September 13, 2023 • 34 mins
If the 2000s have shown us anything it is the popularity of social media "challenges." Tide Pod, Cinnamon, and 10 Year are just a few that come to mind. Does anybody else remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? Ugh I'm still steamed that I was NEVER nominated. So to make up for my FOMO I have nominated myself to take part in an even more exciting challenge: The Florida Man Challenge. Google your birthday followed by "Florida Man" and see what pops up. Mine are "Florida Man Accused of Killing Neighbor Over Cat Issue" and "Florida man, 52, told police that he shot and dismembered his 42-year-old housemate, saying he could 'possibly be the next mass killer that we hear about in the media.'" Oh boy do we have a show for y'all today! Originally broadcast April 20, 2022.
Written and narrated by Schuyler Fastenau-Jones and executive produced by Daniel Fastenau-Jones. Additional voices by Jeremy Staple, Janette Zosche, Jordan Katcher, Juno Nifosi, Ahesha Catalano, and Daniel Fastenau-Jones. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales. Editing and sound design by Brian Campbell.
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Written and narrated by Schuyler Fastenau-Jones and executive produced by Daniel Fastenau-Jones. Additional voices by Jeremy Staple, Janette Zosche, Jordan Katcher, Juno Nifosi, Ahesha Catalano, and Daniel Fastenau-Jones. Cover artwork by Catherine Fastenau. Theme music by Tracy Zales. Editing and sound design by Brian Campbell.
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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 has become increasingly more and morecommon in our age of social media for
people to see challenges pop up ontheir Twitter feed or TikTok pages, if
pages is even the right term forthat. Sorry, my husband's the one
that handles the social media accounts.You know what I'm talking about, though,
right tell me you're whatever without tellingme you're whatever exactly that type of
(00:32):
challenge. Some of these don't quitego according to plan. You might remember
the cinnamon challenge from about a decadeago, you know, where you shovel
a spoonful of cinnamon into your mouthand try to finish it within sixty seconds
or risk embarrassing yourself for the overwhelmingentertainment of your fan base. I will
admit it wasn't until February of twentytwenty two that I actually watched someone do
(00:54):
this challenge, because well, I'vejust never really cared to watch before researching
it for story. You might alsoremember, like I do, stories about
people who died after taking part inthis challenge because it collapsed their lungs or
some other horrific freak accident occurred.Well, you might be as surprised as
I was to learn that nobody actuallydied attempting this challenge, or at least
(01:19):
none that I could find. Somepeople were hospitalized, sure, but no
deaths occurred. The closest you couldcome to saying that was when four year
old Matthew Radar unfortunately passed away afterhe accidentally ate almost a full container of
cinnamon powder. A tragic story forsure, and I don't want to gloss
over that fact, but Matthew wasnot taking part in the challenge. Still,
(01:44):
it brought about the awareness that thesedares are not always so innocent.
Don't even get me started on thetide pods. We'll save that for another
day. It's not so much thepotential dangers that bothered me about these Internet
challenges, though. To be told, honest, it is the fomo.
Let's rewind to summer of twenty fourteen. I was gearing up for my junior
(02:07):
year of college, living in myfirst apartment, and just overall enjoying life
in Athens, Ohio with my otherfriends, staying in the sleepy town for
the summer July hits, and myFacebook keeps blowing up with these silly videos.
Hey guys, it's Sarah and I'vebeen nominated by my best friends Elizabeth
(02:29):
and Tammy to take part in theals ice bucket challenge. Who's gonna be
so Cold? Sarah and nearly everyother person on my stupid Facebook feed stood
outside, usually in a kiddie pool, wearing a bathing suit and prepared for
you guys. That is so goodthe giant tub of ice water to be
(02:53):
poured over them before Oh my god, that was so cold. I nominate
my best friends Random, Manuel andLynn to take part next. Once again,
I was not nominated, nor wouldI be for the entire summer,
and I won't lie. It mademe a little sad to see all of
my friends nominating each other and takingpart. Did they actually not like me?
(03:19):
I think At one point I eventold my best friend who lived a
block away, oh, gee,I wish someone would nominate me for that
ice bucket thingy, and she saidsomething like, oh, shure, I
forgot. I have to film that. My roommate nominated me yesterday. Oh
all the way tomorrow. I waspromptly not nominated. And what was the
(03:44):
whole point anyway? I think mostpeople forgot. The idea behind the challenge
in the first place was to helpraise money for research on Luke Garrig's disease.
How many of my friends actually donatedto ALS research that summer? Well,
probably not as many as should have. Yes, I'm still a little
bitter. And now you're probably overhere like Skylar, Why not just nominate
(04:10):
your self, babe? Because howlame would that look? Hi? I'm
Skylar and I was nominated by myselfto take part in the als Ice Bucket
Challenge because I actually annoy all ofmy friends so they do not want to
nominate me. No, I couldnot do that. And that brings me
(04:32):
to today's chapter. With a roadtrip across America, I knew we'd have
to make a stop in the Sunshinestate. Florida has all kinds of wildly
insane stories. I mean remember theFlorida Man challenge from twenty nineteen. A
lightbulb went off Florida Man challenge andI don't have to be nominated? Oh
(04:56):
where is the tweet that started itall? Nah? Here she is Swerven
mur Everybody google Florida Man, followby your birthday Florida Man August twenty second
and tell me what you get.Minus Florida man tries to attack neighbor with
tractor Welcome to the original Dead TimeStories, a podcast where I Skyler fast
(05:17):
Now go beyond the crime to investigatehuman psychology and history. So maybe we
don't make the same mistakes of ourancestors. If you're us obsessed with our
podcast us we are, check outPatreon dot com slash og dead Time to
help support us. Oh what thehell, let's make my nightmare come true.
(05:48):
Hi, I'm Skyler Fasta now Jonesand I've been nominated by Skyler Fasta
now Jones to take part in theFlorida Man Challenge. We'll visit our first
guy after a few brief messages,and now on with the show. Welcome
to you, Mattilla, Florida,population just under four thousand folks. In
(06:12):
October of twenty twenty one, CliftonBliss Junior lived here in his trailer Thomas
Smith Swear to God, if youdon't shut that damn pop up, I'll
rip its fucking throw down. Goodmorning to your two Clifton. Yeah,
I headed son of a bitch.Fifty eight year old Clifton was not your
(06:38):
friendly neighborhood animal lover by any stretchof the imagination. Yeah the hell Clifton
lifted himself from his easy chair andthrough the blinds into his moonlit yard.
(07:02):
Shit bag cat, what are youhunting in my yard? Where's girls?
Knock the rect at all? Cliftonswiped up that cat and yanked on its
collar. He found Please return tothe Taylor family. Not a problem.
(07:25):
Oh? He tossed the cat onto the ground and stormed over to his
neighbors reckon so it went limping offall three legs. Hold on else,
(07:46):
could that be this time? Ananswered James. Might be an emergency or
something. Oh shit, it's Cliftonagain, and he brought his gun with
him. I'll handle it. Youwait here, hone evening, Clifton Taylor.
(08:13):
You know where your cat was?Don't know, Clifton, Cats like
to wander. He was hunting onmy damn property, tearing up my lawn
and making a racket. Cats dothat, Clifton. We'll keep an eye
on him. Promise here. Kitty, kitty, kitty, you told me
that last time, and I'm tiredof your laws. What are you doing
(08:35):
with that gun? I'm gonna shootyour damn cat so this don't happen a
game. Please don't kill my cat. You need to leave my lawn right
now, go home and think aboutwhat you just said. Come on,
kitty, come back home. Cliftonmust not have liked being hold what to
(09:00):
do, because he shot James Taylortwice in the chest. Oh God,
honey, call nine one one.I am. I am Clifton Clifton Bliss.
Come back out here right now,you little shit shit fuck damn it.
(09:20):
Come on the car because the catharass me. Hey, baby,
I was just starting a dinner breakingand I was gonna call. There's an
emergency. Baby, you gotta comehome. I shot dame. You what
that piece of crap do? Thistime? This cat wandered into our yard
(09:41):
and I went to go return tohim, but he didn't like that I
was holding it by the scruff,so he started punching me. He did,
Hey, sure as hell did.Punched me over and over, saying
not to kill his cat. Ihad to defend myself. You absolutely did,
baby, Go back over there.You gotta tell the police what really
happened before he lost to them.Right, you're you're damn right. I'll
(10:05):
call you in a bit. Witha new pair of jeans and boots on,
Clifton returned to the scene of hiscrime. I don't know how to
perform a CPR. Man, God, he's gonna die. No, he's
not. Miss. I'm going towalk you through this. Okay, hey,
(10:30):
y'all. Okay, over there,No I'm dying. He's fine,
everything's fine. You go on home, folks. Don't you dare believe him?
He shot my husband. The policeare on their way now, but
you need to keep doing CPR.Okay, okay, sorry officers and threatened
(11:00):
me, ma'am. He's cat stalkedonto my property and I tried to town
to keep it locked up inside.Please start beating heady and night. You
fucking threatened to kill our cat andshot him, ain't you? Clifton Bliss
Junior, Yes, ma'am, hesurely is. I knew it. You
call in animal complaints, noise complaints, and complaint complaints all the time,
(11:24):
and all your neighbors we follow upwith tell us you're a real hotheaded man.
Now. I don't know what happenedhere tonight, but I intend to
by the time the sun rises.Can you get into my vehicle, sir,
yes, ma'am. I can ems IS here too, ma'am.
They'll help your husband as best theycan. They can't help him. Now
he's dead. You've done it now, Clifton, And just like that,
(11:50):
Clifton was taken into police custody,where he refused to speak to officers.
Unfortunately for him, there were severalwitnesses, and even though he did not
have a criminal record up until thisnight, he was sent to the Marion
County Jail for a second degree murderand held without bail. Oh the cap,
(12:11):
by the way, was found unharmedand put back safely with its family.
A year before this whole silly affair, a twenty year old man named
(12:35):
Brent James skulked out of his celland into the common area with other inmates
at the Juvenile Detention Center. Yousee that new kid at out of my
chairman, This show's fucking stupid.Yeah, the Xbox greet as Brent went
(12:58):
to play video games. Nice prison, right, An inmate took his seat
left and was replaced by a secondinmate. Brent returned and tapped this inmate's
shoulder. Yo, man, that'smy seat. Move move your feet,
lose your seat, Fuck off,dude. Brent pushed the other kid to
(13:18):
the floor and a scuffle broke outuntil Brent finally wrapped his arm around the
poor guy's neck. Just days later, Brent attacked a correctional officer after he
was denied a new pair of shoes. This fight ended with the officer in
(13:41):
a supply closet and a fire extinguisher, whether by Brent's hands or a freak
accident, was set off inside thetiny room. These incidents left the young
man with a battery on a lawenforcement officer charge, and by October of
twenty twenty one, he was transferredto the same prison the pet hating Clifton
Bliss was in fine pretty row.Brent looked up as the older man was
(14:13):
escorted into the common area and upto his cell. Fresh meat Baby Brent
peered into Clifton's cell with an impishgrin. Hey, baby girl, got
any pills? No, yeah,you do. All you old geezers got
loads of pills. I don't haveanything. Fine, you'll give me some
(14:37):
bundles by the end of the week. You watch. What I really need
is your ship from the commissaries.No, that's my fucking pussy handed over.
Brent pulled out a paintball and proceededto beat it against Clifton's back.
I should point out to those who, like me, didn't know. A
(14:58):
paint ball in the prison world isnot the little balls of paint used in
paintball wars. No, and inmateusually chips paint off the walls, wads
them up into a ball, placesthem inside of a sock, and uses
said sock as a makeshift flail.Please be alone in your sack. Out
out, poser, pofzer. He'shitting me like a baby. Clifton went
(15:20):
and tattled, Maybe not the bestmove when you're the new guy in prison.
Here you go, cliff Man ditchesin. Your good is new and
you got some paint killers. Ohcome on, lady, I got four
bruises, says a golf ball onmy back in this one here on my
(15:46):
head. You see, yes,I do. I also saw on the
evening news the face of the manyou shocked. I wonder what he wishes
happened to his attacker. I'm ignoringa lucky for you. They feel real
bad. The old ark was smackedso hard by the little boy that they're
(16:08):
taking pity in moving you too inthe other part of the prison. Let
me know if you need another bandaid where you're Millow in November of twenty
(16:30):
twenty one, Clifton and his everfaithful wife stood before a judge at his
bail hearing with that attack fresh ontheir minds. My poor husband was assaulted,
your honor. That twirpy little boytried to kill you, Yes,
ma'am, and the Sheriff's office isalready investigating the attack. I assure you,
(16:51):
your honor, Are you not concernedour County jails eight's safe. My
concern rests on whether our inmates arebeing and fed and properly chucked away from
society. It's up to the officesto ensure order is kept in the facility.
Be happy, Miss Bliss wasn't shankedthough. I have taken your concerns
(17:15):
into consideration, and we'll be givenyour husband an opportunity for bail. I'm
setting it to seven hundred and fiftythousand. As of this writing, no
further information has been released on Cliftonthe cat Hater, so I'm going to
(17:38):
assume that he's stepped away safely inthat prison, away from Brent. After
the break, we'll meet our nextFlorida man. Welcome back to the original
(18:10):
Dead Time stories. Right before COVID, it was getting to a point for
me where I'd be on my commutehome from work. Here a story on
NPR about another mass shooting, andI wouldn't really even batten eye anymore because
it was so common. Now,don't get me wrong, these were always
tragic and upsetting, but it's sortof like hearing about another COVID variant today.
(18:32):
Right at first, I would getthis clenched up feeling in my tummy,
and then I would just kind ofnod and say, oh, another
one, Okay, that sucks.And these stories all seemed to follow a
typical format. Seemingly normal white guya decided he was fed up with the
world and bought a gun without havinghis mental health or even driver's license examined.
(18:55):
His friends all thought he seemed normal. Now the weather and you can't
help, but wonder are my friendsgoing to wind up being one of those
guys? Well, Pa, Ithink that's the last of them. Who
would have thought you could cram somuch of your life into a bunch of
(19:18):
tiny boxes. This is Paul Dermetico, owner and operator of Metco Marine of
Fort Lauderdale. The forty two yearold recently divorced his wife and moved in
with you got my box cutter.I'll start on pecking this stuff and see
if I can find some space forit. His friend, fifty two year
old Eric DaCosta. It was aroundMay twenty eighteen when they moved in together,
(19:41):
but they had known each other forabout five years. When we get
tired of moving all this stuff,I'll order us a pizza, grab some
beers, and we can watch Wheelof Fortune or something. Is that what
you do every night? Drink andwatch TV? Yep, Jack off two
if there's time. I want tocelebrate my divorce getting finalized. Got some
(20:07):
good blow from my guy the otherday. Fuck man, you're still using
that ship. Look, you don'tuse it not as often. I stick
to the good stuff like bud light. Uh think about two in a bump.
Let's see how much we can getdone though. First, thank you
(20:48):
very much. We have some importanttopics to discuss with you tonight. Well
come on, Eric, We're notwatching those fucking liberal ship shun contry.
Sometimes it makes good points, andthis story is going to be real important.
(21:10):
Hey, how you doing, pleasureBay to meet you? All right?
Wow, how are you guys doing? Tired? Yeah, you're you're
running around the country doing. Uh, doing a good job. Huh stopping
people from having guns? Bullshits.You've done a great thing. You turned
(21:32):
your grief into something positive. Youwent to Washington in March, and what
were the goals? Well, weare with the march. We want Americans
to stop being afraid of demanding ourpoliticians to take action. They work for
us, we don't work for them. Everybody in the nation is either a
child or a former child, andthat's what we want to do, is
(21:55):
say this isn't about red and blue, this is about protecting the kid.
Why'd you turn that off? Man? I don't want to listen to that
liberal shit. I want to eatour Chinese, drink some beer, maybe
get high and enjoy the night.You've been getting high a lot? Is
(22:15):
something going out? My wife fuckingleft me and I want to feel good
every now and then. Shit,why are you bugging out? I'm not,
but yes, you fucking are youjealous because I'm not giving you enough
coke or something? So you gottaget revenge by watching liberal news piss off.
(22:41):
On October thirteenth, twenty eighteen,Paul's mother was home doing well whatever
it is you want her to bedoing. Maybe she was knitting. Maybe
she was watching the prices right?Who knows? Hello, mister Michael oh
(23:04):
Man, Thank god you answered itis Paul there. Oh, no,
he's not. He hasn't lived ayear in years. This is Eric,
isn't he? And you two roommates? Well, yes, ma'am, but
I was hoping he was with you. See, I hasn't seen him in
about a week and well with hismentally ill bright mentally ill Sonny, what
(23:33):
are you saying? Oh, maybehe never told you or or maybe it
went undiagnosed by the head doctor.But I think your son's fucked up,
ma'am. Well, I don't thinkthat's the case. But if you say
you haven't seen him, then thensomething's definitely wrong. How do you call
(23:55):
the police? No, ma'am,I didn't want to jump to no conclusions.
Goodness, let me give them acall. You go out and try
and find him. Nine to one. What's your emergency? Golly, I
(24:17):
hope I got the right number.I'd like to report the missing person and
now. An update on the remainsfound in the Diner Island ranch a few
(24:40):
days ago. Detectives are still lookinginto missing person's reports, but can't tell
us the body was an older man. Vv and Lewis spoke with the witnesses.
We was out getting ready to andstuff when my husband saw some real
strange in a gitch. He said, Babby, I think that there's a
boddy. When we got a realclose we realized somebody cut someone up with
(25:03):
a n and dunted it there.Vultures was probably getting ready to swarm and
so fuckingy fuck fuck fuck. Ericwatched the report from his trailer. Stunned,
He reached for his cell phone.Law offices of Dutch and Crawl.
(25:30):
Give me Michael duck coo, who'scalling someone desperate? Just put me over
one moment Michael dut Co speaking Mike. It's Eric da Costa. I have
a situation. I need to knowsome legal stuff. On October twentieth,
Eric and Michael met with local police. Thank you for meeting with my client.
(25:52):
Officers. Eric has information on thebody found in the wildlife reserve and
wants to give the family closure.It was my roommate Paul. You're honest.
I used my twenty two handgun toshoot him in the back of the
head because we got into a fighton October fourth. You want to do
(26:14):
what now? Have Patty over fordrinks? You want to bring your trampet
ex wap into mo home? Ourhome? And yeah, she said she
wanted to talk and patch up afew rough areas we left open. Jesus,
Oh, come on, man,what's wrong with Patty? Wait?
(26:37):
I know exactly what's wrong with her. You're jealous because you haven't gotten pussy
in months, and I might getsome when she comes over. Six ain't
got nothing to do with it.I don't want this woman in my house.
She don't love you anymore, man, grow up. I never said
(26:57):
she loves me. We want totalk. God, I'm fucking tired of
you telling me what I can andcan't do. Don't talk with Patty,
don't do a line. Unpack theboxes, come here and suck my deck.
I never told you to blow me. You might as well. You
need to be careful because I'm gettingcloser and closer to snapping, and one
(27:21):
day you might wake up and findI blew the brains out of your whole
family, and I'm waiting by yourbedside with my shotgun right up against your
fatskull. What the fuck? Paul? Sorry that took a turn. I
didn't want it to shit. Jesus, you're just like those schools shoot us
(27:41):
what No, not even close.I wouldn't actually murder your family. I
need some water. Eric cautiously steppedtowards his slumped over roommate. With a
(28:02):
pistol smoking in his hands. Heturned off the water, never taking his
eyes off of Paul, you know, just in case he suddenly jerked back
to life or something. His fingersfumbled across the countertop until they landed on
a plastic bag. Taking it out, he wrapped it around his roommate's skull
and then fastened it in place withhis belt. That'll stop the blood.
Can't have you making too much ofa mess to clean up. God,
(28:26):
you're too big to carry around.Someone might see you the bathtub. I'll
make you smaller. M okay,thank Eric, Thank Eric. Oh,
(29:00):
I know I got lots of grocerybags. I'll get you up and place
you in the bags, shove themin the hunting fraser and dump you in
the hunting grounds. Buzzards will pickyou apart and no one will know it
was me. Yes, and theworld will be safe. That's that's it,
exactly. Okay, where's my knife. What do you mean by the
(29:30):
world will be safe? Eric,Ain't it clear? I had to kill
Paul because he could possibly be thenext mascula that we hear about in the
media, you know, like theschool shooters and stuff. So he was
a shooter because he wanted to seehis sex wife. No, I told
you he was threatened in me andmy family. He's been snort and coke
(29:56):
more and more often, and hehas that mental illness. Those made him
angrier and he was one step awayfrom blowing up the whole town. Let's
say that was the case. Eric, When he threatened you, though,
did you not think you could escapeand call us to have his mental health
(30:21):
assessed? I mean, I guessI could have left the house. Maybe
he wasn't an immediate threat. Buty'all gonna not at least consider giving me
a reward. I saved us.Maybe the judge will give you on a
word, mister la Costa, butwe have nothing for you here. As
(31:03):
you might expect, the judge wouldnot have anything for Eric da Costa.
On November six, twenty eighteen,the judge set him to jail for premeditated
murder and abuse of a dead bodyand I should also note here that Eric's
story changed in court. Youanna,I felt like my life was in serious
danger. I had to kill himto defend myself, which is very different
(31:29):
than when he initially told officers thathe did have an opportunity to leave the
home, but he chose not toask for paul. A go fund me
was created in October twenty eighteen toraise money in support of his two children.
The page raised ten thousand, sixhundred and sixty dollars of its one
hundred thousand dollars goal and has sinceclosed. So there you have it.
(31:59):
Two order men and the wild headlinesthey created on my birthday. And I
should mention that it's obviously not justFloridians making these screaming headlines across the US.
Need I remind you of Stephen McDanielessentially admitting guilt on TV, or
a bunch of white supremacists storming theCapitol and outfits I can only describe as
(32:19):
trashy. Neither of those events tookplace in Florida, but yet the Sunshine
State gets the rap. Happy Birthday, Florida Man was written and narrated by
me Skyler Faston, Now Jones andexecutive produced by Daniel fastedal Jones. Voice
talent was provided by Jeremy Staple,Jeanette Zosh, Jordan Catcher, Judea Foci,
(32:42):
Aisha Catalano, and Daniel fastenal Jones. Our theme music was written and
performed by Tracy Zales, Editing andsound designed by Brian Campbell, and cover
artwork by Catherine Fasten. Now thankyou for tuning into another chapter of our
show. If you enjoyed it asmuch as we did making it, let
us know by leaving a five starreview on your favorite podcasting app. You
(33:05):
can also visit patreon dot com slashog Deadtime to support us financially. Asad
thank you, we can give yougoodies like coffee mugs, ad free content,
and behind the scenes looks at thestories. Feel free to also visit
our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,and TikTok to keep up to date with
our show. The links to thosecan be found in the episode description.
Thank you as always for being avalued supporter of our program, our Deadtime
(33:42):
Stories. Murderous Road Trip across Americacontinues next week to Arkansas. If you're
us worried about what they're starting toban in the public schools as I am.
Then give this story a listen,and prepare to pass the message along
to your children. Until then,stay safe out there. I don't want
you to become the next chapter's topicon the original Dead Time stories
It has become increasingly more and morecommon in our age of social media for
people to see challenges pop up ontheir Twitter feed or TikTok pages, if
pages is even the right term forthat. Sorry, my husband's the one
that handles the social media accounts.You know what I'm talking about, though,
right tell me you're whatever without tellingme you're whatever exactly that type of
(00:32):
challenge. Some of these don't quitego according to plan. You might remember
the cinnamon challenge from about a decadeago, you know, where you shovel
a spoonful of cinnamon into your mouthand try to finish it within sixty seconds
or risk embarrassing yourself for the overwhelmingentertainment of your fan base. I will
admit it wasn't until February of twentytwenty two that I actually watched someone do
(00:54):
this challenge, because well, I'vejust never really cared to watch before researching
it for story. You might alsoremember, like I do, stories about
people who died after taking part inthis challenge because it collapsed their lungs or
some other horrific freak accident occurred.Well, you might be as surprised as
I was to learn that nobody actuallydied attempting this challenge, or at least
(01:19):
none that I could find. Somepeople were hospitalized, sure, but no
deaths occurred. The closest you couldcome to saying that was when four year
old Matthew Radar unfortunately passed away afterhe accidentally ate almost a full container of
cinnamon powder. A tragic story forsure, and I don't want to gloss
over that fact, but Matthew wasnot taking part in the challenge. Still,
(01:44):
it brought about the awareness that thesedares are not always so innocent.
Don't even get me started on thetide pods. We'll save that for another
day. It's not so much thepotential dangers that bothered me about these Internet
challenges, though. To be told, honest, it is the fomo.
Let's rewind to summer of twenty fourteen. I was gearing up for my junior
(02:07):
year of college, living in myfirst apartment, and just overall enjoying life
in Athens, Ohio with my otherfriends, staying in the sleepy town for
the summer July hits, and myFacebook keeps blowing up with these silly videos.
Hey guys, it's Sarah and I'vebeen nominated by my best friends Elizabeth
(02:29):
and Tammy to take part in theals ice bucket challenge. Who's gonna be
so Cold? Sarah and nearly everyother person on my stupid Facebook feed stood
outside, usually in a kiddie pool, wearing a bathing suit and prepared for
you guys. That is so goodthe giant tub of ice water to be
(02:53):
poured over them before Oh my god, that was so cold. I nominate
my best friends Random, Manuel andLynn to take part next. Once again,
I was not nominated, nor wouldI be for the entire summer,
and I won't lie. It mademe a little sad to see all of
my friends nominating each other and takingpart. Did they actually not like me?
(03:19):
I think At one point I eventold my best friend who lived a
block away, oh, gee,I wish someone would nominate me for that
ice bucket thingy, and she saidsomething like, oh, shure, I
forgot. I have to film that. My roommate nominated me yesterday. Oh
all the way tomorrow. I waspromptly not nominated. And what was the
(03:44):
whole point anyway? I think mostpeople forgot. The idea behind the challenge
in the first place was to helpraise money for research on Luke Garrig's disease.
How many of my friends actually donatedto ALS research that summer? Well,
probably not as many as should have. Yes, I'm still a little
bitter. And now you're probably overhere like Skylar, Why not just nominate
(04:10):
your self, babe? Because howlame would that look? Hi? I'm
Skylar and I was nominated by myselfto take part in the als Ice Bucket
Challenge because I actually annoy all ofmy friends so they do not want to
nominate me. No, I couldnot do that. And that brings me
(04:32):
to today's chapter. With a roadtrip across America, I knew we'd have
to make a stop in the Sunshinestate. Florida has all kinds of wildly
insane stories. I mean remember theFlorida Man challenge from twenty nineteen. A
lightbulb went off Florida Man challenge andI don't have to be nominated? Oh
(04:56):
where is the tweet that started itall? Nah? Here she is Swerven
mur Everybody google Florida Man, followby your birthday Florida Man August twenty second
and tell me what you get.Minus Florida man tries to attack neighbor with
tractor Welcome to the original Dead TimeStories, a podcast where I Skyler fast
(05:17):
Now go beyond the crime to investigatehuman psychology and history. So maybe we
don't make the same mistakes of ourancestors. If you're us obsessed with our
podcast us we are, check outPatreon dot com slash og dead Time to
help support us. Oh what thehell, let's make my nightmare come true.
(05:48):
Hi, I'm Skyler Fasta now Jonesand I've been nominated by Skyler Fasta
now Jones to take part in theFlorida Man Challenge. We'll visit our first
guy after a few brief messages,and now on with the show. Welcome
to you, Mattilla, Florida,population just under four thousand folks. In
(06:12):
October of twenty twenty one, CliftonBliss Junior lived here in his trailer Thomas
Smith Swear to God, if youdon't shut that damn pop up, I'll
rip its fucking throw down. Goodmorning to your two Clifton. Yeah,
I headed son of a bitch.Fifty eight year old Clifton was not your
(06:38):
friendly neighborhood animal lover by any stretchof the imagination. Yeah the hell Clifton
lifted himself from his easy chair andthrough the blinds into his moonlit yard.
(07:02):
Shit bag cat, what are youhunting in my yard? Where's girls?
Knock the rect at all? Cliftonswiped up that cat and yanked on its
collar. He found Please return tothe Taylor family. Not a problem.
(07:25):
Oh? He tossed the cat onto the ground and stormed over to his
neighbors reckon so it went limping offall three legs. Hold on else,
(07:46):
could that be this time? Ananswered James. Might be an emergency or
something. Oh shit, it's Cliftonagain, and he brought his gun with
him. I'll handle it. Youwait here, hone evening, Clifton Taylor.
(08:13):
You know where your cat was?Don't know, Clifton, Cats like
to wander. He was hunting onmy damn property, tearing up my lawn
and making a racket. Cats dothat, Clifton. We'll keep an eye
on him. Promise here. Kitty, kitty, kitty, you told me
that last time, and I'm tiredof your laws. What are you doing
(08:35):
with that gun? I'm gonna shootyour damn cat so this don't happen a
game. Please don't kill my cat. You need to leave my lawn right
now, go home and think aboutwhat you just said. Come on,
kitty, come back home. Cliftonmust not have liked being hold what to
(09:00):
do, because he shot James Taylortwice in the chest. Oh God,
honey, call nine one one.I am. I am Clifton Clifton Bliss.
Come back out here right now,you little shit shit fuck damn it.
(09:20):
Come on the car because the catharass me. Hey, baby,
I was just starting a dinner breakingand I was gonna call. There's an
emergency. Baby, you gotta comehome. I shot dame. You what
that piece of crap do? Thistime? This cat wandered into our yard
(09:41):
and I went to go return tohim, but he didn't like that I
was holding it by the scruff,so he started punching me. He did,
Hey, sure as hell did.Punched me over and over, saying
not to kill his cat. Ihad to defend myself. You absolutely did,
baby, Go back over there.You gotta tell the police what really
happened before he lost to them.Right, you're you're damn right. I'll
(10:05):
call you in a bit. Witha new pair of jeans and boots on,
Clifton returned to the scene of hiscrime. I don't know how to
perform a CPR. Man, God, he's gonna die. No, he's
not. Miss. I'm going towalk you through this. Okay, hey,
(10:30):
y'all. Okay, over there,No I'm dying. He's fine,
everything's fine. You go on home, folks. Don't you dare believe him?
He shot my husband. The policeare on their way now, but
you need to keep doing CPR.Okay, okay, sorry officers and threatened
(11:00):
me, ma'am. He's cat stalkedonto my property and I tried to town
to keep it locked up inside.Please start beating heady and night. You
fucking threatened to kill our cat andshot him, ain't you? Clifton Bliss
Junior, Yes, ma'am, hesurely is. I knew it. You
call in animal complaints, noise complaints, and complaint complaints all the time,
(11:24):
and all your neighbors we follow upwith tell us you're a real hotheaded man.
Now. I don't know what happenedhere tonight, but I intend to
by the time the sun rises.Can you get into my vehicle, sir,
yes, ma'am. I can ems IS here too, ma'am.
They'll help your husband as best theycan. They can't help him. Now
he's dead. You've done it now, Clifton, And just like that,
(11:50):
Clifton was taken into police custody,where he refused to speak to officers.
Unfortunately for him, there were severalwitnesses, and even though he did not
have a criminal record up until thisnight, he was sent to the Marion
County Jail for a second degree murderand held without bail. Oh the cap,
(12:11):
by the way, was found unharmedand put back safely with its family.
A year before this whole silly affair, a twenty year old man named
(12:35):
Brent James skulked out of his celland into the common area with other inmates
at the Juvenile Detention Center. Yousee that new kid at out of my
chairman, This show's fucking stupid.Yeah, the Xbox greet as Brent went
(12:58):
to play video games. Nice prison, right, An inmate took his seat
left and was replaced by a secondinmate. Brent returned and tapped this inmate's
shoulder. Yo, man, that'smy seat. Move move your feet,
lose your seat, Fuck off,dude. Brent pushed the other kid to
(13:18):
the floor and a scuffle broke outuntil Brent finally wrapped his arm around the
poor guy's neck. Just days later, Brent attacked a correctional officer after he
was denied a new pair of shoes. This fight ended with the officer in
(13:41):
a supply closet and a fire extinguisher, whether by Brent's hands or a freak
accident, was set off inside thetiny room. These incidents left the young
man with a battery on a lawenforcement officer charge, and by October of
twenty twenty one, he was transferredto the same prison the pet hating Clifton
Bliss was in fine pretty row.Brent looked up as the older man was
(14:13):
escorted into the common area and upto his cell. Fresh meat Baby Brent
peered into Clifton's cell with an impishgrin. Hey, baby girl, got
any pills? No, yeah,you do. All you old geezers got
loads of pills. I don't haveanything. Fine, you'll give me some
(14:37):
bundles by the end of the week. You watch. What I really need
is your ship from the commissaries.No, that's my fucking pussy handed over.
Brent pulled out a paintball and proceededto beat it against Clifton's back.
I should point out to those who, like me, didn't know. A
(14:58):
paint ball in the prison world isnot the little balls of paint used in
paintball wars. No, and inmateusually chips paint off the walls, wads
them up into a ball, placesthem inside of a sock, and uses
said sock as a makeshift flail.Please be alone in your sack. Out
out, poser, pofzer. He'shitting me like a baby. Clifton went
(15:20):
and tattled, Maybe not the bestmove when you're the new guy in prison.
Here you go, cliff Man ditchesin. Your good is new and
you got some paint killers. Ohcome on, lady, I got four
bruises, says a golf ball onmy back in this one here on my
(15:46):
head. You see, yes,I do. I also saw on the
evening news the face of the manyou shocked. I wonder what he wishes
happened to his attacker. I'm ignoringa lucky for you. They feel real
bad. The old ark was smackedso hard by the little boy that they're
(16:08):
taking pity in moving you too inthe other part of the prison. Let
me know if you need another bandaid where you're Millow in November of twenty
(16:30):
twenty one, Clifton and his everfaithful wife stood before a judge at his
bail hearing with that attack fresh ontheir minds. My poor husband was assaulted,
your honor. That twirpy little boytried to kill you, Yes,
ma'am, and the Sheriff's office isalready investigating the attack. I assure you,
(16:51):
your honor, Are you not concernedour County jails eight's safe. My
concern rests on whether our inmates arebeing and fed and properly chucked away from
society. It's up to the officesto ensure order is kept in the facility.
Be happy, Miss Bliss wasn't shankedthough. I have taken your concerns
(17:15):
into consideration, and we'll be givenyour husband an opportunity for bail. I'm
setting it to seven hundred and fiftythousand. As of this writing, no
further information has been released on Cliftonthe cat Hater, so I'm going to
(17:38):
assume that he's stepped away safely inthat prison, away from Brent. After
the break, we'll meet our nextFlorida man. Welcome back to the original
(18:10):
Dead Time stories. Right before COVID, it was getting to a point for
me where I'd be on my commutehome from work. Here a story on
NPR about another mass shooting, andI wouldn't really even batten eye anymore because
it was so common. Now,don't get me wrong, these were always
tragic and upsetting, but it's sortof like hearing about another COVID variant today.
(18:32):
Right at first, I would getthis clenched up feeling in my tummy,
and then I would just kind ofnod and say, oh, another
one, Okay, that sucks.And these stories all seemed to follow a
typical format. Seemingly normal white guya decided he was fed up with the
world and bought a gun without havinghis mental health or even driver's license examined.
(18:55):
His friends all thought he seemed normal. Now the weather and you can't
help, but wonder are my friendsgoing to wind up being one of those
guys? Well, Pa, Ithink that's the last of them. Who
would have thought you could cram somuch of your life into a bunch of
(19:18):
tiny boxes. This is Paul Dermetico, owner and operator of Metco Marine of
Fort Lauderdale. The forty two yearold recently divorced his wife and moved in
with you got my box cutter.I'll start on pecking this stuff and see
if I can find some space forit. His friend, fifty two year
old Eric DaCosta. It was aroundMay twenty eighteen when they moved in together,
(19:41):
but they had known each other forabout five years. When we get
tired of moving all this stuff,I'll order us a pizza, grab some
beers, and we can watch Wheelof Fortune or something. Is that what
you do every night? Drink andwatch TV? Yep, Jack off two
if there's time. I want tocelebrate my divorce getting finalized. Got some
(20:07):
good blow from my guy the otherday. Fuck man, you're still using
that ship. Look, you don'tuse it not as often. I stick
to the good stuff like bud light. Uh think about two in a bump.
Let's see how much we can getdone though. First, thank you
(20:48):
very much. We have some importanttopics to discuss with you tonight. Well
come on, Eric, We're notwatching those fucking liberal ship shun contry.
Sometimes it makes good points, andthis story is going to be real important.
(21:10):
Hey, how you doing, pleasureBay to meet you? All right?
Wow, how are you guys doing? Tired? Yeah, you're you're
running around the country doing. Uh, doing a good job. Huh stopping
people from having guns? Bullshits.You've done a great thing. You turned
(21:32):
your grief into something positive. Youwent to Washington in March, and what
were the goals? Well, weare with the march. We want Americans
to stop being afraid of demanding ourpoliticians to take action. They work for
us, we don't work for them. Everybody in the nation is either a
child or a former child, andthat's what we want to do, is
(21:55):
say this isn't about red and blue, this is about protecting the kid.
Why'd you turn that off? Man? I don't want to listen to that
liberal shit. I want to eatour Chinese, drink some beer, maybe
get high and enjoy the night.You've been getting high a lot? Is
(22:15):
something going out? My wife fuckingleft me and I want to feel good
every now and then. Shit,why are you bugging out? I'm not,
but yes, you fucking are youjealous because I'm not giving you enough
coke or something? So you gottaget revenge by watching liberal news piss off.
(22:41):
On October thirteenth, twenty eighteen,Paul's mother was home doing well whatever
it is you want her to bedoing. Maybe she was knitting. Maybe
she was watching the prices right?Who knows? Hello, mister Michael oh
(23:04):
Man, Thank god you answered itis Paul there. Oh, no,
he's not. He hasn't lived ayear in years. This is Eric,
isn't he? And you two roommates? Well, yes, ma'am, but
I was hoping he was with you. See, I hasn't seen him in
about a week and well with hismentally ill bright mentally ill Sonny, what
(23:33):
are you saying? Oh, maybehe never told you or or maybe it
went undiagnosed by the head doctor.But I think your son's fucked up,
ma'am. Well, I don't thinkthat's the case. But if you say
you haven't seen him, then thensomething's definitely wrong. How do you call
(23:55):
the police? No, ma'am,I didn't want to jump to no conclusions.
Goodness, let me give them acall. You go out and try
and find him. Nine to one. What's your emergency? Golly, I
(24:17):
hope I got the right number.I'd like to report the missing person and
now. An update on the remainsfound in the Diner Island ranch a few
(24:40):
days ago. Detectives are still lookinginto missing person's reports, but can't tell
us the body was an older man. Vv and Lewis spoke with the witnesses.
We was out getting ready to andstuff when my husband saw some real
strange in a gitch. He said, Babby, I think that there's a
boddy. When we got a realclose we realized somebody cut someone up with
(25:03):
a n and dunted it there.Vultures was probably getting ready to swarm and
so fuckingy fuck fuck fuck. Ericwatched the report from his trailer. Stunned,
He reached for his cell phone.Law offices of Dutch and Crawl.
(25:30):
Give me Michael duck coo, who'scalling someone desperate? Just put me over
one moment Michael dut Co speaking Mike. It's Eric da Costa. I have
a situation. I need to knowsome legal stuff. On October twentieth,
Eric and Michael met with local police. Thank you for meeting with my client.
(25:52):
Officers. Eric has information on thebody found in the wildlife reserve and
wants to give the family closure.It was my roommate Paul. You're honest.
I used my twenty two handgun toshoot him in the back of the
head because we got into a fighton October fourth. You want to do
(26:14):
what now? Have Patty over fordrinks? You want to bring your trampet
ex wap into mo home? Ourhome? And yeah, she said she
wanted to talk and patch up afew rough areas we left open. Jesus,
Oh, come on, man,what's wrong with Patty? Wait?
(26:37):
I know exactly what's wrong with her. You're jealous because you haven't gotten pussy
in months, and I might getsome when she comes over. Six ain't
got nothing to do with it.I don't want this woman in my house.
She don't love you anymore, man, grow up. I never said
(26:57):
she loves me. We want totalk. God, I'm fucking tired of
you telling me what I can andcan't do. Don't talk with Patty,
don't do a line. Unpack theboxes, come here and suck my deck.
I never told you to blow me. You might as well. You
need to be careful because I'm gettingcloser and closer to snapping, and one
(27:21):
day you might wake up and findI blew the brains out of your whole
family, and I'm waiting by yourbedside with my shotgun right up against your
fatskull. What the fuck? Paul? Sorry that took a turn. I
didn't want it to shit. Jesus, you're just like those schools shoot us
(27:41):
what No, not even close.I wouldn't actually murder your family. I
need some water. Eric cautiously steppedtowards his slumped over roommate. With a
(28:02):
pistol smoking in his hands. Heturned off the water, never taking his
eyes off of Paul, you know, just in case he suddenly jerked back
to life or something. His fingersfumbled across the countertop until they landed on
a plastic bag. Taking it out, he wrapped it around his roommate's skull
and then fastened it in place withhis belt. That'll stop the blood.
Can't have you making too much ofa mess to clean up. God,
(28:26):
you're too big to carry around.Someone might see you the bathtub. I'll
make you smaller. M okay,thank Eric, Thank Eric. Oh,
(29:00):
I know I got lots of grocerybags. I'll get you up and place
you in the bags, shove themin the hunting fraser and dump you in
the hunting grounds. Buzzards will pickyou apart and no one will know it
was me. Yes, and theworld will be safe. That's that's it,
exactly. Okay, where's my knife. What do you mean by the
(29:30):
world will be safe? Eric,Ain't it clear? I had to kill
Paul because he could possibly be thenext mascula that we hear about in the
media, you know, like theschool shooters and stuff. So he was
a shooter because he wanted to seehis sex wife. No, I told
you he was threatened in me andmy family. He's been snort and coke
(29:56):
more and more often, and hehas that mental illness. Those made him
angrier and he was one step awayfrom blowing up the whole town. Let's
say that was the case. Eric, When he threatened you, though,
did you not think you could escapeand call us to have his mental health
(30:21):
assessed? I mean, I guessI could have left the house. Maybe
he wasn't an immediate threat. Buty'all gonna not at least consider giving me
a reward. I saved us.Maybe the judge will give you on a
word, mister la Costa, butwe have nothing for you here. As
(31:03):
you might expect, the judge wouldnot have anything for Eric da Costa.
On November six, twenty eighteen,the judge set him to jail for premeditated
murder and abuse of a dead bodyand I should also note here that Eric's
story changed in court. Youanna,I felt like my life was in serious
danger. I had to kill himto defend myself, which is very different
(31:29):
than when he initially told officers thathe did have an opportunity to leave the
home, but he chose not toask for paul. A go fund me
was created in October twenty eighteen toraise money in support of his two children.
The page raised ten thousand, sixhundred and sixty dollars of its one
hundred thousand dollars goal and has sinceclosed. So there you have it.
(31:59):
Two order men and the wild headlinesthey created on my birthday. And I
should mention that it's obviously not justFloridians making these screaming headlines across the US.
Need I remind you of Stephen McDanielessentially admitting guilt on TV, or
a bunch of white supremacists storming theCapitol and outfits I can only describe as
(32:19):
trashy. Neither of those events tookplace in Florida, but yet the Sunshine
State gets the rap. Happy Birthday, Florida Man was written and narrated by
me Skyler Faston, Now Jones andexecutive produced by Daniel fastedal Jones. Voice
talent was provided by Jeremy Staple,Jeanette Zosh, Jordan Catcher, Judea Foci,
(32:42):
Aisha Catalano, and Daniel fastenal Jones. Our theme music was written and
performed by Tracy Zales, Editing andsound designed by Brian Campbell, and cover
artwork by Catherine Fasten. Now thankyou for tuning into another chapter of our
show. If you enjoyed it asmuch as we did making it, let
us know by leaving a five starreview on your favorite podcasting app. You
(33:05):
can also visit patreon dot com slashog Deadtime to support us financially. Asad
thank you, we can give yougoodies like coffee mugs, ad free content,
and behind the scenes looks at thestories. Feel free to also visit
our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,and TikTok to keep up to date with
our show. The links to thosecan be found in the episode description.
Thank you as always for being avalued supporter of our program, our Deadtime
(33:42):
Stories. Murderous Road Trip across Americacontinues next week to Arkansas. If you're
us worried about what they're starting toban in the public schools as I am.
Then give this story a listen,and prepare to pass the message along
to your children. Until then,stay safe out there. I don't want
you to become the next chapter's topicon the original Dead Time stories
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