April 26, 2024 • 30 mins
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"Murdering Malachi" is a special limited series by The Redacted Podcast, produced by Matt Bender and Pamela Bender.
As daylight fades on the streets of Los Angeles, a story unfolds that pierces the heart of the city's most forgotten corners. Malachi's voice rises from the clamor of Skid Row, recounting a murder that slipped through the cracks of societal concern, a grim reminder of the desensitization that blankets us. He takes us on a journey from the sobriety of rehab in Philadelphia to the temptation-laden paths of Arizona, and ultimately to the place where life and death intersect with chilling indifference. It's a narrative that challenges us to confront the uncomfortable truth about urban decay and the value we assign to human life.
Life in LA's underbelly doesn't come with a viewer discretion warning—it's raw, uncut, and unforgiving. The episode's second act unravels a horror reminiscing an old fright flick, with Malachi sharing a young man's fateful brush with evil embodied in flesh. It's a maelstrom of crime, punishment, and the irreversible consequences of a single, ill-fated decision. This chilling account bares the brutal reality of the streets, where the inexperienced are pitted against hardened criminals in a game where the stakes are life itself.
In the episode’s concluding chapter, we grapple with the weight of redemption and the crossroads of life choices through the eyes of Malachi. Our discussion turns philosophical, pondering the possibility of change in the face of past transgressions and the guidance that the wise can offer to the wayward youth. Malachi's meditations on second chances not only tease the mind but also lay the groundwork for our next episode's foray into the depths of Russian philosophy and a peculiar brush with a so-called 'demon lady'. It's a testament to the human spirit's resilience and a somber reflection on the transformative potential within us all.
Help Malachi Rebuild His Life (Please note: This is specifically for Malachi's fundraiser - not a donation to the podcast - the link to donate to the show is below.)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is it that intrigues us so much about
murder?
Why do we consume true crimedocumentaries and podcasts like
they're primetime news?
In fact, I think most of usprefer to watch those over the
actual news nowadays.
Is it the victim that makes usinvested, or is it the killer?
Is it seeking justice?
(00:22):
Maybe it's all of the above.
Now, most of us can probablysay that we've never witnessed a
murder with our own eyes.
That is not counting those ofus who have, say, gone to war.
But then again, you don'treally find war documentaries
under the true crime category onNetflix, do you?
It's kind of ironic.
(00:45):
So when this guest, who we'llcall Malachi, contacted us and
told me that he had witnessed amurder on the streets of LA and
wanted to tell the story on theshow, it piqued my interest, not
only because it was a murder,but because he said no one did
anything about it.
I don't mean that no one wasarrested or prosecuted.
(01:08):
I mean the incident just kindof came and went and nobody
really paid attention.
The victim was known, thekillers were known.
So how could that be In modernAmerica?
Could a person be murdered,surrounded by people in broad
daylight, and no one reacts?
(01:37):
Could that really happen.
I needed to know more, so weset up a call and told them to
lay it all out From the RedactedPodcast.
I'm Matt Bender and this isMurdering Malachi, episode 1,
unnecessary Waste here's thething I it was, I think, 18
(02:09):
years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I'm terrible at math now.
So to put it that, 2006, 2007,somewhere in that rough area,
and I was, uh, coming off of, Iwas coming out of a rehab or
something in philadelphia, andand somehow I got the
opportunity to go to arizona, tomesa, where it's like a really
big recovery city, and I didreally well there, got a
salesman job, big office, but itall came too soon and so the
(02:33):
money, the success, basicallyled right back to drug use.
So while I'm in Arizona, I wasyou know, you know what.
Let me get on out of this smalltown where, like, I've got drug
dealers showing up at my doorwith suitcases full of drugs Not
suitcases, briefcases,briefcases with scales and bags
of drugs.
Let me get the hell out of here.
(02:54):
So I got on the bus and Ithought let me go to LA, because
in my naivety I thought LA waswhat you saw on television.
I thought it was like a bigbumping fast city.
And that's how I know how tosurvive.
I'm from the big city,philadelphia, which is basically
New York.
I know how to survive, I knowhow to make it.
I show up and by the end of theday, I got a room or an
(03:17):
apartment or something.
So I get on a bus to go to LA.
I realize I'm a little short ofmoney because I was on you know
whatever reason, because I wasgetting high.
Somebody in the Western Uniongave me some money and on the
Western Union there was a notethat said get out of LA, go to
San Francisco right now.
Basically said you stopped atthe wrong place, get back on the
(03:38):
bus.
And I was like I'm here now.
I don't know what their problemis, and I took the money, I got
off, I left the bus station andI'm expecting to see a big
cosmopolitan, you know, like aNew York, like a Philly, and
instead I got off to the thirdcircle of hell in Dante's
Inferno.
(03:58):
I actually don't know what thethird circle was, but it was the
third circle, regardless.
It was horrible and it was just.
You get off the bus stations indowntown LA and the first thing
you see is a line of crackheadsstanding on the street.
And I'm not saying that to beinsulting, I'm saying that
because that's just what theywere.
(04:19):
They were crackheads.
And there then I walked down ablock and there's like tents
everywhere.
I'm like what the living hellis this?
And I'm thinking, you know,with my history I was still not
young, young, but I wasbasically grown man.
But young, grown man I thoughtI could just jump into an
apartment, jump into a room,jump into something.
(04:41):
By the end of the day, likeI've done everywhere else.
I've literally moved around thecountry by the end of the day,
like I've done everywhere else.
I've literally moved around thecountry by the end of the day.
I'm in somewhere Not downtown LAWow, I mean, it was just a
wake-up call and I'm walkingaround with my bags maybe two
bags and I'm like I'm trying tofigure out where the rooms are,
I'm trying to figure out wherethe cheap apartments are, I'm
(05:02):
trying to figure out what'sgoing on and where the rooms are
.
I'm trying to figure out wherethe cheap apartments are.
I'm trying to figure out what'sgoing on.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And there's just nothing A wasteland of dead
bodies that happen to still bewalking around.
Where Malachi actually foundhimself that day was smack in
the middle of Skid Row in LosAngeles.
It's right in the heart ofdowntown, bordered roughly by
3rd Street to the north, 7thStreet to the south, main Street
to the east and Alameda Streetto the west.
It spans several blocks, butit's primarily concentrated at
(05:33):
the intersection of 5th and 6th.
In most modern, cosmopolitanAmerican cities, that spot would
be prime real estate filledwith high-end housing,
entertainment and shopping.
But that's just not the casefor Skid Row.
In fact, it's a starkjuxtaposition to the glitz and
glamour of neighboring areaslike Hollywood and Beverly Hills
(05:55):
.
Instead, it's characterized bydilapidated buildings, vacant
lots and a palpable sense ofurban decay.
Despite its central, perfectlocation, skid Row is often
overlooked by tourists andlocals alike, and its existence
is merely relegated to themargins of public consciousness.
(06:18):
Its origins can be traced backto the early 20th century, when
economic downturns andurbanization led to an increase
in the transient populations inthe downtown Los Angeles area.
By the 1930s, skid Row hadsolidified as a hub for
temporary workers, migrants andindividuals grappling with
poverty and mental illness.
(06:39):
The 1950s brought with it a newwave of challenges, as
deinstitutionalization policiesshuttered psychiatric hospitals,
releasing thousands of mentallyill individuals onto the street
without any kind of a plan.
Skid Row, which was already amagnet for those on the fringes
of society, then became an evenworse version of itself, only
(07:03):
exacerbating the cycle ofpoverty, addiction and violence.
Throughout the latter half ofthe 20th century, this area
became synonymous with urbanblight, a real no-man's land,
where law enforcement turned ablind eye to the rampant drug
trade and criminal activity.
By the 1980s, the crack cocaineepidemic made it even worse,
(07:27):
fueling a surge in violence asrival gangs battled for control
of lucrative drug markets.
Statistics paint a soberingpicture of life there.
According to a report, as of2020, the Skid Row area
accounted for a significantportion of Los Angeles County's
homeless population, with over4,600 individuals living on the
(07:48):
streets or in temporary shelters.
Substance abuse disorders wereprevalent, with some figures
indicating that at least 70% ofhomeless people in this area
also struggled with addiction.
It's no surprise, really.
Malachi found himself plantedin this neighborhood in the
mid-2000s, or, as he put it, thethird circle of hell.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
And by the end of the day, the nighttime was falling
and I'm just, I'm in a state ofshock and you know I'm a Weight
Watcher walking around a giantdonut factory, you know it
wasn't going to end well.
So yeah, by the end of the day,the night's calling and I see
(08:35):
some dude hand, another dude, ahandful of crack right in front
of my face, and I'm just likeyou know what, give me one of
those.
I'm done and off to the races.
I was, was.
So it's the same old drug story.
The details of what I did andhow I did it and whatever, I
don't know.
But I don't think it lastedlong because you know I'm in a
(08:55):
whole new city, got noconnections, got no nothing.
I'm in hell.
That was probably just maybe afew days or a week and I found
myself in a salvation army,broke, busted and disgusted,
going.
What the hell did I do?
You know a few days or a week,and I found myself in a
Salvation Army, broke, bustedand disgusted, going.
What the hell did I do?
You know, salvation Army is awhole other story and that's
suffice to say.
There are some people that gethelp at Salvation Army, but the
(09:17):
general picture of them isthey're not really there to help
, but that's a differentconversation.
Helping is a guise for them tomake more money.
But we and so I'm in SalvationArmy and one day I'm up on like
the third floor, I'm in my room.
I think I had a private roombecause I tend to scream in my
(09:39):
sleep and tend to go throughsome things because of you know,
some PTSD, like real PTSD, notthis new PTSD where you stub
your toe and you need therapyfor five years.
I'm talking, you know violenceand rape and all this other shit
.
So I've got some issues.
So I think I was in my room bymyself and I heard some
(10:01):
commotion, hollering andscreaming and all this, which
isn't unusual, but somethingabout it sounded different, like
there was a different feel toit.
So I looked out the window Eventhough I'm not a looky-loo, I
still just human reaction, Iguess was like what the hell is
going on out here?
(10:22):
And I see this young kid, maybe20, 21, technically an adult,
but still basically just a kidjust a kid running around the
corner and he, he had the look.
I don't know who he was, butfrom my free, damn vast
(10:44):
experience in the underworld, hehad the look of someone who was
still dipping and dabbing,someone who was new to addiction
or new to the darkest sides ofaddiction.
I mean, he could have been anaddict for 10 years because he
was, you know, 12.
But he had the look of someonewho had not yet succumbed to
(11:05):
complete control of the demon ofaddiction, like he was still on
that sort of borderline ofthere's hope.
You know, you look at someoneand you're just like yeah, he's
gone.
He was not one of those.
He could have been coming offof a party one night and just
got too high and got carriedaway.
You know he wasn't an oldveteran, just a young kid
(11:31):
fucking up.
Yeah, a young kid fucking up.
And, yeah, a young kid fuckingup.
And he's coming running aroundthe corner and I see this old,
black, burnt matchstick.
I mean, when you picturecrackhead, you know think Dave
Chappelle's show.
Perfect example, daveChappelle's character of the
(11:54):
crackhead.
That's what perfect example,dave Chappelle's character, the
crackhead.
That's what this guy was, justevery stereotypical evil, dark,
filthy, dirty.
I could smell him from thethird floor.
He comes running after.
He was like 40, 50 years old.
This is not some kid, this is agrown man who knew the war.
(12:16):
He's chasing the kid and Ithink somebody blocked the kid
with a bike and then the go guyand the kid fell against the
wall and the older guy grabbedthe bike and hit the kid in the
head with the bike, likeliterally picked up the bike up
overhead, hit the kid with thebike Somewhere.
(12:36):
You know this is a long timeago so I don't have the exact um
chronology of blows, butsomehow he ended up with like a
baseball bat.
Yeah, he had somehow a baseballbat came into the I don't know
where it appeared from, but hehad a baseball bat and he hit
the kid in the head with abaseball bat.
It was an aluminum baseball batand he just hit the kid in the
(12:57):
head with a baseball bat.
This point the kid's on theground and the guy hits him in
the head with the baseball batagain.
And then some old, filthy, 40,50-year-old female crackhead who
basically looked like thefemale version of the Dave
Chappelle crackhead.
Just absolute darkness, filth,darkness.
(13:19):
Look like the kind of woman andI'm going to say something.
Really I'm going to be carefulhow I say this, because my
disgust is tainting my words shelooked like someone who got
raped 50 times but still goes inthe same situation to get raped
(13:42):
and still blames everyone elsebut her herself, like let me go
do this really stupid thing.
Or got beat up 50 times, let mego rob this person, get beat up
and then blame the person Irobbed.
Let me go rob this person, getbeat up and then blame the
person I robbed.
Let me go, you know, mugsomebody with a pencil and blame
the cops for arresting me.
Just this person who everysingle decision she's ever made
(14:04):
in life is someone else's fault.
Yet probably every singledecision she's ever made in the
last 20 years has been based offof evil, filth, addiction and
just demonic possession.
You know like it's so hard tofind empathy for her.
I mean, you'd have to be a waybetter jesus follower than me,
(14:25):
because I I would struggle tofind empathy for her.
She came around the corner, wentsort of like a sliding move
onto her knees and had pulledout a butcher knife and it
looked like a satanic ritual,which is so fitting, like you
see in those old horror movieswhere they've got some pretty
(14:46):
woman and they rip off her top,her titties are bouncing, she's
laying on a concrete slab andsome old white dude who their
mass stabs are in his stomach.
You know those ancient satanicdeath rituals in those old 40s
movies?
Well, that's where it lookedlike this woman just pulled this
knife up over her head withboth hands and then just stabbed
the guy in his stomachrepeatedly while she's on her
(15:07):
knees.
It was just like evilpersonified, and and the thing
thing that stuck out to me wasthe dichotomy between the two,
the ones who attacked him andhim.
What I mean by that is I don'tknow any of their stories, but
(15:32):
there are certain things thatyou know without knowing.
When you're 40 years old andyou look that beat up, you don't
get that way from smoking crackfor one week.
When you're 40, 50 years oldand you've got one tooth in your
mouth and you're ashy and yourhair is, you don't get that way
from smoking crack for one week.
(15:53):
These were the ones who knewthe game.
These are the ones who havecommitted, no doubt, thousands
of sins, not just sins, butcrimes.
You know, I don't know theirstory, but common sense dictates
these are the bad guys, sincewe always want to have good and
bad.
These were the bad guys, andthe kid was a new.
(16:16):
I don't even know if he's a badguy or just a kid making a dumb
mistake.
He probably gagged them out of20 bucks for a drug.
Everything in me says he justgagged somebody for 20 bucks.
And these pieces of humangarbage who've probably hurt
thousands of people, robbedthousands of people, mugged and
(16:39):
raped thousands of people arecommitting this horrific assault
on this kid who probably justmade one stupid, dumb mistake,
whereas a lot of people wouldhave been like dog, you really
don't want to do that out here.
You know, I mean, I'm gonna I'meven gonna let you go home, but
(17:01):
I'm gonna.
I've known drug dealers whohave been like you know what,
I'm gonna let you have that one,because you really don't know
what you just did.
I see you out here again,though we, you know, there's
that another thing.
I've known drug dealers who'vedone that, people that gagged
them Like if they were new, ifthey knew that they were young,
if they knew that they were new,if they knew that they really
(17:21):
didn't understand theconsequences of their actions.
I've known drug dealers whohave been gagged for 10 or 20
bucks, caught the person and waslike I need my money next week
or, you know, I need to neversee you again.
Like they understood that thiswas someone who had made a very
(17:45):
bad mistake due to inexperienceand youth.
Here's these pieces of shit,murdering this kid when it was
obvious he was new and young andstupid, and if anyone had the
karma to be murdered it was them.
So, anyway, they finished thisassault on him, he gets out
somehow and, as the body wasstill in shock, walks around the
corner, because they were rightnext to the corner.
(18:06):
I didn't see what happened, butI was told, as soon as he got
around the corner, he justdropped dead, which I don't see
any.
I don't even know how the hellhe got up.
We're talking this.
I hit to the head with a bike.
I hit to the head with a metalbat twice, about a good three or
four stabs to the stomach witha butcher knife.
How he even got up, you know,it's a testament to the fact he
(18:28):
was a kid, you know.
And he died around the corner.
And what was ever?
I mean, was this in likenothing?
Daylight, it was daylight, itwas the middle of the day, I
think it was like two in theafternoon, two or three in the
afternoons.
I think we were on likeafternoon break.
If we get like you know, theygive you like some small
(18:49):
afternoon break because you knowthey work you to death at the
salvation army.
Yeah, and knowing, knowing that,they work you to death at the
Salvation Army and knowing thatthey work you to death.
I do think sometimes they giveyou a small afternoon break or
something like that In themiddle of the day.
No, it would never happen.
Let me see if I can answer thatquestion with a question, but
(19:10):
just to myself Hmm, do the copsinvestigate anything that
happens in Skid Row?
No, skid Row exists to be agraveyard.
That's the whole purpose of SkidRow.
The whole purpose of Skid Rowis we will give you this square
(19:32):
mile section and you die there.
The whole purpose of Skid Rowis we will give you this square
mile section and you die there.
You do not come to theHollywood Hills.
You do not come to whateverpart of LA that actually has
human beings in it.
You do not go anywhere.
We will give you tents.
We will set up five differentmissions.
There's like five fuckinghomeless shelters in one square
(19:54):
block.
We will have people from allsorts of churches and mosques
and synagogues come and feed youevery night.
We will set up fourporta-potties on every damn
corner and we will not botheryou.
You live here, you get highhere, you die here.
(20:14):
We will eventually send someoneto pick up your body.
Other than that, this is yourgraveyard.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
It's like a controlled anarchy, like a
little anarchy no.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Not controlled.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Contained Contained anarchy no not controlled,
contained, contained anarchy.
Nobody has control and nobodywants control.
It's just a giant black hole ofchaos that, from the sound of
it, nobody escapes.
As he said, you go there to die, sometimes by your own doing
(20:55):
and, like in this case,sometimes by another.
Malachi continued his rantabout Skid Row for a moment
longer, and then I asked himafter watching that boy's murder
, knowing what and how ithappened, boy's murder, knowing
(21:15):
what and how it happened andseeing just how depraved the
streets of Skid Row can get, howdid that make you feel?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
I think the only thing that really affected me
was that dichotomy was thinkingto myself you're the wrong ones,
like you don't have the rightto do this to someone, because
look at you Like if he had donethat to them I would have felt
some human empathy, like, damn,that's fucked up, they died.
You know what I mean.
(21:42):
But I kind of would have beenlike, yeah, they probably, you
know their life caught up tothem.
Like I could have processed itmore, like, oh, that's caught up
to them.
Like I could have processed itmore like, ah, that's fucked up
to get murdered in youraddiction.
They probably crossed the line.
You know I would have felt somehuman empathy, but it would
have been like, eh, you know, atthis point, who knows what the
fuck they did, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
But with them being the ones it was more like,
really seriously, you actuallythink you have the right to do
that to him Did it affect youmore, because you felt like
there was hope for him still,because he was young, because he
was new.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Yeah, that's the other side of the dichotomy
which, you're right, I didn'tfocus, I didn't talk about.
But yeah, the fact that he wasyoung, the fact that he did have
milk, it felt like that, reallyfelt like a waste, and thank
you for directing me there.
If it had been them, itwouldn't have felt as much of a
waste.
I mean any life.
Anyone is capable of redemption.
(22:43):
Even the filthiest nastiest,whatever Jesus is real.
There is some capability ofhuman redemption.
I mean, I'm not Even if yourape and murder children, you
need to be in jail for the restof your life.
But if you want to go to churchand jail and if you want to
(23:05):
maybe try to help other childmolesters get better before they
get out like dude, they'regoing to release you in five
years.
Let me help you not to do thisshit again.
You know what I mean.
Like everybody's capable ofsome level of redemption Doesn't
mean you need to be free.
It just means that, in thegrand scheme of things, every
human being, every human being,is capable of some level of
(23:27):
redemption, with them being thevictim.
It's a little.
It's a little more like it hadthey've been the ones murdered.
It's more like, yeah, you'recapable for redemption, but like
we get it, you know, like youprobably had 50.
Damn, you don't feel as sorryfor them.
You're kind of like it wouldhave been nice for you to get
the shit together but you didn't.
(23:48):
And we kind of get it, but forhim it's like dude, it's like
he's got his whole fucking lifeahead of him.
How many people go out here, gethigh for a few years and then
they're just like, yeah, thatshit was stupid.
You know.
I mean like, oh, we're doingthat, like, wow, I almost threw
my whole life away.
They always talk about theaddict who's been the addict for
20 years and finally got theirlife, but they don't really
(24:10):
really talk about the personwho's an addict for like a year,
who was, who was partying forlike a year.
A lot of times that you, youknow, if you really really
listen, you'll hear people say,oh, in my 20s, you know in my
20s, and then they'll be like,but then I grew up, he could
have been one of those.
In my 20s I was kind of wild.
You hear that a lot.
They don't tell you what wildmeans.
(24:32):
What wild means they weregetting high, they were fucking
everybody, they were getting inthe fight wild means why?
it's your youthful indiscretionyou get that youthful
indiscretion period and andpeople don't always get into
details what wild means butthat's what it means.
They were smoking crack orfucking people in the bathroom
or beating up people that theyhad no right to beat up.
(24:54):
You were stupid, you were young.
Does it mean you had to die?
You're 50, still doing thatshit?
Then it's kind of like you'rewrong.
You're like you already knowthe consequences at 50.
Like it's a little harder tofeel sorry for you.
(25:20):
Yeah, like you said, your yourlife caught up to you.
Yeah, at some point right up toyou.
But at 20, come on.
So, yeah, there was that.
It just felt like anunnecessary waste, like, and it
was an unnecessary waste by theones who had no right to take.
If it was another 20 year old,it would have made more sense.
Like they were both 20, theywere both stupid.
One of them paid a bigger pricethan he should have.
You could understand it, youcould go.
Oh, that's kind of the risk youtake, because 20-year-olds are
(25:42):
stupid.
If he kills you, he's stupid.
But at 50, come on, man, thiskid was young enough to be your
son.
He could have been your son andyou're out here murdering him
on the streets because he didsomething stupid.
Like, really, part of whatreally pissed me off is that,
like, even in the darkness thereare elders.
(26:07):
Even in the darkness, there aresome who are just like, yeah,
yeah, you don't need to go thatroute, I'm already here, this is
my life, this is who I am forthe foreseeable future, if not
the rest of my life.
Right, we see it in movies allthe time.
They always do some old bum orsome broken down athlete or some
(26:32):
person whose life is alreadyfucked, and they'll look at a
younger person and go yeah, youdon't need to go this route, let
me.
Let me teach you a better run.
You don't need to end up likeme.
They don't murder them.
That's what pissed me off.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
After listening to Malachi explain his perspective
on the addict community and thedifferences between the young
ones and the elders, as hecalled them, I actually found
myself intrigued by the manhimself.
I don't think I would have everexpected a long-term drug
addict who still struggles tothis day to be so reflective and
insightful.
(27:11):
He said that anyone is capableof redemption.
Now, was he referring to theyoung boy that was murdered,
that should have been given asecond chance?
Or maybe was he referring tohimself?
The elders he spoke of the onesthat exist even in the darkness
(27:34):
, the ones who seem to havepassed the point of no return in
their own lives, but aresomehow self-delegated to be the
protectors of the young oneswho don't quite know yet the
rabbit hole they are about tojump all the way into.
Does Malachi see himself as oneof those elders?
Now?
At what point does a personcross that line between having a
(27:57):
chance and giving a chance?
I had so many questions.
The more we talked, the moreMalachi went on to other stories
and gave his detaileddistillations of life and its
meaning, and the clearer itbecame.
This wasn't going to be onlyone episode, and this wasn't
(28:17):
going to be about just onemurder on the next episode of
murdering malachi male strippers.
Redemption, russian philosophyand one crazy demon lady, did
(28:40):
you hear that?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
I hear something.
Did you hear that god the devilwoman's back?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
The demon found me.
You're not going to want tomiss this one.
The Redacted Podcast isproduced by myself, matt Bender,
and my wife, pamela Bender.
Make sure to go out there andgive us a like, a share, share
it with your friends, rate us.
Every little bit helps.
Thanks for tuning in, thank you, thank you.
What is it that intrigues us so much about
murder?
Why do we consume true crimedocumentaries and podcasts like
they're primetime news?
In fact, I think most of usprefer to watch those over the
actual news nowadays.
Is it the victim that makes usinvested, or is it the killer?
Is it seeking justice?
(00:22):
Maybe it's all of the above.
Now, most of us can probablysay that we've never witnessed a
murder with our own eyes.
That is not counting those ofus who have, say, gone to war.
But then again, you don'treally find war documentaries
under the true crime category onNetflix, do you?
It's kind of ironic.
(00:45):
So when this guest, who we'llcall Malachi, contacted us and
told me that he had witnessed amurder on the streets of LA and
wanted to tell the story on theshow, it piqued my interest, not
only because it was a murder,but because he said no one did
anything about it.
I don't mean that no one wasarrested or prosecuted.
(01:08):
I mean the incident just kindof came and went and nobody
really paid attention.
The victim was known, thekillers were known.
So how could that be In modernAmerica?
Could a person be murdered,surrounded by people in broad
daylight, and no one reacts?
(01:37):
Could that really happen.
I needed to know more, so weset up a call and told them to
lay it all out From the RedactedPodcast.
I'm Matt Bender and this isMurdering Malachi, episode 1,
unnecessary Waste here's thething I it was, I think, 18
(02:09):
years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I'm terrible at math now.
So to put it that, 2006, 2007,somewhere in that rough area,
and I was, uh, coming off of, Iwas coming out of a rehab or
something in philadelphia, andand somehow I got the
opportunity to go to arizona, tomesa, where it's like a really
big recovery city, and I didreally well there, got a
salesman job, big office, but itall came too soon and so the
(02:33):
money, the success, basicallyled right back to drug use.
So while I'm in Arizona, I wasyou know, you know what.
Let me get on out of this smalltown where, like, I've got drug
dealers showing up at my doorwith suitcases full of drugs Not
suitcases, briefcases,briefcases with scales and bags
of drugs.
Let me get the hell out of here.
(02:54):
So I got on the bus and Ithought let me go to LA, because
in my naivety I thought LA waswhat you saw on television.
I thought it was like a bigbumping fast city.
And that's how I know how tosurvive.
I'm from the big city,philadelphia, which is basically
New York.
I know how to survive, I knowhow to make it.
I show up and by the end of theday, I got a room or an
(03:17):
apartment or something.
So I get on a bus to go to LA.
I realize I'm a little short ofmoney because I was on you know
whatever reason, because I wasgetting high.
Somebody in the Western Uniongave me some money and on the
Western Union there was a notethat said get out of LA, go to
San Francisco right now.
Basically said you stopped atthe wrong place, get back on the
(03:38):
bus.
And I was like I'm here now.
I don't know what their problemis, and I took the money, I got
off, I left the bus station andI'm expecting to see a big
cosmopolitan, you know, like aNew York, like a Philly, and
instead I got off to the thirdcircle of hell in Dante's
Inferno.
(03:58):
I actually don't know what thethird circle was, but it was the
third circle, regardless.
It was horrible and it was just.
You get off the bus stations indowntown LA and the first thing
you see is a line of crackheadsstanding on the street.
And I'm not saying that to beinsulting, I'm saying that
because that's just what theywere.
(04:19):
They were crackheads.
And there then I walked down ablock and there's like tents
everywhere.
I'm like what the living hellis this?
And I'm thinking, you know,with my history I was still not
young, young, but I wasbasically grown man.
But young, grown man I thoughtI could just jump into an
apartment, jump into a room,jump into something.
(04:41):
By the end of the day, likeI've done everywhere else.
I've literally moved around thecountry by the end of the day,
like I've done everywhere else.
I've literally moved around thecountry by the end of the day.
I'm in somewhere Not downtown LAWow, I mean, it was just a
wake-up call and I'm walkingaround with my bags maybe two
bags and I'm like I'm trying tofigure out where the rooms are,
I'm trying to figure out wherethe cheap apartments are, I'm
(05:02):
trying to figure out what'sgoing on and where the rooms are
.
I'm trying to figure out wherethe cheap apartments are.
I'm trying to figure out what'sgoing on.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And there's just nothing A wasteland of dead
bodies that happen to still bewalking around.
Where Malachi actually foundhimself that day was smack in
the middle of Skid Row in LosAngeles.
It's right in the heart ofdowntown, bordered roughly by
3rd Street to the north, 7thStreet to the south, main Street
to the east and Alameda Streetto the west.
It spans several blocks, butit's primarily concentrated at
(05:33):
the intersection of 5th and 6th.
In most modern, cosmopolitanAmerican cities, that spot would
be prime real estate filledwith high-end housing,
entertainment and shopping.
But that's just not the casefor Skid Row.
In fact, it's a starkjuxtaposition to the glitz and
glamour of neighboring areaslike Hollywood and Beverly Hills
(05:55):
.
Instead, it's characterized bydilapidated buildings, vacant
lots and a palpable sense ofurban decay.
Despite its central, perfectlocation, skid Row is often
overlooked by tourists andlocals alike, and its existence
is merely relegated to themargins of public consciousness.
(06:18):
Its origins can be traced backto the early 20th century, when
economic downturns andurbanization led to an increase
in the transient populations inthe downtown Los Angeles area.
By the 1930s, skid Row hadsolidified as a hub for
temporary workers, migrants andindividuals grappling with
poverty and mental illness.
(06:39):
The 1950s brought with it a newwave of challenges, as
deinstitutionalization policiesshuttered psychiatric hospitals,
releasing thousands of mentallyill individuals onto the street
without any kind of a plan.
Skid Row, which was already amagnet for those on the fringes
of society, then became an evenworse version of itself, only
(07:03):
exacerbating the cycle ofpoverty, addiction and violence.
Throughout the latter half ofthe 20th century, this area
became synonymous with urbanblight, a real no-man's land,
where law enforcement turned ablind eye to the rampant drug
trade and criminal activity.
By the 1980s, the crack cocaineepidemic made it even worse,
(07:27):
fueling a surge in violence asrival gangs battled for control
of lucrative drug markets.
Statistics paint a soberingpicture of life there.
According to a report, as of2020, the Skid Row area
accounted for a significantportion of Los Angeles County's
homeless population, with over4,600 individuals living on the
(07:48):
streets or in temporary shelters.
Substance abuse disorders wereprevalent, with some figures
indicating that at least 70% ofhomeless people in this area
also struggled with addiction.
It's no surprise, really.
Malachi found himself plantedin this neighborhood in the
mid-2000s, or, as he put it, thethird circle of hell.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
And by the end of the day, the nighttime was falling
and I'm just, I'm in a state ofshock and you know I'm a Weight
Watcher walking around a giantdonut factory, you know it
wasn't going to end well.
So yeah, by the end of the day,the night's calling and I see
(08:35):
some dude hand, another dude, ahandful of crack right in front
of my face, and I'm just likeyou know what, give me one of
those.
I'm done and off to the races.
I was, was.
So it's the same old drug story.
The details of what I did andhow I did it and whatever, I
don't know.
But I don't think it lastedlong because you know I'm in a
(08:55):
whole new city, got noconnections, got no nothing.
I'm in hell.
That was probably just maybe afew days or a week and I found
myself in a salvation army,broke, busted and disgusted,
going.
What the hell did I do?
You know a few days or a week,and I found myself in a
Salvation Army, broke, bustedand disgusted, going.
What the hell did I do?
You know, salvation Army is awhole other story and that's
suffice to say.
There are some people that gethelp at Salvation Army, but the
(09:17):
general picture of them isthey're not really there to help
, but that's a differentconversation.
Helping is a guise for them tomake more money.
But we and so I'm in SalvationArmy and one day I'm up on like
the third floor, I'm in my room.
I think I had a private roombecause I tend to scream in my
(09:39):
sleep and tend to go throughsome things because of you know,
some PTSD, like real PTSD, notthis new PTSD where you stub
your toe and you need therapyfor five years.
I'm talking, you know violenceand rape and all this other shit
.
So I've got some issues.
So I think I was in my room bymyself and I heard some
(10:01):
commotion, hollering andscreaming and all this, which
isn't unusual, but somethingabout it sounded different, like
there was a different feel toit.
So I looked out the window Eventhough I'm not a looky-loo, I
still just human reaction, Iguess was like what the hell is
going on out here?
(10:22):
And I see this young kid, maybe20, 21, technically an adult,
but still basically just a kidjust a kid running around the
corner and he, he had the look.
I don't know who he was, butfrom my free, damn vast
(10:44):
experience in the underworld, hehad the look of someone who was
still dipping and dabbing,someone who was new to addiction
or new to the darkest sides ofaddiction.
I mean, he could have been anaddict for 10 years because he
was, you know, 12.
But he had the look of someonewho had not yet succumbed to
(11:05):
complete control of the demon ofaddiction, like he was still on
that sort of borderline ofthere's hope.
You know, you look at someoneand you're just like yeah, he's
gone.
He was not one of those.
He could have been coming offof a party one night and just
got too high and got carriedaway.
You know he wasn't an oldveteran, just a young kid
(11:31):
fucking up.
Yeah, a young kid fucking up.
And, yeah, a young kid fuckingup.
And he's coming running aroundthe corner and I see this old,
black, burnt matchstick.
I mean, when you picturecrackhead, you know think Dave
Chappelle's show.
Perfect example, daveChappelle's character of the
(11:54):
crackhead.
That's what perfect example,dave Chappelle's character, the
crackhead.
That's what this guy was, justevery stereotypical evil, dark,
filthy, dirty.
I could smell him from thethird floor.
He comes running after.
He was like 40, 50 years old.
This is not some kid, this is agrown man who knew the war.
(12:16):
He's chasing the kid and Ithink somebody blocked the kid
with a bike and then the go guyand the kid fell against the
wall and the older guy grabbedthe bike and hit the kid in the
head with the bike, likeliterally picked up the bike up
overhead, hit the kid with thebike Somewhere.
(12:36):
You know this is a long timeago so I don't have the exact um
chronology of blows, butsomehow he ended up with like a
baseball bat.
Yeah, he had somehow a baseballbat came into the I don't know
where it appeared from, but hehad a baseball bat and he hit
the kid in the head with abaseball bat.
It was an aluminum baseball batand he just hit the kid in the
(12:57):
head with a baseball bat.
This point the kid's on theground and the guy hits him in
the head with the baseball batagain.
And then some old, filthy, 40,50-year-old female crackhead who
basically looked like thefemale version of the Dave
Chappelle crackhead.
Just absolute darkness, filth,darkness.
(13:19):
Look like the kind of woman andI'm going to say something.
Really I'm going to be carefulhow I say this, because my
disgust is tainting my words shelooked like someone who got
raped 50 times but still goes inthe same situation to get raped
(13:42):
and still blames everyone elsebut her herself, like let me go
do this really stupid thing.
Or got beat up 50 times, let mego rob this person, get beat up
and then blame the person Irobbed.
Let me go rob this person, getbeat up and then blame the
person I robbed.
Let me go, you know, mugsomebody with a pencil and blame
the cops for arresting me.
Just this person who everysingle decision she's ever made
(14:04):
in life is someone else's fault.
Yet probably every singledecision she's ever made in the
last 20 years has been based offof evil, filth, addiction and
just demonic possession.
You know like it's so hard tofind empathy for her.
I mean, you'd have to be a waybetter jesus follower than me,
(14:25):
because I I would struggle tofind empathy for her.
She came around the corner, wentsort of like a sliding move
onto her knees and had pulledout a butcher knife and it
looked like a satanic ritual,which is so fitting, like you
see in those old horror movieswhere they've got some pretty
(14:46):
woman and they rip off her top,her titties are bouncing, she's
laying on a concrete slab andsome old white dude who their
mass stabs are in his stomach.
You know those ancient satanicdeath rituals in those old 40s
movies?
Well, that's where it lookedlike this woman just pulled this
knife up over her head withboth hands and then just stabbed
the guy in his stomachrepeatedly while she's on her
(15:07):
knees.
It was just like evilpersonified, and and the thing
thing that stuck out to me wasthe dichotomy between the two,
the ones who attacked him andhim.
What I mean by that is I don'tknow any of their stories, but
(15:32):
there are certain things thatyou know without knowing.
When you're 40 years old andyou look that beat up, you don't
get that way from smoking crackfor one week.
When you're 40, 50 years oldand you've got one tooth in your
mouth and you're ashy and yourhair is, you don't get that way
from smoking crack for one week.
(15:53):
These were the ones who knewthe game.
These are the ones who havecommitted, no doubt, thousands
of sins, not just sins, butcrimes.
You know, I don't know theirstory, but common sense dictates
these are the bad guys, sincewe always want to have good and
bad.
These were the bad guys, andthe kid was a new.
(16:16):
I don't even know if he's a badguy or just a kid making a dumb
mistake.
He probably gagged them out of20 bucks for a drug.
Everything in me says he justgagged somebody for 20 bucks.
And these pieces of humangarbage who've probably hurt
thousands of people, robbedthousands of people, mugged and
(16:39):
raped thousands of people arecommitting this horrific assault
on this kid who probably justmade one stupid, dumb mistake,
whereas a lot of people wouldhave been like dog, you really
don't want to do that out here.
You know, I mean, I'm gonna I'meven gonna let you go home, but
(17:01):
I'm gonna.
I've known drug dealers whohave been like you know what,
I'm gonna let you have that one,because you really don't know
what you just did.
I see you out here again,though we, you know, there's
that another thing.
I've known drug dealers who'vedone that, people that gagged
them Like if they were new, ifthey knew that they were young,
if they knew that they were new,if they knew that they really
(17:21):
didn't understand theconsequences of their actions.
I've known drug dealers whohave been gagged for 10 or 20
bucks, caught the person and waslike I need my money next week
or, you know, I need to neversee you again.
Like they understood that thiswas someone who had made a very
(17:45):
bad mistake due to inexperienceand youth.
Here's these pieces of shit,murdering this kid when it was
obvious he was new and young andstupid, and if anyone had the
karma to be murdered it was them.
So, anyway, they finished thisassault on him, he gets out
somehow and, as the body wasstill in shock, walks around the
corner, because they were rightnext to the corner.
(18:06):
I didn't see what happened, butI was told, as soon as he got
around the corner, he justdropped dead, which I don't see
any.
I don't even know how the hellhe got up.
We're talking this.
I hit to the head with a bike.
I hit to the head with a metalbat twice, about a good three or
four stabs to the stomach witha butcher knife.
How he even got up, you know,it's a testament to the fact he
(18:28):
was a kid, you know.
And he died around the corner.
And what was ever?
I mean, was this in likenothing?
Daylight, it was daylight, itwas the middle of the day, I
think it was like two in theafternoon, two or three in the
afternoons.
I think we were on likeafternoon break.
If we get like you know, theygive you like some small
(18:49):
afternoon break because you knowthey work you to death at the
salvation army.
Yeah, and knowing, knowing that,they work you to death at the
Salvation Army and knowing thatthey work you to death.
I do think sometimes they giveyou a small afternoon break or
something like that In themiddle of the day.
No, it would never happen.
Let me see if I can answer thatquestion with a question, but
(19:10):
just to myself Hmm, do the copsinvestigate anything that
happens in Skid Row?
No, skid Row exists to be agraveyard.
That's the whole purpose of SkidRow.
The whole purpose of Skid Rowis we will give you this square
(19:32):
mile section and you die there.
The whole purpose of Skid Rowis we will give you this square
mile section and you die there.
You do not come to theHollywood Hills.
You do not come to whateverpart of LA that actually has
human beings in it.
You do not go anywhere.
We will give you tents.
We will set up five differentmissions.
There's like five fuckinghomeless shelters in one square
(19:54):
block.
We will have people from allsorts of churches and mosques
and synagogues come and feed youevery night.
We will set up fourporta-potties on every damn
corner and we will not botheryou.
You live here, you get highhere, you die here.
(20:14):
We will eventually send someoneto pick up your body.
Other than that, this is yourgraveyard.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
It's like a controlled anarchy, like a
little anarchy no.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Not controlled.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Contained Contained anarchy no not controlled,
contained, contained anarchy.
Nobody has control and nobodywants control.
It's just a giant black hole ofchaos that, from the sound of
it, nobody escapes.
As he said, you go there to die, sometimes by your own doing
(20:55):
and, like in this case,sometimes by another.
Malachi continued his rantabout Skid Row for a moment
longer, and then I asked himafter watching that boy's murder
, knowing what and how ithappened, boy's murder, knowing
(21:15):
what and how it happened andseeing just how depraved the
streets of Skid Row can get, howdid that make you feel?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
I think the only thing that really affected me
was that dichotomy was thinkingto myself you're the wrong ones,
like you don't have the rightto do this to someone, because
look at you Like if he had donethat to them I would have felt
some human empathy, like, damn,that's fucked up, they died.
You know what I mean.
(21:42):
But I kind of would have beenlike, yeah, they probably, you
know their life caught up tothem.
Like I could have processed itmore, like, oh, that's caught up
to them.
Like I could have processed itmore like, ah, that's fucked up
to get murdered in youraddiction.
They probably crossed the line.
You know I would have felt somehuman empathy, but it would
have been like, eh, you know, atthis point, who knows what the
fuck they did, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
But with them being the ones it was more like,
really seriously, you actuallythink you have the right to do
that to him Did it affect youmore, because you felt like
there was hope for him still,because he was young, because he
was new.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Yeah, that's the other side of the dichotomy
which, you're right, I didn'tfocus, I didn't talk about.
But yeah, the fact that he wasyoung, the fact that he did have
milk, it felt like that, reallyfelt like a waste, and thank
you for directing me there.
If it had been them, itwouldn't have felt as much of a
waste.
I mean any life.
Anyone is capable of redemption.
(22:43):
Even the filthiest nastiest,whatever Jesus is real.
There is some capability ofhuman redemption.
I mean, I'm not Even if yourape and murder children, you
need to be in jail for the restof your life.
But if you want to go to churchand jail and if you want to
(23:05):
maybe try to help other childmolesters get better before they
get out like dude, they'regoing to release you in five
years.
Let me help you not to do thisshit again.
You know what I mean.
Like everybody's capable ofsome level of redemption Doesn't
mean you need to be free.
It just means that, in thegrand scheme of things, every
human being, every human being,is capable of some level of
(23:27):
redemption, with them being thevictim.
It's a little.
It's a little more like it hadthey've been the ones murdered.
It's more like, yeah, you'recapable for redemption, but like
we get it, you know, like youprobably had 50.
Damn, you don't feel as sorryfor them.
You're kind of like it wouldhave been nice for you to get
the shit together but you didn't.
(23:48):
And we kind of get it, but forhim it's like dude, it's like
he's got his whole fucking lifeahead of him.
How many people go out here, gethigh for a few years and then
they're just like, yeah, thatshit was stupid.
You know.
I mean like, oh, we're doingthat, like, wow, I almost threw
my whole life away.
They always talk about theaddict who's been the addict for
20 years and finally got theirlife, but they don't really
(24:10):
really talk about the personwho's an addict for like a year,
who was, who was partying forlike a year.
A lot of times that you, youknow, if you really really
listen, you'll hear people say,oh, in my 20s, you know in my
20s, and then they'll be like,but then I grew up, he could
have been one of those.
In my 20s I was kind of wild.
You hear that a lot.
They don't tell you what wildmeans.
(24:32):
What wild means they weregetting high, they were fucking
everybody, they were getting inthe fight wild means why?
it's your youthful indiscretionyou get that youthful
indiscretion period and andpeople don't always get into
details what wild means butthat's what it means.
They were smoking crack orfucking people in the bathroom
or beating up people that theyhad no right to beat up.
(24:54):
You were stupid, you were young.
Does it mean you had to die?
You're 50, still doing thatshit?
Then it's kind of like you'rewrong.
You're like you already knowthe consequences at 50.
Like it's a little harder tofeel sorry for you.
(25:20):
Yeah, like you said, your yourlife caught up to you.
Yeah, at some point right up toyou.
But at 20, come on.
So, yeah, there was that.
It just felt like anunnecessary waste, like, and it
was an unnecessary waste by theones who had no right to take.
If it was another 20 year old,it would have made more sense.
Like they were both 20, theywere both stupid.
One of them paid a bigger pricethan he should have.
You could understand it, youcould go.
Oh, that's kind of the risk youtake, because 20-year-olds are
(25:42):
stupid.
If he kills you, he's stupid.
But at 50, come on, man, thiskid was young enough to be your
son.
He could have been your son andyou're out here murdering him
on the streets because he didsomething stupid.
Like, really, part of whatreally pissed me off is that,
like, even in the darkness thereare elders.
(26:07):
Even in the darkness, there aresome who are just like, yeah,
yeah, you don't need to go thatroute, I'm already here, this is
my life, this is who I am forthe foreseeable future, if not
the rest of my life.
Right, we see it in movies allthe time.
They always do some old bum orsome broken down athlete or some
(26:32):
person whose life is alreadyfucked, and they'll look at a
younger person and go yeah, youdon't need to go this route, let
me.
Let me teach you a better run.
You don't need to end up likeme.
They don't murder them.
That's what pissed me off.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
After listening to Malachi explain his perspective
on the addict community and thedifferences between the young
ones and the elders, as hecalled them, I actually found
myself intrigued by the manhimself.
I don't think I would have everexpected a long-term drug
addict who still struggles tothis day to be so reflective and
insightful.
(27:11):
He said that anyone is capableof redemption.
Now, was he referring to theyoung boy that was murdered,
that should have been given asecond chance?
Or maybe was he referring tohimself?
The elders he spoke of the onesthat exist even in the darkness
(27:34):
, the ones who seem to havepassed the point of no return in
their own lives, but aresomehow self-delegated to be the
protectors of the young oneswho don't quite know yet the
rabbit hole they are about tojump all the way into.
Does Malachi see himself as oneof those elders?
Now?
At what point does a personcross that line between having a
(27:57):
chance and giving a chance?
I had so many questions.
The more we talked, the moreMalachi went on to other stories
and gave his detaileddistillations of life and its
meaning, and the clearer itbecame.
This wasn't going to be onlyone episode, and this wasn't
(28:17):
going to be about just onemurder on the next episode of
murdering malachi male strippers.
Redemption, russian philosophyand one crazy demon lady, did
(28:40):
you hear that?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
I hear something.
Did you hear that god the devilwoman's back?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
The demon found me.
You're not going to want tomiss this one.
The Redacted Podcast isproduced by myself, matt Bender,
and my wife, pamela Bender.
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