June 29, 2021 • 33 mins
Detective Ford investigates Afrikka's killer... and discovers the killer may be connected to even more murders.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely
those of the authors and participants and do not necessarily
represent those of iHeart Media, Tenderfoot TV, or their employees.
This series contains discussions of violence and sexual violence. Listener
discretion is advised. Previously on Algorithm, police in haim In,
(00:24):
Indiana investigated Africa Hardy's murder. What time do you think
you got the hotel? Police learned Africa had last spoken
with her friend Shamika at five thirteen. Africa told her
a client had just arrived at her motel room. What
number did you call her from? Number? Police worked through
(00:46):
the night and use cell phone records and surveillance footage
to track down the vehicle the suspect had driven. They
learned that the jeep and cell phone were both registered
to a woman named Regina Beard. Two officers drove out
to her home and Gary, Indiana, and in front of
the house was the blue jeep they were looking for.
(01:07):
From my Heart Radio and Tenderfoot TV, this is Algorithm,
I'm ben key Brick. The lead detective on the case,
Sean Ford, and his supervisor, Captain Zeke Kinajosa, also traveled
out to the suspects home. Together, the officers went up
to the house and knocked on the door. A young
woman answered. They told her that they had a warrant
(01:28):
to search the home, and she let them in. Inside,
Kinahosa saw a bald man in his mid forties that
resembled the man that they'd seen on the motel's surveillance footage,
and they saw a puffy jacket hanging on a chair
in the kitchen, similar to the one the suspect had
been wearing. Kinajosa instructed the bald man to come into
the living room, but the man stood his ground. Again.
(01:51):
Hinahosa demanded that the man surrender himself to police, and
again the man didn't comply. Two officers rushed him, threw
him to the ground, and handcuffed him. Police then secured
the building. Detective Ford brought the young woman who'd answered
the door into a side room. He asked her if
anyone had been driving the blue jeep. She said yes,
(02:13):
the man they had handcuffed had driven it. He was
her uncle, Darren Vaughan, and he'd been looking after her
while her mother was on vacation. Detective Ford returned to
the kitchen and helped the suspect Darren Von up from
the ground. Ford asked Vaughan if he knew why they
were there. Vaughn told them that he did know, and
said that he'd messed up by leaving Gary. Vaughn said
(02:36):
he was surprised by how quickly police had located him.
He said that Gary police don't work on weekends. Detective
Ford noticed a button was missing from Vaughn's shirt, and
he remembered that they'd found a button in the motel
room where Africa had been killed. When they further searched
the house, they found Africa Hardias missing cell phone on
(02:57):
top of a cabinet in the kitchen. Beside it was
an extension cord with its ends cut off. Police informed
Vaughan that he was under arrest and they put him
in the back of a squad car. According to a
police report, Vond told the officers in the car to
bring a prosecutor down to the station. He said that
the district attorney would want to hear what he had
(03:19):
to say. At the station, he asked the booking officers
for toilet paper and started to cry. He said that
he was tired and just wanted to get this all
over and done with. At eight thirty pm on Saturday
oct Detective Forward and Captain Hinojosa brought Vaughan into a
small room. It was the exact same room that Shamika
(03:42):
had sat in the night before. You want some and
what you're about to hear has never before been made public.
That's Vawn. They're asking if police had done the two
things that he asked them to do. It's a strange interview.
Vaughn is trying to cut himself some kind of a
(04:04):
deal and the detectives want him to talk, but they
also need to follow procedure and we're not going to
pressure you. Everything today is kind of your own free
willy right here? All right, that's Detective Sean Ford. Like
I said before, if you understand each of these, I
want you to put your initials next to him because
it shows we went over the phone together. He has
Vaughn read through his Miranda rights. Is there anything that
(04:27):
you need to explain? No, And that's Captain Kinejosa. We
got me all nervous. I feel like I mean and
evaluate today with my bossing around here, I don't like
to try to play themerga scientists around trying to play
some camp, mouse games or something like that. Can come
here kind of tell a something anyway? All right, I
(04:47):
knew y'all come about me the fake on purpose? Okay?
What in your own words? What would you say has
brought you here today inside of this room with us?
Why do you think you were arrested? Especial? I'm like Hamley,
I'm gonna say a MURDERKA say murder, A murder of who?
(05:13):
I can't really give her night because I don't know
her night? Okay, that occurred where I don't really know?
Y'all road saying a multa which one see mot y'all sex?
All right? Remember the rule number? Just not talking from
(05:33):
putney deal a good? Right? Okay, Well here's here's what
are your concerns? What are you looking for it? Because
here's our thing. We can't necessarily play take a deal
anyone legally? Is you ready? We can't promise you anything,
but just why to say? Folk? So well, let me
let me just what are you trying to get out
(05:53):
of this? How a my and put the death before
my next birthday? The deal that Bond wants is to
be put to death before his next birthday. I want
(06:33):
to put the death before my next birthday. Okay, that
that would almost be five. You got death ros your
multiple murders, I give you. I can get death. But
listen real quick here. They don't have to say out
that quick thought. Wait. Wait, I noticed for faith, because
if I wave on my rights, I give you three
(06:56):
or four murders. I had a right you put to death,
and I'm willing to give you the body and a location.
I think they will give him my death row. Let
me ask you that are they all locally? And then yeah,
I can give you anything. I could give some out
of inn but had then I would have. We don't
(07:18):
need a better deal with y'all. You can just talk
about it now. I have to go to deal because
I have to make sure I get death row. Then
Von tells them that he doesn't want to go through
a trial in the whole legal process. Instead, he wants
to sign a plea bargain guaranteeing him the death penalty
in exchange for confessing to other murders. Y'all got one.
(07:40):
I'm trying to get y'all areas, But that's what I'm saying.
The prosecutor doesn't really look into things until we complete
our investigation. I'm trying to give them death. Then give
y'all the bodies. So for the one we have, imple
did that purpose, so y'all't even have to do a
DNA out of Well, let's listen, if we can do this,
want to get through it and have the conversation and
(08:02):
match it up with the evidence we already have, and
we we can establish your credibility that you're legit, because say,
you could be crazy. You could be sitting here and
talking some man Crady on five eight Motail six, Room one,
five eight. That's all there for you. Room was the
motel room where Africa's body was found. Information that Vaughan
(08:26):
would have no reason to know unless he was involved
in the murder. That is right. Now, are do you
believe that you're here to be questioned about it or
are you saying that you did it? I'm here to
be question about the coach. I'm not sure that's why
you dollar agrests the game. Well, of course that's part
of all of completing and that's fairly recent, right, this
(08:48):
is Friday. So going back to the question, and you
know you're saying that you know you're not wanting to
contest the issue, but this one makes rigue out. That's
what I'm saying. I understand what I'm gonna do what
you won't at your room one five mates, I only
reason I know that I knew it. I can even
tell you where you found the body? Where do we
(09:09):
find the body in a shower with the water running?
What happened that part? I'm not really sure about. I
know where I put it after but during my act rays,
I really don't remember a lot of stuff. So you
get enjoy it. Act always always Okay, okay, how how
(09:36):
did you get connected with this person in this room?
How did you get connected? She had a head? We're
right crazy? Okay, do you remember anything about that? And
specifically you've got a picture in it where she has
curly hair. That's a long enough, that's a picture I
caught mine. Bond said that in the ad Africa went
(10:01):
by the name Octavia, which lined up with what Shamika
had told police. As a warning, this next section gets
very graphic, but I think it's important to acknowledge the
reality of Vaughan's crimes. I'm also compete her earlier baby sitting.
She called me back, I sure was higg and I
(10:22):
went what was she by herself in the room. Did
you have to have any drinks or anything like that
in there? Try not to drink makes your worst? Did
you pay her the money right away as soon as
you walked in? Yeah, I thought I had little bath room.
Went to the bathroom. She got undressed from the bottom down.
(10:46):
I got undressed. Really be we kinda said, she saunds
too rough. Factually I'm really rough. And I didn't really
give her a time though. You just right to get adjusted, right,
And then she started like crying. She started crying, right,
(11:09):
you let me keep going for man, I guess when
I didn't slow down and you get mad and hit me,
and she's trying to say, you mean to hit anybody?
It was too late. I started choking her. And after
that is anybody's ball game? What were you choking her?
Was at first with my hand. Is this that anger
(11:29):
we're trying to controller, not a thought anger because she
struck me? Is your choking or did she continue this trouble? Yes? Okay,
this shooms consciousness. Have your same person choked? Yeah? Where
they're they're not unconscious, but they're not I don't know
(11:51):
how to say it. They're defenseless. Yeah, they're defenseless. Yeah,
do your best words to say defense us, Like I
told you, get funnic. I know I hit her and
I threw off the bed. I remember that, I remember
(12:11):
showing it. I don't know any talents like he. I
know I hit her close best. I don't know. I
don't know if our karality character because I remember my
hand going up coming down. I remember a knee And
now I just know I choked her. I couldn't even
say I just choked her. You ever get so made
(12:36):
like and then when you realize what you did, and
I'm like, I made like a big mistake. I know
she was dead when she hit the floor. When she
one day, it definitely made me reached for the horde.
I was like, I gotta finished this. When I first
heard this part of the confession, my heart dropped. Bon
(12:59):
said is that when Africa hit him, he went into
a blind rage and started choking her. When he calmed
down and gained awareness about what had happened, Von thought
that he had killed Africa and panicked, but he hadn't
actually killed her. She started stirring, and now outside of
his rage, Von made the conscious decision to strangle her
(13:23):
to death already almost killed her, like I'm out of whale, finished,
And I was like, it's kind of like a pang,
because that wasn't the purpose of me going here. Okay,
there wasn't a purpose, but in your mind you had
almost killed her pride, And I was like you You're
got have stopped, right. I couldn't, yeah, because but you didn't.
I did. If you would have stopped and just left.
(13:45):
What did you feel when a pet I'm the very prisoner,
he said. I had to kill her with all of
like instincts I always reached for in the year's weapon
was record tell she NiFe? Always weapon? In this particular
resident STI cord centric cork. Where was that a carr
(14:10):
An e cure guy anymore? The detectives are confused about this.
If he wasn't intending to kill Africa, why did he
bring gloves and a weapon with him to the motel.
His response was that he always carries these things with him.
The weapon, I can imagine maybe for self defense. The
(14:30):
gloves though, just in case he needs to dispose of
a body. If a snap always carry up her gloves?
What kind of gloves? I know? We could have been
a row one he could have been a white ones
are Swiss gloves or Swiss clothes? I swish so much
stuff have been joined this for years now? What's the
(14:51):
purpose of wearing the gloves? May surely your favorite print.
I can't decide if I believe him that Africa's murder
wasn't premeditated, or if he's just lying for some reason,
trying to justify the murder through twisted logic. Obviously he's
not trying to escape a conviction. He willingly admits he's
(15:13):
guilty of murdering her, But maybe this is the way
that he tries to justify the murder to himself. We're
faced with a problem here, one that we're often faced
with in cases like this. Only Vaughan knows many of
the details of what he did, and only he knows
why he did it. But when someone cares so little
(15:35):
about others that they're willing to murder a stranger in
cold blood, I don't think they're going to lose any
sleep about lying. How did you get her to the
bathroom drug not to wear a shower? I'm there, I'll
fighting stuff moment. Reasons for doing that. I hadn't always
(15:59):
moved victims do you always put the victims in the
same place. No, never wait, are you see Jill and
I can't bring you over an away and you could
that bring another during this Eventually you'll be able to know. No,
I don't want to. You don't want you right because
(16:20):
I want my dad grow and I can't have more
than one stay fighting. That's only that would prolong the process.
All right, Talent can get you out of stuff that's recent.
How many people are you responsible for killing? Said this lifetime.
I couldn't even too and Indiana, I said, I couldn't
even tell you. I could tell you the ones I
(16:42):
want to give you, I can't tell you the ones
that would incriminating somebody else. Okay, the ones that you
want to give us. Are they all males or females?
I'm going to give your female a female the male
if I can't give you because I was paid to
do them, okay, and that would put somebody else. What's
(17:04):
you're concerned about? That? My me going on? But we've
always had to code. We don't never put nobody else
the females. How are these females skilled? All strang like? Well,
trying to think har one knife? Oh my gun? They
(17:25):
will kill the female, would have done not in Indiana.
Never killed a female with a gun in Indiana. Okay,
I think it's a knife line in Indiana. I'm trying
to do between Primes and India. They were all strangled.
The one I'm gonna give you all the strangled. That's
the best way I could say it. Okay, are there
any other big ones in Hammond? In Hammon? Not that
(17:48):
I asked here? One was the other victims from Anna.
In so many years, I'm done a crime. I'm in
heaven in so many years. How can you remember? There
was a There was a girl a long time ago
whose body was on the railroad tracks. Most of the
(18:10):
victims that Hargrave's algorithm had identified were found in the
city of Gary, but one victim, Yvonne Wallace, was actually
found in Hammond, strangled near some train tracks in the
summer of ninety six, eighteen years earlier. There's one girl
had it. There's one girl in him, and I don't know.
(18:30):
I have claimed the body, so I wouldn't know where
she's at. I said, haven't joined this for years. I'm
on trying to get one as close because I remember
what about any that the bodies I never found. That's
trying to give you not probably give you two four?
(18:51):
Can we can we start with with this real quick
like obviously this incident Hanton on Friday. What is freshest
in your mind from there? That the one murder just
previous to the Motel State Ranky, the one before the
Motio State State. Here, Darren Vaughan says he can't give
detectives information about the murderer he committed just before Africa Hardy,
(19:16):
because it took place out of state and he doesn't
want to involve other jurisdictions. I want to point this
out because they'll soon change his story. We can't always
know when Vaughn is telling the truth, but we can
catch him in lies when he contradicts himself. We can
learn something important from these lies about the extent and
(19:37):
the nature of his crimes. Ranky, the one before the
Motio State State, the one before him. It's somebody I
knew changing well that obviously, that would be an easy
one to start with if you know her well. I
(19:57):
don't know where nor like I know where from the streets.
Her nickname on the streets was cast where she was
a prostitute. She's a Caucasian, but the real big here. Yeah,
as you said, some people say bev w she's thirty two.
I'm not gonna put it not older because she is.
(20:19):
I wouldn't think so, yes, I don't know this blonde
or brown? My color blind. So where'd you kill hern? Oh?
So you're gonna tell you that the coach in the
house I killed her? And Gary all even Gary, I'm
giving you so gaspers bodies inside of a an abandoned house.
(20:40):
Yeahs her inside of things. And I believe that that
you kind of want to put it into this, But
would you be willing to to take us and I
mean almost, I mean I don't always you call it
like a field trip and just show us your word produence.
I don't really call it work. I call even my
(21:01):
mistakes because they didn't really they did something that trigger
my hanger where I was already angered, but they really
like cass or cast for with my friends eyes being
to kill her, what are we going to recover her body?
I would do a cash for the part because she
was my friend, she was a good person. We could
take that right. What we're probably gonna do is we'll
(21:23):
probably put you in some legs shadows, because this is
not something we do every day. You take this to
cash for this Friday, and I'll if I was goin
to cash the prosecutors, right, I will give you other
fire someone you promised me they're gonna give me there
pro al Right, go ahead and stand up where hand
cups back on your right. If it isn't already clear
(21:57):
at this point, this isn't if you've done it. Where
we're trying to figure out who killed Africa Hardy Darren
Vaughan killed Africa instead. This is a story exploring how
the police and Gary ignored the signs that there was
a killer on the loose targeting women in the area.
They ignored hargrooves warnings when he sent them the letter
(22:19):
about the algorithm, and they ignored other more obvious clues
as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself. On October
at eleven PM, Vaughn told police he'd take them to
one of the recent murders he'd committed in Indiana. He
told them he couldn't take them to the most recent
murder before Africa, whereas he knew her Octavia, because he
(22:44):
said that murder took place out of state and he
didn't want to involve other jurisdictions. Instead, he offered to
take them to the body of a woman that he
knew as Casper. But before they were even out the
door of the interrogation room, Vaughan changed his mind. I
don't know if they found her, and I I'm not
(23:04):
sure if chars we see wish book, I'll take you
to her body. Before I was there for this racing. Now,
Vaughan was saying that he could take them to the
murder directly before Africa, and he was saying that it
wasn't out of state. In fact, the murder had occurred
in northwest Indiana and the body was in Gary. Investigators
(23:27):
didn't call him out about the discrepancy. I'm not sure why,
but I wonder if that's because they weren't sure if
any of what he was saying was true. But he
promised them a body and they wanted to investigate. With
Vaughan in handcuffs that linked to the front of his
belt and shackles around his feet, Ford walked him out
(23:48):
to a squad car, where they met Officer Kelly Mickey.
What made you decide to get done? I was tired,
she wrote in a police report that as she talked
to On, she tried to mirror his emotions, a technique
cops used to keep suspects talking, but she struggled to
mirror him because he was so relaxed and casual while
(24:10):
he described horrific events and scenes. How long does it take?
Is it always the same? What do you mean to
kill a person? Yeah? What you kill them with? Like you?
Your thing seems to be strangulation? One thing now with strangleletion,
because I'm not what we would have gone. So do
(24:32):
they ever plead for their life? They? Like? Do they
beg you? That's not like I'm not going to I'm
not going to. Oh they're trying to just get away
now when you're actually strangling them? Do they no? But
I mean do they like as anything? I don't know.
(24:53):
I don't even know what I want to ask you?
You want to ask? No, I don't. I don't know
how I'm there are I've never killed a human. I mean,
I've never killed a cup. You never shot? No, No,
I've been bust I've been busted that way sixteen years.
(25:14):
So I almost shot a couple of people, but God's intervened.
Did not let the hand the streets. Oh yeah, I
just became a detective. Okay, well, yeah, I worked the
streets for sixteen years. You've been shot at. I know
you've been shot at. Yeah, I didn't shot at somebody
fifteen years ago and hand. Yeah, police called the right
(25:35):
m In fact, they almost arrested me with the office
shooting me down. When he's shaking me down, he made
the gun fall to the ground. So I just kicking
the ground while you're searching. Some cops are stupid, ain't they.
It's like, we don't pay attention. He couldn't have seen it, yeah,
but they just don't pay attention. It was too dark.
I made sure it's the dark while I stopped to
(25:56):
walk day and I walked off and walk back and
got the gun its folds. Vond told them the body
wasn't an abandoned home, but he couldn't give them exact
directions to the building because he had always walked there,
taking shortcuts through abandoned lots. Eventually they made it out
to the four hundred block of East Avenue in Gary.
(26:21):
It was a thin suburban road, and like many parts
of Gary, it's riddled with abandoned homes. Sections of the
street shift abruptly. A string of houses will be well
maintained with manicured blonds, only for the next three houses
to be boarded up and so overgrown with weeds that
you can't even see the sidewalk. The home where Von
(26:43):
guided them was completely dark. It looked as if it
had been recently abandoned. It was isolated from nearby houses
by overgrown shrubs at the edges of the yard. Bond
told them that the body wasn't inside this home, but
in a smaller, more decrepit brick building behind the house.
(27:04):
He told them to drive around the corner to a
gravel alleyway that ran behind the buildings. Police still weren't
sure if Vaughn was telling them the truth or leading
them on a wild goose chase. They asked him where
exactly they'd find the body. In her police report, Detective
Mickey remembered Vaughan's voice taking on a creepy tone. Vaughn
(27:29):
told them to enter the back of the building. He
said that there was a door that went down into
a seller like basement. He told them to be careful
because the basement was pitch black and they need to
watch out for large rats or wild dogs, and he
told them that somewhere deep back in the basement, they'd
(27:50):
find a room where the victim would be buried under
a pile of dolls. Mickey remembers telling him, could you
make this sound any scarier? George Geleapolis was working that
night at the coroner's office. He was also called out
to the scene. Got to the area. Most of the
(28:14):
homes are abandoned. I see a scrub car out there.
The house was taped, and of course it was abandoned.
It was dark. Is that scary? I mean, I guess
the idea of like going into an abandoned building with
a flashlight to like look for a dead body, you know,
I think most people would be terrified. I don't know
if you just get used to that. No, it was scary. No,
(28:36):
I'm not gonna lie. It was scary because we would
only be maybe floor of us in the house, and
we don't know who's in the house or who's in
the area, and if they, like police officers, were not
you know, we first take pictures of the home, and
then we take pictures of where we're going. I obtained
these fitters from the Hammond Police Department through my Fayre request.
(29:00):
The first few photos show the home from the outside.
It's a nondescript brick building with white siding. Then comes
a shot of a wood floored entrance way, a sort
of walden porch with stairs going down into a basement.
There's a detail on this photograph that I miss until
(29:21):
I go onto the next picture, which is a close
up shot of the corner of the staircase. There's a
dark stain there a liquid trail that's dripping down the stairs.
The next picture shows that at the bottom of the
stairwell there was a mound of garbage, bottles, boxes, trash bags,
(29:43):
and the photos continue past that pile of junk. The
basement was still a mess, but at least you could
see the floor. Geleopolis and his team continued through what
looked like it was once a den into a concrete
floored room that was also strewn with trash. Diliopolis says
that the whole building smelled bad, but as they entered
(30:05):
this room, he started to smell a familiar odor. That's
one thing that you will never forget, that's for sure,
and I'll tell you I can't explain. It's something rotten,
rotten fruit, maybe really bad. Garbage stays on your clothes.
If you breathe a little heavy and it goes into
your throat, it stays in your throat. If you move
(30:27):
your hair with your hand, you'll smell it. From there,
they turned the corner to a third, smaller room. This
room was much cleaner, but the smell grew more intense.
There were some wooden boards and a garden hose on
the floor, and in one corner there was a pile
of objects that looked as if it had been deliberately placed.
(30:51):
A big, large truckt or trailer tire and a couple
of stuffed animals, big plush stuffed animals, like the ones
that you might win at a carnival. As they approached
this pile in the corner, the smell became overwhelming, and
through the center of one of the tires they saw
(31:12):
what appeared to be socked feet. Sticking out of the
other end of the pile was the dark fuzz of
human hair. It was the corpse of a woman. She
looked as if she had been killed recently, and you
could tell that she'd been strangled because of a groove
running across her neck, a damp wound on her dark
(31:35):
skin covered by a line of white maggots. Darren Vaughan
wasn't taking them in a wild goose chase. He'd led
them straight to a body, the body of a thirty
five year old woman named Anne Jones, and the night
was still young. What later became known as the death
(31:59):
Mark had just begun. Next time on algorithm. Has there
been any indication all how many victims may be out there?
At this point we are unsure of the number. As
of last night, he was continuing to lead police to
the bodies of victims. Something I think about sometimes is
(32:23):
was there something I could have done better? Because they
weren't even looking. I at least knew that there was
a serial killer active in Gary. The adults would leave
at five o'clock and at night they would be left
with the counselors who were and they would go down
in his hell whole, the basement, and they would have
gladiator games where they would have the kids square off
(32:44):
and have to fight each other. If you're own book,
you're not really a liver. You're just did you kill
somebody specific to get left in? I'm who they told
me to kill. This episode was written and produced by
me ben Keebrick Algorithm is executive produced by Alex Williams,
(33:06):
Matt Frederick, and Donald Albright. Production assistance by Eric Quintana.
Thanks to Christina Dana, Trevor Young, Miranda Hawkins, Josh Thane,
and Jamie Albright for their notes on this series. Music
is by Makeup and Vanity Set and Blue Dot Sessions.
If you like where you're hearing, please follow and leave
(33:27):
us a review on Apple Podcasts
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely
those of the authors and participants and do not necessarily
represent those of iHeart Media, Tenderfoot TV, or their employees.
This series contains discussions of violence and sexual violence. Listener
discretion is advised. Previously on Algorithm, police in haim In,
(00:24):
Indiana investigated Africa Hardy's murder. What time do you think
you got the hotel? Police learned Africa had last spoken
with her friend Shamika at five thirteen. Africa told her
a client had just arrived at her motel room. What
number did you call her from? Number? Police worked through
(00:46):
the night and use cell phone records and surveillance footage
to track down the vehicle the suspect had driven. They
learned that the jeep and cell phone were both registered
to a woman named Regina Beard. Two officers drove out
to her home and Gary, Indiana, and in front of
the house was the blue jeep they were looking for.
(01:07):
From my Heart Radio and Tenderfoot TV, this is Algorithm,
I'm ben key Brick. The lead detective on the case,
Sean Ford, and his supervisor, Captain Zeke Kinajosa, also traveled
out to the suspects home. Together, the officers went up
to the house and knocked on the door. A young
woman answered. They told her that they had a warrant
(01:28):
to search the home, and she let them in. Inside,
Kinahosa saw a bald man in his mid forties that
resembled the man that they'd seen on the motel's surveillance footage,
and they saw a puffy jacket hanging on a chair
in the kitchen, similar to the one the suspect had
been wearing. Kinajosa instructed the bald man to come into
the living room, but the man stood his ground. Again.
(01:51):
Hinahosa demanded that the man surrender himself to police, and
again the man didn't comply. Two officers rushed him, threw
him to the ground, and handcuffed him. Police then secured
the building. Detective Ford brought the young woman who'd answered
the door into a side room. He asked her if
anyone had been driving the blue jeep. She said yes,
(02:13):
the man they had handcuffed had driven it. He was
her uncle, Darren Vaughan, and he'd been looking after her
while her mother was on vacation. Detective Ford returned to
the kitchen and helped the suspect Darren Von up from
the ground. Ford asked Vaughan if he knew why they
were there. Vaughn told them that he did know, and
said that he'd messed up by leaving Gary. Vaughn said
(02:36):
he was surprised by how quickly police had located him.
He said that Gary police don't work on weekends. Detective
Ford noticed a button was missing from Vaughn's shirt, and
he remembered that they'd found a button in the motel
room where Africa had been killed. When they further searched
the house, they found Africa Hardias missing cell phone on
(02:57):
top of a cabinet in the kitchen. Beside it was
an extension cord with its ends cut off. Police informed
Vaughan that he was under arrest and they put him
in the back of a squad car. According to a
police report, Vond told the officers in the car to
bring a prosecutor down to the station. He said that
the district attorney would want to hear what he had
(03:19):
to say. At the station, he asked the booking officers
for toilet paper and started to cry. He said that
he was tired and just wanted to get this all
over and done with. At eight thirty pm on Saturday
oct Detective Forward and Captain Hinojosa brought Vaughan into a
small room. It was the exact same room that Shamika
(03:42):
had sat in the night before. You want some and
what you're about to hear has never before been made public.
That's Vawn. They're asking if police had done the two
things that he asked them to do. It's a strange interview.
Vaughn is trying to cut himself some kind of a
(04:04):
deal and the detectives want him to talk, but they
also need to follow procedure and we're not going to
pressure you. Everything today is kind of your own free
willy right here? All right, that's Detective Sean Ford. Like
I said before, if you understand each of these, I
want you to put your initials next to him because
it shows we went over the phone together. He has
Vaughn read through his Miranda rights. Is there anything that
(04:27):
you need to explain? No, And that's Captain Kinejosa. We
got me all nervous. I feel like I mean and
evaluate today with my bossing around here, I don't like
to try to play themerga scientists around trying to play
some camp, mouse games or something like that. Can come
here kind of tell a something anyway? All right, I
(04:47):
knew y'all come about me the fake on purpose? Okay?
What in your own words? What would you say has
brought you here today inside of this room with us?
Why do you think you were arrested? Especial? I'm like Hamley,
I'm gonna say a MURDERKA say murder, A murder of who?
(05:13):
I can't really give her night because I don't know
her night? Okay, that occurred where I don't really know?
Y'all road saying a multa which one see mot y'all sex?
All right? Remember the rule number? Just not talking from
(05:33):
putney deal a good? Right? Okay, Well here's here's what
are your concerns? What are you looking for it? Because
here's our thing. We can't necessarily play take a deal
anyone legally? Is you ready? We can't promise you anything,
but just why to say? Folk? So well, let me
let me just what are you trying to get out
(05:53):
of this? How a my and put the death before
my next birthday? The deal that Bond wants is to
be put to death before his next birthday. I want
(06:33):
to put the death before my next birthday. Okay, that
that would almost be five. You got death ros your
multiple murders, I give you. I can get death. But
listen real quick here. They don't have to say out
that quick thought. Wait. Wait, I noticed for faith, because
if I wave on my rights, I give you three
(06:56):
or four murders. I had a right you put to death,
and I'm willing to give you the body and a location.
I think they will give him my death row. Let
me ask you that are they all locally? And then yeah,
I can give you anything. I could give some out
of inn but had then I would have. We don't
(07:18):
need a better deal with y'all. You can just talk
about it now. I have to go to deal because
I have to make sure I get death row. Then
Von tells them that he doesn't want to go through
a trial in the whole legal process. Instead, he wants
to sign a plea bargain guaranteeing him the death penalty
in exchange for confessing to other murders. Y'all got one.
(07:40):
I'm trying to get y'all areas, But that's what I'm saying.
The prosecutor doesn't really look into things until we complete
our investigation. I'm trying to give them death. Then give
y'all the bodies. So for the one we have, imple
did that purpose, so y'all't even have to do a
DNA out of Well, let's listen, if we can do this,
want to get through it and have the conversation and
(08:02):
match it up with the evidence we already have, and
we we can establish your credibility that you're legit, because say,
you could be crazy. You could be sitting here and
talking some man Crady on five eight Motail six, Room one,
five eight. That's all there for you. Room was the
motel room where Africa's body was found. Information that Vaughan
(08:26):
would have no reason to know unless he was involved
in the murder. That is right. Now, are do you
believe that you're here to be questioned about it or
are you saying that you did it? I'm here to
be question about the coach. I'm not sure that's why
you dollar agrests the game. Well, of course that's part
of all of completing and that's fairly recent, right, this
(08:48):
is Friday. So going back to the question, and you
know you're saying that you know you're not wanting to
contest the issue, but this one makes rigue out. That's
what I'm saying. I understand what I'm gonna do what
you won't at your room one five mates, I only
reason I know that I knew it. I can even
tell you where you found the body? Where do we
(09:09):
find the body in a shower with the water running?
What happened that part? I'm not really sure about. I
know where I put it after but during my act rays,
I really don't remember a lot of stuff. So you
get enjoy it. Act always always Okay, okay, how how
(09:36):
did you get connected with this person in this room?
How did you get connected? She had a head? We're
right crazy? Okay, do you remember anything about that? And
specifically you've got a picture in it where she has
curly hair. That's a long enough, that's a picture I
caught mine. Bond said that in the ad Africa went
(10:01):
by the name Octavia, which lined up with what Shamika
had told police. As a warning, this next section gets
very graphic, but I think it's important to acknowledge the
reality of Vaughan's crimes. I'm also compete her earlier baby sitting.
She called me back, I sure was higg and I
(10:22):
went what was she by herself in the room. Did
you have to have any drinks or anything like that
in there? Try not to drink makes your worst? Did
you pay her the money right away as soon as
you walked in? Yeah, I thought I had little bath room.
Went to the bathroom. She got undressed from the bottom down.
(10:46):
I got undressed. Really be we kinda said, she saunds
too rough. Factually I'm really rough. And I didn't really
give her a time though. You just right to get adjusted, right,
And then she started like crying. She started crying, right,
(11:09):
you let me keep going for man, I guess when
I didn't slow down and you get mad and hit me,
and she's trying to say, you mean to hit anybody?
It was too late. I started choking her. And after
that is anybody's ball game? What were you choking her?
Was at first with my hand. Is this that anger
(11:29):
we're trying to controller, not a thought anger because she
struck me? Is your choking or did she continue this trouble? Yes? Okay,
this shooms consciousness. Have your same person choked? Yeah? Where
they're they're not unconscious, but they're not I don't know
(11:51):
how to say it. They're defenseless. Yeah, they're defenseless. Yeah,
do your best words to say defense us, Like I
told you, get funnic. I know I hit her and
I threw off the bed. I remember that, I remember
(12:11):
showing it. I don't know any talents like he. I
know I hit her close best. I don't know. I
don't know if our karality character because I remember my
hand going up coming down. I remember a knee And
now I just know I choked her. I couldn't even
say I just choked her. You ever get so made
(12:36):
like and then when you realize what you did, and
I'm like, I made like a big mistake. I know
she was dead when she hit the floor. When she
one day, it definitely made me reached for the horde.
I was like, I gotta finished this. When I first
heard this part of the confession, my heart dropped. Bon
(12:59):
said is that when Africa hit him, he went into
a blind rage and started choking her. When he calmed
down and gained awareness about what had happened, Von thought
that he had killed Africa and panicked, but he hadn't
actually killed her. She started stirring, and now outside of
his rage, Von made the conscious decision to strangle her
(13:23):
to death already almost killed her, like I'm out of whale, finished,
And I was like, it's kind of like a pang,
because that wasn't the purpose of me going here. Okay,
there wasn't a purpose, but in your mind you had
almost killed her pride, And I was like you You're
got have stopped, right. I couldn't, yeah, because but you didn't.
I did. If you would have stopped and just left.
(13:45):
What did you feel when a pet I'm the very prisoner,
he said. I had to kill her with all of
like instincts I always reached for in the year's weapon
was record tell she NiFe? Always weapon? In this particular
resident STI cord centric cork. Where was that a carr
(14:10):
An e cure guy anymore? The detectives are confused about this.
If he wasn't intending to kill Africa, why did he
bring gloves and a weapon with him to the motel.
His response was that he always carries these things with him.
The weapon, I can imagine maybe for self defense. The
(14:30):
gloves though, just in case he needs to dispose of
a body. If a snap always carry up her gloves?
What kind of gloves? I know? We could have been
a row one he could have been a white ones
are Swiss gloves or Swiss clothes? I swish so much
stuff have been joined this for years now? What's the
(14:51):
purpose of wearing the gloves? May surely your favorite print.
I can't decide if I believe him that Africa's murder
wasn't premeditated, or if he's just lying for some reason,
trying to justify the murder through twisted logic. Obviously he's
not trying to escape a conviction. He willingly admits he's
(15:13):
guilty of murdering her, But maybe this is the way
that he tries to justify the murder to himself. We're
faced with a problem here, one that we're often faced
with in cases like this. Only Vaughan knows many of
the details of what he did, and only he knows
why he did it. But when someone cares so little
(15:35):
about others that they're willing to murder a stranger in
cold blood, I don't think they're going to lose any
sleep about lying. How did you get her to the
bathroom drug not to wear a shower? I'm there, I'll
fighting stuff moment. Reasons for doing that. I hadn't always
(15:59):
moved victims do you always put the victims in the
same place. No, never wait, are you see Jill and
I can't bring you over an away and you could
that bring another during this Eventually you'll be able to know. No,
I don't want to. You don't want you right because
(16:20):
I want my dad grow and I can't have more
than one stay fighting. That's only that would prolong the process.
All right, Talent can get you out of stuff that's recent.
How many people are you responsible for killing? Said this lifetime.
I couldn't even too and Indiana, I said, I couldn't
even tell you. I could tell you the ones I
(16:42):
want to give you, I can't tell you the ones
that would incriminating somebody else. Okay, the ones that you
want to give us. Are they all males or females?
I'm going to give your female a female the male
if I can't give you because I was paid to
do them, okay, and that would put somebody else. What's
(17:04):
you're concerned about? That? My me going on? But we've
always had to code. We don't never put nobody else
the females. How are these females skilled? All strang like? Well,
trying to think har one knife? Oh my gun? They
(17:25):
will kill the female, would have done not in Indiana.
Never killed a female with a gun in Indiana. Okay,
I think it's a knife line in Indiana. I'm trying
to do between Primes and India. They were all strangled.
The one I'm gonna give you all the strangled. That's
the best way I could say it. Okay, are there
any other big ones in Hammond? In Hammon? Not that
(17:48):
I asked here? One was the other victims from Anna.
In so many years, I'm done a crime. I'm in
heaven in so many years. How can you remember? There
was a There was a girl a long time ago
whose body was on the railroad tracks. Most of the
(18:10):
victims that Hargrave's algorithm had identified were found in the
city of Gary, but one victim, Yvonne Wallace, was actually
found in Hammond, strangled near some train tracks in the
summer of ninety six, eighteen years earlier. There's one girl
had it. There's one girl in him, and I don't know.
(18:30):
I have claimed the body, so I wouldn't know where
she's at. I said, haven't joined this for years. I'm
on trying to get one as close because I remember
what about any that the bodies I never found. That's
trying to give you not probably give you two four?
(18:51):
Can we can we start with with this real quick
like obviously this incident Hanton on Friday. What is freshest
in your mind from there? That the one murder just
previous to the Motel State Ranky, the one before the
Motio State State. Here, Darren Vaughan says he can't give
detectives information about the murderer he committed just before Africa Hardy,
(19:16):
because it took place out of state and he doesn't
want to involve other jurisdictions. I want to point this
out because they'll soon change his story. We can't always
know when Vaughn is telling the truth, but we can
catch him in lies when he contradicts himself. We can
learn something important from these lies about the extent and
(19:37):
the nature of his crimes. Ranky, the one before the
Motio State State, the one before him. It's somebody I
knew changing well that obviously, that would be an easy
one to start with if you know her well. I
(19:57):
don't know where nor like I know where from the streets.
Her nickname on the streets was cast where she was
a prostitute. She's a Caucasian, but the real big here. Yeah,
as you said, some people say bev w she's thirty two.
I'm not gonna put it not older because she is.
(20:19):
I wouldn't think so, yes, I don't know this blonde
or brown? My color blind. So where'd you kill hern? Oh?
So you're gonna tell you that the coach in the
house I killed her? And Gary all even Gary, I'm
giving you so gaspers bodies inside of a an abandoned house.
(20:40):
Yeahs her inside of things. And I believe that that
you kind of want to put it into this, But
would you be willing to to take us and I
mean almost, I mean I don't always you call it
like a field trip and just show us your word produence.
I don't really call it work. I call even my
(21:01):
mistakes because they didn't really they did something that trigger
my hanger where I was already angered, but they really
like cass or cast for with my friends eyes being
to kill her, what are we going to recover her body?
I would do a cash for the part because she
was my friend, she was a good person. We could
take that right. What we're probably gonna do is we'll
(21:23):
probably put you in some legs shadows, because this is
not something we do every day. You take this to
cash for this Friday, and I'll if I was goin
to cash the prosecutors, right, I will give you other
fire someone you promised me they're gonna give me there
pro al Right, go ahead and stand up where hand
cups back on your right. If it isn't already clear
(21:57):
at this point, this isn't if you've done it. Where
we're trying to figure out who killed Africa Hardy Darren
Vaughan killed Africa instead. This is a story exploring how
the police and Gary ignored the signs that there was
a killer on the loose targeting women in the area.
They ignored hargrooves warnings when he sent them the letter
(22:19):
about the algorithm, and they ignored other more obvious clues
as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself. On October
at eleven PM, Vaughn told police he'd take them to
one of the recent murders he'd committed in Indiana. He
told them he couldn't take them to the most recent
murder before Africa, whereas he knew her Octavia, because he
(22:44):
said that murder took place out of state and he
didn't want to involve other jurisdictions. Instead, he offered to
take them to the body of a woman that he
knew as Casper. But before they were even out the
door of the interrogation room, Vaughan changed his mind. I
don't know if they found her, and I I'm not
(23:04):
sure if chars we see wish book, I'll take you
to her body. Before I was there for this racing. Now,
Vaughan was saying that he could take them to the
murder directly before Africa, and he was saying that it
wasn't out of state. In fact, the murder had occurred
in northwest Indiana and the body was in Gary. Investigators
(23:27):
didn't call him out about the discrepancy. I'm not sure why,
but I wonder if that's because they weren't sure if
any of what he was saying was true. But he
promised them a body and they wanted to investigate. With
Vaughan in handcuffs that linked to the front of his
belt and shackles around his feet, Ford walked him out
(23:48):
to a squad car, where they met Officer Kelly Mickey.
What made you decide to get done? I was tired,
she wrote in a police report that as she talked
to On, she tried to mirror his emotions, a technique
cops used to keep suspects talking, but she struggled to
mirror him because he was so relaxed and casual while
(24:10):
he described horrific events and scenes. How long does it take?
Is it always the same? What do you mean to
kill a person? Yeah? What you kill them with? Like you?
Your thing seems to be strangulation? One thing now with strangleletion,
because I'm not what we would have gone. So do
(24:32):
they ever plead for their life? They? Like? Do they
beg you? That's not like I'm not going to I'm
not going to. Oh they're trying to just get away
now when you're actually strangling them? Do they no? But
I mean do they like as anything? I don't know.
(24:53):
I don't even know what I want to ask you?
You want to ask? No, I don't. I don't know
how I'm there are I've never killed a human. I mean,
I've never killed a cup. You never shot? No, No,
I've been bust I've been busted that way sixteen years.
(25:14):
So I almost shot a couple of people, but God's intervened.
Did not let the hand the streets. Oh yeah, I
just became a detective. Okay, well, yeah, I worked the
streets for sixteen years. You've been shot at. I know
you've been shot at. Yeah, I didn't shot at somebody
fifteen years ago and hand. Yeah, police called the right
(25:35):
m In fact, they almost arrested me with the office
shooting me down. When he's shaking me down, he made
the gun fall to the ground. So I just kicking
the ground while you're searching. Some cops are stupid, ain't they.
It's like, we don't pay attention. He couldn't have seen it, yeah,
but they just don't pay attention. It was too dark.
I made sure it's the dark while I stopped to
(25:56):
walk day and I walked off and walk back and
got the gun its folds. Vond told them the body
wasn't an abandoned home, but he couldn't give them exact
directions to the building because he had always walked there,
taking shortcuts through abandoned lots. Eventually they made it out
to the four hundred block of East Avenue in Gary.
(26:21):
It was a thin suburban road, and like many parts
of Gary, it's riddled with abandoned homes. Sections of the
street shift abruptly. A string of houses will be well
maintained with manicured blonds, only for the next three houses
to be boarded up and so overgrown with weeds that
you can't even see the sidewalk. The home where Von
(26:43):
guided them was completely dark. It looked as if it
had been recently abandoned. It was isolated from nearby houses
by overgrown shrubs at the edges of the yard. Bond
told them that the body wasn't inside this home, but
in a smaller, more decrepit brick building behind the house.
(27:04):
He told them to drive around the corner to a
gravel alleyway that ran behind the buildings. Police still weren't
sure if Vaughn was telling them the truth or leading
them on a wild goose chase. They asked him where
exactly they'd find the body. In her police report, Detective
Mickey remembered Vaughan's voice taking on a creepy tone. Vaughn
(27:29):
told them to enter the back of the building. He
said that there was a door that went down into
a seller like basement. He told them to be careful
because the basement was pitch black and they need to
watch out for large rats or wild dogs, and he
told them that somewhere deep back in the basement, they'd
(27:50):
find a room where the victim would be buried under
a pile of dolls. Mickey remembers telling him, could you
make this sound any scarier? George Geleapolis was working that
night at the coroner's office. He was also called out
to the scene. Got to the area. Most of the
(28:14):
homes are abandoned. I see a scrub car out there.
The house was taped, and of course it was abandoned.
It was dark. Is that scary? I mean, I guess
the idea of like going into an abandoned building with
a flashlight to like look for a dead body, you know,
I think most people would be terrified. I don't know
if you just get used to that. No, it was scary. No,
(28:36):
I'm not gonna lie. It was scary because we would
only be maybe floor of us in the house, and
we don't know who's in the house or who's in
the area, and if they, like police officers, were not
you know, we first take pictures of the home, and
then we take pictures of where we're going. I obtained
these fitters from the Hammond Police Department through my Fayre request.
(29:00):
The first few photos show the home from the outside.
It's a nondescript brick building with white siding. Then comes
a shot of a wood floored entrance way, a sort
of walden porch with stairs going down into a basement.
There's a detail on this photograph that I miss until
(29:21):
I go onto the next picture, which is a close
up shot of the corner of the staircase. There's a
dark stain there a liquid trail that's dripping down the stairs.
The next picture shows that at the bottom of the
stairwell there was a mound of garbage, bottles, boxes, trash bags,
(29:43):
and the photos continue past that pile of junk. The
basement was still a mess, but at least you could
see the floor. Geleopolis and his team continued through what
looked like it was once a den into a concrete
floored room that was also strewn with trash. Diliopolis says
that the whole building smelled bad, but as they entered
(30:05):
this room, he started to smell a familiar odor. That's
one thing that you will never forget, that's for sure,
and I'll tell you I can't explain. It's something rotten,
rotten fruit, maybe really bad. Garbage stays on your clothes.
If you breathe a little heavy and it goes into
your throat, it stays in your throat. If you move
(30:27):
your hair with your hand, you'll smell it. From there,
they turned the corner to a third, smaller room. This
room was much cleaner, but the smell grew more intense.
There were some wooden boards and a garden hose on
the floor, and in one corner there was a pile
of objects that looked as if it had been deliberately placed.
(30:51):
A big, large truckt or trailer tire and a couple
of stuffed animals, big plush stuffed animals, like the ones
that you might win at a carnival. As they approached
this pile in the corner, the smell became overwhelming, and
through the center of one of the tires they saw
(31:12):
what appeared to be socked feet. Sticking out of the
other end of the pile was the dark fuzz of
human hair. It was the corpse of a woman. She
looked as if she had been killed recently, and you
could tell that she'd been strangled because of a groove
running across her neck, a damp wound on her dark
(31:35):
skin covered by a line of white maggots. Darren Vaughan
wasn't taking them in a wild goose chase. He'd led
them straight to a body, the body of a thirty
five year old woman named Anne Jones, and the night
was still young. What later became known as the death
(31:59):
Mark had just begun. Next time on algorithm. Has there
been any indication all how many victims may be out there?
At this point we are unsure of the number. As
of last night, he was continuing to lead police to
the bodies of victims. Something I think about sometimes is
(32:23):
was there something I could have done better? Because they
weren't even looking. I at least knew that there was
a serial killer active in Gary. The adults would leave
at five o'clock and at night they would be left
with the counselors who were and they would go down
in his hell whole, the basement, and they would have
gladiator games where they would have the kids square off
(32:44):
and have to fight each other. If you're own book,
you're not really a liver. You're just did you kill
somebody specific to get left in? I'm who they told
me to kill. This episode was written and produced by
me ben Keebrick Algorithm is executive produced by Alex Williams,
(33:06):
Matt Frederick, and Donald Albright. Production assistance by Eric Quintana.
Thanks to Christina Dana, Trevor Young, Miranda Hawkins, Josh Thane,
and Jamie Albright for their notes on this series. Music
is by Makeup and Vanity Set and Blue Dot Sessions.
If you like where you're hearing, please follow and leave
(33:27):
us a review on Apple Podcasts
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Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.