I Hate The Yankees (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

[0] Hey, Prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad -free on Amazon Music.

[1] Download the Amazon Music app today.

[2] One night in 2003, a man named Chris, who was living in Nashua, New Hampshire, drove from his house over to his girlfriend's house, which was only about 15 minutes away.

[3] On the drive over, he tried calling his girlfriend three different times, but she hadn't answered any of the calls, which was odd.

[4] When he pulled into her driveway, he saw her two dogs were outside in the yard, which meant his girlfriend had to be home.

[5] However, as he walked up the driveway toward the front steps of the house, he noticed the two dogs were acting very strange.

[6] They were walking in circles and whining with their tails tucked tightly between their back legs.

[7] Chris was about to turn and go check on the dogs when he looked up and saw the front door to the house was slightly ajar and the lights inside were all off.

[8] Suddenly feeling alarmed, Chris ran up the steps and entered his girlfriend's house and what he would see inside would turn out to be one of the worst things Nashua, New Hampshire police had ever seen.

[9] But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark and Mysterious Delivered in Story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do, and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday.

[10] So, if that's of interest to you, when the Amazon Music Follow button isn't looking, spill a significant amount of water in front of their dishwasher, so they think it's broken, and have to spend hours trying to figure out what's wrong with it.

[11] Okay, let's get into today's story.

[12] I'm Dan Tiberski.

[13] In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York, a mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[14] What's the answer?

[15] And what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head?

[16] Hysterical, a new podcast from Wondry and Pineapple Street Studios.

[17] Binge all episodes of hysterical early and ad -free on Wondry Plus.

[18] 43 -year -old Jean Domenico was way too positive and upbeat of a person to complain about her life.

[19] In fact, optimism, kindness, and generosity, all those were just some of the words that family and friends used to describe Gene.

[20] And those qualities were so obvious in Gene's infectious smile, laughing blue eyes, and warm manner, that even total strangers who, exchanged just a few words with Jean, always left those encounters knowing they'd met a very special kind of person.

[21] So, when Jean's co -workers passed by her desk at Oxford Health Plans on that hot New England morning in 2003, no one would have suspected that behind Gene's usual smile and cheerful greeting, Jean had been feeling anything but happy and calm.

[22] It was Wednesday, August 6th, and the day was shaping up to be one of the hottest on record in Nashua, New Hampshire, where Jean lived with her two teenage children.

[23] And when Jean had left her house at 7 .45 a .m. that morning, she had spent the 30 -minute drive to work going over and over in her mind the events of the last five days.

[24] Even inside of her air -conditioned car, where she felt comfortable and in control of her surroundings, Jean kept wondering if the decision she had come to on Monday, two days earlier, was the right decision, or whether it would just cause even more problems for her and her kids.

[25] As a single mom who had ended an abusive marriage four years earlier, Gene was no stranger to family drama and the strain of financial hardship, and Jean had always chosen to meet those challenges head on.

[26] After leaving the children's father, Anthony Kaczynskis, back in 1999, Jean began working two to three different jobs at once to put food on the table of their small home in one of Nashua's more modest neighborhoods.

[27] Even now, with her full -time job at Oxford Health Plans, Gene still worked a part -time shift at a local convenience store.

[28] But despite how busy she was, Jean's primary focus had always been her son, Charlie, now 14 years old, and her daughter, Nicole, who had just turned 16 two months earlier.

[29] The three of them had always been very close, and now, aside from still sharing their father's last name, Charlie and Nicole spent almost all their time with their mom.

[30] And no matter how crazy her schedule was, Jean had always made sure that both children were well -looked after when she was at work, and that the neighbors always kept an eye out for her ex -husband.

[31] Not only did Anthony owe Gene $11 ,000 in unpaid child support, but also, Jean wanted to guard against the possibility that Anthony would show up unannounced and uninvited at the house when she was not there.

[32] But the turmoil Jean was feeling on this particular morning had nothing to do with Anthony or money or anything else that Jean felt like she could fix through hard work and good parenting, two things that came naturally to Gene.

[33] In fact, it had been Gene's efforts over the last two years to help guide Nicole through a difficult adolescence that had seemed to backfire in ways that Gene had just never expected.

[34] Driving along the familiar route to work, Jean thought back to Nicole just before she turned 14 and when their lives had seemed a lot simpler.

[35] While still in middle school, Nicole had been an outstanding student whose natural shyness had not stopped her from joining the school chorus and bubbling over at her.

[36] home with news about what she was doing and reading, and when Jean had heard other moms talk about the arguments or fights they had with their teenage daughters, Gene had just felt grateful that she and Nicole had always gotten along so well and had always enjoyed doing things and going places together.

[37] But when Nicole turned 14 and headed into high school, her shyness turned into awkwardness and intense self -consciousness about her weight and looks.

[38] Gene had been heartbroken the evening she found Nicole sitting on the bed in her tiny upstairs room, using scissors to cut pictures of herself into pieces, and hearing Nicole describe herself as fat and ugly.

[39] After that, it wasn't long before Nicole, who had also dropped out of the school chorus, became the target of bullying.

[40] Driving along Interstate 293, Gene gripped the steering wheel more tightly, remembering one incident when a group of girls pulled Nicole's pants down to her ankles, leaving Nicole fully exposed from the waist down to laughter and stares from surrounding students.

[41] Gene had gone straight to the school principal when she heard about the incident, but that had not stopped the whispering and teasing.

[42] And then, just when Nicole seemed to be sinking into depression, the shy 14 -year -old with low self -esteem had met 17 -year -old Billy Sullivan in an online chat room.

[43] Billy lived 100 miles away in Willamantic, Connecticut, but the popular internet technology called Instant Messenger had allowed the two of them to form a close and personal relationship long before they actually ever met in person.

[44] And at first, it took Gene a while to connect the improvement in Nicole's mood and confidence to the increasing amount of time Nicole had started spending on the internet.

[45] And Gene certainly didn't know that within just five days of their virtual meeting, Billy and Nicole had already declared their undying love for one another.

[46] It was only when Gene's phone bill blew up with long -distance phone charges for calls from their home at 6 Dumaan Avenue in Nashville, New Hampshire, to a number more than two hours south in Connecticut, that Gene realized that Nicole had found her first real boyfriend.

[47] But what Gene just could not have expected, given the physical distance between Nicole and Billy, was how seriously Nicole and Billy would begin to take their relationship.

[48] And when Gene had finally relented and agreed to drive Nicole to Connecticut, so Nicole could actually meet Billy for the first time, Jean was certainly not prepared for how hysterical Nicole became when the eight -hour supervised visit ended, and Nicole and Jean turned north and headed home to New Hampshire.

[49] On one hand, Gene knew that what she was seeing in Nicole was the kind of drama and intensity that only a teenager could bring to first love, and that eventually the relationship would probably play itself out, especially.

[50] since Nicole had confided that Billy, for all his declarations of love for Nicole, had at least one other girlfriend, also Nicole's age.

[51] And when Nicole and Billy argued, Billy had let it drop that he'd been, quote, forced, his word, to seek comfort with that other girlfriend.

[52] On the other hand, Jean also knew that it was just not possible for her to control the feelings and actions of these two young people.

[53] And if all Jean did was say no to Nicole and point out flaws in her, her relationship with Billy, then chances were good that it would be Gene who Nicole would reject, not Billy.

[54] So, when Billy had arrived, unannounced and uninvited, at Gene's house that previous Friday, August 1st, Gene had not been pleased, but she had also, reluctantly allowed him to stay.

[55] As Billy explained to Gene, he'd been given a vacation from his job as a line cook at the local McDonald's near his house in Willamantic, and since he'd also just recently gotten in his driver's license and a car of his own, he'd wanted to surprise Nicole with an extended visit.

[56] Over the entire 15 months that the two had been together, they'd only actually seen one another in person four or five times, and never for more than just a few days.

[57] In agreeing to the visit, Jean had reasoned that at least this way, she would be able to keep a close eye on Nicole and Billy, who were not permitted to spend any time together alone in Nicole's upstairs bedroom.

[58] It had not been the most convenient arrangement in the world.

[59] Gene's house was a small but traditional cape house, a center -front entrance that led into the living and dining rooms to either side, with the kitchen and two small bedrooms towards the back.

[60] Nicole's bedroom, with its slope ceiling, was on the second floor, along with an equally tiny bathroom, which meant that when Gene's 14 -year -old son, Charlie, wasn't staying over with friends, as he often did, there was no spare bedroom for Billy, and Gene had to tiptoe around Billy, sleeping on the downstairs couch when she got up in the morning to start her day and tidy up the kitchen before leaving for one of her two jobs.

[61] It wasn't that Billy seemed like a bad kid.

[62] He had a steady job at McDonald's.

[63] He lived with his single mom and his four sisters, but he was not a freeloader.

[64] It was clear he loved his family and contributed a regular chunk of his hourly wages to help with household expenses.

[65] Tall and lanky, with a military -style buzz cut and dark brown eyes and a smattering of teenage pimples that made him look younger than he really was, he was generally polite and handsome.

[66] And Gene had to admit that Billy's frequent declarations about how beautiful and smart and talented Nicole was had, at least in the beginning, done a lot to improve her daughter's self -esteem.

[67] Still, Jean was glad the visit was coming to an end, several days sooner than Billy and Nicole had planned, so today was the last day that he and Nicole would have together before Billy returned to Willamantic.

[68] The last day, Gene would step outside and see Billy's black Chevrolet cavalier sitting in their driveway.

[69] Just walking by the car that morning on her way to her own car, Jean had thought of that incident at dinner on Sunday three days earlier.

[70] Wanting to make Billy feel welcome, Jean had spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen cooking a big dinner for all of them.

[71] Gene had been surprised when Billy had looked over the serving dishes and hot food that covered the table that evening and commented that it had been a while since he'd had a complete meal.

[72] When Jean had looked up from her plate saying, really?

[73] Billy had interpreted her comment as a veiled insult directed at Billy's own mother, as though Pegg Sullivan were not as good a cook or as good of a mother as Jean herself was.

[74] Remembering the exchange now, Jean just shook her head.

[75] For her, Billy's hostile reaction had set the tone of the whole week, and now she was just glad the visit with Billy would soon be over.

[76] Determined to keep that fact uppermost in her thoughts, by the time Gene had arrived at work, she had regained most of her outward good cheer.

[77] She was scheduled to spend the day training a new employee, and that was something Gene enjoyed and looked forward to.

[78] She liked making sure that new hires felt comfortable and welcome and competent, and the training and orientation materials she'd be using were already neatly organized on Gene's work desk and computer.

[79] So, half an hour later, as Gene looked up to greet the new employee, it would have taken a very close observer to notice the faint lines of strain on Gene's otherwise open and smiling face.

[80] And throughout the day, that close observer did walk by Gene's desk several times to smile and say hello, but it wasn't until 4 .30 on that Wednesday afternoon, that Chris McGowan, Jean's fiancé and fellow Oxford Health Plan's employee, stopped by long enough to have a real conversation with the woman he loved.

[81] Ever since Chris had met Gene on his first day of work two years ago, Chris had been completely smitten by this outgoing and friendly woman.

[82] A confirmed bachelor, whose one long -term relationship had ended in the late 1980s, Chris had not been looking to date anyone, any more than Gene had been.

[83] By 2000, Chris, a stocky Irishman with dark hair and a wide smile under his dark mustache, had settled into a comfortable three -bedroom ranch house, as well as a comfortable routine.

[84] For her part, Jean was still recovering from her divorce the year before, and all her time and attention was focused on her kids and on paying the bills.

[85] And any spare time that she did have, Jean had spent it on activities like coaching Charlie's Little League baseball team or joining the parent -teacher organization when the children went to the Birch Hill Elementary School.

[86] But while that initial spark of attraction that Chris and Gene felt for one another had not lit an instantaneous bonfire, it had ignited something much longer lasting.

[87] Chris understood and respected Jean's devotion to her kids, and he was careful not to intrude on Charlie and Nicole's time with their mom.

[88] Even now, Chris rarely stayed over at Jean's house, except on the weekends, and he was more than happy to wait until both Charlie and Nicole had graduated from high school and begun their own lives before he and Jean got married and lived together.

[89] To their respective family and friends, Gene and Chris formed that rare couple who seemed deeply and patiently in love with each other.

[90] Although they made a point of keeping their interactions at work very businesslike, Chris never tired of making small gestures that showed how much he cared for Gene, like the bouquet of roses he had delivered to her desk that past Monday.

[91] Despite how crowded the Domenico House was now with Billy visiting, Gene had asked Chris to spend as much time there as possible over the last five days.

[92] Chris got along well with both Charlie and Nicole, and Jean felt better about Nicole and Billy spending so much time together if Chris was also able to keep a watchful eye on both of them.

[93] So Chris knew firsthand these stresses Gene had felt that weak, and he also knew that just when Gene felt like she really needed all her energy and stamina, she had experienced a few bouts of dizziness and fatigue over the last two days that were just not like her.

[94] Chris's first thought was that the dizziness had been the result of the highly restrictive diet that Gene had recently started in an effort to lose several pounds that had added a comfortable roundness to her five foot six inch frame.

[95] And looking down at Jean now at the end of yet another workday, he wished he could convince her that she was perfect just as she was and find some way to erase the tiredness he could see in her eyes.

[96] Instead, Chris went over the plan they had agreed on for that evening.

[97] He would leave work now, head to his house, shower, check his mail, and do a few household chores, grab some clean clothes, and then meet Gene at 6 to Main Street at about 7 or 7 .30.

[98] That would give Gene plenty of time to stop and pick up the pizza she planned to serve for dinner that night and tidy up the house before Chris arrived.

[99] But it wasn't until the end of their conversation when Chris whispered, I love you, that Jean really switched out of work mode.

[100] Standing up suddenly, her eyes bright with affection, Jean put down her papers and pencil and reached up to give Chris a strong, warm hug.

[101] And Chris was still thinking about that hug and Jean's reply as he got into his car a few minutes later and headed south from the small town of Hookset, where Oxford Health Plans was located, to the much larger city of Nashua, where Chris's house was located just a few miles away from Jeans.

[102] At times like this, Chris could understand the thrill of togetherness, whether you were a teenager or a middle -aged insurance broker.

[103] When Jean had said, I love you too, Chris felt like he was the luckiest person in the world.

[104] True to his word, Chris arrived at Jean's house at 7 .15.

[105] He'd called her three times since leaving his house at 7 to see if there was anything else she wanted him to pick up for dinner.

[106] When all three calls went to voicemail, Chris assumed that Jean must be out walking the family's two dogs, and so he stopped just long enough to grab a bottle of soda for the kids.

[107] But when Chris stepped out of his car, he could see both dogs still outside in the backyard of Jean's house.

[108] Thinking that Gene must have just gotten back from her walk, Chris made his way around to the front.

[109] He climbed the steps to the welcome mat and then came to a sudden stop.

[110] The front door was slightly ajar, but inside no lights were on and the house was eerily quiet.

[111] When Jean didn't answer his shouted greeting, Are you in there, honey?

[112] Chris pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside.

[113] As he did so, it occurred to him that the dogs out back had been behaving strangely, whining and turning in circles.

[114] Their tails tucked tightly between their back legs.

[115] His sense of alarm growing by the second, Chris was so focused on finding Gene that he did not even notice the smashed up coffee table in the living room or the dark liquid that was splashed across the carpet.

[116] It was only when he stepped into the kitchen and his eyes followed the thin beam of light from the open refrigerator door as it slanted down to the linoleum tiles that Chris began to register the full horror of what was in front of him.

[117] Jean lay face down on the kitchen floor, her head and shoulders swimming in a thick pool of blood.

[118] A moment later, Chris was on his knees next to her, shaking her gently at first, but then much harder, calling her name over and over again in begging her to please just wake up.

[119] When the Nashua Police Department and emergency medical personnel heard the call go out from dispatch reporting a, quote, sudden death in one of the city's quietest neighborhoods, it only took minutes for fire trucks and ambulance and police cruisers to pull up outside Gene Domenico's house at 6thumain Avenue.

[120] With more than 90 ,000 residents, Nashua might be the second largest city in New Hampshire, but even in a state with one of the lowest homicide rates in the whole country, murder here in Nashua was very rare.

[121] So, when Chris had called 911 and described a scene of blood everywhere when he discovered his girlfriend's lifeless body, law enforcement had mobilized all of its local resources, blocking off the entrance to Dumain Avenue, even to residents, stringing up crime scene tape to hold back the growing crowd of concerned neighbors or curious spectators.

[122] And also making sure that Chris McGowan, dazed, disoriented, and covered in blood, did not take a single step without a police officer keeping close watch on him.

[123] Chris may have told the 911 dispatcher that it looked to him like Gene had had some sort of terrible accident, maybe fainting and hitting her head on a corner of the stove, but police did not have to wait for emergency medical personnel and later the medical examiner to tell them that this was no accident.

[124] In fact, it was just the opposite.

[125] Gene had been the victim of the most horrific attack that responding officers and detectives, had ever seen.

[126] And since Chris was the person who had discovered Gene's body, and he was the boyfriend, always a person of interest in homicide cases, he had instantly become the number one prime suspect, especially when he had no alibi for the time he claimed to have spent at home by himself after work and before finding Gene's body.

[127] As the first of Gene's neighbors began gathering outside to ask police what was happening, Chris was bundled into the backseat of a cruiser and driven to the Nashville Police Department headquarters, where he willingly gave police a DNA sample before being taken into an interrogation room for questioning.

[128] Hey, all you fans of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious.

[129] It's me, Mr. Ballin, and today I have some big news.

[130] It's something I'm holding in my hands right now, and so obviously you can't see it, but this is something you're really going to want to see.

[131] It's the first ever official Mr. Ballin publication.

[132] It's a graphic novel, and it's called Mr. Ballin Presents, Strange, Strange, Dark, and Mysterious, the graphic stories.

[133] It's an anthology of both classic and brand new, terrifying stories that we've never covered on any of my other platforms, because we created them specifically for this first book.

[134] Each of these stories in the book are feature -length, Mr. Ballin's stories that really needed to be told visually.

[135] And the artwork in this book is, I mean, I'm looking at it, and it's just absolutely stunning.

[136] So the book is not actually coming out until my birthday this year, October 1st, but you can pre -order it right now at book.

[137] Bollin Studios .com.

[138] Again, that's book .bollin Studios .com.

[139] She struck him with her motor vehicle.

[140] She had been under the influence and she left him there.

[141] In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O 'Keefe.

[142] It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel en route to the next location.

[143] What happens next?

[144] Depends on who you ask.

[145] Was it a crime of passion?

[146] If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling.

[147] This was clearly an intentional act.

[148] And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia.

[149] Or a corrupt police cover -up.

[150] If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all a cover -up to prevent one of their own from going down.

[151] Everyone had an opinion.

[152] And after the 10 -week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.

[153] To end in a mistrial, it's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is.

[154] Law and crime presents the most in -depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen.

[155] You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondery Plus.

[156] Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

[157] Meanwhile, over the next several hours, crime scene texts and law enforcement were able to gather a huge amount of information about what had happened earlier.

[158] that afternoon and evening at the Dominican residents.

[159] Chris, along with neighbors who had a clear view of Jean's property, helped police establish that Jean had arrived home from work that afternoon at about 5 .30 p .m. carrying boxes of pizza she had picked up from a restaurant called Chouse.

[160] Jean had missed her daughter, Nicole and Billy, by about an hour.

[161] The two teenagers had been spotted at 4 .30 p .m. playing tag in the Dominican's big backyard before hopping into Billy's car and heading to a local 7 -Eleven convenience store, where Billy's Black Cavalier was later seen by an on -duty police officer who had also stopped at the same 7 -Eleven.

[162] Both Nicole and Chris had called Jean's phone around 7 p .m. without getting an answer.

[163] Nicole had called because she wanted to tell her mom not to expect her and Billy for dinner.

[164] It was Billy's last day in Nashua, and he and Nicole wanted to spend the time alone.

[165] When Nicole had not been able to reach her mom, she'd left a message on Chris's phone, letting him know that she and Billy would be going bowling and then shopping at the local mall.

[166] The unanswered calls that both Chris and Nicole had made to Gene suggested to law enforcement that by 7 p .m., Jean was most likely already dead.

[167] As for the crime scene itself, Gene's attacker seemed to have made very little effort to cover their tracks.

[168] Whoever had killed Gene had left behind a partial bloody handprint on the refrigerator, suggesting that they had not worn gloves and may have left other children.

[169] DNA traces inside of the house.

[170] Police were also able to determine the kinds of weapons that had been used to kill Gene, even finding a piece of one weapon in the kitchen sink and another weapon that the killer may have dropped outside.

[171] As for motives and suspects, initial interviews with Gene's neighbors had already turned up several possible leads, even though the neighbors gathering outside were all telling police the same thing that Jean was genuinely and universally liked and even loved by her friends, co -workers, and acquaintances.

[172] It wasn't long before Nashua detectives Dennis Linahan and Richard Sprankle had added names other than Chris McGowan to their People of Interest list.

[173] Neighbors immediately pointed to Jean's ex -husband, Anthony Kisinkas.

[174] Gene had said outright to several friends that she was afraid of him, and police would soon learn that Anthony had a criminal record for threatening a person by firing off a shotgun in their direction.

[175] And some neighbors even whispered that police should track down Gene's own son.

[176] Charlie had a reputation for hanging out with a bad group of kids and for such violent displays of temper that for a long time, Jean refused to keep any sharp knives in the house for fear that Charlie might attack her or his sister.

[177] Shocked by the violence of the scene, Detective Sprankle also wondered if the murder could possibly be related to gang violence, evidence of which had recently begun to surface in downtown Nashua where certain walls and buildings had been covered with gang -related graffiti.

[178] And as Jean's children arrived at the scene, the feeling of shock and tragedy that now hung over the cozy cape house just kept growing.

[179] Portable floodlights had turned the crime scene tape a neon yellow, and through the windows, Jean's neighbors could see the bulky shape of crime scene techs in protective clothing moving from one room to another.

[180] Charlie was the first of Jean's children to arrive.

[181] Emerging through the crowd outside his family home, he approached police asking what was going on and where his mother and sister were.

[182] After being informed that his mother was dead, uniformed officers seated him inside of a cruiser and drove him to the police station where he waited for the arrival of his father, Anthony Kisinkis.

[183] As Jennifer Ballou watched the scene unfold from her house next door to Jeans, she felt her heart sink at the thought of Charlie's sister, Nicole.

[184] Nicole had babysat regularly for Jennifer, and the two had become close.

[185] Jennifer knew how difficult the last few years had been for Nicole, and even though Jean and Nicole had argued over Nicole's relationship with Billy, Jennifer also knew how much Nicole relied on and loved her mom.

[186] Already in a vulnerable place, Jennifer knew that Nicole's life was about to get much, much harder.

[187] By the time Nicole and Billy arrived at the house at about 10 .15, Nashville police officers already had four suspects awaiting interrogation at the Nashville Police Department.

[188] They were also making room for a parade of neighbors who were there to give witness statements, each arriving in a separate police cruiser so no two witnesses could compare and possibly change their stories.

[189] It wasn't long before Nicole and Billy were also taken down to the station.

[190] With round, dark eyes, Nicole had stared at the house where she lived and where she had just been playing tag in the backyard six hours earlier.

[191] Nicole barely seemed to register Billy's quick kiss on her lips.

[192] A few minutes later, and she was sliding into the cool interior of a black and white cruiser headed to the Nashville police station 10 minutes to the south.

[193] After Nicole left, Billy remained at the scene with one of the police detectives.

[194] When Billy was young, his family's home had caught fire, and ever since then, as he told the investigator, he'd reacted with a lot of anxiety to the sound and sight of the flashing blue and red lights on emergency vehicles.

[195] Even though Billy did not know Nicole's family that well, as he and the detective chatted, Billy immediately agreed to help the police with their investigation, and by 1030 p .m., he was happy to get away from the commotion and flashing lights at Nicole's house.

[196] He too was making the short trip south to a police station that now seemed to be overflowing with witnesses and suspects.

[197] For police detectives Linehan and Sprankle, it was a very busy night.

[198] Their main focus was on the interrogation of Gene's fiance and her ex -husband, Anthony.

[199] Distracted and upset by the sight and feel of Gene's blood all over his bare arms, hands, and knees, as well as the patches of her blood that stained his shirt and shorts, Chris seemed to have a hard time concentrating on the questions, let alone accepting the fact that Jean had been murdered.

[200] Gene's ex -husband had given police permission to question Nicole and Charlie.

[201] Anthony himself was civil without being overly helpful.

[202] But once police had confirmed Anthony's alibi, they realized he did not seem to have any useful information anyway, and so from then on, he was present at the station only as the legal guardian of his two now motherless children.

[203] But even though investigators had ruled out Anthony as Gene's killer, they already knew they were making progress.

[204] Given the amount of physical evidence from the crime scene and leads from witness statements and their interview with Chris, they were confident that it would only be a matter of time and getting the forensics and autopsy reports before they identified Gene's killer.

[205] Still, they never expected that the breakthrough they were looking for would come so early in their investigation.

[206] And when the tip did come in, it came from a witness, not from a suspect.

[207] As Detective Linehan was out in the hallway looking for a larger room where Billy could wait for someone to take his statement, another detective, Mark Schoff, had noticed something interesting during the interview he was conducting with one of the witnesses.

[208] It was just a slip of paper, but it might be important.

[209] After describing his find to Detective Linnehan, both investigators went still for just a moment.

[210] The air conditioning in the station was broken, and the heat from the day had been trapped inside, making everyone feel sticky and uncomfortable.

[211] Pulling his collar a bit looser, Detective Linnehan decided this information was significant enough that he needed to follow up on it in person.

[212] By the time the sun rose, five hours later on Thursday, August 7th, what the veteran detective was about to discover would become front -page headlines for weeks to come.

[213] Based on that conversation and follow -up interviews with other witnesses, here is a reconstruction of what happened to Jean Domenico on the evening of Wednesday, August 6th, 2003, inside her home at 6th, Dumae Avenue.

[214] After arriving home from work at about 5 .30, Jean rolled right into her usual routine.

[215] Letting the dogs out to do their business in the backyard, collecting and sorting the mail, checking phone messages, and tidying up the house.

[216] By the time she sat down to relax on the living room sofa, Jean was more than ready to spend a few minutes doing nothing more than enjoying the smell of pizza wafting up from the boxes on the kitchen table.

[217] After this past week, when the house had felt so crowded with people and teenage emotions, she welcomed the quiet before Chris and eventually Nicole, Billy, and Charlie arrived for dinner.

[218] So, when Jean heard the front door open a few minutes later, she looked at her watch and surprise.

[219] Chris would not be here for another hour, and it seemed early for the kids to be home, and Jean's surprise only intensified when she looked up and recognized her visitor.

[220] While Jean had been settling herself on the sofa, her killer had been cutting through the parking lot off Deerwood Drive behind Jean's house.

[221] Once Jean's backyard was in sight, the killer hesitated, but only for a moment.

[222] The plan was in motion, and there was no real doubts about what had to be done.

[223] By the time the killer had walked along the side of the backyard and cut across the front yard to the front steps, the killer felt committed and ready.

[224] Flinging open the door, the killer stepped inside.

[225] After saying hello to a startled gene, the killer continued walking past her into Charlie's first floor bedroom.

[226] Reaching behind the door of that bedroom, the killer pulled out an aluminum baseball bat.

[227] closing the door, the killer then walked back out to the kitchen, where Jean was now standing next to the stove, a puzzled look on her face.

[228] Stepping toward the open entrance from the kitchen into the living room, the killer stopped and, turning to face Gene, lifted the bat and gave it an experimental swing.

[229] I hate the Yankees, the killer said, referring to New York's Major League Baseball team.

[230] At this, Jean, who loved baseball, relaxed a little and went back to sitting on the couch and offering a few observations about recent sports news.

[231] It wasn't until the cordless phone on the small table next to the sofa rang and the killer immediately reached over Gene to answer it that time suddenly seemed to rush forward in a blur.

[232] After just a moment of listening to the conversation, Jean was raising her voice in anger.

[233] And as she turned to walk into the kitchen, thinking that any kind of movement might help her collect herself after recognizing the caller on the other end of the line, the killer suddenly lunged forward toward Gene.

[234] Then the killer swung the baseball bat in the direction of Jean's head.

[235] But instead of delivering a single blow that would stun Jean or crush her skull, the bat missed Jean's head.

[236] Instead, it hit her straight across her back and sent her staggering against the wall.

[237] Shocked and hurt, Jean righted herself and turned to look back.

[238] But even as she did so, her attacker swung the bat a second time.

[239] and this time the bat hit Gene squarely on the back of her head, causing what the medical examiner would later describe as a large split in the bone of her skull.

[240] Still, not only did Jean stay on her feet, she fought back.

[241] A few seconds later, and the two of them had crashed onto the glass coffee table in the living room, snapping the wooden legs and showering the carpet with shattered glass.

[242] Despite her injuries, Jean would break free from her attacker two more times before her killer managed to dodge past her into the kitchen and grab a knife from the butcher block on Jean's counter.

[243] Rounding again on Jean, the killer struck.

[244] The first blow to Jean's upper right shoulder was so hard that the knife blade broke off from the wooden handle.

[245] Dropping the handle onto the floor, the killer reached again for the butcher block, grabbing a second knife, the killer stabbed Gene twice in the throat before dropping that knife onto the kitchen floor.

[246] But as her attacker started to turn away, Jean picked the knife up and once again pushed herself to her feet.

[247] Shocked, her attacker watched as Jean tried to run towards them before slipping and falling in her own blood.

[248] As she fell, Jean's head bumped almost gently against her killer's side before hitting the plexiglass in the back door with enough force to push the panel completely out of its frame.

[249] Grabbing a third knife, Jean's killer straddled her fallen body and began stabbing.

[250] Delivering more than a total of 40 blows to Jean's head, neck, back, arms, and hands, before finally standing and looking down at her dark blood -soaked hair and profile.

[251] Pausing before going into the bathroom to clean up, the killer listened as Jean struggled to breathe before speaking her final words.

[252] Okay, she whispered, I'm done.

[253] About 15 minutes after the killer had left the house, the back door at 6thumain Avenue opened again.

[254] But this time, the visitor had to push hard enough to move Jean body out of the way in order to enter the house.

[255] Once inside, the visitor looked down at the single mother of two lying in a pool of blood, and then very casually and carefully stepped over the body.

[256] Cleaning up the scene would be difficult, but the important thing was to avoid leaving footprints.

[257] So, picking their way through the splashes of blood that seemed to cover everything, not only the floors from the kitchen out through the living room, but also the walls and even the ceiling.

[258] The visitor was soon hard at work scrubbing away.

[259] handprints gathering up the baseball bat and knives and bundling everything, including bloody clothes the killer had left in the bathroom, inside a jacket.

[260] And then, straightening up and pushing her long dark hair out of her face, Jean Domenico's 16 -year -old daughter, Nicole, gave a final look around the house.

[261] The smell of the pizzas on the kitchen table lost in the coppery scent of her mother's blood.

[262] Moving with the same care she had used coming into the house, Nicole once again stepped over her mother's body, and then, with a sigh of relief, Nicole closed the kitchen door behind her.

[263] Billy had done his part.

[264] He had kept his promise to Nicole that he would kill her mother, so he and Nicole could be together for the rest of their lives, and now Nicole had done her part, too.

[265] She had gone back to the house, cleaned up Billy's mess, and picked up the inhaler he needed to control his asthma.

[266] Earlier, when Billy had returned to the lot at the nearby 7 -Eleven convenience store after killing Jean, Nicole had been waiting for him, reading a teen magazine she enjoyed while leaning against the hood of his black Chevy Cavalier.

[267] Nicole had been surprised by how much blood Billy still had on him, even after he had run upstairs before leaving the house to get a clean shirt out of the suitcase he had left in her bedroom.

[268] Nicole was also surprised at how angry and agitated Billy seemed.

[269] She'd known almost as soon as she called her home number, maybe 30 minutes earlier, and Billy had answered the phone, that her mother was still alive, because Nicole could hear her mother's voice in the background, asking Billy if he was speaking to Nicole, and then hearing her mom plead directly with Nicole, asking her to please, please, just come home.

[270] Nicole had had to shout at Billy to just do it, get it done, because how else would the two of them be able to start a life together unless Nicole's mother was dead?

[271] And Nicole had also known that her call to Billy had just made him upset.

[272] Still, it surprised her that once her mother was gone, that this reunion with Billy in the 7 -11 parking lot wasn't more romantic and satisfying.

[273] And seeing all that blood on Billy, Nicole didn't really want to go back to the house, but Billy had made her, saying that cleaning up the murder scene had been Nicole's part of the bargain.

[274] It had been very hard stepping over her mother's body and not even being completely sure her mom was actually dead yet, but Nicole had done it, and then the two of them, Billy and Nicole, had driven to the Feasant Lane Mall so Billy could clean up and get more clean clothes, and so they could get rid of the baseball bat, the knives, and those bloody clothes by dumping them at the deserted wooded edge of Overlook golf course located one town over.

[275] But once Nicole and Billy went back to the house at Six Domain Ave, thinking they had committed the perfect crime and set up perfect alibis for themselves, everything started to fall apart.

[276] Nicole just had no way of knowing that later that night they would both be questioned by police and that some detective would notice the receipt for the new clothes Billy was wearing sticking out of Nicole's shirt pocket.

[277] And once that detective had started asking Nicole all kinds of questions about where she and Billy had been that afternoon and evening, it was impossible to keep all the lies straight.

[278] And soon, the detective was talking to another detective who went and talked to Billy, and pretty soon the story Nicole told wasn't matching the story Billy was telling.

[279] And that's when Nicole just broke down in tears and told the detective everything that happened.

[280] Except that in Nicole's mind, even though it had been her idea to kill her mother, it was all Billy's fault because he was the one who actually did the killing.

[281] It would turn out that three days into Billy's visit to Sixth Domain Avenue, Gene was so alarmed at the intensity of the relationship between Billy and Nicole that she told the two teenagers that Billy would need to end his visit early.

[282] She wanted him gone first thing in the morning on Thursday, August 7th.

[283] Gene also made it clear to Nicole that Jean was not interested in having Billy come visit again, or in letting Nicole go visit Billy.

[284] And after Billy's outburst at Gene during that family dinner on Sunday, when Billy accused Gene of insulting Billy's mother, Gene had also begun to suspect that not only was Billy manipulating Nicole, he also had serious anger issues.

[285] What Gene had no way of knowing was just how correct those suspicions were.

[286] Ever since the age of five, Billy had shown signs of depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, a mental health condition that causes major mood swings.

[287] Billy had also been hospitalized at least five times for psychiatric problems, including an episode in which he had attacked his mother with a baseball bat.

[288] The agitation that police noticed in Billy when he and Nicole appeared at the crime scene on the night of August 6th may have been triggered by the bad memories he associated with flashing emergency lights, but it was also a physical symptom that indicated he was not taking the medications prescribed to treat his mental illness.

[289] In the 15 months since Nicole had met Billy online, Nicole and Billy had held a mock wedding ceremony and by late 2002, had begun referring to one another as husband and wife and Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan.

[290] They also had both written letters to Jean asking that she allowed Nicole to move to Connecticut and live with Billy.

[291] And when Gene said, no, absolutely not, Nicole and Billy started talking about other ways to be together, running away to another state or getting Nicole a legal separation from her family.

[292] And even though Billy had at least one other girlfriend besides Nicole, he and Nicole made lists of what they would buy for their new apartment and life together.

[293] When Jean finally put her foot down and told Nicole and Billy on Monday, August 4th, that they needed to end their relationship, the two teenagers would spend the next three days conspiring to kill Nicole's mother, the one person who stood between them and their dreams of the life they would spend together.

[294] In the early morning hours of August 6th, seated in separate interrogation rooms at the Nashville Police Department, Department, Billy and Nicole each confessed to the brutal murder of Jean Domenico.

[295] In all, the life they had dreamed of together had lasted less than five hours, and the last time Billy and Nicole kissed or saw each other until their cases went to trial was just outside the house at Six Dumae Ave, where Jean's body would remain lying in its pool of drying blood until the next day.

[296] The news of Nicole's arrest stunned not only her family, but everyone who had known Gene.

[297] But that was not the last of Nicole's revelations.

[298] It would turn out that Nicole and her boyfriend had made four previous attempts on Jean's life in the days leading up to the murder.

[299] First, they had laced her coffee creamer with over -the -counter drugs and then with bleach.

[300] Neither attempt at poisoning worked.

[301] The drugs caused the episodes of dizziness that Chris would later blame on Gene's restrictive diet.

[302] The smell of bleach made Jean throw the creamer without drinking any of it.

[303] The third murder attempt, starting a fire in Jean's bedroom and then locking Jean inside, failed when the flame -retardant mattress in Jean's bedroom would not catch fire.

[304] Their fourth attempt to kill Jean by running a gasoline -soaked length of rope through an outside window into the oil tank and then setting the rope and eventually the oil inside the tank on fire, ended when Chris came out of the house and saw them, panicking Nicole threw the rope into a nearby garbage can.

[305] By Wednesday afternoon, August 5th, Billy and Nicole had decided to kill Jean with the baseball bat they knew was behind the door of Charlie's bedroom.

[306] They would create alibis with the story they told Chris about spending the dinner hour at the local bowling alley, and they also assumed the police would suspect that Gene was the victim of a robbery gone wrong.

[307] On March 28, 2005, almost one and a half years after Jean's murder, Nicole avoided a charge of first -degree murder by, pleading guilty to lesser charges of second -degree murder and agreeing to testify against the love of her life, Billy Sullivan.

[308] Nicole was sentenced to a minimum of 35 years in prison.

[309] Four months later, on July 15th, after an unsuccessful attempt to plead guilty by reason of insanity, Billy was convicted of first -degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

[310] After Jean's murder, Nicole's brother, Charlie, went to live with his father, Anthony Kisinkas.

[311] Birch Elementary School in Nashua, where Gene had once worked as a volunteer, member of the parent -teacher organization, and a teacher's aide, dedicated a granite bench in her honor that stands outside the school's entrance.

[312] On May 22, 2004, the city of Nashua renamed one of its Little League baseball fields, the Gene Domenico Ballpark.

[313] Thank you for listening to the Mr. Ballin podcast.

[314] If you got something out of this episode and you haven't done this already, when the Amazon Music Follow button isn't looking, spill a significant amount of water in front of their dishwasher, so they think it's broken and have to spend hours trying to figure out what's wrong with it.

[315] This podcast airs every Monday and Thursday morning, but in the meantime, you can always watch one of the hundreds of stories we have posted on our main YouTube channel, which is just called Mr. Ballin.

[316] Consider donating to our charity.

[317] It's called the Mr. Ballin Foundation, and it provides support to victims of violent crime, as well as their families.

[318] Monthly donors to the Mr. Ballin Foundation Honor Them Society will receive free gifts and exclusive invites to special live events.

[319] Go to Mr .ballin .foundation and click Get Involved to join the Honor Them Society today.

[320] If you want to get in touch with me, please follow me on any major social media platform and then send me a direct message.

[321] My username is just at Mr. Ballin, and I really do read the majority of my DM.

[322] Lastly, we have some really cool merchandise, so head on over to shop, Mr .ballon .com, to have a look.

[323] So, that's going to do it.

[324] I really appreciate your support.

[325] Until next time, see you.

[326] Hey, Prime Members.

[327] You can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad -free on Amazon Music.

[328] Download the Amazon Music app today.

[329] And before you go, please tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at wondery .com slash survey.

[330] I'm Dan Tibersky.

[331] In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

[332] I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad.

[333] I'm like, stop fucking around.

[334] She's like, I can't.

[335] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms and spreading fast.

[336] It's like doubling and tripling and it's all these girls.

[337] With a diagnosis, the state tried to keep on the down low.

[338] Everybody thought I was holding something back.

[339] Well, you were holding something back intentionally.

[340] Yeah, yeah.

[341] Well, yeah.

[342] No, it's hysteria.

[343] It's all in your head.

[344] It's not physical.

[345] Oh, my gosh, you're exaggerating.

[346] Is this the largest mass hysteria since the Witches of Salem?

[347] Or is it something else entirely?

[348] Something's wrong here.

[349] Something's not right.

[350] Leroy was the new date line and everyone was trying to solve the murder.

[351] A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Hysterical.

[352] Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[353] You can binge all episodes of hysterical early and ad -free right now by joining Wondry Plus.