Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:00
Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's.
0:03
Wake up and bagelize. Get your taste
0:05
buds ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel sandwiches.
0:07
Now just $3 only on the app.
0:10
Choose from a delicious steak, egg, and cheese bagel.
0:12
Bacon, egg, and cheese bagel. Or sausage, egg, and
0:14
cheese bagel. Just $3 when you order
0:16
ahead on the app. Hurry and seize
0:19
this breakfast steal before it's gone. Offer
0:21
valid one time daily March 11th through April
0:23
7th, 2024 participating McDonald's. Must opt
0:25
into rewards. Shop
0:50
the all new Temper Adapt Collection at
0:53
Ashley in store or online at ashley.com.
0:55
Ashley, for the love of home. For
0:59
exclusive podcasts and more, sign
1:02
up at patreon.com/partners in crime
1:04
media. True
1:25
Crime, Pop Culture, other podcasts. And
1:28
in this episode, a man says his
1:30
older sister was accused of killing her
1:32
mother-in-law. But did his brother set her
1:34
up to take the fall? Host
1:37
Amory Seabardson searches for the truth
1:39
in the podcast Beyond All Repair
1:41
from WBUR. Joining me
1:43
to get that done and more is True Crime
1:45
author, TV journalist, and host of These
1:48
Are Their Stories podcast, My Husband, and
1:50
yes, Love of My Life. Sorry
1:52
one listener who doesn't like it when
1:54
I say that. Kevin Flynn. Hello, Kevin.
1:57
You can't be jealous of love. I
1:59
understand. Just annoyed? Yes. Just
2:02
annoyed. Also with us is
2:04
private investigator, certified pet detective, resident cat
2:06
lady, and author of the Piper Green
2:08
series of Coding Mysteries, The Love of
2:10
My Life, Laura Bricker. Hi, Laura. Hey,
2:13
Rebecca. And in my little quaint-ass
2:15
fuck town where I've gotten involved, the scene
2:17
of the Piper Green latest murder is going
2:19
to remain a missing tooth of Water Street
2:21
because our plan to get a park developed
2:23
there soon was foiled. You couldn't
2:25
get it done, Laura, huh? I couldn't get it
2:27
done. I was pissed. You're an empty lot? No.
2:30
Eventually there will be a park there, but we
2:33
were trying to jumpstart it, so I had gotten
2:35
involved with this group behind the scenes that had
2:37
gotten donations and was trying to jumpstart some of
2:39
it getting done, and we were shot down. Ah.
2:42
And finally, our resident Dowding Thomas, the author
2:44
of the City Trilogy of Novels, hosts his
2:47
Stranger Rivals on our Patreon Deep Dive Book
2:49
Club podcast host, Amber Hunt.
2:51
Hello, Amber. Hi. Just
2:54
kidding. And Amber Hunt is, of
2:56
course, our substitute host, and Amber
2:58
Hunt is the host of the
3:00
incredible True Crime podcast, Accused, and
3:03
the co-founder of the amazing
3:05
podcast network, Grab Bag Collab,
3:07
an incredible intrepid investigative reporter
3:09
who is also Pulitzer winner.
3:12
Hello, Amber Hunt. Why,
3:14
thank you. That was all very nice. Well, it's
3:16
all true. I'm only spitting facts, right? I'm not
3:18
saying anything that's not true. I
3:20
haven't lobbied for any parks in my neighborhood,
3:23
but I am super excited about the flashing
3:26
crosswalk that now allows
3:28
my son to get across the street safely
3:30
every morning for school. Nice. Yeah.
3:34
Being a middle-aged woman, super excited. I
3:36
love it. I love it. I go
3:38
out and stir the pot in the little community. Listen,
3:40
the biggest thing that's happened in my life politically, my
3:43
local town clerk just made it possible
3:45
for us to register our cars and
3:47
dogs online. Oh,
3:50
yeah. We no longer
3:52
need to go and
3:54
stand in a stupid line next to
3:56
a hand-painted mural. Yeah, like monkeys. To
4:01
be fair, our
4:03
town clerk's hall is very charming and it is
4:05
very sweet to go there. But that being said,
4:07
it's very easy to forget to do it. And
4:10
their hours are wonky. It's like Mondays,
4:12
9 to 10, Tuesdays, 8.30 to 4.
4:17
And it's just very easy to forget. And then next thing you
4:19
know, you're getting pulled over by the cops. Mondays
4:22
always close. Fridays is a question mark.
4:24
Take a chance. Exactly. Exactly.
4:27
All right. Well, I... I
4:30
want to mention that Amber is here for a
4:32
very special occasion. Yeah, what's that? This
4:35
is the 500th episode of Crime
4:37
Writers On. Oh, yeah. That's the
4:39
front door. Yeah. Go ahead
4:41
and talk more about your fucking flashing lights. That's
4:43
cool. That's cool. No, I'm going
4:45
to go set him off in celebration. This
4:48
is incredible. Yeah, 500 episodes, except for
4:50
Toby Ball. He's like at 498 at
4:52
best, so. Oh
4:56
my goodness. He's the only person who's ever like
4:58
taken off and gotten substitutes, right? No, that's not
5:00
true. Laura Brecker has. I did once when I
5:02
went to Colonial Williamsburg when you guys talked about
5:05
the habitat or something. Oh, yeah. And
5:07
then we had with missing Disappearance of Mora
5:09
McCann, the two of you were gone. Toby
5:12
and I were with Sarah Debunting. Yeah, yeah,
5:14
yeah. We've had Ronald Young Jr. on twice.
5:16
Janet Varney's been on. So, yeah, it's been
5:18
a couple there. I was... I
5:20
missed one because I had cancer. I'm
5:24
not laughing at cancer, by the way. No, you are laughing
5:26
at cancer. I'm laughing at you. Having
5:28
cancer. Yeah,
5:30
I'm laughing at you. He
5:33
is fine now. Yeah, I'm fine now. For
5:36
our 250th episode, we did a big
5:38
thing where we had like clips and
5:41
stuff like that. And I didn't do
5:43
it for this one because... You're lazy.
5:45
I'm lazy as fuck. No, because you're
5:47
busy. Yeah. Well, we're busy doing things
5:49
like planning for our live show next
5:51
weekend in Exeter. It's part of Exeter
5:53
Lit Fest. We have a live show
5:55
at the Word Barn. And Quane AF,
5:58
Exeter, Laura Bricker, tells... about
6:00
what's gonna happen. Well, I don't know
6:02
what's gonna happen anytime Kevin, when Kevin
6:04
Flynn comes to the word barn anything can
6:06
happen. Oh my god, I'm gonna run out of town
6:08
on a rail. I recommend you get tickets because
6:10
you do not want to miss this show
6:12
at the word barn. There'll be so much
6:14
fun stuff happening in Exeter over that weekend.
6:16
On Friday night, we are having a late
6:19
night undercover speakeasy party. Late night
6:21
in Exeter is 830. Wow.
6:24
And on Saturday morning, we will be at the
6:26
Crime and Mystery Writers brunch, which will be very
6:28
fun. I am attending as it turns
6:30
out. Which you are attending and I will be playing
6:33
my most favorite game, Two Truths and One Lie with
6:35
the Mystery Writers. And then Saturday
6:37
night, the big finale. That which is us,
6:39
which is us. Which is us. And we
6:41
will be doing a show, we'll be recording
6:43
an after show. And we will also be
6:45
recording our review of the Hulu series, Death
6:47
and Other Details. And that will be in
6:50
the feed a week from today. Yes,
6:52
with that dirty revolutionary Mandy Patinkin.
6:54
I didn't look, I didn't know who Che
6:56
Guevara was when I was seven years old. I
6:59
was just, he was just had long hair
7:01
and I'm like, why is he like
7:03
looking at this woman who's singing
7:05
to Argentina? I have no frame
7:08
of reference for this stupid musical. I
7:10
know, I know. And you didn't. It's
7:13
just between, I was watching Abbott and Costello
7:15
meet Frankenstein. That's true. And then I cut
7:17
away to a commercial and it's for Evita. Yes. And
7:20
it stuck with me forever and that's a Mandy Patinkin
7:22
reference for those who. That's correct. And
7:24
his costume. And everyone is like, what the fuck? 500
7:26
episodes of this shit. And his costume in that commercial
7:28
was in fact quite dirty. Okay. All
7:31
right. So what's wrong?
7:33
Okay. I think that I cannot,
7:35
so cannot wait to talk about the podcast we're talking about.
7:37
Well, you've waited seven minutes. So why don't you get
7:39
into it? Sure. We've had chitchat
7:41
sections that when we've been trying to stall about talking
7:43
about something that have been much longer than that. So
7:45
let's do it. I can't wait. Let's do it. Leading
7:48
off. Even when asked point blank back
7:50
in 2017, do you think she did it? I
7:56
don't know. Everyone's got a different
7:58
story and this is where I just. kind of surrender
8:00
to the justice system. After
8:04
profiling lawyer, Shane Kariah, years ago
8:06
for her podcast, part of
8:08
his story stuck with host, Emery Seabertson.
8:11
He grew up under the cloud that
8:13
his sister, Sophia, had been arrested for
8:15
murdering her mother-in-law. And it
8:17
was his brother, Sean, who said he witnessed
8:19
Sophia commit the crime. I
8:21
seen someone laying on the floor and
8:25
there was blood all over
8:27
the place and there was someone
8:29
standing over them. The person
8:32
had something in their hand, a
8:35
long object. But something about
8:37
the story bothered Seabertson. Would Sophia
8:39
really beat Marlene Johnson with fireplace
8:42
tongs to steal some money? Why
8:44
does blood evidence only point to Sean, who
8:47
was given a deal to testify against his
8:49
sister? But her own investigation
8:51
takes several turns and Seabertson wonders
8:53
if she'll ever know who's telling
8:55
the truth. All I wanted is to
8:58
know what fucking happened. And
9:00
this makes me feel like I know what happened. In
9:04
Beyond All Repair from WBU All,
9:06
Seabertson offers up a classic murder
9:08
mystery with an enthralling cast of
9:10
characters. She brings a vibrant
9:12
narrative style and leaves no stone unturned in
9:14
her quest to find out who killed Marlene.
9:17
Spoiler alert, we are gonna be talking
9:20
about plot points from the first five
9:22
episodes of Beyond All Repair. Although
9:24
we have gotten preview episodes beyond that, I
9:26
only wanna mention that just in case we
9:28
can slip into that content. And we forget
9:30
to edit it out. Exactly, but if you
9:32
wanna remain completely spoiler free, please go to
9:34
the estimated time code in our show notes
9:36
for our thumbs up or thumbs down reviews.
9:38
I forgot to say one thing, Kevin, that
9:40
listeners listen out for. What? Significant
9:43
plot points will be revealed.
9:47
Samber Hunt accuses in my
9:49
like great pantheon list of
9:51
great true crime all time podcast. In
9:53
large part, and I wanna put you
9:55
on the spot, because if you're writing
9:57
and narrative style for yourself. How
10:00
did I am receivers and has an
10:02
incredible writing a narrative sell for herself
10:04
that actually reminds me a little bit
10:07
of you in some ways already broke
10:09
my know so I don't even look
10:11
at your know just by the aim
10:13
was a movie reminds me of.dot.is Amber
10:15
I didn't even see that but but
10:17
there's a on the rare or right
10:19
s there's a guy. Humor is sensibility
10:21
but also like some real investigative shop
10:23
I am haunting seen just kidding but
10:25
I am offering him isn't a sentence
10:27
of the his case as it comes
10:29
in. And he has been offering
10:31
me his thoughts on all of it in
10:34
the form. Of voice memos and
10:36
cisterna. What? What was going through
10:38
her head And. I couldn't
10:40
help but think like does Ember Hunt hear
10:43
this and was Amber Hunt think of this
10:45
narrative and writing style of and as bad
10:47
as. Well, that's definitely a compliment
10:49
because I liked the writing style quite
10:51
a bit. I. Have wine. Critique.
10:54
And it is a critique. That a throwback
10:57
I myself a lot so that also
10:59
makes sense in that capacity. That's really
11:01
kind of interesting with. the only thing
11:03
that kind of made me pause is
11:06
sometimes. Seems. Over
11:08
relates her own story
11:10
and ways to illustrate.
11:12
Like how universal certain themes are.
11:15
But. It's not necessary, like it's enough for
11:17
in the story. On It's own says
11:19
sometimes it goes back to herself. maybe
11:21
just a tad too much and that
11:23
is something that I'm really cognizant of
11:25
the in my own writings. It's a
11:27
really tricky line. Where were you wanted
11:30
to be relayed bull? You're taking listeners
11:32
on a journey with you. So.
11:34
You're part of that journey. You
11:36
can excise yourself from it, but
11:38
at the same time you don't
11:40
want to. Crossing the line make
11:42
it more about you than about
11:44
this other key site. So that
11:46
was my only node. It's a
11:48
very well behaved, incredibly well investigated
11:50
series, yet. So Kevin I
11:53
just want to give you a
11:55
chance to weigh in here because
11:57
we obviously don't want to spoil
11:59
with Superman is pegged as a
12:01
few years think very the reason
12:03
why Emery is revealing some of
12:05
her owner turmoil and struggle. As
12:07
she reports the story early on
12:09
in the podcast. yeah new. I
12:11
don't want to spoil it because
12:13
it is too good to spoil
12:15
Just you think you know what's
12:17
happening, things come up the zoo's
12:19
your as a listener for your
12:21
confidence in what you think you
12:23
know and later on in the
12:25
podcast definitely will feel Emrys internal
12:27
prices growing. And. I will
12:30
say remember this passage.
12:32
Go. Suck your mother ssssss that that that
12:34
comes up you'll remember Kevin Flynn said
12:36
remember this thing but I just was
12:39
it like off the top disagree podcast
12:41
To me this is like an instant
12:43
classic with a mystery that's like very
12:45
straightforward. And. Compelling, The goal and
12:47
his podcast is always heard of.
12:49
Solve the main question either who
12:51
died or whatever and that's difficult
12:53
because a lot of times that
12:56
doesn't happen is very difficult to
12:58
make that happen at Emory makes
13:00
me believe that she will give
13:02
us an answer and likely said
13:04
we've listened to nine of the
13:06
ten episodes they put out and
13:08
I was freaking out of my
13:10
mind. gets the last episode as
13:13
I used as I. Got a know
13:15
what happened there? Kevin and I we've been
13:17
on as. Yards it w b you are as I.
13:20
Said man I wrote at Emory
13:23
in his. Success is
13:25
like say that Dropbox going to
13:27
updated My not gonna lie I
13:29
am. this is I will say
13:32
Lara the first time in a
13:34
very long time I think maybe
13:36
even suspect season one. This is
13:38
the first time. Ah, now
13:40
I can't say in how long were I have
13:42
been in a situation where it's like. I.
13:45
Was angry so I had to work at
13:47
a really hard like long very busy day
13:49
at work. The other day I listened to
13:51
a bunch episodes in the morning and I
13:53
had to stop. And. I
13:55
was a message. that
13:57
i had to stop listening and it's
13:59
very very rare I think. We
14:02
listen to a lot of podcasts that are
14:04
good and very, very good in instances. But
14:06
it's rare to hear a podcast that like
14:08
you finish an episode and you're like, gotta
14:11
listen to the next one, gotta listen to the
14:13
next one. But she has a lot of the
14:15
right people which doesn't hurt, right? Oh, absolutely. And
14:17
when she ends an episode, like I think even
14:19
the first episode, it's like that last sentence is
14:22
always something that is the hook. It's like when
14:24
you're reading a really good book and they end
14:26
a chapter with like that hook where you were
14:28
like, I'm not gonna turn the page because I
14:31
want to know what happens next. But I mean,
14:33
the fact that we've got Sophia, and we know
14:35
from the beginning now that Sophia is ready to
14:37
talk. The Amory had already had this relationship with
14:39
Shane from her prior reporting job. But Sophia
14:41
is here and she's ready to tell her
14:44
story. And she's not just
14:46
here to tell a story of her
14:48
trial and her case, which is now
14:50
a cold case, but also the family
14:52
dynamics. And I think that's what makes
14:54
this so compelling is that you have
14:56
a couple tracks that
14:59
are adding tension that
15:01
are things that you want to follow along with.
15:03
So with the family story, she's talking about her
15:05
son that she hasn't met, who was born
15:07
when she was in jail. And I do
15:09
not want another one of his birthdays to
15:11
go by without at
15:14
least having an image of me
15:16
and hearing the truth about
15:19
what I'm sure he's read and heard
15:21
about his entire life. That's
15:23
what I realized that Sophia is really trying
15:26
to clear her name in the eyes of
15:28
one person. The only thing he will ever
15:30
know is that I was cute, his
15:33
grandmother is dead. This is
15:36
my legacy. And we've got all the other family,
15:38
you know, Shane as well with the voice memos.
15:40
I mean, I think it's very
15:42
compelling because this is such a study in
15:44
a, you know, when you hear the family
15:46
background, like a dysfunctional family, how does that
15:48
dysfunctional family dynamic then play into this murder
15:50
case? And that is very interesting to listen
15:53
to. I agree. Because very often we hear
15:55
about a murder case and we're like, why
15:57
are we listening to this now? Like what
15:59
is it? it having now, like what's happening about
16:01
this right now. And there really
16:03
isn't like movement on the case right
16:05
now, but the stakes are Sophia has
16:08
never met a son that she gave birth
16:10
to when she was incarcerated. And of course
16:12
we know she got out because even at
16:14
this point in the podcast where you're at,
16:16
you know that she wasn't convicted because it's
16:18
considered a cold case, right? Or something happened
16:20
where it's considered a cold case. So
16:23
those stakes are high, but there is also
16:25
this family dysfunction, which Amber, we hear at
16:27
the very beginning of the podcast. And
16:30
these horrible threatening voicemails from the
16:32
dad. Listen to me carefully. You
16:34
are not ready for what will come down if it
16:36
won't stop your nonsense and keep away. You
16:39
guys attempt to sabotage or
16:42
to trouble me in any which
16:44
way or to try to slow
16:46
down my life. I'm
16:48
going to fight you guys. You don't want
16:50
your playing with, okay? Yeah, that was very
16:52
well set up. I'm surprised
16:54
that somebody would leave a voicemail
16:56
knowing that a reporter was working
16:58
on a piece about
17:00
it because of course the reporter is going
17:03
to use those voicemails. That's crazy.
17:05
What I'm jealous of is
17:07
how well this was organized
17:09
for podcasts specifically. Part
17:12
of that is luck with the case.
17:14
You know, sometimes we choose cases that
17:16
don't have all of the trial recorded
17:18
and this one did, but a lot
17:21
of it was also just very smart
17:23
prep work on the host part because
17:25
she's got Shane because there's a Shane
17:27
and a Shawn. Shane
17:30
is the brother who's looking for answers,
17:32
not the one who testified against his
17:34
sister. So Shane's making voice memos along
17:36
the way. Those are really well integrated
17:38
into the storytelling. She's recording the chitchat
17:41
when she goes up to meet somebody.
17:43
You've got all this great ambient sound.
17:46
It's really made for compelling
17:48
storytelling. And incredible music and sound
17:50
design and we learned in the credits that Amory
17:52
herself did a music for this
17:54
podcast, which is incredible. Yeah, I Think I'm
17:57
going to have to start a rivalry. Yes,
17:59
it's pretty. Like any sort of
18:01
actor, bad We Need Dead Dead says ridiculous
18:03
as he could put it. this. Is
18:07
so. Funny this oh God I heard I heard. You
18:09
know it. It is a partnership with As E S
18:11
P Productions. You know who's E S P As
18:13
or know that a certain Pontiac. All
18:15
right for my. I don't know. I'd over
18:17
with a partner. Should look like I don't know
18:20
if it was a marketing partnership or our resources
18:22
parses. Obviously lot of reporting resources went into their
18:24
Sat in our it's not a W B you
18:26
are Boston based story so I'm not exactly sir
18:29
that looks like that. A Certainly like the next
18:31
thing is gorgeous that is Use It is gorgeous
18:33
A house with a in cabinet. That really strikes
18:35
me is that. Every makes a
18:37
sound easy. It is an overworked it
18:39
sounds. Easy as a whole thing
18:42
put together is the flow is incredible. What
18:44
are your thoughts? And we've
18:46
been talking about her for deliveries
18:48
of very natural conversational style. Like.
18:51
I think this is how say retaining would
18:53
sound if she didn't system as flat this
18:55
American lifestyle. I thought that a few times
18:58
to yeah right and as as as mint
19:00
the sounds like neighborhoods of by said we've
19:02
already covered that and Embers blessing by the
19:04
way. easy to ski and see if we
19:07
haven't even talked about like my we have
19:09
reason to believe that Sophia may not be
19:11
the killer is because brothers saw on his
19:14
Cdf raids yes and so we're Emery does
19:16
is that see shows in doesn't tell this
19:18
stuff seat as puts it out there and
19:20
we. Get up for ourselves, realize? Oh
19:23
yes. What the fuck This guy do what he
19:25
to save it is as he's obviously the. Killer And
19:27
even though Emery says it's see wants
19:29
to remain objective and lack of a
19:31
champion one set of the other, we
19:34
as listeners want to champion Sophia right
19:36
them. It's is a hallmark of the
19:38
great series that as listeners were like.
19:40
Yeah, fuck that were on her side. And
19:43
that's part of the beauty. this, because
19:45
as you go on towards the back
19:47
end of the series, you'll see how
19:49
far you're willing to stay with that.
19:51
And or what point are you willing
19:54
to said say like maybe the things
19:56
that I believed about all these different
19:58
people may be there. not exactly
20:00
that way. Yes. And
20:02
at what point do I want to give up
20:05
on that because we also start hearing Ann Marie
20:07
wondering about whether or not she should give up
20:09
on that and what actually is happening. It's
20:11
very much like the staircase. I'm
20:13
just going to... Oh. This is
20:15
the closest... There's an owl? No. Well,
20:18
there was no owl in the staircase either,
20:20
to be fair. In the original series, there's
20:22
no owl. It's very much
20:25
like the staircase in that you
20:27
have so much access to all
20:29
these principal players and
20:31
you feel like you know what's
20:33
going on. And then there
20:36
are moments where you are like, maybe I
20:38
have no fucking clue what's going on. And
20:41
not only do you have Ann Marie on this journey, but
20:43
she also has Shane. And
20:46
so he's also experiencing that with
20:48
you. And the stakes are high
20:50
for him. Like this is his
20:52
family. It's also like, if you
20:54
think about his life, which is
20:56
extraordinary, he escaped his family when
20:58
he was what, 13, 14
21:01
years old, moved back to
21:03
New York, slept on the train, went to
21:05
high school, got a job, rented a room,
21:07
paid his way through college, then went to
21:10
law school after being unhoused
21:12
in New York as a kid after
21:14
escaping his Jehovah's Witness family after this
21:16
murder happened. His life went on this
21:18
extraordinarily separate track. And it's like he's
21:20
looking through a window at this family
21:22
and really you can tell, is willing
21:25
to sort of let it play
21:27
out, but it's just an incredible,
21:29
incredible unspooling. So
21:31
Laura Bricker, we do have a cop here,
21:33
Detective Rick Buckner. What do you think? What
21:36
do you think about this detective? This detective,
21:38
it's like your quintessential detective, right
21:40
from the beginning when he is
21:42
asked to describe himself or whatever and he says
21:44
something to the effect of, yeah, I'm a big
21:46
asshole or something. And you
21:49
hear him talking about his reputation and
21:51
how he can get anybody to confess
21:53
and how he got the happy face killer to
21:55
confess by like taking him out for dinner or
21:58
something. And he's right out of central casting. Right,
22:00
but the fact that he could
22:02
not get Sophia to confess is
22:05
huge based on his sort
22:07
of track record, but that
22:10
he still believes that she
22:12
is the one responsible. I
22:14
found that super interesting and I was
22:17
just surprised if he's such a super
22:19
cop that he wasn't seeing through Sean
22:21
because at this point I'm like, Sean
22:23
has such a fucking history. Sean's
22:26
got credit card debt. Sean's got his other girl
22:28
who ran away. Like Sean has so many things
22:30
that are like boom, boom, boom. These are reasons
22:32
I would consider this guy. Oh wait, Sean also
22:35
has the blood on his boots. So I was
22:37
like, okay, so this guy's super cop, but yet
22:39
he didn't pick up on this. There
22:41
is no connection between Marlene Johnson and
22:43
Sean Pariah. The
22:46
only connection is Sophia Johnson.
22:49
And Sean had a story for the detectives
22:51
that was about to fully connect the dots
22:54
for them. Actually he said
22:56
that he didn't actually do it, but he was
22:58
there when it happened and that his sister is
23:00
the one that actually blungeoned Marlene Johnson to death.
23:04
I always love it when we have one of these
23:07
cops that's got like the attitude and sort of the
23:09
reputation and now he's like, I'm now the lie detector
23:11
guy or whatever. So to me, I
23:13
just find him to be an interesting character who is
23:16
one of those characters that you almost
23:18
feel like was written because sometimes he doesn't
23:20
seem real. 100% sure he got
23:22
it right, right Kevin? Absolutely. Come join us
23:24
on Patreon. I'm
23:27
just going right for it. It's 500 episodes
23:29
now. I mean,
23:31
why be smooth about it? I'm smooth as
23:33
behind me right now. Now I'm just
23:35
going to be explicit. Join us on
23:37
Patreon at patreon.com/partners in crime media. You
23:40
can get episodes of crime writers on
23:42
early and ad free. You
23:44
also can get all sorts of great
23:46
exclusive content like Toby Balls
23:48
Deep Dive Book Club. I just want to
23:50
hit pause on that for a second. Amber, have you
23:52
ever noticed that the name of Toby's book
23:55
club has the words balls deep in the
23:57
middle of it? Isn't that the point? Just
24:00
wanted to make sure you knew that. Because sometimes listeners write
24:02
to me and they're like, I don't know if you knew
24:04
this, but. And I'm like, of course we fucking knew it.
24:07
It was a listener contest that named the
24:09
book club and a listener came up with that.
24:11
It was one of you perverts. All right, Kevin,
24:13
go ahead. Yeah, Toby right now is working
24:15
on, his next assignment
24:18
is the assassination of Fred Hampton,
24:21
book by Jeffrey Haas. If you
24:23
join at the deep dive level, you can
24:25
watch Toby and his guests record that podcast.
24:27
You can even take part, be in the
24:30
chat section, jump on screen, have a comment.
24:32
There are other book clubs that we offer
24:34
here on Patreon and Laura Bricker has her
24:36
book club and it sounds crazy. What is
24:39
your book club, Laura? My book
24:41
club is the No Rules Book,
24:43
Gun, Smut, and Saber Club and
24:45
we have a lot of fun and I think
24:47
a lot of my book club members are going
24:50
to be at Exeter Lit Fest and at our
24:52
crime writers on show, maybe wearing shirts that say
24:54
smut or something. Oh, Saber? Or Kevin with the
24:56
scarlet letter on them. I'm not sure, but they
24:58
will be there. That'll be me. I will also say
25:00
that there is another book club that we should mention.
25:03
Amber Hunt has her own book club podcast.
25:05
Yes, he does. Over at her
25:07
Patreon, which is Grab Bag Collab. Kick
25:09
ass Patreon. All sorts of great stuff
25:11
there. But we have to ask, Amber,
25:13
why are you stealing our idea about
25:16
the book club podcast and why, are
25:18
you just gonna steal all the good
25:20
ideas? That's the plan. I mean,
25:23
clearly you guys have had
25:25
a good run and
25:27
it's time for a change. Guys
25:29
and Tides, Lift All Both, Amber. I will say, you know
25:32
why people should subscribe to Grab Bag Collab? There's
25:34
an excellent show by me on there. I
25:37
do, I love that show. OPP,
25:39
Other People's Problems. Everyone on this panel
25:41
right here has been on Other People's
25:43
Problems and I think who here has
25:45
won that, not you. Not me. I
25:48
think I won. Not me. I'm a two time
25:50
loser. Were we tied in mine? I can't
25:52
remember. No, I think you won, Laura. I
25:54
think I won. I think you won. Sorry,
25:56
Amber. Oh, I'm jealous. Yeah, I was on
25:58
twice. We're gonna have a- We have
26:00
married with podcast, our advice
26:02
podcast that's out there. Also,
26:11
I want to remind you, you should sign up
26:13
for our Crime Writers on newsletter. It comes out
26:16
every Thursday. It's free. Just go to crimewriterson.com, give
26:18
us your email. You get all sorts of cool
26:20
stuff like you can see crime writers on behind
26:22
the scenes. You get photos of the cat of
26:24
the week, the tweet of the week, the new
26:26
merch we have in the store, the post of
26:28
the week. And we'll also
26:30
have Toby's deep cut, Toby,
26:33
let me say it so it
26:35
shocks Amber. Toby Ball's deep cut
26:37
recommendations on Amazon at our Amazon
26:40
store. Go to amazon.com/ shop
26:42
slash crime writers on. We get
26:45
commissions on qualified purchases. To
26:47
be clear, you can buy all your Amazon shit there,
26:49
not just stuff that Toby says you should. Yeah,
26:51
but he's inspired. But why would you
26:53
deviate from that list? Why would you?
26:56
Why would you? That's bridal comb every day
26:58
of the week. All
27:02
right, Kevin, before we end the business section, I have to ask,
27:04
do we have any Patreon patron saints of the week this week?
27:07
Our Patreon patron saints are
27:09
Megan Maxey and Christine
27:11
Dolmusa. Bless you. Megan,
27:14
Christine, thank you so much for supporting us on
27:16
Patreon. Thank you to everyone who supports us on
27:19
Patreon at every level. And thanks to those who
27:21
are considering doing it. Listen, I'm going to give
27:23
you a push. It's great back there.
27:25
That's all I'm going to say. If you have
27:27
considered it, if you haven't considered it, we love
27:29
you all. Thanks for muscling through the business section.
27:31
Go suck your mother. Kevin, should I go ahead
27:33
and fade that music out right now? Fade it
27:35
out. So, Kevin, you
27:37
thought this show could have benefited from better
27:39
quality sound design? Yeah, better quality is
27:42
always better. That's why I
27:44
like to shop at Quince. Oh, Quince. Imagine
27:47
upgrading your wardrobe with luxury
27:49
essentials at unbeatable prices. Quince
27:52
is here to transform the way you
27:54
shop with a range of high quality
27:56
items priced within reach. So,
27:59
all Quince items are like... priced about 50 to
28:01
80% less than similar brands.
28:04
And they partner directly with Top Factory. So you
28:06
know what they do? They cut out the middle
28:08
man and pass the shavings on to us. Why
28:10
are you talking about this and not me? This is
28:12
literally one of my favorite places to shop. I love
28:15
Quince. You know who else loves it? It's Laura Bricker.
28:17
Laura, tell us about the last thing that you got
28:19
from Quince. I got my most
28:21
favorite new prized possession from Quince.
28:23
I got this really nice black
28:25
motorcycle jacket and I am
28:27
looking forward to wearing it on my little
28:30
pink scooter as I drive around Exeter this
28:32
spring. So far, I've just been wearing it
28:34
around town, getting many compliments, and it really
28:36
is buttery soft real leather. It is fantastic.
28:39
Indulge in affordable luxury. Go to
28:41
quince.com/crime for free shipping on your
28:43
order and 365 day returns. That's
28:48
q-u-i-n-c-e.com/crime to
28:52
get free shipping and 365 day returns. So
28:56
if it leap year, yeah,
28:58
you're out of luck. That's right. It's
29:00
a close that begin with a letter Q, Alex. quince.com/crime.
29:03
Crime. Time
29:07
for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake
29:10
up and bagelize. Get your
29:12
taste buds ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel
29:14
sandwiches. Now just $3 only on
29:16
the app. Choose from a delicious steak,
29:18
egg, and cheese bagel, bacon, egg, and cheese bagel,
29:20
or sausage, egg, and cheese bagel. Just
29:22
$3 when you order ahead on the app. Hurry
29:25
and seize this breakfast steal before it's gone.
29:27
Offer valid one time daily, March 11th through April 7th, 2024, participating
29:31
McDonald's. Must opt into rewards. The
29:34
living room is where you make life's most
29:37
beautiful memories, but your sofa
29:39
shouldn't be the one remembering them. The
29:41
new life resistant, high performance furniture collection
29:43
from Ashley is designed to withstand all
29:45
the spills, slip ups, and muddy paws
29:47
that come with the best parts of
29:49
life. Ashley high performance sofas
29:52
and recliners are soft, on trend,
29:54
and easy to clean. Shop the
29:56
high performance furniture in store or
29:58
online at ashley.com. Ashley for
30:00
the love of home. All
30:05
right, Amber, I have a question for you. As
30:07
a narrative podcaster who's made a successful narrative series,
30:10
one thing that this series does is Amory holds
30:12
back a lot of details. Like she tells us
30:14
a bunch of times, this is a cold case
30:16
or whatever, and you're in episode four, so you
30:18
don't know yet why it's a cold
30:21
case, so you haven't gotten there yet. And I
30:23
found myself listening and I was like, I don't mind what
30:25
I don't know yet, and that's a trick. Yeah.
30:27
And to have listeners not feel like, wait,
30:30
what the fuck? Like what's going on? How
30:32
do you do that? Cause you do that really well too. Well,
30:35
thank you. It is a little
30:37
tricky. You have to find this balance between
30:39
giving people enough and earning
30:41
their trust so that when you say, we'll
30:44
learn more about this later, that they know
30:46
that you'll come back to it at the
30:48
right time in the storytelling process. Nothing
30:51
really annoys me more when I'm listening
30:53
to one of these, when everything
30:55
is put off and
30:57
we'll talk more about that in a bit. And we'll talk more,
30:59
you have to give enough along the way so that
31:01
you feel satisfied to at
31:03
least some degree. Right now I'm
31:06
operating from the assumption that she was
31:08
acquitted. I don't know if that's true.
31:10
I'm okay with finding out otherwise, but
31:12
I know that there are ways that
31:14
a case that went to trial cannot end
31:17
up with a verdict. So either
31:19
there is a mistrial or she's acquitted or
31:21
something happens along the way. I
31:23
trust that I'm gonna learn that when the
31:26
time is right for the story. Yeah,
31:28
she unspools things like a really good novelist
31:30
would because she gives the major details
31:32
sort of upfront or sort of like the things that
31:34
you need to know right away and because she does
31:36
that, then you trust
31:38
that you're gonna hear the other things when
31:41
it's the right time. And it's opposed to
31:43
sometimes we're like, well, what the fuck happens
31:45
with this? Why are you not addressing this?
31:48
You don't do that. It's very much
31:51
like you would in a good movie
31:53
or a good book where you build
31:55
conflict with suspense
31:57
or surprise. And so we're left sort
31:59
of in suspense. on this stuff where things
32:01
get revealed. I mean right off the top
32:03
it's like the reason she was accused was
32:05
that she was fingered by her brother Sean.
32:07
You're like, who the fuck is Sean? What's
32:09
all this about? The way she
32:12
does it is very compelling so it does
32:14
pull you in and you're not worried about
32:16
the stuff that you don't know yet because
32:19
you're not impatient for why you don't have
32:21
that. You know it's amazing
32:23
to me the link about why she was
32:25
accused because she was the only link between
32:27
Marlene and Sean. Yeah, can I mention
32:29
I love this cut? Yes. And
32:32
somebody points out later Amber, she's
32:34
five foot four and like eight
32:36
months pregnant at this point, right? And
32:40
so like this murder was brutal. Somebody was
32:42
beaten to death, right, with this like fire
32:45
poker thing. And she
32:47
is this very small pregnant woman
32:49
and that was why she was the focus
32:51
and then Sean said it. And
32:54
then the other thing that happens, Lahara, is that
32:57
all this stuff wasn't allowed in at the trial.
32:59
Yeah. You'll find out more
33:01
later about other stuff that wasn't allowed in that
33:03
will make you even wilder. But
33:05
how do you feel Lahara as a defense
33:07
investigator when you hear about material that
33:09
I don't think
33:13
is, I mean prejudicial against the other guy
33:15
did it defense doesn't seem right to me.
33:18
Well, it is prejudicial and I
33:20
understand I work in this field.
33:22
It's just frustrating because I'm not
33:24
the defendant. She's the defendant. She
33:27
is, but technically unless he has
33:29
any prior crimes of dishonesty, you
33:31
can't just bring in things like
33:34
this because that is prejudicial. And
33:36
I understand why that couldn't happen,
33:38
but still listening to it as
33:40
I'm invested in what actually happened in this case
33:42
is very frustrating because I'm like, I know the
33:44
rules and I know that because this happens to
33:46
me all the time in my work. I'll be
33:48
like, look at this great information I found. And
33:50
they'll be like, we can't use it. Yeah. And
33:54
I'll be like, no. There's very specific rules about how
33:56
you get that sort of background information in. So it
33:58
could come in and like say he testified. and
34:00
he testifies untruthfully, then you can bring in a
34:02
witness who's like, actually, will this happen? And there's
34:04
ways that you can get information in. So I
34:06
understood it, but I think at
34:08
this point in the story, I'm invested
34:10
in the Sean did it theory. And
34:12
so hearing this and hearing that not
34:14
only, you know, is there this sort
34:16
of bad blood between the siblings because
34:19
Sophia takes in his ex-girlfriend who leaves
34:21
him. We know he's violent. We know
34:23
he's got this debt that's over there.
34:25
We know he's got all sorts of
34:27
issues and he's been violent and he's
34:29
in need of money. And it's like,
34:31
hello, that's perfect. And there's $10,000 in
34:33
this house or this coat or whatever.
34:35
So it's like that, when I
34:38
hear it, makes me like, ah, but I also
34:40
understand that there is not a way to introduce
34:42
all of that. But maybe later in the podcast,
34:44
more information will come out. Doesn't it seem like
34:46
very, it seems like it for me, where I was,
34:48
where you are, like the very easy inclusion to draw
34:51
is that at some point, Sophia may have mentioned that
34:53
there's money in this house and
34:55
that Sean is like, that's the connection, right? Sophia
34:57
may have mentioned to her brother at some point
34:59
that there's money in this house and that's why
35:01
her brother committed this crime. I don't understand why
35:03
the defense just didn't say that. Like,
35:05
that's so simple. Like, you don't have
35:08
to go through complicated. They weren't allowed.
35:10
But they could just say that another guy did it.
35:12
They could say that he did it without bringing it
35:15
in. Or they could, I mean, if she had testified,
35:17
does Sophia testify? I don't know. But if she had
35:19
testified, they could have asked her, did you tell anybody
35:21
else about this money? But they could
35:23
also just say that at closing. Like, there's so
35:25
many things that they could do. Just hang
35:27
on to your panties. I am just
35:29
saying, I drew that
35:31
conclusion as a listener and I don't
35:33
understand why the cops didn't draw that
35:35
conclusion. Right. But one of
35:37
the things that's interesting to me,
35:40
Amber, is that I think my
35:42
criminal justice, like social justice forward
35:44
thinking makes me sort of lean toward
35:47
like a 19 year old kid is
35:49
a kid. And, you
35:52
know, the things that happen to that kid very
35:54
much sort of frame who they are. And we
35:56
don't necessarily like want to say a majority of
35:58
things with that kid. But Sean really sounds like
36:01
a terrible person. I mean
36:03
it's really shocking to hear all the things
36:06
he did by the time he was 19 and
36:08
not things that are like mistakes,
36:12
things that seem like sociopathic
36:14
almost. Yeah, no I
36:16
mean unless something's changed by episode
36:19
9, if his character has stayed
36:21
pretty well as they've established it
36:23
so far, he doesn't
36:25
make the strongest witness and
36:27
I am curious why that was enough.
36:30
Yeah. Especially when there was a little
36:32
bit of physical evidence and it didn't
36:34
point at her, it pointed
36:36
at him. Shane told me that hearing
36:38
his brother's version of events finally left
36:40
him more confused. There are a lot
36:43
of details. I, to
36:45
me it sounds like something you would see on
36:47
TV for someone who's coming up with a story.
36:51
What is your perception of Sean at 19, Kevin,
36:53
and sort of his presence
36:56
in the podcast generally? Oh he's shady
36:58
area. It's not a spoiler
37:01
to say right off the top we hear
37:03
voice messages from the dad and from Sean
37:07
to Sophia and
37:09
Shane and again we
37:11
know that she's gonna get all the right
37:13
people to comment on this and
37:15
when you find out sort of like where his life goes, it
37:17
goes in a really odd direction too
37:20
but he makes for a very
37:22
interesting character and then when a
37:24
lot of this is sort of like looking at
37:26
the past, when the podcast gets
37:28
to the part where we're sort of in
37:30
the present and things are
37:32
happening now, that really ramps up the
37:35
stakes and kind of you know the narrative payoff
37:37
that we've got going on here and that's why
37:40
I'm screaming that I could only listen to nine
37:42
out of ten. Yeah. So I
37:44
mean Amber are you curious about the family
37:46
dynamics here because we hear some of the
37:48
stuff in the voice memos but clearly that
37:50
is a thread here. Like do you think
37:52
this podcast is more about murder or more
37:54
about a fucked up family? Well it's
37:56
starting about murder but there was an interesting
37:58
point early on where they start
38:01
reading through psychological
38:03
evaluations of family members.
38:06
And that was fascinating. That
38:08
is immediately where I went, well, this
38:10
is new. I haven't heard this in another podcast.
38:12
I haven't dealt with it in an
38:14
investigation. So there's this
38:16
situation where the parents are
38:18
divorcing and there's
38:21
a custody fight and one of the
38:23
kids who turns out to be Sean,
38:25
the one who accuses Sophia of
38:27
killing her mother-in-law, he's aligned
38:29
with the dad and the other two children
38:31
are aligned with the mom. And
38:34
it sounds like a really fraught,
38:36
potentially physically dangerous
38:38
situation. That's a
38:40
different feel than in most of
38:43
these podcasts. Yeah. Laura, what did you
38:45
think hearing those reports? Because that is, that felt
38:47
very new to me too. That's not like insight
38:49
that we've been able to see because usually reports
38:51
like that are sealed, right? And we don't usually
38:53
get to, we're not
38:55
usually privy to them. No, I get to read those
38:58
reports for my job. And so I find
39:00
this sort of thing very interesting. You know,
39:02
this is something that might show up if
39:04
you're, you know, looking at a case, like
39:06
somebody in the criminal justice, like it's been
39:09
convicted and they do like a pre-sentence
39:11
investigation or something, something like this might
39:13
be in there or if they've had
39:15
like an expert evaluate somebody, but it's
39:17
all sealed and it's all something that
39:19
the attorneys and the judge see. So
39:21
I think in this case, it's really
39:23
interesting because it's setting up another layer
39:25
of depth about the family and about
39:27
the people involved and sort
39:29
of what their motivations are, what their
39:31
personalities are, what their issues are. So
39:33
that as this story unfolds, I think
39:36
that information is going to make everything make
39:38
a lot more sense when you see how
39:40
sort of the chips fall and different people
39:42
land where they do. And I always just
39:44
find that interesting myself. I mean, it's just
39:47
part of why I like doing the job
39:49
that I do is that I
39:51
don't think you really see anybody involved
39:53
in murder cases or, you know, serious
39:55
criminal cases that doesn't have some sort
39:58
of fucked up thing in the their
40:00
family and that's usually a big
40:02
contributing factor into why people
40:05
end up in the place that they do in
40:07
these cases. So I always find
40:09
it really interesting because I think it just sort
40:11
of sheds light on how we get where we
40:13
do when you see where we came from. Yeah
40:15
and Sophia kind of becomes his mother figure and
40:17
it even explains why they all became Jehovah's Witnesses,
40:19
right? It was fascinating. That was
40:21
crazy. The whole situation where they went to
40:24
become Jehovah Witnesses because their family was so
40:27
fraught and dysfunctional and so she said, I'm going
40:29
to go there like three times a week and
40:31
take Shane because that's a safe place to
40:34
go when my mom's not home and my
40:36
mom's at work and it was like super
40:38
boring but it was safe. But then when
40:40
she leaves the Jehovah Witnesses and marries Brad,
40:43
oh my goodness. It gets disfellowshipped. Yes. That's
40:46
a thing. I used to work with, when
40:48
I worked in bridal industry, which I did
40:50
for a while at a bridal shop, I worked with some
40:52
Jehovah's Witnesses and I am very
40:55
familiar with the disfellowshipping because one of
40:57
them was disfellowshipped while I worked
40:59
with her and it was a
41:01
lot. It was a lot for that young
41:03
person. Kevin, one final
41:05
thing I want to ask you
41:07
is without Sophia's personality
41:09
being in the podcast, there's so
41:11
much of Sophia, right? Sophia
41:14
is a very warm person. Sophia is a
41:16
very engaging person and Sophia is a very
41:19
credible person. Could this
41:21
podcast work as well? You mean
41:23
if it was somebody that we were
41:26
hearing about and not hearing from or
41:28
perhaps somebody that we were hearing less of or
41:30
perhaps somebody that sounded different? Somebody that sounded different?
41:32
Yes. No, I mean I think that she is a great
41:35
asset to the podcast and she is someone
41:37
who tells her story very well. We become
41:39
very sympathetic and believe, you know, believe her.
41:42
That's a big thing to have to like
41:44
answer for. Did you kill somebody? And
41:47
when she says that she didn't, then
41:49
it makes it easy to believe her
41:51
when she comes across as somebody who
41:54
is honest and has been
41:56
through a lot and she's certainly suffering because
41:58
she hasn't ever been with her. with her
42:00
son and that's- And she owns up to her bad
42:02
decision. She owns up to her bad decision. Yeah. She's
42:05
candid about the things that
42:07
she did, like her own previous bad
42:09
acts that come up in her story
42:11
and her presenter to trial and things
42:13
like that. So she, I mean, she
42:16
comes off as somebody who's very credible
42:18
and that's important for the story for good
42:20
and for bad. Time for a
42:22
quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake
42:25
up and bagelize. Get your
42:27
taste buds ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel
42:29
sandwiches. Now just $3 only on the
42:31
app. Choose from a delicious steak
42:33
egg and cheese bagel, bacon egg and cheese bagel,
42:35
or sausage egg and cheese bagel. Just
42:38
$3 when you order ahead on the app. Hurry
42:40
and seize this breakfast steal before it's gone. Offer
42:43
that one time daily March 11th through April
42:45
7th, 2024 at Participating McDonald's. Must
42:47
opt into rewards. The
42:50
living room is where you make
42:52
life's most beautiful memories. But your
42:54
sofa shouldn't be the one remembering
42:56
them. The new life resistant high
42:58
performance furniture collection from Ashley is
43:00
designed to withstand all the spills,
43:02
slip ups and muddy paws that come with
43:04
the best parts of life. Ashley
43:06
high performance sofas and recliners are soft,
43:08
on trend and easy to clean.
43:11
Shop the high performance furniture in
43:13
store online at ashley.com. Ashley
43:16
for the love of home. At
43:20
Capella University, you'll get support from
43:22
people who care about your success. From
43:24
before you enroll to after you graduate. Pursue
43:27
your goals knowing health is available when you need
43:29
it. Imagine your
43:31
future differently at Capella.edu. Okay
43:37
let's do what we do. Let's let our listeners
43:39
know should they check out the podcast Beyond All
43:41
Repair? This is a podcast from WBUR,
43:43
Larrabrick. What do you think? Thumbs up or thumbs
43:45
down for Beyond All Repair? Yeah, this
43:47
is a thumbs up from me. This
43:50
is a really fascinating case and
43:52
it is told in a very
43:54
compelling way with fantastic writing. You
43:57
Know it's not just a crime story, it's a family story. The.
44:00
A Cold Case. It's a mystery we've
44:02
that access to a lot of the
44:04
players and it's something that when each
44:06
episode ends, the way that it ends
44:08
makes you want to keep listening to
44:10
the next episode. And I am very
44:12
curious to hear what happens with this
44:14
case at the end of this podcast.
44:16
so I will definitely keep listening as
44:18
a big thumbs up for me. Hammerheads
44:20
what he thinks I'm zipper them down
44:22
for beyond all repair had definitely a
44:24
thumbs. Up for me, it's really compelling.
44:26
A small dan I'll definitely center said
44:28
which is actually a bigger deal than
44:30
it sounds like because I make a
44:32
point not listen the same podcast the
44:34
my time off and I'm gonna. I'm
44:36
gonna stick with this one. It's really
44:38
really good can when. I think
44:41
this is an instant classic. This is
44:43
definitely going to be. On my
44:45
top ten list and or bag of can
44:47
be on your top ten lists it's indices
44:49
with. This is where we don't usually use
44:51
to describe. A True Crime podcast.
44:54
It's exciting. It has sort of the
44:56
thrill of fum and was a thrill
44:58
of the chase, but it certainly was
45:01
the kind of thing where I just
45:03
wanted to get to the next episode
45:05
and that doesn't always happen. Certainly helpful.
45:07
Emery's like I didn't spend two years
45:10
doing this. So three yahoos, an Amber,
45:12
Hans, Mississippi, Alabama said it was mediocre
45:14
ib this was really great. I like
45:17
as their lives is dying to know
45:19
how this ends. I might you'll pass
45:21
and people may be. Told start
45:23
listening. May. Well have been raised their
45:26
ass. yeah earnest. a few more. Yeah yeah
45:28
that because like once is stops. I mean
45:30
get sued by words is going. you gotta
45:32
get some. Actually got to get to the
45:34
next one. So and with I don't want to
45:36
oversell it's but for me this is a
45:38
really big sums up the eyes. Quite an
45:40
achievement. Yeah. I'm an overzealous. I think
45:42
this is as close to a perfect podcast as
45:44
I have ever heard. A. Period.
45:47
This, I guess is extraordinarily gathered.
45:49
My favorite straight true crime I
45:51
guess of all time is Season
45:53
One of suspect. I think I
45:55
like this better than season when
45:57
I suspect and that is saying
45:59
something. huge for me. This
46:01
podcast is expertly constructed.
46:04
This podcast is beautifully
46:06
told, beautifully made, and
46:09
what I love about it is that it
46:11
doesn't do the thing that I always say
46:13
these kinds of podcasts need to do, which
46:15
like, illuminates something larger, right?
46:17
This podcast, what it really does
46:19
is it's telling one mystery, looking
46:21
into one family, but it
46:24
is so good. It's so, it's
46:27
very much like the first time I watched
46:29
the staircase and I was like,
46:31
I feel this way. Now, I feel this way.
46:33
Now I think this. Now I think this. That's
46:35
what this podcast does. And I haven't felt this
46:37
way listening to a podcast. I
46:41
can't remember the last time I felt this
46:43
way. I probably suspect season one was the
46:45
last time I felt this way. Maybe the
46:47
first time I listened to serial back in
46:49
2014, maybe, uh, this
46:52
podcast is extra ordinary.
46:54
And like, I mean
46:56
the details, the mixing,
46:58
the music, the writing,
47:01
Emory does an incredible trick, which
47:03
I will say, having made the
47:05
clip a couple of weeks ago, that podcast
47:07
from Celia Productions are overworked and they sound
47:10
like it. This thing
47:12
sounds easy. She makes it sound
47:14
like it just came out of her. Like
47:16
she just opened her mouth and it came
47:18
out as is like it was an easy
47:21
project. I know it was
47:23
very, very fucking hard to do, but it
47:25
sounds easy. And that is a masterclass in
47:27
podcast making. So yeah, this is a
47:30
25 thumbs up for me podcast. And I
47:32
just cannot wait for people to listen to it. And
47:34
I can't wait to talk about it. And I want
47:36
to talk about it with everyone to listen to it
47:38
and tweet at me about it. Please huge thumbs
47:40
up for me for this podcast. It's
47:42
complex without being complicated. Exactly.
47:45
Straightforward. It's fucking perfect. Now
47:48
it's time for my favorite part of the podcast. A
47:50
little something I like to call the crime of the
47:53
week. Coming to our shores soon.
47:55
Titanic two. No, not
47:59
a sequel to the the 1997 Oscar
48:01
winner, or not even the elaborate prank
48:03
movie Walter Cruz played on a fellow
48:06
soldier called Titanic Rising. No,
48:08
Titanic 2 will be a new cruise
48:10
ship made to the specs of the
48:12
original vessel. Australian
48:14
billionaire Clive Palmer announced the construction
48:17
of Titanic 2 is back on
48:19
track more than 10 years
48:21
after his original project stalled. I
48:24
wonder why. Palmer had plans to construct the replica
48:26
of the 56,000 ton boat at his shipyard in
48:29
China back in 2016. Money
48:32
woes and the pandemic scuttled the project,
48:34
but Palmer now believes assembling can begin
48:36
by the end of the year. Palmer
48:39
promised his ship would be quote,
48:41
far, far superior than the original,
48:43
which would kind of be the
48:45
fucking point. So Anchor's Away
48:48
panel, what upgrades would you hope to
48:50
see on Titanic 2? Laura Bricker, what
48:52
do you think? Three
48:54
Wi-Fi for all the guests? That's
48:56
literally what they wrote down. Amber
48:59
Hunt, what upgrades would you hope to see on
49:01
Titanic 2? At least
49:03
two or three or more lifeboats. Kevin Flynn,
49:05
what do you think? Larger
49:07
floating doors. Yes! A
49:09
bigger fucking door. All right, that's
49:11
gonna do it for us before we go. Hopefully
49:14
not a hundred guys shoveling coal to get
49:17
you there all night long. Hopefully
49:20
a steerage section that does not have cages that lock
49:22
people in, that would also be good. Or maybe not
49:24
a steerage section at all. All right, Laura Bricker, that's
49:26
gonna do it for us before we go. I have
49:28
to ask, do we have a Cat of the Week
49:30
this week? Yes,
49:33
the Cat of the Week is Reggie. Reggie
49:35
is in a campaign to get his owner,
49:37
Ty, fired. He
49:39
sits in front of my screens. I constantly
49:41
look over him to work, and then he
49:44
moons my boss and colleagues during meetings. But
49:46
here he is looking all nice and polite in the
49:48
picture that he was sent in. So, Reggie, don't trust
49:50
the nice and polite photo. And don't
49:52
get your mom fired because then how are you gonna
49:54
get your treats? Are we saying that Reggie is showing
49:57
his little cat star on Zoom, that's the problem? Yes.
50:00
Yes, it's disgusting. Yes, yes. All
50:02
right, Laura Bricker, if folks want to reach out
50:04
to you and pitch their animals, could be any
50:06
kind of animal, of course. I prefer the happy
50:08
live ones, not the recently dead ones, to be
50:10
Cat of the Week. How can they find you
50:12
online? You can find me
50:14
at Laura Bricker on Twitter and Instagram. Amber
50:16
Hunt, it's your chance to pitch all the
50:19
things. How can folks find you? Okay,
50:21
so I've got a podcast called Crimes
50:23
of the Centuries that comes out every
50:26
Monday. I've got Grab Bag Collab, which
50:28
is a Patreon-based network, and that's got
50:30
not only Crimes of the Centuries early
50:32
and ad-free, but also shows
50:35
like Dear Daisy with Daisy Egan and Shut
50:37
the Fuck Up Nick cliche with Daisy and
50:39
Ellen Marsh, and other people's problems with
50:41
the amazing Rebecca LaBoy you may have
50:43
heard of her. Find me at
50:45
those places. Kevin Flynn, how can you be
50:48
found? I'm at Kevin P. Flynn, and I don't have any
50:50
of that other shit. So if you
50:52
want to follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you can
50:54
find me at Reb LaBoy. Follow the
50:56
show everywhere at Crime Raiders on, and please
50:58
join our Facebook group. It's fucking awesome. Just
51:01
go to Facebook, find us, and it's a pinned post to join
51:03
the group. Get episodes early and
51:05
ad-free at patreon.com/partners in crime media, and get
51:07
all the other stuff we make there. Our
51:10
theme song was composed and performed by
51:12
Ty Gibbons. Our live editor is the
51:14
wonderful Livy Burdett. The executive producer of
51:17
this program is Kevin Flynn. The
51:19
show was recorded in the Treehouse Yoga Studio
51:21
above the Mockingbird Cafe in Bay St. Louis,
51:23
Mississippi Studio, otherwise known as Studio C, the
51:25
closet in our New Hampshire basement where we
51:27
also ease up on the garlic in our
51:29
hummus when we're having company. On behalf of
51:31
all the crime writers, thanks so much for
51:33
listening. We will catch you later. It's
51:38
just an incredible, incredible unspooling, right?
51:40
Should I come to
51:42
you or not? No? No.
51:45
Okay. Nevermind. You
51:47
were setting me up. I'm going to dance with
51:49
that. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
51:51
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, you're the
51:54
love of her life. I know, right? Not anymore.
52:18
Time for
52:21
a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake
52:23
up and bagelize. Get your
52:25
taste buds ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel
52:27
sandwiches. Now just $3 only on the
52:29
app. Choose from a delicious steak,
52:31
egg and cheese bagel, bacon, egg and cheese bagel
52:34
or sausage egg and cheese bagel. Just
52:36
$3 when you order ahead on the app. Hurry
52:39
and seize this breakfast steal before it's gone. Offer
52:41
valid one time daily March 11th through April
52:43
7th, 2024 at participating McDonald's. Must
52:45
happen to rewards.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More