MFM Minisode 337

[0] This is exactly right.

[1] Journalist Kate Winkler -Dawson is back with the third season of her true crime talk show, 10 -fold more Wicked Presents, Wicked Words.

[2] Season 3 of Wicked Words is out now with new episodes every Monday.

[3] Each week, journalist, historian, and Buried Bones co -hosts Kate Winkler -Dawson interviews journalists, authors, and true crime luminaries about their most intriguing cases.

[4] These are the stories behind the stories.

[5] Please stay tuned at the end of this minisode for the season three trailer for Wicked Words with Kate Winkler Dawson.

[6] And you can get new episodes of Wicked Words every Monday when you subscribe to the 10 -fold more wicked feed on Amazon music, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen.

[7] Goodbye.

[8] Hello.

[9] And welcome to my favorite murder.

[10] The minisode.

[11] That's right.

[12] This is our first recording back from break.

[13] Will we be able to read emails?

[14] Probably not.

[15] I can barely function.

[16] It's a big difference between working brain and vacation brain.

[17] Absolutely.

[18] Do you want to go first?

[19] Sure.

[20] I really like this email.

[21] The subject line is a small town Australian murder.

[22] Hello, my queens.

[23] I'm now up to my third listen -through of your entire episode catalog.

[24] And I follow sleep to your voices every single night.

[25] I've tried many other podcasts, including ones actually designed for sleep, but for some reason your voices are the only ones I can listen to.

[26] Is saying your voices put me to sleep an insult?

[27] Perhaps, certainly not intended.

[28] I don't mind.

[29] It's fine.

[30] If you ever make your way back to Australia for tour, here's hoping I just don't pass out right there on the audience as soon as you start chatting away.

[31] Some nights I forget to set the Spotify sleep timer and wake up at 2 a .m. to something ungodly morbid or drunk Karen whispering in my ear.

[32] Anyways, enough of my sleep schedule, I suppose.

[33] Here's a hometown story.

[34] I love it.

[35] That's how to do it.

[36] This is one of the great lines of any email that we've read.

[37] I'm from a small country town in Australia.

[38] Think the everyone knows everyone vibe of Pentaluma that Karen talks about.

[39] Pentaluma?

[40] Then divide the population by six.

[41] Truly, everyone knows everyone.

[42] In 2016, a man died in a house fire and news spread quickly, especially when it was revealed that he was murdered prior to the house being deliberately set a light.

[43] It was the first local murder in my 19 years of growing up there, and the town went mad.

[44] Streets were closed down as the police used drones to search for the murder weapon.

[45] It was like they finally got to use 19 years of murder -solving budget at once and went big.

[46] And everyone was pretty nervous.

[47] I was freshly graduated and enjoying the two months of fucking around rent -free at my parents before I moved off to college when this neighbor came over and asked to speak to my mom.

[48] We didn't have much to do with this neighbor, so this was, pretty odd, but I told her my mom was at work.

[49] She asked me to get my mom to come see her as soon as she got home.

[50] Of course, when my mom got home, I immediately forgot.

[51] Of course.

[52] It's just like you can't ask teenagers to do anything.

[53] No, no. The answers no, they can't say it for themselves.

[54] The answer is no. I immediately forgot and didn't mention their neighbor's visit because I'm a forgetful little fool.

[55] Your brain isn't done fucking forming yet.

[56] It's okay.

[57] There's all these weird chemicals and hormones in your brain, distracting you from everything.

[58] A few days passed and the murderer was caught.

[59] He'd killed another man with an axe over what the media described as a love triangle turned bloody.

[60] That afternoon, my mom and the neighbor chatted over the fence.

[61] So, turns out, our neighbor's husband was best friends with the man who was murdered and knew who the killer was right away.

[62] He'd called the killer, accusing him.

[63] And then in parentheses, it says, imagine that phone call.

[64] and then the killer threatened he would be next.

[65] The neighbor was alerting my mom in case, I don't know, we heard our neighbors being murdered in the coming days and to please call the police.

[66] Thankfully, things didn't end up that way, and old mate was caught and charged with life before he could go for our neighbors.

[67] Anyways, always remember to take a memo with love, grace, she, her.

[68] Whoa.

[69] Like he was on a killing spree if he hadn't gotten caught.

[70] I mean, I love that the neighbor was like, we need you guys to know about this.

[71] That's such a smart and important thing to do.

[72] Responsible.

[73] Do not leave a message of that importance with a teen.

[74] Never leave a message with a teenager.

[75] Never.

[76] That's the rule here.

[77] I think I have to tell you a very, very quick story.

[78] Okay.

[79] Because I have a story just like this.

[80] So when my dad was still in the firehouse, still working in the firehouse, one of his very good friends, Jack Conway, died of a heart of a heart of.

[81] attack in the firehouse.

[82] It was very sad and very awful.

[83] And so my dad's friend Woody called because my dad was already at the firehouse and Woody was at home.

[84] And they had to, when there's a funeral, you have to wear your service uniform, which firemen don't normally.

[85] It's always a t -shirt and some weird pants, but they have to go full fireman's uniform.

[86] And so Woody called and said, can you get your mom to get your dad's service uniform ready and please remember to tell her.

[87] Oh, no. To tell her.

[88] And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[89] And I was 16, so of course I don't remember.

[90] And the next morning, Woody shows up at the front door in his service uniform, which is also what they do when they inform the family that a fireman has died in a fire.

[91] So the second, my mom opened the door, she thinks it's Woody there to tell her that my dad is dead.

[92] Oh, my God.

[93] And he immediately knows that it was me not.

[94] So he goes, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's your daughter's fault.

[95] It's your daughter's fault.

[96] He told Karen yesterday.

[97] Oh, my God, your poor mom in that moment.

[98] It lasted a quarter of a second.

[99] Yeah.

[100] My mom was like, could you please think about other people where I was like, well, how about I get this backstory next time?

[101] Because I just thought it was a, like, almost like a laundry exchange.

[102] Yeah.

[103] Yeah.

[104] I and your brother's, you know, Boy Scout uniform.

[105] Like, okay.

[106] Yeah.

[107] Not put the, scare the living life out of your own mother.

[108] Okay.

[109] My first one's called Metal Detector Hometown.

[110] Hell yeah.

[111] Hey, are we doing Metal Detector stories?

[112] I think we are since you two talked about the detectorists on a recent episode.

[113] Yes, we always want to hear Metal Detector.

[114] metal detector stories.

[115] Metal detector stories are basically all treasure stories, right?

[116] Except when they're true crime stories and mine is.

[117] This is a really good one.

[118] Okay.

[119] Okay.

[120] In college, my very best friend in the whole world was murdered.

[121] We were 20 years old and we met at college orientation.

[122] It was one of those times when you meet someone and instantly recognize that they're going to be a good friend.

[123] Like love it for a sight, but for besties.

[124] We were classmates, roommates, and we promised to marry each other if we didn't find someone else to marry before we were 40.

[125] And I want to tell everyone that 40 is not that old.

[126] So please take a step back.

[127] Yeah, you got to lift up that cutoff rate.

[128] Yeah, it sounds old, I know.

[129] But anyway, Richard was a metal detector enthusiast and belonged to a metal detector club.

[130] He loved scouring old battlefields for historical artifacts, which he always turned over to the appropriate authorities and beaches.

[131] lakes, rivers, and oceans, he wasn't picky for treasure that he did not turn over to any authorities.

[132] He gave me lots of little treasures, a pretty little ring from the 1960s, old coins, and lots of little shiny things.

[133] The story of his murder is too hard for me to tell in detail here, but in a nutshell, he was back home in his small town in Oklahoma at his dad's house when some evil men decided he was too, quote, different, probably gay, and attacked and killed him with their knives.

[134] Afterwards, they threw the murder weapons into a lake.

[135] How do we know the murder weapons were in a lake?

[136] All caps.

[137] Because of the motherfucking metal detector club.

[138] When they heard about the murder and that the murder weapons hadn't been recovered, they jumped into action and set up a grid and metal detected the shit out of the area.

[139] They recovered the knives and some items stolen from my friend.

[140] The test on those items helped lead to the arrest and conviction of the two men who are serving life in prison for my friend.

[141] murder.

[142] I am forever grateful to that group of detectorists for stepping up and getting shit done that helped bring a little bit of closure to me and everyone who loved Richard.

[143] Love the podcast.

[144] Keep doing what you're doing.

[145] I'm thankful that you and people like you have normalized making mental health a priority.

[146] Stay sexy and always stay on the good side of detectorists.

[147] K. She, her.

[148] God, that's a beautiful story.

[149] Isn't that beautiful?

[150] And so horrible.

[151] And like this idea that when sometimes you give people an opportunity to do good with what they know and they jump to it, that's all the best parts of people being involved in being citizen sleuth.

[152] Those are, it's people always want to talk about the negative and like the lawsuits and all that shit, which is valid.

[153] But there's also so much good, so much good.

[154] Yeah, a lot of humanity in the face of there not being any at all.

[155] Yeah, yeah.

[156] It's beautiful.

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

[158] Absolutely.

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

[160] Exactly.

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

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

[163] That's right.

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

[165] Give your point of sales system a serious upgrade with Shopify.

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

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

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

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

[170] Connect with customers in line and online.

[171] Do retail right with Shopify.

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

[173] important note, that promo code is all lowercase.

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

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

[176] Goodbye.

[177] Well, we're going to take a little bit of a left -hand turn.

[178] Let's do it.

[179] Let's keep the spooky roller coaster stories going.

[180] And then it says lighthearted.

[181] Hello, all.

[182] I just listened to Minnesota 332 that had that truly stomach -churning story about a roller coaster attendant for getting to lock everyone.

[183] seed belts.

[184] Well, allow me to take you back in time to the now defunct amusement park, P &E Park, located in the heart of America, Omaha, Nebraska.

[185] Have you heard of this place?

[186] No. It sounds like it's the, what's it called, Action Park of the Midwest.

[187] In the Jersey, yeah.

[188] It was the early 80s, and my dad and his siblings were all in high school and working at P &E Park on the evenings and weekends to make a couple bucks.

[189] That year, the park decided to spice things up for Halloween by renaming all the rides to be more spooky and on theme.

[190] Think Killer Carousel and the like.

[191] The biggest ride, a roller coaster called Galaxy's Orbit, was oh so imaginatively renamed Coaster O Death.

[192] Stupid.

[193] My dad's older brother was pretty artsy, so he was even given creative liberties to put up a new temporary sign for the riot.

[194] His sign depicted a cartoony image of a crash roller coaster, engulfed, flames with bodies flying out of the seats.

[195] Jesus.

[196] Yeah.

[197] Seriously, where were the PR people to put a stop to this?

[198] It's like, it was the 80s.

[199] They didn't exist.

[200] No. It's almost like the spooky spirits just couldn't resist.

[201] One October night, as the coaster of death was click, click, clicking up the first big hill of the ride, a resounding crack was heard throughout the entire park.

[202] The massive chain that pulls the coaster up the initial hill had literally snapped and two.

[203] The coaster sped backwards down the hill and slammed back into its starting position.

[204] Thankfully, the coaster O'Deth did not live up to its name, though many people on board were later transported to the hospital to treat the effects of major whiplash.

[205] That absolutely blows.

[206] Traumatic.

[207] And what were my dad and his siblings up to amid this chaos, you ask?

[208] They were racing as fast as they could to rip down that godforsaken sign before the police arrived.

[209] You can always count on teenagers to do whatever it takes to save their own asses.

[210] Oh, my God.

[211] And also, back in the 80s, you could always rely on major corporations to put everything in the hands of a couple 18 -year -olds.

[212] Totally, totally.

[213] P &E Park closed in 1994, and I think the world is a safer place now.

[214] Stay sexy and don't tempt the spirits, Carly, she, her.

[215] Hilarious.

[216] Can we get more amusement park stories, please?

[217] We love them so much.

[218] Anywhere.

[219] Also, those ones are.

[220] nice when it isn't the coaster of death and you're like, oh, the worst case scenario, it's more just like awful.

[221] Yeah, look at how terrible this was.

[222] Yeah.

[223] Okay, this one's called your friendly neighborhood theater ghost.

[224] Hello, all, furry, and otherwise.

[225] Then it says, I will let you pick which column you fit into.

[226] I was driving to work today, listening to your hometowns, trying to think of a story worthy of writing when the faiths aligned.

[227] When you read the story of the forbidden theater props, it came to me. I have been a professional theater technician for grumble, grumble, 20 years or so.

[228] And theaters are notorious for being haunted.

[229] When I was still in college, I did a couple of calls at a seriously haunted theater.

[230] Calls, I guess that means plays.

[231] Yeah, you get called into it.

[232] I guess so.

[233] Like a...

[234] Oh, like a call sheet.

[235] Yeah.

[236] Okay.

[237] This theater was built on the location of a relocated cemetery.

[238] Yes, just like in the movie Poultergeist.

[239] No. The story goes that the cemetery flooded.

[240] and so they dug up everyone and moved them to a more stable location.

[241] One coffin could not be found, and that was the one belonging to the first person sentenced to hang for murder in the city.

[242] Who chose that?

[243] Why would you...

[244] Don't leave that one behind?

[245] Let's just leave it.

[246] Years later, a theater was built over the cemetery location, and apparently at least one spirit decided to stick around.

[247] The theater ghost is affectionately called Albert, and has his own reserved seat for every year, performance.

[248] It's Z -24 is a seat.

[249] Albert's antics are mostly just mischievous, random piano playing, lights turning on, the seat lowering as the show begins, and folding back up as it ends.

[250] That's creepy.

[251] That's creepy.

[252] Can you imagine if we're sitting in the seat next to it and you're just like, this is the ghost seat?

[253] Z23 is not having a good time during that musical of anti -mame or whatever.

[254] Fun stuff like that.

[255] But one story in particular is told by the techs who work backstage.

[256] When working at heights, the crew need to wear harnesses to protect them if they fall.

[257] One day, a crew member didn't clip in properly and went about their work on the catwalk, which is about 30 feet above the audience seating.

[258] Suddenly, they heard a voice they didn't recognize yelling at them to clip in.

[259] They turned around, saw the problem, and clip the harness in properly.

[260] Moments later, the light that they were working on fell, and they fell along with it.

[261] Oh, shit.

[262] Instead of falling, likely to their death, they were hanging safely from the harness they were just told to fix.

[263] None of the other crew working that day heard the voice.

[264] Oh, she.

[265] I don't know if it's just a story told to all the new crew to make them follow the safety rules, but I prefer to think it was Albert making amends for his crimes when he was alive.

[266] Stay sexy and don't sit in seat Z -24.

[267] It's Albert's Rebecca.

[268] Oh, I love that.

[269] I mean, to give the old murder or redemptive arc whose grave didn't get moves.

[270] Sure.

[271] We can do it that way.

[272] That's a new way.

[273] Sure.

[274] Okay.

[275] Here's my last one.

[276] I'm not going to read you the subject line, even though it's hilarious.

[277] Hello, everyone.

[278] I've written in before with fun intros and all the thank yous, but this is a short story, so I'm going to skip over all of that.

[279] And then in parentheses, it says, I guess if you're interested, you'll have to read my crime -related hometowns.

[280] And then there's a little winky emoji.

[281] I went to a very small high school, graduated with 17 people.

[282] That is small.

[283] That's very small.

[284] And during my prom, my junior year, we had a money booth.

[285] Yay.

[286] What a perfect solution to like, what are the odds you're going to go to prom with someone you actually like when you only graduate with 17 people.

[287] Totally.

[288] So how about we bring money into the equation?

[289] Oh, yeah.

[290] Love it.

[291] We were all obviously excited about this since only after.

[292] actual students could participate, not dates, and there couldn't have been more than 40 of us.

[293] This meant the winnings would be good.

[294] The girls were really smart with their strategies.

[295] Many of them used the outer layer of their skirts to catch bills like a big net.

[296] But me, well, I wasn't blessed with boobs until my late 20s, so I had a bit of an extra room in the chest area.

[297] I grabbed as many bills as I could and promptly shoved them down my top.

[298] Most of the money was in $1 bills to make the game last, but I counted out a total of $176.

[299] Holy shit.

[300] As soon as I got out and excused myself to the ladies' room.

[301] The best part, however, was when I got home that night, took off my dress, and a $20 bill fell out onto my lap.

[302] It was some of the most fun I've ever had and a great memory to bring up at parties.

[303] Big shout out to the people who made that possible, Reagan.

[304] Just a wonderful memory that Reagan's sharing with us.

[305] I love it.

[306] Thank you, Reagan.

[307] Just open up your prom dress and get that dollar, dollar bills, y 'all.

[308] As a small -titted girl, I appreciate your strategy.

[309] Like, I use that space for something.

[310] You know what I mean?

[311] It's like, it's not used for any.

[312] It doesn't hold up my dress.

[313] It's just like, let's use it for once in our lives.

[314] Let's use it as an advantage at the prom, God damn it.

[315] That's right.

[316] Okay.

[317] I'm not going to reach the last subject line.

[318] It's just called house cleaning.

[319] And it starts, you two are the comedians and an overly witty greeting feels like stepping on your toes.

[320] Nice.

[321] Plus, I don't want to accidentally use a phrase like fur babies and ruin your whole week.

[322] So high and mad love to all.

[323] Recently, you called out for housekeeping stories and I was all hell to the yeah.

[324] Here we go.

[325] I think it was my sophomore year in high school and my friend Elle and I were trying for some extra money when the opportunity arose to clean my older sisters.

[326] boyfriend's apartment.

[327] We felt so sophisticated, having just launched our own business and all.

[328] The plan, we'd take the train by ourselves to the city, clean, gallivant around, and he'd drop us back at the station when he finished work.

[329] The scene.

[330] His place was a, quote, bachelor in his late 20s gross, but we kept eyes on the prize.

[331] Cold hard cash.

[332] Oh, God, bachelor's in their 20s apartments.

[333] It's disgusting.

[334] Is there enough cash in the world?

[335] All I can picture is t -shirts used as pillowcases.

[336] Or just no pillowcases, no bottom sheet.

[337] That's the one that really is like something's very wrong.

[338] You don't have to live this way.

[339] Sheets are very basic.

[340] That's true.

[341] Okay.

[342] Nothing too remarkable as we tore through the kitchen, bath, and bedroom.

[343] As we met up to tackle the living room together, the first thing I noticed was the mess on the coffee table.

[344] Two big ashtrays overflowing with butts and gray powdery ash alongside of a mirror with a bunch of white powdery, quote, ash all over it.

[345] What a slob.

[346] I got right to it, tossed the butts, and grabbed the vacuum.

[347] Once all the powder was sucked up, I washed the ashtrays, and even windexed the mirror to a perfect shine.

[348] The mirror.

[349] We finished up, grabbed lunch, and hung out in town a while.

[350] We headed back to the apartment, helped ourselves at the beer in his fridge, and watched TV waiting for our payout and ride back to the station.

[351] A while later, he arrived home and remarked how, the place looked and smelled great.

[352] Yes, mission accomplished.

[353] And big tip coming our way.

[354] Then he looked over at the coffee table, my labor of love, quote, shit, where is it?

[355] What did you do with it?

[356] Please tell me what you did with it.

[357] With what?

[358] I asked, perplexed, with my fucking cocaine.

[359] Your what?

[360] I squealed.

[361] I vacuumed up everything on the table.

[362] It was really gross.

[363] Why would you leave that out?

[364] And you smoke too much.

[365] Visibly frustrated, he clamped his hands together behind his head, the jacket he was wearing open enough to reveal a glimpse of a holster.

[366] What?

[367] Elle and I may have been too young to discern tobacco ash from cocaine, but we'd watched enough episodes of Hunter to know a sidearm when we saw one.

[368] Hunter!

[369] A little scared and a lot mad.

[370] I piped up.

[371] We're 14.

[372] We didn't know what it was.

[373] Now give us our money and take us back to the train or I'm telling my sister, which he did.

[374] It would be at least a decade before I tried cocaine out for myself and Realized all the speedy thrills I'd robbed him of.

[375] Oh, well, fuck that guy.

[376] He was a dirt bag.

[377] Thanks for keeping me company on long and short commutes.

[378] I love your inclusivity and candor surrounding mental health issues.

[379] Stay sexy.

[380] And don't worry, Mom.

[381] I'm not a drug addict.

[382] I just did a few lines in my mid -20s.

[383] Kate, she, her, they them.

[384] Oh, shit.

[385] That guy, okay.

[386] Why did he leave it out or, like, say something?

[387] Yes.

[388] All on him.

[389] Yeah.

[390] Why bother having a gun in a whole?

[391] like a big bad gangster when you're not smart enough to wrap your shit up and hide it in the like desk drawer yeah for sure are you new what are you doing are you new to cocaine like what the fuck always hide cocaine you have to high cocaine when you're doing cocaine you don't want people to see it's expensive because then everyone starts asking you for some and then they want to like hang out it's addictive everybody wants your shit the second they do it it's one of the many drugs that you're like You start and you're like, this is the best ever.

[392] And then two hours later, you're like, this was the worst decision I've ever made in every way.

[393] Say no. Just say no, kids.

[394] Just say no. Just trust us.

[395] Trust us.

[396] Just trust us.

[397] Please send us your fucked up drug stories, please.

[398] And my favorite murder at Gmail.

[399] Thank you for listening.

[400] And stay sexy.

[401] And don't get murdered.

[402] Goodbye.

[403] Goodbye.

[404] Elvis, do you want a cookie?

[405] This is Kate Winkler -Dawson inviting you to the brand -new season of my true crime talk show.

[406] That's right, it's season three of Tenfold War Wicked Presents Wicked Words.

[407] I'm a true crime historian and author, and you may have heard my other podcasts on Exactly Right, 10fold War Wicked and Buried Bones, where I take an investigative look into history's most compelling true crime cases.

[408] On each new episode of Wicked Words, I interview other journalists, podcasters, and authors about the fascinating behind -the -scenes stories from their investigations in the world of true crime, many of which have never been shared before.

[409] These are the stories behind the stories.

[410] On our third season of Wicked Words, I talked to Jamie Gearing about her book, Mad Man in the Woods, Life Next Door to the Unabomber.

[411] a haunting account of her youth when she discovers the odd recluse living next door was Ted Kaczynski.

[412] And I journey to Veracruz, Mexico, along with Associated Press Mexico Bureau Chief Catherine Corcoran, author of the critically acclaimed book in the mouth of the wolf.

[413] Corcoran investigates the silencing of the free press and the murder of a legendary journalist on the verge of exposing government corruption.

[414] And I chat with author Amit Katwala about tremors in the blood, murder, obsession, and the birth of the lie detector.

[415] About a summer evening in 1922 when the San Francisco police turned to a new technology to solve a murder.

[416] He unravels the incredible truth behind the polygraph and he gives us a warning from history about what we believe to be true.

[417] So join me and a new special guest each week for the third season of Wicked Words as we dive into the story behind the stories.

[418] Tenfold More Wicked Presents Wicked Words Season 3 premieres on Monday, June 26th, on Exactly Right, with new episodes every Monday.

[419] Follow Wicked Words on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[420] You can listen to Wicked Words early and add free on Amazon Music.

[421] Download the Amazon Music app today.

[422] This has been an Exactly Right production.

[423] Our producer is Alejandra Keck.

[424] And this episode was engineered and mixed by Stephen Ray Morris.

[425] Stephen!

[426] Email your hometowns and fucking hooray's to my favorite murder at gmail .com.

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

[428] Goodbye.

[429] Follow My Favorite Murder on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen so you don't miss an episode.

[430] If you like what you hear, rate and review the show.

[431] Visit exactly rightstor .com to purchase my favorite murder merch.