June 14, 2023 • 32 mins
It certainly wasn't easy being a young gay man in the 1980s. Running into a monster like Robert Berdella made it much worse. Originally broadcast November 18, 2020.
Written by Keelan Brown, narrated by Schuyler Fastenau and executive produced by Daniel Jones. Additional voices by Tamara Perry, Marissa Pistone, Jeremy Staple, Walker Barnes, Vince Perez, Daniel Jones, Matt MacNelly, Rainee Blake, Jordan Katcher, and Allyn Anthony Moriyon. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales.
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Written by Keelan Brown, narrated by Schuyler Fastenau and executive produced by Daniel Jones. Additional voices by Tamara Perry, Marissa Pistone, Jeremy Staple, Walker Barnes, Vince Perez, Daniel Jones, Matt MacNelly, Rainee Blake, Jordan Katcher, and Allyn Anthony Moriyon. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales.
Follow us on:
Check out our other shows:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
A note to listeners before we begin. Today's story is extremely graphic in nature
and some may find its contents disturbing. And this is coming from me,
the creator of a true crime podcast. Listener discretion is advised. It was
(00:23):
a beautiful Sunday morning in the HighPark district of Kansas City. Monty,
a representative of the local power company, was making his rounds of checking residential
electric meters. Helloa, this isMonty, sir. I'm with the Missouri
(00:52):
Public Services. So you've come tosteal more of my heart and money,
then don't shoot the messenger, misterDuval. I'm just here to do a
meter reading. We'll make it quickand then get off my property. You're
kind of welcome you, thank you, mister Duval. Monty started toward the
back of the house before being stoppedonce more by the grouchy homeowner. Oh
(01:14):
and son, Yes, sir,don't get too close to that tree line
bad. There there's a beast thatlives near the sure thing, mister Duval.
As Monty approached the electric meter onthe back side of the house,
he counted out the numbers to himself, ignoring mister Duval's warning. Fifty one
(01:34):
twenty nine, seventeen, thirty eight, sixty three forty Who's there? Before
Monty could gather himself, a beastemerged from the woods with swollen red eyes,
blood dripping from its skin, andrope wrapped around its limbs. Jesus
(01:57):
Christ. Monty started back, attemptingto get away, but found himself falling
on his back. The beast franticallyran to Manti, getting near his face
and letting out a horrific, raspyscreech, help me. Over the past
couple of years, I have coveredsome horrific crimes injustices, disappearances, and
(02:20):
even serial killers, but none ofthese strikes a chord of dread quite like
the thought of being gay. Inthe nineteen eighties, remnant of attitudes from
the decades prior, homosexuality was stillpublicly perceived as a deviancy during this time,
as a result of families disowning theirchildren and the repression that spawned from
it, an underground scene of druguse, prostitution, and transient lifestyle emerged
(02:43):
in the gay community on a nationalscale. It was this network of outcasts
that allowed infamous serial killers like JeffreyDahmer and John Wayne gacy to thrive.
Our story today takes place right inthe thicket of this dark scene, and
at the heart is a monster whosecrimes are cosidered to be some of the
most heinous of the late twentieth century. Welcome to Deadtime Stories. Our story
(03:36):
begins in nineteen eighty four. TheAmerican dream is alive and well in suburban
Kansas City. Despite this, theHowell family can't seem to catch a break.
Living out of a small apartment.Peter Howell supported his family by running
a small merchant stand out of alocal flea market. It paid all about
as well as it sounded. Thehard times didn't seem to get in the
(03:58):
way of Peterson Jerry from having agood time Gary, Gary, what's up?
Dad? Quit that queer dancing fora bit and come help me down
at the shop. Really on aSaturday. After further demands, Peter was
able to peel his son away fromthe music and down to the nearby flea
(04:23):
market. However, when they gotthere, they found something different. It
looks like we have a neighbor.A new merchant had set up shop next
to the Howels. The items forsale ranged from cooking utensils, handcrafted trinkets
and my personal favorite gay sex toys. Oh what the hell? Yis?
(04:44):
Well, at least you probably won'tbe around long selling that kind of shit.
The owner of the merchant stand,clad with a bold mustache, seemed
just as eccentric as the items hesold. Good morning, fellas, Welcome
to Bob's Bizarre Bizarre. I'm BobBurdella. Pleasure to meet Bob. I'm
Peter Howell. This is my son, Jerry. We on the stand next
(05:04):
to you. Baby. I wasworried a psycho was going to be next
to me. No, no psychoshere. Jerry wanted to contribute to the
conversation, but couldn't it seem totake his attention away from Bob's provocative collection.
You know, families like to shophere. Baggots aren't really well go
(05:27):
oh, I'm sorry, scared ofa little culture in your life. No,
it's just fucking gross, Jerry.Peter took his son aside to have
a little father son chat. You'rebeing very inappropriate, Jerry. Come on,
dad, I don't want to haveto look at that shit all day.
I don't either, But a standlike this may bring in a different
kind of clientele, and that maybe better for our stand. In the
(05:49):
long run, the stand did bringa new clientele and different. They definitely
were. Oh my gosh, Ijust got it as a gift. Actually,
my boy gave it to What issomething you might have picked up to
your Actually he's been over here beforeit, I mean Bob. Bridella's stand
was successful in its early days.Driving that success, we're men from the
(06:11):
local gay scene. Often these menhad tattoos and piercings, and their energy
always seemed to match that of Bridellahimself. Oh my god, Oh my
god, Bob, that's yeah,that's my Oscar Meyer. Okay. Jerry
was taken aback by this sudden shockof culture. He coped with this by
being a total asshole. Oh hey, Bob, are you and your buddies
(06:33):
going to pass around diseases in theback alley after you're done working? Sure?
Are? Do you want to join? Because I'm sure you can expect
a friendship blossom soon after. Jerryenjoyed teasing and Bob threw it right back
at him. What a beautiful symbioticrelationship. One day, Jerry became particularly
(06:54):
interested in an item that Bob wasplaying with. Hey, is that a
Polaroid camera is Oh, I neverused one. They're amazing. I like
getting my picture immediately too, mindif I try? Go ahead? Oh
wow, that's awesome. Photography isa side hobby of mine. What kind
(07:15):
of pictures do you take? Ilike to take pictures with my friends as
a keepsick of what's good in mylife. That's heavy, man? What
are you doing when you're done here? I'm not gonna help my dad with
some projects back home. Sounds boring. Would you want to come and hang
out at my place instead? Comeon, Bob, I don't want to
(07:36):
be around anything gay. Why youafraid you're gonna catch it? It's not
polio, I don't know. I'vegot plenty of booze there. All right?
Fine, but not for too long. After they finished work, the
(07:56):
duo made their way to Bob's housein Hyde Park forty three fifteen Charlotte Street
to be exact. As they arrived, Jerry was shocked to find out that
there were other people already at thehouse. Don't look too shocked. That's
Mark. He helps me out withmy yardwork sometimes. Mark looked far from
a normal yardworker. His clothes weretattered and it appeared he hadn't slept in
(08:18):
a bed and well over a year. Ah, take a break for a
minute. Come have a drink withmy friend, and I sure, saying
Boss. Inside, Bob poured around of drinks. Mark the yard guy
partook in other things as well.Hakin, do you like to crank?
(08:41):
What do you mean, Mark?You're not doing that kind of shit here
anymore. Oh, come on,Boss, you always say that. But
I know you got Tina stashed aroundhere. Well, Jerry doesn't party.
He's straight lace. I'm not straightlaced rinking, aren't I? Yeah,
kid, but you aren't doing anyof the fun Cherry. Tell me more
(09:05):
about your dad. He seems nice. He's all right. We're pretty tight
most of the time. Must benice having a close relationship with your father.
I guess it's fine. Where isyour dad? He died when I
was a team Jesus, I'm sorryto hear that. Don't be sorry,
kid, Bobby's father was a hugeday Mark. Will you shut the fuck
(09:28):
up for just one minute? Sorry? Boss? Is it true? Though?
Of course it is. He wasa fucking asshole. He loved my
younger brother, He loved his athleticism, his charm, and I didn't have
any of that. He made mehate people heavy, man, I'm sorry,
(09:52):
let's change the subject. What doyou want to be when you grow
up? I don't know, man. My dad has eyes on me helping
him with his merchant stand. Ikind of want to be a dancer,
though. Who boss. I knewyou had the skill of getting fags back
to your place, but this kidis a new level. I'm not gay,
(10:16):
yeah, and this isn't mess.I'm serious. Do you have a
girlfriend? Not at the moment.So you want to be a dancer.
You have no girlfriend, and you'rebuddy buddy with Bobby Burdella. That sounds
like the perfect fruity cocktail to me. Don't listen to him, Jerry.
You discover your sexuality on your ownterms. There's nothing to discover. I'm
(10:39):
not gay, are you sure aboutthat? I mean, have you even
sucked at dick? No? No, of course not. He is so
lying. I haven't spill it,kid, Okay. I did once one
of my friends and knew a guyand he was gonna give me some money.
(11:03):
Jerry, I knew you were oneof us since the day I met
you. Shut the fuck up,Bob. You know nothing about me.
I'm not a fucking faggot and I'mnot like the two of you. Stop
trying to rope me into your shit. Don't you just love having hangouts like
that with your friends? Okay,moving on. As you can imagine,
(11:26):
this would not be the end ofJerry and Bob. I mean they worked
in neighboring's dance for Crying out Loud. Their toxic friendship continued well into the
following months. Their fueling tensions seemedto culminate to one evening when Jerry called
his older friend for a favor.What's up. This is Robert, Bob.
(11:48):
It's Jerry. Jerry, how's yourweekend? It's whatever. Listen,
I got invited to this dance contestand Miriam and you called to ask me
to give you one. Yes,I'd appreciate it. The weather is supposed
to be pretty bad tonight. Can'tyou take the bus? It starts in
(12:09):
two hours. I don't know ifi'll get there in time. All right,
fine, but we aren't going tomake this a regular thing. Yeah,
whatever, thanks Bob. Bob wasa man of his word and went
to pick up Jerry once the teenagerwas in his car. Bob could see
(12:31):
that something was wrong. Everything allright, Jared, Yeah, I'm fine,
let's just go. You don't seemfine, I'm just nervous. Well,
here, why don't you try someof this. Bob pulled out a
flask from his pocket and gave itto the passenger. What is it?
Just some alcohol with a hint ofvalue. It will make you relax.
(12:54):
Thanks, Bob. Listen, Iwant to apologize for the other day.
Mark's kind of an asshole. Youwere kind of an asshole too, Bob.
I guess you're right. I shouldn'tmake assumptions so quickly, Bob.
Can I ask you something? Ofcourse? Do you think that dancing is
(13:18):
gay? What do you mean?I mean, do you think I'm gay
because I like dancing? I don'tthink that's for me to decide. Oh
my god, I don't feel sogood right now, Bob. You're probably
just getting car sick. Yeah,you're probably right. Do you think dancing
(13:41):
makes you gay? I don't.I don't. I don't think so.
It makes me so happy, though, really, Yeah, when I'm dancing,
it feels like one of the onlytimes I feel like like me and
(14:01):
I get this huge rush of bliss. Like like I'm getting lost in something
incredible. Everything's incredible, Jerry.You just have to know how to look
at it right. One thing isn'tright. I feel funny. It's all
(14:26):
gonna be all right, Jerry.What is London? You know? When
(14:54):
Jerry came to he wasn't at adance contest in Miriam. Instead, he
was in Bob's room, tied tohis bed. It's okay, it's okay.
All you have to do is behaveand it will all be over soon.
(15:15):
Oh, I know, I knowit's a lot to take in.
Don't worry though, I'll take goodcare of you. The first thing Bob
did was put chalk into Jerry's ears. This was to prevent him from hearing
too much. The next thing Bobdid was pull out his syringe. In
an attempt to sedate Jerry and totickle his own torturous fantasies. Bob began
(15:39):
to inject drain cleaner into the boy'sneck. The torture and rape lasted over
twenty eight hours. Jerry repeatedly beggedto be set free, but to no
(16:00):
avail. At some point in themiddle of the night, most likely caused
by choking on his own vomit.Jerry Howell died at the age of nineteen.
Suddenly, Robert Burdella had a lotbigger problem on his hands. Up
until this point, Robert had nevermurdered someone. Jerry's kidnapping and tortureous spur
(16:22):
of the moment, and his deathleft the problem of disposing. He set
the body onto a meat hook andmade multiple incisions, letting the blood drain
from the body into a container below. What's up? This is ROBERTA Thank
god you answered. Have you seenor heard from Jerry? He hasn't been
(16:45):
home in almost two days. Idrove him to a dance contest the other
night in Miriam, but that wasthe last I heard from him. Oh
God, I don't know where hecould be. If you hear from him
at all, please please let meknow Sherif than Peter, You're in my
thoughts and prayers. Once the bodywas free of blood, Bob started to
(17:06):
saw the limbs off. He plannedto hide the body parts in his backyard,
confident they would never be found.It was still raining in the Kansas
City area, which made the groundwet and muddy, perfect consistency to dig
(17:29):
a hole. Once finished, Bobwent to go put his shovel into his
shed, only to find a surprisewaiting for him. Jesus, Mark,
Hey, Boss, what the fuckare you doing in here? I'm sorry,
Boss, I don't do fucking wellsleeping on the street when it's raining.
(17:51):
I knew you didn't use the shedmuch and I just had nowhere else
to go. At first, Bobwas I need to kick Mark out on
the spot, but then he gotan idea. Mark, Mark, It's
okay. Please just stop crying.Why didn't you spend the night tonight.
(18:11):
We'll watch a movie and then figureout where you'll go tomorrow. Okay.
Bob led the yard worker into hishouse, putting on a movie for him,
ass he prepared drinks. I don'tthink i've seen this one. Oh,
it's my favorite. What's it calleda Collector? It came out when
I was a kid. For listenerswho may not know, the Collector is
(18:33):
a movie about a guy kidnapping awoman and holding her captive in his rural
farmhouse. I think I might knowwhere Bob got his inspiration from. I
can't thank you enough. Boss.It's not a problem him. Why don't
you have a drink You've got thebest liquor around here, man. I'm
sure you can see where this isgoing. The drink was made with a
similar concoction used to sedate Jerry,and well, things went real south from
(19:00):
there. He had Mark captive ina similar manner to his previous victim,
except for one thing. This time, Bob had his victim tied up on
his stomach shut up, Bob rippedopen mark shirt, revealing his back.
Next to him, Bob laid outa series of syringes, each with a
(19:22):
different sedating drug the Moyeu squirm,the mo It's gonna hurt. Bob began
to inject different drugs into Mark's back, wanting to see how they would interact
with each other, like a sixscience experiment. Eventually, Mark had close
to a dozen syringes in his backall at once. Bob thought it was
(19:45):
beautiful, good boy, good bye. Between the violently dangerous combination of drugs
in his system and the tight gag, Mark Wallace died later that evening.
Robert Berdella was now a serial killer. He disposed of the body the same
(20:07):
way he did with Jerry's, thistime keeping the skull. Over the next
few years, Bob would continue tokidnap, torture, and murder young gay
men who were unfortunate enough to meethim. He often took advantage of gay
transience, offering them a place tostay temporarily before drugging them and tying them
to his bed. He heavily documentedall of these murders, both in a
(20:32):
journal and through pictures with his Polaroidcamera. Meanwhile, as Bob continued his
House of Horrors and Hyde Park,twenty two year old Christopher Bryson was getting
ready for a night out in downtownKansas City. Chris, Chris, what,
mom, make sure you're back bysunrise. I'm going to need help
(20:55):
getting this food to church in themorning. All right, whatever, and
don't get too drunk this time.Chris's mother thought he was going to the
bar with France, but really hewas heading to the Kansas City bus station.
How are you doing to night?Fine? How much fifty four?
Suck? One hundred four? Fuck? Nah, I'm good, dude,
(21:19):
Chris solicited men in hopes of makingsome extra cash. He was saving up
to get his own place with hisgirlfriend, but unfortunately for him, this
happened to be one of the busstops that our friend Bob frequented as well,
How are you doing tonight? I'mgood, betty. How are you
(21:40):
doing? I'm doing all right.How can I help you? There's lots
of ways you can help me.Why didn't you get in the car and
we can discuss on the way.So why haven't I seen you around the
bus station? You definitely have aface I would remember. I'm a little
(22:03):
nude of this. I figured,don't worry, I'll teach you well Instead.
As they walked through the front door, Bob smashed an iron rod into
Chris's head, a ritual by now. Bob immediately tied Chris to his bed.
(22:23):
He injected drain cleaner into the boy'sthroat, just as he had done
with Jerry Howell years before. Foradded measure and protection, Bob decided to
rub some ammonia into Chris's eyes.Yeah. The torture continued well into the
(22:44):
night. During a reprieve, Chrisbegan to beg to his captor, pree,
why who You did not choose tobe here? But you are?
For you to survive being here,and for you too, you know,
make it. It could either berough or it could be easy. If
(23:08):
I grow to like you and totrust you. Then I could do special
things for you, such as byyou cigarettes, pick up a movie on
the way home from work, andso forth. Don't try to fight me.
I'll just get more of what youhad earlier. You see, what
you got is nothing compared to whatyou can have. Oh a wroth good
(23:36):
because I've gotten this far with otherpeople before, and they're dead now cause
of the mistakes they've made. Thetorture continued for over three days. Chris
behaved himself, and this time Robertwas a man of his word, allowing
longer rest periods. You've been agood boy, so I'm going to put
the TV in here for you towatch. Well, what a saint anyway.
(23:59):
Toward the end of his third dayof capture, Chris asked Bob for
a favor, Master, Please,can you tie my hands in front of
me and stuff above me. It'sreally fucking with my circulation, all right,
boy, but no funny business.You've earned it. This once,
Bob freed Chris's hands from the headboard, allowing them to rest after days of
(24:22):
being tied to the bed. Laterinto the afternoon, Bob left Chris alone
to make dinner, downstairs. Seeingthis as one of his few opportunities,
Chris snatched a pack of matches fromBob's nightstand. Come on, Come on.
Eventually, Chris was able to burnthrough enough rope to break his arms
(24:45):
free. After untying his legs,Chris was a free man for now.
Oh my god, Oh my god. Because of the ammonia in his eyes,
Chris couldn't see much around him,but he could make out faint markings
on one of Bob's walls. What. As Chris got closer, he could
see that the wall was covered inpolaroids. The collage depicted heinous torture of
(25:08):
over half a dozen men. Chrisput two and two together, realizing that
these must have been Bob's other victims. What the fuck. Realizing that Bob
was in the room, Chris grabbedone of the photos and bolted toward a
nearby window. Having no time totry and climb out, he leaped and
fell from the second story onto theground below, breaking one of his feet
(25:30):
in the process. Oh my god. Fuck. Chris opened his eyes enough
to see his captor staring down athim with pure evil in his eyes.
He knew it was now or neverto get away. Barely able to get
up, Chris limped into the nearbytree line. After seeing Bob was trailing
(25:57):
him, Chris picked up speed.Eventually, as Chris broke through the tree
line, he saw a meter readerbehind an old house. This was Chris's
only help, Jesus Christ, helpme? What police? He's after me?
Who's after you? Bob was thenext to break through the tree line,
(26:21):
stopping in his tracks as he realizedit was all over. Who who
are you? Bob bolted back intothe trees, confusing the meterman even further.
What the hell? He went toaid the boy walking him toward the
occupant of the house. Mister Duvalcalled a police. The police arrived soon
(26:42):
after and the questioning began. Sohe kept you captive for three days?
Yes, how did you guys meet? I was hitchhiking, he offered me
a ride, and what happened whenhe took you? I don't want to
talk about it. Son. Wecan't do anything to this guy unless you
(27:02):
give his some concrete testimony of whathe did. I can't. I don't.
Chris was lost and traumatized, feelinglike he wasn't doing enough to convince
the authorities of his torture. Suddenlyhe remembered the photo. He grabbed the
polaroid. He had a wall ofpolaroids in his room, and I grabbed
one here. He pulled out thepolaroid and gave it to the detective.
(27:27):
It depicted a boy hung from ameat hook with blood draining from his body.
That's enough testimony for me, KansasCity. This is a Detective Wadley
iding back up over in Hyde Park. That evening, Robert Berdella was captured
and charged with kidnapping and torture.Shortly thereafter, a search warrant was granted
(27:48):
and police were able to take Bob'spolaroid collection and journals. They gave a
detailed account of the torture he hadput his victims through, in addition to
exact locations of where he hid theremains. This obviously led to further charges.
Bob initially tried to plead not guiltyon the charges of murder to his
other victims, but eventually settled ina plea bargain in order to avoid the
(28:10):
death penalty. As Bob began hisjourney of rotting in prison, the detective
assigned to his case began the taskof tracking the victims back to their families.
Hello, there, how can Ihope you today? Peter Howell stand
at the flea market, had foundquite a bit of success, and he
was eventually able to open his ownstorefront. His family was able to live
comfortably in the apartment above, well, most of his family. Are you,
(28:37):
mister Howell? I sure am.You can call me Peter though.
Good afternoon, Peter. My nameis Detective Walley. I'm with us about
Jerry, isn't it, yes,mister Howell, Peter, we recently apprehended
a gentleman by the name of RobertBerdella. There's some mounting evidence, though,
Are you okay? Bob Bardella ranle Margaret stand next to us.
(29:02):
He was a family friend, misterHowell. I'm so sorry to have to
ask you this. There was multiplephotos taken from Bridela's home that shows victims.
They're pretty graphic, but it wouldbe really helpful and it would help
Kansas City PD if you could possiblyidentify one of the victims. We think
(29:22):
he may be your son. OhGod, I don't know if I can
do I don't know if I cando it, but I know I have
to. It only needs to befor a quick moment. Okay, The
detective pulled out the same photo Chrishad taken during his escape. Peter immediately
(29:48):
recognized the body on the hook.Jerry, No, no, no,
no, no, that's my littleboy. Being gay in the nineteen eighties
was difficult and dangerous. It wasa dark span of queer history that is
often overshadowed by the violently destructive AIDScrisis that was to follow. Our culture
(30:08):
in recent decades has been moving inthe right direction and changing how we view
gay people, but LGBTQ youth continueto make up a sizeable portion of homeless
people in the United States. Theseyouth are often at risk of falling into
the care of someone dangerous, someonelike Robert Berdella. I hope in future
(30:29):
decades we as an entire nation embraceand love our children so that they don't
fall into the embrace of a monster. The Polaroid Project was written by Keelan
Brown, narrated by me Skyler Fasteno, and executive produced by Daniel Jones.
(30:49):
Voice talent was provided by Tamer Perry, Marissipis Stone, Jeremy Staple, Walker,
Barnes, Vince Perez, Daniel Jones, Matt McNelly, Rainy Blake Jordan,
and Alan Anthony Morion. I'm soglad you could join us for another
episode of the Original Deadtime Stories.If you enjoyed this episode, let us
know by leaving a five star ratingand review wherever you listen. It helps
(31:12):
us out so much. You canalso check out our Patreon for ad free
episodes, early access to new episodes, merchandise, and much much more.
We are also active on YouTube,Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The
links to all of those are inthe episode description. We will be back
in just seven short days with aThanksgiving special. Until then, stay safe
(31:36):
out there. I don't want youto become the next chapter's topic on the
Original Deadtime Stories.
A note to listeners before we begin. Today's story is extremely graphic in nature
and some may find its contents disturbing. And this is coming from me,
the creator of a true crime podcast. Listener discretion is advised. It was
(00:23):
a beautiful Sunday morning in the HighPark district of Kansas City. Monty,
a representative of the local power company, was making his rounds of checking residential
electric meters. Helloa, this isMonty, sir. I'm with the Missouri
(00:52):
Public Services. So you've come tosteal more of my heart and money,
then don't shoot the messenger, misterDuval. I'm just here to do a
meter reading. We'll make it quickand then get off my property. You're
kind of welcome you, thank you, mister Duval. Monty started toward the
back of the house before being stoppedonce more by the grouchy homeowner. Oh
(01:14):
and son, Yes, sir,don't get too close to that tree line
bad. There there's a beast thatlives near the sure thing, mister Duval.
As Monty approached the electric meter onthe back side of the house,
he counted out the numbers to himself, ignoring mister Duval's warning. Fifty one
(01:34):
twenty nine, seventeen, thirty eight, sixty three forty Who's there? Before
Monty could gather himself, a beastemerged from the woods with swollen red eyes,
blood dripping from its skin, andrope wrapped around its limbs. Jesus
(01:57):
Christ. Monty started back, attemptingto get away, but found himself falling
on his back. The beast franticallyran to Manti, getting near his face
and letting out a horrific, raspyscreech, help me. Over the past
couple of years, I have coveredsome horrific crimes injustices, disappearances, and
(02:20):
even serial killers, but none ofthese strikes a chord of dread quite like
the thought of being gay. Inthe nineteen eighties, remnant of attitudes from
the decades prior, homosexuality was stillpublicly perceived as a deviancy during this time,
as a result of families disowning theirchildren and the repression that spawned from
it, an underground scene of druguse, prostitution, and transient lifestyle emerged
(02:43):
in the gay community on a nationalscale. It was this network of outcasts
that allowed infamous serial killers like JeffreyDahmer and John Wayne gacy to thrive.
Our story today takes place right inthe thicket of this dark scene, and
at the heart is a monster whosecrimes are cosidered to be some of the
most heinous of the late twentieth century. Welcome to Deadtime Stories. Our story
(03:36):
begins in nineteen eighty four. TheAmerican dream is alive and well in suburban
Kansas City. Despite this, theHowell family can't seem to catch a break.
Living out of a small apartment.Peter Howell supported his family by running
a small merchant stand out of alocal flea market. It paid all about
as well as it sounded. Thehard times didn't seem to get in the
(03:58):
way of Peterson Jerry from having agood time Gary, Gary, what's up?
Dad? Quit that queer dancing fora bit and come help me down
at the shop. Really on aSaturday. After further demands, Peter was
able to peel his son away fromthe music and down to the nearby flea
(04:23):
market. However, when they gotthere, they found something different. It
looks like we have a neighbor.A new merchant had set up shop next
to the Howels. The items forsale ranged from cooking utensils, handcrafted trinkets
and my personal favorite gay sex toys. Oh what the hell? Yis?
(04:44):
Well, at least you probably won'tbe around long selling that kind of shit.
The owner of the merchant stand,clad with a bold mustache, seemed
just as eccentric as the items hesold. Good morning, fellas, Welcome
to Bob's Bizarre Bizarre. I'm BobBurdella. Pleasure to meet Bob. I'm
Peter Howell. This is my son, Jerry. We on the stand next
(05:04):
to you. Baby. I wasworried a psycho was going to be next
to me. No, no psychoshere. Jerry wanted to contribute to the
conversation, but couldn't it seem totake his attention away from Bob's provocative collection.
You know, families like to shophere. Baggots aren't really well go
(05:27):
oh, I'm sorry, scared ofa little culture in your life. No,
it's just fucking gross, Jerry.Peter took his son aside to have
a little father son chat. You'rebeing very inappropriate, Jerry. Come on,
dad, I don't want to haveto look at that shit all day.
I don't either, But a standlike this may bring in a different
kind of clientele, and that maybe better for our stand. In the
(05:49):
long run, the stand did bringa new clientele and different. They definitely
were. Oh my gosh, Ijust got it as a gift. Actually,
my boy gave it to What issomething you might have picked up to
your Actually he's been over here beforeit, I mean Bob. Bridella's stand
was successful in its early days.Driving that success, we're men from the
(06:11):
local gay scene. Often these menhad tattoos and piercings, and their energy
always seemed to match that of Bridellahimself. Oh my god, Oh my
god, Bob, that's yeah,that's my Oscar Meyer. Okay. Jerry
was taken aback by this sudden shockof culture. He coped with this by
being a total asshole. Oh hey, Bob, are you and your buddies
(06:33):
going to pass around diseases in theback alley after you're done working? Sure?
Are? Do you want to join? Because I'm sure you can expect
a friendship blossom soon after. Jerryenjoyed teasing and Bob threw it right back
at him. What a beautiful symbioticrelationship. One day, Jerry became particularly
(06:54):
interested in an item that Bob wasplaying with. Hey, is that a
Polaroid camera is Oh, I neverused one. They're amazing. I like
getting my picture immediately too, mindif I try? Go ahead? Oh
wow, that's awesome. Photography isa side hobby of mine. What kind
(07:15):
of pictures do you take? Ilike to take pictures with my friends as
a keepsick of what's good in mylife. That's heavy, man? What
are you doing when you're done here? I'm not gonna help my dad with
some projects back home. Sounds boring. Would you want to come and hang
out at my place instead? Comeon, Bob, I don't want to
(07:36):
be around anything gay. Why youafraid you're gonna catch it? It's not
polio, I don't know. I'vegot plenty of booze there. All right?
Fine, but not for too long. After they finished work, the
(07:56):
duo made their way to Bob's housein Hyde Park forty three fifteen Charlotte Street
to be exact. As they arrived, Jerry was shocked to find out that
there were other people already at thehouse. Don't look too shocked. That's
Mark. He helps me out withmy yardwork sometimes. Mark looked far from
a normal yardworker. His clothes weretattered and it appeared he hadn't slept in
(08:18):
a bed and well over a year. Ah, take a break for a
minute. Come have a drink withmy friend, and I sure, saying
Boss. Inside, Bob poured around of drinks. Mark the yard guy
partook in other things as well.Hakin, do you like to crank?
(08:41):
What do you mean, Mark?You're not doing that kind of shit here
anymore. Oh, come on,Boss, you always say that. But
I know you got Tina stashed aroundhere. Well, Jerry doesn't party.
He's straight lace. I'm not straightlaced rinking, aren't I? Yeah,
kid, but you aren't doing anyof the fun Cherry. Tell me more
(09:05):
about your dad. He seems nice. He's all right. We're pretty tight
most of the time. Must benice having a close relationship with your father.
I guess it's fine. Where isyour dad? He died when I
was a team Jesus, I'm sorryto hear that. Don't be sorry,
kid, Bobby's father was a hugeday Mark. Will you shut the fuck
(09:28):
up for just one minute? Sorry? Boss? Is it true? Though?
Of course it is. He wasa fucking asshole. He loved my
younger brother, He loved his athleticism, his charm, and I didn't have
any of that. He made mehate people heavy, man, I'm sorry,
(09:52):
let's change the subject. What doyou want to be when you grow
up? I don't know, man. My dad has eyes on me helping
him with his merchant stand. Ikind of want to be a dancer,
though. Who boss. I knewyou had the skill of getting fags back
to your place, but this kidis a new level. I'm not gay,
(10:16):
yeah, and this isn't mess.I'm serious. Do you have a
girlfriend? Not at the moment.So you want to be a dancer.
You have no girlfriend, and you'rebuddy buddy with Bobby Burdella. That sounds
like the perfect fruity cocktail to me. Don't listen to him, Jerry.
You discover your sexuality on your ownterms. There's nothing to discover. I'm
(10:39):
not gay, are you sure aboutthat? I mean, have you even
sucked at dick? No? No, of course not. He is so
lying. I haven't spill it,kid, Okay. I did once one
of my friends and knew a guyand he was gonna give me some money.
(11:03):
Jerry, I knew you were oneof us since the day I met
you. Shut the fuck up,Bob. You know nothing about me.
I'm not a fucking faggot and I'mnot like the two of you. Stop
trying to rope me into your shit. Don't you just love having hangouts like
that with your friends? Okay,moving on. As you can imagine,
(11:26):
this would not be the end ofJerry and Bob. I mean they worked
in neighboring's dance for Crying out Loud. Their toxic friendship continued well into the
following months. Their fueling tensions seemedto culminate to one evening when Jerry called
his older friend for a favor.What's up. This is Robert, Bob.
(11:48):
It's Jerry. Jerry, how's yourweekend? It's whatever. Listen,
I got invited to this dance contestand Miriam and you called to ask me
to give you one. Yes,I'd appreciate it. The weather is supposed
to be pretty bad tonight. Can'tyou take the bus? It starts in
(12:09):
two hours. I don't know ifi'll get there in time. All right,
fine, but we aren't going tomake this a regular thing. Yeah,
whatever, thanks Bob. Bob wasa man of his word and went
to pick up Jerry once the teenagerwas in his car. Bob could see
(12:31):
that something was wrong. Everything allright, Jared, Yeah, I'm fine,
let's just go. You don't seemfine, I'm just nervous. Well,
here, why don't you try someof this. Bob pulled out a
flask from his pocket and gave itto the passenger. What is it?
Just some alcohol with a hint ofvalue. It will make you relax.
(12:54):
Thanks, Bob. Listen, Iwant to apologize for the other day.
Mark's kind of an asshole. Youwere kind of an asshole too, Bob.
I guess you're right. I shouldn'tmake assumptions so quickly, Bob.
Can I ask you something? Ofcourse? Do you think that dancing is
(13:18):
gay? What do you mean?I mean, do you think I'm gay
because I like dancing? I don'tthink that's for me to decide. Oh
my god, I don't feel sogood right now, Bob. You're probably
just getting car sick. Yeah,you're probably right. Do you think dancing
(13:41):
makes you gay? I don't.I don't. I don't think so.
It makes me so happy, though, really, Yeah, when I'm dancing,
it feels like one of the onlytimes I feel like like me and
(14:01):
I get this huge rush of bliss. Like like I'm getting lost in something
incredible. Everything's incredible, Jerry.You just have to know how to look
at it right. One thing isn'tright. I feel funny. It's all
(14:26):
gonna be all right, Jerry.What is London? You know? When
(14:54):
Jerry came to he wasn't at adance contest in Miriam. Instead, he
was in Bob's room, tied tohis bed. It's okay, it's okay.
All you have to do is behaveand it will all be over soon.
(15:15):
Oh, I know, I knowit's a lot to take in.
Don't worry though, I'll take goodcare of you. The first thing Bob
did was put chalk into Jerry's ears. This was to prevent him from hearing
too much. The next thing Bobdid was pull out his syringe. In
an attempt to sedate Jerry and totickle his own torturous fantasies. Bob began
(15:39):
to inject drain cleaner into the boy'sneck. The torture and rape lasted over
twenty eight hours. Jerry repeatedly beggedto be set free, but to no
(16:00):
avail. At some point in themiddle of the night, most likely caused
by choking on his own vomit.Jerry Howell died at the age of nineteen.
Suddenly, Robert Burdella had a lotbigger problem on his hands. Up
until this point, Robert had nevermurdered someone. Jerry's kidnapping and tortureous spur
(16:22):
of the moment, and his deathleft the problem of disposing. He set
the body onto a meat hook andmade multiple incisions, letting the blood drain
from the body into a container below. What's up? This is ROBERTA Thank
god you answered. Have you seenor heard from Jerry? He hasn't been
(16:45):
home in almost two days. Idrove him to a dance contest the other
night in Miriam, but that wasthe last I heard from him. Oh
God, I don't know where hecould be. If you hear from him
at all, please please let meknow Sherif than Peter, You're in my
thoughts and prayers. Once the bodywas free of blood, Bob started to
(17:06):
saw the limbs off. He plannedto hide the body parts in his backyard,
confident they would never be found.It was still raining in the Kansas
City area, which made the groundwet and muddy, perfect consistency to dig
(17:29):
a hole. Once finished, Bobwent to go put his shovel into his
shed, only to find a surprisewaiting for him. Jesus, Mark,
Hey, Boss, what the fuckare you doing in here? I'm sorry,
Boss, I don't do fucking wellsleeping on the street when it's raining.
(17:51):
I knew you didn't use the shedmuch and I just had nowhere else
to go. At first, Bobwas I need to kick Mark out on
the spot, but then he gotan idea. Mark, Mark, It's
okay. Please just stop crying.Why didn't you spend the night tonight.
(18:11):
We'll watch a movie and then figureout where you'll go tomorrow. Okay.
Bob led the yard worker into hishouse, putting on a movie for him,
ass he prepared drinks. I don'tthink i've seen this one. Oh,
it's my favorite. What's it calleda Collector? It came out when
I was a kid. For listenerswho may not know, the Collector is
(18:33):
a movie about a guy kidnapping awoman and holding her captive in his rural
farmhouse. I think I might knowwhere Bob got his inspiration from. I
can't thank you enough. Boss.It's not a problem him. Why don't
you have a drink You've got thebest liquor around here, man. I'm
sure you can see where this isgoing. The drink was made with a
similar concoction used to sedate Jerry,and well, things went real south from
(19:00):
there. He had Mark captive ina similar manner to his previous victim,
except for one thing. This time, Bob had his victim tied up on
his stomach shut up, Bob rippedopen mark shirt, revealing his back.
Next to him, Bob laid outa series of syringes, each with a
(19:22):
different sedating drug the Moyeu squirm,the mo It's gonna hurt. Bob began
to inject different drugs into Mark's back, wanting to see how they would interact
with each other, like a sixscience experiment. Eventually, Mark had close
to a dozen syringes in his backall at once. Bob thought it was
(19:45):
beautiful, good boy, good bye. Between the violently dangerous combination of drugs
in his system and the tight gag, Mark Wallace died later that evening.
Robert Berdella was now a serial killer. He disposed of the body the same
(20:07):
way he did with Jerry's, thistime keeping the skull. Over the next
few years, Bob would continue tokidnap, torture, and murder young gay
men who were unfortunate enough to meethim. He often took advantage of gay
transience, offering them a place tostay temporarily before drugging them and tying them
to his bed. He heavily documentedall of these murders, both in a
(20:32):
journal and through pictures with his Polaroidcamera. Meanwhile, as Bob continued his
House of Horrors and Hyde Park,twenty two year old Christopher Bryson was getting
ready for a night out in downtownKansas City. Chris, Chris, what,
mom, make sure you're back bysunrise. I'm going to need help
(20:55):
getting this food to church in themorning. All right, whatever, and
don't get too drunk this time.Chris's mother thought he was going to the
bar with France, but really hewas heading to the Kansas City bus station.
How are you doing to night?Fine? How much fifty four?
Suck? One hundred four? Fuck? Nah, I'm good, dude,
(21:19):
Chris solicited men in hopes of makingsome extra cash. He was saving up
to get his own place with hisgirlfriend, but unfortunately for him, this
happened to be one of the busstops that our friend Bob frequented as well,
How are you doing tonight? I'mgood, betty. How are you
(21:40):
doing? I'm doing all right.How can I help you? There's lots
of ways you can help me.Why didn't you get in the car and
we can discuss on the way.So why haven't I seen you around the
bus station? You definitely have aface I would remember. I'm a little
(22:03):
nude of this. I figured,don't worry, I'll teach you well Instead.
As they walked through the front door, Bob smashed an iron rod into
Chris's head, a ritual by now. Bob immediately tied Chris to his bed.
(22:23):
He injected drain cleaner into the boy'sthroat, just as he had done
with Jerry Howell years before. Foradded measure and protection, Bob decided to
rub some ammonia into Chris's eyes.Yeah. The torture continued well into the
(22:44):
night. During a reprieve, Chrisbegan to beg to his captor, pree,
why who You did not choose tobe here? But you are?
For you to survive being here,and for you too, you know,
make it. It could either berough or it could be easy. If
(23:08):
I grow to like you and totrust you. Then I could do special
things for you, such as byyou cigarettes, pick up a movie on
the way home from work, andso forth. Don't try to fight me.
I'll just get more of what youhad earlier. You see, what
you got is nothing compared to whatyou can have. Oh a wroth good
(23:36):
because I've gotten this far with otherpeople before, and they're dead now cause
of the mistakes they've made. Thetorture continued for over three days. Chris
behaved himself, and this time Robertwas a man of his word, allowing
longer rest periods. You've been agood boy, so I'm going to put
the TV in here for you towatch. Well, what a saint anyway.
(23:59):
Toward the end of his third dayof capture, Chris asked Bob for
a favor, Master, Please,can you tie my hands in front of
me and stuff above me. It'sreally fucking with my circulation, all right,
boy, but no funny business.You've earned it. This once,
Bob freed Chris's hands from the headboard, allowing them to rest after days of
(24:22):
being tied to the bed. Laterinto the afternoon, Bob left Chris alone
to make dinner, downstairs. Seeingthis as one of his few opportunities,
Chris snatched a pack of matches fromBob's nightstand. Come on, Come on.
Eventually, Chris was able to burnthrough enough rope to break his arms
(24:45):
free. After untying his legs,Chris was a free man for now.
Oh my god, Oh my god. Because of the ammonia in his eyes,
Chris couldn't see much around him,but he could make out faint markings
on one of Bob's walls. What. As Chris got closer, he could
see that the wall was covered inpolaroids. The collage depicted heinous torture of
(25:08):
over half a dozen men. Chrisput two and two together, realizing that
these must have been Bob's other victims. What the fuck. Realizing that Bob
was in the room, Chris grabbedone of the photos and bolted toward a
nearby window. Having no time totry and climb out, he leaped and
fell from the second story onto theground below, breaking one of his feet
(25:30):
in the process. Oh my god. Fuck. Chris opened his eyes enough
to see his captor staring down athim with pure evil in his eyes.
He knew it was now or neverto get away. Barely able to get
up, Chris limped into the nearbytree line. After seeing Bob was trailing
(25:57):
him, Chris picked up speed.Eventually, as Chris broke through the tree
line, he saw a meter readerbehind an old house. This was Chris's
only help, Jesus Christ, helpme? What police? He's after me?
Who's after you? Bob was thenext to break through the tree line,
(26:21):
stopping in his tracks as he realizedit was all over. Who who
are you? Bob bolted back intothe trees, confusing the meterman even further.
What the hell? He went toaid the boy walking him toward the
occupant of the house. Mister Duvalcalled a police. The police arrived soon
(26:42):
after and the questioning began. Sohe kept you captive for three days?
Yes, how did you guys meet? I was hitchhiking, he offered me
a ride, and what happened whenhe took you? I don't want to
talk about it. Son. Wecan't do anything to this guy unless you
(27:02):
give his some concrete testimony of whathe did. I can't. I don't.
Chris was lost and traumatized, feelinglike he wasn't doing enough to convince
the authorities of his torture. Suddenlyhe remembered the photo. He grabbed the
polaroid. He had a wall ofpolaroids in his room, and I grabbed
one here. He pulled out thepolaroid and gave it to the detective.
(27:27):
It depicted a boy hung from ameat hook with blood draining from his body.
That's enough testimony for me, KansasCity. This is a Detective Wadley
iding back up over in Hyde Park. That evening, Robert Berdella was captured
and charged with kidnapping and torture.Shortly thereafter, a search warrant was granted
(27:48):
and police were able to take Bob'spolaroid collection and journals. They gave a
detailed account of the torture he hadput his victims through, in addition to
exact locations of where he hid theremains. This obviously led to further charges.
Bob initially tried to plead not guiltyon the charges of murder to his
other victims, but eventually settled ina plea bargain in order to avoid the
(28:10):
death penalty. As Bob began hisjourney of rotting in prison, the detective
assigned to his case began the taskof tracking the victims back to their families.
Hello, there, how can Ihope you today? Peter Howell stand
at the flea market, had foundquite a bit of success, and he
was eventually able to open his ownstorefront. His family was able to live
comfortably in the apartment above, well, most of his family. Are you,
(28:37):
mister Howell? I sure am.You can call me Peter though.
Good afternoon, Peter. My nameis Detective Walley. I'm with us about
Jerry, isn't it, yes,mister Howell, Peter, we recently apprehended
a gentleman by the name of RobertBerdella. There's some mounting evidence, though,
Are you okay? Bob Bardella ranle Margaret stand next to us.
(29:02):
He was a family friend, misterHowell. I'm so sorry to have to
ask you this. There was multiplephotos taken from Bridela's home that shows victims.
They're pretty graphic, but it wouldbe really helpful and it would help
Kansas City PD if you could possiblyidentify one of the victims. We think
(29:22):
he may be your son. OhGod, I don't know if I can
do I don't know if I cando it, but I know I have
to. It only needs to befor a quick moment. Okay, The
detective pulled out the same photo Chrishad taken during his escape. Peter immediately
(29:48):
recognized the body on the hook.Jerry, No, no, no,
no, no, that's my littleboy. Being gay in the nineteen eighties
was difficult and dangerous. It wasa dark span of queer history that is
often overshadowed by the violently destructive AIDScrisis that was to follow. Our culture
(30:08):
in recent decades has been moving inthe right direction and changing how we view
gay people, but LGBTQ youth continueto make up a sizeable portion of homeless
people in the United States. Theseyouth are often at risk of falling into
the care of someone dangerous, someonelike Robert Berdella. I hope in future
(30:29):
decades we as an entire nation embraceand love our children so that they don't
fall into the embrace of a monster. The Polaroid Project was written by Keelan
Brown, narrated by me Skyler Fasteno, and executive produced by Daniel Jones.
(30:49):
Voice talent was provided by Tamer Perry, Marissipis Stone, Jeremy Staple, Walker,
Barnes, Vince Perez, Daniel Jones, Matt McNelly, Rainy Blake Jordan,
and Alan Anthony Morion. I'm soglad you could join us for another
episode of the Original Deadtime Stories.If you enjoyed this episode, let us
know by leaving a five star ratingand review wherever you listen. It helps
(31:12):
us out so much. You canalso check out our Patreon for ad free
episodes, early access to new episodes, merchandise, and much much more.
We are also active on YouTube,Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The
links to all of those are inthe episode description. We will be back
in just seven short days with aThanksgiving special. Until then, stay safe
(31:36):
out there. I don't want youto become the next chapter's topic on the
Original Deadtime Stories.
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