32. A Trail of Paranoia: The Untold Chaos of John Delling

In this episode of The Lethal Library, Dani and Stephanie delve into the chilling case of John Delling. What starts as typical teenage misbehavior escalates into a paranoia-driven murder spree. From breaking windows and issuing threats to committing multiple murders, Delling's journey is a dark reminder of the dire consequences of untreated mental illness. The hosts provide their signature blend of dark humor and insightful commentary, making this episode both engaging and thought-provoking. Plus, listener shout-outs and summer updates!

Contact The Lethal Library at [e-mail]. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok!

Episode Transcript

Stephanie (00:31):
welcome back everyone to another episode of The Lethal
Library.
I am Stephanie.
And I'm Danny.
And we are your hosts foranother True Crime Tale today.
Danny has another new one for usout of the state of Idaho.
Right.
And I'm sure it's gonna be adoozy'cause that's all that she
finds.
So what do we got, Danny?

Dani (00:52):
You know how some people have a bad attitude in high
school?
Oh, me.
Maybe they mouth off in class.
Maybe they key somebody's car.
And then there's John Delling.
What started as a teenage grudgeover getting kicked out of a
party turned into smashedwindows, stalking random fights,

(01:13):
and eventually a murder spreefueled by paranoia and delusion.

Stephanie (01:18):
Wow.
Hmm.
Escalating very quickly.
It seems like

Dani (01:23):
This isn't just another small town Idaho story.
This is what happens whenuntreated mental illness and
simmering personal beefs cometogether in the worst possible
way.
Today we're walking through thecase of.
John Joseph Dilling from hisfirst outburst as a teenager to
his final sentencing as one ofIdaho's convicted killers.

(01:46):
Wow.
I want to hear this story,resources used for today's
episode in the Idaho Statesman.
Love her.

Stephanie (01:55):
Um, before we segue into everything, Danny, I do
just wanna say thank you to ourlisteners who have been so very
supportive.
we know that we're only doingthis every other week right now
'cause we're just trying to liveour lives in summer, just as you
probably are too.
And we've been.
Able to have some fun.
So thank you for being patient.
Thank you for the comments thatyou leave on our episodes.

(02:15):
We've had some greatinteraction.
we had a little stickergiveaway.
We were so excited to send thoseout to those that participated.
We hope you love them.
and some of you even re postedour stuff.
We have our, our friend, I won'tsay her real name, but our
friend Luna on TikTok rereposted us.
We thought that was so cool.
So thank you.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
We really appreciate it.
It makes us feel so special andlovely.

Dani (02:37):
Thank you.
It does.
I was like, oh, I was so sorry.
It just

Stephanie (02:40):
unexpected.
Yeah.
Completely unexpected.
So, um, we really appreciate,and Luna, your sound

Dani (02:45):
perfect.
Yeah, it was very cute.
So thank you.
Thank you so

Stephanie (02:48):
much.

Dani (02:50):
All righty.
2003 oh three baby.
In April of 2003.
John Delling at the age of 17smashed up a fellow teenager's
car.
Matt Meyer.
Was at a local store and sawDelling, and I want you to
remember this name.
Okay.
Matt Meyer.

(03:10):
Matt Meyer.
Matt and Delling had had aprevious beef, so Matt and his
friend flipped off.
Delling.
Total High School.
Yeah.
Oh.
You're like, oh, you dude.
Yeah.
Go fuck yourself.
Flip from the bird.
Yep.
And then it was on Delling useda three pound club to smash
Matt's Cale and beat his arm.

(03:31):
Beat his arm?
Yeah.
Oh, this wasn't any club.
It was the club.
Like those little ones that youwould keep in your car or
whatever your lock, you lockedyour steering wheel, the club.
Oh no shit.
No shit.
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
I was like, I read a club andthen I was like, and then some,

(03:51):
some parts that referenced theclub and I'm like, what?
What the hell?
And I was like, oh, that club.
Wowie.
Wow, that's a little aggressive.
So back in the day, you buy thismetal thing as seen on tv.
Mm-hmm.
Now these hooks, I don't evenunderstand how that worked, but
you put it on your steeringwheel and nobody could steal
your car.

(04:12):
Yep.
And I mean, we're

Stephanie (04:13):
car thefts even that rampant here.
What city are we in?
Boise.
Let me just tell you, I onlyrecently started locking my car.

Dani (04:24):
Mm-hmm.

Stephanie (04:24):
I know that's dumb.
Um, and I did have my car notbroken, not broken into a few
times just opened, which I feellike is better, but I mean, what
did I have in there?
Trash.
A couple fast food bags and somechange that was sticky from a
drink that spilled in thecupholder.
You don't even have CDs

Dani (04:40):
to jack anymore.
This, this was in my, this was

Stephanie (04:42):
in my 93 Honda, and I'm like, it has a cassette
player, bro.
Yeah.
What are you gonna do?
Like, oh no, it's still mystereo.
It doesn't have a system inthis, it's a 1993 Honda Accord.
Yeah, like it was the valetedition, like the, the special
fancy edition.
It came with a valet key so thatthe valet couldn't get into your
you

Dani (05:00):
fucking

Stephanie (05:01):
box bougie.
It was a boujee bitch in 93.
Yeah.
But in nowadays times not quiteso boujee.

Dani (05:09):
Well, there's not even anything to, you don't have, you
know, back in the day you hadyour CDs and the stereo system
and you know, well, we talkedabout your sister's removable
face.
Boom.
It was a big deal.
Yeah, but not so much anymore.

Stephanie (05:22):
I bet the people that broke into my car felt sorry for
me.
They're like, oh, you're poorbitch.
I feel kind of bad being here.
You have 17 cents and like astain on your seat from where
you spilled your coffee.

Dani (05:36):
I'm not even gonna steal your 75 cents.
Yeah.
Keep you have in.
Yeah, keep it

Stephanie (05:39):
in the cigarette.
You've got a couple chapsticksin here that are melted.
Wow.
You, you're, you're having ahard life, sis.
Yeah.
Like, we're just gonna, we'regonna go home for the night.
Yeah.
I feel bad.

Dani (05:53):
but this was a pretty serious attack.
Mm-hmm.
Delling had made threats to killMatt because he said he had
ruined his life.
Oh man.
What was the beef?
Earlier in 2002, Delling hadcame to a party where Matt was.
After Delling made a sexualthreat to a girl at the party,

(06:16):
Matt and his friends kicked himout.
They said, hell no, brother.
So, you know, you get these, youcan really get lifelong enemies
in high school over stupid shit.
Oh yeah.
But I mean, he, he shouldn't bemaking sexual.
To anybody and they're like, nodude, you're fucking weird.
Get the fuck outta here.
And when you're in high school,it's such

Stephanie (06:36):
a bubble.

Dani (06:36):
Mm-hmm.
That it

Stephanie (06:37):
does feel like it's gonna be the rest of your life.
Even if you do something justsilly and embarrassing.
Not even like a serious thinglike this is you embarrass
yourself at parties.
And this is before likesmartphones recorded it, but
everyone talked about Yeah.
This is before social media.
Yeah.
And it still felt like it wasgonna be the end of the world.
Mm-hmm.
So sounds like he took that verypersonally.

Dani (06:57):
No, he.
Said Matt ruined, ruined hislife.
Ruined my, yep.
so this was a big deal in thisneighborhood because it was a,
you know, all the kids went tothe same high school.
They all lived in the sameneighborhood.
So reputation.
Mm-hmm.
With this outburst, ING'sparents moved to a new
neighborhood and he went to, hechanged from Timberline High

(07:21):
School to Boise High.
Okay.
Which.
I can see what I, I see whatthey're doing.
Like let's remove the mm-hmm.
Him from this situation.
So he is not running into thiskid that just hopefully start
over.
Right.
That's right.
The big deal.
Starting over.
Let him figure out, find a newgroup of friends where he is not

(07:41):
been embarrassed or plus theydon't want him.
Trying to jump this kid again orwhatever.
Yeah.
So, because clearly it was, hethreatened to kill him, like,
yikes.
And he, he got in trouble forthis.
So Delling ended up pleadingguilty to battery, a malicious
injury to property for theincident.
Mm-hmm.
And in a letter wr written tothe judge, he said, quote, this

(08:04):
is an isolated event due andunavoidable to situational
social and immature humanperception enigmas of today.
He wrote this.
Yes.
He needed to put that thesaurusdown immediate.
And it doesn't.
Too many, doesn't it?
It doesn't flow, but he's notdone.
Oh Lord.
I believe I have learned mylesson and realized the full

(08:27):
spectrum of understanding behindall of this and its evil roots.
Before Chat,

Stephanie (08:33):
GPT and ai, there was a thesaurus and he was.
The sourcing.
He was the sourcing.
He was the source maxing, and heneeded to dial that down.
Five or six clicks.
That first sentence didn't evenmake sense.
It did not.
Would you mind reading it again?
Sure.
Just because my brain was like,huh,

Dani (08:51):
I know I

Stephanie (08:52):
had a

Dani (08:52):
hard time reading it.
'cause it doesn't make sense.
Okay.
This is an isolated event.
Due and unavoidable tosituational social and immature
human perception.
Enigmas of today.
Enigmas.

Stephanie (09:08):
I'm sorry, my whole brain melted once again hearing
that, because there's just noway to even piece that together.

Dani (09:14):
Uh,

Stephanie (09:16):
I feel like they were all put in a bowl and he's like,
enigmas, that's a winner.
Boom, boom, boom.
Big words.
Gimme 17 of them right now.

Dani (09:25):
Delling was held in state custody for three days, and then
he served 10 weeks of homedetention.

Stephanie (09:32):
That's a long time in high school.

Dani (09:33):
Yeah.
I'm

Stephanie (09:35):
not saying like feeling bad, I'm just saying
being grounded for a month waslike, oh, it's the end of the
world.

Dani (09:41):
Your life is over.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but 10 weeks of homedetention, and he was ordered to
have no contact with the victimor his family.
Good idea.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Let's go.
And I think that, that, I'm surethis was negotiated in a plea
deal, right?
Sure.
All of these things, and I'msure that that was something
that his parents considered inmoving.

(10:03):
Yeah.

Stephanie (10:04):
Like so he

Dani (10:04):
could go back because Cut it off.
He was not gonna be able to goback to high school.
Yeah.
You have a no contact order.
Yeah.
He would have to go to adifferent high school anyways.
So the parents and plus thosepoor parents.
How embarrassed like, dude,really?
Why are you being such you?
You did what?
You can't be beating the shitoutta someone's car and arm.
And it was a Cabrio le oh mygod.

(10:25):
childhood friend Daniel Ek atthis time.
And said he noticed a change inDelling.
He'd become unstable, wary, andvery paranoid.
The Thompsons ING's neighborsaround this time were eating
dinner when they saw a fightnext door.

(10:46):
Apparently, ING's parents wentto look at a motorcycle that he
wanted, but they didn't purchaseit.
Delling was irate.
The neighbor's witness tellingpushed down his father in the
front yard and then he threw hismother's purse into the street.
Shit.
This is,

Stephanie (11:04):
especially for that time, for a kid to act like
that, that wasn't a commonthing.

Dani (11:11):
And I feel even with all this drama that he had, right,
with getting in trouble with thelaw, they were still
considering.
They can giving you a motorcycleit, they went to look at it.
So they had to be consideringit.
Yeah.
And when they decided to notpurchase it for whatever reason,
maybe it was too fast, maybe itwas too expensive.

(11:31):
Maybe they said, fuck this kid.
Maybe he was being a littleshit.
And they're like, no.
But I think they were trying tobe a good parent.
That's hard.
I think so too.
Delling, finally graduates fromBoise High and leaves to attend
the University of Idaho andMoscow, which has been in the

(11:52):
news lately.
Y'all have heard it?
Yeah, I know you have.
and that, that's one reason thatthis story came on my radar.
No shit.
Yeah.
Is because it's just a veryrecent thing going on with the
Kohlberg stuff in mm-hmm.
University of Idaho and I waslike, oh yeah, I know about one
up there.
So.
on April 25th, this is justgonna keep escalating.

(12:13):
There's it's, there's no there.
Yeah.
On April 25th, 2005, Delling wascited for a misdemeanor.
He was accused of disturbing thepeace after threatening
residence in his dorm.

Stephanie (12:32):
Now you have another new fresh start, and college is
your bubble's bigger.
You should.
That's at least how it was forme.
I know it's how, how it is for alot of people.
You realize things are never asserious as you think they are In
high school, you have morefriends.
People are starting to havejobs, beginning to be adults.
It's not as

Dani (12:48):
clique-ish.

Stephanie (12:49):
You know, you're gonna

Dani (12:50):
find your person like, yeah, I feel like college.
Like there's an opportunity moreto find somebody who's And to

Stephanie (12:57):
not be like your typical jock cheerleader.
Right, right.

Dani (12:59):
You're gonna find somebody that fits your jam.
Yeah.
You're gonna

Stephanie (13:01):
find your group and hopefully move on and realize
that.
You don't gotta take this shit.
So se seriously, like,

Dani (13:09):
but that's, that wasn't the case for Delling.
he was kicked out of theuniversity shit.
It must have been bad then.
Yeah.
They don't just kick you outfor, and of course I don't have
the details of exactly whathappened mm-hmm.

Stephanie (13:21):
To school incident.

Dani (13:21):
Yep.
but he was kicked out of theuniversity and prohibited from
coming onto the campus for atleast a year.
Yikes.
That's not

Stephanie (13:29):
good.

Dani (13:30):
That means, so he

Stephanie (13:31):
was

Dani (13:31):
like

Stephanie (13:31):
threatening residents.
Is that what it was?
are you already having problemslike Yes.

Dani (13:36):
Already problems?
the, criminal charges were laterdropped, but he was still not
allowed, kicked outta theuniversity.
Okay.
So we had to go back home.
But the parents were thrilled.
I bet you they were, uh,dripping with sarcasm.
Yeah.

(13:56):
A few months later on June 4th,2005.
Delling pled guilty to stalkingthree men in Boise.
What are we stalking men for?
One of the men was ING'sattorney Alan Sweeney.
Bro, he's paid to help you.
He's paid to help you.

(14:18):
Delling had peeled out in frontof Sweeney's home, and he'd done
this several times.
So the third time it happened,Sweeney gave Chase.
To him and he He had enough.
Yeah.
And then Sweeney later found histire slashed on his vehicle.
Why are you fucking with anattorney, bro?

(14:39):
He's going to nail your ass tothe wall.
The other two men were MattMeyer and Matt's friend who was
in the car with him when Dellattacked him in his car.
So he was stalking all of theseguys.
Leave them alone.
This was high school

Stephanie (14:55):
beef.

Dani (14:57):
a no contact order was issued and 80 hours of community
service was his sentence.
Please go do the communityservice.
Three weeks later, oh my God,Delling has another interaction
with the police.
Delling began yelling at a13-year-old boy while in a
grocery store parking lot.

(15:17):
He loves those beefs in thosegrocery store parking lots,
doesn't he?
And beefs with a young, a

Stephanie (15:23):
13-year-old.

Dani (15:25):
He made threatening gestures towards the boy and
ultimately approached him.
He spit on the kid and thenrammed him with the front tire
of his motorcycle.
Oh, he did get a motorcycle.
Okay.
The kid fell over but onlyscratched his arm Delling was
convicted of misdemeanor batteryand spent two months in jail and

(15:46):
had a year on probation and wentthrough an anger management
course.
The red flags are flying in.
They're flying.
Something's wrong here.
Something is wrong.
Something is wrong with him.
Yeah.
I don't ever think at 19 or 20,I was giving a 13-year-old a
second thought

Stephanie (16:07):
to have a beef with.
Because you're just, I mean, bydesign cooler, right?
Even like

Dani (16:15):
he was on a bike.
You were on a motorcycle.
Yeah.
Stop.

Stephanie (16:19):
Let's not do that, bro.

Dani (16:22):
In late 2005, Dell's parents moved back to California
with him.
had nowhere to go.
I have no indication that duringmy research that he was holding
a job.
I, I don't know what he wasdoing.
And it's just constant, constantissues, no shit.

(16:44):
I, I think his parents hope hemight not move with them, maybe,
you know what I mean?
They were just over, they were

Stephanie (16:51):
trying.
It sounds like, you know, he wasgiven a shot.
I mean, you advise.
Never been cheap.
Of course it was much cheaperback in.
The early, but the early os,what do you call'em?
The early OTs?
S The early OTs.
That's weird to me.

Dani (17:05):
I know it feels bougie and weird.
It's just, can we just say theearly two thousands, like that's
what I say.
Yeah.
Early two thousands

Stephanie (17:12):
aught au.
Maybe I'm just not bougie enoughthat I don't know the etymology
of that fucking word.
Like I think odds are doublezeroes, but you better like a 30
T six.
Yeah.
That never clicked for meanyways.

(17:33):
The more you know.
Wow.
Yeah, I feel better now.
Okay.
Thanks for watching My BrainCells collide or listening to My
Brain.
Cells collide live on thispodcast.
I've just got a few clinkingaround in there, and they did it
today.
I'm really proud of them.

Dani (17:56):
Like a 30 out six.
Yeah,

Stephanie (17:58):
I didn't ever put the, okay.

Dani (18:00):
Okay.
Things were learned today, eventhough Delling was on probation,
he continued to travel back toIdaho.
Oh no.
He had a suspended license butwas still able to rent cars.
Okay, I'm gonna show yousomething and you can't see it

(18:24):
and I'm not gonna read it, butlook at all of these.
No insurance.
Following to close.
Failure to yield, petty theft,battery speeding.
Failure to yield.
Aggravated assault motorcycle.
and this is within a few months?
it's all within like two years.
Yeah.
I mean, he had, he didn't havehis motorcycle license.

(18:48):
He didn't have insurance severaltimes.
A lot of basic riding.
He's just, he's riding dirty inevery way.
so there's a whole list.
There's like 15 items on there.
To

Stephanie (18:57):
be getting caught that much, you have to be acting
a fool.
Yeah.
Like, because listen, there wasa time that I was very poor and
I didn't have insurance, and Iwas riding dirty all the fucking
time.
I had to get to work.
I had gotten one ticket, it putme in the hole.
Financially I was gonna have toget the SR 22 insurance.
I could not afford it.
I was riding dirty everywhere Iwent, I was riding dirty.

(19:20):
Guess who was driving like a98-year-old grandma on her way
to church?
Me I was.
Mm-hmm.
So to get all of these likelittle traffic infractions and
like little batteries, don'tgive a fuck.
You are wild and out.
Yeah.
You are making a spectacle.

Dani (19:36):
Yeah.
He's saying, go fuck yourself,everybody.
And he was able to still rentcars.
The help with a suspend.
Hey, enterprise, we know it wasyou because, he was not 21.
The only place you could run acar was enterprise.
We know this.
Oh, enterprise.
We're calling you out.

(19:57):
Uh, you not check his validdriver's license.
They're like, you're a living,breathing human.
Sure.

Stephanie (20:03):
Have a

Dani (20:03):
car.
Yeah.
You know, I'm right on that.

Stephanie (20:06):
Well, and why are the, I mean, the parents can't
control, but are they notwondering why he's continuing to
go to Idaho or are they're justlike he's out doing this little
gallivant thing?

Dani (20:16):
I feel, remember the pushing down and the purse
throwing.
I feel that he was completelyout of control.
And the parents, and we've seenthis before in other cases,
we've heard about it before.
The child is so out of control.
The parents are just, they don'tknow what to do.

Stephanie (20:35):
They're trying to hopefully keep some bumpers on,

Dani (20:38):
right.
If they can.
And it's like, okay, I mean,you're thinking about this like,
okay, if I kick'em out.
He's gonna be on the streets.
Do I want my child on the, likethere's a whole lot of
contemplating there.
He has nowhere to go.
'cause our friends know aboutwhat he did.
Like he can't go even stay withfriends like he mm-hmm.
Has just been abandoning.

Stephanie (21:01):
So then who's he gonna stay with or what's he
gonna resort to?

Dani (21:04):
Right.
And, or will he harm himself?
Like there's all of these thingsas a parent that you, you have
to consider in doing this.
You know, I don't, it would bevery difficult.
yeah, but he was, he was jammingback to Idaho to see somebody.
He was frolicking around.

Stephanie (21:23):
I think I know exactly who he wanted to see.
There's been a pattern here.
Matt fucking, he couldn't let itgo.
Could not let Matt go.

Dani (21:34):
2006 was pretty quiet for Dell though.

Stephanie (21:37):
I wonder why that was.

Dani (21:40):
I don't know, maybe he got on some meds.

Stephanie (21:43):
Maybe he just found a friend or two that distracted
him from the life of crime.

Dani (21:48):
Maybe he got

Stephanie (21:49):
a a hobby.

Dani (21:51):
Maybe he was consuming his time with the internet.

Stephanie (21:54):
Oh no.
Early days of the inter, I mean,of course it's terrible now, but
you could find some crazy shitthen too.

Dani (22:02):
Well, the only thing I could find in 2006.
Was that he posted on thewebsite of the National
Association for ChristianRecovery in August of 2006.
So a lot of people that, areparanoid or have mental illness,
they kind of can, they can leantowards religion

Stephanie (22:25):
mm-hmm.

Dani (22:26):
In their delusion and paranoia.

Stephanie (22:28):
Right.

Dani (22:29):
So, let me just let you, let me tell you what he wrote.
oh gosh.
On, on that Christian Recoverywebsite, the note was titled,
demon Possession Quote.
I have been attacked and abused,discriminated against by many
people for no apparent reason.
There was a weird even aboutpeople putting Jew and Nazi

(22:54):
memories in my mind.
And then this guy named Sweeney,which is the name of the person
who dropped on of the bombs onthe second plane.
I guess he may be a relative,put a whole lot of the yellow
spinning energy into my solarplexus.

(23:16):
And then I was sacrificed bypossibly a vampire cult as the
sun kind or something like that.
End quote.
Okay.

Stephanie (23:30):
Just as you said, feeding into and exacerbating a
delusion,

Dani (23:39):
for his, he is tying something to do with Judaism
mm-hmm.
And Nazis.
Back to his attorney, attorney,Alan Sweeney.
Yeah.
And a yellow energy inside ofhim and

Stephanie (23:59):
Oh,

Dani (24:00):
yikes.
It's, yeah, this is a, it'sspiraling terribly On March 2nd,
2007, Delling had another familyfight.
During the fight, he told hisbrother, Eric, that David boss,
a childhood friend, was stealinghis powers.

(24:23):
This is not the first time hisbrother heard claims of people
stealing his power or his aura.
Delling was out of control andhe damaged his parents'
bathroom, and that was it.
The parents said, you're out.
They were done.

Stephanie (24:40):
Well, yeah, we haven't heard much from the
brother.
I didn't even know there was asibling.
I thought he was an only child,which I was almost thinking
like, you know, sometimes thatcan be a little problematic, an
only child, but knowing that hehad a sibling and still the
family was trying to deal withall this.
Mm-hmm.
Like, ugh, what a chaoticsituation.
Yeah.

Dani (24:58):
Parents said, you're out and, and Delling left.
and they were living inCalifornia, so he left his
parents' home in Antelope,California.
I don't know where this is, so Ilooked it up for your
convenience.
Thank you.
Antelope is about 15 miles fromdowntown Sacramento, so it's a
suburb, right?
Delling jumped on a bus headingsouth.

(25:22):
He ended up in Tucson, Arizonaon March 18th.

Stephanie (25:26):
Interesting choice.
Is it?

Dani (25:30):
Oh God.
Two days later on March 20th.
Delling rode a bike to JacobThompson's house.
He knocked on a window of thehouse at one 30 in the morning.
Jacob's roommate woke up andsaid that there was a person
outside complaining that Jacob'struck was in the way and that it

(25:52):
needed to be moved.
Hmm.
The roommate woke Jacob up andthe pair hung out in the living
room for a while, listeningoutside.
That would freak me the fuckout.
I would be strapping up, uh, I'dbe calling fucking the cop.
Mm-hmm.
Like there's some buddy knockingon my window asking to move a
vehicle.
Shut the fuck up.

(26:12):
Yeah, I'm sleeping.
But when the commotion dieddown, they went outside with
flashlights and looked around.
No one was there, and Jacobdecided to go ahead and move his
truck into the garage so itwouldn't be vandalized.
He's a college kid.
He's like, all right, who'sfucking with me?
Yeah.
A prank or

Stephanie (26:32):
something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm

Dani (26:34):
just, I'm gonna go ahead and move the truck so nobody
fucks with mm-hmm.
My truck, which is your mostexpensive possession, right?
That's your baby.
Oh, yeah.
but Jacob decided to drivearound the block, give it a
quick scope out.
I like this.
Yeah.
I would do the fucking same.
Dude who is pranking me.
Yeah.

Stephanie (26:53):
We got some like little junior high schoolers out
in the pack doing something orsome drunk

Dani (26:58):
fucking sorority guys.
Yeah.
Out fucking with you.
Like, no, I'm gonna go find yourfucking ass.
Like, I'm just gonna take aquick, you already got me outta
bed.
Yeah.
I'm already in the truck.
I'm gonna drive around thefucking a little, a little
gander.
So Jacob drove around the blockand he noticed a person riding
the bike.
Mm.
Quote.
I drove up to that person.

(27:20):
And asked them if they were theperson that was in the front of
my house, and that's when therider pulled a gun and fired
five shots hitting Jacob.
The man took off and Jacob laidon his truck horn until the
police arrived.
I,

Stephanie (27:36):
I did not in any way, shape or form.
Picture

Dani (27:41):
that happening.
It was later discovered thatDelling and Jacob attended high
school together in Boise.
Wasn't Thompson a neighbor?
No.
Childhood.
Daniel.
This?
Well, the Thompsons were theneighbors.
I don't know if it's the sameThompson.
Okay.

Stephanie (27:58):
Thompson's very.
Okay.

Dani (28:00):
I don't know.

Stephanie (28:01):
Who knows

Dani (28:02):
because,

Stephanie (28:03):
but they went to, how did you find, I mean, the
internet wasn't that helpful atthis year.
Maybe if you're, it was, it'sloosey enough.
It was,

Dani (28:13):
It was later discovered that Delling and Jacob attended
high school together in Boise.
Jacob said he didn't evenremember who Delling was.

Stephanie (28:22):
This is like MySpace times as well, I think.

Dani (28:24):
Mm-hmm.

Stephanie (28:25):
MySpace was big.
Facebook was just barelystarting.
Right.
So that's probably how

Dani (28:31):
it was.
Probably the

Stephanie (28:32):
MySpace.
Man.
I loved MySpace.
We really fucked that up.
We lost a good one.

Dani (28:37):
I did not hurt the MySpace.
I had to code in fucking shit toget my shit to go, to do what I
wanted.
I loved it.
Well, stuff.

Stephanie (28:47):
It's okay.
Facebook was only for collegestudents at the time, and I was
in college, so then they openedit up.
Yeah.
I like the Facebook.
Facebook was cool for a while.

Dani (28:58):
I like the book Face for Family and yeah, just keeping in
touch with family and setting upa birthday.
Sure.
Yeah.
Also, you know, you snoop onpeople you went to high school

Stephanie (29:10):
with.
I would've never do that, Danny.
You're a

Dani (29:12):
fucking

Stephanie (29:13):
fat male.
I know.
I know.
Only with the best intentions.
That mouth.
Okay.
That side eye was reallypainful.
You, you sliced me with thatone.
Said, bitch, be for real.

Dani (29:33):
Don't you fucking dry?

Stephanie (29:35):
We all do it.
We all do it.
It's okay.
We

Dani (29:38):
do well.
At least 80%.
Yeah.
Okay.
So we're in the majority.
Okay, cool.
It is what it is.
Delling them returns back to hisparents' home in Antelope on
March 22nd for just a few daysbefore he purchased a one-way
plane ticket to Boise.
Where's he getting this money?
I had the same question.

(29:59):
I don't know.
Maybe he did have a job.
I doubt it.
He was just missing for like sixdays going to Arizona.
Right.
Things were

Stephanie (30:06):
very cheap then I remember.
But the pay everywhere was verylow as well.
Maybe his parents gave him alittle, maybe he had like a, you
know, he, maybe he was ondisability even.
Could be, or maybe, I don't knowhow wealthy they were.
You know, some families are.
They just stock their kids'accounts with money

Dani (30:30):
after he arrived in Boise on March 26th.
Delling was looking for a gunBecause look, you can pack a gun
on a bus.
But you can't pack one on aplane.
No, this is

Stephanie (30:46):
fresh after nine 11.
Right?
Like, I know it's been a likesix years, but it was, you got a
lip gloss that's too manyounces.
Trash.
Yeah.
Trash.
Yeah.
You're, you're get, you'regetting into the, extra special
security line where they mightfucking strip or chew.

Dani (31:03):
So he, he was looking for a gun and Boise resident, Harvey
lighter the third.
Met Delling in a Home Depotparking lot.
Good old Harv, you know.
Well in Idaho you don't have toreg, you can buy from Yeah.
Another, yeah.
Bought that gun from a neighbor30 years ago.

(31:25):
I don't know.
It's like selling a tv.
Yep.
You don't need to, I mean, it'sa good idea if you keep a sales
receipt just in case.
I sure would.
but yeah, you don't have toregister your guns here.
So it's just a free for all.
Yeah.
So he called up uh oh, Harv andsaid, Hey, you wanna meet me in
the Home Depot parking lot?

(31:45):
Let's go.
Hell yeah, brother.
I wanna look.
oh.
Harv showed Delling the 38caliber revolver that was for
sale, not a 38.
Delling said he was a studentfrom Oregon and handed over$300
and signed a bill of sale.
Good on you, har.
With the name of John Dolling.

(32:07):
Come on, let's do a little bitmore creative here.
People.
I bet you that was the lastminute distinction.
I bet he was like, he probablystarted writing the JO'cause he
spelled it different.
'cause his name is JOHN and he,he signed A-J-O-N-I bet you he
was at the O and goes, oh fuck.
Okay.
Uh, in panic,

Stephanie (32:26):
panic, panic.
Act like, act like I don't havetime

Dani (32:28):
to think of a last name.
Smith is too obvious.
Fucking okay, darling.
Okay, that works.
Nobody's gonna know.
But all Harv said, Dellingappeared calm and reasonable
during the transaction.
So, okay,

Stephanie (32:43):
well,$300.
That's a lot of money back thentoo for a college student.
Um, yeah.
I

Dani (32:50):
just, I bought a 38 a couple years ago and it was
that, it was like

Stephanie (32:54):
three 50, but 300 and oh 7 0 8.
Is that where we're at?
I think so.
And mine was

Dani (32:59):
Pink Bitch.

Stephanie (33:00):
Yeah.
That's custom.
Custom.
You can't just

Dani (33:02):
get that

Stephanie (33:02):
anywhere.

Dani (33:03):
No.
Maybe it was a really nice 38.
I don't know.
Maybe the market was hot at thattime.
'cause you know, that's how the,that came up.
Well he was desperate.

Stephanie (33:14):
And I think, you know, there's not the ease of
shopping around.
I mean, you gotta get classifiedor was Craigslist a thing?
I think it was, oh yeah, it was,Craigslist was a thing.
Yeah.
So, but still not easy tonavigate and tons of scams.
And

Dani (33:29):
maybe I'll harvest that.
I'll start at 300 and I'llprobably get asked two 50.
And good old Delling was like,sold.
Done.
No negotiating because he neededthe gun.
Oh, John daring, John Daring.
Get outta here on Wednesday,March 28th, 2007.

(33:50):
Delling rents a white Chevy Aveofrom Enterprise in Boise, I
fucking knew was Enterprise.
I didn't even remember that.
We

Stephanie (33:59):
got you.
We got your fucking number.
Enterprise.

Dani (34:04):
That's right's right there.
Fuck.
He rented that white Chevy fromEnterprise in Boise, and he
headed north.

Stephanie (34:12):
What is a Chevy Aveo.

Dani (34:15):
Oh, you want me to Google it like that?
Can we just

Stephanie (34:16):
see it?
I just, I'm like, I don'tremember this.
It's like

Dani (34:19):
a little tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny car.

Stephanie (34:22):
Like a compact.

Dani (34:24):
It's beyond a, it's like a Hugo to me.
No fucking way.
I think so.
I remember Aveo.
Yeah, it's like a hug.
Go.
It's,

Stephanie (34:32):
it's dorky looking.
Yeah, it's Google it guys.
Well it

Dani (34:34):
could have been, it could have been a four door, hey
hatchback or four door, youknow,

Stephanie (34:39):
the four-door definitely looks less fucking
weird, but, okay.
Alright.
Chevy Aveo, shout out to you.

Dani (34:51):
So he is headed north.
It's to his old stompinggrounds.

Stephanie (34:54):
Oh, lovely.

Dani (34:56):
Delling arrived in Moscow, Idaho, late on March 30th.
So he took his, I mean, took hima couple of days to get up
there.
Yeah.
And it is what?
What is that?
Like an eight hour drive, sevenhour drive, you think?
I think we've done this mathbefore.
I think

Stephanie (35:12):
it's more from Boise.

Dani (35:13):
Yeah.
I think

Stephanie (35:15):
it's more'cause it's like past Lewiston.
'cause we did that.

Dani (35:18):
Yeah.

Stephanie (35:19):
Remember it's more than eight I think.
Well, it's one of those youcould forward.
Fuck it.
Okay, let's go to

Dani (35:25):
Google

Stephanie (35:26):
Lele.

Dani (35:29):
How many, I know we've done this before from Boise to
Moscow, Idaho.
Five hours and 30 minutes.
Really?
Why?
I feel like it took us foreverwhen we were 294 miles.
Look.
You gotta stop.

(35:49):
There's so many cool places,right?
Maybe there was construction, sofive and a half hours to get up
there.
So he obviously stoppedsomewhere.
You know what I'm betting, thisis what I'm betting.
Mm.
He probably stopped and eitherlike McCall or Riggins for the
night, maybe white bird.
Yeah.
And then finished the trip.

Stephanie (36:11):
Because let me just say, I love stopping for a trip
if you've got time.
There's so many great little

Dani (36:15):
towns going up that way.
And if you take 55 up fromBoise, you are gonna hit Cascade
and then McCall, and then you'regonna hit, you know, Riggins and
wiper.
There's a lot to see, and I hateLewiston.
And

Stephanie (36:27):
listen, I know sometimes you have to drive
through for the sake of thevacation, right?
Because you don't wanna wastetoo much time driving.
But sometimes when you've donelike 13 hours or more in a car
Yeah.
Guy just got ripped off.
It's just a, it's such a drainon you.
It's nice to get out.
Yeah.
Be relaxed.
Well, and he's, I'm surprisedthat he took that much time

(36:47):
getting up there.
'cause I mean, we're going likea few days at a time between
events here.
Yeah.
And so for him to take a fewdays to do a less than six hour
drive, that's,

Dani (36:57):
it's like first locate guns, second rent car, have a

Stephanie (37:00):
nice scenic drive.
He's like, I'm gonna take mytime.

Dani (37:05):
Or maybe he didn't even start up to, I just thought of
this.
Maybe he wasn't even intendingon driving to Moscow

Stephanie (37:15):
and he's just like, my heart's leading me there.

Dani (37:18):
He might've been driving in another direction for a
little bit.
Mm-hmm.
And then ended up there.

Stephanie (37:23):
Who knows?
That's a good, good point.

Dani (37:28):
So he arrived in Moscow late on March 30th.
Okay.
At 12:12 AM on March 31st,Delling called his friend David
Boss, who was a student at theUniversity of Idaho.
They had about a 15 minute phoneconversation.
And then Delling headed over toDavid's off-campus apartment.

(37:51):
Very cool.
David, age 21 was found shot inthe head twice in his kitchen by
his roommate at 1 45 in themorning.
No, the roommate found him.
Yeah.
So do you remember back with thebathroom, fight with his

(38:13):
brother?
Yeah.
He said David was stealing hisaura.

Stephanie (38:20):
Oh my God, this is just wild of professional
intervention needed to be hadyears ago.
And clearly I just to take aleisurely drive and then just be
like, yo, my friend David, let'schat on the phone for 15
minutes.

Dani (38:39):
Go over and papa's ass.
I, I think it's pretty clearthat there's some mental issues.
Yeah.
Illness going on with this man.
But the elaborate, what I foundfascinating about this story,
and I don't know if fascinatingis the right word, maybe

(38:59):
interesting is even though hemight have been.
He had to have been in adelusional state.
He was able to plan out thesethings and make them happen
right efficiently.

Stephanie (39:19):
And you mentioned that the good old Harv that sold
him the guns, that he seemedcool, calm, collected.
Yeah.
Didn't seem like a weirdo,which, so he was able to

Dani (39:28):
pull himself together when he needed to pull himself
together.
Yeah.
Straighten up that tie.
You know, he was probably juststraight in his head and he's
like, all right, I gotta go dothis, this, go pull my part.
Like it's very, and this isn't,this isn't a rampage where he is
like walking into a mall.
And just shooting it up like heis planning this focused, it's

(39:50):
meticulously planned.

Stephanie (39:53):
This story has taken so many turns drastically that I
did not expect.
And like I don't even know howfar we are in it and I'm just
like, what in the literal fuck.

Dani (40:13):
authorities believe David was shot around 12:30 AM
according to noises heard by theneighbors.
And there was no signs of forcedentry, of course,'cause someone
thought their friend was comingover.
David was a history major andwas set to graduate in May.
Yeah.

(40:35):
Oh my God.
Two less than two months.
Yeah.
university of Idaho, presidentTimothy White stated quote,
quite frankly, I'm mad as hell.
This sort of thing has not had afoothold in our community and
will not have a foothold in ourcommunity.

(40:56):
David enjoyed camping,backpacking with his father and
his dog.
Oh, he was a lot.
He was awful.
Yeah, he,

Stephanie (41:05):
I mean, he was doing all the right things and just
inviting an old friend back fromyears before saying, sure, come
over

Dani (41:12):
right now and lemme tell you.
So the year bef, the Christmasbefore this happened.
Delling went and visited David'sfamily and he was awkward and it
was not a good visit and he wasbeing delusional and all that
stuff, but David was still like,you're my, you're my friend.

(41:36):
Yeah.
An old bud.
You need, you need help.
You, you have any,

Stephanie (41:39):
yeah, come on over.
Let's hang out.
Still open and welcome.
That's.
And how, of course you're notreally suspecting'cause he
doesn't know all the shit thatwent down in Arizona and
probably doesn't know about likethe shit that's went on with his
parents.
And no,

Dani (41:54):
he probably knows a little bit about what happened like
high school years.
Yeah.
But no, he, nobody knows whathappened in Arizona.
Mm-hmm.
That's still, there is nothinggoing on with that because it's
just a big boop.

Stephanie (42:08):
Yeah.

Dani (42:11):
David was also a lacrosse player in high school and he
went to the state championship.
He also had a heavy metal radiosshow on the University of
Idaho's campus radio station.

Stephanie (42:24):
That's cool.

Dani (42:24):
Badass.
Yeah.
Go David.
Go.
So after Dylan is in Moscow, hethen heads to Baker City, Oregon
and then.
To Skipio, Utah,

Stephanie (42:45):
Skipio, or Skipio, one of the two,

Dani (42:49):
about 600 miles away from Baker City.
So this goes back to the thingwhere maybe he drove somewhere
else before he drove up.
Mm-hmm.
north, because he's justrandomly driving places now.
So he goes in and he shot David.
He comes back down.
I mean, that's a jaunt over toBaker City.

Stephanie (43:11):
Yeah.
And then to Utah.
Utah.
And then he goes

Dani (43:12):
to Utah and I don't care, whatever that town is in Utah.
Utah is still a hard jaunt fromBoise.
Yeah.
it's not a 45 minute drive.
No, it's hours.
yeah.
He's all, what is

Stephanie (43:24):
going on here?

Dani (43:25):
No rational thinking.
Yeah.
Authorities contacted Matt Meyerafter David's murder to warn him
and two other men that Dellingmight be coming to town to kill
them.

Stephanie (43:42):
What a phone call to get.
Can you imagine that?
And being like, bro, they, thatwas high school.
What are we doing?

Dani (43:51):
Matt said he spent three days with a loaded shotgun
waiting for Delling.
I would too.
He pushed his couch against thefront door of his house.
Matt said he knew the stay hadwas coming since he was 16.

Stephanie (44:06):
It was that serious.
Yeah,

Dani (44:10):
and I think that the, the authorities talked to the
family.
I mean, everybody obviously knewthat he was, had a mental
illness.
But I think with all of Davidstealing his powers mm-hmm.
And the stalking charges forMatt, they're like, yo, Matt

(44:30):
could be coming around and theydon't even know about the
Arizona guy yet.

Stephanie (44:36):
It's just crazy to think, that this was going on.
I cannot imagine being mad andjust, I would've done this.
I would've been getting out oftown or doing what he was doing
and, ugh.
Yeah.

Dani (44:51):
Yeah.
On April 2nd, Delling returnedto Boise looking for his third
victim.
Brad Morse.
Brad, a student at Boise StateUniversity met Delling years
earlier on a gaming website.
Brad was working at the IdahoDepartment of Park and

(45:13):
Recreation.
And after finishing his sh hisshift, he set the alarm at 9:31
PM at the park and rec building.
And this building is by theIdaho Shakespeare Festival.
Oh, okay.
Just to kind of give you, littleinsider pretty out there.

(45:34):
Yeah.
But still, I mean, it's outthere, but it's still, it's
close to, yeah, it's closeenough.
The next morning, a state parkemployee noticed blood on the
sidewalk.
The employee followed the bloodand it led him to a pond where
Brad was found with gunshotwounds to his head, neck, and

Stephanie (45:55):
arm.
And this is someone that he wason a gaming website with years
before, and he stalked him down.

Dani (46:06):
Brad was a senior science major at Boise State and was on
the dean's list for his gradesthree times, and he was such a
graduate.
So

Stephanie (46:19):
the terror and the, I feel like this fits the, what
you think of when you think ofsomeone going postal like that
saying mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Of just imagine even if you knewyou had a bad interaction with
someone three years ago.
And everyone on a certain listis just getting ticked off.

(46:39):
This is, this is the stuff thatdoesn't seem real, like it seems
like it's only for a movie, butthis actually happened.
This is just insane to me.

Dani (46:48):
And that he's planning this because And find it.
He already had the

Stephanie (46:52):
info.
Yeah.

Dani (46:53):
I find it interesting.
Just think he was already inBoise, so why didn't he go find
Brad while he was in Boise?
Mm-hmm.
And then go.
Up north?
No.
I feel like he had a veryspecific idea of what he was
doing, and he had a list and aplan.

Stephanie (47:15):
Well, and he hadn't faced much like getting caught
for a speeding or doinganything, so there was nothing
to really, you know, he's beengallivanting all across the
Pacific Northwest now, andnothing's happened to him.
So he is like, well, let's keepgoing.

Dani (47:33):
After shooting, Brad Delling returned the rental car
back to the Boise Airport around10:50 PM and then somehow
returned back to the park andrec building and took Brad's
car.

Stephanie (47:48):
What in the fuck?

Dani (47:52):
That's not logical.
That's ballsy and stupid.
That's not logical thinking.
The same day that Brad's bodywas found Delling age 21 was
arrested in Sparks, Nevada.
At four in the afternoon, he wasdriving Brad's Mazda and a gun

(48:13):
was located in the vehicle.
Who was next?
Wright.
I'm gonna tell you that I didread that he was looking for
other people when he was goingto Baker in Utah,

Stephanie (48:28):
and I don't know who those people were because he
could have got some informationof who, who knows what the wrong
was.
A gaming website?
Yeah.

Dani (48:39):
Oh, but Brad Morris lived in Meridian.
It, it wasn't like, you know,you'd think a gaming website.
Oh, you're gonna meet somebodyall over the country.
No, they were like.
In high school playing gamestogether, and he was in Meridian
and Delling was in Boise, wasn'ta far reach.
Yeah.
On Saturday, April 14th, Dellingis finally returned to Boise.

(49:02):
It took a hot minute and an openletter to the Idaho statesman.
DI's parents said they'researching for answers.
They expressed their deepsadness at the loss and injury
of those three fine young men.
They also state they tried toget their son help, but that his

(49:22):
problems overwhelmed.
The people who tried to helphim.
I
bet,
quote John was very sick and needed more than this system
had to offer.

Stephanie (49:33):
Well, and especially back then.
It was kind of all or nothingwith mental illness.
Yeah.
Either you were mentally illenough to be completely
incapacitated and not able tohold down a life, or you were
fine and being a whiny baby orjust you were just a little
weird.
I feel bad for his parents inthe situation.
There was not the sameresources, that's for sure.

(49:54):
Yeah.

Dani (49:56):
In a jailhouse interview with the Idaho Statesman,
Delling said he drove nearly6,000 miles around the Western
United States.
To find the people who had hurthim in the past,

Stephanie (50:08):
a complete

Dani (50:09):
vendetta quote.
I didn't have any intent to killpeople, let me put it that way.
I'm pretty much possessed.
I have no control over my body,

Stephanie (50:22):
and he may very thoroughly believe that, and
that might be his reality.
does not excuse it, but.

Dani (50:32):
Delling also claimed that he had been sexually and
mentally abused during hischildhood.
He also told the paper thatthere is another person involved
in the murders.
Authorities said ING's claimsare part of his delusions.
Could be.

Stephanie (50:48):
I mean, most It most likely is.
Yeah.

Dani (50:51):
And then June delling pled not guilty for the murder of
Brad, because these aredifferent counties.
Yeah.
So it's gonna.
Yeah.
Have to play out.
Yeah.
in February, 2008, anindependent court appointed
psychologist said Dellingsuffers from severe paranoid
schizophrenia.
The illness would prevent himfrom testifying on his own

(51:13):
behalf.
Judge Debra Bell said Delling isnot competent to stand trial and
ordered him treatment for 90days, and he has turned over to
the Idaho Department of Healthand Welfare for treatment.
And after five months oftreatment, Delling is still not
mentally competent to standtrial.

(51:34):
December, judge Bell set a trialdate for July of 2009, even
though Delling is still notcompetent.
One thing we know

Stephanie (51:43):
about Idaho as we learned mm-hmm.
The insanity plea is not anoption.

Dani (51:48):
Nope.

Stephanie (51:49):
And the standard practice is to.
Continue treatment until someonesays that they're competent

Dani (52:00):
and they don't have to.
Like we said before, they don'thave to be competent in all of
their thoughts.
They have to be competent tounderstand what they're on trial
for and how a trial works.
Yeah, you understand what ajudge does.
You understand what aprosecuting attorney does.
You understand what the def yourdefense attorney is here for.

(52:20):
You understand what a jury does.
That's it.
It's not about any rationalthoughts about No.
Do you still believe, I mean, doyou believe that people are
stealing your aura?
Yes.
Do you know what a judge does?
Yes.
Okay.
You're going to trial.
Mm-hmm.

Stephanie (52:39):
Yep.
And that's how it goes here.
So it doesn't surprise me thatjudge, that the judge is like,
well, I'm gonna estimate by thetime July comes around next
year,

Dani (52:48):
in 2009, Late January two experts testified that Dill is
finally ready for trial as theywould.
Where is the insanity defense?
Well, in the state of Idaho,that is not a defense.
Nope.
The law states a mentalcondition shall not be a defense

(53:09):
to any charge of criminalconduct.
Although Idaho was the firststate to enact this law.
Three other states, Utah,Montana, and Kansas.
Also bar the use of the insanitydefense.
The usual suspects

Stephanie (53:25):
are our stepsister.
Kansas is always like, you knowwhat, Idaho, that's a random
one.
I like how, I like how you rollover there.
What is up Kansas?
Why are you so obsessed with us?

Dani (53:38):
So this wasn't always banned

Stephanie (53:41):
No.

Dani (53:42):
For the state of Idaho, it was barred through legislation
in 1982.
Why In 1981, we're gonna bringsome Jody Foster into this.
Okay.
Oh, shit.
In 1981, John Hinkley Jr.
Attempted to assassinatePresident Ronald Reagan.

(54:04):
And when Hinkley was found notguilty by reason of insanity, it
had upset a lot of people.

Stephanie (54:10):
They was not happy about this,

Dani (54:12):
and I said, no, insanity can be used as a mitigating
circumstance during this sensingphase, but not as a defense.

Stephanie (54:22):
So you might get some years off or a different
sentence, but you can't just saywhoopsie when you know I was not
mentally capable of.
And even some people are not.
It doesn't matter in Idahothough.
No, it does matter.
It does not matter.
Does not matter.

Dani (54:35):
So, and for you that don't know about Hinkley, he was
obsessed with Jodi Foster.
I was trying to impress her bykilling the President of the
United States.
Because, you know, as a younggentleman,

Stephanie (54:48):
what are you supposed to do in these times?
It's so hard to stand

Dani (54:52):
out.
Hey Jody, look what I just did.
No, Jody's like.
No, leave me alone, by the way.
I don't even like guys.
Right.
Fuck has no one got that hint.

Stephanie (55:07):
There's a, there's a, there's a hint there.
God.

Dani (55:10):
So that's why, and Idaho was like, it was like
immediately like, oh, he got offin 81.
They said, we ain't

Stephanie (55:18):
doing none of that shit.
Nope.

Dani (55:19):
We're gonna change that law'cause we don't fuck around
here.

Stephanie (55:23):
They're

Dani (55:23):
like,

Stephanie (55:24):
we're gonna put a stop to that before it even
starts.
Yep.
Yeah.

Dani (55:27):
And they did.

Stephanie (55:29):
Love it.
Love it or hate it guys.
I, there are people that

Dani (55:33):
are truly insane and I think that this is a very good,
I mean, I think de absolutelywas a paranoid schizophrenic to
pull this off.
Like, stealing your, or like,no.
And for

Stephanie (55:48):
years ago to steal

Dani (55:49):
your aura

Stephanie (55:50):
and you have to go hurt somebody else, he was
definitely

Dani (55:51):
mentally ill.
Yeah.
But it was not an option forhim.
but I still find it amazing.
the complexity of pulling thatoff and not getting caught.
He

Stephanie (56:05):
learned at some point,'cause we had all those
infractions and then somethingin him was like two, 2006.

Dani (56:11):
He's like,

Stephanie (56:12):
exactly.
He's like, I got, I gotta stopfreaking out on children.
I gotta cut that back a littlebit.
I gotta stop flailing out intraffic and being a psycho and
getting an infraction foreverything.
Something made him be like, Ineed to focus.

Dani (56:28):
He found his focus because he's like, and

Stephanie (56:30):
like you said, the internet.
I think he found either acommunity, I can't

Dani (56:33):
take the gun on the plane

Stephanie (56:36):
or resources where he was like, I gotta be smart about
this.
Yeah.
I'm growing up.
I feel like.
It was all still part of it.
Even though he was clearly a, aincredibly broken individual
mentally.
Yeah,

Dani (56:48):
absolutely.
But still had, and this is thething, is that he still had the
ability to put all of thesethings.

Stephanie (57:00):
It's a lot it, especially, you didn't have
Google Maps back then.
You didn't have a GPS, you hadMapQuest.
Yes.
There.
You printed out your MapQuest.
Sure.
That was a lot harder.
I don't

Dani (57:13):
think he brought a printer with him

Stephanie (57:14):
on the trip though.
Right.
Did.
Was he able to print out theMapQuest?
I don't know.
But like getting to all theseplaces, like if you find an
address of someone, imagine nothaving any GPS apps and you're
like, I need to go see my friendin a state I've never been to
and trying to find it.
I mean, yeah, people did it,but.
I'm not that girl.

(57:35):
I am not that girl.

Dani (57:37):
and yeah, I'm, I was just like, wow.
And obviously he's al that, he'sobviously ill, but to still pull
that off.
'cause you would think thatpeople that are to this degree
of illness that they like, Ifeel like it's debilitating,
like a non-functional.

(57:58):
disability at this point withyour thought process.
Right.
But still able to make rationalchoices?

Stephanie (58:05):
I feel like the religion made him, like the
dipping and dabbling intoreligion gave him a little bit
more structure, because somepeople do need that at a very
basic form.
Mm-hmm.
And this isn't talking shitabout anything.
It's just saying, for some folksthey need, that is their only
form of structure that they can.
Recognize and appreciate andrespect.

(58:27):
So I feel like something aboutthat Didly dabbling 2006, it was
very quiet.
Mm-hmm.
And it was after he was on thatforum mm-hmm.
Talking about, I feel likethat's it.
I feel like, you know what, thisis all speculation, but Yes, it
is.
It's a educated guess, I feel.

Dani (58:46):
Um, yes.
on May 27th, 2009.
Delling pled guilty to seconddegree murder of Brad, and in
August he pled guilty to seconddegree murder of David.
At his sentencing hearing, judgeDebra Bell said There is no
question that Delling was in thegrips of delusional thinking

(59:10):
when he shot David Boss andBradley Morris.
But the illness still allowedhim to totally premeditate
murder and cause enormousdestruction aimed at innocent
people.
Very dangerous.
His illness is at such anextraordinary level.

(59:32):
It is unfair to play society atany risk.
The prospect of anyrehabilitation is at best,
speculative penalty is a uselessconcept.
When you are talking aboutsomeone this gravely ill.
I don't believe Delling canappreciate the impact of his

(59:53):
conduct at the time of theshootings or even at the time of
the trial.
I doubt no Delling told thecourt, I want to say a sincere
apology to the families,especially to Dave's family for
what I did.
Dave was a good friend of mine.

(01:00:14):
If it hadn't been for what somepeople decided to do to me, none
of this would've ever happened.
I'll never do this again.
I am not dangerous, in myopinion.
It's just unfortunate.
It's very sad.
Complete blame shift though.
No.
'cause he's still saying he'sstill rationalizing in his brain

(01:00:35):
that they were still, he's nota, somebody

Stephanie (01:00:37):
else made me do like this is all because of all the
actions of other people.

Dani (01:00:40):
it's his mental illness.
He's like, I'm sorry for what Idid, but if they hadn't been
stealing my power and my aura, Iwouldn't have had to murder
people.
Yeah.
Don't be stealing auras.
judge Bail sentenced dealing totwo life sentences without the
possibility of parole.
The life sentences will beconcurrent.
I think that was necessary.

(01:01:02):
I, well, it is'cause in 2016,Delling attempted to escape from
the Idaho State CorrectionalInstitution.
He climbed over two six footmanagement fences, but not, did
not get past the two more 12foot fences topped with razor
wire.
And then he was moved to theIdaho Maximum Security

(01:01:22):
Institution and given anadditional five years.
Because he is still mentallyill, they cannot manage it.
Mm-hmm.
And look, I imagine themanagement that you get on the
outside of prison is probablyextraordinarily better than a
management you get inside ofprison.
Oh, for sure.

(01:01:43):
So he's, he's still ill.
he might have his better days,but how sad that, for that.
Era, you know, 20 plus years agothat there wasn't more help for
his family,

Stephanie (01:02:01):
beginning in high school.
Yeah.

Dani (01:02:03):
It should have been diagnosed.
Because I wonder

Stephanie (01:02:04):
how much of it is like, oh, boys will be boys,
it's a high school beef.
Mm-hmm.
You know, every high schoolteenage boy has their little
vengeance and mm-hmm.
Their little enemy or whatever,and it's like, no, this dude had
to get Restraining order and Ithink we know as women how hard
it is to get a restrainingorder.
I wonder how hard it was forthat for Matt if being a boy, if

(01:02:27):
it was harder or easier.

Dani (01:02:29):
I think with the attorney it was probably pretty ease.
I think it was probably on theeasier side because it was not
only the attorney, but it wasMatt and his friend.
It was all came up in the samething.
Mm-hmm.
This guy is stalking us.
And I kind of feel like that wasthe time when like stalking laws
really came into effect.
Started to pick up.
It was a big deal.

(01:02:50):
but yeah.
and, was Sweeney's Sweeney'sneighbors testified that they
saw all this?
This is a

Stephanie (01:02:58):
lawyer that's on your side, bro.

Dani (01:02:59):
Yeah.
You know, is a niceneighborhood.
Yeah.
Right?
Oh yeah.
So like, oh, he's like, I got,can you imagine

Stephanie (01:03:05):
being the lawyer, being like.
Bro, your parents just paid me.
Yeah.
This many thousand dollars likeI am here.
Why are you here trying to, IYou're throwing your own self
under the bus.
Like not me.
Why are you doing fuckingburnouts?
In my yard, bro.

Dani (01:03:16):
Yeah.
in 2025, Delling is currently39.
God, he's still young.
That is wild.
And in the Idaho StateCorrectional Institution.

Stephanie (01:03:31):
What in the fuck there was?
At no point in this story,Danny, did I have any idea what
was gonna happen next because itis just

Dani (01:03:40):
off the charts.
And I will tell you, I reallythought about how structuring
like this story, I'm like, I'mjust gonna have to start from
the beginning.
I just have to start from thebeginning because it just is a
shit show and, poor, Jacob.
I didn't even remember the dudehe lived.
Can you imagine, can you imaginegetting shot six times in

Stephanie (01:04:00):
living?
You're like, this dude I cameacross at one point, apparently
I stole his aura and he fuckingtried to murder me and shoot me
five times.
What the fuck, dude?
Oh, it's like, dude, the, theonly thing that I could think of
if,'cause this sounds untrue.
If, if someone was to tell methis story in like a 10 minute

(01:04:22):
synopsis and be like, thishappened, this happened, this
happened, I'd be like, no, youtook a bunch of psycho shit.
You put it on a dartboard, youput a blindfold on, and then you
just took a bunch of crazy shitand put it into a story.
this is the type of thing.
If you were a writer and werewriting a fiction story about
this, nobody's buying it.
Yeah.

Dani (01:04:41):
and I just.
You know, I'm not, I'm, I'm nothere to dog anybody on a mental
illness is a very serious thing.
I just, as I was doing myinitial research, was amazed at
somebody with that kind ofdelusion, uh, you know, in the
depths of their mental illnesswould not make any mistakes

(01:05:06):
before he shot three people.

Stephanie (01:05:09):
I think his mistakes just weren't as big.
And then he learned to kind offly under the radar a little
bit.
Yeah.
Maybe

Dani (01:05:14):
he learned his mistakes from all the little stupid shit.
Yeah.
And then, yeah, I was justamazed like that he was able to
For

Stephanie (01:05:22):
sure.
And I feel like once again, thereligion gave him a little bit
of purpose.
Mm-hmm.
You, you feel righteous in it.
Yeah.
And then also, you can have somerules that you can make for
yourself that aren't evennecessarily with the religion,
but you can now make.
Well, if I do this because ofthis, then it's not bad.

Dani (01:05:41):
And to be so calm when buying the gun from Harv, he's
just like, yeah, just, I can'timagine.
I just moved here from, I'm astudent, I just moved here from
Oregon.
Just, you know, I give myself agun.
I wanna give myself a gunshooting.
Yeah.
Target practice.
Like totally playing it coolwhen in his mind.

Stephanie (01:06:00):
He's going, John Dolans or whatever.
Yeah.

Dani (01:06:03):
And in his mind he is like, I'm gonna go get Brad and
I'm gonna get David and I'mgonna get, you know, and the
other people on his list that Iwas unable to locate Who those,
he didn't drive to Baker Cityfor no reason.
Mm-hmm.
And he didn't drive to Utah forno reason.
So anyway, that's where JohnDilling story lands.

(01:06:24):
Two life sentences without thepossibility of parole plus five
years and an extra five yearsfor trying to climb his way
outta prison.
Just a little, little cherry ontop for that.
That's wild to me.
Idaho doesn't mess around withthe insanity defense.
Not since the early eighties.
So no matter how delusionaldilling was, the law sought as
cold, premeditated murder, andit really

Stephanie (01:06:45):
was'cause he planned it and he executed it.
According to like the call withthe guy, the, and then him just
inviting him in.
You know, that's, that's cunningand that's manipulation.
So, crazy story.
Danny, this is one of the wilderones I think that you've ever
brought.

Dani (01:07:06):
it was hard for me because I know I'm not, like I said, the
mental illness thing is a, isdefinitely a thing, but I was
just, again,

Stephanie (01:07:15):
it's flabbergasting.
Yeah.

Dani (01:07:17):
My bbs were gassed at the planning and, the metic to go
back to his parents after theArizona shooting.
Just pop in, be like, yo, hey,I'm here and I know you

Stephanie (01:07:28):
don't want me here.
I'm just here for a few daysuntil I get on my plane.
I'm gonna go back to Boise.

Dani (01:07:33):
So anyways,

Stephanie (01:07:35):
thanks for listening guys.
Yes, thank you so much.
we'll have more stuff for youTikTok.
coming soon.
We might do another littlegiveaway here in a few weeks, so
keep your eyes and ears peeled.
If you don't follow us onTikTok, follow us'cause we like
to do little giveaways here andthere when we can.
And we'd love to get you somestickers.
We don't have anything.
We're not giving away trip tripsto, you know, Maui or anything,

(01:07:58):
but we do have stickers andthat's almost the same thing.
Almost the same.

Dani (01:08:03):
What is it?

Stephanie (01:08:04):
Your Jet two?
Holiday, nothing.
Pizza.
Jet two.
Holiday to the Lethal Library.
Stickers mailed to you by US.

Dani (01:08:15):
Alrighty guys, thank you so much for your support.
We appreciate our listeners andagain.
Tell your friends if they'reinto the murder mysteries.
Yes, please.
Word of mouth is the best thing,so that's the

Stephanie (01:08:26):
best.
Alright, well ten four rubberducky.
Fuck yeah.