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308 - A Blur of Entertainment

308 - A Blur of Entertainment

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark XX

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Full Transcription:

[0] This is exactly right.

[1] Clap it up.

[2] Clap it.

[3] Ready?

[4] 2020, let's do this thing.

[5] One, two, three.

[6] I was way up there.

[7] Oh.

[8] Like that.

[9] Yeah.

[10] Oh, I get it.

[11] And welcome.

[12] To my favorite murder.

[13] The podcast.

[14] That's Karen Kilgariff.

[15] And that's 2022's Georgia hard start.

[16] Oh, I'm a brand new lady.

[17] Look at our go.

[18] Look at me go.

[19] I got pantyhows and I'm fucking doing it.

[20] Long blonde hair.

[21] You wouldn't recognize her.

[22] She's brand new.

[23] I'm a brand new lady in 2022.

[24] Panny hose.

[25] I don't know.

[26] Something about like that reminded me of the 80s.

[27] Like working women now wear panty hose.

[28] Yeah.

[29] Panyhose and high top rebocs.

[30] Let's do this thing.

[31] Go to the office.

[32] It's a brand new you.

[33] We're swinging briefcases on the subway.

[34] Hey, watch it, lady.

[35] You're stepping on my toes with your Reeboks.

[36] What's up?

[37] Let's do this.

[38] What if we did the whole podcast just continually encouraging each other to do it?

[39] Yeah.

[40] You get that, Karen.

[41] You go get it, girl.

[42] Slay, take it here, take it there, and bring it around.

[43] And bring it into 2022.

[44] I feel very positive about this new year.

[45] How do you feel?

[46] Okay.

[47] I feel, I haven't given it much thought, to be honest.

[48] Oh, really?

[49] Have you been busy?

[50] Too busy?

[51] Too busy.

[52] I guess I'm not a like, maybe I'm depressed because I'm not.

[53] Could be?

[54] I think I'm a little depressed because I'm not really a like, I guess I've been like New Year, new me thing, but I don't have it right now in my system.

[55] Not feeling it.

[56] No. More of a, well, but have you been relaxing?

[57] Is it part of that?

[58] Oh, that could be it.

[59] Yeah, I've definitely had, we had three weeks off, which was great.

[60] you and I. We pre -recorded everything, so we actually got to take that break.

[61] And there was a lot of nothing going on, which is really nice for me. And yeah, so maybe I'm still in the downward motion and it's not depression.

[62] It's just laziness.

[63] I mean, could be.

[64] It's like, as long as it's, I mean, look, there's always crying, especially some of these holiday commercials.

[65] I've just been like, Nora's favorite thing is look over and then poke me. And I'll be like, so what if I'm crying?

[66] about this one thing because it's just like, well, you get it out now.

[67] Wow.

[68] At commercials.

[69] Oh, yeah.

[70] Kind of anything that wants you to feel that way, I'll absolutely go there times two.

[71] Have you, since you're home with your what, 14 year old niece.

[72] Soon to be 15.

[73] Oh my God.

[74] And your sister, have you guys been, were you watching the Hallmark Christmas movies that were on and amazing?

[75] We didn't do that.

[76] Ah.

[77] Is that what you were doing?

[78] Fent and I were just like randomly turning them on, like, you know, watching HGTV and then flipping around and stuff.

[79] And they are so good and bad.

[80] Like, they're exactly what you'd think.

[81] You know, there's Chad Michael Murray and he's the carpenter and he needs to become this thing.

[82] And they are all on Christmas and they need to save Christmas at Christmas town or whatever.

[83] It's like, it's really.

[84] And there's the beautiful girl and there's her friend and then there's the one.

[85] She's like a book editor, but she's home for the holidays.

[86] Yes.

[87] But she's sad because it's just her and her mom this year.

[88] Right.

[89] And that was her high school boyfriend.

[90] And like she, it's basically that movie with Reese Witherspoon.

[91] What's that one?

[92] Like so much Christmas in your fucking, it's like sticking your face in a Christmas tree.

[93] Yeah.

[94] And intense and great eyeliner.

[95] Like that's all it is.

[96] Yeah.

[97] And sometimes it's like there's often a goofy best friend or an old best friend or some kind of very minor low key conflict of like fitting back into the hometown.

[98] or we're being a new town.

[99] Because I'm a busy gal with fucking panty hose and shoulder pads.

[100] Panty hose.

[101] From the city.

[102] And now I'm going back to my slow it down time.

[103] Can I slow it down with these super tight panty hose on?

[104] I don't know.

[105] And then there's Chad Michael Murray to help her unroll those panty hose.

[106] Oh, that's right.

[107] Right down.

[108] The sexiest move in sex.

[109] Just.

[110] You know what a man takes you by the waist and then takes those control top panty hose and begins rolling them down your hip and they make that noise that's why there's that scene in every porn that's right thinking of porn you know one thing I another thing I watched that was so delightful and enjoyable was a bunch of porn yes always the shoulder pad porn it's totally my thing 80s movies a .k .a. shoulder pad porn McGruber has a TV show Did you watch it?

[111] No. There's like a, I didn't know that.

[112] I think it's on Peacock.

[113] There's like, you know, a six episode McGruber, which like I had just found the movie recently with Vince and was like, oh, shit, I love this.

[114] Yes.

[115] And there's a TV show and it's so good and like light and like exactly stupid and dumb and what you need.

[116] Yeah.

[117] And help me out because now I can't get Chad Michael Murray's name out of my head.

[118] He's in it.

[119] No, it's Ryan Phillipie.

[120] Is that what you're saying?

[121] No, he's in it.

[122] Yeah, he's in it for sure.

[123] I just thought you were talking about the other cheeky, like, Josh as a blonde guy.

[124] Yes, the other classically hot guy.

[125] But then there's the classically hot guy that actually is subverting that look because he's so funny.

[126] Will Forte.

[127] Yes, Will Forte.

[128] Oh.

[129] Who is, and this is, now I'm going to seem like a hypocrite, but I've met him before.

[130] And if anyone's a fan of Will Forte, you need to know that he is.

[131] The sweetest, nicest, coolest, most normal person in real life.

[132] Oh, thank you, Jesus.

[133] Like, from day one.

[134] Has to be.

[135] Right?

[136] And because I, here's my thing.

[137] I never expected him to be like that because he's really, really good looking, in my opinion.

[138] Okay.

[139] That's your type?

[140] Like the blonde kind of, what is it?

[141] He has a little bit.

[142] What is it?

[143] Well, I don't know.

[144] He looks like probably someone I went to grammar school with.

[145] Therefore, I think he's cute.

[146] He's totally cute.

[147] he's totally cool i just he always looked to me like the kind of guy who wouldn't be nice because why would he have to be because he's really good looking he's funny so then of course he's nice because yes oh well that's not been my experience oh right in the least but he was the exception to the rule to the point where he always says hi and it's that kind of thing where i'm just like i knew you in like 1998 yeah you don't need to do that anymore but he does but this whole story I wish the story seemed credible, but since I started out not being able to say his name right off the top of my head, it seems like I'm fake.

[148] You were fluttered and you were thinking about Ryan Philippi and just got complicated and it's, you know.

[149] Things are complicated, that's for sure.

[150] Well, Lawrence Fishburne is in it too and it's just, I mean, he's like the actor, you know, of actors and he's in McGruber and it's like so funny.

[151] That's awesome.

[152] Yeah.

[153] I wonder if he's a fan.

[154] is our friend Kristen Wigg in it I've never met her I'm just saying that oh yeah she is the fucking lady star oh I'm so glad I mean she was in the movie exactly like there's nobody not in it that you're like yeah it's like they all came back it's so heartwarming that's the best okay I have to watch that I didn't realize they'd made a TV show of that you heard it here you heard it here first for sure I definitely did I don't know if anyone else did but we're going to change that too.

[155] I heard it here first.

[156] Yes.

[157] What if we've been watching?

[158] Well, I think I've said this already, but the thing that Nor and I do is we watch Modern Family together.

[159] Right.

[160] She's seen every single one of them literally knows them by heart.

[161] But that's kind of our go -to when we we kind of like surf around.

[162] Yeah.

[163] All right.

[164] Well, oh, I'm watching Game of Thrones.

[165] Still, I watch so much Game of Thrones, Karen.

[166] Oh, yeah, that's right.

[167] You texted me when they killed the King of the North.

[168] I was going to be like, should we say a spoiler but it's it's been so long that that's not a if you haven't watched it no no everyone dies many many die yeah guess what spoiler in game of thrones and in life we're all going to die yeah i text you all caps they killed the king of the north because i wasn't expecting that to be the red wedding i thought because people are getting married later so i thought those were going to be the red wedding things not the one that it ended up being and i was blown away i'm sure everyone else was too.

[169] Yep.

[170] You know.

[171] It was a real shocker when it actually happened.

[172] Yeah.

[173] Yeah.

[174] And when was it 2011 or whatever?

[175] Look, I was a wee babe of 31.

[176] I didn't have time.

[177] No, no, you were doing other stuff.

[178] Yeah.

[179] No, it's so good.

[180] I mean, they, that's the thing.

[181] They set you up to think you know what's going to happen and then they boom.

[182] I think they were one of the first shows like that that were like, oh we'll kill anybody you can't you cannot trust that anyone would be here next week don't get attached all right but i am attached to aria so i know she lasts but i know it nothing lasts in game of throne very mature outlook but you're going to be happy about things okay all right good to know you're just going to be okay in general i'll take it i'll take it that's my prediction for you and uh there he is what's his name who uh what's oh forget it what peter dinklage yes what's yes peter dinklage was it yes yes what's his name therion langman theron theron no that's not right either tierian terrian terian i'm attached to him as well well you should be okay but i'm not going to get my heart broken like right now not this second okay of course later yeah sure sure sure sure Sure.

[183] It's so far in the past that there's no way they're not dead now.

[184] You know what I mean?

[185] So if I was like, are they still alive?

[186] It would be stupid.

[187] Right.

[188] I mean, no, I think Tyrion lives on to this day.

[189] Got a hope.

[190] Just kind of out in a field somewhere with a sword.

[191] No, no, it's good.

[192] You're going to, it's very satisfying.

[193] And there's a part that I'm going to, I'm going to want you to circle back to me. Okay.

[194] I can text you all caps.

[195] Yes, you can.

[196] Okay.

[197] Night or day.

[198] Truly.

[199] I'm scared.

[200] A lot of things happened, but, you know, I liked it.

[201] There were lots of different opinions when that thing ended.

[202] Here's the thing these days.

[203] Everybody thinks that they could write television.

[204] Everybody thinks that because they watch television.

[205] Right.

[206] And because they have watched television and because maybe they took a creative writing class.

[207] But actually plotting out and writing television is fucking hard.

[208] And the way they were doing it is like there were so many.

[209] characters and so much going on and they started with the books and then went off like everything about that is the most dangerous way to make television which is there's the fans that like the books right so then you're not doing the book thing anymore like there's all these ways to let people down and well i have i was never pissed off no expectations i'm here for the ride great muting the sword fights because they're gross and boring and otherwise there's a lot of clanging A lot of clanging.

[210] But this is the attitude we're looking for in 2022.

[211] Just kind of like the openness and the releasing, the taking in and letting back out of things.

[212] All right.

[213] Deep breaths.

[214] Breathe it out and in.

[215] You know the drove.

[216] It usually is out and in, yeah.

[217] It got to be.

[218] Or in and out, depending on, like, where you're standing.

[219] That's right.

[220] I'm trying to think of, like, one thing that I've won.

[221] A lot about TV.

[222] Oh.

[223] No, I was just to say, like, something I've watched on this break or something I've been doing.

[224] But it's been a lot of kind of been doing a lot of, like, movies and then reruns and things, like, rewatching and stuff.

[225] Yeah.

[226] I've started things and then I've been like, this isn't doing it for me. Yeah.

[227] But I know that my demands are very specific.

[228] Yeah.

[229] Very irritating.

[230] So.

[231] And you're watching with other people now.

[232] it's like, it has to be, everyone has to be into it, especially a 14 year old girl who's not probably into very, like very much stuff that you're into.

[233] Yes.

[234] So that makes it harder.

[235] It's kind of like when Nora's still, when she's still up and in the front room with us.

[236] Yeah.

[237] Then everything's kind of catered toward what she likes.

[238] Sure.

[239] Because we just are trying to keep her in the room as long as possible.

[240] But then she's got to peel off so she can go Snapchat it up with it.

[241] It's so hilarious.

[242] It's like, and we have to talk about, oh, we can't take it personally because she's an adult, you know, she's a, she's a teen, but it's like, why are you in there?

[243] Why don't you want to be out here with us?

[244] It'd probably feel better if she went in there to read a book rather than talk to other people, right?

[245] Yeah, she's definitely picking her friends over us, which like, that's how it is.

[246] Who gives a shit about your mom and your aunt?

[247] Right.

[248] But she needs to know that these are the days to hold on to.

[249] and we won't although we'll want to right these are the days to remember and because they will not last forever thank you thank you're welcome there's a thank you and you're welcome in that billy joel song that song makes me cry do you know that really yeah well that's funny it is uh yeah it's beautiful the man knows knows how to write a song and has since like 1972.

[250] Billy Joel is the man. He knows this shit.

[251] There was a TV show I was watching and one of his songs from the 70s was very astutely put on the soundtrack.

[252] It was one of those TV shows that had a very good sound like music producer.

[253] Yeah.

[254] So they had a huge budget is what you're saying.

[255] Yeah.

[256] And they could actually play the real Billy Joel song and I was just like, nice one.

[257] Nice pick.

[258] And also his voice like the clarity of his singing voice is real effective it gets you does all right um what else oh yeah so on my way up because i drove up for this break oh i am i'm going to yes do yes yeah so i had to i had to prep a bunch of podcasts for me drive yeah okay so you know that crazy out of South Carolina about the lawyer who the Murdoch family, the Murdof's, yes, Murdoch's.

[259] It's pronounced Murdoch, I learned.

[260] So there is a reporter, a young woman named Mandy Matney.

[261] And she has been covering this story since the first part of the story broke.

[262] And I think at this point there's like 20 parts of the story.

[263] It's the first part where he kills the girl in the boating accident or when the two, it's so wild.

[264] It's the craziest story.

[265] So first of all, that's misinformation because he didn't kill, we, he didn't kill anybody.

[266] Not the dad, but the son, right?

[267] The son.

[268] Okay.

[269] So there's a boating accident.

[270] A teenage girl dies in this boating accident.

[271] And that's basically what begins this journey.

[272] And Mandy Matney is a reporter, um, tries to look into it.

[273] But the son who was driving the boat is the son of, the Murdoch family who they have been what is essentially the equivalent of the DA in this county in South Carolina for like a hundred years or more.

[274] Yeah, it's like a big, rich family generations of wealth.

[275] Very powerful in the legal community.

[276] Huge.

[277] She uncovers basically starts pulling a thread that is one of the most unbelievable stories you've ever heard and we've all heard parts of it.

[278] Now, my dad, home gym, sent me this Guardian article and he was like, you have to read this.

[279] This is crazy.

[280] Did you know about it?

[281] And I was like, well, I heard things here or there.

[282] This article is basically this comprehensive thing because the person who wrote the article has been listening to Mandy Matney's podcast.

[283] So the podcast is called The Murdoch Murders.

[284] And there's like 25 episodes of it.

[285] They're half hour each.

[286] So you can binge it like crazy.

[287] And she's been covering the story since the beginning.

[288] She is the reporter.

[289] So it's really cool because aside from the fact that you're hearing this mind -blowing story and this kind of old boy network being blown apart.

[290] Yes.

[291] It's this young woman reporter who's basically doing it with her fits news.

[292] Amazing.

[293] News website that she worked for.

[294] And like on the weekly things are changing and things are coming out.

[295] Like currently things are happening.

[296] Yes.

[297] It's a breaking story that she has.

[298] been reporting on from the beginning.

[299] Right.

[300] It's really amazing.

[301] And like crazy shit and like critt and twists.

[302] Oh, I can't.

[303] Okay.

[304] I'm going to tell you listen to that.

[305] Yeah.

[306] It's like a kind of a jaw dropper.

[307] Um, and also in the first couple episodes, she starts, she talks about after her first episode, she, she gets on there and is like, people keep talking about my vocal fry.

[308] There's nothing I can do about it.

[309] It's really mean that you're saying that.

[310] And I was laughing so hard.

[311] I was just like, oh, honey, move on.

[312] I love you.

[313] It's just the beginning of quote unquote feedback that you're going to get.

[314] Just keep going.

[315] Just keep going.

[316] That's not feedback.

[317] Good for her.

[318] Good for you.

[319] So if you haven't heard the Murdoch murders, you absolutely have to listen to it.

[320] Can I do one real quick that I listened to throughout like whenever I was cleaning something throughout the what, not the pandemic, but our vacation.

[321] Same different.

[322] Same buck and thing.

[323] so have you heard of the podcast heavyweight i don't i don't know it's hosted by this dude jonathan goldstein who is so lovely and funny and curious and each episode he basically interviews a person who had this moment in their life that was pivotal and are trying to sort through it by like kind of understanding it and usually there's another person involved that then jonathan goldstein goes and gets a hold of so they can like exchange like there's an episode with moby it's people's life stories almost a little bit like this american life but but told through the voice of whoever was there not the person who experienced it oh who want to figure it out it's really fucking good and like there's some guy had gotten hit by a car and his bicycle and had it you know ruined his life he couldn't walk for years and he was and then he wanted to meet the guy who hit him and had been like 10 years and they sit them down in a room together and they're crying and apologizing and thinking it's like the most beautiful cry cry cry oh my god i know it's stuff like that if but jorda if i'm crying while i'm watching like an AT &T commercial do you think i am going to be okay no but it's like a good cry it's like there's like a humanity behind these stories that like yes but like this is how life really is it's really beautiful Oh, good.

[324] Okay.

[325] So just amazing storytelling.

[326] Yes.

[327] Really great storytelling.

[328] Really.

[329] And then there's some that are funny.

[330] They're always like touching a little bit.

[331] And they're always like life lessony.

[332] So yeah, check out heavyweight.

[333] I really love it.

[334] Cool.

[335] I love that.

[336] Hey, speaking of podcasts, should we do exactly right corner and talk about all the podcasts on our network, or at least some of them?

[337] Let's do it.

[338] Woo -hoo.

[339] Real quick.

[340] Murder Squad continues their winter distraction series with guests, Dr. Ann Burgeon.

[341] She is who the character of Wendy Carr in the show Mind Hunter is based on, which is just she is a badass.

[342] So awesome.

[343] And also over on I Said No Gifts with Bridger -Win -Ger, if you're watching SNL and you're blown away by the newest cast member who does the impression of Trump, his name is James Austin Johnson.

[344] He's a comic, I don't know if he's originally from L .A., but I know him from here, so talented and hilarious.

[345] And he is on, I said, no gifts this week.

[346] Love it.

[347] Yeah.

[348] And we have the new merch in the merch store is this satin pajamas that have you and I and our pets on them.

[349] I have been looking at those for so long because they are hanging on a hook with all my vintage nighties like next to my bed.

[350] So every time I fall asleep at night, I see our faces and like our animals and all the adorable stuff by the artist.

[351] The art on the pajamas is by Rachel Flannery, who's a friend of the podcast and this really talented artist.

[352] I love all her work.

[353] Flan on Instagram.

[354] So check those out on My Favorite Murder .com in the store.

[355] Do you need silk pajamas?

[356] Of course.

[357] The answer just might be yes.

[358] Ask yourself.

[359] And then also last week we put out the monthly episode of MFM animated by Nick Terry.

[360] And this episode is so freaking good.

[361] It's sarcasm through the mail and it's based on a story from the My Favorite Murder of Minisode number 250.

[362] It is, it's another beauty by Nick Terry.

[363] He's just so talented.

[364] How does he do it?

[365] He has a life and a job.

[366] I don't know.

[367] A marriage to tend to and yet he still makes us these beautiful, beautiful animated.

[368] Go to YouTube.

[369] MFM animated, the exactly right YouTube page.

[370] That's right.

[371] Do it.

[372] Good times.

[373] Good times.

[374] Do it.

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

[376] Absolutely.

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

[378] Exactly.

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

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

[381] That's right.

[382] Shopify is the sound of selling everywhere, online, in store, on social media, and beyond.

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

[384] From accepting payments to managing inventory, they have everything you need to sell in person.

[385] So give your point -of -sale system a serious upgrade with Shopify.

[386] Their sleek, reliable POS hardware takes every major payment method and looks fabulous at the same time.

[387] With Shopify, we have a powerful partner for managing our sales, and if you're a business owner, you can too.

[388] Connect with customers in line and online.

[389] Do retail right with Shopify.

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

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

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

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

[394] Goodbye.

[395] So today, I'm first, right?

[396] Yeah.

[397] Today I'm going to tell you a story about a French woman named Blanche Monier.

[398] So this is also known as the story of the sequestered di Poitier.

[399] So.

[400] What's that mean?

[401] It's a sequestered woman in Poitier, France.

[402] Okay.

[403] All right.

[404] Sequestor.

[405] We can all relate.

[406] Sequestured.

[407] So I first heard about this.

[408] in an all that's interesting article written by Gina DeMiro.

[409] I also got info from infro.

[410] I got infromation.

[411] Information.

[412] That's right.

[413] From a history daily article written by Lily Rowan, a rancor article by Enigo Gonzalez, two Chicago Tribune staff articles.

[414] And then like, these are all old -timey magazines.

[415] These are all old -timey newspaper articles, one from like the New York Times, uh, Brooklyn Life article also written by E .M. Milzner.

[416] So, here's where we start.

[417] On May 23rd, 1901, the attorney.

[418] Yeah, the beginning of the 19s.

[419] The Attorney General of Paris receives an unsigned letter that reads, Monsieur, Monsieur, Monsieur, attorney general.

[420] I have the honor to inform you of an exceptionally serious occurrence.

[421] I speak of a spinster who is locked.

[422] up in Madame Monet's house.

[423] Monnier's, M -O -N -N -I -E -R -S.

[424] I mean, I can't pretend that I would be able to pronounce.

[425] There's only a couple words I know because I took French one.

[426] That's right.

[427] When I was a freshman, so I'm not acting.

[428] I mean, you're the expert here, though.

[429] I mean, I know Monsieur.

[430] Yeah, that's about it.

[431] Monsure.

[432] Madame Monnier's house, half -star, and living on a putrid litter for the past 25 years in a word in her own filth.

[433] What?

[434] Yeah, so he gets that letter.

[435] But of course, he knows that the Monnieres are a well -known and respected family in the community of Poitier, France, which is a couple hours outside of Paris.

[436] So the Attorney General tells a few police officers to go over to the house and check things out, but be really careful, of course, because if the contents of the letter turn out to be fake, it could look really bad on the officers, like, you know, blaming a well -to -do family for something false.

[437] You know those rich people don't like to be blamed for having a lady.

[438] Got a bit somewhere.

[439] That's right.

[440] God forbid.

[441] God forbid.

[442] But on the other hand, the spinster that they named in the letter had basically disappeared off the face of the planet.

[443] So they knew it was a real woman.

[444] So maybe the letter was true because no one had seen her in years.

[445] So when the officers are finally able to force their way into the home to search, They're appalled at what they find.

[446] Uh -uh.

[447] Boom.

[448] Let's go back real quick.

[449] Oh.

[450] How exciting was that?

[451] Great.

[452] So Luis and Emil Monnier live in Poitier, France, which is about four hours away from Paris.

[453] According to the Chicago Tribune, the Monnier family has, quote, lived in Potu— My God, lived in Poitier.

[454] Lived in that town.

[455] Thank you.

[456] I love you.

[457] for over half a century.

[458] They belong to the most respected families of the city and always enjoy the reputation of being among the most refined and genteel.

[459] So they're like bourgeois and shit.

[460] Right?

[461] Did I get that right?

[462] Bourgeois.

[463] A bourgeois.

[464] Luis is a key figure in the mother is a key figure in Parisian high society.

[465] She's known for her charitable works.

[466] She even received.

[467] a community award for her generosity to the city.

[468] The husband Emile had been the head of a local arts facility.

[469] They're both very well known in town and respected.

[470] In the mid -1800s, their daughter, Blanche is born and they also have a son named Marcel.

[471] So by the time Blanche is in her 20s, people just can't help but notice how beautiful she is.

[472] But they also say that she's gentle and she's good -natured, a really lovely woman.

[473] The New York Times describes her as being a, quote, beautiful tall brunette with a wealth of hair, interesting, and big, brilliant eyes.

[474] She is, quote, bell of the neighborhood of Poitier and is sought by more than one, end quote.

[475] So she's a gap.

[476] It could be three.

[477] Could it be?

[478] It could be any number above one.

[479] above one.

[480] In 1876 at 25 years old, after her father and the head of the household dies, Blanche is expected to pick a suitor to marry so she can be taken care of since her father's dead.

[481] Unfortunately, for her mother, she's fallen in love with an attorney and he's poor.

[482] So, I know.

[483] Tough.

[484] So when Blanche tells her mom about this, Luis is not pleased at all.

[485] Of course, she doesn't approve of this guy.

[486] he is not only much older than her, but he's not from the same social class.

[487] He's, quote, penniless, but they've fallen in love.

[488] This is just like Downton Abbey, but French.

[489] Oh, my God, you're right.

[490] Or similar.

[491] I think he had money, though.

[492] Anyway, sorry, go right.

[493] But you're right.

[494] And Luis is worried about what people around town will say if she marries this penniless lawyer.

[495] It's going to be completely disgraceful for Blanche to marry someone of this class.

[496] in Poitiers, it's super intense that people talk Sure, gossip, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

[497] You know how they are.

[498] Talk and gossip.

[499] Louise demands that her daughter find a better suitor, aka a richer one, and Blanche tells her mom, it's not going to happen, I'm in love, and she threatens to elope with this man. Yeah.

[500] But Luis doesn't give in.

[501] Instead, she locks Blanche in a nine by 12 foot room in the attic.

[502] she tells Blanche that she will be released just as soon as she agrees to marry someone else but Blanche refuses to give into her mother's demands and so she stays in the locked room in the beginning Blanche spends a lot of her time screaming for help and when the neighbor is here they ask Louise what's going on and she says that her daughter has gone insane oh yeah after and they believe it I think it's a time when that just you know, was an okay excuse for women to have disappeared because they went insane, you know?

[503] They were just insane and that's, yeah, it's very like, um, gothic novel.

[504] It's very, and it's also like women, they're insane.

[505] So it's very apt to happen.

[506] Yeah, you know.

[507] After a few years, the screaming stops and the attic window is boarded up.

[508] Louise tells her neighbors that Blanche has gone off to live in an insane asylum.

[509] According to the Chicago Tribune, quote, The neighbor sympathies with Louise and tactfully respect the sad mystery which surrounds the fate of Blanche.

[510] They gradually cease to speak of Blanche and finally almost forget the very existence of the unfortunate girl.

[511] But Blanche has not gone off to an insane asylum.

[512] Instead, she's kept in the attic where she does not see the light of day.

[513] The only interaction she has is with her mom, her brother, and the servants, she's rarely fed, and when she is fed, it's table scraps, and she's not allowed to wear clothes or bathe.

[514] Whoa.

[515] Guess how long she's in there for?

[516] Oh.

[517] 25 years.

[518] No. Yeah.

[519] After like year 17, wouldn't you be like, okay, I'll date.

[520] Yeah.

[521] But I feel like at that point, it's like they had to keep their little secret, like even after a year or two.

[522] I think she's wasting away.

[523] They can't just bring her back into society.

[524] Right.

[525] Yes, exactly.

[526] They've kind of, this is a, they're in an impasse mother and daughter.

[527] Right.

[528] And also, I bet you, the mother was kind of intense to have done it in the first place and then held to it in that way.

[529] Yes, absolutely.

[530] Like, there's not a lot.

[531] There's some imbalance of chemicals going on in this household.

[532] Throughout the household.

[533] Right.

[534] So 25 years.

[535] years go by and no one has even thought of Blanche in quite some time.

[536] Then on the 23rd of May 1901, as we talked about in the beginning of this story, the Attorney General of Paris receives the unsigned letter telling him of the, quote, Spinster who was locked up in Madame Monnier's house half -starved and living on a putrid litter for the past 25 years in her own filth.

[537] So the attorney general then sends the police officers.

[538] They're finally able to, to get into the house.

[539] Luis's son Marcel lives across the street with his wife and daughter.

[540] He says you can't come in to look at it.

[541] But finally, they're able to search the house without the permission.

[542] I think whatever a search warrant is back in those days, they got one.

[543] Once inside, they're immediately hit with the smell of something awful.

[544] Following the stench, the officers arrive at a padlock door leading to the attic.

[545] The officers break the lock and inside they find complete dark.

[546] They can't see anything, but they can smell something and it's rancid.

[547] It's so bad that the officers immediately, like we need to open a window, but the windows boarded up and hidden behind heavy curtains.

[548] Oh, no. An officer later detailed what happened next, quote, we immediately gave the order to open the window.

[549] This was done with great difficulty for the old dark colored curtains fell down in a heavy shower of dust.

[550] To open the shutters, it was necessary.

[551] to remove them from their hinges.

[552] As soon as the light entered the room, we noticed in the back, lying on a bed, her head and body covered by a repulsively filthy blanket.

[553] A woman identified as Mademoiselle Blanche Monier.

[554] Okay.

[555] Can I tell you what I'm thinking of right now?

[556] Yes.

[557] Did you ever see the movie Pet Cemetery?

[558] It's exactly that.

[559] And there's a photo of this woman and it looks like that.

[560] How?

[561] Yeah.

[562] And they must He must have torn at front.

[563] Like, Stephen King must have known about the story because it's like the same thing.

[564] Okay.

[565] Those cops all would have had to go to an insane asylum.

[566] Totally.

[567] Totally.

[568] I'm just standing in the room like, what's going on in here?

[569] And then the curtain comes down.

[570] Oh, my God.

[571] And like by the description of the curtain, it meant that they could tell it hadn't been, the window hadn't been open in, you know, literal decades.

[572] He goes on to say that the unfortunate.

[573] woman was lying completely naked on a rotten straw mattress all around her was formed a sort of crust made from excrement fragments of meat vegetables fish and rotten bread we also saw oyster shells and bugs running across mademoiselle monnier's bed end quote so she just they the mother held her an abject filth in in pitch blackness pitch black no clothes allowed your own daughter that you raised from to 25 years old.

[574] Like there must have been something going on before that, right?

[575] You don't just like snap, do you?

[576] Yeah, exactly.

[577] There's, yeah.

[578] Oh, man. Ooh, I don't like this at all.

[579] No, I knew you wouldn't.

[580] On the floor are swarms of rodents eating pieces of rotting food scattered around.

[581] And the room is covered with words and drawings scratched into the wall.

[582] Oh, my God.

[583] But because the smell is so bad, the officers, they can't do anyone.

[584] more investigating.

[585] Blanche's rushed to the hospital because they have to just leave the room immediately because of immediate PTSD.

[586] Sorry, can I just say, and I know this is a small detail, but to me, what puts it over the top is oysters.

[587] Like, this is a disgusting situation.

[588] Yeah, yeah.

[589] You're throwing seafood onto the top of that.

[590] Yeah.

[591] Nightmare.

[592] Yeah.

[593] Yeah.

[594] And weren't oysters like a poor person's food back then, so she was literally getting like the scraps.

[595] Yeah, like what people didn't want to eat.

[596] Yeah, yeah.

[597] So Blanche's rushed to the hospital and Louise and her son Marcel are carted away to jail.

[598] Once word gets out that the wealthy and respected Louise has been keeping her daughter locked up in a room for 25 fucking years, the public is outraged.

[599] A crowd gathers outside the Monnier House and Marcel's wife and daughter have to go into hiding.

[600] At the hospital, Blanche is bathed and examined.

[601] Doctors are, word that she's not going to make it, she's skeletal and so malnourished that she only weighs 44 pounds.

[602] Oh my God.

[603] Yeah.

[604] According to Brooklyn Life, blanche's nails are three inches long and her, quote, hair is matted into the semblance of a bar of iron.

[605] Oh.

[606] And according to rancor, she is, quote, unable to speak properly and is completely delirious.

[607] But some say she was eventually lucid once they kind of took care of her.

[608] And someone said she remarked, quote, how lovely it is to breathe fresh air again.

[609] God.

[610] Meanwhile, Luis and Marcel are interrogated by police.

[611] At first, they say they had to lock Blanche away because she is, quote, foul, angry, overly excited and full of rage.

[612] But often...

[613] Lock her away.

[614] But officers don't believe them on ears.

[615] They hadn't experienced any of those reactions when they found Blanche and she started coming around.

[616] They said that at the hospital, Blanche had been completely calm and happy when she was finally given a bath.

[617] And so Marcel and Luis's story just doesn't add up.

[618] Eventually the Monnieres start to open up.

[619] Marcel, the son, blames everything on his mother, saying that Louise had complete control over the family and their finances.

[620] He tells officers that he had tried to save Blanche, but he couldn't because of Luis.

[621] So instead he just tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

[622] He didn't try very hard.

[623] He really didn't do a great job of that.

[624] He didn't.

[625] I'm sure he was terrified of his mother too, though, you know?

[626] I mean, that's just it.

[627] It could have been him.

[628] The mother could have been terrified of him.

[629] He could have, like, there's the possibilities, right?

[630] Right.

[631] Like, you just don't know.

[632] At this point, you don't know what the details, what's going on in that house.

[633] Yeah.

[634] Yeah, totally.

[635] So Luis actually confesses the truth, but she never faces any legal consequences because 15 days after her arrest, 73 -year -old Luis has a heart attack and dies in her jail cell.

[636] Oh, wow.

[637] So you kind of wonder like, oh, maybe then Blanche would have been found and freed anyways.

[638] But then again, maybe Marcell would have murdered her and got rid of her body.

[639] So, you know, like once the mom died to not let the story get out, anything could have happened.

[640] I'm who knows I mean I doubt he would have freed her and been like see everyone she's fine be like and let the story get out but if you're if we're gonna take him at his word yes that it was all the mom then he would have it is it's just as possible right I mean it's like how yeah but but she might not have died you know like she could have died from the shock 15 days later if she had just been living her normal life she might not have had a heart attack so it would have gone on you know yeah that could have been from shock also one would like to think like even you know you told the story of your sister hitting you with the Barbie whatever but if your mother locked her into a room yeah for years you would do something about that absolutely you would you would actually do something about yeah you wouldn't just be like day two day two yeah not like year 25 no exactly they give her a day in there she Lee you deserve it a little bit a day or two yeah throw some sort of younger sister revenge Yeah.

[641] But then I'd be like, you know, I don't have anyone to play with right now, so this kind of sucks.

[642] No one looks good in this story on the family side.

[643] I'm just saying.

[644] Absolutely not.

[645] Before she died, she made sure to change her will to put all the family's money toward caring for Blanche.

[646] Her last words were reportedly, oh, my poor Blanche.

[647] But it just everyone thinks that on her deathbed, she was worried about her public image.

[648] So she did all these things to make it seem like she was taking care of her daughter.

[649] Yeah.

[650] When it's like, well, yeah, you clearly didn't.

[651] After the servants all say that Luis forced them to keep Blanche imprisoned in the attic.

[652] So they had servants there that were like contributing to keeping her there.

[653] Marcel is the only one to go on trial and he's found guilty of helping his mother keep Blanche captive and is sentenced to 15 months in prison.

[654] Oh.

[655] Okay.

[656] But the thing is, he's an attorney.

[657] So he appeals the sentence.

[658] sure he knows exactly what to say he says blanche could have left any at any time and no one forced her to stay there she's like she was chained to a wall and right and like writing on the walls about being held captive so yeah it's it's highly unlikely that you're just going to let yourself starve right to the brink of death right and sit in filth yes exactly and at this time in france though it wasn't a crime to not help free someone that you didn't in prison So if someone else in prison someone, not your problem, essentially.

[659] Yeah, I get it.

[660] So technically, he hadn't done anything wrong.

[661] And the court agrees in Marcell is freed.

[662] The public's really angry at it and him and his family have to go into hiding.

[663] Eventually, Blanche is able to gain weight and speak in short sentences, but spending half of her life locked up in a room, of course, has done a lot of damage to her psyche.

[664] and she's so traumatized that she never makes a full recovery.

[665] She lives at her final days in a sanatorium before she dies 12 years later in 1913.

[666] To this day, no one knows who wrote the letter about Blanche's living conditions to the attorney general.

[667] One of the servants.

[668] It's been rumored that it was one of the servants or one of the servants told someone they know and they told someone like the servants didn't even do it.

[669] Or some people also think that the brother, Marcel, finally gained enough courage to go to the police, but neither theory has ever been confirmed.

[670] And that is the story of Blanche Monair, who was in prison in her mother's attic for 25 years.

[671] I need to see that picture, even though I kind of don't want to.

[672] I want me to show it to you.

[673] Yeah.

[674] Oh, no, no, no, no. The poor woman.

[675] That is Yeah Horrifying Horrifying That's truly What horror movies are based on And made out of Yes That's a horror movie Yeah totally Now we need the heavyweights version Where it's those policemen Telling the story of that Can you imagine You're just kind of like Oh Okay Great That was creepy Yeah sorry about that No no That's why I'm here That's why I show up to work.

[676] That's my, that's why I like this job so much.

[677] Okay, so my story, the reason I'm doing this story this week is because someone named Tyler Jones on Twitter at Tyler underscore Jones 92 sent all of us a tweet that said, quote, please do this story.

[678] It's a wild ride and we all know you love a Texas monthly article.

[679] Right?

[680] Which is very true.

[681] Yeah.

[682] And the main reason we love those articles is because the great journalist Skip Hollinsworth writes for Texas Monthly.

[683] I believe he's actually like an executive editor or some.

[684] Probably.

[685] He's very high up there.

[686] And he wrote the article that Tyler Jones 92 sent.

[687] So it's a perfect.

[688] Holinsworth.

[689] Friend of the family, too.

[690] Friend of the family.

[691] But also like the thing about Skip Hollinsworth's articles is that he write, I'm just retelling his article.

[692] And we say this every time we do.

[693] this.

[694] The same thing with the amazing bank robber story turned out to be that woman, which is one of my favorite stories of all time.

[695] It's Skip Hollinsworth's article, his journalism, his research.

[696] Yeah.

[697] And I'm just basically giving you a CliffsNotes version of it so that you can go and read it.

[698] Right.

[699] And what I think we've promoted this before but Texas Monthly has a podcast network now.

[700] Yeah.

[701] They have their own podcasts which you should absolutely go and explore because the journalism for Texas Monthly is excellent and amazing.

[702] Their stories are incredible.

[703] And Skip Hollinsworth has a podcast called Tom Brown's Body, which I started listening to that's really good, really.

[704] It's very sad.

[705] It's about a teenage boy in a small town in Texas that went missing in the investigation around his, what you eventually find out, is murder.

[706] But also, I didn't know, I don't know that I knew this.

[707] But Skip Hollinsworth wrote a New York Times bestselling and award -winning book called The Midnight Assassin, The Hunt for America's First Serial Killer.

[708] And that's about the Austin Servant Girl.

[709] Yes.

[710] Slayer.

[711] I covered a long time ago.

[712] The Servant Annihilator, right?

[713] The Servant Anilator, yep.

[714] And that story is from 1885.

[715] Yeah.

[716] And that book, you can also get it on an audiobook.

[717] I just downloaded it for my drive home.

[718] Yes.

[719] So anyway, we love Skip Hollinsworth.

[720] His work is incredible.

[721] And, you know, we're so grateful for all of the journalists and especially the crime journalists, but the journalists in general, they go out and they find those amazing stories that we then take and just kind of retell for you.

[722] Yeah.

[723] Bastrodize, I think they call this.

[724] Well, it's kind of, you know, it's kind of like, hey, did you know about this?

[725] Right.

[726] Did you hear this?

[727] Listen to this story.

[728] It's like, yeah, it's like being at a party, obviously.

[729] I'm being like, did you hear this?

[730] Let me tell you the story I read about in my party story voice.

[731] It's a party story that then we're just pointing you toward great sources of amazing journalism.

[732] Yeah.

[733] This podcast is a party story, essentially.

[734] Yeah.

[735] So Skip Hollinsworth's article from the Texas Monthly is the research for the story I'm about to tell you.

[736] Along with there was an article from the New York Times by Douglas Martin.

[737] There was a Houston Chronicle article that did.

[738] did not have a byline, and then, as always, Wikipedia, which these days, every time I go on there, they need donations.

[739] So if you have $5 and you're the kind of person that uses Wikipedia all the time, which we are, please donate to them, keep them around.

[740] We need them very much.

[741] So this is, this is the story of Houston socialite candy Mosler and the murder of Jacques Mosler.

[742] Okay.

[743] Okay.

[744] So we're going to go to June of 1964.

[745] So it's the swing in 60s.

[746] Yes.

[747] Houston, Texas socialite Candice Candy Mosler is, and I'm guessing at that name pronunciation.

[748] Yeah.

[749] Let's hope I'm right.

[750] Mosslet.

[751] I think it's Mosley.

[752] It's Mosley.

[753] She's visiting her husband, a millionaire businessman, Jacques Mosler, at their condo in Key Biscay, Florida, which is near Miami.

[754] Um, so therefore adopted children are also on the trip with candy and, um, they're down there because her husband, Jacques heads several banks.

[755] He has loan companies.

[756] He also owns insurance companies.

[757] And he's in Florida for work because three of his banks are headquartered there in Miami.

[758] Okay.

[759] So the kids spend their days playing at the beach and enjoying the sunshine.

[760] Unfortunately, Candy's suffering from debilitating headaches.

[761] So she visits the local hospital on four separate occasions for treatment.

[762] The last of these four hospital visits takes place on the night of June 29, 1964, and into the early morning hours of June 30th.

[763] So Candy brings all four kids with her, and she also runs errands along the way.

[764] So first, she stops at a hotel to mail some letters.

[765] Then she treats the kids to burgers at a diner.

[766] And finally, then she goes to the hospital.

[767] where she gets an injection for her headache pain.

[768] Candy and the kids get back to the condo around 4 .30 in the morning.

[769] Oh, my God.

[770] Uh -huh.

[771] Like, when have you ever?

[772] When have you ever?

[773] You're like, after a rave when I was 16.

[774] I remember one time I snuck back up after everyone went to bed so I could watch Letterman when I was like 12.

[775] And my dad woke up, so it was 12 .30 at me. And when my dad woke up and found me, he acted.

[776] like I was shooting up drugs in the front room.

[777] He's like, what are you doing?

[778] He went insane.

[779] And so that's usually if you're a kid and you're up at 4 .30 in the morning, something is terribly wrong.

[780] That's just my history.

[781] Absolutely.

[782] Okay, so they get back to the condo and they find Jacques dead on the living room floor.

[783] His body's wrapped in an orange blanket.

[784] His head shows signs of blunt force trauma and when they unwrap him from the blanket they find he's been stabbed in the abdomen 39 times holy shit so when the police arrive and they examine the body they see this they know it's overkill and so they immediately question immediate family which is candy right so let's talk about candy mossler she is born candace weatherby on february 18th 1920 in buchanan georgia which is 55 miles west of atlanta she's the sixth of twelve kids in a point of Poor farming family.

[785] Oof.

[786] So she grows up no phone, no radio.

[787] She works on the farm like all her brothers and sisters, picking cotton, planting crops, tending to chickens, like works on the farm.

[788] I feel like you have that many kids to have workers on the farm.

[789] Yeah.

[790] Or just because you don't have birth control.

[791] Sure.

[792] There's no choice.

[793] So from the beginning, candy dreams of more.

[794] She is said to have always been putting on a show, dressing up, pretending she's a princess, you know, kind of having to live in a fantasy world.

[795] So in 1932, when she's 12 years old, her mother dies giving birth to her 13th child, who also dies.

[796] So just tragic.

[797] Yeah.

[798] Her dad falls into a deep depression, starts drinking.

[799] He's unable to handle 12 kids on his own, obviously.

[800] So he moves out of Buchanan.

[801] He leaves the younger children with different family members and the older kids are left to fend for themselves.

[802] 12 -year -old Candice ends up living with her grandfather, but she essentially has to raise herself.

[803] Yeah.

[804] So it's a very tough childhood.

[805] As a teenager, her grandfather encourages her to find herself a husband to take care of her.

[806] Sure.

[807] How encouraging.

[808] So that's when she meets a family friend named Norman Johnson.

[809] So Norm is a civil engineer.

[810] He's 10 years older than her.

[811] They get married in 1939 when Candace is 19, and they move to Anniston, Alabama, and they have a son named Norman Jr. But Candy very soon grows bored with the stay -at -home mom life.

[812] She starts volunteering at the U .S .O nearby at Fort Benning.

[813] She hosts parties for soldiers, and she meets and befriends lots of soldiers there, most notably Winthrop Rockefeller.

[814] Oh, so, yeah.

[815] Winthrop is that.

[816] the son of billionaire John D. Rockefeller.

[817] Damn.

[818] We've all heard about him and his center in New York City.

[819] His net worth in 1937 was $1 .4 billion.

[820] Today is $19 .301 million.

[821] Oh, my God.

[822] Made of money.

[823] So Winthrop and Candy grow very close, so much so that when Candy has her second baby, Rita in 1943, lots of people wonder if the baby is Normans or Winthrop's.

[824] The actual paternity is never tested, never proven, no, it's no one it knows.

[825] In the mid -40s, Norman gets a job at a shipyard.

[826] The family moves to New Orleans, but soon after Norman and Candy get a divorce.

[827] So Norman moves to Boulder, Colorado.

[828] Candy stays in New Orleans with her two kids and fends for herself.

[829] which she's obviously used to doing.

[830] She finds work as a model for local department stores.

[831] She also designs her own line of lingerie.

[832] So she's clearly a very smart woman and a very beautiful woman.

[833] She's like immediately a working model as a mother of two.

[834] And getting this work inspires Candace to travel to New York City and attend the Barbizon School of Modeling, which apparently was open in the 40s.

[835] Wow.

[836] All right.

[837] I had no idea.

[838] Yeah.

[839] I thought that was just an 80s thing, but it's been around for a long time.

[840] So when she finishes up there, she moves back to New Orleans and she decides to open her own modeling school for young girls.

[841] In addition to teaching girls how to do their hair, their makeup, and maintain a thin figure.

[842] Can't, right?

[843] Dreams do come true, everybody.

[844] She also promises to give her students, quote, self -confidence, grace, poise, and elegance of speech that will make you a person of real distinction.

[845] unquote.

[846] And actually, there's newspaper ads for this modeling school that feature Candy's face in them.

[847] Oh, my God.

[848] And I guess the thing of the school is they would throw a parade down Canal Street and all the students would, like, show off their different talents.

[849] Do like a modeling thing at the end of it.

[850] Just like stick a book on your head, take a walk down Canal Street, and let the people of New Orleans know how thin you are.

[851] So...

[852] Like, rumors are swirling around town that the modeling school isn't candy's only means of income.

[853] People are saying she makes money as a sex worker herself and that she is set up an escort service under the guise of teaching dance lessons.

[854] Oh, no. So apparently men go in for the dance lesson.

[855] They're partnered up with a woman.

[856] And then after they dance, there's like, I guess, adjoining bedrooms that they split off into.

[857] They do a quick shuffle into the joining.

[858] Yeah, like, and two, and three, and Lambdor.

[859] So despite these rumors, Candy just, she has her head held high.

[860] She's doing her business.

[861] Yeah.

[862] No shame in her game.

[863] She volunteers for local arts organizations like the New Orleans Opera, helping to solicit donations.

[864] And she's very good at persuading Norland's wealthy elite to give large sums of money to the opera, although there's one donor that Candace meets in 1947 who thinks the opera's boring and will only commit to giving $25, but he is very interested in 27 -year -old Candice, and that man is Jacques Mosler.

[865] So we'll talk about him for a second.

[866] Originally from Romania, Jacques and his family emigrate to Buffalo, New York, when he's a child, and in his late teens, somewhere around 1913, he moved to.

[867] to New Orleans and starts his own used car dealership in his teens.

[868] All right.

[869] Right.

[870] You got to.

[871] Working hard.

[872] But then in 1916, a doctor reports his car being stolen from the hospital parking lot and authorities discover it in a garage at Jacques's dealership.

[873] Oops.

[874] And so the 21 -year -old is arrested for grand larceny.

[875] It's unclear if he's ever convicted for that crime because soon after his arrest, he joins the army and is shipped off to fight World War I. Damn.

[876] When he returns from war, he sells the dealership.

[877] He opens a loan company.

[878] It starts off small, but then it becomes successful.

[879] And then that allows him to open more loan companies, and he opens insurance firms, and finally, banks.

[880] So he is a wheeler dealer.

[881] When you own the bank, you're wealthy.

[882] Yeah, you're doing pretty good.

[883] Or did he buy the bank?

[884] Was the bank for sale?

[885] Like, how did it work back then?

[886] I don't know.

[887] He's 22 years old in 1917, and he marries his first wife.

[888] He has four kids with his first wife.

[889] 30 years later, 1947, Jacques files for divorce.

[890] And he basically focuses his efforts just on business.

[891] And that's what he's all about.

[892] He has spent the past 30 years becoming a multimillionaire.

[893] So he's very well known in these elite social circles.

[894] But he mostly keeps to himself until, he meets Candice when she's soliciting for the opera.

[895] So a few weeks after obtaining Jacques's $25 donation, Candy and Jacques happen to bump into each other at the zoo.

[896] So everyone knows that Jacques takes a walk every day for his lunch break at the zoo.

[897] Okay.

[898] So whether it's just a weird coincidence that this supermodel candy is also at the zoo at lunchtime, it doesn't matter because running into each other, they immediately start dating and they get married two years later in May of 1949 in Fort Lauderdale.

[899] So the next year, the newlyweds relocate to Houston.

[900] Houston is undergoing this massive upgrade thanks to the oil boom.

[901] And the Mosslers build a three -story mansion on three acres of land in River Oaks, which is Houston's wealth.

[902] neighborhood at the time.

[903] Could it still be?

[904] Probably.

[905] Their seven -car garage is filled with...

[906] Seven -car garage.

[907] Yep.

[908] And it has all luxury cars in it.

[909] Oh, my God.

[910] They have a full staff at their home.

[911] Butler's maids, gardeners, the whole shebang.

[912] So when they first moved to town, of course, Candy's a stranger, but that doesn't last long.

[913] She throws herself into every philanthropic effort that she can find.

[914] She volunteers at hospitals.

[915] She throws benefit parties for the Houston Opera.

[916] She's going from opera to opera.

[917] She knows that's where the elite hang.

[918] Definitely.

[919] At the opera.

[920] You know.

[921] She cuts very generous checks for causes like theater companies and heart disease research and the Houston Boys Club.

[922] Because fuck the Houston girls.

[923] Yeah.

[924] Those boys need money.

[925] The boys need it.

[926] So soon Word gets out.

[927] around town that Candace in her past life may or may not have been an escort in New Orleans.

[928] But these whispers behind her back are no match for the philanthropic good that she's doing in her current life.

[929] Throw money at the problem.

[930] Yeah, for real.

[931] Also, everyone who meets Candy is immediately charmed by her twinkling blue eyes, her beauty, and her very friendly personality.

[932] She's not the first woman with a questionable past who's married rich.

[933] So while some people like to gossip about, you know, her possible history, most people just decide to look the other way and say, who gives a shit, I like her.

[934] Yeah.

[935] So then in January of 1957, Jacques's away on business in Chicago when he hears, and this is insane, he hears about four kids who are orphaned after their father shot their mother and stabbed the youngest child in the family to death.

[936] Oh, my God.

[937] Horrifying.

[938] So Candy immediately flies to meet him to Chicago And they adopt all four kids and bring them back to Houston So this new family is met with a flurry of reporters and photographers Upon landing when they get back And Candy's face is plastered all across the news for quote -unquote saving these children So this is the Mosler family background Which is actually even more horrifying to think about that these kids these four adopted kids, how they came to be orphans, and then they had to live through the trauma of murder all over again when they get to the condo and find Jock murdered.

[939] Horrifying.

[940] Okay, so when the police arrive at the Mosler's Key Biscayne condo, the night of the murder, Candy tells them she suspects a robbery has taken place.

[941] But then the police note the overkill, the 39 stab wounds, and how that probably indicates a crime of passion.

[942] And that's when Candy has a little bit more to say.

[943] She tells the police that Jacques, being the very successful businessman that he is, he's made himself more than a few enemies over the years.

[944] Plus, she suspects that her husband may have been leading a double life, sleeping with men behind her back whenever he's out of town.

[945] She says she suspects that it could have been an angry lover that was lashing out at Jacques.

[946] So police look into Jacques's business dealings to see if they can find someone with a motive.

[947] But when they do, they come across an unexpected lead.

[948] According to an anonymous member of the Mosler's household staff, they accuse candy of being the one that has the affair.

[949] She's been seen canoodling with a young man named Melvin Lane Powers.

[950] And this turns out to be a bombshell piece of information because the movie star handsome Melvin is also Candy's 21 -year -old nephew.

[951] Oh, no. Oh, yes.

[952] Okay, so basically here's how it went down.

[953] In late 1961, Candy got a call from her big sister, Babe, in Arizona.

[954] Not enough people named Babe these days.

[955] Absolutely not.

[956] Probably because of the pig, but let's change that.

[957] So her big sister Babe lives in Arizona.

[958] She calls Candy to tell her that her son Melvin has just been sentenced to 90 days in jail for committing fraud.

[959] So Melvin, he grew up in Alabama, then the family moved to Arizona.

[960] He'd always been an aimless boy, quote unquote, an aimless boy.

[961] He rarely showed up for school or did his homework.

[962] And after getting expelled from being absent too many times, he got himself a job in Michigan selling magazine subscriptions.

[963] But when he tries to take advantage of an 89 -year -old customer, by selling him $20 ,000 worth of stock in a fake, he made up a magazine subscription company and then tried to sell like a 90 -year -old man stock in this non -existent company.

[964] He gets caught because I said man, but it's a customer, so it could have been a woman.

[965] Whoever was, they'd been around the block a time or two and they were just like, hello, police.

[966] Oh, shit.

[967] And so he gets caught.

[968] So essentially, Babe calls her sister hoping that under Candy's guidance, her son Mel can turn his life around.

[969] So Candy agrees to take her nephew in, and it's around December, 1961, when that happens, after his release from jail.

[970] So Mel moved to the Mosler Mansion in Houston, and Jacques gives Mel a job at one of his loan companies, basically as a repo man. And it turns out he's great at it.

[971] And he should be, right?

[972] And he should be great at it because he's being being given free room and board in a three -story mansion.

[973] Yeah.

[974] That includes having private chef cooked meals.

[975] He, yeah, they give him his own thunderbird.

[976] Damn.

[977] Like, he's living large and rent -free.

[978] Yeah.

[979] There are some odd perks as well, though, namely cosmetic surgeries.

[980] At Candy's insistence, Mel has, first, his tonsils removed, then his ears pinned so that they don't stick out anymore, because I guess they stuck out.

[981] Yeah.

[982] And his acne scars removed.

[983] And finally, he gets circumcised.

[984] Okay.

[985] So, wow.

[986] So, yeah.

[987] Glow up.

[988] A glow up for Mel in Houston.

[989] all over.

[990] Peanus glow up.

[991] Who know?

[992] Glow up from the crotch out.

[993] About a year and a half later in June of 1963, the gravy train for Mel stops very abruptly.

[994] Jacques not only fires Mel.

[995] He has security escort him out of that mansion.

[996] And soon after, Jacques packs up and leaves Houston for Key Biscayne.

[997] And that's one of the six properties that he owns in the United States.

[998] States.

[999] So he's going to go to Florida to get away.

[1000] And he moves there alone.

[1001] So when people ask Candy where Jacques is and what happened, why he decided to kick Mel out of the house, she says it's because Mel wanted to start his own business that conflicted with Jacques's business interests.

[1002] And she says Jacques moved to Florida just for business reasons because he's opening yet another bank in Miami and he needs to be in town to get it up and running.

[1003] Sure.

[1004] Sure.

[1005] So after he gets kicked out of the Mosler Mansion, Mel moves 24 miles south of Houston to Webster, Texas, where he starts a business selling mobile homes.

[1006] So this is where police find him on July 3, 1964, three days after the murder.

[1007] They question him, Mel tells police that on the night of Jacques's murder, he was in Houston at the movies.

[1008] But the problem is he doesn't remember what movie he saw and he doesn't remember what theater he saw.

[1009] in.

[1010] Oh, sure.

[1011] That happens me all the time.

[1012] I just forget a thing that just happened.

[1013] It's just a blur of entertainment.

[1014] You're just, he wasn't used to all those pictures coming out him so fast.

[1015] Moving pictures.

[1016] They're talkies?

[1017] What Mel doesn't know is that the police have already looked into him.

[1018] They've been investigating him for a couple days.

[1019] They learned that on the afternoon of June 29th, 1964, Mel arrived at the Houston airport with a suitcase, bought a one -way ticket to Miami and landed there later that day.

[1020] See, that's the thing about being hot is people notice you when you go places.

[1021] People, they're like, hey, did you see a guy that looks like he should be in the...

[1022] Yes, I did.

[1023] Yes.

[1024] I did.

[1025] It's like, did you see a normal looking guy?

[1026] Probably.

[1027] Whereas they're sticking out?

[1028] No, they were pinned tight back to his head.

[1029] I saw a hot guy all right.

[1030] Yeah, everyone is such a good point.

[1031] Everyone's going to remember Mel.

[1032] Yeah.

[1033] him blazing into the airport.

[1034] Also, why did you buy one -way ticket?

[1035] Absolutely.

[1036] Never fucking do that.

[1037] What are you doing?

[1038] Yeah, suspicious.

[1039] Then, once he got in Miami, according to an eyewitness, he goes to a bar called the stuffed shirt lounge at the holiday inn.

[1040] Yeah, he does.

[1041] Genius.

[1042] Oh, I want to be there now.

[1043] If anybody's grandma has a matchbook from the stuffed shirt lounge.

[1044] Or one of those little stirry things that they...

[1045] Yes.

[1046] Or a napkin.

[1047] Anything from the Miami Holiday Inn Bar, the Stuff Shirt Lounge, we will pay you a pretty penny for that thing.

[1048] Literally a penny, but it'll be pretty.

[1049] It'll be right.

[1050] We'll shine it.

[1051] Okay.

[1052] So this bar in the Holiday Inn is right near Jacques Condo.

[1053] At the bar, Mel asked the bartender for an empty soda bottle.

[1054] He leaves bottle in hand.

[1055] And then at 1 a .m. the same night, Mel comes back into the bar and orders a double scotch.

[1056] See, don't be hot and suspicious.

[1057] An empty fucking bottle.

[1058] Like, what are you?

[1059] That isn't an order.

[1060] No, don't just go around in the world.

[1061] Acting like people aren't going to be like, I was hoping he'd come back.

[1062] Right.

[1063] And then he did.

[1064] Right.

[1065] Or also like, yeah, there was this weird guy who came in that night.

[1066] Like, don't be weird and have people remember you because you got an empty bottle.

[1067] Also, because if you're hot, but then you turn out to be weird, people remember you even more.

[1068] Right, because that's the weird hot guy.

[1069] Weird hot guy, which is usually they're either suave or they're just kind of nothing.

[1070] Or like a douche.

[1071] But if you're weird and hot, what are you doing?

[1072] Yeah.

[1073] Stop it.

[1074] It's like those ears are pinned back, aren't they?

[1075] They used to stick out.

[1076] Wait a second.

[1077] You're newly circumstized.

[1078] Hey man, that swagger I can tell you recently on surgery.

[1079] You have the vibe of a newly circumcised man. And you can't fool me. Oh, God.

[1080] Okay.

[1081] So basically around 4 .30 in the morning, the same time the candy goes back to the condo and discovers Jacques's body, Mel's back at the Miami airport, buying himself a ticket back to Houston.

[1082] Dude.

[1083] Also, don't go at weird times to places.

[1084] Like, people will remember you.

[1085] Can you imagine you're the woman that works at, like, the American Airlines desk?

[1086] and here comes, you know, the James Dean of your era.

[1087] I think that was James Dean.

[1088] Oh, it was James Dean.

[1089] He actually had a, he had a shoot down in Florida.

[1090] Here comes basically James Dean.

[1091] He's alive and well at this moment, maybe.

[1092] But weird.

[1093] But weird.

[1094] Super weird.

[1095] Okay, so obviously caught in a lie during questioning, police arrest Mel and at his Webster office.

[1096] and they charge him with capital murder.

[1097] So with Mel behind bars, the police obtain a search warrant and scour his office, and they find a photo of Mel and Candy, cozied up together at a nightclub, and some letters from Candy to Mel, in which she calls him, quote, my darling.

[1098] And also there's an excerpt that reads, quote, The image of your face is before me. I can almost feel your face against mine.

[1099] I could not think of life without you.

[1100] I love you.

[1101] I need you.

[1102] I long for you.

[1103] Anti -A -Barby.

[1104] Love anti -candy.

[1105] Anti -candy.

[1106] Anti -candy.

[1107] It is giving me the creepiest vibes I've ever.

[1108] P .S., how's that circumcision going?

[1109] As news spreads about Mel's arrest and candies possible ties to Jacques' murder, all of Houston, of course, it's like shockwaves, right?

[1110] Gawkers drive by the River Oaks Mansion in droves, hoping to get a glimpse of the now infamous Candy Mosler, so much so that she has to hire security guards and police have to come and direct the heavy traffic in her neighborhood.

[1111] Wow.

[1112] Yeah.

[1113] But she's not there.

[1114] She's been admitted to St. Luke's Hospital for something called, quote, nervous strain.

[1115] Oh, sure.

[1116] I have that.

[1117] I have that.

[1118] Yeah.

[1119] Can I go away to a resort now?

[1120] Absolutely.

[1121] Yep.

[1122] Buy your way into St. Luke's Hospital.

[1123] She couldn't have had it too bad, though, because she invites journalists to interview her at her bedside.

[1124] Or I should say she welcomes them.

[1125] Maybe they showed up and she was like, sounds good to me. Yeah.

[1126] She calls her alleged affair with Mel absurd and denies that she or he had anything to do with Jacques's murder.

[1127] Then she transfers herself to the Mayo Clinic for further medical treatment.

[1128] Yeah.

[1129] And she rents an apartment nearby for her kids.

[1130] for their nanny.

[1131] She remains at the Mayo Clinic for the next year while Mel remains behind bars.

[1132] Yeah.

[1133] She just kind of posts up.

[1134] And the police continue their investigation.

[1135] Candy only leaves Rochester once during this time, and that's flying to D .C. to visit Jacques's grave at the Arlington National Cemetery on the anniversary of his burial.

[1136] She insists that she loved Jacques with all her heart, and she never was with him.

[1137] him for his money, declaring publicly that she, quote, would have been happy with him in a telephone booth.

[1138] So then Candy agrees to one last interview with the Miami Herald, in which she states that Jacques was experiencing a mental decline in the last months of his life, also claiming that one of Jacques's alleged male lovers had been sending him love letters and even tried to blackmail him for $75 ,000.

[1139] The media frenzy continues.

[1140] And despite her efforts, the public's outcry for candy's arrest grows louder and louder.

[1141] Because none of this.

[1142] Yeah.

[1143] I mean, imagine if she were somehow innocent.

[1144] Yeah.

[1145] All of this behavior really says the opposite.

[1146] But maybe the nephew got sent away.

[1147] Nephew got sent away.

[1148] And she was like, I got to fix this with my husband.

[1149] I can't.

[1150] I'm not going to leave him for my fucking 21 year old nephew.

[1151] I need to fix this.

[1152] You know, you need to go.

[1153] go away.

[1154] Sons away the nephew.

[1155] The nephew's so irate that he, on his own accord, is like, well, maybe if I kill the husband, she'll be with me and kills him and she has nothing to do with it.

[1156] But why would she get home at 4 .30 in the morning?

[1157] Yeah, here's the thing.

[1158] If she went to the hospital for like she was getting migraines.

[1159] I mean, like, that's what it sounds like to me. Yeah.

[1160] She's like, hey, kids, if they have a nanny, it travels with them.

[1161] Stay home.

[1162] Where's the nanny?

[1163] Or did she not bring them?

[1164] I mean, there's just, they're still many questions and concerns.

[1165] Yeah.

[1166] Okay, so on July 20th, 1965, Candies informed of her impending arrest.

[1167] So the outcry actually gets answered.

[1168] So she agrees to fly from the Mayo Clinic back to Miami to surrender rather than let the news outlets capture a salacious arrest photo.

[1169] But when she lands in Miami, the media is there waiting for her, of course.

[1170] They hit her with a flurreelior.

[1171] have questions about whether or not she murdered Jacques or whether or not she was sleeping with her nephew, who's half her age.

[1172] Candy maintains her composure, smiles, and says to reporters, quote, well, nobody's perfect.

[1173] I mean, that is a understatement of the century.

[1174] It's really true, though.

[1175] It is true.

[1176] You can't say it's not true.

[1177] Okay, so Candy and her nephew, Mel, they have a joint trial.

[1178] begins January, 1966, in Miami, and it's, of course, like the event of the decade.

[1179] More than 40 national and local news outlets have seats in the courtroom.

[1180] People line up around the block to get in, and those lucky enough that do get a seat bring packed lunches so they don't lose their seat having to get up and go get something to eat.

[1181] Candy arrives to court dressed to the nines, of course, as one of her defense attorneys would later put it, quote, you would have thought she was a movie star, the red carpet.

[1182] In their opening statement, the prosecution makes their argument clear.

[1183] They believe that Candace conspired with her nephew Mel to have Jacques killed while she was at the hospital for her headaches with the kids, thereby giving her a solid alibi.

[1184] And now that Jacques is dead, Candice stands to inherit his entire fortune worth at least $7 million then, which is $60 million today.

[1185] So Candy and Mill, their lead defense attorney is a lawyer named Percy Foreman, who is a shark of a defense attorney who would later go on to defend James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. Wow.

[1186] And so Foreman argues that Jacques is to blame for his own death, bold, having business dealings and secret love affairs with shady characters.

[1187] In his opening argument, he claims that Jacques was, quote, as ruthless in business as any pirate whoever sailed the seven seas and whose, quote, insatiable sex appetite, unquote, left him vulnerable to attacks and blackmail.

[1188] So there's zero evidence to back up any of those claims, but that is he came out the gate.

[1189] During the trial, Foreman calls no witnesses to the stand.

[1190] Instead, he lets the prosecutors call their witnesses.

[1191] These are mostly people who claim to have seen Mel and Candy getting frisky at the Mosler home or on ski trips or at concerts or in nightclubs.

[1192] So lots of places.

[1193] Yeah, just kind of all over the place.

[1194] Then he picks apart those eyewitness accounts and try to discredit them while also simultaneously discrediting Jacques.

[1195] Witnesses recount seeing Mel and Candy being, quote, too passionate for relatives.

[1196] that's at all passionate is too passionate for relatives.

[1197] The word passion and relatives need not be anywhere near each other.

[1198] One witness recalls seeing the two disappear into a trailer at the Mosler Ranch together only to go in after and find the bed, quote, rumpled up, unquote.

[1199] One of Mel's coworkers recalls several occasions where Mel bragged about being able to get whatever he wanted from candy if he gave her oral sex.

[1200] The witness's testimonies are so sexually inappropriate that at one point the judge rules that no one under the age of 21 can remain in the courtroom during the proceedings.

[1201] X -rated.

[1202] Sassy.

[1203] Several witnesses come forward to say that Candice had proposition them to murder Jacques in the year leading up to his death.

[1204] One man known around town for his struggles with drug addiction says Candice offered him $25 ,000 to kill Jacques, he planned to do it with a car bomb, but he was arrested for something else before he was able to do that.

[1205] He also claims to have encountered Mel in jail after Mel was arrested, and he claims that Mel told him that he killed Jacques.

[1206] So he basically, he confessed to this other guy.

[1207] Don't buy that.

[1208] Doesn't seem the most solid, like, person.

[1209] Yeah.

[1210] In his closing statement, which was five hours long and required three intermissions.

[1211] No. Percy Foreman drives home to the jury that Candace is a sweet, innocent woman, and that Mel is just an impressionable, innocent young boy slash nephew.

[1212] Got it.

[1213] After three days of deliberation, the jury comes back with a verdict of not guilty for both Mel and Candace.

[1214] Shut up.

[1215] For real.

[1216] They both break down in tears and later thank each member of the jury.

[1217] They go outside, share a quick kiss, hop into a gold Cadillac convertible, and drive away.

[1218] Okay.

[1219] They gave each other.

[1220] Oh, that's like such a fuck you.

[1221] Yeah?

[1222] Yeah.

[1223] Gold cattle.

[1224] And they left together.

[1225] Yeah.

[1226] I mean, it's just like, wow.

[1227] Yeah.

[1228] Okay.

[1229] So Candy and Mel spend the next two.

[1230] or so years living together back at the Mosler Mansion in Houston.

[1231] They just like flaunted it at everyone.

[1232] Well, your old friend Double Jeopardy is in place, so they're free.

[1233] They're free and easy.

[1234] They build an eight foot stone wall around the house to try and regain some semblance of privacy, but people still come in from all over to drive by and in the hope of catching a glimpse of either of them.

[1235] Candy's fellow socialites and friends, of course, are less enthused.

[1236] They stop inviting her to parties and all charity events, but none of this stops Candy.

[1237] She takes over running Jacques's companies and opens a few businesses of her own.

[1238] Oh, my God.

[1239] At one point, she opens her own music publishing company so that she can sell songs she's been writing over the years, and allegedly Judy Garland expresses interests in recording some of Candy's music.

[1240] What?

[1241] I mean, yeah.

[1242] but you know she did open a music I mean it's just basically like her world totally totally she also soon begins to regain her social standing she starts of course she basically goes to charity events and works the scene gets in there starts so she's taking pictures and like going to events with with Harry Belafonte with Aretha Franklin she actually poses for a picture with Martin Luther King Jr. after making a generous donation to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

[1243] So she's using, you know, her generosity and, you know, using her money, basically, to buy her way back into society.

[1244] Yeah.

[1245] All the while, Mel and Candice are still growing strong, even if Candice denies their romantic relationship publicly.

[1246] They're seen at Broadway performances, baseball games.

[1247] Mel allegedly buys Candace an engagement ring during a trip to Switzerland.

[1248] Oh my God.

[1249] And he's actually becoming a successful businessman of his own.

[1250] He gets into real estate and he buys a piece of property for $2 ,000, $2 ,000 sells it for $110 ,000.

[1251] He's in the mix.

[1252] They're making money.

[1253] But after a few years together, Mel starts to change.

[1254] cheating on candy.

[1255] No. What?

[1256] They were so good together.

[1257] You want to thank it.

[1258] No. Okay.

[1259] So Mel wants to break up with her, but he tells friends that he's afraid to because she has a, quote, crazy streak.

[1260] She, quote, has a fiery temper.

[1261] And she's unpredictable.

[1262] So essentially, you know, he's kind of, he had a good for a while.

[1263] Now he wants out and thinks he can make it on his own.

[1264] Candy has a hunch that Mel's been cheating because you're not going to get anything by Candy.

[1265] She's been around a block a time or two.

[1266] Absolutely.

[1267] So they start arguing a lot.

[1268] During one argument at the old mansion, Mel allegedly goes into the bathroom, slams the door, and Candy fires three shots from a 45 into the door.

[1269] She somehow doesn't hit him.

[1270] I guess it was a huge bathroom.

[1271] Yeah.

[1272] It is a mansion.

[1273] Yeah.

[1274] so basically that's you know they finally decide to call it quits Mel moves out of the mansion he grows out his hair and his mustache and he basically is a bachelor from then on wow and he just goes and he goes into his own own business candy enjoys a single life herself through the rest of the 60s she throws parties she has lots of boyfriends over the years most notable is chuck Barry, who actually writes about his relationship with Candy in his 1987 autobiography.

[1275] Oh my God.

[1276] Yeah.

[1277] What the fuck is this woman?

[1278] She's everything in the world.

[1279] She's all of us and none of us.

[1280] Right.

[1281] In 1971, Candy settles down once more at age 51 and marries an electrical contractor and nightclub owner named Barnett Garrison, who is 32 years old.

[1282] Ooh, ooh.

[1283] Yeah, girl.

[1284] What's up?

[1285] Do, why not?

[1286] Do it.

[1287] If you can.

[1288] Of course, Candy keeps the legend of her, quote, fiery temper alive when Barnett starts cheating on Candy, she finds out, yeah, I know.

[1289] It's...

[1290] Come on, guys.

[1291] It's tough.

[1292] It's tough, especially back in the early 70s.

[1293] So she finds out that he's going to this go -go bar, which I assume means a strip club.

[1294] But it was just kind of like, the late 60s.

[1295] Yeah, like you couldn't take your clothes off, though, like a burlesque type of thing.

[1296] But there's still women in cages.

[1297] Right.

[1298] So, you know, it's like sexy times.

[1299] So she finds out there's one he likes to go to.

[1300] It mysteriously burns down.

[1301] Holy shit.

[1302] The fire department suspects candy of arson, essentially.

[1303] She denies it, saying only that she, quote, certainly would understand doing such a thing.

[1304] Yeah.

[1305] She's like, yeah, bitch.

[1306] Yeah.

[1307] I don't like it.

[1308] No charges are ever filed against her.

[1309] Of course not.

[1310] And then just over a year later, in August of 1972, Barnett is found bloody and unconscious on the Houston mansion's patio.

[1311] No. His gun is beside him, but he looks as though he's been beaten up and fallen from the roof of the house.

[1312] Three stories out.

[1313] Oh, my gosh.

[1314] Police entered the home.

[1315] They find candies locked herself inside her bedroom.

[1316] When they finally get her to open the door, she says she, quote, already shot.

[1317] him, unquote, but there's no bullet wounds on Barnett's body and Candy is incoherent, either drunk or high.

[1318] Barnett survives his injuries, but he's left in a vegetative state and he receives care at a nursing home for 25 years.

[1319] Wow.

[1320] And dies in 2009.

[1321] He never recovers.

[1322] Oh my God.

[1323] There's an author named Mickey Herskowitz who's researching Candy's life for a biography and never ends up getting published, but they did all the research.

[1324] And he said that he heard from one of Candy's relatives that she'd hired two goons to beat Barnett up for cheating on her.

[1325] This has never been proven.

[1326] And Barnett's injuries and eventual death were rolled accidental.

[1327] So it's never proven.

[1328] Yeah.

[1329] In 1973, two of Candy's adopted sons file a lawsuit against her, claiming that she'd stolen a portion of their trust fund and had only given them $350 a month.

[1330] They also describe her rampant prescription drug abuse and call her a serial liar.

[1331] It's unclear what comes of this lawsuit, if anything, but two years later in 1975, candy cuts three of her adopted children out of her will.

[1332] She only leaves money to her oldest daughter, Rita, her second child, Norman Jr., and her youngest adopted son Eddie.

[1333] In October 1976, while on a work trip in Miami, Candy is found dead in her suite at the Fountain Blue Hotel at age 62.

[1334] She had been given Demerol from her doctor to treat one of her headaches, but she had already taken sleeping pills, and the combination of those drugs caused an overdose.

[1335] Mel attends Candy's funeral with his new girlfriend.

[1336] It's held at Arlington National Cemetery, where she is buried next to Jacques, the man she claimed to love all the way to the end.

[1337] Oh my God.

[1338] Mel continues on his path of yo -yoing wealth.

[1339] At one point, he buys himself a 142 -foot yacht, which is said to be one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

[1340] Then he loses everything.

[1341] Then he gains it back again.

[1342] So it's crazy.

[1343] In 2010, Mel passes away at 68 years old.

[1344] The death certificate rules his death, a death by pneumonia.

[1345] He also had a history of prescription drug use, which may or may not have contributed to his death.

[1346] With Candy and Mel both dead and those close to the case fading away, it appears that we will never know for sure what happened to Jacques Mosler.

[1347] the evidence does point to murder and potentially Mel and Candace being involved in that murder.

[1348] As the author, Mickey Herskowitz tells Skip Hollinsworth in his article, quote, It was hard for anyone who met Candy to imagine that she could kill anything, even a flea.

[1349] To be honest, she haunts me to this day.

[1350] And that is the truly crazy story of the notorious Mrs. Mossler, as told, by Skip Pollan's work.

[1351] Oh, wow.

[1352] Twits and turns and having sex with your nephew and circumcisions and so many twists and turns.

[1353] Alleged, alleged, allegedly, probably, but allegedly.

[1354] But seems like lots of people saw it.

[1355] But it seems impossible not for it to be true.

[1356] Wow.

[1357] Two wild stories this week.

[1358] I mean, crazy stories.

[1359] And also, an episode that's almost two hours long as a huge comeback, welcome back, 2022.

[1360] Let's go, let's do 20 hours and 22 minutes just to make up, just to make it like, you know.

[1361] Let's marathon this thing.

[1362] Let's do it.

[1363] Come on.

[1364] No one can stop us.

[1365] Yeah, this is the first of, oh my God, we're almost at six years.

[1366] Yep, we are.

[1367] This month.

[1368] Holy shit.

[1369] Six years, Georgia.

[1370] That's the second longest relationship I've ever been in.

[1371] Hey, girl.

[1372] Hi.

[1373] I'm going to get you an engagement ring in Switzerland and get my ears pinned back as a sign of my love for you.

[1374] You know what I'm going to get for you?

[1375] What?

[1376] Circumcised.

[1377] Thank you.

[1378] You're welcome.

[1379] Oh, my gosh.

[1380] Happy New Year, Karen.

[1381] Happy New Year to you.

[1382] Thank you.

[1383] Happy New Year to all that.

[1384] New Year.

[1385] Happy nude year.

[1386] Happy nude year to all of us.

[1387] May it be very nude.

[1388] Yeah, it's so nice to have had a break, but it's great to be back.

[1389] Yeah.

[1390] We're going to make this year our own.

[1391] We're going to make it our own.

[1392] We're going to pin back the ears of this year and show it who's boss.

[1393] Let's do it.

[1394] Let's make this year our nephew lover and do it.

[1395] We can and we will.

[1396] Thanks, you guys for listening.

[1397] Yeah, happy New Year.

[1398] Thanks for listening, guys.

[1399] Happy New Year.

[1400] Let's keep it positive.

[1401] Woo!

[1402] We know it's tough.

[1403] Woo.

[1404] But, hey.

[1405] Woo.

[1406] Woo.

[1407] Stay sexy.

[1408] And don't get murdered.

[1409] Goodbye.

[1410] Woo.

[1411] Elvis, do you want a cookie?

[1412] This has been an exactly right production.

[1413] Our producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton.

[1414] Associate producer Alejandra Keck.

[1415] Engineer and mixer.

[1416] Stephen.

[1417] Ray Morris.

[1418] Research.

[1419] is Jay Elias and Haley Gray.

[1420] Send us your hometowns and your fucking hoorays at my favorite murder at gmail .com.

[1421] And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My Favorite Murder and Twitter at My Fave Murder.

[1422] And for more information about this podcast are live shows, merch, or to join the fancult, go to My Favorite Murder .com.

[1423] Rate review and subscribe.