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

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Jennifer Morey Caldwell was a cautious person. So when she picked out her apartment complex, she chose the Bayou Park Apartments. She was a young lawyer living alone in Houston, Texas, so she was drawn to the complex’s 24-hour security. The apartment complex was protected by Pinkerton Security. She’d heard of them. Surely they’d keep her safe.  Then, Kristin wraps things up with the explosive story of Olestra. Those of us who lived through the 90’s remember Frito-Lay’s Wow brand of chips. They were made using the chemical Olestra, which worked as a fat substitute. It was amazing! The chips tasted great! They had hardly any fat! There was just one tiny problem. They caused anal leakage. 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: “Nutrition group seeks warning labels for olestra,” by Bruce Mohl for The Boston Globe “Frito-Lay agrees to label fake fat Olestra more clearly on its “Light” chips,” article by the Center for Science in the Public Interest Notice of intent to sue from the Center for Science in the Public Interest to Frito-Lay “Frito-Lay target of Olestra lawsuit,” article by the Center for Science in the Public Interest “Olestra: A Leaky History,” portablepress.com “FDA says Proctor & Gamble free to use fake fat,” medicinenet.com “Frito-Lay’s Wow chips hit Hoosiers hard,” press release by the Center for Science in the Public Interest In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “False Sense of Security” by Steve McVicker, Houston Press “Jennifer/Sampson/Norina” episode I Survived

18 Sep 20191h 25min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Tyler Clementi was a smart, talented young man with a promising future. But shortly before his freshman year at Rutgers University, Tyler’s randomly assigned roommate, Dharun Ravi, discovered that Tyler was gay. Dharun he tweeted about it. He IM’ed his friends about it. He seemed obsessed. When the semester began and Tyler invited a date back to the dorm, Dharun and his friend Molly Wei spied on Tyler and his date via a webcam. Once again, Dharun tweeted. He encouraged others to tune in. What Dharun did was unspeakably cruel. It didn’t take Tyler long to find out.   When Justin Rey showed up at his storage unit in Lenexa, Kansas, with his young daughters, it didn’t take long for police to show up, too. Police worried about the girls. They were dirty. They didn’t appear healthy. When police asked about the girls’ mother, their concerns grew to full-on alarm. Justin pointed to a cooler. Inside was the dismembered body of his wife, Jessica Montiero. Justin had a hell of an explanation.  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 story of a suicide,” by Ian Parker for The New Yorker “Witness: Viewing Party Planned,” by Gene Racz for The Courier-News “Ex-classmates testify in trial,” by Gene Racz for The Central New Jersey Home News “Webcam witness: First, pair tried to contain it,” by Geoff Mulvihill for the Associated Press “Student says he helped set up webcam,” by Geoff Mulvihill for the Associated Press “Man testifies about his relationship with the late Rutgers student,” by Jonathan Allen for Reuters In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Dad charged after police say investigation revealed more than human remains at Lenexa storage unit” by Megan Dillard, Fox4KC ““You don’t forget things like that:” Witness describes bringing suspect and two young girls to Lenexa storage unit” by Megan Dillard, Fox4KC “Outburst in court-Man whose wife’s body was found in cooler yells about Johnson County injustice” by John Pepitone, Fox4KC “Court documents offer graphic details of inside of Lenexa U-haul where police found man, two children and wife’s remains” by Makenzie Koch, Fox4KC “Man charged in Lenexa storage unit case named a suspect in California murder” by Makenzie Koch, Fox4KC “Attorney for man charged with dismembering wife files motion saying Justin Rey is unfit to withstand trial” by Fox 4 Newsroom, Fox4KC “In unusual fashion, man accused of dismembering wife’s body in KC files handwritten motions to dismiss charges” by Fox 4 Newsroom, Fox4KC “Man found in Lenexa with wife’s dismembered body is competent for trial” by Tony Rizzo, Kansas City Star “Prosecutors allege child porn found on phone of man who once said he cut up wife’s body” by Associated Press, Fox4KC “Trial begins for man found in Lenexa storage unit with kids, wife’s dismembered body” by Shannon O’Brien, Fox4KC “Man found in Lenexa U-Haul with kids, wife’s dismembered body takes stand in trial” by Alana Laflore, Fox4KC “Man discovered in Lenexa U-Haul with kids, wife’s body found guilty of child endangerment” by Makenzie Koch and Zac Summers, Fox4KC “Justin Rey sentenced to nearly 9 years in prison for child porn possession, child endangerment” by Andrew Lynch, Fox4KC “Man skinned and dismembered wife so badly cops couldn’t tell if she was male or female” by Jimmy McCloskey, Metro

11 Sep 20192h 9min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Dartmouth College professors Half Zantop and Susanne Zantop were hanging out at home, waiting for their friend to arrive for dinner, when two boys showed up at their door. The boys said they were working on a school project. Could they ask Half a few questions? Half obliged. He’d devoted his life to academics. Of course he would help 16 year old James Parker and 17 year old Robert Tulloch. But James and Rob weren’t there for a school project. In fact, there was no school project. Then, Kristin talks about a phlebotomist named Bryan Stewart. When Bryan and Jennifer Jackson first got together, things were great. But Bryan quickly became abusive. When Jennifer left Bryan, his threats escalated. The thought of paying child support for their infant son enraged him. He promised Jennifer that their son, Brryan Jackson, wouldn’t live to the age of five. Around that same time, Bryan “joked” with coworkers that as a phlebotomist, he could inject his enemies with disease-tainted blood, and they’d never know what hit them.  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: “Brryan Jackson: My father injected me with HIV” by Lucy Hancock, for BBC News “A positive life: How a son survived being injected with HIV by his father,” by Justin Heckert for GQ Magazine “Man accused of injecting H.I.V. in son,” by Jo Thomas for the New York Times “Mother testifies that defendant hinted at son’s death,” CNN “Brian Stewart (phlebotomist)” Wikipedia entry In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “The Dartmouth Murders” by Denise Noe, The Crime Library “Hearts of Darkness” by Alex Tresniowski, People Magazine “Dartmouth professors’ murderer to get new sentence” by Peter Schworm and John R. Ellement, The Boston Globe “Man convicted in 2001 murders of professors asks for early release” by Elliot Zornitsky, The Dartmouth “2001 Dartmouth College murders” wikipedia.org

4 Sep 20192h 2min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! It was Sean Tarala’s eighth birthday party, and man was he excited. He’d just gotten a new red bike! He was gonna eat cake! And then, just when life couldn’t get any better, his aunt, Jennifer Connell, showed up. “Auntie Jen! Auntie Jen!” he shouted. He ran to her. He lept into her arms. But Jennifer wasn’t prepared for such an exuberant hug. The pair tumbled to the ground. Jennifer experienced immediate pain in her wrist. So what did she do? She sued her nephew for $127k. You’ll want to hear the whole story. This one has a twist ending.  Then Brandi tells us an incredible story of survival. Robert Lee Burton was a controlling, abusive boyfriend. Following a violent attack, Melissa Dohme got a restraining order against Robert. That restraining order effectively ended their relationship. Melissa felt like a new woman. She felt free. But Robert didn’t want to let her go. He called her and called her. He begged her for closure. He said he wanted one last hug. Melissa said okay. 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: “Aunt who sued nephew for $127k says she’s not after money,” by Chris Perez for the New York Post “‘She loves us’: Nephew speaks out on aunt’s hug injury lawsuit,” Tribune Media Wire “8-year-old Westport boy on trial for exuberance,” by Daniel Tepfer for the Connecticut Post “Woman loses lawsuit against nephew over ‘exuberant hug,’” by Kim Lacapria for Snopes In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Live to Tell: One Last Hug” 48 Hours episode “48 Hours: Dating violence survivor tells story” by Melissa Dohme, CBS News “Marrying the man who saved my life” BBC News Magazine “Domestic Abuse Survivor Finds Happily Ever After with First Responder Who Saved Her Life: ‘He Loved Me Through It All’” by Rose Minutaglio, People Magazine

28 Aug 20191h 16min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! 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

21 Aug 20192h 29min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! In the winter of 2007, the Nintendo Wii reigned supreme. It was cool, new, and impossible to get ahold of. So when the California radio station KDND-FM 107.9 The End announced their “hold your wee for a Wii” contest, 28-year-old mother of three Jennifer Strange signed up. She and 17 other participants went to the radio station, where they were given water every ten minutes for nearly three hours. As the contest went on, the participants ached with discomfort. It was entertaining radio. But concerned listeners called the station. They warned the DJs that the contest was dangerous. Hadn’t they heard of water intoxication? One DJ said that he had, but he wasn’t worried. The participants had all signed releases. No matter what happened, the station couldn’t be held liable.  Then Brandi tells us one of her strangest stories yet. It’s hard to know what’s true about Treva Throneberry’s complicated life, but one thing is for certain — she was a very troubled girl. When she was in high school, Treva sought the help of police. She told them that her father had raped her at gunpoint, and that when she’d tried to tell her mom, she’d just laughed. Treva’s three sisters doubted her story, but they didn’t doubt that she’d been raped. They’d all been sexually abused by an uncle. Surely the predatory uncle had gone after Treva, too. But before anyone could get to the truth, Treva vanished.  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: “Woman dies after being in water-drinking contest,” Associated Press “Jury rules against radio station after water-drinking contest kills California mom,” by Suzan Clarke and Rich McHugh for Good Morning America “Radio station behind ‘hold your wee for a Wii’ promotion shuts down,” by Joon Chun for Chief Marketer.com “Wii death case resolved,” by Patrick Kolan for IGN “Trial over woman’s death in radio station contest to begin today,” by Andy Furillo for McClatchy-Tribune “Jennifer Strange case finds end, Entercom forfeits license,” by Dan Morain for the Sacramento Bee “No charges in radio contest death,” by Henry Lee for the San Francisco Chronicle “Sue from Fiddletown took a stand in the public interest,” by Dan Morain for the Sacramento Bee In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “The Day Treva Throneberry Disappeared” by Skip Hollandsworth, Texas Monthly “Treva Throneberry” by Rachael Bell, The Crime Library “Forever Young” by Emily White, The New York Times “Treva or Brianna” by Katia Dunn, Portland Mercury “Treva Throneberry” wikipedia.org

14 Aug 20192h 14min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Brandi starts us off with the old timey-est kidnapping of them all! It was the winter of 1900 in Omaha, Nebraska, and 16-year-old Edward Cudahy was walking home from a neighbor’s house. Two men pulled up beside him and lured him into their carriage. They’d chosen their target wisely. Edward’s father owned Cudahy Packing Company. He was a millionaire. He had more than enough money to pay their ransom. But would he? Then Kristin tells us about a cake maker who didn’t want to make a cake. It was 2012, and Charlie Craig and David Mullins were in love. In fact, they were so in love that they decided to get married. That was a little tricky, though. At the time, Colorado prohibited same-sex marriage. But Charlie and David weren’t going to let legalized homophobia stop them. They planned to get married in Massachusetts and have a reception back in their home state. So they went to Masterpiece Cakeshop to order a wedding cake. There was just one problem. The owner of the bakery, Jack Phillips, refused to make cakes for same-sex couples. 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: “In baker’s case, neither side has much reason to rejoice,” by Jennifer Rubin for the Washington Post “Colorado judge orders Christian baker to bake gay wedding cake. Will he say no?” by Patrik Jonsson for the Christian Science Monitor “Colorado cake maker asks Supreme Court to provide a religious liberty right to refuse gay couple,” by David Savage for the Los Angeles Times “Supreme Court to take case on baker who refused to sell wedding cake to gay couple,” by Robert Barnes for the Washington Post “Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,” Wikipedia In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “The Bold Cudahy Kidnapping” by David Krajicek, Crime Library “Kidnapping Edward Cudahy Jr.” NorthOmahaHistory.com “New Life For The Strangest Of Legends” by Micah Mertes, Omaha World-Herald

7 Aug 20192h 8min

Hate ads? The entire LGTC catalog is available ad-free on Patreon! Ronald Ball was thirsty. So he walked over to the vending machine, got himself a Mountain Dew and cracked it open. He took a swig. Right away, he became violently ill. As soon as he recovered, he turned his attention to the Mountain Dew. What the hell was wrong with it? As he poured the rest of the soda into a cup, a dead mouse plopped out. When Ronald Ball threatened Pepsico with a lawsuit, the company relied on a defense that shocked the world… and probably had their PR team looking for new jobs.  Then, Brandi tells us about a string of bank robberies that occurred in the summer of 2012. Over time, law enforcement came to refer to the mysterious bank robber as the “Phony Pony Bandit,” because the robber wore a cheap wig, pulled back in a ponytail. The Phony Pony Bandit went on quite a spree, but it came to an end on September 25, when a sheriff’s deputy caught him in the act. 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: “Swig of Mountain Dew included dead mouse, suit claims,” by Kelly Holleran for the Madison-St. Clair Record “A brief history of rodents in soda containers,” by Arielle Duhaime-Ross for The Verge “Pepsi says Mountain Dew can dissolve mouse carcasses,” by Eric Randall for The Wire. “Mouse and Mountain Dew Experiment” on YouTube  In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Bank robbery suspect shot in Stanwood” by Diana Hefley and Rikki King, The Everett Herald “‘Phony Pony Bandit’ admits to armed robberies” by Diana Hefley, The Everett Herald “‘Phony Pony Bandit’ gets 17-year sentence for robberies” by Diana Hefley, The Everett Herald “Bank robber shot in Stanwood drops lawsuit against SnoCo” by Jeremiah O’Hagan, Skagit Valley Herald

31 Juli 20191h 12min