June 21, 2023 • 32 mins
How's that old COVID-19 joke go? Murder your spouse now, blame it on the corona virus later? If you're a fan of true crime memes then you probably saw this at some point last year. In Florida, it became a reality. Of course this wasn't the first time a virus was used as a weapon. Just a few years ago, Daryll Rowe harnessed HIV to attack other gay men. Originally broadcast February 17, 2021.
Written by Schuyler Fastenau and executive produced by Daniel Jones. Additional voices by Ariel Dale, Taylor Shurte, Walker Barnes, Jeremy Staple, Marissa Pistone, Vince Perez, Rainee Blake, Matt MacNelly, Allyn Anthony Moriyon, Jordan Katcher, Daniel Jones, Janet Zosche, and Sophia Sassone. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales.
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Written by Schuyler Fastenau and executive produced by Daniel Jones. Additional voices by Ariel Dale, Taylor Shurte, Walker Barnes, Jeremy Staple, Marissa Pistone, Vince Perez, Rainee Blake, Matt MacNelly, Allyn Anthony Moriyon, Jordan Katcher, Daniel Jones, Janet Zosche, and Sophia Sassone. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales.
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Check out our other shows:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
It's hard to believe it's been nearlya year since I started a life of
social distancing. I remember when allof this started last March. My boyfriend
and I couldn't imagine it going onlonger than the summer. Boy, were
we wrong. One of the runningjokes in the true crime community was how
long it would take before someone usedthe coronavirus as a murder cover up.
(00:31):
When I started researching for the secondhalf of this season, I knew I
wanted to look up COVID nineteen murders, and sadly was not shocked when I
discovered a story that took place maybea month after America started locking down murderers.
If they used their brains for good, we might have a cure for
cancer instead of unsolved crimes and domesticterrorism. Flashback to Jupiter, Florida on
(00:55):
March twentieth, twenty twenty. Itwas another long week at work for the
fifty one year old greutg and Anthony. Specific details haven't emerged about what she
did for a living, but weknow it was with the Florida Utility Company.
Oh. I don't know about you, Grudge, but I am beat.
You. Better rest up tonight.Honey, because I canceling our lunch
(01:18):
plans tomorrow. Oh you'll know.I'll be there. Girl. You have
to fill me in on the divorceso you can tell all the other gals
about it. Of course, Ohyou're patty, But of course I'll tell
you everything. God, David's crazy. You got out at a good time.
(01:38):
Cheryl told me about his arrest lastweek. What sicko approaches fifteen year
old girls, David exactly. That'swhy you never go for the sexy,
tall, athletic ones. They alwayshave some dark secret. Mine is his
criminal past. Oh well, he'sout of your life now, hopefully for
(02:00):
good. I don't know, though, Jennifer. I'm terrified of him coming
back or something. Don't let himbother you anymore. You're safe. See
you tomorrow. But Gretchen wouldn't showup for lunch, and when Monday rolled
around she skipped out on work two. Her coworkers and boss began to worry
(02:23):
because that wasn't like her at all. Jennifer, have you heard from her?
Nothing? God, I hope she'sokay. Maybe she forgot to call
him sick Ah, here we go. She just sent an email. Let's
see out sick. Sorry I ain'tcalled sooner. I got a small fever
this weekend and woke up this morningshort of breath. I went to the
(02:46):
Jupiter Medical Center for a COVID testand they told me I got an acute
case there oh wrong version of there. Put me under the care of his
CDC task force and I'll be quarantinefor two weeks. Poor thing. That's
so scary. It's a lie.She hasn't been to that doctor's office since
two thousand and eight, and that'snot how Gretchen talks. You're right,
(03:07):
something's off about this. I'm callingher mother and the police to check in
on her. Hopefully we're both beingcrazy. Spoiler alert, they weren't.
Gretchen Anthony did not have COVID nineteen, nor was she the first person whose
attacker used an illness. Welcome toDeadtime Stories, a weekly podcast where I
(03:28):
Skyler Fastonel take you through a truecrime event and the style of an old
fashioned radio show. If you're afan of our show and you want to
support us even more, head onover to Patreon dot com slash og Deadtime.
(03:54):
We'll be back with our program afterthese brief messages. Come on and
buddy, welcome home. Oh hi, Lenny, come here and give me
a hug. Lenny was a youngboy growing up in New York during the
(04:15):
eighties and nineties. His parents hadboth passed away recently, and so his
older cousin had adopted him. Doyou want to cry? Go ahead and
cry. It's okay, Carol.Why did mommy and daddy both get aids?
Carol, whose name has been madeup by the way, looked at
(04:38):
her husband nervously. He slowly nodded, it's okay. He's a smart kid,
and he knows his dad used toparty. Well, sweetheart, Sometimes
terrible things happen to good people.But while you're living with us, we
are going to have the best time. We're going to the hot Fudge Sundays
(05:01):
and watch a movie, go tobaseball games or the theater, whatever you
want. Pal, I like thosethings, but I never never gonna get
AIDS. I don't want to dieand make my kids sad. Hello,
(05:23):
mister Royale, we need you tocome in to discuss your recent test results.
Oh my god, why is everythingokay? It'll be best if you
come in, mister. No,no, no, no, no.
You guys always tell me it's negativeon the phone. If I have to
come in, it's something terrible.So what is it, mister Royale.
(05:45):
It will be better, Bodocks lady, just tell him what he's got.
He's scared after death. I'm sosorry, mister Royal, but your HIV
test came back positive. Now inhis thirties, Lenny felt like his life
was over. He couldn't think abouthis success as a celebrity makeup artist or
how he journeyed around the world toBrighton, England. To him, this
(06:09):
was his death sentence. Thank youfor coming in, mister Royale. I
wish I could have told you somethingdifferent. It's all right. I have
a few pamphlets here and we cantalk about treatment. We have a bevy
of cocktails that can bring you downto undetectable. The other thing, and
this might be a wee bit awkward, but we need to talk about your
sexual partners. They need to benotified in case they don't realize they have
(06:32):
it right. The reason I gottested to begin with was because of the
Scottish guy. The nurse sat upstraighter. I don't normally do this,
but can you tell me more abouthim? Yeah? Sure, he stood
(06:58):
Daryl, What how are you?You gave me your address, dumb ass.
Remember you're on grinder begging me tocome over and fuck your tight little
bussy, so I'm here to beatit up. You also didn't want to
use a condom, and I toldyou I didn't like it. Bear,
Yeah, yeah, sure, Ithought about it some more, and you're
right. That's reckless and jerking offto that tight pink hole isn't as nice
(07:23):
as fucking it. So I'll weara condom, all right, Fine,
come in. Lenny led the twinkieman into his bedroom and grabbed a condom
from the nightstand. Darrel looked downat the shiny wrapper and frowned. Come
on, Bear, is better.That's not what we agreed on. If
you don't wear a condom, thenyou're leaving. Okay, fine, bloody
(07:47):
hell. You're gonna watch me putit on too, Absolutely there. It's
hard to stay hard when you're beinga right piece of shite. Oh oh
yeah. I had just ended atwelve year relationship and thought I'd had sex
with the first person who came alongto help me move on. Oh bloody
(08:09):
hell, that was great, betterthan I could have imagined. Oh cool,
you want to watch YouTube. I'mnot really a blow and goal kind
of chap. Sure, Daryl,why not? Great? There's this really
nice video about jeezing I want towatch. I like to have a big
glass of juice after my yoga sessions. I don't even know what we watched
because I didn't care. Eventually Ikicked him out because I had dinner plans.
(08:35):
Then he became psycho. Hello,how dare you block me? Stupid
American? You can't get rid ofme. You're gonna burn. I ripped
the condom. You're so stupid,shit, Daryl, leave me alone.
I hope you enjoyed my toxic load. I thought he was just slashing out
(09:03):
at me for blocking him on socialmedia, But when I got sick two
weeks later, I decided to gettested. It had to be him,
right. The nurse looked down,clearly troubled by something. Is everything?
Okay? I wouldn't normally say this, but you're the fourth man to tell
me this story, Scottish guy andall. Fuck. If he's done this
(09:28):
to at least four, how manymore has he hurt or planning on hurting?
The police need to know about thisand notify police. Lenny did What
he didn't know was he wasn't thefirst to contact them. The timelines are
a little hard to match up sincemost of the men who came forward had
(09:48):
their identities protected for life, butone of the men who spoke publicly,
Stuart, met with investigators in Novembertwenty fifteen. Stuart nervously sat down with
police, shaking his boyish face withembarrassment. Can you give us your story
again? Sure, Daryl and Ihad sex last summer. You have come
(10:16):
on in. I'm waiting for you. His flat was absolutely filthy, which
should have been my first sign toleave. We had sex, and after
I want to throw the condom away. Hey, Daryl, you use the
condom right? Didn't look like therewas any seeming inside. Are you one
(10:39):
of these paranoid people? Yes,I had a condom on. Hey.
Check out this Pokemon video. It'sabsolutely hilarious. So we watched for about
fifteen minutes, and then then Imade some excuse to leave. I have
to walk my pup bye. Hekept harassing me after asking if I liked
(11:07):
having sex with him. I ignoredit until he sent me this You're a
fucking revolting jackass. Crying, laughing, emoji, ha ha ha, I'd
taken the condom off and then yougot tested. Yes, sir, didn't
feel any symptoms at first, butthen my blood test came back. And
(11:31):
anyway, I gave you his addressand phone number. What have you been
doing? We need all the evidencewe can get if you want to successfully
arrest him. See, it's nearlyimpossible to prove someone was deliberately trying to
infect another person with HIV, butwe can get him for culpable and reckless
(11:54):
conduct. Oh, we need toprove Darryl knew he was HIV positive,
he knew how to spread HIV,he had unsafe sex. You got haysh
ivy from him, and you didn'tknow he was positive? Well, I
certainly didn't know, he added,And I think the fact the condom was
empty shows we had unsafe sex.And those screenshots of his messages show he
(12:18):
clearly knew he was positive if hisdoctor told him how to spread haysh ivy.
Everyone knows you get a sexually transmittedinfection from sex. We're still examining
the medical records closer to see ifyou two have a similar strand of HIV.
Do whatever you need to do,but please make it quick. On
(12:43):
February fifth, twenty sixteen, afterseven men came forward, Darrell was hunted
down and arrested for suspicion of causinggrievous bodily harm with intent. Why what
do you think you're doing? Oh? And they found him in bed with
VIC the number eight. Get hismobile shaved? There's any more more more?
(13:05):
What can I put on my fuckingknickers? First? Fuck this leg?
He's talked two hundreds of men.We need to contact how low see
if they shagged. Darrell was placedin police custody for questioning and seemed rather
calm about the whole thing. Hello, Darryl, we need to talk about
(13:26):
your HIV status. Have you beentested recently? Not recently? No.
I had a relationship when I firstgot here and it was unprotected, so
I've not been tested after that.I'm a little bit worried about that.
I see. Do you know theseverity of your untreated HIV? Darryl?
Yeah, it's a very scary thing. I think I'll get a test.
(13:50):
Then, medical records would show thatDarrell had in fact been diagnosed for over
a year and his doctor had warnedhim about this seriousness of passing the virus
on to someone else, whether itwas intentional or not, and his HIV
medication, Yeah, he didn't reallytake it. We have to put out
a public health warning. We can'tsay this wanker's name, but we'll post
(14:16):
if anyone has been shagging a Scottishman, please contact us. Come on
in love, that is going torun you a nice, warm bath and
I'll make you a cuppa. OnApril fifth, Daryl was bailed out under
the condition that he stayed with hisfoster parents, Jackie and Harry, and
(14:37):
immediately started his HIV medication back upagain. Come up here, son,
Oh you look afraid the medication willdo you good. Oh their love.
I don't want you mad mum.It's not your fault. I did this.
Jackie shot her husband a look astheir foster son cried into his dad's
(15:00):
shoulder. Both had never known Darrellto be violent, so his actions confused
them. Oh no, one's planningyou. Yeah, that bath and all
missaws your back. The months wentby, and Darrell presumably followed his orders.
(15:24):
One afternoon, his foster mother flippedthrough a photo album and smiled down
at the memories. Oh there heis. When we first brought him in.
Remember that Harry bod Chap was coveredin burns. I nearly cried when
they told us his mother scolded himwith hot tea. Yeah, terrible family.
Oh there he is with his dolls, all a hundred and twenty of
(15:48):
them. He loved bathing them andbrushing their hair. Oh, that'll be
supper. Then Darryl Jackie ascended thestairs and knocked on her store. Daryl's
supper time. Harry called the authorities. Daryl's gone. The original Dead Time
(16:17):
stories will be back after these shortmessages. Welcome back to our show.
Hi guys, this is my firstattempt at making my YouTube video. I'm
vegan. I'm very passionate about treatingmy body well. You are what you
(16:38):
eat, and there's many things thatI do that many people might think that,
Oh that's weird, that's not right. I don't drink, I don't
smoke, don't do anything like that. I use coconut oil to eat because
(16:59):
it's very good for your immune system, a lot of amino acids. In
April of twenty fifteen, just daysafter finding out he was HIV positive,
Darrell decided to start a YouTube channeldedicated to healthy living for what you need
going into veganism. Thanks, I'llsee you in a week. The irony
(17:21):
of it all was Daryl was probablyone of the least healthiest people out there.
When he stopped rolling his shitty phonecamera, Darrell turned to a bottle
of cloudy yellow liquid and cringed ashe drank it. A copy urine a
day makes the hive something that istotally made up. Fuck medication. Nothing
(17:42):
toxic is going inside my body,and it seemed that ideology hadn't changed for
Daryl. He ran away from hisfoster parents with the goal of reaching Pentland
Hills in Scotland. By now twentytwo men had reported him to the police,
so a nationwide man hunt was underway. One day, they came across
an abandoned tent off for fuck's sake, man, there's some rubbish and Darrow's
(18:10):
medsine here. They're four. He'soffered again, which means he's breaking bail.
Ain't could infect more men? Ohwonder how far he's gone. The
answer was Newcastle, which is aboutone hundred and nine miles or one hundred
and seventy five point four kilometers fromPentland Hills. Gary Cole Hi. Tom,
(18:36):
Wow, your eyes are twinklier inparison. Oh, oh, thank
you. And you're really into oldergentlemen. Oh fuck yeah, daddy,
they're so much wiser than these fuckingtwins. Tom opened the door wider for
Darryl, who was now going bythe name Gary, and eagerly let him
(18:56):
in. If you looked up thedefinition of kindness in a dictionary, Tom's
face would be there, alongside histhree dogs. I really hate to impose
like this, but my friend andI have been having issues and I have
no place to stay. It's notimposing at all. I'm more than happy
to let my boyfriend stay here aslong as you need. Boyfriend. Right,
(19:18):
where's my room? Tom showed GarySlash Darrell to his bedroom and they
lived together for the next three months. Of course, it wasn't long before
Darrell became overly controlling, barring Tomfrom going into the outside world without him
hand just being a genuinely terrible person. During those three months, police for
both Scotland and England worked to trackdown Darryll and eventually found him, of
(19:41):
all places, on an escort website. Oh you know he's him, there's
no face, trust me, I'veseen de Sammy Ja Darrell's polke sud on
nearly every victim's grinder. It's him. Yes, Perhaps for the first time
in history, police we're able tofind a criminal because of his dick pics.
(20:03):
Thanks to technology, they were ableto track where Darrell was when he
uploaded the pick to the site.I'm coming right, I'm coming all right,
sir. I'm doing a routine inspectionof the neighbor. Are you the
only tenant in this flat? No, sir, um my boyfriends, can
(20:23):
you describe him for me? Umsure, he's about five foot ten Scottish
accent. Before Tom could finish,the officers rushed up the steps. Excuse
me, excuse me, what isthis about? Cry morning? The windows
open? He must have jumped.Oh dear Daryl, you all right?
(20:45):
Oh god, oh my god.Tom ran outside with officers and to found
Darrel writhing in pain on the neighbor'sdeck. As soon as he had heard
police, Darrel leapt out of thewindow and down onto the first floor rooftop,
then tried to jump from there toescape. It didn't end well,
and he was arrested along with Tom. So it would he keep you writing,
(21:11):
But we needed to make show youweren't involved. I can't believe he
lied me and did it show easilytoo. And about the HUV test,
it's negative, sir, you're oneof the lucky ones. Well, I
don't feel very lucky. Indeed,Tom felt sick to his stomach after learning
(21:32):
what Darrell had done. When policesearched Tom's flat, they discovered a box
full of condoms that Darrell had brokento use on more victims. With the
serial attacker and their custody, Darrellwas taken to trial. Judge Christine Henson
presided over the hearing and agreed tolet all of Darrell's victims testify either over
video or behind a screen to protecttheir identities. Felicity Jerry represented Darrell,
(21:57):
and while she caused most of hisvictims to cry, Lenny approached her with
a bringing on attitude. So youenticed Darrow by sending pornographic pictures of yourself?
Yeah, I sent him a dippic. What else do you want to
know? Did you not think youshould have known Darrow was HIV positive because
(22:18):
of his vegan lifestyle, your honor, we both know that this is an
absolutely ridiculous question. All she's donethis trial is ask homophobic and absurd questions
to try and publicly shame the victims. I won't sit here unless she asks
relevant questions. Yeah so being bluntfelicity. Jerry is an absolutely atrocious person
(22:44):
and I can't fucking stand her.By the end of the six week trial,
Darrel was found guilty on five countsof causing grievous bodily harm and five
counts of attempted grievous bodily harm.He was sentenced to life in prison with
a minimum of twelve years, andplaced on a sex offenders register. Darryl,
the messages you sent make it crystalclear you knew exactly what you were
(23:07):
doing. As well as the physicaloffenses, it is clear for the victims
the psychological effects are immense. Theydescribe living with a life sentence as a
result of your cruel and senseless acts. Many of those men were young men
in our twenties at the time theyhad the misfortune to meet you. I
(23:29):
can't see how and when you willno longer be a danger to gain men.
This sentence is not about stigmatizing anyoneliving with HIV, and that last
part was very important to note becausethere's still this stigma that HIV makes someone
dirty. A lot of people arevery uneducated on this topic and think you
(23:49):
can get HIV from kissing or drinkingafter someone who has it, and that's
really much true. I'd also liketo note that this isn't in eighteen ninety
two any more, and HIV isnot a death sentence. Thanks to advances
in technology, there are a plethoraof retrovirals which can severely decrease your chances
of catching and spreading HIV. Thelives of Daryl's victims were forever changed,
(24:14):
and I really hope that they're ableto overcome the psychological damage she caused them.
Daryl, it seems, hasn't overcomewhatever damage he suffered, though,
though we still don't know the exactreason behind why he attacked these men.
Daryl has said the thing I reallycouldn't cope with was when I was talking
to or dating somebody and then theywould just completely ignore me for no reason.
(24:40):
The messages came out with that atthat point, it was about HIV.
That's the first thing that came tomy head. I thought this will
get a reaction. It just gotout of control. I would like to
say to the men in Scotland andin England that I'm saw you for being
(25:00):
so naive and so reckless, andthat they are the ones now suffering for
that. But the main thing forme is that I hope they can forgive
me one day and that they cantry and live a happy life and put
this behind them. When this recordingwas read for his victims on a BBC
documentary, it was clear that theycouldn't care less about his apology. It
(25:26):
probably didn't help that he immediately startedtalking to his foster mom about the TV
shows he had been watching in prison. Those were some fast Ryan tears Daryl.
As mentioned earlier, Daryl wasn't theonly one using an illness to attack.
After Gretchen's coworkers and family called inher bizarre texts, Jupiter police showed
(25:51):
up to her home on Sunshine Drive. Excuse me, are you here about
the attack Saturday morning? At tech? Oh yes, oh yeah. It
was a little after six when Iheard a woman scream no, no,
it hurts. I'm almost positive it'sGretchen's ex husband, David. You know
(26:11):
he wrote the security camera right offmy garage? Do you have that footage?
When officers looked over the recordings,they saw a tall man driving the
same truck Gretchen's ex's husband used todrive. After disappearing on the porch,
he was then seen dragging a motionlessbody with light colored hair. Gretchen,
I should mention was blonde. Oh, there was a real stinky stream of
(26:33):
water coming from her garage to smeltlike terrible chemicals. The officers tried to
open Gretchen's garage, but found thekey had been broken off in the lock,
so it couldn't easily be opened.We're working with a real genius here.
Now that we're in what have wefound? Dogs? Smelled decomposition in
(26:57):
the garage and looks like, yeah, someone wiped the floor with bleach.
The master bedroom has some blood spatter, and I found these towels in her
dryer with specks of red. Andthe ex husband neighbor saw him on the
twenty third when he picked up hisdog from her. Apparently he dropped off
(27:17):
a cat for Gretchen where because shewas going to be quarantined? Yeah right.
Jupiter Medical Center said they haven't seenher in years, nor is it
their protocol to hand over COVID patientsto the CDC. Again, working with
a real smart criminal. Here,guys, let's see if we can get
a ping on their cell phones.One of the phones pinged off a tower
(27:41):
in Pensacola on March thirtieth, whichled investigators to a jewelry seller. Oh
yeah, I remember that guy soldme a bag of woman's jewelidity and said
he was his mom's or he stepmoms. I don't remember venturing a guess it
was his ex wives. Another pingcame in on March twenty seventh from a
tower in Texas. This eventually ledpolice to Los Cruses, New Mexico.
(28:07):
David parked his truck at a restauranton Avania Damisia and got out to walk
his dog when an officer spotted him. The officer pulled in a few parking
spaces over and casually got out ofthe police cruiser. While checking David's license
plate, he noticed David changed thesixth to an eight with black electrical tape
and shook his head. Sorry aboutthat. My stepdaughter probably did it because
(28:30):
she's twelve and likes to play withtape. Still crimesor you probably want my
information right my id right here inthe truck. One second, David started
to reach for the floor and theofficer pulled his weapon. Two more officers
had to show up before David finallysat down on the ground defeated. Of
(28:52):
course, before that, he smashedone of the officer's arms repeatedly in the
door. Had officer assault to hisrecord while we're at it. David was
extradited back to Florida and his hearingwas scheduled for December twenty first, twenty
twenty. Mister Anthony, we willlisten the charges from first degree murder with
the possibility of death to second degreemurder and kidnapping if you can provide us
(29:18):
with the location of Gretchen's remains bythe end of the day. This was
mostly so Gretchen's twelve year old daughterand the family could receive closure and a
proper funeral. David agreed, andaround three thirty that afternoon, Gretchen's remains
were found in a wooded area roughlythree miles from her home. It appeared
she had been stabbed in the neckand torso david sentencing hearing was scheduled for
(29:41):
January fourteenth, twenty twenty one,and he was given thirty eight years in
prison. So there you have it. Less than a month after America started
shutting down, some dipshit decided tobe ballsy enough to use COVID nineteen to
cover up a murder. Surprisingly,he was caught about a week after Gretchen
went missing, which unfortunately was notthe case for Daryl Rowe, an equally
(30:04):
vile person who used an illness tohis advantage. Though Darrell never killed anyone,
his crimes definitely left many psychological scarson his victims, which is something
that I cannot forgive. Catching theLove Bug was written, directed and edited
(30:27):
by me Skyler Fastenew and executive producedby Daniel Jones. Our voice talent was
provided by Ariel Dale, Taylor,Shirty Walker Barnes, Jeremy Staple, Maurissippa
Stone, Vince Perez, Rainy Blake, Matt McNelly, Helen Anthony Morion,
Jordan Catcher, Daniel Jones, JeanetteZosh, and Sophia Sasne. Our gorgeous
(30:49):
theme music was performed by Tracy Zealsand cover artwork by Catherine Fastenell. Thank
you for joining us for another chapterof the original Dead Time story. While
you're listening, we would love itif you left us A five star rating
and reviews so others can find ourshow. You can also check out our
Patreon, dot com slash og Deadtime, as well as our Instagram, Facebook,
(31:12):
and Twitter accounts at the original DeadtimeStories. The links to those are
in the episode description. See youthere. We will be back in one
week with another story for your eagerears, and I definitely would suggest listening
to our episode Lesson from a mockingBird before this one premieres. Until then,
(31:32):
stay safe out there. I don'twant you to become the next chapter's
topic on the original Deadtime Stories
It's hard to believe it's been nearlya year since I started a life of
social distancing. I remember when allof this started last March. My boyfriend
and I couldn't imagine it going onlonger than the summer. Boy, were
we wrong. One of the runningjokes in the true crime community was how
long it would take before someone usedthe coronavirus as a murder cover up.
(00:31):
When I started researching for the secondhalf of this season, I knew I
wanted to look up COVID nineteen murders, and sadly was not shocked when I
discovered a story that took place maybea month after America started locking down murderers.
If they used their brains for good, we might have a cure for
cancer instead of unsolved crimes and domesticterrorism. Flashback to Jupiter, Florida on
(00:55):
March twentieth, twenty twenty. Itwas another long week at work for the
fifty one year old greutg and Anthony. Specific details haven't emerged about what she
did for a living, but weknow it was with the Florida Utility Company.
Oh. I don't know about you, Grudge, but I am beat.
You. Better rest up tonight.Honey, because I canceling our lunch
(01:18):
plans tomorrow. Oh you'll know.I'll be there. Girl. You have
to fill me in on the divorceso you can tell all the other gals
about it. Of course, Ohyou're patty, But of course I'll tell
you everything. God, David's crazy. You got out at a good time.
(01:38):
Cheryl told me about his arrest lastweek. What sicko approaches fifteen year
old girls, David exactly. That'swhy you never go for the sexy,
tall, athletic ones. They alwayshave some dark secret. Mine is his
criminal past. Oh well, he'sout of your life now, hopefully for
(02:00):
good. I don't know, though, Jennifer. I'm terrified of him coming
back or something. Don't let himbother you anymore. You're safe. See
you tomorrow. But Gretchen wouldn't showup for lunch, and when Monday rolled
around she skipped out on work two. Her coworkers and boss began to worry
(02:23):
because that wasn't like her at all. Jennifer, have you heard from her?
Nothing? God, I hope she'sokay. Maybe she forgot to call
him sick Ah, here we go. She just sent an email. Let's
see out sick. Sorry I ain'tcalled sooner. I got a small fever
this weekend and woke up this morningshort of breath. I went to the
(02:46):
Jupiter Medical Center for a COVID testand they told me I got an acute
case there oh wrong version of there. Put me under the care of his
CDC task force and I'll be quarantinefor two weeks. Poor thing. That's
so scary. It's a lie.She hasn't been to that doctor's office since
two thousand and eight, and that'snot how Gretchen talks. You're right,
(03:07):
something's off about this. I'm callingher mother and the police to check in
on her. Hopefully we're both beingcrazy. Spoiler alert, they weren't.
Gretchen Anthony did not have COVID nineteen, nor was she the first person whose
attacker used an illness. Welcome toDeadtime Stories, a weekly podcast where I
(03:28):
Skyler Fastonel take you through a truecrime event and the style of an old
fashioned radio show. If you're afan of our show and you want to
support us even more, head onover to Patreon dot com slash og Deadtime.
(03:54):
We'll be back with our program afterthese brief messages. Come on and
buddy, welcome home. Oh hi, Lenny, come here and give me
a hug. Lenny was a youngboy growing up in New York during the
(04:15):
eighties and nineties. His parents hadboth passed away recently, and so his
older cousin had adopted him. Doyou want to cry? Go ahead and
cry. It's okay, Carol.Why did mommy and daddy both get aids?
Carol, whose name has been madeup by the way, looked at
(04:38):
her husband nervously. He slowly nodded, it's okay. He's a smart kid,
and he knows his dad used toparty. Well, sweetheart, Sometimes
terrible things happen to good people.But while you're living with us, we
are going to have the best time. We're going to the hot Fudge Sundays
(05:01):
and watch a movie, go tobaseball games or the theater, whatever you
want. Pal, I like thosethings, but I never never gonna get
AIDS. I don't want to dieand make my kids sad. Hello,
(05:23):
mister Royale, we need you tocome in to discuss your recent test results.
Oh my god, why is everythingokay? It'll be best if you
come in, mister. No,no, no, no, no.
You guys always tell me it's negativeon the phone. If I have to
come in, it's something terrible.So what is it, mister Royale.
(05:45):
It will be better, Bodocks lady, just tell him what he's got.
He's scared after death. I'm sosorry, mister Royal, but your HIV
test came back positive. Now inhis thirties, Lenny felt like his life
was over. He couldn't think abouthis success as a celebrity makeup artist or
how he journeyed around the world toBrighton, England. To him, this
(06:09):
was his death sentence. Thank youfor coming in, mister Royale. I
wish I could have told you somethingdifferent. It's all right. I have
a few pamphlets here and we cantalk about treatment. We have a bevy
of cocktails that can bring you downto undetectable. The other thing, and
this might be a wee bit awkward, but we need to talk about your
sexual partners. They need to benotified in case they don't realize they have
(06:32):
it right. The reason I gottested to begin with was because of the
Scottish guy. The nurse sat upstraighter. I don't normally do this,
but can you tell me more abouthim? Yeah? Sure, he stood
(06:58):
Daryl, What how are you?You gave me your address, dumb ass.
Remember you're on grinder begging me tocome over and fuck your tight little
bussy, so I'm here to beatit up. You also didn't want to
use a condom, and I toldyou I didn't like it. Bear,
Yeah, yeah, sure, Ithought about it some more, and you're
right. That's reckless and jerking offto that tight pink hole isn't as nice
(07:23):
as fucking it. So I'll weara condom, all right, Fine,
come in. Lenny led the twinkieman into his bedroom and grabbed a condom
from the nightstand. Darrel looked downat the shiny wrapper and frowned. Come
on, Bear, is better.That's not what we agreed on. If
you don't wear a condom, thenyou're leaving. Okay, fine, bloody
(07:47):
hell. You're gonna watch me putit on too, Absolutely there. It's
hard to stay hard when you're beinga right piece of shite. Oh oh
yeah. I had just ended atwelve year relationship and thought I'd had sex
with the first person who came alongto help me move on. Oh bloody
(08:09):
hell, that was great, betterthan I could have imagined. Oh cool,
you want to watch YouTube. I'mnot really a blow and goal kind
of chap. Sure, Daryl,why not? Great? There's this really
nice video about jeezing I want towatch. I like to have a big
glass of juice after my yoga sessions. I don't even know what we watched
because I didn't care. Eventually Ikicked him out because I had dinner plans.
(08:35):
Then he became psycho. Hello,how dare you block me? Stupid
American? You can't get rid ofme. You're gonna burn. I ripped
the condom. You're so stupid,shit, Daryl, leave me alone.
I hope you enjoyed my toxic load. I thought he was just slashing out
(09:03):
at me for blocking him on socialmedia, But when I got sick two
weeks later, I decided to gettested. It had to be him,
right. The nurse looked down,clearly troubled by something. Is everything?
Okay? I wouldn't normally say this, but you're the fourth man to tell
me this story, Scottish guy andall. Fuck. If he's done this
(09:28):
to at least four, how manymore has he hurt or planning on hurting?
The police need to know about thisand notify police. Lenny did What
he didn't know was he wasn't thefirst to contact them. The timelines are
a little hard to match up sincemost of the men who came forward had
(09:48):
their identities protected for life, butone of the men who spoke publicly,
Stuart, met with investigators in Novembertwenty fifteen. Stuart nervously sat down with
police, shaking his boyish face withembarrassment. Can you give us your story
again? Sure, Daryl and Ihad sex last summer. You have come
(10:16):
on in. I'm waiting for you. His flat was absolutely filthy, which
should have been my first sign toleave. We had sex, and after
I want to throw the condom away. Hey, Daryl, you use the
condom right? Didn't look like therewas any seeming inside. Are you one
(10:39):
of these paranoid people? Yes,I had a condom on. Hey.
Check out this Pokemon video. It'sabsolutely hilarious. So we watched for about
fifteen minutes, and then then Imade some excuse to leave. I have
to walk my pup bye. Hekept harassing me after asking if I liked
(11:07):
having sex with him. I ignoredit until he sent me this You're a
fucking revolting jackass. Crying, laughing, emoji, ha ha ha, I'd
taken the condom off and then yougot tested. Yes, sir, didn't
feel any symptoms at first, butthen my blood test came back. And
(11:31):
anyway, I gave you his addressand phone number. What have you been
doing? We need all the evidencewe can get if you want to successfully
arrest him. See, it's nearlyimpossible to prove someone was deliberately trying to
infect another person with HIV, butwe can get him for culpable and reckless
(11:54):
conduct. Oh, we need toprove Darryl knew he was HIV positive,
he knew how to spread HIV,he had unsafe sex. You got haysh
ivy from him, and you didn'tknow he was positive? Well, I
certainly didn't know, he added,And I think the fact the condom was
empty shows we had unsafe sex.And those screenshots of his messages show he
(12:18):
clearly knew he was positive if hisdoctor told him how to spread haysh ivy.
Everyone knows you get a sexually transmittedinfection from sex. We're still examining
the medical records closer to see ifyou two have a similar strand of HIV.
Do whatever you need to do,but please make it quick. On
(12:43):
February fifth, twenty sixteen, afterseven men came forward, Darrell was hunted
down and arrested for suspicion of causinggrievous bodily harm with intent. Why what
do you think you're doing? Oh? And they found him in bed with
VIC the number eight. Get hismobile shaved? There's any more more more?
(13:05):
What can I put on my fuckingknickers? First? Fuck this leg?
He's talked two hundreds of men.We need to contact how low see
if they shagged. Darrell was placedin police custody for questioning and seemed rather
calm about the whole thing. Hello, Darryl, we need to talk about
(13:26):
your HIV status. Have you beentested recently? Not recently? No.
I had a relationship when I firstgot here and it was unprotected, so
I've not been tested after that.I'm a little bit worried about that.
I see. Do you know theseverity of your untreated HIV? Darryl?
Yeah, it's a very scary thing. I think I'll get a test.
(13:50):
Then, medical records would show thatDarrell had in fact been diagnosed for over
a year and his doctor had warnedhim about this seriousness of passing the virus
on to someone else, whether itwas intentional or not, and his HIV
medication, Yeah, he didn't reallytake it. We have to put out
a public health warning. We can'tsay this wanker's name, but we'll post
(14:16):
if anyone has been shagging a Scottishman, please contact us. Come on
in love, that is going torun you a nice, warm bath and
I'll make you a cuppa. OnApril fifth, Daryl was bailed out under
the condition that he stayed with hisfoster parents, Jackie and Harry, and
(14:37):
immediately started his HIV medication back upagain. Come up here, son,
Oh you look afraid the medication willdo you good. Oh their love.
I don't want you mad mum.It's not your fault. I did this.
Jackie shot her husband a look astheir foster son cried into his dad's
(15:00):
shoulder. Both had never known Darrellto be violent, so his actions confused
them. Oh no, one's planningyou. Yeah, that bath and all
missaws your back. The months wentby, and Darrell presumably followed his orders.
(15:24):
One afternoon, his foster mother flippedthrough a photo album and smiled down
at the memories. Oh there heis. When we first brought him in.
Remember that Harry bod Chap was coveredin burns. I nearly cried when
they told us his mother scolded himwith hot tea. Yeah, terrible family.
Oh there he is with his dolls, all a hundred and twenty of
(15:48):
them. He loved bathing them andbrushing their hair. Oh, that'll be
supper. Then Darryl Jackie ascended thestairs and knocked on her store. Daryl's
supper time. Harry called the authorities. Daryl's gone. The original Dead Time
(16:17):
stories will be back after these shortmessages. Welcome back to our show.
Hi guys, this is my firstattempt at making my YouTube video. I'm
vegan. I'm very passionate about treatingmy body well. You are what you
(16:38):
eat, and there's many things thatI do that many people might think that,
Oh that's weird, that's not right. I don't drink, I don't
smoke, don't do anything like that. I use coconut oil to eat because
(16:59):
it's very good for your immune system, a lot of amino acids. In
April of twenty fifteen, just daysafter finding out he was HIV positive,
Darrell decided to start a YouTube channeldedicated to healthy living for what you need
going into veganism. Thanks, I'llsee you in a week. The irony
(17:21):
of it all was Daryl was probablyone of the least healthiest people out there.
When he stopped rolling his shitty phonecamera, Darrell turned to a bottle
of cloudy yellow liquid and cringed ashe drank it. A copy urine a
day makes the hive something that istotally made up. Fuck medication. Nothing
(17:42):
toxic is going inside my body,and it seemed that ideology hadn't changed for
Daryl. He ran away from hisfoster parents with the goal of reaching Pentland
Hills in Scotland. By now twentytwo men had reported him to the police,
so a nationwide man hunt was underway. One day, they came across
an abandoned tent off for fuck's sake, man, there's some rubbish and Darrow's
(18:10):
medsine here. They're four. He'soffered again, which means he's breaking bail.
Ain't could infect more men? Ohwonder how far he's gone. The
answer was Newcastle, which is aboutone hundred and nine miles or one hundred
and seventy five point four kilometers fromPentland Hills. Gary Cole Hi. Tom,
(18:36):
Wow, your eyes are twinklier inparison. Oh, oh, thank
you. And you're really into oldergentlemen. Oh fuck yeah, daddy,
they're so much wiser than these fuckingtwins. Tom opened the door wider for
Darryl, who was now going bythe name Gary, and eagerly let him
(18:56):
in. If you looked up thedefinition of kindness in a dictionary, Tom's
face would be there, alongside histhree dogs. I really hate to impose
like this, but my friend andI have been having issues and I have
no place to stay. It's notimposing at all. I'm more than happy
to let my boyfriend stay here aslong as you need. Boyfriend. Right,
(19:18):
where's my room? Tom showed GarySlash Darrell to his bedroom and they
lived together for the next three months. Of course, it wasn't long before
Darrell became overly controlling, barring Tomfrom going into the outside world without him
hand just being a genuinely terrible person. During those three months, police for
both Scotland and England worked to trackdown Darryll and eventually found him, of
(19:41):
all places, on an escort website. Oh you know he's him, there's
no face, trust me, I'veseen de Sammy Ja Darrell's polke sud on
nearly every victim's grinder. It's him. Yes, Perhaps for the first time
in history, police we're able tofind a criminal because of his dick pics.
(20:03):
Thanks to technology, they were ableto track where Darrell was when he
uploaded the pick to the site.I'm coming right, I'm coming all right,
sir. I'm doing a routine inspectionof the neighbor. Are you the
only tenant in this flat? No, sir, um my boyfriends, can
(20:23):
you describe him for me? Umsure, he's about five foot ten Scottish
accent. Before Tom could finish,the officers rushed up the steps. Excuse
me, excuse me, what isthis about? Cry morning? The windows
open? He must have jumped.Oh dear Daryl, you all right?
(20:45):
Oh god, oh my god.Tom ran outside with officers and to found
Darrel writhing in pain on the neighbor'sdeck. As soon as he had heard
police, Darrel leapt out of thewindow and down onto the first floor rooftop,
then tried to jump from there toescape. It didn't end well,
and he was arrested along with Tom. So it would he keep you writing,
(21:11):
But we needed to make show youweren't involved. I can't believe he
lied me and did it show easilytoo. And about the HUV test,
it's negative, sir, you're oneof the lucky ones. Well, I
don't feel very lucky. Indeed,Tom felt sick to his stomach after learning
(21:32):
what Darrell had done. When policesearched Tom's flat, they discovered a box
full of condoms that Darrell had brokento use on more victims. With the
serial attacker and their custody, Darrellwas taken to trial. Judge Christine Henson
presided over the hearing and agreed tolet all of Darrell's victims testify either over
video or behind a screen to protecttheir identities. Felicity Jerry represented Darrell,
(21:57):
and while she caused most of hisvictims to cry, Lenny approached her with
a bringing on attitude. So youenticed Darrow by sending pornographic pictures of yourself?
Yeah, I sent him a dippic. What else do you want to
know? Did you not think youshould have known Darrow was HIV positive because
(22:18):
of his vegan lifestyle, your honor, we both know that this is an
absolutely ridiculous question. All she's donethis trial is ask homophobic and absurd questions
to try and publicly shame the victims. I won't sit here unless she asks
relevant questions. Yeah so being bluntfelicity. Jerry is an absolutely atrocious person
(22:44):
and I can't fucking stand her.By the end of the six week trial,
Darrel was found guilty on five countsof causing grievous bodily harm and five
counts of attempted grievous bodily harm.He was sentenced to life in prison with
a minimum of twelve years, andplaced on a sex offenders register. Darryl,
the messages you sent make it crystalclear you knew exactly what you were
(23:07):
doing. As well as the physicaloffenses, it is clear for the victims
the psychological effects are immense. Theydescribe living with a life sentence as a
result of your cruel and senseless acts. Many of those men were young men
in our twenties at the time theyhad the misfortune to meet you. I
(23:29):
can't see how and when you willno longer be a danger to gain men.
This sentence is not about stigmatizing anyoneliving with HIV, and that last
part was very important to note becausethere's still this stigma that HIV makes someone
dirty. A lot of people arevery uneducated on this topic and think you
(23:49):
can get HIV from kissing or drinkingafter someone who has it, and that's
really much true. I'd also liketo note that this isn't in eighteen ninety
two any more, and HIV isnot a death sentence. Thanks to advances
in technology, there are a plethoraof retrovirals which can severely decrease your chances
of catching and spreading HIV. Thelives of Daryl's victims were forever changed,
(24:14):
and I really hope that they're ableto overcome the psychological damage she caused them.
Daryl, it seems, hasn't overcomewhatever damage he suffered, though,
though we still don't know the exactreason behind why he attacked these men.
Daryl has said the thing I reallycouldn't cope with was when I was talking
to or dating somebody and then theywould just completely ignore me for no reason.
(24:40):
The messages came out with that atthat point, it was about HIV.
That's the first thing that came tomy head. I thought this will
get a reaction. It just gotout of control. I would like to
say to the men in Scotland andin England that I'm saw you for being
(25:00):
so naive and so reckless, andthat they are the ones now suffering for
that. But the main thing forme is that I hope they can forgive
me one day and that they cantry and live a happy life and put
this behind them. When this recordingwas read for his victims on a BBC
documentary, it was clear that theycouldn't care less about his apology. It
(25:26):
probably didn't help that he immediately startedtalking to his foster mom about the TV
shows he had been watching in prison. Those were some fast Ryan tears Daryl.
As mentioned earlier, Daryl wasn't theonly one using an illness to attack.
After Gretchen's coworkers and family called inher bizarre texts, Jupiter police showed
(25:51):
up to her home on Sunshine Drive. Excuse me, are you here about
the attack Saturday morning? At tech? Oh yes, oh yeah. It
was a little after six when Iheard a woman scream no, no,
it hurts. I'm almost positive it'sGretchen's ex husband, David. You know
(26:11):
he wrote the security camera right offmy garage? Do you have that footage?
When officers looked over the recordings,they saw a tall man driving the
same truck Gretchen's ex's husband used todrive. After disappearing on the porch,
he was then seen dragging a motionlessbody with light colored hair. Gretchen,
I should mention was blonde. Oh, there was a real stinky stream of
(26:33):
water coming from her garage to smeltlike terrible chemicals. The officers tried to
open Gretchen's garage, but found thekey had been broken off in the lock,
so it couldn't easily be opened.We're working with a real genius here.
Now that we're in what have wefound? Dogs? Smelled decomposition in
(26:57):
the garage and looks like, yeah, someone wiped the floor with bleach.
The master bedroom has some blood spatter, and I found these towels in her
dryer with specks of red. Andthe ex husband neighbor saw him on the
twenty third when he picked up hisdog from her. Apparently he dropped off
(27:17):
a cat for Gretchen where because shewas going to be quarantined? Yeah right.
Jupiter Medical Center said they haven't seenher in years, nor is it
their protocol to hand over COVID patientsto the CDC. Again, working with
a real smart criminal. Here,guys, let's see if we can get
a ping on their cell phones.One of the phones pinged off a tower
(27:41):
in Pensacola on March thirtieth, whichled investigators to a jewelry seller. Oh
yeah, I remember that guy soldme a bag of woman's jewelidity and said
he was his mom's or he stepmoms. I don't remember venturing a guess it
was his ex wives. Another pingcame in on March twenty seventh from a
tower in Texas. This eventually ledpolice to Los Cruses, New Mexico.
(28:07):
David parked his truck at a restauranton Avania Damisia and got out to walk
his dog when an officer spotted him. The officer pulled in a few parking
spaces over and casually got out ofthe police cruiser. While checking David's license
plate, he noticed David changed thesixth to an eight with black electrical tape
and shook his head. Sorry aboutthat. My stepdaughter probably did it because
(28:30):
she's twelve and likes to play withtape. Still crimesor you probably want my
information right my id right here inthe truck. One second, David started
to reach for the floor and theofficer pulled his weapon. Two more officers
had to show up before David finallysat down on the ground defeated. Of
(28:52):
course, before that, he smashedone of the officer's arms repeatedly in the
door. Had officer assault to hisrecord while we're at it. David was
extradited back to Florida and his hearingwas scheduled for December twenty first, twenty
twenty. Mister Anthony, we willlisten the charges from first degree murder with
the possibility of death to second degreemurder and kidnapping if you can provide us
(29:18):
with the location of Gretchen's remains bythe end of the day. This was
mostly so Gretchen's twelve year old daughterand the family could receive closure and a
proper funeral. David agreed, andaround three thirty that afternoon, Gretchen's remains
were found in a wooded area roughlythree miles from her home. It appeared
she had been stabbed in the neckand torso david sentencing hearing was scheduled for
(29:41):
January fourteenth, twenty twenty one,and he was given thirty eight years in
prison. So there you have it. Less than a month after America started
shutting down, some dipshit decided tobe ballsy enough to use COVID nineteen to
cover up a murder. Surprisingly,he was caught about a week after Gretchen
went missing, which unfortunately was notthe case for Daryl Rowe, an equally
(30:04):
vile person who used an illness tohis advantage. Though Darrell never killed anyone,
his crimes definitely left many psychological scarson his victims, which is something
that I cannot forgive. Catching theLove Bug was written, directed and edited
(30:27):
by me Skyler Fastenew and executive producedby Daniel Jones. Our voice talent was
provided by Ariel Dale, Taylor,Shirty Walker Barnes, Jeremy Staple, Maurissippa
Stone, Vince Perez, Rainy Blake, Matt McNelly, Helen Anthony Morion,
Jordan Catcher, Daniel Jones, JeanetteZosh, and Sophia Sasne. Our gorgeous
(30:49):
theme music was performed by Tracy Zealsand cover artwork by Catherine Fastenell. Thank
you for joining us for another chapterof the original Dead Time story. While
you're listening, we would love itif you left us A five star rating
and reviews so others can find ourshow. You can also check out our
Patreon, dot com slash og Deadtime, as well as our Instagram, Facebook,
(31:12):
and Twitter accounts at the original DeadtimeStories. The links to those are
in the episode description. See youthere. We will be back in one
week with another story for your eagerears, and I definitely would suggest listening
to our episode Lesson from a mockingBird before this one premieres. Until then,
(31:32):
stay safe out there. I don'twant you to become the next chapter's
topic on the original Deadtime Stories
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