MFM Minisode 152

[0] This is exactly right.

[1] And welcome.

[2] To my favorite murder.

[3] The minisode.

[4] That's Karen Kilkear.

[5] That's Georgia Hartstark.

[6] And I was just burping.

[7] We're going to read you your shit.

[8] Through burps.

[9] That's right.

[10] You want to go first?

[11] Sure.

[12] Do you want me to?

[13] Yeah.

[14] Okay.

[15] The subject line is Irish hometown, our friendly local hang woman.

[16] Oh dear.

[17] Dear Karen, Georgia and team.

[18] I've been meaning to send you this Irish hometown story for a while, but since Karen showed such sympathy for the plight of Darkie Kelly's poor hangman in your recent, brilliant, Dublin.

[19] They wrote Dublin.

[20] Thank you.

[21] Thank you.

[22] It definitely was brilliant.

[23] Thanks so much for writing Dublin.

[24] Live show, I thought you'd both enjoy it now.

[25] Betty Sir Gru lived in my mom's hometown, in my mom's hometown of Ross Common.

[26] Ross, like Ross from friends, common like ubiquitous.

[27] You know what?

[28] Don't be condescending.

[29] I did it right.

[30] Okay.

[31] In the second half of the 18th century, she had been widowed young, lost one child as a baby, and she'd arrived in Ross Common with her surviving son, Paul Rick.

[32] But after years of enduring her cruelty, he ran away from home in 1775 at 16.

[33] Some versions of the story say he joined the British Army.

[34] Utters say he went to America to find his fortune.

[35] At first, he sent letters and money, but over the years, those letters slowly stopped coming, and she was living in poverty, relying on the kindness of her neighbors for food and occasional lodgers for a few coins.

[36] One winter night in 1789, a man came knocking at her door, saying the local inn was full and asking if he could rent a room from her.

[37] As he paid her, he gave her extra money to go out and get food for both of them.

[38] She noticed his coin purse was full of gold.

[39] I guess greed or desperation got the better of her, because as he slept, she took the knife and stabbed the man repeatedly killing him.

[40] But, all caps, as she rummaged through his coat looking for the bag of gold, she found a bundle of his documents in his pocket and recognized the handwriting immediately.

[41] It was, you guessed it, her son!

[42] No!

[43] Betty ran out into the street crying and screaming that she had just murdered her son and she was promptly arrested and taken to Ross Common Gale, which is the word for jail, where she was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.

[44] But when the day arrived, she and 25 other criminals were led out to be hanged in front of an angry crowd.

[45] News arrived that the hangman had fallen ill and couldn't perform the executions.

[46] The sheriff was worried that the crowd would riot if no executions took place.

[47] Oh, those angry fucking crowds.

[48] I mean, so when Betty volunteered to execute the others herself in exchange for her life, he agreed.

[49] No, that's not how it works.

[50] Betty hanged 25 men that day.

[51] Jesus Christ.

[52] Oh, Betty.

[53] And when the hangman died a few days later, she was given her own private rooms within the jail and became the only female executioner in Ireland.

[54] Lynn's history.

[55] Betty.

[56] She served as the jail's hangwoman until 1802 when her sentence was commuted by the sheriff of Dublin and she was allowed to retire.

[57] But she stayed living in her rooms inside the jail and it's said her walls were covered in charcoal drawings of all the people she'd executed over the years.

[58] She died in 1807 and was buried in the grounds of the jail in an unmarked grave.

[59] So that's the story of Lady Betty, our local hangwoman.

[60] Rosscombe and Gail is still standing.

[61] to a shopping center and a cafe.

[62] There's before and after pictures that they sent.

[63] And when I'm back home visiting my mom, I often pass and think of Betty.

[64] Stay sexy and I guess if you can't beat the hangman, become the hangman Jack.

[65] Wow.

[66] Isn't that incredible?

[67] That was a crazy story.

[68] That's one way to get out of it, I guess.

[69] Like, you know, sounds like Betty was a bit of a sociopath.

[70] This one's called SSDGM, but also don't get blown up.

[71] Great.

[72] Hi, Karen and Georgia.

[73] Like any practical murderino, I don't answer my door if I'm not expecting anyone.

[74] I'm not about to just let a murderer into my house, but that went a bit wrong for me today.

[75] This afternoon, someone was frantically knocking at my door, and I assumed it was a murderer, and I did not answer it.

[76] About half an hour later, I get a text from my friend asking if I'd been evacuated.

[77] I had no idea what he was talking about.

[78] He told me there had been a bad car accident down the road from me, and they'd hit a gas line, and police were evacuating the surrounding area.

[79] I'm pretty sure those were actually police officers knocking at my door trying to save my life and not a murderer trying to kill me. Whoops.

[80] By the time I got outside to see what was going on, they had moved the police barricade up a few houses.

[81] So I guess I'm in the clear now.

[82] I'll let you know if anything explodes, though.

[83] I joked with a friend that it would be really funny if I got blown up because I was trying not to get murdered.

[84] She did not think this was funny.

[85] Yeah, it's not that funny.

[86] Stay sexy and don't get murdered, but also don't get blown up.

[87] Catherine.

[88] Hey, Catherine, I would invest in what they call a peephole so that you don't have to assume every single person knocking on your door is going to kill you.

[89] I'm so bum.

[90] I like old -timey door of my new house has one of those little door like tiny doors so people will know if I'm looking through to them.

[91] I can't oh that's right slam a tiny door on their face.

[92] You know but you just have to get really you have to get really self -confident about your decisions and it's just like you open that door you look in the eye or like no thank you.

[93] Yeah.

[94] Sorry bye.

[95] I gave this girl like money because of the oceans because I thought it was my like food getting delivered and I answered the door and it was just like this really sweet punk girl and she was like doing door -to -door shit for like OSHA or some shit.

[96] OSHA is a different thing.

[97] That's the stage union.

[98] Or that's a, that's job safety on the on site job safety.

[99] It wasn't that.

[100] It was job safety for dolphins.

[101] Are you talking about something called like Greenpeace?

[102] Yep.

[103] It was something like that gave her money because I was like shit.

[104] Please help those I just unfortunately now everything on Twitter is now oh here's a here's video of the Pacific garbage patch right here's video of a seal with like a six -pack thing around its neck okay yeah let's not talk about depressing stuff another 11 year old in peril story okay great we love these hello hello after hearing the 11 year old babysitter story from this weekend's minisode I knew I had to write in about the scariest moment in my babysitting career I think I was older than 11 at the time, sorry, but not by much.

[105] I used to babysit my three cousins throughout the summers.

[106] We usually just hung out, watched some movies, order a pizza, usual babysitter activities.

[107] One night there was a thunderstorm, and we were hanging out in the main TV room watching a movie.

[108] Suddenly, someone started banging on the porch door.

[109] I looked up, and it was a man hunched over in a hood, banging on the door in the rain.

[110] Well, my murdery -neau grain kicked into overdrive, and I yelled, get down to the kids.

[111] Sorry, get down Get down!

[112] I'm 12 Pull a gun from their holster, their back holster Wait, when'd she get that?

[113] She yells get down to the kids I had us all hiding under the coffee table while I called my uncle freaking out.

[114] Can you imagine what that coffee table looks like so 80s?

[115] It's just like this huge.

[116] It's like probably the perfect shield.

[117] Yes, it would, nothing would go through that thing.

[118] Impenetrable.

[119] Such impacted particle board.

[120] So she calls the uncle and he told me he was going to send the neighbor down to find out what was going on.

[121] By this point, the hooded figure had moved on to the side door, which was the main entrance for the house, and that's when I realized I hadn't locked it.

[122] I start freaking out even more, and all the kids are now crying and freaking out.

[123] And in that moment, the phone rang.

[124] It was my dad calling.

[125] What luck, I thought.

[126] He'll know how to help.

[127] Before I could even begin to explain to him what was happening, he said, can you come to the door?

[128] It's pouring out here.

[129] I brought you all ice cream.

[130] Oh, no. My amazing thoughtful father had brought me and my cousin's ice cream, and I thought he was a murderer.

[131] He was, of course, completely drenched, and I thanked him and apologized profusely before I gave him an earful about banging on a door in a hood in the dark at a house where a young girl was babysitting.

[132] Love you all.

[133] Stay sexy and only open the door for ice cream.

[134] Christine from Wakefield, Rhode Island.

[135] I love it.

[136] I have two door knocking stories in a row.

[137] I know.

[138] Oh, that's weird.

[139] We are connected.

[140] We spent the last ten days together.

[141] More than that.

[142] Like 15.

[143] Was it?

[144] Oh, my God.

[145] It spent a lot of...

[146] Don't say it like that.

[147] I don't know it was the time of your life.

[148] Okay.

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

[150] Absolutely.

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

[152] Exactly.

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

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

[155] That's right.

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[163] Connect with customers inline and online.

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

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

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

[169] Goodbye.

[170] Georgia, what if I told you we could be transported to the 1920s to solve a murder?

[171] I'd say my entire life and wardrobe have led me to this point.

[172] If you want to escape to a bygone age of mystery, danger, and romance, then you check out June's Journey, the hidden object mystery game that tests your detective skills.

[173] June's Journey is a mobile mystery game that follows June Parker and New York socialite living in London.

[174] As June Parker, you'll investigate beautifully detailed scenes of the 1920s while uncovering the mystery of her sister's murder.

[175] There are twists, turns, and catchy tunes all leading you deeper into the thrilling storyline.

[176] And if you play well enough, you could make it to the detective club where you can chat with other players and either team up with them or compete against them.

[177] need your help but watch out you never know which character might be a villain find out as you escape this world and dive into june's world of mystery murder and romance can you crack the case download june's journey for free today on ios and android discover your inner detective when you download june's journey for free today on ios and android that's june's journey download the game for free on ios and android goodbye okay i'm not going to tell you the um title of this one okay Ahoi -hoi murder, friends.

[178] I just went home for Thanksgiving, and over dinner, my dad casually mentioned a woman he knew who had killed her husband.

[179] I do not recall how this came up.

[180] So, of course, I had to do the thing.

[181] Hold on what?

[182] I need to know everything.

[183] So here's what happened.

[184] In the spring of 2012, Jackie Reed of Osborne, Idaho, about 20 miles from where I grew up, shot and killed her husband Greg in the back bedroom of their trailer home.

[185] Reportedly, he was an abusive asshole.

[186] Okay, fine.

[187] But she didn't report this to the police.

[188] Oh, no. She kept on collecting his social security checks and told anyone who had asked about him that he had moved to Seattle.

[189] Oh, no. How's you do when you live in Idaho?

[190] You just pick up and move.

[191] And everyone's like, yeah, absolutely.

[192] Got it.

[193] Then, okay.

[194] Then here, okay, this is how she writes this.

[195] Then here is where it gets crazy.

[196] Oh, okay.

[197] In July of 2013, there was a special agent from the Social Security Administration, who knew that was a thing, who was looking into this guy's disappearance because, you know, someone was cashing his checks and he wasn't an officer.

[198] Osborne or Seattle.

[199] Oh, wait, I get it.

[200] Sorry.

[201] And he wasn't in Osborne or Seattle.

[202] He interviewed Jackie Reed, who couldn't keep her story straight, so they got a warrant to search her home.

[203] And wouldn't you know it?

[204] In the back bedroom, there's the rotting corpse of Greg Reed, who had just been hanging out in there for 15 fucking months.

[205] No. Jackie had just been dousing him with quicklime to keep the smell down.

[206] Good God.

[207] According to an article I found, Greg had weighed 300 pounds, but by the time his body was discovered, it only weighed 53 pounds.

[208] No, Jesus.

[209] Jackie had also been slowly digging a hole behind the house, presumably to bury him.

[210] Pick up the pace, Jackie.

[211] He invited to take her 15 months to dig the hole.

[212] Lazy.

[213] Procrastinator.

[214] Well, the ground is notoriously rocky here, and I guess you can't use a backhoe to dig a grave for your husband's secret corpse.

[215] Fair enough.

[216] Yeah, that's true.

[217] In 2015, Jackie was sentenced to 15 years for voluntary manslaughter, pleaded down from first -degree murder, of course, of which she must serve at least.

[218] seven years before she's eligible for parole.

[219] Best Thanksgiving ever assist UGM motherfuckers Mel.

[220] Yes, that's a girl's name.

[221] That really built to a great crescendo at the end.

[222] Wow.

[223] Okay, so wrap it up.

[224] Here's my wrap it up.

[225] This is subject line.

[226] I'm not going to say the whole thing, but it's my earliest memory.

[227] Oh, hoi -hoi.

[228] Recently at a family get -together, my cousins and I talking about the earliest memories we had.

[229] Most were family vacations or holidays, but mine is a little less fun, a little more murderino -y.

[230] I'm the oldest of my siblings, and when I was around three or four, my mom worked as a freelance copy editor and often stayed up late with giant manuscripts to get some extra hours in after her exhausting days raising, then three kids under four.

[231] Oh, my God.

[232] And it says eventually having four kids in five years.

[233] No, that's so much.

[234] Lady.

[235] Do the math.

[236] We can't.

[237] How are you doing it?

[238] I think after that, she'd just be like, bring it on.

[239] I'll handle any situation.

[240] I'll cater any bat mitzvah.

[241] Okay.

[242] I don't remember this part, but I guess I had been sick and was running a fever earlier in the day.

[243] The part I remember was walking down the hallway from my bedroom to our family living, our family living room.

[244] Usually it's one or the other, but she's combining both or they're combining both.

[245] In my Barbie nightgown, which was drenched in sweat.

[246] I'm going to, I walked into the living room and stared at my mom who hadn't noticed me yet and yelled, I'm going to die.

[247] I don't remember anything past that, but apparently I dropped to the floor and had a seizure.

[248] Kids are great.

[249] Oh my God.

[250] It turns out that this was the start of my seizure disorder and my crazy high fever had caused the sweat and the seizure and the deathy feeling probably came from the aura of the seizure, which I still get before an episode.

[251] the fever or both.

[252] Either way, I'm sure I scared my mom half to death.

[253] Just think of it.

[254] No. A four -year -old that's like, that's straight out of the ring.

[255] Totally.

[256] A wet nightgown screaming, I'm going to die and then dropping to the floor.

[257] Oh my God.

[258] Jesus.

[259] That's terrifying.

[260] In one of those manuscripts, there's just a red line that goes straight across.

[261] Okay.

[262] Either way, I'm sure I scared my mom half to death.

[263] And now that I have my own kids, I can't imagine how terrifying this would be.

[264] Stay sexy and take your Kepra.

[265] Oh my God.

[266] I tried Kepra.

[267] It didn't work for me. Oh.

[268] Wow.

[269] That's I had one seizure when I was a kid, too, after a fever.

[270] Yeah, that's, it's very common.

[271] Really?

[272] Yeah.

[273] Because also then your brain grows and kind of works out all the electrical issues.

[274] Oh, my brain is huge now.

[275] It's so big.

[276] It's distracting.

[277] Okay, this one starts.

[278] Hi.

[279] Oh, hi.

[280] When I was in law school, I was a student attorney working for the Innocence Project in Baltimore City.

[281] Thank you.

[282] Good job.

[283] My job was to visit prisons.

[284] around Maryland and collect information and transcripts from inmates that could potentially be acquitted under a court of appealing's rule.

[285] I should mention that all the inmates I dealt with were convicted a first -degree murder prior to 1980, so most of them were just quiet old gentleman, and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

[286] Can you fucking imagine?

[287] How many were innocent.

[288] I don't want to sit in the corner and listen to all those conversations.

[289] Yeah.

[290] My visits often involved meeting with dozens of inmates at each facility.

[291] I spent an entire year visiting all the prisons around Maryland and met with at least 100 convicted men and women.

[292] During my graduation party, I found out that my twin sister was telling all of our family and friends that I was going to the prisons for, quote, conjugal visits, sometimes 30 a day.

[293] When I asked her if she knew what that meant, she admitted that she didn't.

[294] And a look of shock and horror went across her face when I explained.

[295] She still wouldn't admit to me how many people were told about my supposed extracurricular activities in prisons, but it still makes me cringe and laugh eight years later when I think about it.

[296] Oh, no, that's incorrect.

[297] I thought it was just a sister being mean to a sister.

[298] Nope.

[299] She thought conjugal visits is meetings, sometimes up to 30 a day.

[300] People are just like, uh -huh.

[301] No, great.

[302] It probably didn't help that when I spoke about the inmates, I often cited how they were some of the most lovely humans I had ever met.

[303] And honestly, most of them were better jailhouse lawyers than I will ever be.

[304] I have a cushy job practicing real estate law now, but I will never forget the time I spent my hundreds of conjugal visits around the Maryland prison system, which ultimately helped acquit at least 14 innocent men.

[305] Amazing.

[306] Shout out to my twin sister named Kara, but what we most exclusively address each other as Stephen.

[307] And our sweet mother, BJ, who also got hooked on your podcast and may still believe I had conjugal visits when I was a student.

[308] Can't be sure.

[309] Thanks for all you do.

[310] Remember to stay sexy and avoid conjugal visits with murder convicts, Genevieve.

[311] Oh, my God.

[312] That is so fun.

[313] It's kind of like the grandmas who were told that LOL meant lots of love.

[314] So they'll be like on Facebook, there'd be death announcements and they'd be like thinking of you, L .O .L. Oh, my God.

[315] Have you heard of that?

[316] It's very similar and horrible.

[317] That's hilarious.

[318] Well, hey, if you have extra money in this day and age, which very few people do, but if you do give money to the Innocence Project, they do unbelievable work.

[319] That's right.

[320] very important um and thank you guys for listening send us all your weird stories at my favorite murder at jama or on our website yeah that was fun that was so fun it was a great kick back off to being home from the UK yes totally um stay sexy and don't get murdered goodbye Elvis do you want a cookie