March 24, 2025 • 43 mins
In the 1980s, Carolands Mansion sat abandoned in the hills of Hillsborough, California. Once a grand estate commissioned by the heiress to the Pullman railway fortune, it had since become a haunted house of sorts. But in 1985, something inside its decaying walls proved that monsters are all too real.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Nestled atop the rolling hills of Hillsborough, California, Caroline's Mansion
was fuilt to be nothing short of extraordinary. Commissioned in
nineteen fourteen by Harriet Pullman, Caroline heiress to the Pullman
Railway Fortune, it was a four million dollar architectural masterpiece
designed to rival the grandest estates of Europe. Inspired by
(01:10):
French chateau, the sixty five room mansion boasted twelve bedrooms,
nineteen bathrooms, and sprawling servant quarters, all wrapped in an
air of luxury that few could ever hope to attain.
A sweeping staircase led to a grand ball room where
the elite once waltzed beneath glittering chandeliers. Intricate would work
and ornate detailing adorned every corner, reinforcing its reputation as
(01:34):
one of the most opulent homes in America. But despite
its splendor, Carolins was not immune to the passage of time.
The estate changed hands repeatedly, its grandeur faaring as decades
wore on. By the mid nineteen seventies, it stood abandoned,
too expensive to restore, to iconic to demolish. A state
(01:55):
ladmar protected by security guards. It became a haunting relic
of a bygone era. Then, in nineteen eighty five, whispers
spread among local teenagers Caroline's wasn't as impenetrable as it seemed.
A security guard had a reputation for letting people in,
offering them a chance to explore the decaying mansion under
the cover of darkness. It was a thrilling, forbidden adventure
(02:19):
until two girls discovered that the man guarding the house
was far more dangerous than the legends that surrounded it.
(02:40):
Jeannine Grinsell was a bright, ambitious sixteen year old student
at Crystal Springs Upland School in San Matteo. She was
known for her intelligence and kindness. Her parents, Durell and Mike,
had separated, but she maintained a close relationship with both
of them. Jannine was especially close with her mother, with
whom she lived in a charming two story col onial
(03:00):
home near the poinential at Golf and Country Club. Janine
was said to be a natural leader. At schools. She
excelled academically, earning consistently high grades, but her talents extended
far beyond the classroom. She had recently received a pastigious
award for her achievements in extracurricular activities. Whether it was
student government, charity work, or organizing school events, Janine was
(03:23):
always at the center of it, ensuring that everything ran smoothly.
Her mother, Durrell, described her as extremely popular, a sentiment
that was echoed by the headmaster, doctor Richard Loveland, who
recalled her as a responsible and reliable young woman. He
stated she was active in student government and highly responsible
(03:44):
and reliable in all that she did. Despite her popularity
and success, Janine remained remarkably humble. Her uncle Gary affectionately
described her as innocent and not particularly worldly, while her
grandmother re called she never thought of herself. She had
no vannage. She was always helping people. Jeane's journey at
Crystal Springs Upland School began in the sixth grade, where
(04:07):
she quickly made a name for herself as a driven
student with a compassionate heart. She balanced her studies with
a variety of extracurricular pursuits, from volunteering in the community
to organizing school events. Jeanine Grinsol wasn't usually the type
(04:29):
to get caught up in ghost stories. She was practical
and responsible, but the Caroline's mansion had a way of
pulling even the most logical minds into its orbit. The grand,
decaying estate loomed over Hillsborre like something out of a
Gothic novel, with its leaguing copper roof, cracked walls, and
fireplaces that had long since gone cold. It had become
(04:50):
a local legend. By nineteen eighty five. It wasn't just
a relic of the past. It was a ride of passage.
Teenagers whispered about aerie sons at night found them footsteps
echoing through empty halls, books crashing to the floor in
rooms that hadn't been occupied in decades, and most unsettling
of all, the cry of a child somewhere on the
(05:10):
upper floor. Janine and her friend Laurie McKenna had been
talking about the mansion for weeks. The stories they heard
fascinated them. Some people said that hidden money was stashed
somewhere inside, left behind by one of the homes past occupants.
Others claimed the mansion was cursed, that bad things happened
(05:31):
to those who dared to trespass. Still, Janine and Laurie
weren't looking for ghosts or treasure. They were looking for
a thrill. Most of the teenagers in the area had
been there at least once, and when they heard the
latest rumor that a security guard was giving on official tours,
their curiosity got the better of them. On the second
(06:01):
of February nineteen eighty five, Jeanine and Laurie devised a plan.
They told Janine's mother that they were heading for lunch,
but instead they drove directly to the Caroline's mansion. The
road to the crumbling building twisted and looped as it
climbed through the hill, the dense trees casting on shadows
in the afternoon light. As they reached the top, the
mansion loomed before them, decayed relic of a past era,
(06:25):
its grand architecture now softened by time and neglect. The
overgrown lawns stretched out in uneven patches, and the crack
driveway hinted the ears of abandonment. As they pulled up outside,
they saw that there was another car or any park there.
The rumors about the security guard had been circulating for months.
(06:46):
Some said he was strict, while others claimed he was
known for giving unofficial tours to those daring enough to ask.
Before the girls could even approach the vehicle, a man
stepped out. He appeared to be somewhere in his twins,
with dark hair, glasses and a thick beard. He was
stocky and somewhat awkward in his movements, giving him a
(07:07):
geege appearance as he moved closer. His uniform confirmed that
he was, in fact the security guard. Janine boldly asked
if he would show them around. He seemed friendly enough
and agreed without hesitation, but there was one condition. Before
they could go inside, they needed to park their car
a few blocks away. He explained the police occasionally patrolled
(07:29):
the area and if they saw multiple vehicles, they would investigate.
Since he wasn't authorized to give tours, he couldn't risk
drawing attention. Eager to explore, Jeanine and Laurie agreed. They
drove down the hill, found a quiet street to leave
the car, and then walked back up to the mansion.
By the time they returned, the security guard was waiting
(07:51):
for them at the front door, his hand resting on
the old brass handle. With a slight smirk, he pushed
it open and gestured for them to step inside. The
air was thick with dust, the scent of old wood
and damp plaster clinging to the walls. Despite his deteriorating state,
the mansion was still breathtaking. The white glass tiles in
(08:13):
the kitchen still gleamed in the dim light. The butler's
pantry stood frozen in time, and the mezzanine was lined
with delftware tile. As they moved through the rooms, the
security guard spoke freely, sharing details about the mansion's history.
He led the girls past the grand staircase, through the
echoing corridors, pointing out for godden architectural details and long
(08:35):
empty spaces. But as the tour continued, his comments grew strange.
He casually mentioned that other girls had offered sexual favors
in exchange for a tour. Although he made it sound
like a joke, the statement left an uneasy silence between
Janine and Laurie. He then pointed out a room where
(08:56):
a girl had stripped naked and allowed him to take
her picture. The security guard never made any advances, but
the remarks lingered in the air, casting a shadow over
the experience. As a tour neared its end, the security
(09:20):
guard led them towards the exit. Just as they reached
the front door. However, he hesitated his expression changed, his
friendly demeanor replaced by nervousness. He told the girls that
police dogs were outside patrolling the area, and that if
they were seen, he would be fired. He insisted they
hide inside the mansion until it was safe. Jeanine and
(09:44):
Laurie exchanged glances. The entire tour had already been strange,
but now something felt very wrong. Jeanine and Laurie hesitated
their instincts, screaming at them to leave, but the security
guard's urgency made it difficult to argue. Before they could
think of another option, he was already leading them away
from the front door, deeper into the mansion. The security
(10:07):
guard's pace quickened as he led them to a staircase
at the end of the hall. He motioned for them
to follow as he descended into the basement. The air
in the basement was stale, heavy with dust in the
scent of damp wood. In the far corner stood a
mass of iron safe, its heavy door slightly ajar. The
(10:27):
security guard pointed to it, his voice steady but forceful
as he insisted they hide until the police left. Jennin
and Lourie felt their stomach strap. The idea of stepping
into that safe filled them with a deep fear. They
begged him not to make them go inside, but he insisted.
He assured them that he wouldn't close the door behind them,
(10:49):
that it was just precaution, with no other options, and
their fear of being caught by the supposed police just
as strong as their fear of the man before them.
The girl stepped inside. The moment their feet crossed the threshold,
the heavy iron door swung shut with a deafening clang.
Darkness swallowed them whole. For several minutes, there was only silence.
(11:13):
Then from the other side of the safe door, they
heard the security guard. His voice was different, now playful
and taunting. He was calling Lourie's name in a sing
song tone. He told them that he would let them out,
but on one condition. They had to remove their clothing.
Jeane Laurie clutched at one another, every fiber of their
(11:35):
being screamed at them not to listen, but the knowledge
that they were utterly trapped left them with no choice.
Terrified of what might happen if they refused, they did
as the security guard asked. The moment they had stripped
on to their underwear, the safe door creaked open. The
security guard stood before them, his silhouette outlined in the
(11:56):
dim basement light. He held a pair of handcuffs and
one hand, and a large knife in the other. Without
a word, he snapped the cuffs onto their wrists, binding
their hands behind their backs. He led the girls out
of the safe and into a side room. A single
work bench stood against the wall, with a thick rope
(12:16):
loomed around one of its legs. The security guard secured
the other end of the rope to Lourie's cuffs. Jeanine
watched before he took hold of her arm and guided
her towards another room. Moments later, Laurie could hear Jeanine
screaming from the other room. Fifteen minutes passed before the
door opened again. Jeanine stepped out first. The back of
(12:40):
her pants was coated in dust, her lips tinged purple,
as though she had been left in the cold. Lurie
could see it in her eyes. Something had happened in
that room. The security guard drapped his coat over Jeanine's
shoulders before securing her to the work bench beside Laurie.
His expression was calm, almost casual, as he unfastened Lorie's
(13:01):
restraints and led her upstairs. The kitchen was dimly lit,
the overhead light flickering faintly. A knife rested on the
table nearby, and the security guard now had a club
hanging from his belt. He ordered Laurie to remove the
rest of her clothing. She hesitated. She could still hear
the echoes of Jeanine's screams in her head, but the
(13:23):
cold edge of the knife against her skin made the
decision for her. She forced herself to comply. The security
guard stepped closer and told her to kiss him and
delight it. Lourie did as she was told, but it
wasn't enough. He then unbuckled his belt and forced Lourie
to her knees. He ordered her to touch him and
(13:44):
to put it in her mouth. Laurie gagged and said
that she couldn't do it, but he didn't care. He
grabbed her wrist and forced her to continue until he finished.
When it was over, the security guard handed her back
her clothing and led her back to Jeanine. He told
them that he would let them go, but if they
ever told anybody what had happened that night, he would
(14:05):
find them and he would kill them. The security guard
then led the girls towards a door near the basement safe,
telling them they were free to go, but only one
at a time. Jeanine insisted on going first, since she
(14:28):
had the car keys. Without hesitation, the guard handcuffed Lourie
to the door and left with Jeanine. Seconds later, the
silence was shattered by the sound of bumping, running, and
a struggle. Then Jeanine was back, breathless and frantic. She
told Laurie that the security guard had struck her with
the club. Without acknowledging Laurie, the guard grabbed Janane again
(14:52):
and dragged her away. The only thing that Laurie could
do was listen thud, scuffling, then Jeanine's death, but agonized screams.
It went on for fifteen minutes before everything fell silent.
Then she heard a dragging sound. When the guard returned,
Jeanine was no longer with him. He unlocked Laurie, grabbing
(15:13):
her roughly and pulling her towards a dark hallway. She resisted,
struggling against his grip, but then came a sudden, searing
pain in her stomach. She had been stabbed. Laurie collapsed
as they thought over the knife, but she was too weak.
The security guard stabbed her again, over and over, and
when she was too weak to fight, he beat her
(15:34):
with the club. Darkness started swallowing her as the security
guard disappeared. When he returned, he rolled Laurie into a
carpet and stuffed her into the trunk of the car.
The smell of blood was thick in the enclosed space,
but through the dim light, she could see that Jeanine
was lying beside her. She was bound, covered in blood,
(15:55):
but still alive. Ours passed before somebody climbed into the
driver's The engine rumbled and they drove for a while
before coming to a stop. The trunk was then opened,
revealing a dimly lit garage. The guard reached in, rubbing
Lourie's arm before telling them to stretch their legs. The
(16:15):
two girls were barely clinging to life. He handed them
a sleeping bag, then methodically wiped their blood from the trunk.
Laurie tried to speak, her voice awake, but he ignored her.
Jinny begged to go to a hospital. They asked what
he planned on doing with them, but still he said nothing.
Escape was impossible. Their bodies were too weak. Then the
(16:39):
guard disappeared. When he returned, he was holding a rifle.
He pointed it to Lourie and told her to stay
quiet or he and his friend Bob would kill her.
Muffled voices drifted from inside the home. Somebody else was there.
The guard moved quickly, shoving Jeanne and Lourie back into
the trunk, slamming its shot as he told them to
keep quiet. He said that Bob had arrived and he
(17:03):
needed to convince him not to kill them. Ars dragged
by in the suffocating darkness of the trunk until exhaustion
finally pulled Jeanne and Laurie into an uneasy sleep. At
some point, Laurie stirred awake, disoriented as the car rumbled
(17:25):
beneath her. The vehicle was moving again. The car stopped
several times. Eventually the trunk creaked open just enough for
the guard's face to appear. Laurie weakly asked if they
were at the lake now. He replied, no, but it's
close enough. Without warning, pain exploded across her skull as
(17:47):
the guard struck her over and over again with the club,
ten maybe eleven times, each blow more brutal than the last.
The world spun as he dragged her to the edge
of a ravine and without hesitation, kicked her down the slope.
Here be with your friend, He sneered. Her body tumbled downwards,
colliding with branches and rocks before landing next to Janine.
(18:10):
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first slight crept over the horizon, casting thin shadows across
(20:21):
the ravine. Laurie, whose mind was flickering between consciousness and oblivion,
realized that if they stayed there, they would die. She
could hear cars passing above them, the sound of life
moving on while theirs was slipping away. Summoning every ounce
of strength, Lori clawed her way towards the road inch
(20:42):
by inch, the pain almost unbearable. When she finally reached
the roadside, she raised a trembling hand to flag down
a passing car. The driver stopped immediately. He crouched beside her,
offering comfort. As more people stopped to help, One bystander
the word rape, and Laurie, through broken sobs, clarified that
(21:04):
they hadn't been raped, but somebody had forced them to
strip and fooled around with them. Sirens screamed through the
air as an ambulance rushed Laura and Jeanne to Santa
Teresa Hospital. Laurie's condition was critical but stable. Her body
bore numerous stab wounds across her upper torso. Jeanine, however,
was far worse off. Stab wounds riddled her neck, face,
(21:26):
and chest, and she had sustained the fractured skull. Doctors
fought to save Jeanine, but her heart gave out in
the operating room. The injuries had been too severe. Almost
fifty stab wounds had shattered her chance of survival. One
of them had cut her jugular vein, while another slashed
her kidney. Miraculously, Laurie remained conscious. In the hours following
(21:52):
her rescue, she gave detectives a detail account of the
horror they had endured. She described the security guard with
position leading investigator with little doubt about who they were
searching for. It wasn't long before detectives had a name,
and soon after they were closing in on the man
who had turned a night of terror into a nightmare
(22:12):
beyond imagination. By day, Carolyn's mansion stood as a decaying
monument to a forgotten era, But by night it was
under the watch of twenty three year old David Railey,
(22:34):
employed by Young Patrol Service of San Francisco, Really had
been assigned to guard the sprawling estate since mid nineteen
eighty four. His post wasn't glamorous. He spent long, lonely
hours sitting in his car, parked in the shadow of
the mansion's grand facade. To keep warm, he stuffed newspapers
into the windows and even while the TV set to
(22:55):
the mansion's power supply, creating a makeshift home away from home.
But Rayley's ambitions stretched far beyond security work. He had
always dreamed of becoming a police officer, and in many
ways acted as though he already wore the badge. His
car was modified to mimic an undercover patrol vehicle, complete
with the red light he'd installed himself, which he occasionally
(23:17):
spawn atop his roof like a signal of misplaced authority,
blasting a bicycle siren through a Seabee radio. He'd pull
over unsuspecting residents for minor infractions such as spaeding, sometimes
wearing his security guard uniform. Really took his fantasy further,
chasing down teenager skipping school, issuing orders as if he
(23:38):
were an officer of the law. One local teenager, Roddy Schrieber,
remembered a chilling encounter. He handcuffed me once and wouldn't
let me go until I told him i'd call the
police obsessed with porer and control. Really even carried a
police scanner, often showing up uninvited to accident scenes. As
Lieutenant Dawn Turchill later put it, he was a wannabe cop,
(24:04):
but behind really self appointed role as a neighborhood enforcer
lurked something much darker. When detectives eventually connected him to
the horrific attack at Caroline's mansion, their search led them
to his modest home near Capital Expressway in San Jose. There,
without resistance, Really was arrested. He was put in a
(24:25):
line up where Laurie identified him as the man who
had killed her friend and almost killed her. After Railey's arrest,
unsettling stories about him began to surface. Local teenagers, once
lured by the promise of a mysterious tour through the
decaying mansion, came forward with chilling recollections of their own
(24:47):
encounters with the security guard. It turned out that Janine
and Laurie hadn't been the first to fall prey to
his manipulations. Several teenage girls spoke out, revealing that they
too had been invited inside Caroline's by re under the
guise of a private tour. One girl described a strange
encounter during a visit in December, where she and two
(25:07):
friends had followed him into the mansion. At first, the
experience seemed innocent enough. He led them through the eerie halls,
playing a strange game of hide and seek, claiming to
know every corner of the vast estate. But the longer
they stayed, the more unsettling his behavior became. She recalled,
At first, we thought he was friendly, but after a while,
(25:28):
some of the things he was doing were just off
the wall. Another girl shared a bizarre experience during her tour.
Really had instructed her to climb into the safe of
the mansion and scream at the top of her lungs
to demonstrate how soundproof it was. When she complied, he
had eerily told her that he could kill somebody in
the basement and nobody would hear a thing. It wasn't
(25:49):
just the teens who had raised concerns about Really's odd behavior.
Gail Passereti, a local journalism student writing a piece on
the mansion's history, had met with him in the oars
before Jeanine and Laurie were abducted. During their conversation, Really
had bragged about his access to the mansion, telling Gail,
you wouldn't believe the things girls offer me, food, money, sex,
(26:12):
anything to get inside. He went on to boast about
how he used his police's knowledge to avoid suspicion, advising
Gaile to park a few blocks away to avoid any
attention from the police. He even mentioned that the best
hand to visit was between noon and one pm, when
the police were on lunch break, and that he didn't
need to carry a gun or batton because he was
skilled in karate. The ominous nature of these encounters suddenly
(26:36):
became far more real. Just hours after this conversation with Gail,
Really had kidnapped Jeanne and Laurie. But as they lay
dying locked in the trunk of his car, a police
officer who had come to ask about Raley's recent purchases
of a citizen's band radio arrived at Carolyn's. The officer
noted something strange. The gates of the mansion were wired shut,
(27:00):
something he'd never seen before. The front door was locked,
and the security guard's car was seemingly empty. The officer
honked the horn. A moment's later Really emerged from the mansion.
His demeanor noticeably more nervous than usual. He seemed to
be in a hurry. It seemed like a perfectly normal interaction,
(27:20):
but the officer had no idea that Janane and Lourie
were hidden in the trunk of Raeleigh's vehicle, gravely injured
and fighting for their lives. David Raleigh was charged with murder,
(27:40):
attempted murder, and two counts of kidnapping. He pleaded not
guilty to all charges. In the announcement of the charges,
Lieutenant Dondregillo remarked, Really is the master of his own Disneyland.
There's a haunted house on the hill and he's in charge,
and all the teenagers come around because they want to
peak at the place. Prosecutors made it clear that they
(28:02):
would be seeking the death penalty of Really were convicted.
In the days following his rest, Really admitted to the
brittal attack on Jeanine and Laurie. He claimed that after
assaulting them in the mansion, he intended on releasing them,
but something inside his mind prevented him from doing so. Then,
on the ninth of February, around five hundred people gathered
(28:22):
for Janine's funeral at the First Presbyterian Church, in Burlingham.
The church was filled with grief stricken friends, family, and classmates,
all mourning the loss of a bright, vibrant young woman.
Reverend Paul water Mulder attempted to offer comfort during the service,
telling the congregation death did not conquer Janine Grinsel, Janning
(28:44):
Grinsoll conquered death. After the service, there was a private
burial for her family, a final farewell to the girl
whose life had been tragically cut short. The school also
held a memorial service in her memory, remembering her not
only as a student, but as a fine leader and
an inspiration to those who knew her. The principal spoke
(29:04):
of her resilient, stating her response was always to work
a little harder, smile a little brighter. Laurie, who had
survived the attack, was eventually released from the hospital, though
the physical and emotional scars would remain with her forever.
In the wake of the attack, she filed a lawsuit
against the Young Patrol Services, the company that had employed
(29:25):
really as a security guard. She accused them of negligence
in hiring him, saying that they should have known about
his history of a barrent behavior towards young girls and
violent propensities. As it turned out, really had a troubling history.
Prior to his job at Carolyn's, he had worked as
a security guard at a shopping mall where he was
(29:45):
known to have harassed young girls, even sending them love notes.
Frank Petra, the attorney representing Laurie, argued in a nutshell
where saying he had a history of being in trouble
and that it was only a matter of time before
what happened at the Carolines mansion occur. The lawsuit also
named Glacier National Assurance Co. And RNA Holdings Limited, the
(30:06):
owners of the Caroline's mansion, is defendants. Jeane's parents then
followed suit, finding their own legal action against the security company.
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(31:34):
David Really was ordered to stand trial, and jury selection
began in January of nineteen eighty seven. It took two
months for a jury of six men and six women
to be selected. Really's defense attorney, Brian Chaymeister, said in
the mediate the attack was so gruesome he needed to
find jurors who wouldn't react emotionally. To the details. The
trial began on the first of April. During the opening statements,
(31:57):
Prosecutor day of Davies said that a sexual grade had
motivated Raleigh to attack Jeanine and Laurie. Testimony was heard
from Raleigh's family. He spoke about his demeanor that night
as Jeanine and Laurie lay bleeding in his car in
the garage, His brother Manuel said everything seemed to be fine.
Later that night, two friends, Robert and Deborah Sober, called
(32:19):
by the family's home as well. They said that really
appeared pretty normal, but he wasn't his usual cheery self.
Doctor Joseph Roster, the surgeon who operated on Janine, testified next.
He stated she was totally bled out. There was absolutely
no fluid in her circulatory system. Janine had been given
(32:42):
ten leaders of blood, but her heart gave out during surgery.
When Janine was brought to the hospital, her body temperature
was only ninety point seven degrees after spending the night
outside in the cold. Laurie McKenna served as the key
witness of the trial, and she detailed the horrific attack
that cost her friend her life and almost cost her own.
(33:02):
Laurie was unafraid, as she described begging Raley to take
him to the hospital after he drove them to his
family's home. She testified, he just gave us a kind
of stare of hatred. It was sort of a death stare.
During cross examination by the defense attorney, she portrayed Really
as somebody who punctuated his savage attacks with random acts
(33:24):
of kindness. She testified that at one point he took
off his jacket and gave it to Jeanine to keep
her warm. She also described him rubbing her arm in
an odd gesture of kindness. After she testified, Judge John
Shatz announced he was dropping the rape charges against Raleigh.
He stated, it would be a disservice to these two
(33:46):
young ladies to continue with the theory of rape. After
all they've gone through, they were not raped, and rape
is not an issue in the case. This decision came
even after Laurie testified about really taking Jeanine away and
her own sexual assault. After that, the defense began their case. However,
the defense attorney waived his opening statements and instead began
(34:09):
calling witnesses. He called on several people who testified about
the tours they had taken at Caroline's mansion. In some instances,
the teenagers would encourage a security guard. Sometimes it was
really but sometimes it was somebody else. The next witness
was an emergency care expert from Oregon. He testified that
(34:29):
Janine might have survived had she received adequate medical treatment.
Doctor Donald Trunky said that she had a seventy percent
chance of survival, but that the attending doctor was confused
and didn't really know what was going on. He suggested
that they were in over their head and they had
aggravated her condition by failing to treat her hypothermia. Defense
(34:50):
attorney Shemeister said he presented the doctor to demonstrate that
there may not have been an intent on killing Jeanine
and LORII. After that, the trial came to a close.
During closing arguments, the defense attorney acknowledged that Raley was
indeed responsible for what had happened to the girls. However,
he said it was the result of a burst of
violence brought on by confusion and fear. He called on
(35:14):
the jury to dismiss the first degree murder conviction and
instead urged them to convict him of second degree murder.
He described really as amiable, chatty, and friendly to those
who knew him, and said he snapped when he was
presented with a curious accident of circumstances. Prosecutor Davies, however,
presented a different view of Really. He portrayed him as
(35:37):
a statistic torturer who was out to fill his sexual greed.
He stated, imagine what it feels like to stab a
young child like that, innocent high school girls more than
forty times to David Really, these young, lively girls were
trash that belonged in a dump, and that's where he
left them. The prosecutor said that Reeley's actions weren't it
(35:57):
a first degree murder conviction and a death sentence. The
jury returned with a verdict the following day. They found
David Really guilty of the first agree murder of Janine
Grinsel and guilty of kidnapping and torture. As the verdict
was announced, Really began to cry. The verdict paid the
(36:21):
way for the penalty phase of the trial, which began
on the seventh of May. The decision on whether or
not Really would be sentenced to death would be up
to the same jury that had just convicted him. The
defense presented testimony about Really's upbringing portraying him as a
deprived child of an alcoholic and abusive mother. His aunt
Francis Really testified David's mother verbally abused him every day
(36:45):
of his life. She put him down until he felt
like he was nothing. The family said that Really was
expected to do all of the housework and was slapped
by his mother, Elva, if it wasn't done to her liking.
While Reley's cousin Michael Matthews agreed, Really's neighbor Linda Algeria,
said that Really appeared to have a happy childhood. She
(37:07):
testified that she never knew Elva to be an alcoholic
and said that she and her son appeared to have
a loving relationship. Really's father, Ralph testified in an effort
to save his son's life. He said that the jury
had been given a bad picture of his son. They
didn't get to see the good side of him. He said,
(37:28):
something's corrupted my son. My son deserves something better. He
then added the two girls had a little bit to
do with it. It wasn't only him. Elva and Ralph had
divorced back in nineteen eighty three. Really's sister Cathy went
on to describe a household that was rife with stress
(37:48):
as the result of their mother, who drank daily. She
stated she would call David weird. My brother needs help
more than he needs the gas chamber secular. Davies opted
out of calling any witnesses, but he did say to
the jury people that commit murder and stabbed teenage girls
do not usually have a good family background. The jury
(38:11):
deliberated for several days before they informed the judge that
they couldn't reach a decision. Judge John Schatz declared a
mistrial and then said another penalty phase hearing for April
the next year. This time, new evidence was presented and
it was damning against Reeli. It was revealed that when
he was a teenager, he had molested two young girls.
(38:33):
The two girls, who were six and seven when he
abused them, testified in court. They said that he had
threatened them during two separate occasions, to remove their clothing
and touch him. Their fathers testified that they didn't report
it at the time because Raley's family said they would
get him psychiatric counseling. This new evidence sealed the deal,
(38:53):
and the jury announced that they had reached a verdict.
They decided that David really deserved to die for his crimes.
The following week, he was formally sentenced to death by
Judge John Shatz. From court, he was transferred to San
Quentin's death row. Over the forthcoming years, David Really appealed
(39:19):
his death sentenced several times, but each attempt was met
with rejection. His legal battle stretched on, but justice remained steadfast.
In two thousand and six, Laurie, who is now a
mother and married to former San Francisco Giants picture William
Van Landigan, reflected on her ordeal in an interview with
(39:39):
Mercury News. She had won a one point five million
dollar settlement from the security firm that had haired Really.
She said to the reporter, I look okay, my life's good,
but I kind of feel like I made that part.
I decided to make my life better. I could have wallowed,
but there were shadows that she couldn't. Laurie admitted that
(40:02):
she regretted believing Relei's lie about the police dogs outside,
a moment she now believed could have been their chance
to escape. She said, when you get stabbed, you just
think I'm dead. All I could think about was my
per mother. I kind of waited for the lights to
go out. She paused, her gaze distant, as if she
(40:23):
could still see Jeanine in her mind, before continuing, the
fact of the matter is she's not here. That's the
most important thing that most people forget. She should have
gotten married, had kids, done it all. The following year,
the US Supreme Court turned down Raley's final appeal. While
they should have led to an execution date, the Court's
(40:44):
recent review of lethal injection procedures ment executions were temporarily
halted in twenty thirteen, Really revived his appeals, claiming he
was mentally disabled at the time of the murder. He
argued that as an autistic man, he fell under the
legal protections against executing the mentally disabled, but this argument
(41:04):
too was rejected. But then in twenty twenty four, it
was announced that fourteen men on death row in Santa
Clara County would be re sentenced. Among them was David Riley.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen contended that capital punishment had been
unjustly administered in California. Pushing for these resentencing decisions, Laurie
(41:27):
once again was thrust into the emotional turmoil of the case.
She became one of the first to oppose the decision.
Her voice trembled with frustration as she said, nothing has
changed in this case, but somehow everything's changed. Nothing's changed
in law either. All of a sudden, I'm defending myself
and it's just a weird and strange place to be.
(41:50):
She didn't believe that really could ever be rehabilitated, nor
did Jeanine's brother, Read, who was unwavering in his stance
as he said, David really is right where he deserves
to be, with the death sentence like the one he
gave my sister. David really for nou still remains on
death row. Well, best sis. That is it for this
(42:32):
episode of Morbidology. It is always thank you so much
for listening, and I'd like to say a massive thank
you to my newest supporter up on Patreon, Sarah. As
you all know, Morbidology is a one woman team, so
the support up on there seriously goes such a long way,
and I genuinely am eternally grateful. I'm trying to get
back into the swing of uploading more bonus episodes up
on Patreon, but I've fallen behind over my pregnancy and
(42:56):
becoming a new mother. But this year I'm going to
try my hardest to get a lot more written and
a lot more uploaded. In addition to the bonus episodes,
I also upload adfree in early released episode behind the scenes,
and I also send out a handwritten thank you card
along with some co merch. If you'd like to support
the show in another way, please consider leaving me a
rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else
(43:17):
you may be listening. Ratings and reviews are a super
easy way to support a show that you like, and
I really do appreciate the feedback. Remember to check us
out at more biology dot com for more information about
this episode and to read some true crime articles. Until
next time, take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have
an amazing week.
Nestled atop the rolling hills of Hillsborough, California, Caroline's Mansion
was fuilt to be nothing short of extraordinary. Commissioned in
nineteen fourteen by Harriet Pullman, Caroline heiress to the Pullman
Railway Fortune, it was a four million dollar architectural masterpiece
designed to rival the grandest estates of Europe. Inspired by
(01:10):
French chateau, the sixty five room mansion boasted twelve bedrooms,
nineteen bathrooms, and sprawling servant quarters, all wrapped in an
air of luxury that few could ever hope to attain.
A sweeping staircase led to a grand ball room where
the elite once waltzed beneath glittering chandeliers. Intricate would work
and ornate detailing adorned every corner, reinforcing its reputation as
(01:34):
one of the most opulent homes in America. But despite
its splendor, Carolins was not immune to the passage of time.
The estate changed hands repeatedly, its grandeur faaring as decades
wore on. By the mid nineteen seventies, it stood abandoned,
too expensive to restore, to iconic to demolish. A state
(01:55):
ladmar protected by security guards. It became a haunting relic
of a bygone era. Then, in nineteen eighty five, whispers
spread among local teenagers Caroline's wasn't as impenetrable as it seemed.
A security guard had a reputation for letting people in,
offering them a chance to explore the decaying mansion under
the cover of darkness. It was a thrilling, forbidden adventure
(02:19):
until two girls discovered that the man guarding the house
was far more dangerous than the legends that surrounded it.
(02:40):
Jeannine Grinsell was a bright, ambitious sixteen year old student
at Crystal Springs Upland School in San Matteo. She was
known for her intelligence and kindness. Her parents, Durell and Mike,
had separated, but she maintained a close relationship with both
of them. Jannine was especially close with her mother, with
whom she lived in a charming two story col onial
(03:00):
home near the poinential at Golf and Country Club. Janine
was said to be a natural leader. At schools. She
excelled academically, earning consistently high grades, but her talents extended
far beyond the classroom. She had recently received a pastigious
award for her achievements in extracurricular activities. Whether it was
student government, charity work, or organizing school events, Janine was
(03:23):
always at the center of it, ensuring that everything ran smoothly.
Her mother, Durrell, described her as extremely popular, a sentiment
that was echoed by the headmaster, doctor Richard Loveland, who
recalled her as a responsible and reliable young woman. He
stated she was active in student government and highly responsible
(03:44):
and reliable in all that she did. Despite her popularity
and success, Janine remained remarkably humble. Her uncle Gary affectionately
described her as innocent and not particularly worldly, while her
grandmother re called she never thought of herself. She had
no vannage. She was always helping people. Jeane's journey at
Crystal Springs Upland School began in the sixth grade, where
(04:07):
she quickly made a name for herself as a driven
student with a compassionate heart. She balanced her studies with
a variety of extracurricular pursuits, from volunteering in the community
to organizing school events. Jeanine Grinsol wasn't usually the type
(04:29):
to get caught up in ghost stories. She was practical
and responsible, but the Caroline's mansion had a way of
pulling even the most logical minds into its orbit. The grand,
decaying estate loomed over Hillsborre like something out of a
Gothic novel, with its leaguing copper roof, cracked walls, and
fireplaces that had long since gone cold. It had become
(04:50):
a local legend. By nineteen eighty five. It wasn't just
a relic of the past. It was a ride of passage.
Teenagers whispered about aerie sons at night found them footsteps
echoing through empty halls, books crashing to the floor in
rooms that hadn't been occupied in decades, and most unsettling
of all, the cry of a child somewhere on the
(05:10):
upper floor. Janine and her friend Laurie McKenna had been
talking about the mansion for weeks. The stories they heard
fascinated them. Some people said that hidden money was stashed
somewhere inside, left behind by one of the homes past occupants.
Others claimed the mansion was cursed, that bad things happened
(05:31):
to those who dared to trespass. Still, Janine and Laurie
weren't looking for ghosts or treasure. They were looking for
a thrill. Most of the teenagers in the area had
been there at least once, and when they heard the
latest rumor that a security guard was giving on official tours,
their curiosity got the better of them. On the second
(06:01):
of February nineteen eighty five, Jeanine and Laurie devised a plan.
They told Janine's mother that they were heading for lunch,
but instead they drove directly to the Caroline's mansion. The
road to the crumbling building twisted and looped as it
climbed through the hill, the dense trees casting on shadows
in the afternoon light. As they reached the top, the
mansion loomed before them, decayed relic of a past era,
(06:25):
its grand architecture now softened by time and neglect. The
overgrown lawns stretched out in uneven patches, and the crack
driveway hinted the ears of abandonment. As they pulled up outside,
they saw that there was another car or any park there.
The rumors about the security guard had been circulating for months.
(06:46):
Some said he was strict, while others claimed he was
known for giving unofficial tours to those daring enough to ask.
Before the girls could even approach the vehicle, a man
stepped out. He appeared to be somewhere in his twins,
with dark hair, glasses and a thick beard. He was
stocky and somewhat awkward in his movements, giving him a
(07:07):
geege appearance as he moved closer. His uniform confirmed that
he was, in fact the security guard. Janine boldly asked
if he would show them around. He seemed friendly enough
and agreed without hesitation, but there was one condition. Before
they could go inside, they needed to park their car
a few blocks away. He explained the police occasionally patrolled
(07:29):
the area and if they saw multiple vehicles, they would investigate.
Since he wasn't authorized to give tours, he couldn't risk
drawing attention. Eager to explore, Jeanine and Laurie agreed. They
drove down the hill, found a quiet street to leave
the car, and then walked back up to the mansion.
By the time they returned, the security guard was waiting
(07:51):
for them at the front door, his hand resting on
the old brass handle. With a slight smirk, he pushed
it open and gestured for them to step inside. The
air was thick with dust, the scent of old wood
and damp plaster clinging to the walls. Despite his deteriorating state,
the mansion was still breathtaking. The white glass tiles in
(08:13):
the kitchen still gleamed in the dim light. The butler's
pantry stood frozen in time, and the mezzanine was lined
with delftware tile. As they moved through the rooms, the
security guard spoke freely, sharing details about the mansion's history.
He led the girls past the grand staircase, through the
echoing corridors, pointing out for godden architectural details and long
(08:35):
empty spaces. But as the tour continued, his comments grew strange.
He casually mentioned that other girls had offered sexual favors
in exchange for a tour. Although he made it sound
like a joke, the statement left an uneasy silence between
Janine and Laurie. He then pointed out a room where
(08:56):
a girl had stripped naked and allowed him to take
her picture. The security guard never made any advances, but
the remarks lingered in the air, casting a shadow over
the experience. As a tour neared its end, the security
(09:20):
guard led them towards the exit. Just as they reached
the front door. However, he hesitated his expression changed, his
friendly demeanor replaced by nervousness. He told the girls that
police dogs were outside patrolling the area, and that if
they were seen, he would be fired. He insisted they
hide inside the mansion until it was safe. Jeanine and
(09:44):
Laurie exchanged glances. The entire tour had already been strange,
but now something felt very wrong. Jeanine and Laurie hesitated
their instincts, screaming at them to leave, but the security
guard's urgency made it difficult to argue. Before they could
think of another option, he was already leading them away
from the front door, deeper into the mansion. The security
(10:07):
guard's pace quickened as he led them to a staircase
at the end of the hall. He motioned for them
to follow as he descended into the basement. The air
in the basement was stale, heavy with dust in the
scent of damp wood. In the far corner stood a
mass of iron safe, its heavy door slightly ajar. The
(10:27):
security guard pointed to it, his voice steady but forceful
as he insisted they hide until the police left. Jennin
and Lourie felt their stomach strap. The idea of stepping
into that safe filled them with a deep fear. They
begged him not to make them go inside, but he insisted.
He assured them that he wouldn't close the door behind them,
(10:49):
that it was just precaution, with no other options, and
their fear of being caught by the supposed police just
as strong as their fear of the man before them.
The girl stepped inside. The moment their feet crossed the threshold,
the heavy iron door swung shut with a deafening clang.
Darkness swallowed them whole. For several minutes, there was only silence.
(11:13):
Then from the other side of the safe door, they
heard the security guard. His voice was different, now playful
and taunting. He was calling Lourie's name in a sing
song tone. He told them that he would let them out,
but on one condition. They had to remove their clothing.
Jeane Laurie clutched at one another, every fiber of their
(11:35):
being screamed at them not to listen, but the knowledge
that they were utterly trapped left them with no choice.
Terrified of what might happen if they refused, they did
as the security guard asked. The moment they had stripped
on to their underwear, the safe door creaked open. The
security guard stood before them, his silhouette outlined in the
(11:56):
dim basement light. He held a pair of handcuffs and
one hand, and a large knife in the other. Without
a word, he snapped the cuffs onto their wrists, binding
their hands behind their backs. He led the girls out
of the safe and into a side room. A single
work bench stood against the wall, with a thick rope
(12:16):
loomed around one of its legs. The security guard secured
the other end of the rope to Lourie's cuffs. Jeanine
watched before he took hold of her arm and guided
her towards another room. Moments later, Laurie could hear Jeanine
screaming from the other room. Fifteen minutes passed before the
door opened again. Jeanine stepped out first. The back of
(12:40):
her pants was coated in dust, her lips tinged purple,
as though she had been left in the cold. Lurie
could see it in her eyes. Something had happened in
that room. The security guard drapped his coat over Jeanine's
shoulders before securing her to the work bench beside Laurie.
His expression was calm, almost casual, as he unfastened Lorie's
(13:01):
restraints and led her upstairs. The kitchen was dimly lit,
the overhead light flickering faintly. A knife rested on the
table nearby, and the security guard now had a club
hanging from his belt. He ordered Laurie to remove the
rest of her clothing. She hesitated. She could still hear
the echoes of Jeanine's screams in her head, but the
(13:23):
cold edge of the knife against her skin made the
decision for her. She forced herself to comply. The security
guard stepped closer and told her to kiss him and
delight it. Lourie did as she was told, but it
wasn't enough. He then unbuckled his belt and forced Lourie
to her knees. He ordered her to touch him and
(13:44):
to put it in her mouth. Laurie gagged and said
that she couldn't do it, but he didn't care. He
grabbed her wrist and forced her to continue until he finished.
When it was over, the security guard handed her back
her clothing and led her back to Jeanine. He told
them that he would let them go, but if they
ever told anybody what had happened that night, he would
(14:05):
find them and he would kill them. The security guard
then led the girls towards a door near the basement safe,
telling them they were free to go, but only one
at a time. Jeanine insisted on going first, since she
(14:28):
had the car keys. Without hesitation, the guard handcuffed Lourie
to the door and left with Jeanine. Seconds later, the
silence was shattered by the sound of bumping, running, and
a struggle. Then Jeanine was back, breathless and frantic. She
told Laurie that the security guard had struck her with
the club. Without acknowledging Laurie, the guard grabbed Janane again
(14:52):
and dragged her away. The only thing that Laurie could
do was listen thud, scuffling, then Jeanine's death, but agonized screams.
It went on for fifteen minutes before everything fell silent.
Then she heard a dragging sound. When the guard returned,
Jeanine was no longer with him. He unlocked Laurie, grabbing
(15:13):
her roughly and pulling her towards a dark hallway. She resisted,
struggling against his grip, but then came a sudden, searing
pain in her stomach. She had been stabbed. Laurie collapsed
as they thought over the knife, but she was too weak.
The security guard stabbed her again, over and over, and
when she was too weak to fight, he beat her
(15:34):
with the club. Darkness started swallowing her as the security
guard disappeared. When he returned, he rolled Laurie into a
carpet and stuffed her into the trunk of the car.
The smell of blood was thick in the enclosed space,
but through the dim light, she could see that Jeanine
was lying beside her. She was bound, covered in blood,
(15:55):
but still alive. Ours passed before somebody climbed into the
driver's The engine rumbled and they drove for a while
before coming to a stop. The trunk was then opened,
revealing a dimly lit garage. The guard reached in, rubbing
Lourie's arm before telling them to stretch their legs. The
(16:15):
two girls were barely clinging to life. He handed them
a sleeping bag, then methodically wiped their blood from the trunk.
Laurie tried to speak, her voice awake, but he ignored her.
Jinny begged to go to a hospital. They asked what
he planned on doing with them, but still he said nothing.
Escape was impossible. Their bodies were too weak. Then the
(16:39):
guard disappeared. When he returned, he was holding a rifle.
He pointed it to Lourie and told her to stay
quiet or he and his friend Bob would kill her.
Muffled voices drifted from inside the home. Somebody else was there.
The guard moved quickly, shoving Jeanne and Lourie back into
the trunk, slamming its shot as he told them to
keep quiet. He said that Bob had arrived and he
(17:03):
needed to convince him not to kill them. Ars dragged
by in the suffocating darkness of the trunk until exhaustion
finally pulled Jeanne and Laurie into an uneasy sleep. At
some point, Laurie stirred awake, disoriented as the car rumbled
(17:25):
beneath her. The vehicle was moving again. The car stopped
several times. Eventually the trunk creaked open just enough for
the guard's face to appear. Laurie weakly asked if they
were at the lake now. He replied, no, but it's
close enough. Without warning, pain exploded across her skull as
(17:47):
the guard struck her over and over again with the club,
ten maybe eleven times, each blow more brutal than the last.
The world spun as he dragged her to the edge
of a ravine and without hesitation, kicked her down the slope.
Here be with your friend, He sneered. Her body tumbled downwards,
colliding with branches and rocks before landing next to Janine.
(18:10):
Both girls were fading fast. The night air turned bitter cold,
and the girls who were still bound clung to what
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first slight crept over the horizon, casting thin shadows across
(20:21):
the ravine. Laurie, whose mind was flickering between consciousness and oblivion,
realized that if they stayed there, they would die. She
could hear cars passing above them, the sound of life
moving on while theirs was slipping away. Summoning every ounce
of strength, Lori clawed her way towards the road inch
(20:42):
by inch, the pain almost unbearable. When she finally reached
the roadside, she raised a trembling hand to flag down
a passing car. The driver stopped immediately. He crouched beside her,
offering comfort. As more people stopped to help, One bystander
the word rape, and Laurie, through broken sobs, clarified that
(21:04):
they hadn't been raped, but somebody had forced them to
strip and fooled around with them. Sirens screamed through the
air as an ambulance rushed Laura and Jeanne to Santa
Teresa Hospital. Laurie's condition was critical but stable. Her body
bore numerous stab wounds across her upper torso. Jeanine, however,
was far worse off. Stab wounds riddled her neck, face,
(21:26):
and chest, and she had sustained the fractured skull. Doctors
fought to save Jeanine, but her heart gave out in
the operating room. The injuries had been too severe. Almost
fifty stab wounds had shattered her chance of survival. One
of them had cut her jugular vein, while another slashed
her kidney. Miraculously, Laurie remained conscious. In the hours following
(21:52):
her rescue, she gave detectives a detail account of the
horror they had endured. She described the security guard with
position leading investigator with little doubt about who they were
searching for. It wasn't long before detectives had a name,
and soon after they were closing in on the man
who had turned a night of terror into a nightmare
(22:12):
beyond imagination. By day, Carolyn's mansion stood as a decaying
monument to a forgotten era, But by night it was
under the watch of twenty three year old David Railey,
(22:34):
employed by Young Patrol Service of San Francisco, Really had
been assigned to guard the sprawling estate since mid nineteen
eighty four. His post wasn't glamorous. He spent long, lonely
hours sitting in his car, parked in the shadow of
the mansion's grand facade. To keep warm, he stuffed newspapers
into the windows and even while the TV set to
(22:55):
the mansion's power supply, creating a makeshift home away from home.
But Rayley's ambitions stretched far beyond security work. He had
always dreamed of becoming a police officer, and in many
ways acted as though he already wore the badge. His
car was modified to mimic an undercover patrol vehicle, complete
with the red light he'd installed himself, which he occasionally
(23:17):
spawn atop his roof like a signal of misplaced authority,
blasting a bicycle siren through a Seabee radio. He'd pull
over unsuspecting residents for minor infractions such as spaeding, sometimes
wearing his security guard uniform. Really took his fantasy further,
chasing down teenager skipping school, issuing orders as if he
(23:38):
were an officer of the law. One local teenager, Roddy Schrieber,
remembered a chilling encounter. He handcuffed me once and wouldn't
let me go until I told him i'd call the
police obsessed with porer and control. Really even carried a
police scanner, often showing up uninvited to accident scenes. As
Lieutenant Dawn Turchill later put it, he was a wannabe cop,
(24:04):
but behind really self appointed role as a neighborhood enforcer
lurked something much darker. When detectives eventually connected him to
the horrific attack at Caroline's mansion, their search led them
to his modest home near Capital Expressway in San Jose. There,
without resistance, Really was arrested. He was put in a
(24:25):
line up where Laurie identified him as the man who
had killed her friend and almost killed her. After Railey's arrest,
unsettling stories about him began to surface. Local teenagers, once
lured by the promise of a mysterious tour through the
decaying mansion, came forward with chilling recollections of their own
(24:47):
encounters with the security guard. It turned out that Janine
and Laurie hadn't been the first to fall prey to
his manipulations. Several teenage girls spoke out, revealing that they
too had been invited inside Caroline's by re under the
guise of a private tour. One girl described a strange
encounter during a visit in December, where she and two
(25:07):
friends had followed him into the mansion. At first, the
experience seemed innocent enough. He led them through the eerie halls,
playing a strange game of hide and seek, claiming to
know every corner of the vast estate. But the longer
they stayed, the more unsettling his behavior became. She recalled,
At first, we thought he was friendly, but after a while,
(25:28):
some of the things he was doing were just off
the wall. Another girl shared a bizarre experience during her tour.
Really had instructed her to climb into the safe of
the mansion and scream at the top of her lungs
to demonstrate how soundproof it was. When she complied, he
had eerily told her that he could kill somebody in
the basement and nobody would hear a thing. It wasn't
(25:49):
just the teens who had raised concerns about Really's odd behavior.
Gail Passereti, a local journalism student writing a piece on
the mansion's history, had met with him in the oars
before Jeanine and Laurie were abducted. During their conversation, Really
had bragged about his access to the mansion, telling Gail,
you wouldn't believe the things girls offer me, food, money, sex,
(26:12):
anything to get inside. He went on to boast about
how he used his police's knowledge to avoid suspicion, advising
Gaile to park a few blocks away to avoid any
attention from the police. He even mentioned that the best
hand to visit was between noon and one pm, when
the police were on lunch break, and that he didn't
need to carry a gun or batton because he was
skilled in karate. The ominous nature of these encounters suddenly
(26:36):
became far more real. Just hours after this conversation with Gail,
Really had kidnapped Jeanne and Laurie. But as they lay
dying locked in the trunk of his car, a police
officer who had come to ask about Raley's recent purchases
of a citizen's band radio arrived at Carolyn's. The officer
noted something strange. The gates of the mansion were wired shut,
(27:00):
something he'd never seen before. The front door was locked,
and the security guard's car was seemingly empty. The officer
honked the horn. A moment's later Really emerged from the mansion.
His demeanor noticeably more nervous than usual. He seemed to
be in a hurry. It seemed like a perfectly normal interaction,
(27:20):
but the officer had no idea that Janane and Lourie
were hidden in the trunk of Raeleigh's vehicle, gravely injured
and fighting for their lives. David Raleigh was charged with murder,
(27:40):
attempted murder, and two counts of kidnapping. He pleaded not
guilty to all charges. In the announcement of the charges,
Lieutenant Dondregillo remarked, Really is the master of his own Disneyland.
There's a haunted house on the hill and he's in charge,
and all the teenagers come around because they want to
peak at the place. Prosecutors made it clear that they
(28:02):
would be seeking the death penalty of Really were convicted.
In the days following his rest, Really admitted to the
brittal attack on Jeanine and Laurie. He claimed that after
assaulting them in the mansion, he intended on releasing them,
but something inside his mind prevented him from doing so. Then,
on the ninth of February, around five hundred people gathered
(28:22):
for Janine's funeral at the First Presbyterian Church, in Burlingham.
The church was filled with grief stricken friends, family, and classmates,
all mourning the loss of a bright, vibrant young woman.
Reverend Paul water Mulder attempted to offer comfort during the service,
telling the congregation death did not conquer Janine Grinsel, Janning
(28:44):
Grinsoll conquered death. After the service, there was a private
burial for her family, a final farewell to the girl
whose life had been tragically cut short. The school also
held a memorial service in her memory, remembering her not
only as a student, but as a fine leader and
an inspiration to those who knew her. The principal spoke
(29:04):
of her resilient, stating her response was always to work
a little harder, smile a little brighter. Laurie, who had
survived the attack, was eventually released from the hospital, though
the physical and emotional scars would remain with her forever.
In the wake of the attack, she filed a lawsuit
against the Young Patrol Services, the company that had employed
(29:25):
really as a security guard. She accused them of negligence
in hiring him, saying that they should have known about
his history of a barrent behavior towards young girls and
violent propensities. As it turned out, really had a troubling history.
Prior to his job at Carolyn's, he had worked as
a security guard at a shopping mall where he was
(29:45):
known to have harassed young girls, even sending them love notes.
Frank Petra, the attorney representing Laurie, argued in a nutshell
where saying he had a history of being in trouble
and that it was only a matter of time before
what happened at the Carolines mansion occur. The lawsuit also
named Glacier National Assurance Co. And RNA Holdings Limited, the
(30:06):
owners of the Caroline's mansion, is defendants. Jeane's parents then
followed suit, finding their own legal action against the security company.
This episode is sponsored by Better Help. We all face
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(31:34):
David Really was ordered to stand trial, and jury selection
began in January of nineteen eighty seven. It took two
months for a jury of six men and six women
to be selected. Really's defense attorney, Brian Chaymeister, said in
the mediate the attack was so gruesome he needed to
find jurors who wouldn't react emotionally. To the details. The
trial began on the first of April. During the opening statements,
(31:57):
Prosecutor day of Davies said that a sexual grade had
motivated Raleigh to attack Jeanine and Laurie. Testimony was heard
from Raleigh's family. He spoke about his demeanor that night
as Jeanine and Laurie lay bleeding in his car in
the garage, His brother Manuel said everything seemed to be fine.
Later that night, two friends, Robert and Deborah Sober, called
(32:19):
by the family's home as well. They said that really
appeared pretty normal, but he wasn't his usual cheery self.
Doctor Joseph Roster, the surgeon who operated on Janine, testified next.
He stated she was totally bled out. There was absolutely
no fluid in her circulatory system. Janine had been given
(32:42):
ten leaders of blood, but her heart gave out during surgery.
When Janine was brought to the hospital, her body temperature
was only ninety point seven degrees after spending the night
outside in the cold. Laurie McKenna served as the key
witness of the trial, and she detailed the horrific attack
that cost her friend her life and almost cost her own.
(33:02):
Laurie was unafraid, as she described begging Raley to take
him to the hospital after he drove them to his
family's home. She testified, he just gave us a kind
of stare of hatred. It was sort of a death stare.
During cross examination by the defense attorney, she portrayed Really
as somebody who punctuated his savage attacks with random acts
(33:24):
of kindness. She testified that at one point he took
off his jacket and gave it to Jeanine to keep
her warm. She also described him rubbing her arm in
an odd gesture of kindness. After she testified, Judge John
Shatz announced he was dropping the rape charges against Raleigh.
He stated, it would be a disservice to these two
(33:46):
young ladies to continue with the theory of rape. After
all they've gone through, they were not raped, and rape
is not an issue in the case. This decision came
even after Laurie testified about really taking Jeanine away and
her own sexual assault. After that, the defense began their case. However,
the defense attorney waived his opening statements and instead began
(34:09):
calling witnesses. He called on several people who testified about
the tours they had taken at Caroline's mansion. In some instances,
the teenagers would encourage a security guard. Sometimes it was
really but sometimes it was somebody else. The next witness
was an emergency care expert from Oregon. He testified that
(34:29):
Janine might have survived had she received adequate medical treatment.
Doctor Donald Trunky said that she had a seventy percent
chance of survival, but that the attending doctor was confused
and didn't really know what was going on. He suggested
that they were in over their head and they had
aggravated her condition by failing to treat her hypothermia. Defense
(34:50):
attorney Shemeister said he presented the doctor to demonstrate that
there may not have been an intent on killing Jeanine
and LORII. After that, the trial came to a close.
During closing arguments, the defense attorney acknowledged that Raley was
indeed responsible for what had happened to the girls. However,
he said it was the result of a burst of
violence brought on by confusion and fear. He called on
(35:14):
the jury to dismiss the first degree murder conviction and
instead urged them to convict him of second degree murder.
He described really as amiable, chatty, and friendly to those
who knew him, and said he snapped when he was
presented with a curious accident of circumstances. Prosecutor Davies, however,
presented a different view of Really. He portrayed him as
(35:37):
a statistic torturer who was out to fill his sexual greed.
He stated, imagine what it feels like to stab a
young child like that, innocent high school girls more than
forty times to David Really, these young, lively girls were
trash that belonged in a dump, and that's where he
left them. The prosecutor said that Reeley's actions weren't it
(35:57):
a first degree murder conviction and a death sentence. The
jury returned with a verdict the following day. They found
David Really guilty of the first agree murder of Janine
Grinsel and guilty of kidnapping and torture. As the verdict
was announced, Really began to cry. The verdict paid the
(36:21):
way for the penalty phase of the trial, which began
on the seventh of May. The decision on whether or
not Really would be sentenced to death would be up
to the same jury that had just convicted him. The
defense presented testimony about Really's upbringing portraying him as a
deprived child of an alcoholic and abusive mother. His aunt
Francis Really testified David's mother verbally abused him every day
(36:45):
of his life. She put him down until he felt
like he was nothing. The family said that Really was
expected to do all of the housework and was slapped
by his mother, Elva, if it wasn't done to her liking.
While Reley's cousin Michael Matthews agreed, Really's neighbor Linda Algeria,
said that Really appeared to have a happy childhood. She
(37:07):
testified that she never knew Elva to be an alcoholic
and said that she and her son appeared to have
a loving relationship. Really's father, Ralph testified in an effort
to save his son's life. He said that the jury
had been given a bad picture of his son. They
didn't get to see the good side of him. He said,
(37:28):
something's corrupted my son. My son deserves something better. He
then added the two girls had a little bit to
do with it. It wasn't only him. Elva and Ralph had
divorced back in nineteen eighty three. Really's sister Cathy went
on to describe a household that was rife with stress
(37:48):
as the result of their mother, who drank daily. She
stated she would call David weird. My brother needs help
more than he needs the gas chamber secular. Davies opted
out of calling any witnesses, but he did say to
the jury people that commit murder and stabbed teenage girls
do not usually have a good family background. The jury
(38:11):
deliberated for several days before they informed the judge that
they couldn't reach a decision. Judge John Schatz declared a
mistrial and then said another penalty phase hearing for April
the next year. This time, new evidence was presented and
it was damning against Reeli. It was revealed that when
he was a teenager, he had molested two young girls.
(38:33):
The two girls, who were six and seven when he
abused them, testified in court. They said that he had
threatened them during two separate occasions, to remove their clothing
and touch him. Their fathers testified that they didn't report
it at the time because Raley's family said they would
get him psychiatric counseling. This new evidence sealed the deal,
(38:53):
and the jury announced that they had reached a verdict.
They decided that David really deserved to die for his crimes.
The following week, he was formally sentenced to death by
Judge John Shatz. From court, he was transferred to San
Quentin's death row. Over the forthcoming years, David Really appealed
(39:19):
his death sentenced several times, but each attempt was met
with rejection. His legal battle stretched on, but justice remained steadfast.
In two thousand and six, Laurie, who is now a
mother and married to former San Francisco Giants picture William
Van Landigan, reflected on her ordeal in an interview with
(39:39):
Mercury News. She had won a one point five million
dollar settlement from the security firm that had haired Really.
She said to the reporter, I look okay, my life's good,
but I kind of feel like I made that part.
I decided to make my life better. I could have wallowed,
but there were shadows that she couldn't. Laurie admitted that
(40:02):
she regretted believing Relei's lie about the police dogs outside,
a moment she now believed could have been their chance
to escape. She said, when you get stabbed, you just
think I'm dead. All I could think about was my
per mother. I kind of waited for the lights to
go out. She paused, her gaze distant, as if she
(40:23):
could still see Jeanine in her mind, before continuing, the
fact of the matter is she's not here. That's the
most important thing that most people forget. She should have
gotten married, had kids, done it all. The following year,
the US Supreme Court turned down Raley's final appeal. While
they should have led to an execution date, the Court's
(40:44):
recent review of lethal injection procedures ment executions were temporarily
halted in twenty thirteen, Really revived his appeals, claiming he
was mentally disabled at the time of the murder. He
argued that as an autistic man, he fell under the
legal protections against executing the mentally disabled, but this argument
(41:04):
too was rejected. But then in twenty twenty four, it
was announced that fourteen men on death row in Santa
Clara County would be re sentenced. Among them was David Riley.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen contended that capital punishment had been
unjustly administered in California. Pushing for these resentencing decisions, Laurie
(41:27):
once again was thrust into the emotional turmoil of the case.
She became one of the first to oppose the decision.
Her voice trembled with frustration as she said, nothing has
changed in this case, but somehow everything's changed. Nothing's changed
in law either. All of a sudden, I'm defending myself
and it's just a weird and strange place to be.
(41:50):
She didn't believe that really could ever be rehabilitated, nor
did Jeanine's brother, Read, who was unwavering in his stance
as he said, David really is right where he deserves
to be, with the death sentence like the one he
gave my sister. David really for nou still remains on
death row. Well, best sis. That is it for this
(42:32):
episode of Morbidology. It is always thank you so much
for listening, and I'd like to say a massive thank
you to my newest supporter up on Patreon, Sarah. As
you all know, Morbidology is a one woman team, so
the support up on there seriously goes such a long way,
and I genuinely am eternally grateful. I'm trying to get
back into the swing of uploading more bonus episodes up
on Patreon, but I've fallen behind over my pregnancy and
(42:56):
becoming a new mother. But this year I'm going to
try my hardest to get a lot more written and
a lot more uploaded. In addition to the bonus episodes,
I also upload adfree in early released episode behind the scenes,
and I also send out a handwritten thank you card
along with some co merch. If you'd like to support
the show in another way, please consider leaving me a
rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else
(43:17):
you may be listening. Ratings and reviews are a super
easy way to support a show that you like, and
I really do appreciate the feedback. Remember to check us
out at more biology dot com for more information about
this episode and to read some true crime articles. Until
next time, take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have
an amazing week.
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