February 14, 2025 • 27 mins
Ever wondered what happens when your dream vacation takes a dark turn? This week, we’re sitting down with Kim from the Slaycation podcast, where travel meets true crime in the most chilling way. Kim, along with her husband Adam and friend Jerry, dives deep into vacation stories that went horrifyingly wrong—bringing her background in social work and a keen eye for human behavior into the mix.
In this episode, Kim spills the tea on how Slaycation came to life, blending her true crime obsession with a passion for storytelling. We get into some jaw-dropping cases, like the sinister Henthorne murder and the twisted tale of Joel Guy Jr., breaking down the red flags and eerie circumstances behind them. But it’s not just about the crimes—we also talk about the delicate balance between humor and respect when telling these stories, the importance of honoring victims, and the unsettling mystery of a 14-year-old boy’s disappearance in Aruba.
So, grab your favorite drink, settle in, and join us as we unpack the dark side of travel with Kim. Trust us, you won’t look at your next vacation the same way again!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hey guys, so welcome back to all of our travel lovers
, thrill seekers and fellowadventurers.
This is an episode of SuitcaseDivas where we typically talk
about, you know, hidden gems andall inclusives and all the
amazing places that you couldpossibly stay.
But what happens if your vacayturns into a slay-cay?
(00:35):
Well, today's guest knows allabout the dark side of travels
gone wrong and you know when Isay gone wrong, like either
you're lost at sea or you'rekilled at an all-inclusive
anything.
Either way, it doesn't end well.
(00:57):
It's not going to be your idealtravel situation.
You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yes, so we are thrilled and maybe a little
nervous because of these stories, to welcome Kim, one of the
three co-hosts of Slaycationpodcast.
The show dives into thechilling true crime stories of
vacations gone horribly wrong.
I'm super excited about thisbecause I love true crime true
(01:22):
crime podcast.
It's kind of part of how I gotinto listening to podcasts and I
used to crime true crimepodcasts.
It's kind of how part of how Igot into listening to podcasts
and I used to read the truecrime books, so it was really
interesting to hear this side ofit.
I do want to give a disclaimerslash, warning that this episode
we do talk about death, we talkabout murder, we do some
descriptive talking about, like,what happens to some of the
victims.
So if this isn't your cup oftea, this might be the suitcase
(01:45):
divas episode you skip.
But we are very excited tointroduce you guys to Kim from
Slaycation.
Yay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So let's welcome Kim from Slaycation podcast.
Hi Hi, kim, welcome Welcome.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Kim, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Absolutely so.
Before Slication, you were atrue crime listener and you did
a lot of knitting and kind ofbinge listening to true crimes.
What inspired you to actuallygo ahead and start a podcast
about that?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Well, you know, it's interesting because I never
thought that I would be doingthat.
It just so happened that myhusband had an idea for a show
and he was thinking aboutSlaycation as a TV show, because
his company develops TV showsand podcasts now and he happened
(02:44):
to mention it to me and I justkind of rattled off a couple of
cases that I just have heard.
Through my years of justconsuming this content, it was
kind of always my thing, like Iam the OG of true crime, like I
been doing it before DNA.
(03:07):
Oh right, like you know, myhusband met me, um, when we
first met and we started dating,um, he always tells the story
of when he had first come to myhouse and my bookshelf was just
all true crime nonfiction andyeah.
(03:28):
I was like that person that justread a lot, but that was the
you know material that I readand yeah, it was like I was
reading about the Green RiverKiller before DNA identified who
he was.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Maybe you were a detective in your past.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I you know I must have been, because I always joke
how I missed my calling.
Yeah, because you know, I'mlike, oh my God, there were so
many things I could have done.
What was I thinking?
But yeah, so I really.
(04:09):
That's where it started.
And then, when my husband andhis business partner, who both
of them are my co-hosts, tookthe leap into podcasting, we
decided you know what we can doa true crime podcast.
And we began.
Began, and thus the birth ofslaycation, which, uh is a
(04:30):
podcast on uh murders,mysterious deaths and
disappearances while away onvacation what a great name and a
great concept.
Like you grabbed those twomarkets and just that's awesome,
yeah and, yeah, my husband,yeah, adam, he is the brains
(04:52):
behind the operation.
That, yeah, so, and you knowit's yep, there is.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Nice, nice, awesome, well.
And so, like you said, adam'syour husband, he kind of came
with it, and then Jerry.
So was Jerry and Adam kind oflike a package deal working
together, and then you guys allcame up with the, the whole
podcast.
How does, how do you guys know,jerry?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
well, jerry is actually my husband's business
partner and okay, long timefriend, like we've been friends
forever um adam and jerry met incollege.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Um okay, because you can tell there's a history there
.
You guys can tell you guys arebest great vibe yeah yeah, no,
it's, it's, it's great, like Ilove.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I love Jerry, I love his husband, I love them.
We go way back.
You figure, me and my husbandhave been together now almost 31
years and, um, I've known, um,wow, yeah, I've known Jerry
almost as you're like wait, I'mnot, we're not that old.
(06:07):
Where does the time go?
Don't even get me started.
You know I used to always jokelike I remembered when I started
getting older, like my motherwould start lying about my age.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yes, I know what that's like.
My oldest is 27.
Oh girl.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So when I say that I don't know what I'm going to do
when she gets to 30.
I don't know how I'm going tohandle that.
Oh my God, I might just be likeI have girls in their 20s.
That might be my answer, Right,exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Go with the younger one.
That's a great plan, Sharon.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So, before Slaycation , how did your background as a
social worker in domesticviolence shape the way you
approached telling true crimestories?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Well, you know the thing about even my work in that
field, you know, having workedwith, you know I've worked with
women who were dealing withaddictions and homelessness and
women who were dealing withdomestic violence situations.
Now, one of the things about meand I guess a lot of and I find
(07:23):
that it just overlaps and kindof you know the podcasting and
the work that I've done is thatI have always been a student of
people.
Like I find people fascinating,people fascinate me, I just
find people interesting and youknow, and that's how it lends
(07:47):
itself, like even my work now asa podcaster is sort of looking
at all the players and, you know, just trying to, you know,
while telling the story, kind ofcome to it with sort of an
understanding of some sorts,kind of come to it with sort of
an understanding of some sorts,as best as I could like where
(08:08):
and how did we get here?
How did we get here?
How did we get here?
You know, like the first casethat we did was the Henthorne
case.
It was Toni Henthorne, herhusband why am I forgetting his
name?
But Harold, and they gottogether and you know it was the
second marriage for each ofthem and you know they married
(08:31):
and had a daughter and he endedup killing her.
And you know, while I waslooking at that case, I was just
(08:57):
really struck by how vulnerableshe was.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
She didn't see the red flags Girl she.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I mean those red flags, man, they were like in,
you know, I mean there were justso many red flags, you know,
but by the time that she startedto realize that she was in
danger it was too late.
I mean, there were just so manythings with him like, yeah,
like controlling the money, likethat.
(09:34):
You know, she was the primarywage earner, and not that you
can't have.
You know, families havedifferent ways of working out
their finances, and you know.
But I take that, I understandLook, maybe it's just me, but I
understand, marriage is apartnership and make decisions
(09:57):
together.
I, you know, this idea to methat someone's in charge is kind
of fucking crazy because, yeah,right, we get it, yeah, and.
But he was in charge of thefinances, he dictated how the
money was spent.
He dictated how the money wasspent.
(10:17):
She had a lucrative practice inLouisiana, but you know, and she
was, I would presume, happysettled there, raising her
daughter there.
Her family was nearby.
I mean, all the things that wewould want, like our families
are nearby, da-da-da-da.
What does he do?
He decides that they need tomove.
So he uproots his family.
Yeah, they isolate, yeah,exactly, moves them to Colorado.
(10:38):
Yeah, she doesn't know.
She was blind, right.
No, exactly, and it was justlike one of those things, too,
where it's like you know hewould.
You know, like he had it sothat when her phone would ring
or she got messages on her phone, they would come to his phone
(11:03):
as well.
That's, yeah, that's absolutelyweird.
Yeah, it is what the hell it'slike.
That's what I did to my 13 yearold.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Okay, right, exactly, but there's a, there's a reason
to parent at that point Likeshe's a grown adult.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
That's just controlling reason to parent at
that point, like she's a grownadult that's just controlling
exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
But so I know dislocation is a mix of, like,
mystery and humor.
So how do you kind of find thebalance between that, while
respecting the gravity of whatthe situation is like?
I like that you guys have abalance of like you can throw
some humor in there, but it alsois, you know, somebody's dying,
(11:36):
so it's kind of like you'regonna tiptoe one way or do
balance that really well becauseit's the dynamic yeah,
appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah, you know it's, it's, it's you thing is is that
these are hard stories and I'malways very aware that these are
hard stories that have resultedin the worst day and time in
(12:06):
people's lives, right, andsituations that have occurred
that have literally ruinedpeople's lives.
So that is never lost on me and,you know, we try to keep the
humor respectful, but, just, itreally is to just remain, just
(12:27):
to bring levity to the situationso that the story can be told.
And, you know, given that it's,I'm not a journalist, so I'm
not coming at it.
At that respect, thestorytelling really is a way to
center the victim in the story,right, right, and to tell their
(12:51):
story and also, to you know, ina way, try to pay homage, in a
sense, because I believe thatthere is something to be learned
from every story, we can learnsomething from it.
That's a sort of a kind way tosort of pay in what I feel is
(13:17):
our way of paying tribute tothose that have gone before us,
that have experienced heinousdeaths, and to just say you know
what is our takeaway?
What can we do?
How does this protect all of us?
How does, how can we, you know,learn from this?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Right, and and that one of the episodes I guess it
was the one I've listened to somany, but it was the one about
the, the young, the 14 year oldboy in Aruba that went out jet
skiing and they never found hisbody we they don't.
You clearly said there's notenough being done, like there
wasn't enough done.
They never recovered the body.
But it's obvious that thatfather and son duo, like
(14:03):
whatever they did, they killedhim Like there's no question in
my mind.
But so I thought it was coolthat you actually are trying to
advocate for the case to be likefollow up.
Actually do the, the research,hold them accountable?
Because if you look at theirbackground, they're trash,
they're rubbish, they clearlydid it and they're never held to
(14:25):
accountability and that'sbullshit.
So I love that you guys aresaying that's bullshit and we're
trying to get something donehere because there's still a
possibility they could be heldaccountable if they would
actually do the due diligence.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
You know, right, right, and just the missed
opportunities.
Like you know, let's circleback, let's ask these questions.
Let's, you know, let's see ifanybody saw something.
Let's see if anybody heardsomething, saw something.
Let's see if anybody heardsomething, right, you know, that
case was just, it was, thatcase was so upsetting and it was
(15:00):
.
You know, I and that's thething, shoddy police work makes
me crazy, because I'm like, whydo I know what to do?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Right.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Like why were these men not taken separated and
questioned?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Right.
And I like that, you guys.
That's one of the things whenyou were talking about just a
minute ago, how you bring thecenter, the victim, to the
center of the story.
And as you guys are telling,and you're telling the story
from that perspective, thequestions that pop up are
usually things that we would askourselves that when we're
hearing it from on the news orfrom a direct source or you know
(15:41):
, they're not asking thosequestions.
And sometimes, when we askourselves those questions like
how did they not see the redflag or how did they not, those
are valid questions that wedon't always feel comfortable
asking because it can make uslook like, well, we're judging
and we're not.
It's more of okay, can we bebetter aware?
Because if this is a smartperson, this is a guy like
(16:04):
they're in a situation that theydon't necessarily realize
they're in.
How many of those situationshave we been in?
So by you guys asking eachother these questions, it's also
making the listener say, okay,this is valid.
I need to make sure it justbrings up a little bit a
different form of awareness.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Exactly, I mean, and that's the thing you know,
because it's never with theintent of judging or blaming,
but it's a sense to kind ofdeconstruct, and because I'm
sure that all of them would saythis is what I would do
different if I had theopportunity to come back and
have a do-over out in my mind.
(16:41):
So I don't feel that we're, youknow, I don't feel like it's,
you know, to your point, likeit's not judging, it's just it's
learning, Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Absolutely so.
You have told quite a fewstories.
Are there some that stand outmore fascinating or bizarre than
others?
Like just stick in your head.
What can you tell us?
One or two of those?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
yes, I will tell you this one, this, this.
I you know, and whenever I getasked this question, this, this
story still remains the most.
What the fuck went on here?
Like what?
So this is the story of um, Idon't know if you guys heard
this, but but this was the storyof Joel and he.
(17:29):
Let's see Joel Jr, joel Guy Jr.
He was the son of Lisa and JoelSr, joel Guy Sr, and he came
home to spend Thanksgiving withhis family.
His parents and his sisterscame over.
(17:51):
His sisters were from hisfather's first marriage, but you
know what ended up happeningwas he ended up killing his
parents up killing his parents.
Now what made this bizarre wasthat he not only just murdered
(18:14):
them, he decapitated them, hedismembered their bodies.
His mom's head was boiling in apot downstairs Like really
fucking crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I'd miss this episode .
I haven't gotten to it yetmaybe you gotta listen to it.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
It was just Wow.
The thing that blew me awayabout this case is usually when
I am researching these cases and, like you know, sort of just
consuming everything that I can,it's always something that
comes up that you're like yeah,that's weird.
Yeah, that can speak to youknow how one's psyche can become
(19:00):
so warped.
You know whether it's a historyof abuse or you know, not to
say that abuse equals, you know,being a killer.
But you can always kind of lookback yeah, they neglect.
There was neglect.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh, like the Menendez brothers or whatever, they were
abused their whole childhood.
So you kind of like, well youknow what Exactly?
They snapped you can only takeso much, right.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
It's sort of like that you know question that has
become kind of like theuniversal battle cry.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Make, it make sense.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
So we're always in the quest of trying to do that,
and this was the case.
This was the only case that Iwas not able to do that, because
you have this guy who is justadored like, adored by his
family.
Every account describes hischildhood being filled with love
(19:57):
and care, and his parents,especially his mom, doted on him
.
I mean, he wanted for nothing.
He went off to school.
His parents paid his collegetuition.
They pay for his apartment,they pay for his car, they pay
(20:17):
for the insurance on the car.
They, you know.
So he, you know he didn't haveanything that would make you go.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Right, like it wasn't , like he was physically abused
his whole life or mentally.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
No, no, but yet he has his mom's head in a pot
downstairs Like what the fuckwas that?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Now did the sisters walk in to find the parents
killed?
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I guess we'll have to go back to that episode now.
I want to know I missed, Idon't this.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Was this the earlier episode, or because I'm going
from the bottom to the top, so Ihaven't heard all of it was um,
I guess you could say it waslike probably like, since it was
Thanksgiving, it was like inthat.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So it was like okay, around that time, right, I'm
writing it down yes, and youknow, but that was the thing, it
was Thanksgiving, it was likein that.
So it was like okay, aroundthat time.
Right, I'm writing it down.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Yes, and you know, but that was the thing it was.
You know a very loving family.
You know, one of the thingsthat I talk about in this family
that was really sort of likeyou know, when, when he was
facing the court and his sisterwould come up to speak, it was
(21:28):
just heart wrenching becausethey, they were bereft and they
had no idea, like, and one ofthe things that they talked
about, one of them in particular, was the he was loved like up
and and they spoke about theirlike.
(21:49):
One of them was talking abouther stepmother because this was
her only biological child and tothink that her only, that her
biological child, right, thattook her out like one of the
sisters spoke to that, like howshe just ached to think of her
stepmother in that moment, inthe realization that her only
(22:13):
biological child was doing thisto her right.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
yeah, that's yeah, oh yeah well, are there any
unsolved cases that really makeyou be like what the fuck
happened there?
Like well, for the first one,that one out in in aruba, that
for me was like crazy, but foryou like what.
Is there any other cases or you?
Speaker 3 (22:39):
know that keep you up at night kind of like yeah
there's a couple that case, themac, that case, the Max case,
mcgreevy case that's haunting.
And that is haunting for thereason that he literally was
there and then he wasn't At hispoor mother, having already
(23:07):
experienced the loss of herhusband, her children are
traumatized, she's traumatized.
You know, they're just tryingto get it together and they just
try to go away to justreconnect as a family.
And she had initially had toldher son that she didn't want him
(23:28):
to go.
No, yeah, he couldn't go jetskiing Because he'd already done
it.
And she was like no, and hewore her down.
And, let's face it, we knowwhen kids want.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
The guilt she must live with.
To be like I caved, I can'tbelieve he would still be here
if I was more firm and I hadsaid no.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Exactly the guilt she lives with, that pain that is
heartbreaking like I, I wish ifthere was anything I could do, I
could take that guilt away fromher and just, yeah, discard it
somewhere.
As to you know, and, and, and.
Just the horror of thinkingthat, like she has no idea what
happened, she wasn't there well,and they were targeted those
(24:14):
guys absolutely targeted thatfamily and took advantage of
their situation.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah, um, it's so sad that to me, that one is like oh
my.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
God I feel so bad, and a lot of these episodes
bring up a lot of emotions theanger, the sadness, the
frustration, the what would I doLike?
What if that were me?
How would I handle that?
What if that?
Were my feeling, or how do youbalance that emotion for
yourself, like as you're doingthis, and keeping from getting
overwhelmed or bogged down bythose emotions?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Wow.
So what an incredibleconversation so far.
Kim has taken us down the roadthrough a lot of chilling and
gory true crime stories thus far.
The one that stands out themost for me is the Aruba trip
and the family had already beengoing through a rough time trip.
(25:09):
And the family had already beengoing through a rough time and
then she chose to make a didn'ttrust her gut kind of moment.
So I that one was really reallyhard for me and very emotional,
and so I wonder, when Kim isgoing through these stories and
and all of that, the weight ofwhat is happening to these
victims kind of has to weigh onyou.
I just wonder if it ever takesits toll emotionally.
(25:31):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah, I agree, I've always wondered that, when I've
read the nonfiction true crimeand then when podcasts came out,
how the storytellers handle andnavigate the emotional part of
it.
So next week, in our two partseries with Kim from Slaycation,
we'll dive deep into how shenavigates the heavier side of
(25:55):
crime storytelling.
Yeah, and you won't want tomiss it.
So be sure to hit the followbutton and make sure you are
also checking out Slaycation Ifyou want to hear any of the
episodes that we discussed todayfrom Slaycation.
The first one we talked about,or one of the ones we talked
about, was episode one, forSlaycation was Rocky.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Mountain Murder or Accident with a question mark.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
So check that one out , the one Denise was talking
about.
The Aruba one is episode 45,last Call at the Aruban Sandbar.
And then I thought this one wasthe most interesting and I'm
actually listening to it now.
Episode 48, home for theHollislays, and that was bananas
.
Yes, so make sure you're alsochecking out the episodes from
(26:38):
Slaycation.
Follow them, follow us and thencome back next week and check
out the conclusion.
Stay tuned yes with Kim fromslaycation.
Hey guys, so welcome back to all of our travel lovers
, thrill seekers and fellowadventurers.
This is an episode of SuitcaseDivas where we typically talk
about, you know, hidden gems andall inclusives and all the
amazing places that you couldpossibly stay.
But what happens if your vacayturns into a slay-cay?
(00:35):
Well, today's guest knows allabout the dark side of travels
gone wrong and you know when Isay gone wrong, like either
you're lost at sea or you'rekilled at an all-inclusive
anything.
Either way, it doesn't end well.
(00:57):
It's not going to be your idealtravel situation.
You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yes, so we are thrilled and maybe a little
nervous because of these stories, to welcome Kim, one of the
three co-hosts of Slaycationpodcast.
The show dives into thechilling true crime stories of
vacations gone horribly wrong.
I'm super excited about thisbecause I love true crime true
(01:22):
crime podcast.
It's kind of part of how I gotinto listening to podcasts and I
used to crime true crimepodcasts.
It's kind of how part of how Igot into listening to podcasts
and I used to read the truecrime books, so it was really
interesting to hear this side ofit.
I do want to give a disclaimerslash, warning that this episode
we do talk about death, we talkabout murder, we do some
descriptive talking about, like,what happens to some of the
victims.
So if this isn't your cup oftea, this might be the suitcase
(01:45):
divas episode you skip.
But we are very excited tointroduce you guys to Kim from
Slaycation.
Yay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So let's welcome Kim from Slaycation podcast.
Hi Hi, kim, welcome Welcome.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Kim, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Absolutely so.
Before Slication, you were atrue crime listener and you did
a lot of knitting and kind ofbinge listening to true crimes.
What inspired you to actuallygo ahead and start a podcast
about that?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Well, you know, it's interesting because I never
thought that I would be doingthat.
It just so happened that myhusband had an idea for a show
and he was thinking aboutSlaycation as a TV show, because
his company develops TV showsand podcasts now and he happened
(02:44):
to mention it to me and I justkind of rattled off a couple of
cases that I just have heard.
Through my years of justconsuming this content, it was
kind of always my thing, like Iam the OG of true crime, like I
been doing it before DNA.
(03:07):
Oh right, like you know, myhusband met me, um, when we
first met and we started dating,um, he always tells the story
of when he had first come to myhouse and my bookshelf was just
all true crime nonfiction andyeah.
(03:28):
I was like that person that justread a lot, but that was the
you know material that I readand yeah, it was like I was
reading about the Green RiverKiller before DNA identified who
he was.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Maybe you were a detective in your past.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I you know I must have been, because I always joke
how I missed my calling.
Yeah, because you know, I'mlike, oh my God, there were so
many things I could have done.
What was I thinking?
But yeah, so I really.
(04:09):
That's where it started.
And then, when my husband andhis business partner, who both
of them are my co-hosts, tookthe leap into podcasting, we
decided you know what we can doa true crime podcast.
And we began.
Began, and thus the birth ofslaycation, which, uh is a
(04:30):
podcast on uh murders,mysterious deaths and
disappearances while away onvacation what a great name and a
great concept.
Like you grabbed those twomarkets and just that's awesome,
yeah and, yeah, my husband,yeah, adam, he is the brains
(04:52):
behind the operation.
That, yeah, so, and you knowit's yep, there is.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Nice, nice, awesome, well.
And so, like you said, adam'syour husband, he kind of came
with it, and then Jerry.
So was Jerry and Adam kind oflike a package deal working
together, and then you guys allcame up with the, the whole
podcast.
How does, how do you guys know,jerry?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
well, jerry is actually my husband's business
partner and okay, long timefriend, like we've been friends
forever um adam and jerry met incollege.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Um okay, because you can tell there's a history there
.
You guys can tell you guys arebest great vibe yeah yeah, no,
it's, it's, it's great, like Ilove.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I love Jerry, I love his husband, I love them.
We go way back.
You figure, me and my husbandhave been together now almost 31
years and, um, I've known, um,wow, yeah, I've known Jerry
almost as you're like wait, I'mnot, we're not that old.
(06:07):
Where does the time go?
Don't even get me started.
You know I used to always jokelike I remembered when I started
getting older, like my motherwould start lying about my age.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yes, I know what that's like.
My oldest is 27.
Oh girl.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So when I say that I don't know what I'm going to do
when she gets to 30.
I don't know how I'm going tohandle that.
Oh my God, I might just be likeI have girls in their 20s.
That might be my answer, Right,exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Go with the younger one.
That's a great plan, Sharon.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So, before Slaycation , how did your background as a
social worker in domesticviolence shape the way you
approached telling true crimestories?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Well, you know the thing about even my work in that
field, you know, having workedwith, you know I've worked with
women who were dealing withaddictions and homelessness and
women who were dealing withdomestic violence situations.
Now, one of the things about meand I guess a lot of and I find
(07:23):
that it just overlaps and kindof you know the podcasting and
the work that I've done is thatI have always been a student of
people.
Like I find people fascinating,people fascinate me, I just
find people interesting and youknow, and that's how it lends
(07:47):
itself, like even my work now asa podcaster is sort of looking
at all the players and, you know, just trying to, you know,
while telling the story, kind ofcome to it with sort of an
understanding of some sorts,kind of come to it with sort of
an understanding of some sorts,as best as I could like where
(08:08):
and how did we get here?
How did we get here?
How did we get here?
You know, like the first casethat we did was the Henthorne
case.
It was Toni Henthorne, herhusband why am I forgetting his
name?
But Harold, and they gottogether and you know it was the
second marriage for each ofthem and you know they married
(08:31):
and had a daughter and he endedup killing her.
And you know, while I waslooking at that case, I was just
(08:57):
really struck by how vulnerableshe was.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
She didn't see the red flags Girl she.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I mean those red flags, man, they were like in,
you know, I mean there were justso many red flags, you know,
but by the time that she startedto realize that she was in
danger it was too late.
I mean, there were just so manythings with him like, yeah,
like controlling the money, likethat.
(09:34):
You know, she was the primarywage earner, and not that you
can't have.
You know, families havedifferent ways of working out
their finances, and you know.
But I take that, I understandLook, maybe it's just me, but I
understand, marriage is apartnership and make decisions
(09:57):
together.
I, you know, this idea to methat someone's in charge is kind
of fucking crazy because, yeah,right, we get it, yeah, and.
But he was in charge of thefinances, he dictated how the
money was spent.
He dictated how the money wasspent.
(10:17):
She had a lucrative practice inLouisiana, but you know, and she
was, I would presume, happysettled there, raising her
daughter there.
Her family was nearby.
I mean, all the things that wewould want, like our families
are nearby, da-da-da-da.
What does he do?
He decides that they need tomove.
So he uproots his family.
Yeah, they isolate, yeah,exactly, moves them to Colorado.
(10:38):
Yeah, she doesn't know.
She was blind, right.
No, exactly, and it was justlike one of those things, too,
where it's like you know hewould.
You know, like he had it sothat when her phone would ring
or she got messages on her phone, they would come to his phone
(11:03):
as well.
That's, yeah, that's absolutelyweird.
Yeah, it is what the hell it'slike.
That's what I did to my 13 yearold.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Okay, right, exactly, but there's a, there's a reason
to parent at that point Likeshe's a grown adult.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
That's just controlling reason to parent at
that point, like she's a grownadult that's just controlling
exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
But so I know dislocation is a mix of, like,
mystery and humor.
So how do you kind of find thebalance between that, while
respecting the gravity of whatthe situation is like?
I like that you guys have abalance of like you can throw
some humor in there, but it alsois, you know, somebody's dying,
(11:36):
so it's kind of like you'regonna tiptoe one way or do
balance that really well becauseit's the dynamic yeah,
appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah, you know it's, it's, it's you thing is is that
these are hard stories and I'malways very aware that these are
hard stories that have resultedin the worst day and time in
(12:06):
people's lives, right, andsituations that have occurred
that have literally ruinedpeople's lives.
So that is never lost on me and,you know, we try to keep the
humor respectful, but, just, itreally is to just remain, just
(12:27):
to bring levity to the situationso that the story can be told.
And, you know, given that it's,I'm not a journalist, so I'm
not coming at it.
At that respect, thestorytelling really is a way to
center the victim in the story,right, right, and to tell their
(12:51):
story and also, to you know, ina way, try to pay homage, in a
sense, because I believe thatthere is something to be learned
from every story, we can learnsomething from it.
That's a sort of a kind way tosort of pay in what I feel is
(13:17):
our way of paying tribute tothose that have gone before us,
that have experienced heinousdeaths, and to just say you know
what is our takeaway?
What can we do?
How does this protect all of us?
How does, how can we, you know,learn from this?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Right, and and that one of the episodes I guess it
was the one I've listened to somany, but it was the one about
the, the young, the 14 year oldboy in Aruba that went out jet
skiing and they never found hisbody we they don't.
You clearly said there's notenough being done, like there
wasn't enough done.
They never recovered the body.
But it's obvious that thatfather and son duo, like
(14:03):
whatever they did, they killedhim Like there's no question in
my mind.
But so I thought it was coolthat you actually are trying to
advocate for the case to be likefollow up.
Actually do the, the research,hold them accountable?
Because if you look at theirbackground, they're trash,
they're rubbish, they clearlydid it and they're never held to
(14:25):
accountability and that'sbullshit.
So I love that you guys aresaying that's bullshit and we're
trying to get something donehere because there's still a
possibility they could be heldaccountable if they would
actually do the due diligence.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
You know, right, right, and just the missed
opportunities.
Like you know, let's circleback, let's ask these questions.
Let's, you know, let's see ifanybody saw something.
Let's see if anybody heardsomething, saw something.
Let's see if anybody heardsomething, right, you know, that
case was just, it was, thatcase was so upsetting and it was
(15:00):
.
You know, I and that's thething, shoddy police work makes
me crazy, because I'm like, whydo I know what to do?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Right.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Like why were these men not taken separated and
questioned?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Right.
And I like that, you guys.
That's one of the things whenyou were talking about just a
minute ago, how you bring thecenter, the victim, to the
center of the story.
And as you guys are telling,and you're telling the story
from that perspective, thequestions that pop up are
usually things that we would askourselves that when we're
hearing it from on the news orfrom a direct source or you know
(15:41):
, they're not asking thosequestions.
And sometimes, when we askourselves those questions like
how did they not see the redflag or how did they not, those
are valid questions that wedon't always feel comfortable
asking because it can make uslook like, well, we're judging
and we're not.
It's more of okay, can we bebetter aware?
Because if this is a smartperson, this is a guy like
(16:04):
they're in a situation that theydon't necessarily realize
they're in.
How many of those situationshave we been in?
So by you guys asking eachother these questions, it's also
making the listener say, okay,this is valid.
I need to make sure it justbrings up a little bit a
different form of awareness.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Exactly, I mean, and that's the thing you know,
because it's never with theintent of judging or blaming,
but it's a sense to kind ofdeconstruct, and because I'm
sure that all of them would saythis is what I would do
different if I had theopportunity to come back and
have a do-over out in my mind.
(16:41):
So I don't feel that we're, youknow, I don't feel like it's,
you know, to your point, likeit's not judging, it's just it's
learning, Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Absolutely so.
You have told quite a fewstories.
Are there some that stand outmore fascinating or bizarre than
others?
Like just stick in your head.
What can you tell us?
One or two of those?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
yes, I will tell you this one, this, this.
I you know, and whenever I getasked this question, this, this
story still remains the most.
What the fuck went on here?
Like what?
So this is the story of um, Idon't know if you guys heard
this, but but this was the storyof Joel and he.
(17:29):
Let's see Joel Jr, joel Guy Jr.
He was the son of Lisa and JoelSr, joel Guy Sr, and he came
home to spend Thanksgiving withhis family.
His parents and his sisterscame over.
(17:51):
His sisters were from hisfather's first marriage, but you
know what ended up happeningwas he ended up killing his
parents up killing his parents.
Now what made this bizarre wasthat he not only just murdered
(18:14):
them, he decapitated them, hedismembered their bodies.
His mom's head was boiling in apot downstairs Like really
fucking crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I'd miss this episode .
I haven't gotten to it yetmaybe you gotta listen to it.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
It was just Wow.
The thing that blew me awayabout this case is usually when
I am researching these cases and, like you know, sort of just
consuming everything that I can,it's always something that
comes up that you're like yeah,that's weird.
Yeah, that can speak to youknow how one's psyche can become
(19:00):
so warped.
You know whether it's a historyof abuse or you know, not to
say that abuse equals, you know,being a killer.
But you can always kind of lookback yeah, they neglect.
There was neglect.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh, like the Menendez brothers or whatever, they were
abused their whole childhood.
So you kind of like, well youknow what Exactly?
They snapped you can only takeso much, right.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
It's sort of like that you know question that has
become kind of like theuniversal battle cry.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Make, it make sense.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
So we're always in the quest of trying to do that,
and this was the case.
This was the only case that Iwas not able to do that, because
you have this guy who is justadored like, adored by his
family.
Every account describes hischildhood being filled with love
(19:57):
and care, and his parents,especially his mom, doted on him
.
I mean, he wanted for nothing.
He went off to school.
His parents paid his collegetuition.
They pay for his apartment,they pay for his car, they pay
(20:17):
for the insurance on the car.
They, you know.
So he, you know he didn't haveanything that would make you go.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Right, like it wasn't , like he was physically abused
his whole life or mentally.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
No, no, but yet he has his mom's head in a pot
downstairs Like what the fuckwas that?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Now did the sisters walk in to find the parents
killed?
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I guess we'll have to go back to that episode now.
I want to know I missed, Idon't this.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Was this the earlier episode, or because I'm going
from the bottom to the top, so Ihaven't heard all of it was um,
I guess you could say it waslike probably like, since it was
Thanksgiving, it was like inthat.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So it was like okay, around that time, right, I'm
writing it down yes, and youknow, but that was the thing, it
was Thanksgiving, it was likein that.
So it was like okay, aroundthat time.
Right, I'm writing it down.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Yes, and you know, but that was the thing it was.
You know a very loving family.
You know, one of the thingsthat I talk about in this family
that was really sort of likeyou know, when, when he was
facing the court and his sisterwould come up to speak, it was
(21:28):
just heart wrenching becausethey, they were bereft and they
had no idea, like, and one ofthe things that they talked
about, one of them in particular, was the he was loved like up
and and they spoke about theirlike.
(21:49):
One of them was talking abouther stepmother because this was
her only biological child and tothink that her only, that her
biological child, right, thattook her out like one of the
sisters spoke to that, like howshe just ached to think of her
stepmother in that moment, inthe realization that her only
(22:13):
biological child was doing thisto her right.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
yeah, that's yeah, oh yeah well, are there any
unsolved cases that really makeyou be like what the fuck
happened there?
Like well, for the first one,that one out in in aruba, that
for me was like crazy, but foryou like what.
Is there any other cases or you?
Speaker 3 (22:39):
know that keep you up at night kind of like yeah
there's a couple that case, themac, that case, the Max case,
mcgreevy case that's haunting.
And that is haunting for thereason that he literally was
there and then he wasn't At hispoor mother, having already
(23:07):
experienced the loss of herhusband, her children are
traumatized, she's traumatized.
You know, they're just tryingto get it together and they just
try to go away to justreconnect as a family.
And she had initially had toldher son that she didn't want him
(23:28):
to go.
No, yeah, he couldn't go jetskiing Because he'd already done
it.
And she was like no, and hewore her down.
And, let's face it, we knowwhen kids want.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
The guilt she must live with.
To be like I caved, I can'tbelieve he would still be here
if I was more firm and I hadsaid no.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Exactly the guilt she lives with, that pain that is
heartbreaking like I, I wish ifthere was anything I could do, I
could take that guilt away fromher and just, yeah, discard it
somewhere.
As to you know, and, and, and.
Just the horror of thinkingthat, like she has no idea what
happened, she wasn't there well,and they were targeted those
(24:14):
guys absolutely targeted thatfamily and took advantage of
their situation.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah, um, it's so sad that to me, that one is like oh
my.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
God I feel so bad, and a lot of these episodes
bring up a lot of emotions theanger, the sadness, the
frustration, the what would I doLike?
What if that were me?
How would I handle that?
What if that?
Were my feeling, or how do youbalance that emotion for
yourself, like as you're doingthis, and keeping from getting
overwhelmed or bogged down bythose emotions?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Wow.
So what an incredibleconversation so far.
Kim has taken us down the roadthrough a lot of chilling and
gory true crime stories thus far.
The one that stands out themost for me is the Aruba trip
and the family had already beengoing through a rough time trip.
(25:09):
And the family had already beengoing through a rough time and
then she chose to make a didn'ttrust her gut kind of moment.
So I that one was really reallyhard for me and very emotional,
and so I wonder, when Kim isgoing through these stories and
and all of that, the weight ofwhat is happening to these
victims kind of has to weigh onyou.
I just wonder if it ever takesits toll emotionally.
(25:31):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah, I agree, I've always wondered that, when I've
read the nonfiction true crimeand then when podcasts came out,
how the storytellers handle andnavigate the emotional part of
it.
So next week, in our two partseries with Kim from Slaycation,
we'll dive deep into how shenavigates the heavier side of
(25:55):
crime storytelling.
Yeah, and you won't want tomiss it.
So be sure to hit the followbutton and make sure you are
also checking out Slaycation Ifyou want to hear any of the
episodes that we discussed todayfrom Slaycation.
The first one we talked about,or one of the ones we talked
about, was episode one, forSlaycation was Rocky.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Mountain Murder or Accident with a question mark.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
So check that one out , the one Denise was talking
about.
The Aruba one is episode 45,last Call at the Aruban Sandbar.
And then I thought this one wasthe most interesting and I'm
actually listening to it now.
Episode 48, home for theHollislays, and that was bananas
.
Yes, so make sure you're alsochecking out the episodes from
(26:38):
Slaycation.
Follow them, follow us and thencome back next week and check
out the conclusion.
Stay tuned yes with Kim fromslaycation.
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