February 25, 2025 • 64 mins
On the evening of July 12th, 2016 when two teenage girls, Faith Lorraine Tsarnas and Kiya Kitchen, were struck and killed in a hit-and-run, the small town of Fortuna in Humboldt County, CA, was left devastated. Speculation swirled as locals poured out their support online immediately, long before the victims, or the perpetrator, were identified. But when investigators uncovered the shocking truth—that Kiya’s own mom, Marci Kitchen, was behind the wheel and intoxicated at the time—things got next-level messy. In this episode, we dive deep into the events of that fateful night, the chilling aftermath, and the controversial legal proceedings that followed. Join us as we uncover the disturbing details, legal battles, and emotional testimonies that defined this heartbreaking case. When immense human emotion confronts the facts laid bare, how does a small town heal, and what does justice really look like?
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Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! If you have any true crime, paranormal, or witchy stories you'd like to share with us & possibly have them read (out loud) on an episode, email us at pnwhauntsandhomicides@gmail.com or use this link. There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
As it happens, hit and run seemed to be a more common occurrence in the area along highway 101,
(00:10):
then you might think. Another was reported in early November 2024. Just weeks later,
that very same month, the New York Times released a story featuring kind of a gut-wrenching headline.
Alcohol deaths have more than doubled in two decades. Study flines.
Hi Cassie. Hi Caitlyn. Hi creepy people. Hello! Oh hello! I forgot. Yeah. This is PNW Haunts and Homicides
(00:51):
Homicides where we chat about true crime, the paranormal, and all things spooky in the Pacific
Northwest. Or the PNW if you nasty. We also do a tarot reading for a little bit of deeper insight
into our topic. So we do them at the end. So stick around if you're into that. We do do that. Yep.
(01:17):
Which you nasty. So you're gonna you gonna you gonna do do do do do do that. Exactly. That's what we do
here. Do do do. Oh my goodness. Okay. Well as fun as that was, I don't know that I have any more
(01:38):
do-do puns. I'll be impressed if you can come up with some. So I mean just float in that idea but
floating. Nice. I mean I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be totally unimpressed with aspects of what
(01:59):
you're about to tell me. So I'm gonna go ahead and just say that is straight do-do right now. Oh
okay. Yeah. I mean I think selfishly I think I want to believe that you will be very impressed with
what I'm about to tell you. Only because you're just so impressed by my writing and storytelling.
(02:24):
Oh for sure. Less so with everything that happens basically after now. Right. Yeah.
That's what I'm getting at. Okay. We've established that you're very entertaining to me and I love
the storytelling that you bring to the table. You're welcome and I'm sorry. All right. Should I say
(02:47):
that you bring to the desk? Because we record out of desk. We do record. Yeah. Okay. Well I feel like
we've we've sort of bandied about all we can here. This is um it's a lot of yikes. Yeah and I'm
sick so I'm not gonna uh hopefully not talk too much. I think you're going to find that very challenging
(03:14):
this. Oh okay. I could be wrong. Well I got my flip off mug so we're we're good to go. Yeah I don't
think you could have realized how appropriate that might be today. Oh god I was picking it up. Yep.
All right. When two pedestrians were killed in a late night hit and run on a rural road,
(03:37):
the small community of Fortuna in Humboldt County, California was deeply saddened. Initially
little was known about the fatal collision that had taken place on the evening of July 12, 2016.
But it wouldn't be long before details began to emerge about the case. As news of the reportedly fatal
(03:59):
crash began to circulate so too did speculation online. A blog site read headed Black Belt by Kim
Kim quickly captured multiple threads of debate as well as comments from those expressing their
sympathy to the victims and their families. The following morning July 13, the California Highway
(04:24):
Patrol gave a press release stating at approximately 9.16 pm an unknown driver was driving a light gray
colored newer model Jeep type vehicle southbound on Eel River Drive south of Ken Mar Road at an
unknown speed. What the Jeep type vehicle? Do they mean like a like a a Wrangler like the standard
(04:50):
square Jeep you think of or I think they just weren't positive at this point that it actually was a
Jeep. Because you think if it was like an SUV type of Jeep, they would have said they were driving
an SUV. So I just think in like, okay, so it's like a square. Yeah, I think at this point they
believed it to be a Jeep, but they just could not confirm that yet because they had not located the
(05:14):
vehicle. I'm just like there's so many types of jeeps which one is it I need to know. Yes,
and that is important later, but it goes on to say two young female teenagers were skateboarding
northbound in the southbound lane of Eel River Drive south of Ken Mar Road. For unknown reasons,
(05:36):
the Jeep struck the teenagers. The Jeep fled the scene and was last seen heading eastbound on Drake Hill
Road. One teenager was pronounced deceased at the scene and the other was transported by ambulance
to Redwood Memorial Hospital for major injuries before being flown to the Oakland Children's Hospital.
(06:02):
Wow. On July 13, 2016 at 0630 hours, I don't know if that's how you say that, 0630 hours,
the second girl succumbed to her injuries and passed away at Oakland's Children's Hospital.
That's so sad. Yeah. The initial press released by CHP, the California Highway Patrol,
(06:32):
did not disclose the identity of either of the victims, though they would both soon be making
the rounds around social media. So people figured out pretty quickly who they were. Right.
Locals would learn that Faith Lorraine Tsarnas and Kiya Kitchen aged 14, both residents of the
(06:55):
Fortuna area were dead. Fortuna, a city with approximately 12,000 residents, had sadly
just lost two of their own in the prime of their lives very unexpectedly.
How many residents did you say? 12,000. Oh, so it's not like small town, but not huge. I mean,
(07:19):
that's pretty small. Is it? So Fortuna is kind of like on the coast or near enough to it. It's like
definitely more western side of the state. And it's south of Klamath, which is kind of like where
it's like part of that like area of southern Oregon where you're like really almost in California
(07:46):
practically. So it's all of that tends to be kind of the smaller towns. They're rural. There's a lot of
like summertime tourism and things like that. But yeah, they're very small. Not that it makes
it any like less impactful if they were to be from a bigger city. I was just I do think and the reason
(08:09):
why I specifically mentioned that is because it's like in a town of 12,000 when two people, you know,
especially two teenagers, when they pass away unexpectedly, you know, it's like very tragically. Yes,
yeah, it's always going to be awful to hear that like two teenage girls have just suddenly died.
(08:33):
But in a community like that, there's, you know, so many more people that, oh, shit, I knew this person.
And in a time in like with social media where everyone, whether they actually know the person
or not, people kind of know more people because they're all seeing them online. Yeah, yeah. And I will say
(08:54):
specifically on, there's multiple blog websites that I went to, but the Kim Camp one, the red-headed
black belt. I mean, I was blown away. There were like on some of the posts, specifically about this
case, there were like dozens of comments. There were like multiple different conversation threads that
(09:17):
started in the comments because it's all of these people in that kind of local community that like,
they use this as like a first responder, like news source. There are people that like listen to
the scanners. Yeah, like I feel like the scanner pages on like Facebook. Yeah. Faith had reportedly
(09:39):
passed away at the scene while Kiya clung to life, but ultimately was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A very short time later. Kim's blog shared nearly minute to minute updates from various sources
within the local community. We already mentioned this, but including a scanner. That's part of how
(10:00):
near minutes after the collision took place, a loose description of the event itself that
it took in place began unfolding there online and people were immediately commenting.
The red-headed black belt entry entitled Hit and Run (10:11):
Child Injured in Fortuna,
reported one detail that wasn't specifically mentioned in the CHP press release the next morning
that I read you first. Stating it was believed that the Jeep reported near to or fleeing the scene.
(10:36):
And being sought in connection with the collision had one broken headlight. I don't know if that's
just because they weren't positive about that detail yet or maybe it didn't, you know, who knows.
And of course, there were also some other details that were incorrect, which just speaks to like,
(10:58):
this is like the very earliest kind of reports or things that people are hearing about what's happened.
Like the model of the vehicle, though the make being shared Jeep was correct, it would come to light
that a Wrangler rather than a Cherokee was the vehicle that law enforcement was seeking. So, right,
(11:23):
like I was saying, right, so there's a lot of stuff from like the very first blog post about this case
that went up I think within 15 minutes of the crash on Kim's blog site that it was like line
for line, facts of the case, pretty wild to see how much of that actually did hold as consistent
(11:50):
the age given in relation to at least one of the victims was also incorrect. But it's possible
that someone speaking on the scanner had simply offered their best guess when relaying information.
So my understanding was that it may have even actually been one of the paramedics that said,
we've got like a 16 year old here. We know these girls turned out to be 14 years old. Teenage,
(12:18):
you know, victim, you're maybe just giving it your best guess. Yeah, you know, I'm gonna know unless
I have like their ID on them, but like who has ID on them that young really? Right. And even if they did
at that point where it's like these are like very extreme life saving measures that have to happen
(12:39):
very quickly. Right, they're not looking for that specifically right in that moment. Yeah, maybe not
in that moment at least. Yeah. So anyways, I just I have to say I was like, wow, this is
it just kind of reinforced for me that it was in a lot of ways even though it's like, you know,
they're connected through the internet and stuff. It's it felt like, wow, this is kind of a
(13:03):
tight-knit community seemingly. The following day, the community would continue to speculate
about the details of the events that had unfurled the previous evening. Meanwhile, the news never stops
and a report had begun circulating that law enforcement had located the suspect vehicle.
(13:25):
News teams and cameras were scoping out a property on Becker Lane, which intersects
eal drive and is roughly a mile away from where the fatal collision had occurred just hours prior.
When a warrant was served by law enforcement, the vehicle in the backyard of the Becker Lane
property was said to have damage matching the circumstances of the crash site. It's not totally
(13:52):
clear to me what that means, but I think a little bit later on we're going to talk about
some of the other statements and things that are being shared by others that are
privy to aspects of that evening that you can kind of draw some conclusions at least.
(14:14):
The vehicle would be taken into evidence and one shocking detail would also come to light.
The residents and the vehicle in question found there belonged to someone very close to the victims.
One in particular. This individual was none other than Marci Kitchen.
(14:36):
Kiya Kitchen's own mother. Oh, that's not good.
No, initially despite the troubling evidence that seemed to be quickly mounting the day after
the collision, no arrests were made. But then something kind of bizarre happened.
Attorney Benjamin Oaken, who along with his colleague Patrick Grigio, I'm going to say,
(15:05):
represented Marci Kitchen at the time. They sent an open letter to the California Highway Patrol
stating that their clients were on standby and ready to submit themselves to be arrested.
Which is weird for more than one reason, but I'm like, did I miss something? No. So you may have
(15:28):
noticed that number one, I said clients as in plural. Right. Marci Kitchen had retained council and
the aforementioned attorneys were corresponding with law enforcement on behalf of herself
and her boyfriend, Josh Perlston. While the letter almost made the pair seem amenable with the
(15:51):
possibility of arrest, it stands to reason that none of them was pleased when Marcy Kitchen
actually was arrested roughly two months after the investigation by CHP started.
Wow. Yes. That's a long time. Not really. A lot of investigations take months, years.
(16:16):
I guess I just think of like if someone's saying, okay, I'm here arrest me like then two months later,
then they do it that that's why I feel like it was a long time. Right. Yeah. In that regard, I agree.
I agree. But she wasn't going to be held in custody in connection with the fatal collision
(16:38):
earlier that summer for very long. She was able to post her $750,000 bail in order to remain free
as she awaited her fate in the forthcoming trial. Though not every court proceeding would be quite
so straightforward and seemingly friendly. On day two of her preliminary hearing, her son,
(17:00):
18 years old at the time testified in court. His testimony certainly did her no favors. Uh-oh.
I mean, this poor kid had lost his sister, which no doubt was a devastating blow that, I mean,
that's just the emotional impact that that's going to have on his life from that day forward.
(17:22):
I mean, immeasurable. And I have to imagine hearing his testimony that day had a pretty similar
impact on the people that were present in the courtroom. Because in case it got lost in the shovel
or maybe I wasn't totally clear, Marci is being accused of being responsible for the hit and run
(17:48):
that killed her daughter and best friend. Yeah. At first I was like, I don't know if
if did she do that? Like did she actually do this? I was kind of like waiting for you to, yeah.
According to her son, Marci had returned home in her recently wrecked jeep that night.
(18:08):
Her passenger referred to as Trent stated that they had hit two girls. He also had a lot of other
really shitty stupid things to say. And if anybody else has to be hit by an unidentified vehicle
that abandons them on the side of the road, leaving little doubt that while the hit may have been
(18:30):
accidental, running from the scene of the crash was far from unintentional. Right. Yeah. His mother
was evasive about what had happened to her vehicle. Unlike her passenger, she claimed she thought
they'd hit a deer. How was one person saying two girls and one's just like it was a deer?
(18:55):
Like two girls is very specific. Yeah. Yeah. She told her son to get rid of a large bag that had been
stowed in the back of her jeep. Now it's getting weird. Yep. Yep. It contained untrimmed marijuana,
reportedly seven pounds worth. Wow. That's a lot because I just got an ounce and I was like,
(19:21):
whoa, I did not realize how much an ounce was. Yeah. Pounds. I, I was like, did I accidentally start
reading an article about British currency? Like, what? It's an unfathomable amount of weed.
(19:44):
And then ask your kid to take it. Yeah. Go ahead and get rid of this. What's he supposed to do with it?
Well, I'll tell you, he tossed it over a fence as she had instructed him to get rid of it in so
many words. To be clear, I am very definitely fully shocked, but I'm not clutching my pearls
about the devil's lettuce. I think, I think we all know each other. We're friends here. You get it.
(20:10):
Right. To be fair, I do think that's a mind-boggling amount of weed to be in possession of.
I mean, unless you're literally the delivery person for dispensaries. That's the only reason I can
bat them having that much marijuana in your possession. It wasn't legal then. Was it either?
(20:32):
Or was it just, it's like, just become legal. Okay. Yeah. So, California legalized medical in
'96 and recreational in 2016. Oh, okay. When in 2016? So, that's interesting. Like, were they growing
at somewhere? Well, they had to have. And this region is very well known for people growing,
(20:57):
you know, growing. Right. So, they approved it in November 2016. So, it wouldn't have been legal.
Not recreational. Yeah. Led to recreational cannabis sales in California by January 2018. Yeah.
So, it still wasn't quite there yet. Yeah. So, it might have been, I mean, arguably, I guess, like,
(21:19):
if you are a permitted grower selling medicinal, right? Medical marijuana. That would have been legal.
But there's definitely people still, like, dealing. Yep. I didn't put anything about, like, specifically,
the dates of legalization in California or Oregon into my notes. But I do think that provides
(21:41):
context. Like, how illegal was this? So, pretty illegal. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Still pretty illegal.
I mean, it is, it is California. But yeah, I mean, if you've just killed somebody behind the wheel,
probably they're going to come at you for, you know, oh, but if she just hit a deer, why is it a big deal?
Right. So, I'm just blown away by the bathling circumstances that this kid bound himself in.
(22:08):
And I realize he's not technically a kid. But I feel like more accurately, the situation that his
mother put him in. I try not to pass judgment on other people and particularly parents,
because that should be tough. You don't have to be a parent to be able to see that
(22:30):
this is not how that relationship should work. No. We can, I think we can judge on this one.
Yeah. Her son may not have legally been a child at the time, but surely this woman has to realize
this situation has put her child at a measurable risk, mentally, emotionally, potentially legally.
(22:55):
Right. And this next part gets so much worse.
I don't doubt that his life was marred by uncomfortable or even unsafe scenarios previously.
But I have to imagine nothing quite stacks up like what he was about to describe.
Marcy Sun, Kaiya's brother, face to me,
(23:23):
analyzing the situation, the first in a series of agonizing situations and accompanying choices
in short succession that would no doubt. I mean, there's no way this doesn't leave an impression
on you, not just for the rest of that summer, but probably for the rest of your life. He said,
his mother handed him her keys, instructing him to drive into a basketball hoop as hard as he could.
(23:49):
In hopes of making it look like she had run into that rather than the far more terrible truth,
which again, if you hit a deer accidentally on a dark road late at night,
why would you go to those lengths? Because it was not a deer. It was not a not deer. It was too human
(24:11):
girls. I feel so fucking bad for this kid. I really hope he went no contact with his mom after this.
That's got to cause damage to you too if you're hitting a freaking basketball pole. Is that what you
said, a basketball pole? Well, yeah, a basketball. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. At your own personal risk,
(24:33):
just do this thing to cover up something that I'm telling you is no big deal, but for some reason,
I need you to do this. That makes a lot of sense. That's still going to hurt you even if you think
that's a minor. Cause I've been like bumped into like rear ended just like from stopped. And it's
that hurt. I mean, it can. He told deputy district attorney Stacey Eads that he refused. Hand in the
(24:59):
keys back to her as he stated that was a stupid idea. Yeah. I just looping your own son in on the cover
up for any crime would be awful enough, but knowing what we do about the victims in this case that
the family was apparently not yet fully aware of that just makes her proposal and especially bitter
(25:26):
pill to swallow. Like at this point, I don't think he even knows that one of the victims is his
sister, right, but that information, I mean, it just makes it so much worse. It's an awful thing to ask
your child to do in the first place, but when asked whether his mother had been intoxicated, he stated,
(25:48):
yes, I've been around her long enough to be able to say when she's had enough beers that she's drunk.
At the time, according to his testimony, the fact that Marcy was intoxicated was readily observable
as he could easily smell alcohol on her. Marcy had apparently admitted her crime to others
(26:10):
beyond her passenger that night and her son. Obviously, we've already mentioned this, but at times,
her claim was that she believed that she had struck a deer only to pull over and see nothing
before continuing on her drive home. So we know that's bullshit. Right. Because when she was telling
immediately after and then yeah. Well, and if she had pulled over because she thought she
(26:36):
hit a deer, she wouldn't have seen nothing. Oh, God. The true horror of the situation that was
unfolding would not dawn on anyone until Marcy's boyfriend, Josh Pearlston arrived to the property.
And at that time, he asked where Kaya and Faith were. A sudden sickening realization came over the young man
(27:00):
as he recalled having seen the pair, his sister and her best friend leaving the house around
sundown on their long boards. He and his friend took off in the friend's truck heading toward the nearby
accident. This happened about a mile away from their home. As they pulled up to the scene of the crash,
he was overcome with fear and dread. And he said, Faith had been rolled over on her back. He recalled
(27:28):
she was lying in the middle of the road dead. He noticed people hovering around another figure
nearby and his worst fear came sharply into focus. I moved and I saw my sister's face.
That was only the beginning of what proved to be a very long night. He was informed at the scene
(27:50):
that his sister was being transported to nearby Redwood Memorial Hospital. From there, his friend drove
him back home to retrieve his cell phone and charger, along with his wallet and Epipen. Upon their
return, he noted that the Jeep was no longer in front of their family home. It had since been moved
(28:11):
behind the gate to their side yard. He's already a more responsible young adult than anybody else
involved in this situation. Clearly. He was at the hospital for what felt like agonizing hours
before his mother arrived. She told him not to tell anyone what happened that night and that she did
(28:34):
it. As much as the evening had been a complete and utter blur, I feel like I don't think he needed
her to confess to be able to put that together. Yeah, that was pretty obvious, I think.
Kaya would be transferred to the Oakland Children's Hospital. Her family following,
fearing the worst, but somehow still remaining hopeful. Her brother rode in the car with his dad and
(29:00):
his dad's friend. They all went together. It sounds like it was a very quiet ride there. Unfortunately,
Kaya did pass away the following morning. Of course, her entire family was devastated.
One member in particular who provided more shocking context in the aftermath. Her brother said,
(29:25):
"We were crying. There was just so much shock. I was just sitting there trying to process that my
sister was dead on the table." And somewhere in the silence, my mom spoke up and said, "I did this.
I killed her. I killed both of them." Kaya's father was immediately furious, which feels
(29:48):
"Dee, understandable?" Yeah. Reportedly, one of the first and only instances where Marcy Kitchen
became emotional at this stage, at least in the court proceedings, was when her son described
a wait fell off my shoulders. Because I had to keep it secret from my dad on the drive down.
(30:10):
Oh, shit. Yeah, I didn't even think about that. I'm like, yeah, of course, if you're going to see
your sisters in this terrible position medically, and of course you're going to have a silent
car ride, but then to have that on top of it, holy shit. So just to sum it up, give us a little run
(30:32):
down here. This woman had the audacity to try to rope her son in as a co-conspirator. And repeatedly
asked him to conceal what he knew of the crime. Worse yet, she also had the unmitigated gall to file
claims against the city of Fortuna and multiple other government agencies seeking monetary damages
(30:53):
for her daughter's death. Wait, what? The person who struck and killed and ran away from the scene
sued for her daughter's death that she literally was the cause of. Make it make sense. Not only did you
hit her, but she maybe could have survived if you had called someone right away. Like you just left
(31:19):
her there. This is all your fault, all of it. And it does sound like the emergency response was like
incredibly quick. That's good at least. Yeah, but I think we are probably going to learn that the
fact that she left the scene and didn't report it may not have had. It's impossible to say.
(31:42):
Right. It's impossible to say. But there are other way. Yeah, there are some details that I feel
like make it pretty clear that probably nobody was walking away from this. But her claim alleged
that the accident was caused by the dangerous conditions on eel river drive. This ended up not
(32:05):
being particularly important to the case despite how infuriating it is. But there was also testimony
provided by law enforcement officers at her preliminary hearing. California Highway Patrol
officer William Chase Adams. His statements indicated that he believed that Marcy kitchen was driving
at a high rate of speed, though he admitted that he could not accurately estimate her exact speed
(32:31):
at the time of the collision. He stated that both of the teenage victims had THC present in their
systems. His interpretation provided on the stand was that due to that and the fact that they had
been in the middle of the road rather than the shoulder facing oncoming traffic, they bore
(32:52):
some responsibility for the tragic collision stating they both violated the vehicle code,
which was a contributing factor in the collision. During his cross examination, he said it was unclear
whether a driver under the influence would have had time to react to suddenly encountering
(33:15):
pedestrians on that particular section of the road. However, he added that other drivers later
approaching the scene had been able to avoid faith's body prior to her transport to the hospital.
So it's almost like it doesn't matter because you were driving impaired and killed people.
(33:40):
No matter what you do, if you're intoxicated in a vehicle and you do anything, that's your
fucking fault. He did also add there was an excellent line of sight at the location.
Okay. Yeah. So even if I mean, even if there wasn't, that's not to say like, obviously if you're
(34:04):
going you're in the road, you're going the wrong way. If someone were to hit you because they couldn't
see you and they were not intoxicated and everything was totally fine. That would be a tragic accident.
Terrible accident. I wouldn't say it was like the victim's fault. No. No. And I think
I struggle because legally, when you're dealing with an insurance claim for a car crash, there is
(34:38):
language that wants to attribute fault in a way that's kind of uncomfortable. Like legally or in terms
of liability. But I think it's their valid points about contributing factors. But I don't think
(35:01):
that anybody himself included is saying this is anything, but the perpetrators fault. It's just
stuff. You know, you're on the stand and you are under oath and you have to be able to speak to
other aspects of the case. But I'm sure that feels very icky. This is like one of my biggest fears too.
(35:22):
Because I've like, I've almost hit people who are just in the bike lane going the wrong way and then
you know, pull up and you're looking one way because all the cars should be coming from the one and then
all of a sudden there's a biker. So like, it's like one of my biggest fears in a car. It's like hitting
someone because I can't see them. It's so scary to me. I mean, and they're, you know, like you said,
(35:46):
if this had happened where, you know, the pedestrian is maybe not behaving in the way that they are
supposed to and as a result, the driver couldn't see them, but they were not impaired and they were
doing what they should have been doing. Sadly, ultimately, that person who was behind the wheel is
going to be, I mean, impacted by that in such a devastating way. It may be not in the sense of being
(36:12):
legally charged with a crime because that's that's a totally different scenario. But like the emotional
impact of realizing, yeah, if they like, if you killed someone behind the wheel and even if you weren't,
you know, at fault, you're fucked for life still. Oh my God. I mean, it would be devastating. Yeah.
I was just listening to another podcast that was talking about like, oh, like helmet laws. Like,
(36:38):
yeah, you could argue like, okay, I don't have to wear a helmet because it's only going to affect me.
But then if someone hits you and you die because you weren't wearing a helmet, like that fucks them
up for life. Yeah. So yeah, it's just one of those things where it's like, God, please be safe if
you're on the road on a pedestrian, a biker, a skateboarder. Yeah. Don't drive drunk. You fuckers.
(37:07):
Seriously, I mean, as someone who has 0.00, 0 children and an equal desire to have any, like I just,
I can't do we ever find out if she knew right away that it was her kid or if she found out when
(37:31):
the kid was like, not home. And she's like, oh shit. I, I'm not sure that we can ever know that for sure.
Okay. I was like, not because I was wondering if that was going to come out. So I haven't asked that
question. Yeah. Yeah. You're like, I'm trying not to ask the question that I feel like maybe you're
going like, yeah. Um, I honestly, I just don't know that like, there's any way to know that for sure.
(37:56):
Um, I would like to think that if she had known that, maybe that would have changed some of her
behavior, but I just, I mean, I don't even know the way she treated her son. So I just, I just don't
even know that we can say that. I don't know that we can say that, oh, no, there's no way she didn't
(38:17):
know because of course she would have reacted in this situation differently because I,
I don't think there's any guarantee that that's true. But okay. For tuna, police sergeant Jason
Kadel also testified. He said he noticed a moderate odor of alcohol coming from Marcy Kitchen when
(38:38):
interacting with her. And this represented perhaps a slight mismatch of opinion between the two
officers as Chase had reportedly said the alcohol odor was overwhelming and that she was obviously
very intoxicated. Further stating that she was still intoxicated a couple of hours later at the
(39:04):
hospital. So much so in fact that the flight crew taking kaya to the hospital in Oakland refused
to allow her on the plane due to what they believed to be her significantly intoxicated state.
Wow. Yeah. That's a real drug. Yeah. And honestly, it all just keeps getting worse and I feel like
(39:31):
a broken record saying this, but this next part is just really rough.
Additional testimony also reportedly revealed that kaya and faith were hit with such force.
The imprints of their buttocks were left on the jeeps front bumper. Wow. And that faith
(39:57):
had imprints from letters and numbers on the license plate on the back of her legs.
Geez. Which feels like something out of like a like it feels like sci-fi. That doesn't
that doesn't seem like that could be real. Yeah. I just need to tell myself that that's like
(40:21):
some sensationalized aspect of the story, but that's hard. Yeah. All of this testimony presented
at the preliminary hearing, the not so good, the bad, and the truly ugly was intended to allow the
judge to determine whether there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial.
(40:44):
As you might have guessed, the judge ultimately decided that the trial would be allowed to proceed.
Didn't she confess to it? She can now she's saying that she didn't do it. She confessed to
like private individuals at times. Right. She's okay. It's one of those piecemeal things. You know how
(41:08):
the letter didn't she write a letter? That was her defense that that was her attorney that said
basically what was happening was the attorney was responding to a perception allegedly that's
you know whether from law enforcement or from the public at large that Marcy and or her boyfriend
(41:32):
were trying to hide from law enforcement. So they were saying like no, they are they're cooperating
and in fact if you want to arrest them, they are willing to turn themselves in. Okay. I see. Uh-huh.
I think I was misinterpreting that is like I'm guilty. Go ahead and pick me up. Right.
(41:56):
Okay. Well, and you could you could read it that way. That's that's not the letter of the of the law
as it were, but um but okay. So they do still need evidence. Yeah. A thousand percent. Yeah. Yeah.
Sounds like they have it. They've got a lot of eyewitness testimony from, um, you know both law
(42:18):
enforcement and you know private citizens that interacted with her and that saw you know aspects of
that evening. Wouldn't the numbers on the license plate match up? Yeah. You would think, um,
I don't know how legible that would have been. I honestly, I I read that in some reporting about
(42:44):
about the court case and testimony that was given. I read that and I thought there's no way that's
real. And I was like I'm going to talk about this, but like I just cannot my brain refuses to process
that that's possible. Because that seems like that would be a really good piece of evidence. Like
(43:04):
gruesome terrible thing, but if it matched the numbers on the license plate, like there you go. Yeah.
That seems like a movie like like you're saying. Yeah. Assuming that we believe the testimony
that was provided regarding like the impressions on the bumper and on the victims body. Uh, I can't
(43:28):
imagine that that the characters that were impressed on, you know her her legs. I can't imagine that
they would have been clear enough for that to have been like evidence of this is the specific plate
that hit her. Again, I I I cannot make my brain believe that that is real. As the case moved ahead,
(43:53):
there were requests to change venue. Marcy eventually lost her original legal team reportedly due
to financial struggles and her travel was at times restricted. Was that financial struggle because
she had to pay $7,500,000, whatever the fuck it was to for bail. Um, no, because 750,000. Yeah. Um, it's,
(44:19):
yes, 750,000. And when you are out on 750,000 dollars bail, um, that doesn't mean that you have to have
$750,000. Um, usually it's like you have to provide some sort of like a guarantee. So it could be cash
(44:40):
or it could be say putting up your home. And you typically only have to match like something that's
like it's like 10% of the actual stated amount. And that's weird to me. And it's different in every
jurisdiction. And I don't know enough about how bond works in California, but suffice to say
(45:04):
she remained free until ultimately she actually voluntarily surrendered her bond prior to sentencing.
Huh. Do you have to pay it even if you get like found guilty and sentenced? Do you still have to pay
that? No, it's not, I mean, it's not something that you ever pay. It's like a deposit. In theory,
(45:29):
you should get it back. I don't know how this one is. I'm very confused on how bonds work, but it's
weird that she would get like, why would she give that up? And not just if she knows she's guilty or
whatever. Well, it makes the question because I do think that at the point that she surrendered it,
I think the writing was on the wall. And I think that sometimes what people want to do is start to,
(45:56):
they want to start the clock. They want to start the time served. That makes sense. Okay,
because I'm like, why wouldn't you just be as free as long as you can because you know you're going to
go to jail soon, but that makes sense. And I think that probably at and I can't state whether or not
(46:17):
she actually received this legal advice specifically or not, but I would think at a certain point,
it's possible that her counsel may have advised her like, this is going to look like kind of a positive
for you where it's like, I'm ready to accept responsibility and I want to start
(46:38):
basically, you know, serving my time and kind of beginning to make amends with my community.
Right. I don't know if that's why she did it or advice that she received, but I have, that makes
sense to me. Marcy Kitchen, Pleiit Guilty and was sentenced to eight years on September 18th,
(47:04):
2018. Those following the case, the local community and the people, Faith and Kyle left behind,
were dissatisfied with the overall outcome, nor would they be pleased as Mercy Kitchen's early
release on parole approached. I knew you were going to say that. Yeah. Well, I mean, first of all,
(47:27):
she killed two people and she's going to get eight years. Yeah. On purpose, like, I mean, obviously,
wasn't like premeditated or whatever the fuck, but like, you ran. Yeah. Faith's mother, Stephanie
Baldwin said, a woman from the state parole office called and gave us the exact date, which was the
(47:51):
11th. She is going to fortuna. We were told that they always go back to their last permanent
residence. We're not able to get justice for Faith and Kyle. That's not justice. I mean, she's
essentially going back to the same community where the victims and then, of course, also herself
(48:16):
at that point, all lived. And she's going back early. She killed two people. And that may not have
been her intention when she set out at the beginning of the day, but Jesus Christ, you killed your own
(48:36):
child. They're just like, I have no words. You know, so I stumbled across a YouTube video
of a Washington state trooper who was interviewed by King five Seattle. When asked by the anchor,
(49:00):
how many serious or deadly crashes have we had so far this year that have involved DUI? He replied
that at that point in 2024, there were 202 fatality collisions on the state's roads that led to over
500 individuals being seriously injured. As it happens, hit and run seemed to be a more
(49:27):
common occurrence in the area along Highway 101 than you might think. Another was reported in early
November 2024. Just weeks later, that very same month, the New York Times released a story featuring
kind of a gut-wrenching headline. Alcohol deaths have more than doubled in two decades. Study finds.
(49:53):
Doubled? More than doubled. Mm-hmm. I'll be honest that in the end, I kind of have to agree with
Stephanie Faith's mother. It doesn't feel like justice, and it certainly doesn't feel like things have
gotten better. No. So it's crazy. It's like it's like drilled into you. We have those horrifying,
(50:20):
like in high school, we have those horrifying drunk driving scenario things. They force you to watch
basically of your friends dying in the field. And the moms coming and pretending to cry and fake
feeling like that should scary. It's drilled into your ass. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I know everyone doesn't
(50:43):
necessarily go through that, especially like further back in time, but like how does it keep getting
worse? I just... Yeah. Well, and thinking about this too, I feel like it really speaks volumes because
particularly in terms of like vehicular related deaths, cars have only become safer.
(51:06):
So if more people are dying, I just... I don't get it. And I know it's really easy for people to be,
you know, not have their wits about them. And I'm certainly not making excuses for anyone who
does something horrific like this, but that's why you don't operate machinery. Yeah. I call them death.
(51:33):
Like they're you're driving like a death machine around. That's how I think of it every time I get in a car.
Like this is a death machine. I could die. I could kill something. Like that's really extreme and like
anxiety thoughts, but like it's true. Right. I mean, these are these are things that I feel like it's
valid to consider and to be cognizant of as you get behind the wheel or you, you know, get into the
(51:57):
passenger seat. So before we move on and, you know, do some tarot as one does, and we attempt to
lighten things up. I just want to say that of course, I'm going to go ahead and share some of the
(52:19):
resources in the show notes that I found just for anyone that is curious. My plan at this point,
as we're recording this, is to provide some statistical information related to the topic.
Some some resources that are designed to be, you know, specifically, you know, for help.
(52:40):
If you or yourself, you know, someone that you know needs resources. And then I think I have
some information about organizations that are working to improve upon what appears to be a pretty
sad set of circumstances that impacts just so many people.
(53:06):
Drop the card. Mother pearl. Free of sword. Did food.
Free of sword. Jumped out at me. Okay. I'm taking that one out. I'm going to send it to the side in case.
(53:28):
All right. So we're going to do some tarot. I'll send you my energy. It might not be a lot,
but I'll give you all I got. It's no. It's higher than I thought it was going to be. That's good.
So I fan them out in like kind of a rainbow shape. Okay. So I feel like this time I want,
(53:52):
I want you to like give me a little bit of a sense of like where in the arc do you feel? I'm feeling like
my right side like right like right below the arc on the right side. Okay. This is really hard for me
because technically as I'm looking at you, that's like the left. I know, but yeah, that's my right hand.
(54:16):
Yeah. Okay. Let's see. Like how far like towards the bottom? Like not in the middle of the bottom
in the arc. Okay. Closer to the top of the arc. Oh, closer to the top of here. Yeah, but like
down a little bit. Okay. I think that's like this one. Interesting. Okay. So I had a card that as I was
(54:38):
shuffling it hopped out and it was the three of swords and this is the queen of swords. Can you see
this? Oh, yeah. In reverse. Yeah. So you got like a mama bird and a little a little bird.
Kind of what it looks like in the little bird is not a life on the card. Oh,
(54:59):
card. It's not that's like really crazy imagery right there. I feel like the card, the card that
popped out at you, I was like, well, holy shit. Of course. Oh boy. Okay. So I'm going to start by reading
the queen of swords, I guess. And our keywords are intelligence, independence, authority,
(55:23):
objectivity, and communication. And we have this in the reverse. When the queen appears reversed,
you may feel trapped, limited, unable to speak your own truth.
She can indicate disappointments at work or home, broken promises, hopes that didn't manifest.
(55:47):
Like the promise to keep your child safe. I mean, Jesus. Burthed her. Yeah.
I mean, either one of those kids, all of it. All of the kids. Yeah. All of the things, all of the kids.
Yeah. You may feel you haven't been given a chance to show your stuff or you've been handed a puny
(56:08):
piece of the pie. Perhaps you can't move beyond the loss or your emotions are interfering with your
judgment. Yeah. Cause like, why do people get shit faced all the time? You know, obviously it was not
a rare occurrence or her son wouldn't automatically know when she was wasted. Yeah. Yeah.
(56:30):
It sounded like that was something very recognizable for him.
In a reading about money, this card can mean you've let your emotions rather than your intellect
guide a financial matter. Like that reminds me of like her defense team and happened to switch
partway through because of the financial struggles. But it may also suggest you've gotten bad advice
(56:57):
or not investigated a situation adequately and consequently incurred losses. Wow.
This queen warns read the fine print. To me, it just screams like someone making bad decisions.
And not thinking about what they're doing, which is clearly what was happening. If the reading is about
(57:19):
your job, you may not be using your intellect and creativity fully. Or you feel your abilities aren't
appreciated. A boss may be too critical. Co-workers may be envious or undependable causing you to question
yourself. The reversed queen may represent the glass ceiling women still face. In a reading about
(57:43):
love, this card suggests bitterness caused by disappointments or losses as a result you may swear
off relationships and isolate yourself. Sometimes the queen reversed shows an overly critical nature
in flexibility or coolness toward a partner. Should I read the three of swords? Yeah. The jump
(58:06):
back. For sure. Jesus. Okay. I mean, we know like in broad strokes what this card obviously is
going to stand for, but right. Sadness loss. Keywords are suffering, heartache, regret, grieving, sorrow,
(58:26):
loss. I mean, this is what the card looks like. So yeah, it's not great typically. Oh, just like the
imagery of the bird to it's like such a bright colored, beautiful bird and it's just like laying
there. The upright three signifies separation, severing a connection to something or someone you
(58:52):
love. You feel isolated and cut off from something you've found meaningful. A way of life, your home
and family, a philosophy, pursuit or job. Something in your life has died. Usually because it has lost
its meaning or run its course and you need to let it go. Yeah, it's great. I mean, usually we're like,
(59:15):
it's not literal, but in this case, it's pretty literal. I just think like the most powerful part of
this for me, it like in all of it with the tarot is that literally like you said, it's the main card
that we've drawn. This looks like the more mature or mama bird. And this is the one that popped out.
(59:44):
And it's like obviously these are not the same species of bird, but it's like this one is like
representative of youth. And yeah, show the big one because it looks like it's like flying forward
to like it does. Yeah. And they're both swords. Yeah. Just speaks to like severing a tie, definitely.
(01:00:07):
Wow. Creepy. It is creepy. This is like one of my least favorite cases that I've had to research
recently. I'm sorry. I mean, I felt like it was an important story. And I mean, it feels unbelievable
(01:00:27):
that somebody could find themselves in this set of circumstances, like the fact that you could
in a drunk driving accident kill your own child. Yeah. That's like the probably the worst thought
a parent can ever have. It's like killing their own kid. Yeah. And I know there are some people who do
it on purpose who are terrible, terrible people. Yeah. But I mean, my next thought was just literally,
(01:00:53):
if you're driving drunk roughly a mile away from your own home, it stands to reason like you have
already decided that you don't care about what happens to people that are interacting with you
in a close proximity like that. It didn't have to be your own kid. That kind of been one of your
neighbors kids. And it was too. Yes. Yeah. Well, exactly. It's like this is how you have decided to
(01:01:20):
behave as an adult woman and the choices that you have made. And I don't it sucks. It really,
you know, I've realized it really sucks that other people can affect your life so drastically.
Like choices that don't have anything to do with you can like ruin your life. Yeah.
(01:01:42):
Choices other people make for you. It's crazy. Yeah. Oh, I might have to go and look for like a
corporate crime or something after something that feels a little, you know, a little bit lighter.
Can we get some fun crime up in the switch? I know. Yeah. Maybe I'll see if I can find something
funny. We need some more DB tuber. I was gonna say I do. You know, I find what I do it I can.
(01:02:10):
You do splash them in. Yeah. But it is. No, it is. Splash. Hey, we're bringing it back to the
beginning with the do-do's and the float. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, it is really important to just
remind people like even though these don't drink and drive things or drill into your head, like
sometimes you just need to be reminded of the consequences. Yeah. Oh, man. Oh, should we get out of here?
(01:02:38):
Probably. I was gonna say the only like natural thing to say after that is, you know,
and if you don't want to have the consequences of not, you know, hearing another episode, you know,
like subscribe to us on. I thought you were gonna say like, if you don't want us to have anything to
(01:03:00):
talk about ever again. We don't want to run out of episode topics, but I know, but you do.
I mean, where it's just it's not feasible. They're just unfortunately, they're just even in the past.
They're just so many different crimes that that's just it'll never happen. So, that would be great.
(01:03:21):
I'm not worried. Yeah. I mean, I'd be thrilled, but it's not gonna happen. That's all and true crime
together. World peace. I just watched my community the other day and world. Yeah, I feel like I feel like
(01:03:42):
it shows. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I have a creepy ass day. We'll see you next Tuesday.
Unless you drink and drive and then get the fuck out of here. We want you. Don't listen to us.
Not a fan. Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say that we're like on a scale of like one, two,
(01:04:05):
like Joe Rogan wealthy. I wouldn't say that we're anywhere near even more than like a two or a three,
but like we're we're wealthy enough to say. Yeah. We don't want it. No, we don't. I don't care. I
could be making pennies or nothing negative. I don't want you around. (pnwhauntsandhomicides.com)
As it happens, hit and run seemed to be a more common occurrence in the area along highway 101,
(00:10):
then you might think. Another was reported in early November 2024. Just weeks later,
that very same month, the New York Times released a story featuring kind of a gut-wrenching headline.
Alcohol deaths have more than doubled in two decades. Study flines.
Hi Cassie. Hi Caitlyn. Hi creepy people. Hello! Oh hello! I forgot. Yeah. This is PNW Haunts and Homicides
(00:51):
Homicides where we chat about true crime, the paranormal, and all things spooky in the Pacific
Northwest. Or the PNW if you nasty. We also do a tarot reading for a little bit of deeper insight
into our topic. So we do them at the end. So stick around if you're into that. We do do that. Yep.
(01:17):
Which you nasty. So you're gonna you gonna you gonna do do do do do do that. Exactly. That's what we do
here. Do do do. Oh my goodness. Okay. Well as fun as that was, I don't know that I have any more
(01:38):
do-do puns. I'll be impressed if you can come up with some. So I mean just float in that idea but
floating. Nice. I mean I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be totally unimpressed with aspects of what
(01:59):
you're about to tell me. So I'm gonna go ahead and just say that is straight do-do right now. Oh
okay. Yeah. I mean I think selfishly I think I want to believe that you will be very impressed with
what I'm about to tell you. Only because you're just so impressed by my writing and storytelling.
(02:24):
Oh for sure. Less so with everything that happens basically after now. Right. Yeah.
That's what I'm getting at. Okay. We've established that you're very entertaining to me and I love
the storytelling that you bring to the table. You're welcome and I'm sorry. All right. Should I say
(02:47):
that you bring to the desk? Because we record out of desk. We do record. Yeah. Okay. Well I feel like
we've we've sort of bandied about all we can here. This is um it's a lot of yikes. Yeah and I'm
sick so I'm not gonna uh hopefully not talk too much. I think you're going to find that very challenging
(03:14):
this. Oh okay. I could be wrong. Well I got my flip off mug so we're we're good to go. Yeah I don't
think you could have realized how appropriate that might be today. Oh god I was picking it up. Yep.
All right. When two pedestrians were killed in a late night hit and run on a rural road,
(03:37):
the small community of Fortuna in Humboldt County, California was deeply saddened. Initially
little was known about the fatal collision that had taken place on the evening of July 12, 2016.
But it wouldn't be long before details began to emerge about the case. As news of the reportedly fatal
(03:59):
crash began to circulate so too did speculation online. A blog site read headed Black Belt by Kim
Kim quickly captured multiple threads of debate as well as comments from those expressing their
sympathy to the victims and their families. The following morning July 13, the California Highway
(04:24):
Patrol gave a press release stating at approximately 9.16 pm an unknown driver was driving a light gray
colored newer model Jeep type vehicle southbound on Eel River Drive south of Ken Mar Road at an
unknown speed. What the Jeep type vehicle? Do they mean like a like a a Wrangler like the standard
(04:50):
square Jeep you think of or I think they just weren't positive at this point that it actually was a
Jeep. Because you think if it was like an SUV type of Jeep, they would have said they were driving
an SUV. So I just think in like, okay, so it's like a square. Yeah, I think at this point they
believed it to be a Jeep, but they just could not confirm that yet because they had not located the
(05:14):
vehicle. I'm just like there's so many types of jeeps which one is it I need to know. Yes,
and that is important later, but it goes on to say two young female teenagers were skateboarding
northbound in the southbound lane of Eel River Drive south of Ken Mar Road. For unknown reasons,
(05:36):
the Jeep struck the teenagers. The Jeep fled the scene and was last seen heading eastbound on Drake Hill
Road. One teenager was pronounced deceased at the scene and the other was transported by ambulance
to Redwood Memorial Hospital for major injuries before being flown to the Oakland Children's Hospital.
(06:02):
Wow. On July 13, 2016 at 0630 hours, I don't know if that's how you say that, 0630 hours,
the second girl succumbed to her injuries and passed away at Oakland's Children's Hospital.
That's so sad. Yeah. The initial press released by CHP, the California Highway Patrol,
(06:32):
did not disclose the identity of either of the victims, though they would both soon be making
the rounds around social media. So people figured out pretty quickly who they were. Right.
Locals would learn that Faith Lorraine Tsarnas and Kiya Kitchen aged 14, both residents of the
(06:55):
Fortuna area were dead. Fortuna, a city with approximately 12,000 residents, had sadly
just lost two of their own in the prime of their lives very unexpectedly.
How many residents did you say? 12,000. Oh, so it's not like small town, but not huge. I mean,
(07:19):
that's pretty small. Is it? So Fortuna is kind of like on the coast or near enough to it. It's like
definitely more western side of the state. And it's south of Klamath, which is kind of like where
it's like part of that like area of southern Oregon where you're like really almost in California
(07:46):
practically. So it's all of that tends to be kind of the smaller towns. They're rural. There's a lot of
like summertime tourism and things like that. But yeah, they're very small. Not that it makes
it any like less impactful if they were to be from a bigger city. I was just I do think and the reason
(08:09):
why I specifically mentioned that is because it's like in a town of 12,000 when two people, you know,
especially two teenagers, when they pass away unexpectedly, you know, it's like very tragically. Yes,
yeah, it's always going to be awful to hear that like two teenage girls have just suddenly died.
(08:33):
But in a community like that, there's, you know, so many more people that, oh, shit, I knew this person.
And in a time in like with social media where everyone, whether they actually know the person
or not, people kind of know more people because they're all seeing them online. Yeah, yeah. And I will say
(08:54):
specifically on, there's multiple blog websites that I went to, but the Kim Camp one, the red-headed
black belt. I mean, I was blown away. There were like on some of the posts, specifically about this
case, there were like dozens of comments. There were like multiple different conversation threads that
(09:17):
started in the comments because it's all of these people in that kind of local community that like,
they use this as like a first responder, like news source. There are people that like listen to
the scanners. Yeah, like I feel like the scanner pages on like Facebook. Yeah. Faith had reportedly
(09:39):
passed away at the scene while Kiya clung to life, but ultimately was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A very short time later. Kim's blog shared nearly minute to minute updates from various sources
within the local community. We already mentioned this, but including a scanner. That's part of how
(10:00):
near minutes after the collision took place, a loose description of the event itself that
it took in place began unfolding there online and people were immediately commenting.
The red-headed black belt entry entitled Hit and Run (10:11):
Child Injured in Fortuna,
reported one detail that wasn't specifically mentioned in the CHP press release the next morning
that I read you first. Stating it was believed that the Jeep reported near to or fleeing the scene.
(10:36):
And being sought in connection with the collision had one broken headlight. I don't know if that's
just because they weren't positive about that detail yet or maybe it didn't, you know, who knows.
And of course, there were also some other details that were incorrect, which just speaks to like,
(10:58):
this is like the very earliest kind of reports or things that people are hearing about what's happened.
Like the model of the vehicle, though the make being shared Jeep was correct, it would come to light
that a Wrangler rather than a Cherokee was the vehicle that law enforcement was seeking. So, right,
(11:23):
like I was saying, right, so there's a lot of stuff from like the very first blog post about this case
that went up I think within 15 minutes of the crash on Kim's blog site that it was like line
for line, facts of the case, pretty wild to see how much of that actually did hold as consistent
(11:50):
the age given in relation to at least one of the victims was also incorrect. But it's possible
that someone speaking on the scanner had simply offered their best guess when relaying information.
So my understanding was that it may have even actually been one of the paramedics that said,
we've got like a 16 year old here. We know these girls turned out to be 14 years old. Teenage,
(12:18):
you know, victim, you're maybe just giving it your best guess. Yeah, you know, I'm gonna know unless
I have like their ID on them, but like who has ID on them that young really? Right. And even if they did
at that point where it's like these are like very extreme life saving measures that have to happen
(12:39):
very quickly. Right, they're not looking for that specifically right in that moment. Yeah, maybe not
in that moment at least. Yeah. So anyways, I just I have to say I was like, wow, this is
it just kind of reinforced for me that it was in a lot of ways even though it's like, you know,
they're connected through the internet and stuff. It's it felt like, wow, this is kind of a
(13:03):
tight-knit community seemingly. The following day, the community would continue to speculate
about the details of the events that had unfurled the previous evening. Meanwhile, the news never stops
and a report had begun circulating that law enforcement had located the suspect vehicle.
(13:25):
News teams and cameras were scoping out a property on Becker Lane, which intersects
eal drive and is roughly a mile away from where the fatal collision had occurred just hours prior.
When a warrant was served by law enforcement, the vehicle in the backyard of the Becker Lane
property was said to have damage matching the circumstances of the crash site. It's not totally
(13:52):
clear to me what that means, but I think a little bit later on we're going to talk about
some of the other statements and things that are being shared by others that are
privy to aspects of that evening that you can kind of draw some conclusions at least.
(14:14):
The vehicle would be taken into evidence and one shocking detail would also come to light.
The residents and the vehicle in question found there belonged to someone very close to the victims.
One in particular. This individual was none other than Marci Kitchen.
(14:36):
Kiya Kitchen's own mother. Oh, that's not good.
No, initially despite the troubling evidence that seemed to be quickly mounting the day after
the collision, no arrests were made. But then something kind of bizarre happened.
Attorney Benjamin Oaken, who along with his colleague Patrick Grigio, I'm going to say,
(15:05):
represented Marci Kitchen at the time. They sent an open letter to the California Highway Patrol
stating that their clients were on standby and ready to submit themselves to be arrested.
Which is weird for more than one reason, but I'm like, did I miss something? No. So you may have
(15:28):
noticed that number one, I said clients as in plural. Right. Marci Kitchen had retained council and
the aforementioned attorneys were corresponding with law enforcement on behalf of herself
and her boyfriend, Josh Perlston. While the letter almost made the pair seem amenable with the
(15:51):
possibility of arrest, it stands to reason that none of them was pleased when Marcy Kitchen
actually was arrested roughly two months after the investigation by CHP started.
Wow. Yes. That's a long time. Not really. A lot of investigations take months, years.
(16:16):
I guess I just think of like if someone's saying, okay, I'm here arrest me like then two months later,
then they do it that that's why I feel like it was a long time. Right. Yeah. In that regard, I agree.
I agree. But she wasn't going to be held in custody in connection with the fatal collision
(16:38):
earlier that summer for very long. She was able to post her $750,000 bail in order to remain free
as she awaited her fate in the forthcoming trial. Though not every court proceeding would be quite
so straightforward and seemingly friendly. On day two of her preliminary hearing, her son,
(17:00):
18 years old at the time testified in court. His testimony certainly did her no favors. Uh-oh.
I mean, this poor kid had lost his sister, which no doubt was a devastating blow that, I mean,
that's just the emotional impact that that's going to have on his life from that day forward.
(17:22):
I mean, immeasurable. And I have to imagine hearing his testimony that day had a pretty similar
impact on the people that were present in the courtroom. Because in case it got lost in the shovel
or maybe I wasn't totally clear, Marci is being accused of being responsible for the hit and run
(17:48):
that killed her daughter and best friend. Yeah. At first I was like, I don't know if
if did she do that? Like did she actually do this? I was kind of like waiting for you to, yeah.
According to her son, Marci had returned home in her recently wrecked jeep that night.
(18:08):
Her passenger referred to as Trent stated that they had hit two girls. He also had a lot of other
really shitty stupid things to say. And if anybody else has to be hit by an unidentified vehicle
that abandons them on the side of the road, leaving little doubt that while the hit may have been
(18:30):
accidental, running from the scene of the crash was far from unintentional. Right. Yeah. His mother
was evasive about what had happened to her vehicle. Unlike her passenger, she claimed she thought
they'd hit a deer. How was one person saying two girls and one's just like it was a deer?
(18:55):
Like two girls is very specific. Yeah. Yeah. She told her son to get rid of a large bag that had been
stowed in the back of her jeep. Now it's getting weird. Yep. Yep. It contained untrimmed marijuana,
reportedly seven pounds worth. Wow. That's a lot because I just got an ounce and I was like,
(19:21):
whoa, I did not realize how much an ounce was. Yeah. Pounds. I, I was like, did I accidentally start
reading an article about British currency? Like, what? It's an unfathomable amount of weed.
(19:44):
And then ask your kid to take it. Yeah. Go ahead and get rid of this. What's he supposed to do with it?
Well, I'll tell you, he tossed it over a fence as she had instructed him to get rid of it in so
many words. To be clear, I am very definitely fully shocked, but I'm not clutching my pearls
about the devil's lettuce. I think, I think we all know each other. We're friends here. You get it.
(20:10):
Right. To be fair, I do think that's a mind-boggling amount of weed to be in possession of.
I mean, unless you're literally the delivery person for dispensaries. That's the only reason I can
bat them having that much marijuana in your possession. It wasn't legal then. Was it either?
(20:32):
Or was it just, it's like, just become legal. Okay. Yeah. So, California legalized medical in
'96 and recreational in 2016. Oh, okay. When in 2016? So, that's interesting. Like, were they growing
at somewhere? Well, they had to have. And this region is very well known for people growing,
(20:57):
you know, growing. Right. So, they approved it in November 2016. So, it wouldn't have been legal.
Not recreational. Yeah. Led to recreational cannabis sales in California by January 2018. Yeah.
So, it still wasn't quite there yet. Yeah. So, it might have been, I mean, arguably, I guess, like,
(21:19):
if you are a permitted grower selling medicinal, right? Medical marijuana. That would have been legal.
But there's definitely people still, like, dealing. Yep. I didn't put anything about, like, specifically,
the dates of legalization in California or Oregon into my notes. But I do think that provides
(21:41):
context. Like, how illegal was this? So, pretty illegal. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Still pretty illegal.
I mean, it is, it is California. But yeah, I mean, if you've just killed somebody behind the wheel,
probably they're going to come at you for, you know, oh, but if she just hit a deer, why is it a big deal?
Right. So, I'm just blown away by the bathling circumstances that this kid bound himself in.
(22:08):
And I realize he's not technically a kid. But I feel like more accurately, the situation that his
mother put him in. I try not to pass judgment on other people and particularly parents,
because that should be tough. You don't have to be a parent to be able to see that
(22:30):
this is not how that relationship should work. No. We can, I think we can judge on this one.
Yeah. Her son may not have legally been a child at the time, but surely this woman has to realize
this situation has put her child at a measurable risk, mentally, emotionally, potentially legally.
(22:55):
Right. And this next part gets so much worse.
I don't doubt that his life was marred by uncomfortable or even unsafe scenarios previously.
But I have to imagine nothing quite stacks up like what he was about to describe.
Marcy Sun, Kaiya's brother, face to me,
(23:23):
analyzing the situation, the first in a series of agonizing situations and accompanying choices
in short succession that would no doubt. I mean, there's no way this doesn't leave an impression
on you, not just for the rest of that summer, but probably for the rest of your life. He said,
his mother handed him her keys, instructing him to drive into a basketball hoop as hard as he could.
(23:49):
In hopes of making it look like she had run into that rather than the far more terrible truth,
which again, if you hit a deer accidentally on a dark road late at night,
why would you go to those lengths? Because it was not a deer. It was not a not deer. It was too human
(24:11):
girls. I feel so fucking bad for this kid. I really hope he went no contact with his mom after this.
That's got to cause damage to you too if you're hitting a freaking basketball pole. Is that what you
said, a basketball pole? Well, yeah, a basketball. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. At your own personal risk,
(24:33):
just do this thing to cover up something that I'm telling you is no big deal, but for some reason,
I need you to do this. That makes a lot of sense. That's still going to hurt you even if you think
that's a minor. Cause I've been like bumped into like rear ended just like from stopped. And it's
that hurt. I mean, it can. He told deputy district attorney Stacey Eads that he refused. Hand in the
(24:59):
keys back to her as he stated that was a stupid idea. Yeah. I just looping your own son in on the cover
up for any crime would be awful enough, but knowing what we do about the victims in this case that
the family was apparently not yet fully aware of that just makes her proposal and especially bitter
(25:26):
pill to swallow. Like at this point, I don't think he even knows that one of the victims is his
sister, right, but that information, I mean, it just makes it so much worse. It's an awful thing to ask
your child to do in the first place, but when asked whether his mother had been intoxicated, he stated,
(25:48):
yes, I've been around her long enough to be able to say when she's had enough beers that she's drunk.
At the time, according to his testimony, the fact that Marcy was intoxicated was readily observable
as he could easily smell alcohol on her. Marcy had apparently admitted her crime to others
(26:10):
beyond her passenger that night and her son. Obviously, we've already mentioned this, but at times,
her claim was that she believed that she had struck a deer only to pull over and see nothing
before continuing on her drive home. So we know that's bullshit. Right. Because when she was telling
immediately after and then yeah. Well, and if she had pulled over because she thought she
(26:36):
hit a deer, she wouldn't have seen nothing. Oh, God. The true horror of the situation that was
unfolding would not dawn on anyone until Marcy's boyfriend, Josh Pearlston arrived to the property.
And at that time, he asked where Kaya and Faith were. A sudden sickening realization came over the young man
(27:00):
as he recalled having seen the pair, his sister and her best friend leaving the house around
sundown on their long boards. He and his friend took off in the friend's truck heading toward the nearby
accident. This happened about a mile away from their home. As they pulled up to the scene of the crash,
he was overcome with fear and dread. And he said, Faith had been rolled over on her back. He recalled
(27:28):
she was lying in the middle of the road dead. He noticed people hovering around another figure
nearby and his worst fear came sharply into focus. I moved and I saw my sister's face.
That was only the beginning of what proved to be a very long night. He was informed at the scene
(27:50):
that his sister was being transported to nearby Redwood Memorial Hospital. From there, his friend drove
him back home to retrieve his cell phone and charger, along with his wallet and Epipen. Upon their
return, he noted that the Jeep was no longer in front of their family home. It had since been moved
(28:11):
behind the gate to their side yard. He's already a more responsible young adult than anybody else
involved in this situation. Clearly. He was at the hospital for what felt like agonizing hours
before his mother arrived. She told him not to tell anyone what happened that night and that she did
(28:34):
it. As much as the evening had been a complete and utter blur, I feel like I don't think he needed
her to confess to be able to put that together. Yeah, that was pretty obvious, I think.
Kaya would be transferred to the Oakland Children's Hospital. Her family following,
fearing the worst, but somehow still remaining hopeful. Her brother rode in the car with his dad and
(29:00):
his dad's friend. They all went together. It sounds like it was a very quiet ride there. Unfortunately,
Kaya did pass away the following morning. Of course, her entire family was devastated.
One member in particular who provided more shocking context in the aftermath. Her brother said,
(29:25):
"We were crying. There was just so much shock. I was just sitting there trying to process that my
sister was dead on the table." And somewhere in the silence, my mom spoke up and said, "I did this.
I killed her. I killed both of them." Kaya's father was immediately furious, which feels
(29:48):
"Dee, understandable?" Yeah. Reportedly, one of the first and only instances where Marcy Kitchen
became emotional at this stage, at least in the court proceedings, was when her son described
a wait fell off my shoulders. Because I had to keep it secret from my dad on the drive down.
(30:10):
Oh, shit. Yeah, I didn't even think about that. I'm like, yeah, of course, if you're going to see
your sisters in this terrible position medically, and of course you're going to have a silent
car ride, but then to have that on top of it, holy shit. So just to sum it up, give us a little run
(30:32):
down here. This woman had the audacity to try to rope her son in as a co-conspirator. And repeatedly
asked him to conceal what he knew of the crime. Worse yet, she also had the unmitigated gall to file
claims against the city of Fortuna and multiple other government agencies seeking monetary damages
(30:53):
for her daughter's death. Wait, what? The person who struck and killed and ran away from the scene
sued for her daughter's death that she literally was the cause of. Make it make sense. Not only did you
hit her, but she maybe could have survived if you had called someone right away. Like you just left
(31:19):
her there. This is all your fault, all of it. And it does sound like the emergency response was like
incredibly quick. That's good at least. Yeah, but I think we are probably going to learn that the
fact that she left the scene and didn't report it may not have had. It's impossible to say.
(31:42):
Right. It's impossible to say. But there are other way. Yeah, there are some details that I feel
like make it pretty clear that probably nobody was walking away from this. But her claim alleged
that the accident was caused by the dangerous conditions on eel river drive. This ended up not
(32:05):
being particularly important to the case despite how infuriating it is. But there was also testimony
provided by law enforcement officers at her preliminary hearing. California Highway Patrol
officer William Chase Adams. His statements indicated that he believed that Marcy kitchen was driving
at a high rate of speed, though he admitted that he could not accurately estimate her exact speed
(32:31):
at the time of the collision. He stated that both of the teenage victims had THC present in their
systems. His interpretation provided on the stand was that due to that and the fact that they had
been in the middle of the road rather than the shoulder facing oncoming traffic, they bore
(32:52):
some responsibility for the tragic collision stating they both violated the vehicle code,
which was a contributing factor in the collision. During his cross examination, he said it was unclear
whether a driver under the influence would have had time to react to suddenly encountering
(33:15):
pedestrians on that particular section of the road. However, he added that other drivers later
approaching the scene had been able to avoid faith's body prior to her transport to the hospital.
So it's almost like it doesn't matter because you were driving impaired and killed people.
(33:40):
No matter what you do, if you're intoxicated in a vehicle and you do anything, that's your
fucking fault. He did also add there was an excellent line of sight at the location.
Okay. Yeah. So even if I mean, even if there wasn't, that's not to say like, obviously if you're
(34:04):
going you're in the road, you're going the wrong way. If someone were to hit you because they couldn't
see you and they were not intoxicated and everything was totally fine. That would be a tragic accident.
Terrible accident. I wouldn't say it was like the victim's fault. No. No. And I think
I struggle because legally, when you're dealing with an insurance claim for a car crash, there is
(34:38):
language that wants to attribute fault in a way that's kind of uncomfortable. Like legally or in terms
of liability. But I think it's their valid points about contributing factors. But I don't think
(35:01):
that anybody himself included is saying this is anything, but the perpetrators fault. It's just
stuff. You know, you're on the stand and you are under oath and you have to be able to speak to
other aspects of the case. But I'm sure that feels very icky. This is like one of my biggest fears too.
(35:22):
Because I've like, I've almost hit people who are just in the bike lane going the wrong way and then
you know, pull up and you're looking one way because all the cars should be coming from the one and then
all of a sudden there's a biker. So like, it's like one of my biggest fears in a car. It's like hitting
someone because I can't see them. It's so scary to me. I mean, and they're, you know, like you said,
(35:46):
if this had happened where, you know, the pedestrian is maybe not behaving in the way that they are
supposed to and as a result, the driver couldn't see them, but they were not impaired and they were
doing what they should have been doing. Sadly, ultimately, that person who was behind the wheel is
going to be, I mean, impacted by that in such a devastating way. It may be not in the sense of being
(36:12):
legally charged with a crime because that's that's a totally different scenario. But like the emotional
impact of realizing, yeah, if they like, if you killed someone behind the wheel and even if you weren't,
you know, at fault, you're fucked for life still. Oh my God. I mean, it would be devastating. Yeah.
I was just listening to another podcast that was talking about like, oh, like helmet laws. Like,
(36:38):
yeah, you could argue like, okay, I don't have to wear a helmet because it's only going to affect me.
But then if someone hits you and you die because you weren't wearing a helmet, like that fucks them
up for life. Yeah. So yeah, it's just one of those things where it's like, God, please be safe if
you're on the road on a pedestrian, a biker, a skateboarder. Yeah. Don't drive drunk. You fuckers.
(37:07):
Seriously, I mean, as someone who has 0.00, 0 children and an equal desire to have any, like I just,
I can't do we ever find out if she knew right away that it was her kid or if she found out when
(37:31):
the kid was like, not home. And she's like, oh shit. I, I'm not sure that we can ever know that for sure.
Okay. I was like, not because I was wondering if that was going to come out. So I haven't asked that
question. Yeah. Yeah. You're like, I'm trying not to ask the question that I feel like maybe you're
going like, yeah. Um, I honestly, I just don't know that like, there's any way to know that for sure.
(37:56):
Um, I would like to think that if she had known that, maybe that would have changed some of her
behavior, but I just, I mean, I don't even know the way she treated her son. So I just, I just don't
even know that we can say that. I don't know that we can say that, oh, no, there's no way she didn't
(38:17):
know because of course she would have reacted in this situation differently because I,
I don't think there's any guarantee that that's true. But okay. For tuna, police sergeant Jason
Kadel also testified. He said he noticed a moderate odor of alcohol coming from Marcy Kitchen when
(38:38):
interacting with her. And this represented perhaps a slight mismatch of opinion between the two
officers as Chase had reportedly said the alcohol odor was overwhelming and that she was obviously
very intoxicated. Further stating that she was still intoxicated a couple of hours later at the
(39:04):
hospital. So much so in fact that the flight crew taking kaya to the hospital in Oakland refused
to allow her on the plane due to what they believed to be her significantly intoxicated state.
Wow. Yeah. That's a real drug. Yeah. And honestly, it all just keeps getting worse and I feel like
(39:31):
a broken record saying this, but this next part is just really rough.
Additional testimony also reportedly revealed that kaya and faith were hit with such force.
The imprints of their buttocks were left on the jeeps front bumper. Wow. And that faith
(39:57):
had imprints from letters and numbers on the license plate on the back of her legs.
Geez. Which feels like something out of like a like it feels like sci-fi. That doesn't
that doesn't seem like that could be real. Yeah. I just need to tell myself that that's like
(40:21):
some sensationalized aspect of the story, but that's hard. Yeah. All of this testimony presented
at the preliminary hearing, the not so good, the bad, and the truly ugly was intended to allow the
judge to determine whether there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial.
(40:44):
As you might have guessed, the judge ultimately decided that the trial would be allowed to proceed.
Didn't she confess to it? She can now she's saying that she didn't do it. She confessed to
like private individuals at times. Right. She's okay. It's one of those piecemeal things. You know how
(41:08):
the letter didn't she write a letter? That was her defense that that was her attorney that said
basically what was happening was the attorney was responding to a perception allegedly that's
you know whether from law enforcement or from the public at large that Marcy and or her boyfriend
(41:32):
were trying to hide from law enforcement. So they were saying like no, they are they're cooperating
and in fact if you want to arrest them, they are willing to turn themselves in. Okay. I see. Uh-huh.
I think I was misinterpreting that is like I'm guilty. Go ahead and pick me up. Right.
(41:56):
Okay. Well, and you could you could read it that way. That's that's not the letter of the of the law
as it were, but um but okay. So they do still need evidence. Yeah. A thousand percent. Yeah. Yeah.
Sounds like they have it. They've got a lot of eyewitness testimony from, um, you know both law
(42:18):
enforcement and you know private citizens that interacted with her and that saw you know aspects of
that evening. Wouldn't the numbers on the license plate match up? Yeah. You would think, um,
I don't know how legible that would have been. I honestly, I I read that in some reporting about
(42:44):
about the court case and testimony that was given. I read that and I thought there's no way that's
real. And I was like I'm going to talk about this, but like I just cannot my brain refuses to process
that that's possible. Because that seems like that would be a really good piece of evidence. Like
(43:04):
gruesome terrible thing, but if it matched the numbers on the license plate, like there you go. Yeah.
That seems like a movie like like you're saying. Yeah. Assuming that we believe the testimony
that was provided regarding like the impressions on the bumper and on the victims body. Uh, I can't
(43:28):
imagine that that the characters that were impressed on, you know her her legs. I can't imagine that
they would have been clear enough for that to have been like evidence of this is the specific plate
that hit her. Again, I I I cannot make my brain believe that that is real. As the case moved ahead,
(43:53):
there were requests to change venue. Marcy eventually lost her original legal team reportedly due
to financial struggles and her travel was at times restricted. Was that financial struggle because
she had to pay $7,500,000, whatever the fuck it was to for bail. Um, no, because 750,000. Yeah. Um, it's,
(44:19):
yes, 750,000. And when you are out on 750,000 dollars bail, um, that doesn't mean that you have to have
$750,000. Um, usually it's like you have to provide some sort of like a guarantee. So it could be cash
(44:40):
or it could be say putting up your home. And you typically only have to match like something that's
like it's like 10% of the actual stated amount. And that's weird to me. And it's different in every
jurisdiction. And I don't know enough about how bond works in California, but suffice to say
(45:04):
she remained free until ultimately she actually voluntarily surrendered her bond prior to sentencing.
Huh. Do you have to pay it even if you get like found guilty and sentenced? Do you still have to pay
that? No, it's not, I mean, it's not something that you ever pay. It's like a deposit. In theory,
(45:29):
you should get it back. I don't know how this one is. I'm very confused on how bonds work, but it's
weird that she would get like, why would she give that up? And not just if she knows she's guilty or
whatever. Well, it makes the question because I do think that at the point that she surrendered it,
I think the writing was on the wall. And I think that sometimes what people want to do is start to,
(45:56):
they want to start the clock. They want to start the time served. That makes sense. Okay,
because I'm like, why wouldn't you just be as free as long as you can because you know you're going to
go to jail soon, but that makes sense. And I think that probably at and I can't state whether or not
(46:17):
she actually received this legal advice specifically or not, but I would think at a certain point,
it's possible that her counsel may have advised her like, this is going to look like kind of a positive
for you where it's like, I'm ready to accept responsibility and I want to start
(46:38):
basically, you know, serving my time and kind of beginning to make amends with my community.
Right. I don't know if that's why she did it or advice that she received, but I have, that makes
sense to me. Marcy Kitchen, Pleiit Guilty and was sentenced to eight years on September 18th,
(47:04):
2018. Those following the case, the local community and the people, Faith and Kyle left behind,
were dissatisfied with the overall outcome, nor would they be pleased as Mercy Kitchen's early
release on parole approached. I knew you were going to say that. Yeah. Well, I mean, first of all,
(47:27):
she killed two people and she's going to get eight years. Yeah. On purpose, like, I mean, obviously,
wasn't like premeditated or whatever the fuck, but like, you ran. Yeah. Faith's mother, Stephanie
Baldwin said, a woman from the state parole office called and gave us the exact date, which was the
(47:51):
11th. She is going to fortuna. We were told that they always go back to their last permanent
residence. We're not able to get justice for Faith and Kyle. That's not justice. I mean, she's
essentially going back to the same community where the victims and then, of course, also herself
(48:16):
at that point, all lived. And she's going back early. She killed two people. And that may not have
been her intention when she set out at the beginning of the day, but Jesus Christ, you killed your own
(48:36):
child. They're just like, I have no words. You know, so I stumbled across a YouTube video
of a Washington state trooper who was interviewed by King five Seattle. When asked by the anchor,
(49:00):
how many serious or deadly crashes have we had so far this year that have involved DUI? He replied
that at that point in 2024, there were 202 fatality collisions on the state's roads that led to over
500 individuals being seriously injured. As it happens, hit and run seemed to be a more
(49:27):
common occurrence in the area along Highway 101 than you might think. Another was reported in early
November 2024. Just weeks later, that very same month, the New York Times released a story featuring
kind of a gut-wrenching headline. Alcohol deaths have more than doubled in two decades. Study finds.
(49:53):
Doubled? More than doubled. Mm-hmm. I'll be honest that in the end, I kind of have to agree with
Stephanie Faith's mother. It doesn't feel like justice, and it certainly doesn't feel like things have
gotten better. No. So it's crazy. It's like it's like drilled into you. We have those horrifying,
(50:20):
like in high school, we have those horrifying drunk driving scenario things. They force you to watch
basically of your friends dying in the field. And the moms coming and pretending to cry and fake
feeling like that should scary. It's drilled into your ass. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I know everyone doesn't
(50:43):
necessarily go through that, especially like further back in time, but like how does it keep getting
worse? I just... Yeah. Well, and thinking about this too, I feel like it really speaks volumes because
particularly in terms of like vehicular related deaths, cars have only become safer.
(51:06):
So if more people are dying, I just... I don't get it. And I know it's really easy for people to be,
you know, not have their wits about them. And I'm certainly not making excuses for anyone who
does something horrific like this, but that's why you don't operate machinery. Yeah. I call them death.
(51:33):
Like they're you're driving like a death machine around. That's how I think of it every time I get in a car.
Like this is a death machine. I could die. I could kill something. Like that's really extreme and like
anxiety thoughts, but like it's true. Right. I mean, these are these are things that I feel like it's
valid to consider and to be cognizant of as you get behind the wheel or you, you know, get into the
(51:57):
passenger seat. So before we move on and, you know, do some tarot as one does, and we attempt to
lighten things up. I just want to say that of course, I'm going to go ahead and share some of the
(52:19):
resources in the show notes that I found just for anyone that is curious. My plan at this point,
as we're recording this, is to provide some statistical information related to the topic.
Some some resources that are designed to be, you know, specifically, you know, for help.
(52:40):
If you or yourself, you know, someone that you know needs resources. And then I think I have
some information about organizations that are working to improve upon what appears to be a pretty
sad set of circumstances that impacts just so many people.
(53:06):
Drop the card. Mother pearl. Free of sword. Did food.
Free of sword. Jumped out at me. Okay. I'm taking that one out. I'm going to send it to the side in case.
(53:28):
All right. So we're going to do some tarot. I'll send you my energy. It might not be a lot,
but I'll give you all I got. It's no. It's higher than I thought it was going to be. That's good.
So I fan them out in like kind of a rainbow shape. Okay. So I feel like this time I want,
(53:52):
I want you to like give me a little bit of a sense of like where in the arc do you feel? I'm feeling like
my right side like right like right below the arc on the right side. Okay. This is really hard for me
because technically as I'm looking at you, that's like the left. I know, but yeah, that's my right hand.
(54:16):
Yeah. Okay. Let's see. Like how far like towards the bottom? Like not in the middle of the bottom
in the arc. Okay. Closer to the top of the arc. Oh, closer to the top of here. Yeah, but like
down a little bit. Okay. I think that's like this one. Interesting. Okay. So I had a card that as I was
(54:38):
shuffling it hopped out and it was the three of swords and this is the queen of swords. Can you see
this? Oh, yeah. In reverse. Yeah. So you got like a mama bird and a little a little bird.
Kind of what it looks like in the little bird is not a life on the card. Oh,
(54:59):
card. It's not that's like really crazy imagery right there. I feel like the card, the card that
popped out at you, I was like, well, holy shit. Of course. Oh boy. Okay. So I'm going to start by reading
the queen of swords, I guess. And our keywords are intelligence, independence, authority,
(55:23):
objectivity, and communication. And we have this in the reverse. When the queen appears reversed,
you may feel trapped, limited, unable to speak your own truth.
She can indicate disappointments at work or home, broken promises, hopes that didn't manifest.
(55:47):
Like the promise to keep your child safe. I mean, Jesus. Burthed her. Yeah.
I mean, either one of those kids, all of it. All of the kids. Yeah. All of the things, all of the kids.
Yeah. You may feel you haven't been given a chance to show your stuff or you've been handed a puny
(56:08):
piece of the pie. Perhaps you can't move beyond the loss or your emotions are interfering with your
judgment. Yeah. Cause like, why do people get shit faced all the time? You know, obviously it was not
a rare occurrence or her son wouldn't automatically know when she was wasted. Yeah. Yeah.
(56:30):
It sounded like that was something very recognizable for him.
In a reading about money, this card can mean you've let your emotions rather than your intellect
guide a financial matter. Like that reminds me of like her defense team and happened to switch
partway through because of the financial struggles. But it may also suggest you've gotten bad advice
(56:57):
or not investigated a situation adequately and consequently incurred losses. Wow.
This queen warns read the fine print. To me, it just screams like someone making bad decisions.
And not thinking about what they're doing, which is clearly what was happening. If the reading is about
(57:19):
your job, you may not be using your intellect and creativity fully. Or you feel your abilities aren't
appreciated. A boss may be too critical. Co-workers may be envious or undependable causing you to question
yourself. The reversed queen may represent the glass ceiling women still face. In a reading about
(57:43):
love, this card suggests bitterness caused by disappointments or losses as a result you may swear
off relationships and isolate yourself. Sometimes the queen reversed shows an overly critical nature
in flexibility or coolness toward a partner. Should I read the three of swords? Yeah. The jump
(58:06):
back. For sure. Jesus. Okay. I mean, we know like in broad strokes what this card obviously is
going to stand for, but right. Sadness loss. Keywords are suffering, heartache, regret, grieving, sorrow,
(58:26):
loss. I mean, this is what the card looks like. So yeah, it's not great typically. Oh, just like the
imagery of the bird to it's like such a bright colored, beautiful bird and it's just like laying
there. The upright three signifies separation, severing a connection to something or someone you
(58:52):
love. You feel isolated and cut off from something you've found meaningful. A way of life, your home
and family, a philosophy, pursuit or job. Something in your life has died. Usually because it has lost
its meaning or run its course and you need to let it go. Yeah, it's great. I mean, usually we're like,
(59:15):
it's not literal, but in this case, it's pretty literal. I just think like the most powerful part of
this for me, it like in all of it with the tarot is that literally like you said, it's the main card
that we've drawn. This looks like the more mature or mama bird. And this is the one that popped out.
(59:44):
And it's like obviously these are not the same species of bird, but it's like this one is like
representative of youth. And yeah, show the big one because it looks like it's like flying forward
to like it does. Yeah. And they're both swords. Yeah. Just speaks to like severing a tie, definitely.
(01:00:07):
Wow. Creepy. It is creepy. This is like one of my least favorite cases that I've had to research
recently. I'm sorry. I mean, I felt like it was an important story. And I mean, it feels unbelievable
(01:00:27):
that somebody could find themselves in this set of circumstances, like the fact that you could
in a drunk driving accident kill your own child. Yeah. That's like the probably the worst thought
a parent can ever have. It's like killing their own kid. Yeah. And I know there are some people who do
it on purpose who are terrible, terrible people. Yeah. But I mean, my next thought was just literally,
(01:00:53):
if you're driving drunk roughly a mile away from your own home, it stands to reason like you have
already decided that you don't care about what happens to people that are interacting with you
in a close proximity like that. It didn't have to be your own kid. That kind of been one of your
neighbors kids. And it was too. Yes. Yeah. Well, exactly. It's like this is how you have decided to
(01:01:20):
behave as an adult woman and the choices that you have made. And I don't it sucks. It really,
you know, I've realized it really sucks that other people can affect your life so drastically.
Like choices that don't have anything to do with you can like ruin your life. Yeah.
(01:01:42):
Choices other people make for you. It's crazy. Yeah. Oh, I might have to go and look for like a
corporate crime or something after something that feels a little, you know, a little bit lighter.
Can we get some fun crime up in the switch? I know. Yeah. Maybe I'll see if I can find something
funny. We need some more DB tuber. I was gonna say I do. You know, I find what I do it I can.
(01:02:10):
You do splash them in. Yeah. But it is. No, it is. Splash. Hey, we're bringing it back to the
beginning with the do-do's and the float. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, it is really important to just
remind people like even though these don't drink and drive things or drill into your head, like
sometimes you just need to be reminded of the consequences. Yeah. Oh, man. Oh, should we get out of here?
(01:02:38):
Probably. I was gonna say the only like natural thing to say after that is, you know,
and if you don't want to have the consequences of not, you know, hearing another episode, you know,
like subscribe to us on. I thought you were gonna say like, if you don't want us to have anything to
(01:03:00):
talk about ever again. We don't want to run out of episode topics, but I know, but you do.
I mean, where it's just it's not feasible. They're just unfortunately, they're just even in the past.
They're just so many different crimes that that's just it'll never happen. So, that would be great.
(01:03:21):
I'm not worried. Yeah. I mean, I'd be thrilled, but it's not gonna happen. That's all and true crime
together. World peace. I just watched my community the other day and world. Yeah, I feel like I feel like
(01:03:42):
it shows. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I have a creepy ass day. We'll see you next Tuesday.
Unless you drink and drive and then get the fuck out of here. We want you. Don't listen to us.
Not a fan. Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say that we're like on a scale of like one, two,
(01:04:05):
like Joe Rogan wealthy. I wouldn't say that we're anywhere near even more than like a two or a three,
but like we're we're wealthy enough to say. Yeah. We don't want it. No, we don't. I don't care. I
could be making pennies or nothing negative. I don't want you around. (pnwhauntsandhomicides.com)
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