May 11, 2026 • 30 mins
This week’s hometowns include sleepwalking into a stranger’s house and a prom robbery.
For our sources, please visit https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/episodes.
Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3UFCn1g.
Head to social media to share your favorite moments from this episode.
Instagram: instagram.com/myfavoritemurder
Facebook: facebook.com/myfavoritemurder
TikTok: tiktok.com/@my_favorite_murder
Send your hometown stories to myfavoritemurder@gmail.com.
Join the Fan Cult to access ad-free episodes of My Favorite Murder. Members also receive merch store discounts, exclusive audio and video content and more! Visit www.fancult.supercast.com to join.
Shop for My Favorite Murder and other Exactly Right merchandise here: www.exactlyrightstore.com.
Rate, review and follow My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Hello and welcome my favorite murder, the Mini.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Sooad that's right, I said that dramatic.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
You did it great?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Did you like it?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I did?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Should I say, give you more of an upbeat?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Take sure?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Try it again the minisode.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hey, I felt terrible, didn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
That was horrible? Should we go back to one?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Yeah, the mini? So there you go. I'm gonna let
you go first, since we're such a pro with that.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thanks so much. I appreciate the condescension. Okay, this is
quite an email I have for you right now.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Do you know about this one?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
There's no way.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
There's no way you could know.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I don't know what I know, and I don't know
what I don't know.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I was just wondering if they're like Karen's got the email,
if they had to warn you about about this beforehand.
The subject line of this emails I was in a
networking group with the Gilgo Beach serial killer. That's why
I asked. So this is an email from twenty twenty four.
This case feels like it's been going on.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
For sixty years.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
The when it just broke.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, he just pled guilty.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So this says, hey, you two In January twenty sixteen,
right when you started the podcast. I switched careers from
a deeply unhappy corporate cog to starting my own professional
organizing business. Oh my god, amazing Hanny dot com. Just like,
get a little plug in there. I think that would
be so satisfying.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Oh my god, I did that yesterday and it was
my beauty stuff. I kind of done it for fucking hours.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
An hour you spring cleaned your makeup.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Basically shameful and fulfilling. At the same time.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
You have to put a little bag aside for the
people whose skin tone your makeup actually is four when
you bought it and were like, and now I can never.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Use this again.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Everyone gets something.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah, right, Okay, So cut to present day. I'm incredibly
happy and proud of the company I have built, and
I'm fortunate enough to love my clients and my work.
Switching careers is no joke. So the first few years
were filled with anxiety, awkwardness, mistakes, and questioning if I
made the right choice.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Hearing your lovely rants and tales of woe.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Consistently twice a week helped really get me through those
growing pains years. So I can't thank you enough for that.
That's all the podcast has been tales of woe and rants. Yeah,
perfectly encapsulated. What you guys have to give is so
special and I'm grateful to enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
But back to it.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I belong to a networking group in New York City
for my organizing business. It's a great group of professionals
who take what they do very seriously, but not themselves,
a perfect combination. I was pumped when an architect joined.
I've worked with lots of architects in the past to
help design more organized and efficient spaces for my clients.
When I first met him, I will admit I felt
(03:01):
a little wary because he was missing a front tooth
the fuck, But the more I got to know him,
he proved to be sweet, likable, professional, and just an
overall nice guy. I, along with the other members of
the group, attended lots of meetings, happy hours, and coffees
with him. I'd countless email exchanges and calls with him
over a cool project he wanted my help on from
one of his famous filmmaker clients, storage rooms that needed decluttering.
(03:25):
So a year ago, when I pulled up the news
and saw his face and name on every headline to say,
I was shocked.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Is the understatement of the century.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Like someone you know regularly professionally that's fucking is a serial.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Killer a serial killer.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
It also points back to like you know them but
from the internet. We all have that, Like it's a
different but we're used to it, so it's kind of like, well, yeah,
we like the same things.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, we know each other.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The normal you can. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
It turns out that Appy was none other than Rex Yureman,
the Gilgo Beach serial killer. All the members of my
group started getting calls from reporters asking for comments about
how we were feeling, knowing we had been doing business
with an actual serial killer. You know that professional picture
of him floating around the internet with his arms crossed.
He only got that photo taken because my group kept
(04:20):
teasing him about how he had.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
No pictures of himself.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
The president of my group even called that his law
and order pose the irony is too much to handle.
Oh my god, I've felt wrecked by the thought of
the combination of deep sadness and relief for the families
of the victims. As the news of his arrest has
come out, friends and family keep asking if I've ever
suspected anything, ever felt threatened or weird around him. Whenever
(04:47):
I hear stories of serial killers who operate in plain saiday,
I always think, how could no one in his life know?
There must be something off that people are ignoring. But
the thing is I didn't feel threatened. I didn't notice
anything off because these men are psychopaths that perfect living
double lives. But he's also no mastermind. I think he's
just a coward who targeted sex workers as he deemed
(05:09):
these women less than. But these victims were not less than.
They didn't deserve to be senselessly murdered and heinously discarded.
I hope he receives the maximum punishment for robbing these
women of their lives and their families of their peace.
Stay sexy and don't do business for serial killers.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Katie m.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And then here's just a quick update, because when Katie
sent this email, only three of the victims he had
been arrested for their murders, and now that there's a
longer list, we figured we'd save all the names till
the end. On April eight, Rex Huerman pled guilty to
the murders of seven women, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy Amberlin Costello,
(05:51):
Moreen Brainerd Barnes, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor, and Sondra Castia.
He admitted to killing an eighth woman, Karen Vergotta, though
he has not been formally charged with her murder.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Wow, and doesn't it make you think like it's so
inconspicuous you would never know. So is there someone that
you know that maybe isn't a serial killer, but that
has that piece.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Of them that totally doesn't care and has no empathy
and is truly cut off that way?
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Who could it be? Which is like, fine, if you
don't fucking kill people, you can, like we all have
different personality issues, but Jesus.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Okay, I mean and also just that we have gotten
to this point where now, which is such a relief
where people get to write in and go, hey, I
did business with this totally totally just like the Ted
Bundy story.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
So scary. Yeah, okay, I'm not going to read you
the subject line. Hi, MFM gang and it's furry associates.
I recently listened to your episode about the sleepwalking murderer,
and I decided to share my sleepwalking story. I could
have just read you this subject line. It's the sleep walking.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Story, I thought, I was being really clever, You're going
to save it, and they immediately ruined the secret.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I think I was around eight or nine when this happened.
I grew up in Vacaville, California, which is where Paul
Holes is from hashtag got for Holes, and my childhood
home was on a very busy street. One night, someone
came flying around the corner and my brother's car was
side swiped. The driver fled the scene, but my brother
saw that the vehicle was a large maroon suv. Knowing
that the driver's car would have extensive damage, my brother
(07:29):
made flyers and posted them around town. This was before
the days of social media, hoping someone would have information
for him. A few days later, while my family was
enjoying a day on the lake with some friends, my
brother got a call from a guy who said his
neighbor drives a maroon suburban and the passenger side of
the car was torn up. Ooh, the guy gave my
brother his address. Oh this the neighbor is a fucking narc.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
He's just like, here go solve that problem.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
This blast Metallica had fucking midnight. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, yes, you can do.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Fair enough, be cool to your neighbors and they'll fucking
nark on you. That's right. The guy gave my brother
his address, and he told him that the car was
parked in the driveway next door. Does My brother ran
to tell my mom and she said that we would
drive by the house on our way home from the lake.
We got into town super late, and I was asleep
in the back seat. I was still in my bathing
(08:21):
suit and I had my beach towel wrapped around me.
We pulled up to the house where the vehicle was parked,
and my mom whipped out a camera to snap some pictures.
This is when camera phones were just becoming a thing,
so I'm pretty sure she ended up using a disposable
camera from Walgreens or some shit like that. Oh, bring
them back.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I wonder if that's what people used to do for
like accidents and stuff like keep a disposable camera in
your car.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Motorcycle riders do that, do they? Really? They did that?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yes, back when it was before go pro.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Saw a guy getting a fucking gnarly motorcycle accident. I
got out and went over to him, and he goes
hey on the ground, like after he woke up. Hey,
there's a fucking disposable camera under my seat. Use the
whole roll, get everything. Oh and I fucking r I
just remembered this part of the story, Like I knew
about that, but I forgot about that part.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
That's so weird.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And I just fucking and I had. I was driving
my best bud at the time, so I was like,
I got you.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, we were a motorbike friend. Yeah, so wait a second,
you came upon this accident.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It happened directly in front of me. Like, so you
were a witness? Yeah, shit, he was. Okay, I hope,
I don't know. Maybe not.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I stuck my phone number in his backpack. Okay, he
never called me. Well he was in the hospital with
all four limbs in the air.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Come on, okay, Well, my mom and brother were going
full Vogue cover shoot on the suburban. I slipped out
of the back seat and up the walkway of our
random house a few doors down. I must have thought
that we were home. I opened the front door, and
this is where I vaguely remember walking into a house
that smelled like smoke. However, I was so tired that
I laid down on the couch and fell back asleep.
(09:58):
I remember that the living room was arranged exactly like
hours at home, and they had their TV on. I
awoke a few minutes later to the sound of a
blood curdling scream coming from outside. My mom was absolutely
losing her shit. She thought I was kidnapped and was
screaming my name up and down the block. I remember
waking up and looking around wondering where the hell I was.
I walked right out the front door, left it wide open,
(10:21):
and yelled to my mom, I'm right here. She was
crying and completely freaking out. The next morning, I told
my mom that we had to go back to the
house because I left my favorite beach towel on their
living room couch. We went back and told the people
who lived there what happened. They thought it was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I mean, that is hilarious, and they missed the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, But then they came out and the door is
wide open, and there's a towel on the floor, like
what happened.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
And their dog, Rusty ran away.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Rusty. All of that could have been avoided if one
the asshole never hit my brother's car and fled the scene,
and two those people locked their fucking doors Luckily, everyone
ended up fine. I was safe, I got my favorite
beach towel back, and my brother ended up getting money
for the damage the guy caused to his car. Nice, Nice,
stay sexy, don't flee the scene of a crime, and
(11:07):
lock your fucking doors so people don't sleep walk into
your living room.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Audrey, this is such a close neighborhood. They're like, we
caught him, get over here, and then I'm on in
and I'm just go to sleep on your neighbor's couch. Oh,
that's so that's so funny. If you woke up and
you were like us, you're a twelve year old like us,
where it's like someone's been here, and then you start
taking pictures of the inside of your house. I'll read
(11:33):
you this subject line since it works. I was robbed,
it prom dearest Darling ist Karen and Georgia. In episode
four seventy five, Karen told us about the time she
was robbed by a lady in the sunglasses store on
Hollywood Boulevard. Remember that one, Yeah, when she was like
a hat a twenty sticking out of my pocket, but
I forgot yeah, and she.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Was like hello.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
This reminded me of something that happened to me at
senior prom and the year two thousand and three. I've
just turned so this was some time ago, but you
never forget this kind of thing. While we all had
this aerotypical prom, like every other school in America, all
the parents of seniors joined together to plan something called
Snap Senior Night after Prom, where they literally rented out
(12:15):
a Dave and Busters from eleven PM to eight am
as a ployee to keep all of us from partying
after prom.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Oh that's smart.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
After the dance, seriously, our parents were like, go stand
in a field for all we care.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Here's alcohol. Yeah yeah, here's some warm beer and zeem,
I get the fuck.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
One of us will go on a cruise. The understanding
is you will stay indoors. So it says after the dance,
we all rode in our limos and cars to Dave
and Busters, turned in our suit jackets, dresses, purses, et cetera,
changed clothes, and were basically locked in all night. It
was actually pretty fun. It's very smart. As you can imagine,
after a long night of dancing and then being locked
(12:51):
in with your entire senior class, the eight am hour
at the Dave.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And Busters was rough.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Oh god.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
I mean everyone was over it. We were all tired
physically and also tired of each other. Friendships ended, Matt
David Busters, girlfriends dumped boyfriends. It was a lot of togetherness.
My friend group remained somewhat intact as the sun came up,
and we agreed to gather our things and meeted a
small staircase at the front of the building while we
waited to be picked up. Sorry, that just reminds me
(13:18):
of I've told you when we went to Senior Night
at Disneyland. Yeah. I was emat like at eleven thirty,
I'm like, I'm done, I'm gonna lay down on a bench.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
And it's almost like that it is your first teenage
test of what you're going to be like to party
with ye And people are just like yes, no, yes, no, total.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
It's like, I'm gonna go home and go to the party. Yep,
who can stay up all night?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I was down there first, so I sat on the
stairs with all my crap, laid my head down on
my giant cobalt blue puffy dress, and closed my eyes,
waiting for my friends. Within a few seconds, a random
girl sat next to me. I opened my eyes to
see that she was a fellow PRAM attendee, but I
didn't know her or recognize her, but she seemed like
she wanted to chat.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Did you have fun? What did did you do last night?
Did you go bowling?
Speaker 3 (14:02):
I was in no mood for small talk with a
girl I didn't know, so I closed my eyes again
and gave very short curt answers, hoping she would catch
my vibe, and she eventually walked away. It turns out
she was robbing me while I was sitting there with
my eyes closed. What were you doing last night?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Did Joe fun? You'd think a lock in would be safe.
I would definitely not watch my purse, and I did
watch it, but I wouldn't be worried. Yeah, you wouldn't
be on alert.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
No, you'd think you could just sleep on some stairs
like a normal person.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It's so crazy.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
When our parents picked us up, my dad asked me
for his cash. That's right before we left for prom.
My dad handed me two hundred dollars cash to use
in case of emergency. None of us had credit cards,
but it was to be returned immediately after we got
done at david Buster. Oh my god, it wasn't spending money.
It was emergency money for flat tires, etc. As we
lived in a rural area and the prom was in
(14:54):
the big city. I had the cash in my tiny
silver purse, along with some earrings my sister had lent me.
When my dad asked for this money, I opened my
little purse and found it to be empty.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh, earrings and cash all gone.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I was so confused because my purse had been in
my possession all night, except for when it was checked
into the purse check monitored by volunteer parents, and then
immediately handed back to me. I knew it was the
girl that had sat next to me making awkward conversation
while my eyes were closed. A few days later, at school,
people were sharing photo albums and I saw the girl
in a photo and it immediately jumped out at me.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
That's her.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Oh my god, that's the girl who sat experienced toole
my money and earrings. She was the date of a
guy in my government class. So I sought him out
and said, hey, do you know your date? Robbed me
at David Busters, who is she? He felt bad and
said other people from within his own group had told
him the same thing.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
This girls, this little klepts just gone around fucking.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
She robbed many people that night.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Girl. I want to be friends with this girl, right,
I mean she was like on one. He didn't know
her well, he said, And she didn't go to our school.
I would hope not. They open her locker, all everybody's
stuff pours out cash. I saw the assistant principal who
informed me that she didn't go to our school, so
there was nothing that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
They could do.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
I felt so bad about losing my dad's money, and
even more guilty about losing my sister's earrings, as they
were special to her. I will forever regret trying to
ignore her. Yet I will also forever be somewhat impressed
by all caps the audacity to be asked to a
prom at another school, only to spend your evening robbing everyone. Yeah,
(16:29):
love y'all so much, SSDGM, And don't ignore awkward conversations
in a Dave and Buster's while you have forty seven
bobby pins in your hair.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Jenny that I hope that girl turn out okay, bless
her heart.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah, I hope this was maybe, And I'm not saying
this is justified, although it is, like it's a rich
kid's school.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
She gets invited to the prom.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
She's like, I'm going back to the other side of
the tracks and I'm going to collect I'm going to
fill my pockets or vice versa. She's like, I'm rich
and no one will ever prosecute me, so I'm going
to rob all these poor people whatever, whatever it is. Yeah,
please write in. We know you just write us an email.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Okay. This one's called mind blowing guaranteed podcasting Princesses. I
doubt you've ever heard a story like this one which
took place in my home state of Michigan several years back.
On April sixth, two thousand and six, a van carrying
nine students from Taylor University in Indiana was returning to
(17:31):
school from an event when a semi truck lost control,
crossed the median and hit the van, killing five passengers.
Two of the Taylor students were from Michigan, just north
of Indiana, and when the county corner was done, one
of the Michigan girls was dead while the other had
survived badly injured. I know, I hate these fucking stories.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Well, also, just that thing of like the older kids
get and they leave the house totally the risk is
just increasing. Nor just went on long drive by herself,
and my sister was like, she's an adult. I can't be, like,
you're not allowed to.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
It's one of the reasons I don't want to kids.
I just I couldn't do that. It's so yeah, so tough, okay.
The students were identified through purses and IDs scattered around
the scene. The body of blonde eighteen year old Whitney
Sarah was transported home to Gaylord, Michigan, where her devastated
family grieved her loss, held a funeral, and buried her
(18:25):
in the local cemetery. The surviving Michigan student, also blonde,
was unresponsive but was identified through an id laying near
her as twenty two year old Laura van rinn And
was airlifted to a nearby er and trauma center, where
she was stabilized. When her family rushed to her side,
they were told to expect she would not look like herself,
with bandages around her face and tubes in her head
(18:47):
and mouth. Over the next five weeks, after Laura's family
had her move to a facility near their home and
grew in Rapids, Michigan, they kept up a vigil at
her bedside that at times left them baffled. Laura called
them false parents in a way they thought was lovingly teasing.
Once she regained her speech, she would often whisper Whitney
(19:08):
when therapists or nurses called her Laura. When an aunt insisted,
I don't care what anyone says. That doesn't look like
Laura to me, Laura's father assured her that this was natural.
Laura's sister, Lisa, glimpsed a new belly button piercing and
thought to herself spring break. Finally, at the end of
five weeks, Lisa was sitting alone with her sister when
(19:28):
Laura said her name was Whitney. Sarah and her parents
were Newel and Colleen. Lisa said, quote, our suspicions had
been building, and in that moment, I just knew that
she was right.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
But you would have every reason to be like, no, no, no,
this can't.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Be psychologically and logically too, because you're being told those things.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
It's not these official people are saying this is what's happening, right,
But you'd also be like, great, totally, she's alive and
she's here.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Laura and Whitney's identities had been mixed up. By people
helping at the accident scene. They looked alike, with blonde
hair and similar builds and facial features. Whitney's sister, Carly,
also a student at Taylor, had not been able to
bring herself to identify the actual body at the morgue
after being told her sister had been killed. After morning,
for five weeks, Whitney Sarah's family were informed that Whitney
(20:21):
was still alive, and Laura Vanrin's family had to accept
that Laura, who they thought they had been caring for,
was gone.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
That's so horrible.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
The bizarre, tragic accident would later prompt Indiana lawmakers to
enact stricter guidelines regarding coroners identifying victims of fatal crashes.
On March twenty eight, two thousand and eight, Dateline NBC
aired an episode regarding this mix up titled A Twist
of Fate, and the two families involved have written a
book entitled Mistaken Identity.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Oh I want to read that book.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah, Oh, can you fucking imagine?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
But then that means they like work together, yeah, like.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, stay sexyon always view the body, Margaret.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
I mean, how like, yeah, I think the thing that's
really making me catch my breath. Is that that's exactly
what you want to happen. When you find out that
someone you love die totally, you fantasize about exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And then five weeks later to find out you've been
grieving for five weeks, You've gone through so many feelings
and emotions and just devastation, and then you get your
person back.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yep, and Whitney's laying there and they're calling her the
wrong name, and she's in this state she kind of
probably doesn't even really know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, trying to say who.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I mean, no, it's who.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
That could have been a full episode story, that really could.
I'm going to change it up with a little pet
hero story.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Great.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
It starts Hello from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I suck ad intro,
so please excuse my lack there. Just know that I
love you. You asked for pet hero stories and this
is something that I can at least deliver. Back in
the spring of twenty twelve, I was in my final
year of UNI and was big into running that My
then puppy, a female Doberman Pincher border Collie named Charlie,
(22:15):
was my enthusiastic companion on these jaunts at border Collie
Doberman pinchers, like the most springy dog ever made at dogs.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I don't really go together, but I'm sure it's bullying.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
It's like all muscle and excitement. It was a warm
eleven degrees celsius in today's money, thirty four fifty two
afternoon in late March. I should have told you what
month it was, and a chnook wind had recently come
through the city, melting most of the snow off the
sidewalks and trails that I frequented. Side note, Calgary is
(22:49):
locally known for its warm chnuck winds, which come off
the oceans from the southwest.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Flowing and went to the north.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Shea weather man, I don't know, and generally boosting our
outside temper, which for several days at a time, and
then in parentheses it says, hallelujah. I think everyone's a
weather man when they live in Calgary. You better know
what's happening. Yeah, this specific day, I grabbed Charlie, laced
up my running shoes without my ice cleats, and took off.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Bad idea, Just fucking stay home. You can take today off.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
You know, and you you know when you forget your
ice cleats and you really regret it later.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
And it's eleven degrees celsius.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Celsius, and we're like, hey, we're from California.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, you're You're in grade six and you're and you
want to you.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Want to get into the boot but you can't.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Oh wait, that's British.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I made it through most of my normal route and
was literally approaching the final descent on my stretch home
about five minutes from my house when I.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Hit a patch of black ice.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Things happened fast, and I don't remember much as I
passed out from the pain. Oh my god, woke up
briefly in the ambulance, Oh my God, then passed out again.
But I did later get some details that I had
been shared with the paramedics upon their at the scene.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So fall and you get knocked out like that.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Is and it's because I've seen I've seen video people
just all of a sudden, you're just tripping on the
ground because there's a patch of ice that you can't see.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
It's just scary.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
So it says apparently Charlie, who was still on leash
at the time of my fall, was able to run
down the trail barking furiously. She got the attention of
the next passerby she found, who luckily had some medical training.
Even luckier, this person noted the dragging leash and the
purpose with which Charlie moved away, and then stopped to
wait to see if they would follow Charlie. Oh, Charlie's
(24:40):
doing it.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
They did.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Charlie led my rescuer right back to me, whereupon they
found me lying unconscious on the ground with my leg
no no, facing the wrong way. Oh, and immediately called
for help. I ended up breaking my leg in how
many places?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Five places?
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Too many places?
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Needing two plate That means the femur is definitely involved,
take it, probably needing two plates surgically implanted. And I
was in the hospital for eleven days, thankfully not in
life threatening condition. And editorial note, thankfully in Canada where
it's free.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Congratulations, We're going to.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Get there one day, America, we are going to get Can.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
You imagine everyone not going bankrupt from a fucking accident
because you slipped? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
It scares me to think of how long I may
have been lying on a cold sidewalk if not for
Charlie and my rescuer. It makes me even more sad
than I never got the name of my rescuer. To
thank them for everything they did that day after helping.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Scry what should put your phone on Burne's backpack just
like I did? See I was right, he could have
fucking helped me. You're gonna thank me.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
This is why we all need business cards, not for
business but for pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Okay, at me, bro on your business card.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
At me to thank them for for everything they did.
And after helping see Me into the ambulance, they called
the phone numbers on Charlie's ID tags and got a
hold of my then roommate and were able to get
Charlie home safely too, so they took over. Come on
a good person, forward, good person, Yeah, good good Canadian.
Charlie's now thirteen years old, has mild arthritis, but still
(26:19):
loves to go for slow runs and bike rides.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
She rides in a carriage.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Oh girl, I think, boy, it happens. She also has
developed the same fear of ice that I have Penguin
shuffle for the wind. She's my everything and has seen
me through it all, good, bad and ugly. I can
only hope as she transitions into these final elder years
of her life that she feels like I've given her
the same.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Oh no, oh, come on, sorry, this is so long.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Big shout out to the everyday heroes of our world,
both animal and human, Stay sexy and wear are the
damn ice cleats.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Kayleie, there's George. I called her Georgie. There's Charlie.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Oh the good girl, Charlie. Are sweet little Beard coming in?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Oh the listeners, We're definitely going to post this sweetest
picture of the sweetest dog who saved her owner's life.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Oh my gosh, she's gorgeous about face right there?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I want to I think she smells like free Do's
and I want to see I want to rub her haunches,
Oh my god, and.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Give her scratch.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Amazing. That was amazing. That was good?
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Right?
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yes? Okay. My last one is called prank Dad. Hello,
my fun loving aunties. Hello, Do I have a prank
Dad story for you? Growing up, I was the middle
of three girls, and both of my parents were in
law enforcement, So obviously my sisters and I decided our
calling in life was to be as annoying as possible.
(27:41):
One day, my dad jokingly threatened to handcuff us together
until you can get along. We did not take him
seriously at all. We kept bickering, complaining, and pushing each
other's buttons until he pulled out the handcuffs and said,
until you can get along, you're staying handcuffed together.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Wow, three of them.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, Jesus has to be against protocol.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Right, there's nothing legal or correct about this.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Cute the dramatic sighing and I rolling. We decided, fine,
peace treaty it is. But when he went to unlock us,
he realized his handcuff keys were at work. So yes,
we had to drive over an hour handcuffed together to
get his keys. Were we getting along by then? Absolutely not.
Once we walked into the police station, all of his
(28:26):
coworkers stared at him like he was unhinged. He just
shrugged and said, kids, Am I right? Anyways? My siblings
and I never fought again after that. Just kidding, of
course we did, but it was the last time we
were physically restrained as a family bonding activity. Yeah. I
can't wait to write again and tell you about the
case my dad worked on involving serial killer Wayne adam Ford,
(28:47):
one of the world's most evil killers. He was one
of the lead detectives on that case.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Shout out to my wife Crumb, who introduced me to
your podcast in twenty twenty. We saw you live in
Boston and had a wonderful time. Thank you for everything
you do. Seriously, we love you. Stay sexy and always
keep an extra set of keys on you.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
He'll she her, I mean hill, great email. Also, what
a great kind of like, Yeah, if you're going to
do something and take this big swing, you better make
sure you have everything you need to be the responsible adult.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
That's it's the definition of fuck around and find out.
He fucked around and he found the fuck out.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
And then everyone at work found out too. Yeah, Like,
what great parenting skills you have.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
I definitely talked about that one at the Christmas party
that year.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Although I don't envy anyone with three daughters. No, mayhem,
my god, chaos not great.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Hey, tell us about your sibling fights and stuff?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Are you one of three girls?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Tell us all about it.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
You'll get right to the front if you send us
emails about your horrible fights.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
That's right at my favorite murder at Gmail or anything
else you want to write about.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Yeah, which let us know and then until then stay sexy.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Do you want to Cookie?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
This has been an exactly right production.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Our senior producer is Molly Smith and our associate producer
is Tessa Hughes.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Our editor is Aristotle Ascevedo.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
This episode was mixed by Leona Squalacci.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Follow the show on Instagram at my Favorite Murder.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
And now you can watch My Favorite Murder on Netflix.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
And when you're there, hit the double thumbs up and
the remind Me buttons. That's the best way you can
support our show.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Goodbye.
Hello and welcome my favorite murder, the Mini.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Sooad that's right, I said that dramatic.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
You did it great?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Did you like it?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I did?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Should I say, give you more of an upbeat?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Take sure?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Try it again the minisode.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hey, I felt terrible, didn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
That was horrible? Should we go back to one?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Yeah, the mini? So there you go. I'm gonna let
you go first, since we're such a pro with that.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thanks so much. I appreciate the condescension. Okay, this is
quite an email I have for you right now.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Do you know about this one?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
There's no way.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
There's no way you could know.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I don't know what I know, and I don't know
what I don't know.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I was just wondering if they're like Karen's got the email,
if they had to warn you about about this beforehand.
The subject line of this emails I was in a
networking group with the Gilgo Beach serial killer. That's why
I asked. So this is an email from twenty twenty four.
This case feels like it's been going on.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
For sixty years.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
The when it just broke.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, he just pled guilty.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So this says, hey, you two In January twenty sixteen,
right when you started the podcast. I switched careers from
a deeply unhappy corporate cog to starting my own professional
organizing business. Oh my god, amazing Hanny dot com. Just like,
get a little plug in there. I think that would
be so satisfying.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Oh my god, I did that yesterday and it was
my beauty stuff. I kind of done it for fucking hours.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
An hour you spring cleaned your makeup.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Basically shameful and fulfilling. At the same time.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
You have to put a little bag aside for the
people whose skin tone your makeup actually is four when
you bought it and were like, and now I can never.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Use this again.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Everyone gets something.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah, right, Okay, So cut to present day. I'm incredibly
happy and proud of the company I have built, and
I'm fortunate enough to love my clients and my work.
Switching careers is no joke. So the first few years
were filled with anxiety, awkwardness, mistakes, and questioning if I
made the right choice.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Hearing your lovely rants and tales of woe.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Consistently twice a week helped really get me through those
growing pains years. So I can't thank you enough for that.
That's all the podcast has been tales of woe and rants. Yeah,
perfectly encapsulated. What you guys have to give is so
special and I'm grateful to enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
But back to it.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I belong to a networking group in New York City
for my organizing business. It's a great group of professionals
who take what they do very seriously, but not themselves,
a perfect combination. I was pumped when an architect joined.
I've worked with lots of architects in the past to
help design more organized and efficient spaces for my clients.
When I first met him, I will admit I felt
(03:01):
a little wary because he was missing a front tooth
the fuck, But the more I got to know him,
he proved to be sweet, likable, professional, and just an
overall nice guy. I, along with the other members of
the group, attended lots of meetings, happy hours, and coffees
with him. I'd countless email exchanges and calls with him
over a cool project he wanted my help on from
one of his famous filmmaker clients, storage rooms that needed decluttering.
(03:25):
So a year ago, when I pulled up the news
and saw his face and name on every headline to say,
I was shocked.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Is the understatement of the century.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Like someone you know regularly professionally that's fucking is a serial.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Killer a serial killer.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
It also points back to like you know them but
from the internet. We all have that, Like it's a
different but we're used to it, so it's kind of like, well, yeah,
we like the same things.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, we know each other.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The normal you can. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
It turns out that Appy was none other than Rex Yureman,
the Gilgo Beach serial killer. All the members of my
group started getting calls from reporters asking for comments about
how we were feeling, knowing we had been doing business
with an actual serial killer. You know that professional picture
of him floating around the internet with his arms crossed.
He only got that photo taken because my group kept
(04:20):
teasing him about how he had.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
No pictures of himself.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
The president of my group even called that his law
and order pose the irony is too much to handle.
Oh my god, I've felt wrecked by the thought of
the combination of deep sadness and relief for the families
of the victims. As the news of his arrest has
come out, friends and family keep asking if I've ever
suspected anything, ever felt threatened or weird around him. Whenever
(04:47):
I hear stories of serial killers who operate in plain saiday,
I always think, how could no one in his life know?
There must be something off that people are ignoring. But
the thing is I didn't feel threatened. I didn't notice
anything off because these men are psychopaths that perfect living
double lives. But he's also no mastermind. I think he's
just a coward who targeted sex workers as he deemed
(05:09):
these women less than. But these victims were not less than.
They didn't deserve to be senselessly murdered and heinously discarded.
I hope he receives the maximum punishment for robbing these
women of their lives and their families of their peace.
Stay sexy and don't do business for serial killers.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Katie m.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And then here's just a quick update, because when Katie
sent this email, only three of the victims he had
been arrested for their murders, and now that there's a
longer list, we figured we'd save all the names till
the end. On April eight, Rex Huerman pled guilty to
the murders of seven women, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy Amberlin Costello,
(05:51):
Moreen Brainerd Barnes, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor, and Sondra Castia.
He admitted to killing an eighth woman, Karen Vergotta, though
he has not been formally charged with her murder.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Wow, and doesn't it make you think like it's so
inconspicuous you would never know. So is there someone that
you know that maybe isn't a serial killer, but that
has that piece.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Of them that totally doesn't care and has no empathy
and is truly cut off that way?
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Who could it be? Which is like, fine, if you
don't fucking kill people, you can, like we all have
different personality issues, but Jesus.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Okay, I mean and also just that we have gotten
to this point where now, which is such a relief
where people get to write in and go, hey, I
did business with this totally totally just like the Ted
Bundy story.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
So scary. Yeah, okay, I'm not going to read you
the subject line. Hi, MFM gang and it's furry associates.
I recently listened to your episode about the sleepwalking murderer,
and I decided to share my sleepwalking story. I could
have just read you this subject line. It's the sleep walking.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Story, I thought, I was being really clever, You're going
to save it, and they immediately ruined the secret.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I think I was around eight or nine when this happened.
I grew up in Vacaville, California, which is where Paul
Holes is from hashtag got for Holes, and my childhood
home was on a very busy street. One night, someone
came flying around the corner and my brother's car was
side swiped. The driver fled the scene, but my brother
saw that the vehicle was a large maroon suv. Knowing
that the driver's car would have extensive damage, my brother
(07:29):
made flyers and posted them around town. This was before
the days of social media, hoping someone would have information
for him. A few days later, while my family was
enjoying a day on the lake with some friends, my
brother got a call from a guy who said his
neighbor drives a maroon suburban and the passenger side of
the car was torn up. Ooh, the guy gave my
brother his address. Oh this the neighbor is a fucking narc.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
He's just like, here go solve that problem.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
This blast Metallica had fucking midnight. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, yes, you can do.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Fair enough, be cool to your neighbors and they'll fucking
nark on you. That's right. The guy gave my brother
his address, and he told him that the car was
parked in the driveway next door. Does My brother ran
to tell my mom and she said that we would
drive by the house on our way home from the lake.
We got into town super late, and I was asleep
in the back seat. I was still in my bathing
(08:21):
suit and I had my beach towel wrapped around me.
We pulled up to the house where the vehicle was parked,
and my mom whipped out a camera to snap some pictures.
This is when camera phones were just becoming a thing,
so I'm pretty sure she ended up using a disposable
camera from Walgreens or some shit like that. Oh, bring
them back.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I wonder if that's what people used to do for
like accidents and stuff like keep a disposable camera in
your car.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Motorcycle riders do that, do they? Really? They did that?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yes, back when it was before go pro.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Saw a guy getting a fucking gnarly motorcycle accident. I
got out and went over to him, and he goes
hey on the ground, like after he woke up. Hey,
there's a fucking disposable camera under my seat. Use the
whole roll, get everything. Oh and I fucking r I
just remembered this part of the story, Like I knew
about that, but I forgot about that part.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
That's so weird.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And I just fucking and I had. I was driving
my best bud at the time, so I was like,
I got you.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, we were a motorbike friend. Yeah, so wait a second,
you came upon this accident.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It happened directly in front of me. Like, so you
were a witness? Yeah, shit, he was. Okay, I hope,
I don't know. Maybe not.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I stuck my phone number in his backpack. Okay, he
never called me. Well he was in the hospital with
all four limbs in the air.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Come on, okay, Well, my mom and brother were going
full Vogue cover shoot on the suburban. I slipped out
of the back seat and up the walkway of our
random house a few doors down. I must have thought
that we were home. I opened the front door, and
this is where I vaguely remember walking into a house
that smelled like smoke. However, I was so tired that
I laid down on the couch and fell back asleep.
(09:58):
I remember that the living room was arranged exactly like
hours at home, and they had their TV on. I
awoke a few minutes later to the sound of a
blood curdling scream coming from outside. My mom was absolutely
losing her shit. She thought I was kidnapped and was
screaming my name up and down the block. I remember
waking up and looking around wondering where the hell I was.
I walked right out the front door, left it wide open,
(10:21):
and yelled to my mom, I'm right here. She was
crying and completely freaking out. The next morning, I told
my mom that we had to go back to the
house because I left my favorite beach towel on their
living room couch. We went back and told the people
who lived there what happened. They thought it was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I mean, that is hilarious, and they missed the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, But then they came out and the door is
wide open, and there's a towel on the floor, like
what happened.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
And their dog, Rusty ran away.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Rusty. All of that could have been avoided if one
the asshole never hit my brother's car and fled the scene,
and two those people locked their fucking doors Luckily, everyone
ended up fine. I was safe, I got my favorite
beach towel back, and my brother ended up getting money
for the damage the guy caused to his car. Nice, Nice,
stay sexy, don't flee the scene of a crime, and
(11:07):
lock your fucking doors so people don't sleep walk into
your living room.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Audrey, this is such a close neighborhood. They're like, we
caught him, get over here, and then I'm on in
and I'm just go to sleep on your neighbor's couch. Oh,
that's so that's so funny. If you woke up and
you were like us, you're a twelve year old like us,
where it's like someone's been here, and then you start
taking pictures of the inside of your house. I'll read
(11:33):
you this subject line since it works. I was robbed,
it prom dearest Darling ist Karen and Georgia. In episode
four seventy five, Karen told us about the time she
was robbed by a lady in the sunglasses store on
Hollywood Boulevard. Remember that one, Yeah, when she was like
a hat a twenty sticking out of my pocket, but
I forgot yeah, and she.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Was like hello.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
This reminded me of something that happened to me at
senior prom and the year two thousand and three. I've
just turned so this was some time ago, but you
never forget this kind of thing. While we all had
this aerotypical prom, like every other school in America, all
the parents of seniors joined together to plan something called
Snap Senior Night after Prom, where they literally rented out
(12:15):
a Dave and Busters from eleven PM to eight am
as a ployee to keep all of us from partying
after prom.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Oh that's smart.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
After the dance, seriously, our parents were like, go stand
in a field for all we care.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Here's alcohol. Yeah yeah, here's some warm beer and zeem,
I get the fuck.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
One of us will go on a cruise. The understanding
is you will stay indoors. So it says after the dance,
we all rode in our limos and cars to Dave
and Busters, turned in our suit jackets, dresses, purses, et cetera,
changed clothes, and were basically locked in all night. It
was actually pretty fun. It's very smart. As you can imagine,
after a long night of dancing and then being locked
(12:51):
in with your entire senior class, the eight am hour
at the Dave.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And Busters was rough.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Oh god.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
I mean everyone was over it. We were all tired
physically and also tired of each other. Friendships ended, Matt
David Busters, girlfriends dumped boyfriends. It was a lot of togetherness.
My friend group remained somewhat intact as the sun came up,
and we agreed to gather our things and meeted a
small staircase at the front of the building while we
waited to be picked up. Sorry, that just reminds me
(13:18):
of I've told you when we went to Senior Night
at Disneyland. Yeah. I was emat like at eleven thirty,
I'm like, I'm done, I'm gonna lay down on a bench.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
And it's almost like that it is your first teenage
test of what you're going to be like to party
with ye And people are just like yes, no, yes, no, total.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
It's like, I'm gonna go home and go to the party. Yep,
who can stay up all night?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I was down there first, so I sat on the
stairs with all my crap, laid my head down on
my giant cobalt blue puffy dress, and closed my eyes,
waiting for my friends. Within a few seconds, a random
girl sat next to me. I opened my eyes to
see that she was a fellow PRAM attendee, but I
didn't know her or recognize her, but she seemed like
she wanted to chat.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Did you have fun? What did did you do last night?
Did you go bowling?
Speaker 3 (14:02):
I was in no mood for small talk with a
girl I didn't know, so I closed my eyes again
and gave very short curt answers, hoping she would catch
my vibe, and she eventually walked away. It turns out
she was robbing me while I was sitting there with
my eyes closed. What were you doing last night?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Did Joe fun? You'd think a lock in would be safe.
I would definitely not watch my purse, and I did
watch it, but I wouldn't be worried. Yeah, you wouldn't
be on alert.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
No, you'd think you could just sleep on some stairs
like a normal person.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It's so crazy.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
When our parents picked us up, my dad asked me
for his cash. That's right before we left for prom.
My dad handed me two hundred dollars cash to use
in case of emergency. None of us had credit cards,
but it was to be returned immediately after we got
done at david Buster. Oh my god, it wasn't spending money.
It was emergency money for flat tires, etc. As we
lived in a rural area and the prom was in
(14:54):
the big city. I had the cash in my tiny
silver purse, along with some earrings my sister had lent me.
When my dad asked for this money, I opened my
little purse and found it to be empty.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh, earrings and cash all gone.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I was so confused because my purse had been in
my possession all night, except for when it was checked
into the purse check monitored by volunteer parents, and then
immediately handed back to me. I knew it was the
girl that had sat next to me making awkward conversation
while my eyes were closed. A few days later, at school,
people were sharing photo albums and I saw the girl
in a photo and it immediately jumped out at me.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
That's her.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Oh my god, that's the girl who sat experienced toole
my money and earrings. She was the date of a
guy in my government class. So I sought him out
and said, hey, do you know your date? Robbed me
at David Busters, who is she? He felt bad and
said other people from within his own group had told
him the same thing.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
This girls, this little klepts just gone around fucking.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
She robbed many people that night.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Girl. I want to be friends with this girl, right,
I mean she was like on one. He didn't know
her well, he said, And she didn't go to our school.
I would hope not. They open her locker, all everybody's
stuff pours out cash. I saw the assistant principal who
informed me that she didn't go to our school, so
there was nothing that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
They could do.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
I felt so bad about losing my dad's money, and
even more guilty about losing my sister's earrings, as they
were special to her. I will forever regret trying to
ignore her. Yet I will also forever be somewhat impressed
by all caps the audacity to be asked to a
prom at another school, only to spend your evening robbing everyone. Yeah,
(16:29):
love y'all so much, SSDGM, And don't ignore awkward conversations
in a Dave and Buster's while you have forty seven
bobby pins in your hair.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Jenny that I hope that girl turn out okay, bless
her heart.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah, I hope this was maybe, And I'm not saying
this is justified, although it is, like it's a rich
kid's school.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
She gets invited to the prom.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
She's like, I'm going back to the other side of
the tracks and I'm going to collect I'm going to
fill my pockets or vice versa. She's like, I'm rich
and no one will ever prosecute me, so I'm going
to rob all these poor people whatever, whatever it is. Yeah,
please write in. We know you just write us an email.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Okay. This one's called mind blowing guaranteed podcasting Princesses. I
doubt you've ever heard a story like this one which
took place in my home state of Michigan several years back.
On April sixth, two thousand and six, a van carrying
nine students from Taylor University in Indiana was returning to
(17:31):
school from an event when a semi truck lost control,
crossed the median and hit the van, killing five passengers.
Two of the Taylor students were from Michigan, just north
of Indiana, and when the county corner was done, one
of the Michigan girls was dead while the other had
survived badly injured. I know, I hate these fucking stories.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Well, also, just that thing of like the older kids
get and they leave the house totally the risk is
just increasing. Nor just went on long drive by herself,
and my sister was like, she's an adult. I can't be, like,
you're not allowed to.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
It's one of the reasons I don't want to kids.
I just I couldn't do that. It's so yeah, so tough, okay.
The students were identified through purses and IDs scattered around
the scene. The body of blonde eighteen year old Whitney
Sarah was transported home to Gaylord, Michigan, where her devastated
family grieved her loss, held a funeral, and buried her
(18:25):
in the local cemetery. The surviving Michigan student, also blonde,
was unresponsive but was identified through an id laying near
her as twenty two year old Laura van rinn And
was airlifted to a nearby er and trauma center, where
she was stabilized. When her family rushed to her side,
they were told to expect she would not look like herself,
with bandages around her face and tubes in her head
(18:47):
and mouth. Over the next five weeks, after Laura's family
had her move to a facility near their home and
grew in Rapids, Michigan, they kept up a vigil at
her bedside that at times left them baffled. Laura called
them false parents in a way they thought was lovingly teasing.
Once she regained her speech, she would often whisper Whitney
(19:08):
when therapists or nurses called her Laura. When an aunt insisted,
I don't care what anyone says. That doesn't look like
Laura to me, Laura's father assured her that this was natural.
Laura's sister, Lisa, glimpsed a new belly button piercing and
thought to herself spring break. Finally, at the end of
five weeks, Lisa was sitting alone with her sister when
(19:28):
Laura said her name was Whitney. Sarah and her parents
were Newel and Colleen. Lisa said, quote, our suspicions had
been building, and in that moment, I just knew that
she was right.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
But you would have every reason to be like, no, no, no,
this can't.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Be psychologically and logically too, because you're being told those things.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
It's not these official people are saying this is what's happening, right,
But you'd also be like, great, totally, she's alive and
she's here.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Laura and Whitney's identities had been mixed up. By people
helping at the accident scene. They looked alike, with blonde
hair and similar builds and facial features. Whitney's sister, Carly,
also a student at Taylor, had not been able to
bring herself to identify the actual body at the morgue
after being told her sister had been killed. After morning,
for five weeks, Whitney Sarah's family were informed that Whitney
(20:21):
was still alive, and Laura Vanrin's family had to accept
that Laura, who they thought they had been caring for,
was gone.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
That's so horrible.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
The bizarre, tragic accident would later prompt Indiana lawmakers to
enact stricter guidelines regarding coroners identifying victims of fatal crashes.
On March twenty eight, two thousand and eight, Dateline NBC
aired an episode regarding this mix up titled A Twist
of Fate, and the two families involved have written a
book entitled Mistaken Identity.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Oh I want to read that book.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah, Oh, can you fucking imagine?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
But then that means they like work together, yeah, like.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, stay sexyon always view the body, Margaret.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
I mean, how like, yeah, I think the thing that's
really making me catch my breath. Is that that's exactly
what you want to happen. When you find out that
someone you love die totally, you fantasize about exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
And then five weeks later to find out you've been
grieving for five weeks, You've gone through so many feelings
and emotions and just devastation, and then you get your
person back.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yep, and Whitney's laying there and they're calling her the
wrong name, and she's in this state she kind of
probably doesn't even really know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, trying to say who.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I mean, no, it's who.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
That could have been a full episode story, that really could.
I'm going to change it up with a little pet
hero story.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Great.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
It starts Hello from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I suck ad intro,
so please excuse my lack there. Just know that I
love you. You asked for pet hero stories and this
is something that I can at least deliver. Back in
the spring of twenty twelve, I was in my final
year of UNI and was big into running that My
then puppy, a female Doberman Pincher border Collie named Charlie,
(22:15):
was my enthusiastic companion on these jaunts at border Collie
Doberman pinchers, like the most springy dog ever made at dogs.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I don't really go together, but I'm sure it's bullying.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
It's like all muscle and excitement. It was a warm
eleven degrees celsius in today's money, thirty four fifty two
afternoon in late March. I should have told you what
month it was, and a chnook wind had recently come
through the city, melting most of the snow off the
sidewalks and trails that I frequented. Side note, Calgary is
(22:49):
locally known for its warm chnuck winds, which come off
the oceans from the southwest.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Flowing and went to the north.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Shea weather man, I don't know, and generally boosting our
outside temper, which for several days at a time, and
then in parentheses it says, hallelujah. I think everyone's a
weather man when they live in Calgary. You better know
what's happening. Yeah, this specific day, I grabbed Charlie, laced
up my running shoes without my ice cleats, and took off.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Bad idea, Just fucking stay home. You can take today off.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
You know, and you you know when you forget your
ice cleats and you really regret it later.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
And it's eleven degrees celsius.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Celsius, and we're like, hey, we're from California.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, you're You're in grade six and you're and you
want to you.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Want to get into the boot but you can't.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Oh wait, that's British.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I made it through most of my normal route and
was literally approaching the final descent on my stretch home
about five minutes from my house when I.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Hit a patch of black ice.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Things happened fast, and I don't remember much as I
passed out from the pain. Oh my god, woke up
briefly in the ambulance, Oh my God, then passed out again.
But I did later get some details that I had
been shared with the paramedics upon their at the scene.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So fall and you get knocked out like that.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Is and it's because I've seen I've seen video people
just all of a sudden, you're just tripping on the
ground because there's a patch of ice that you can't see.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
It's just scary.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
So it says apparently Charlie, who was still on leash
at the time of my fall, was able to run
down the trail barking furiously. She got the attention of
the next passerby she found, who luckily had some medical training.
Even luckier, this person noted the dragging leash and the
purpose with which Charlie moved away, and then stopped to
wait to see if they would follow Charlie. Oh, Charlie's
(24:40):
doing it.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
They did.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Charlie led my rescuer right back to me, whereupon they
found me lying unconscious on the ground with my leg
no no, facing the wrong way. Oh, and immediately called
for help. I ended up breaking my leg in how
many places?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Five places?
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Too many places?
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Needing two plate That means the femur is definitely involved,
take it, probably needing two plates surgically implanted. And I
was in the hospital for eleven days, thankfully not in
life threatening condition. And editorial note, thankfully in Canada where
it's free.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Congratulations, We're going to.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Get there one day, America, we are going to get Can.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
You imagine everyone not going bankrupt from a fucking accident
because you slipped? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
It scares me to think of how long I may
have been lying on a cold sidewalk if not for
Charlie and my rescuer. It makes me even more sad
than I never got the name of my rescuer. To
thank them for everything they did that day after helping.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Scry what should put your phone on Burne's backpack just
like I did? See I was right, he could have
fucking helped me. You're gonna thank me.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
This is why we all need business cards, not for
business but for pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Okay, at me, bro on your business card.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
At me to thank them for for everything they did.
And after helping see Me into the ambulance, they called
the phone numbers on Charlie's ID tags and got a
hold of my then roommate and were able to get
Charlie home safely too, so they took over. Come on
a good person, forward, good person, Yeah, good good Canadian.
Charlie's now thirteen years old, has mild arthritis, but still
(26:19):
loves to go for slow runs and bike rides.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
She rides in a carriage.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Oh girl, I think, boy, it happens. She also has
developed the same fear of ice that I have Penguin
shuffle for the wind. She's my everything and has seen
me through it all, good, bad and ugly. I can
only hope as she transitions into these final elder years
of her life that she feels like I've given her
the same.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Oh no, oh, come on, sorry, this is so long.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Big shout out to the everyday heroes of our world,
both animal and human, Stay sexy and wear are the
damn ice cleats.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Kayleie, there's George. I called her Georgie. There's Charlie.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Oh the good girl, Charlie. Are sweet little Beard coming in?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Oh the listeners, We're definitely going to post this sweetest
picture of the sweetest dog who saved her owner's life.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Oh my gosh, she's gorgeous about face right there?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I want to I think she smells like free Do's
and I want to see I want to rub her haunches,
Oh my god, and.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Give her scratch.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Amazing. That was amazing. That was good?
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Right?
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yes? Okay. My last one is called prank Dad. Hello,
my fun loving aunties. Hello, Do I have a prank
Dad story for you? Growing up, I was the middle
of three girls, and both of my parents were in
law enforcement, So obviously my sisters and I decided our
calling in life was to be as annoying as possible.
(27:41):
One day, my dad jokingly threatened to handcuff us together
until you can get along. We did not take him
seriously at all. We kept bickering, complaining, and pushing each
other's buttons until he pulled out the handcuffs and said,
until you can get along, you're staying handcuffed together.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Wow, three of them.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, Jesus has to be against protocol.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Right, there's nothing legal or correct about this.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Cute the dramatic sighing and I rolling. We decided, fine,
peace treaty it is. But when he went to unlock us,
he realized his handcuff keys were at work. So yes,
we had to drive over an hour handcuffed together to
get his keys. Were we getting along by then? Absolutely not.
Once we walked into the police station, all of his
(28:26):
coworkers stared at him like he was unhinged. He just
shrugged and said, kids, Am I right? Anyways? My siblings
and I never fought again after that. Just kidding, of
course we did, but it was the last time we
were physically restrained as a family bonding activity. Yeah. I
can't wait to write again and tell you about the
case my dad worked on involving serial killer Wayne adam Ford,
(28:47):
one of the world's most evil killers. He was one
of the lead detectives on that case.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Shout out to my wife Crumb, who introduced me to
your podcast in twenty twenty. We saw you live in
Boston and had a wonderful time. Thank you for everything
you do. Seriously, we love you. Stay sexy and always
keep an extra set of keys on you.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
He'll she her, I mean hill, great email. Also, what
a great kind of like, Yeah, if you're going to
do something and take this big swing, you better make
sure you have everything you need to be the responsible adult.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
That's it's the definition of fuck around and find out.
He fucked around and he found the fuck out.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
And then everyone at work found out too. Yeah, Like,
what great parenting skills you have.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
I definitely talked about that one at the Christmas party
that year.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Although I don't envy anyone with three daughters. No, mayhem,
my god, chaos not great.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Hey, tell us about your sibling fights and stuff?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Are you one of three girls?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Tell us all about it.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
You'll get right to the front if you send us
emails about your horrible fights.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
That's right at my favorite murder at Gmail or anything
else you want to write about.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Yeah, which let us know and then until then stay sexy.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Do you want to Cookie?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
This has been an exactly right production.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Our senior producer is Molly Smith and our associate producer
is Tessa Hughes.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Our editor is Aristotle Ascevedo.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
This episode was mixed by Leona Squalacci.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Follow the show on Instagram at my Favorite Murder.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
And now you can watch My Favorite Murder on Netflix.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
And when you're there, hit the double thumbs up and
the remind Me buttons. That's the best way you can
support our show.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Goodbye.
Hosts And Creators
Georgia Hardstark
Karen Kilgariff
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!