May 21, 2025 • 59 mins
Eddie Lee and May Sexton resided in a house on Caroline St. in Canton, OH with their 12 children. Eddie Lee ruled his home with an iron fist. Often turning sibling against sibling. Eventually taking his family on the run from the authorities; when they were caught, each sibling slowly revealed the true horrors of their upbringing.
"House of Secrets" by Lowell Cauffiel
Tampa Bay Times: Story of Tortured Family Emerges
America's Dysfunctional Family: The Sextons
E-Mail the show at BorrowedBonesPodcast@proton.me
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah (00:01):
Hello, everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hey,
Sarah (00:03):
I'm Sarah.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Cole,
Sarah (00:05):
and you're listening to Borrowed Bones, a podcast about
fucked up, interesting, andtoxic families.
It's been a while, It's been afew weeks.
Apologies to everyone.
We have had
Speaker 2 (00:18):
our loyal listeners.
Sarah (00:19):
Yeah.
Yeah.
But we just, we've had quite abit of life hit us this, month.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah.
Past couple weeks.
Sarah (00:27):
Luckily we have this to keep us occupied
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Coming back to make the absence worth it.
Sarah (00:32):
With some deluxe multi-part episodes.
Yes.
And before we get into this one,'cause it is a big one, I wanted
to announce.
I did cave and make an Instagramaccount.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I had no idea where you're going with that.
Sarah (00:47):
I scared you.
Yeah.
Um, no, I
Speaker 2 (00:50):
encouraged her to do it.
Sarah (00:51):
Yes.
many of you did.
So I caved because I amspineless and I make one.
I've actually been really likingcoming back.
I was only gone for six months.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah.
Sarah (01:02):
But that's a long time.
Our Instagram is borrowed Bonespodcast.
Pretty simple and upfront.
Yeah.
I didn't want it to beconfusing.
No
Speaker 2 (01:12):
weird numbers.
No.
Mm-hmm.
Z's for S'S,
Sarah (01:15):
everything is as it spelled.
Sounds.
As it spelled.
Spelled yes.
So please follow.
My goal is to post daily andbecome more engaged with
everyone.
Yeah.
Also a quick reminder, if youcould rate and review us I know
if they're good
Speaker 2 (01:30):
reviews.
Sarah (01:31):
I cringe saying it.
Even if they're bad, do itbecause it helps us so much and
I just didn't wanna be that guy,but I'm gonna be that guy.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
No press is bad.
Press.
Yep.
Rate and review
Sarah (01:42):
please.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Everybody I write about would disagree, but, uh,
Sarah (01:45):
All right.
I've avoided getting into thisepisode long enough.
There's nowhere else to go.
No more announcements.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Okay.
Sarah (01:53):
Today we are talking about the most dysfunctional
family in America.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Is that like an award you get?
Do you apply for it?
It's like the Oscars.
Sarah (02:05):
That's what they were labeled.
Who are the
Speaker 2 (02:06):
nominees?
Sarah (02:08):
The Sexton family.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Oh, that hits close to home.
Sarah (02:11):
Mm-hmm.
My last name is Sexton and no,this is not my family.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Oh, okay, good.
Sarah (02:18):
No, no, no.
We're not getting that personal.
but it is the Sexton family,which is.
What drew me to them.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm not familiar with this case at all.
Sarah (02:26):
I wasn't either, and I found it when I was watching
YouTube.
I follow a great YouTuber.
Her name is Summer Sanchez.
Summer spelled S-O-M-M-E-R.
And she does, cults andsometimes family true crime
things.
And she covered this, however,she covered it in less than an
hour, and she does a great jobof a nice overview.
(02:49):
I dug deeper and holy shit.
She admittedly in her YouTube,episode does say that there's a
lot that she didn't mention.
So if you don't want to listento a multi-part podcast about
this, go ahead and listen toher.
She's fantastic.
Alright.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
All right.
Sarah (03:10):
Let's get
Speaker 2 (03:11):
into
Sarah (03:11):
it.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Let's do it.
Deep dive into the sextons.
Yes.
We are going.
Are they grave diggers?
Are they a family of cemeterycaretakers?
That'd be cool if they were.
Sarah (03:18):
Yeah.
That is the meaning of the name.
Yeah.
Um, no, no.
Unfortunately that would be amuch better job.
Hoping it was a
Speaker 2 (03:26):
family of ghouls.
Yes.
With an appropriate name.
Sarah (03:28):
Yes.
We're going to start with EddieLee Sexton the patriarch and
Estella may Sexton the mother.
Okay.
When they were younger.
Trigger warning, there's goingto be a lot of unwilling sex,
rape, um, incest, pedophilia, afew other things.
So this is your warning rightnow.
(03:49):
I simply cannot warn you, so thewhole thing's gonna be bad.
So to start from the top?
Yes.
There's so much.
Alright.
Eddie Lee Sexton was born May12th, 1942 in Logan, West
Virginia.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay.
So it's an American.
Mm-hmm.
All right.
Sarah (04:05):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
He was born during World War II in West Virginia?
Sarah (04:08):
Yes.
Gotcha.
He was one of 10 children.
He was the seventh child and hisbrother Otis, was the sixth
child,
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Otis.
And
Sarah (04:18):
they, we need to know their names.
Otis is just a little bit olderand they are big players in
this.
Okay.
Eddie Lee came from a family ofcoal miners
Speaker 2 (04:28):
in West Virginia.
Sarah (04:29):
No, shocker.
Doesn't track.
He's actually from, where likethe Hatfields and McCoys are
from that area.
Okay.
Yeah.
a shared
Speaker 2 (04:36):
universe.
The borrowed bones universe.
Yes.
Yeah.
They cross over.
Okay.
Sarah (04:41):
His father was also a part-time Baptist preacher on
top of being a coal miner.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (04:48):
And Otis would describe their home as relatively normal,
but very poor.
The girls shared one room andthe boys shared another and they
grew and raised their own food.
According to Otis, Eddie Lee wasa major mama's boy.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Okay.
Sarah (05:07):
She favored him.
Babied him.
Eddie Lee did go to reformschool, though at the age of 14.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Do you know what?
For, um, what was he reforms?
Stealing watches.
Sarah (05:16):
Oh,
Speaker 2 (05:17):
okay.
That's like shoplifting orpickpocketing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It just petty theft.
I just red
Sarah (05:21):
stealing watches.
Okay.
Yeah.
I got most of my informationfrom the book, house of Secrets
by, I don't really know how topronounce the last name.
Lowell is the first name.
Uh.
I have it, linked in the shownotes okay.
So you can see it.
So When he turned 18, Eddie Leeenlisted in the Army.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Okay.
Sarah (05:43):
He was only there for six months before he was discharged
for bad conduct.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Ooh.
Sarah (05:48):
Yeah.
He only lasted six months.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
He was 18.
So you said he was born in 42?
Speaker (05:52):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay.
So it was been around, aroundKorean war time at the time?
He was of age.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Sarah (06:01):
So yeah.
And they were like, we don'twant you.
Yeah.
Wow.
In 1963, Eddie committed hisfirst armed robbery.
He robbed a gas station just 24hours after his 15-year-old wife
gave birth to their son.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Wait a minute.
Was she his wife at that time orit be Yes.
Okay.
Like legally?
Yes.
Not like common law, like calleach other.
Her parents signed it over.
Okay.
Yes, they are on paper.
Husband and wife?
Yes.
At 15.
And he's 21.
21, okay.
Yes.
Sarah (06:32):
And this is not Estella May Sexton, this is his first
wife.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Oh, okay.
Yes.
Sarah (06:39):
However, when he went to prison for the armed robbery,
his 15-year-old wife soon filedfor a divorce.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So, so he committed the armed robbery a day after
the marriage?
I, he was trying to fund theirhoneymoon,
Sarah (06:50):
I think.
Yeah.
I'm sure there was something inhis brain like, oh, I need money
now.
I have a kid, I'm a grownup now.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, not married her, but she had the baby.
Yeah.
Day after he had, she had thebaby.
Okay.
Sarah (07:01):
Yeah, yeah.
Sorry, I got that
Speaker 2 (07:02):
wrong.
Okay.
Sarah (07:04):
Eddie did serve five years at a state prison for
this.
Okay.
And.
Later, he would then meetEstella May.
They would go on to have 12children together.
Wow.
Yes.
And they moved to Stark County,Ohio together, and that's where
Estella May and her familyresides.
Now, Eddie Lee was of course,polite and charming at first, as
(07:26):
they all are, but once you gotto know him, you saw him for the
con man that he was, he wasreceiving Social Security
disability checks for a fakeback injury.
Yeah.
And then of course, he wasworking under the table as like
a painter or handyman while hewas receiving these checks,
Speaker 2 (07:45):
odd jobs around town.
Sarah (07:45):
Mm-hmm.
He was also suspected ofinsurance fraud by setting at
least three of his houses onfire in the 1980s.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Eh, I feel like insurance fraud.
I mean, if you can get away withit, do it because screw
insurance companies, like screwthem.
If you can get away with it,more power to you.
Those are the men doing God'swork.
Okay.
Sarah (08:08):
He was also faking burglaries and break-ins to
report stolen items, which ofcourse, he was getting insurance
money before never place.
They broke and stole my giantdeluxe
Speaker 2 (08:18):
tv.
Yes.
No, there's no such tv.
Sarah (08:20):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that's an idea of who EddieLee Sexton is.
Okay.
Now we're gonna go into EstellaMA's Early Life
Speaker 2 (08:27):
is the first wife.
She's just outta the picture.
Yep.
That's, she just divorced.
Okay.
We're, and the, the kid thatthey had is
Sarah (08:33):
with
Speaker 2 (08:33):
her.
Okay.
So, yep.
All right.
Yep.
That's a closed chapter.
All right.
Speaker (08:36):
Almost ah,
Speaker 2 (08:39):
little ellipses there
Sarah (08:41):
Estella May was born in West Virginia as well.
Okay.
She goes by May.
she had a pretty standardchildhood.
May was one of 10 children.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Wow.
Sarah (08:53):
West Virginia, man.
They like to have a lot of kids.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Was she seven of 10 as well?
Sarah (08:58):
I don't remember where she fell.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
That'd be interesting if
Sarah (09:01):
that would be interesting.
She began dating around the ageof 16.
She would go to the movies, themall school dances, you know,
typical teenage stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (09:11):
Eventually her family did settle in Ohio and May wanted to
become a nurse.
She was in the Future Nurses ofAmerica, and she also was
working at a nursing home.
So she had like goals andambitions?
Yeah.
She did quit the nursing homebecause her patients passed away
and that was too hard for her.
So then she tried her hand atcosmetology or possibly becoming
(09:35):
a go-go dancer.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
When did she become a real estate agent?
Sarah (09:39):
Oh, that would've been a fine path for her to take.
Trust me.
Before Mai met Eddie Lee, shemet Bill.
Bill and Mai met at a dance.
They began dating and soon Maybecame pregnant
Speaker 2 (09:54):
by Bill.
Sarah (09:55):
And then Bill had to fight in the Vietnam war.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Oh.
Sarah (09:58):
And he never returned and may never found out what
happened to
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Bill dodged a bullet there.
I dunno if he did.
Sarah (10:06):
He didn't.
Oh, may had her child, Patrick,he was born in 1967.
And May was only 20 years old atthat time.
All right..
May then moved in with hersister in Canton, Ohio.
She worked at the local five anddime saving up for cosmetology
school.
She decided to go that route,not to go go dancer.
(10:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
That's weird to like, consider that as like a career.
Like, that's not gonna last.
Yeah.
Sarah (10:30):
Well, think about it.
Go-go.
Dancers existed.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah.
Sarah (10:33):
Someone had to want to be that,
Speaker 2 (10:35):
but as like a career choice, like, it's like a short,
that's she's young.
Sarah (10:38):
She's like 20.
Yeah.
That's, that's the thing to do.
I'll go into
Speaker 2 (10:40):
nursing, cosmetology things that could last a
lifetime or go-go dancing.
Would you get a few years inbefore you're, I guess then you
can go into cosmetology ordancing?
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sarah (10:50):
she's trying to live her life.
When Mai was staying with hersister, Mae's brother-in-law
introduced her to Eddie Lee.
She was told that the ministerat the church had a good looking
younger brother and thatminister was Otis.
Otis.
Hey, look at you.
Did I drop some foreshadowingdown on there or just, or are
(11:10):
you just super smart?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I hate the name Otis, so it just sticks out.
Whenever I hear it, it just,it's in there.
Sarah (11:16):
He's a complex man.
We don't hate him.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I'm not saying I hate him.
I just hate the May Otis.
Sarah (11:21):
Okay.
All right.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah.
Sarah (11:23):
May, when she went to the church was a little, um, felt
out of place'cause it was moreof that southern revivalist
style.
Mm-hmm.
And she was Lutheran.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Oh.
But
Sarah (11:34):
Still enjoyed it.
she didn't really get to talk toEddie Lee, but she did sit next
to him.
Then they were able to properlymeet a few days later when they
were invited to a weenie roastat Otis's house.
And then Maye and Eddie Lee gotto know each other a bit more.
Eddie Lee was working forGoodwill as a truck driver and a
painter mm-hmm.
(11:55):
And May told him that she'snever been married, and he tells
her I've also never beenmarried.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Oh, so he lied?
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Sarah (12:04):
Yep.
Then a few months later, Maemoves to West Virginia to live
with her mom.
Eddie Lee follows her.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
So went from West Virginia to Ohio.
Back to West Virginia.
Yeah.
All right.
Sarah (12:15):
Mm-hmm.
Eddie Lee, when he arrived inWest Virginia, took May out to
dinner, he put on the charm andconvinced May to move back to
Ohio.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Jesus.
Sarah (12:25):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Took in the tour states.
I know.
Sarah (12:29):
I mean, we live in Michigan.
Yeah.
We have, yeah.
There's uniqueness.
We have water
Speaker 2 (12:33):
to Michigan.
Sarah (12:34):
Lots of water.
Yeah.
Cherries.
We're
Speaker 2 (12:36):
the only state blueberries composed of two
peninsulas.
Sarah (12:40):
Anyway.
Eddie Lee and may officiallystart dating when they get back
to Ohio.
Eddie Lee was clean, cut, wellbuilt.
He got along well with his momand Mae's mom.
They even went on like three tofour days before Eddie Lee
kissed May.
He was very much the gentleman.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
This is not what I was picturing.
Sarah (12:59):
Yeah, it gets there real quick.
Don't worry.
He lied to her about beingmarried mm-hmm.
And may also never knew that hewas in jail.
After two to three years of thiscasual dating, things started to
change.
May began talking to anotherguy.
'cause Eddie Lee wasn't likefully committing.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (13:20):
So what she just playing the
Speaker 2 (13:21):
field a little bit?
Yeah.
Sarah (13:21):
Kind of.
Yeah.
She wanted to get married and hewouldn't marry her.
So what May did, which honestlyit is the only thing I enjoy
about this person that she didthis, another guy was interested
in her, so she made plans withEddie Lee and this other guy on
the same day at the same time.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Oh, she made them fight over her?
Sarah (13:42):
Yes.
But what happened was they saweach other on the porch, and the
the new guy just walked away.
Oh.
He was like, fuck this, I'm not,yeah, nope.
And then Eddie Lee slapped meacross the face and called her a
slut.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And then she was like, oh, the man after my own
heart,
Sarah (13:59):
um, almost she swung back at him and missed, and then she
broke up with him after that.
Oh.
But the following day, Eddie Leewas being all nice and
apologetic and may forgave him,and they got back together.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
That was foolish.
Mm-hmm.
I don't even know where it goesfrom here, but just inherently
That's foolish.
Sarah (14:17):
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
This is a great way to startoff.
They would move in together, butMay was still wanting marriage
and.
Eddie Lee finally admitted thathe was still married.
Oh, his wife filed his childbride for divorce.
He never
Speaker 2 (14:32):
signed it.
Sarah (14:32):
Exactly.
But they they don't see eachother again.
Yeah.
So she is out of the picture.
Yeah.
But that's the last thread,thread, legal thing
Speaker 2 (14:40):
hanging over his head.
Sarah (14:41):
Right.
So he finally admitted to Maythat he had a wife back in West
Virginia, but they haven't seeneach other in years, which I do
believe is true.
Um, I don't know if I mentionedthis.
I think I skipped over it.
They were pregnant.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah,
Sarah (14:57):
they got pregnant.
I think I skipped over thatactually.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
And her child from Vietnam Hill, Patrick.
Okay.
Patrick, yeah, he's Patrick isthe son's name.
Yeah.
He's still around.
Yep.
Yep.
She's keeping him,
Sarah (15:08):
he stays.
Okay.
He's a part of the group.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
So Eddie Lee and May arepregnant, and they welcome their
son, Eddie Junior.
And they're not married yet, butbecause they have a son and a
child and they're livingtogether with this little family
unit, may quit working at theFive and Dime.
And she finally just put thatcosmetology dream.
(15:31):
To bed.
She was done.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Kill a dream.
Have a kid.
Sarah (15:34):
Yep.
Yep.
Huh?
I just said yes so quickly tothat.
Yeah, that I was like, well, hada little of that woman guilt
anyway, so you still have thosedreams instead?
Yeah.
Eddie Lee said that the man isthe one who works, not the
woman.
So of course May had to quit.
Now there's a random Wednesday,Eddie Lee and May got into a
(15:56):
pretty bad argument over hisdrinking and weed smoking.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes.
What year is this?
This is in the eighties, right?
Sarah (16:04):
This is in like the early seven, like late sixties maybe.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're not there yet.
Okay.
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I was just thinking when you mentioned him starting
fires and Yeah.
I
Sarah (16:12):
just wanted to give an overview of who this person is.
Okay.
But we'll come back to,
Speaker 2 (16:16):
okay.
Sarah (16:16):
So
Speaker 2 (16:16):
late sixties, he's mm-hmm.
Drinking, smoking weed too much.
Sarah (16:19):
Yep.
Um, in the fight, Eddie Lee hitsmay smacks her around a bit, and
that's how that fight ends.
They just rough it out.
So that was Wednesday.
On Saturday, three days laterthey got married.
Eddie Lee's brother Otis wouldperform the ceremony in Eddie
Lee's mom's living room.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Okay.
Sarah (16:41):
And may stood up there with a black eye.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yep.
West Virginia.
Speaker (16:49):
Mm.
Well this is in Ohio now.
Well, you can't
Speaker 2 (16:52):
take, uh, you can take the, the hill folk outta
West Virginia.
Yeah.
Sarah (16:57):
So of course after the marriage, Eddie Lee quickly
becomes even more controlling.
He wouldn't let may do anythingwithout him.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Fuck her.
Sarah (17:04):
Mm-hmm.
And May's dad didn't like EddieLee.
He discovered that Eddie Lee wasin prison for five years.
And he also found out that EddieLee lied about his Army career.
He said that he had a GreenBeret, um, he, you know, was a
Green
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Beret,
Sarah (17:20):
or sorry, was hat I said hat Yeah,
Speaker 2 (17:22):
yeah.
Was a Green Beret.
Sarah (17:25):
I have a Green Beret.
Speaker (17:27):
Yeah,
Sarah (17:28):
I, that's funny.
He
Speaker 2 (17:30):
wore a Green Beret one day.
Sarah (17:32):
I was thinking of the Prince song.
Raspberry Bere.
The raspberry, yeah.
Yeah.
So that's what happened there.
Yeah.
Anyway, I'm getting all thefunnies out now'cause it really
does get worse.
He was never a Green Beret andwas actually kicked out of the
army.
When may confronted him aboutit.
Eddie Lee put a bar of soap in asock and beat her with it.
(17:56):
May then threw a vaporizer athim, which is another word for a
big, those big humidifiers.
Oh yeah, yeah.
That bust out steam like a, likea box, but it's heavy plastic.
So she threw a big one, bigvaporizer at him, knocking him
down.
And when Mai tried to run away,Eddie Lee was able to catch up
to her, knocked her out.
(18:16):
And then when Eddie Lee left forwork, Mai went to her sisters
and stayed with her for a fewdays until Eddie Lee found her,
threatened to kill her and herchildren if she didn't return.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
We face with that sweet talk.
How can you not return?
Sarah (18:29):
Yep.
Hmm.
So May and Eddie Lee were nowliving on welfare together, but
that did not slow Eddie Lee'sgambling and spending And May
was not allowed to get herlicense.
She was not allowed to see herfamily and there was no phone in
the house.
May didn't see her family for 10years.
(18:49):
Oh.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Did they come looking for her?
Sarah (18:54):
I think they tried to reach out, but they weren't able
to, they couldn't communicatewith her.
Yeah.
So May's dad filed a report in1982.
He called the Jackson TownshipArson investigator on Eddie Lee.
the Jackson Townshipinvestigator then reported it to
the FBI and her dad said in hisstatement to them that in July
(19:16):
of 81, so the year before he wasvisiting his daughter and Eddie
Lee.
So this must have been rightafter the 10 year lift.
'cause it was about 10 yearswhen they first got married.
So this is when he is back intheir life or in her life.
Um, he went to visit hisdaughter and Eddie Lee.
And Eddie Lee asked Mae's dadabout like setting his house on
(19:40):
fire, like Eddie Lee setting hisown house on fire.
His, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
For the insurance.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sarah (19:44):
And if he would help him with it, then he would get
10,000 of the insurance money.
And then he also told the FBIthat Eddie Lee mentioned wanting
four to five of his childreninside the house to burn up
Speaker 2 (19:57):
four to five.
Sarah (19:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Okay.
Sarah (20:02):
That,,
Speaker 2 (20:02):
dunno How many kids he has at this point.
Sarah (20:04):
I don't know when they're all born, but it is, in like the
seventies, eighties.
Okay.
I know a few of the boys are inlike their teen years at this
point.
He's got some toddlers, so Imean, may eventually becomes a
baby making machine.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah.
Sarah (20:16):
Yeah.
It's hard to keep track of sodon't break your brain.
It's okay.
They, you'll know their namessoon enough.
Um, May's dad also mentionedthat Eddie Lee said that he
would get his chemicals fromDetroit through the mafia.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Why would this I.
Loser have a mafia connection.
Sarah (20:34):
I don't know.
So this was in July of 1981.
This conversation happens.
Mm-hmm.
Jump to May of 1982.
There was a fire and sureenough, four of the children
were home at the time with ababysitter.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Oh
Sarah (20:49):
yeah.
The babysitter and the childrenall get out fine.
And that's it.
I don't really know what happenswith the babysitter, who the
babysitter was, but that's,that's it.
So May's dad is the only one whoreports this to the FBI and.
Nothing comes of that, likeEddie Lee just, I don't know how
it happens, but a lot of thesethings they just don't
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah.
Follow through with.
Yeah.
I, the F fbi, I doesn't reallyhandle like arsons of
Sarah (21:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I mean maybe if the collected the insurance through
some, you know, cross statelines through like a wire
transfer somehow the FBI wouldget involved.
We'd
Sarah (21:24):
have to prove fraud on the insurance though too.
Yeah.
And if there's really nophysical proof, it's just one
guy saying it.
Yeah.
Then I guess, yeah, it's alittle too messed up or too, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, I know.
Sarah (21:36):
Alright, so that's Eddie Lee Sexton and May Sexton.
Now, I can't seem to find thedate that Eddie Lee and May got
married, but they did getmarried in the like early
seventies.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Okay.
Sarah (21:49):
After Eddie Junior was born.
She really starts cranking themout.
I have them listed here and I'mgiving you the ages.
They are in the early nineties.
'cause that's where most of thestory takes place.
So we have Patrick, who isBill's son.
Yeah.
He's counted in all of this.
And in 1992, he's 24 years old.
All right.
Eddie Junior is 23.
(22:12):
Then we have the first daughterwho is Estella, which is her
mom's name.
So Estella goes by Pixie.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Pixie, yes.
Sarah (22:21):
So we have Pixie, who's 22 years old now.
Pixie has two kids of her own.
Dawn and Shasta.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Are they twins or No, they're just two little girls.
Okay.
Sarah (22:33):
And then we have William, who's the fourth child, and he's
21 years.
Then we have Sherry, who's thefifth child and she's 19.
She also has a child, a sonnamed Christopher.
Then we have Michelle who alsogoes by Shelly, and then
Charles, James Matthew.
Michelle's 18, Charles 16.
(22:55):
James 15.
Matthew 14.
I mean, may is like just going.
Uh, Christopher is 13 years old.
Lana is 12 years old andKimberly is seven years old.
So May finally got a littlebreak, but she has kids that are
12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21.
Like there's probably a lot oflike 22, 23 Irish
Speaker 2 (23:16):
twins in that.
Sarah (23:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's
Speaker 2 (23:18):
gotta be,
Sarah (23:19):
she just wasn't pregnant for so long.
My god.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
No.
Room for dreams in there.
Sarah (23:26):
Oh,
Speaker 2 (23:27):
just embryos.
Sarah (23:29):
If you lost, count that 17 people.
That make up including childrenand grandchildren?
Yes.
Including every single person.
15 of them are all living in ahouse on Caroline Street in
Ohio.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
How big is this house?
Sarah (23:43):
It's very average size.
Not big.
There are two floors.
I never saw the blueprint of thehouse, but it's, yeah, kids are
sleeping in the living room.
They're making space wherever.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
All right.
Sarah (23:54):
Now Patrick and Eddie Jr.
Moved out when they turned 18,so they're not living in the
home anymore.
Okay.
But everyone else is.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
So the family's not like anti moving out then,
unless the eldest two wentagainst,
Sarah (24:06):
well, the oldest two are boys.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Okay.
Sarah (24:08):
And they moved out.
I think that's the biggestthing.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
All right.
Sarah (24:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Just compared to these like weird religious cult
families around here that likehave like a thing of five, six
generations and you can't leavethe household like those ones
out in the thumb.
Sarah (24:23):
Oh, like they have like little compounds.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah.
It's, yeah.
There
Sarah (24:26):
is a sexton compound in Florida that they go to.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Mm.
Sarah (24:30):
I, to
Speaker 2 (24:30):
make sure what someone, those, the weird
Christian cults, you know whatI'm talking about?
They always have like the wholegeneration living in one giant
modified house.
Sarah (24:38):
Yeah.
No, no, no, no.
Okay.
This is just a normal house.
Okay.
With all the kids, everyoneliving there and they just make
due.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
And it's not due to Christianity?
Sarah (24:46):
No.
It's due to poor.
Okay, cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just lack of funds for all ofthese kids.
He gets social security checks,he gets disability checks.
That's how he makes his money.
And then like under the tablejobs.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Okay.
Sarah (24:58):
All.
We are going to jump into ourmain storyline now in the
nineties.
We have the background, we'vegot the setup, everything.
We are going to start in themonth of May, 1991.
The
Speaker 2 (25:11):
month of May.
Sarah (25:12):
Yes.
Well, I wanted to say the monthof May because we've talked
about May Sexton a lot.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
You're welcome.
Listeners.
So in May of 1991, MichelleSexton, who is 18 years old
right now.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (25:29):
She's a senior in high school and she tells her school
counselor of her home life, um,the counselor would call the
Department of Human Services orDHS and Social worker, Wayne
Welsh is going to take thiscase.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Kinda surprised that she's a senior in high school.
Surprised they're going toschool and
Sarah (25:49):
Yeah, they do go to school.
I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2 (25:51):
yeah,
Sarah (25:52):
yeah.
All
Speaker 2 (25:52):
right.
Sarah (25:53):
Now when Welsh gets there, he interviews Michelle
and Michelle mentions how herdad has turned the family
against her and makes hersiblings ignore her, and that
Michelle had to do most of thechores, the cooking, the
cleaning, and taking care of theyounger siblings.
She had to be in bed by nine andwasn't allowed to leave the
house or use the phone.
(26:15):
She said that every morning herdad would give each of the kids
one quarter and said to call himand tell him if they saw another
sibling talking to someone else,a teacher, a friend.
Anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
All right,
Sarah (26:29):
anyone.
When Welsh asked more about herhome life and how things were,
she replied, there's only oneway to do anything.
There's only one way to think.
That's Dad's way.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Okay, so it is like a.
It's a little cult thing.
It's becoming a cult of No, itis.
That's why I
Sarah (26:47):
was kind of being weird with you asking.
I'm like, eh, I mean, like, theydidn't, they didn't make a
compound or they didn't build ontheir house, but I just wonder
Speaker 2 (26:53):
if they were one of these bigger movements that you
hear that he's like, and it'snot religion, the homes ruling.
He makes up his own shit.
Yeah.
It's not like, it's not a partof a larger Pentecostal
doomsday, but
Sarah (27:03):
they have the, he did do a cult.
Like they are, their brains arewashed.
Yes.
So that's all that happened withthat interview.
Michelle I think was probablyterrified and got up the nerve
and then didn't know what tosay.
Mm-hmm.
So Welsh put it on the backburner even though nothing came
of that interview, there were afew things dating all the way
(27:24):
back to 79 19 80.
In 1979, there were threeanonymous referrals to DHS one
from a relative of the Sextons,one from a professional at the
hospital and one from a townshippolice officer.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
All right.
Sarah (27:42):
They all contacted DDHS hs.
When the social workers spokewith the Sexton children, they
claimed that everything wasfine.
There were some surprise visitsfrom DHS to the home in 1979,
and then again, there was a fewmore visits in 1983, but every
time they came to the house, itwas clean and organized to the
(28:05):
DHS workers.
They just looked like a largefamily that was just trying to
get by.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
One social worker evencomplimented Eddie Lee on his
parental skills.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
One way to make it easier to get by is not have 12
fucking kids.
Yeah.
That's one way to make thedollar stretch a little bar.
Speaker (28:24):
Yeah.
Sarah (28:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, look at this predicament of got myself into.
Sarah (28:30):
Then fast forward to 1989, there was another referral
from the school after SherrySexton showed a classmate, her
bruises from a beating that shereceived at home.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Hmm.
Sarah (28:42):
Wayne Welsh was the social worker on the case again.
Yeah.
And in 1989, when he knew ofSherry's bruises, he decided to
start asking the older sisterPixie what happened, because
Pixie seemed to be the one thatthe kids would talk to first.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
And she's the eldest that's in the household.
Sarah (29:00):
She's the oldest in the household and the oldest
daughter.
Yeah.
Yeah.
and she would end up being theirvoice.
They would go to her first andthen she would speak for them.
So he goes to Pixie.
When the interview with Pixiewas over, she didn't really give
up anything.
So then he moves on andinterview Sherry and asks her
like, who beat you?
(29:20):
And she just said no one.
And then the same day that Welshinterviewed Sherry, he finds out
that Willie Sexton, theirbrother, who's a junior in high
school, was a fire starter.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (29:31):
He didn't do anything that day, but Welsh just took in
that information.
Yeah.
Like, all right, I'm notingthis.
Okay.
He's a pyro.
Yeah.
Yeah.
again, there's still nothingillegal here.
This is 89, nothing illegal Andthen we'll
Speaker 2 (29:44):
check again in 10 years.
Sarah (29:46):
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
We're not gonna check up on youever again, even though there's
smoke.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
God.
Sarah (29:51):
Alright, so now we're gonna fast forward to 1992.
Michelle did her first interviewwith Welsh in 91 when she was
talking about being ignored.
Now we're skipping forward ayear she was being interviewed
by Welsh saying that she waspregnant and that her family was
trying to kill her baby.
Michelle claimed to get pregnantby her boyfriend
Speaker 2 (30:11):
mm-hmm.
I was gonna ask who,'cause Iknow that there's grandkids.
Sarah (30:15):
Mm-hmm.
We'll find out.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Okay.
Sarah (30:18):
Michelle said that her younger brother, James saw her
and her boyfriend kissing, andthen James tells Eddie Lee.
Mm-hmm Eddie Lee then backhandsMichelle across her face and
James tried to kick Michelle inthe stomach.
This is when Sister Sherry stepsin and yells at James saying,
get out.
You child killer.
(30:39):
In 1991, Sherry was pregnant andEddie Lee did not want her to
deliver the baby.
So he told James to kick Sherryin the stomach and she
miscarried the following day.
So James is like.
Really the, the child killer inthe family.
He's the
Speaker 2 (30:54):
abortionist of the family.
The
Sarah (30:55):
abortionist.
Yeah.
Michelle told Wayne Welsh thatthere were four conceptions in
four years from the Sextondaughters.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
None carried to term,
Sarah (31:06):
right?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Hmm hmm.
Sarah (31:10):
Now I don't really understand legally what could be
done at this point.
The excuse I saw in the articlesand things that I found was that
Welsh was talking to Michelle,who was 18.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Yeah.
Sarah (31:23):
So he couldn't do anything unless she's not a
child anymore.
She wanted, but like, could shepress any charges at this point?
I guess not.
'cause her younger brotherpunched her in the stomach.
That's all Welsh knows.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
And that's what she's alleging.
I mean, and this happenedsometime beforehand.
Right, right.
She's, I guess there's reallynothing that have the medical,
I'm assuming she's not stillbearing no physical evidence and
she's alleging her younger.
Brother did, right?
Younger.
Yeah.
James is
Sarah (31:50):
younger,
Speaker 2 (31:51):
so I don't really, it could be done to no police.
Sarah (31:53):
Okay.
Yeah.
So we're not at the point yetwhere Welsh can really even do
anything.
Even though Welsh couldn't doanything, Michelle told him I,
I'm too scared to go home.
He did help her.
He set her up with, the YWCAcrisis program for women.
Okay.
So she's out of the house.
She's outta the house.
He takes her there and on theway Welsh convinces her to stop
(32:14):
by the police station.
Okay.
And she writes a statement.
She does not press charges, butshe writes a statement
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Okay.
Sarah (32:22):
That's a step.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Yeah.
As a cop, I'd be like, what doyou want me to do with this
though?
If you don't wanna press charge?
Sarah (32:26):
Turns out that the police were very aware of the Sexton
family and they have a historyof reports and visits to the
house on Caroline Street.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
I'm, yeah, I'm sure they do.
They're probably a knownboogeyman family.
They're troublesome.
Yeah.
Sarah (32:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
A few things that they werecalled out for, back in the
seventies, it was mainly just abunch of little things like you
were saying.
Every cop seemed to know them.
They, they were like a familythat you knew.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
There's families like that in areas I cover.
Mm-hmm.
You just, yeah.
the same last names werearrested every day for the
pettiest shit.
Can you just not shoplift andcan you just not smash your
girlfriend's car door?
Can you just not do these thingsthat you get arrested for all
the time?
Sarah (33:04):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, in 1982 and 1987, therewere major fires at the house.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Okay.
That, that insurance thing.
Yes.
Right.
Sarah (33:14):
No, Eddie Lee reported a lot of burglaries that happened
there he claimed once that aColeman tent, like the brand
Coleman, was stolen from theiryard.
He also filed a report that hishouse was broken into while he
was on vacation and over$20,000of items were stolen.
Didn't have
Speaker 2 (33:32):
$20,000 worth of items.
Sarah (33:33):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Why is he on vacation?
For what?
From not working
Sarah (33:37):
Well, if he's not around, how can
Speaker 2 (33:39):
he blame him?
I'm just, yeah.
I mean, I get he has an, Ali'sbecame an alibi, but in.
Yeah.
Sarah (33:44):
However, though Eddie Lee, he gave the police a three
page itemized list for theinsurance
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I can make a list of things I wish I had in my house.
Sarah (33:54):
It worked.
I mean, I don't know how much hegot, but this kind of stuff
worked for him.
Yeah.
Like he claimed ridiculousthings.
He claimed an entertainmentcenter was stolen worth$2,700.
In today's money, thatentertainment center would cost
$6,300.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
And that's not even the tv, that's not the
electronics itself.
No.
That's the furniture it goes in.
Yeah.
Bullshit.
Sarah (34:17):
There's no way.
He also said he had four largebrass eagles that were valued at
$300 each today.
That's$704 each.
This was also in the earlynineties, which feels a lot
farther away now that I've donethe price difference.
'cause those are big jumps.
Yeah.
Fuck.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
It's only gonna get worse folks.
So ready for that.
Hooray.
Sarah (34:43):
Eddie Lee, unfortunately, was very well versed in the law.
That's how he could skirt aroundall of this, even if he didn't
get as much as he wanted.
He did usually get some moneyout of this.
Yeah.
And the police knew it.
It was like one of those thingswhere they couldn't prove it as
a fact, but they knew it to betrue.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (34:58):
So they, they just didn't like the sextons, but they were
just a, an annoying family tothem.
Yeah.
Eddie Lee was great at scammingthe system, getting government
money, but he was also reallygood at getting everyone else's
government money.
If you received anything fromthe government, you were a
target to Eddie Lee.
And in early 1991, Eddie Leecalled the police himself saying
(35:20):
that his nephew was kidnapped atgunpoint by his brothers, the
nephew's brothers.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Oh, okay.
So his other nephews?
Sarah (35:27):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah.
Sarah (35:29):
When the police investigated, they discovered
that the nephew was a45-year-old mentally challenged
man.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Okay.
Sarah (35:37):
And it was his nephew, but he's an adult.
And Eddie Lee, somehow, becamehis legal guardian and was
receiving his nephew's benefitchecks.
The nephew told the police thatEddie Lee was beating him and
that his brothers came to rescuehim.
And that's done.
They just let that go.
(35:57):
Yeah.
I don't know what happenedthere.
Why did the police would've beenhelpful if's in the, the police
reports The police
Speaker 2 (36:01):
had called first and been like, Hey, we're going to
rescue my brother because being,I'm sure guns were involved, I'm
sure.
Care caregiver and,
Sarah (36:09):
yeah.
Caretaker, Sexton,
Speaker 2 (36:12):
whatever.
Yeah.
Caretaker, caregiver.
What?
Sarah (36:15):
And then there was also an issue with their neighbors,
they were a retired couplehusband and wife, taking care of
their adult daughter who wasmentally challenged at first.
Everyone got along andeverything was great, no big
deal.
But then the wife got cancer andshe passed away.
Soon.
(36:35):
Eddie Lee was pushing hisneighbor, giving him some advice
to get some social securitybenefits for his daughter's
disability because
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Oh, she wasn't getting those already, right.
He
Sarah (36:45):
wasn't doing that.
Okay.
So when the gentleman decided tolook into it, he discovered, oh,
wow.
Yeah.
I, I, I can get help a lot ofmoney for,
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I can get money for my daughter.
Yeah.
And now that
Sarah (36:54):
his wife has passed Yeah.
And he's retired, like heprobably needs a lot of extra
help at this point.
So he's grateful to Eddie Leefor this help.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah.
Sarah (37:03):
Then the neighbor himself got cancer and Eddie Lee offered
to become his legal guardiansaying, I'll take care of you
and your daughter.
It'll be fine.
The neighbor declined.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Good.
Sarah (37:16):
When he did decline, that's when Eddie Lee got mean.
Some people would say, this is afeud.
It's not.
It's Eddie Lee harassing thisman.
Eddie Lee had his boys, climbthe neighbor's fence and beat on
his doors.
They broke his windows,destroyed his tomato garden that
he had with his wife.
they stole his tools and theytried to light his garage on
(37:37):
fire.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
This old man should just wait in his windows with
the rifle and just wait for himto come up and
Sarah (37:43):
pick him off.
Oh, I never thought of that.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Like this clearly wasn't all happening at one
time.
Sarah (37:46):
I don't know if it happens, like when he's asleep,
when he is not there, if he'scoming home to things like this.
I don't know.
Eddie Lee would file a policereport claiming that his
neighbor hit his kids with hiscar.
And that's obviously a falsereport.
Like they couldn't get anythingon Eddie Lee.
Like he's being so just anannoying human right now.
Yeah.
And the police can't doanything.
(38:08):
That's not enough, I guess.
Now their neighbor eventuallywas just scared to call the
police because every time he didit would get worse.
He'd call for one broken window.
The next day there'd be twobroken windows.
The police just weren't fuckinghelping.
Yeah.
Whenever the police did show upthough, Eddie Lee was really
weird about it.
He would stare out of his windowat the neighbor and he would
(38:29):
like tap on the window to makesure that they would look at
him.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Okay.
Sarah (38:34):
One time Eddie Lee did come out and he approached an
officer and he handed him hisminister card and he said, I
don't want trouble.
I'm a man of God.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Yeah, I got a minister card too.
Yeah.
It doesn't mean shit.
Oh, you do?
That's
Sarah (38:46):
right.
If I have
Speaker 2 (38:46):
a plaque, it's all framed and everything.
Took me 10 minutes to get it.
Sarah (38:50):
And I mean, this isn't really relevant in the story,
but he was at one point, apart-time preacher.
Yeah.
This is kind of where some ofthe culting has started.
Who wasn't in those areas.
Yeah.
Yeah.
on one call, an officer did gointo the sex and household, and
he looked around and he saw thatit was filthy.
It was not neat and organizedlike before.
(39:10):
It appeared as if the carpet hadnever been cleaned.
There were dirty dishes withold, menstrual stains on the
beds or not dishes?
Dirty sheets.
Oh, okay.
Sorry.
On the
Speaker 2 (39:20):
dishes.
I didn't
Sarah (39:21):
mean to say dishes.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Eating it.
What?
Sarah (39:23):
I know, I know.
I saw two words.
Yeah.
And I put them together.
This microphone kind of coveredit.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
Menstrual blood on the dishes.
Sarah (39:29):
Oh, the fine China.
Oh, maybe I needed that break ofa joke there.
Yeah.
Whew.
There were dirty sheets with oldmenstrual stains on the beds,
and there were also crustytowels in the bathroom.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
So the officer tells DHS aboutthis.
He's like, Hey, this is a reallyintense situation.
Doesn't look so good.
(39:49):
Sounds disgusting.
Yeah.
And DHS apparently said, wedon't have enough manpower and
didn't really look into it whenanother officer was called to
the scene for something else.
Eddie Lee greeted him in awheelchair.
Which he doesn't need.
Yeah.
He uses for fake shit.
Did he have a a neck brace
Speaker 2 (40:06):
on too?
Sarah (40:07):
Right?
He claims to have diseases, tohave ms to have whatever, just,
but he does somehow get charitymoney from it.
He does somehow get them to comein and rework his house and make
it more accommodating for awheelchair.
Like, I don't know how he canconvinces, like, does he not
need a doctor's report to show acharity this?
There's a Because he really gotaway with that.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yeah.
Sarah (40:29):
That's not even in this story.
I just, it's in my mind though,and it bothers me.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
There's a local guy who's always riding around on
his amigo except when he needsto stand up to commit a crime
and it, it's, it's like he's onall these, security cameras.
You know, leaving his amigobehind to, break into the store
on foot, but then he flees inthe amigo
Sarah (40:49):
yeah.
Fuck.
Yeah.
Well, during this visit, EddieLee shows the officer a line on
the palm of his hand, and heclaims that only he and his
daughter Lana, have it.
This line somehow earns him amulti-million dollar deal with
Burger King and Wendy's.
We'll come back to that Burger
Speaker 2 (41:09):
King and Wendy's.
Yeah.
And I wanna know what the cop islike when he is like, why are
you showing me this?
Mm-hmm.
Why are you telling me this?
What, what?
Yeah,
Sarah (41:19):
the line.
We'll get into it more.
because right here the copreally does just kind of say,
okay, I am done.
But you find out that he thinksthe line.
The palm of his hand means thathe's a future tron.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Oh, okay.
Sarah (41:34):
Yeah.
We'll, we'll get into that.
So, back to the neighbor whoEddie Lee is upset with his
daughter, the neighbor'sdaughter's name is Kathleen.
She's an adult daughter, like Isaid before, but she is mentally
challenged.
So Eddie Lee decides to targether.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (41:51):
He tells his oldest son, which is his stepson, Patrick,
who's 22 at the time, to flirtwith Kathleen and to winter
over.
So Patrick goes over toKathleen, they get along, he,
gains her trust and they go toKathleen's bank together when
she withdraws$2,000 and gives itto Patrick.
(42:12):
Now Kathleen has full authorityover her bank account.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Okay.
Yeah, it's legal.
Sarah (42:18):
Her dad didn't wanna take that away from her, he would get
her disability checks and hewould put them into her account
and they'd always had a trustingrelationship with that.
All of a sudden she's$2,000 shybut there's nothing they could
do.
Mm-hmm.
He was just really upset aboutit.
So that's where that ends.
Yeah.
Okay.
So now back to the main timelinewhere Michelle is with the
(42:40):
social worker Welsh
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Yes.
92.
Sarah (42:43):
Yes.
And she just filed the report nocharges, but she made a
statement.
Now The following day, Welshpicks up Michelle from the YWCA
and takes her home to get someof her belongings.
'cause she left just real quick.
He stays with her of course,while they're at the house.
Yeah.
Even though Welsh is there,Eddie Lee is saying to Michelle,
telling her to tell the truthand that he never hit them.
(43:06):
And that it's all amisunderstanding.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
It's always a misunderstanding.
Yeah.
Sarah (43:11):
When Michelle was done gathering her things, she went
back with Welsh and was unitedwith a shepherding family.
It's a program, it's basically afoster family.
Oh, okay.
It's like a different It's areligious program that she got
into Christian, I think.
Not
Speaker 2 (43:24):
like literal people.
No, no, no, no.
Moving sheep along.
No.
Okay.
That's happened like a shepherdfamily.
I'll call it a
Sarah (43:30):
foster family.
Just to ease it all.
Yeah.
Michelle did take a pregnancytest because she said she was
pregnant at this time, and itcame back negative.
Hosanna.
Yeah.
We don't know.
It's always
Speaker 2 (43:42):
good news when her pregnancy test is negative.
Sarah (43:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
Always.
Sarah (43:46):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know why she thought shewas pregnant.
Maybe her periods are irregularbecause she's stressed as fuck.
But either way, she's notpregnant.
Thank the Lord.
All right.
And she's outta the house.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
You can have a, what's called a hysterical
pregnancy where it's like apsychosomatic, where you're, you
believe you are, you legitbelieve you're pregnant.
Yeah.
And your body will adapt.
Speaker (44:05):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
And then the doctor's like, there's no, there's
nothing There's going on.
No, no, no.
It's just, yeah.
It's rare, but it happens.
Sarah (44:12):
Oh, yeah.
Well, she was not pregnant, sothere's that.
Now, her foster family didmention some odd behaviors from
Michelle.
She would sleep under her bed,or she would huddle in her dark
closet.
Eventually Michelle admitted toher foster family that Eddie Lee
raped her.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Yeah.
Sarah (44:33):
She still did not want to go to the police about it yet,
because she believed that EddieLee had spies all over and that
he had friends in the policedepartment.
'cause he told them that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Eddie Lee, he would also pointguns at his kids and say A good
snitch is a dead snitch.
I mean, he terrified them.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Yeah.
Sarah (44:54):
Michelle had issues with her host family.
She would throughout this periodkind of swing between different
homes.
Yeah.
'cause she just has a hard timewith That's difficult
acclimating.
Yeah.
You know, she doesn't know whatto do.
when she was placed with anotherfamily after a few weeks,
Michelle was ready to talk tothe police.
Her story about her dad rapingher, okay.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Yes.
Sarah (45:16):
Michelle said that one day her dad asked her to go for
a ride and talk about her futureand college Michelle was excited
because she never got to go fora car ride.
She never got to leave thehouse.
When I say that, I meanliterally never.
Only to school and back.
Mm-hmm.
No car rides anywhere.
No running errands with anyone.
No stepping outside if he didn'tsay so.
(45:38):
She's inside.
All right, so when he says, comefor a ride with me, she's like,
yes.
That's like a holiday.
Yeah, let's go.
Eddie Lee drove to a secludedlot and then slapped Michelle in
the face and then forced herinto the back of the van.
He then ripped off herunderwear, pinned her down, and
raped his daughter.
He told her if she saidanything, that he would kill
(46:00):
her.
That's as detailed as I'm gonnaget there.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
Yeah.
Sarah (46:04):
Um, but that's what happened with Michelle.
And the following morning,Michelle saw her dad kiss the
two youngest daughters, Lana,who's 12, and Kimberly, who's
seven.
She said that she saw him kissthem inappropriately before
school and that's what pushedMichelle to finally come
forward.
'cause she Yeah.
(46:24):
Protect the younger siblings.
Knew what they could go throughnow
Speaker 2 (46:25):
yeah.
Sarah (46:26):
And that's usually how it goes if, you know, they don't,
the older kids don't want theyounger kids to go through what
they did, and so brave forMichelle to come forward and
finally say something.
Yeah.
That's how you find them.
I've, yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
I've covered, I mean, not all of'em, but a lot of the
stories with multiple siblingswho have been Yeah.
Sexually abused within thehousehold.
It's the first, the oldest onekeeps it quiet until she learns.
A younger brother or sister isalso being subjected to it.
And that's what, that's whatbreaks often compels them to
report it.
Yeah.
Sarah (46:58):
After Eddie Lee raped Michelle, he would tease her
about being pregnant.
Oh.
He would waddle throughout thehouse like a pregnant woman and
he would point to Michelle'sbelly and say, I know what's
growing in there.
Ugh.
at this point though, He said itwas okay for Michelle to have a
boyfriend now.
(47:19):
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
That was just, I mean, nothingcomes of that.
She obviously, you know Yeah.
She wasn't pregnant you Yeah.
Yeah.
But that's how his daughters canhave boyfriends, is that once he
Yes.
Has sex with them.
Yeah.
As Michelle continues todescribe her home life, she
mentions daily whoopins thatthey would get.
(47:39):
the kids would go into theirparents' bedroom and they would
remove their pants andunderwear.
Then Eddie Lee would hit theirthighs and bottoms with a
switch.
while May watched.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
So, while Mei watched.
Yeah.
Okay.
Sarah (47:52):
So May knows what's going on.
I know you were surprisedearlier when I said the kids go
to school, they go to school.
That's it.
Mm-hmm.
There's no extracurriculars.
They don't go to dances.
They don't play sports band,nothing.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Okay.
Sarah (48:05):
The only dances they ever attended were thrown by their
dad.
Speaker 2 (48:09):
I was gonna say family dances.
Yep.
A lot of, uh, father daughterdances going on here.
Sarah (48:14):
Oh, yeah.
He would gather the kids in theliving room on Friday nights,
turn on the radio and order themto dance as they danced.
Eddie Lee would sit in his chairsmoking cigarettes and just
watch them.
He would move the girls near thefront.
He would instruct them on how tomove their bodies.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Jesus.
Sarah (48:33):
I know, God, this is so uncomfortable.
As I was reading the book, I hadto walk, like, get up physically
and walk away from the book afew times.
I think you saw me do that.
Oh yeah.
Like I was just like, all right,I need a break out of Shake it
off.
Oh my God.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Okay.
Remember what songs they weredancing to?
Early nineties pop?
Was that contemporary music or,
Sarah (48:53):
oh, I don't know.
I wanna know, don't, I don'twant anything ruined for me.
I, I don't know.
And I'm not gonna say, and wedon't need to know.
Speaker 2 (49:01):
All right.
Sarah (49:01):
In March of 1992.
Michelle is now staying at awomen's shelter.
So it's only been like amonth-ish.
Mm-hmm.
when she's staying at a women'sshelter, she goes missing.
She is found outside, shivering.
She ran away.
Okay.
But she didn't know where to go.
She said she hated the shelter,so she moved in with an older
(49:21):
woman she met from a safe house.
Okay.
Michelle would continue to hoparound.
And then in April of 1992, shedid try to kill herself by
taking a lot of pills and sheneeded her stomach pumped Also.
Also in April of 92, DHSreceived another anonymous tip
(49:41):
from a female relative of thesextons saying that Sherry was
also raped and she feared forthe youngest two daughters as
well.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
And DHS is like, we'll get to that next year.
Sarah (49:52):
Basically.
Yeah.
Like,
Speaker 2 (49:54):
we'll look at it next year or so.
I get,
Sarah (49:56):
I understand that there's not like a fire, a blazing right
now, but there's somethingsmoldering.
I think there's more than smokeand like DHS police, they need
to really be looking right nowwhen they're not, While Michelle
was hospitalized, she received aphone call from her older
brother, Eddie Junior.
He tells her if she talks, hewould shut her up.
(50:17):
So she's getting threats in thehospital.
Yeah.
This poor girl after receivingthe anonymous tip Welsh was back
on the case.
He interviews the two youngestgirls, but they didn't give him
anything, I don't think I'mgonna say.
Yeah.
He then interviews Michelleagain and she gives a little
more information this timesaying that Eddie Lee first
molested her at the age of 12and he tried to do more, but he
(50:43):
couldn't get it in.
Okay.
Is what she said.
Speaker 2 (50:47):
Lovely.
Yeah.
Sarah (50:49):
Michelle also said that her sisters, pixie and Sherry
have been having sex with theirdad since they were 12.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
Okay.
So he's got a, an mo startingaround age 12.
Sarah (51:01):
Yep.
And then on April 16th, 1992, ajudge agreed that this was
enough for a pickup order.
Speaker 2 (51:10):
Okay.
Sarah (51:12):
They would,
Speaker 2 (51:12):
for all the kids or select,
Sarah (51:14):
they would take all of the kids out of the house.
Okay.
For 30 days.
I mean, 17 and younger ofcourse.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Children.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Only 30 days though, the judgesaid that they needed to gather
stronger evidence in those 30days or the kids would be
returned home.
Mm.
So it's kind of like, you got alittle time here.
Yeah.
You here, you got something, butyou don't have enough yet.
(51:34):
You
Speaker 2 (51:34):
got a deadline.
Yeah.
You got a ticking clock.
Sarah (51:37):
The kids were saying stuff, but they were so like,
just emotionless.
They had what they call a sextonstare where they just stared off
and disassociated and just hadthese blank, far off stairs.
Speaker 2 (51:52):
Yeah.
Sarah (51:53):
Uh, yeah.
So I think, see, I think
Speaker 2 (51:54):
the burden of the proof in these situations, it
should be on these parents toprove why they should get their
kids back, not on the state toprove.
Sarah (52:03):
Honestly, like, yeah.
Look at how they're behaving.
Yeah.
Look at that stare.
Yeah.
Look at them.
Is that a healthy, happy child?
Prove to me that she's happy andhealthy right now.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:12):
We have to prove they're being abused.
Let's go look at the house.
You should to prove that they'renot being abused.
Yeah.
And I know the whole, you know,and so to proving guilty, but
I'm not talking about a criminallaw here.
Yeah.
Before someone's in prison.
I'm talking about the safety ofthe kids and it's weird to me.
It's always been weird to methat it's always deferential to
the parents.
Mm-hmm.
It always like.
We wanna keep the familytogether.
Yeah.
Why?
If it's in a bad family.
(52:33):
Mm-hmm.
Why is that a goal?
Yep.
Sarah (52:34):
Well, also, in the background of all of this too, I
read some articles about justthe culture of the early
nineties at this time with thiskind of stuff.
And apparently there were like ahandful, well they probably got
sensationalized because it'slike a haha, see it's not us.
But there were a handful ofyoung people accusing teachers
of raping them, molesting them,
Speaker 2 (52:54):
yeah.
That's still what was going on.
Sarah (52:55):
And the students were wrong though.
They, they did it for otherreasons and it was like proven.
So in the nineties there were afew of those things that
happened.
Yeah.
And it seemed like all of thepedophiles were like, see, ha
ha, we, it's not us.
And I'm like, just because a fewkids suck doesn't mean that you
guys don't either.
Like, come on.
Like, anyway.
I'd argue
Speaker 2 (53:15):
that if a kid is accusing, even falsely accusing
their parents or whatever ofsexual assault.
If there's a reason they'remaking that accusation and maybe
the household should be brokenup.
Sarah (53:23):
Yeah.
Something's going on.
Yeah.
You have to look into it.
A healthy
Speaker 2 (53:27):
household won't have a child accuse their parent of
sexual assault.
Sarah (53:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:31):
It just won't.
Sarah (53:32):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (53:33):
So even if they're not sexually assaulting them and
they're accused, she's like,where's that accusation coming
from?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway.
Sarah (53:40):
That was a big sidetrack, but we're both really passionate
about this.
So anyway, While this is allgoing on, the kids are being
taken away.
Eddie Lee saying still, it's alla misunderstanding.
And May is denying everything.
Now, Sherry and Pixie, they'reboth adults.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
Yeah.
Sarah (53:57):
And they both have children in the home.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
DNA test.
Those kids
Sarah (54:01):
well.
They both have children though.
Speaker 2 (54:04):
Oh yes.
Yeah.
So their kids are removedexactly as well.
Okay.
So
Sarah (54:07):
Welsh tells them you guys need to move out with your kids,
or we're taking your childrentoo.
Yeah.
Like no kids can live here.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Yeah.
Pick going with your kids orstaying with your parents.
Like a creep,
Sarah (54:17):
right?
Speaker 2 (54:17):
Yeah.
Sarah (54:18):
So Pixie decides to move out into an apartment, and we'll
talk about this, with herboyfriend, Joel.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
Oh, she really does have a boyfriend.
Okay.
Yes.
Okay.
Sarah (54:29):
Okay..
So they move out together andthen Eddie Lee tells Sherry to
move down to Florida with hisbrother Dave.
So there's Dave Sexton and GeneSexton that live down in
Florida, and they have threetrailers, like a small little
compound kind of thing.
So
Speaker 2 (54:45):
they're full Florida.
Sarah (54:46):
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
They live in like SwampyFlorida.
They moved from West Virginia
Speaker 2 (54:49):
to Florida.
Bought the trailers with them.
Sarah (54:51):
Yes.
Yes.
So Sherry takes her son down toFlorida, goes there and Pixie
moves out with her boyfriend
Speaker 2 (54:57):
Just once I, with like a trashy company to like,
we're moving to Vermont.
Yeah, yeah.
Come on.
Load it up.
We're going to Massachusetts.
Like, why do you always go tothe shitty swamp?
I mean, obviously'cause it's
Sarah (55:07):
weather.
Yeah.
I'm guessing, but like Yeah.
Cheaper to live too.
New England's expensive as fuck.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (55:13):
Well lower the property values by your
presence.
Sarah (55:16):
Alright, I just wanted to break down a quick little
timeline of things.
Okay.
And see if I'm going crazy.
If I think that it's fast enoughor not fast enough.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Tell me.
I'm not sure.
The timeline from when Michellefirst reported anything to when
the kids were taken out of theSexton home.
Like the 1992 report.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not counting the 91'causeshe really didn't say anything
(55:39):
there.
66 days have gone by sinceMichelle first spoke up to the
kids being picked up.
Okay.
Okay.
Fair.
46 days since Michelle mentionedbeing raped
Speaker 2 (55:53):
mm-hmm.
Sarah (55:55):
28 days have gone by since she reported all of this
to the Jackson Police DepartmentI don't understand what took so
long.
It a month after it's officiallyin the police's hands.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
Yep.
Sarah (56:11):
A month of a girl saying my dad raped me, and he's got,
uh, 12 other kids in thereincluding, you know, grandkids
and shit.
Yeah.
Like, he's got a lot.
Speaker 2 (56:20):
I wish I could say that was an anomaly, but
Sarah (56:24):
is that pretty standard timeline for this kind of stuff?
I mean, you can only speak onwhat you see.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (56:30):
And obviously when we're talking about a different
era and the That's true.
Different, different policedepartment and different
Sarah (56:35):
technology, even different, even different tech.
Okay.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
I mean, things have changed a lot since then.
Like the, you know, like there'schildren advocacy centers that
are like specifically forchildren, victims to go be
interviewed by a professional asopposed to, you know, a hardened
police detective who, you know,just tell me
Speaker (56:51):
what happened.
Right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (56:51):
They're, you know, they're taken to these centers,
which are more like a, you know,conducive to a child friendly
environment.
Okay.
A lot of things have changed.
So things I would say at least,again, yes, from my, where I
cover crime, things do move.
Faster than that for anallegation of nature.
This nature, so, okay.
Yeah.
I mean it does seem like a,there's no getting around that a
month, a month-ish of afterrapes are reported of minors.
(57:16):
That seems ridiculous.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Again, you wouldn't wait a monthif someone was reported actively
shooting their kids in thehouse.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just left the house.
My dad shot my sister in the armand yesterday he shot my son in
the leg.
And I know like, you wouldn't dothat for physical violence, but
like
Sarah (57:31):
what's the thinking on this?
Like, oh, they can handle beingraped a few more weeks, they've
lasted this long.
Like, what the fuck?
Kind of thinking is that whathappens?
Sorry.
I just hate when people don'ttake kids seriously.
Listen to your children, motherslisten to your children.
Mm-hmm.
Anyway, um, that's where we'regonna end part one.
(57:53):
Okay.
We will.
Dive into Pixie story in parttwo.
Yeah.
So we're gonna follow her alittle bit, but Michelle was the
first one that broke, out thefirst one that said anything,
and the first one that stood up,so I wanted to follow her
thread.
Okay.
but yeah, we'll start with Pixienext time.
She's the oldest daughter, theoldest one still in the home we
talked about how all of the kidsneeded to speak to her first.
(58:15):
Um, yeah,
Speaker 2 (58:16):
she's their times later, so to speak.
Sarah (58:18):
Yeah.
She was referred to as her dad'seyes and ears, and she was
daddy's girl.
Oh, she was a favorite.
So
Speaker 2 (58:26):
she's like the favorite, like she's like the
go-between on both sides.
Like from the kids to theparents and from the parents to
the kids that,
Sarah (58:33):
yeah, she's not really on the sibling side.
Oh,
Speaker 2 (58:37):
okay.
Sarah (58:38):
Yeah, it's weird.
I couldn't do her and Michellein one episode.
Yeah.
So we'll do Pixie next time andin the meantime.
You can follow us on Instagramat borrowed bones podcast.
Yeah.
And please again, follow ratereview us.
Yeah.
(58:58):
Yeah.
Good.
Do it.
We will see you next week.
Do it.
Bye.
Bye.
Hello, everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hey,
Sarah (00:03):
I'm Sarah.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Cole,
Sarah (00:05):
and you're listening to Borrowed Bones, a podcast about
fucked up, interesting, andtoxic families.
It's been a while, It's been afew weeks.
Apologies to everyone.
We have had
Speaker 2 (00:18):
our loyal listeners.
Sarah (00:19):
Yeah.
Yeah.
But we just, we've had quite abit of life hit us this, month.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah.
Past couple weeks.
Sarah (00:27):
Luckily we have this to keep us occupied
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Coming back to make the absence worth it.
Sarah (00:32):
With some deluxe multi-part episodes.
Yes.
And before we get into this one,'cause it is a big one, I wanted
to announce.
I did cave and make an Instagramaccount.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I had no idea where you're going with that.
Sarah (00:47):
I scared you.
Yeah.
Um, no, I
Speaker 2 (00:50):
encouraged her to do it.
Sarah (00:51):
Yes.
many of you did.
So I caved because I amspineless and I make one.
I've actually been really likingcoming back.
I was only gone for six months.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah.
Sarah (01:02):
But that's a long time.
Our Instagram is borrowed Bonespodcast.
Pretty simple and upfront.
Yeah.
I didn't want it to beconfusing.
No
Speaker 2 (01:12):
weird numbers.
No.
Mm-hmm.
Z's for S'S,
Sarah (01:15):
everything is as it spelled.
Sounds.
As it spelled.
Spelled yes.
So please follow.
My goal is to post daily andbecome more engaged with
everyone.
Yeah.
Also a quick reminder, if youcould rate and review us I know
if they're good
Speaker 2 (01:30):
reviews.
Sarah (01:31):
I cringe saying it.
Even if they're bad, do itbecause it helps us so much and
I just didn't wanna be that guy,but I'm gonna be that guy.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
No press is bad.
Press.
Yep.
Rate and review
Sarah (01:42):
please.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Everybody I write about would disagree, but, uh,
Sarah (01:45):
All right.
I've avoided getting into thisepisode long enough.
There's nowhere else to go.
No more announcements.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Okay.
Sarah (01:53):
Today we are talking about the most dysfunctional
family in America.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Is that like an award you get?
Do you apply for it?
It's like the Oscars.
Sarah (02:05):
That's what they were labeled.
Who are the
Speaker 2 (02:06):
nominees?
Sarah (02:08):
The Sexton family.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Oh, that hits close to home.
Sarah (02:11):
Mm-hmm.
My last name is Sexton and no,this is not my family.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Oh, okay, good.
Sarah (02:18):
No, no, no.
We're not getting that personal.
but it is the Sexton family,which is.
What drew me to them.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm not familiar with this case at all.
Sarah (02:26):
I wasn't either, and I found it when I was watching
YouTube.
I follow a great YouTuber.
Her name is Summer Sanchez.
Summer spelled S-O-M-M-E-R.
And she does, cults andsometimes family true crime
things.
And she covered this, however,she covered it in less than an
hour, and she does a great jobof a nice overview.
(02:49):
I dug deeper and holy shit.
She admittedly in her YouTube,episode does say that there's a
lot that she didn't mention.
So if you don't want to listento a multi-part podcast about
this, go ahead and listen toher.
She's fantastic.
Alright.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
All right.
Sarah (03:10):
Let's get
Speaker 2 (03:11):
into
Sarah (03:11):
it.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Let's do it.
Deep dive into the sextons.
Yes.
We are going.
Are they grave diggers?
Are they a family of cemeterycaretakers?
That'd be cool if they were.
Sarah (03:18):
Yeah.
That is the meaning of the name.
Yeah.
Um, no, no.
Unfortunately that would be amuch better job.
Hoping it was a
Speaker 2 (03:26):
family of ghouls.
Yes.
With an appropriate name.
Sarah (03:28):
Yes.
We're going to start with EddieLee Sexton the patriarch and
Estella may Sexton the mother.
Okay.
When they were younger.
Trigger warning, there's goingto be a lot of unwilling sex,
rape, um, incest, pedophilia, afew other things.
So this is your warning rightnow.
(03:49):
I simply cannot warn you, so thewhole thing's gonna be bad.
So to start from the top?
Yes.
There's so much.
Alright.
Eddie Lee Sexton was born May12th, 1942 in Logan, West
Virginia.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Okay.
So it's an American.
Mm-hmm.
All right.
Sarah (04:05):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
He was born during World War II in West Virginia?
Sarah (04:08):
Yes.
Gotcha.
He was one of 10 children.
He was the seventh child and hisbrother Otis, was the sixth
child,
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Otis.
And
Sarah (04:18):
they, we need to know their names.
Otis is just a little bit olderand they are big players in
this.
Okay.
Eddie Lee came from a family ofcoal miners
Speaker 2 (04:28):
in West Virginia.
Sarah (04:29):
No, shocker.
Doesn't track.
He's actually from, where likethe Hatfields and McCoys are
from that area.
Okay.
Yeah.
a shared
Speaker 2 (04:36):
universe.
The borrowed bones universe.
Yes.
Yeah.
They cross over.
Okay.
Sarah (04:41):
His father was also a part-time Baptist preacher on
top of being a coal miner.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (04:48):
And Otis would describe their home as relatively normal,
but very poor.
The girls shared one room andthe boys shared another and they
grew and raised their own food.
According to Otis, Eddie Lee wasa major mama's boy.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Okay.
Sarah (05:07):
She favored him.
Babied him.
Eddie Lee did go to reformschool, though at the age of 14.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Do you know what?
For, um, what was he reforms?
Stealing watches.
Sarah (05:16):
Oh,
Speaker 2 (05:17):
okay.
That's like shoplifting orpickpocketing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It just petty theft.
I just red
Sarah (05:21):
stealing watches.
Okay.
Yeah.
I got most of my informationfrom the book, house of Secrets
by, I don't really know how topronounce the last name.
Lowell is the first name.
Uh.
I have it, linked in the shownotes okay.
So you can see it.
So When he turned 18, Eddie Leeenlisted in the Army.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Okay.
Sarah (05:43):
He was only there for six months before he was discharged
for bad conduct.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Ooh.
Sarah (05:48):
Yeah.
He only lasted six months.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
He was 18.
So you said he was born in 42?
Speaker (05:52):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay.
So it was been around, aroundKorean war time at the time?
He was of age.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Sarah (06:01):
So yeah.
And they were like, we don'twant you.
Yeah.
Wow.
In 1963, Eddie committed hisfirst armed robbery.
He robbed a gas station just 24hours after his 15-year-old wife
gave birth to their son.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Wait a minute.
Was she his wife at that time orit be Yes.
Okay.
Like legally?
Yes.
Not like common law, like calleach other.
Her parents signed it over.
Okay.
Yes, they are on paper.
Husband and wife?
Yes.
At 15.
And he's 21.
21, okay.
Yes.
Sarah (06:32):
And this is not Estella May Sexton, this is his first
wife.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Oh, okay.
Yes.
Sarah (06:39):
However, when he went to prison for the armed robbery,
his 15-year-old wife soon filedfor a divorce.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So, so he committed the armed robbery a day after
the marriage?
I, he was trying to fund theirhoneymoon,
Sarah (06:50):
I think.
Yeah.
I'm sure there was something inhis brain like, oh, I need money
now.
I have a kid, I'm a grownup now.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, not married her, but she had the baby.
Yeah.
Day after he had, she had thebaby.
Okay.
Sarah (07:01):
Yeah, yeah.
Sorry, I got that
Speaker 2 (07:02):
wrong.
Okay.
Sarah (07:04):
Eddie did serve five years at a state prison for
this.
Okay.
And.
Later, he would then meetEstella May.
They would go on to have 12children together.
Wow.
Yes.
And they moved to Stark County,Ohio together, and that's where
Estella May and her familyresides.
Now, Eddie Lee was of course,polite and charming at first, as
(07:26):
they all are, but once you gotto know him, you saw him for the
con man that he was, he wasreceiving Social Security
disability checks for a fakeback injury.
Yeah.
And then of course, he wasworking under the table as like
a painter or handyman while hewas receiving these checks,
Speaker 2 (07:45):
odd jobs around town.
Sarah (07:45):
Mm-hmm.
He was also suspected ofinsurance fraud by setting at
least three of his houses onfire in the 1980s.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Eh, I feel like insurance fraud.
I mean, if you can get away withit, do it because screw
insurance companies, like screwthem.
If you can get away with it,more power to you.
Those are the men doing God'swork.
Okay.
Sarah (08:08):
He was also faking burglaries and break-ins to
report stolen items, which ofcourse, he was getting insurance
money before never place.
They broke and stole my giantdeluxe
Speaker 2 (08:18):
tv.
Yes.
No, there's no such tv.
Sarah (08:20):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that's an idea of who EddieLee Sexton is.
Okay.
Now we're gonna go into EstellaMA's Early Life
Speaker 2 (08:27):
is the first wife.
She's just outta the picture.
Yep.
That's, she just divorced.
Okay.
We're, and the, the kid thatthey had is
Sarah (08:33):
with
Speaker 2 (08:33):
her.
Okay.
So, yep.
All right.
Yep.
That's a closed chapter.
All right.
Speaker (08:36):
Almost ah,
Speaker 2 (08:39):
little ellipses there
Sarah (08:41):
Estella May was born in West Virginia as well.
Okay.
She goes by May.
she had a pretty standardchildhood.
May was one of 10 children.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Wow.
Sarah (08:53):
West Virginia, man.
They like to have a lot of kids.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Was she seven of 10 as well?
Sarah (08:58):
I don't remember where she fell.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
That'd be interesting if
Sarah (09:01):
that would be interesting.
She began dating around the ageof 16.
She would go to the movies, themall school dances, you know,
typical teenage stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (09:11):
Eventually her family did settle in Ohio and May wanted to
become a nurse.
She was in the Future Nurses ofAmerica, and she also was
working at a nursing home.
So she had like goals andambitions?
Yeah.
She did quit the nursing homebecause her patients passed away
and that was too hard for her.
So then she tried her hand atcosmetology or possibly becoming
(09:35):
a go-go dancer.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
When did she become a real estate agent?
Sarah (09:39):
Oh, that would've been a fine path for her to take.
Trust me.
Before Mai met Eddie Lee, shemet Bill.
Bill and Mai met at a dance.
They began dating and soon Maybecame pregnant
Speaker 2 (09:54):
by Bill.
Sarah (09:55):
And then Bill had to fight in the Vietnam war.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Oh.
Sarah (09:58):
And he never returned and may never found out what
happened to
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Bill dodged a bullet there.
I dunno if he did.
Sarah (10:06):
He didn't.
Oh, may had her child, Patrick,he was born in 1967.
And May was only 20 years old atthat time.
All right..
May then moved in with hersister in Canton, Ohio.
She worked at the local five anddime saving up for cosmetology
school.
She decided to go that route,not to go go dancer.
(10:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
That's weird to like, consider that as like a career.
Like, that's not gonna last.
Yeah.
Sarah (10:30):
Well, think about it.
Go-go.
Dancers existed.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah.
Sarah (10:33):
Someone had to want to be that,
Speaker 2 (10:35):
but as like a career choice, like, it's like a short,
that's she's young.
Sarah (10:38):
She's like 20.
Yeah.
That's, that's the thing to do.
I'll go into
Speaker 2 (10:40):
nursing, cosmetology things that could last a
lifetime or go-go dancing.
Would you get a few years inbefore you're, I guess then you
can go into cosmetology ordancing?
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sarah (10:50):
she's trying to live her life.
When Mai was staying with hersister, Mae's brother-in-law
introduced her to Eddie Lee.
She was told that the ministerat the church had a good looking
younger brother and thatminister was Otis.
Otis.
Hey, look at you.
Did I drop some foreshadowingdown on there or just, or are
(11:10):
you just super smart?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I hate the name Otis, so it just sticks out.
Whenever I hear it, it just,it's in there.
Sarah (11:16):
He's a complex man.
We don't hate him.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I'm not saying I hate him.
I just hate the May Otis.
Sarah (11:21):
Okay.
All right.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah.
Sarah (11:23):
May, when she went to the church was a little, um, felt
out of place'cause it was moreof that southern revivalist
style.
Mm-hmm.
And she was Lutheran.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Oh.
But
Sarah (11:34):
Still enjoyed it.
she didn't really get to talk toEddie Lee, but she did sit next
to him.
Then they were able to properlymeet a few days later when they
were invited to a weenie roastat Otis's house.
And then Maye and Eddie Lee gotto know each other a bit more.
Eddie Lee was working forGoodwill as a truck driver and a
painter mm-hmm.
(11:55):
And May told him that she'snever been married, and he tells
her I've also never beenmarried.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Oh, so he lied?
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Sarah (12:04):
Yep.
Then a few months later, Maemoves to West Virginia to live
with her mom.
Eddie Lee follows her.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
So went from West Virginia to Ohio.
Back to West Virginia.
Yeah.
All right.
Sarah (12:15):
Mm-hmm.
Eddie Lee, when he arrived inWest Virginia, took May out to
dinner, he put on the charm andconvinced May to move back to
Ohio.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Jesus.
Sarah (12:25):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Took in the tour states.
I know.
Sarah (12:29):
I mean, we live in Michigan.
Yeah.
We have, yeah.
There's uniqueness.
We have water
Speaker 2 (12:33):
to Michigan.
Sarah (12:34):
Lots of water.
Yeah.
Cherries.
We're
Speaker 2 (12:36):
the only state blueberries composed of two
peninsulas.
Sarah (12:40):
Anyway.
Eddie Lee and may officiallystart dating when they get back
to Ohio.
Eddie Lee was clean, cut, wellbuilt.
He got along well with his momand Mae's mom.
They even went on like three tofour days before Eddie Lee
kissed May.
He was very much the gentleman.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
This is not what I was picturing.
Sarah (12:59):
Yeah, it gets there real quick.
Don't worry.
He lied to her about beingmarried mm-hmm.
And may also never knew that hewas in jail.
After two to three years of thiscasual dating, things started to
change.
May began talking to anotherguy.
'cause Eddie Lee wasn't likefully committing.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (13:20):
So what she just playing the
Speaker 2 (13:21):
field a little bit?
Yeah.
Sarah (13:21):
Kind of.
Yeah.
She wanted to get married and hewouldn't marry her.
So what May did, which honestlyit is the only thing I enjoy
about this person that she didthis, another guy was interested
in her, so she made plans withEddie Lee and this other guy on
the same day at the same time.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Oh, she made them fight over her?
Sarah (13:42):
Yes.
But what happened was they saweach other on the porch, and the
the new guy just walked away.
Oh.
He was like, fuck this, I'm not,yeah, nope.
And then Eddie Lee slapped meacross the face and called her a
slut.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And then she was like, oh, the man after my own
heart,
Sarah (13:59):
um, almost she swung back at him and missed, and then she
broke up with him after that.
Oh.
But the following day, Eddie Leewas being all nice and
apologetic and may forgave him,and they got back together.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
That was foolish.
Mm-hmm.
I don't even know where it goesfrom here, but just inherently
That's foolish.
Sarah (14:17):
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
This is a great way to startoff.
They would move in together, butMay was still wanting marriage
and.
Eddie Lee finally admitted thathe was still married.
Oh, his wife filed his childbride for divorce.
He never
Speaker 2 (14:32):
signed it.
Sarah (14:32):
Exactly.
But they they don't see eachother again.
Yeah.
So she is out of the picture.
Yeah.
But that's the last thread,thread, legal thing
Speaker 2 (14:40):
hanging over his head.
Sarah (14:41):
Right.
So he finally admitted to Maythat he had a wife back in West
Virginia, but they haven't seeneach other in years, which I do
believe is true.
Um, I don't know if I mentionedthis.
I think I skipped over it.
They were pregnant.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah,
Sarah (14:57):
they got pregnant.
I think I skipped over thatactually.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
And her child from Vietnam Hill, Patrick.
Okay.
Patrick, yeah, he's Patrick isthe son's name.
Yeah.
He's still around.
Yep.
Yep.
She's keeping him,
Sarah (15:08):
he stays.
Okay.
He's a part of the group.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
So Eddie Lee and May arepregnant, and they welcome their
son, Eddie Junior.
And they're not married yet, butbecause they have a son and a
child and they're livingtogether with this little family
unit, may quit working at theFive and Dime.
And she finally just put thatcosmetology dream.
(15:31):
To bed.
She was done.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Kill a dream.
Have a kid.
Sarah (15:34):
Yep.
Yep.
Huh?
I just said yes so quickly tothat.
Yeah, that I was like, well, hada little of that woman guilt
anyway, so you still have thosedreams instead?
Yeah.
Eddie Lee said that the man isthe one who works, not the
woman.
So of course May had to quit.
Now there's a random Wednesday,Eddie Lee and May got into a
(15:56):
pretty bad argument over hisdrinking and weed smoking.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes.
What year is this?
This is in the eighties, right?
Sarah (16:04):
This is in like the early seven, like late sixties maybe.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're not there yet.
Okay.
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I was just thinking when you mentioned him starting
fires and Yeah.
I
Sarah (16:12):
just wanted to give an overview of who this person is.
Okay.
But we'll come back to,
Speaker 2 (16:16):
okay.
Sarah (16:16):
So
Speaker 2 (16:16):
late sixties, he's mm-hmm.
Drinking, smoking weed too much.
Sarah (16:19):
Yep.
Um, in the fight, Eddie Lee hitsmay smacks her around a bit, and
that's how that fight ends.
They just rough it out.
So that was Wednesday.
On Saturday, three days laterthey got married.
Eddie Lee's brother Otis wouldperform the ceremony in Eddie
Lee's mom's living room.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Okay.
Sarah (16:41):
And may stood up there with a black eye.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yep.
West Virginia.
Speaker (16:49):
Mm.
Well this is in Ohio now.
Well, you can't
Speaker 2 (16:52):
take, uh, you can take the, the hill folk outta
West Virginia.
Yeah.
Sarah (16:57):
So of course after the marriage, Eddie Lee quickly
becomes even more controlling.
He wouldn't let may do anythingwithout him.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Fuck her.
Sarah (17:04):
Mm-hmm.
And May's dad didn't like EddieLee.
He discovered that Eddie Lee wasin prison for five years.
And he also found out that EddieLee lied about his Army career.
He said that he had a GreenBeret, um, he, you know, was a
Green
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Beret,
Sarah (17:20):
or sorry, was hat I said hat Yeah,
Speaker 2 (17:22):
yeah.
Was a Green Beret.
Sarah (17:25):
I have a Green Beret.
Speaker (17:27):
Yeah,
Sarah (17:28):
I, that's funny.
He
Speaker 2 (17:30):
wore a Green Beret one day.
Sarah (17:32):
I was thinking of the Prince song.
Raspberry Bere.
The raspberry, yeah.
Yeah.
So that's what happened there.
Yeah.
Anyway, I'm getting all thefunnies out now'cause it really
does get worse.
He was never a Green Beret andwas actually kicked out of the
army.
When may confronted him aboutit.
Eddie Lee put a bar of soap in asock and beat her with it.
(17:56):
May then threw a vaporizer athim, which is another word for a
big, those big humidifiers.
Oh yeah, yeah.
That bust out steam like a, likea box, but it's heavy plastic.
So she threw a big one, bigvaporizer at him, knocking him
down.
And when Mai tried to run away,Eddie Lee was able to catch up
to her, knocked her out.
(18:16):
And then when Eddie Lee left forwork, Mai went to her sisters
and stayed with her for a fewdays until Eddie Lee found her,
threatened to kill her and herchildren if she didn't return.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
We face with that sweet talk.
How can you not return?
Sarah (18:29):
Yep.
Hmm.
So May and Eddie Lee were nowliving on welfare together, but
that did not slow Eddie Lee'sgambling and spending And May
was not allowed to get herlicense.
She was not allowed to see herfamily and there was no phone in
the house.
May didn't see her family for 10years.
(18:49):
Oh.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Did they come looking for her?
Sarah (18:54):
I think they tried to reach out, but they weren't able
to, they couldn't communicatewith her.
Yeah.
So May's dad filed a report in1982.
He called the Jackson TownshipArson investigator on Eddie Lee.
the Jackson Townshipinvestigator then reported it to
the FBI and her dad said in hisstatement to them that in July
(19:16):
of 81, so the year before he wasvisiting his daughter and Eddie
Lee.
So this must have been rightafter the 10 year lift.
'cause it was about 10 yearswhen they first got married.
So this is when he is back intheir life or in her life.
Um, he went to visit hisdaughter and Eddie Lee.
And Eddie Lee asked Mae's dadabout like setting his house on
(19:40):
fire, like Eddie Lee setting hisown house on fire.
His, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
For the insurance.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sarah (19:44):
And if he would help him with it, then he would get
10,000 of the insurance money.
And then he also told the FBIthat Eddie Lee mentioned wanting
four to five of his childreninside the house to burn up
Speaker 2 (19:57):
four to five.
Sarah (19:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Okay.
Sarah (20:02):
That,,
Speaker 2 (20:02):
dunno How many kids he has at this point.
Sarah (20:04):
I don't know when they're all born, but it is, in like the
seventies, eighties.
Okay.
I know a few of the boys are inlike their teen years at this
point.
He's got some toddlers, so Imean, may eventually becomes a
baby making machine.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah.
Sarah (20:16):
Yeah.
It's hard to keep track of sodon't break your brain.
It's okay.
They, you'll know their namessoon enough.
Um, May's dad also mentionedthat Eddie Lee said that he
would get his chemicals fromDetroit through the mafia.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Why would this I.
Loser have a mafia connection.
Sarah (20:34):
I don't know.
So this was in July of 1981.
This conversation happens.
Mm-hmm.
Jump to May of 1982.
There was a fire and sureenough, four of the children
were home at the time with ababysitter.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Oh
Sarah (20:49):
yeah.
The babysitter and the childrenall get out fine.
And that's it.
I don't really know what happenswith the babysitter, who the
babysitter was, but that's,that's it.
So May's dad is the only one whoreports this to the FBI and.
Nothing comes of that, likeEddie Lee just, I don't know how
it happens, but a lot of thesethings they just don't
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah.
Follow through with.
Yeah.
I, the F fbi, I doesn't reallyhandle like arsons of
Sarah (21:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I mean maybe if the collected the insurance through
some, you know, cross statelines through like a wire
transfer somehow the FBI wouldget involved.
We'd
Sarah (21:24):
have to prove fraud on the insurance though too.
Yeah.
And if there's really nophysical proof, it's just one
guy saying it.
Yeah.
Then I guess, yeah, it's alittle too messed up or too, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, I know.
Sarah (21:36):
Alright, so that's Eddie Lee Sexton and May Sexton.
Now, I can't seem to find thedate that Eddie Lee and May got
married, but they did getmarried in the like early
seventies.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Okay.
Sarah (21:49):
After Eddie Junior was born.
She really starts cranking themout.
I have them listed here and I'mgiving you the ages.
They are in the early nineties.
'cause that's where most of thestory takes place.
So we have Patrick, who isBill's son.
Yeah.
He's counted in all of this.
And in 1992, he's 24 years old.
All right.
Eddie Junior is 23.
(22:12):
Then we have the first daughterwho is Estella, which is her
mom's name.
So Estella goes by Pixie.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Pixie, yes.
Sarah (22:21):
So we have Pixie, who's 22 years old now.
Pixie has two kids of her own.
Dawn and Shasta.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Are they twins or No, they're just two little girls.
Okay.
Sarah (22:33):
And then we have William, who's the fourth child, and he's
21 years.
Then we have Sherry, who's thefifth child and she's 19.
She also has a child, a sonnamed Christopher.
Then we have Michelle who alsogoes by Shelly, and then
Charles, James Matthew.
Michelle's 18, Charles 16.
(22:55):
James 15.
Matthew 14.
I mean, may is like just going.
Uh, Christopher is 13 years old.
Lana is 12 years old andKimberly is seven years old.
So May finally got a littlebreak, but she has kids that are
12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21.
Like there's probably a lot oflike 22, 23 Irish
Speaker 2 (23:16):
twins in that.
Sarah (23:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's
Speaker 2 (23:18):
gotta be,
Sarah (23:19):
she just wasn't pregnant for so long.
My god.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
No.
Room for dreams in there.
Sarah (23:26):
Oh,
Speaker 2 (23:27):
just embryos.
Sarah (23:29):
If you lost, count that 17 people.
That make up including childrenand grandchildren?
Yes.
Including every single person.
15 of them are all living in ahouse on Caroline Street in
Ohio.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
How big is this house?
Sarah (23:43):
It's very average size.
Not big.
There are two floors.
I never saw the blueprint of thehouse, but it's, yeah, kids are
sleeping in the living room.
They're making space wherever.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
All right.
Sarah (23:54):
Now Patrick and Eddie Jr.
Moved out when they turned 18,so they're not living in the
home anymore.
Okay.
But everyone else is.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
So the family's not like anti moving out then,
unless the eldest two wentagainst,
Sarah (24:06):
well, the oldest two are boys.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Okay.
Sarah (24:08):
And they moved out.
I think that's the biggestthing.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
All right.
Sarah (24:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Just compared to these like weird religious cult
families around here that likehave like a thing of five, six
generations and you can't leavethe household like those ones
out in the thumb.
Sarah (24:23):
Oh, like they have like little compounds.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah.
It's, yeah.
There
Sarah (24:26):
is a sexton compound in Florida that they go to.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Mm.
Sarah (24:30):
I, to
Speaker 2 (24:30):
make sure what someone, those, the weird
Christian cults, you know whatI'm talking about?
They always have like the wholegeneration living in one giant
modified house.
Sarah (24:38):
Yeah.
No, no, no, no.
Okay.
This is just a normal house.
Okay.
With all the kids, everyoneliving there and they just make
due.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
And it's not due to Christianity?
Sarah (24:46):
No.
It's due to poor.
Okay, cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just lack of funds for all ofthese kids.
He gets social security checks,he gets disability checks.
That's how he makes his money.
And then like under the tablejobs.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Okay.
Sarah (24:58):
All.
We are going to jump into ourmain storyline now in the
nineties.
We have the background, we'vegot the setup, everything.
We are going to start in themonth of May, 1991.
The
Speaker 2 (25:11):
month of May.
Sarah (25:12):
Yes.
Well, I wanted to say the monthof May because we've talked
about May Sexton a lot.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
You're welcome.
Listeners.
So in May of 1991, MichelleSexton, who is 18 years old
right now.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (25:29):
She's a senior in high school and she tells her school
counselor of her home life, um,the counselor would call the
Department of Human Services orDHS and Social worker, Wayne
Welsh is going to take thiscase.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Kinda surprised that she's a senior in high school.
Surprised they're going toschool and
Sarah (25:49):
Yeah, they do go to school.
I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2 (25:51):
yeah,
Sarah (25:52):
yeah.
All
Speaker 2 (25:52):
right.
Sarah (25:53):
Now when Welsh gets there, he interviews Michelle
and Michelle mentions how herdad has turned the family
against her and makes hersiblings ignore her, and that
Michelle had to do most of thechores, the cooking, the
cleaning, and taking care of theyounger siblings.
She had to be in bed by nine andwasn't allowed to leave the
house or use the phone.
(26:15):
She said that every morning herdad would give each of the kids
one quarter and said to call himand tell him if they saw another
sibling talking to someone else,a teacher, a friend.
Anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
All right,
Sarah (26:29):
anyone.
When Welsh asked more about herhome life and how things were,
she replied, there's only oneway to do anything.
There's only one way to think.
That's Dad's way.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Okay, so it is like a.
It's a little cult thing.
It's becoming a cult of No, itis.
That's why I
Sarah (26:47):
was kind of being weird with you asking.
I'm like, eh, I mean, like, theydidn't, they didn't make a
compound or they didn't build ontheir house, but I just wonder
Speaker 2 (26:53):
if they were one of these bigger movements that you
hear that he's like, and it'snot religion, the homes ruling.
He makes up his own shit.
Yeah.
It's not like, it's not a partof a larger Pentecostal
doomsday, but
Sarah (27:03):
they have the, he did do a cult.
Like they are, their brains arewashed.
Yes.
So that's all that happened withthat interview.
Michelle I think was probablyterrified and got up the nerve
and then didn't know what tosay.
Mm-hmm.
So Welsh put it on the backburner even though nothing came
of that interview, there were afew things dating all the way
(27:24):
back to 79 19 80.
In 1979, there were threeanonymous referrals to DHS one
from a relative of the Sextons,one from a professional at the
hospital and one from a townshippolice officer.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
All right.
Sarah (27:42):
They all contacted DDHS hs.
When the social workers spokewith the Sexton children, they
claimed that everything wasfine.
There were some surprise visitsfrom DHS to the home in 1979,
and then again, there was a fewmore visits in 1983, but every
time they came to the house, itwas clean and organized to the
(28:05):
DHS workers.
They just looked like a largefamily that was just trying to
get by.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
One social worker evencomplimented Eddie Lee on his
parental skills.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
One way to make it easier to get by is not have 12
fucking kids.
Yeah.
That's one way to make thedollar stretch a little bar.
Speaker (28:24):
Yeah.
Sarah (28:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, look at this predicament of got myself into.
Sarah (28:30):
Then fast forward to 1989, there was another referral
from the school after SherrySexton showed a classmate, her
bruises from a beating that shereceived at home.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Hmm.
Sarah (28:42):
Wayne Welsh was the social worker on the case again.
Yeah.
And in 1989, when he knew ofSherry's bruises, he decided to
start asking the older sisterPixie what happened, because
Pixie seemed to be the one thatthe kids would talk to first.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
And she's the eldest that's in the household.
Sarah (29:00):
She's the oldest in the household and the oldest
daughter.
Yeah.
Yeah.
and she would end up being theirvoice.
They would go to her first andthen she would speak for them.
So he goes to Pixie.
When the interview with Pixiewas over, she didn't really give
up anything.
So then he moves on andinterview Sherry and asks her
like, who beat you?
(29:20):
And she just said no one.
And then the same day that Welshinterviewed Sherry, he finds out
that Willie Sexton, theirbrother, who's a junior in high
school, was a fire starter.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (29:31):
He didn't do anything that day, but Welsh just took in
that information.
Yeah.
Like, all right, I'm notingthis.
Okay.
He's a pyro.
Yeah.
Yeah.
again, there's still nothingillegal here.
This is 89, nothing illegal Andthen we'll
Speaker 2 (29:44):
check again in 10 years.
Sarah (29:46):
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
We're not gonna check up on youever again, even though there's
smoke.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
God.
Sarah (29:51):
Alright, so now we're gonna fast forward to 1992.
Michelle did her first interviewwith Welsh in 91 when she was
talking about being ignored.
Now we're skipping forward ayear she was being interviewed
by Welsh saying that she waspregnant and that her family was
trying to kill her baby.
Michelle claimed to get pregnantby her boyfriend
Speaker 2 (30:11):
mm-hmm.
I was gonna ask who,'cause Iknow that there's grandkids.
Sarah (30:15):
Mm-hmm.
We'll find out.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Okay.
Sarah (30:18):
Michelle said that her younger brother, James saw her
and her boyfriend kissing, andthen James tells Eddie Lee.
Mm-hmm Eddie Lee then backhandsMichelle across her face and
James tried to kick Michelle inthe stomach.
This is when Sister Sherry stepsin and yells at James saying,
get out.
You child killer.
(30:39):
In 1991, Sherry was pregnant andEddie Lee did not want her to
deliver the baby.
So he told James to kick Sherryin the stomach and she
miscarried the following day.
So James is like.
Really the, the child killer inthe family.
He's the
Speaker 2 (30:54):
abortionist of the family.
The
Sarah (30:55):
abortionist.
Yeah.
Michelle told Wayne Welsh thatthere were four conceptions in
four years from the Sextondaughters.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
None carried to term,
Sarah (31:06):
right?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Hmm hmm.
Sarah (31:10):
Now I don't really understand legally what could be
done at this point.
The excuse I saw in the articlesand things that I found was that
Welsh was talking to Michelle,who was 18.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Yeah.
Sarah (31:23):
So he couldn't do anything unless she's not a
child anymore.
She wanted, but like, could shepress any charges at this point?
I guess not.
'cause her younger brotherpunched her in the stomach.
That's all Welsh knows.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
And that's what she's alleging.
I mean, and this happenedsometime beforehand.
Right, right.
She's, I guess there's reallynothing that have the medical,
I'm assuming she's not stillbearing no physical evidence and
she's alleging her younger.
Brother did, right?
Younger.
Yeah.
James is
Sarah (31:50):
younger,
Speaker 2 (31:51):
so I don't really, it could be done to no police.
Sarah (31:53):
Okay.
Yeah.
So we're not at the point yetwhere Welsh can really even do
anything.
Even though Welsh couldn't doanything, Michelle told him I,
I'm too scared to go home.
He did help her.
He set her up with, the YWCAcrisis program for women.
Okay.
So she's out of the house.
She's outta the house.
He takes her there and on theway Welsh convinces her to stop
(32:14):
by the police station.
Okay.
And she writes a statement.
She does not press charges, butshe writes a statement
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Okay.
Sarah (32:22):
That's a step.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Yeah.
As a cop, I'd be like, what doyou want me to do with this
though?
If you don't wanna press charge?
Sarah (32:26):
Turns out that the police were very aware of the Sexton
family and they have a historyof reports and visits to the
house on Caroline Street.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
I'm, yeah, I'm sure they do.
They're probably a knownboogeyman family.
They're troublesome.
Yeah.
Sarah (32:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
A few things that they werecalled out for, back in the
seventies, it was mainly just abunch of little things like you
were saying.
Every cop seemed to know them.
They, they were like a familythat you knew.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
There's families like that in areas I cover.
Mm-hmm.
You just, yeah.
the same last names werearrested every day for the
pettiest shit.
Can you just not shoplift andcan you just not smash your
girlfriend's car door?
Can you just not do these thingsthat you get arrested for all
the time?
Sarah (33:04):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, in 1982 and 1987, therewere major fires at the house.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Okay.
That, that insurance thing.
Yes.
Right.
Sarah (33:14):
No, Eddie Lee reported a lot of burglaries that happened
there he claimed once that aColeman tent, like the brand
Coleman, was stolen from theiryard.
He also filed a report that hishouse was broken into while he
was on vacation and over$20,000of items were stolen.
Didn't have
Speaker 2 (33:32):
$20,000 worth of items.
Sarah (33:33):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Why is he on vacation?
For what?
From not working
Sarah (33:37):
Well, if he's not around, how can
Speaker 2 (33:39):
he blame him?
I'm just, yeah.
I mean, I get he has an, Ali'sbecame an alibi, but in.
Yeah.
Sarah (33:44):
However, though Eddie Lee, he gave the police a three
page itemized list for theinsurance
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I can make a list of things I wish I had in my house.
Sarah (33:54):
It worked.
I mean, I don't know how much hegot, but this kind of stuff
worked for him.
Yeah.
Like he claimed ridiculousthings.
He claimed an entertainmentcenter was stolen worth$2,700.
In today's money, thatentertainment center would cost
$6,300.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
And that's not even the tv, that's not the
electronics itself.
No.
That's the furniture it goes in.
Yeah.
Bullshit.
Sarah (34:17):
There's no way.
He also said he had four largebrass eagles that were valued at
$300 each today.
That's$704 each.
This was also in the earlynineties, which feels a lot
farther away now that I've donethe price difference.
'cause those are big jumps.
Yeah.
Fuck.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
It's only gonna get worse folks.
So ready for that.
Hooray.
Sarah (34:43):
Eddie Lee, unfortunately, was very well versed in the law.
That's how he could skirt aroundall of this, even if he didn't
get as much as he wanted.
He did usually get some moneyout of this.
Yeah.
And the police knew it.
It was like one of those thingswhere they couldn't prove it as
a fact, but they knew it to betrue.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (34:58):
So they, they just didn't like the sextons, but they were
just a, an annoying family tothem.
Yeah.
Eddie Lee was great at scammingthe system, getting government
money, but he was also reallygood at getting everyone else's
government money.
If you received anything fromthe government, you were a
target to Eddie Lee.
And in early 1991, Eddie Leecalled the police himself saying
(35:20):
that his nephew was kidnapped atgunpoint by his brothers, the
nephew's brothers.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Oh, okay.
So his other nephews?
Sarah (35:27):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah.
Sarah (35:29):
When the police investigated, they discovered
that the nephew was a45-year-old mentally challenged
man.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Okay.
Sarah (35:37):
And it was his nephew, but he's an adult.
And Eddie Lee, somehow, becamehis legal guardian and was
receiving his nephew's benefitchecks.
The nephew told the police thatEddie Lee was beating him and
that his brothers came to rescuehim.
And that's done.
They just let that go.
(35:57):
Yeah.
I don't know what happenedthere.
Why did the police would've beenhelpful if's in the, the police
reports The police
Speaker 2 (36:01):
had called first and been like, Hey, we're going to
rescue my brother because being,I'm sure guns were involved, I'm
sure.
Care caregiver and,
Sarah (36:09):
yeah.
Caretaker, Sexton,
Speaker 2 (36:12):
whatever.
Yeah.
Caretaker, caregiver.
What?
Sarah (36:15):
And then there was also an issue with their neighbors,
they were a retired couplehusband and wife, taking care of
their adult daughter who wasmentally challenged at first.
Everyone got along andeverything was great, no big
deal.
But then the wife got cancer andshe passed away.
Soon.
(36:35):
Eddie Lee was pushing hisneighbor, giving him some advice
to get some social securitybenefits for his daughter's
disability because
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Oh, she wasn't getting those already, right.
He
Sarah (36:45):
wasn't doing that.
Okay.
So when the gentleman decided tolook into it, he discovered, oh,
wow.
Yeah.
I, I, I can get help a lot ofmoney for,
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I can get money for my daughter.
Yeah.
And now that
Sarah (36:54):
his wife has passed Yeah.
And he's retired, like heprobably needs a lot of extra
help at this point.
So he's grateful to Eddie Leefor this help.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah.
Sarah (37:03):
Then the neighbor himself got cancer and Eddie Lee offered
to become his legal guardiansaying, I'll take care of you
and your daughter.
It'll be fine.
The neighbor declined.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Good.
Sarah (37:16):
When he did decline, that's when Eddie Lee got mean.
Some people would say, this is afeud.
It's not.
It's Eddie Lee harassing thisman.
Eddie Lee had his boys, climbthe neighbor's fence and beat on
his doors.
They broke his windows,destroyed his tomato garden that
he had with his wife.
they stole his tools and theytried to light his garage on
(37:37):
fire.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
This old man should just wait in his windows with
the rifle and just wait for himto come up and
Sarah (37:43):
pick him off.
Oh, I never thought of that.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Like this clearly wasn't all happening at one
time.
Sarah (37:46):
I don't know if it happens, like when he's asleep,
when he is not there, if he'scoming home to things like this.
I don't know.
Eddie Lee would file a policereport claiming that his
neighbor hit his kids with hiscar.
And that's obviously a falsereport.
Like they couldn't get anythingon Eddie Lee.
Like he's being so just anannoying human right now.
Yeah.
And the police can't doanything.
(38:08):
That's not enough, I guess.
Now their neighbor eventuallywas just scared to call the
police because every time he didit would get worse.
He'd call for one broken window.
The next day there'd be twobroken windows.
The police just weren't fuckinghelping.
Yeah.
Whenever the police did show upthough, Eddie Lee was really
weird about it.
He would stare out of his windowat the neighbor and he would
(38:29):
like tap on the window to makesure that they would look at
him.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Okay.
Sarah (38:34):
One time Eddie Lee did come out and he approached an
officer and he handed him hisminister card and he said, I
don't want trouble.
I'm a man of God.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Yeah, I got a minister card too.
Yeah.
It doesn't mean shit.
Oh, you do?
That's
Sarah (38:46):
right.
If I have
Speaker 2 (38:46):
a plaque, it's all framed and everything.
Took me 10 minutes to get it.
Sarah (38:50):
And I mean, this isn't really relevant in the story,
but he was at one point, apart-time preacher.
Yeah.
This is kind of where some ofthe culting has started.
Who wasn't in those areas.
Yeah.
Yeah.
on one call, an officer did gointo the sex and household, and
he looked around and he saw thatit was filthy.
It was not neat and organizedlike before.
(39:10):
It appeared as if the carpet hadnever been cleaned.
There were dirty dishes withold, menstrual stains on the
beds or not dishes?
Dirty sheets.
Oh, okay.
Sorry.
On the
Speaker 2 (39:20):
dishes.
I didn't
Sarah (39:21):
mean to say dishes.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Eating it.
What?
Sarah (39:23):
I know, I know.
I saw two words.
Yeah.
And I put them together.
This microphone kind of coveredit.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
Menstrual blood on the dishes.
Sarah (39:29):
Oh, the fine China.
Oh, maybe I needed that break ofa joke there.
Yeah.
Whew.
There were dirty sheets with oldmenstrual stains on the beds,
and there were also crustytowels in the bathroom.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
So the officer tells DHS aboutthis.
He's like, Hey, this is a reallyintense situation.
Doesn't look so good.
(39:49):
Sounds disgusting.
Yeah.
And DHS apparently said, wedon't have enough manpower and
didn't really look into it whenanother officer was called to
the scene for something else.
Eddie Lee greeted him in awheelchair.
Which he doesn't need.
Yeah.
He uses for fake shit.
Did he have a a neck brace
Speaker 2 (40:06):
on too?
Sarah (40:07):
Right?
He claims to have diseases, tohave ms to have whatever, just,
but he does somehow get charitymoney from it.
He does somehow get them to comein and rework his house and make
it more accommodating for awheelchair.
Like, I don't know how he canconvinces, like, does he not
need a doctor's report to show acharity this?
There's a Because he really gotaway with that.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yeah.
Sarah (40:29):
That's not even in this story.
I just, it's in my mind though,and it bothers me.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
There's a local guy who's always riding around on
his amigo except when he needsto stand up to commit a crime
and it, it's, it's like he's onall these, security cameras.
You know, leaving his amigobehind to, break into the store
on foot, but then he flees inthe amigo
Sarah (40:49):
yeah.
Fuck.
Yeah.
Well, during this visit, EddieLee shows the officer a line on
the palm of his hand, and heclaims that only he and his
daughter Lana, have it.
This line somehow earns him amulti-million dollar deal with
Burger King and Wendy's.
We'll come back to that Burger
Speaker 2 (41:09):
King and Wendy's.
Yeah.
And I wanna know what the cop islike when he is like, why are
you showing me this?
Mm-hmm.
Why are you telling me this?
What, what?
Yeah,
Sarah (41:19):
the line.
We'll get into it more.
because right here the copreally does just kind of say,
okay, I am done.
But you find out that he thinksthe line.
The palm of his hand means thathe's a future tron.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Oh, okay.
Sarah (41:34):
Yeah.
We'll, we'll get into that.
So, back to the neighbor whoEddie Lee is upset with his
daughter, the neighbor'sdaughter's name is Kathleen.
She's an adult daughter, like Isaid before, but she is mentally
challenged.
So Eddie Lee decides to targether.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (41:51):
He tells his oldest son, which is his stepson, Patrick,
who's 22 at the time, to flirtwith Kathleen and to winter
over.
So Patrick goes over toKathleen, they get along, he,
gains her trust and they go toKathleen's bank together when
she withdraws$2,000 and gives itto Patrick.
(42:12):
Now Kathleen has full authorityover her bank account.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Okay.
Yeah, it's legal.
Sarah (42:18):
Her dad didn't wanna take that away from her, he would get
her disability checks and hewould put them into her account
and they'd always had a trustingrelationship with that.
All of a sudden she's$2,000 shybut there's nothing they could
do.
Mm-hmm.
He was just really upset aboutit.
So that's where that ends.
Yeah.
Okay.
So now back to the main timelinewhere Michelle is with the
(42:40):
social worker Welsh
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Yes.
92.
Sarah (42:43):
Yes.
And she just filed the report nocharges, but she made a
statement.
Now The following day, Welshpicks up Michelle from the YWCA
and takes her home to get someof her belongings.
'cause she left just real quick.
He stays with her of course,while they're at the house.
Yeah.
Even though Welsh is there,Eddie Lee is saying to Michelle,
telling her to tell the truthand that he never hit them.
(43:06):
And that it's all amisunderstanding.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
It's always a misunderstanding.
Yeah.
Sarah (43:11):
When Michelle was done gathering her things, she went
back with Welsh and was unitedwith a shepherding family.
It's a program, it's basically afoster family.
Oh, okay.
It's like a different It's areligious program that she got
into Christian, I think.
Not
Speaker 2 (43:24):
like literal people.
No, no, no, no.
Moving sheep along.
No.
Okay.
That's happened like a shepherdfamily.
I'll call it a
Sarah (43:30):
foster family.
Just to ease it all.
Yeah.
Michelle did take a pregnancytest because she said she was
pregnant at this time, and itcame back negative.
Hosanna.
Yeah.
We don't know.
It's always
Speaker 2 (43:42):
good news when her pregnancy test is negative.
Sarah (43:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
Always.
Sarah (43:46):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know why she thought shewas pregnant.
Maybe her periods are irregularbecause she's stressed as fuck.
But either way, she's notpregnant.
Thank the Lord.
All right.
And she's outta the house.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
You can have a, what's called a hysterical
pregnancy where it's like apsychosomatic, where you're, you
believe you are, you legitbelieve you're pregnant.
Yeah.
And your body will adapt.
Speaker (44:05):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
And then the doctor's like, there's no, there's
nothing There's going on.
No, no, no.
It's just, yeah.
It's rare, but it happens.
Sarah (44:12):
Oh, yeah.
Well, she was not pregnant, sothere's that.
Now, her foster family didmention some odd behaviors from
Michelle.
She would sleep under her bed,or she would huddle in her dark
closet.
Eventually Michelle admitted toher foster family that Eddie Lee
raped her.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Yeah.
Sarah (44:33):
She still did not want to go to the police about it yet,
because she believed that EddieLee had spies all over and that
he had friends in the policedepartment.
'cause he told them that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Eddie Lee, he would also pointguns at his kids and say A good
snitch is a dead snitch.
I mean, he terrified them.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Yeah.
Sarah (44:54):
Michelle had issues with her host family.
She would throughout this periodkind of swing between different
homes.
Yeah.
'cause she just has a hard timewith That's difficult
acclimating.
Yeah.
You know, she doesn't know whatto do.
when she was placed with anotherfamily after a few weeks,
Michelle was ready to talk tothe police.
Her story about her dad rapingher, okay.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Yes.
Sarah (45:16):
Michelle said that one day her dad asked her to go for
a ride and talk about her futureand college Michelle was excited
because she never got to go fora car ride.
She never got to leave thehouse.
When I say that, I meanliterally never.
Only to school and back.
Mm-hmm.
No car rides anywhere.
No running errands with anyone.
No stepping outside if he didn'tsay so.
(45:38):
She's inside.
All right, so when he says, comefor a ride with me, she's like,
yes.
That's like a holiday.
Yeah, let's go.
Eddie Lee drove to a secludedlot and then slapped Michelle in
the face and then forced herinto the back of the van.
He then ripped off herunderwear, pinned her down, and
raped his daughter.
He told her if she saidanything, that he would kill
(46:00):
her.
That's as detailed as I'm gonnaget there.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
Yeah.
Sarah (46:04):
Um, but that's what happened with Michelle.
And the following morning,Michelle saw her dad kiss the
two youngest daughters, Lana,who's 12, and Kimberly, who's
seven.
She said that she saw him kissthem inappropriately before
school and that's what pushedMichelle to finally come
forward.
'cause she Yeah.
(46:24):
Protect the younger siblings.
Knew what they could go throughnow
Speaker 2 (46:25):
yeah.
Sarah (46:26):
And that's usually how it goes if, you know, they don't,
the older kids don't want theyounger kids to go through what
they did, and so brave forMichelle to come forward and
finally say something.
Yeah.
That's how you find them.
I've, yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
I've covered, I mean, not all of'em, but a lot of the
stories with multiple siblingswho have been Yeah.
Sexually abused within thehousehold.
It's the first, the oldest onekeeps it quiet until she learns.
A younger brother or sister isalso being subjected to it.
And that's what, that's whatbreaks often compels them to
report it.
Yeah.
Sarah (46:58):
After Eddie Lee raped Michelle, he would tease her
about being pregnant.
Oh.
He would waddle throughout thehouse like a pregnant woman and
he would point to Michelle'sbelly and say, I know what's
growing in there.
Ugh.
at this point though, He said itwas okay for Michelle to have a
boyfriend now.
(47:19):
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
That was just, I mean, nothingcomes of that.
She obviously, you know Yeah.
She wasn't pregnant you Yeah.
Yeah.
But that's how his daughters canhave boyfriends, is that once he
Yes.
Has sex with them.
Yeah.
As Michelle continues todescribe her home life, she
mentions daily whoopins thatthey would get.
(47:39):
the kids would go into theirparents' bedroom and they would
remove their pants andunderwear.
Then Eddie Lee would hit theirthighs and bottoms with a
switch.
while May watched.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
So, while Mei watched.
Yeah.
Okay.
Sarah (47:52):
So May knows what's going on.
I know you were surprisedearlier when I said the kids go
to school, they go to school.
That's it.
Mm-hmm.
There's no extracurriculars.
They don't go to dances.
They don't play sports band,nothing.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Okay.
Sarah (48:05):
The only dances they ever attended were thrown by their
dad.
Speaker 2 (48:09):
I was gonna say family dances.
Yep.
A lot of, uh, father daughterdances going on here.
Sarah (48:14):
Oh, yeah.
He would gather the kids in theliving room on Friday nights,
turn on the radio and order themto dance as they danced.
Eddie Lee would sit in his chairsmoking cigarettes and just
watch them.
He would move the girls near thefront.
He would instruct them on how tomove their bodies.
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Jesus.
Sarah (48:33):
I know, God, this is so uncomfortable.
As I was reading the book, I hadto walk, like, get up physically
and walk away from the book afew times.
I think you saw me do that.
Oh yeah.
Like I was just like, all right,I need a break out of Shake it
off.
Oh my God.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Okay.
Remember what songs they weredancing to?
Early nineties pop?
Was that contemporary music or,
Sarah (48:53):
oh, I don't know.
I wanna know, don't, I don'twant anything ruined for me.
I, I don't know.
And I'm not gonna say, and wedon't need to know.
Speaker 2 (49:01):
All right.
Sarah (49:01):
In March of 1992.
Michelle is now staying at awomen's shelter.
So it's only been like amonth-ish.
Mm-hmm.
when she's staying at a women'sshelter, she goes missing.
She is found outside, shivering.
She ran away.
Okay.
But she didn't know where to go.
She said she hated the shelter,so she moved in with an older
(49:21):
woman she met from a safe house.
Okay.
Michelle would continue to hoparound.
And then in April of 1992, shedid try to kill herself by
taking a lot of pills and sheneeded her stomach pumped Also.
Also in April of 92, DHSreceived another anonymous tip
(49:41):
from a female relative of thesextons saying that Sherry was
also raped and she feared forthe youngest two daughters as
well.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
And DHS is like, we'll get to that next year.
Sarah (49:52):
Basically.
Yeah.
Like,
Speaker 2 (49:54):
we'll look at it next year or so.
I get,
Sarah (49:56):
I understand that there's not like a fire, a blazing right
now, but there's somethingsmoldering.
I think there's more than smokeand like DHS police, they need
to really be looking right nowwhen they're not, While Michelle
was hospitalized, she received aphone call from her older
brother, Eddie Junior.
He tells her if she talks, hewould shut her up.
(50:17):
So she's getting threats in thehospital.
Yeah.
This poor girl after receivingthe anonymous tip Welsh was back
on the case.
He interviews the two youngestgirls, but they didn't give him
anything, I don't think I'mgonna say.
Yeah.
He then interviews Michelleagain and she gives a little
more information this timesaying that Eddie Lee first
molested her at the age of 12and he tried to do more, but he
(50:43):
couldn't get it in.
Okay.
Is what she said.
Speaker 2 (50:47):
Lovely.
Yeah.
Sarah (50:49):
Michelle also said that her sisters, pixie and Sherry
have been having sex with theirdad since they were 12.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
Okay.
So he's got a, an mo startingaround age 12.
Sarah (51:01):
Yep.
And then on April 16th, 1992, ajudge agreed that this was
enough for a pickup order.
Speaker 2 (51:10):
Okay.
Sarah (51:12):
They would,
Speaker 2 (51:12):
for all the kids or select,
Sarah (51:14):
they would take all of the kids out of the house.
Okay.
For 30 days.
I mean, 17 and younger ofcourse.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Children.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Only 30 days though, the judgesaid that they needed to gather
stronger evidence in those 30days or the kids would be
returned home.
Mm.
So it's kind of like, you got alittle time here.
Yeah.
You here, you got something, butyou don't have enough yet.
(51:34):
You
Speaker 2 (51:34):
got a deadline.
Yeah.
You got a ticking clock.
Sarah (51:37):
The kids were saying stuff, but they were so like,
just emotionless.
They had what they call a sextonstare where they just stared off
and disassociated and just hadthese blank, far off stairs.
Speaker 2 (51:52):
Yeah.
Sarah (51:53):
Uh, yeah.
So I think, see, I think
Speaker 2 (51:54):
the burden of the proof in these situations, it
should be on these parents toprove why they should get their
kids back, not on the state toprove.
Sarah (52:03):
Honestly, like, yeah.
Look at how they're behaving.
Yeah.
Look at that stare.
Yeah.
Look at them.
Is that a healthy, happy child?
Prove to me that she's happy andhealthy right now.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:12):
We have to prove they're being abused.
Let's go look at the house.
You should to prove that they'renot being abused.
Yeah.
And I know the whole, you know,and so to proving guilty, but
I'm not talking about a criminallaw here.
Yeah.
Before someone's in prison.
I'm talking about the safety ofthe kids and it's weird to me.
It's always been weird to methat it's always deferential to
the parents.
Mm-hmm.
It always like.
We wanna keep the familytogether.
Yeah.
Why?
If it's in a bad family.
(52:33):
Mm-hmm.
Why is that a goal?
Yep.
Sarah (52:34):
Well, also, in the background of all of this too, I
read some articles about justthe culture of the early
nineties at this time with thiskind of stuff.
And apparently there were like ahandful, well they probably got
sensationalized because it'slike a haha, see it's not us.
But there were a handful ofyoung people accusing teachers
of raping them, molesting them,
Speaker 2 (52:54):
yeah.
That's still what was going on.
Sarah (52:55):
And the students were wrong though.
They, they did it for otherreasons and it was like proven.
So in the nineties there were afew of those things that
happened.
Yeah.
And it seemed like all of thepedophiles were like, see, ha
ha, we, it's not us.
And I'm like, just because a fewkids suck doesn't mean that you
guys don't either.
Like, come on.
Like, anyway.
I'd argue
Speaker 2 (53:15):
that if a kid is accusing, even falsely accusing
their parents or whatever ofsexual assault.
If there's a reason they'remaking that accusation and maybe
the household should be brokenup.
Sarah (53:23):
Yeah.
Something's going on.
Yeah.
You have to look into it.
A healthy
Speaker 2 (53:27):
household won't have a child accuse their parent of
sexual assault.
Sarah (53:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:31):
It just won't.
Sarah (53:32):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (53:33):
So even if they're not sexually assaulting them and
they're accused, she's like,where's that accusation coming
from?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway.
Sarah (53:40):
That was a big sidetrack, but we're both really passionate
about this.
So anyway, While this is allgoing on, the kids are being
taken away.
Eddie Lee saying still, it's alla misunderstanding.
And May is denying everything.
Now, Sherry and Pixie, they'reboth adults.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
Yeah.
Sarah (53:57):
And they both have children in the home.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
DNA test.
Those kids
Sarah (54:01):
well.
They both have children though.
Speaker 2 (54:04):
Oh yes.
Yeah.
So their kids are removedexactly as well.
Okay.
So
Sarah (54:07):
Welsh tells them you guys need to move out with your kids,
or we're taking your childrentoo.
Yeah.
Like no kids can live here.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Yeah.
Pick going with your kids orstaying with your parents.
Like a creep,
Sarah (54:17):
right?
Speaker 2 (54:17):
Yeah.
Sarah (54:18):
So Pixie decides to move out into an apartment, and we'll
talk about this, with herboyfriend, Joel.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
Oh, she really does have a boyfriend.
Okay.
Yes.
Okay.
Sarah (54:29):
Okay..
So they move out together andthen Eddie Lee tells Sherry to
move down to Florida with hisbrother Dave.
So there's Dave Sexton and GeneSexton that live down in
Florida, and they have threetrailers, like a small little
compound kind of thing.
So
Speaker 2 (54:45):
they're full Florida.
Sarah (54:46):
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
They live in like SwampyFlorida.
They moved from West Virginia
Speaker 2 (54:49):
to Florida.
Bought the trailers with them.
Sarah (54:51):
Yes.
Yes.
So Sherry takes her son down toFlorida, goes there and Pixie
moves out with her boyfriend
Speaker 2 (54:57):
Just once I, with like a trashy company to like,
we're moving to Vermont.
Yeah, yeah.
Come on.
Load it up.
We're going to Massachusetts.
Like, why do you always go tothe shitty swamp?
I mean, obviously'cause it's
Sarah (55:07):
weather.
Yeah.
I'm guessing, but like Yeah.
Cheaper to live too.
New England's expensive as fuck.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (55:13):
Well lower the property values by your
presence.
Sarah (55:16):
Alright, I just wanted to break down a quick little
timeline of things.
Okay.
And see if I'm going crazy.
If I think that it's fast enoughor not fast enough.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Tell me.
I'm not sure.
The timeline from when Michellefirst reported anything to when
the kids were taken out of theSexton home.
Like the 1992 report.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not counting the 91'causeshe really didn't say anything
(55:39):
there.
66 days have gone by sinceMichelle first spoke up to the
kids being picked up.
Okay.
Okay.
Fair.
46 days since Michelle mentionedbeing raped
Speaker 2 (55:53):
mm-hmm.
Sarah (55:55):
28 days have gone by since she reported all of this
to the Jackson Police DepartmentI don't understand what took so
long.
It a month after it's officiallyin the police's hands.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
Yep.
Sarah (56:11):
A month of a girl saying my dad raped me, and he's got,
uh, 12 other kids in thereincluding, you know, grandkids
and shit.
Yeah.
Like, he's got a lot.
Speaker 2 (56:20):
I wish I could say that was an anomaly, but
Sarah (56:24):
is that pretty standard timeline for this kind of stuff?
I mean, you can only speak onwhat you see.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (56:30):
And obviously when we're talking about a different
era and the That's true.
Different, different policedepartment and different
Sarah (56:35):
technology, even different, even different tech.
Okay.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
I mean, things have changed a lot since then.
Like the, you know, like there'schildren advocacy centers that
are like specifically forchildren, victims to go be
interviewed by a professional asopposed to, you know, a hardened
police detective who, you know,just tell me
Speaker (56:51):
what happened.
Right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (56:51):
They're, you know, they're taken to these centers,
which are more like a, you know,conducive to a child friendly
environment.
Okay.
A lot of things have changed.
So things I would say at least,again, yes, from my, where I
cover crime, things do move.
Faster than that for anallegation of nature.
This nature, so, okay.
Yeah.
I mean it does seem like a,there's no getting around that a
month, a month-ish of afterrapes are reported of minors.
(57:16):
That seems ridiculous.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Again, you wouldn't wait a monthif someone was reported actively
shooting their kids in thehouse.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just left the house.
My dad shot my sister in the armand yesterday he shot my son in
the leg.
And I know like, you wouldn't dothat for physical violence, but
like
Sarah (57:31):
what's the thinking on this?
Like, oh, they can handle beingraped a few more weeks, they've
lasted this long.
Like, what the fuck?
Kind of thinking is that whathappens?
Sorry.
I just hate when people don'ttake kids seriously.
Listen to your children, motherslisten to your children.
Mm-hmm.
Anyway, um, that's where we'regonna end part one.
(57:53):
Okay.
We will.
Dive into Pixie story in parttwo.
Yeah.
So we're gonna follow her alittle bit, but Michelle was the
first one that broke, out thefirst one that said anything,
and the first one that stood up,so I wanted to follow her
thread.
Okay.
but yeah, we'll start with Pixienext time.
She's the oldest daughter, theoldest one still in the home we
talked about how all of the kidsneeded to speak to her first.
(58:15):
Um, yeah,
Speaker 2 (58:16):
she's their times later, so to speak.
Sarah (58:18):
Yeah.
She was referred to as her dad'seyes and ears, and she was
daddy's girl.
Oh, she was a favorite.
So
Speaker 2 (58:26):
she's like the favorite, like she's like the
go-between on both sides.
Like from the kids to theparents and from the parents to
the kids that,
Sarah (58:33):
yeah, she's not really on the sibling side.
Oh,
Speaker 2 (58:37):
okay.
Sarah (58:38):
Yeah, it's weird.
I couldn't do her and Michellein one episode.
Yeah.
So we'll do Pixie next time andin the meantime.
You can follow us on Instagramat borrowed bones podcast.
Yeah.
And please again, follow ratereview us.
Yeah.
(58:58):
Yeah.
Good.
Do it.
We will see you next week.
Do it.
Bye.
Bye.
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