March 27, 2023 • 22 mins
This week’s hometowns include jury duty for a notorious criminal’s trial and an amnesia story.
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Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hello, Hello, and welcome to my favorite Murder the minisode.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
That's right, that's Karen Kilgariff. We don't do this, right, No,
we don't know. I'm Georgia. What's up?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Yeah? Hey, what's up? I'm Karen.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's none of your business who I am. You're just
gonna Listmoothie's emails. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Why don't we do that on this I don't know,
because it's more casual, right, I.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Guess this is the teacher's lounge of the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I love that, right, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
You want to go first in the teacher's lounge. We
smoke in here. We smoke in here, right.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
I'm really starting to enjoy how much like the feedback
emails that we're getting after we tell a story, people
are like, hey, that was my dad or whatever, and
so this is one of those. The subject line is
terrifying amnesia story and it says MFM crew. In this
week's episode, Karen mentioned that Donald Boardman's sister suffered amnesia
(01:16):
after learning about the identification of.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Her brother's body.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
That's a very sad story of a man who was missing.
I think it was over thirty years and they finally
identified to John Doe, and when his sister got the news,
she immediately had amnesia. If you haven't heard so immediately,
I thought, they need to know my story. Yes, so
Donald's sister, I suspect, experienced a case of a very
(01:43):
rare type of amnesia called trangent global amnesia. It involves
the temporary loss of all memory from up to the
past year, and can be brought on by strenuous exercise,
sexual intercourse. And then there's three question marks or sudden
emotional distress. Oh yeah, I never heard of that, but
(02:03):
it's not surprising really. So cut to me and my
seventy year old dad cycling up a hill. We were
on a disgustingly idyllic holiday in the south of France
and had decided to leave the rest of the family
at the house and cycle to the nearby hilltop town.
I reached the top and waited for Dad. When he
finally reached me, we were both exhausted and out of breath,
but happy. Suddenly he stopped panting and calmly said, hang on,
(02:27):
where are we? I told him the name of the
tiny French town, and he stared at me, clueless in provence,
I said, and he stared at me again, clueless.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Again.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
We're on holiday in France, Dad, come on, I said, again,
starting to lose my patience.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
But it was no use.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I sat him down at a cafe and asked him
a bunch of questions to figure out what was going on.
It turned out he didn't remember anything from the past
ten months. That sounds terrifying, so scared, and he's not like,
doesn't seem to be terrified. He's just like, yeah, I
know what's going on. So he doesn't remember anything from
the past ten months, my graduation, my sister's wedding, or
(03:06):
even the name of his new son in law. In
a moment of panic, I ordered him a mass of beer,
but then decided he should probably be drinking water instead. Yes,
these are our instincts. The strangest part about it is
that he seemed insanely chill. While I was freaking out
that we had no phones, understood zero French, and were
clearly experiencing a medical emergency, he was just sitting there,
(03:29):
cool as a cucumber, stroking some straight dog. It was like,
out of nowhere, he just forgot how to be anxious,
something I've been trying to do every day.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
For the last thirty years.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
With the help of some locals, we got him to
the nearest hospital and his memory slowly returned over the
next twenty four hours with no lasting issues. But to
this day it's the scariest experience of my life. The
French doctor says, it's a built in defence mechanism to
save the brain when experiencing emotional or physical trauma. He
had seen it happen and once before to a lady
(04:01):
who had caught her husband cheating and suddenly had no
idea where she was or who the guy was in
front of her. Anyway, stay sexy and don't give alcohol
to people experiencing brain malfunctions, Richard, and then listen to this.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
PS. Okay, you're like this. PS.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
My husband Peter directed episode three of The Last of
Us The Gay Nick Offerman one. We're both day one listeners,
and to hear Karen praising his work has been a
real defining moment in his career. Thank you for the love.
Oh my god, But we we thought we liked you
(04:39):
for that, and you were saying you liked us.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
What I not? Got it? Wow? Exciting? Right, that's crazy,
that's great. Yay, thank you Richard, I'm so honored.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Okay, this is called Titanic family ghostish story. M M Hello,
MFM family Pets, Stephen at all you asked, and boy,
do I have a Titanic slash family slash ghost story
for you. I am named after my family members, Jan
Marion and Jack Thayer, who sailed on the Titanic in
(05:10):
nineteen twelve. My parents considered making Fayer my first name,
and I often asked him if they were crazy when
they decided to go with Hannah instead.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I mean, it really is a cool name.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Now, I know you and all of the MFM listeners
know the story of the Titanic, so for the purposes
of my story, all you need to know is that
Jack and John were separated from Marion when the boat
started sinking.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
As a woman, Marian.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Made it to the lifeboat, but the men, like all
the others aboard, surrendered themselves to the inevitable faith that
they would be going.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Down with the ship. Oh so scary.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
However, at the very last second, knowing he was in
good shape and that he had nothing to lose, Jack
jumped off the side of the vessel. In his autobiography,
which has been touted as the most accurate recount of
the sinking of the Titanic.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Ooh and I don't have in the name.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Of itscribes how he was sectioned under the icy waves
and swam for his life until he was pulled the
top of an overturned lifeboat. Oh later, Jack and Marion,
where you were united, But tragically they never saw John again.
Now Here is where the ghost, I think we can
call it that story comes into play. My fourth grade
(06:18):
class took a field trip to a pop up Titanic
exhibition at the Smithsonian. Part of the experience was that
every guest received a mock boarding pass that had a name, bio,
and survival status of one of the members of the ship.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
No, no close hold on Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
To my utter shock, whose boarding pass did I receive?
Marion Thayer, That's what I thought.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
That's all you did. Insane? Yeah, fucking crazy. It's insane.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Nearly twenty years later, and I still don't know what
to make of this insane happenstance.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Is it a true ghost story? Maybe not.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
But more than anything, it stands as a reminder that
family will find a way to say ohoy, even from beyond.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I hope to one day pass the.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
First named Fayer to one of my children, and we'll
continue to tell this story to all who will listen.
Thank you both for all you do and for sharing
Titanic stories on your episode. They bring me immense joy
when I hear them and make me feel further connected
to my family.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Stay sexy, and don't freak.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Out when your great great aunt contacts you from beyond.
Hannah Thayer she.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Her, Wow, Hannah, that is that's like your glitch in
the matrix.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
That's totally a glitch. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I mean she just hit on several requested stories, and
that one is like, what are the I guess it's
one in five thousand or however many people were on
that shit. Yeah, why sane, wild, so cool. The subject
line of this is junk Yard Trasure, and it says
(07:49):
hello all. A few episodes ago, or maybe a minisote
I can't remember, y'all talked about junk yards and all
the weird things found in them. So I had to
write because my dad worked in a scrap metal yard
for most of my childhood, and let me tell you,
it was spectaculars I could tell you about all the
brass animals that belonged to a Noah's Arc set that
(08:09):
he brought home, the many brass band instruments, dangerous stuff
like bear traps, and yep, you guess, dad guns. But
today's episode is about the dead body in the railcar.
I'd gone with my dad to work on a Saturday morning,
and we were the first ones there. Dad was always
wary of the yard because when the rail cars came
(08:30):
to deliver scrap metal sometimes there were unsavory characters aboard.
My dad always carried a pistol for self defense, and besides,
it was Texas in the seventies, so it was perfectly normal.
On this particular morning, I was instructed to wait in
the office so he could make sure all was well.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It wasn't.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
From the office window, I saw my dad go into
one of the cars, abruptly come out, pug all over
the ground, and then run to the office.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
God.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
He called the police and told them he had a
dead guy in the railcar. Apparently this poor guy had
and beaten beyond recognition. The cops were very serious and
even took a statement from me at eight or nine
years old, specifically about what time we got there and
what I saw. I figure they were trying to decide
if my dad was a suspect. I don't know whatever
(09:14):
happened or if the crime was ever solved. After the
police left, Dad took me to Dairy Queen for a
burger and ice cream, because you know, food therapy. We
didn't talk much about what had happened.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Anyway. My dad was the best and I love them
very much. Hug your parents.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
They don't live forever a SSDGM Tanya, Oh.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Can you imagine the site that had to make a
grown up who's probably seen some shit barf Like, that's.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
A site and the kind of like the innocence where
like you're in the office, probably drawing on a piece
of paper or something, and you kind of look up
waiting for the all clear, yeah, and it's not. And
that's those kind of very real moments that just happened
as you grow up where it's like whoa, this is
big totally.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And no one knows what to do, so you go
get a hamburger. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Ice cream should be involved in any trauma.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Dairy Queen is.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
The first stand of every trauma. Okay, this one's called
maybe a new Topic for minisodes, which we always love
Hey ladies. I don't think I've ever heard a minisode
about jury duty stories.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
And I feel like that could be fun. Perfect, Yes. Great.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
The year was twenty thirteen and I had just graduated
dental hygiene school in Boston. I had moved back in
with my parents in the suburbs and had just gotten
my first dental job at a terrible dental chain, working
fifty plus hours a week. One day, I came home
to a bright orange letter in the nail, summoning me
in for jury duty. I noticed it had requested my
presence in Boston, but I was living in Oh Fuck.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I hate this word, or Jester, how do you say it?
Wooster Booster? That's its county.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
That town name is the ultimates say it like you
spell it like it's would dick.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
A couple mondays later, I hopped on an early train,
took into Boston and was ushered into the Federal Courthouse. Now,
when I was in college, me and my girlfriends would
call ourselves the back row crew because in every class,
no matter what the size, we would always sit in
the back together. So as I was being ushered into
the room, I started heading to my usual seat in
the back. The court officer stopped me and pointed to
(11:29):
a seat in the front row and told me to
sit and start filing out my questionneer packet. As the
room slowly filled in behind me, we were told to
rise as the judge entered the courtroom. Then we were
all seated as an old man in an orange jumpsuit,
handcuffs and a guard on either side of him came
in and stood directly across from me. Ah, what did
this little old man do? I thought to myself. Then
(11:52):
the judge announced, this is the case of James J.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Bulger. Bulger. Oh Bulger, Why do I know that name?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Then it hit me, Whitey fucking Bulger.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Was standing directly across from me.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Oh man, Yeah, if you don't know, he's like the
biggest mob dude in the East Coast. Essentially, he's essentially
just like a professional murderer.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, who was on the run for a long time.
Yeah huh.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
My eyes widened and I scanned the room, waiting for
someone I could lock eyes with and exchange the what
the fuck look? But everyone seemed surprisingly calm for standing
in the same room as the guy who was the
most infamous crime boss in Boston or maybe even America.
The judge told us they would be looking over our
questionnaires and to specify if there was anything we had
that would be biased to the case. We had to
(12:40):
look through multiple witnesses and police officer names, making sure
we had no connections. I did write that my uncle
was a state trooper slash detective at one point in Boston,
but his name was not on the list. As I
was filling it out, I couldn't tell if I wanted
to be a jur or to stay as far away
as I could.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Did he still have.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Connections to people who could help me down and threaten
my family If I didn't vote not guilty. Probably could
I make it big and write a book about from
being front road to this highly anticipated trial.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I was torn.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I walked right in front of Whitey and handed in
my packet When I was done. The judge told us
a few things before we left. One, they would have
more potential jurors coming in every day for the rest
of the week. Two, we had a specific number every
night to see if we had been cut or if
we were still a potential durer. And three, we were
not to discuss the case with anyone I called every
night that week, and finally, on the last night I
(13:32):
was cut. I was relieved, upset, happy, pissed. I still
can't tell how I feel about it to this day.
Maybe writing down that my uncle was a state trooper
got me cut, or maybe me being a hygienist and
his girlfriend being one made me get the chop. Oh interesting,
But after that week, I think I have seen every
documentary or slash movie and have checked out every book
(13:53):
on him using my mom's library card because I thought
I could somehow get traced back to him.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So you're throwing your mom into the.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Anyways, stay sexy and always sit in the back row. Chandler,
She her, and then it says I was born before friends.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
She just don't say that every time. Yeah, I feel
like and I absolutely could be wrong. The first thing
that pops into my mind is that I think Whitey
Bulger turned on the other Mafia guys. Or am I
thinking of Yeah, I thought he turned and so that's
why he was on the run. If I'm yeah, if
I'm right, She I'm just saying, I don't know if
(14:31):
Chandler would be at risk, Yeah, because right, you wouldn't
have those same connections.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
But so jury stories and Whitey Bolger stories is what
we need. I'm sure everyone in Boston has one, right absolutely, or.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
We can actually expand out to mafia stories. Love mafia stories,
Karen's favorite topic.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I'm not going to read you the subject line. It
just starts, Hey, y'all, let's do this. The year two
thousand and six. Time of day, late after at night.
Mental state nah sobriety level one hundred percent. And this
is important to note. After hanging out with friends at
a party, I finally decided to call it a night
and go home. At around twelve thirty am, I pulled
(15:14):
into the driveway of the home I shared with my
dad when I noticed a huge, furry, dark brown black
animal laying in our driveway next to where I park.
Not knowing what else to do, and also having nowhere
else to park, I sorry, I slowly pulled.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
My car up next to do love that this is
my parking space.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Like it's like just like the inflexibility of like, well,
I have nowhere else to park, so I guess I'll
pull up next to the monster. I sat in my
car staring at this beast at what felt like forever.
It wasn't moving, but there was no way in hell
my ass was getting out of the car to investigate.
I did what many single a single girl does in
her time of need.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I called my dad.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
As soon as he answered, all of my fear caught
up with me and I burst into tears. Dad, there's
a bear in the driveway next to my car, please help.
There was a silent pause in his end, followed by
a long typical dad's side Alison. He said, I have
told you time and time again that you are not
to do any drugs or get drunk while you live
(16:22):
in my house. He started to continue his dad lecture,
but I interrupted, swearing up and down that I was
sober as a newborn and there was for real a
bear in the driveway. I think the tone of my
voice and the level of crying finally clued him in
that there was in fact something wrong. What happened next
is one of my favorite memories of my dad. So
(16:43):
my dad likes to sleep only in his underwear tidy whities.
To be exact, this thought did not cross my mind
when I called him. But next thing I know, my
dad has thrown the front door open and he's standing
on the porch in his tidy whities, old tattered robe
thrown on but left open of course, loaded shotgun in
his hand, with the lights from the inside of the
(17:04):
house illuminating him in a way that only a movie
could replicate.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
My Dad, my superhero, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
He slowly made his way down and over to the animal,
while I still sat in my car, crying and pleading
for him to be careful. He poked the animal a
few times before I noticed he was laughing and shaking
his head. He motioned for me to get out of
the car, but I refused and instead cracked the window
to ask what was so funny. It's not a bear,
he said, it's a bore. I'd never seen a boar
(17:36):
in real life, but holy shit, they can get big.
I finally got out of my card came over, still
shaken up, looking at the boar. Just left us with
more questions and no answers. Its back feet had been
tied up, so we deduced that someone had killed it
elsewhere and then put it in our driveway for some reason. Yeah,
we had no idea what to do, so we called
(17:57):
the police. They were basically useless, said they couldn't do anything,
and that we could call animal control the following morning
and they would come pick it up. They did ask
us to take pictures of them with the boar, though,
so that happened anyway. The following week I learned that
this had happened to multiple homes around my city.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
What is this a mafia story too? It's a real threat.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, A local neighborhood had been having issues with boors
and had hired people to get rid of them. And
apparently those guys thought it would be hilarious to go
dump the dead boar bodies in different people's yards. Not
my idea of funny, but what do I know? Stay
sexy and don't let your dad sleep and only tidy whities.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Alison, she her, Oh, I was hoping it was a
stray dog, and they got like a live straight dog,
and I adopted it.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
You know, You know that one was tough because the
idea that the boar was dead is really a nasty turn.
And you know, as we all love animals so much, yes,
I do love the kind of like she just basically
hold herself up into a terrible situation and then just
was like, dad, you.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I can't do something? Yeah, No, that's a good point. Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
My last one is called my friend did a money booth?
Remember we were just talking about money booth?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yes, Hello, My loves Hello.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
In today's episode three two twenty twenty three, Karen and
Georgia talked about how they love to be in one
of those game show money booths where the wind currents
whip bills around and a contestant who tries to grab
them out of the air. My friend gotta do this.
It's the early nineteen nineties. We are newly minted twenty
one year olds ready to booze and sleaze it up.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
As much as we can.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, so we take a day trip to a then
new casino in a small Colorado mountain town that was
meant to revitalize the town's economy. Aj my friend and
star of the money booth, is one of the best
people I know. He is open to all experiences and
is a kind, thoughtful, and hilarious person with entergy that
seems to bring out the best in people. Maybe that's
(20:03):
why only ten minutes after he saw the money booth
and said, man, I want to go in that, his
name was called over the loudspeaker to get his ass
over to the booth, and then it says, I guess
we put our names in a hat or something, that
part of the story is lost to bloody Mary's nice.
Turns out the booth is a lot harder than it looks,
and he wasn't too successful. But I'll never forget the
sight of young AJ bills plastered to his face by
(20:25):
the wind, laughing and grasping at the air.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
There's no way to look classy.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
No, you're just like greedy and en eup, Yeah, you
do a money booth.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
A little crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Nearly thirty years later, we've both found more responsible ways
to make money. I'm a librarian and he's a psychotherapist,
and casinos now feel more predatory than fun. But I
will always cherish that memory of youth, an early summer
day in Colorado and one of my favorite people on
the planet. Stay sexy and take care of your friendships.
They will sustain you. There's no name.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Isn't that sweet?
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Knowing how much we would appreciate a first hand money
booth story, I just I am so grateful for that
understanding of us as people.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Well, thank you so.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Much for sending it yet again, another great batch of
personal stories.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
That you're sharing with us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
We appreciate you opening your heart and your ears and
your home to us.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
And your money boots.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
God, money booths, Stay sexy and don't get murdered.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Goodbye, good Bye Elvis. Do you want a cookie?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
This has been an exactly right production.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Our senior producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Our producer is a Lejandra Khek.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
This episode was engineered and mixed by Stephen Ray Morris.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Our researchers are Maren mcclashan and Sarah Blair Jenkins.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Email your hometowns and fucking horays to my Favorite Murder
at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Follow the show and Instagram and Facebook at my Favorite
Murder and Twitter at my favor Murder Gydbye
Hello, Hello, and welcome to my favorite Murder the minisode.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
That's right, that's Karen Kilgariff. We don't do this, right, No,
we don't know. I'm Georgia. What's up?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Yeah? Hey, what's up? I'm Karen.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's none of your business who I am. You're just
gonna Listmoothie's emails. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Why don't we do that on this I don't know,
because it's more casual, right, I.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Guess this is the teacher's lounge of the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I love that, right, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
You want to go first in the teacher's lounge. We
smoke in here. We smoke in here, right.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
I'm really starting to enjoy how much like the feedback
emails that we're getting after we tell a story, people
are like, hey, that was my dad or whatever, and
so this is one of those. The subject line is
terrifying amnesia story and it says MFM crew. In this
week's episode, Karen mentioned that Donald Boardman's sister suffered amnesia
(01:16):
after learning about the identification of.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Her brother's body.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
That's a very sad story of a man who was missing.
I think it was over thirty years and they finally
identified to John Doe, and when his sister got the news,
she immediately had amnesia. If you haven't heard so immediately,
I thought, they need to know my story. Yes, so
Donald's sister, I suspect, experienced a case of a very
(01:43):
rare type of amnesia called trangent global amnesia. It involves
the temporary loss of all memory from up to the
past year, and can be brought on by strenuous exercise,
sexual intercourse. And then there's three question marks or sudden
emotional distress. Oh yeah, I never heard of that, but
(02:03):
it's not surprising really. So cut to me and my
seventy year old dad cycling up a hill. We were
on a disgustingly idyllic holiday in the south of France
and had decided to leave the rest of the family
at the house and cycle to the nearby hilltop town.
I reached the top and waited for Dad. When he
finally reached me, we were both exhausted and out of breath,
but happy. Suddenly he stopped panting and calmly said, hang on,
(02:27):
where are we? I told him the name of the
tiny French town, and he stared at me, clueless in provence,
I said, and he stared at me again, clueless.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Again.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
We're on holiday in France, Dad, come on, I said, again,
starting to lose my patience.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
But it was no use.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I sat him down at a cafe and asked him
a bunch of questions to figure out what was going on.
It turned out he didn't remember anything from the past
ten months. That sounds terrifying, so scared, and he's not like,
doesn't seem to be terrified. He's just like, yeah, I
know what's going on. So he doesn't remember anything from
the past ten months, my graduation, my sister's wedding, or
(03:06):
even the name of his new son in law. In
a moment of panic, I ordered him a mass of beer,
but then decided he should probably be drinking water instead. Yes,
these are our instincts. The strangest part about it is
that he seemed insanely chill. While I was freaking out
that we had no phones, understood zero French, and were
clearly experiencing a medical emergency, he was just sitting there,
(03:29):
cool as a cucumber, stroking some straight dog. It was like,
out of nowhere, he just forgot how to be anxious,
something I've been trying to do every day.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
For the last thirty years.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
With the help of some locals, we got him to
the nearest hospital and his memory slowly returned over the
next twenty four hours with no lasting issues. But to
this day it's the scariest experience of my life. The
French doctor says, it's a built in defence mechanism to
save the brain when experiencing emotional or physical trauma. He
had seen it happen and once before to a lady
(04:01):
who had caught her husband cheating and suddenly had no
idea where she was or who the guy was in
front of her. Anyway, stay sexy and don't give alcohol
to people experiencing brain malfunctions, Richard, and then listen to this.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
PS. Okay, you're like this. PS.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
My husband Peter directed episode three of The Last of
Us The Gay Nick Offerman one. We're both day one listeners,
and to hear Karen praising his work has been a
real defining moment in his career. Thank you for the love.
Oh my god, But we we thought we liked you
(04:39):
for that, and you were saying you liked us.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
What I not? Got it? Wow? Exciting? Right, that's crazy,
that's great. Yay, thank you Richard, I'm so honored.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Okay, this is called Titanic family ghostish story. M M Hello,
MFM family Pets, Stephen at all you asked, and boy,
do I have a Titanic slash family slash ghost story
for you. I am named after my family members, Jan
Marion and Jack Thayer, who sailed on the Titanic in
(05:10):
nineteen twelve. My parents considered making Fayer my first name,
and I often asked him if they were crazy when
they decided to go with Hannah instead.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I mean, it really is a cool name.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Now, I know you and all of the MFM listeners
know the story of the Titanic, so for the purposes
of my story, all you need to know is that
Jack and John were separated from Marion when the boat
started sinking.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
As a woman, Marian.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Made it to the lifeboat, but the men, like all
the others aboard, surrendered themselves to the inevitable faith that
they would be going.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Down with the ship. Oh so scary.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
However, at the very last second, knowing he was in
good shape and that he had nothing to lose, Jack
jumped off the side of the vessel. In his autobiography,
which has been touted as the most accurate recount of
the sinking of the Titanic.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Ooh and I don't have in the name.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Of itscribes how he was sectioned under the icy waves
and swam for his life until he was pulled the
top of an overturned lifeboat. Oh later, Jack and Marion,
where you were united, But tragically they never saw John again.
Now Here is where the ghost, I think we can
call it that story comes into play. My fourth grade
(06:18):
class took a field trip to a pop up Titanic
exhibition at the Smithsonian. Part of the experience was that
every guest received a mock boarding pass that had a name, bio,
and survival status of one of the members of the ship.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
No, no close hold on Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
To my utter shock, whose boarding pass did I receive?
Marion Thayer, That's what I thought.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
That's all you did. Insane? Yeah, fucking crazy. It's insane.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Nearly twenty years later, and I still don't know what
to make of this insane happenstance.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Is it a true ghost story? Maybe not.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
But more than anything, it stands as a reminder that
family will find a way to say ohoy, even from beyond.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I hope to one day pass the.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
First named Fayer to one of my children, and we'll
continue to tell this story to all who will listen.
Thank you both for all you do and for sharing
Titanic stories on your episode. They bring me immense joy
when I hear them and make me feel further connected
to my family.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Stay sexy, and don't freak.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Out when your great great aunt contacts you from beyond.
Hannah Thayer she.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Her, Wow, Hannah, that is that's like your glitch in
the matrix.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
That's totally a glitch. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I mean she just hit on several requested stories, and
that one is like, what are the I guess it's
one in five thousand or however many people were on
that shit. Yeah, why sane, wild, so cool. The subject
line of this is junk Yard Trasure, and it says
(07:49):
hello all. A few episodes ago, or maybe a minisote
I can't remember, y'all talked about junk yards and all
the weird things found in them. So I had to
write because my dad worked in a scrap metal yard
for most of my childhood, and let me tell you,
it was spectaculars I could tell you about all the
brass animals that belonged to a Noah's Arc set that
(08:09):
he brought home, the many brass band instruments, dangerous stuff
like bear traps, and yep, you guess, dad guns. But
today's episode is about the dead body in the railcar.
I'd gone with my dad to work on a Saturday morning,
and we were the first ones there. Dad was always
wary of the yard because when the rail cars came
(08:30):
to deliver scrap metal sometimes there were unsavory characters aboard.
My dad always carried a pistol for self defense, and besides,
it was Texas in the seventies, so it was perfectly normal.
On this particular morning, I was instructed to wait in
the office so he could make sure all was well.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It wasn't.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
From the office window, I saw my dad go into
one of the cars, abruptly come out, pug all over
the ground, and then run to the office.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
God.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
He called the police and told them he had a
dead guy in the railcar. Apparently this poor guy had
and beaten beyond recognition. The cops were very serious and
even took a statement from me at eight or nine
years old, specifically about what time we got there and
what I saw. I figure they were trying to decide
if my dad was a suspect. I don't know whatever
(09:14):
happened or if the crime was ever solved. After the
police left, Dad took me to Dairy Queen for a
burger and ice cream, because you know, food therapy. We
didn't talk much about what had happened.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Anyway. My dad was the best and I love them
very much. Hug your parents.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
They don't live forever a SSDGM Tanya, Oh.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Can you imagine the site that had to make a
grown up who's probably seen some shit barf Like, that's.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
A site and the kind of like the innocence where
like you're in the office, probably drawing on a piece
of paper or something, and you kind of look up
waiting for the all clear, yeah, and it's not. And
that's those kind of very real moments that just happened
as you grow up where it's like whoa, this is
big totally.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And no one knows what to do, so you go
get a hamburger. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Ice cream should be involved in any trauma.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Dairy Queen is.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
The first stand of every trauma. Okay, this one's called
maybe a new Topic for minisodes, which we always love
Hey ladies. I don't think I've ever heard a minisode
about jury duty stories.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
And I feel like that could be fun. Perfect, Yes. Great.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
The year was twenty thirteen and I had just graduated
dental hygiene school in Boston. I had moved back in
with my parents in the suburbs and had just gotten
my first dental job at a terrible dental chain, working
fifty plus hours a week. One day, I came home
to a bright orange letter in the nail, summoning me
in for jury duty. I noticed it had requested my
presence in Boston, but I was living in Oh Fuck.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I hate this word, or Jester, how do you say it?
Wooster Booster? That's its county.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
That town name is the ultimates say it like you
spell it like it's would dick.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
A couple mondays later, I hopped on an early train,
took into Boston and was ushered into the Federal Courthouse. Now,
when I was in college, me and my girlfriends would
call ourselves the back row crew because in every class,
no matter what the size, we would always sit in
the back together. So as I was being ushered into
the room, I started heading to my usual seat in
the back. The court officer stopped me and pointed to
(11:29):
a seat in the front row and told me to
sit and start filing out my questionneer packet. As the
room slowly filled in behind me, we were told to
rise as the judge entered the courtroom. Then we were
all seated as an old man in an orange jumpsuit,
handcuffs and a guard on either side of him came
in and stood directly across from me. Ah, what did
this little old man do? I thought to myself. Then
(11:52):
the judge announced, this is the case of James J.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Bulger. Bulger. Oh Bulger, Why do I know that name?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Then it hit me, Whitey fucking Bulger.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Was standing directly across from me.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Oh man, Yeah, if you don't know, he's like the
biggest mob dude in the East Coast. Essentially, he's essentially
just like a professional murderer.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, who was on the run for a long time.
Yeah huh.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
My eyes widened and I scanned the room, waiting for
someone I could lock eyes with and exchange the what
the fuck look? But everyone seemed surprisingly calm for standing
in the same room as the guy who was the
most infamous crime boss in Boston or maybe even America.
The judge told us they would be looking over our
questionnaires and to specify if there was anything we had
that would be biased to the case. We had to
(12:40):
look through multiple witnesses and police officer names, making sure
we had no connections. I did write that my uncle
was a state trooper slash detective at one point in Boston,
but his name was not on the list. As I
was filling it out, I couldn't tell if I wanted
to be a jur or to stay as far away
as I could.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Did he still have.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Connections to people who could help me down and threaten
my family If I didn't vote not guilty. Probably could
I make it big and write a book about from
being front road to this highly anticipated trial.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I was torn.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I walked right in front of Whitey and handed in
my packet When I was done. The judge told us
a few things before we left. One, they would have
more potential jurors coming in every day for the rest
of the week. Two, we had a specific number every
night to see if we had been cut or if
we were still a potential durer. And three, we were
not to discuss the case with anyone I called every
night that week, and finally, on the last night I
(13:32):
was cut. I was relieved, upset, happy, pissed. I still
can't tell how I feel about it to this day.
Maybe writing down that my uncle was a state trooper
got me cut, or maybe me being a hygienist and
his girlfriend being one made me get the chop. Oh interesting,
But after that week, I think I have seen every
documentary or slash movie and have checked out every book
(13:53):
on him using my mom's library card because I thought
I could somehow get traced back to him.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So you're throwing your mom into the.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Anyways, stay sexy and always sit in the back row. Chandler,
She her, and then it says I was born before friends.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
She just don't say that every time. Yeah, I feel
like and I absolutely could be wrong. The first thing
that pops into my mind is that I think Whitey
Bulger turned on the other Mafia guys. Or am I
thinking of Yeah, I thought he turned and so that's
why he was on the run. If I'm yeah, if
I'm right, She I'm just saying, I don't know if
(14:31):
Chandler would be at risk, Yeah, because right, you wouldn't
have those same connections.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
But so jury stories and Whitey Bolger stories is what
we need. I'm sure everyone in Boston has one, right absolutely, or.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
We can actually expand out to mafia stories. Love mafia stories,
Karen's favorite topic.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I'm not going to read you the subject line. It
just starts, Hey, y'all, let's do this. The year two
thousand and six. Time of day, late after at night.
Mental state nah sobriety level one hundred percent. And this
is important to note. After hanging out with friends at
a party, I finally decided to call it a night
and go home. At around twelve thirty am, I pulled
(15:14):
into the driveway of the home I shared with my
dad when I noticed a huge, furry, dark brown black
animal laying in our driveway next to where I park.
Not knowing what else to do, and also having nowhere
else to park, I sorry, I slowly pulled.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
My car up next to do love that this is
my parking space.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Like it's like just like the inflexibility of like, well,
I have nowhere else to park, so I guess I'll
pull up next to the monster. I sat in my
car staring at this beast at what felt like forever.
It wasn't moving, but there was no way in hell
my ass was getting out of the car to investigate.
I did what many single a single girl does in
her time of need.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I called my dad.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
As soon as he answered, all of my fear caught
up with me and I burst into tears. Dad, there's
a bear in the driveway next to my car, please help.
There was a silent pause in his end, followed by
a long typical dad's side Alison. He said, I have
told you time and time again that you are not
to do any drugs or get drunk while you live
(16:22):
in my house. He started to continue his dad lecture,
but I interrupted, swearing up and down that I was
sober as a newborn and there was for real a
bear in the driveway. I think the tone of my
voice and the level of crying finally clued him in
that there was in fact something wrong. What happened next
is one of my favorite memories of my dad. So
(16:43):
my dad likes to sleep only in his underwear tidy whities.
To be exact, this thought did not cross my mind
when I called him. But next thing I know, my
dad has thrown the front door open and he's standing
on the porch in his tidy whities, old tattered robe
thrown on but left open of course, loaded shotgun in
his hand, with the lights from the inside of the
(17:04):
house illuminating him in a way that only a movie
could replicate.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
My Dad, my superhero, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
He slowly made his way down and over to the animal,
while I still sat in my car, crying and pleading
for him to be careful. He poked the animal a
few times before I noticed he was laughing and shaking
his head. He motioned for me to get out of
the car, but I refused and instead cracked the window
to ask what was so funny. It's not a bear,
he said, it's a bore. I'd never seen a boar
(17:36):
in real life, but holy shit, they can get big.
I finally got out of my card came over, still
shaken up, looking at the boar. Just left us with
more questions and no answers. Its back feet had been
tied up, so we deduced that someone had killed it
elsewhere and then put it in our driveway for some reason. Yeah,
we had no idea what to do, so we called
(17:57):
the police. They were basically useless, said they couldn't do anything,
and that we could call animal control the following morning
and they would come pick it up. They did ask
us to take pictures of them with the boar, though,
so that happened anyway. The following week I learned that
this had happened to multiple homes around my city.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
What is this a mafia story too? It's a real threat.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, A local neighborhood had been having issues with boors
and had hired people to get rid of them. And
apparently those guys thought it would be hilarious to go
dump the dead boar bodies in different people's yards. Not
my idea of funny, but what do I know? Stay
sexy and don't let your dad sleep and only tidy whities.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Alison, she her, Oh, I was hoping it was a
stray dog, and they got like a live straight dog,
and I adopted it.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
You know, You know that one was tough because the
idea that the boar was dead is really a nasty turn.
And you know, as we all love animals so much, yes,
I do love the kind of like she just basically
hold herself up into a terrible situation and then just
was like, dad, you.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I can't do something? Yeah, No, that's a good point. Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
My last one is called my friend did a money booth?
Remember we were just talking about money booth?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yes, Hello, My loves Hello.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
In today's episode three two twenty twenty three, Karen and
Georgia talked about how they love to be in one
of those game show money booths where the wind currents
whip bills around and a contestant who tries to grab
them out of the air. My friend gotta do this.
It's the early nineteen nineties. We are newly minted twenty
one year olds ready to booze and sleaze it up.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
As much as we can.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, so we take a day trip to a then
new casino in a small Colorado mountain town that was
meant to revitalize the town's economy. Aj my friend and
star of the money booth, is one of the best
people I know. He is open to all experiences and
is a kind, thoughtful, and hilarious person with entergy that
seems to bring out the best in people. Maybe that's
(20:03):
why only ten minutes after he saw the money booth
and said, man, I want to go in that, his
name was called over the loudspeaker to get his ass
over to the booth, and then it says, I guess
we put our names in a hat or something, that
part of the story is lost to bloody Mary's nice.
Turns out the booth is a lot harder than it looks,
and he wasn't too successful. But I'll never forget the
sight of young AJ bills plastered to his face by
(20:25):
the wind, laughing and grasping at the air.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
There's no way to look classy.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
No, you're just like greedy and en eup, Yeah, you
do a money booth.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
A little crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Nearly thirty years later, we've both found more responsible ways
to make money. I'm a librarian and he's a psychotherapist,
and casinos now feel more predatory than fun. But I
will always cherish that memory of youth, an early summer
day in Colorado and one of my favorite people on
the planet. Stay sexy and take care of your friendships.
They will sustain you. There's no name.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Isn't that sweet?
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Knowing how much we would appreciate a first hand money
booth story, I just I am so grateful for that
understanding of us as people.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Well, thank you so.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Much for sending it yet again, another great batch of
personal stories.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
That you're sharing with us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
We appreciate you opening your heart and your ears and
your home to us.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
And your money boots.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
God, money booths, Stay sexy and don't get murdered.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Goodbye, good Bye Elvis. Do you want a cookie?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
This has been an exactly right production.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Our senior producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Our producer is a Lejandra Khek.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
This episode was engineered and mixed by Stephen Ray Morris.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Our researchers are Maren mcclashan and Sarah Blair Jenkins.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Email your hometowns and fucking horays to my Favorite Murder
at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Follow the show and Instagram and Facebook at my Favorite
Murder and Twitter at my favor Murder Gydbye
Hosts And Creators
Georgia Hardstark
Karen Kilgariff
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