24: The Charming Kidnappers & the Swope Family Murders (?)

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Michelle Williams called 911 in a panic. She’d woken up from on her living room couch to a loud bang. She groggily made her way to the master bedroom, only to be struck in the face by a man dressed in black. When she came to, she made her way to the bed. Her beloved husband Gregory Williams lay dead from a gunshot wound. The intruder had shot Gregory with his own gun. At least, that’s what Michelle initially told police.  Then Brandi comes back from maternity leave to tell us a truly horrifying tale about being in labor for 50+ hours. Brandi battled pain, hunger, and a very pushy lactation specialist, but in the end, it was all worth it. London Lyric Pond was born in the wee hours of June 19, 2020. She is absolutely perfect. And here’s a fun fact for your Tim Pounds journal -- she looks EXACTLY like Tim Pounds! And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: “Temptation in Texas” episode of 48 hours  “‘Black widow’ breaks down in tears while looking at photos of husband’s body at her murder trial as prosecutors claim she was driven by greed when she shot him,” by Snejana Farberov for the Daily Mail “Closing arguments in Keller murder trial set for Monday,” by Chris Van Horne for NBCDFW In this episode, Brandi pulled from: Her life!

22 Heinä 20201h 52min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Daryl Pitts, aka DP, is back for his third illustrious guest appearance on the podcast, and he has one hell of a story to tell.  Conrad Hilton III is young, rich, and accustomed to getting what he wants. So when he boarded a commercial flight (the horror!) from London to Los Angeles and was asked to turn off his cell phone, he immediately lost his cool. He screamed obscenities at the flight attendants. He punched the bulkhead. He smoked weed in the airplane bathroom. Later, he threatened to kill the flight attendants. When they handcuffed him, he complained that they would ruin his modeling career. When they finally landed and lil Conrad was made to face some consequences, his family hired famed O.J. Simpson attorney Robert Shapiro. Then Kristin tells a truly disgusting story about a horrific pot of coffee. On a Monday morning in the spring of 2009, Michael Utz was at work for the city of Culpeper, Virginia. He walked over to his personal coffee pot, but when he opened it up, he noticed that it was already filled with water. But… the water didn’t smell like water. It smelled like urine. He immediately went to his boss, who made it his mission to find the culprit.  And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: “Peeved ex-employee relieves himself of $5,001,” by Rhonda Simmons for the Star Exponent In this episode, DP pulled from: “Conrad Hilton and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Flight” by Amy Wallace for GQ.com “Hilton Family Struggles to Keep Their Latest Drama Under Wraps” by Erica Harwood for Vanity Fair “Conrad Hilton Violates Restraining Order, Seen in Bizarre Video with Stuffed Bear Outside of Ex-GF’s House” by the Blast Staff for TheBlast.com “Conrad Hilton, Brother of Paris, Gets Probation for Taking Ex-girlfriend’s Father’s Bentley” by City News Services for the LA Daily News  “Socialite Conrad Hilton’s Journey to the Dark Side” by Amy Zimmerman for the Daily Beast “Paris is Bad? Meet Her Little Brother Conrad Hilton” by Nick Clark for the NZHerald.com

15 Heinä 20201h 38min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Hey everybody! With Brandi out on maternity leave, we decided to rebroadcast one of our favorite episodes -- the Bad Dads episode, featuring Kristin's Dad, Daryl Pitts. But why this episode? Well, hold onto your hat. We chose this episode to prepare you for NEXT week, when DP will guest star in a brand new episode. That's right. Two weeks of DP. Can you handle it?? Guess who’s baaaack? It’s none other than Daryl Pitts, a.k.a. DP. For some reason, you people just can’t get enough DP. We don’t judge. We just indulge your every whim.   For this episode, we let the judges on Patreon pick our theme. We asked them to choose between spoiled kids and bad dads, and bad dads won by a mile.  Brandi starts us off with a predictably dark case. When Christian Longo met Mary Jane Baker, the two hit it off almost immediately. They were both Jehovah’s Witnesses, and both eager to start a family. But Christian didn’t pay much attention to the commandments. He stole regularly. He committed adultery. Eventually, he committed murder.  Then Kristin tells us about a sketchy family business. Scott Catt loved robbing banks. It was easy. The tellers never put up a fight. There was a downside, though. The payoffs were never very big. So one day, Scott got to thinking. If he recruited some more robbers, he could get into the vault. His haul would be so much bigger. So he asked his son, Hayden, and daughter, Abby, to join him.   And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: Episode of 20/20 “A Family Affair” “I would only rob banks for my family,” by Skip Hollandsworth for Texas Monthly  Catt Family wikipedia page  In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “The Trials of Christian Longo” by Elizabeth Engstrom, The Crime Library “Christian Longo” entry, crime museum.org “Oregon v. Longo: A family’s murder” murderpedia.org

8 Heinä 20202h 29min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Dalia Dippolito was mid-workout when she got a terrible phone call. A police officer informed her that she needed to come home immediately. He wouldn’t say why. Dalia rushed back to the townhome she shared with her husband Mike, only to find their neighborhood swarming with police officers. Caution tape surrounded her home. Fingerprint dust covered her front door. She rushed up to a police officer, who confirmed that Mike was her husband, and delivered the awful news, “I’m sorry to tell you ma’am, he’s been killed.” Curiously, Dalia began wailing before he finished the sentence. With Brandi out on maternity leave, Kristin’s sister Kyla Pitts-Zevin filled in with a story that was totally NOT Brandi approved. That’s right. Kyla came on the podcast to talk about a museum heist. In November of 2009, a talented young flutist named Edwin Rist broke into the British Natural History Museum at Tring. His mission? To stuff a shitton of rare birds into his suitcase. He left the museum, undetected, with more than a million dollars worth of feathers. Edwin wasn’t a criminal mastermind, but it took awhile for him to get caught. And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: 20/20 episode, ““Down Payment on Death” The Court Junkie episode, “Dalia Dippolito and the Attempted Murder of Her Husband” “Dippolito mistrial: State vows to try case again,” by Daphne Duret for the Palm Beach Post “Defense attorneys point to growing mistrust of police for jury deadlock,” by Jane Musgrave for the Palm Beach Post In this episode, Kyla pulled from: This American Life episode 654: “The Feather Heist” Kirk Johnson’s book: “The Feather thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century” BBC article: “Natural History Museum thief ordered to pay thousands”

1 Heinä 20202h 11min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Barbara Mackle had just been kidnapped. An armed man and woman had stormed into her hotel room, bound and chloroformed her mother, and taken her at gunpoint to their car. They drove for roughly 20 miles, then stopped in a remote, wooded area outside of Atlanta. They injected her with tranquilizers, then brought her to a grave. At the bottom of the grave lay a fiberglass box. It contained a lamp, food and water, and ventilation tubes. The kidnappers ordered her to get inside. Then they buried her alive.  Then Brandi tells us a story that nearly ruined Halloween. It was Halloween of 1974 when Ronald O’Bryan and a friend took their children trick-or-treating in a Pasadena, Texas neighborhood. The children ran excitedly from house to house, getting candy along the way. But at one house, no one answered. The kids ran impatiently to the next house, but Ronald stayed behind. When he caught up with the rest of the group, he held five 21-inch Pixy Stix. The kids couldn’t resist. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more bonus episodes, sign up for our Patreon. And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. For this episode, Brandi pulled from: “The Man Who Killed Halloween” by Lisa Marie Fuqua, medium.com “The True Story of the Notorious Trick-or-Treat Murderer” by Michael Segalov, Vice “'Man Who Ruined Halloween': Recounting the horror story of Houston's notorious ‘Candyman’" by Alison Medley, The Houston Chronicle “Candy Man's legacy still haunting today” The Houston Chronicle “Ronald Clark O’Bryan” wikipedia.org For this episode, Kristin pulled from:  “A terrified Barbara read her instructions,” by Gene Miller for the Miami Herald “Kidnap case goes to jury; Krist silent,” by Gene Miller for the Miami Herald “Witnesses pin Mackle kidnap on man with ‘heavy beard,’” Fort Myers News-Press “‘Bury me in a box,” Krist says,” by Gene Miller for the Miami Herald “Gary Stephen Krist,” wikipedia “Gary Stephen Krist,” murderpedia “He buried Barbara Mackle alive -- then became a doctor and a drug trafficker,” by Kara Goldfarb for allthatsinteresting.com “Krist v. State” “Barbara Mackle, the heiress who was kidnapped and buried alive for three days,” by Mike McPadden for investigationdiscovery.com “Barbara Mackle’s 83 hours in a tomb,” by Gene Miller for the Miami Herald

24 Kesä 20202h 16min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Buckle up. This first story is awful.  Daniel Holtzclaw had been an officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department for a few years when a woman came forward with an accusation. Her name was Jannie Ligons. She told officers that she’d been stopped by a police officer late at night, as she was coming home from bingo. He’d sexually assaulted her. Jannie was traumatized, but she remembered enough details to give detectives key information. They zeroed in on Daniel Holtzclaw. But as they dug into his past, they grew increasingly disturbed. It appeared Daniel had a pattern of targeting vulnerable black women, and in at least one case, a vulnerable black girl. Jannie Ligons’ bravery got this investigation moving forward, but she wasn’t the first woman to alert police to Daniel’s modus operandi. She was just the first to be taken seriously. Then Brandi tells us the story of Richard Mason, a multi-millionaire who appeared to have it all. He had three children. He’d co-founded a successful business. But his health was failing him. Finally, when he was in his mid-50s, doctors gave him upsetting news. He had cystic fibrosis. That part wasn’t a complete surprise. Cystic fibrosis ran in his family. But what did surprise him was the revelation that he was most likely infertile, and always had been. Richard was stunned. If he was infertile, how had he fathered three children?  And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: “A guilty verdict for Daniel Holtzclaw,” by Matt Ford for The Atlantic “The 13 women who accused a cop of sexual assault, in their own words,” by Jessica Testa for Buzzfeed The episode of 20/20 “What the Dash Cam Never Saw” The interrogation video, on YouTube “Former OKC police officer’s attorney offers explanation for evidence in rape trial,” by Kyle Schwab for the Oklahoman “Closing arguments to begin for former Oklahoma City police officer accused of rape, sexual assault,” by Kyle Schwab for the Oklahoman “Jury deliberating in trial of former Oklahoma City police officer,” for kfor.com “Former Oklahoma City cop Daniel Holtzclaw sentenced to 263 years on rape charges,” by Andrea Cavallier, for the Associated Press “Oklahoma court denies appeal of ex-police officer,” by Tim Willert for The Oklahoman “Daniel Holtzclaw” entry on wikipedia In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Millionaire Reveals Moment a Doctor Told Him He Couldn’t Be the Father of Three Adored Boys” by Nick Craven, The Daily Mail “Father learnt that three sons from 20-year-marriage were not his after doctor told him he was infertile” by Jack Hardy, The Telegraph “Multi-millionaire who found out sons weren't his reveals why he went public” by Amber Hicks, The Mirror “Richard Mason paternity row: Son breaks silence to claim millionaire father was 'very manipulative’” by Phoebe Southworth, The Telegraph

17 Kesä 20202h 16min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Moody, Missouri, isn’t known for its crime rate. So when a passerby discovered a dead body on the side of the highway, they called 911 and reported a fatal car crash. But when police arrived on the scene, they discovered something much more unusual. The body belonged to 24-year-old Becki Dillard. She had been shot twice. When investigators went to notify the family, they were immediately suspicious of Becki’s husband, Justin. His reactions were strange. But over time, they began to focus on Justin’s mom, Debra Dillard and her boyfriend, Billy Joe Eastep. Then Kristin tells us about Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt. When Hustler hit its peak in the early 80s, it became known and loved for being a smuttier version of Playboy. Hustler’s contents made Larry a lot of enemies, but perhaps none were more passionate than televangelist Jerry Falwell. One day, Larry decided to poke the bear by creating an ad that parodied a popular Campari ad. It was rough. The ad featured an “interview” with Jerry Falwell, in which he confessed that his first sexual experience had been with his mother, in an outhouse. When the reverend saw the ad parody, he was incensed. So he sued. And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: “The Jerry Falwell v Larry Flynt Trial,” famous-trials.com, by Douglas O. Linder “Hustler Magazine v. Falwell” entry on Wikipedia “Hustler Magazine v. Falwell” by James C. Foster for mtsu.edu The Supreme Court decision In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Debra Dillard” episode Snapped “Howell County Sheriff Says Woman’s Death Was No Accident” by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene “Mother-In-Law Charged in Howell County Murder” by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene “Jury Convicts Debra Dillard of Murdering Daughter-In-Law” by Kathee Baird, The Crime Scene

10 Kesä 20202h 14min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! TW: Police Brutality We don’t normally do trigger warnings, but we’re making an exception this week. In this episode, Brandi’s case very briefly mentions police brutality. The case is old timey and the alleged brutality wasn’t racially motivated, but in light of police officer Derek Chauvin’s recent murder of George Floyd and the protests that have followed, we figured some folks might like a heads up. Note: If it seems weird that we discuss police brutality without mentioning the current climate, that’s because we recorded this episode before the protests. It was happening all around Chicago. People felt a little ill. So they took a Tylenol. A short time later, they dropped dead. Doctors were initially puzzled. Why were young, seemingly healthy people dying so suddenly? They soon found the unsettling answer. Someone -- or maybe multiple someones -- had gone to multiple Chicago-area grocery stores and drugstores, took the Tylenol off the shelves, and filled the capsules with poison. They then returned the poisoned Tylenol to the store shelves, where unsuspecting buyers picked it up.  Then Brandi tells us about Kansas City socialite Florence Barton. On an October night in 1920, Florence and her fiance Howard Winter went for a drive. They drove Howard’s Dodge Coupe through Swope Park, and eventually headed down a country road. When they stopped for Howard to smoke his cigar, a car pulled up alongside them. A man jumped out. He asked Howard for directions. As Howard answered, he realized that the man had a gun, and it was aimed right at him. And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: “The Tylenol Terrorist,” by Rachael Bell on Crime Library “Murder by Tylenol,” by Brian Anderson for Vice “Home of man linked to Tylenol deaths searched,” the Associated Press “James Lewis rape case reveals horrifying allegations,” by Laurel J. Sweet for the Boston Herald  In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “The 1920 murder of a socialite exposes a corrupt Kansas City” by Diane Euston, Martin City Telegraph “Roberts Aids Defense Pleas of an Alibi” The Kansas City Kansan, newspapers.com “Denzel Chester Freed of Murder” Sacramento Union, California Digital Newspaper Collection

3 Kesä 20202h 3min