Campus Stalkers: The Murders of Opal Sturgell, Jessica Faulkner, and Christen Naujoks

Mountain Murders embarks on a month of Back to School-themed cases. This week, we offer three tales of wonderful young women who were taken too soon by campus stalkers. Opal Sturgell, a Berea student, was concerned about an ex-boyfriend who wouldn't leave her alone. At UNC-Wilmington, two female students were murdered in less than a month by their stalkers. 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mountain-murders--3281847/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Dark Cast Network.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome to the dark side of podcasting. Do you have
a story of survival A.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
Parent goes to residential school, you know they haven't had
that family connection, those traditional values and ceremonies that many
of us exposed to are taken, or have a.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Lost loved one that was involved in human trafficking, exploitation, missing,
or murdered. My name is Jasmine Castillo and I am
the host of Hands Off, my podcast that brings to
the forefront specifically from Asian American, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander,
Black Indigenous people.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Of color andersonation of your emergency, ma'am, what's going on
out there?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
As well as nonprofit organizations.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
When now they're prime investigator. Five years ago, Be picked
up a case that Washess Harris case that.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Help and advocate families of lost loved ones with their closure.
From some time from his shoot work to that next day,
he was either robbed or apprehended at some point with
someone coming into the restaurant and opening a cold case.

Speaker 4 (01:09):
So that to me was his his way out and
it negatively impacted our money's investigation.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Please join me on Thursdays on any podcast platform wherever
you listen. To your podcasts. We are voiceless. No more.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
On his way. Devil is on his way.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
Devil is on his way.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Mother for God.

Speaker 4 (01:52):
The devil gonna make you pay. Fall to your knees.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Devil is on his way.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
Foul de gonna make you pay five D and E. Hey, y'all,
welcome back to Mountain Murders.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
I'm Heather and I'm Dylan.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
Dylan. We are in the month of September.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, do you know what this means? I've heard rumors.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
All month long. We will be discussing cases that are
related to college campuses, high schools, back to school students,
so edumacation basically, yeah, edumacation based crime cases.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Okay, are you ready? That's interesting because I feel like
that is a genre that we'll have have some gyms
in it. I've never heard, you know.

Speaker 4 (02:48):
Do you have your notebooks, your pencils, all your school
supplies ready?

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yes? Yes, I went back to Mountain Murders podcast shopping
before this episode starts.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
You went back to school shopping?

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yes, But I feel like you have a very important
morning announcement before we get started.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Well I do. Let's give a big shout out to
our newest patron, Mallorie.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Thank you, Thank you so much. Mallory. We hope you
enjoyed the ad free in extra content.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
We sure do, Dylan.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
I hope she really enjoys it because she's so smart.
Her GPA must be a four point six.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
Advanced placement Mallory. Yes, yeah, she's going to be valedictorian
of Mountain Murders with today's episode, Dylan. Speaking of colleges,
there has been a story making headlines. A University of
Kentucky student and competitive cheerleader was arrested after the body
of her newborn was found stuffed inside a garbage bag

(03:48):
in a closet.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh my gosh, have you heard this case.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
No, Like I said, it's making headlines, man, it's all
over the place. Twenty one year old Lake and Snelling
was cuffed Sunday after law enforcement was called out about
an unresponsive baby at a residence near campus in Lexington.
Officers found the infant quote wrapped in a towel inside
a black trash bag in like the back of a closet.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
Well, yeah, it's kind of hard to respond when you're
in that condition.

Speaker 4 (04:17):
You mean the baby, Yeah, the baby didn't respond.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
That's why it was unresponsive. Oh my gosh, what.

Speaker 4 (04:22):
Was wrong with you. Snelling was confirmed to be the
baby's mama, and the new born was pronounced dead at
the scene. According to police, the cheerleader was interviewed by
officers and admitted to giving birth. The new mother has
been charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence,
and concealing the birth of an infant.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
Wow, I mean so many There could be so many
variables to a situation like this. It really can get
kind of hard to figure out, you know. But I
mean there's so many programs and people that you can
reach out to to get help doing something like this,

(05:08):
say a pregnancy where you have no support or that
you you know, maybe you're torn, maybe you don't you're
afraid of having the baby for whatever reason. Maybe you're
afraid of affecting your life and the adverse manner. You're young,
and it could, you know, mess your plans up. But
I mean, this is certainly not the route to go. No.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
Snelling is listed as a member of the University of
Kentucky's Stunt cheerleading team. Okay, yeah, I mean she's like
competitive cheerleader that's high.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Level and I still say that, especially at this level,
cheerleading is a sport and they should be treated as such,
and they're not, and that sucks.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
Well, Many pro choice advocates point to the fact that
nearly all abortion has been illegal in the state of
Kentucky since twenty twenty t too, I would argue, Now,
I get like, not everybody has access to transportation can
get out of state. But I'm gonna go out a

(06:11):
limb here and say, judging from the social media pictures
and things I have seen of miss Snelling, it doesn't
appear to me that she's someone who maybe struggles financially.
There are multiple photos of her where she's competed in pageants.
She's doing this competitive cheerleading, which I'm sure costs a
lot of money. I'm sure there's been a lot of

(06:33):
investment into like tumbling and gymnastics and things like that.
So I would say, this girl definitely has access to
the finances and transportation to go out of state, right
to terminate the pregnancy early on. I mean, if that
was a thing she was kind of contemplating. So I
don't necessarily say, well, they didn't have abortion in that state,

(06:56):
because she definitely seems like someone who could access abortion
services if she needed to.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Look, the abortion conversation is so tricky no matter the situation.
If the baby's born, your circumstance or your wants or
your preference take a back seat to that little baby
being born.

Speaker 4 (07:19):
I mean, well, I'm just saying a lot of people
are kind of blaming it on the fact that abortion
has been banned in the state, right, And I can
kind of see both points of view, But like I said,
I mean, I also think that she's someone who has
some means. She has a social media where she's got
multiple like formal wear listed, and the dresses are all listed,

(07:42):
you know, like, oh, I paid four six hundred dollars
for this dress, but you can buy it for two hundred.
So I'm like just gauging the fact that if you've
got four six hundred dollars to spend on multiple formal
wear like prom dresses, homecoming dresses, pageant dresses, you probably
have enough money to go across state lines and have

(08:03):
an abortion. So I guess, you know, I have questions like,
what was it like a religious thing that she kind
of hid this pregnancy or didn't want to choose to
terminate the pregnancy. For me, I just will never understand
how anybody can hid a pregnancy for nine months. I mean,

(08:23):
that's part I cannot understand.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
In the cases I've seen in the past where nobody,
nobody knew. Everybody was kind of shocked and surprised. There's
even been cases when women didn't realize they were pregnant.
They were usually how do you politically correctly say this
A big girl? You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (08:47):
You know not, Let's okay, I'm a thick girl.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Let's just say a cheerleader. Is not what I think
when I think of those cases where women are successfully
or unknownly pregnant or successfully hide their pregnancy, right, because
they tend to be, you know, fairly fit and very accurate.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
I mean, there are various photos of her. She definitely
seemed fit. She's got abs right in many of the photos.
I wish I hide some labs.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Well, it's a tricky case and it sounds like there's
a lot going on, But you know what, like, at the.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
End of the day, regardless of the situation whatever, you
should not murder this innocent child. You should not birth
this baby and then kill it.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Well no, and I guess we don't know exactly if
maybe the baby was birth and died of some kind
of after birth complication, you know, and her not being
in a hospital or something like that could certainly point
towards negligence or something like that, or if she just

(09:53):
you know, if there's something even worse, more nefarious at play.
But it's just sad.

Speaker 4 (09:59):
It is really sad because there are so many options
in a case like this. She did not have to
end this newborn's life.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
No, These seberries.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
Are always so heartbreaking, And you can have empathy for
the new mom because I'm sure she's going through something psychologically, right,
because it's very unnatural to harm your newborn child, right,

(10:32):
So you know, you can kind of feel something for her,
But at the same time, like she has no reason.
I mean, there's just no reason really to do this
when there are so many options people want to adopt.
I'm sure someone in her community would have been glad
to take that baby. She's probably got a lot of
support from friends and family. She could have kept the child.

(10:52):
I mean, there's just so many other options.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, certainly, certainly, especially in this modern day, and she's
in the first full country. There's billions of people that
would like to have access to, you know, the things
available as far as you know, hospitals and such, and
outreach programs that she has availability of. And maybe we'll
get more information on this case.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
We will because the cause of the infant's death is
pending review by the Fayette County Corner's Office, so we
still don't really have like a manner of death for
the child, and Snelling is currently held at the Fayette
County Detention Center. The university hasn't really responded to any
requests for comment on the story, so it's definitely unfolding,
and I'm sure law enforcement is keeping many of the

(11:39):
details under wraps for now, right that means seem to
be active investigation.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Yeah, I mean, what if it turns out the child
was stillborn or something like that, That would certainly change
the optics or people. But still it sounds I don't know,
it's tricky. It sounds disturbing just a value.

Speaker 4 (12:01):
Absolutely, Dylan, it is. It is very disturbing. You know,
when I was a student at my university that this
an incident similar to this happened where a student at
Western Carolina University. She was a sorority girl, popular seemed

(12:23):
to come from a good family by all reports, had
a boyfriend, you know whatever. She gave birth to a
baby in an off campus apartment. I believe, stabbed the newborn.
Oh rapped her at a I think it was a
baby baby girl wrapped in a trash bag, and then
disposed of he at a landfill. And like Macon County,

(12:45):
North Carolina, she was pretty quickly discovered, arrested, and I
believe she was sentenced to like nine years in prison.
Wow for that infanticide?

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Well yeah, I mean in the case, I guess it would.

Speaker 4 (12:59):
Be neo nata side is what they call it.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Well, you killed your baby. I mean there's no way
around it. And it's no matter what's happening or what
you're dealing with. Very it's not good and like you said,
it's very unnatural. It just goes against most people's you know,
inherent wants and needs if you will, but you know,

(13:21):
I will say, I'm curious in this case, who reported
a non responsive infant? You know what I'm saying, right,
because she's already obviously had the baby.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah, I don't know, it's not clear if it was
like a roommate, Yeah, maybe her partner, and.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
She's already kind of wrapped it up and like kind
of put it away, you know what I mean, hit
it if you will. So, yeah, I will be interested
in following the details of this case if we get
more information.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
Yeah, I'm sure more information will come out. And I
just thought we would start off with that because of
course we're focusing on college campuses in crime. Now, Dylan,
let's get into the core of today's episode, and I
like to begin by talking about stalking as a crime.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, I must stalk you. No you're not, Yeah, I am.

Speaker 4 (14:13):
Stalking is very scary.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
Oh, totally right.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
And it's interesting because you know, most states have laws
on the books about stalking, but a lot of times
stalking on a college campus can be considered i guess
punishable and a different light or something like. It doesn't
necessarily automatically go to the county or the city's law enforcement.

(14:39):
A lot of times college campuses have their own police
department and want to handle the issue internally.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Okay, I did not realize that.

Speaker 4 (14:49):
I mean, it can just be like someone feels uncomfortable,
they go to campus authorities, they say, hey, I've seen
this person around my dorm, around the cafeteria. You know,
I don't really feel comfortable. I think this person is
stalking me. And a lot of times these cases can
kind of seem like trivial student complaints, right, and they're

(15:11):
not always taken like seriously by college administrators, and you
end up kind of accomplishing nothing if you report it
to law enforcements. I mean, that seems to be a
widespread issue, and it seems like since that has been
a hot topic, a lot of universities and colleges are

(15:31):
making a consorted effort to implement policies about stalking and
how they handle that on campus. Because it's usually not
considered a crime like where the stalker goes to jail.
They usually handle it administratively like they are expelled from
the college. They can implement some like protective orders on campus,

(15:57):
that kind of thing, but it's just seems like the
university's hands are tied kind of as far as what
they can do or what they're willing to do, right exactly.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah. See the funny thing about universities, and this is
story after story, I've kind of noticed they're reluctance to
get ahead of some of this stuff, issues like stalking
or reported date rapes or you know, any of these
types of crimes that happen a lot on campus or
around campuses. They're reluctance to a kind of face it

(16:30):
head on, and it's like they're trying they're doing damage
control the whole time that they're kind of dealing with
the situation, almost like a tourist rely a town or
something like that. You know, it's like they want to,
you know, try to help the person, but they're also
always worried about the optics or the stories or the

(16:52):
pr and all stuff like that, and that can really
create a bad situation.

Speaker 4 (16:57):
So what might be considered stalking on a campus? Let's
talk about this because stocking is going to play a
big role in our three cases today that will be discussing.
Repeatedly appearing near another student's dorm, classes, social events could
be considered talking, following someone across campus, or coincidentally showing

(17:18):
up in shared spaces with that person.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
Yeah, see dos trinky. Though it can also literally be
a coincidence, you know what I mean. You could have
friend groups that co mingle or typically I.

Speaker 4 (17:31):
Think you have more than just one of these maybe incidents,
not like.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Everywhere I go there. They are kind of thing.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
I think they don't just show up where you are.
But I think there's other other indications, you know, like
they send unwanted messages through texts or DMS or emails.
There can be excessive or almost obsessive behavior, like when
it comes to engaging with a student's social media account.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
Okay, that makes sense.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
Waiting outside a students classroom or dining hall, leaving unwanted notes,
gifts or items at someone's residence, vandalizing personal property, recording
or surveilling someone without their knowledge or consent. So I
think you don't just in these cases get someone who's
coincidentally showing up at the library when you're there. I

(18:22):
think that that stocker usually engages in multiple in multiple activities, right, No.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
I understand, and what you outline certainly is would disturb me.
But I do see from the administration's point of view,
they do have to take into consideration that basically the
whole college is one big cohabitation, so they really have
to pick through this stuff and you know, really try
to figure it and make sure before you know, kind

(18:51):
of take it to the next level. But I mean
the stuff you're describing, yeah, I mean, it's pretty obvious
that something's wrong. Is someone's behaving like that?

Speaker 4 (18:59):
Well, today we're to be discussing, as I mentioned, three
cases that involve three separate young women who are stalked
on a college campus, and the results are deadly.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
Man, I wonder if I know of a case that
sticked out in my mind. I'll just see if it's
one of the three.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
Opel Sturgel was born September fifteenth of nineteen seventeen in Cherokee, Kentucky.
Her family moved to Hawkeville, where her father was a farmer.
Ople graduated from Blaine High School in nineteen thirty six,
and while attending high school, she was valedictorian, a member
of several clubs, including the y WCA and sang in

(19:39):
the Chapel Choir. Ople went to Berea College, which is
a private liberal arts school founded in eighteen fifty five
by abolitionist John greg Fee, who had a vision of
inclusivity and historic firsts. It became the first interracial and
co educational college in the U American South, admitting students

(20:02):
of all races and genders since its early days. Wow, right,
so pretty fairly progressive school. We got going on here, right.
Another unique factor about Berea College, Dylan, is the tuition promise.
No student pays tuition. Really, the college has been covering
costs since eighteen ninety two.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
See how can they do that?

Speaker 4 (20:26):
Now? Part of this involves students committing to working at
least ten hours a week in campus jobs. It's part
of their work to learn philosophy at Bria.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Dude, that's ingenious.

Speaker 4 (20:36):
Yeah, when a student graduates, they received not only an
academic transcript, but a labor transcript that shows the hands
on experiences they received while attending the college.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Dude, that's ingenius. That model should be applied in some
to some degree at all colleges. I mean, it's so smart.
You're getting hands on experience. I mean instead of just
studying an administration business. I actually here's where I did
the X y Z for a year, you know, and
dealt with people and dealt with the nuts and bolts.

Speaker 4 (21:07):
Now, it's amazing. And I've known several people who have
gone to Beria and they've all had wonderful experiences and
really enjoyed I guess that structure of academics, but also
you know, you get some professional experience.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
It's like you're getting an internship mixed a real internship,
you know, not just getting people coffee mixed with your education.
It's very smart.

Speaker 4 (21:33):
Despite her good academic record, Opal was reportedly nervous about
attending Maria College. This was attributed to the fact that
her ex boyfriend, twenty year old George Elmo Wells, was
also going to the same school.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Now you know, I was today years old when I
realized that it's pronounced Beria and not Beret. Okay, I thought.

Speaker 4 (22:00):
It was Beret Beret college.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (22:02):
Did you think everyone walked around with a beret.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
No like lemage? Maybe the very first maybe the school elder,
the founder was fond of berets.

Speaker 4 (22:15):
Oohiotic, Yeah, I don't know. Wells, who were a very
high pompadour go had dope ass hair. Really, I'm going
to post a picture on Instagram you can see his
hair was said to resemble a young Billy Graham. Since
all students were assigned a job at Beria, Wells worked
as a bookbinder in the college printing department. Ople's job

(22:39):
was to help assign work to other students. While at Berea,
Ople was a member of the Alpha Pi sorority w
YCA and Harmonia, which was a vocal group. Wells was
also considered a good student until the spring term of
nineteen thirty seven, when his grades began to Wells had

(23:01):
been a writer for the college newspaper. I should also mention,
so he's doing great. His you know ex girlfriend's there,
she's she's doing the things. She's successful. But then you know,
things start to not go well for mister Wells. Grades
start slipping. Can't seem to focus that kind of thing now.

(23:25):
While they were in high school, Wells had proposed to Ople,
but she had rejected him. Despite the rejection and breakup,
Wells continued to pursue Ople. She did not care for
his attention. Multiple people had asked Wells to stay away
from Ople, including the dean of school. The dean of
the school his name was T. A. Hendricks. So leading

(23:49):
up to this was an incident in nineteen thirty six
when Wells threatened to kill Ople and himself if she
did not marry him.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
That's a hell of a proposal.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
And even after they had broken up in high school,
he had gone off to college. You know, he's older
than her, so he's at college. Before Throughout this time,
he remains possessive and jealous.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Yeah, he's like, I love you or kill you, bitch.

Speaker 4 (24:18):
Now, after he's been confronted by Dean Hendrix, Wells promised
that he would straighten up his act, and although he
vowed he would stay away from Opal, he could not
seem to let.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
Go of her.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
Now, I mean, what state of mind do you have
to be in to even talk to someone you allegedly
love in such a threatening manner? I mean, do you
it's crazy that people think that that would be okay
or would work.

Speaker 4 (24:45):
Well, I don't know. Earlier I told you I would
stab you in the eye with my son's Moore's fork.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
Yeah, that's well, that's just that's just let me know
that A you love me? Yeah, yeah, you love me,
you so much you would go to jail basically, That's
what that's saying. Yeah, which is I mean, that's a
bold statement. It warms my heart.

Speaker 4 (25:08):
Well, sometimes you need a little motivation.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Is that that's how you motivate me?

Speaker 4 (25:13):
Threatening you with a s'mores.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Bodily harm gets me going, oh, come.

Speaker 4 (25:18):
On, you know it's we're just joking around. Maybe.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah, Well, when you left, you said that as you
passed through the room, I hit all sharp objects.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
Okay, well it's probably smart for you.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
Let's just keep kidding.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
A poem found in his rented apartment ended up in
the college's Special Collections and Archives. This is after, I guess,
after our case unfolds, ok and a lot of people
were like, you know, why did this end up there?
But I'm guessing it's because maybe he had that position

(25:53):
on the school newspaper, and I guess was considered, you know,
kind of like a shining star on school paper kind
of thing.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Okay, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (26:03):
Let me read this poem to you, Dylan to a lady.
Where flowers bloom along the road of life, the weary
traveler breathes their fragrance sweet and thus forgets his daily
toil and strife.

Speaker 5 (26:19):
All petals hold within their form so clear a beauty
which opens eyes may see and find that they, in
all their glory, are reflections of the greater reality.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
Okay, I'm not done, Oh.

Speaker 4 (26:35):
Thou art a blooming flower in spring, Dylan, whose loveliness
is glorious divine. The irradiant glow and cheerful smiles may
bring to someone happiness and joy. Sublime and courage great
to help him be true along the path made beautiful
by you. Okay, now I'm done thou.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
Your love is the bee that pollinates my heart. I
just add some So look, I'm no poetry buff. You
know more you've been exposed to more poems poems? Do
you think what kind of merit do you get? Is
this good?

Speaker 4 (27:17):
No?

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Or is this someone trying too hard to write poetry?

Speaker 4 (27:20):
Yeah? This is like said boy poetry.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
No, it's not that sockweezer poetry.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
I don't only think it's that good. Okay, I'm just
saying sounds like a greeting card.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
Lets, I love bloom in the sunshine of life.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
Oh look at the shoe box greeting I found from
the Hallmark Selections.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:38):
No, Opple had moved on by late summer of nineteen
thirty seven. So at this point, like she's completely done
with Wells. She's had no interest in him for quite
a while, and now she's moving on because she'd met
another young man named Bill Anderson, who was from Walnut Grove, Kentucky.

(28:00):
They started a court in Dylan on Sunday, August fifteenth,
round seven fifteen pm in the evening, Open and Bill
sat in front of Phelps Stokes Chapel. It was their
third date, and while sitting together, Wells made contact with
Opel twice. So here she is hanging out with the

(28:20):
new guy. They're just sort of sitting out in front
of the chapel on campus, and here comes Wells two
different times. Oh my, John trying to get her attention.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Curious lame, let it go, dude.

Speaker 4 (28:36):
First, he asked to speak to her in private, and
she told him no. He said, quote, Opel, I want
to see you. I'm sure your buddy won't object. It
is on important business.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Oh my gosh, come over here and.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
Discuss this important business with me. I have a poem
for you. You're blooming spring flower, dammit. Bill Anderson told
Wells like, of course, I don't object. But Ople's like,
no way, I'm not speaking to you. Get lost, creep.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
So given the time period, you know what I mean,
there's like this back and forth between the men almost
you know what I'm saying, like her saying the first time.
She says no, I'm not in her. You know, Nope, No,
thanks Bill. You might be a nice guy and all, well,
we don't need you to be like, I don't object.

(29:26):
You should be follow your ladies lead and be like, hey,
you scap rallying or scamp, get out of here. A
scap rallyan?

Speaker 4 (29:35):
What's that?

Speaker 1 (29:36):
I don't know, just a word you made up. Sounds
like something they'd say back then.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
I almost thought you were calling him like a scallion,
and I was like, ooh, why is he an onion?

Speaker 1 (29:46):
No? But and still, but in good manners, Bill has
to oh, of course, I do not object.

Speaker 4 (29:52):
Then again Wells asks Opel to step aside to speak
with him. She refuses a second time. Ople then Tells
Wells anything he had to say to her could be
said in front of Anderson. Wells persists, and finally he says, well,
if that's the way you want to feel about it, okay,

(30:12):
but you may be sorry.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Oh yeah, And then he read that poet.

Speaker 4 (30:17):
I'm really sorry about this poem I just heard. After
he appeared to go. Ople explained to Anderson that quote.
He's been following me around for a year and I
haven't been able to get rid of him. During this time,
the couple began lingering on the steps in front of
the chapel. Ople expressed her fear of wells, and at
the time, Anderson didn't really suspect there was any ill

(30:40):
will between ople and the sex boyfriend, right, I mean,
he's like that doesn't seem to be like they hate
each other. But she obviously doesn't want to have anything
to do with him.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
Yeah, maybe he's not the quickest one in the drawer.
I mean.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
These dylanisms, the quickest one in the drawer.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
Yeah, no, I'm saying she's telling you describing trying to
get this guy away from her. She wants nothing to
do with him, right, for over a year and you
don't see, you know, and she's I don't know, it
seems pretty obvious.

Speaker 4 (31:23):
Well, and who knows, because back then, I'm sure this
was relayed in polite terminology.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Well, ain't that's true?

Speaker 4 (31:31):
That might that might not have really been able to
truly express the nature of the situation.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
I've grown weary of his company.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
Yeah, something like that, right, I mean, who knows. It's
the thirties. A few minutes later, the couple left walking.
Now a walk was one of the only options for
like things to do on campus, and during a weekend
at this time around seven forty five, the pair passed
by Lincoln hall and that's and Wells appeared from behind

(32:01):
some bushes. Wells shoved Anderson, then stepped in between him
and Opal. He grabbed Opal by the shoulder, pressed a
twenty two caliber pistol against her left chest and fired
one shot.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
Damn With this, she.

Speaker 4 (32:18):
Grabbed for Anderson. Anderson swung between Opal and Wells, just
as she fell into his arms. Anderson attempted to carry
Opal away and told Wells to leave her alone. Wells
pushed Anderson again and fired two more shots at Opal's chest.
Wells then hit Anderson over the head with the pistol

(32:40):
before fleeing the scene.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
Please say you've done enough. I mean, take this guy down.

Speaker 4 (32:47):
Twelve year old Tom McCone was on his way to
see a movie with a cousin, so they were walking
like on campus that evening in nineteen ninety four. Macomb
told the Richman Register quote, I'll never forget seeing it.
These two young men and this young lady were arguing
or talking. We thought they were horsing around like college

(33:09):
students do very often. After the shooting, she was over
this wire maybe six to eight inches high on her back.
She was in agony. She was screaming and the blood
I remember was pumping out of the heart as she
was twisting around. Now. Maconne would later become a professor
at Eastern Kentucky University. Wells ran past these two boys

(33:31):
to escape, and Macone recalled as Wells ran kind of
through he could fill Wells's hand on his shoulder. Mcone
was haunted for years about this brush with a killer.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Well, yeah, I mean, you literally witnessed him kill someone.

Speaker 4 (33:46):
Mconne, who would later storm the beaches of Normandy, would
fight in the Battle of the Bulge and help liberate
buchen Wall concentration Camp, said that Opal's murder was the
worst thing he'd ever seen till after experiencing those horrors.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
The Battle of the freaking Bulge concentration camps D day.
That's the big shit, dude. Yeah, and still that traumatized
him more or very powerfully.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
Well, yeah, that would really hit any twelve year old
pretty hard.

Speaker 1 (34:21):
Well yeah, yeah, I mean, you're you're at you're young,
you're in civilian life. You know, you're in just everyday life.
You know, they probably walked through that campus a million
times as kids. Yeah, and I'm sure you know they
would never expect something like this.

Speaker 4 (34:37):
Soon, four other college students helped flag down a passing
car and took Opal to the Berea College Hospital. Sadly,
she died there within a few minutes of the shooting.
Police immediately began a search of the campus and surrounding areas,
patrolling all local roads. Wells, as far as they knew,
had only the clothes on his back and possibly a
few dollars in his pocket. I mean, let's say, Dylan,

(35:00):
there was likely no kind of black ops created, you know,
escape plan ahead of the shooting, right, I mean, they
kind of felt like it was. It was maybe not premeditated,
It was more like quick and then he runs.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
Well, he did have a gun on him, so I
don't know how common that is.

Speaker 4 (35:19):
Well, yeah, but it also sounds like he kind of
left and came back a couple of different times. So
maybe after she refused the conversation, he went to get
the gun.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well, okay, good point.

Speaker 4 (35:30):
A reward was offered for information leading to wells arrest.
His father, John Wells, made it an emotional plea for
a son to turn himself in, but despite these efforts,
there was no sign of George Wells. A posse was
formed now I love a story, any story where there's
a posse. Yeah, I always want to form a posse.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
I think we should bring the posse's back.

Speaker 4 (35:51):
A posse was formed that included lawmen, students, and citizens.
Everyone wanted to take action. They scoured fields and farms
looking for Wells, but there was no trace of this
man found dead or alive. John Wells feared his son
had killed himself. After the shooting. The community feared the
killer had gotten away scott free. But how had he

(36:14):
evaded police and managed to escape so quickly. Police Chief
Earl Hayes speculated that Wells had gotten a ride on
a passing train, or maybe hitchhiked out of town. A
farmer reported on August eighteenth seeing a young man matching
wells description. The man, gb Angel said had ran across

(36:36):
his barnyard and then vanished into.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
A cornfield gb Angel. Gb Angel, Yes, it's a great name.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
So he sees him run across the barnyard and then
vanish into this cornfield. Oddly enough, two days later, police
in Portland, Maine, made a discovery someone had left a
berea college laundry check in, A laundry check in an
abandoned car. So it was like somebody who had gotten
a check from I guess this laundry.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
Oh okay, like they worked there.

Speaker 4 (37:08):
And I'm not sure if he worked there, I don't
I don't know all the details.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
Maybe it was a voucher to use the laundry or something. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (37:15):
Maybe. Well again, police were baffled because they were like, well, oh,
and the car had Georgia plates, So that was like
the other part of it, like did this have anything
to do with George Wells? But they were like, how
did he get so far away so fast?

Speaker 1 (37:30):
Right?

Speaker 4 (37:31):
And in this potentially what stolen vehicle like Georgia, Like
where did he get this car?

Speaker 1 (37:36):
Well? Travel back then was still quite quite a bit
more difficult than it is nowadays.

Speaker 4 (37:42):
Well yeah, in Kentucky to Maine. I mean that's a
pretty good distance.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah, I mean did we even have interstates at that point? Probably? No,
this isn't Yeah, So I mean you're talking back.

Speaker 4 (37:53):
Roads and those old cars. Dirt roads were not the
most comfortable. They didn't get the bus gas mileage that they.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
Didn't go very fast.

Speaker 4 (38:03):
It didn't go very yes, all the things I when.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
You're talking literal pass and dirt roads and maybe the occasional.
I don't know. I don't even know how much paved
roads was back there back then.

Speaker 4 (38:14):
Honestly, by nineteen thirty nine, law enforcement was still following
tips to track down George Wells. The sheriff of Madison
County and a deputy went to West Virginia after receiving
information that Wells might be holed up there. Although there
is no statute of limitations on murder, George Wells was
never found. He never answered for the cruel murder of

(38:36):
Opal Sturgel, and until this day, the case remains unsolved.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
Damn George got away with it. Yeah, you know, hopping
a train probably was one of the maybe the better
quicker ways he could have gotten out of there.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
I would say, so, yeah, we're a canoe.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
Or like that story would deal on that dumb criminal
got in the kayak and like paddled across the pond,
a couture on both sides, waiting.

Speaker 4 (39:06):
For Maybe he built a Tom Sawyer style raft. He
was like, yeah, let's have an adventurer. After we did this,
I don't.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
Know, yeah, recently in the headlines. I don't know if
you remember when this happened, but a guy faked his
own death kayaking. Oh yeah, I remember that, and then
it wasn't that long ago.

Speaker 4 (39:21):
And now we I believe discussed that several times.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
But they finally midweek Gonda or Ukraine or some shit
with like another woman. Yeah what a dick. No right, yeah, moving.

Speaker 4 (39:34):
Along, Dylan. Now we're we're more in the present, if
you will. In May of two thousand and four, Carrie,
North Carolina resident Jessica Faulkner was preparing to go home
for the summer. The University of North Carolina Wilmington student
had been living in Cornerstone Hall, and at the beginning

(39:55):
of the school year, Jessica had met another resident named
Curtis Dixon. The two were part of the same friend group.
So I remember this like the end of the spring semester.
Everybody's preparing to go home for the summer. You're saying
goodbye to your friends. You're kind of having those last
minute hangouts see each other as much as possible before

(40:19):
you head off in your different directions. And in two
thousand and four, I mean, there was Internet, but people
were not I feel like as connected as they are today.
There was still a bit of work. You had to
actually take steps to communicate with your friends right via

(40:40):
phone call. There was text messaging, but I don't feel
like it was as prevalent as it is today.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Well, no, you're talking.

Speaker 4 (40:48):
And there were very few like social media platforms at
this time. There would have been MySpace.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yeah, I mean you could get on the internet, but
that's something you did. You had to go get on
the internet. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (41:01):
This is the time of like Aol instances, he.

Speaker 1 (41:03):
Ses and personal computers and it's not in your pocket.
It's just it's a different time.

Speaker 4 (41:09):
So Jessica's part of this friend group with this guy
named Curtis Dixon. Little did Faulkner or anyone else know,
but Curtis Dixon had lied on his enrollment application, gaining
entry under fraudulent circumstances. He had had a misdemeanor larceny conviction.
Dixon was also released from the US Navy's boot camp
due to homicidal and suicidal tendencies. Okay, James Dixon, his

(41:34):
father worked as an assistant chancellor at UNC Charlotte and
falsified his son's academic and attendance record records, I should say,
in order for his son to get into this college.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Instead of addressing that your son has homicidal and suicidal
tendencies on his record or ideations. However, you want to
say it right, So talk about Jessica.

Speaker 4 (42:00):
She was born September twenty fourth in nineteen eighty five
in Fontana, California. Jessica was described as an animal lover
with a kind and thoughtful disposition. She was a voracious
reader and dreamed about far away places. She loved travel.
The more exotic the location, the better. In nineteen ninety three,
Jessica's family moved to Carry, North Carolina, where she was

(42:23):
a student at Swift Creek Carnage Middle School and Inlow
High School. Due to Jessica's advanced placement classes, she had
earned enough credits to achieve sophomore status as a freshman
at the College Nice. While at un c W, Jessica
planned to major in anthropology. So here we have the

(42:43):
last day of school, when Jessica's supposed to be headed home,
she's found strangled inside her dorm room.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
Oh my god.

Speaker 4 (42:54):
Now it didn't take long for law enforcement to connect
twenty one year old Dixon with the murder. And we'll
get to that he'd invited Falkner to a second floor
room in Cornerstone Hall to give her a gift, which
was a DVD movie. And though they had been friends
kind of over this course of time, Jessica had begun
to distance herself from Curtis, telling other friends that she

(43:16):
thought he was increasingly creepy.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
I thought he was going to give her a mixed CD,
a burnt CD.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
Well, unfortunately, that's not what he did. When Faulkner arrived
at Dixon's room, he hit her over the head with
a club. The blackjack had been on his desk, and
Dixon would tell detectives that he had the opportunity to think, quote,
I could give her this gift or pick up and
use the weapon.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (43:44):
After that, Dixon strangled Faulkner. He then raped her and
injected her with hydra codone.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
Yeah, and later he told investigators, I thought to myself,
I could either get her medical help or I could
rape her and kill her.

Speaker 4 (44:00):
Afterwards, he placed Jessica Faulkner into his bed until the
next morning. That's when John Faulkner receives a phone call
from Curtis Dixon, who confesses I've murdered your daughter.

Speaker 1 (44:12):
Damn.

Speaker 4 (44:14):
John Faulkner contacts campus police twice, but nothing is being done.
He doesn't know if this guy's kidding, is his daughter okay? Like,
what's going on? He can't get any information. So as
a parent living some distance away, and you get this
phone call, I mean, this guy's freaking out. He is

(44:35):
so panicked and can't get any answers.

Speaker 1 (44:39):
So you're telling me you can call a college and
say that someone just called me and told me they
murdered my daughter, and they're like, well, what do you
want us to do about it?

Speaker 4 (44:51):
It seems like they were very slow moving to do anything.
So he finally calls nine to one one speaks with
a an emergency dispatcher, who informed him that there was
a search for a suspect at this point, like, we
do have people out there looking, so they're aware of it.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
They are making an effort.

Speaker 4 (45:10):
But Faulkner could be heard telling the operator that he
didn't give a damn about the suspect. He needed an
updated status on his daughter. I mean, this poor man
was in an absolute state of chaos.

Speaker 1 (45:25):
Well, yeah, how could you not see a shock?

Speaker 4 (45:28):
And probably I mean didn't really know what to believe, right,
And you're getting no answers. I mean, gosh, this has
to be the worst. Now, after the phone call, Dixon
surrendered a law enforcement made a confession, and even re
enacted the crime for detectives. He told investigators that Jessica
was not the original target. Curtis admitted that he had

(45:50):
purchased a blackjack, a stun gun, a knife, and some
duct tape which he had planned to use in a
murder plot. The target was actually Jessica's boyfriend who lived
in Raleigh.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (46:02):
Now Dixon was not only charged with Jessica's murder, but
also kidnapping, rape, and another unspecified sex act on May fourth.
So let's get into kind of what led up to this.
So on May fourth, Jessica had been hanging out in
Curtis's room with a group of friends. They had gone
to dinner together and then afterwards returned to Cornerstone Hall,

(46:23):
the dorm in Dixon's room, they were listening to music,
they were playing video games, and had a bit of
a going away party, you know, for this front group. Right,
exams were over and the students enjoyed blowing off a
little steam before they left school. The next day, the
gathering ended around eleven PM, and everyone agreed they would

(46:45):
meet for breakfast the following morning to say they're goodbyes
before summer break Now, a short time after Jessica returned
to her dorm room that evening, she began receiving instant
messages from Curtis Dixon. In these messages, Dixon continued begging
Jessica to return to his room. So the next morning,
after sleeping for seven hours with Jessica bound in bed deceased,

(47:09):
Curtis went to breakfast with their mutual friends. When asked
where Jessica was, Curtis told them that he was that
he was pretty sure she was still packing and probably
wasn't going to join them, in addition to calling John
Faulkner that morning, So after he has breakfast with his friends,
then that's when he makes his phone call.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
I mean, what kind of this Guy's a monster for
you to be able to do this to someone and
then go have breakfast and just be normal, right, I mean, yeah,
you're a monster.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
He also telephones a friend who lives in Raleigh and confesses,
like what he had done to Jessica, Curtis Dixon, we
got to talk about him a little bit so he'd
been in and out of public schools as a child.
In two thousand, he dropped out of high school, finishing
as a home school student the following year, and although
his application to UNCW stated he was a first time student,

(48:01):
Curtis Dixon had actually attended two other colleges, including the
North Carolina School of the Arts as well as unc Charlotte. Dixon,
while a freshman at unc W, had not declared a major,
but was part of this what they called learning Community program,
which allowed students to take smaller classes, some of which

(48:22):
had been held in the room where Faulkner's life was
cruelly snuffed out. So it sounds like they kind of
did these little classes kind of in students' rooms. Maybe
a more casual learning environment.

Speaker 1 (48:35):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (48:37):
It seems from their introduction Curtis had become obsessed with
Jessica Faulkner. He had asked her out multiple times, but
she rejected him. Jessica had a boyfriend back home after all.
Along the way, Curtis changed classes so that he could
be closer to Jessica. He even enrolled in a summer
trip to Belize. Jessica had been really looking forward to

(48:58):
this trip, but felt uneasy learning that Curtis was now
planning to go.

Speaker 1 (49:03):
Yeah, she didn't want to be around this guy. No.

Speaker 4 (49:06):
The first ever murder on UNCW campus prompted the unc
system to make changes to its admission policies. They also
addressed stalking issues on campus and overall safety for students.
Chancellor Rosemary Depolo said Dixon wouldn't have been accepted to
the university if several pieces of information had not been
omitted from or falsely reported on his enrollment application. And

(49:30):
though Jessica had made complaints to her mother and father
and several friends about this kind of perceived stocking, she
told everybody, I can handle it. I got this. You know,
I'm gonna let him know. I'm gonna o nip this
in the bud.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
Damn. So it sounds that like in the beginning or
up until the murder, honestly, that he was just kind
of a nuisance, Yeah, pestering her. You know, she's like
a gosh, maybe she might leave a space sooner than
she wanted because he shows up. But it doesn't sound
like she was scared. And see, that's the that's the

(50:09):
scary part about stalking, because it has all these different levels,
and then even if the people are being just way
over the top, the system is always always be at
the police, university, whatever, friend's family. Everyone's so slow to
react to this.

Speaker 4 (50:27):
Typically or like, don't take it seriously, don't take it seriously.
Through interviews, law enforcement learned that Jessica was a gentle
soul who did not like confrontation. She would rather be
uncomfortable in situations than hurt someone's feelings. So it seemed
in a lot of these incidents when she would prefer
not to be around Curtis Dixon, she would kind of

(50:50):
just suck it up and be around him, you know,
simply because he was part of the group.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
Damn.

Speaker 4 (50:57):
According to reports, Curtis Dixon told investigators he considered coming
out of the dorm room with a knife so that
police would shoot him. Then he asked one of the officers, quote,
will you do me a favor and shoot me? If
it was your daughter, wouldn't you kill me? On December
seventh of two thousand and four, while incarcerated at Polk

(51:17):
Youth Institute awaiting trial, Curtis Dixon broke away from guards
and jumped three stories from a staircase, landing on his head. Really,
he was in critical condition before being removed from life
support two days later. He died shortly after, on December ninth,
two thousand and four. Now, in the aftermath, Jessica's father

(51:38):
filed a lawsuit against UNCW for failing to recognize Curtis
Dixon as a deeply troubled young man who should have
never been admitted to the college. Tom Gouldsby, an attorney
representing Faulkner, said, quote, there was notice upon notice upon
notice that nobody acting on He's in a setting with
all these other innocent, law abiding kids, and no nobody

(52:00):
knows what a time bomb they have living among them.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
Well, I'm afraid the college didn't even know from what
I'm hearing, But I feel like a lot of responsibility
is on his father for falsifying his record.

Speaker 4 (52:12):
Absolutely, But you know, this really brought up a discussion
of like, how intent should these background checks be on
college students?

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Right?

Speaker 4 (52:22):
Should they run criminal background checks on them? Do you
take that application at face value?

Speaker 1 (52:28):
Is there any follow up?

Speaker 4 (52:30):
Or yeah?

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (52:31):
James E. Dixon, the third, Curtis's father, was charged with
common law forgery and was fined one thousand dollars for
his role in following a fraudulent application for his son.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
So I guess inside the law, you know, the letter
of the law, they did what they could. But there's
just I think he should have had He certainly had
more responsibility for this. I mean anytime, these are serious
things that you're covering up in your son's past. Yes,

(53:01):
and that, and maybe you should just get your son
some help and admit that he's got a problem instead
of trying to you know, whitewash it and you know,
just shove them through the university system.

Speaker 4 (53:12):
Yeah, we'll just keep getting you into different colleges.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
Because you don't want to deal with it or can't
admit it to yourself. And look at that. Look what happened, well.

Speaker 4 (53:21):
Dylan to add insult injury. We have another student murdered
at UNCW within a month of the first, Jessica Faulkner's
really Yes, this occurred on June fourth of two thousand
and four. Twenty one year old un CW student Kristen

(53:43):
Nojacques was shot and killed inside her North Chase apartment building.
John Peck, another student, was upset about the relationship, ending
they had been a couple. He shot no Jacques eight
to twelve times. After her death, a three day manhuh
ended when investigators found him at the North Carolina Tennessee

(54:05):
state line. This is when a park ranger made contact
with him. Roadblocks were set up, and when Peck approached
one of the roadblocks, he fired at officers. They found
Peck's four Runner had been rolled down into the steep
ravine and was resting in a creek, and it was
later confirmed that Peck had a SKS assault rifle and
had taken his own life before the vehicle rolled down

(54:27):
into the ravine. So this occurred just past Newfound Gap,
about seven miles from Cherokee, North Carolina.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
Oh wow, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (54:36):
Let's talk a little bit about Kristin. She was born
in Cleveland, Ohio, in nineteen eighty two. She grew up
in a very tight knit family of four, especially close
to her mother, Holly. She had a large collection of
cats and was a true animal lover Growing up. She
spent summers on the water and loved marine life. Studying
marine biology was her dream. So in two thousand and one,

(54:56):
Kristin left Ohio for un C Wilmington, nestled on the
outer banks of North Carolina. Because Kristin was so close
to her family, there was an adjustment period. She was
quite homesick and lonely, and she expressed this to her mother.
She also had hoped maybe she would meet someone, Okay, like, hey,

(55:19):
maybe if I get a boyfriend, a romantic partner, you know,
it'll make me feel a little bit better. So she
was kind of looking for a relationship. While working part
time at a local pet store, Kristin medico worker named
John Peck. He was also a student at the college.
He was tall, handsome, and everything she wanted. So Kristin

(55:41):
really thought she'd hit the jackpot. And he was a
very handsome guy. Now. At first, he swept Kristin off
her feet. He bought her flowers, gifts, lavished her with attention,
which is really you know what she was craving being
so far away from home.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
Well, yeah, I think it's so natural.

Speaker 4 (56:01):
A romantic at heart, Kristin was drawn to his southern
charm and thoughtfulness. He would plan picnics on the beach,
these really you know, thoughtful, considerate dates, and she felt
like they were really romantic dates. So it was kind
of everything she had wanted. Within months, they were deeply

(56:22):
in love. As time progressed, John started like just degrading Kristin.
He would complain that her breasts were too small, but
then make comments about her big button thighs, and he
would do this anytime she was eating.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
Oh well, there's so much, so much wrong with that. Yeah,
And I had to tell them that everything he's talking
smack to her about, there's you know, ten thousand other
people who would love those attributes of hers.

Speaker 4 (56:54):
Okay, Dylan, we get it, you like big butts and.

Speaker 1 (56:56):
Thus, no, I'm just saying when when well you.

Speaker 4 (56:59):
Other thos can't tony with anybody wasting around in your
fish gets sprung.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Yeah, I know, well know what I'm saying. Some guy
out there is perfect woman his small breast and big
buzz and big thighs. But we all know when someone
does this to someone.

Speaker 4 (57:17):
Just tearing them down, they're insecure and they want to
destroy the other person.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
They're a piece of shit and they are threatened in
some manner, either afraid of losing or being one upped
or out shown by somebody, and they're just a real
big old piece of shit. You know. Recently I heard
someone do this to somebody and it just really made

(57:41):
me think, like, really, just all of a sudden talk
to them in a very mean, horrible way. And that's
just a terrible thing to do, you know what I mean. Well,
I heard of someone, we heard of someone who did this.
Oh yeah, yeah, without telling someone's business. But it really
made me think, like, how could you do that? That's

(58:02):
just such a question.

Speaker 4 (58:03):
How could you say these terrible, just awful things to
someone that you were supposedly in love with, yeah, just
that you married, that you are in this I mean,
you're in a marriage with this person. How could you
talk to him like that? No, I totally know what
you made.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
It's just so ultimately and the betrayal on top of
the meanness and cruelty. I mean, my gosh, I could
never do this to someone.

Speaker 4 (58:26):
Well, Kristen shrugged off in the beginning, but I mean,
come on, the words hurt. Even if he's like, oh,
I'm just joking, I'm just picking at you, you know,
it hurt her feelings. The pair soon began arguing regularly.
John didn't like Kristen's friends and only wanted to associate
with his friend group. It's classic control by an abusive partner,

(58:47):
isolating He would also make fun of her relationship with Holly,
her mother. John saw her mother as like competition, and
he didn't want Kristin taking advice from anyone else, or
valuing anyone's opinion, or anybody else having any kind of
power or.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
Input.

Speaker 4 (59:08):
Input. Really, yeah, that's a good.

Speaker 1 (59:10):
Word, okay, disguise sounds like her ole winner.

Speaker 4 (59:16):
After a year of bullying and possessiveness, Kristin decided she
was going to end things. She had planned to travel
home for spring break in Ohio, and she told him
I'm going alone. This is when he launches the threat
that something could happen to her cat while she was gone.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (59:35):
Yeah, so he loosely threatened to kill her cat. Kristen
breaks up with him. Now a few days later, he
calls her parents' house and tells her he shot his
pet bird. I mean, it's just nuts. And she's thinking,
what the hell? Like this is an animal that you've

(59:57):
said you loved and.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
Cared for, sho for no reason.

Speaker 4 (01:00:00):
You shot and killed your bird? Like, what the hell?
And he tells her, well, the bird didn't die right away,
so I got some salt and rubbed it in its wounds.
All right, Well, of course she's freaked out and thinking,
what a psycho, because let's be honest, he is a psycho.
John is clearly dangerous. Holly refuses to allow her daughter

(01:00:22):
to return to Wilmington alone and joins her. When they
arrive at Kristen's apartment, they get seventeen disturbing messages left
by John. I'm assuming on like voicemail or an answering machine.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
Is that all seventeen?

Speaker 4 (01:00:36):
And they're very offensive, very vulgar, like just really horrific,
gross messages a concern, Holly called campus police. They suggested
that Kristen make a report with the new Hanover County
Sheriff's Department since she lived off campus. Kristin had received
harassing phone calls from Peck, who had threatened suicide. The

(01:01:01):
police also told her to save any documentation such as
phone calls or messages, that this would kind of help her,
you know, get something done. They told her of the
different options of warrant she could file and how to
get a protective order, and that some of this documentation
would be good in court, you know, to show what

(01:01:22):
he's been doing. John Peck did have prior run ins
with law enforcement. In November, of two thousand and one.
He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and two felony counts
of crimes against nature, a sex offense. He was originally
charged with first degree rape, but pleaded down to the
lesser charges.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
Yeah, well here you go. Oh you know, same old
song and dance. Chance to put this guy in jail
for real.

Speaker 4 (01:01:49):
So, of course, like when Holly and Kristen find out,
I mean, Kristen's like, what the hell, Like, I had
no idea was dating a sexual predator. Yeah, a sex offender,
a guy who's been convicted, you know, charged with rape
and convicted.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
Rape's top three of murder, molestation and rape. That's the
top three terrible things.

Speaker 4 (01:02:12):
Larry Peck John's father was a former law enforcement officer,
and he soon contacted Holly Kristen's mother to say, like, look,
I'm going to try to get a grasp of the situation.
I can control my son. He knew that John was
stalking Kristin, and Larry said he would try to get
John to leave them alone. John stops showing up at

(01:02:34):
the apartment and sends two cards apologizing to Holly and
to Kristen. Larry is no stranger. To a son's troubling behavior.
So again he thinks he can fix it because I
guess in the past he was able to fix his
son's bad behavior or get him to stop or whatever.

Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
Try to manage it if you will.

Speaker 4 (01:02:54):
Yeah. Now, Over the next couple weeks, Kristin reported a
confrontation in a parking lot on campus and was able
to get an emergency order and several warrants against Peck.
He had shown up like after she had gotten out
of class and blocked her kind of in a parking
space and would not let her leave. So it was
like holding her there against her will.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Yeah, it's kidnapping, like.

Speaker 4 (01:03:17):
Banging on the car and trying to get her out
of the car.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
Yeah, she was terrified, and she already has an order
of protection at this point or that's when she got there.

Speaker 4 (01:03:25):
This is after. This is when she gets the order
of protection. He also physically assaulted her during this time,
so like he reaches in the car and you know,
is like choking her and just being a crazy person.

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
See this right here is it doesn't take some kind
of law scholar to figure out what we need to
do in situations like this because they always escalate, right
there's always tears to it. Right. It starts out, oh,
they're showing up where you know they're coincidentally showing up
all the time, and excuse yeah, And then it gets

(01:03:59):
in and then they're told, you know a lot of
times told hey, I don't want them to be around you.
It's kind of all comes out and then it gets physical,
and then it gets or you get the threatening messages
blah blah blah, and then physical altercation. And see when
there keeps escalating, when there's that proof of escalation, I

(01:04:21):
think there should be a hard line during that escalation.
I agree, And they all in the cops are right
when they say there's not much we can do. That's
because the way that this needs to be legislated, this
needs a special stalker laws and conditions put in place
by by Congress, by the federal government, and we could

(01:04:41):
do something. There should be an escalation law.

Speaker 4 (01:04:44):
Well, we've experienced, yeah, in our marriage, we have experienced
a stalker. We have had this happen. We have been
stalked and harassed by an individual. We did get protective orders.
How many did we have We've had like two, We've
had like two or three to protective orders against this person.

Speaker 1 (01:05:03):
I'll ask you how many mostly dead women had protected
order protective orders when they were killed. They're not worth shit.

Speaker 4 (01:05:10):
Right, So we had multiple protective orders. This person continued
like escalating, driving.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
By our house, seeking us out.

Speaker 4 (01:05:20):
Seeking us out from parties and cookouts where we were,
even though they were uninvited, just showing up.

Speaker 1 (01:05:27):
Move counties away and.

Speaker 4 (01:05:28):
They Yeah, I mean it was a lot, you know.
I felt like I couldn't go anywhere without looking over
my shoulder. I would be walking rufous down the sidewalk
near our house and this person would drive by and
shout things out the window at me. I mean, it
was nuts, and I really I felt afraid. And you
I'm pretty sure you did too, right, because we were like,

(01:05:49):
what the hell.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
Let's just I'm certainly not trying to, you know, set,
but I know how these people feel because I've had
it happen to a pretty good degree enough to where
the person was in enough I wasn't sure what they
were cable, Yeah, exactly, And honestly, it's one of the
reasons we relocated.

Speaker 4 (01:06:07):
So with this, what I was getting at, well, my
point was with the whole story of our our stocking experience.

Speaker 1 (01:06:14):
Oh bitch, find me now.

Speaker 4 (01:06:16):
Yeah, sorry, find my foot in the grass.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
No, I'm just kidding. I don't want to start anything
up for anyone hearing this down here, dumb bitch.

Speaker 4 (01:06:28):
Okay. So she would violate this restraining order like multiple times,
and every time I would call the police, they would
tell me, like, go to the courthouse, shivel or something.
Don't let them know she's violated.

Speaker 1 (01:06:43):
You don't have a show for calls. Don't give her
a court give her a court date.

Speaker 4 (01:06:47):
Instead of just saying no, she's violated this, we're locking
her ass up and putting her in jail. Oh, well,
she'll be violated and then there'll be a court hearing
about it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:57):
Let's say this every time if she want to go.
Are is these stalkers that you've described today and are
still describing. She had ample opportunity, She had all the
room in the world to do it, and the legal
system does nothing to stop it.

Speaker 4 (01:07:11):
Yeah, I mean do they. I felt like treated us badly.
I mean we were victims, and I felt like we
were treated very poorly by law.

Speaker 1 (01:07:21):
Enform, like you're trash and they don't want to be
dealing with it. If anything, it only emboldens. I think
it emboldens people like this.

Speaker 4 (01:07:29):
One of the last time she came by her house,
she's blocking the road, which is a main thoroughfare, screaming
obscenities at us while we're relaxing on our porch. Yeah,
I call the police because she's blocking traffic, she's creating
a scene. She's right outside our house. Call police and

(01:07:50):
when they come, they speak to her. But the officer
didn't even come, like have a communication with me. And
I ended up complaining because I'm like, you didn't have
a communication with me. Allow me to explain to you
the history with this woman, that we've got these active,
you know, protective order in place, that we've had multiple
protective orders, that there's been you know, multiple calls involving

(01:08:13):
her threats and whatever. But it's like they didn't even care,
Like no, so she could have come back, shot, killed
us and nothing. I mean, it would have just been like, oh, well,
you know, that's too bad.

Speaker 1 (01:08:24):
And it's the same thing that domestic violence victims deal with.
I mean, it's it really needs to be addressed, honestly,
And I know people talk about it jams all the time,
but I mean, it really needs to Uh, it could
really help and protect and make so many people feel safe.

Speaker 4 (01:08:41):
They need to overhaul it. Well, you know, the more
that Kristin tried to pull away, distance herself, put up
these like roadblocks, John seemed to grow even more obsessed
with her.

Speaker 1 (01:08:53):
That's how these people react.

Speaker 4 (01:08:54):
Yeah, Kristin feels like she's always in Johns sites no
matter where she goes. John's and the bushes watching, and
these people love to hide in bushes.

Speaker 1 (01:09:03):
It's really strong, telling you the stories that bushes could tell.

Speaker 4 (01:09:06):
Yeah, he follows her around campus. He sits outside the apartment.
Kristin is a nervous wreck. She can't concentrate. She starts
filling her classes, making bad grades. With the protection order
in place, John does cease the behavior, but Kristin is
still on edge.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Well, I think step one is to get rid of
all the bushes.

Speaker 4 (01:09:29):
Kind of no news is not good news, you know
what I mean, because like what is he up to?

Speaker 1 (01:09:35):
Yeah, that's what's so messed up about it is. Once
you're unsettled like this, and I'm sure even more so
in these cases, it doesn't just go away, you know
what I mean, That feeling of looking over your shoulder
even for a cussing confrontation in public.

Speaker 4 (01:09:54):
Well, that's the thing. It's super scary, but it's also
like humiliating. It's all those all the if you're just
doing your thing and someone shows up and they're yelling
obscenities and vulgarities at you and threatening you. I mean,
even though you're not doing anything wrong, you're the victim.
I mean, it's still really embarrassing for all these people

(01:10:16):
to know what's going on and.

Speaker 1 (01:10:17):
To see this and yeah, be part of that, right, I.

Speaker 4 (01:10:20):
Mean, nobody wants to have that experience. After Jessica Faulkner's murder,
Kristin grows increasingly frightened. She kind of lost it on
the phone with her mother. Kristin was telling her, you know,
the system has failed Jessica. What's it going to do
to protect me?

Speaker 1 (01:10:36):
Oh? Wow, I didn't even think of it. In the
aftermath of this other stalking murder. Basically mm hmm wow.

Speaker 4 (01:10:43):
Holly called a reporter in Wilmington. She explained the situation
that was going on with her daughter and how the
school didn't really seem to be doing much to protect
students from stalkers. She was shocked when the reporter pulled
up John's criminal record and they realized again he was
a convicted criminal for sexual crime. Despite asking the reporter

(01:11:07):
to keep their identities anonymous, the guy said it was
too late and the publication had already gone to print.
So this story gets printed in the paper. John's name
is printed and his background exposed, his criminal record.

Speaker 1 (01:11:25):
I think this is the story.

Speaker 4 (01:11:26):
Also makes the local TV station and radio newscasts.

Speaker 1 (01:11:31):
Do you think this is unethical from a journalistic point
of view?

Speaker 4 (01:11:35):
I do. And at that point, Kristen fears her life
is seriously in danger because with John's criminal record being
exposed and made public, everybody knowing what's going on. He's
on blast. He really doesn't have anything to lose at
this point.

Speaker 1 (01:11:51):
No, it's only going to inflame the situation. That's not
a good move by the reporter.

Speaker 4 (01:11:57):
After this story was printed, five days pass with no
word from John. Finally she's feeling safe enough to maybe
like leave the house, do some shopping. Maybe this is
what it takes to get him to leave her alone.

Speaker 1 (01:12:12):
Well, maybe she's thinking just the public exposures like his
kind of his dirty secrets out there, you know, maybe
everyone knows and knows the situation and maybe he'll just
leave her alone.

Speaker 4 (01:12:23):
Now, she finally feels safe enough to go shopping. So
on June fourth, she has gone to the mall to
pick up a birthday present, I think for her mom,
and she arrives back at the apartment building around nine
forty five. John pulls up immediately, so it was pretty
clear he had followed her to the mall, had you know,

(01:12:46):
like waited and then followed her back to the apartment. Okay, right,
as she's getting out of her Ford focus, she's got
her hands like, you know, kind of full of bags
and stuff, and that's when he reaches the truck and
pulls out a rifle. So as she sees John, she
starts screaming and runs away. She's trying to knock on

(01:13:08):
neighbors doors, screaming, help, help, help. She finally manages, it
sounds like, to get kind of inside the apartment building.
And as she's in you know, inside the apartment building,
he blasts multiple shots, like I said, eight to twelve shots, damn,
the last one being right in the face from a rifle. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:13:30):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (01:13:31):
Then he goes on the lamb. Now at his home,
law enforcement found a voice recorder that had a full
confession for police. One of the lines on this recording
said if I can't have her, no one will classic
cliche statement.

Speaker 1 (01:13:47):
Yeah, but when these people mean that.

Speaker 4 (01:13:49):
Finn abusive psycho piece.

Speaker 1 (01:13:50):
Of crap, they mean that they will make sure that literally,
if they can't be with you, that they'll make sure
that no one else can be. And it's so scary.

Speaker 4 (01:14:02):
They also found this is interesting Dylan a wig, female
clothing and makeup, which suggested that perhaps he had disguised
himself as a woman as part of his escape plan,
because I remember there's a man hunt for him. He's
on the run. There was also a map with directions

(01:14:22):
to the Nausea home in Ohio, like he was perhaps
planning to go there. The what the the family's home,
Kristen's family's home.

Speaker 1 (01:14:34):
Oh Okay. Their last name is no Jacques Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:14:37):
So it was directions to their home.

Speaker 1 (01:14:39):
I got you, that's a fancy last name. I thought
he's going to the Vanderbilt estate now.

Speaker 4 (01:14:44):
After being spotted in Asheville, North Carolina, he was then
seen in Johnson City, Tennessee. In some of these surveillance videos,
it shows him in stores buying camping gear. Cook stove, tent,
sleeping bag.

Speaker 1 (01:14:58):
Oh so possibly he's one hit the Old Appalachan Trail
or something.

Speaker 4 (01:15:02):
Possibly. So then there's an all points bulletin that's sent
out across the state. And that's how the park ranger
recognized John Peck when he caught him camping illegally in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And that's you know,
he confronted him. And then that's when the John you
know is on the run, gets in a roadblock, shoots

(01:15:23):
at cops, then drives off a cliff kills himself. Damn yeah.
Kristen's murder was featured on Lifetime Movie Network in a
program called Campus Nightmares. The case was also picked up
for Stocked. Someone's Watching. I did check out that episode.
Christen's father told the program quote, Statistically, your child won't

(01:15:46):
get murdered on a college campus. It won't happen to us.
But until it happens to you, you don't pay attention
to it, and you don't realize until it's too late.

Speaker 1 (01:15:55):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (01:15:57):
So three tales of stalking turn deadly.

Speaker 1 (01:16:03):
Gosh wow, starting September off with a bang. These are
terrible stories, and in every case I feel like the
system could have done more to protect these victims as
you you know, per usual, you know, I mean, how
do you plead down first degree rate? Right, you know,

(01:16:23):
how do you plead down any of these terrible crimes?
I don't want to hear. I mean, now, when the
victims say, or victim's family don't want to go through it,
and that's the only part of that I would respect.
But the rest of it cost time, effort, winning percentages,
all that shit can go. But the victims obviously get

(01:16:45):
to choose if they don't want to go through that,
I understand. But yeah, I mean, so many times, for
so many reasons, these people get let off these very
serious charges, you know, that could have protected other people.
He should go to jail, then you should, You should
go to jail. Then, now, I understand courts and evidence,

(01:17:06):
you got to prove it, but I mean, damn, there's
always these patterns, you know, always these patterns every time
until you get to the point of murder and then
you know, self suicide or whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:17:20):
That's the thing I find really interesting about these three cases, Dylan,
when you look at them, I mean, you've got nineteen
thirty seven and two thousand and four and the similarities.
It's like something has never changed, right. And in the
two thousand and four the two cases, both perpetrators committed suicide,

(01:17:41):
and it's speculated that George Wells may have killed himself
back in the nineteen thirties.

Speaker 1 (01:17:48):
That's why he disappeared, never to be seen again.

Speaker 4 (01:17:50):
Might disappeared. So I do think it's interesting that these
people will, these stalkers, will take your life and then
take their own life.

Speaker 1 (01:18:00):
Yeah, because they're coward suicide. They're cowards. They'll kill the
person they profess to love more than life itself and
then they can't even face the consequences of their actions
after that, so you know that they'll kill themselves.

Speaker 4 (01:18:16):
It is very coward.

Speaker 1 (01:18:17):
I'm sorry, I'm alive. Yeah, we are going.

Speaker 4 (01:18:23):
To get a sensitivity officer for the podcast, can put
it out all the inappropriate things we say. No, we're
not sanitize it.

Speaker 1 (01:18:33):
We're not.

Speaker 4 (01:18:35):
No, we're not. We're still going to say funk a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:18:37):
Yes, fa. We haven't said fuck a whole lot lately.
Well I just said it, so you know, what the fuck?

Speaker 4 (01:18:43):
Yeah, what the fuck?

Speaker 1 (01:18:44):
All right, So thank you for that, and thanks again
to our new patron Mallorie Mallori. Well, I was pointing
to you. I was wanting you to come in there
and say, Mallary, Okay, thanks for supporting us in this episode.

Speaker 4 (01:19:01):
Yeah, keep listening all month long. We were going to
have cases like the ones you heard today, college campuses,
high school students, maybe even some young kids, crimes no
among their student body. So yeah, you don't want to

(01:19:23):
miss those, and you don't want to miss any of
the episodes on the dark Cast Network period Dylan. Period period,
as the kids say, with like a tea.

Speaker 1 (01:19:32):
On the end, they used to say that, yeah, two
years ago.

Speaker 4 (01:19:37):
I'm sorry, I'm not cool. Dark Cast has so many
amazing podcasts and they've recently had a few new joining along.
So if you're looking for like indie podcasts, true crime, horror, paranormal,
creepy stuff, dark Cast has you covered. And dark Cast
is going to be doing this really cool thing heading
into the Halloween season, Dylan. They're going to have kind

(01:19:59):
of a little like Halloween podcast marathon where multiple podcasts
involved with the dark Cast Network are going to record
like these different you know, Halloween kind of related shows.

Speaker 1 (01:20:15):
Okay, they're going to be like sure.

Speaker 4 (01:20:17):
Episodes, there'll be a little mini episodes. But then you'll
get all this really cool content.

Speaker 1 (01:20:22):
Whoa, I can't wait.

Speaker 4 (01:20:23):
Ghost stories and things like that.

Speaker 1 (01:20:25):
Really, it's a great place to find a good, solid,
entertaining indie pods.

Speaker 4 (01:20:30):
Yeah, we'll be part of that Halloween show, so I'm
looking forward to that, and we'll let you know more
about that as as time marches on.

Speaker 1 (01:20:38):
I haven't signed my contract yet, so you're not allowed
to use my name or likeness until I put pen
to the paper.

Speaker 4 (01:20:45):
Well, you just need to copy and paste this post
on Facebook so that we don't take your identity, all right, Dylan,
As always, it's such a pleasure, Yeah, being with you.

Speaker 1 (01:20:56):
Yeah, now I'm going to stalk you the rest of
the evening.

Speaker 5 (01:21:00):
You were like a blooming flower.

Speaker 4 (01:21:01):
In the springtime.

Speaker 1 (01:21:03):
Gosh, stalkings seems like a lot of work.

Speaker 4 (01:21:05):
Yeah, that's probably why you don't.

Speaker 1 (01:21:06):
Do it, alright, So until next time.

Speaker 4 (01:21:10):
Leave people to fuck alone.

Speaker 1 (01:21:11):
Man, that's right, alright.

Speaker 4 (01:21:13):
Bye,