58: The Sleepwalker & the McDonald’s Strip Search

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Scott Falater killed his wife — that much we know is true. He stabbed Yarmila dozens of times, then held her underwater. Afterward, he hid the murder weapon and his bloody clothes. When police arrived on the scene, Scott was dazed. He said he wasn’t sure what had happened. He didn’t remember a thing. He would never have chosen to kill his wife. So he must have committed the murder while he was sleepwalking. Right?

Then Kristin tells us about a phone call that a self-proclaimed police officer made to a McDonalds in Mount Washington, Kentucky. A man who called himself “Officer Scott” told assistant manager Donna Summers that he was investigating a theft. A McDonald’s employee had stolen a customer’s purse. He described the suspect, and Donna offered a name. It had to be Louise Ogborn, the 18-year-old high school senior. Donna brought Louise into the office and followed Officer Scott’s increasingly odd instructions.

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 hoax most cruel,” The Courier-Journal by Andrew Wolfson
“Appeals court upholds $6.1 million strip-search verdict against McDonald’s,” The Courier-Journal
“Ogborn awarded $6.1 million in suit against McDonald’s,” The Courier-Journal
“Ogborn, first set of lawyers involved in fee dispute,” The Courier-Journal
“Acquittal in hoax call that led to sex assault,” MSNBC
“Strip-search case closed?” ABC News
“Judge: Company must pay legal fees,” The Courier-Journal
“McDonald’s didn’t warn workers, suit says,” The Courier-Journal
“Ex-McDonald’s worker wins lawsuit over strip search,” Associated Press
“McDonald’s Corporation v Ogborn,” findlaw.com
“Strip search phone call scam,” Wikipedia
Clip of 20/20 episode on YouTube

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Walking Terror” episode Forensic Files
“The Big Sleep” by Paul Rubin, Phoenix New Times
“A Killer Sleep Disorder” by Paul Rubin, Phoenix New Times
“Husband Admits He Killed His Wife —In His Sleep” Desert News
“Sleepwalking Given As Defense by Man In Killing of Wife” Associated Press, The New York Times
“Woman Stabbed, Drowned by ‘Sleepwalking’ Husband” by Joe Enea, ABC 15 News
“‘Sleepwalker’ Guilty of Murder” by CBSNews.com Staff, CBS News