216: The Wellnitz Family Murders

For nearly a decade, the Wellnitz family murders haunted the small town of Columbia, Kentucky. The tight knit community had no clue why these good people were mercilessly executed in their own home. They were known for their thriving veterinary clinic and their kind hearts. But someone had been viciously murdered the family and even though investigators were pretty sure they knew who did it, the case went cold. It took ten years and heroic undercover work to get justice for the Wellnitz family. 

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley 
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank 
Additional writing by Erica Kelley
Edited and Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner 
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio 
Suggested by Dana Schmidt

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/wellnitz-family

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Episode Transcript

(00:09):
Southern Fried true crime covers cases thatare not suitable for young listeners, and
there may also be some explicit languageused. Listener discretion is a vised In
the early nineteen eighties, Dana Kingwas a little girl who liked horses in
the small town of Columbia, Kentucky. When a new family, the Wellnitzes,

(00:35):
moved nearby, Dana was intrigued.She was overjoyed when she learned that
the father of the family, JoeWellnitz was a veterinarian and that he and
his wife, Beth were going toopen their own vet clinic. Dana later
said they were kind, they wereloving, and they were fun to be

(00:57):
around. She also remembered how Bethlet her help wash their pony. Beth
had always been so kind to her. Over the years, Dana ended up
doing a lot of odd jobs forthe Wellnuts family and their vet practice,
and when she grew up, Danamarried a veterinarian. Many years later,

(01:19):
she and her husband would come toown what was once the Wellnutz family's veterinary
practice. Joe and Beth Wellness werelong since gone. The well Nuts story
had ended in tragedy. Welcome toEpisode two sixteen, the Wellnutz family murderers.

(01:51):
Beth Wellnitz was born Elizabeth N.Preston on May first, nineteen fifty
two, to Leonard and Mary Prestonin Lexington, Cantucky. She had two
brothers. Beth's parents met at theUniversity of Kentucky. Her mother was studying
to be an English teacher and herfather was a college football player. By

(02:12):
nineteen forty three, Mary and Leonardwere married. For the rest of their
lives. Beth's parents would be avidUniversity Kentucky sports fans. During the Korean
War, Beth's father served in theArmy. While her father was in the
military, the Preston family moved allover the world. They lived in Japan,

(02:32):
Germany, Philadelphia, Fort Knox,and Louisville. Then, around nineteen
sixty six, Leonard was seriously injuredin the line of duty. At the
time, he was stationed in NorthKorea. Following that, Leonard retired from
the military, and when Beth wasaround six years old, the Preston family

(02:54):
settled down in Lexington, Kentucky.Beth's mother, Mary, taught her to
about the importance of academic excellence,tolerance, and compassion. She was a
teacher and a great role model.Pleus. Mary was an active volunteer.
She participated in local politics, cofounded housing organizations, and helped out with

(03:16):
mills on wills. Meanwhile, Beth'sfather, Leonard, taught the kids the
importance of teamwork and determination. Leonard'smilitary career also played a big part in
his children's lives. One of Beth'sbrothers, Lee, followed in his dad's
footsteps and joined the army. Leeeven attended the prestigious West Point Military Academy

(03:40):
in New York. Tragically, inMarch of nineteen sixty nine, twenty four
year old Lee was killed in actionin the Vietnam War. Lee's name is
engraved in the Vietnam Veterans War Memorialin Washington, d c. Beth lost
her other brother, William Power Preston, in nineteen eighty five. As an

(04:03):
adult, Beth was known for herkind heart, energetic nature, and selfless
generosity. She always said that ifshe ever won the lottery, she'd use
her winnings to help those in need. She would start a home for terminally
ill children. She'd use the moneyto assist the elderly. She'd buy her
friends and family homes and Cars,a woman who worked with Beth for many

(04:27):
years, Cindy Yates told the LexingtonHerald Leader her philosophy was, if you've
got it, share it. InJune of nineteen seventy, eighteen year old
Beth experienced two major milestones. First, she graduated from Henry Clay High School,
and on the twenty seventh of thatsame month, Beth got married.

(04:48):
His name was Sam Mullinix. Heworked at IBM and took classes at the
University of Kentucky. That fall,Beth also began her bachelor's degree at UK.
Beth had two children from this marriage. Her son, Dennis, was
born in April nineteen seventy two.Then two years later came Margaret and Mullinichs.

(05:10):
She was born on March tenth,nineteen seventy four, in Good Samaritan,
Kentucky. Margaret would always go byMeg, but unfortunately Beth and Sam's
relationship didn't work. They divorced inthe late seventies. Then Beth made her
way to Lexington, Kentucky. That'swhere she met a man named Joe.

(05:30):
Joseph Verle Wellness was born in Octoberof nineteen forty two to parents Vile and
Dorothy. Joe grew up near Louisville, Kentucky, in the rural areas of
Jefferson County. He had a brotherand a sister. Even as a child,
Joe had a passion for helping animals. It was natural that he grew

(05:51):
up to be a veterinarian. Joegraduated from Wagner High School in the nineteen
fifties. Then he attended Ohio's Universityof Cincinnati. In nineteen sixty five,
Joe moved to Alabama to earn hisdoctor a veterinarian medicine from Auburn University.
After that, he moved back hometo Kentucky. Joe also served in the

(06:14):
Air Force during the Vietnam War.While enlisted, he helped care for the
U. S. Sentry dogs andassisted Vietnamese farmers. Once, he flew
into an area where enemy soldiers werenearby to treat some sick farm animals.
For his bravery, Joe was awardedthe Bronze Star. On December thirtieth,
nineteen seventy one, twenty nine yearold Joe married his first wife, Elizabeth

(06:39):
Weddington. Joe and his new wifebegan their lives in Versailles, Kentucky.
For about six years, he workedat a local veterinarian clinic, but ultimately
Joe and Elizabeth's marriage did not workout and they divorced in the early seventies.
In January of nineteen seventy six,thirty three year old Joe married a

(07:00):
woman named Sarah Houston. Sarah hada son from her previous marriage named Eric.
Joe adopted Eric at a very youngage, but by December of nineteen
seventy eight, this marriage had alsofailed and Joe and Sarah divorced. Over
time, Joe's relationship with his adoptedson Eric became estranged. After his divorce,

(07:25):
Joe moved to Lexington, Kentucky,where he worked as a veterinarian for
the Southland del Tour Clinic. Thiswas when Joe Wellnut's crossed paths with a
young, blonde, single mother andEnglish teacher named Beth Molinix. They fell
in love, and on June twentysecond, nineteen seventy nine, thirty six

(07:45):
year old Joe married twenty seven yearold Beth in Fayette, Kentucky. They
spent their honeymoon camping at Dale HollowLake. For the rest of their years
together, Joe and Beth would recreatethe same honeymoon camping trip every year on
their anniversary. When Joe and Bethwere married, Beth's son, Dennis was
seven years old, her daughter Megwas five. Both children came to love

(08:11):
and respect Joe as their father,and in the nineteen eighties, both Dennis
and Meg officially changed their last namesto Wellnets. Dennis even took Joe's middle
name, Le as his middle name. Joe and Beth's relationship seemed meant to
be. They were madly in love. Even after years of marriage, they

(08:31):
acted like dough I teenagers. Theirreverend, Jim Chaffin, was blown away
by their continuous passion for each other. He told a newspaper, I've never
met a couple their age who wereso devoted. I'm going to pause now
for a short commercial break. InJanuary of nineteen eighty one, the Wellnuts

(08:58):
family moved. They went one hundredmiles south from Lexington to Columbia, Kentucky,
which probably felt like a big changefor the family. Lexington is a
large, bustling city with a populationof more than three hundred thousand. Colombia,
on the other hand, was asmall rural town back in the eighties

(09:20):
and nineties, Columbia was populated byfewer than four thousand people, but that
was exactly why Joe and Beth wantedto move there. Their lifelong goal was
to open their own veterinary clinic ina carrying, close knit community. They
would work together, with Beth runningthe office. So they bought a farmhouse

(09:41):
with a big barn in Columbia.They renovated the barn, creating their clinic.
As Joe would later say when speakingto the Adair Progress newspaper, we
feel our dream has come true.Over the next twelve years, doctor Joe,
his clinic, and his face familybecame pillars of the Columbia community.

(10:03):
Beth became the historian for the KentuckyVeterinary Medical Association. Joe joined the Adair
County Health Board. Their eldest Dennis, was considered a reliable, smart and
hard worker, and Meg was veryinvolved at Adare County High School. She
tutored other students, and she participatedin art and library clubs. The Wellnuts

(10:28):
family were also members of the localPresbyterian Church. They were extremely well liked.
Joyce Malden, who lived with herhusband in a cabin on the Wellness's
property told the Herald Leader, they'rethe type of people everybody loved. They'd
do anything for you. Joe,who was lovingly referred to as Doc,

(10:50):
was considered a caring veterinarian with abig heart. He would frequently treat people's
pets for free. When he hadto put an animal down, he grieved
alongside its owner, and when awayward dog didn't have a home to go
to, it wasn't unusual for Joeto bring it over to the house with
him. In October of ninety two, someone brought in a dog with two

(11:15):
broken legs. Joe treated the poorfella without payment, Then when no one
could adopt the dog, Joe tookhim home. The dog's name was Tequila,
and Tequila stayed with the Wellnesses formany months until he was well enough
to move on. On a differentoccasion, Joe took in a Border Collie
that couldn't walk. That poor pup, whose name was Boose, had severe

(11:39):
back issues. A specialist confirmed thatthere was no way the dog was going
to stand again, but Joe wasn'tdismayed. He put a diaper on Boose
and let the dog live on hisproperty. Roger Smith a dentist and Joe's
neighbor, told the local newspaper Joetreated animals as a physician treated people.

(12:01):
He couldn't stand to see them suffer. Joe's employees at the vet clinic also
spoke highly of his dedication to animals. One employee, Dan Lawhorn, tease
Joe that he could stand to bea little meaner. He said, I
told him one time, I thoughthe was about too good to the animals
and the people. At the beginningof nineteen ninety three, the Wellnuts vet

(12:24):
practice was thriving. Joe and Bethwere, by all accounts, very happily
married. Twenty year old Dennis wasa student at Somerset Community College. He
also worked at the movie warehouse inColumbia, and eighteen year old mag had
just started at Lexington Community College.Everything really seemed picture perfect for the Wellnuts

(12:48):
family, which is probably why themorning of Friday, February twenty sixth,
nineteen ninety three, came as sucha shock to quite literally everyone. At
about eight o'clock that morning, twoemployees arrived at the Wellnuts clinic. They
both thought it was strange that Joeand Beth hadn't come in yet, after

(13:09):
all, their house was the stone'sthrow away. It wasn't like they could
be stuck in traffic. One ofthe employees, Dan Lawhorn, noticed a
bullet sized hole in the side doorof the building. Dan knew Joe would
want to know about the damage,so he walked over to Joe and Beth's
house. The doors to the homewere unlocked, but that wasn't really strange.

(13:31):
After all, this was small townKentucky. Nobody locked their doors,
so Dan walked inside the Walnuts hometo search for Joe. He found fifty
year old Joe Wellnets downstairs. Hewas wearing a T shirt and sweatpants and
lying face down in a pool ofhis own blood. A second employee had

(13:52):
accompanied Dan to the Wellnuts home.When Dan had gone downstairs, she walked
upstairs. That's where she found fortyyear old Beth Wellness dead in the main
bedroom, and then she found twentyyear old Dennis dead in his bedroom.
The stunned employees called nine one oneand waited for first responders. Captain Jeff

(14:16):
Hancock of the Kentucky State Police arrivedat the scene. He had known Joe
and Beth pretty well. In laterinterviews with oxygen. Captain Hancock said,
I'll never forget walking in the housethat morning and seeing what I saw.
It was just total shock. Iknew what kind of people they were.
I knew how kind they were,and how compassionate they were with the work

(14:39):
they did. I couldn't believe it. All three members of the Wellnuts family
were dressed for bed, and allthree had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to their
heads and torsos. The only remainingwellness was Meg. On the night her
family was massacred, he was outof the house one hundred miles away in

(15:03):
Lexington, where she attended community college. That specific Friday night, she had
been playing cards with her boyfriend Randyand another couple, Bill and Regina Meese.
Captain Hancock's heart broke for mag Herentire family had been annihilated in the
blink of an eye. He said. When Meg was told that her mom

(15:24):
and dad and brother were murdered,I felt really sorry for her. I
thought, how is she going togo on? How does she recover from
this? The funeral service for Joe, Beth and Dennis Wellnets was held four
days later, on Tuesday, Marchsecond, nineteen ninety three people gathered at

(15:46):
one pm in the Christ Church Cathedralfor the service before interment. After the
service, all three members of theWellnuts family were buried in the Lexington Cemetery.
Previously, his father and both ofher brothers were buried in this same
cemetery. In twenty twenty, Beth'smother Mary would be laid to rest there

(16:07):
as well, after losing almost allof her immediate family. As police investigated
the crime scene for clues, theybecame increasingly baffled. There was no sign
of forced entry into the house,no busted locks, no broken windows,
no mysterious fingerprints, nothing. Noone had rifled through the drawers, the

(16:30):
furniture hadn't been overturned. In fact, everything was clean and tidy, and
all valuables exactly where they should be. It didn't appear that this was a
robbery gone wrong. There wasn't evena sign of struggle. Whoever was responsible
seemed to have caught all three victimsby surprise. Joe was the first,

(16:53):
and his body was positioned in sucha way that officers believed he might have
been headed towards his gun, buthe didn't make it there in time.
At first, authorities wondered if therewere multiple killers. They had found seventeen
shell casings throughout the home. That'snearly six bullets per victim, but ballistics

(17:15):
testing later revealed that all seventeen casingscame from the same gun, so the
multiple shooter theory was considered unlikely.Early in the investigation, Beth's mother Mary
told the police to look out fora small fireproof safe. She said it
held important papers, and indeed,detective Roy Wheat had discovered keys labeled fire

(17:40):
safe in the house, but thesafe itself was nowhere to be found.
Usually it was located in the backof Joe and Beth's closet. They could
see a square endent in the carpetwhere it should have been. So far,
this was the only lead police had. If this was a robber,

(18:00):
it was a very specific kind ofrobbery, not a smash and grab,
but a robbery that required a greatdeal of planning. How else would someone
have known where the fire safe washidden. It was in an upstairs bedroom
closet. That's not exactly in plainsight. You've got to know where you're
going. Due to the brutality ofthese killings, local investigators were nearly certain

(18:25):
that this crime was personal in nature, that it wasn't random. No,
they suspected that someone had a vendettaagainst the wellnesses. Detective Roy Wheat told
the Lexington Herald Leader, I wouldhave to say, in my almost nineteen
years, it's probably the worst situationI've had to deal with. I'm going

(18:48):
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dot com. When investigating the murders, the authorities first looked at pet owners
who were upset with Joe's veterinary practice, and they actually found a few.

(21:30):
Namely, there was one man whowouldn't pay his bill, but that guy
was quickly cleared. The police alsospoke with a couple who used to rent
the cabin on the wellness property.The couple was supposed to complete some work
for Joe and Beth in exchange theywould get to stay in the cabin for
free, but they didn't do thework, or at least they didn't do

(21:52):
enough work to satisfy Joe and Beth, and when Joe handed the couple an
eighteen hundred dollars bill, it didn'tgo over well. But by February of
nineteen ninety three, that couple hadmoved away. According to them, their
dispute with the Wellnuts family was fullyresolved and they had solid alibis. Then

(22:14):
investigators began looking at Joe's estranged son, Eric Wellnits. Joe had never removed
Eric from his will, so hewas set to receive about a quarter of
a million dollars after Joe's death.When law enforcement reached out to Eric,
he was genuinely shocked that he wasstill included in his stepfather's will, which

(22:36):
made sense seeing as he and Joeno longer spoke. Eric had cut ties
after Joe abandoned him. He feltthat Joe's new family with Beth had essentially
replaced him. Regardless, the killerwasn't Eric. He had an airtight alibi
for the night of the murders.He was sleeping at a friend's house,

(22:56):
and Eric, like Meg, wasall the way in Lexington, one hundred
miles away, a two hour driveat best. Eric told Oxygen, there's
no way in the world, Iever could have done anything like that.
Yes, I was angry as achild, you know, having your dad
disappearing out of your life, kindof in a snap of a finger.

(23:18):
It was hard and I was angry, but not that kind of anger where
I wished anything bad. Meg's collegeboyfriend, Randy Appleton, was also considered
a suspect. The police were suspiciousof Randy because he was a gun enthusiast
and he didn't get along well withMeg's mother, Beth, But none of

(23:40):
the shell casings found in the wellNuts home matched Randy's gun collection, so
investigators kept looking. Meg herself wasalso considered a suspect. She stood to
inherit a lot of money, soshe had to be a person of interest,
but Joe and Beth were in enoughdebt that are actual internance was moot.
In fact, Meg wound up havingto sell the farmhouse and land to

(24:04):
pay off those debts, but theinsurance payout was going to be sizable,
somewhere in the range of five hundredand thirty thousand. In today's money,
that would be more than one pointone million. As a brief sidebar,
investigators also found that Meg had someconnections with the occult and Wicca nineteen ninety

(24:26):
three was about the height of theSatanic Panic in America, and Meg was
definitely at the age of teens whohad become fascinated by Satanism. She kept
a black candle in her bedroom inthe Walnuts home, and she had written
a freshman term paper on the topicof human sacrifice. Meg later claimed she

(24:48):
only went to one WICCA meeting.However, she and her friends Bill and
Regina Mee did bond over their mutualinterest in Wicca magic and witchcraft. Perhaps
Meg was just exploring her religious beliefs. She was young, just entering college
figuring herself out. Court documents alsoreported that Beth had a book about Wicca

(25:12):
on her night stand, so Ihave to wonder if perhaps Beth, a
practicing Christian, was trying to understandher daughter's new fascination with witchcraft. Of
course, none of this seemed veryrelevant to the murderers, especially since both
Meg and Randy's time was accounted forthat evening. As I said before,

(25:33):
they were playing cards with two otherpeople, their friends, Bill and Regina
Mees. Detectives spoke to Bill MEAs, but they never had much contact with
Regina According to her later testimony,Mees forbade her from talking to the authorities,
but he wasn't too worried about himself, and in late nineteen ninety three
he agreed to take a polygraph testwith the Lexington Police Department. It did

(25:59):
not go well. When he arrivedat the testing session, he was under
the impression he was only going tobe asked about a gun in his possession,
specifically a Browning high power pistol.He said he had gotten it only
a few weeks before the murders froma friend of a friend. Mees refused
to tell the police the identity ofthe friend of a friend, saying this

(26:22):
person was a felon. They weren'tsupposed to own a gun, and Mees
wasn't going to get them in trouble. During the polygraph test, the interviewer
suddenly changed tracks. He asked MEAsnot about the gun, but about the
murders of Joe Beth and Dennis Wellnitz. That's when Bill Meaes lost it.

(26:44):
He became so agitated that he hadto be unhooked from the polygraph machine.
Early Captain Hancock later said it definitelyraised red flags that he knows more than
he's telling us. But red flagsare only that red flags. The police
didn't have any evidence, and Meece, who wasn't under arrest, was well

(27:07):
within his rights to leave. Localauthorities were highly motivated to find the person
responsible for killing the Wellnesses, notjust because the family was so well loved,
but also because residents of Columbia,Kentucky were freaking out. They didn't
feel safe and who could blame them. An entire family had been executed,

(27:30):
and no one had any clue asto why. Gun sells in the area
were rising. People started locking theirdoors. Cindy Yates, a longtime employee
of the Wellness Vet Clinic, triedto avoid going out at night following the
murders. She told the Lexington Harold, you can't walk past your window without

(27:51):
wondering who's out there looking at you. If I just knew who or why,
it would help a lot. Justnot knowing is most of the fear.
As a result of this community widepanic, the rumor mill was cranking.
One local newspaper even published a frontpage story detailing the most common rumors.

(28:11):
A portion of the article was styledlike mad libs, as in it
said the prime suspect or suspects areblank fill in your own names. This
seems in very poor taste for anewspaper to do after this kind of tragedy.
I guess sometimes Gallow's humor takes overin even the worst of cases.

(28:37):
But the rumors were so prolific thatRonnie Moran, a state Police trooper and
spokesman, told reporters the community isupset, is concerned, frightened. Everyone
has their own suspect. It spawneda lot of rumors and that's all they
are rumors. So yeah, thepolice wanted a perp and fast, not

(29:00):
only because they knew the Wellness familyand wanted to serve justice, but also
because this unexplained crime was wreaking havocon their community. The Lexington, Columbia
and University of Kentucky authorities joined forcesto solve this crime. They assigned three
investigators to the case. In total, hundreds of hours were spent tracking down

(29:25):
leads, and the authorities followed upon many, many tips from the public.
At first, it seemed like thiscase was going to be solved quickly.
Less than a month after the murdersin March of nineteen ninety three,
one police spokesperson told the Lexington Heraldthat they were pursuing promising leads. Not
long after, Detective Roy Wheat toldreporters it does look good as far as

(29:51):
an arrest being made. I don'thave a doubt in my mind that sooner
or later we're going to get thebreak we need to break it wide open.
But investigators didn't get their break untilalmost ten years later. I'm going
to pause now to a word fromtoday's sponsors. This episode is brought to

(30:14):
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teledoc heealth dot com. That's tela doc health dot com. Years passed
without any new developments in the Wellnesstriple homicide case, so as much as

(32:34):
people can move on from a tragedyof this caliber, they did. Meg
transferred to the University of Kentucky tostudy English. A year after the death
of her family. In February nineteenninety four, Meg sued the Mutual Life
Insurance Company of New York. Joe'sinsurance policies were supposed to go to Beth,

(32:57):
but Beth was gone. After Beth, Joe's money was supposed to go
to her mother, Mary Powers Preston. Missus Preston was directed to use the
money to care for Meg and Dennis. Joe wrote in his will that he
had the greatest love and affection forDennis and Meg. So since Meg was
the sole survivor, she was toget all of Joe's insurance money. This

(33:22):
is where that five hundred thirty thousanddollars sum I mentioned earlier comes from.
Meg filed for the insurance money inDecember nineteen ninety three, but the insurance
company refused to pay, and fora pretty good reason. Meg was still
a suspect in her family's murders.However, as she hadn't been charged with

(33:44):
anything, the insurance company was forcedto give Meg the check. She also
provided a legal document in which shedenied that there is any substantial credible evidence
indicating that she caused her family member'sdeaths. After Meg sued the insurance company,
Eric Wellnuts Joseph stranged son, alsosued. He wanted a portion of

(34:07):
the insurance payout too. Ultimately,Meg agreed to split the insurance money with
Eric. She received about three hundredthousand, but it's unclear how much money
Eric actually received. Interestingly, whenEric and Meg organized the split, they
both agreed that neither could sue theother if it was found out that they

(34:29):
were involved in the murders. Innineteen ninety five, Meg married her college
sweetheart Randy Appleton. Meg and Randyhad one son together in nineteen ninety seven,
but that same year they divorced.Then Meg would go on to marry
her second husband, Justin Manly.Jump to October of two thousand and two,

(34:52):
five years later, Detective Sergeant DennisSpinningfield was following up on the Wellnuts
case, which by then was acold case, a very cold case.
No one knew if it would everbe solved, but Sergeant Benningfield had hope,
and his hope grew when he foundout that Bill and Regina Meaes had

(35:13):
had a nasty breakup in November nineteenninety nine. Meaes and Regina were separated.
The next month, Regina alleged thatMEAs had sexually assaulted her on Christmas
Eve. Later, a grand juryruled that Meaes had not sexually assaulted his
wife, but Regina continuously maintained thathe had. By the end of the

(35:37):
year two thousand, they were officiallydivorced, and Benningfield saw this as an
opportunity. He approached Regina to discussthe deaths of Joe Beth and Dennis Wellness.
Before her husband had stopped her fromgoing to the police now she was
free and clear. He wanted toknow if perhaps Regina had some insight as

(35:59):
to what really happened that night,and she knew exactly what happened nine years
ago on that cold February night.Regina explained that her ex husband Bill MEAs
and Meg Wellness had orchestrated the entirething, and to prove it, Regina
provided the authorities with a small firesafe, the same fire safe that had

(36:22):
been stolen from the Wellnuts home thatnight. When Regina handed it over to
the police, they found a hairinside of it. Lab testing indicated it
was very similar to Joe Wellness's hair. William Harry Meaes was born in October
of nineteen seventy two. He wouldgo by the nickname Bill all his life.

(36:44):
I've been referring to him as niecesince that is the name he is
most widely recognized by today. WhenMees was a newborn, his mother jan
left his abusive father. Then beforehe turned one year old, she abandoned
him. At that point, hisgrandmother on his mother's side took him in.

(37:04):
She lived in Florida and legally adoptedhim, but when he was twelve,
years old, his grandmother passed away. Then Mees was forced to move
in with his biological mother, andthat's how he ended up in Lexington,
Kentucky, where she lived. Janpretended to be Mysa's sister for fifteen years.
She kept him out of school anddiscouraged him from talking to other people.

(37:29):
Later on, Jan would testify thatshe was diagnosed with several mental illnesses.
She frequently heard voices that told herto kill people. She believed that
mes also heard similar voices, buthe denied it. But even if he
didn't have her same mental health issues, his childhood was certainly a recipe for

(37:52):
making a sociopath. Eric Wellness,Joe's estranged son, happened to go to
junior high school with Mees, andhe recalled how Mees had once stabbed him
in the thigh with a pencil.Eric also remembered that Mees would often discuss
killing. When Eric said that hewas going to share Mesa's fascination with murder

(38:12):
with some adults, Mees threatened tohurt him. In the late nineteen eighties,
Mees attended Henry Clay High School inLexington. He didn't graduate. Later
on, he would earn his gedand enroll in Lexington Community College. Afterward,
he attended the University of Kentucky,and in August of nineteen ninety one,

(38:35):
eighteen year old Mees married Regina.They had three children together. Mees
was a pathological liar. He'd latersay as much in court. He lied
so much and so often that it'stricky to know what is true about his
life and what's not. For example, he told numerous people, including Regina,

(38:57):
that he was an ex Navy seal. He claimed he had been involved
in black ops, the CIA,and a failed attempt to kill a Rocky
terrorist, Saddam Hussein, but thereis no known record verifying that information.
In fact, the only official recordwe do have is a court document explaining
that Meaes received an other than honorabledischarge from the Navy. He had tested

(39:22):
positive for cocaine, but Meaes insistedhe had never done cocaine, though he
did admit to struggling with alcoholism.Bill MEAs met Meg Willnitz while they were
attending Lexington Community College and the Universityof Kentucky. It doesn't appear that Meaes
received his degree from either school.If he did, he never pursued a

(39:45):
career. Instead, he had aseries of jobs at various points in time.
He was a landscaper, a pestcontrol specialist, a cab driver,
and a bank courier. That isuntil his ex wife, Regina started talking
to the authora in the early twothousands. Not long after that, Mill
Meese was just another jail inmate.I'm going to pause now to hear a

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sequence of events is put together fromwhat Regina and the police investigation revealed about

(42:49):
the Wellness murders. Around November ofnineteen ninety two, Meg's parents were traveling
to Africa. The running joke amongher buddies became how much she would inherit
if her parents died on this trip. Around this same time, Meis,
who was interested in Wicca magic andthe occult. Just like Meg, wanted

(43:10):
to start a commune. He hada business plan for it. The name
would be black Watch Enterprises. InMeg's later recanted statements, she said this
commune was a David Koresh kind ofsituation. Meg and Mes hatched a plan.
They decided that Meeces would kill herparents. Then Meg would inherit their

(43:34):
money, which she estimated to beabout one million dollars, and she would
pay Nis ten percent of that millionone hundred thousand, which would be about
two hundred and fourteen thousand today.And also MEAs would be free to use
the wellness land to start his DavidKoresh like commune. Meg said in a
later recanted statement, it was reallykind of a game at first. Heads

(43:59):
up, I'll continue flagging whatever informationcomes from Meg and Mice's recanted statements,
we'll get into the he says.She said of it all in a moment.
But just know that Meg would firstadmit to everything. Then she claimed
she had no idea about any ofthis. She said, MEAs did all
of it on his own. Meanwhile, Mees would also admit to everything.

(44:22):
Then he claimed that he was innocent, that he wasn't even in the same
city on the night of the murders. I want to be extra clear here
they are lying. They are bothlying. A jury later confirmed they were
lying. The courts affirmed that they'relying, and quite frankly, common sense
says they are lying. But theinformation can and will get a little jumbled

(44:45):
due to their ongoing lies. I'lldo my best to organize it for you.
For months, Mees and Meg plottedthe massacre of the Walnuts family.
Two weeks before the murders happened,Meg bought a rounding high power nine milimeters
pistol. She wasn't twenty one yearsold yet, so she had to use

(45:06):
her fake ID for the purchase.Normally she just used it to buy booze.
Then Meis, who was actually withMeg when she bought the gun,
bought the gun from her. Heused his five hundred dollars tax refund to
pay her. Afterward. Mees alsobought hollow point bullets and human silhouette targets.

(45:27):
He used both items to familiarize himselfwith his new pistol at a firing
range. Remember how I said thatthe Wellness family appeared near picture perfect before
they were murdered. Perhaps the onlyvisible issue in the family was something so
common that it probably seemed kind ofinnocent. At first, Beth wasn't so

(45:50):
sure about her daughter's friend group.She didn't like Meg's current boyfriend, Randy,
and Beth certainly wasn't a fan ofMeg's married friend Meis. Beth actually
knew that Meg had slept with Meecewhile he was married and while Meg was
still in a relationship with Randy.As you can imagine, that didn't sit

(46:10):
well with Beth. It's unclear ifMisa's then wife, Regina or Randy knew
about the sexual relationship. They mighthave been in an open or polyamorous relationship
where it could have been an illicitaffair. We don't really know any more
details. What we do know isthat Beth was not a fan. On

(46:32):
Wednesday, February twenty fourth, nineteenninety three, Meg brought Randy, Meis,
and another unnamed person who was likelyRegina, Mysa's wife, to her
parents' home. Meg wanted to showher mom that Mes wasn't some evil character,
or at least that's what Meg saidshe was doing. Really, she

(46:53):
was giving mee an opportunity to casethe house. The next day, on
Thursday, Myes returned to the Wellnutshome. He went up to the door.
Then, for reasons unknown, heleft. He either chickened out or
something must have gone wrong, thoughit's unclear what because MEAs hadn't changed his

(47:15):
mind. He waited that night untilone thirty am the next morning, and
then he went up to his bedroomto speak to his wife. He told
her that he and Meg were goingto get coffee, and at about two
thirty am, Meg filled up avehicle with gas at a BP station.
Then she and Meice drove from hishome in Lexington to the Wellnuts family home

(47:38):
in Columbia. When they arrived,Meg gave Mees a key to her family's
home. Then she waited in thecar while mee slaughtered them. Later,
during one of his confessions, Meecewould claim that Regina was waiting in the
car with Meg, but as Imentioned, he canted those and Regina told

(48:01):
multiple sources that she was woken upwhen mys and Meg returned to their home
in Lexington, which meant she hadn'tgone with them. Ultimately, law enforcement
did not believe that Regina had anythingto do with the murders. In several
recorded video statements, Mes explained exactlywhat happened in the Wellnuts family home.

(48:23):
He recanted these statements later, ofcourse, but the jury was allowed to
watch the video statements during his trial. First, Mees went downstairs. He
was looking for Beth, who hethought slept in a bedroom down there.
That's where she had been sleeping thatWednesday when Meees came to visit. She
had recently had back surgery, soshe was probably avoiding stairs for a while.

(48:46):
But instead of Beth, Mees ranright into Joe and quickly fired at
him. Joe kept coming towards him, but Meaes continued firing. When Joe
fell to the floor, Meaes headedupstairs. He found Beth standing next to
her in Joe's bed. He shotand killed her. Then he went down

(49:07):
the hall to Dennis's room. Thedoor was locked and me struggled for a
moment, but once he was inside, he found Dennis sitting on his bed.
He yelled at him to get onthe floor and reloaded his gun.
Dennis complied and got down on hisstomach on the floor. When Mees was
done reloading, he shot Dennis inthe back. Then he picked up his

(49:30):
discarded magazine. He put it inhis pocket as a final precaution. MEAs
went through the well Nut's home roomby room to ensure everyone was dead.
Then he returned to the main bedroomto steal the fire safe. Meg had
told Mees that she thought there wasone thousand dollars cash in there. Back
in nineteen ninety three, the medicalexaminer suggested that the Wellnuts family probably died

(49:53):
around four o'clock in the morning,which fits the time period after MEAs and
Meg left to Lexington. They returnedto his house at about seven o'clock in
the morning. When they arrived,Meg was upset. She told Regina that
Dennis was not supposed to be there. Afterwards, Meaes told Regina she wasn't

(50:15):
allowed to talk to the police orlet them into the house. He also
refused to divulge the gruesome details ofthe murders with her right away. He
told Regina that he wanted to giveher plausible deniability, But when they all
went to the Wellnuts home to packup the dead family's belongings, Meaes couldn't

(50:35):
help himself. He began pointing outwhere his victim's bodies had been. As
it turns out, investigators were alwayspretty certain that Bill Meaese was involved with
the Wellnut's murderers. The polygraph incidentwas pretty damning, so in March of
nineteen ninety four, they assigned anundercover police officer to watch and try to

(50:57):
ensnare Mees. The officer and Feliceof the Kentucky State Police posed as an
employee for True Green chem Lawn,where Meis worked. Mees was supposed to
train her to be a salesperson.Officer Felice rode around with him for approximately
three weeks as a trainee officer.Felice tried to gain his trust and then

(51:19):
lure Meese into another murder for higherscheme. She fed me a fake story
about her horribly abusive husband. Sheplanted the seed so that Mees would offer
to kill him for her. Duringthose conversations where Felice was befriending and tricking
Meese, his behavior was concerning.He had a black and white human silhouette

(51:39):
target outside of his work cubicle.There were twenty six bullet holes in the
target's upper body. When discussing thissilhouette, Mes said to Officer Felice,
by the way, what did thatlittle trick on the wall? Was this?
And he pulled out a nine millimetersix hour from his briefcase. When

(52:00):
they were back at his apartment,Mees pulled out the gun and dry fired
it at her face twice. ThatOfficer Felice kept her cool in the moment
is remarkable enough. The fact thatshe kept going back was incredibly brave.
Me spragged her about his ability tolie with a straight face and not feel

(52:21):
bad about it at all. Mesaid lying was so simple that reality was
a mild inconvenience. At one point, Officer Felice casually brought up the Wellnuts
family murders, and Mes responded thatMeg Wellnitts had had her family wasted.
When Felice asked what kind of lookdid they have on their faces, Mees

(52:44):
responded shocked mostly. Mice also providedFelise with detailed instructions for how to go
about killing her abusive husband, startingwith how to acquire a murder weapon.
He said, you don't buy itin your name, so it can't be
traced back to you. After thedeed was done. Meaes suggested that Felice

(53:05):
throw the gun in a dumpster outsideof a fast food restaurant. He also
suggested she put the clothes she hadbeen wearing in the same trash bag.
As we know, Meg used afake ID to buy the murder weapon and
then Mees bought it from her withoutregistering it, and according to Regina's talks
with the police and Mesa's recanted videoconfessions, he and Meg disposed of their

(53:30):
clothes and the murder weapon and aMcDonald's dumpster. Mees told the undercover officer
that this was the optimal solution.One white plastic bag looks like every other
white plastic bag, and a dumpster. He also suggested that she use one
hundred and twenty four grain hollow pointsto kill her husband. He said they

(53:51):
were the most effective at getting thejob done, which was the exact ammunition
he used to kill the well Nutsfamily. He also told her it doesn't
matter what people think. What mattersis what people can prove. Honestly,
it seemed like everything was going accordingto law enforcement's plan. Mees seemed on

(54:12):
the brink of agreeing to kill Felice'sfake abusive husband, or he was until
he hit on Officer Catherine Felice whenshe rejected his sexual advances. He reported
her to the Lexington Police. Whata petulant, vindictive, little asshole,
he alerted them that she was tryingto hire someone to kill her husband,

(54:35):
but at least Officer Felice's cover wasnot blown, and the authorities continued to
surveil Meese from Afar. Unfortunately,he made the pass at the officer before
he decided to offer up his hipmanservices, so investigators could not arrest him
for that as planned, and didnot have enough concrete evidence about the wellness
murders. All they had was whathe bragged about. He could easily say

(55:00):
he made that up to impress her. Their next encounter with Mes did not
happen until eight years later, inthe fall of two thousand and two.
That October, a woman named GeorgiaRose was standing outside her daughter's home.
She was extremely upset. Meys,who was walking his dog, stopped to

(55:22):
ask her what was wrong. Georgiaexplained that her boyfriend was acting like a
jerk, so Mes offered to takecare of the boyfriend. Georgia was immediately
schewed out and called a friend whowas a police officer. That officer was
Detective Sergeant Dennis Benningfield. This wasthe catalyst that caused Benningfield to look into

(55:46):
Mysa's relationship with Regina after all,happily married men don't offer to commit capital
murder for women they just met.In addition to reaching out to Regina,
the authorities also enlisted Georgia. Shebecame an undercover agent for the authorities at
law enforcement's request. Georgia continued tocontact MEAs about killing her boyfriend, and

(56:10):
eventually she and Mees settled on aprice of two thousand dollars for the hit.
MEAs would receive a five hundred dollarsdown payment before the kill, and
he would get the rest after.To prove the job was done, he
was supposed to take a polaroid photoof the boyfriend's dead body, then Georgia

(56:30):
would leave the rest of Mesa's cashpayment and a toolbox on his back porch.
So on November third, two thousandand two, Mees hopped into Georgia's
car outside of a CVS pharmacy.He said to her, on a practical
level, I need the money andyou need a problem solved. Then Georgia
handed him the five hundred dollars andBill Mease was immediately arrested by the Kentucky

(56:54):
State Police. The sting operation hadbeen a success. During Mysa's trial in
June of two thousand and three.His defense tried to convince the jury that
this was all a misunderstanding. Hewasn't going to murder a guy for Georgia,
he was scamming her. As soonas he received the money, he
was going to run. But recordedconversations between Mes and Georgia revealed otherwise.

(57:20):
Meaes had repeatedly bragged about faking polygraphtest results to Georgia. He told her
all about his experience killing people,and he even explained the need for a
clean weapon and the element of surprise. Clearly Mees had an mo because these
were very similar to the tactics heused to annihilate the Wellnuts family. On

(57:44):
Thursday, February twenty eighth, twothousand and three, Bill MEAs was arrested
for the Wellnuts family murders. Tenyears and one day after the initial slayings.
He had been sitting in jail awaitingtrial for agreeing to kill George's boyfriend.
Meg, on the other hand,now lived in Chicago. I'm going

(58:06):
to pause now for a short commercialbreak. As soon as Regina told detectives
about how Meice and Meg had plottedthe deaths of the Wellnuts family investigators had
tried to contact Meg, but shecontinuously ducked their calls. When they did
finally get a hold of her,Meg was adamant that she needed to speak
with her lawyer before talking to them. So when twenty eight year old Meg

(58:30):
was arrested on February twenty eighth,two thousand and three, she was very
surprised, and I can see whyshe had almost completely moved on. She
was probably pretty certain that she hadgotten away with murder. By then,
exactly ten years later, she hadstudied ceramics both at Transylvania University and the

(58:52):
University of Kentucky, and she hadrun a bar at Chicago's Upper south Side.
She had been divorced twice, andshe was a mom. The only
recorded instance where we know Meg eventhought about murdering her entire family was in
the year two thousand. At thattime, Meaes had sent Meg a letter

(59:13):
through her grandmother. He wanted moneyfor quote services rendered so long ago.
In a statement Meg gave officials whichshe later recanted, she said he sent
me a letter saying his life hadbeen ruined and that he had read some
book about the witness Protection program andthat if I didn't give him enough money
to start a lawn care service,that he was going to go to the

(59:35):
police and confess as a hit manand get put in the witness protection program
in Hawaii. Loll at Mees's thinkinghe'd be put in witness protection much less
sent to Hawaii. Meg told herthen husband, Justin Manly, about this
letter, but she didn't explain thatshe knew exactly what MEAs was writing about.
Instead, she chalked it up tosome crazy guy reaching out. She

(59:59):
pointed out out how Mee had oncetold her he was in the CIA and
that he killed people. Then Megshredded the letter and threw it in the
trash. Later it would be revealedthat she was concerned the letter could be
used against her as evidence the remainingWellnet's family members in Columbia community were flabbergasted

(01:00:19):
to learn that Meg had masterminded herparents and brother's deaths. Captain Hancock told
Oxygen, it's very disturbing to knowthat this sweet little girl that I remember
has been the one that actually playedsuch a big role in this murder.
Meg orchestrated one of the most horrendouscrimes that you could ever imagine and Cindy
Yates, who worked for the wellnetsVack Clinic for many years, told The

(01:00:43):
Herald Leader, I was hoping itwould be a stranger. It hurts to
know if they did do this,that someone could be that cold hearted to
their own family. When Mees andMeg were charged and indicted, Meg faced
three counts of complicity to commit murderand one count of complicity to commit robbery
and burglary. Mees faced three countsof murder, three counts of complicity to

(01:01:06):
commit murder, one count of firstdegree robbery, one count of first degree
burglary, and one count of complicityto commit robbery and burglary. Right away,
the Commonwealth's attorney, Brian Wright,confirmed that he would be seeking the
death penalty for both MEAs and Meg. He said to the Lexington Herald Leader,

(01:01:27):
it's certainly a capital case and deservingof capital treatment and the prosecution.
On Wednesday, March twelfth, twothousand and three, both Meg and Meese
pleaded not guilty. By the way, yes, Kentucky is a commonwealth along
with three other states, Massachusetts,Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The distinction is
a name alone. The commonwealths arejust like any other state in their politics

(01:01:51):
and laws, and there is nodifference in their relationship to the nation as
a whole. That's a little insidebaseball for you, because sometimes I slip
up when discussing Virginia or Kentucky casesand say commonwealth's attorney without explaining anyway.
On Tuesday, June third, twothousand and three, Bill Meaese was convicted
for conspiring to commit murder in FayetteCounty. That would be due to the

(01:02:14):
sting with Georgia Rose. The juryrecommended twelve years in prison. In July,
the judge accepted that sentence. Thatsame year, while Meg was in
jail awaiting her death penalty trial,her ex husband Randy Appleton, sought custody
of their six year old son.Meg said of the situation, Randy is

(01:02:34):
just not responsible enough to have achild. He's very erratic. She told
a judge that she provided a morestable environment for their son than Randy.
She wanted her son to go toher friend Tracy Harris and grandmother Mary Preston
until she got out. Yeah,a jailed mother is so very stable,
not that it really matters, ButRandy Appleton was a tenured college professor.

(01:02:59):
He had a c record not sittingin jail waiting on a death penalty trial
like his ex wife. Plus,in two thousand and one, Meg had
been arrested for endangering their son.Randy said she lived in squalor. Social
workers also confirmed this. They fileda report that her house had garbage and
trash on the floor and dry rawsewage in the basement. You won't be

(01:03:22):
surprised to hear that. Randy woncustody on the day that Meg's trial was
set to begin in January two thousandand five, she pleaded guilty to all
charges. In exchange for avoiding thedeath penalty. Meg was sentenced to life
in prison without the possibility of parolefor twenty five years. She also agreed
to confess, and she promised totestify against Billmice at his trial. William

(01:03:49):
Wellness, Joe's brother and Meg's uncle, told the press to hear she pled
guilty, it's bittersweet they're solved,But what a tragedy. It's just destroyed
so much. But in July oftwo thousand and six, Meg recanted the
confessions she had made as part ofher plea bargain. According to her,

(01:04:10):
she had made everything up based onthe information she knew about the crime.
Meg claimed that she had been desperateto avoid the death penalty, and also
she said she was on and offvarious drugs while in jail, some prescribed
and some not. Meg later saidI would have told you I was married
to Hitler in that statement. Now, Meg asserted that she had zero clue

(01:04:32):
that Meies was going to murder herentire family. None of this was her
fault. She even blamed her lawyersfor ineffective counsel and a related appeal,
But in March of two thousand andeight, a judge upheld her conviction and
sentencing. That judge did not addressany of Meg's arguments about her desperation,
drug usage, or problems with herlawyers. Instead, he simply cited that

(01:04:57):
Meg had missed the three year ofpill deadline before days. Meanwhile, Mes's
first trial began in November two thousandand four, but the trial ended early
when he pled guilty during the juryselection process. He also accepted a plea
deal in exchange for a sentence oflife in prison without parole for at least
twenty five years. He received atotal of forty years on the other charges

(01:05:23):
as a part of the plea deal, Mes also provided recorded video statements regarding
his involvement in the Wellness family murders. By the next month, in December
two thousand and four, Mees claimedthat he entered into the plea bargain under
false pretenses. Turns out he didn'twant to plead guilty at all. He
didn't like one of his current courtappointed lawyers, so he pled guilty to

(01:05:45):
try to get a new one.But he had already given those video recorded
statements, and by this point Meghad also provided her own recorded statements.
And I cannot emphasize this enough.Both MEAs and Meg's statement months aligned damn
near perfectly. Now. According toMes, those recorded video statements were a
lie, just a ruse to getthe plea deal going so he could immediately

(01:06:10):
reneg on it. He said he'dused the information that his lawyers provided to
create the whole story. He eventold the press there still exists nothing to
this case. When the smoke clearsand the mirrors are taken away, there's
no fire, only a lot ofhot air. Unfortunately some of it my
own. I still maintain my innocence. But this is chess. It ain't

(01:06:33):
checkers ough I hate this guy.He thinks he's so cute with his hip
man bullshit and chess not checkers.It may have taken ten years to get
him, but it's not because investigatorsdidn't know where to look. It just
took that long to get Regina toturn so I guess he had some right
to be smarmy, but I stillhate him anyway. A few months later,

(01:06:56):
Mysa's motion to set aside his pleadeal was accepted, and he got
new lawyers just like he wanted.Since he had switched his plea deal,
the judge ordered a competency evaluation inFebruary two thousand and five. Bill Meaes
was ruled competent later that year,and in the fall of two thousand and
six his trial began. I'm goingto pause now for a final commercial break.

(01:07:27):
His trial took four weeks. Inthat time, the Commonwealth asserted that
Mees was the triggerman in his ameg'splot to kill the Walnuts family for money.
Brandy Appleton testified that Meaese told himhe was an assassin. Regina Mysa's
ex wife, testified to the experiencesI've already told you about, and Meg
also testified at this point, shehad already pled guilty and recanted. She

(01:07:53):
said everything was Mysa's fault. Additionally, Badass undercover agent Officer Caine and Felice
testified about her experience under cover withMees trying to convince him to kill her
fake abusive boyfriend, and the jurywas allowed to hear Mysa's video recorded confessions,
even though he had since recanted.Mysa's defense team had a hell of

(01:08:16):
an uphill battle. They tried toprove that Mes and Meg were studying for
their community college English test on thenight of the murders. Bill Meaes testified
on his own behalf. He saidon the stand, I have a lot
of experience making up false stories.I've lied a lot in my life.
The defense attorneys also argued that Meescouldn't have killed the Wellnuts family. Meaes

(01:08:42):
hadn't received a dime from Meg forthe murders. If you'll recall, the
Wellnuts family inheritance, which Mees wassupposed to get a cut of, was
lost to overwhelming debt. Meg evenhad to sell the land on which Meaes
was supposed to build his commune.So his lawyer argued, if Meg didn't
pay Mees, why hadn't he killedher too, to which the prosecution responded

(01:09:05):
Meg being alive was the only possibilityof him ever getting his money. Plus,
if Meg was murdered, Meece wouldcertainly be a suspect. The defense
also claimed that Regina was just badmouthing MEAs because she was angry about their
terrible marriage, but the Commonwealth's attorneypointed out that the authorities had approached Regina,

(01:09:26):
not the other way around. OnFriday, September fifteenth, two thousand
and six, after deliberating for lessthan two hours, the jury convicted thirty
three year old William Harry MEAs ofthree counts of murder, robbery, and
burglary. Days later, the juryrecommended that MEAs be sentenced to death plus
two consecutive twenty year terms totaling fortyyears, and October the judge agreed.

(01:09:53):
The judge stated publicly that he hadno doubt that Meaes had killed the Wellnuts
family. MEAs, of course,later complained that he did not get a
fair trial. He likened the courtsystem to Nazi Germany, Communist China and
Soviet Russia. Right, you wereso persecuted, Mees appealed to the Kentucky

(01:10:14):
Supreme Court in twenty eleven. Hehad a myriad of complaints, some of
which included that he was upset thathis recanted video statements were allowed. He
also didn't like that Officer Felice wasallowed to tell the jury about their conversations,
and he thought that Regina shouldn't havebeen allowed to testify because she was
his ex wife. We think spousesaren't supposed to be able to testify against

(01:10:38):
each other. Actually the law isthey cannot be compelled to testify against each
other. Regina testified willingly. Thecourt also determined that everything Mees shared with
Regina was knowledge found by other meanstoo. Ultimately, the Kentucky Supreme Court
affirmed Bill Mees's conviction and sentence.Today, fifty one year old William Harry

(01:11:01):
Meaes is on death row at theKentucky State Penitentiary. His execution date has
not been set. He's awaiting deathbecause of his own hubris. He never
should have fought his plea bargain.I said before that his childhood was like
a how to for raising a sociopath. Maybe he just couldn't help himself.

(01:11:21):
It was a self fulfilling prophecy.On February twelfth, twenty fourteen, just
shy of twenty one years since shehad her whole family butchered, thirty nine
year old Meg wellnets Appleton was founddead in her jail cell at about seven
o'clock in the morning. She wasat the Prison for Female offenders in Peewee

(01:11:43):
Valley. Her death was ruled asuicide. Initially, reports said that the
state police were investigating it, butsince then no other details have been released.
Meg was buried next to her familyin the Lexington Cemetery. Beth's mother,
Mary outlived almost all of her closefamily, dying at age one hundred.

(01:12:06):
Can you imagine living to be onehundred years old with your closest loved
ones all dead and buried. MaryPreston was buried in the same cemetery as
her family in twenty twenty. Herhusband, three brothers, three children,
and grandchildren all died before her.It was almost two decades without them.

(01:12:28):
Mary only had her great grandson,Mag's son left, but she did have
some nieces, nephews and other extendedfamily who lovingly helped care for her in
those long years without her close family. In a case like this, with
so many interesting twists and turns.The misery and devastation of those left behind

(01:12:49):
can be forgotten as we get caughtup in the story. But the remaining
family, as well as close friendsand the rest of the tight community never
forgot. The murderers left a painfulscar on every one's heart. Knowing what
good people Joe and Beth were,it's hard to imagine they raised such a

(01:13:12):
selfish, cold and hateful person likeMeg, someone who didn't place much value
on human life. You see videoswith her and her horse on her family's
property, and she looked so normaland happy. How could she do it?
It makes you think about that natureversus nurture debate. To obliterate your

(01:13:34):
parents for money is so sadistic.Meg might have felt some guilt for her
brother Dennis, but it didn't seemto face her long as the young woman
went on with her life for anotherdecade. After she got her money,
she went to school, got married, had a child of her own.

(01:13:54):
But then justice finally caught up withher and she didn't last eight years in
prison. But I can't stop thinkingabout the suffering of the wellnesses. That
night, Joe taken by surprise,with no time to try and save his
family. Then Beth hiding in herbedroom she had surely heard the gunshots as

(01:14:15):
she stood trembling, waiting for herdeath. And poor Dennis maybe trying to
lie quietly and hope the gunman thoughthe wasn't home since he wasn't supposed to
be there. It's a nightmare cometrue. The shock and fear, then
the dread and pain, and theyknew who Bill Meese was, so you

(01:14:38):
have to wonder if they understood thatit was Meg who had wanted them dead
mercifully, they seemed to die quickly, hopefully before they were fully aware that
someone they loved had betrayed them socallously. Southern Fried True Crime is hosted

(01:14:59):
and produce used by me Erica Kelly. Today's episode was researched and written by
me and Andrea Marshbank. As usual, any editorial comments and opinions are my
own. Southern Fred's original music isby Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio and the
original graphic artist by Koly Horner.Today's episode was edited and mixed by Brandon
schock Snider of Southern Gothic and EricaKelly. Today's case was suggested by Dana

(01:15:23):
Schmidt. If you have any suggestions, please go to my website, Southern
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(01:15:45):
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