125: Larry Flynt vs. Jerry Falwell & the Murder of Becki Dillard

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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