Introducing: Cold Blooded

Investigative journalist and former cop Scott Weinberger and Detective Danny Smith work together to expose the true motive behind a South Florida killing spree during the '80s, and uncover new evidence including the DNA of the killer. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
On October twenty first, nineteen eighty six, in Miramar, Florida,
a woman returned to her town home to find her boyfriend,
twenty eight year old firefighter Billy Alpurn, lying dead in
a pool of blood. Billy had been bound, gagged, and
his throat cut from ear to ear. There was no
murder weapon, no sign of forced entry, and no immediate suspects.

(00:24):
She's a shame, you know that they took up from us.
This had all the signs of a professional hit. When
four of Billy's friends also turned up dead, detectives couldn't
help but think Billy was mixed up in something big
and bad, Tangled in a web way darker and deeper
than anyone expected, involving some of South Florida's most dangerous criminals.

(00:45):
So how did they cross paths with Billy? The Apollo
Jim a no frills prison yard style facility dedicated to
pain and gain, a place where cops and crooks could
share a safe space to iron. It was owned by
a jacked X cop named Gil Fernandez. That guy is

(01:05):
a gangster, gangst gangster. I'm Scott Weinberger, podcaster and investigative journalist.
But before that I was at deputy sheriff in Browie County, Florida,
the very same county where Billy's brutal murder took place
in the nineteen eighties, a time where drug traffickers flooded
the state. Just picture the movie Scarface. I worked those
streets and I saw the violence firsthand. Billy's case, even

(01:29):
thirty seven years later, was as cold as they come,
but that was about to change. My name is Danny Smith.
I'm a detective. Remember, please, Spartman, this is Scott Weinberger.
We're actually reopening an old case, and your name came up.
Danny was on a mission to reopen Billy's case, and
I was on a mission to join him, documenting step

(01:52):
by step in real time. This was a case of
a lifetime, especially if we could solve it. Ever expected
what we'd find out along the way and how deep
the corruption would go. You were a cop, you know
that there's good ones and bad ones. Thought they were
gonna kill me, so I kept my mouth shut and
I didn't say anything. All these years, people were afraid

(02:14):
to go to the law because he was a former cop.
What we learned shocked us and it will shock you too.
And so this was up to thirty three. Are you
talking about homicides? Yeah? Join us as we finally exposed
the chili motive behind a string of brutal murders and
unearthed new evidence. We got some back. There is DNA there,

(02:34):
including the DNA of Billy Halpern's killer. Listen to Cold
Blooded the Apollo Jim Murders starting on April twenty second,
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.