] P .S. Georgia, you said that you wanted psychic stories.

[178] I went to one while on vacay in Florida, and he told me I'd meet someone in 30 days.

[179] Exactly 30 days later, back home in Canada, a guy in the bus asked for my number.

[180] We just celebrated two years.

[181] No. Yes.

[182] That's a psychic.

[183] Oh, and that's not really a coincidence.

[184] That's more of it.

[185] That's psychic fateful.

[186] Yeah.

[187] Wow.

[188] That's amazing.

[189] Cute, cute.

[190] I love that who, C is tapped in to a. different plane.

[191] There's something going on.

[192] That may have been the work of Loretta speaking through the psychic again showing up in her life.

[193] I love that so much.

[194] I bet you can't find a not badass Loretta in the fucking world.

[195] For real.

[196] Let's bring that name back for people.

[197] Enough of the Madisons and the McKenzie's.

[198] Brooklyn.

[199] No more Brooklyn.

[200] It's fine.

[201] It's been done.

[202] You know what that made me think of too is one time I was with Nora across the street when she was two because she started walking when she was really little.

[203] and she used to love to go to the playground that's nearby my sister's house.

[204] And we were standing there and she was walking across this funny little kind of bridge.

[205] She was like showing me that she could walk across this bridge on the play structure.

[206] And as she went to walk, she picked her foot up really high and then just started falling backwards.

[207] But I had already gone to the other side of this bridge so that I would be there because I thought she'd be falling forward, if any, a direction.

[208] Yeah.

[209] And so she was falling.

[210] backwards off of probably a five -foot drop.

[211] And I moved from one side, the one side of that play structure over to where she was.

[212] I don't know how I did it, but I got over there and caught her by the head and then just tipped her back up.

[213] And then she just kept walking.

[214] Like, for her, nothing happened.

[215] You're just like, for her.

[216] Put her back on head.

[217] Yep.

[218] I just kind of like, I caught her and then bounced her back up.

[219] And then she just kept going in that toddlery way where like it's all kind of random and gravity is magic but I honestly in terms of how many steps it took and how quickly I moved which I rarely do it was like I don't know how I did it and it still like chills me to this day because it was all on me in that one moment and then somehow I got there in time I I have a similar story with my nephew when he was too but I didn't save him some dad who had dad instincts at the bottom of a big kid slide that I guess I didn't know was a big kid slide?

[220] What do I fucking know from big and little kid slide?

[221] Sure.

[222] Catches my nephew one handed as he's like flying off the slide and about and everyone, all the parents turned and looked at me and I just went, I'm the aunt.

[223] I know, I just fucked and then me fucking laugh.

[224] I took off.

[225] That's right.

[226] You can never go back there.

[227] That's so perfect.

[228] That's so perfect.

[229] It was.

[230] God bless that.

[231] It was so close.

[232] It was so close.

[233] Well, um, okay.

[234] You know, on this same on the same plain thought pattern yeah thank you of of these beautiful and inspiring stories we've got this one the drive by flasher lighthearted yeah hello guys gals and non -binary pals love it well done it's so catchy I moved to Cleveland to get my master's in school counseling in 2017 but spent the first 22 years of my life in St. Louis Missouri which is filled with a lot of bummer crimes, to say the least.

[235] While searching for a lighthearted story to send in, I found an article that was very similar to the shitty papers that I used to write in high school, which were filled with useless adjectives in order to set a minimum word count.

[236] Oh, I've been there.

[237] I've been there.

[238] So really, yep, we've all done it.

[239] Once in October 2012 and another time in January 2013, 34 -year -old Joseph Huff of St. Louis, drove into a target parking lot, pulled up next to a woman, opened his car door, exposed himself and then sped away while the story itself is kind of gross it's the words used to describe huff that made it so memorable the article states quote now the authorities believe they've found this frequent flasher this shlong showman curvy peter presenter double drive by dick dangler if that isn't quality journalism i don't know what is the article continued with quote in case you weren't sure how a female might react to a strange man pulling out his twig and berries in a parking lot, the probable cause statement contains the sentence, quote, both female victims were alarmed by the defendant's conduct.

[240] And on the next line of the article, the reporter just wrote, well, yes.

[241] Huff was eventually caught and charged with two misdemeanor accounts of sexual misconduct, and I hope that reporter got a Pulitzer Prize for journalism.

[242] I've been listening to the podcast since the beginning, and although my life has been pretty lonely in the last few years, I've never felt truly alone because I know I can always turn on my favorite murder and have it feel like I'm with my two best friends stay sexy and get a job where you can get paid to call someone a shlong showman Sabrina Great job Like five levels to that Yeah It was like beautifully done It was a pervert A hometown flasher But also about the It was great It was it was we had everything Okay this one is called Hey buddy got a light Hello, Stephen Ray Morris and Associates.

[243] Oh, inflammatory.

[244] I'm firing myself.

[245] Thank you.

[246] That's right.

[247] Amptive firing.

[248] Good call, Stephen, good call.

[249] This is a funny story that doesn't involve a murder, at least as far as I know, but it does have a dead body.

[250] This was back in the 50s or 60s.

[251] My dad worked at GE in Philadelphia.

[252] When he got to work one Monday morning, a coworker came in with his leg and a cast.

[253] of course my dad being a concerned co -worker or my more likely being nosy my dad asked him what happened he told my dad that his son who was an undertaker asked him to help him transport a body it involved driving overnight to western pennsylvania the son drove first while his dad slept at one point the son pulled over to pick up a hitchhiker because stuff like this was totally normal back then pre stranger danger especially while driving through rural pennsylvania in the middle of the night and then it says i roll um there was no room up front, but the son told the hitchhiker he could sit in the back with the casket.

[254] Later, the dad woke up to drive while his son slept.

[255] Then it says, you may see where this is going.

[256] Of course, the son failed to mention all caps that there was a hitchhiker in the back.

[257] And then it says, your dad spent all that money and effort to raise you and this is how you repay him.

[258] Dad is driving.

[259] Everything is going normally considering it's probably 3 a .m. and they haven't seen another car in 100 miles until suddenly dad gets a tap on the shoulder from the back of the the car.

[260] Hey, buddy.

[261] Got a light?

[262] You can guess the rest.

[263] He drove into a ditch and hence the broken leg.

[264] How amazing is that?

[265] I love your podcast.

[266] I've always loved true crime and crime fiction even before it was cool.

[267] And my murderino daughter introduced me to you all.

[268] Stay sexy and make sure to let others know when there's a live person sitting in the back of with a corpse so that they don't freak out and think a dead person is asking for a light.

[269] Susan of North Carolina.

[270] Susan Yay Susan Susan Tell your daughter OG murderino That's right Nice That's amazing Yeah Wow nice Nice batch Yeah guys Good job Really good job Please send your stories To my favorite murder at Gmail Or you can do it on the website My Favorite Murder .com You can do it in the fan cult There's a whole fan cult form Where people share their stories with each other To fucking send us anything at this point right Do it We're into all of it You know a good story when you hear one.

[271] That's right.

[272] Just let us know.

[273] That's right.

[274] Can you do better?

[275] In the meantime.

[276] Beat that.

[277] Beat that batch is what we always say.

[278] And in the meantime, stay sexy.

[279] And don't get murdered.

[280] Goodbye.

[281] Elvis, do you want a cookie?