Introducing - Sword and Scale Nightmares

Introducing Sword and Scale Nightmares! True Crime for Bedtime. Your nightmare begins now...The first three episodes will drop on 3.2.23 at 3:23pm EDT. In the meantime, please take a moment to subscribe on your preferred podcast listening platform...
SUBSCRIBE NOW: https://link.chtbl.com/sasnightmaresApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sword-and-scale-nightmares/id1657802345Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/08GhRV98AIgR0st3oUQRpaiHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-sword-and-scale-nightmares-109465564/Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL3N3b3JkLWFuZC1zY2FsZS1uaWdodG1hcmVzAmazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/094b065e-48ef-48ff-ba18-02c6d106d403/sword-and-scale-nightmaresAudible: https://www.audible.com/pd/ITEM_NAME-Podcast/B0BWP1PC94Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/id5326540Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/sword-and-scale-nightmares/PC:1001058998Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/sword-and-scale-nightmaresPocket Casts: https://pca.st/8pl80b4fRadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/sword-and-scale-nightmares-8QwEVPPodBean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/ikr6g-2a4841/Sword-and-Scale-Nightmares-PodcastPodcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/4290345Castro: https://castro.fm/podcast/935d7ee3-514a-4b2f-997a-dbd0ee1f48f4PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/sword-and-scale-nightmaresDeezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/5766517

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, folks, I'm very,very excited today to share with you a
preview to our new show called Swordand Scale Nightmares. We've been working on
this show behind the scenes since lastyear, and we think you're really going
to like it. One of thewonderful things about Sword and Scale that really
set us apart early on was theuse of audio clips such as interrogation audio

(00:26):
and trial testimony, which adds alevel of immersion to the story that feels
like you're watching a well produced TVdocumentary. But not every story lends itself
well to this format, and sometimesthe clips simply don't exist. Not to
mention, we've heard directly from youover the years. We've heard what you

(00:50):
like and what you don't like,and that you all don't like the same
things necessarily, So we've gone backto the drawing board and reimagined how to
tell these stories in a refreshing newway for this new series. That means
no clips, no jump scares,no loud techno music, and no unsolicited,

(01:15):
unnecessary opinions from that over opinionated narratorWhat an ass that guy is.
The result is what we're calling truecrime for bedtime, i e. Bedtime
Stories. For adults. Now,we've tried something like this before. You
might remember Monstro, but let's faceit, the feeling, the vibe wasn't

(01:40):
quite right. But I think we'vefinally nailed it though. And if you
like Sword and Scale, you'll mostlikely enjoy Sword and Scale Nightmares. You
might even like it more. Bythe same token, if you don't like
Sword and Scale for all the reasonsI just stated, then maybe you'll still
enjoy then you show. Now,in order for this show to be a

(02:01):
success, we need your help,so I'm going to ask you for a
favor. If you're listening to thisright now, please take a moment and
head on over to Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or your preferred podcast listening platform
and subscribe to Sword and Scale Nightmaresright now. It really is going to

(02:23):
make a world of difference if youdo. And just so you know,
Nightmares will eventually be part of Swordand Scale Plus, but for now,
we're only going to be releasing itas a freely distributed podcast on all major
podcast platforms. The response we getwill allow us to see if you guys

(02:44):
like it or not and whether it'sworth continuing. So thank you in advance
and without further ado. Here's apreview to Sword and Scale Nightmares Sweet Dreams.

(03:15):
Saint John's, Arizona is a tinylittle town in Apache County with just
over three thousand residents. It's alittle blip on the map north of the
Apache National Forest. The town's mottois the Town of Friendly Neighbors and quite
literally, everyone knows everyone. OnNovember fifth, two thousand and eight,

(03:39):
Debbie Nickel was celebrating she'd just beenpromoted to detective at the Saint John's Police
Department the day prior. This washer second year in the department, which
in the line of police work,is not very long at all. Given
that her new title was so fresh, Debbie was understandably nervous about the responsibilities

(04:03):
it entailed. Before her promotion,Debbie worked as a school resource officer,
so the types of situations she dealtwith involved scuffles between kids. Now her
job would be to respond to realcrime scenes. She knew she had entered
the big leagues, and she wasabout to get a taste of how gruesome

(04:28):
reality can get. On this particularWednesday, a little after five pm,
someone called the police department to reporthearing shots fired and then seeing something strange
on someone's front porch. It lookedlike a dead body. Now, this
was only a few days after Halloween, so Debbie and her partner, Sergeant

(04:51):
Lucas Rodriguez, weren't totally convinced thiscall would even amount to anything. But
they strapped up their bulletproof vests andjumped in their cruiser, Debbie in the
passenger seat and Sergeant Rodriguez driving.So as they're driving, their lights flashing

(05:13):
through the streets of this quiet town, Debbie's looking out the window waiting for
the house to emerge. She's alittle nervous, but you know, how
bad could it be. This wasprobably just a leftover scarecrow that had gotten
blown over by the harsh winds thatthey'd had over the last few days.
Nothing to worry about. On thecorner of fifteenth Place West and seventh North,

(05:40):
they see the house. It's ablue, two story single family home
sitting close to the street. It'sgot a little front yard and a truck
parked partially up onto a small graveldriveway. As the police cruiser pulls closer,
Debbie sees what the caller was referringto. Even from that distance,

(06:04):
she could tell This was not apiece of decor. This looks real.
She squints her eyes and realizes thatthe lump on the porch is in fact,
a dark complexed male wearing a heavyCarhart jacket, lying face down.

(06:28):
They see someone else, too,a frightened little boy standing outside the home,
waiting for law enforcement to arrive andhelp him. Debbie quickly realizes that
she recognizes this child living in theneighborhood herself. She knew him as the
happy child who jumped on the trampolinewith his cousins and always yelled have a

(06:51):
good day, missus Nicholl when sheleft for work. This kid was Vincent
Romero's son. He's standing alongside anadult man and a teenage boy. They
seem to be hovering over him inkind of a protective way. Debbie looks
at Rodriguez as they're sitting on thestreet in front of the house. They're

(07:14):
both wide eyed because they're realizing thismight not be such an easy call after
all. Rodriguez opens his door first, telling Debbie to stay behind while he
sesses the victim and scopes the area. Debbie stays in the passenger seat,
looking out the window. She's gettingprogressively more and more nervous. Now her

(07:39):
partner is in this house with areal dead body on the front porch,
and now she's thinking about what elsemight be inside. For all they knew,
the murderer could still be hiding inthe closet. Pretty soon after that,
Debbie hears shouts coming from the house. She opens her door and starts

(08:03):
towards the porch, noticing blood dropletson the sidewalk. As she makes her
way forward, Rodriguez pushes the screendoor from the front of the house,
opening it from the inside, beingcareful to avoid this dead man lying on
the door's path. Debbie sees herpartner's face and knows it's bad. Rodriguez

(08:28):
yells out to her, informing herof another dead body on the stairway to
the second floor. Both men hadbeen shot to death with a twenty two
caliber weapon, one of which wasa familiar neighbor, Vincent Romero, the
little boy's father. Both bodies werestill warm. While Rodriguez secured the area,

(08:54):
Debbie went around the neighborhood asking ifanyone had seen or heard anything.
At this point, more officers werearriving on scene, so they split up
across the neighborhood and started knocking ondoors. The people who lived in the
house right across the street confirmed thatthey heard several shots right around five pm.

(09:16):
Throughout this long night of witness interviews, police summarized that the two men
were twenty nine year old Vincent Romeroand his friend, thirty nine year old
Timothy Romans. They also learned thatVincent and tim were not only friends,
but co workers and part time roommates. The two worked for SRP or Salt

(09:41):
River Project, a power company inArizona. Vincent and his wife owned the
house and allowed Timothy to rent aroom so that he could be closer to
work during the week. The littleboy who was found standing in the front
yard when Debbie and her partner arrivedon was eight year old Christian Romero.

(10:03):
He had run to a neighbor forhelp and they called nine one one and
stayed to wait with them. SoDebbie is just shocked that such a crazy
tragedy could strike her tiny little neighborhood. She feels bad for this poor child,
this kid who's just lost his father, so she has to find out

(10:26):
if he saw or heard anything.She sits down next to the kid and
says, okay, just tell usfrom the beginning. Christian starts to explain
that his step mom isn't home onMondays and Wednesdays. She works until five,
and so he got off the schoolbus and walked around the neighborhood for

(10:48):
a while waiting for her to gethome. When five o'clock came and went,
he figured he'd make his way backto the house. He says that
as he approached, he saw atruck parked out front and started to call
out, Tim, are you home. Then Christian tells them about the car
that went past him as he approachedthe home. He says it seemed it

(11:11):
could have been leaving his family's house. He describes the car. It's a
white car with no hubcaps on theback. So the police are like,
we got to send out a boloimmediately, meaning be on the lookout for
this vehicle. Christian goes on totell them that when he got to the

(11:31):
front porch, he saw Tim lyingface down. There was a lot of
blood and even bits of brain.The little boy continues, explaining that once
he saw Tim's body, he startedto yell for his father, Vincent,
but got no response. He sayshe carefully opened the front door and went

(11:54):
inside, still calling for his dad, and then he saw him lying motionless
on the stairway. At this point, Debbie's thinking, Holy Moley, Thank
goodness, this child didn't get homejust a few hours earlier. He could

(12:15):
have been killed two. Debbie knewthey'd have to get Christian in for a
forensic interview in the morning. First, they'd have to deal with Tanya Romans,
Tim's wife. Tanya lived far enoughfrom the power plant that it made
more sense for Tim to stay withhis friend during the week. Tanya,

(12:39):
though far away from the crime scene, had some information about the previous day
that Debbi hoped would shed light onwhy two people had suddenly been murdered.
Please head on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform

(13:03):
and subscribe. Sword in Scale Nightmareswill launch its first three episodes on March
second, at three twenty three Easterndaylight savings. Thank you, and goodnight.