September 11, 2023 • 21 mins
This week’s hometowns include a murder house for sale and a meet cute between neighbors.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Lass, Hello and welcome to my favorite murder the minisode.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Let me read you your stories?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
You send them to us? What choice do we have?
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Well?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Else are we going to do with them? Can I
go first? Sure? Okay? This one's called freak of Nature? Literally, Oh,
how do y'all from Iowa? Not only am I going
to give you a freak nature story, but a freak
nature spirit story question Mark. In the spring of twenty nineteen,
my aunt passed away from als. She moved into my
(00:48):
family's house, and my mom, a nurse practitioner, took care
of her until the end. My aunt was my rock star,
my idol, and someone I will endlessly look up to.
She was such a force I could go on forever.
A month after her passing, I was back home visiting
family when my dad suggested my boyfriend and I take
a break and go kayaking. It had rained pretty hard
(01:09):
the night before, but the river wasn't too high and
appeared to be calm. We went to the local river bank,
where many people inserted their kayaks and canoes. My dad
helped us load into each of our kayaks near a dam.
My boyfriend went in first and disappeared around a bend
As I was loading in, my dad noticed my life
jacket wasn't properly clicked in. It was just hanging around
(01:30):
my neck. As he was yelling to click in my
life jacket, and I was looking back at him to
see what he was yelling about. I didn't notice the
fallen tree on the river that was acting as a
vortex and sucking everything underneath it. Holy shit, I know,
I got sucked in and my life jacket slid off.
I remember this moment very vividly because suddenly everything went
into slow motion and I was very calm, and then
(01:53):
I heard my aunt tell me to grab her arm.
I grabbed her arm and was pulled out. Yes, I
was literally pulled out from under a tree in a
rapid river. Ooh. My dad thought I was still stuck
underwater and was running up and down the river bank
looking for me. I'll never forget the look on his
face when he saw me alive. My boyfriend kept kayaking,
(02:14):
just thought I'd clumsily tipped over and I'd catch up later. Yeah,
we broke up three weeks later. Anyway, Stay sexy, Donate
to your local ALS chapter and buckle up your fucking
life jacket.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
AGB so a ghost aunt rescued her from under a
tree from drowning, and her real life boyfriend was sucking
a quarter a.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Mile up the river.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Yeah yeah, I mean yeah, thank god that in end
of like and he became my husband arrived. Who wow.
That was a strong kickoff of a similar strong kickoff. Okay,
I won't read you this subject line because it gives
it away. Greetings to the MFM Ohonna. I've been an
(03:03):
avid listener of the podcast for years, but I've been
putting off sending in my hometown murder. Now my hometown
of Lehina has been swept into ashes, and I found
myself reminiscing about this old story that used to frighten
me one day. Chief ka Keia. Forgive me if that's incorrect,
but its two a's at the beginning. So it seems
like Kea is said to have suspected his wife, a princess,
(03:27):
of having an extramarital affair. After a fit of uncontrollable fury,
the princess and her loyal maid fled to the treacherous
sea caves hidden amidst the eerie black sand beach. They
concealed themselves in the depths of the mysterious cave, perched
upon a narrow ledge, while the maid fan the princess
with a feather symbolic of royalty. While searching for the princess,
(03:49):
the chief caught a glimpse of the reflection of the
feather and followed this elusive clue to their hiding place.
As the punishment for her alleged infidelity, he killed them
right there on the spot. Once a year, tiny shrimp
appear in that pool, turning the water red. Some say
it's a reminder of the blood of the slain princess.
(04:10):
Scientists just call it biology. Mahalo for letting me share
this story and love to the islands right now. Cono
e Lani.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Wow, Yeah, I love a legend. Send us o hometown legends.
I mean right, Yes, that was amazing. That was great.
That was great. Okay, this one's called I'm not going
to reach you the title. Okay, hello, all, let's get
right into it. I grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey,
(04:43):
a beautiful town that benefited from an influx of wealth
in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds from
rich New Yorkers looking to move to the suburbs. This
all changed after the Plainfield Rebellion in nineteen sixty seven,
a civil disturbance associated with the growing discontent the African
American citizens of the town. White occupants left Plainfield in
(05:04):
large numbers, leading behind their Victorian and Tudor style mansions. Well,
I was not fortunate enough to grow up in such
a mansion. I got to see in many of them
as my mother drove me to school each morning. There
was one particularly large mansion on a corner we often
passed for years. My mother would remark what a beautiful
house it was, and how it was still for sale.
(05:26):
Every now and then she would update me that the
sellers had lowered the price, saying just three hundred and
fifty thousand dollars for such a large, beautiful home. Don't
you kids want to live there? Well, the thought of
not having to share one bathroom with my entire family
was appealing. Something about the house gave me the creeps. Eventually,
I asked my mother why she and my father weren't
putting in an offer on the house if she liked
(05:47):
it so much. She calmly responded, Oh, because of the murder.
No one's going to buy that place. I am waiting
for the price to come down. Murder, I inquired, Yeah,
she said, the woman who lived there got murdered by
her son in law. He chopped off her hands in
the bedroom.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Wondering if this was going to be my new bedroom,
I found a few old articles detaelling the murder. In
nineteen ninety two, Mary Mason, then seventy four years old,
was strangled by her son in law, Mark Masters. Mary,
a widow, had originally purchased the home and lived there
with her daughter, Minka, who was also a widow, and
her granddaughter. They renovated the space and would run it
(06:26):
out for weddings and other events. The details are not
completely clear, but from what I can gather, Mark was
hired as a handyman for the home and married Minka,
the daughter. One day, when Minka was home and her
daughter was at a friend's house, Mark strangled Mary for
unclear reasons, claiming it was an accident, and threatened Minka
with a gun, asking for her assistance hiding the body
(06:48):
of her mother. Dude an axe was found near Mary's body,
with both her hands severed. Minka called the police. An
eighteen hours stand off with the SWAT team ensued, involving
Mark firing multiple shots at the officers and the use
of two smoke bombs to flush Mark out of the home.
Close to being apprehended, Mark shot himself in the chest
and survived. He would eventually confess to the murder and
(07:10):
be sentenced to prison with a chance of parole after
fifteen years. He was found dead in prison after an
apparent suicide and after recanting his confession. Numerous rumors have
strolled around our town about his suspicious death and that
the circumstances behind Mary's death might involve other family members.
I guess we will never know anyway. My parents never
(07:31):
bought the house and I never got my second bathroom.
I can only imagine how spooky it would be to
live there, and I no longer need to wonder where
my true crime obsession comes from. Your podcast has been
the world to me. Thank you so much for tackling
such difficult topics with thoughtfulness and humor. I also appreciate
your continued conversation about the importance of mental health, Stay
sexy and wait for the mortgage rates to drop. Regards
(07:54):
Hannibal he him, I mean.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
As opposed to like your old fashioned like Victorian ghost.
That's such a terrible yeah, like terrible scenario, terrible situation.
It's like torture and murder, totally just horrible. You don't
want any part of that. I can't imagine. Yeah, moving
into a place like that. That's rough, and there are people.
(08:19):
I think it happens more than people would probably even
want to admit.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That they'd move into a murder house.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
They would move into a house for the price and
be like, we're not dealing with that part of it,
and maybe nothing ever comes of it.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
But yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
The subject line of this email is God gives his
biggest Wendy's to his most fucked up cult followers. Good day,
Karen and Georgia. I'm writing this in between classes instead
of doing my urgent homework because priorities.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Are not my strong suit.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I've been meaning to write this because I've been thinking
you'll love it. Cults and water parks and a big
ass Wendy's all included. So my family moved to my
hometown when I was three, and I was raised there
and stayed in the same house until I moved for college.
My housing division got bigger over time, but one thing
never changed. The fucking cult out back. So sort of
(09:12):
on the way out of the division through the back
current day you will see a big empty hotel tower
and a bunch of secretive buildings and sort of set
back housing units. And what this is is the current
day cult that owns the land. But that's not the
fun part. When I was little and my mom would
drive me and my sister pretty much anywhere, we would
(09:33):
always pass by a huge princess castle and then in
parentheses it says, look up Heritage USA castle if you
want to see Do you remember Heritage USA?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Now?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I think it's something from my era.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
I'll go on to explain what it is, but I
immediately remembered it and knew what it was, and I
think I remember seeing commercials for it on network television.
So it says we would always ask when we would
get invited to the castle and why we weren't a
in for TEA sweet Mom usually just said that they
would invite us one day maybe, and didn't really say
much else. Eventually, the castle was demolished in twenty thirteen,
(10:10):
and I really didn't think much about it until the
pandemic gave me a lot of time to be bored
and do nothing, and one day it decided, what the
fuck is up with that cult? Who are they? What
do they want? And I shit you not? It was insane.
Apparently what used to be back there was a literal
Jesus Christ themed water park slash theme park owned by
(10:31):
a televangelist and it was called Heritage USA.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh, I'm not familiar at all.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
No.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
At a certain point in time it was the third
largest theme park by attendants, only behind the Disney parks.
Wow did anyone else know this? And so sidebar, yes
I did. Okay, so it says I didn't.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I mean, I wasn't.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Alive then, but it feels like information that would transcend
into history. I agree. I'm surprised that. I think maybe
I'm the last generation. And it was like a seventies
eighties thing. So this massive water park theme park was
in operation for a while and was pretty big and
successful in all of that. Eventually, the IRS revoked its
tax exemption and the owners were embroiled in some classic
(11:15):
fucked up televangelist slash religious icon scandal and the park
shut down and the land was sold off to several groups,
including another cult, which is the one currently back there.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
They don't know how to vet people to sell land
to in this town, seems like.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And also it's like, who would like to occupy this
old theme park? But here's the thing I'm thinking as
I'm reading this, and this is just a guess that
it was Jim and Tammy fay Baker's theme park. So
the cult that's currently back there and to some development
companies who eventually built my childhood home and then into
a little Sideway's Heart On the same property is the
(11:54):
Upper Room Chapel, which is an exact recreation of the
real upper room where the last supper was held.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
That's still there.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
But the best part is the princess Castle from my
childhood was also in the information that I read, so
it wasn't really in use with the original Heritage USA
and the people who bought it next used it as
a go kart slash arcade track. But originally it was
supposed to be the world's largest Wendy's. I could have
(12:24):
had the world's largest Wendy's and a princess castle behind
my house. I would be wolfing down Junior Cheeseburger's Deluxe
on the rag. Anyway, if you want more info, I
suggest looking it up.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I got it. I got it right here. You were
completely correct about televangelist Jim Baker and his wife Tammy
Fay Baker being the founders of this okay place.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
And I think they got so big in the like
the eighties that it was just like, we're going for it,
and here we come like Christian America. We have our
own theme park.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
So crazy.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Anyway, if you here, I just love that they say,
if you want more information, look it up. It's like, okay, thanks,
it says it's kind of crazy and a whole lot
more than I remember. The Wendy's really sticks with me though, Yeah,
stay sexy and go down a water slide of Holy
Water Elizabeth. And then it says, ps, the cult there
currently also doesn't maintain the rhododones. That's the fastest way
(13:25):
to the local high school, so it's really like we
still have fucking bumper cars back there.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I would go to that water park, even though it's
Christian thing. Who doesn't love a good water park and
it's in your backyard?
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Yeah, And also that, aside from maybe the music that
was playing or the vibe of the people working there,
you're still just on a water slide. That's sure non
denominational really when it comes down to it.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Well, I mean Christians have to eat corn dogs too.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Right, So like, yes, you can wear a little cross
with a tea on it across from.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Where This is called. Hello from a hospice social worker.
This is my last one. Hi to everyone. Thanks for
the kind words you shared recently about hospice workers. Unfortunately,
there is a lot of misinformation out there, so it
is always good to hear positive reminders that we are
a great resource for patients and families at end of life.
(14:22):
One of the things I love best about hospice and
I wish was adopted by our medical system in general.
Not only do we address patients physical needs, but they're
spiritual and emotional. That says, that's me needs as well.
So each team has a nurse, chaplain, and social worker
involved with the patient's care. Anyway, I wanted to write
(14:42):
in about the most memorable death I have witnessed. Eva
was a patient in a nursing home with als. Sadly,
she had been a resident in a nursing home for
over ten years and had no real family involvement. In
my nice social work speak, I would describe her as
feisty hmm. She was unhappy with her situation and often
took it out on the faculty staff. But the one
(15:03):
thing she loved was Elvis, and that's the singer, not
my cat. She had posters. What if she was obsessed
with my cat? Wouldn't that be kinda That would be incredible.
She had posters everywhere, all kinds of memorabilia and tons
of CDs. Fast forward to the chaplain of myself being
bedside with her as she lay dying, helping her transition
(15:23):
to the next part of the journey. I made sure
she had Elvis playing during her final moments, and with
one huge breath, she died. I went to go find
the nurse to pronounce Eva, and she came in a
few minutes later and confirmed the absence of her vitals
and stayed a time of death. As she was walking
out of the room to notify the doctor and funeral home,
Ava took another big breath. Yes, she came back from
(15:47):
the dead as one last f u. About ten minutes
later when she died again for real. At that moment,
her Elvis CD stopped playing, and I knew she was
gone and had finally met the King On the other side,
whoa stay sexy and do not go into the light
until you are good and ready, Aaron.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
That's really scary.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I know.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Wait, so it sounded like she took her big last
breath and then like was just quiet for ten minutes
and then did the same thing again.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, like not purpose but like her vitals probably so
low they were, you know, couldn't pick them up.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Okay, this is my one of my favorite subject lines ever.
Meet cute less than a three minute read.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I love if people do that two point five minutes low.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Seriously, this is it's like the best way to sell
yourself where it's just like the thing is, it's not
going to weigh you down.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You can ripe it moving if you hate it.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You haven't wasted that much time in your life.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yeah, okay, it says good Dale.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
I'm an elder millennial, as evidenced by my hot mail
email address, so I'm going to skip the anxiety inducing
infro picture. It May two thousand and nine. I'm fresh
out of the clink. And then in parentheses it says
drugs are bad and they fuck up your life, kids
clothes parentheses, and early in my recovery from a decade
long heroin addiction. I was trying to adult for the
(17:14):
first time and be a better mother. My child, however,
had a different agenda and tested the limits of my
better parenting vow. He was a whirling dervish, never rested,
hardly slept, and significantly increased my agility while trying to
keep up with him. Catch him, Yeah, Xander, my son
decided climbing the neighbor's fence was the best of times.
He couldn't figure out how to actually get over and
(17:36):
climb down the other side, so he'd just get up
to the top and then scream to be rescued. I'd
get him down, and as soon as I wasn't looking,
he was right back up there. As I was raised
in the eighties by a mother who didn't care how
I occupied myself as long as it was outside, and
who was a firm believer in natural consequences, so true,
(17:56):
I decided to take a page out of her book.
I get him to the top of the fence and
I just let him hang there.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I was just thinking that what would happen.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Right the fence owner, an adorable lesbian who had just
come out to cook on her grill, asked if I
was going to get him down. No, let him be
stuck there for a few minutes and maybe he'll stop
climbing your frience. Well, she picked him up over the
fence with my permission and got out the yard toys
she kept for her nieces and nephew thanks to my
(18:26):
rambunctious little guy. She and I just celebrated our fourteen
year anniversary, and in October we will be married for
six years.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Oh my god, I forgot it was a meet cute.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
It's a meat cute story. Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
But because we were so enthralled with the fact that
it was only three minutes long.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
They buried the lead.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Okay, this beautiful life is all due to Xander, and
I will be forever grateful.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Though she did tell me years later she.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Put him in her yard because she was afraid that
I would because she was afraid that I would sue
if he got hurt. Fair enough, I'm still not sure
why she decided to take a chance on me. I
certainly wasn't a catch at the time, but I'm so
glad she did stay sexy and let your children get
stranded on fences.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Question Mark, Michelle, Oh my God, I did not see
that coming because I forgot about the me you cute.
I thought it was going to be some track well, and.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Also I love Michelle's just complete honesty and transparency where
it's just like I just out of jail, I was
a heronatic.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I'm trying to get my life together.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Parenting is fucking hard, parenting a toddler.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
While you're doing all of that.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Say you parent? Yeah, incredible, did Michelle?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
You did it?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
And I mean just great, thank you. That's what people
need to hear. It's like all the challenges people go
up against, all the things, and it's like, you gotta
get through it and find that grilling lesbian on the
other side of your fence that's going to scoop you
up and be there for you.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Nothing is insurmountable, including of fence that your.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Toddlers happy to climb.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Those were great. That was a great ending. Send us
your stories to my favorite murder at Gmail. Thank you
so much for listening and being a part of all
of this whatever it is, all this slop. Yeah, and
stay sexy and don't get murdered.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Goodbye, Elvis.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Do you want a cookie?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
This has been an exactly right Production.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Our editor is Aristotle Osceveto.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
This episode was mixed by Leona Squalacci.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Dot com and follow the show on Instagram and Facebook
at my Favorite Murder and on Twitter at my Fave Murder. Goodbye,
Lass, Hello and welcome to my favorite murder the minisode.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Let me read you your stories?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
You send them to us? What choice do we have?
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Well?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Else are we going to do with them? Can I
go first? Sure? Okay? This one's called freak of Nature? Literally, Oh,
how do y'all from Iowa? Not only am I going
to give you a freak nature story, but a freak
nature spirit story question Mark. In the spring of twenty nineteen,
my aunt passed away from als. She moved into my
(00:48):
family's house, and my mom, a nurse practitioner, took care
of her until the end. My aunt was my rock star,
my idol, and someone I will endlessly look up to.
She was such a force I could go on forever.
A month after her passing, I was back home visiting
family when my dad suggested my boyfriend and I take
a break and go kayaking. It had rained pretty hard
(01:09):
the night before, but the river wasn't too high and
appeared to be calm. We went to the local river bank,
where many people inserted their kayaks and canoes. My dad
helped us load into each of our kayaks near a dam.
My boyfriend went in first and disappeared around a bend
As I was loading in, my dad noticed my life
jacket wasn't properly clicked in. It was just hanging around
(01:30):
my neck. As he was yelling to click in my
life jacket, and I was looking back at him to
see what he was yelling about. I didn't notice the
fallen tree on the river that was acting as a
vortex and sucking everything underneath it. Holy shit, I know,
I got sucked in and my life jacket slid off.
I remember this moment very vividly because suddenly everything went
into slow motion and I was very calm, and then
(01:53):
I heard my aunt tell me to grab her arm.
I grabbed her arm and was pulled out. Yes, I
was literally pulled out from under a tree in a
rapid river. Ooh. My dad thought I was still stuck
underwater and was running up and down the river bank
looking for me. I'll never forget the look on his
face when he saw me alive. My boyfriend kept kayaking,
(02:14):
just thought I'd clumsily tipped over and I'd catch up later. Yeah,
we broke up three weeks later. Anyway, Stay sexy, Donate
to your local ALS chapter and buckle up your fucking
life jacket.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
AGB so a ghost aunt rescued her from under a
tree from drowning, and her real life boyfriend was sucking
a quarter a.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Mile up the river.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Yeah yeah, I mean yeah, thank god that in end
of like and he became my husband arrived. Who wow.
That was a strong kickoff of a similar strong kickoff. Okay,
I won't read you this subject line because it gives
it away. Greetings to the MFM Ohonna. I've been an
(03:03):
avid listener of the podcast for years, but I've been
putting off sending in my hometown murder. Now my hometown
of Lehina has been swept into ashes, and I found
myself reminiscing about this old story that used to frighten
me one day. Chief ka Keia. Forgive me if that's incorrect,
but its two a's at the beginning. So it seems
like Kea is said to have suspected his wife, a princess,
(03:27):
of having an extramarital affair. After a fit of uncontrollable fury,
the princess and her loyal maid fled to the treacherous
sea caves hidden amidst the eerie black sand beach. They
concealed themselves in the depths of the mysterious cave, perched
upon a narrow ledge, while the maid fan the princess
with a feather symbolic of royalty. While searching for the princess,
(03:49):
the chief caught a glimpse of the reflection of the
feather and followed this elusive clue to their hiding place.
As the punishment for her alleged infidelity, he killed them
right there on the spot. Once a year, tiny shrimp
appear in that pool, turning the water red. Some say
it's a reminder of the blood of the slain princess.
(04:10):
Scientists just call it biology. Mahalo for letting me share
this story and love to the islands right now. Cono
e Lani.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Wow, Yeah, I love a legend. Send us o hometown legends.
I mean right, Yes, that was amazing. That was great.
That was great. Okay, this one's called I'm not going
to reach you the title. Okay, hello, all, let's get
right into it. I grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey,
(04:43):
a beautiful town that benefited from an influx of wealth
in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds from
rich New Yorkers looking to move to the suburbs. This
all changed after the Plainfield Rebellion in nineteen sixty seven,
a civil disturbance associated with the growing discontent the African
American citizens of the town. White occupants left Plainfield in
(05:04):
large numbers, leading behind their Victorian and Tudor style mansions. Well,
I was not fortunate enough to grow up in such
a mansion. I got to see in many of them
as my mother drove me to school each morning. There
was one particularly large mansion on a corner we often
passed for years. My mother would remark what a beautiful
house it was, and how it was still for sale.
(05:26):
Every now and then she would update me that the
sellers had lowered the price, saying just three hundred and
fifty thousand dollars for such a large, beautiful home. Don't
you kids want to live there? Well, the thought of
not having to share one bathroom with my entire family
was appealing. Something about the house gave me the creeps. Eventually,
I asked my mother why she and my father weren't
putting in an offer on the house if she liked
(05:47):
it so much. She calmly responded, Oh, because of the murder.
No one's going to buy that place. I am waiting
for the price to come down. Murder, I inquired, Yeah,
she said, the woman who lived there got murdered by
her son in law. He chopped off her hands in
the bedroom.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Wondering if this was going to be my new bedroom,
I found a few old articles detaelling the murder. In
nineteen ninety two, Mary Mason, then seventy four years old,
was strangled by her son in law, Mark Masters. Mary,
a widow, had originally purchased the home and lived there
with her daughter, Minka, who was also a widow, and
her granddaughter. They renovated the space and would run it
(06:26):
out for weddings and other events. The details are not
completely clear, but from what I can gather, Mark was
hired as a handyman for the home and married Minka,
the daughter. One day, when Minka was home and her
daughter was at a friend's house, Mark strangled Mary for
unclear reasons, claiming it was an accident, and threatened Minka
with a gun, asking for her assistance hiding the body
(06:48):
of her mother. Dude an axe was found near Mary's body,
with both her hands severed. Minka called the police. An
eighteen hours stand off with the SWAT team ensued, involving
Mark firing multiple shots at the officers and the use
of two smoke bombs to flush Mark out of the home.
Close to being apprehended, Mark shot himself in the chest
and survived. He would eventually confess to the murder and
(07:10):
be sentenced to prison with a chance of parole after
fifteen years. He was found dead in prison after an
apparent suicide and after recanting his confession. Numerous rumors have
strolled around our town about his suspicious death and that
the circumstances behind Mary's death might involve other family members.
I guess we will never know anyway. My parents never
(07:31):
bought the house and I never got my second bathroom.
I can only imagine how spooky it would be to
live there, and I no longer need to wonder where
my true crime obsession comes from. Your podcast has been
the world to me. Thank you so much for tackling
such difficult topics with thoughtfulness and humor. I also appreciate
your continued conversation about the importance of mental health, Stay
sexy and wait for the mortgage rates to drop. Regards
(07:54):
Hannibal he him, I mean.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
As opposed to like your old fashioned like Victorian ghost.
That's such a terrible yeah, like terrible scenario, terrible situation.
It's like torture and murder, totally just horrible. You don't
want any part of that. I can't imagine. Yeah, moving
into a place like that. That's rough, and there are people.
(08:19):
I think it happens more than people would probably even
want to admit.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That they'd move into a murder house.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
They would move into a house for the price and
be like, we're not dealing with that part of it,
and maybe nothing ever comes of it.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
But yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
The subject line of this email is God gives his
biggest Wendy's to his most fucked up cult followers. Good day,
Karen and Georgia. I'm writing this in between classes instead
of doing my urgent homework because priorities.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Are not my strong suit.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I've been meaning to write this because I've been thinking
you'll love it. Cults and water parks and a big
ass Wendy's all included. So my family moved to my
hometown when I was three, and I was raised there
and stayed in the same house until I moved for college.
My housing division got bigger over time, but one thing
never changed. The fucking cult out back. So sort of
(09:12):
on the way out of the division through the back
current day you will see a big empty hotel tower
and a bunch of secretive buildings and sort of set
back housing units. And what this is is the current
day cult that owns the land. But that's not the
fun part. When I was little and my mom would
drive me and my sister pretty much anywhere, we would
(09:33):
always pass by a huge princess castle and then in
parentheses it says, look up Heritage USA castle if you
want to see Do you remember Heritage USA?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Now?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I think it's something from my era.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
I'll go on to explain what it is, but I
immediately remembered it and knew what it was, and I
think I remember seeing commercials for it on network television.
So it says we would always ask when we would
get invited to the castle and why we weren't a
in for TEA sweet Mom usually just said that they
would invite us one day maybe, and didn't really say
much else. Eventually, the castle was demolished in twenty thirteen,
(10:10):
and I really didn't think much about it until the
pandemic gave me a lot of time to be bored
and do nothing, and one day it decided, what the
fuck is up with that cult? Who are they? What
do they want? And I shit you not? It was insane.
Apparently what used to be back there was a literal
Jesus Christ themed water park slash theme park owned by
(10:31):
a televangelist and it was called Heritage USA.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh, I'm not familiar at all.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
No.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
At a certain point in time it was the third
largest theme park by attendants, only behind the Disney parks.
Wow did anyone else know this? And so sidebar, yes
I did. Okay, so it says I didn't.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I mean, I wasn't.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Alive then, but it feels like information that would transcend
into history. I agree. I'm surprised that. I think maybe
I'm the last generation. And it was like a seventies
eighties thing. So this massive water park theme park was
in operation for a while and was pretty big and
successful in all of that. Eventually, the IRS revoked its
tax exemption and the owners were embroiled in some classic
(11:15):
fucked up televangelist slash religious icon scandal and the park
shut down and the land was sold off to several groups,
including another cult, which is the one currently back there.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
They don't know how to vet people to sell land
to in this town, seems like.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And also it's like, who would like to occupy this
old theme park? But here's the thing I'm thinking as
I'm reading this, and this is just a guess that
it was Jim and Tammy fay Baker's theme park. So
the cult that's currently back there and to some development
companies who eventually built my childhood home and then into
a little Sideway's Heart On the same property is the
(11:54):
Upper Room Chapel, which is an exact recreation of the
real upper room where the last supper was held.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
That's still there.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
But the best part is the princess Castle from my
childhood was also in the information that I read, so
it wasn't really in use with the original Heritage USA
and the people who bought it next used it as
a go kart slash arcade track. But originally it was
supposed to be the world's largest Wendy's. I could have
(12:24):
had the world's largest Wendy's and a princess castle behind
my house. I would be wolfing down Junior Cheeseburger's Deluxe
on the rag. Anyway, if you want more info, I
suggest looking it up.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I got it. I got it right here. You were
completely correct about televangelist Jim Baker and his wife Tammy
Fay Baker being the founders of this okay place.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
And I think they got so big in the like
the eighties that it was just like, we're going for it,
and here we come like Christian America. We have our
own theme park.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
So crazy.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Anyway, if you here, I just love that they say,
if you want more information, look it up. It's like, okay, thanks,
it says it's kind of crazy and a whole lot
more than I remember. The Wendy's really sticks with me though, Yeah,
stay sexy and go down a water slide of Holy
Water Elizabeth. And then it says, ps, the cult there
currently also doesn't maintain the rhododones. That's the fastest way
(13:25):
to the local high school, so it's really like we
still have fucking bumper cars back there.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I would go to that water park, even though it's
Christian thing. Who doesn't love a good water park and
it's in your backyard?
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Yeah, And also that, aside from maybe the music that
was playing or the vibe of the people working there,
you're still just on a water slide. That's sure non
denominational really when it comes down to it.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Well, I mean Christians have to eat corn dogs too.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Right, So like, yes, you can wear a little cross
with a tea on it across from.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Where This is called. Hello from a hospice social worker.
This is my last one. Hi to everyone. Thanks for
the kind words you shared recently about hospice workers. Unfortunately,
there is a lot of misinformation out there, so it
is always good to hear positive reminders that we are
a great resource for patients and families at end of life.
(14:22):
One of the things I love best about hospice and
I wish was adopted by our medical system in general.
Not only do we address patients physical needs, but they're
spiritual and emotional. That says, that's me needs as well.
So each team has a nurse, chaplain, and social worker
involved with the patient's care. Anyway, I wanted to write
(14:42):
in about the most memorable death I have witnessed. Eva
was a patient in a nursing home with als. Sadly,
she had been a resident in a nursing home for
over ten years and had no real family involvement. In
my nice social work speak, I would describe her as
feisty hmm. She was unhappy with her situation and often
took it out on the faculty staff. But the one
(15:03):
thing she loved was Elvis, and that's the singer, not
my cat. She had posters. What if she was obsessed
with my cat? Wouldn't that be kinda That would be incredible.
She had posters everywhere, all kinds of memorabilia and tons
of CDs. Fast forward to the chaplain of myself being
bedside with her as she lay dying, helping her transition
(15:23):
to the next part of the journey. I made sure
she had Elvis playing during her final moments, and with
one huge breath, she died. I went to go find
the nurse to pronounce Eva, and she came in a
few minutes later and confirmed the absence of her vitals
and stayed a time of death. As she was walking
out of the room to notify the doctor and funeral home,
Ava took another big breath. Yes, she came back from
(15:47):
the dead as one last f u. About ten minutes
later when she died again for real. At that moment,
her Elvis CD stopped playing, and I knew she was
gone and had finally met the King On the other side,
whoa stay sexy and do not go into the light
until you are good and ready, Aaron.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
That's really scary.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I know.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Wait, so it sounded like she took her big last
breath and then like was just quiet for ten minutes
and then did the same thing again.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, like not purpose but like her vitals probably so
low they were, you know, couldn't pick them up.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Okay, this is my one of my favorite subject lines ever.
Meet cute less than a three minute read.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I love if people do that two point five minutes low.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Seriously, this is it's like the best way to sell
yourself where it's just like the thing is, it's not
going to weigh you down.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You can ripe it moving if you hate it.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
You haven't wasted that much time in your life.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yeah, okay, it says good Dale.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
I'm an elder millennial, as evidenced by my hot mail
email address, so I'm going to skip the anxiety inducing
infro picture. It May two thousand and nine. I'm fresh
out of the clink. And then in parentheses it says
drugs are bad and they fuck up your life, kids
clothes parentheses, and early in my recovery from a decade
long heroin addiction. I was trying to adult for the
(17:14):
first time and be a better mother. My child, however,
had a different agenda and tested the limits of my
better parenting vow. He was a whirling dervish, never rested,
hardly slept, and significantly increased my agility while trying to
keep up with him. Catch him, Yeah, Xander, my son
decided climbing the neighbor's fence was the best of times.
He couldn't figure out how to actually get over and
(17:36):
climb down the other side, so he'd just get up
to the top and then scream to be rescued. I'd
get him down, and as soon as I wasn't looking,
he was right back up there. As I was raised
in the eighties by a mother who didn't care how
I occupied myself as long as it was outside, and
who was a firm believer in natural consequences, so true,
(17:56):
I decided to take a page out of her book.
I get him to the top of the fence and
I just let him hang there.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I was just thinking that what would happen.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Right the fence owner, an adorable lesbian who had just
come out to cook on her grill, asked if I
was going to get him down. No, let him be
stuck there for a few minutes and maybe he'll stop
climbing your frience. Well, she picked him up over the
fence with my permission and got out the yard toys
she kept for her nieces and nephew thanks to my
(18:26):
rambunctious little guy. She and I just celebrated our fourteen
year anniversary, and in October we will be married for
six years.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Oh my god, I forgot it was a meet cute.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
It's a meat cute story. Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
But because we were so enthralled with the fact that
it was only three minutes long.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
They buried the lead.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Okay, this beautiful life is all due to Xander, and
I will be forever grateful.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Though she did tell me years later she.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Put him in her yard because she was afraid that
I would because she was afraid that I would sue
if he got hurt. Fair enough, I'm still not sure
why she decided to take a chance on me. I
certainly wasn't a catch at the time, but I'm so
glad she did stay sexy and let your children get
stranded on fences.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Question Mark, Michelle, Oh my God, I did not see
that coming because I forgot about the me you cute.
I thought it was going to be some track well, and.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Also I love Michelle's just complete honesty and transparency where
it's just like I just out of jail, I was
a heronatic.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I'm trying to get my life together.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Parenting is fucking hard, parenting a toddler.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
While you're doing all of that.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Say you parent? Yeah, incredible, did Michelle?
Speaker 3 (19:44):
You did it?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
And I mean just great, thank you. That's what people
need to hear. It's like all the challenges people go
up against, all the things, and it's like, you gotta
get through it and find that grilling lesbian on the
other side of your fence that's going to scoop you
up and be there for you.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Nothing is insurmountable, including of fence that your.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Toddlers happy to climb.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Those were great. That was a great ending. Send us
your stories to my favorite murder at Gmail. Thank you
so much for listening and being a part of all
of this whatever it is, all this slop. Yeah, and
stay sexy and don't get murdered.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Goodbye, Elvis.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Do you want a cookie?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
This has been an exactly right Production.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Our editor is Aristotle Osceveto.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
This episode was mixed by Leona Squalacci.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Dot com and follow the show on Instagram and Facebook
at my Favorite Murder and on Twitter at my Fave Murder. Goodbye,
Hosts And Creators
Georgia Hardstark
Karen Kilgariff
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