July 21, 2025 • 51 mins
Hidden among the wooded backroads of rural Wisconsin sat a modest farmhouse. It was quiet, unremarkable, and seemingly ordinary. But behind closed doors, it was a place of fear and control. In March 2015, that house became the scene of something unimaginable.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
She grabbed a knife that was on the shelf, and
she came after me with it. That's how I got.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
The Fanny. Community of Peel is situated deep in the
woods northern Wisconsin. It's so small that it's easy to
miss on a map. There's no bustling main streets, no
gas stations or convenience stores, just scattered homes, gravel roads,
and dense, silent forced. It's a place where people choose
for the quiet, the isolation in the distance, a place
(01:18):
where life moves at a very slow pace and secrets
can stay hidden for a long time. On the morning
of Sunday, the eighth of March twenty fifteen, the stillness
of Peel was interrupted at the Oneida County Emergency Dispatch Center.
The phone began to ring. Before the operator could answer,
the caller hung up. It happened again, and then again,
(01:42):
three calls, all from the same number. Then came a
fourth call. The dispatcher answered, There was a pause, and
then finally there was a voice. It was a little girl, nine,
where's your emergency at home?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Hello at my house.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Ashley Martinsen was born on March sixth, nineteen ninety eight,
to Jennifer and Jeremy in the quiet town of Hayes
and Kansas. Hayes is a small city tucked into the
wind swept plains of the Midwest. It's the kind of
place where life moved a little bit slower, But behind
the closed doors of the Martinson home, life was anything
but peaceful. Jennifer Ashley's mother was a certified nurse's assistant.
(02:40):
Her days were long, filled with backbreaking work and emotional exhaustion,
but she kept going. Jennifer had dreams, if not for herself,
then for her family. She had worked tirelessly to support
Jeremy through college, hoping that her sacrifice would help build
a better life. Jeremy wasn't the kind of man who
returned love with kindness. He was cruel and controlling, and
(03:02):
behind that front door and behind that front door, Jennifer
endured relentless abuse. But the violence that Jennifer suffered didn't
start with Jeremy. It went back much further. As a child,
Jennifer had been sexually abused by her own father. The
abuse was eventually reported, and Jennifer was placed in de
foster care at just sixteen. She took matters into her
(03:24):
own hands. She legally emancipated herself and started living on
her own, determined to carve out some semblance of safety
and independence. When her daughter, Ashley was six years old,
Jennifer finally found the strength to leave Jeremy. The marriage
was over, and Jennifer stepped into the role of a
single mother. It wasn't easy, but she tried to create
(03:45):
a home that was filled with love and structure. Those
who knew her described Jennifer as shy and lacking in confidence.
She rarely raised her voice, rarely asked for help. But
beneath that quiet demeanor was a woman who had weathered
more than most people, someone deeply intelligent but deeply wounded. Ashley,
by all accounts, was a Swede and thoughtful little girl.
(04:08):
She was quiet, well mannered, and she loved animals, especially
her dog and her pet Gerbil. Despite what her mother
had gone through, her innocence was still intact and her
world was still full of wonder. Family friend lew An
Kibby would later say, she was a pretty typical little girl.
You know. She loved roller coasters. But soon another man
(04:30):
entered Jennifer's life. His name was Jerry Ray Bay, and
he wasn't a savior. Jerry had a long and troubling
criminal record, with a history of violence and numerous encounters
with police. He drank heavily, and the more he drank,
the more dangerous he became. It didn't take long for
the abuse to start. Jennifer once again had found herself trapped,
(04:52):
and this time Ashley was watching it all on fold.
She learned the cues, the clink of a bottle, the
rising pitch in Jerry's voice, the sudden silence that came
before the rage. When things got bad, Ashley would run.
Sometimes she'd hide under their trailer. Other times she'd fleed
a nearby bridge and crouch beneath it. Ashley was just
(05:12):
a little girl trying to survive in a world that
had never given her a chance to fail safe. Then,
when Ashley was just nine years old, Jerry sexually assaulted her.
By May of two thousand and eight, Jerry was behind
bars on unrelated charges. As his release date approached, Jennifer
took steps to protect herself and her daughter. She asked
(05:33):
the court for a restraining order, but fair trauma or
maybe hope, got the better of her. Instead of keeping
Jerry out, Jennifer allowed him to move back in. Within months,
the violence escalated again. Jerry resumed beating Jennifer, threatening her life,
and physically abusing Ashley. Eventually, Jennifer reported Jerry to his
(05:54):
parole officer, telling them that he'd been drinking, which was
violating the terms of his parole. Police acted and Jerry
was arrested, and for the first time in what felt
like forever, Jennifer and Ashley were finally free. In November
(06:17):
twenty and ten, Jennifer Martins and logged onto an online
dating website and met a man named Thomas Ayers. He
was living in Botano, North Dakota, a rural town near
the Canadian border. Thomas seemed stable. He worked in the
booming oil industry, and unlike the violent men of Jennifer's past,
he came with an image of responsibility, a steady job,
(06:38):
two daughters of his own, and a tragic backstory. His
previous wife, Angela, had died in a car crash in
March of two thousand and eleven. Just four months after
meeting online, Jennifer brought Ashley, who was now thirteen years old,
to North Dakota to meet Thomas in person. Ashley recollected,
(06:58):
bought him moved to Kaida.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
At first had been the first night and everything such
a Jenifery because then I'm online Dad. I think the
first thing was going in on was thirteen. We drove
all the way and it's better than Kansas. It seemed
like really good for each other.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
He was really sweet, good for Whatever happened during that
visit must have felt like hope, a second chance, because
by May they were gone. Jennifer packed up their life
in Kansas, left behind everything they knew, and moved in
with Thomas and his two daughters. To her friends back home,
it seemed sudden, maybe even reckless, but to Jennifer it
(07:42):
probably felt like survival. Thomas had a good job. He
made enough money for the both of them, and for
a woman who had spent years clawing her way out
of poverty and abuse, that kind of security was a
powerful lure. Jennifer started telling people that she would never
have to work again, But then she stopped calling. One
by one, she severed ties with Kansas, no more check ins,
(08:05):
no more visits. Her old friend Leanne Kibby noticed the
silence and grew concerned. What if the relationship didn't work out?
What if Jennifer found herself stuck again, this time far
from home, with no job and no safety net. Leanne
recalled asking her, what's your backup plan? Jennifer had always
talked about Portland and Oregon, some distant dream of a
(08:28):
fresh start on the coast that was her fallback, a
place that, at least in theory, might still offer escape.
Jennifer never made it to Portland. Instead, in twenty thirteen,
Jennifer and Thomas had a baby girl together. A year later,
they married and relocated again, this time to the wooded
seclusion of Peale in Wisconsin, a tiny rural community surrounded
(08:52):
by thick forests and winding country roads. It was quiet, remote,
and for the Martinson's it felt like a fresh chapter.
Thomas kept his job in the oil fields and commuted
back and forth to North Dakota, working two week shifts
that meant for long stretches of time. Jennifer was left
alone with the kids, and while she settled into her
(09:14):
role as his stea at home mother, Thomas seemed to
have his sight set on something else, entirely the wilderness.
Neighbors would later say the family moved to Wisconsin in
port because of the hunting. Thomas liked the land, the isolation,
and most of all, the game. The family amassed a
large collection of firearms, rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Everyone in
(09:36):
the household, even Ashley, who was now seventeen, held hunting licenses.
On the surface, it was a picture of Rustic Americana.
A blended family living off the land, raising kids and
making a home in the woods. Actually seemed to adapt well,
at least outwardly. She enrolled at rhineland Or High School
(09:57):
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would later recall she was polite, knew what she was doing.
(11:24):
She just wanted to have a decent teenage life. The
teenage life isn't always what it seems like. So many
teenagers of her generation, Ashley's lived another life online, away
from the classrooms, the forest trails and the hunting trips.
Ashley found an outlet on the Internet under the name Vampchick,
(11:45):
she started a blog, It was Dark and Bleak, a
digital canvas for the things she couldn't say out looyd
grete poems, some melancholy, some violent and disturbing. One entry
that was titled Unworthy described a disturbing scene rushing through
the woods at night, deepened a corner where the agonizing
screams cannot be heard. It spoke of restraining a girl,
(12:08):
mutilating her, stabbing her in the eye, and finally setting
her on fire with gasoline. Accompanying the poem were drawings
a snake coiled around the human skull, a girl with
wild eyes standing next to a wolf. To those who
only saw Ashley at work or in the skull hallways,
she was a typical teenager trying to navigate her world.
(12:30):
But behind the curtain, in blog posts and browser windows,
a different version of Ashley emerged, one that felt isolated,
one that hinted at torment, one that seemed to know
far more pain than a seventeen year old ever should.
But what nobody realized at the time, not her friends,
not her classmates, not even her mother, was that the
(12:53):
storm was coming, and when it finally broke, it would
tear through the family in the most violent an unthinkable way.
After the move to Wisconsin, Ashley Martinson met a man
named Ryan Cisco. He was twenty two years old while
(13:17):
she was just seventeen. The relationship started as a friendship,
but it quickly became something else, something inappropriate and predatory.
Ryan had a criminal record, including convictions for theft, drug abuse,
receiving stolen property, and disorderly conduct. In twenty thirteen, a
restraining order had been issued against him. He was bad news,
(13:39):
and Ashley knew it. She kept the relationship quiet, careful
to hide it from her mother and Thomas, because she
knew what would happen if they found out. She knew
that they wouldn't approve. Then, on the morning of the
seventh of March twenty and fifteen, the secret came out.
Jennifer had gotten a hold of Ashley's cell phone. She
(14:00):
scrolled through the messages and found a string of texts
between Ashley and Ryan. She confronted her daughter and a
Lloyd argument broke out. Thomas joined in da forbade Ashley
from ever saying Ryan again. They took away her cell phone,
her car keys, and her privacy. Jennifer threatened to kick
her out of the house, but Thomas had another idea.
(14:22):
He said she should be homeschooled, that she should spend
the next year under house arrest. Ashley ran to her bedroom.
She locked the door, packed a bag, slung it over
her shoulder, and stormed out of the house. But she
didn't get very far. She made it down the driveway
heading towards the neighbor's place when she heard the footsteps
behind her. It was Thomas. He grabbed her by the
(14:45):
arm and dragged her back into the home. That same morning,
Ryan Cisco received a Facebook message from Ashley's account, but
it wasn't from Ashley. It was either Thomas or Jennifer.
The message read, stayed the hell away from my daughter.
She's a miner. They warned him that if he didn't
back off, they would have him charged with statutory rape.
(15:07):
His criminal record already painted him as a repeat offender.
One more charge could bury him. But whatever tension was
boiling between Ashley and her parents didn't die down. It
only intensified. After Ashley came back home, Thomas asked his
nine year old daughter Anne where she had gone. In
her room, she replied. Thomas stormed upstairs. Anne was sitting
(15:29):
in the living room with Jennifer when they heard it.
Two sharp pops, like firecrackers, but deeper and heavier. They
were a hunting family and they knew the sound anywhere
it was gunshots. Jennifer ran upstairs. Moments later, a blood
curdling scream echoed through the home. Jennifer screamed for Anne.
(15:51):
The little girl started up the stairs, but stopped when
she saw it her sister, Ashley, on top of her mother.
At first, it looked like they were fighting, but Jennifer
was screaming in a way that Anne had never heard before.
Ashley turned to her and said, go back downstairs, so
she did. Minutes passed, the screaming stopped. When Ashley came downstairs,
(16:15):
she was covered in blood. She had a knife in
her hand and what looked like a stab wound to
her own leg. She turned on cartoons for her younger sisters,
trying to keep things calm normal eving then the sound
of the shore running upstairs. Ashley reappeared and told the
three younger girls to go into one of the bedrooms.
(16:35):
As they walked, they noticed something terrifying. Blood on the floor,
and then they saw their father, Thomas was lying motionless
in a pool of blood. There was a massive wound
to his head. Anne turned to Ashley and asked, did
you kill Dad? Ashley responded no. Then she said they
(16:56):
were going to play a game. She brought the girls
plates of food and cups of drink, setting them on
the floor in the bedroom. She smiled and said that
everything was okay. Then she stepped out and tied the
door shut. The three girls, aged just nine, eight and
two years old, were trapped. The next morning, a call
(17:23):
came in to the dispatch cent there. It was a
nine to one one call, but there were three hang
ups before a voice finally came through. It was Anne,
the nine year old had worked up the courage to
try again. She and her little sisters had managed to
escape the locked bedroom during the night, but they were
too scared to do anything else, too scared to leave
(17:43):
the house, too scared to check upstairs. They didn't know
if Ashley was still in the home. They didn't know
where Jennifer was. All they knew for sure was that
their father was dead and Ashley had been the one
who killed him, and didn't know the address of the home,
but dispatches were able to trace the call. Given the
uncertainty of the situation, law enforcement treated the call as
(18:05):
a potential active shooter ONEIDA called the armored vehicle and
special Response Team were deployed to the scene, arriving just
before eleven a M. Lieutenant Terry Hook later said, Originally,
when we got the call, we didn't know what we had,
so we had to respond as if we had an
active shooter. The first responders approached the house with weapons drawn.
(18:29):
Blood was visible on the steps leading up to the
front door. Nobody knew what they would find inside. They
kicked in the front door. Immediately their eyes were drawn
to the staircase. At the base of the stairs lay Jennifer.
She was motionless and surrounded in blood. She had been
stabbed thirty five times. The team continued their sweep of
(18:52):
the home. A trail of blood led them up the
stairs into the hallway outside Ashley's bedroom. There, on the
floor they found Thomas Heirs. He had been shot twice,
once in the neck, once in the head. Further inside
the home, in one of the bedrooms, officers found Anne
and her two younger sisters. They were scared, shaken, but
(19:15):
physically unharmed, and told the officers everything she knew. She
described the argument that had erupted the day before, the
gun shots, the screaming, her sister's blood covered body, how
Ashley had locked them inside the bedroom. She said she
saw her father with his head cracked open. As officers
(19:35):
continued their search, it became clear that the entire home
was a crime scene. Blood was everywhere downstairs, in the bathroom,
on the kitchen counter, smeared across the stairway, pulled in
the upstairs hallway. Evidence lay in nearly every room. In
the downstairs bathroom, they found a folding knife with both
blood and hair on the blade. A black stocking cap
(19:57):
was also found stained with blood and hair. Wrappers from
bandages and a needle were in the trash can, along
with the spent shell casing. In the basement, beneath the
laundry chute, officers found a pile of discarded clothing, torn
pink and black jeans, a black long sleeved shirt, and
a bloody toil. Someone had clearly changed out of blood
(20:19):
soaked clothing. Inside Ashley's bedroom, they found a shotgun lying
on the floor. On her bed was a broken necklace
flecked with blood in the kitchen garbage. An iPhone was recovered,
also stained with blood. A rifle lay on the kitchen
floor next to a bloody knife. There were more weapons
throughout the home, in a gun cabinet, scattered in drawers, handguns, ammunition,
(20:43):
hunting knives, a broken metal knife, a pellet gun. Once
the entire home had been secured, one thing was immediately clear.
Ashley was gone, and she hadn't gone on foot. Missing
from the property was a nineteen ninety nine Chevrolet Silverado,
the family's pickup truck. Ashley had taken it and she
was now on the run. The discovery of Thomas and
(21:11):
Jennifer's body sent shockwaves through the small town of Peel.
The murders weren't only shocking, they were deeply personal and savage.
Medical examiner Larry Matthean put it plainly, it was just horrific.
We don't expect this kind of thing. We just don't.
(21:32):
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of July. As police continued to process the crime scene
beyond the lookout was issued for Ashley Martinsen and her vehicle.
Authorities warned that she should be considered armed and dangerous,
but by the time law enforcement realized what had happened,
Ashley already had a full day's head start. The murders
(23:21):
had taken place the morning before the bodies were discovered. Now,
with Ashley on the run, the urgency of the man
hunt increased by the ore. Detectives turned to her friends,
hoping that someone might know where she was going or
where she might hide. One friend told police that Ashley
had been planning to move in with her the same
day the bodies were found, but the night before, just
(23:43):
before six PM, she had sent a text message saying
she had to go to Kansas for a funeral and
wouldn't be able to move in. Another lead came from
John Rasmussen, a family friend. Just after midnight, Ashley had
shown up at his home carrying her five month old
German Seppard puppy, Diesel. The dog had clearly just been bathed.
(24:04):
Ashley asked John if he could look after Diesel for
a while. She said that she was going away. John
now wondered aloud to detectives was the dog bathed because
he was covered in blood. Ashley had always been a
familiar and welcome presence at the Rasmussen household. John's father, Roy,
recalled the just days earlier. He had even allowed Ashley's boyfriend,
(24:25):
Ryan Cisco, to stay over. Ashley had explained that her
parents didn't approve of Ryan, but that didn't bother Roy
too much. Ryan was polite. He'd even helped out around
the house, fixing things and landing a hand with some chores. Then,
on Saturday evening, the same day that Thomas and Jennifer
were murdered, Ashley came by the house. She and Ryan
(24:48):
left shortly afterward in her truck. Telling the Rasmussens they
were heading to Villis County to visit Ryan's mother. Roy
admitted he briefly thought about calling Thomas to let him
know that his daughter was dating a twin d two
year old man, but John talked him out of it.
To John, none of it made any sense, he said,
(25:08):
she was basically a good kid, a very decent girl
until this happened. We don't know what set her off.
Detectives were wondering the same thing, what had happened inside
that home to push a seventeen year old girl to
the edge. Some of Ashley's friends told investigators that she
wasn't happy at home. Her parents made her pay rent,
(25:30):
they restricted her freedom. She had few opportunities to socialize
and even fewer chances to be a normal teenager. But
those reasons alone didn't explain what had happened. As the
investigation deepened, detectives began peeling back the layers of life
inside the Air's home, and what they found was disturbing.
(25:52):
Because Ashley Martinsen wasn't just a rebellious teenager with a
boyfriend her parents didn't like. She was a teenager living
in a house full of secrets, and life behind those
closed doors was far darker than anybody could have imagined.
(26:16):
To outsiders, the Heirs Martinson family looked like any other
blended household. They had their spats, sure, but what family didn't.
Neighbors saw what looked like a typical working class family
trying to make things work in a quiet corner of Wisconsin.
Jennifer the devoted mother, Thomas the blue collared stepfather, Ashley
(26:38):
the teenage daughter, three younger children in tow. But as
is so often the case, appearances can be deceiving. Jennifer
Martinsen had once been a hard working single mother. By
all account, she poured herself into raising Ashley after getting
her former abusive boys friend out of their lives. But
(26:59):
that was before she met Thomas Eyres online and made
the life altering decision to move her family to Peel.
Leuanne Kibby recalled those early days dating. I don't want
Jennifer to be made out as a bad parent or
Ashley as a tormented child. That's not how it was
at all, at least when they left here in twenty eleven.
(27:21):
But detectives would soon uncover a disturbing truth. Thomas Eyres
had a violent and dangerous past, one littered with a
long paper trail of domestic violence, assault, and disturbing allegations
involving miners before meeting Jennifer. Thomas was charged after attacking
his then estranged wife, who was six months pregnant at
(27:41):
the time. He showed up at the home where she
was staying, demanding money for gas. When she could only
offer five dollars, Thomas spit in her face, grabbed her shirt,
and forced her into his truck. As they drove along
a rural road. He screamed, I'm going to eliminate my
stress and get rid of view. Then he punched her
(28:02):
in the chest. She later told police that just stays earlier,
he had struck her on the head with a twelve
pack of mountain dew. An officer noted severe bruising and
the clear sound of fear in her voice. The report stated.
Miss Eyre said that she had a safe place to
go for now, but she's worried what he will do
if he finds out she turned him in. She's also
(28:24):
worried about the safety of her unborn baby. Thomas was
convicted of misdemeanor assault and menacing with domestic violence and handswers.
He served two years in jail. But this wasn't an
isolated incident. Just two months earlier, that same woman had
told police about another violent encounter. They had been camping
(28:44):
when she confronted him over suspicions that he was grooming
a sixteen year old girl. According to her report, Thomas
had been drinking. He exploded in rage, striking her in
the face, breaking her glasses, and knocking her to the ground.
Her injuries were visible redness, swelling, and a scab on
her nose, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
(29:05):
In two thousand and nine, Thomas had been convicted of
misdemeanor assault after grabbing a bicyclist off the road, yelling
at him to stay out of the middle of the road,
and threatening to assault every one at the man's home.
When police arrived, Thomas became belligerent and had to be subdued.
Another disturbing incident occurred in the April of two thousand
and six. Thomas made an legal u turn and was
(29:28):
pulled over. His speech was slow and slurred, and he
was clearly intoxicated. Once handcuffed and placed in the patrol car,
he began slamming his head against the pexy glass divider.
When an officer intervened, Thomas tried to head but him. Later,
he kicked out a window with his feet and threatened
the officers transporting him to jail. He was convicted of
(29:49):
drunk driving and criminal mischief, but the most disturbing allegations
came in two thousand and three. In two thousand and four,
In two thousand and three, Thomas was charged with chain
wild enticement and sexual assault of a child. Those charges
were dropped. The following year, he was charged again with
sexual assault of a child. Those charges, too were dismissed
(30:12):
by the district attorney. However, both sets of charges were
linked to an incident involving his then wife. She ultimately
pleaded guilty to indecent exposure under a play agreement. According
to the boy involved, who was just thirteen, Thomas had
watched as the boy was coerced into performing sexual acts
with Thomas's wife. The boy said Thomas coached him, telling
(30:36):
him quote how to do things unquote. While the charges
against Thomas were dropped, the accusations were chilling. In two
thousand and six, he was once again arrested, this time
for illegally possessing firearms, including two rifles, a shotgun, and ammunition.
As a convicted domestic abuser, he was legally prohibited from
(30:57):
owning any weapons. Despite all that, some of his family
insisted that Thomas had changed. His sister, Sandy Rushmore, told
detectives he was a good man. If he loved you,
he would do anything for you. She said he had
been working hard to turn his life around, that he
was focused on raising his children and taking care of
(31:18):
Jennifer and the girls. But that wasn't the truth. Thomas
Eyres hadn't changed. The man Jennifer had brought into her
home was the same violent defender he had always been
capable of manipulation, rage, and control, and inside that house,
Ashley Martinson had been living under the weight of that
(31:38):
threat for years. In the months after Jennifer married Thomas,
the mask slipped. The abuse didn't start all at once,
but when it came, it came violently. One afternoon, Thomas
(32:01):
flew into a rage. He tore apart the kitchen counter
and hurled a trash can against the wall. Then he
grabbed Jennifer by the throat and slammed her against it.
From there, the violence only escalated. Jennifer was beaten, punched, slapped,
and choked on at least one occasion, Thomas held a
(32:22):
gun to her head. Ashley recalled, along.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Knack it along very well.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Sometimes you just get this off from the reason he
got off on her, there are some days along with
no leather.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
It's different every day. So what kinds of this we
do when you get pissed off and just breakstuf hitter, yeah, screaming,
betting killer.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
He even pretended to rape Jennifer in front of Ashley
and the children.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
About Thomas preginning to rape her mom is in from
of you and the girls and the other ones too,
and was well, I guess I don't know, and pretending
like how far, pretending.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Cutting down in spread our legs and the king swooping hair.
She just said, Hill, you're dead, just like your dad,
he gave her, to the point she was in tears.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
The triggers were always small things. A dinner not cooked too,
is liking a conjure top not cleaned fast enough. Ashley
wasn't spared. Eventually, she too became one of Thomas's victims.
Inside that home, Thomas rolled with an iron fist his
rules were strict and his punishments were terrifying. Actually, and
(33:54):
her sisters weren't allowed to have friends over. One of
his daughters were called.
Speaker 6 (33:59):
Do you ever have any your friends come over to
your house and play?
Speaker 7 (34:01):
No?
Speaker 6 (34:02):
No, he'll come cause my dad said, no friends calling over.
Did you guys ever have friends come there over at
the house? My dad no, no, all that how come?
And he also doesn't know any boys then.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
And one time my dad saw that a boy was there,
uh teenage boy that my big sister had him at
the house to he got out in trouble, like my
dad said, get the h out of here.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
Do you know who that was? Mm mm no, it's
just a stranger. I don't know, but hontually knew him.
Speaker 8 (34:45):
He was back to and pretty tall.
Speaker 6 (34:47):
Said no, Dad said, nobody can come over to the house.
Speaker 5 (34:50):
He'll come.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
I don't.
Speaker 6 (34:52):
I don't know why she said that. You don't know
why he said that.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Good Morning's began early, forced to complete chores.
Speaker 7 (34:59):
Cause what happens if you don't do what it says?
Speaker 6 (35:03):
What happens if you break the rules, then we get
a tenu? And how what happens when you have a timeout?
We guess thanking her west run on up to this
or we have to stand in the corner with your
(35:23):
on your tippy toes or it did? Thank you okay?
And who would give you a spanking? My dad looked
my mom when it was late dinner super time. My
mom told me to step up by the walls, and
she thanks me and she spanked you. What did she
(35:45):
spank you with? About a belt?
Speaker 3 (35:49):
What?
Speaker 6 (35:49):
What did the belt look like? It's like dad feels
brown's brown, ma'am. I've got a lot of speak. And
so did Latisia get spanked? Yeah? Who would give the
titia of thinking my dad wild? Play? Your dad want way?
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Whatever money actually made at her job, she was required
to hand it over to Thomas. And it wasn't just
the people in the home who suffered. Shortly before the murders,
the family got two puppies. To most they would have
been a source of joy, but not to Thomas. He
physically abused one of the puppies, choking it and throwing it.
Then in front of Ashley and her younger sisters, he
(36:30):
killed it.
Speaker 6 (36:31):
Did you ever see your dad hurt your mom?
Speaker 8 (36:34):
Who?
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Sometimes?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
What would he do?
Speaker 8 (36:36):
Had her sometime?
Speaker 6 (36:38):
Heml smacker across the face or hope I down. So
she did not like to play like that, but that's
how he played. He plays rough.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Ashley said that her mother at times joined in on
the abuse. The baby, who was just two years old,
was even abused by Thomas. Actually didn't talk to many
people about what was happening hand closed doors, but she
had confided in one person, Ryan Sisco. The day before
the murderers, Ashley sent him a chilling message which read,
(37:09):
I woke up this morning to my stepdad beating my mom.
I can't take that shit anymore. He's going to kill
her if he doesn't leave soon, and I don't want
to be around when that happens. I want to kill
him so fucking bad. Just take one of his guns
and blow his brains out.
Speaker 8 (37:25):
Now.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Both Ashley and Ryan were missing and two people were dead.
After speaking with friends, detectives believed that the two were
on the run, most likely traveling in Ashley's car, and
a lure was issued to law enforcement agencies across the country. Meanwhile,
investigators reached out to Ashley's sell phone provider and they
got a hit. Ashley's phone was pinging in Lebanon, Indiana,
(37:49):
just outside of Indianapolis, traveling south on Interstate sixty five.
Indiana law enforcement was notified immediately, and at around eight
pm that night and off Are spotted the vehicle. The
call went out over the radio. The patrol carl turned
on its emergency lights. The car pulled over without incident.
(38:10):
Officers approached carefully with their weapons draw instructing the occupants
to exit the vehicle slowly with their hands raised. They complied,
it was Ashley Martinson and Ryan Sisco.
Speaker 8 (38:23):
You know what all this is in reference?
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Do gotta have an idea?
Speaker 8 (38:33):
Quite the murder.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Here? What what you guys are calling the murder?
Speaker 7 (38:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (38:41):
Yea for the investigation of that one came out the
game being raped in the jail.
Speaker 8 (38:53):
The game, and.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Ashley Martinsen was formally charged with two cons of first
great intentional homicide and three counts of false imprisonment. When
brought before judge in Indiana, she declined to waive extradition
back to Wisconsin. Judge Jeffrey Edens asked if she understood
the consequences of her decision. Ashley simply replied, okay. Because
(39:18):
of her refusal, the extradition process had to begin through
formal channels. Oneida County District Attorney Michael's Shaikh was required
to file paperwork with the Governor's office to have her returned.
Ashley had just turned seventeen two days before the murders.
Under Wisconsin law, that meant she would be tried as
an adult. It convicted, she would face the possibility of
(39:40):
life in prison. Investigators, however, believed that Ryan had no
direct involvement in the murders, based on Ashley's statements and
the evidence of the scene. He wasn't charged in relation
to the killings. Instead, he was held on a probation
violation from a previous case, with bond said at five
hundred thousand dollars. Back in Wisconsin, the community turned its
(40:02):
attention to the children left behind. The Tri County Council
on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault announced they were collecting
donations for Ashley's younger sisters. The girls had been taken
in by the Oneida County Department of Social Services in
a single violent day. They had lost their parents and
their older sister. Their home had become a crime scene.
(40:25):
They weren't allowed to retrieve any of their belongings, no clothing,
no toys, nothing familiar to bring them. Many comfort donations
poured in money books, stuffed animals, anything that might soften
the unimaginable blow. By April, Ashley was extradided back to
Oneida County. She was appointed two public defenders, Thomas Wilmoth
(40:47):
and Amy Lynn Ferguson. Her bond was said at seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars cash. Meanwhile, prosecutors filed a
new charge against Ryan, sexual intercourse with the child sixteen
or over stemming from his relationship with Ashley. Ryan had
admitted to detectives that the two had sex three times,
(41:07):
but claimed he believed that Ashley was over eighteen. He
said he didn't learn her real age until Jennifer messaged
him on Facebook, but that wasn't true. Detectives had secured
a warrant for Ryan's Facebook account. In the messages, they
found clear evidence that Ashley had told him her real age.
Ryan eventually pleaded no contest to the charge. He avoided
(41:31):
jail time on that count, but he was still sentenced
to six months in jail for violating his probation from
a previous conviction. As part of his play agreement, Ryan
agreed to testify. At Ashley's murder trial, it was determined
that there was enough evidence against Ashley Martinson for her
to stand trial for the two murders. In June, she
(41:53):
formally entered a play of not guilty by raising of
mental disease or defect. Following the play, the corridor the
psychological evaluation to assess her mental competency. By December, the
appointed psychologist concluded that Ashley was competent two stand trial.
Her defense team, however, requested a second opinion, but by
(42:15):
March everything had changed. Ashley returned to Cordon announced that
she was changing her play, this time to guilty. Behind
the scenes, prosecutors had offered a play agreement. Ashley would
plead guilty in exchange for a forty year prison sentence.
She accepted the deal. During the hearing, the details of
(42:35):
the murders were finally disclosed. Ashally told detectives that following
the argument about Ryan, she had gone to retrieve one
of the family's many guns. Her plan, she said, had
been to end her own life, but then Thomas stormed
up the stairs screaming. Ashley said that in that moment,
everything shifted. Instead of turning the gun on herself, she
(42:59):
turned it on him. She shot Thomas twice, telling detectives
she wanted to ensure he was dead and could not
hurt her. Jennifer came running up the stairs. I actually
said she sought comfort from her mother, but instead Jennifer
ran past her and tried to help Thomas.
Speaker 8 (43:18):
She grabbed the.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
Knife that was on the shelf, and she came after
me with it. That's how I got.
Speaker 10 (43:34):
I tried to take it nice stay hand on the knight,
and I trot it and they stabbed her with it.
Tried the knife for me again.
Speaker 8 (43:47):
Okay, and how did you step her?
Speaker 5 (43:50):
I don't know what you mean.
Speaker 8 (43:51):
Where did you discover?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
I don't know. I just started stabbing and fighting with
my life so scared.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
According to Ashley, her mother then grabbed a knife. The
tree struggled, and Ashley was stabbed in the leg. She
said she managed to wrestle the knife away and then
stabbed her mother to death. Ashley also disclosed the years
of abuse that she, her mother, and her sisters had
endured at the hands of Thomas. Her younger sisters corroborated everything.
(44:23):
They said. Their father frequently hit them with a belt,
and they lived in constant fear of him. But it
wasn't just Thomas. The court also heard about Ashley's time
with her biological father, Jeremy and Kansas. In May of
twenty thirteen, she had been sent to live with him.
Just seven months later, police were called to the home.
(44:44):
Jerry admitted to slapping Ashley, but she told officers the
abuse was much worse. Her father had punched, shoved, and
kicked her.
Speaker 7 (44:53):
Didn't work out for in the leading name, okay, So
when he went to live a where was that? And
Gorham Kansas Gouram okay?
Speaker 8 (45:07):
And what grade were you when you first went till
you're dead?
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Okay, so it would be ten. I lived with my
dad for six months and then I couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
That's I kind of ran away and resor.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
To you as amusingly.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Eventually, Ashley was sent back to live with their mother.
Jennifer didn't want her to return, but Thomas agreed to
let her come back. Jeremy never showed up in court.
He showed no interest in supporting his daughter or acting
as her guardian as she faced the murdered charges. His
only concern was how he might look in the media
(45:47):
before Ashley changed her plea. She had been evaluated by
two doctors. They both diagnosed her with major depressive disorder
and post traumatic stress disorder. They concluded she had most
likely been suffering some symptoms of depression since she was
just eight years old, symptoms that intensified significantly around the
age of fifteen. Now, Judge Michael Bloom faced a tough question,
(46:12):
how do you punish a teenage girl who ended a
lifetime of abuse with two bullets and a knife. Under
the terms of the play agreement, prosecutors agreed not to
seek the maximum penalty. Instead, they asked for an aggregate
sentence of forty years twenty years for each count of homicide.
(46:38):
On the tenth of June, Ashley Martinsen returned to court
to learn her faith. During the sentencing hearing, the court
was shown video statements from Ashley's younger sisters. They described
in painful detail the punishments they endured the hands of Thomas.
They painted a disturbing picture a home filled with fair
control and violence. It was a sad life for Jennifer,
(47:01):
Ashley and the girls. Then Sandy Rushmore, Thomas's sister, stood
to raid her victim impact statement She expressed the family's
belief that Ashley hadn't truly accepted responsibility for the murders.
Sandy been granted custody of Ashley's sisters, despite the fact
she hadn't seen Thomas in fifteen years. She objected the
(47:23):
higher brother had been portrayed in the media, telling the
court Thomas was someone's child, he was our brother. But
Sandy also acknowledged that part of the reason she hadn't
seen him in so long was because of his domestic
abuse convictions. She admitted that her brother wanted to control people. Still,
Sandy claimed that by committing the murderers, Ashley had become
(47:44):
part of the very cycle of violence she had grown
up in. She said that Ashley should have sought help.
When asked whether she had watched the interviews where Thomas's
daughters corroborated the abuse, Sandy said she hadn't. Ashley tins
team reminded the Cord that her mental health had improved
since being incarcerated, free from the toxic environment she had
(48:07):
lived in for so long. They posed a simple but
powerful question. The key is is she the evil person
everyone thought she was? On March seventh, twenty fifteen, Judge
Michael Bloom didn't dispute the years of abuse that Ashley
had suffered. He acknowledged it plainly she had been the
victim of horrific trauma, but he said it didn't justify murder.
(48:32):
He stated, simply must give way to the truth, and
in this case, the truth is that two people are dead.
Judge Bloom then handed down his sentence. Ashley Martinsen was
sentenced to twenty three years in prison, followed by seventeen
years of extended supervision. It was a devastating conclusion to
(48:52):
an already tragic story, and yet despite the sentence, Ashley
later told reporters that she finally felt something she had
never known before. Freedom. She stated, I'm happy because I'm
getting help right now. My sisters are safe. And I
know that sounds crazy because I'm in prison, but I
(49:12):
feel like I'm free. I can have an opinion now,
I can have my own thoughts. I can wake up
every day and know that I'm safe. It was a
sad paradox that prison could feel more free than home.
Ashley Martinsen will one day walk out of that prison,
but her true sentence began long before the seventh of
(49:35):
March twenty and fifteen. Well, Bessie's that is it for
(50:01):
this episode of Morbidology. As always, thank you so much
for listening, and i'd like to say a massive thank
you to my newest Patreon supporters, Colin, Lori, Teresa, and Jenny.
Link to Patreon is in the show notes. If you'd
like to join up on Patreon, I upload ad free
and early release episodes behind the scenes, and I also
sand out some co merch along with a thank you note.
(50:22):
There's also a bunch of bonus episodes of Morbilology plus
that aren't on the regular podcast platforms. 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 you may be listening. Remember to check us
out at morbidology dot com for more information about this
episode and to read some trig Grim articles. Until next time,
(50:43):
take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have an amazing week.
She grabbed a knife that was on the shelf, and
she came after me with it. That's how I got.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
The Fanny. Community of Peel is situated deep in the
woods northern Wisconsin. It's so small that it's easy to
miss on a map. There's no bustling main streets, no
gas stations or convenience stores, just scattered homes, gravel roads,
and dense, silent forced. It's a place where people choose
for the quiet, the isolation in the distance, a place
(01:18):
where life moves at a very slow pace and secrets
can stay hidden for a long time. On the morning
of Sunday, the eighth of March twenty fifteen, the stillness
of Peel was interrupted at the Oneida County Emergency Dispatch Center.
The phone began to ring. Before the operator could answer,
the caller hung up. It happened again, and then again,
(01:42):
three calls, all from the same number. Then came a
fourth call. The dispatcher answered, There was a pause, and
then finally there was a voice. It was a little girl, nine,
where's your emergency at home?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Hello at my house.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Ashley Martinsen was born on March sixth, nineteen ninety eight,
to Jennifer and Jeremy in the quiet town of Hayes
and Kansas. Hayes is a small city tucked into the
wind swept plains of the Midwest. It's the kind of
place where life moved a little bit slower, But behind
the closed doors of the Martinson home, life was anything
but peaceful. Jennifer Ashley's mother was a certified nurse's assistant.
(02:40):
Her days were long, filled with backbreaking work and emotional exhaustion,
but she kept going. Jennifer had dreams, if not for herself,
then for her family. She had worked tirelessly to support
Jeremy through college, hoping that her sacrifice would help build
a better life. Jeremy wasn't the kind of man who
returned love with kindness. He was cruel and controlling, and
(03:02):
behind that front door and behind that front door, Jennifer
endured relentless abuse. But the violence that Jennifer suffered didn't
start with Jeremy. It went back much further. As a child,
Jennifer had been sexually abused by her own father. The
abuse was eventually reported, and Jennifer was placed in de
foster care at just sixteen. She took matters into her
(03:24):
own hands. She legally emancipated herself and started living on
her own, determined to carve out some semblance of safety
and independence. When her daughter, Ashley was six years old,
Jennifer finally found the strength to leave Jeremy. The marriage
was over, and Jennifer stepped into the role of a
single mother. It wasn't easy, but she tried to create
(03:45):
a home that was filled with love and structure. Those
who knew her described Jennifer as shy and lacking in confidence.
She rarely raised her voice, rarely asked for help. But
beneath that quiet demeanor was a woman who had weathered
more than most people, someone deeply intelligent but deeply wounded. Ashley,
by all accounts, was a Swede and thoughtful little girl.
(04:08):
She was quiet, well mannered, and she loved animals, especially
her dog and her pet Gerbil. Despite what her mother
had gone through, her innocence was still intact and her
world was still full of wonder. Family friend lew An
Kibby would later say, she was a pretty typical little girl.
You know. She loved roller coasters. But soon another man
(04:30):
entered Jennifer's life. His name was Jerry Ray Bay, and
he wasn't a savior. Jerry had a long and troubling
criminal record, with a history of violence and numerous encounters
with police. He drank heavily, and the more he drank,
the more dangerous he became. It didn't take long for
the abuse to start. Jennifer once again had found herself trapped,
(04:52):
and this time Ashley was watching it all on fold.
She learned the cues, the clink of a bottle, the
rising pitch in Jerry's voice, the sudden silence that came
before the rage. When things got bad, Ashley would run.
Sometimes she'd hide under their trailer. Other times she'd fleed
a nearby bridge and crouch beneath it. Ashley was just
(05:12):
a little girl trying to survive in a world that
had never given her a chance to fail safe. Then,
when Ashley was just nine years old, Jerry sexually assaulted her.
By May of two thousand and eight, Jerry was behind
bars on unrelated charges. As his release date approached, Jennifer
took steps to protect herself and her daughter. She asked
(05:33):
the court for a restraining order, but fair trauma or
maybe hope, got the better of her. Instead of keeping
Jerry out, Jennifer allowed him to move back in. Within months,
the violence escalated again. Jerry resumed beating Jennifer, threatening her life,
and physically abusing Ashley. Eventually, Jennifer reported Jerry to his
(05:54):
parole officer, telling them that he'd been drinking, which was
violating the terms of his parole. Police acted and Jerry
was arrested, and for the first time in what felt
like forever, Jennifer and Ashley were finally free. In November
(06:17):
twenty and ten, Jennifer Martins and logged onto an online
dating website and met a man named Thomas Ayers. He
was living in Botano, North Dakota, a rural town near
the Canadian border. Thomas seemed stable. He worked in the
booming oil industry, and unlike the violent men of Jennifer's past,
he came with an image of responsibility, a steady job,
(06:38):
two daughters of his own, and a tragic backstory. His
previous wife, Angela, had died in a car crash in
March of two thousand and eleven. Just four months after
meeting online, Jennifer brought Ashley, who was now thirteen years old,
to North Dakota to meet Thomas in person. Ashley recollected,
(06:58):
bought him moved to Kaida.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
At first had been the first night and everything such
a Jenifery because then I'm online Dad. I think the
first thing was going in on was thirteen. We drove
all the way and it's better than Kansas. It seemed
like really good for each other.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
He was really sweet, good for Whatever happened during that
visit must have felt like hope, a second chance, because
by May they were gone. Jennifer packed up their life
in Kansas, left behind everything they knew, and moved in
with Thomas and his two daughters. To her friends back home,
it seemed sudden, maybe even reckless, but to Jennifer it
(07:42):
probably felt like survival. Thomas had a good job. He
made enough money for the both of them, and for
a woman who had spent years clawing her way out
of poverty and abuse, that kind of security was a
powerful lure. Jennifer started telling people that she would never
have to work again, But then she stopped calling. One
by one, she severed ties with Kansas, no more check ins,
(08:05):
no more visits. Her old friend Leanne Kibby noticed the
silence and grew concerned. What if the relationship didn't work out?
What if Jennifer found herself stuck again, this time far
from home, with no job and no safety net. Leanne
recalled asking her, what's your backup plan? Jennifer had always
talked about Portland and Oregon, some distant dream of a
(08:28):
fresh start on the coast that was her fallback, a
place that, at least in theory, might still offer escape.
Jennifer never made it to Portland. Instead, in twenty thirteen,
Jennifer and Thomas had a baby girl together. A year later,
they married and relocated again, this time to the wooded
seclusion of Peale in Wisconsin, a tiny rural community surrounded
(08:52):
by thick forests and winding country roads. It was quiet, remote,
and for the Martinson's it felt like a fresh chapter.
Thomas kept his job in the oil fields and commuted
back and forth to North Dakota, working two week shifts
that meant for long stretches of time. Jennifer was left
alone with the kids, and while she settled into her
(09:14):
role as his stea at home mother, Thomas seemed to
have his sight set on something else, entirely the wilderness.
Neighbors would later say the family moved to Wisconsin in
port because of the hunting. Thomas liked the land, the isolation,
and most of all, the game. The family amassed a
large collection of firearms, rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Everyone in
(09:36):
the household, even Ashley, who was now seventeen, held hunting licenses.
On the surface, it was a picture of Rustic Americana.
A blended family living off the land, raising kids and
making a home in the woods. Actually seemed to adapt well,
at least outwardly. She enrolled at rhineland Or High School
(09:57):
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would later recall she was polite, knew what she was doing.
(11:24):
She just wanted to have a decent teenage life. The
teenage life isn't always what it seems like. So many
teenagers of her generation, Ashley's lived another life online, away
from the classrooms, the forest trails and the hunting trips.
Ashley found an outlet on the Internet under the name Vampchick,
(11:45):
she started a blog, It was Dark and Bleak, a
digital canvas for the things she couldn't say out looyd
grete poems, some melancholy, some violent and disturbing. One entry
that was titled Unworthy described a disturbing scene rushing through
the woods at night, deepened a corner where the agonizing
screams cannot be heard. It spoke of restraining a girl,
(12:08):
mutilating her, stabbing her in the eye, and finally setting
her on fire with gasoline. Accompanying the poem were drawings
a snake coiled around the human skull, a girl with
wild eyes standing next to a wolf. To those who
only saw Ashley at work or in the skull hallways,
she was a typical teenager trying to navigate her world.
(12:30):
But behind the curtain, in blog posts and browser windows,
a different version of Ashley emerged, one that felt isolated,
one that hinted at torment, one that seemed to know
far more pain than a seventeen year old ever should.
But what nobody realized at the time, not her friends,
not her classmates, not even her mother, was that the
(12:53):
storm was coming, and when it finally broke, it would
tear through the family in the most violent an unthinkable way.
After the move to Wisconsin, Ashley Martinson met a man
named Ryan Cisco. He was twenty two years old while
(13:17):
she was just seventeen. The relationship started as a friendship,
but it quickly became something else, something inappropriate and predatory.
Ryan had a criminal record, including convictions for theft, drug abuse,
receiving stolen property, and disorderly conduct. In twenty thirteen, a
restraining order had been issued against him. He was bad news,
(13:39):
and Ashley knew it. She kept the relationship quiet, careful
to hide it from her mother and Thomas, because she
knew what would happen if they found out. She knew
that they wouldn't approve. Then, on the morning of the
seventh of March twenty and fifteen, the secret came out.
Jennifer had gotten a hold of Ashley's cell phone. She
(14:00):
scrolled through the messages and found a string of texts
between Ashley and Ryan. She confronted her daughter and a
Lloyd argument broke out. Thomas joined in da forbade Ashley
from ever saying Ryan again. They took away her cell phone,
her car keys, and her privacy. Jennifer threatened to kick
her out of the house, but Thomas had another idea.
(14:22):
He said she should be homeschooled, that she should spend
the next year under house arrest. Ashley ran to her bedroom.
She locked the door, packed a bag, slung it over
her shoulder, and stormed out of the house. But she
didn't get very far. She made it down the driveway
heading towards the neighbor's place when she heard the footsteps
behind her. It was Thomas. He grabbed her by the
(14:45):
arm and dragged her back into the home. That same morning,
Ryan Cisco received a Facebook message from Ashley's account, but
it wasn't from Ashley. It was either Thomas or Jennifer.
The message read, stayed the hell away from my daughter.
She's a miner. They warned him that if he didn't
back off, they would have him charged with statutory rape.
(15:07):
His criminal record already painted him as a repeat offender.
One more charge could bury him. But whatever tension was
boiling between Ashley and her parents didn't die down. It
only intensified. After Ashley came back home, Thomas asked his
nine year old daughter Anne where she had gone. In
her room, she replied. Thomas stormed upstairs. Anne was sitting
(15:29):
in the living room with Jennifer when they heard it.
Two sharp pops, like firecrackers, but deeper and heavier. They
were a hunting family and they knew the sound anywhere
it was gunshots. Jennifer ran upstairs. Moments later, a blood
curdling scream echoed through the home. Jennifer screamed for Anne.
(15:51):
The little girl started up the stairs, but stopped when
she saw it her sister, Ashley, on top of her mother.
At first, it looked like they were fighting, but Jennifer
was screaming in a way that Anne had never heard before.
Ashley turned to her and said, go back downstairs, so
she did. Minutes passed, the screaming stopped. When Ashley came downstairs,
(16:15):
she was covered in blood. She had a knife in
her hand and what looked like a stab wound to
her own leg. She turned on cartoons for her younger sisters,
trying to keep things calm normal eving then the sound
of the shore running upstairs. Ashley reappeared and told the
three younger girls to go into one of the bedrooms.
(16:35):
As they walked, they noticed something terrifying. Blood on the floor,
and then they saw their father, Thomas was lying motionless
in a pool of blood. There was a massive wound
to his head. Anne turned to Ashley and asked, did
you kill Dad? Ashley responded no. Then she said they
(16:56):
were going to play a game. She brought the girls
plates of food and cups of drink, setting them on
the floor in the bedroom. She smiled and said that
everything was okay. Then she stepped out and tied the
door shut. The three girls, aged just nine, eight and
two years old, were trapped. The next morning, a call
(17:23):
came in to the dispatch cent there. It was a
nine to one one call, but there were three hang
ups before a voice finally came through. It was Anne,
the nine year old had worked up the courage to
try again. She and her little sisters had managed to
escape the locked bedroom during the night, but they were
too scared to do anything else, too scared to leave
(17:43):
the house, too scared to check upstairs. They didn't know
if Ashley was still in the home. They didn't know
where Jennifer was. All they knew for sure was that
their father was dead and Ashley had been the one
who killed him, and didn't know the address of the home,
but dispatches were able to trace the call. Given the
uncertainty of the situation, law enforcement treated the call as
(18:05):
a potential active shooter ONEIDA called the armored vehicle and
special Response Team were deployed to the scene, arriving just
before eleven a M. Lieutenant Terry Hook later said, Originally,
when we got the call, we didn't know what we had,
so we had to respond as if we had an
active shooter. The first responders approached the house with weapons drawn.
(18:29):
Blood was visible on the steps leading up to the
front door. Nobody knew what they would find inside. They
kicked in the front door. Immediately their eyes were drawn
to the staircase. At the base of the stairs lay Jennifer.
She was motionless and surrounded in blood. She had been
stabbed thirty five times. The team continued their sweep of
(18:52):
the home. A trail of blood led them up the
stairs into the hallway outside Ashley's bedroom. There, on the
floor they found Thomas Heirs. He had been shot twice,
once in the neck, once in the head. Further inside
the home, in one of the bedrooms, officers found Anne
and her two younger sisters. They were scared, shaken, but
(19:15):
physically unharmed, and told the officers everything she knew. She
described the argument that had erupted the day before, the
gun shots, the screaming, her sister's blood covered body, how
Ashley had locked them inside the bedroom. She said she
saw her father with his head cracked open. As officers
(19:35):
continued their search, it became clear that the entire home
was a crime scene. Blood was everywhere downstairs, in the bathroom,
on the kitchen counter, smeared across the stairway, pulled in
the upstairs hallway. Evidence lay in nearly every room. In
the downstairs bathroom, they found a folding knife with both
blood and hair on the blade. A black stocking cap
(19:57):
was also found stained with blood and hair. Wrappers from
bandages and a needle were in the trash can, along
with the spent shell casing. In the basement, beneath the
laundry chute, officers found a pile of discarded clothing, torn
pink and black jeans, a black long sleeved shirt, and
a bloody toil. Someone had clearly changed out of blood
(20:19):
soaked clothing. Inside Ashley's bedroom, they found a shotgun lying
on the floor. On her bed was a broken necklace
flecked with blood in the kitchen garbage. An iPhone was recovered,
also stained with blood. A rifle lay on the kitchen
floor next to a bloody knife. There were more weapons
throughout the home, in a gun cabinet, scattered in drawers, handguns, ammunition,
(20:43):
hunting knives, a broken metal knife, a pellet gun. Once
the entire home had been secured, one thing was immediately clear.
Ashley was gone, and she hadn't gone on foot. Missing
from the property was a nineteen ninety nine Chevrolet Silverado,
the family's pickup truck. Ashley had taken it and she
was now on the run. The discovery of Thomas and
(21:11):
Jennifer's body sent shockwaves through the small town of Peel.
The murders weren't only shocking, they were deeply personal and savage.
Medical examiner Larry Matthean put it plainly, it was just horrific.
We don't expect this kind of thing. We just don't.
(21:32):
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of July. As police continued to process the crime scene
beyond the lookout was issued for Ashley Martinsen and her vehicle.
Authorities warned that she should be considered armed and dangerous,
but by the time law enforcement realized what had happened,
Ashley already had a full day's head start. The murders
(23:21):
had taken place the morning before the bodies were discovered. Now,
with Ashley on the run, the urgency of the man
hunt increased by the ore. Detectives turned to her friends,
hoping that someone might know where she was going or
where she might hide. One friend told police that Ashley
had been planning to move in with her the same
day the bodies were found, but the night before, just
(23:43):
before six PM, she had sent a text message saying
she had to go to Kansas for a funeral and
wouldn't be able to move in. Another lead came from
John Rasmussen, a family friend. Just after midnight, Ashley had
shown up at his home carrying her five month old
German Seppard puppy, Diesel. The dog had clearly just been bathed.
(24:04):
Ashley asked John if he could look after Diesel for
a while. She said that she was going away. John
now wondered aloud to detectives was the dog bathed because
he was covered in blood. Ashley had always been a
familiar and welcome presence at the Rasmussen household. John's father, Roy,
recalled the just days earlier. He had even allowed Ashley's boyfriend,
(24:25):
Ryan Cisco, to stay over. Ashley had explained that her
parents didn't approve of Ryan, but that didn't bother Roy
too much. Ryan was polite. He'd even helped out around
the house, fixing things and landing a hand with some chores. Then,
on Saturday evening, the same day that Thomas and Jennifer
were murdered, Ashley came by the house. She and Ryan
(24:48):
left shortly afterward in her truck. Telling the Rasmussens they
were heading to Villis County to visit Ryan's mother. Roy
admitted he briefly thought about calling Thomas to let him
know that his daughter was dating a twin d two
year old man, but John talked him out of it.
To John, none of it made any sense, he said,
(25:08):
she was basically a good kid, a very decent girl
until this happened. We don't know what set her off.
Detectives were wondering the same thing, what had happened inside
that home to push a seventeen year old girl to
the edge. Some of Ashley's friends told investigators that she
wasn't happy at home. Her parents made her pay rent,
(25:30):
they restricted her freedom. She had few opportunities to socialize
and even fewer chances to be a normal teenager. But
those reasons alone didn't explain what had happened. As the
investigation deepened, detectives began peeling back the layers of life
inside the Air's home, and what they found was disturbing.
(25:52):
Because Ashley Martinsen wasn't just a rebellious teenager with a
boyfriend her parents didn't like. She was a teenager living
in a house full of secrets, and life behind those
closed doors was far darker than anybody could have imagined.
(26:16):
To outsiders, the Heirs Martinson family looked like any other
blended household. They had their spats, sure, but what family didn't.
Neighbors saw what looked like a typical working class family
trying to make things work in a quiet corner of Wisconsin.
Jennifer the devoted mother, Thomas the blue collared stepfather, Ashley
(26:38):
the teenage daughter, three younger children in tow. But as
is so often the case, appearances can be deceiving. Jennifer
Martinsen had once been a hard working single mother. By
all account, she poured herself into raising Ashley after getting
her former abusive boys friend out of their lives. But
(26:59):
that was before she met Thomas Eyres online and made
the life altering decision to move her family to Peel.
Leuanne Kibby recalled those early days dating. I don't want
Jennifer to be made out as a bad parent or
Ashley as a tormented child. That's not how it was
at all, at least when they left here in twenty eleven.
(27:21):
But detectives would soon uncover a disturbing truth. Thomas Eyres
had a violent and dangerous past, one littered with a
long paper trail of domestic violence, assault, and disturbing allegations
involving miners before meeting Jennifer. Thomas was charged after attacking
his then estranged wife, who was six months pregnant at
(27:41):
the time. He showed up at the home where she
was staying, demanding money for gas. When she could only
offer five dollars, Thomas spit in her face, grabbed her shirt,
and forced her into his truck. As they drove along
a rural road. He screamed, I'm going to eliminate my
stress and get rid of view. Then he punched her
(28:02):
in the chest. She later told police that just stays earlier,
he had struck her on the head with a twelve
pack of mountain dew. An officer noted severe bruising and
the clear sound of fear in her voice. The report stated.
Miss Eyre said that she had a safe place to
go for now, but she's worried what he will do
if he finds out she turned him in. She's also
(28:24):
worried about the safety of her unborn baby. Thomas was
convicted of misdemeanor assault and menacing with domestic violence and handswers.
He served two years in jail. But this wasn't an
isolated incident. Just two months earlier, that same woman had
told police about another violent encounter. They had been camping
(28:44):
when she confronted him over suspicions that he was grooming
a sixteen year old girl. According to her report, Thomas
had been drinking. He exploded in rage, striking her in
the face, breaking her glasses, and knocking her to the ground.
Her injuries were visible redness, swelling, and a scab on
her nose, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
(29:05):
In two thousand and nine, Thomas had been convicted of
misdemeanor assault after grabbing a bicyclist off the road, yelling
at him to stay out of the middle of the road,
and threatening to assault every one at the man's home.
When police arrived, Thomas became belligerent and had to be subdued.
Another disturbing incident occurred in the April of two thousand
and six. Thomas made an legal u turn and was
(29:28):
pulled over. His speech was slow and slurred, and he
was clearly intoxicated. Once handcuffed and placed in the patrol car,
he began slamming his head against the pexy glass divider.
When an officer intervened, Thomas tried to head but him. Later,
he kicked out a window with his feet and threatened
the officers transporting him to jail. He was convicted of
(29:49):
drunk driving and criminal mischief, but the most disturbing allegations
came in two thousand and three. In two thousand and four,
In two thousand and three, Thomas was charged with chain
wild enticement and sexual assault of a child. Those charges
were dropped. The following year, he was charged again with
sexual assault of a child. Those charges, too were dismissed
(30:12):
by the district attorney. However, both sets of charges were
linked to an incident involving his then wife. She ultimately
pleaded guilty to indecent exposure under a play agreement. According
to the boy involved, who was just thirteen, Thomas had
watched as the boy was coerced into performing sexual acts
with Thomas's wife. The boy said Thomas coached him, telling
(30:36):
him quote how to do things unquote. While the charges
against Thomas were dropped, the accusations were chilling. In two
thousand and six, he was once again arrested, this time
for illegally possessing firearms, including two rifles, a shotgun, and ammunition.
As a convicted domestic abuser, he was legally prohibited from
(30:57):
owning any weapons. Despite all that, some of his family
insisted that Thomas had changed. His sister, Sandy Rushmore, told
detectives he was a good man. If he loved you,
he would do anything for you. She said he had
been working hard to turn his life around, that he
was focused on raising his children and taking care of
(31:18):
Jennifer and the girls. But that wasn't the truth. Thomas
Eyres hadn't changed. The man Jennifer had brought into her
home was the same violent defender he had always been
capable of manipulation, rage, and control, and inside that house,
Ashley Martinson had been living under the weight of that
(31:38):
threat for years. In the months after Jennifer married Thomas,
the mask slipped. The abuse didn't start all at once,
but when it came, it came violently. One afternoon, Thomas
(32:01):
flew into a rage. He tore apart the kitchen counter
and hurled a trash can against the wall. Then he
grabbed Jennifer by the throat and slammed her against it.
From there, the violence only escalated. Jennifer was beaten, punched, slapped,
and choked on at least one occasion, Thomas held a
(32:22):
gun to her head. Ashley recalled, along.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Knack it along very well.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Sometimes you just get this off from the reason he
got off on her, there are some days along with
no leather.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
It's different every day. So what kinds of this we
do when you get pissed off and just breakstuf hitter, yeah, screaming,
betting killer.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
He even pretended to rape Jennifer in front of Ashley
and the children.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
About Thomas preginning to rape her mom is in from
of you and the girls and the other ones too,
and was well, I guess I don't know, and pretending
like how far, pretending.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Cutting down in spread our legs and the king swooping hair.
She just said, Hill, you're dead, just like your dad,
he gave her, to the point she was in tears.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
The triggers were always small things. A dinner not cooked too,
is liking a conjure top not cleaned fast enough. Ashley
wasn't spared. Eventually, she too became one of Thomas's victims.
Inside that home, Thomas rolled with an iron fist his
rules were strict and his punishments were terrifying. Actually, and
(33:54):
her sisters weren't allowed to have friends over. One of
his daughters were called.
Speaker 6 (33:59):
Do you ever have any your friends come over to
your house and play?
Speaker 7 (34:01):
No?
Speaker 6 (34:02):
No, he'll come cause my dad said, no friends calling over.
Did you guys ever have friends come there over at
the house? My dad no, no, all that how come?
And he also doesn't know any boys then.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
And one time my dad saw that a boy was there,
uh teenage boy that my big sister had him at
the house to he got out in trouble, like my
dad said, get the h out of here.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
Do you know who that was? Mm mm no, it's
just a stranger. I don't know, but hontually knew him.
Speaker 8 (34:45):
He was back to and pretty tall.
Speaker 6 (34:47):
Said no, Dad said, nobody can come over to the house.
Speaker 5 (34:50):
He'll come.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
I don't.
Speaker 6 (34:52):
I don't know why she said that. You don't know
why he said that.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Good Morning's began early, forced to complete chores.
Speaker 7 (34:59):
Cause what happens if you don't do what it says?
Speaker 6 (35:03):
What happens if you break the rules, then we get
a tenu? And how what happens when you have a timeout?
We guess thanking her west run on up to this
or we have to stand in the corner with your
(35:23):
on your tippy toes or it did? Thank you okay?
And who would give you a spanking? My dad looked
my mom when it was late dinner super time. My
mom told me to step up by the walls, and
she thanks me and she spanked you. What did she
(35:45):
spank you with? About a belt?
Speaker 3 (35:49):
What?
Speaker 6 (35:49):
What did the belt look like? It's like dad feels
brown's brown, ma'am. I've got a lot of speak. And
so did Latisia get spanked? Yeah? Who would give the
titia of thinking my dad wild? Play? Your dad want way?
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Whatever money actually made at her job, she was required
to hand it over to Thomas. And it wasn't just
the people in the home who suffered. Shortly before the murders,
the family got two puppies. To most they would have
been a source of joy, but not to Thomas. He
physically abused one of the puppies, choking it and throwing it.
Then in front of Ashley and her younger sisters, he
(36:30):
killed it.
Speaker 6 (36:31):
Did you ever see your dad hurt your mom?
Speaker 8 (36:34):
Who?
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Sometimes?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
What would he do?
Speaker 8 (36:36):
Had her sometime?
Speaker 6 (36:38):
Heml smacker across the face or hope I down. So
she did not like to play like that, but that's
how he played. He plays rough.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Ashley said that her mother at times joined in on
the abuse. The baby, who was just two years old,
was even abused by Thomas. Actually didn't talk to many
people about what was happening hand closed doors, but she
had confided in one person, Ryan Sisco. The day before
the murderers, Ashley sent him a chilling message which read,
(37:09):
I woke up this morning to my stepdad beating my mom.
I can't take that shit anymore. He's going to kill
her if he doesn't leave soon, and I don't want
to be around when that happens. I want to kill
him so fucking bad. Just take one of his guns
and blow his brains out.
Speaker 8 (37:25):
Now.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Both Ashley and Ryan were missing and two people were dead.
After speaking with friends, detectives believed that the two were
on the run, most likely traveling in Ashley's car, and
a lure was issued to law enforcement agencies across the country. Meanwhile,
investigators reached out to Ashley's sell phone provider and they
got a hit. Ashley's phone was pinging in Lebanon, Indiana,
(37:49):
just outside of Indianapolis, traveling south on Interstate sixty five.
Indiana law enforcement was notified immediately, and at around eight
pm that night and off Are spotted the vehicle. The
call went out over the radio. The patrol carl turned
on its emergency lights. The car pulled over without incident.
(38:10):
Officers approached carefully with their weapons draw instructing the occupants
to exit the vehicle slowly with their hands raised. They complied,
it was Ashley Martinson and Ryan Sisco.
Speaker 8 (38:23):
You know what all this is in reference?
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Do gotta have an idea?
Speaker 8 (38:33):
Quite the murder.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Here? What what you guys are calling the murder?
Speaker 7 (38:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (38:41):
Yea for the investigation of that one came out the
game being raped in the jail.
Speaker 8 (38:53):
The game, and.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Ashley Martinsen was formally charged with two cons of first
great intentional homicide and three counts of false imprisonment. When
brought before judge in Indiana, she declined to waive extradition
back to Wisconsin. Judge Jeffrey Edens asked if she understood
the consequences of her decision. Ashley simply replied, okay. Because
(39:18):
of her refusal, the extradition process had to begin through
formal channels. Oneida County District Attorney Michael's Shaikh was required
to file paperwork with the Governor's office to have her returned.
Ashley had just turned seventeen two days before the murders.
Under Wisconsin law, that meant she would be tried as
an adult. It convicted, she would face the possibility of
(39:40):
life in prison. Investigators, however, believed that Ryan had no
direct involvement in the murders, based on Ashley's statements and
the evidence of the scene. He wasn't charged in relation
to the killings. Instead, he was held on a probation
violation from a previous case, with bond said at five
hundred thousand dollars. Back in Wisconsin, the community turned its
(40:02):
attention to the children left behind. The Tri County Council
on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault announced they were collecting
donations for Ashley's younger sisters. The girls had been taken
in by the Oneida County Department of Social Services in
a single violent day. They had lost their parents and
their older sister. Their home had become a crime scene.
(40:25):
They weren't allowed to retrieve any of their belongings, no clothing,
no toys, nothing familiar to bring them. Many comfort donations
poured in money books, stuffed animals, anything that might soften
the unimaginable blow. By April, Ashley was extradided back to
Oneida County. She was appointed two public defenders, Thomas Wilmoth
(40:47):
and Amy Lynn Ferguson. Her bond was said at seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars cash. Meanwhile, prosecutors filed a
new charge against Ryan, sexual intercourse with the child sixteen
or over stemming from his relationship with Ashley. Ryan had
admitted to detectives that the two had sex three times,
(41:07):
but claimed he believed that Ashley was over eighteen. He
said he didn't learn her real age until Jennifer messaged
him on Facebook, but that wasn't true. Detectives had secured
a warrant for Ryan's Facebook account. In the messages, they
found clear evidence that Ashley had told him her real age.
Ryan eventually pleaded no contest to the charge. He avoided
(41:31):
jail time on that count, but he was still sentenced
to six months in jail for violating his probation from
a previous conviction. As part of his play agreement, Ryan
agreed to testify. At Ashley's murder trial, it was determined
that there was enough evidence against Ashley Martinson for her
to stand trial for the two murders. In June, she
(41:53):
formally entered a play of not guilty by raising of
mental disease or defect. Following the play, the corridor the
psychological evaluation to assess her mental competency. By December, the
appointed psychologist concluded that Ashley was competent two stand trial.
Her defense team, however, requested a second opinion, but by
(42:15):
March everything had changed. Ashley returned to Cordon announced that
she was changing her play, this time to guilty. Behind
the scenes, prosecutors had offered a play agreement. Ashley would
plead guilty in exchange for a forty year prison sentence.
She accepted the deal. During the hearing, the details of
(42:35):
the murders were finally disclosed. Ashally told detectives that following
the argument about Ryan, she had gone to retrieve one
of the family's many guns. Her plan, she said, had
been to end her own life, but then Thomas stormed
up the stairs screaming. Ashley said that in that moment,
everything shifted. Instead of turning the gun on herself, she
(42:59):
turned it on him. She shot Thomas twice, telling detectives
she wanted to ensure he was dead and could not
hurt her. Jennifer came running up the stairs. I actually
said she sought comfort from her mother, but instead Jennifer
ran past her and tried to help Thomas.
Speaker 8 (43:18):
She grabbed the.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
Knife that was on the shelf, and she came after
me with it. That's how I got.
Speaker 10 (43:34):
I tried to take it nice stay hand on the knight,
and I trot it and they stabbed her with it.
Tried the knife for me again.
Speaker 8 (43:47):
Okay, and how did you step her?
Speaker 5 (43:50):
I don't know what you mean.
Speaker 8 (43:51):
Where did you discover?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
I don't know. I just started stabbing and fighting with
my life so scared.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
According to Ashley, her mother then grabbed a knife. The
tree struggled, and Ashley was stabbed in the leg. She
said she managed to wrestle the knife away and then
stabbed her mother to death. Ashley also disclosed the years
of abuse that she, her mother, and her sisters had
endured at the hands of Thomas. Her younger sisters corroborated everything.
(44:23):
They said. Their father frequently hit them with a belt,
and they lived in constant fear of him. But it
wasn't just Thomas. The court also heard about Ashley's time
with her biological father, Jeremy and Kansas. In May of
twenty thirteen, she had been sent to live with him.
Just seven months later, police were called to the home.
(44:44):
Jerry admitted to slapping Ashley, but she told officers the
abuse was much worse. Her father had punched, shoved, and
kicked her.
Speaker 7 (44:53):
Didn't work out for in the leading name, okay, So
when he went to live a where was that? And
Gorham Kansas Gouram okay?
Speaker 8 (45:07):
And what grade were you when you first went till
you're dead?
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Okay, so it would be ten. I lived with my
dad for six months and then I couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
That's I kind of ran away and resor.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
To you as amusingly.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Eventually, Ashley was sent back to live with their mother.
Jennifer didn't want her to return, but Thomas agreed to
let her come back. Jeremy never showed up in court.
He showed no interest in supporting his daughter or acting
as her guardian as she faced the murdered charges. His
only concern was how he might look in the media
(45:47):
before Ashley changed her plea. She had been evaluated by
two doctors. They both diagnosed her with major depressive disorder
and post traumatic stress disorder. They concluded she had most
likely been suffering some symptoms of depression since she was
just eight years old, symptoms that intensified significantly around the
age of fifteen. Now, Judge Michael Bloom faced a tough question,
(46:12):
how do you punish a teenage girl who ended a
lifetime of abuse with two bullets and a knife. Under
the terms of the play agreement, prosecutors agreed not to
seek the maximum penalty. Instead, they asked for an aggregate
sentence of forty years twenty years for each count of homicide.
(46:38):
On the tenth of June, Ashley Martinsen returned to court
to learn her faith. During the sentencing hearing, the court
was shown video statements from Ashley's younger sisters. They described
in painful detail the punishments they endured the hands of Thomas.
They painted a disturbing picture a home filled with fair
control and violence. It was a sad life for Jennifer,
(47:01):
Ashley and the girls. Then Sandy Rushmore, Thomas's sister, stood
to raid her victim impact statement She expressed the family's
belief that Ashley hadn't truly accepted responsibility for the murders.
Sandy been granted custody of Ashley's sisters, despite the fact
she hadn't seen Thomas in fifteen years. She objected the
(47:23):
higher brother had been portrayed in the media, telling the
court Thomas was someone's child, he was our brother. But
Sandy also acknowledged that part of the reason she hadn't
seen him in so long was because of his domestic
abuse convictions. She admitted that her brother wanted to control people. Still,
Sandy claimed that by committing the murderers, Ashley had become
(47:44):
part of the very cycle of violence she had grown
up in. She said that Ashley should have sought help.
When asked whether she had watched the interviews where Thomas's
daughters corroborated the abuse, Sandy said she hadn't. Ashley tins
team reminded the Cord that her mental health had improved
since being incarcerated, free from the toxic environment she had
(48:07):
lived in for so long. They posed a simple but
powerful question. The key is is she the evil person
everyone thought she was? On March seventh, twenty fifteen, Judge
Michael Bloom didn't dispute the years of abuse that Ashley
had suffered. He acknowledged it plainly she had been the
victim of horrific trauma, but he said it didn't justify murder.
(48:32):
He stated, simply must give way to the truth, and
in this case, the truth is that two people are dead.
Judge Bloom then handed down his sentence. Ashley Martinsen was
sentenced to twenty three years in prison, followed by seventeen
years of extended supervision. It was a devastating conclusion to
(48:52):
an already tragic story, and yet despite the sentence, Ashley
later told reporters that she finally felt something she had
never known before. Freedom. She stated, I'm happy because I'm
getting help right now. My sisters are safe. And I
know that sounds crazy because I'm in prison, but I
(49:12):
feel like I'm free. I can have an opinion now,
I can have my own thoughts. I can wake up
every day and know that I'm safe. It was a
sad paradox that prison could feel more free than home.
Ashley Martinsen will one day walk out of that prison,
but her true sentence began long before the seventh of
(49:35):
March twenty and fifteen. Well, Bessie's that is it for
(50:01):
this episode of Morbidology. As always, thank you so much
for listening, and i'd like to say a massive thank
you to my newest Patreon supporters, Colin, Lori, Teresa, and Jenny.
Link to Patreon is in the show notes. If you'd
like to join up on Patreon, I upload ad free
and early release episodes behind the scenes, and I also
sand out some co merch along with a thank you note.
(50:22):
There's also a bunch of bonus episodes of Morbilology plus
that aren't on the regular podcast platforms. 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 you may be listening. Remember to check us
out at morbidology dot com for more information about this
episode and to read some trig Grim articles. Until next time,
(50:43):
take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have an amazing week.
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