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172: Crimes on the Water
62 Plays3 months ago
Where there's smoke, there's fire...even on the water. We do keep coming back to this well (pun very much intended), of watery cases, as so many strange cases happen when one loses their life on the water. Or around the water, or in a flaming boat like a little too-early of a Viking funeral. Woof, sorry, this one is very dark indeed, with 2 cold cases of murder offshore.
Kelsey takes us to Alaska, where the Coulthurst family was taking their annual fishing vacation. We still aren't sure why it ends in tragedy, with a family dead and all hands on deck too.
If that's not enough of a bummer, Alanna tells us the story of Pat Mullins, who fell victim to something nefarious from what we can tell, but both cases have eerie similarities and, unfortunately, remain unsolved.
One cute thing in this episode is the sheer amount of cat purrs we cot, maybe Gordo wanted to comfort us in our time of need! LOL Hope you like it!
Darkcast Promo of the week! True Crime Connections
Check them out, and Keep it Cryptic!
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Numbering
00:00:01
Speaker
Darkcast Network. Indie Pods with the Dark Side.
00:00:26
Speaker
Welcome back to Castles and Cryptids where the castles are haunted and the cryptids are cryptic as fuck. And I'm Alanna. And I'm Kelsey. And we're back for another episode. What episode number is it? 172?
00:00:46
Speaker
two
00:00:48
Speaker
That sounds right. Yeah, I think so. My episode list seems to go from 171 to 173. Oh. like Because I just scratch it out if we change it ah change a topic or like, you know, have to oh yeah put out a bonus one a week or something. and We have to make minor adjustments as we do sometimes. Yeah, fair enough.
00:01:18
Speaker
um That's crazy. Like, yeah, we're almost on 175.
Podcast Growth and Listener Engagement
00:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, we're inching our way to 200. Crazy. Limping our way. We're at 175 and still alive. Yeah, we'll be like, all right. That's crazy, though. um Yeah, some of my favorite podcasts are only like 400. That sounds insane. but then Oh, damn.
00:01:49
Speaker
Well, 200 is just half of that. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy. But sometimes, somehow you guys keep coming back. Yes. We appreciate it.
Crimes on Water Theme
00:02:05
Speaker
Or if this is your first one, ah goodbye, you've already turned us off. um
00:02:13
Speaker
Get to the point. No, I just speed people up because I'm like, And it helps me and pay attention better when I'm like, la la la la la are they going to talk about the topic?
00:02:28
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. um I'm excited. We're talking about more crimes on the water, which is what I was thinking of calling it like smoke on the water, but ah death and murder and smoke and fire and all the bad things on the water.
00:02:48
Speaker
It's Kelsey's idea this time.
The Colthurst Family Case Introduction
00:02:53
Speaker
I love it. We keep going back though. It's like um that bruise that you just can't keep poking. Yeah, it's like the yeah, I like our re reoccurring series we have going on. We have a couple of them. I know.
00:03:12
Speaker
yeah we're gonna do another one coming up here in a series for next week so yeah one of our other favorite topics yeah you have to stay till the end to find out what that is so that's the hook um yeah i have one that uh i picked that i had heard about on unsolved mysteries and you know they always pick good cases yeah that's cool
00:03:42
Speaker
So I did my best, but it'd be good for people that maybe don't watch the show. And then if they want to hear more, they can go there. I can't do better than interviews with the family and stuff. Right? Yeah. Like a television production that they have millions of dollars. What? I mean, Alana, come on. Don't sell yourself short. But I can summarize that show. I can summarize the episode.
00:04:10
Speaker
can summarize the shit out of it. Yeah. so And then maybe theorize a little. Maybe we see what people on Reddit had to say. Yeah. Oh my god. But before we spoil too much about mine, I don't know. Should we just dive into it? What do we do? We were chatting before this, so now I'm like. I know. Yeah, we could get right into it.
00:04:39
Speaker
All right, we shall. Gordo's done sneezing on the mic now, so it's like. Yeah, that was so so funny. It could be mere seconds before he makes another um interruption that might not be as cute. I don't know. He left the room. I think we offended him. He's like, you already turned us off. Yeah, it's like, oh, you I think I saw something today that said somebody was encouraging um Mr. Orange thumb face there, Donald Trump to do a 30 minute podcast. Maybe they just don't want him to like get on social media. No, I would love it. ah And then he can say something really, really bad.
Details of the Colthurst Family
00:05:25
Speaker
And then we can arrest him for some reason, because he just loves to talk. And I'm sure if people let him talk long enough, he would accidentally
00:05:37
Speaker
Say something criminal. coffee All coffee and the bodies are hidden in the basement. oh All right. All right. We won't go down that road or else they'll title this portion of the podcast, Trump's podcast or something. Yes. Cause Spotify will just pick that. Yeah. It'll be like, they said the T word six times. They're a political news. No.
00:06:08
Speaker
I didn't do it. It's like swearing. It's a big no-no yeah um no All right, what is your case? What did you settle on? See, I thought you had a case picked, but then you had like a short list of cases or something to pick. I did. um Yeah, I kind of looked at some of them and was like, which one do I want to do? Nice. Yeah, this is the one I settled on. This one was pretty mysterious, I'd say. Don't really know.
00:06:38
Speaker
whole lot. um There's people that have like dedicated um because it's an older case. ah People have like dedicated decades to like researching it and everything trying to figure out what happened exactly because we're still not really sure. So no a cold case. Yes, if you haven't heard of it, and I'm hoping you haven't, it's Pretty interesting. It's the Cold Hurst family. It happened in Alaska in 1982. I mean, I don't think so. Cold Hurst. I think I ran across it on like a listicle or something. And then when I was looking more into it, I was like, this is just like a weird, like it kind of stuck with me. And I was like, I think I need to cover this at some point.
00:07:31
Speaker
Right? The amount of times I write a shortlist from a listicle when we're choosing a topic where I'm like, there's, there's just too many. Like, sorry. Um, yeah, we don't have to like be beggars because there's so much to choose from, which is sad. Yeah.
00:07:50
Speaker
Great for our content. Right. Yeah. Oh my God. Okay. So it's the morning of September 6th, 1982, when police get notified about a fishing boat that is on fire. It's like a huge fireball. um There's videos you can actually watch because people on nearby fishing boats kind of went up to it and they were filming it like it's actually pretty crazy. um I put a couple pictures up on the drive. um One of them is like one of the images off of i like one of the videos. And it was wow kind of I think it was inside like kind of an inlet um in the Alaskan fishing village of Craig. It was like that was the closest area to it.
00:08:48
Speaker
Damn, I might have to look because I'm trying to picture a fishing boat on fire and then my brain also sometimes keeps picturing like there's a meme where there's a and little ah literal dumpster fire, but the dumpster is also like floating down the street in a bunch of water. ah Yeah, I mean, that's fair. It's huge. Like the entirety of the top of the boat is flames, I'd say that are at least 10 feet tall.
00:09:18
Speaker
and there's like black smoke just billowing into the air. It looks crazy.
Theories and Suspicions
00:09:22
Speaker
oh yeah It's engulfing like the whole boat. um As I said, there was multiple onlookers that end up recording it on video. It's like an inferno. It's wild. um And the boat.
00:09:37
Speaker
The boat was called the Investor um and onboard it at the time of the fire was the Colthurst family along with four teenage deckhands that they worked with. Oh my god. Yeah. Oh, I feel like there's like a pun in the name there, but it's all, it's pretty horrifying. So yeah, I don't even know what what that would be. It's just like the Investor and it goes up in flames. Yeah. Oh shit.
00:10:07
Speaker
um Yeah. Seems ironic.
00:10:15
Speaker
ah So like over 44 years later, the motive for this fire still remains a mystery. And it does haunt like this tiny fishing village. ah Population, I wasn't too sure on one source said about 500 people live there. And then another thing said about 1000 people live there.
00:10:36
Speaker
Oh my goodness, so very small, either way. Yeah, absolutely. And it said that it remains Alaska's worst, or one of Alaska's worst unsolved masks mass homicides.
00:10:50
Speaker
Shit. Yeah. And they have some bad homicides. They've got some serial killers. Yeah, I think I covered that one guy that was like fucking hot hunting people in Alaska.
00:11:05
Speaker
he He haunts me, like from your case and any anywhere else I hear it, like the the Dexter thing. It's And to light a o a boat a boat on fire, like what the... Yeah, this one's really weird when I get to like what actually went down. It's like just ah weird. It's not your usual MO, that's for sure.
00:11:32
Speaker
No. ah So there's a quote from Dave Freeman who grew up with, um these are two of the the teenage deck hands, Jerome Kewan and Dave Moon. um So this was Dave Freeman, who is their friend. He said, you never stop thinking about them. And then he also said, the shock of losing everyone really tore up our town.
00:12:00
Speaker
and they all had their whole lives in front of them and they were just blown away and it's such a shame and tragic. It's just such a shame and tragic for no reason. Like they've never really figured out what the motive even was for it. Right and they all just seem seemingly completely innocent like a family and four teenagers you said? Yeah.
00:12:25
Speaker
oh That's awful. So the Colter's family consisted of Mark, the father, um and his pregnant wife, Irene. She was pregnant at the time. I know. And they were, they were both just 28. Like they were so young. Oh my goodness. Yeah. good fly That's horrible.
00:12:50
Speaker
Right, ah they also had their daughter Kimberly who was five and their son John who was just four. Oh yeah that's so young all of them.
00:13:03
Speaker
who That's rough. um Police released that Mark, the father, or I guess the whole family, they lived actually in Washington, DC. So what they would do kind of every year um during the commercial fishing season is the family would go up to Craig, Alaska with their fishing boat, and then they would catch the end of the commercial fishing season.
00:13:30
Speaker
Um, and then the rest of the year. So they were only up there for like a little bit each year. ah Right. But they were like familiar with the place and stuff. That's interesting. Yeah. And like people knew them. They had been doing it for a few years, I guess. And Yeah, but they were primarily based out of Washington, the family. ah So Mark and the family and the crew had arrived in Craig on September 5th, 1982. So that was the day before the fire ah to catch the end of the commercial fishing season for that year. And
00:14:08
Speaker
Mark was the proud owner of this new high-tech commercial fishing boat and it was described as one of the most expensive in the region at the time at 58 feet long and costing over $850,000. Wow.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yeah. That's more than my house. Right? It's actually, and not that was the investor, um like the boat. And I saw some other quotes that they said that Mark, like he hadn't come from a wealthy family or anything. um And neither had Irene. So they're like, he had built this commercial fishing company up, like from the ground up.
00:14:51
Speaker
and older brother Brian later said that every one of the crew wanted to be like Mark and he was the best one of the best skippers around. um So it sounds like the people that lived in Alaska, like they knew Mark, he was really nice um and people seemed to really like him because on the day of the fire, like earlier that day, the family or sorry, the day before the fire, ah the family had attended a birthday party that was being thrown for Mark at a restaurant near the docks where the boat was. Okay. Yeah, like they were
00:15:42
Speaker
They liked him enough that even though they had just arrived that day, like they were hosting a whole birthday
Trial of John Peel
00:15:47
Speaker
party and everything for him. Yeah, like people actually like the family. Yeah, that's very sweet. i Like they just arrived and then they're like, hey, we're throwing this birthday party for you. Right? Yeah.
00:16:03
Speaker
that's That's very nice. Yeah. ah After they have this nice birthday party there, they return to the investor about 9.30pm that night just as a storm began to rage. I guess there was like a big storm that was incoming that evening. Uh oh. Yeah. It was a dark and stormy night.
00:16:29
Speaker
The family was for ah joined by their four deckhand. Deckhands, Chris Heyman, who was 18. Then there was Keown Moon and Mike Stewart, ah who were all 19. So like they were all also very young. Okay, Mike Stewart, you see? Yeah. To school with Mike Stewart. damn um And when they got on the board, so like the four family members and the four crewmen,
00:17:03
Speaker
when they got on board that evening, all of them were unaware that presumably their soon to be killer had snuck onto the boat and was like waiting for them, um for them to get on. Oh, so they think someone set the fire and then left, maybe? Yeah. um Yeah, we'll get to the fire because the fire isn't the only thing that happened.
00:17:29
Speaker
okay okay yeah um yeah so they arrived back to the boat after the birthday party it's like 9 30 pm okay um i think they were planning on maybe going out right away or something um to start fishing i'm not too sure there wasn't really details talking and about why they were all getting on with all the deck hands and stuff like so late if there was supposed to be a storm right seemed a little weird to me but yeah i don' know I'm not a fisher fisherman yeah yeah what kind of happened in between we aren't really sure about we do know they got on the boat about 930 and the killer must have already been on it hmm
00:18:17
Speaker
The one of the only other things we know is that seemingly all the fam like, uh, Mark and Irene and then the deck hands, all four of them, uh, they were all shot to death. Oh shit. Yeah. With a 22 caliber pistol or a rifle. They aren't really sure.
00:18:43
Speaker
And then they're not sure. Okay. But they definitely, they obviously recovered the bodies enough that they know they were shot. Okay. Yeah. And then their daughter Kimberly who she's five. Yeah, Kimberly is only five she had been beaten over the head with a blunt object. Oh my god. god
00:19:07
Speaker
They said that because the like fiberglass boat had burned so hot. um And so strongly there was actually they would never recovered john the four year olds remains.
00:19:20
Speaker
Um, so they don't know what happened to him. Really? Yeah. It's like they were really trying to destroy the evidence. Well, it would seem like if you're going to burn something on the water, like you know, there's not, not much left, but yeah, like it'll just burn and then sink really quickly or something. Right. But then it's like,
00:19:46
Speaker
don't they know how hot you have to actually burn a body for all of it to go away? Like obviously they recovered some of the remains which is very helpful. Yeah. Because that's two of the best ways I'd say that people would think about to like destroy evidence would be fire and then water, right? Yeah, both very destructive. Yeah. Yeah. And can also be like, and especially water or something can be good.
00:20:14
Speaker
Exactly tampering with like the timeline and making it harder to figure that stuff out. Yeah. It's very troubling. Yeah, so they know that they were shot. um Then what happened, I guess they've pieced together this kind of rough timeline. So they get on the boat. They get shot at some point, like don't really know if they were tied up or what like he the Whoever the killer was like shot six people to death for them not to like jump overboard or something like that before that occurs. They've never really released I guess.
00:20:54
Speaker
That is odd. It's like how in theamville won the one, the crime, the DeFeo's one, how they were all found like this if they were sleeping, but all shot and like the shots didn't wake anyone else up. Like that freaks me out. Like you have three 19 year olds, an 18 year old, and then the yeah and then Mark and Irene are 28. Like they're not, like other than Kimberly and John, the five and four year old, they're not people that couldn't Like, if it's one shooter, they couldn't, like, take him out, defend, right fight back. Something. Never really talked about that, I guess. Yeah, like, seems like one shooter wouldn't add up, but it's weird. Yeah, very strange
Community Impact and Ongoing Mystery
00:21:42
Speaker
to me. um They did say that the gunman, after they were shot and killed, the gunman moved the boat to a secluded bay that was about a mile outside of town.
00:21:53
Speaker
And while he was doing this, he was seen by nearby skippers. So like other people that were driving and like fishing during the time. And he was like nonchalantly waving at them as he was driving their boat past. And presumably with the body still on board, like, yeah. Okay, but not on fire yet. No.
00:22:22
Speaker
ah Not yet. That is sick. Yeah, he kind of like moors the boat there and then he leaves it ah using the skiff or like um that to get back to the docks. He leaves it there basically overnight and through um part way through the day until the next afternoon.
00:22:49
Speaker
So like at least 12 or so hours I'd say he left the boat just sitting there with the bodies there on the boat. Oh wow, that's really weird information to find out after the fact. Right? ah They know because like people saw the boat out there and they didn't see any movement on it but they like just thought that they were fishing or thought when people saw it, oh, like maybe they're just in the cabin or just can't see them so they didn't think anything of it. Yeah. I mean, you wouldn't want to go poking around in someone else's boat and it's not, is it right at the docks right now? Sorry. did you No, it's like moored in a secluded bay, like so not even a high traffic area. Yeah. Okay.
00:23:35
Speaker
who So he leaves it there, he goes to the um like back to the docks, he loads up a can of gasoline and he heads back to the boat the next afternoon and that's when he sets the boat on fire. ah He flees pretty quickly, ah returning to town using the skiff again and then vanishes. Nobody ever sees the suspect um again.
00:24:02
Speaker
It's crazy that people saw him in the first place. It just seems so bold and brazen and like right weirdly out in the open. I don't know how many people saw the person, like the man driving their boat. um At least one family I think did because we do have like a slight description, but yeah. Really?
00:24:32
Speaker
Yeah. That's so crazy that it could yeah go so cold. Yeah. um There was a former Craig police chief, Ray Shapley, um recalling in a story about the investor ah killings. um A lot of my information came from People magazine, which I thought was really weird.
00:24:54
Speaker
Oh, like, yeah. Yeah. Well, you weren't just flipping through one. It was probably, yeah, they have some good articles sometimes. I was like, God damn, all these like good quotes and I couldn't find anywhere else. One of mine was like Netflix because it was on. I can't fault you for that. it's You got to go where the info is, right? Yeah.
00:25:22
Speaker
um Yeah, so this Craig police chief, Ray Shapley, he said, quote, when I got there to the boat, there's black smoke was coming out of the wheelhouse, but there was nobody on deck. Like they didn't see anybody. um But he recalls that it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. So it's pretty eerie. Like if you watch the videos that people captured of the boat on fire, it's like a raging fire. Like it's crazy.
00:25:51
Speaker
the the Yeah, once I saw the picture of the smoke was quite impressive. Yeah. um The only description that we have is that the suspect was a white male um probably in their early 20s with like a pockmarked complexion. That's literally it.
00:26:15
Speaker
But yeah, um, they did. white guy Okay. Bad skin. Right. is On the family or the pictures that you have of the victims or whatever, I think.
00:26:32
Speaker
Yeah, like call yeah they so they did end up releasing I guess some composite sketches. I don't think I ever ran across like the actual composite sketches, but they were released to the public, I guess, but ah with little to go on the case went cold for the next two or so years.
00:26:55
Speaker
Um, partly because of the, as I said, the regular population is between like either 500 or about a thousand people that live in that area typically. But during fishing season, they said it like, um, just explodes, like not even doubles or triples. It's like.
00:27:16
Speaker
crazy um and people are only there for a couple weeks and then they're gone till the next year so them trying to investigate it's really hard Okay, yeah, I can think of places like that that are like, heavily rely on tourism and travel and stuff. And yeah, you know, like, in the Maritimes and stuff like PEI, they're just a tiny little, you know, island that doesn't have much going on it. But then in the summer, everybody goes there to like, you know, go to the beaches and whatever. So yeah, thank you. Yeah, exactly. In flux of people. Oh, yeah, that's tough.
00:27:55
Speaker
Yeah, so police faced a difficult task trying to identify anybody and they didn't really have any leads like other than white male, early 20s acne. like i have a home yeah um There's another person who's been investigating the case for basically the last 40 some years. ah There's an author, Leland Hale, who is a pretty good source. They run like a blog as well. um They've also written several bookss several books on the case, um which I think would be interesting to read.
00:28:35
Speaker
And according to them, they reported that the police had three main criteria for trying to narrow down who their suspects might be. um First one, I think this would be a given, they had to have been in town on the day of the murder. Sure. Oh, yeah. Okay. So this is just like the profile of the ah individual. Yeah, they had to have been present.
00:28:59
Speaker
Makes sense. I was like, that one's so obvious. I can't believe we had to say it. ah Yeah. Yeah, that's hard. I was trying to narrow it down. This is like all they have. And you're like, Oh, God.
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah, these other ones I think are a little more compelling. um Leland went on to say, quote, they had to know something about fishing and fishing boats, because ah just taking the investor out from the docks to where it was found, you had to have some skill and knowledge about fishing boats. um Because as I mentioned, it was one of the most high tech, like an advanced fishing boats in the area, and was virtually like brand new, like most of the people in the area.
00:29:45
Speaker
um wouldn't necessarily have had experience with that level of like technology at the time right yeah that is odd and then like they just then destroyed the boat so it's like was that obviously not part of the motive like they didn't want to take their fancy boat like did they rob them it's like it's so weird um One of the other things that they said that the police used as a factor was whether the suspect knew the cultists. So Leland said like, why were the kids killed? um That seems kind of strange unless they would possibly be able to identify you. um
00:30:36
Speaker
Yeah, once you've killed the parents, they're kind of Like, what else are you gonna do? A problem, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. It's hard to put your mind there, that's for sure. Like, a person that could kill kids like that. We just can't think that way. Yeah. um So as I mentioned, it kind of went cold. They're trying to figure out who their suspects possibly could be.
00:31:08
Speaker
I guess they kind of had one person in mind because in 1984 the police ended up arresting this a man by the name of John Peel. And he had previously worked for Mark on, I think, not this fishing boat, but one of his previous ones. And they had had a falling out. I read somewhere Mark had kind of let him go because John was lazy. Okay, fair. But seriously, like you told that much of a grudge. Yeah, multiple.
00:31:47
Speaker
Yeah. homicide yeah like on far So they kind of narrowed in on John because he was working on an on a different fishing boat at the time of the murders um that was like within the vicinity of the investor. um Police said that he was a suspect almost immediately after the murders, but they made no attempts to even try and interview him until over a year later.
00:32:14
Speaker
um from the murder like they never even tried to ask him about alibi or even talk to him even though they said he was a suspect in the second day into their investigation which i think is like crazy that's isn't that weird why tell the media that yeah right yeah me no comprehending yeah like this person's a suspect your second day after the murder and you never even attempt to contact them until over a year after and then you arrest them two years after the murder took place like never say they're a suspect and unless you're like already booking them or whatever you know what i mean like i don't know like yeah you're already talking to them or whatever
00:33:06
Speaker
um yeah so they interview well yeah I don't know when they interviewed him, but they arrested him two years later and he claims to have been asleep during the killings, but that's not a great alibi, unfortunately. um So he ended up getting charged with all the murders um due to his proximity, as well as like his described similarity to the sketches.
00:33:32
Speaker
so He was a young white man with acne. He didn't have the enough to go on at this point. great Exactly, exactly. Wow. Yeah, and that's what the jury thought as well because his first trial which took place in 1986 was based on circumstantial evidence and prosecutors suggested he killed the family because of the falling out that he and Mark had had.
00:33:56
Speaker
And after a his trial that lasted about six months, it ended up in a hung jury. um And he was released. Well, like that the trial was over. And two years later, he faced a retrial ah where he ended up being found not guilty. And there you go. Now you can't try him again ever because he's been actually, you know, had a yeah sentence.
00:34:24
Speaker
um Peele filed a wrongful prosecution suit against the state to recoup his legal fees and was awarded a settlement of a reported $900,000. Oh, really? So yeah, he was like, you were really wrong. And she spent like fucking four years in prison. That's tough when all you have is circumstantial evidence and stuff because sometimes it is really, really good circumstantial evidence. So I don't You know, yeah kind of blame them, I guess, in a way, but ugh, that sucks. Yeah. Um, yeah, so he was basically their only suspect that they've ever, like, publicly named. Just because he was, like, oh, fired by the guy. Just a lot to go on to me either. Yeah, exactly.
00:35:16
Speaker
um so As far as like motivations or theories go, ah Craig's former police chief, Shapley, that I mentioned, ah he's convinced the killings resulted from a drug deal gone bad, and that the boat was being used to smuggle cocaine from Seattle. This is like one of the most common theories.
00:35:38
Speaker
but It does feel like something they throw at a lot of cases and honestly- Which is exactly where I would plan to bring my five and four year old to help me smuggle cocaine.
00:35:50
Speaker
And my pregnant wife. Oh, that they were because they were saying they were like directly involved. Yeah, it's like fucks sakes. Yeah, it does. if Yeah, it seems like the easy one sometimes for a true crime case. It's like saying like any unexplained paranormal case or whatever. It's like mass hysteria or like folia duh.
00:36:13
Speaker
ah the element yeah um no Yeah, he continued saying, I've heard a lot of talk that it was a drug boat, um said Shapley, who spent days ah sifting through the ashes on investor for like little bone fragments and teeth.
Unresolved Questions and Case Closure
00:36:31
Speaker
and They said Craig floated on drugs in those days. While others call this theory a bunch of bull crap, which I think I agree.
00:36:41
Speaker
like I mean they did say there was definitely yeah they said there was definitely boats that are smuggling like cocaine into Alaska and stuff but not necessarily that theirs was and I like what how still yeah um that author Leland Hale uh has a different know Not really theory, but argument saying that the investor murders likely occurred in the North Cove in Craig, where the investor was docked, and saying if you want to send a message, you leave the bodies there at the dock for everyone to discover.
00:37:31
Speaker
especially the other fishermen who are transporting drugs, if you um you want the message to ring loud and clear, and this is not what happened. The perpetrator instead took the boat out to Fishake Island and tried to sink it, um tried in fact to hide the evidence of the murders,
00:37:51
Speaker
um saying, sound counterintuitive to you, where's the message in that? And then when that failed, the perpetrator tried or the perpetrator returned to the vessel and torched it. And by the time the murders were discovered, at least 39 hours had passed. It would just seem just too methodical for that, like drug deals and Things like that where people have guns and there's violence and the tensions are high. It seems like it'd be more messy or I don't know. Yeah. Messy or something. They also mentioned that another theory is that one of the crew members was the killer.
00:38:35
Speaker
again like where's the missing crew member that set them on fire like the next day i don't know um yeah how would they set themselves on fire uh who was this unknown man driving the boat that people witnessed then i mean i considered like family annihilation when you said there was a whole family yeah kind of almost have to if you listen to a lot of true crime but then it's like so much else just doesn't add up to that type of thing there's other people there and they're all shocked and i don't know um then there's some people that i think are just flat out crazy because they think that the son john um because he's the only remains not found that he was the killer the four-year-old the four-year-old
00:39:30
Speaker
Yes, the four-year-old Alana, he left the boat. He purchased some gasoline and returned to it. He spent his family on fire, okay? It was baby Dexter. Not to laugh, but Jesus Christ. Yeah, I was like, are you sure you're not just shitting me? No, I read this on like three different sources.
00:39:52
Speaker
that this is a popular theory because his remains were not found that the four-year-old did it. Okay. No, that's a joke. It's absolutely insane. So wild. I can't even believe it. She ran away? No. What? I don't know. It is interesting.
00:40:19
Speaker
It is interesting to point out that odd that like when they got on the boat... I'm so scared for what you're gonna say. No, just that when they got on the boat at 9.30 after... like ah Mark's birthday celebration thing that the last known sighting on the investor of like anybody ah being alive other than that guy that was witness driving it um was four-year-old John or Johnny Colterst who was last seen at 11 p.m. on Sunday night by crew members on an adjacent boat.
00:41:04
Speaker
um So like they got on the boat at 9.30 and the four-year-old John was still alive by at least 11 p.m. that night. So like it didn't happen right away when they boarded the boat. like That's like at least an hour and a half that they were on. Yeah. I am the meme of the woman with the math equations right now.
00:41:30
Speaker
Like, I just don't. Yeah, it's like what happened for that hour and a half. Like, were the others still alive? Was it just John? Yeah, if that's the case, that further muddies the waters. Right? Like I said, the killer they presume was hiding, like, waiting on the boat for them. So, like, they waited for a long time. It's a big, expensive boat, but still a pretty small, like, sailing vessel. For eight people to be on it. Yeah. Plus somebody hidden, yeah.
00:41:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's a yacht or whatever like it's not a huge fucking cruise ship. Yeah, that's yeah, it's not some deadliest catch. It's not like the huge boats like it basically looks like a I don't know it looks kind of Yeah, like a yacht, speed boat kind of thing to me. It's not huge. Little cabin, little deck, yeah. Yeah, that's why when they said there was eight, like eight people on board, I was like, holy shit, like, it's a lot of people to try and even picture on that boat. And then, yeah, why was the kid scene supposed to be later? Yeah, like 11 p.m.
00:42:41
Speaker
uh human traffickers decided to target that one boat to get that one kid because that's how human traffickers work they're crazy right it's the other answer to everything true crime i was almost too trafficked yeah very 80s and 90s oh my god and apparently even whatever wayfair days i thought i told i heard that one episode of you're wrong about and they were like And then they thought because there was a crazy $3,000 couch on Wayfair, or like $20,000 couch, that it must have come with a secret child inside of it. What the fuck? Yes, just bizarre. It's crazy. It's craziness. It's just absolutely insanity.
00:43:33
Speaker
Yeah, I just have a little bit more. These are mostly like quotes that I didn't really know where to put anywhere else. um Saying police are like no longer looking for the killer. um According to them, the case is closed, says Tim de Spain, spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers.
00:43:55
Speaker
um okay like They're not even investigating. they're not even like ah There was a former Bellingham, Washington police detective, David McNeil, who helped Alaskan authorities in their investigation. um He says it was a pretty damn good investigation and they got the right guy, but just because someone is acquitted doesn't mean they're innocent.
00:44:23
Speaker
It just means that there's not enough evidence to show guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Which they still think it's him, but I mean, you need, you need proof and. I yeah mean, yeah, it just makes me wonder. So it's like not even sitting on the cold cases now. No, like they're not it. Yeah.
00:44:49
Speaker
um guy someday It's actually, a strong yeah, according to them, like it must be sitting under their closed cases. Like it's not even a cold case. It's like closed.
Potential for Reopening the Case
00:45:02
Speaker
No, I don't really like that. No, I don't either. Um, that John Peel who was acquitted on his charges said, quote, somebody was responsible for this and somebody out there knows what happened, but I'm not going to waste any more of my life on it.
00:45:19
Speaker
Which, fair enough. I mean, if you're innocent, I wouldn't want to be any more involved in it at all. Because Peele said that? Okay, yeah. Yeah. Um, those who knew Mark said that he was born to fish. Um, saying you quote, he was just an incredibly hard worker who always said he was going to retire by the time he was 50. And I never doubted it. Um, that was his younger sister, Lori Hart. Um, i she continued in the context of are you retired, she continued before 30.
00:46:00
Speaker
and Yeah, ah one but wanted yeah she continued saying he was he always had irons in the fire and he was making money. um The sister Laurie for decades was convinced of Peale's guilt, but her opinion changed last year.
00:46:21
Speaker
um I think this was like around 2014, after he agreed to meet with her and her sister at a local diner and like talk to them and answer some of their questions. wow um After that conversation, she said, I don't know if he's actually the one who pulled the trigger, but I think he knows more than he's saying. oh wow's interesting I think she believes there was like, like I kind of mentioned, I think,
00:46:51
Speaker
Why would you, how do you subdue six adults? Like more than one person involved. Yeah. Yeah. Like that. Nobody, I don't know how cold it was at the time, but like nobody jumped in the water. Nobody could get to a radio. Nobody could like get away. my yeah Nothing was found in their systems as to like them being Subdued or drugged or anything like that. I don't know nothing that they've ever released. Yeah um Yeah ah For those whose lives were upended by the killings including peel the case remains a painful cloud that refuses to lift Says Freeman um so this was one of their friends um of the deck hand saying it's hard to move on because there's just no answers and
00:47:48
Speaker
And then cops have officially closed the case, but that author Leland says the record remains in the archives in Alaska to be studied again. So it is like public record and that every single document used in this case has been put in the state archive. ah So if somebody wanted to go back and look at it and open it up again or whatever um that they could, and that's where um they had gotten their material for their book, like they had gone through.
Speculation and Humor
00:48:17
Speaker
Oh my gosh. The archives and everything. So for podcasters like us that want to look into it, even though this guy that wrote the book couldn't figure it out. Oh, such a mystery. Yeah, puzzle. Yeah, this one stuck with me because it's it's not even that it happened like quickly. It's that like. Where did the boat at nine thirty? The last one is seeing the sun at eleven.
00:48:47
Speaker
don't know when they're killed, but somebody witnesses them driving the boat away at some point. And we don't know who that is. Nobody recognized them. And then there are like multiple other fishing boats like saw the boat sitting there in that abandoned area for like a few hours. and Then the killer returns to the boat with gasoline and lights it on fire.
00:49:17
Speaker
and that draws more attention and then finally people go to investigate. Yes, it's multiple witnesses that saw things. Yeah, but nobody nobody knew like the individual or nobody's saying. It was very tough to think of a motive for that one.
00:49:42
Speaker
Right? It's like really weird. Like I don't even really fully understand why, if there was supposedly a storm that was incoming, like why they were getting on the boat that night, like with the whole crew and everything. Yeah, from start to finish, it's a little like, you're like, okay, well, that's a little odd, but yeah one or two odd things you can explain away. And then it's just like,
00:50:10
Speaker
I don't get any of it. I don't understand what the motivation would be and not the motive, like the, no, not the motive, but the other one, the mode, the modus operandi, that one, it's so bizarre. No, because they never talked about like anybody but benefiting from their deaths ah or anything. Like no one, like inheritances, family members, could kill the whole whatever. Yeah. Yeah. It's.
00:50:40
Speaker
yeah even the competition yeah even the competition everybody's like no like we all liked mark they were there like yeah god yeah it's gotta be something else something we saw or knew or oh i hate to speculate but we're gonna have to yeah there's there's more speculation honestly in my case honestly they're a little similar i hate to say it ah But clearly it was the four-year-old son, John. That's right. What? Like, why is that a theory? Like, fucking come on. I can't. Really? I need to see these comments. What is it the world coming to? Literally. Yeah. You think of four-year-old? Wow.
00:51:38
Speaker
And maybe it was the unborn child. Yeah.
00:51:44
Speaker
Oh, my God, I don't know what we're saying. I just can't but massive trigger warning on this whole segment. It's so fucked. Oh, that sucks. Yeah, I don't know what that author says in their book. I couldn't really navigate their blog. I couldn't really navigate their blog too well. I did go on it.
00:52:07
Speaker
um Yeah, it was like, I don't know, it was very confusing to try and navigate. Um, cause I was going to get more information, but yeah, I don't know what their books are like. What was the name of the author again, or the book? Um, it's LelandHale dot.com. oh They have like a,
00:52:35
Speaker
Yeah. And they talk about a whole bunch of stuff in Alaska. um But yeah, even on their blog had like a search function and it just typed in like coal terse and looked through those and I don't know, it didn't seem okay easy to navigate or anything with like trying to look up more information, even though it said it was like mostly about the murders.
00:53:06
Speaker
I was like, I don't know. I couldn't really find much more. I'll see if I can find the book. Yeah, supposedly they've written multiple books about it. So I don't know what other information is out there. I need to know. OK. And now yeah we need to go for a break just to break up this sadness. badness Yes. Jinx.
00:53:34
Speaker
and All right, we'll be right back.
00:53:49
Speaker
Hello, is this thing on? Okay, good. I am sorry to interrupt your listening pleasure, but my name is Tiffany and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, True Crime Connections. It's an advocacy podcast that talks with real survivors about real shit. This is the place you want to be if you've been in a toxic relationship or anything tragic has happened to you and you're looking to find your strength and healing. No two episodes are alike.
00:54:21
Speaker
but they all give you useful tools that you can take with you. So make sure to find me on your favorite podcast platform, or you can go to truecrimeconnections.com and come join the Hope building community. See you there.
00:54:50
Speaker
All right, we are back for more drama. Yeah. No. Okay, but yes. So we'll sandwich it with a little compliment.
00:55:07
Speaker
No, I was just thinking of like, when they say the compliment sandwich, like when you put a ah complaint between two compliments to be like, you're really good at this. Let's work with that. But also you rock. you know Yeah. But it's the opposite of that. Um,
00:55:25
Speaker
We can welcome our newest patron and that'll be fun. And then we could talk about some of the, I can give you some of the Spotify wrapped stats that I jotted down. ah yes Yay. So big Patreon welcome to Larry, our newest spend friends level patron. Welcome Larry. Welcome.
00:55:53
Speaker
you are amazing and we love that you joined at the highest level because you have so everybody be like Larry yeah hope you enjoy all the bonus episodes you now have access to yes we will be putting more out and also at that level you get to pick a like topic too so yes I have to get to you on that yeah please let us know when you make a decision Did Gordo just meow? Yeah, Gordo says hi. Thank you, Larry. came back He came back in the room just to say thank you. That's so cute. I was just like he literally just interrupted you.
00:56:42
Speaker
Oh, amazing. And yeah, just like everybody. it always says with independent podcasters we couldn't do it without you patrons and all you listeners so everybody keep listening and sharing with friends so we can get more listeners and more friends yes thank you so much and yeah it always kind of looks nice when i watch the spotify rap thing they do which i had to like freee sign into whatever the whole Spotify for podcasters because I was like, where is this? Where do I go to find this now? I heard other people talking about theirs. And it was like, yeah, it's always pretty positive. Tell you how many like followers percentages you're up and things like that. So I don't know how to other people
00:57:35
Speaker
Yeah, but it said we're up 21% in followers or something like that. Nice. Go us. Yay. I know, because sometimes I forget like, ah yeah, there's like the listens you get every week and then there's, you know, you can follow a podcast, but obviously not listen to every episode, blah, blah, blah, blah. But we have like 75% new listeners. So I guess we've gained so
00:58:07
Speaker
That's exciting. New listeners, new followers. I don't know. It all means something.
00:58:14
Speaker
And then every platform seems to have a different like top episode for us. Yeah. So for here, it was the morbid medical mysteries, which was up 497% more streams than our average episode. Wow.
00:58:37
Speaker
Which if you have two listeners and you get two more, well, that's 50% your listeners. So who knows how many listeners it actually has, but we're still in like 12 countries. Our top is Canada. Okay.
00:58:58
Speaker
Love our local listeners. Thank you. Love all our listeners. Thank you. Never want to leave anybody out. God damn it. yeah Just start naming all the countries, Alana. Come on. No, but I forgot about this. It said our youngest listeners were in the US, but also our oldest. So I think that's probably our second biggest country because we still kind of just like you know teeter back and forth, right? it's like Yeah.
00:59:27
Speaker
Canada, US, usually at the UK, Australia, ones like that. Is all your English speaking? Yeah, I was just going to say all the English first.
00:59:39
Speaker
But not all. We have listeners. A lot of our i international true crime episodes we've done have been based on where we had listeners from ah some of the first countries that popped up.
00:59:52
Speaker
so I like that and I hope people like that too when you try to like focus on them. It was our way of shouting out people as they they joined.
01:00:07
Speaker
Meanwhile, they accidentally butt-downloaded half an episode. We're like, here you go, fucking Slovenia. No, I don't know. That was stuff our newest country, though. And I'm still probably pronouncing it wrong. I'm so sorry. I'm just a mediocre white lady.
01:00:26
Speaker
um They also told you what the top shows were that other people... like the people who are our fans like their other top shows I guess oh they're probably way bigger podcasts than us yeah some of them and that's why we drink probably the one I first listened to and maybe mention the most possibly um last podcast on the left who I've listened to a few other episodes and they're also
01:01:00
Speaker
very big because that's the one the cryptid board game Daniel got me is based on there or like produced by there but they're merged. It's crazy. um One called Rotten Mango, which I'm not as familiar with, but I think is true crime ish.
01:01:23
Speaker
And then- Interesting. Yeah. Serial killers and then time suck with Dan Cummins, which I've listened to once or twice for research. It was pretty good. That's so funny though. And, oh yeah, our listener, um, fucking, I don't know, like personality. It said they're the creator personality.
01:01:53
Speaker
Or wait, is that our creator personality? I'm trying to understand this thing. I draw it down and I post it several weeks ago. And then it says the storyteller.
01:02:08
Speaker
And I was like, okay. Oh, because of the different metrics we have, the countries we're in, how frequently we publish our episodes and the length. Oh, yeah. Tell them some stories.
01:02:22
Speaker
17 hours long no i know gordo's praying so loud can you hear well for a second there it was like directly into the mic hold on i'll turn in the mic a little more oh that's fine it stopped it was just like he really wanted the spotlight there for a second yeah used it to scratch his face that's why
01:02:50
Speaker
Anyway, so air horn noise is for us, but I won't do that because it's really annoying when podcasts overuse that too much. you know
01:03:02
Speaker
Sometimes just want to take their soundboard away from them. Yeah, it can be annoying. right
01:03:13
Speaker
I always notice what's annoying when I listen to a podcast like out loud and then like Pat hears it and then I'm like, Oh, what are the things that he notices? Sometimes it's just funny. Sometimes he's just like, Oh, is that like, uh, the smartest guys or someone don't be like, no, this is some like random dude.
01:03:35
Speaker
All right. So. Yes. Cheers to us. And here's to a new 2025. Yes. And also a new crime case from me right now. Yeah. Thanks to me. All right. This is this case of Patrick Mullins. And yeah, I'm just going to tell you, it's also an unsolved murder, unfortunately. Oh, geez. We really bought the unsolved today.
01:04:08
Speaker
I know, I love anything. We didn't even plan that. We didn't even plan that. But so many of on the, so many with boats and that kind of thing end up unsolved. I know, I can't remember if I just was like, Oh, yeah, what about like, I had been watching more unsolved mysteries again, and because so it might have been fresh of mind. Yeah.
01:04:34
Speaker
Yeah, this one stuck with me too. It's out of a place called Manatee County, Florida. Just kind of cute. Okay. Manatee? Do they have manatees? I don't know. Didn't have time to Google it. Oh, pardon me. Um,
01:04:57
Speaker
And the, yes, Pat grew up there on the water and he was like, loved it. he He was born to live somewhere on water because he was like, they were fixing and building up old boats and motors with his brothers since he was a young child. So he kind of like passed that down to his kids too.
01:05:19
Speaker
That's cool. Yeah, like little handy. He was the third child of five children. So he came from a big family. And he definitely dreamed of being a dad and a grandpa and yeah, doing all that shit on the water. I get it. Like you grow up near water and yeah, you feel like it's in your blood or something.
01:05:45
Speaker
that that I don't love it here. It's just a little lamb walk sometimes. I was going to say, you just moved very inland. so
01:05:56
Speaker
um The furthest you could be from anybody of water in Canada is like right where we are. oh Well, that's where the jobs were. Yeah, ah's unfortunate absolutely.
01:06:13
Speaker
could go even for What is it, further north to Fort Mac? Oh, that's even more remote. Yeah. Yeah, it's too expensive there. um but Yeah, so is the West Coast. You got to like move to the Maritimes when I retire. Okay.
01:06:38
Speaker
um He grew up on an island, I guess, Anna Maria Island. hu Yeah, so he's always lived on the water. I'm totally shedding. um He was in the marching band.
01:06:58
Speaker
No, band camp. um But like, yeah, he majored in elementary education, so he always worked in education. And that was his passion, I think. um So that was pretty cool. He shared his life's passions with his sons and with his wife, Jill. I just worded that sentence really weird. His wife, Jill, and his sons, Marcus and Miles.
01:07:25
Speaker
um And his wife said, each of our sons had a boat Pat fixed up for them when they were in elementary school. Mason painted his boat to resemble the P-40 airplane that had the menacing shark's teeth on it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you can picture it, right? Yeah. um There's a car that has teeth like that on it that's in and the my neighborhood. It's kind of funny. Oh, really? Yeah, or at least It's, yeah, nearby. I don't think I've ever noticed it. Yeah, um when I go play D and&D at Cailin's, it's kind of like on her street. It's like a black one. Okay.
01:08:10
Speaker
um And then Miles weighed so little that his boat would tilt about 80 degrees before it would settle onto a plane. but So before it would like flatten out. So cute.
01:08:26
Speaker
It's like when you get on one end of a hammock and the other person goes straight up, right? It's a teeter-totter. Yeah.
01:08:36
Speaker
So one day Pat was planning on running an errand or two before heading out on the Braden River. He bought a drain valve and a pair of welding goggles, and then he returned home for a test drive of an older motor in one of his boats, which was called a stump knocker.
01:08:54
Speaker
Dordo's trying to use the mic to scratch his face again. but Maybe you just stay over there. He looks so offended. He's like, you pushed me over here, mom. I know. And it's he's yeah doing that thing when they're like, but you can't because I'm so cute. And look, I'm purring and and I can hear him purring. Oh, he's left. Bye.
01:09:26
Speaker
Well, I never. Don't meow at me like that.
01:09:34
Speaker
I keep seeing trends where one was like put your hands in in a circle and see what your dog does. And most people's dogs put their hand in or put their face in. It's really cute. And then one guy was like, see what happens when I get inside my dog's bed. And the dog was like, sorry, the dog was like, a Oh, whatchamacallit? A husky or something? So you know how like loud they talk sometimes? Like, rarr, rarr, rarr, rarr. Yeah. Oh, that's pretty funny.
01:10:10
Speaker
All right. So on this afternoon, Pat left for his um test drive of his old motor around three or four p.m. in the afternoon.
01:10:21
Speaker
so and then it was later that same day uh which was January 27th of 2013 and Jill got home from visiting family with the kids in Sarasota and this was around 6 p.m. so she knew that Pat was probably going out but she expected him home by now because it was only supposed to be a short little trip down the river and Yeah, it was just a familiar route and all that. And so she would have expected him home after a few hours. um She calls around, no friends or family seem to have seen him. So by that evening, she ends up calling the sheriff's office. They begin a search, they start on the river, and nobody's seen anything.
01:11:11
Speaker
really odd or alarming. They can't locate his boat. They find nothing in the Braden River itself and they sound the alarm and and kind of expand the search, I guess, combing the area for clues. The next day, um his abandoned boat is seen by another boater who calls the search team and they get the Coast Guard out to retrieve it later that day. So Yeah, they found his little stump knocker or whatever that boat was called. um Such a weird name. Is there stumps in the water? Maybe.
01:11:58
Speaker
It still had so the little boat had the ignition still on or in the on position. and Pat's hat and sunglasses were on board, and his wallet actually, but he was nowhere to be found. Yeah. damn So, so suspicious.
01:12:18
Speaker
yeah It was way out in an area called or near the e Edgemont channel, Edgemont channel. I feel like there was a couple of different names because it was kind of like near the mouth of them like near Tampa Bay and kind of where the river led out into the bay. So where the water area got larger. Way away from the shallow Braden River ah that he had started out at, which was like basically in his backyard. Oh, OK. Yeah, so in Manatee County or whatever.
01:13:01
Speaker
um Chris Slattery, a charter captain in nearby Boca Grande, says, a boat that small has no business being out on those rough seas. And Pat's family said he would never take it out that far on purpose. It was way too far out in the bay, like it wasn't built for that. And I apologize, I thought about grabbing, trying to find some photos for you, but I didn't have time.
01:13:29
Speaker
That's okay. There's a great Unsolved Mysteries episode. yeah Just shout out to Unsolved Mysteries. Oh, I love it. And that did help because it's it's nice to have a visual, which unfortunately we can't provide as much on a podcast, but... Yeah.
01:13:50
Speaker
I try to depict it. Yeah, it was far. Just like Laura Ingalls had to do when her sister went blind. It's a skill. I'm not gonna lie. yeah We're working on it. But yeah, this was unfortunately followed by another eight days of searching after they found his boat. And then another charter captain finds Pat's body.
01:14:21
Speaker
he is tied to an anchor with a rope which was like wrapped around his torso multiple times and I think between his legs so just wrapped all around him oh damn yeah and he was taken it said to a local marina and yeah this was unfortunate that like a spokesperson for the sheriff's office then told a gathering crowd of reporters that pat's death was a suicide oh fuck you don't know that i know it's really hard to not like try and you know try and depict it without opinion or whatever but oh but like you just found his body you can't rule anything
01:15:15
Speaker
and that's what the source said yeah it was um like this was before the medical examiner had arrived so whoever yeah if and when that happened that was really dumb i think yeah especially to like say that to the public ah right like no comment buddy no comment yeah
01:15:40
Speaker
um the medical examiner got there he requested they please get the fuck out yeah i would hope so good for you and eventually the examiner's notes indicated that he died of a shotgun blast to the head actually oh yeah yeah that's jesus as soon as you said there was a fishing boat then you had shock oh my god yeah like a rifle or something they aren't sure i guess and then they're not solved i was like what the hell you know what else creeped me out when you was like fire the boat was on fire i was like oh i wrote like kind of already thought i was gonna call it like crimes on the water because that old song smoke on the water
01:16:31
Speaker
And then I said something in the intro, boat oh, all the stuff on the water, smoke, fire, and then you immediately were like, and the boat was on fire. And I was like, wait, that actually is kind of creepy. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. but oh So yeah, it's weird too. Mine is just as weird.
01:16:54
Speaker
Um, they had basically nothing to go on, no leads, as he had no known enemies. He was a well-liked professional, a perfectionist. He worked with ah many students either in like the library at the local Palmetto High School. Um, also, I think maybe in some other capacities, is it like maybe a teacher or educator in some fashion, but I think ah of working at the school library at the time of his death because many things called him a librarian. And like many students remember the impact Mr. Mullins quote unquote had on their lives. So like he was a beloved teacher, I believe. ah and Yeah, that's so sad.
01:17:41
Speaker
Because everybody has like a teacher they remember like that, you know? Yeah. Why can't people be like, this person was an asshole? Right. It's always, they lit up a room. Why can't we speak ill of the dead? Yeah.
01:17:59
Speaker
Sorry, my daughter's screaming. Okay, anyway. My mom's not screaming. and She gets loud with her friends on the phone. Okay, later that year in the fall of 2013, a fundraiser was held by Pat's family ah with help from their community. Their family was able to raise $10,000 in reward money for anyone with information. And then additional funding had brought that amount up to $25,000.
01:18:29
Speaker
Okay. But yeah yeah, there were so many unanswered questions, um such as why was there no blood in or on the boat if he had been shot or shot himself as they had initially alleged. Yeah, okay.
01:18:51
Speaker
um Where was the shotgun used to kill him? It was not yeah and anywhere near there, just like he was not anywhere near the boat. Why was it called a suicide? Who would want to kill him? um Did he see something? A drug deal, perhaps, some sources. A drug deal being committed by a four-year-old.
01:19:19
Speaker
Exactly. Start him young.
01:19:23
Speaker
ah Yeah, why would anyone, if that were the case, like kill themselves under these particular circumstances, tying yourself to a 25 pound anchor and shooting yourself in the face with a shotgun causing you to fall into just four feet of water?
01:19:38
Speaker
Just weird, like so shallow, right? Huh? Did they say like he died from the shotgun blast or he had like drowned? Did they ever say?
01:19:53
Speaker
The shotgun blast was what killed him. um like Initially, they had just told the family had trauma. Then they said that was shotgun blast. But yeah, not drowning. No water was found in his lungs. um ah Basically, we get to the fact that it didn't look like he'd been and in the water very long either, which is also sus.
01:20:15
Speaker
you know
01:20:18
Speaker
Yeah. like because it wasn't very decomposed which was yeah that was my next point it wasn't why wasn't it more decomposed and if that's if he was held somewhere like where was he all that time yeah how long was it from when he like eight eight days after they found the oh yeah damn so like maybe nine days since he went missing yeah
01:20:45
Speaker
Yeah, especially nine days in the water. A lot would happen. A whole lot. Especially in Florida. I know.
01:20:57
Speaker
and manatee Yeah, I don't know where I'm going with that. The manatees!
01:21:06
Speaker
um There was no, they tried to find footage, like, ah because there was a railroad bridge somewhere nearby over the the river that he had been on that had a camera, but you know how it was periodically like taped over the next day and stuff like that, they weren't able to retrieve it. What's the point of having a camera if it tapes over that quickly?
01:21:27
Speaker
Yeah, like they really get into it more again. I first learned on the episode of Unsolved, but I was just like, damn, another avenue that's no no go.
01:21:42
Speaker
no purchase of a gun was ever found at a store on Pat's bank statement so and he had never owned a gun so it just didn't like really make any sense that he would do that yeah even if you're trying to hide a body it doesn't make sense for somebody to drop them in four feet of water like that's also bizarre yeah so you got the anchor as if to keep the body down but it was that just to try and make it look like a suicide because it really still doesn't look like a suicide yeah we just need you in waist deep water nobody will ever find the top half of you sticking above the water right right and some of those like the other cases when they are initially ruled suicide where they're like strangled or what they are just infuriating to me where you're just like how could that be your first thought
01:22:33
Speaker
Yeah. oh Yeah, he looked like he had almost just been dropped off. This was very inconsistent with with fruit flying. Sorry. no This was very inconsistent with being in there for a week. um As Laurie Baker, a forensic expert said it would be normal for a dead body floating in these waters to be quote scavenged within just a few minutes.
01:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, isn't there alligators and stuff around Florida? ah Yeah, I mean, like, I don't know about in the river, but maybe like, oh, yeah, this ah next statement. She also stated that blood can be smelled by sharks from up to half a mile away in Tampa Bay is one of the most shark dense bodies of water on earth. So damn, something should have been there. Yeah.
01:23:30
Speaker
And as in your case, only one person has ever really ever been ah officially looked at and in any capacity. I don't even know. Well, I was specs officially, but it's his son or his wife. No, I disgruntled employee.
01:23:50
Speaker
She was there with the bowlers. They all had an alibi. A student at the school that he failed library class. I don't know. Yeah. They're mad at the mean librarian.
01:24:08
Speaker
It's actually late fees. Hey, they got rid of those, don't you know? You can borrow freely.
01:24:20
Speaker
but I'm usually pretty good. I was actually impressed with myself when I had borrowed like nine books. I went, oops, I think I ordered too many. And then I was like, I was like, actually, I don't even think I had to like renew too many of them because you only have them for like a few weeks or whatever. Anyway, nice some of the authors I can zip through
01:24:47
Speaker
Okay, so this suspect, Damon Crestwood was friends with Pat's brother, whose name was Gray Mullins. And Pat and Damon were not particularly close. They were just, you know, acquaintances through his brother. So it did seem odd to people when after Pat's disappearance, he would change his behavior in ways like burst into tears at the mere mention of Pat's name, whom again, he didn't know very well.
01:25:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's a little weird. Try not to be so obvious. No, but be obvious because I hope we get a resolution someday. ah Quote, Patrick's wife, Jill Mullins, recalled that Damon had told her of looking out on the Manatee River and how he would cry and sob for hours.
01:25:41
Speaker
Just what? Hours? Yeah, looking at the river, you know, as you do, just crying. like the double rainbow guy
01:25:53
Speaker
ah rainbow all the cross a develop of wave
01:26:03
Speaker
Speaking in Un, uh, quote, speaking in Unsolved Mysteries, Mullen's family friend, Dr. Mark Sylvester said he was just a likable, dependable, admirable guy, but after Pat's disappearance, his behavior quickly became markedly different. End quote. Yeah, that's a little suspicious. It's just so much, but it's so circumstantial again. Yeah.
01:26:33
Speaker
Damon Cresswood's behavior became even more erratic after Patrick Mullen's body was found. He began to ask his friends if they would still be his friend, quote, if something happened and if they would be there for him without specifying what he meant. Oh, Alana, would you still be my friend if?
01:26:57
Speaker
If we really had to hide that body like all those jokes. talk Yeah.
01:27:05
Speaker
you best assume ladya with you sorry yeah I called you late at night and said don't if you could bring a shovel and meet me in the woods.
01:27:18
Speaker
I'd like to say I'm that ride-or-die bitch, yes. Some bleach, some rubber gloves, and some garbage bags. Because I would hope you would have a good reason for it. And that's all I'm saying. I trust that that person deserved it.
01:27:39
Speaker
right oh yeah yeah Better be worth it.
01:27:46
Speaker
All right um yeah the rest of that oh yeah I think that was still a quote. This coincided with Damon having annual mental breakdowns every January around the anniversary of Patrick Mullins' death. Dude. Wow. Dude have some chill. Except don't. Um Then there was the Memorial Day event where Damon did the weirdest thing yet. It was the same year that he disappeared 2013. So before the death, uh, cause I guess Memorial Day is in like May. I had to look it up because we only have like Remembrance Day, which is in November. So I was like, Oh, okay.
01:28:31
Speaker
Um, so yes, it was before Pat had disappeared, but people thought about afterwards how Damon showed up at a gathering of family and friends and brought his dog. And Miles Mullins, who was Pat's son, says he remembered how he tied the rope around his waist in a very complicated, specific fashion, and then tied one end to his dog. And then after they thought about how it was tied around his waist in the exact same way that Pat was after his death. Yeah, it it's just a little weird. I'm like, who does that? Who ties their body to the dog? Like just get a leash. What are you doing? Yeah, like I've seen some people with you can buy like
01:29:22
Speaker
I don't know, it's almost like a belt that you can attach the leash to. Oh sure, okay, yeah. yeah Especially the retractable leashes that kind of go in and out. Yeah. Yeah, Squirtle, I'm paying attention to you. He's providing a little background ambiance. You're just a baby.
01:29:48
Speaker
Um, yeah, just a couple more like little weird things how Damon's boat had had red stripes and was docked normally on the Manatee River near the opening of tam Tampa Bay near where Pat's body was found. So there was a bit of red paint that had ah been scraped onto to Pat's boat.
01:30:17
Speaker
that they really yeah and they really wanted to test the red paint like before um like they wanted to test it, and Damon didn't want them to test it. Whatever.
01:30:32
Speaker
So it wasn't until after ah Damon died from the crystal meth he began abusing after Pat died that they were able to test it. So from april in April 2017, he overdosed.
01:30:48
Speaker
Unfortunately, um, on Kristen's not like as him to be doing math all of a sudden. I know. You're like, I would never have guessed that was your next sentence. And they said it started around the time that Pat died. Almost like it was some sort of stress response. I don't know, just speculating. So Some people say, we'll never know. I fucking hope that's not the case. It at least was reclassified as a homicide by the FBI in 2020. One of the only good things to happen that year. Yeah. And then it was featured on Unsolved Mysteries in 2022. It was season three, episode seven called The but ah a Body in the Bay. um Yeah, and just and just to
01:31:45
Speaker
I don't know, reinforce or and again, longerundry but more about Pat, like he was only 52 when he died, which is very sad. But I just think he was like a really happy place in his life. He was looking forward to things, obviously not suicidal. He wasn't depressed. He was looking forward to his retirement, to having grandkids to like teach them all the the boating knowledge. And he wanted to open a boat repair shop with one of his brothers and he was looking forward to his 30th wedding anniversary. So he was just very
01:32:23
Speaker
happy yeah put my thing in computer and that's really weird sorry it's so weird and i was like he was just so loved that the motive's weird and also like it's cute how like he would help students that had problem with like ah paying entrance exam fees like SAT t fees I don't know we don't have those tests here but like he would like help out with students that couldn't afford ah exam fees and like now they still do that like kind of in his honor which is really sweet so yeah that's nice yeah that's something nice to think about or focus on yeah hey at least only one person died in mine ah dark humor
01:33:16
Speaker
Pat recently got a t-shirt that says, dark humor, it's like food, only some people get it. ah Wow.
01:33:29
Speaker
That's how we roll in this house, right bitches? Because you gotta be able to laugh, because otherwise we'll cry. Yeah. Oh my god. I'm so sorry.
01:33:44
Speaker
This is why I don't get notes that say, you guys are so respectful for the victims. Cause I try to be, and then I'm like, and now I have to make a joke. Cause this is, I don't, I'm so uncomfortable. Right? This is how I deal with things in my family. No. He's purring. He's having such a good time. Buddy. I know he's so happy right now. Cause he smashes his face into the mic again. Yeah.
01:34:13
Speaker
We should have called you Mike. You're always on the mic. Don't put your face on it.
01:34:22
Speaker
ah Yeah, damn. We had two crazy cases. they're They're real thinkers. Yeah. They are.
01:34:34
Speaker
like
01:34:37
Speaker
huh yeah like the motives on both of them are so non-existent like nobody seemed to benefit no nothing right like yeah i think there to be another if it was a book i was reading i'd be like i don't know the the the the main person has to find out some more information because we're not going to solve this case based on what we have it's yeah just frustrating like a dead end yeah Well, at least yours, they've like reclassified as like a murderer. Yeah. Mine, they're like, case closed. We had our man, but we botched the investigation. We're done. lesh that's Moving on, which I'm sure the family is like, I wouldn't want their sibling. I think Mark had a sister. I can't remember her name. like
01:35:35
Speaker
and when Oh my god, they were only 28. Their parents were just barely seniors. Yeah. yeah like I feel like that whole area must remember that and and wonder. So I hold out hope. there's There's some that we just still go to our graves with, which, oh, it just must be 10 times worse for the families. Oh, yeah.
01:36:05
Speaker
Yeah, that one that's like, yeah, your whole the whole family almost got wiped out. So it's only the older gender. You don't get it. That one's going to bug me too. I can see why you're stuck in your head. Yeah. Yeah, there's a couple of things that sound familiar in your case, but I don't really remember hearing it before but for some reason a couple things do sound a little familiar. I should have put the pictures because like it is weird kind of the way the rope was found and then they tried to do recreations where they're like can you sit here with a rope around your body and an anchor tied to it and then shoot yourself and how would that work and you're just like it wouldn't
01:37:00
Speaker
It just seems too elaborate. You know, it's so weird when people yeah right you try to cover it up like that. And you're like, that didn't work. Like we still know it was a murder, but yeah can't figure it out, unfortunately. Yeah. It's fucking annoying.
01:37:20
Speaker
Wow. That's why next week, no more crime.
01:37:25
Speaker
It's gonna say, damn, how do we transition this? but I know, it's the worst. They have the same problem literally every every week on, and that's why we drink, where they end with Christine's segment, which is the crime, and then she's like, well, sorry. I'm like, I love you guys. Bye-bye. You guys still sound like us. Yeah.
01:37:47
Speaker
But yeah, we had the idea to revisit some more haunted AF shit, like some haunted places, so I'm excited about that. Yeah. Yeah. That should be fun. And at least the people that have died there died a long time ago.
01:38:07
Speaker
Jesus. I don't know. I got nothing else. What else were we talking about even before? Nothing really. I didn't watch the Golden Globes, but I heard Nikki Glaser killed it again with her e quips and her hosting. and Yeah, I didn't watch it. That's positive this week. I saw some of the red carpet looks.
Pop Culture and Movie Discussion
01:38:31
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
01:38:33
Speaker
Demi Moore won an award after a long time or something. Good for her. I really liked the substance. I know you and Pat didn't watch it yet. No, but I want to. wild It's It's a movie.
01:38:53
Speaker
There's so many I wanna see. I wanna see Nosferatu. Yes. Which I think my sister saw, but then my kiddo wants to go see Sonic 3, so that's probably what I'll end up seeing next.
01:39:08
Speaker
Gordo, you're upside down now. and Don't bite me. All right. Well, sorry, or you're welcome that it's a little bit shorter this week. It's probably under two hours. Oh yeah, definitely. I think my segment was under an hour under an hour. Very consumable. You can listen on your way to work maybe. I don't know. I don't know what your life is. All right. Well, we'll catch you
Closing Remarks and Listener Appreciation
01:39:40
Speaker
next time. Until then, keep it cryptic.
01:39:42
Speaker
yeah Thanks for listening. Bye. Keep your cat happy.
01:39:50
Speaker
I pet him. I can hear static in my headphones. It's like crackle, crackle. He's such a diva. He is. He was fine all evening. As soon as we start trying to record, he's like, pet me, pet me. Aren't you? Aren't you?
01:40:09
Speaker
That's the only way Fenrir wants to be petted. It's like when I sit directly on you, then you will pet me. um stopdish one Thank you for listening to Castles Encrypteds. We love all our listeners and appreciate every subscriber, every new review, every listen, rate, and download. Our music is by Cobie Affair and our cover art is by Antonio Garcia. We are also a proud member of Darcast Network where you can find the best and spookiest of all indie podcasts. Follow us on social media where we are at Castles Encrypteds on mostly all of the things, now including TikTok. Check out our bonus content on Patreon.
01:41:09
Speaker
Cryptic clashes, video mini-sodes of your host making asses of themselves, Ask Me Anything, quizzes, other special episodes and more. Starting at just $2 a month you can get 1-2 extra episodes depending on your level. We produce, edit and research everything ourselves and any support you can lend helps us to keep it cryptic.
Lighthearted Moments
01:41:58
Speaker
that yeah one of like my last page i printed out ended up just being like one source today i was like oh damn why did i even print yeah i hate that i can't even have my notes on my computer if it's just like just the sources on the last page and like can i can i figure out the spacing so this doesn't happen i just can't have it i can't i It's so stupid. It's like it's literally meaningless. Hey buddy, are you going to lay down? Yeah. Aw, I know you're so cute. Gordo snores. He snores? Well, he was like, huh.
01:42:48
Speaker
I'm going to open up our, yeah, I want to have Patreon open so I can
01:43:01
Speaker
I booped the snoot. Yeah. You're upside down. Yeah, I put that. I added that little Cheeto cat. Pat Chiu gave me to the wall I have in front of me so I can look at it when we record. I'm like, oh yeah.
01:43:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's perfect. It fits right in on the podcast collage. I got one side that's like weird spooky cryptid stuff and they got other stuff that's kind of ah from like, excuse you.
01:43:39
Speaker
<unk>eze Sneeze. Yeah, but that's more like traveling little other trinkets. Oh, cute. I'm trying to develop the space in here too. It's a work in progress.
01:43:53
Speaker
Yeah, of course. We captured that cat sneeze perfectly. and so yeah Let's go on the outtakes. Excuse you. El Gordo? I don't know. Maybe he's ah he likes the, he approves of the cat patch. Sorry, it's an all black cat Gordo, but that's what they had. Yeah.
01:44:22
Speaker
The attention to detail is pretty good. Yeah, they had another. What it's like is it? Is that Tony the Tiger? Is that the Cheeto guy or is that the cereal? He's the Frosted Flix guy. Okay, then who's the... What's the Cheeto? What's the Cheeto? Does he have an A? name Oh. I don't know. Cheetos guy.
01:44:52
Speaker
Cheetos. Toes full of cheese. Should I ask rain? She'd probably, if I could cut her, she'd probably bleed Cheetos.
01:45:03
Speaker
you
01:45:09
Speaker
When I was young, when I was young, I probably like bled Doritos. I loved Doritos. Doritos. That's the other patch. His name is Chester Cheetos.
01:45:22
Speaker
um Oh yes. I think there was another patch and it was like another cat or something and its head was in a Doritaz box or bag or something because it's like you know just off enough to be the off-brand one. Cute. Yeah. Oh my god. Love it.
01:45:43
Speaker
All right. all let's start hu pu me I take the the lid off my drink. It's like way too hot still. It was hot. Yeah, I made some tea. and i Yeah, I made it at like, I don't know, how half an hour ago? It's running at Kula. It's so hot.
01:46:12
Speaker
It's an intense thermos or whatever. Yeah.