MFM Minisode 273

[0] This is exactly right.

[1] And welcome to my favorite murder.

[2] This is the minisode, where you write your stuff into us and we read it to you.

[3] Please keep writing your stuff into us.

[4] It's such a great agreement.

[5] You hear it.

[6] We have something to read.

[7] It's the best.

[8] Everyone wins.

[9] Do you want me to go first?

[10] Sure.

[11] Let's see.

[12] This first one, I won't read you the subject line.

[13] It says, hi, ladies, at all.

[14] Listening to all of Georgia's talk about swords in the Game of Thrones made me remember a forgotten incident for my retail days.

[15] I moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 2006 for school.

[16] I needed a part -time job to supplement my student loans, and I started working at a small locally owned furniture and home decor store called Wicker Emporium.

[17] Yes.

[18] All you need is Wicker.

[19] That is it.

[20] What more furniture is there?

[21] So many slivers.

[22] It's a full emporium, but there's only wicker.

[23] Shit.

[24] Okay, think heavy, real wood furniture, baskets, textiles, and mirrors, mostly sourced from countries like Indonesia.

[25] The store I primarily worked at was at Halifax Shopping Center on the second floor right around the corner from the food court.

[26] The food court overlooked a mezzanine below where there were some kiosks, and one of those kiosks was called House of Knives.

[27] in the middle of a mall.

[28] Yeah.

[29] Let's not put weapons in the middle of a mall.

[30] You know, easy for you to say because you have this, you know, this panoramic 2020 vision.

[31] But these mall builders, they were just, they were trying to give people what they want.

[32] Sure.

[33] Fair enough.

[34] Okay.

[35] So you can probably see where this is going.

[36] House of Knives was manned.

[37] It's a whole house of knives.

[38] Was manned by a single staff person and had locked glass.

[39] cases, though you can see the different knives.

[40] One of these cases held a sword.

[41] And one night, while I was working, a man smashed the glass case, pulled the five -foot -long sword out, and started threatening people.

[42] We could hear shouting from down below, and only minutes later, security directed us to close the gate to the store.

[43] We shut our gate and we locked it from the inside and waited.

[44] Meanwhile, my coworker and I discussed how we worked in the best store in terms of defending ourselves from an amateur sword fighter.

[45] We carried these big acacia wood chairs that would certainly have made an excellent shield.

[46] In the end, the police arrived and managed to taser the man as he lunged at one of the officers.

[47] Luckily, they subdued him before he had a chance to hurt anyone.

[48] It was a scary situation for the staff and customers of stores on the bottom floor, many of whom witnessed the man wielding this huge sword and shouting.

[49] House of Knives didn't last much longer in the mall.

[50] No shit.

[51] Their insurance shot way up.

[52] They're like, not worth it.

[53] Yeah, the mall planners were like, okay, guys, here's the thing.

[54] We didn't really think this through.

[55] I guess they determined that the safety risk to their staff person was likely not worth it.

[56] I worked off and on for Wicker Emporium for a few more years, but eventually they closed that down too.

[57] I now work in the charitable sector for an awesome organization doing amazing things to support people living in poverty, experiencing homelessness and social isolation.

[58] A much better job for me, but I always value the shit that retail workers have to put up with.

[59] It's so true.

[60] It's some of the best training for life.

[61] Stay sexy and maybe stay away from House of Knives, Sarah.

[62] Just that feeling when you're in a public place and suddenly hear but can't see a commotion and don't know if it's like a positive like birthday commotion or if it's a sword wheeling commotion and you just have to wait and find out what it is.

[63] Yeah, it's a big reveal like once you're.

[64] get on that escalator and get to the top and see right is it a birthday sword party yeah then you don't know how to feel negative commotion or positive commotion all right this one goes hi mimi dotty mo cookie frank and blossom long time listener first time writer okay that's a lie i've written in at least three times before but my stories are never chosen because they're always too long but don't worry i'm going to spend the last two hours of my workday picking apart every detail so i can finally live up to your standards and get my 30 seconds of fame.

[65] Nice.

[66] I was listening to Minnesota 268 when the story of the body being found in a wall reminded me of one of my own hometowns.

[67] I'm from Omaha, Nebraska, which is just right across the river and about a 20 -minute drive from Council Bluffs, Iowa.

[68] In November of 2009, a 25 -year -old man named Larry got into an argument with his parents and stormed out of his house with no shoes, no socks, no keys, and no car.

[69] in the middle of a snowstorm.

[70] His parents reported him missing pretty quickly thereafter, but he would not be found until almost 10 years later.

[71] When Larry left that day, he went straight to the grocery store that he worked at.

[72] He wasn't scheduled to work, but it was common for employees to come and go even when they weren't scheduled.

[73] There were these large coolers in the back of the store, and it was reportedly common for employees to go onto the top of these coolers as it was used for additional storage space.

[74] Police believe that Larry must have classified.

[75] lined out of the top of the coolers, perhaps to clear his head after the argument he had with his parents, when he fell 12 feet down into the 18 -inch gap between the coolers and the wall and became trapped.

[76] The coolers were so loud, there was virtually no way that anyone could have heard him if he was yelling for help.

[77] Oh, I know.

[78] The grocery store was open for seven years after Larry was reported missing, but his body wasn't found for another three years after that.

[79] Contractors who were hired to clear the coolers out found his body in 2019.

[80] I can't imagine how helpless Larry must have felt being trapped there while his coworkers walked around the store, completely oblivious to him being there.

[81] I feel so heartbroken for both Larry and his parents, and I truly hope they don't blame themselves for what happened.

[82] Anyway, that's my story.

[83] I love you all and want to thank you for when you donated to the flood relief in Nebraska when you last toured.

[84] Your generosity is incredible, and I can't wait for you to tour again because I won't hesitate to buy tickets this time around.

[85] Stay sexy and don't get murdered.

[86] Cat.

[87] That is such an awful story.

[88] Yeah.

[89] And it's such an interesting detail of the coolers are loud.

[90] Yeah.

[91] And it's so much cold.

[92] And it's cold.

[93] And it's cool.

[94] Yeah.

[95] Oh, God.

[96] I have, I just kind of have this fascination with these awful stories of when someone goes missing.

[97] I mean, foul play is the first thought.

[98] But there's these stories and the ones where people just drive off the road into a lake and aren't found ever or eventually found, you know, 30 years later, it's such a, it's such a, like a crazy right turn as to what you expect, which is foul play.

[99] That's just a really awful tragic accident.

[100] Yeah.

[101] Yeah.

[102] I just read about, it was a couple weeks ago, and I think it was the Oakland Coliseum or there was a big public space in Oakland that they were just knocking down and they found a body in the wall.

[103] And it seemed they're right.

[104] Right.

[105] And they don't know yet, right?

[106] Yeah, they don't know.

[107] They didn't see any, but it was like from years ago.

[108] I think it was like 15 years ago.

[109] And they said they didn't see any evidence of foul play, but they couldn't say one way or the other because it was the body was so old.

[110] Yeah.

[111] So sad.

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

[113] Absolutely.

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

[115] Exactly.

[116] And if you're a small business owner, you might know Shopify is great.

[117] for online sales.

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[119] That's right.

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[126] Connect with customers in line and online.

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

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

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

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

[132] Goodbye.

[133] Okay.

[134] This is crazy.

[135] I'll just read it to you, not the subject line.

[136] Assurances, you are well.

[137] That's how it starts.

[138] Mm -hmm.

[139] My hometown murder happened in the fall of 2014 in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.

[140] I happen to be home in Wilkes Bar.

[141] Is that how you pronounce that?

[142] What's that?

[143] Wilkes Bar's city.

[144] Anyway, it's 30 minutes away from the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.

[145] It might be one of those Wilkesbury.

[146] things that people are all going to yell.

[147] Of course, as they will, and they should.

[148] I'm going to pronounce it as it's spelled Wilkespar.

[149] Visiting family for a few weeks of vacation at the time.

[150] On the night of September 12th, 2014, a man opened fire on state troopers outside of the police barracks in the Poconos.

[151] State trooper Brian K. Dixon, 38 years old, was killed, and his colleague, Alex Douglas, was seriously injured because it was so dark and the barracks were essentially on the outskirts of the woods.

[152] No one saw what happened, and the culprit was not identified at the time.

[153] Three days later, a man walking his dog, found a Jeep partially submerged in a nearby pond, and inside were personal belongings of one Eric Frayne.

[154] Frain was a man in his 30s with a past record of burglary and larceny.

[155] He apparently was an avid participant in recreational military simulations, and then in parentheses it says, I imagine analogous to Civil War reenactments, And he lived with his parents at the time.

[156] When the story hit the media, a number of conspiracy theories arose, including one that Frayn meant to kill the other state trooper, who had at one point been in a romantic relationship with his sister.

[157] The theoretical motive was that the state trooper had cheated on her at some point and Frayn sought revenge.

[158] However, none of these were ever confirmed or acknowledged by state police.

[159] In the following days, a manhunt by police officers grew from more than 200 to almost a thousand officers.

[160] searching for him.

[161] Frane was a skilled outdoorsy type and successfully evaded the police with the help of the dense cover of the woods and his knowledge of the various terrains in the area.

[162] During the hunt, police believed they saw him several times, but were unable to approach him due to the rugged terrain, which allowed him to continually slip away.

[163] Police officials believed him to be mentally unstable, implying that he was taunting the police with his evasion tactics as some sort of game, perhaps a to his enthusiasm for military simulations combined with underlying mental health issues.

[164] I remember at one point they found the little stashes of his supplies, including discarded food wrappers and even soiled diapers.

[165] And then in parentheses it says, imagine that is the headline for the 6 o 'clock news.

[166] They actually used the phrase diaper sniper at one point.

[167] No!

[168] Yeah, thinking it would catch on.

[169] And then it says dot, dot, dot.

[170] It didn't.

[171] No, it didn't.

[172] The police even enlisted outdoor survivalists to help during their search because they were so out of their league.

[173] The manhunt in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania lasted for 48 days.

[174] Whoa.

[175] Yeah, until they finally captured and arrested him.

[176] He was later sentenced to death in 2017 and currently awaits execution on death row.

[177] I don't think any acknowledgement was made of his mental health issues, but I assume that played a major role and that he had lost his grip on reality.

[178] Anyway, I think the wildest part of this story is just the length of the manhunt as it essentially left many residents of the area under lockdown for over a month.

[179] A month and a half.

[180] Yeah.

[181] No one in and no one out, difficulty getting to and from jobs and the store.

[182] It must have been terrifying and miserable at all at the same time.

[183] Love you much and congrats on the continued success, SSDGM, Josh.

[184] Wow.

[185] Right?

[186] That's some Rambo shit, but like Rambo was the hero.

[187] So that's the opposite of that.

[188] Right.

[189] I mean, but also that idea that it's, that, that idea that it's like, is he evading police or playing games or is it that just you don't know how to be in that kind of terrain?

[190] Yeah.

[191] I mean, everything about that is just like, yeah, you're just some cop in like Pittsburgh.

[192] You're on his mercy because you're on, yeah, you're on his terrain and on his ground.

[193] Wow, that's terrifying.

[194] Fuck that.

[195] I've moved to New York.

[196] That's the solution.

[197] Wait, wait, don't do that.

[198] Okay.

[199] This was called my catfisher created a whole world too.

[200] Dear MFFM squad, fuck an intro, let's go.

[201] I've been waiting for you guys to bring up Sweet Bobby, the podcast, after recommending it a few weeks ago, or maybe last week, I have no sense of time.

[202] Y 'all asked for catfish stories, so here's mine.

[203] I was catfish from 2012 to 2014 in a similar way of the Sweet Bobby Street.

[204] story.

[205] My catfisher created multiple personalities and characters that would back up my quote boyfriend, Cade's tale.

[206] He had a brother named John, his brother's boyfriend, other family members, and even friends.

[207] We met on Facebook, both on our own Harry Potter roleplay accounts.

[208] I was entering seventh grade at the time.

[209] And without many friends at school, I spent an embarrassing amount of time dedicated to the Harry Potter fandom.

[210] Originally, I was friends with Cade's older brother John, who would eventually, quote, set me up with Cade.

[211] He was conveniently my age into everything I loved and gave me attention, which would have been enough for 12 -year -old me. Through Cade and John, I was introduced to a slew of personalities that would talk to me about Cade, reaffirm information he had given me, and even let me confide in them about personal issues I was having with him.

[212] This continued for almost two years.

[213] During this time, my real life personal relationships were falling apart and I was incredibly suicidal, not able to do anything right in Cade's eyes.

[214] This is just a little kid being manipulated online.

[215] It's insane.

[216] Thankfully, a friend of the catfishers, who I won't name, pressured her into admitting that every person I had met in Cade Circle had all been her.

[217] At first, I didn't really believe her, but after talking with the actual person in the photos, it was devastating.

[218] news.

[219] Being in a controlling relationship during such a critical part of my childhood ruined how I dated later in life and how I viewed myself worth.

[220] Luckily, after lots of therapy, I have a wonderful murderino partner who shows me every day that I'm worthy of love.

[221] I will admit sometimes I look at my catfisher social media to see how she's doing.

[222] God damn it, she's doing great in life.

[223] Please, can I just say that that's based on social media?

[224] Not real life.

[225] Yes.

[226] Thank you.

[227] Exactly.

[228] Exactly.

[229] If she's a good manipulator, then don't fucking buy any of it.

[230] Right.

[231] Those putting out those pictures are exactly what they're the best at.

[232] That's right.

[233] Now that it's been almost a decade, I wish her lots of peace.

[234] Teenagers do horrible things.

[235] And while I don't think it was logical of her to do, I have no ill will now.

[236] And then it says in parentheses, okay, just a little bit, but that's reasonable.

[237] Thanks again for all you do.

[238] I'm not going to apologize for this being long because I'm a rambler and you read it all anyways.

[239] love and appreciation, Peyton, they, them.

[240] It's true, we do read it all anyway, so what the hell?

[241] That hometown right there is the argument why kids should not be on the internet.

[242] Like, generation that grew up on the internet because no one thought these insane, evil, weird, crazy things would happen.

[243] It's just like, oh, you're on a message board.

[244] You're just talking to other people that are like you.

[245] Right.

[246] it's like that saying hurt people hurt people so you've got these 12 year olds who are going through their own shit and then they're going to manipulate other people just to get control over their lives I mean and Peyton is then dealing with the consequences for the rest of their lives it is a trauma I just hope people take that seriously like even though absolutely you never met them no it's a it's a breach of trust it's it's learning that there are people in the world who will fuck with you for no reason that basically that's your first past with a sociopath that it's like they fuck with you for their own entertainment yeah yeah and also it's yeah that's and then you're also you're embarrassed about it so you don't want to tell anyone so there's a shame as well well yeah but luckily there's a television show called catfish and several thousand Netflix series and podcasts that are all about people lots of therapy having this happen there's a there's a new show on Netflix that i just stumbled upon the other night called bad vegan about a woman who owned like one of the most popular vegan restaurants in New York City and she gets pulled into this relationship with this person who is a total like it's this times a hundred it's one of it's yet another crazy story oh i have to yeah you should watch it's it's very common i just like yeah there should be no shame about it because it's like it's common and it's not your fault totally they're smarter than the average bear so like falling for it is completely expected because you it's basically you have kind of like a semi evil genius yeah looking to manipulate you totally well it's interesting because here's my third email uh the subject line is i tried to catch a predator when i was 13 oh no and it just starts yo i just finished listening to the latest episode, The Chip Away Method, and you put out a call for catfishing stories and specifically mentioned AOL.

[247] I was born in 1991, so I was right on time for AIM to become the instant messenger of choice through my junior high and high school years.

[248] I was severely socially anxious and depressed as a kid, so I thrived in this new anonymous socialization.

[249] Though I put myself out there more than I should have, I never showed my face, gave anyone my address, or even told people what part of the state I lived in.

[250] Not because I ever had any formal talks about Internet safety, but because I was a young Mortarino, thanks to my mom, an avid fan of true crime and crime thrillers.

[251] I had seen enough episodes of Classic Law & Order, SVU, and even CSI, to know that these creeps could be dangerous.

[252] Yajos, y 'all.

[253] My best friend at the time didn't seem to get the memo because one day I got a message from someone calling themselves, Chees -Goblin, classy.

[254] Not only did he know what town I lived in, He also lived in the same town and knew my best friend.

[255] I confirmed with her that she did know this cheese goblin, and they had been talking for a while.

[256] He was 16, allegedly.

[257] I was 13.

[258] She was 12.

[259] I didn't go out of my way to talk to him, but he sure was interested in talking to me. Often using my best friend as a topic to start conversation, he eventually said we should meet up.

[260] We could go to a park.

[261] My best friend had said she would meet him too.

[262] He could teach me how to kiss and have sex if I went back to his house with him.

[263] I called in my younger sister because this situation clearly needed the advice of a 10 -year -old murder, you know?

[264] Oh, my God.

[265] First, we agreed no one would want to take up an offer from someone calling himself Cheese Goblin.

[266] Somehow concerned about hurting the feelings of this mutual, quote -unquote, friend.

[267] I told him I was nervous about the idea instead of outright rejecting him.

[268] How did I know he was who he said he was?

[269] He sent me a picture of himself, allegedly.

[270] Second, we agreed that not only was he ugly, but he looked like he was at least 18, if not in his early 20s.

[271] Realizing this guy was a bigger creep than I thought, and having a passing notion of to catch a predator, I immediately decide that we can make this a sting operation.

[272] Oh, my God.

[273] We lived right across the street from a park with an unobstructed view of the entire area from our bedroom window.

[274] I told him to meet me at this park at a specific time.

[275] I assured him he wouldn't need my picture because I would be the only one coming up to talk to him.

[276] With the trap set, I told my sister to get one of the handsets for our house phone, you know, to call the cops because this was a serious operation.

[277] And we sat on the top bunk of our bed and watched and waited.

[278] To our immense disappointment, no one went to the park that afternoon.

[279] I didn't get to have anyone arrested.

[280] Maybe he also had a passing knowledge of to catch a predator and had been watching and waiting to see if I would show up.

[281] When I asked him where he had been saying that I had in fact been waiting, he said his mom wouldn't let him leave the house, sure.

[282] As I later found out, my best friend had also had the same proposition and the same idea and had staked out her own local park with a friend, hiding in a wooded area with a cell phone.

[283] Oh, my God.

[284] We tried to catch him at least three more times with various scenarios of meeting one or both of us.

[285] We never caught him and eventually blocked him and continued living our preteen lives.

[286] But for a little while, predators in our town had to watch out for sting operations set up not by cops, but by little kids way too invested in true crime.

[287] SSDGM and report creeps to the actual police instead of trying to catch them yourself, Megan.

[288] Oh my God.

[289] where are the parents in this situation they were working all day and then second job overnight shit that's right yeah holy shit but have to say that mom being a true crime person basically hipped her kids to like don't take things at face value totally like when i put this in your head before i leave you alone yeah basic life skills that's how do you parent she could have just been right downstairs and they were just doing it wow that's fucked up yeah okay uh my last one is called that not mine.

[290] Hello, friends.

[291] First off, I know that this isn't technically a murder, but it is a crime and it is burned into the back of my brain, so I thought I should share and give y 'all a laugh.

[292] All right, let's get into it.

[293] When I was a sophomore in high school, about four or five years ago, we were forced to sit through a three -hour -long assembly at a ripe 8 a .m. The assembly was meant to highlight the different possible career paths we could take after college.

[294] So my biology class trudged toward the auditorium with half -closed eyes.

[295] My entire graduating class was there listening to a man drawn on and on about the wonders of accounting and the exciting world of finances.

[296] Our principal walked on stage and announced the next presenter, who just happened to work in the same department of the same hospital as my mom, which stuck with me and made for an awkward conversation over dinner that night.

[297] The man's name was Gary and he was fiddling with the projector in front of the stage.

[298] He plugged in a flash drive to the computer and all of the sudden photos folder popped up on screen.

[299] Uh -oh.

[300] That's right.

[301] The normal middle -aged guys' pictures.

[302] His wife, the beach, his wife at the beach, but then it started getting weird, showing pictures of old boobs.

[303] Nope.

[304] Showing pictures of old boots.

[305] Leave that in, Stephen.

[306] Old boots and high heels and some women's clothing.

[307] And then a photo flashed on the screen.

[308] I thought I was just seeing things because once it popped up, nobody really said anything.

[309] But the auditorium soon erupted with cheers and laugh.

[310] this man showed an auditorium of 315 year olds porn no it was a screenshot of some weird fetish shit projected for the entire class of 2020 to see at 8 a .m. I love the fact that it's 8 a .m. is even worse.

[311] Yeah, for real.

[312] That's tough.

[313] He turned red as a tomato all while muttering, that's not mine.

[314] And then in all cap, it says, then whose is it, Gary?

[315] Can we have shirts?

[316] But who's is it, Gary?

[317] My principal ran down the auditorium and escorted him outside All while we were chanting, Gary, Gary!

[318] Where we all saw him with a police officer.

[319] It's safe to say that nobody paid attention for the rest of the day to anything.

[320] Also, can I just say this is probably not an accident.

[321] That is someone's fetish, right?

[322] Showing children porn?

[323] Uh -huh.

[324] Could be.

[325] The worst part about it all was I had texted my mom during the assembly that a representative of her extremely Catholic hospital was presenting like so Catholic they don't cover birth control under their health insurance what the hell and I had to tell her everything that had happened when I got home she was on the phone with her boss and I had to tell them what happened in great detail they asked me to tell them what the picture was exactly but I pretended I didn't see it in reality I just did not want to describe pornography to my mother and her very Catholic boss still to this day she pressures me on what the picture was and I still have not told her but that doesn't stop me from telling all of my friends in college okay this assembly was also the reason my class wasn't allowed to have senior quotes because it was mutually understood that we all would have put that's not mine under our senior composites to live forever and in for me just another thing taken away from the class of 2020 thank you so much for everything you do y 'all got me through the pandemic countless flights to and from college and inspired me to study law along with psychology stay sexy and for the love of God keep your work porn separate from your high school presentations M. For real for real Gary Gary get your shit together yeah oh that was a real good batch they were and there's one more from each of us on the fan cult for the mini minisode if you want to listen to it and please keep sending us your hometowns and also please stay sexy and don't get murdered goodbye Elvis do you want a cookie This has been an exactly right production.

[326] Our senior producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton.

[327] Our producer is Alejandra Keck.

[328] This episode was engineered and mixed by Stephen Ray Morris.

[329] Our researchers are Jay Elias and Haley Gray.

[330] Email your hometowns and fucking hoorays to My Favorite Murder at gmail .com.

[331] Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My Favorite Murder and Twitter at MyFave Murder.

[332] Listen, follow, and leave us a review on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[333] And don't forget, you can listen to new episodes one week early on Amazon music or early and ad free by subscribing to Wondry Plus in the Wondry app.

[334] Goodbye.