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Deadly Devotion: Motherhood and Mayhem, Part 2
4.1k Plays3 years ago
This Mother’s Day, join Shane Waters on a chilling adventure featuring 14 podcasters (including Coffee and Cases) as they share sinister stories of motherhood. Mother’s Day is typically a time to honor the love and sacrifices of mothers, but today we’ll be exploring the twisted tales that lurk behind the shadows.
It’s an extra special, two parts, more than two-hour, Mother’s Day event.
Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:
Part 1 (yesterday):
- Foul Play: Crime Series [www.itsfoulplay.com]
- Music City 911[https://musiccity911.com]
- Crimes from the East [https://tinyurl.com/37sx22bt]
- Cults, Crimes, Cabernet [https://www.cultscrimescabernet.com]
- A Nefarious Nightmare [https://tinyurl.com/y5nuezs5]
- Crimelines [https://linktr.ee/Crimelines]
- The Asian Madness Podcast [https://tinyurl.com/5n8nv6ay]
Part 2:
- Once Upon A Crime [https://www.truecrimepodcast.com]
- PNW Haunts & Homicides [https://www.pnwhauntsandhomicides.com]
- The Trail Went Cold [https://www.trailwentcold.com]
- Coffee & Cases [https://tinyurl.com/pc25pzzs]
- Already Gone [https://www.alreadygonepodcast.com]
- Twisted and Uncorked [https://www.twistedanduncorked.com]
- Mystery Inc [https://www.itsmysteryinc.com]
If you enjoyed this holiday collaboration special, check out the other collaboration specials: Deceptions & Resurrections [https://tinyurl.com/3a9d7yrf], Bloody Valentine [https://tinyurl.com/e6ynmzpr], and A Nightmare before Halloween [https://tinyurl.com/52jeh66d]. Until our next adventure, stay safe and stay vigilant.
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Transcript
The Origins and Evolution of Mother's Day
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello again, friend. Welcome back to part two of my chilling Mother's Day collaboration special. Before we embark on our journey again, I want to take a moment to reflect on the origins of this holiday. To truly understand the history of Mother's Day, we must go back thousands of years to the ancient world.
00:00:32
Speaker
The earliest known celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the annual spring festival in ancient Greece, honoring Rhea, the mother of gods. But it wasn't just the Greeks. The Romans also had a festival called Metronalia.
00:00:52
Speaker
where husbands and children would shower their wives and mothers with gifts and flowers. This tradition carried on for centuries, in various forms, eventually influencing a Christian holiday known as Mothering Sunday. Mothering Sunday was celebrated in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, on the fourth Sunday of Lent.
00:01:17
Speaker
This was a time when people would return to their mother church, the church where they were baptized and grew up attending. Families would reunite and children would often bring gifts such as flowers or small tokens for their mothers. But what about modern Mother's Day? For that, we must turn to the early 20th century and the efforts of a woman named Anna Jarvis.
00:01:46
Speaker
Anna Jarvis was the daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis, a social activist and community organizer who worked hard to improve the lives of women and families. After her mother's death in 1905, Anna sought to create a day that would honor the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
00:02:08
Speaker
In 1908, Anna held the first Mother's Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. By 1912, she had successfully established the Mother's Day International Association and began campaigning to have Mother's Day recognized as an official holiday.
00:02:30
Speaker
Her hard work paid off, and on May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to honor mothers. Mother's Day had officially become a part of American culture.
00:02:51
Speaker
Anna Jarvis envisioned Mother's Day as a time for families to come together and spend quality time with their mothers, writing heartfelt letters and expressing their love and gratitude. However, she became disillusioned with the commercialization of the holiday as it grew in popularity.
00:03:12
Speaker
Despite her disappointment, Mother's Day continued to spread across the globe with countries adopting their own unique traditions and customs. So as we celebrate Mother's Day this year, let's remember its roots and honor the sacrifices of mothers everywhere and take the time to truly appreciate the love and dedication they show us every day.
The Story of Diane Downs
00:03:39
Speaker
Now let's get into the adventure.
00:04:00
Speaker
We wake up the next morning in the once grand mansion, now overgrown with ivy and shrouded in darkness. The broken windows and cracked walls whisper tales of long forgotten family secrets.
00:04:17
Speaker
It's here that we meet Esther, who tells a shocking story from her podcast, Once Upon a Crime.
00:04:34
Speaker
Diane Downs was a 27-year-old mother of three in the spring of 1983, when she arrived at a Springfield, Oregon hospital emergency room. She screamed for help, saying a man had attempted to carjack her on a rural country road, and when she refused to give him her car, he shot her three children sleeping in the back seat.
00:04:53
Speaker
The horror of such a random act of violence against innocent children shocked the community and the police. But once suspicions were raised that their mother was the shooter, the question became why? What would cause a mother to murder her children? The answer was as cold-blooded as it was shocking.
00:05:23
Speaker
Diane Downs was in love with love. Perhaps this was because, as she claimed, she was raised with a strict and controlling father who showed her little affection and a passive mother who put her husband's needs before her children's. Diane, born in 1955, was the first of five children born to Wesley and Willa Dean Fredrickson. Diane and her siblings were raised in a conservative Baptist home. Her father worked for the U.S. Postal Service, and the family moved often as he was transferred to other positions.
00:05:51
Speaker
By the time she was in high school, they were living in Phoenix, Arizona. Diane said she felt ignored by her mother and criticized by her father. As a result, she grew up with a desperate need for love and affection. Diane didn't make friends easily and described herself as an ugly duckling as a child. She recalled being teased or ignored by her classmates. Even worse was the ridicule and bullying she experienced in grade school.
00:06:15
Speaker
Diane blossomed into a pretty teen with a cute figure that she soon realized made her popular with the boys. For the first time, Diane felt seen. Even better, she felt a sense of power over the teenage boys who sought her attention. She gained a reputation at Moon Valley High as a flirt, but it was Steve Downs who won her heart. He was wild and rebellious, and Diane was instantly attracted to him. By 16, they were an item and began a sexual relationship.
00:06:42
Speaker
When her parents found out, they forbade their daughter to see Steve Downs, but it was only after graduation that the couple parted. Steve joined the Navy, and Diane was accepted at a Bible college in California, so they went their separate ways. Diane began relationships with several boys she met in college, trying to fill the void left by Steve's departure. After two semesters, she was kicked out of school for promiscuity and returned to Phoenix. Steve returned to town, and in 1973, when they were both 18, they married against their parents' wishes.
00:07:12
Speaker
Diane wanted to start a family right away. She romanticized what it would be like to have children. She often expressed a desire to have babies because she'd finally have someone who would love her unconditionally. Diane didn't say she wanted someone to love unconditionally. Instead, she believed a child would fulfill all her emotional needs.
00:07:31
Speaker
Soon after their wedding, however, Steve Downs told Diane that he had changed his mind. He didn't want kids right away. Maybe in a few years he offered. She was furious. She accused him of never loving her. Her feelings of rejection grew when she discovered Steve was cheating on her. Diane became obsessed with the idea of having a baby to fulfill her need for love and affection. She stopped using birth control and soon found herself pregnant. She was thrilled.
00:07:59
Speaker
Her daughter Christie was born on October 7, 1974. Diane said she experienced real love for the first time in her life when her daughter was born. But the reality of having a baby soon set in and Diane became exhausted and disillusioned about being a mother. She and Stephen frequently argued about the stress of raising a child with limited resources. Still, Diane continued to chase the high she got from being pregnant and giving birth.
00:08:23
Speaker
While pregnant, the pretty blonde who still looked like a teenager received a lot of attention. Strangers congratulated her. Her family asked about her health and gave advice. She lapped it all up and craved more. Diane became pregnant again, and her daughter Cheryl Lynn was born in 1976. Cheryl was colicky and cried constantly. Diane grew impatient and frustrated that she wasn't feeling the unconditional love she so desperately craved.
00:08:49
Speaker
Her relationship with her husband became strained to the breaking point, and she decided to leave him. So the timing was terrible when she discovered she was pregnant for the third time. Unwilling to stay in the relationship, Diane felt her only option was to terminate the pregnancy. Afterwards, she left her marriage taking two-year-old Christy and nine-month-old Cheryl with her. Finding it hard to parent and provide for her children alone, she and Steve would reconcile and break up several times over the next two years.
00:09:17
Speaker
Inexplicably, Diane decided she wanted another child. Steve had since had a vasectomy, and she asked him to have it reversed, but he refused.
00:09:26
Speaker
Now working outside of the home, Diane began sleeping with several of her coworkers. She purposely set out to get pregnant by one of her lovers. Steve found out and got into a physical altercation with the man, but it was too late. Diane was pregnant. Steven Daniel Downs was born on December 29, 1979. Although he wasn't his biological father, Steve raised the boy they called Danny as his own.
00:09:50
Speaker
Diane was an inconsistent mother to her children. While stressed and unhappy, she was impatient, angry, and sometimes neglectful. When happy, she doted on her children and took them on special outings. She played with them as if she were a child herself and called them her best friends. The kids became confused and sometimes fearful of Diane.
Diane Downs's Tumultuous Personal Life
00:10:11
Speaker
Which mother would they experience today? The nice one who loved them or the angry one who yelled and punished them?
00:10:17
Speaker
Diane began working as a mail carrier at the Chandler Post office and started sleeping with a series of her coworkers. Witnesses say that with Steve often gone or while he and Diane were on the outs, Diane would be out with one boyfriend or another and put her social life in front of her children. She kicked her husband out again and moved her current boyfriend in with her. He was also a single parent and he brought his two daughters, a few years older than Diane's children, with him.
00:10:43
Speaker
This arrangement didn't last long. Steve was constantly dropping by, which was awkward for everyone. And Diane's boyfriend didn't like how she treated her children. Her kids seemed like a pain in the ass to her, he said. She felt that kids were inferior. They weren't even allowed in the living room. She called her kids vulgar and demeaning names, he added. When Diane began lashing out at his daughters as well, he left.
00:11:06
Speaker
Diane sometimes left the children alone altogether. During these times, Steve would step in and care for the children until Diane returned. She was always a person who needed an enormous amount of attention. A bottomless pit of need. This need resulted in her applying to become a surrogate mother. She was paid to conceive and carry a child for a couple who was experiencing fertility issues. She gave birth to a baby girl in 1982.
00:11:32
Speaker
Diane received $10,000 and was even interviewed for a Washington Post story about surrogate parenting. The attention and accolades she received meant more to Diane than the money, but she put it to good use, purchasing a mobile home in Chandler and new furniture. She talked incessantly to her coworkers about her experience as a surrogate mother. These people needed me. It made me somebody, Diane said.
00:11:55
Speaker
When she returned to work at the post office after the baby's birth, she set her sights on one man in particular. Robert Knickerbocker, or Nick, as Diane called him, was a married man with whom she began an affair in the summer of 1982. He tried to keep things discreet, but Diane immediately fell for him, and everyone knew she was not only sleeping with Nick, but obsessed with him. He told her he didn't want kids around while they were together, saying it was wrong.
00:12:21
Speaker
She accommodated this request, pawning the children off to their father, neighbors, or other relatives while she was engaged in her secret rendezvous with Nick. She began urging Nick to leave his wife and marry her, but he made it clear he had no intention of doing so. She ignored this, believing he'd come around when he realized that it was her he loved. She used sex to keep him coming back, and even while he protested that he would never commit to her, he continued the affair.
00:12:48
Speaker
Diane's mobile home burned down just six months after she purchased it, and arson was suspected. However, she received an insurance settlement for a few thousand dollars and used a portion of it to lease an apartment. She listed both herself and Nick on the lease.
00:13:02
Speaker
Nick had finally had enough. His wife had caught wind of the affair and gave him an ultimatum. It was either her or Diane. Nick told Diane he couldn't see her anymore and broke things off. He said he still loved his wife and was working to repair his marriage. He also reminded her that he'd made it clear he didn't want children. He'd had a vasectomy early in his marriage to prevent this from happening. That's how sure he was about this decision.
00:13:26
Speaker
Diane was the mother of three, and Nick said this alone put him off ever marrying her or offering her a commitment. Diane went ballistic, calling and harassing Nick and his wife nonstop after he stopped seeing her. She even pounded on Nick's door insisting he talked to her. The couple finally left the state for a long vacation to escape her.
00:13:46
Speaker
Still thinking she could win in back, Diane packed up her kids and moved to be near her parents who were now living in Oregon. It was Diane's plan that once she was settled, she'd contact Nick whom she was sure would come to his senses once her threat to leave became real. He could then join her in Oregon to escape his wife. Diane believed if she could get him alone, he could be talked into marrying her. In April of 1983, she arrived in Springfield, Oregon with her three children.
00:14:12
Speaker
Just a few weeks later, Diane Downs would arrive at the emergency department of a Springfield hospital and announce that her children had been shot and were dying in the backseat of her car. Diane Downs called Robert Knickerbocker the man she was obsessed with once she arrived in Springfield, Oregon. She thought he'd miss her and want her back, but Nick told Diane it was over. He wasn't ever moving to Oregon to be with her, period.
00:14:40
Speaker
Not one to give up easily, Diane made one last effort to convince him. A week later, she returned to Arizona and surprised him at work. She made an excuse about needing to return a gold chain he'd given her. She launched into a speech about her love for him and all the plans she'd made for them to be together. I told her I wasn't going to Oregon, Nick told investigators later. I told her I just didn't want to be a daddy. Then he drove off in his mail truck. That was the last time he saw her.
00:15:08
Speaker
A few days later, on the evening of May 19th, 1983, a small red sports car screeched to a halt at an emergency room entrance of the McKinsey Willamette Hospital in Springfield. Nurses came running and saw a young blonde woman standing outside of her car. Someone just shot my kids, she told them. When they peered into the car, they saw two small bodies slumped in the back seat. As they rushed them to the trauma center, the woman called out, get Cheryl, she's on the floor, she hasn't moved at all.
00:15:36
Speaker
A nurse peered in and saw another small body, but this one was on the front seat on the passenger side.
00:15:43
Speaker
The last child found was the most critically wounded. Two bullet holes were found in seven-year-old Christie's back. Emergency room doctors worked frantically to clear her air passages and found blood clots blocking her throat. Her blood was already clotting, suggesting that her wounds had occurred some time ago. She was connected to a heart monitor, but a heartbeat could not be detected. The child was pronounced dead on arrival.
00:16:08
Speaker
The other two children were alive, but just barely. Eight-year-old Christy had suffered two bullet wounds to the left side of her chest. One had exited her back, and one was still in her body. She registered no blood pressure, was quickly losing blood, and was on the verge of death. Her heart stopped as doctors worked to clear a blood clot from her lungs. They quickly shocked her heart and inserted a line to infuse more blood. Miraculously, her heart started to beat again, and she was rushed into surgery.
00:16:36
Speaker
The little blonde boy, Danny, was just a baby, just three years old. He was the only one of the children who was conscious when they arrived. He continued to cry softly as the doctors worked over him. They found a bullet hole a fraction of an inch from his spinal column. The bullet had been fired at close range.
00:16:53
Speaker
Their mother also had a wound. The nurse noticed a brightly colored beach towel wrapped around her arm from her elbow to her wrist. A bullet wound on the outside of her arm was almost halfway between the elbow and wrist. It was not life-threatening. It was cleaned, disinfected, and wrapped in a bandage.
00:17:19
Speaker
Diane Downs, age 27, was questioned by police about the shooting. She said she'd been driving home from a friend's house with her three children, Christy, age 8, Cheryl, age 7, and Danny, age 3, around 9.30 p.m. She said she was driving on Old Mohawk Road because the children liked to take the scenic route. Old Mohawk Road was located in a rural area and saw little traffic, especially in the evenings.
00:17:43
Speaker
Diane said she came upon somebody standing in the middle of the road. He looked like he needed help, she said, so she stopped the car and got out, taking the keys with her.
00:17:53
Speaker
As he approached, he told Diane he wanted her car and she'd refused. The man she described as a bushy-haired stranger leaned into her car and began shooting at her kids. She tried to pull him away, but he shot her in the arm. She pretended to throw her car keys into the brush on the side of the road, and when he ran to retrieve them, Diane said she jumped in the car and drove off as fast as she could go to get help.
00:18:17
Speaker
Detectives who interviewed the young mother first struck by her odd behavior. Her kids were in surgery fighting for their lives after being shot by a psychotic stranger multiple times. Yet Diane Downs remained calm, not crying, not screaming, or hysterical. She recounted events almost matter-of-factly, even smiling and giggling at times.
00:18:37
Speaker
Her story seemed implausible as well. They were sightseeing at 9.30pm? In the dark? And why on earth would a woman with three small children not only pull over and stop for a male stranger, but also leave her car to approach him? It made no sense to them that an armed carjacker would shoot the children first, who were no threat to him, but didn't attempt to shoot Diane until she physically confronted him.
00:19:03
Speaker
Detectives watched as Diane was informed that her daughter Cheryl was dead. They saw almost no reaction from her at all upon hearing this news. She was then informed about the condition of her two other children. Doctors told her they were cautiously optimistic about Danny and explained the damage he'd suffered. Do you mean it missed his heart? Diane asked, sounding surprised.
00:19:24
Speaker
Christy was still in recovery after surgery when Diane turned to the doctor and said, I know that Christy has suffered brain damage and I don't want you to sustain her life. The doctor was outraged by her statement. That was very unusual, he said, and inappropriate. Tess had yet to show any brain damage.
00:19:43
Speaker
Christy would recover, but would have long-term issues with her ability to speak. She could not speak for several weeks due to her injuries, and doctors suspected the trauma she'd suffered from the violent crime exacerbated this condition. Three-year-old Danny survived his injuries, but was left paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair the rest of his life.
00:20:03
Speaker
Investigators quickly determined that the forensic evidence did not match what Diane told them about the shooting.
The Trial and Conviction of Diane Downs
00:20:08
Speaker
No other sightings of a bushy-haired stranger were found, even after an extensive search. Nor were any footprints, tire tracks, or other evidence that suggested the presence of a second adult at the crime scene. More importantly, no blood spatter was found on the driver's side of the door, nor any gunpowder residue, which should have been detected if the stranger had shot the kids as Diane had described.
00:20:32
Speaker
The evidence all pointed to Diane Downs as the person who shot the children. They discovered that she'd lied when questioned about owning a gun, specifically a .22 caliber handgun, the type of weapon used in the shooting. Both her ex-husband Steve and her lover Nick told police that Diane did own a handgun. Nick told investigators he saw the .22 in the trunk of her car in the night before she left for Oregon. Investigators had found .22 caliber shell casings lying in blood in the backseat of her car.
00:21:02
Speaker
The gun was never found, however, investigators were able to match tool marks on the casings found at the crime scene with cartridges found in the Arizona home where Diane had lived. The matching tool marks proved to investigators that the bullets found in Arizona had been in the same weapon used to shoot the children.
00:21:19
Speaker
After an extensive investigation, Diane Downs was finally put on trial on May 10, 1984. She had been out on bail until February of 1984 when she was formally charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and two counts of assault in the first degree and booked into jail.
00:21:37
Speaker
While free, Diane met another man, had a fling, and became pregnant. She was far along in her pregnancy when she would finally appear before a jury. Prosecutors were worried that jurors would have difficulty convicting a pregnant woman on the verge of giving birth.
00:21:53
Speaker
But the prosecutor's star witness sealed Diane's fate. Almost exactly one year after she was shot, Christie Downs, now nine years old, took the stand to testify against her mother. Christie looked very small and frail for her age and still had trouble speaking. She cried upon seeing her mother for the first time in seven months.
00:22:13
Speaker
Between tears, Christie told the packed but silent courtroom her recollections from the night of May 19, 1983, when her mother had stopped the car on a dark country road. She described how Diane exited the vehicle, walked to the back, and opened the trunk. There was no one else around. She watched as her mother returned, pointed a gun at Cheryl, who was in the passenger seat, and shot her. She then described as her mother had reached over the back seat and continued firing, hitting Danny.
00:22:41
Speaker
Next, the prosecutor, Dan Hugie, asked Christy to describe what happened to her. He gently asked her, who shot you? Sobbing, Christy answered, my mom. Diane took the stand in her own defense and recited virtually the same implausible series of events she described when first questioned. She said that after the shooting she had panicked and prayed for her children to live, as she drove as fast as possible to the hospital.
00:23:08
Speaker
If she'd been in such a panic, Hugie asked, how was the wound on her arm so carefully wrapped and neatly folded in a towel? Diane had no answer. He also confronted her about the timeline. It just didn't fly, he said. It had taken her 18 minutes to go 8 tenths of a mile. Would a mother who was frantically trying to save her children drive so slowly? Again, she insisted she'd gone as fast as she could and didn't believe that this could be true.
00:23:34
Speaker
Witnesses, however, confirmed it, testifying that they saw the small red car being driven at such a slow rate that they remembered it clearly. Investigators read from Diane's diary, in which she'd written about Robert Knickerbocker, her affair with him, and her desperate need to win him at all costs. She penned letters never mailed to Nick, in which she promised that if he moved to Oregon and married her, her kids would, quote, not be a problem, they will not be in the way, end quote.
00:24:04
Speaker
Investigators also presented a psychological assessment that had been done when Diane applied to be a surrogate.
00:24:10
Speaker
The psychologist reported that Diane could shut her emotions down at will, like flicking off a light switch. He also diagnosed her with histrionic personality disorder, a personality disorder characterized by excessive attention-seeking, including inappropriately seductive behavior and an excessive need for approval. People diagnosed as histrionic are described as lively, dramatic, and flirtatious with exaggerated behavior and emotions and who crave constant stimulation.
00:24:38
Speaker
One interesting observation, the term surrogate actually means substitute. Diane was an expert on substituting. She substituted the love she received from her children for the love she felt was missing in her marriage. She substituted the easy attention she received from men for the attention she thought she'd missed out on as a child. Finally, she attempted to substitute the lives of her children for the affection of one man.
00:25:05
Speaker
The jury returned its verdict on June 17, 1984. They found Diane Downs guilty of one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, and two counts of first degree assault. Guilty on all charges. Ten days later, she gave birth to a baby girl who was placed for adoption after the biological father signed documents releasing his claim on the child.
00:25:30
Speaker
Diane was sentenced to life plus 50 years with a 25 mandatory minimum sentence. The court rejected all of her appeals. It was determined by the parole board that her first eligibility to apply for release would not be until 2009.
00:25:45
Speaker
In 1987, Diane Downs scaled a prison fence and escaped. She was on the run for ten days, with the help of another prisoner's husband, whom she seduced, and who'd agreed to provide her a hideout. She was caught, and five years were added to her sentence.
00:26:01
Speaker
The prosecutor, Fred Hugie, requested that Diane be sent to a more secure facility further away. He had good reason to fear another escape by Diane. Fred Hugie became fiercely protective of Diane's surviving children, Danny and Christy. But the consent of their father, Steve Downs, he and his wife adopted the children and were raising them just miles from the Oregon prison where Diane was incarcerated. His request was granted, and Diane was first sent across the country to New Jersey's Clinton Correctional Facility.
00:26:30
Speaker
She was later transferred to California and now serves her time in a California state women's prison. Diane Downs has gone before a parole board in 2010 and 2020 and was denied both times. She continues to claim she is innocent.
00:26:52
Speaker
We exit the decaying mansion and make our way through a labyrinth of twisted hedges where deceit and treachery lurk around every corner. At the heart of the maze, we meet Caitlin and Cassie, who share a hair-raising story from their podcast, P&W, Aunts and Homicides.
The Tragedy of Joshua Webb on Mother's Day
00:27:22
Speaker
Usually neither one of us can handle the other one's topic. That's true. Like today, that's why I won't be talking that much. You're going to hear a lot from Caitlin. Just know the look on my face won't be pleasant. That's fine. Many of us, if we choose to or are able to celebrate Mother's Day, we do that by sending our mom a card or maybe some flowers, you know, if we're not close enough to actually visit.
00:27:51
Speaker
Since my mom lives in the area, we love to do brunch. It's a nice, relaxing way to do something everyone can enjoy for the occasion. Ooh, I think of mimosas, crepes. But because this isn't a podcast about brunch, in May of 2015, not everyone would be able to celebrate the way they might wish.
00:28:16
Speaker
particularly in the somewhat rural Oregon areas of Colton and Estacada. Joshua Lee Webb was 36 years old at the time, living in a pole barn on his parents' property where the Webb family home was, doing odd jobs in the small community of Colton. His parents, Tina Marie and David Webb, were aware of only some of his struggles.
00:28:44
Speaker
He had problems with his vision, and though he was considered kind of a weirdo around town. I'm a weirdo. Not this kind of weirdo. He was generally thought to be nonviolent. However, concerning his mental health issues that they were perhaps unaware of, at least in part, they would not remain hidden forever. Later, a number of bizarre accounts about his state of mind and behavior would come to light.
00:29:13
Speaker
like that he thought his girlfriend was trying to inject him with something in an effort to kill him. Then there was the truly bizarre claim that Fox TV was trying to own him. What? Not exactly sure what that means.
00:29:29
Speaker
He also believed that something in the family home wasn't quite right. Him? He was said to believe that there was a recording device present, something like a black box in the garage, just capturing all of the day-to-day goings on.
00:29:45
Speaker
That's like really extreme. Eventually, his physical appearance began to deteriorate, not the least of which he had some very unusual looking eyes, very unsettling. He was known to rub his head in a frustrated manner and complained that it felt like a squid was sucking on his head. Okay, I get that. Which of course sounds deeply unpleasant.
00:30:15
Speaker
His mother expressed concern to other family members about his mental health. And Joshua himself seemed to be aware that what he was experiencing was not normal. And at times he even expressed concern that he might harm himself or others.
00:30:34
Speaker
He had that much self-awareness. I feel like he was just feeling like he's very much out of control in his own body and mind. He voluntarily turned over firearms and destroyed knives that he had previously possessed.
00:30:50
Speaker
He went so far as asking his girlfriend to move back to the East Coast in order to keep her away from him. On May 13th, according to his father, they had a conversation before Joshua went to bed, and his father could tell that he was taking the breakup really hard. He didn't know any particular red flags or warning signs, though. Breakups are hard, so he really didn't give that conversation another thought.
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah, that sounds pretty legit. Joshua took it a step further when he also falsely reported himself as a murderer to two different police agencies in an effort to be taken into custody. If that isn't the biggest cry for help.
00:31:37
Speaker
On Mother's Day, fears that perhaps they couldn't admit even to themselves would burst forth into reality. When Joshua's sister arrived at the Webb family home along with her children to celebrate with the family, she was immediately alerted to the fact that something was very wrong. When she sadly found Joshua's dog stabbed to death in the kitchen.
00:32:06
Speaker
What? I know. I'm really praying that her kids didn't see that. I hope not. That's so sad. But it's not until she steps further inside the family home that the full depth of the horror she has stumbled upon is realized. On Mother's Day, of all days, she would find her mother's decapitated body lying on the floor.
00:32:32
Speaker
Oh, I just got freezing cold. When she dials 911, at this point, there's already another call coming into dispatch from a local grocery store. The caller described a disheveled man entering the store wielding a bloody knife, and we are not talking about a butter knife. It was an eight-inch knife. So more like something you'd use to carve a turkey.
00:33:00
Speaker
But it gets worse. Witnesses would state that in his other hand appeared to be a severed human head. No, we're not in Sleepy Hollow. This is not a headless horseman situation. The man helped himself to a soda from the cooler.
00:33:16
Speaker
drinking it right then and there in front of the stunned employees at the store. He threatened one of the store clerks, gave chase, and then gruesomely began stabbing the man, Michael Wagner.
00:33:31
Speaker
The other employees immediately moved to subdue the attacker. They used duct tape to restrain the attacker before calling the police. I don't think most of you are likely having any trouble connecting the dots, but this was Joshua who became completely catatonic at that point. He was taken to the hospital where he would remain in that state until a full 24 hours had passed.
00:34:01
Speaker
When he snapped back to reality, he said, I had a nice nap before providing a freely given confession to the horrific crimes of the previous day. This case did not go to a jury trial. It was pretty open and closed. He pleaded guilty by reason of insanity.
00:34:22
Speaker
His defense attorneys obviously wanted to see him sentenced to a mental institution rather than simply being incarcerated. Two psychiatrists, one from each of the opposing legal teams, testified in his trial. They agreed that this was the correct course of action as both confirmed a diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychosis.
00:34:50
Speaker
Joshua's father, David Webb, who hadn't been present at the time of his wife's murder, said, my wife was wonderful. I've been married to her for almost 41 years. Joshua was our son. I never saw a problem. Evidently, there was one. I start crying every time I think about it. Oh, that poor man.
00:35:21
Speaker
As we emerge from the dark labyrinth, we find ourselves in a decrepit greenhouse where their wilted plants and shattered glass hint at a once thriving sanctuary of life. It's here that we meet Robin, who recounts a chilling tale from their podcast. The trail went cold.
The Crimes and Capture of Audrey Marie Hilly
00:35:51
Speaker
So there are a lot of diabolical mothers out there who have murdered or attempted to murder their own children, but I doubt you'll find too many crazier examples of this than Audrey Marie Hilly. I first learned about this story in 1991, when Unsolved Mysteries put together a special episode titled Diabolical Minds, which attempted to perform an in-depth exploration into the mind of a psychopath.
00:36:15
Speaker
And even though the saga of Audrey Marie Hilly was technically not an unsolved mystery, per se, I can see why they decided to put together a lengthy segment about her story since, well, it's batchet insane. Audrey Marie Hilly, who went by her middle name, lived in Aniston, Alabama with her husband Frank and their children, Mike and Carol. And even though Frank had a good job and they seemed like an ideal family, there was something much darker beneath the surface.
00:36:43
Speaker
Marie frequently cheated on her husband and spent money excessively, so she eventually decided to utilize a popular practice for psychopaths who experience financial problems, take out an insurance policy on a loved one, and kill them. In May of 1975, Frank passed away at the age of 45 after a lengthy illness, and the official cause of death was ruled to be infectious hepatitis.
00:37:08
Speaker
At the time, no one had any inkling that foul play had occurred, but it turned out that Marie had taken out a $31,000 insurance policy on her husband right before his illness started. And Marie blew through that money fairly quickly and reached the point where she was heavily in debt and receiving calls from creditors.
00:37:28
Speaker
While in 1979, history would seemingly repeat itself when Carol, who was 18 years old at this point, became seriously ill and displayed a number of the same symptoms her father had. While Carol attempted to recover, her mother secretly gave her injections which were supposed to alleviate her nausea, but it only seemed to make things worse, and Marie told Carol not to tell anyone about these shots.
00:37:54
Speaker
While all this was going on, Mike decided to confront Maria about her financial issues, and this took place right before he ate a breakfast his mother had cooked for him. Well, lo and behold, Mike soon found himself becoming very ill, though he did recover.
00:38:10
Speaker
The big turning point occurred when Marie was arrested for passing bad checks, and it turned out she was attempting to use them to pay the premiums on a $25,000 insurance policy she had secretly taken out on Carol years earlier. So let this be a lesson for stupid criminals. If you're planning to murder someone for insurance money, make sure you at least have enough money on hand to pay for the policy.
00:38:35
Speaker
By this point, Carol was recuperating in the hospital, and Marie's arrest generated enough suspicion that physicians decided to perform new tests on Carol, and discovered that she had a high level of arsenic in her system, which were the result of Marie's secret injections. Following this revelation, the authorities decided to exhume Frank's body, and sure enough, a new autopsy would uncover lethal traces of arsenic in his system.
00:39:03
Speaker
It now seemed obvious that Marie had poisoned her own husband and daughter in an attempt to collect on their insurance policies, and had likely poisoned Mike when she fed him breakfast. What's ironic is that Marie was described as being very kind and loving towards Frank and Carol while she was caring for them during their illnesses, even though she was the direct cause of said illnesses.
00:39:27
Speaker
Anyway, Maria was first arrested for the attempted murder of Carol before she was released on bail, and in January of 1980, she was finally indicted for Frank's murder. If things had ended there, this already would have been a crazy story, but the next development would send things into cuckoo-for-cocopops territory. While she was out on bail, Maria fled to Florida and started a new life under the name Robbie Hannon.
00:39:53
Speaker
She soon became involved in a relationship with a man named John Holman and got married to him, but in the summer of 1982, Marie told John that she had to go back to her home state of Texas in order to seek treatment for an illness. Well, months later, John was taken by complete surprise when Robbie Hannon's twin sister, Terry, suddenly showed up at his door to inform him that Robbie had succumbed to her illness.
00:40:20
Speaker
No, you heard that right. Marie had actually gone to the trouble of changing her hair and losing some weight, and was now posing as her alter ego's non-existent twin sister.
00:40:31
Speaker
There are only three letters one can use to adequately describe this situation, and they are W, T, and F. Anyway, the facade eventually came tumbling down, and once the authorities learned that Robbie slash Terry was actually Marie Hilly, she was finally captured and convicted on the charges of murder and attempted murder, and received sentences of life imprisonment plus 20 years.
00:40:55
Speaker
In February of 1987, Marie was granted a three-day furlough from prison in order to visit John, who remarkably had still decided to stay married to her. But she used this opportunity to attempt an escape and spent the next few days hiding out in the woods. Unfortunately for her, the terrible weather and freezing temperatures caused her to succumb to hypothermia at the age of 53.
00:41:20
Speaker
So I guess it's only appropriate that the saga Marie Hilly ended in a very unconventional fashion. So, happy Mother's Day, everyone! And if any of you out there have mothers who have been giving you secret injections and asking you not to tell anyone, run!
00:41:44
Speaker
We leave the haunted greenhouse and enter a long forgotten cemetery where the graves of mothers and children lie side by side, their stories etched into the crumbling headstones. Amidst the tombstones, we encounter Allison and Maggie from their podcast, Coffee and Cases.
00:42:12
Speaker
The Christmas tree lights were gleaming and they were illuminating the wrapped gifts sitting in the corner of the room in 23 year old Stanley Anita Moore's home at 2249 Lafayette Street in Denver, Colorado during the early morning hours of Monday, December 13th, 1971.
00:42:37
Speaker
I'm also going to picture Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer playing in the background. Yeah. All the Christmas movies coming on television, it's a wonderful life maybe playing. Now, that is probably you're thinking an odd name for a girl. Yes, she was personable and outgoing, but Stanley Anita was known as Stanita by her friends and family. So they just merged the two names.
00:43:05
Speaker
Yes, she had gotten the unique name because of her dad, Stanley Moore. So he and Stanita's mother had already had three children, all girls. And now in his wife's fourth pregnancy, he was desperate for a little boy. So when their fourth child was another girl, he decided to pass along his name to her anyway.
00:43:33
Speaker
calling her Stanley after himself, Anita.
00:43:38
Speaker
I kind of like it though. And her parents did go on to have boys. So he was a little premature in passing along the name, but yeah, it's very unique. And Stanita was fierce in a way that all of the best people are. Her younger brother Steven recalled that Stanita was always his protector and that if Stanita was near, no bully ever bothered him.
00:44:04
Speaker
I love that. Yeah, she would stand up to wrong no matter what form it came in. As an adult, Stanita was a hard worker in her role as a nurse aide at Presbyterian Hospital, but her greatest joy came in being a mother. Because again, she's a protector.
00:44:24
Speaker
Yeah, I was getting ready to say she's going to be a mama bear. Mm-hmm. She was an independent single mom to a little girl named Shandale. The night of Sunday, December 12th, 1971, into the early morning hours of Monday, December 13th, Stannita and her then 18-month-old daughter were at home.
00:44:47
Speaker
with Shandale already fast asleep, obviously, in her crib in another room. Which I guess I shouldn't say obviously because she's 18 months old, so she could be waking up in the middle of the night. But she was asleep this night in the other room. While we don't have many details concerning what happened that night, here is what we do know, and I will warn you, it is very little. I'll explain to you why in just a moment.
00:45:16
Speaker
Someone entered Stanita's home that evening, though we don't know if that entrance into the home were forcible or if Stanita had let the person in. And while my research yielded no details as to the murder weapon, we do know that Stanita was strangled to death. I don't know if the choice to strangle with one's own hands
00:45:46
Speaker
versus using an instrument indicates anything about the perpetrator's psyche, but it would at least to me seem to indicate more premeditation if it were done with an instrument, like a shoelace or a rope. In the moment by the hands. Right.
00:46:06
Speaker
But again, with what little reports there are, none of them specify. But either way, the one silver lining is that Stanita's daughter, Shandale, was not harmed and had slept through the incident safely in her crib.
00:46:26
Speaker
That is a silver lining for sure. We do know that Stanita's family received a call in those early morning hours of December 13th telling them that something horrific had happened and that they needed to rush to Stanita's home right away. But again, we don't know who called.
00:46:46
Speaker
them to tell them that they needed to come over who called the police. None of those details have been shared, but they couldn't believe what had happened. In the aftermath, Shandale was adopted by one of Stannada's sisters. And despite all of the horrors that had already happened in her young life, the family made it their mission to counteract those horrors with a continual outpouring of love over the years to Shandale.
00:47:15
Speaker
Now, as I just mentioned, there is a lot of information that is missing. Key questions still unanswered. Important details, non-existent. This is partly due to the fact that the police files for the case no longer exist in their entirety.
00:47:36
Speaker
Well, how did that happen? So the family just recently discovered that, you know, so much of the documentation has been missing and they recently discovered that it has been missing for at least a decade.
00:47:52
Speaker
Wow. I don't understand. We've talked about that on our show before, being discarded or things disappearing. I don't understand how that happens. So here's how they explained it. In the 9 News Want to Know series, Doug Sheppman, a spokesperson for the Denver Police, stated that all that remains from the file is an autopsy report.
00:48:18
Speaker
a few handwritten notes from the crime lab and a short entry of the crime in the police ledger. That's all that still exists. But that should be enough to at least let us know. I would imagine some indication of how the strangulation. Oh, for sure. Was enacted. The rest of the police files whereabouts though. Well, your guess is about as good as theirs.
00:48:46
Speaker
According to Kevin Vaughn's article for 9 News that was published on February 24, 2023, Stanita's sister was told in a discussion with detectives that the files had been destroyed in a fire at the police station years prior. However, spokesperson Shepman wrote an email to that same reporter, Vaughn, noting that
00:49:11
Speaker
Uh, well, they may just as likely have been destroyed by water damage. They could still be available, but just accidentally misfiled somewhere else in the archives.
00:49:25
Speaker
or even that a detective had checked out the files to work on the case years ago and just never returned them. Okay, but I think at least that one you would have record of the detective checking the files. I would hope. As we know, a lot of cold cases have breaks because the stories remain in the public consciousness. Unfortunately, that
00:49:48
Speaker
Didn't happen in stany this case which received only a couple of articles at the time including one that ran on april ninth nineteen seventy two called who killed mother of sleeping baby and then nothing.
00:50:05
Speaker
Even now, there is little information to help keep the story alive, only a handful of articles. And with that, I've pretty much given you all of the information that has been shared. Wow.
00:50:20
Speaker
That is why you, as the listener, are even more important. Just because we don't have a lot of information to share doesn't mean that these stories don't need to be shared. Despite the bleak outlook, there can still be hope, even though it has now been more than 50 years since the crime occurred. In Kevin Vaughn's article in Nine News, Shandale said of her mother, quote, I don't get to know her.
00:50:51
Speaker
but I wish I could have." That kind of loss is heartbreaking. However, while Shandale doesn't have memories of her mother's kindness and love, she can feel the outpouring of it from others who are willing to share her mother's story and to push for answers. And answers are still possible.
00:51:23
Speaker
As we wander deeper into the graveyard, we come across Nina, who tells a tale from her podcast, Already Gone. There are a lot of terrible ways to die. Cancer, drowning, and Alzheimer's related illness. But for me, the worst way to go is being burned alive.
00:51:54
Speaker
David Cole and Timothy Fowler were close friends from Deerfield, a small town in Lenaway County, Michigan. Deerfield is a very small town and it's located about 60 miles southwest of the city of Detroit. In the spring of 1982, David and Tim were nearing the conclusion of their sophomore year of high school. The two spent a lot of time together and they loved working on cars. Their dream was to open an auto shop after high school.
00:52:24
Speaker
a place where they could earn money doing what they loved. Their families described the boys as good kids who stayed out of trouble.
00:52:34
Speaker
Saturday, May 8, 1982, the day before Mother's Day. David's mom and stepdad are off to West Virginia. They're visiting relatives. David invited Tim over to spend the night at his parents' farmhouse just a few miles outside of Deerfield. But both David and Tim's parents were reluctant to allow a friend to stay over because of the lack of parental supervision.
00:52:57
Speaker
However, the boys were persistent, and their parents gave in. Tim went to David's farmhouse for the night. But on Mother's Day, May 9, at approximately 12.45 a.m., firefighters are called to the farmhouse.
The Unsolved Farmhouse Fire Murders
00:53:13
Speaker
When they arrive, the wooden structure is engulfed in flames. When the fire is extinguished and the smoke clears, a horrifying discovery is made. The bodies of David and Tim are found on the first floor, locked inside of a windowless bathroom.
00:53:30
Speaker
The boys were still dressed in street clothes, leading investigators to believe that they were awake when the fire started. Evidence at the scene made it look like a person or persons came to the home and forced the boys into the bathroom, locking the door from the outside, trapping them in a small, windowless room.
00:53:50
Speaker
This person or persons then poured gasoline on the floor of the home and lit a match. The gasoline appeared to have come from a can that was usually kept out in the barn. During their investigation, officers found the nearly destroyed can in the remnants of the fire, along with the bodies of Tim and David.
00:54:11
Speaker
A 1983 story in the Citizen Patriot newspaper reported that gasoline was poured in front of the door and ignited, but more recent stories claim that the fire started in the kitchen, which was adjacent to the bathroom. The farmhouse where the boys lived and died was older, made mostly of wood and the first floor bathroom was part of an addition to the home, thus the lack of windows and the strange door setup where it locked from the outside.
00:54:42
Speaker
When the bodies of the boys were recovered, investigators learned that one of the boys had lowered himself into the bathtub, filling it with water in an attempt to survive the blaze. The fiberglass tub melted around him, leaving investigators with a chilling tableau.
00:55:00
Speaker
When I initially covered this horrific double murder on the podcast in April of 2019, it's episode 114 if you're interested in an in-depth look at the case. I spoke with Kim Spencer, the younger sister of Timothy Fowler. She believes that locals committed the murders. Perhaps kids from a neighboring high school were involved.
00:55:21
Speaker
But back in 1982, at the time of the blaze, police interviewed teenagers from the nearby town of Petersburg, but the interviews did not move the case forward.
00:55:33
Speaker
Detective Kevin Greca of Lenaway County Sheriff's Department is the investigator in charge of this case, and he told the press that he developed various scenarios leading to the fiery death of the boys. But these scenarios generally come back to a disagreement over a girl or a dispute over drugs.
00:55:52
Speaker
Tim's sister said that he was not a drug user, but it's possible that he and David were targeted to send a message to someone else. Listeners, it's my understanding that some of the people police looked at in this case have since passed away, and that another potential suspect is in prison on charges unrelated to the Mother's Day murders.
00:56:14
Speaker
Police believe that even today there are people in the area with knowledge of who started the fire that led to the deaths of two children. With the right information, Detective Grecca is confident that this case is solvable. If you have information about the Mother's Day murders, contact Detective Grecca at the Lenaway County Sheriff's Office. He can be reached at 517-264-5364.
Ma Barker and the Barker-Carpe Gang
00:57:03
Speaker
As we continue to explore the long forgotten cemetery, we notice a secluded corner, shrouded in creeping ivy and overgrown plants. Here, we encounter Alicia and Sierra, who share a chilling tale from their podcast, Twisted and Uncorked.
00:57:27
Speaker
Hello, everybody. I am Alicia. And I am Sierra. And we have a story for you. In honor of this Mother's Day episode, we will be telling you about Ma Barker. She was the matriarch of the Barker-Carpe gang that operated during the 1900s in Chicago.
00:57:48
Speaker
After her husband of 35 years leaves the family, Kate, Ma, Barker was left to her own devices and encouraged her son's criminal lifestyle. She became the alleged mastermind behind all of the activity that the gang got up to.
00:58:04
Speaker
Like all good stories, though, we have to go back to the beginning. Kate Barker was actually born Arizona Donnie Clark on October 8, 1873, in Ashgrove, Missouri. Her parents, John and Emmeline Clark, affectionately called her Ari.
00:58:22
Speaker
Loved the name Arizona and Ari and Emmeline. Just put it up there. Same. I was just going to say the same. In 1892, she married George Barker and they went on to have four sons together. Herman in 1893, Lloyd in 1897,
00:58:38
Speaker
Arthur in 1899 and Fred in 1901. George would take any job that he could to support his large family, even if all of them weren't the best paying in order to put food on the table. His jobs would range from a service engineer to a clerk. Kate stayed at home and cared for the boys and the home, and in 1910, one of George's jobs brought the family to Oklahoma.
00:59:07
Speaker
Hopefully it was better paying. Most people would focus on settling their roots, continuing to live the all-American dream, you know, but this was right around the time that the Barker children started committing crimes in order to make money for the family. They were repeatedly involved in various gang activity, and the seriousness of their crimes would only escalate as they got older.
00:59:31
Speaker
In 1927, Herman died during a robbery shootout. He shot out Officer Point Blank in the mouth and then turned the gun to himself, knowing full well that guns would soon be on him. That or he just didn't want to go to jail. The motive behind this action is unclear.
00:59:49
Speaker
Goodness. But after the death of Herman, Mr. Barker was crushed and he couldn't stand that his family was living this way with his wife, Kate, knowing all about it. He left the family to avoid connection with the criminal lifestyle of his wife and children.
01:00:06
Speaker
From 1928 to 1931, the Barker boys were in prison and with no one to do her bidding for her, Ma Barker lived a life of poverty, often turning to sex work for income. In 1931, when Fred Barker was released from prison, he founded the Barker-Carpe gang with former prison inmate and friend Alvin Carpe.
01:00:31
Speaker
On December 9, 1931, Fred and Alvin killed Sheriff Roy Kelly in Missouri during a robbery which forced Ma and the rest of the gang to flee Oklahoma. A manhunt ensued for Fred and Alvin, with Ma listed as an accomplice. When Arthur was released from prison in 1932, he quickly joined the gang.
01:00:55
Speaker
So no prison reform at all here from anyone, it seems. Right, just from crime to crime to jail to crime.
01:01:02
Speaker
The group would be on the run committing crimes throughout St. Paul, Minnesota and Chicago, Illinois over the next few years, looking over their shoulder constantly for police out for them. Tabloids began portraying Ma Barker as a ruthless killer that would plot their crimes out and protect the gang at all costs. From this point up until 1935, the gang was highly sought after by the FBI as well.
01:01:30
Speaker
for obvious reasons. On January 16, 1935, FBI swarmed Ma's house. A tip off to police indicated that family was living in Oklahoma, Florida. This resulted in a four-hour shootout between the barkers and police because they refused to surrender. Jesus.
01:01:53
Speaker
Alvin Carpy and two of the Barker boys had left the house three days prior for a job, leaving Ma and the youngest of the boys, Fred, alone in the house at the time of the shootout. Once the smoke cleared, both Ma and Fred were dead. Arthur Barker and Alvin Carpy continued the gang despite all of the losses they had experienced thus far, and in November of 1935, the boys robbed a mail train in Ohio.
01:02:24
Speaker
In January 1936, postal inspectors found Alvin Carpy hiding out in New Orleans and he surrendered without a single shot being fired. Clearly he thought better of his next moves after what happened to Ma and Fred. After this, the Barker-Carpy gang was finally dismantled.
01:02:57
Speaker
Finally, in the shadows of an ancient crypt, we meet Josh. Josh is my brother, and together we are going to share a terrifying tale of a mother's dark deeds from a podcast we do together, Mystery Inc.
01:03:23
Speaker
Well, Shane, we have a story about a mother who gave birth to a legend, yet treated her like a machine, programming her daughter to work herself into an early grave.
01:03:36
Speaker
We have all seen Dorothy skipping along the yellow brick road to find her way back home in the Wizard of Oz. Joined by friends, she wants nothing more than to go back home to her loving family. If you know about the fabulously tragic life of Frances Gumm or her stage name, Judy Garland, I bet she would have opted to stay over the rainbow.
01:04:03
Speaker
Legends never die, but they often grow from unnourished soil. Judy Garland was, is, and will always be mother. But let's learn about the horrible woman who gave birth to her. An ex-Vaudeville actress turned bitter wife and mother who basically sold her daughter to a studio. Her name was Ethel Marion Milney. Without her, we would never have met our beloved Dorothy.
01:04:34
Speaker
but maybe Frances would have lived a longer, happier life without the trauma from her mother remaining with her until her early demise. Frances was born the youngest of three daughters to Frances Gumm and Ethel Milney. When the couple found out they were pregnant for the third time, they panicked due to the financial cost and sought to abort the fetus.
01:05:01
Speaker
After being unable to find someone to do the procedure, the couple, desperate, took matters into their own hands and did everything they could to cause a miscarriage. They already had two girls and their relationship was rocky and they often separated.
01:05:19
Speaker
Their efforts went in vain, though, as Frances Gumm was born on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She quickly became the family favorite, as even at a young age, she had a star presence about her.
01:05:36
Speaker
Ethel had all of her daughters performing as soon as they could walk. Judy first began appearing on stage at the age of only two. This was before child labor laws, but they still wouldn't have applied to the poor girls. Family businesses, entertainment, and paper delivery are, let's say, more than lax about the exploitation of child labor. Still to this day.
01:06:03
Speaker
In 1926, the family moved to Lancaster, California for two reasons. One was they were hopeful that they could launch the motion picture career of the sisters, who eventually began using the stage name, the Garland sisters, as their surname, Gum, just wasn't glamorous enough. The second reason was to escape the increasing rumors that Judy's father was gay.
01:06:31
Speaker
Well, that explains her panache. By the time Judy was 10, her mother began to increase her workload. It was clear to Ethel that all of her hopes lay with her youngest daughter. Ethel began putting all three girls on amphetamines to make them wake up and work. Then she would give them sleeping pills to make them shut off for just a few lucky hours of rest.
01:06:58
Speaker
Judy said that her mother used to threaten to hurt her if she didn't perform even when she was sick. Ethel would force her to go out on stage. Judy also stated that she only felt loved when she was singing.
01:07:16
Speaker
In 1935, Judy's father Francis fell ill due to meningitis and died in the hospital, leaving the girls alone with the will of their horrible mother. That made Ethel increase her efforts to push her girls to stardom even more. When she began forcing Judy to audition, studio executives were extremely critical of her physical appearance and Ethel started forcing their wishes upon her daughter.
01:07:44
Speaker
They made her stick to a strict diet and weight loss pills to prevent her from gaining any weight. You know, in The Wizard of Oz, she has little inserts in her nose to give it a better shape.
01:07:58
Speaker
Eventually, she would be put on a diet of black coffee, chicken broth, and cigarettes, all with her mother's approval. By the time Judy graced our screens as the girl and the ruby slippers, she had already appeared in several films. But Oz is what launched her into fame. For a mother living vicariously through her daughter, it would have been wonderful.
01:08:23
Speaker
Ethel didn't care about her daughter at all, only keeping her new feeling of finally having fame. Poor Judy was in constant search for plain human kindness. By 1941, she had married her first husband and quickly became pregnant. Judy was ecstatic about it and grateful for the opportunity to have someone to love and to love her unconditionally.
01:08:51
Speaker
Sadly though, studio executives didn't think being pregnant suited their carefully crafted image of the beautiful virgin that was in Judy and told her mother to convince her to abort it. Judy refused, but her mother still held so much power over her that she went to her home, made her get in the car, and drove her to have the procedure.
01:09:20
Speaker
She was now in her twenties and a married woman, but the constant neglect from her own mother held so much power over her that she gave up the one thing she wanted most in the world. Love. Throughout her life, Judy was married five times and had three children whom she loved and adored. Liza Minnelli still speaks so lovingly of her wonderful and loving mother.
01:09:48
Speaker
Judy's stardom glowed and dimmed several times throughout her short life. Before she died, she had begun a stage revival and received standing ovations each night. It appeared that she was back and better than ever.
01:10:04
Speaker
All of that attention must have brought up some of her old demons because she began to substance abuse again. The old habit her mother had given her as a child was something she just couldn't beat. And on June 22nd, 1969, Judy Garland was found dead of an overdose in the bathroom of her rented home in London, succumbed to the addiction that her mother had given her.
01:10:32
Speaker
Her body had been worn out from the brutal conditions that Judy had grown accustomed to from the age of two. Ethel Marion Milney died 16 years before her daughter in 1953. She was living alone and working in the office of a factory. Her body was found in the parking garage by a fellow employee. She had suffered from a heart attack on her way into the office and was found on her knees leaning against a car.
01:11:01
Speaker
Ethel had let a studio basically have all ownership of her daughter from appearance to when she could have a child, given her the addiction that ultimately ended her life, forced her to abhor a wanted fetus, abused her into performing, mentally and emotionally scarring her forever. And that's just all the stuff we know about.
01:11:29
Speaker
The story of Judy Garland is most definitely a sad one. I had known that the studio had owned her pretty much, but it never occurred to me to think about how her own mother treated her until now. As I watched The Wizard of Oz as a kid, Dorothy seemed like an adult to me and so happy.
01:11:54
Speaker
It goes to show you the phenomenal acting ability Judy possessed, making the whole world fall in love with her, all while being abused and unloved by her own mother. There's no business like show business.
01:12:18
Speaker
Our journey through the hidden recesses of motherhood comes to an end, leaving us with haunting memories and chilling tales. As we part ways, remember to cherish the love and sacrifices of the mothers in your life. But never forget that beneath the surface, darkness can lurk.
01:12:42
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on this spine tingling adventure and a special thanks to all of our talented podcaster friends for sharing their eerie stories. Remember all the podcasts you heard are listed in the show notes in order of appearance. Go take a listen, stay vigilant to your listener and we'll meet again in the shadows of our next macabre journey.
01:13:14
Speaker
you