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New Year, New Binge 2025, Episode 1
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Welcome, true-crime lovers, to New Year, New Binge 2025 Edition! What you’ll find included is your guide to an exciting lineup of podcasts that will make 2025 your best year for listening yet. New Years is a time for resolutions, and mine is simple: to share with you the most captivating, chilling, and downright binge-worthy true-crime podcasts. Whether you’re looking to uncover unsolved mysteries or dive into deep investigative storytelling, I’ve got you covered.
Be sure to follow all of the podcasts you enjoyed so you never miss a new episode. Podcasts are listed below in the order in which you will be introduced to them:
Episode 1:
Reverie True Crime https://linktr.ee/paigeelmore
Fresh Hell Podcast https://freshhellpodcast.com/
Malice https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/malice-a-true-crime-podcast/id1471251398
Women & Crime https://www.womenandcrimepodcast.com
True Crimecast https://linktr.ee/truecrimecast
The Dark Oak Podcast thedarkoak.com
Episode 2:
Coffee and Cases Podcast https://linktr.ee/coffeeandcases
Heart Starts Pounding https://www.heartstartspounding.com/
Mortal Musings Podcast https://linktr.ee/mortalmusingspodcast
True Crime Creepers https://linktr.ee/TrueCrimeCreepers
Private Dicks Podcast https://linktr.ee/privatedicks
Twisted Travel and True Crime https://linktr.ee/twistedtraveltruecrimepodcast
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction: New Year, New Binge Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome, true crime lovers, to the first episode of New Year, New Binge. I'm Allison, your guide to an exciting lineup of podcasts that will make 2025 your best year for listening yet.
Captivating True Crime Podcasts Overview
00:00:38
Speaker
It's a time for resolutions, and mine is simple, to share with you the most captivating, chilling, and downright binge-worthy True Crumb podcasts. Whether you're looking to uncover unsolved mysteries or dive into deep investigative storytelling, I've got you covered.
Reverie True Crime: Compassion and Advocacy
00:00:57
Speaker
First up, we have Reverie True Crime, a podcast that brings compassion to every case it covers. If your New Year's resolution includes empathy and understanding, this show is a must listen. It's a beautiful blend of storytelling and advocacy, honoring the voices that need to be heard most.
Alyssa, Steven, and Denise: A Troubled Family
00:01:17
Speaker
On January 29, 1998, 17-year-old Alyssa gave birth to their baby girl, Denise Plattle. Steven was abusive to Alyssa, but she thought when their baby was born, maybe he would change his ways.
00:01:34
Speaker
She soon realized that he would never even attempt to be a better man. Steven only grew more violent towards her and baby Denise. In an interview with Daily Mail TV, Alyssa said, quote, he would yell at the baby. He didn't bond with her. He didn't take care of her. He rarely held her. He would do things like cover her mouth when she would cry.
00:02:01
Speaker
He pinched her all over her body and turned her black and blue a couple of times. Eventually, he said he couldn't stand the screaming and crying anymore, so he started to place her into a cooler or an ice chest.
00:02:16
Speaker
Sometimes he would put a blanket there to keep a crack open. Sometimes he would shut it and wouldn't let me go back to open it. He would make me wait a few minutes until I could go back and I'd open the cooler and she would just be gasping for air, drenched in sweat, bruises all over her.
00:02:37
Speaker
I would just scoop her up and shut the bedroom door so he couldn't bother me, and I would rock her back and forth and tell her how sorry I was for the life she was having." end quote Alyssa grew more depressed and lived in fear for not only herself, but Denise too. She felt she couldn't tell anyone about the abuse that she and her baby were experiencing. Alyssa decided if she possibly couldn't save herself, she had to give her baby a chance to not only survive, but thrive. She gave Denise up for adoption when she was eight months old.
00:03:15
Speaker
Not long after, Denise was taken in by a sweet, loving couple, Kelly and Anthony Fusco, who changed Denise's name to Katie Rose Fusco. I will refer to her as Katie for the remainder of the episode.
00:03:32
Speaker
As Katie was growing up in a caring and loving environment in Wingdale, New York, Alyssa was stuck in what she called a house of horrors. Stephen and Alyssa married in 2006, and in 2007 had another daughter together.
00:03:50
Speaker
Alyssa thought they had grown up and were more ready this time. They eventually settled in Henrico, Virginia. Stephen couldn't keep a job, but Alyssa always worked more than one job at a time just to make ends meet. In 2012, they had another baby girl together. Alyssa wanted to escape with her two girls, but she said, quote,
00:04:15
Speaker
He threatened that if I was gone, he would blow his brains out with a gun, figure out a way to record it, and make sure the video got to me." end quote Stephen did own about five guns that he legally bought. Their two little girls were subjected to a lot of Stephen's violence and heated outbursts.
00:04:36
Speaker
They were witnessing their father throw furniture when he was mad, yelling, and punching holes in the walls. Alyssa recalled one violent incident of many when a stray cat found its way into their garage. Steven hated cats.
00:04:54
Speaker
What Alyssa described was horrific. Alyssa said, quote,
Denise's New Life and Family Dynamics
00:04:59
Speaker
he literally beat it to death with his own hands and maybe some tools, wrapped it in a trash bag and put it in the garage just because he didn't like cats, end quote. Not only did they live in such a cruel environment and see these things happen, they would suffer at the hands of Steven too. Alyssa told of one incident when one of their little girls, who was only three years old at the time, wet herself and Stephen lost it. Quote, he made her wait in the bathtub and her urine covered clothes for hours until I came home to clean her up. She was shaking and said, can I please come out now, mommy? He didn't care that she was up there crying by herself, three years old, trembling in a bathtub covered in urine.
00:05:54
Speaker
end quote The interview Alyssa did with Daily Mail TV was in April of 2018 and she said one of her daughters at that time was 12 years old and she's on the autism spectrum. Steven would often call her the R word to her face. Alyssa would verbally and physically fight him in an attempt to protect her girls and keep them away from him as best as she could.
00:06:23
Speaker
However, Alyssa said it always haunts her that she couldn't get them away sooner. While all of that was going on with the Plattle family, their biological daughter Katie was living a very good life with Kelly and Anthony. As a teenager attending Dover High School, she was an aspiring artist and loved to draw a comic strips.
00:06:47
Speaker
Her plans were to go off to college to chase her dreams of having a career in digital advertising. In 2015, Katie began to get curious about her biological parents and started to contact them through Facebook. At that time, Alyssa and Stephen were still together, but had been planning on going their separate ways.
00:07:11
Speaker
Katie and her parents talked back and forth for a while, and in the summer of 2016, Katie decided to meet her biological parents and two sisters who were ages 6 and 11 for the first time, leaving New York and taking off to see them in Henrico, Virginia.
00:07:31
Speaker
37-year-old Alyssa was overjoyed. 18 years had gone by and Alyssa always wanted to know all about Katie. She was blown away by how alike they were after they'd met. Alyssa could not have been happier and more supportive of Katie when she found out Katie wanted to move in with them. Kelly and Anthony Fusco were also very supportive of their daughter's decision.
00:07:59
Speaker
However, Katie wasn't there long before she started spending most of her time with her unemployed biological father Stephen, while Alyssa was working tirelessly every day as a supervisor for T-Mobile. Steven started making changes that Alyssa noticed. He started wearing skinny jeans and tight shirts. He shaved his beard and grew his hair out. Alyssa wasn't sure why his behavior was shifting at the time, but she was a little suspicious. She had a private conversation with Katie about how Steven had abused her as a baby and why she was put up for adoption.
00:08:42
Speaker
But Katie didn't appear to really care, according to Alyssa. In March of 2017, after being separated since November of 2016, Alyssa and Stephen finally divorced, and she was able to leave with her two daughters in tow.
00:09:00
Speaker
Although Katie, who was then referring to Alyssa and Steve as mom and dad, didn't want to leave. She and Steven seemed to have really bonded. Steven's choice of sleeping arrangements was a little odd, at least in hindsight, as he wouldn't sleep in his own bed or on the couch.
00:09:21
Speaker
He and Alyssa were sleeping in separate beds at the time, but he began sleeping in Katie's room on the floor beside her bed. Maybe Alyssa thought he was making up for lost time, innocently talking until they both fell asleep. Perhaps she didn't want to automatically assume the worst and accuse him of anything just because he was sleeping on the floor beside his daughter, who maybe he really missed.
00:09:50
Speaker
It could have been completely innocent. Unfortunately, Alyssa would find out there was nothing innocent about it. Two months later, in May of 2017, Alyssa read in one of her daughter's diaries that Stephen and
Legal Affairs: Incest and Investigation
00:10:07
Speaker
Katie were more than close. They were having an incestuous relationship. Alyssa found out through the diary that Katie was pregnant and her two daughters were told to refer to Katie as their stepmom and to stop calling her their sister. A part in the diary says, quote, My dad calls her baby. Also, his baby. My dad even says that she's my stepmom. WTF. He doesn't even want me to say or call her sister anymore. End quote.
00:10:43
Speaker
The little girl would also refer to her father Stephen as Satan in some of her writings, and she expressed that she was scared of him. Immediately, Alyssa called Steven, who told her yes, Katie was pregnant, and that it was actually none of Alyssa's business. He told her that if she told anyone about them being together or Katie being pregnant, that he and Katie would leave the state. From there, Alyssa did call the police to tell them everything, and she sought a protective order to keep Steven away from their other two daughters.
00:11:24
Speaker
Both of Alyssa's daughters told authorities that their dad was the father of Katie's baby, and that he even talked about marrying her. The two went on to tell them about Katie moving into Stephen's bedroom.
00:11:37
Speaker
and how they could no longer refer to Katie as their sister. They were only to refer to Katie as their stepmom. Also in the affidavit, one of the girls told authorities that their father told her not to tell anyone because her friends would make fun of her. An investigation began. On July 20th, 2017, Stephen and Katie got married and parked in Maryland.
00:12:06
Speaker
They were only able to wed because they lied on their marriage papers about being related. The only ones to attend the wedding were Stephen's mother Grace and Kelly and Anthony Fusco, who reportedly said there was nothing else they could do except be supportive of Katie.
00:12:26
Speaker
On September 1, 2017, Katie gave birth to her and her biological father's baby, who they named Bennett Carion Plattle. On January 31, 2018, warrants for 20-year-old Katie and 42-year-old Stephen's arrest were issued in Virginia. And from what I gather, this might be when they went to live in Wake County, North Carolina.
00:12:54
Speaker
Authorities were seeking DNA samples from Stephen, Katie, and Baby Bennett, who they assumed could be their son. Stephen and Katie were taken into custody in North Carolina on charges of incest with adult, adultery, and contributing to delinquency. They were held for extradition on $1 million dollars bond at the Wake County Detention Center in North Carolina.
00:13:22
Speaker
Stephen's lawyer's argument was that the two were in a consensual relationship, also stating that Stephen was head over heels in love with his daughter and that had outweighed the issue of them being biologically related. The lawyer also said that Stephen was going through issues in his marriage with Alyssa that were also a factor in bringing him and Katie closer together. However,
Fresh Hell: Historical and Modern Crimes
00:13:50
Speaker
The judge ruled that Steven and Katie were not allowed to contact each other, and baby Bennett was to be in the custody of Steven's mother, Grace. There were no orders that said Steven could not see his son. Henrico, Virginia prosecutor Stacey Davenport said, quote We believed them to be out of state, but we didn't know which state. Right now, we're focusing on getting them back here. We are in the process of setting up a date to go get them in North Carolina." and
00:14:25
Speaker
After the two were released on bond, Katie went back to New York to live with Kelly and Anthony, while Stephen was extradited back to Virginia. Todd Stone, a legal analyst for CBS 6 in Richmond, Virginia, stated, quote, This is a pretty unique set of facts, I would say. It's a Class 5 felony if that occurs in Virginia.
00:14:49
Speaker
And that means you can get up to 10 years in prison. A judge will have an opportunity to decide whether this statute makes this conduct illegal because of moral and religious ideas or science and increased chance of birth defects. What should the penalty really be for people who are both adults and consenting to a sexual relationship, even though it's illegal in Virginia and most other places?
00:15:19
Speaker
in When Katie and Stephen were in jail, Alyssa made a public statement, saying, if a child wants to meet their biological parents, they should be in therapy when they do reunite, because the feelings that might arise could get confused with something else. She also said that she believed Stephen manipulated and brainwashed Katie.
00:15:44
Speaker
Katie eventually called Steven after a short time of being in New York and told him that she no longer wanted to be with him. Like most abusers, Steven did not like not having control. So, in his mind, he had to regain it.
00:16:09
Speaker
Next, kick off 2025 with the fascinating stories from Fresh Hell podcast. This transatlantic duo dives into the weird, the wonderful, and the wicked, blending historical intrigue with modern day crimes. If your New Year's resolution is to learn something new with every episode, this podcast has you covered.
00:16:31
Speaker
Hi, I'm Annie from Snowy New England in the USA. And I'm Johanna from Austria, and together with the hosts of Fresh Help Podcast, your favorite international podcast. We have never met in real life, but every Friday we bring to you another tale of murder, mystery and a macabre throughout history.
00:16:52
Speaker
lots of history. We even won a podcast award for the best history podcast in 2022. So, if you're interested in everything dark in the history of mankind, and if you're interested in pets, then go to your favorite podcast app and look for Threshold Podcast to subscribe.
00:17:10
Speaker
We are always thrilled whenever we're asked to participate in one of these collaborations. And as always, we would love to present you a shorter, more condensed version of one of the cases we discussed during the five years now that we have been doing this podcast. So if you enjoy what you hear in this segment, please go and listen to the longer version of the Lawson family murders.
00:17:35
Speaker
That's episode 91, and you'll also find 260 episodes in our backlog. So plenty of stuff to binge listen to. This case is as chilling as it is tragic, and we're giving you fair warning. This one is rough. It's a familicide, which means we're talking about a man who killed his entire family. And yes, it happened on Christmas Day.
00:18:00
Speaker
So it all happened on 25th December 1929 in Germanton, North Carolina. And this case has haunted the area for nearly a century. It's the story of Charles Lawson, his wife Fanny and their seven children.
00:18:16
Speaker
Charlie Lawson was born in 1886 in Lawsonville, North Carolina, a small farming community likely named after his family. In 1911 he married Fanny Manring, a kind and pretty 19 year old. They started their family right away welcoming the firstborn, Marie in 1912, followed by James Arthur or Buck, and then William and Carrie. They were sharecroppers, which means they didn't own the land that they farmed.
00:18:45
Speaker
Instead, they gave a percentage of their harvest to the landowner. It wasn't an easy life, but they managed. Sadly, in 1920, their son William died of pneumonia at just six years old.
00:18:59
Speaker
a devastating loss, but they kept going. Over the years, the family grew. By 1927, they'd saved enough to buy a small farm in Germanton, about 20 miles away. It was 100 acres, with fertile fields, but an ancient run-down cabin.
00:19:18
Speaker
They moved in with their six children and two dogs, Sam and Queen. It was a big step up for the family, at least on paper. Shortly after the move, Charlie suffered a head injury. While digging a drainage ditch, he accidentally hit himself with a pickaxe.
00:19:35
Speaker
He recovered physically, but people noticed changes in his behavior. He became irritable, prone to outbursts and complained of headaches. Some neighbors said he was the same old Charlie, others thought the injury or something else had unbalanced him.
00:19:53
Speaker
Fanny noticed too. She confided to friends that he seemed troubled but wouldn't talk to her about it. The arguments at home got louder and more frequent, and one day, during an argument, Charlie tried to whip his eldest son Arthur. But Arthur, now a teenager and stronger than his father, grabbed the whip and refused to back down. He even started sleeping in his clothes, ready to jump up if his father's temper flared in the middle of the night. In December 1929, two weeks before Christmas,
00:20:22
Speaker
Charlie surprised his family by taking them into Winston-Salem. This was unusual. that They were hard-working farmers and rarely had time for such trips. He bought everyone new clothes and had a professional family portrait taken. If you've seen the photo, then you know how haunting it is.
00:20:43
Speaker
They're dressed in their Sunday best, but there really is something eerie about it. And looking back now, it feels like a farewell, doesn't it? And it was an expensive outing for a farming family during the Great Depression. This kind of extravaganza was not normal. It's one of those moments that, in hindsight, feels like a warning. Christmas Day started like any other. Fanny prepared breakfast while Charlie did chores.
00:21:13
Speaker
Marie, their eldest daughter, baked a Christmas cake decorated with raisins, which were also in the cake. Raisins were a common ingredient for cakes from the Civil War onward, as they gave sweetness to a dessert when sugar was too rare or too expensive. The younger children, Carrie and Maybelle, got ready to visit relatives. Arthur went into town to buy ammunition for target practice. But Charlie had other plans. Terrible plans.
00:21:44
Speaker
Armed with a rifle and two shotguns, he waited near the barn. As Carrie and Maybelle walked by, he ambushed them. He shot Carrie first, then Maybelle, but when they didn't die immediately, he bludgeoned his daughters to death with a piece of wood. They were twelve and seven years old.
00:22:06
Speaker
He dragged their bodies into the barn, crossed their arms over their chests, and placed stones under their heads. It's such a grotesque mix of brutality and tenderness. it's This is a hard one for us to wrap our heads around.
00:22:22
Speaker
Charlie then returned to the house. His wife, Fanny, was on the porch gathering firewood. He shot her in the chest, killing her instantly. Their eldest daughter, Marie, hearing the gunshots, screamed. but She had no chance to escape. He shot her too, after a struggle. Next were the youngest, four-year-old James, two-year-old Raymond and baby Mary Lou.
00:22:45
Speaker
Charlie beat him to death with the butt of his gun. Before leaving, he placed pillows under their heads, which was a grim echo of the stones he used for Carrie and Mabel. A neighbor's boy who'd been visiting ran for help. And word spread quickly, but no one dared approach the house, unsure if the killer was still inside. Charlie fled to a nearby pine thicket with his dogs, Sam and Queen. For hours, he paced in circles, leaving a trail in the snow.
00:23:14
Speaker
At some point, he scribbled a note that read, quote, troubles can cause. But he didn't finish it. Around 5pm, a single gunshot rang out. Charlie had taken his own life. When neighbors found him, the dogs were by his side unharmed.
00:23:34
Speaker
They also found $60 in cash, equivalent to around $900 today. And the unfinished note. Authorities arrived to a blood-soaked house. The crime scene was so horrific that neighbors began guarding it, worried about onlookers trampling through. Fanny, Marie, and the children were found where they'd fallen. Carrie and Maybelle were brought in from the barn.
00:24:00
Speaker
Two days later the family was buried in a single grave at the broader cemetery. Thousands attended the funeral and yes, Charlie was buried with the family he murdered. It's unsettling, isn't it? And it gets worse. Charlie's brother turned the house into a tourist attraction. People paid 25 cents to see the crime scene.
00:24:23
Speaker
including the bloodstains and Marie's raisin cake. They even started to steal raisins from it, so it was placed under glass. This fact still lives in our heads rent free. Arthur Lawson, the only survivor, was away from the farm that day and only 19 years old when his family was murdered. He carried the weight of this tragedy for the rest of his life. He married and had children, but the trauma never left him.
00:24:51
Speaker
In 1945, he died in a truck accident at just 32 years old, and he's buried near his family. It's just heartbreaking. Arthur had no chance to heal, PTSD was not recognized back then, and there was just no support for survivors of these kind of horrific events.
00:25:11
Speaker
The big question remains, why? Some blame Charlie's head injury, suggesting it caused a mental breakdown. Others think he had an undiagnosed mental illness. But there's another, darker theory. Because some believe Charlie was abusing Marie and that she was pregnant with his child. This theory is based on rumors and remains unproven.
00:25:34
Speaker
But it adds another layer of horror to an already horrific story. The loss in family murders remain one of the most disturbing crimes in American history. It is a story of loss, trauma, and unanswered questions. It's a sober reminder that people being fascinated by true crime is really nothing new.
00:25:55
Speaker
The media acts sometimes like this is some sort of new fad, but Hellions know this is sort of a natural thing. But we do it respectfully, because Hellions would never steal raisins.
00:26:08
Speaker
No, we would never. The audacity. Who are these people? Who can say? They aren't us. The most important thing to us is, of course, the victims. Fanny and her children, whose lives were stolen that Christmas day. And if there's one takeaway, it's that we should never stop advocating for mental health awareness and support. Tragedies like this remind us how vital it is to seek help before it's too late.
00:26:36
Speaker
We hope this episode, though heartbreaking, helps honor the memory of the victims. And just remember, as Winston Churchill once famously said, if you're going through hell, keep going, choose, bye.
00:26:57
Speaker
As we step into the new year, many of us reflect on the past, the moments that shaped us, the lessons we've learned, and the stories that linger.
Malice: Psychological Exploration of Crime
00:27:06
Speaker
Malice does just that, but with a focus on crime. This podcast takes you beyond the surface of each case, diving into the psychology and motivations behind malicious acts. It's not just about the what and the how of the crime, it's about the why.
00:27:23
Speaker
If your New Year's resolution is to seek deeper understanding and to look beyond the headlines, Malice is the perfect addition to your playlist. It's thought-provoking, empathetic, and challenges us to consider the complexities of human nature.
00:27:39
Speaker
Predators, their acts are evil. We call them monsters. We say no human could perpetrate the crimes they have committed. But in truth, only human beings execute these horrific acts. And if you're like me, you want to know why. I'm Ariel Cooksey, and this is Malice.
00:28:42
Speaker
desecration of corpse and graphic depictions of homicide if these issues may be triggering please practice self-care and do not proceed prolo Something didn't feel right. She was careful to be sure, but this wasn't for her. It was for her roommate. She loved her roommate, and her roommate loved him. So, of course, she wanted to help. A trial run, he told her, for the big surprise. He wanted everything to be perfect. She wanted that too. And so she swallowed her misgivings and removed her glasses, allowing him to place the blindfold over her eyes. The bath towel, actually.
00:29:23
Speaker
That was a little weird, sure, but this was a spur-of-the-moment idea, so she was sure he'd smooth out that detail. It would have been awkward with any anyone, she reasoned. It wasn't just him. He hadn't given her any reason to feel uncomfortable, really. She trusted him. But then there was the duct tape over her mouth. That's not... Yeah, something didn't feel right.
00:29:48
Speaker
He'd been dating her 35-year-old roommate Beth exclusively for about a month, though the pair had first hit it off six months back. Beth was smitten. A single mother, she was blown away by his grand showings of affection. He would treat both Beth and Suzanne to shopping sprees, and would hire limos to take them to and from their evenings out. At bars and restaurants, he always footed the bill, buying round after round for his adoring entourage.
00:30:13
Speaker
He was always surrounded by friends and fawning women. He just had a magnetism about him, but his eyes were only for Beth. The roommates had first encountered him at a local watering hole called Shipwrecks, where the 42-year-old man was a regular. The renegade cowboy who played by his own rules. His persona was larger than life and earned him the nickname, Wild Bill Cody. Almost always in his signature black cowboy hat, black shirt, and tight blue jeans,
00:30:42
Speaker
He'd top off the unsung with a black full-length duster and cowboy boots. He loved the impact he made on the regulars, and Suzanne and Beth began to find themselves at shipwrecks more often to be in his company. Eventually, they would accompany him to other local haunts where he would throw money around with abandon. Money, he told them, was something he had plenty of.
00:31:04
Speaker
He had a mansion in Vegas, he told them, and another in Denver where he hung his hat. Denver was home. Now, this was the late 90s, so obviously he couldn't pull up his Insta and show off the homes. But fully committed to his braggadocious behavior, he had put together a three-ring binder to show off photos of the properties. He actually carried this thing with him. Totally normal. He regaled his audience with tales of his times as a bounty hunter,
00:31:33
Speaker
and even alluded to his time working as a hitman for the mafia, an organization he referred to as the family. While the stories were outrageous, he was never short on cash and seemed to have the bona fides ready to prove it. While out at an upscale restaurant in early 1998 for Suzanne's birthday, Wild Bill introduced the two women to his friend Angie.
00:31:55
Speaker
Suzanne had suspicions the two were more than just friendly, but Beth didn't think so. Perhaps it was wishful thinking as she had begun to fall for the charismatic cowboy. A few days later, Beth and Wild Bill tapped on Suzanne's bedroom door, telling her they had a birthday gift for her. Upon entering the room, Wild Bill withdrew his wallet and began to rain $100 bills down onto Suzanne's bed.
00:32:19
Speaker
I don't know about you, but despite the generosity of such a gift, I would be extremely uncomfortable with this." And Suzanne was too. She didn't know him exceptionally well, and this was pretty damn extravagant. Still, her roommate and wild Bill were growing closer, and a month before Suzanne found herself standing in a strange garage blindfolded, he confided in her about a big surprise he was planning for Beth.
00:32:45
Speaker
Beth struggled financially as a single mother and Wild Bill told Suzanne he wanted to help ease the burden on her. He had decided to buy her a home and a car, but he swore Suzanne to secrecy.
00:32:58
Speaker
But that wasn't all. Beth was not the only one for whom he was ready to be a benefactor. In the same breath he told her of the surprise for Beth, he offered her a position with his mortgage company based in Las Vegas. Suzanne had no experience in the type of work she was being offered, but the job sounded like a dream come true. The pay was unbelievable, and as a 20-year-old woman, the prospect of traveling between Denver and Vegas sounded pretty great.
00:33:26
Speaker
All she had to do was meet with his two Vegas attorneys and they'd be set. He told her he would make arrangements for the two of them to fly out just after the 4th of July holiday. So as an aside here, I am screaming inside. Red flag after red flag after red flag. This guy who is dating your roommate wants you to go out of town overnight with him? That's not a no, that's a f*** no. But if we've learned anything, it's that human beings can talk themselves into anything. From where Suzanne is standing, if this guy is legit, she just won the lottery.
00:34:04
Speaker
Wild Bill arrived at Beth and Suzanne's apartment on the evening of July 5th to take Suzanne to the airport. Suzanne had explicitly chosen a peach blouse and navy slacks to drive home the point that this was nothing more than a business excursion. Still, with plenty of time until the flight, he talked her into going and grabbing a drink at a local bar called Fuggly's.
00:34:25
Speaker
It was during this interlude that he mentioned the remodeling on Beth's town home would be completed in only a few days. Disappointingly, he would still be out of town when it was time to reveal the surprise, but it occurred to him that Suzanne would be the perfect stand-in to unveil the home to Beth. When Suzanne agreed, Wild Bill was so excited that as they drove to the airport, he asked if they could make a quick pit stop to the property so he could show Suzanne.
00:34:52
Speaker
Then he got the bright idea that they could do a dry run of the surprise. He could walk her through how he wanted things for Beth, so when Suzanne took his place, she could handle things just so. Sure, she thought. What's the harm?
00:35:07
Speaker
He turned into the home on West Shinago Drive in the Lakeview Community just northwest of Denver, opening the garage as he pulled into the driveway. Once the car was inside the garage, the door was immediately shut. Once out of the vehicle, he asked to blindfold her, as it was how he envisioned the surprise for Beth. Then came the bath towel, and then the duct tape he applied gently to her mouth.
00:35:32
Speaker
The two entered the property but had to stop quickly to catch Wild Bill's cat who had a tendency to dart out the door. Once he'd retrieved the feline, he let Suzanne pet her for a few moments before guiding her down a short hallway. He told her they were in the living room and led her to a spot where he told her to have a seat. She expected a chair but found herself very near to the floor. It wasn't a chair. It was a mattress. All she could see from under her blindfold was a bare plywood floor.
00:36:02
Speaker
Any rationalizations she'd been making to herself at this point flew out the window. She was alone on a mattress in the middle of a living room, unable to see nor speak in an unfinished home with a man she realized she barely knew. It was just as the clarity of her situation washed over her that he directed her to lie down on the mattress spread equal. He had installed four large eyebolts at the corners of the mattress with nylon rope threaded through.
00:36:28
Speaker
Her dares began to flow, but were met with no feelings of empathy. Quote, You haven't seen me cold and mean, and you don't want to. He tied her to the eyebolts as the tears streamed from her eyes.
00:36:42
Speaker
She flinched as she felt the icy blade against her neck, holding her breath as he unbuttoned her blouse. He cut her bra from her body using the knife before slicing off her dress pants and underwear. When he was finished, he pulled up a beaten white patio chair next to the mattress and, cigarette in hand, asked her nonchalantly, quote, have you ever seen a human skull in real life?
00:37:08
Speaker
There was once more movement in the room before she sensed him crouch down next to her. As he removed the towel from her head, her eyes came to rest on an ice cream bar wrapper in his hands. From it, he withdrew a battered human skull covered in blood with a chunk of long blonde hair clinging, settling the macabre artifact on her bare stomach, where he left it for minutes that felt like hours. When he was satisfied with her horror, he casually picked it up and tossed it onto a heap of garbage bags in the room.
00:37:42
Speaker
Suzanne began to take in her surroundings. She was in a large living and dining room covered in dirty dishes and spoiled food. But your paper covered all the windows, even those on the doors. Unfinished remodeling projects pockmarked the space. A side table was placed next to the mattress, crowned with an overflowing ashtray. A fireplace across the room featured a large bundle similar to the trash bag heap, but wrapped in a blanket.
00:38:10
Speaker
and she could tell the pervasive sickly sweet odor wasn't from the rotting food. Her greatest fears were confirmed when he reached under the blanket and pulled out a woman's leg, still wearing a sock and shoe.
00:38:25
Speaker
As he strode back to the mattress, he kicked the trash bag heap, as if indicating it was more of the same. As he stood over her, he finally told her he was going to go get a friend, but he would be right back. She was left with a simple order not to try to escape or cause trouble, as his associates upstairs wouldn't hesitate to rape and kill her. He recovered her mouth with duct tape, turned on a country music television station,
00:38:52
Speaker
threw a blanket over her and took off. Within two commercial breaks, she once more heard the garage door open. As the steps neared, Suzanne heard Wild Bill's voice as he spoke to someone. It wasn't until the pair entered the room that Suzanne's eyes focused on Angie. Angie was a 28-year-old dental assistant who waited tables at fuglies on the side and had just recently split from her husband. When she'd met Wild Bill, she was struggling to make ends meet.
00:39:23
Speaker
He had quickly become her savior. Not only would he lavish her with gifts and pay all the bills, he would even babysit her two young children upon whom he doted when he wasn't doling out a hundred dollars a pop to babysitters when he and Angie would go out. He went so far as to cover her attorney's fees during her divorce, and then he promised her a house near her mother.
00:39:47
Speaker
He had told Angie of his connection with the mob, with whom he still had ties, but assured her he only carried out hits on men who really deserved it. No innocence. She was completely clueless that he had been dating Beth at the same time, but still there had been signs Al was not right with the pair. He told her he couldn't disclose where he lived for her own safety, and some of his stories seemed beyond the plausible.
00:40:12
Speaker
And divorce is not a simple thing. She had been in touch with her estranged husband with whom talks were on the table about reconciling. She had gone to a place where she was ready to cut ties when she got a call that would change her life. Wild Bill told her over the phone on that fateful 4th of July that he had bought her a house, a sweet little town home just down the street from her mother's.
00:40:38
Speaker
As he spoke, he filled her head with the details of the place, fully furnished and newly renovated, and asked if she would like to see it. But he told her it wasn't quite ready to move into, and she couldn't tell anyone about it until the time was right. Angie, a woman after my own heart, immediately told her sister.
00:40:58
Speaker
Angie and Wild Bill set a date to meet at a bar called Fiddlesticks the following day, from which he followed Angie home in his truck to drop off her car. Red flag on the play? Why didn't he just pick her up from home? But I digress. He drove her past her mother's house to the townhome, entered the garage, and as before with Suzanne, immediately closed it behind them. Once out of the vehicle, he blindfolded her.
00:41:25
Speaker
but he didn't guide Angie to the mattress as he'd done with Suzanne. He had placed a dining room chair in the middle of the floor facing the mattress, helped her to be seated, then convinced her to let him bind her arms and ankles to the chair with duct tape, chatting with her about her day. When he had done so, he told her to try to get out of the bindings, which she did, so he re-fastened them tighter.
00:41:48
Speaker
When he was satisfied she couldn't move, he gently removed the blindfold from her eyes and watched as she began to take in the scene. A grin crept over his face, and he purred, quote, Welcome to my mortuary. The nightmare was just beginning. As always, thank you so much for your support and encouragement. It means the world to me.
00:42:14
Speaker
For ad-free episodes and bonus content, check out Patreon dot.com slash MalicePod for only $1 a month. I hope you'll join me for part two, where we delve further into the depravity of Wild Bill. But until then, I'm Ariel Cooksey, this is Malice.
Women in Crime: Female Perspectives
00:42:50
Speaker
The new year is a time for fresh perspectives and amplifying voices that need to be heard, which is exactly what Women in Crime delivers. This podcast dives into the stories of women whose lives have intersected with crime, whether as victims, survivors, or perpetrators. Hosted by expert criminologists, Women in Crime explores the social, psychological, and systemic factors at play in each case.
00:43:17
Speaker
If your New Year's resolution is to seek justice, understand untold stories, and advocate for change, this podcast is for you. Hi listeners, my name is Megan and my co-host Amy and I are both criminologists who host the podcast, Women in Crime. Each week we cover a female-focused crime, pairing the story with the science to explain where it all went wrong. Today we offer this excerpt from one of our episodes which we hope you'll enjoy. And if you'd like to learn why crime is different for women, please check out our podcast, Women in Crime.
00:43:56
Speaker
On a quiet street in the California suburb of Paris, a neighbor surveillance camera caught a teenage girl exiting the window of her house around 549 a.m. on January 14th, 2018. The camera shows the girl running quickly down the driveway of her home and then running down the street.
00:44:15
Speaker
This teenager was 17-year-old Jordan Turpin. Though from the footage, Amy, she looks much younger. Jordan had a cell phone with her and she quickly used it, calling 911. But she had trouble speaking, her voice was shaking, and the operator could tell that she was clearly terrified.
00:44:32
Speaker
Now, Jordan told the operator her home address based off a slip of paper she'd found in her backpack. It was something she had grabbed on her way out of her window. But it turned out that it wasn't the full address, it was just a zip code. And when the operator asked Jordan why she didn't know her home address, Jordan replied it was because she'd never been allowed outside of the home. Wow.
00:44:56
Speaker
She went on to shakily explain that she was running away because she and her 12 siblings had, quote, abusing parents. So abusive parents is what she meant, but I don't think she knew the exact terminology. you The 911 operator skillfully kept Jordan talking while she waited for the police to respond, getting as much information as she could. So here's what Jordan revealed. She told the operator that her parents hit her and her siblings on a regular basis, pulled their hair out, choked them, and shockingly, that two of her sisters were currently chained up in the house right now. In fact, she said they were chained to their beds. What was the age range of these children? They ranged from very young, I think, about three or four years old, all the way up to adult children of ah in their late 20s. Okay.
00:45:45
Speaker
Now as the operator kept Jordan on the line police were able to track her by the cell phone and at the direction of the 911 operator Jordan stood under a stop sign so that she would be visible to the police. Jordan told the operator that she was afraid her parents would see her outside.
00:46:01
Speaker
But the operator kept her talking, getting the names and ages of her 12 siblings and other information until the police arrived. It was only a couple of minutes, too, before a deputy pulled up. But Jordan had never spoken with a stranger before, let alone a police officer, or Amy. And while she tried to explain how much danger she and her siblings were in, her vocabulary was very limited. And the deputy had a hard time making sense of her story at first.
00:46:28
Speaker
But Jordan cleverly had pictures of her situation on this cell phone that she had. Now it was unclear at this time just so you know how she had this cell phone. I was just going to ask if her yeah yeah if her parents were so abusive it's odd to me that you would have a cell phone.
00:46:44
Speaker
It's not actually her cell phone. okay And it was the only cell phone I believe in distribution in their house. And I believe it was one of the adult children's phones that was either discarded by a parent or this child got a hold of secretly and then Jordan got a hold of it. So the children did not have cell phones. This was one phone. It was a rarity.
00:47:02
Speaker
and i believe also just so you know this was a flip phone so an older phone but what jordan had on this phone and what she showed the deputies were pictures of her two sisters chained up just as she said filthy dirty and i mean really filthy amy obviously malnourished and so pale like they hadn't seen sunlight in years It was very disturbing. And you can see this whole thing on film if anyone would like to see the surveillance footage is posted online and is publicly available. An hour and a half later, at about 7.20 AM, after obtaining a lot of information from Jordan, the deputy, along with some backup officers, went up to the door of Jordan's house to conduct a welfare check. But they had no idea what they were about to find.
00:47:50
Speaker
Before we get to the search, I just want to point out that Paris, California is quite a lovely suburb. It's certainly not the place you'd expect to find what was behind this front door, but then again, awful crimes can happen anywhere. And these deputies were about to find that out as they knocked on the front door of the Turpin House.
00:48:10
Speaker
Now, it was early in the morning, as I said, about 7.20 a.m. It took two minutes for David and Louise Turpin seemingly very surprised to open the door. They told the officers that they had been in bed sleeping, though, as it was early, and demanded to know what this was all about. And when the deputy said that they had been sent to conduct a welfare check, the Turpins reluctantly allowed the officers in.
00:48:33
Speaker
As the officers came through the door, you can also see all of this, by the way, as they came through the door, Louise acted very nervous, asking what kind of call the officers received to bring them to the home for a welfare check. The deputies didn't quite answer, they kept it loose. They said they received a call from a young female that the children might be in some danger in the home.
00:48:56
Speaker
And I'll tell you that they moved through a scene that was absolutely horrifying. Their body cameras documenting all of what I'm about to describe. The house was a hoard with clutter, decaying food and trash that filled every room from top to bottom. So there was no floor space whatsoever, no counter space, nothing.
00:49:14
Speaker
And there were dirty children sitting in this mess. The windows were all closed and it was hot, which intensified the smell of decaying food and trash. They did not have air conditioning working. Can you imagine? No. Yeah. yeah As they searched the bedrooms, the deputies found two frail and filthy girls with bruises all over their arms.
00:49:36
Speaker
These were the girls from Jordan's photos. And although they were not in the chains as her photo showed, the bruises on their arms clearly matched where the chains were in the photos and indicated that they had been chained just prior to the arrival. Where were the parents meanwhile? Have they been detained at this point? Nope. They are walking through the home kind of with the deputies. However, I will say the deputies were very skilled. One of them would walk through and the other kind of held the parents in like the front room, keeping them separated from the children. OK.
00:50:05
Speaker
A second bedroom revealed several more badly emaciated and dirty children. They were very, very dirty. In a third bedroom, deputies found three boys, one of whom was actually shackled to his bed by wrists and ankles. And those chains that were probably on the girls, the deputies found them in the closets as well, likely being hidden there.
00:50:28
Speaker
At this point, the deputies had seen enough, so they were detaining them in one room at first, but they placed Louise and David Turpin under arrest for child endangerment. The children were literally freed from the chains that shackled them, and emergency services immediately brought them to the hospital to tend to their injuries and severe malnourishment. Just so you know, some of the children couldn't even walk. They were so badly malnourished, their bones hadn't developed properly.
00:50:54
Speaker
At the hospital will be the first time where these children received basic needs. They discussed getting food, getting macaroni and cheese. They were so excited. They were super excited to get baths and clean clothes. According to Jordan Turpin and some of her other siblings, they were only allowed to bathe once or twice a year. I have so many questions, but I'm assuming ah we'll get to a lot more information. So I'm trying to just let you tell the story.
00:51:18
Speaker
In fact, Amy, just so you know, there was a question about why they were shackled. The deputies had asked Jordan if he knew, and she said it was punishment because they stole. And he asks what they had stolen, and she said, well, food, but they were starving. This was punishment for eating. So who was this family and how had this happened? Why would parents chain their own children up in their beds?
00:51:47
Speaker
We hope that you enjoyed this clip of the Jordan Turpin episode. If you like what you heard, we invite you to follow Women and Crime wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can hear the rest of Jordan's story in episode 176, which aired on April 23rd, 2024. Thank you again from Women and Crime.
True Crime Cast: Notorious and Lesser-known Stories
00:52:14
Speaker
As we start a brand new year, it's the perfect time to dive into podcasts that not only entertain, but inform. True Crime Cast does just that. A dynamic duo breaking down some of the most captivating true crime cases with meticulous research and engaging storytelling. Whether it's notorious crimes you thought you knew, or under the radar cases you've never heard of, True Crime Cast delivers every episode with clarity and care.
00:52:43
Speaker
If your New Year's resolution is to expand your understanding of true crime and get lost in expertly crafted stories, this podcast will be your go-to for 2025. Hey, Jamie and John from true crime cast here. John say hi. Hello folks. There's John. Yeah. We, uh, have been going for about seven years. We have a huge backlog of content. We release new full episodes every Tuesday, and then we do shorter episodes. We call true crime to go on Wednesdays and Fridays. So you can find us wherever you find your favorite podcasts. And we'd love to have you join our group of listeners and, uh, enjoy the ride.
00:53:24
Speaker
being honest i've been familiar with this for a long time and i honestly just didn't think there was enough to make up an episode but i was i was wrong there's a lot out there publicly about this person they're from my hometown and i just assumed it was a local story she's a local legend and we will certainly dive into her case but Have you met this person? Like, do you remember any interactions with this person? That's a great question. Do we want to get started and we can just fill that in? I'll fill that in a little later, but I will say that this person really, I think hit national media mostly because of justified the TV show of U.S. Marshall Rayland Givens played by Timothy Oliphant. And there was a character named Mags Bennett.
00:54:10
Speaker
that I tell you what was very much based on Maggie Bailey, who we're talking about here today. Maggie Bailey was one of eight children. She lived on pine mountain just north of the Virginia Kentucky border. Pine mountain is probably the, I don't know, the best mountain in the world. It is one of the most beautiful mountains. It it stretches from I mean, just almost from top to bottom across the entire country, right? well I mean, you and I both grew up on Pine Mountain and lived a state away. So yeah, absolutely. It is absolutely beautiful. She was born in 1904 and was your typical mountain woman. I mean, I hope that listeners from all over the world can understand what we say or what we mean when I say that. I mean, mountain women,
00:55:00
Speaker
are a different breed. This would be in the time where you didn't have indoor plumbing. I would imagine she did not see an indoor toilet until she was older in life, probably in her teens or twenties at the minimum. Yeah. She was probably one of the toughest people you could ever run across.
00:55:17
Speaker
because mountain people are different. they I mean, and and she was as tough as it comes and we'll get into, I'll read some quotes, but just a super loving individual, a caretaker, certainly. ah Yeah. Anything we say here today, this, their crimes committed. This is a crime story. That's what makes it interesting.
00:55:36
Speaker
But as we continue to research this, we found that there's nothing but love and respect for this person. So anything we say is in that direction. The family that she grew up with was poor and the soil on the family land was rocky and not meant for a lot of farming.
00:55:51
Speaker
One of the only ways to make money in the mountains was to make some moonshine from corn. So, uh, they call it moonshine, they mountain lightning, whatever you want to call it. It's a way to make money and to provide for your family. Maggie's father was able to harvest corn and make moonshine to take care of his family. So she, uh, what we're about to tell you, just know she came by and honest.
00:56:16
Speaker
Again, this is in Harlan County, Kentucky. Again, that's where I grew up, and it's, ah I don't know, a community founded on coal mining, so it's not it's not farmland. Are there some farms there that do well? Absolutely, but it's not necessarily farmland, especially when you're up on the mountain. As a young girl, Maggie would spend her nights barefoot on top of a chair with a long wooden paddle, stirring her father's moonshine and helping to contribute to the family business.
00:56:45
Speaker
But 1921, when Maggie was 17 years old, the mountain was a changing. They started bringing railroads in the area and they brought new people from all over the country into this little town in South Eastern Kentucky. At the time, Maggie met a professional gambler and coal mine businessman. Let me just say this needs to be a feature film. I mean, yeah, absolutely.
00:57:12
Speaker
It was a pivotal time in history as coal mines and coal mining towns were growing quickly. Maggie saw that men would spend all day in the mine and come home craving a drink that would knock the dust out of their lungs. Unfortunately for them, it was also a time that a new law would pass in America and that law was prohibition and it outlawed alcohol in the entire country. But Maggie saw that as a business opportunity instead of a roadblock. She knew how to make her Papa's moonshine and she thought she could improve the recipe.
00:57:47
Speaker
Yeah. Moonshine and in case people have never had it and look, you can go to Gatlinburg and they have quote unquote moonshine stores. It's not the same. If you're drinking moonshine made in a steel out of the mountains, it's going to taste a lot more like something that could take a rust off a bumper like it's it like cleans your insides as it goes through you.
00:58:14
Speaker
It'll knock you down. And this is what she was going to use to make money. We've covered Al Capone, somebody else who got rich here in prohibition. And yeah, I mean, talk about a law that backfired. Not only were people getting rich off of this, but probably led to more alcoholism than we've ever seen in our country telling people they couldn't have it. Anyway, Maggie, who we're going to call mag from now on.
00:58:37
Speaker
She rented a house on the outskirts of town and turned it into a moonshine factory, started producing hundreds of gallons of liquor, which obviously was untaxed because this was illegal before long. Everybody in the area knew where to get their liquor.
00:58:54
Speaker
A lot of them didn't have any idea that it was being run by this young, sweet lady up in the mountains. They just knew where to go pick up the best moonshine around. It quickly became the most popular in all of Eastern Kentucky. And that may sound silly, but at the time that's saying something. In 1933, probation ended and Maggie wondered if her business would end with it.
00:59:17
Speaker
Taverns and distilleries were reopening and unfortunately for Maggie women were not allowed to own a liquor business You have to legally get a liquor license in order to sell it and women were not allowed to do that Which just crazy to me that women were not allowed to vote or a liquor store or whatever But at this point Maggie had been making and selling liquor for 14 years and she was not going to give it up easily. So she became the first woman to obtain a liquor license and she opened a business and called that business mags place.
00:59:52
Speaker
Maggie sold legal whiskey out the front door, but people still wanted that moonshine. So out the back door, she would sell some good old mountain made moonshine and she remained in business even through the great depression. And I love that just speaks to mountain people like, yeah, we might not have jobs or food, but by God, we're going to have liquor.
01:00:13
Speaker
Yeah. And that's, I don't know. That's, uh, I think a lot of what happened during prohibition, let alone after that. I've got an interview here from her, uh, from her attorney. You're going to read a lot of things that she was never prosecuted, but she was prosecuted once. And this came from her attorney whose name was Otis Don, very famous name in Harlan County. I believe he has since passed away.
01:00:36
Speaker
But Otis was also somebody I think benefited from Mag's business and we'll talk about that a little later. But this is a quote from him. He said, she was prosecuted once. Maggie was convicted, which I didn't represent her. I don't even know if he was born at the time. It was in the 1940s and she served 18 months in federal prison for moonshine.
01:00:56
Speaker
After that, she was never convicted again. And that actually happened in 1941 when federal agents burst into her liquor store and seized 150 gallons of moonshine. That's a lot of shine, John.
01:01:13
Speaker
That's a lot. She was convicted. She was sentenced to two years, served 18 months. She went to her sister's house first. When she went to her sister's house, they let her do this on her way to prison. She was willing to go. She dropped a suitcase off. Maggie told her, I'll be back for this suitcase when I get out of prison. Don't let anybody bother it. I love that. I mean, she was just confident. I loved it.
01:01:40
Speaker
Maggie Bailey spent her time in prison studying law, in particular the Fourth Amendment, which focused on the ah government's right to search and seizure. She was determined to never get caught like that again.
01:01:53
Speaker
So in 1945, she was out of prison and she went to her sister's house to retrieve her suitcase. I mean, when, when you hear this, you just assume that she's leaving some clothes so that when she gets out of prison, she can, you know, at least have some clothes on her back. keepsakes She had $80,000 in cash hidden in that suitcase. So when she got out, she went and got her $80,000 and she used that money to buy a house in Harlan County and to restart her business.
01:02:23
Speaker
And this time, like I mentioned before the break, it was more like a drive-through. You pull up in Mag's backyard, take an order and talk with Mag, and then you drive around and pick up what you wanted. This is a situation, John, that I have. I don't think there's a statute of limitations. When I was in high school,
01:02:44
Speaker
This trip was made not by me. She wasn't selling it to me as a kid. She wouldn't sell it to kids or drunkards. Actually I was with my dad and we went around and my dad after football practice, he picked me up. I was probably 15, maybe 16 and we went to mags and my dad told me he was going to stop for some beer. So I thought that meant we had to go to Cumberland, which was actually pretty far out of the way. Now this was listed in a place called Clover town. If you Google it,
01:03:12
Speaker
But I honestly, I lived there for 18 years, never heard the word clover town. I don't think this was on the efforts side of Harlan as how I would describe it. But I remember driving around, she would ask you who you were. You'd throw your last name. If she didn't know you, she'd ask you who your parents were. She'd figure that out and she'd sell you beer and say, Hey, if a state boy stops you, you didn't get this here. And that's the entire transaction.
01:03:39
Speaker
In her drive-thru, she sold liquor seven days a week and authorities kept an eye on her. During the 40s and 50s, they raided her house 62 times. The mag was smart and you remember while she was in prison, she spent a lot of time studying the fourth amendment.
01:03:58
Speaker
Each time her place was raided, officers would find liquor in different spots around the house. Sometimes it would be outside in the trunk of a junk car. Sometimes it would be like in a and a barn or an outbuilding. So each time she was arrested, the charges were dropped because their search warrant never included these secret hiding places where she would put it. Search warrants have to be very specific.
01:04:23
Speaker
They have to say, we are authorized to come into your home and search every open area. We're open, opening drawers and doors, or it can say, we're here to search the outside of your premises. We're not allowed to dig or we are allowed to dig like they're very precise. And she made it to where the search warrant was violated every time they came to our house. So she was never prosecuted again, again, with over 60 raids on her business.
01:04:50
Speaker
Her attorney said that she had a million places to hide it and she had a labyrinth of buildings all around her dwelling. So she had set this up as a maze in order to utilize the fourth amendment as a weapon to keep her business open and it worked.
01:05:09
Speaker
And even if authorities had evidence enough to bring her to trial and try to convict her, juries would not find Maggie Bailey guilty. First of all, she'd always come to court wearing a flower printed apron with her gray hair and that very grandmotherish look. And secondly, Maggie was far too beloved in her community to ever have a jury of her peers convict her. She knew everybody in town.
01:05:34
Speaker
And when people were struggling during the Great Depression, she gave them liquor on credit. She let them sell the liquor themselves and pay her back and then she would and then they get to keep some of the profits. She brought food to hungry families and even paid for college for several of her neighbor's kids. Maggie made a point to never sell her liquor to children or were people who were known to be alcoholics and she didn't even drink herself.
01:05:59
Speaker
So yeah, I love the fact that everyone in this county knew her and they were not going to convict her. Absolutely. And and here's another reason for that. And this may not be above board. She did put three people through school.
01:06:13
Speaker
And I'm not going to say any names, but I'm talking attorneys and judges that she helped to go to law school. That is a great business model. It really is. Again, this is coming from Otis Don, her attorney and an interview he did, I think with NPR, people in the community just loved Maggie. Maggie was the type of person that bought food for families. If they were having a hard time, she helped send people to school, to college and her community. She never had any kids of her own.
01:06:37
Speaker
she along with her sister raised two nephews and he said that Maggie to him was a big asset to the community and everybody said she was a delightful lady. She was like a grandma that desperately cared for all those around her.
Dark Oak: Unsolved Mysteries and Atmosphere
01:06:58
Speaker
Closing out episode one is the Dark Oak podcast. The start of a new year is a perfect time to explore the darker corners of history and humanity. And the Dark Oak podcast is here to guide you through the shadows. This podcast takes you deep into chilling true crime cases, eerie legends, and unsettling mysteries, all presented with a rich, atmospheric style that feels as immersive as stepping into a dark forest.
01:07:26
Speaker
If your resolution for 2025 is to uncover stories that linger in your mind long after they've been told, the Dark Oak podcast will keep you intrigued. Prepare for a journey that's as haunting as it is unforgettable. Hello, Shiver Seekers. Are you ready to follow us into the unknown? I'm Cynthia. And I'm Stephanie. You have found the Dark Oak.
01:07:55
Speaker
Welcome to the Dark Oak, the mystery podcast with purpose. Each month through our charity called the Branch of Hope Foundation, we give a portion of our proceeds from our Patreon and sponsorships to a nonprofit organization related to the first episode of the month. To find out more, check out our website, thedarkoak.com.
01:08:16
Speaker
Well, Cynthia, Happy New Year. Happy New Year 2025. I know. And one of our first recorded episodes is this collab. So exciting. I know. We're really happy to work with Coffee in Cases again and all these other amazing podcasters. Well, this is our second collaboration, so I'm feeling like we're veterans. Oh, we're pros. We're veterans at this point. But how fun is it to listen to the collab and just feel, all the different energy, the different podcasters, all the different styles. There really is something for everyone. Absolutely. And I know after listening to last year's summer collab, I found some new podcasts that I like to listen to on a regular basis. Yeah. It's a great resource. Yeah, me too. And luckily, this invitation for this collaboration came at a great time because I was researching a case that I kind of think is perfect for this. I'm going to tell you the story of Ben Kita.
01:09:12
Speaker
On November 26, 2016, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, 18-year-old high school student Ben Kita was reported missing by his parents, Ibrahima and Asada Kita. He had apparently left his home in Lake Stevens, Washington state by himself, leaving home his wallet, phone, and car.
01:09:33
Speaker
He left his phone. Isn't that, I mean for an 18 year old, the keys I get it, the wallet I get it, but the phone, yeah. So it immediately raised some alarm bells for his parents.
01:09:46
Speaker
And again, this is in November in Washington state, so temperatures were freezing. sure And his family was additionally concerned because Ben had sickle cell anemia. So it was very important that he took good care of himself and they were worried that the freezing temperatures could exacerbate his condition. I can imagine just right off the bat, they must have just felt so helpless. Exactly. And this was made more complicated, again, because Ben left his cell phone behind. So police were not able to get a precise location, like they weren't able to ping anything. So they didn't even know really where to start their searches. Right. I mean, the first thing you would do is call the person, say, where are you? And you can't do that. And you can't do that. So they began looking through a wide sweeping wooded area around the Kita's home.
01:10:33
Speaker
experienced searchers, including a dog trained to detect human remains, were deployed. They just had no idea what they were looking for. And so they really got after it as quickly as they could. Was he known to take walks in the woods? Or was this kind of unusual? No, this is really unusual. As a matter of fact, Ben was described as a bit of a homebody. Okay, he stayed in his room a lot. He loved playing video games. So the fact that he wasn't there, that's why his parents immediately said, Okay, he's not a hanging with friends. He's either at school, he's at work, or he's in his room. Those are the common places. So this would have been unusual for him to be in the woods, but they didn't really have anything else to go on at that point. Police grasped at any leads and questioned his family about Ben's school performance, his friends, pressure from peers, the possibility of bullying, anything that could give clues as to Ben's whereabouts. His family continually reported that he was an ambitious 18-year-old high schooler striving towards medical training.
01:11:29
Speaker
He planned to graduate that year from Lake Stevens High School, and he was already in the Running Start program, which was a dual enrollment program at Everett Community College. So he really was pursuing this dream of becoming a medical doctor and specifically working as a medical examiner.
01:11:45
Speaker
Oh wow, okay. So this doesn't seem like an at-risk youth, if you will? No, he sounds like he had to have been obviously very responsible. Yeah, but several things were not lining up. For starters, while investigating Ben's disappearance, police discovered he hadn't been in class for three weeks before his disappearance. Oh. Ben's family had no idea why Ben would have skipped classes, or even that he had been absent from classes at all.
01:12:13
Speaker
Apparently, when a student turns 18, even though they're still enrolled in high school, the school does not track student whereabouts, which I did not know. Okay, I wouldn't have known that, but it does kind of make sense to me. Of course it does, but his parents were shocked to find out he hadn't been going to school. Sure. You you think your child's going to school for three weeks and then you learn they're not. that That's a big question mark. A big question mark. And then the further is, if I didn't even know he wasn't going to school, I'm probably not going to be able to provide you a reason why he wasn't going to school. So was there a problem at school? Right. I would imagine there
01:12:52
Speaker
something had to have happened to make him not want to go. Right. Of course, nobody knew what that was. Unfortunately, the investigation wound up bringing up more questions and answers. Six weeks passed with no sign of Ben.
01:13:07
Speaker
Then on January 9, 2017, a group of teenagers wandering into the woods stumbled across an awful site. About 12 to 14 feet from the trail and about 10 feet from the nearest backyard fence was the body of Ben Kita. He was hanging from a rope strung over a tall branch in a densely wooded area just blocks from his home. Disturbingly, his body was found in an area that had previously been searched multiple times in the days after his initial disappearance. Oh, okay. I was going to ask, I was going to say, is this the same woods that they search? Yeah, including the woods they search with the dog.
01:13:45
Speaker
How were they able to determine how long he had been there? Well, this kind of wound up being a problem because Ben's body had been semi-frozen for weeks because of the cold temperatures, because of the freezing temperatures. So it completely interfered with it did trying to determine yeah exactly when he was he was deceased so it could have been as much as the six weeks meaning he was deceased from the day that he disappeared or it could have been less time it was just hard to tell but he couldn't have been deceased in that spot from the day he went missing because this area had been searched am i right well that's assuming
01:14:27
Speaker
that they actually did search the area. yeah And we've covered well, and even more than that, we've covered a few of these cases where bodies and wooded areas show up after the area has been searched. Maybe that could be chalked up to the fact that it's a densely wooded area. And it's very hard to search all of it. But it will bring up questions about was he originally there or was he placed there later? Well, and I know it's Washington. So the absolute opposite.
01:14:53
Speaker
type of terrain that we have here in Florida, right but is it the kind of area where in the winter leaves fall and wooded areas clear out or no? I feel like it's more evergreen. so It is definitely more evergreen. Okay. So they wouldn't have necessarily had a better visual just because it was winter. Correct. Okay. Correct. Now, outside of a small abrasion on his finger, there was no other signs of trauma or a struggle.
01:15:21
Speaker
that scene itself also yielded few clues. The area around Ben's body was not disturbed, and there was a flashlight at his feet that the Keeta family did not recognize. But a closer inspection of the rope would also prompt further questions.
01:15:36
Speaker
The rope itself, which the Keeta family also said they did not recognize, was fashioned into a noose around Ben's neck. The other end was attached to a branch that was estimated to be 50 feet in the air. 50 feet. 50 feet in the air? 50 feet. It was on a high branch in this tree, 50 feet in the air.
01:16:00
Speaker
And even more strange, Ben's feet were two and a half feet off of the ground. However, his neck was not broken. His cause of death was recorded as asphyxiation. So how is this young man up that but like, he obviously didn't jump down. 50 feet. 50 feet. He would have had a broken neck. Yeah. And there's nothing he wasn't standing on anything. So how was he that far?
01:16:29
Speaker
hanging up with um the only injury being from the rope, like, asphyxiation. Right. And with his feet being two and a half feet from the ground, he couldn't have even just stood there and raised his legs. Right. Which we've we've talked about cases where people have done that. Absolutely. before Absolutely. that There's no one way to do it, for sure. Right. But this seems odd.
01:16:55
Speaker
Well, it seems impossible. It seems impossible. Based on what you've told me so far. But also no signs of struggle. Now, despite the odd circumstances, based on the fact that there were no other evidence of trauma, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner determined the manner of death to be suicide. Ben's parents immediately objected to this finding. His family said there was no reason to suspect anything was bothering Ben to the point that he would take his life.
01:17:20
Speaker
Ibrahima, Ben's father, told CNN that Ben had, quote, no history of depression or any psychological breakdown at all whatsoever. So he was a very happy young man. I think we do have to take into account the fact that he had not been to school for three weeks. I think that could point to something going on. It could certainly be telling. What if someone was harassing him?
01:17:43
Speaker
Right. If this was a homicide, you know what I'm saying? Right. Missing a school could be an indication of either. ah Me too. But to me, it's definitely an indication that something was going on that his parents weren't aware of. Right.
01:17:55
Speaker
Now, in addition, the hanging itself caused the Keita family to develop a totally different theory as to what could have happened to their son. See, Ben was a young black man being raised in the Muslim faith. And remember, this is 2017 when race crimes and tensions are mounting. And the Keita's eyes, Ben's death was nothing short of a possible lynching, like a hate crime.
01:18:18
Speaker
man And I have to say, based on the very bizarre circumstances involving the rope so high up in the tree, I absolutely think this calls for further investigation than to just immediately say it's suicide. Yeah, yeah we have to look further. I mean, i I'm still, I still don't know how he he got there.
01:18:35
Speaker
Weird. i I have not wrapped my head around that yet. Yeah. So the ketos turn the pressure on investigators by contacting the media and telling them about the suspicious circumstances of their son's death. Listen to this. Based on this increased scrutiny on January 16th, so it was just 16 days after the initial autopsy, the medical examiner changed the manner of death to undetermined. Oh.
01:19:00
Speaker
And that is where I'm going to leave you. Oh, Stephanie. So guys, unfortunately, this is a collab, meaning I cannot release the full episode here, but it's out on our live stream now. I'll tell you everything that we think happened in this case. I'll tell you all the different theories.
01:19:17
Speaker
I'll tell you all the different agencies that were able to get involved to try to really scrutinize Ben's case. And while it's still a bit of an unsolved mystery, I'll tell you a bit of my theory. So you can find us at thedarkoak.com. You can also find us wherever you like to listen to podcasts. We are Stephanie and Cynthia at the Dark Oak, and we can't wait for you to be part of the Dark Oak family. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening, Shiver Seekers. Have a great New Year. Bye. Bye-bye.
Conclusion: Encouragement to Continue Binge-Listening
01:19:54
Speaker
that wraps up Episode 1 of New Year, New Binge. Start your 2025 strong by diving into these incredible podcasts and exploring the stories they have to share. Links to the podcasts you've heard today are in the show notes. Join me for Episode 2 for even more recommendations to keep your playlist fresh. Until then, here's to a year filled with curiosity, discovery, and of course, a whole lot of binging. Cheers.