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1:00

Listener discretion is advised. Hello

1:03

and welcome to True Crime, the podcast

1:05

that helps you find new, emerging, and

1:08

undiscovered true crime podcasts. I'm

1:10

Greg, the host and curator of True

1:12

Crime.

1:13

Today's episode is from A Nefarious

1:16

Nightmare. A Nefarious Nightmare

1:19

is focused on victim-centered advocacy and

1:21

raising awareness about crimes against

1:24

those deemed especially vulnerable.

1:27

If you like today's episode, make sure to check

1:29

out the episode description for links

1:31

to subscribe. Alright, let's get this show

1:33

started. Begin.

1:37

I'm Edward Oktober, and this is A

1:39

Nefarious Nightmare. This

1:42

podcast contains foul language

1:45

and discussions of violence. Additional

1:47

trigger warnings will be posted as

1:50

needed in the show notes. Listener

1:52

discretion is advised. And

1:57

then every time that we started to go back to

1:59

that record, for lunch more times

2:01

than not Corey always

2:04

seemed to be at the bar drinking when we

2:07

were ordering lunch looking back

2:09

on that now that that was in the

2:11

middle of the day that was a red flag

2:15

after he killed Katie he continued to

2:17

frequent that same bar and

2:19

he drive past our house coming

2:22

from that bar in the same damn

2:24

truck that he killed Katie and still

2:28

had the dent in the hood from

2:30

where Katie's head hit more her body

2:32

wrapped around his truck drove that truck

2:34

up to the bar and continued to drink

2:37

and drive and from what I've been

2:39

told he hasn't changed I

2:42

don't think he's capable of changing on April

2:44

21st

2:47

2020 as the pandemic was just starting to ramp

2:49

up Katie Palmer wanted to go for

2:51

a walk with her husband for the first time and

2:54

this was her first time with her husband

2:55

to go out and enjoy the fresh air and spend

2:58

time as a loving couple she has

3:00

been described by many as

3:02

jovial and had a laugh that

3:04

was contagious a beautiful

3:07

smile that felt like sunshine

3:09

and a presence equally as warm

3:12

and accepting

3:12

but the smile would

3:14

be forever burned in everyone's memory

3:17

as her life was stolen

3:18

from her soulmate and

3:21

her two children by a man who

3:23

shouldn't have been driving with

3:26

that I'm Amanda Cronin

3:28

and I'm Courtney Fener and

3:30

a nefarious nightmare presents he

3:32

drove blind down a road justice

3:35

for Katie Palmer

3:46

the two

3:58

massive go, too much

4:01

bias. I don't know about you all,

4:03

but if my kid were involved in an auto accident

4:06

and passed away as a result, I'd

4:08

fight tooth and nail to get justice for her.

4:10

And at the same time, if my kid

4:13

were involved in an auto accident and she

4:15

was the one that killed another person, I'd still

4:18

fight tooth and nail for justice for the victim,

4:20

being that the victim is the person that

4:22

died at the hands of my own flesh and blood.

4:25

But why? Well, I'm glad you

4:27

asked, because if it were my

4:29

child or my spouse, I'd

4:31

want the same respect.

4:33

I'd also not take advantage of

4:35

the fact that I'd have close ties

4:37

with law enforcement. If I

4:39

did, because in order to obtain justice,

4:42

bias would need to be left at the door. We all

4:45

are on the same side here, where

4:47

we want a fair trial and

4:50

justice for those innocent people who died

4:52

at the hands of another. It's why

4:54

we all continue to make these episodes

4:57

and have survivors and victims tell

4:59

their stories. We will be

5:01

the thorn in the side of those offenders

5:03

who think they got away with it.

5:06

Do you all remember Courtney Heater? What

5:08

about Alex Van Dalsen or Brianna

5:10

Nugent-Nicks? What about all of the victims

5:13

of the serial rapists that we've discussed at

5:15

length? I sure hope you remember

5:17

all of them, because they all have something

5:20

in common with the survivor that we will hear from

5:22

today. They all were failed

5:24

by a system that shows favoritism by way

5:27

of quote unquote, knowing the right

5:29

people, whether their aunt, uncle,

5:31

dad, cousin, friend, offenders

5:33

in these cases all have that in common. They

5:36

have ties to law enforcement who can't

5:38

help but volunteer their time in the background

5:40

to create intimidation to victims and their

5:42

surviving family members. We

5:45

aren't

5:45

intimidated though. In order to

5:47

obtain justice,

5:48

the truth needs to be spoken.

5:50

We will gladly give our

5:52

platform to those who are wanting the truth

5:54

to be heard and for those who

5:56

are wanting to seek the truth after

5:59

all.

5:59

The truth, by all accounts,

6:02

will

6:02

truly set you free. Sure,

6:05

you can live all your life

6:06

stuffing skeletons in your

6:09

closet, not ever letting

6:11

them see the light of day. But let's

6:13

be real here. You'd

6:15

end up being imprisoned by

6:17

your own guilt and the red letter L

6:19

patched to your person. L

6:22

for being liable, losing,

6:24

liar. The following is a

6:26

clip from a TikTok account, Justice

6:28

for Katie Palmer. Take a moment to

6:30

hear her voice resonate with

6:33

her voice. Get to know her based

6:35

off of her voice, because the way

6:37

we want to remember her is by how kind

6:39

and compassionate she was.

6:41

Hey, guys, I've missed y'all so much and

6:44

I miss joking around and just having a good

6:46

time in class. So I

6:48

have an idea that maybe this week

6:51

for our office hours on Wednesday,

6:54

I will attach a link below. And

6:56

for our one o'clock meeting, I

6:59

would like for you guys to bring your pets with

7:01

you and let's zoom and

7:04

see everybody's pets. I have six

7:06

pets at the house, so I

7:09

know you guys are missing Honey and Winnie,

7:11

and I can introduce you to my other

7:14

four animals as well. So

7:17

click on the link underneath the video

7:19

in Schoology and let's all get

7:22

together on Wednesday.

7:27

According to TellRobert.com,

7:30

reckless driving causes 33 percent

7:32

of all deaths involving major

7:34

car accidents, which are more than 13,000 each year.

7:38

30 percent of auto accidents are credited to the

7:40

speed of reckless drivers. 40 percent

7:43

of all car accident deaths are attributed

7:45

to driving under the influence. Distracted

7:48

driving causes about 20 percent of car

7:50

accident injuries. Reckless

7:52

driving, also called aggressive

7:54

driving, is a very conscious

7:57

act. These accidents are a direct

7:59

result. of negligence. Reckless

8:02

behaviors include speeding, failure

8:04

to yield the right of way, running

8:06

through stoplights, tailgating,

8:09

racing, and erratic driving. Driving

8:12

under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as well

8:14

as texting or talking on a cell phone are

8:16

also examples of reckless driving.

8:19

Reckless driving accidents in most cases

8:21

are a result of a number of traffic violations

8:24

in which the driver displays complete disregard

8:26

for on-the-road signals, signs,

8:29

and laws. Most common ones

8:31

are tailgating or simply driving

8:33

way too close to the car in front of you, completely

8:36

ignoring red lights and stop signs, sudden

8:38

braking, forgetting to signal while changing

8:41

lanes or turning, driving while under

8:43

the influence of drugs or alcohol, talking

8:46

on the phone, texting, or performing any

8:48

other distracting action while driving, failing

8:50

to use headlights at night or in other

8:53

sight-obscuring cases, and

8:55

making illegal turns or lane changes. Statistics

8:58

also show that drunk driving, according to Bankrate.com,

9:02

one alcohol-related death occurs every 52

9:05

minutes in the U.S., according

9:07

to the NHTSA. Drunk

9:09

driving accidents are responsible for 10,000 deaths

9:12

every year and about one-third of all

9:14

traffic-related deaths, according to the NHTSA.

9:18

In a recent year, more than 230 children were

9:22

killed in drunk driving crashes, the

9:25

NHTSA reports. Drinking

9:27

and driving costs more than $44 billion

9:30

in deaths and damages annually, and

9:32

at the end of 2020, 26.8% of drivers that were killed

9:37

or seriously injured in a crash had alcohol

9:39

in their bloodstream, according to

9:41

the NHTSA. The consequences

9:44

of driving under the influence are severe.

9:46

A first-offense DUI can cost $10,000 or

9:50

more in fines and legal fees. In 2020,

9:54

the number of fatal accidents involving alcohol

9:56

was up 9% compared

9:58

to 2019. Even though

10:01

drivers traveled 13% fewer miles overall, drunk

10:05

driving accidents are statistically most

10:07

likely to occur during the months of June,

10:10

July, and August, according

10:12

to the NHTSA. About 68%

10:15

of alcohol-related fatalities happen

10:17

at night and 28% happen

10:19

during the daytime based on NHTSA

10:22

data. A driver is

10:24

considered legally impaired when

10:27

their blood alcohol concentration, or

10:29

BAC, measures 0.08 or higher. The

10:33

number of drinks it takes to reach this BAC

10:36

largely depends on gender and weight, but

10:38

the average is 2-3 drinks of standard

10:41

pores for adults.

10:43

Please

10:44

keep all of this in mind

10:46

when listening to this episode. Before

10:48

we continue, here is John Palmer,

10:51

the loving husband of Katie Palmer.

10:54

My name is John Palmer. Katie Palmer,

10:57

she was my wife. Katie

10:59

was killed on April 21, 2020, roughly

11:03

two-tenths of a mile away from my house on

11:05

Glenwood Drive in Denison, Texas.

11:08

This happened on the street that we live on. Katie

11:11

was exceptional. Katie

11:13

was outstanding, plain and simple.

11:16

She was beautiful, both inside

11:18

and out. Katie was brilliant. She

11:22

loved science and nature. In fact, she taught

11:24

middle school and even broad A's and programmed

11:26

into her school. She was a loving mother

11:29

that adored her two kids, Bella and Brandon.

11:32

Every decision she made, she

11:34

kept both Bella and Brandon in mind. She

11:36

told me many times that her most important

11:38

job was being a mother. Family

11:41

to Katie was important. Her

11:43

best friend was her mom and

11:46

she spoke to her dad on the phone almost

11:48

every day. She loved

11:51

and was loved by her brothers and sisters,

11:54

aunts and uncles, cousins and friends. She

11:56

was my soulmate. I loved her with

11:59

all my heart. and I will never stop. We

12:01

all terribly miss her. The man

12:03

that killed my wife is Cory

12:06

Todd Foster. Cory had no

12:08

aliases. I was introduced

12:11

to Cory while I was at lunch one day. One

12:15

of my business partners and I would go eat at

12:18

a local restaurant that had TVs in the bar

12:20

area, and we'd go order a sandwich

12:22

and a Coke and watch TV while we

12:24

ate. A neighbor of mine called

12:27

Cory over from the bar and

12:29

introduced him to me. And then every time

12:31

that we started to go back to that

12:33

restaurant for lunch more times than not,

12:36

Cory always seemed to be at

12:38

the bar drinking when we were

12:40

ordering lunch. Looking back on that

12:43

now, that was in the middle of

12:45

the day. That was a red flag. After

12:48

he killed Katie, he continued to

12:51

frequent that same bar and

12:53

he'd drive past our house coming

12:56

from that bar in the same damn

12:58

truck that he killed Katie in. Still

13:01

had the dent in the hood from

13:03

where Katie's head hit, from where her body

13:06

wrapped around his truck,

13:07

drove that truck up to the bar

13:09

and continued to drink and drive. And

13:12

from what I've been told, he hasn't changed.

13:15

I don't think he's capable of changing. This

13:18

man that killed my wife has

13:20

seemed to go on about with his life and

13:22

has seemed to continue his reckless

13:25

behavior. He was almost,

13:27

he was in his late 40s and

13:30

he had this reputation. I

13:33

know this now, reputation of

13:35

just being drunk and

13:38

having absolutely

13:40

no accountability for any of his actions. None. You

13:44

know, the choices he made that day

13:47

resulted in the death of Katie Palmer, resulted

13:50

in my family changing forever,

13:53

resulted in a tremendous loss

13:55

for this community, tremendous loss.

13:58

From what I've been told, he hasn't changed. changed. He

14:01

still continues this reckless behavior

14:03

that resulted in

14:05

the death of my wife Katie Homer.

14:07

After Katie

14:09

was killed on social media we found

14:11

pictures of Corey Foster, Tarese

14:13

Malkatieb and their wives together

14:16

at parties on Halloween and Christmas

14:19

months before Katie was killed. Both wives

14:21

worked together as hairdressers and

14:23

I believe that Tarese Malkatieb and Corey

14:26

Foster and their families had

14:28

a close relationship. The

14:30

DA who failed to get an indictment in this case

14:33

represented the Foster family in a DWI

14:35

before he became the elected DA. In

14:38

this one instance, Corey Foster's wife

14:41

was driving the car and she was

14:43

convicted of a DWI and

14:45

Foster was a passenger in

14:47

this car and he was charged with public intoxication.

14:50

District Attorney Brett Smith never

14:52

disclosed this to us. On April

14:55

21st, 2020, I

14:57

woke up, I went to go work out in the backyard

15:00

and after my work at

15:02

it I was going to go walk down our

15:04

road and the night before Katie had

15:07

asked me to wake

15:09

her up so she could go walking

15:11

with me. Katie never

15:14

went walking or running with me in

15:16

the morning so I

15:18

didn't really think it was going to be a possibility that she would

15:20

actually go. Unfortunately, when

15:23

I woke her up after reminding her

15:25

that she asked me to wake her up so she

15:27

could go walk with me, she

15:29

decided to walk with me for the first time

15:31

ever. So we left our house on

15:34

Glenwood Drive after we told our son

15:36

Brandon that we were going for a walk. Brandon

15:39

most of the time would have come with us. He would

15:42

sometimes get up with me and go walk and run

15:44

but this was at the height of COVID

15:47

or when COVID was starting and

15:50

he didn't have to log in that day for

15:52

school until later much like Katie who

15:55

didn't have to log in to go teach her students until

15:58

later. So Brandon went back

17:59

the mainstream media, just like this

18:02

one. Every week I look into a new case,

18:04

sharing the details of their mysterious disappearance

18:07

from interviews with family, friends, law

18:09

enforcement and even suspects in an

18:11

effort to reveal the truth.

18:13

The Vanish has even aided in getting long

18:15

overdue arrests through our in-depth interviews.

18:18

There is a human behind the headlines and

18:20

my goal with this podcast is to raise awareness

18:23

and help family members find their vanished loved

18:25

ones or at least a sense of peace. Follow

18:28

the Vanished on the Wondery app or wherever

18:30

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19:38

A Nefarious Nightmare.

19:41

Cory hit us so hard that he knocked

19:43

us out of our shoes. He incent

19:45

us approximately 70 feet into

19:48

the grass, into the golf course area.

19:52

As soon as I hit the ground and

19:55

stopped rolling, I knew that we had been hit. I

19:59

couldn't get up. I was on my hands and knees

20:01

and I looked over and Katie

20:03

was propped up on

20:05

her left elbow and she was looking

20:07

in my direction but she was looking

20:10

over me and she

20:12

let out this moan, this

20:14

painful moan. I couldn't

20:17

get up. I couldn't get up and walk over to

20:19

my wife or run over to my wife. I

20:21

felt like I had a ratchet around my torso

20:23

that was

20:24

tightening.

20:26

And at that time, Corey Foster

20:29

acknowledged us and said, oh my

20:31

God, I didn't know it was you, John.

20:33

He identified me by name so that

20:36

he couldn't see he was trying to clear off his windshield.

20:38

I'm crawling over to my wife and

20:41

yelling for somebody to call the cops,

20:43

to call the police. All I

20:45

could think about was her. I got over

20:47

to her. I laid her down on her

20:50

back and I noticed

20:52

that she wasn't breathing. I was begging

20:54

for her to breathe. While I was doing that,

20:56

a neighbor had pulled up and

20:59

had come running over to Katie and was sitting

21:02

down next to where Katie's head was

21:04

and she was also

21:07

asking Katie to breathe and she was such a calming

21:09

voice. Katie

21:12

finally let out a gaff for air

21:14

and I thought everything was going to be okay.

21:17

I thought she's breathing. Her

21:19

breaths were shallow gaffs

21:22

for air about every 10 to 15 seconds.

21:26

And that's when I noticed that she wasn't blinking and

21:28

that her eyes were fixed and she was staring

21:31

straight. I begged for her to blink.

21:33

I begged for her not to leave me, not to

21:36

leave the kids. I begged for her just

21:38

to blink. At that time,

21:40

we heard the fire trucks

21:43

and the ambulance. They got there within 10

21:45

minutes. The

21:47

first and the EMTs immediately started working

21:50

on Katie. They asked me if I had been

21:52

hit. I said yes, I had. I couldn't

21:54

stand up or couldn't get up. I

21:56

heard them talking about getting helicopter

21:59

in. to evac her

22:02

out. I was loaded

22:04

up into a gurney. I was put into

22:06

the back of an ambulance.

22:09

Katie was care flighted to

22:11

a trauma center in Plano. I

22:14

was driven to the ICU in Dennison,

22:16

Texas. That's the last time I saw Katie

22:18

that day. When

22:20

I was at the ICU, I got a call

22:22

from a family member and they told

22:25

me that Katie wasn't going to make it. My

22:28

kids were at that hospital without me saying

22:30

goodbye to their mom and I couldn't be there

22:33

with them on their

22:35

worst day. I couldn't be there

22:37

for them. My

22:40

bones healed, my wounds healed, but

22:43

the pain from that day never will

22:45

heal. Never. DPS failed

22:47

on April 21, 2020. Tareef Alcatib should have

22:52

never been the officer in charge

22:55

of this investigation. And by investigation,

22:58

I'm going to throw that up in quotes because there

23:01

was not an investigation done that day.

23:03

When Tareef Alcatib showed

23:05

up on scene, he noted that Corey

23:08

Foster smelled strongly of alcohol.

23:11

Tareef was probably five feet from Corey and

23:13

made that statement multiple times. Asked

23:15

him how much he had to drink, asked him

23:18

when he stopped drinking and the story

23:20

changed three or four times. Tareef

23:23

Alcatib administered some field sobriety

23:25

tests on Corey Foster. He

23:28

started with a simple walk and turn test in

23:31

which Corey Foster did not

23:33

seem very steady on his feet. He

23:35

then had Corey Foster perform a horizontal

23:38

gaze test where, again,

23:41

this was not even shown. His Foster's

23:44

eyes weren't shown on the body camera footage, but

23:46

Alcatib stated that Foster

23:49

had zero clues on the horizontal gaze

23:51

test. That's going to be important here

23:53

in a second. And then Foster

23:57

performed a one-legged stand to which he

23:59

could

25:57

We're

26:00

getting blood, right? We're gonna go get a blood

26:02

test. And Al-Qatib's

26:04

response was no. All this was

26:06

from last night. All this referring to

26:08

the alcohol that was still in Corey

26:10

Foster's system. The alcohol that

26:13

contributed to the cognitive

26:15

impairment that Corey Foster suffered

26:17

while driving down the road blindly to

26:20

his own admission.

26:20

Because his windshield was fogged up and

26:22

because

26:22

he was on his nose. Tareef

26:26

Al-Qatib declined to

26:28

get a blood test from Foster that day and

26:30

instead loaded up Corey Foster

26:33

along with his two loaded handguns that he

26:35

kept in his truck and drove

26:38

him home instead of to the hospital for a blood

26:40

test. Because that's what friends

26:42

do, right?

26:43

That's what Al-Qatib

26:45

did for his buddy. Drove him home instead

26:48

of driving him to the hospital like every

26:51

other law enforcement officer

26:53

would have. But Al-Qatib falls to that .001%.

26:57

And instead of doing the right thing, he did

26:59

Corey Foster's fault and took him home after

27:02

killing my wife. I would

27:04

hear from Al-Qatib a day or

27:06

two later and I asked him if

27:09

he got blood and he said no. And

27:11

he said it was a good thing that he didn't because

27:14

that blood test probably

27:16

would have come back at a .04 or a .03 and

27:19

that's what we would be stuck with.

27:24

I did not know because I obviously

27:27

haven't had any run ins with the law that

27:29

a portable breathalyzer

27:30

test is not admissible in court.

27:33

In a criminal court, a BBT test

27:35

is not admissible in what a blood test is.

27:37

So he told me that that .06 is

27:40

what we'd have to go on in

27:42

court instead of a .03 because

27:44

time would have elapsed and the body would have metabolized

27:47

somebody. And I

27:51

was naive and I didn't know and I faked them. I

27:53

would later come to find out that that's

27:56

just another misstep that

27:58

Corey Fauquette made that day.

27:59

Another misstep such

28:02

as not marking the scene at

28:04

all, not marking where our

28:06

bodies were, not marking where the truck

28:08

stopped, not talking to neighbors

28:11

on scene, not speaking with the neighbor that stopped

28:14

to help Katie and I after

28:16

we had gotten hit, not the neighbor

28:18

across the street that heard the collision and

28:20

could have told him exactly where Corey's truck was.

28:23

Tocquetteebe also failed to take adequate

28:25

pictures that day. Our family

28:28

had to supply the District Attorney's office

28:30

with pictures of the scene

28:32

that were taken by Katie's

28:34

aunt one day later because

28:36

Tocquetteebe did not do an investigation

28:38

and did not do his job. I called

28:41

Brett Smith, our District Attorney, weeks

28:43

later and

28:44

asked about the status of

28:46

our case, about if charges were going to be

28:48

filed. Brett had not gotten

28:51

the report yet, so he told me that

28:53

I probably knew more than he did about what

28:55

was going on and that as

28:58

soon as they have any information

29:00

and as soon as they received

29:03

a file that they would be in contact. Fair

29:05

enough. More time and tasks,

29:08

weeks have gone by. Ron

29:10

DeNell, Katie's mom,

29:11

called Brett Smith. She

29:14

couldn't get him at the DA's office, so

29:16

she got his number off of Facebook. He had his

29:18

number

29:18

on Facebook. He had his number on social

29:20

media. It's

29:21

public. She called him, not knowing

29:23

it was a cell phone, and he answered.

29:26

She asked about the status

29:28

of the case involving her daughter's death.

29:31

And instead of getting a District

29:34

Attorney that said

29:36

that he was sorry for her loss, instead

29:38

of a District Attorney stating that he was going

29:40

to do everything that he could to make sure that there

29:42

would be justice, he got angry with

29:45

Rhonda for calling him on

29:47

himself. Told her that he knew

29:49

nothing about the case. Didn't know Katie's

29:51

name at all, which contradicts what

29:53

he told me. Went

29:55

on to tell Rhonda that she should never call

29:58

an elected official on herself. and

30:00

to never do it again. That was our introduction

30:03

to who Brett Smith really was. Well, as soon

30:06

as this happened, one can only

30:08

imagine what would be going through a mother's head after

30:11

she just got dressed down by the

30:14

one person who could bring justice for

30:16

her daughter's death. So Rhonda,

30:19

this community, our friends and family,

30:22

were angry, we don't have a platform,

30:24

so we took to social media, and Rhonda

30:28

told of her interaction with Brett, and

30:30

there was an outrage, as rightly

30:33

so. So a week

30:35

or so later, I get a call from our district attorney,

30:37

Brett Smith. He instead of him

30:40

telling me that he's got the case,

30:42

and

30:43

again, he's going to ensure

30:46

that Katie gets justice.

30:48

He gets angry about what's

30:50

being said about him on social media. Our

30:53

elected DA calls me a

30:55

victim and a widower, and

30:58

lectures me about social media. He

31:01

then does that again. He was more

31:03

worried about his public

31:05

image than he was about doing his job,

31:08

and still lacks that way to this day. So

31:11

June of 2020, we have a meeting

31:13

with Brett Smith and two other prosecutors, Katie's

31:16

mom, Rhonda, Katie's dad, Tony,

31:19

Katie's brother, Logan, and I

31:21

met with district attorney Brett

31:23

Smith, and again, two

31:25

other prosecutors. I started off the

31:27

meeting by wanting to introduce

31:30

them to Katie, Katie was not there at the meeting. This

31:32

meeting was gonna be about Katie. They didn't

31:34

know Katie. I brought pictures, and

31:36

I wanted to explain to them who she was.

31:39

The other two prosecutors in

31:41

the room took the pictures and looked at them, and

31:43

Brett Smith, who wasn't sitting at

31:46

the conference table, but instead

31:48

was leaning up against the wall with

31:50

his arms crossed, refused to look at any

31:52

of the pictures. Very smugly

31:55

told me that he'd seen everything

31:57

he needed to see on social media.

31:59

him that I was going to continue and I

32:02

introduced them to Katie. As

32:04

soon as it was Brett's turn to talk, he

32:06

looked again at Rhonda and

32:09

was very angry about social media.

32:11

Again, third time,

32:14

not sorry for your loss, not we're

32:16

here to help you, not we're here to get justice,

32:20

but angry about how he was perceived on

32:22

social media. And when he was done

32:24

with lecturing us again,

32:27

a victim in a victim's family,

32:30

he looked at Rhonda and told her

32:32

to call off her jihad against him. The

32:35

meeting ended with Brett

32:37

stating that they were going to look into the case

32:41

and assign a prosecutor. We

32:43

didn't leave with a good feeling,

32:46

but at least we got our meeting, right? Carrie

32:51

Ashmore was a prosecutor that was

32:53

assigned to this case. I

32:55

met with Carrie Ashmore two or three

32:57

times to go over what had happened. Carrie

33:01

Ashmore eventually brought this in front of the grand

33:03

jury on August 19th, 2020. Carrie and

33:05

another prosecutor

33:12

Nathan Young presented this case

33:15

to a grand jury. In Texas,

33:17

a grand jury consists of 12. That

33:20

day we had 10. One grandeur

33:23

was sick and didn't show

33:26

up. Another grandeur recused

33:29

him or herself and we were left with 10.

33:32

And in Texas, you need nine. You need nine

33:34

people to agree

33:36

that this case should move forward.

33:39

Tareef Alcatib testified.

33:41

DPS did not do

33:44

a crash reconstruction

33:46

of this. So Grayson County had a third party

33:48

that did a crash reconstruction. That

33:51

expert testified and then I was allowed

33:53

to testify as well. After

33:56

three hours, Carrie Ashmore

33:58

came and told me

33:59

that the grand jury declined

34:02

to move forward. I

34:04

would later find out that the third

34:08

party was not complete

34:10

with their final report that was dated

34:13

six days after the grand jury. That

34:15

report is damning. That report

34:18

alone should have or

34:20

would have definitely

34:23

led that grand jury to an indictment. Also,

34:27

days after that Sunday

34:30

after the grand jury, the first grand jury,

34:34

Kerry Ashmore and Nathan Young threw

34:36

a party at Kerry Ashmore's house. Kerry

34:39

Ashmore's wife, Kelly Ashmore, is the

34:41

district clerk. The district clerk

34:43

controls the jury. At

34:45

this party, Kerry Ashmore, Nathan

34:48

Young, and Kelly Ashmore had

34:50

an impaneled grandeur at this part where

34:52

they were drinking beer, playing volleyball, and

34:54

eating burgers.

34:56

That infuriated

34:58

me that right there

35:01

lets you know that there is no impartiality

35:04

in Grayson County at all when prosecutors and

35:06

grand jurors can be

35:09

around each other like that. When

35:11

you're a grand juror, when you're a prosecutor, you're supposed

35:13

to be impartial. That does not

35:16

represent impartiality at all. Absolutely

35:19

biased. So

35:22

Kerry Ashmore failed. The district clerk

35:24

failed by not having 12 grand jurors there. Kerry

35:28

Ashmore failed to get an indictment. Kerry Ashmore failed

35:30

to properly ensure that

35:32

he had all of the evidence at hand. For

35:35

instance, that third party report that was dated

35:38

six days after the grand jury, that

35:40

wasn't presented to the grand jury. And

35:43

also through civil discovery, because

35:45

there is a civil lawsuit going on against

35:48

my family, Cory Foster, we got Cory

35:51

Foster's cell phone records, which Brett

35:53

Smith and Kerry Ashmore on numerous

35:55

occasions both told me that they would get the cell phone

35:58

records and review them. They

36:00

never did. They never presented those to the

36:02

first grand jury. We got these records roughly 18

36:05

months after Katie had been killed. And

36:08

these records clearly indicate that Corey

36:10

Foster was dialing a number as

36:12

he crossed over the roadway and hit Katie

36:15

and I. We put a timeline together.

36:18

We sent this over to the DA's office. And

36:21

I asked them why hadn't they got these records? And

36:23

they would never answer me. They

36:25

said it was my fault. It was my fault

36:28

that they didn't subpoena the records,

36:30

that we put too much

36:32

pressure on them to move forward with

36:36

the grand jury, which is absolutely

36:39

insane. I'm

36:41

not a lawyer. I don't know. This

36:44

was evidence that could have been used in the first grand

36:46

jury, but never was

36:48

even requested. It would have never been requested

36:51

if it wasn't for our civil attorney who

36:53

got these records. We presented them to

36:55

DA's office. They looked at them and

36:58

said they would review them. And then

37:01

I get a phone call from Kerry Ashmore at 4.30 one

37:03

day. I believe it was a Monday.

37:06

And he told me that they were

37:08

going to take these records in front of the grand jury.

37:10

They were going to take the cell phone records in front

37:12

of the grand jury and present those to the grand jury.

37:15

And if the grand jury had any questions, they would give them

37:17

any other evidence that they requested.

37:20

And he was just going to see what the grand jury thought

37:22

if they wanted to move forward. I

37:25

asked him if I needed to be there. He

37:27

told me, no, we're going to provide them with

37:29

the cell phone records. And then if they have

37:31

any other questions, we'll

37:35

go from there. And our phone call ended pretty abruptly.

37:38

And I sat there and I thought, this doesn't seem right. Why

37:41

would he be calling me at 4.30 PM to

37:44

tell me that this grand jury is going to take place the

37:46

next morning? Why am I not allowed to

37:48

be there? Why wasn't I going to be able to give my

37:50

testimony again? I

37:52

went to his office. He wouldn't take my call.

37:55

I had his cell phone. I sent him a text message.

37:58

He said he couldn't talk. Couldn't

38:01

talk, because I'd later come to find

38:03

out that he was at an election party. Couldn't

38:06

talk, but could text briefly.

38:09

And so I asked him what was going

38:11

to be presented, and he told

38:14

me that, again, it was just going to be the cell phone records,

38:16

and what he told me during our conversation,

38:19

and that's it. And I requested

38:21

that he hold off until

38:24

I was allowed to testify, because this was

38:26

a brand new Granger. This is not the

38:28

first Granger. There had been multiple grand

38:30

juries after the one that heard this the first

38:32

time. I want this case

38:35

to be presented again with

38:37

this new evidence. I

38:39

don't want in a bridged version of

38:41

what happened. I want you

38:43

to show them everything that the first grand

38:45

jury didn't see, including this new evidence.

38:49

I want Al-Qatib to testify again. I want

38:52

that third-party report that was never presented

38:54

to the first grand jury. I want that presented. I

38:56

want to be able to testify in front

38:58

of the grand jury, because I was a witness

39:01

and a victim, and I want

39:03

them to see the binding camera footage. Didn't

39:05

respond. I

39:08

called up there at 6 a.m. the next morning, left

39:11

a message for District Attorney Brett Smith,

39:13

and told him that Ronda Nail, who's

39:16

Katie's mom, and I would be there, and we

39:18

want to talk to him before they present anything to

39:21

the grand jury. We

39:23

got there a little bit before 8, saw

39:25

the grand jurors filing in. We

39:28

asked to speak to Brett. They said that they'd get

39:30

the message to him. Next thing we know, Kerry

39:33

Ashmore comes walking out

39:35

of the grand jury room and says, well, it's in the grand

39:38

jury's hands now. When

39:40

we started to question him, why wouldn't you

39:43

guys call us? Why wouldn't you

39:45

let us testify? He

39:48

told us that he didn't have to explain himself,

39:51

and he was damn good

39:53

at his job, and he stormed off. And

39:56

then Kerry Ashmore came back about 30

39:58

minutes later and said the grand jury... has declined

40:00

to move forward based

40:03

off of this new evidence. I can't

40:05

tell you how angry I was, but

40:07

I think everybody

40:09

in that building that was around us

40:13

knew I unloaded on

40:15

Kerry Ashmore that day and meant

40:17

every single word that I told him.

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Alright.

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Now back to this episode of Unnefarious

42:02

Nightmare.

42:04

It's

43:00

at 1 to the ICU. That

43:02

right there, those five or six sentences,

43:04

I just said that right there should have been enough to

43:07

have a grand jury say there's enough here

43:10

and we believe that this should move forward.

43:14

The Grayson County District Attorney's Office did

43:17

not want to prosecute this case. And

43:23

it is infuriating that

43:26

our family is still here over two

43:28

years later still fighting the same district

43:30

attorney, still fighting the same

43:33

inept prosecutor Kerry Ashmore

43:35

to get justice for my wife Katie

43:37

Palmer. Still fighting. I saw Brett

43:40

back this April a week or two

43:42

after he had talked

43:44

to Katie's mom Rhonda Nail

43:47

on the phone. We

43:50

had requested that Brett call us after

43:53

that last grand jury left messages

43:56

with his assistant and finally

43:58

got back to Rhonda.

43:59

four months later, four or five months later,

44:02

had the audacity to mispronounce

44:05

her name multiple times, kept on calling her Rhonda

44:08

Nall. Doing it

44:11

on purpose stated

44:13

that he didn't really know about

44:16

the case, didn't know the particulars. This

44:18

is not a large county. This has been on the news

44:20

multiple times. Brett Smith knows who I am.

44:22

Brett Smith knows who Rhonda is. Brett

44:24

Smith has acknowledged Rhonda in public. After

44:29

he did this, after he

44:32

purposely mispronounced her name, purposely

44:34

antagonized Rhonda by saying that he knew

44:37

nothing about her case, I ran into Brett

44:39

at the Justice Center and stopped

44:41

him and looked him in the face

44:44

and told him that what his office did

44:46

was wrong and what he was doing was wrong.

44:49

And he told

44:51

me that he wasn't the man that

44:53

I thought he was, in which I very

44:55

much disagreed with him and told

44:57

him that he is exactly who I think he

45:00

is. He

45:02

told me he was a Christian man. I

45:05

told him to then act like it. He told

45:07

me that wasn't fair. He told me that statement

45:09

wasn't fair. That angered me even

45:11

more than he would even say that that statement

45:14

that I made to him was unfair.

45:17

Unfair is going, unfair

45:21

is seeing the man that killed my wife

45:23

drive up and down our street multiple times

45:26

a day, still with the dent in

45:28

his hood where my wife's head hit.

45:31

Unfair is walking with

45:33

my son down that road and him

45:36

looking at where my wife was hit and

45:41

him getting emotional and telling

45:43

me you guys were so close. You guys

45:45

were so close from being home. That's

45:48

not fair. Not fair is having,

45:50

is being a child and being

45:52

woken up to somebody telling you that

45:55

your mother and father are probably dead.

45:58

How do you, how do you get back to the house?

45:59

from that

46:01

our

46:02

our lives changed that day because

46:04

of nothing that we did but because of the

46:07

reckless choices Corey

46:09

Foster made his reckless choices

46:12

resulted in the death

46:14

of Katie Palmer but yet we

46:16

are burdened with injustice because

46:19

of the actions of few people

46:21

the few people that can actually change

46:24

this won't change it that's

46:26

unfair that is unfair

46:28

this injustice remains unfair

46:31

I would label this

46:33

as negligence that caused

46:36

the death of Katie Palmer

46:37

where Corey's

46:40

recklessness and the cognitive

46:43

impairment he had with the alcohol

46:45

in his system as well as the

46:47

distraction he had with the cell phone in his

46:49

hand as well as the disability

46:52

issues that he had all contributed

46:54

to the death of Katie Palmer

46:57

Katie was a rock Katie

46:59

was her glue you know

47:01

went for a walk that morning with my wife and

47:03

she never came back my kids

47:06

woke up to their grandmother telling them

47:08

that both of their parents had been hit by a truck and

47:11

she didn't know if we were alive or dead I still

47:14

wake up sometimes thinking that she's

47:16

next to me in bed we will

47:18

always have a hole in our heart always

47:21

what happened here in Grayson

47:23

County Texas can

47:25

happen where you live Katie could

47:27

have been your mother your wife your daughter

47:29

your sister cousin or your friend we will

47:32

continue to fight for her as long as it takes

47:34

for us to get her justice and

47:36

for there to be change here in Grayson

47:38

County will fight for as long as Corey Foster

47:40

remains on our roads for

47:42

as long as Brett Smith is a district attorney

47:44

in Grayson County and for as long

47:46

as tree falcon team continues to wear a DPS

47:49

badge and work in Grayson County

47:52

you won't stop she deserves better

47:54

Katie

47:54

deserves justice our

47:56

goal has always been justice

47:58

for Katie and change

47:59

where change is needed. We

48:03

heard about a family, the Carney family,

48:06

who lost their son to a vehicle

48:09

pedestrian accident and

48:12

we worked with them and lobbied with them to get

48:14

House Bill 558 passed. It's

48:17

known as Colton's Law. The spirit

48:19

of that law would require that any

48:21

motorist that hits pedestrian

48:24

and causes either serious bottle injury or death

48:27

be tested for drugs

48:30

or alcohol. Their blood would be drawn

48:33

unlike what happened with

48:35

Colton Carney and what happened with Katie

48:37

Palmer. We want positive

48:40

change. We want change here in Grayson

48:42

County and we want change in the state. We

48:44

also want her story to be told. We

48:47

want to continue to shed light on the injustice

48:49

that we've been fighting and surely there

48:51

has to be somebody out there that hears this, that

48:53

hears all the podcasts that we've done and

48:56

can help us bring justice to Katie.

48:58

This week again we are

49:00

meeting with Texas Department of Public

49:03

Safety. We're meeting with the Chief of

49:05

the Highway Patrol

49:06

to discuss

49:08

the actions of Corporal Toreen's Alcanteeve

49:10

and to find out why they refused to hold

49:12

Alcanteeve accountable for covering for foster

49:14

back in April of 2020. I want DBS

49:17

to tell me, Katie's mom and dad,

49:19

why they continue to circle their wagons around

49:21

him and protect him.

49:23

We have state senators, state representatives,

49:25

other law enforcement officers,

49:26

our district attorney,

49:28

and even the Texas Criminal Defense

49:30

Lawyers

49:30

Association has

49:33

stated that Alcanteeve

49:35

did a horrible job that day. He

49:37

made missteps. He called messed

49:40

up and even been

49:42

told that

49:43

he should be fired. Everyone

49:46

sees this again from state representatives,

49:49

state senators, to Texas

49:51

Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Everybody sees

49:54

what has happened. Why can't DBS?

49:57

And so when we meet with them, this learns

49:59

to

49:59

Again, we're going

50:02

to be able to ask that question.

50:03

Why? Why do you fail to see

50:05

this? Why do you continue to

50:08

go along with this? Why is

50:10

there no accountability? Why? On

50:13

April 21st, 2020, John

50:16

Palmer and his two children lost

50:19

a wife and a mother. Her parents lost

50:21

a daughter.

50:22

But their killer is still walking free and

50:24

the Palmer family has been failed by the system

50:27

because of obvious favoritism.

50:29

There's nothing that the family can really do

50:32

since they do not have the privilege of

50:34

knowing quote unquote the higher

50:36

ups intimately. But

50:39

what can we do?

50:40

We can advocate on their behalf. We

50:43

can listen.

50:44

We can raise awareness and our magic

50:46

phrase,

50:47

apply

50:49

pressure.

50:50

If you would like more information on justice

50:52

for Katie Palmer,

50:54

you can visit

50:55

facebook.com slash

50:57

justice for Katie Palmer. We will

50:59

include it in our show notes to

51:02

me and not to interject my

51:04

own opinion. But the fact that these people are

51:06

adamant about public image and fighting for

51:08

the offender rather than the victim,

51:11

who is Katie Palmer, by

51:13

the way, this all just screams guilt

51:15

to me. But what do I know? I

51:17

feel like we should have more strict laws

51:20

against drunk driving and any

51:22

distracted driving. People take

51:24

way too much advantage of how relaxed people

51:26

have become.

51:27

But enforcing these laws, yes,

51:30

these laws

51:32

could save more lives and prevent more accidents

51:34

and deaths from occurring.

51:36

So to the DA, the DPS

51:38

and law enforcement,

51:40

we are calling for action.

51:42

Please

51:43

reopen the case and assign new people

51:45

who have zero conflict

51:46

of interest or bias in this case.

51:48

And to those who are sweeping this under the rug,

51:51

let's hold them accountable.

51:53

And please do not ever

51:55

drink and drive. If you do, you

51:58

very well could seal the. life

52:00

of an innocent person, and you would

52:02

steal the livelihood of an innocent

52:05

family.

52:06

Before we wrap up, let's get some

52:08

housecleaning out of the way.

52:10

We've revamped our Patreon, finally.

52:13

We have tiers that start at $3, and the

52:15

highest tier is just $10.

52:17

All proceeds from Patreon go directly

52:19

back into our podcast, but we have

52:21

lofty goals. We want to get to a point

52:24

where we can donate back to a worthwhile cause

52:26

focused on victims of sexual assault.

52:29

Also, don't forget that we have

52:31

the Dallas True Crime Podcast Festival

52:33

August 26-28. Tickets are going fast, so

52:37

hit up truecrimepodcastfestival.com

52:39

and get your tickets. That way we can

52:41

meet you and hug your neck. And

52:44

we'll also have all these fucking

52:46

stickers that we've gotta give out, so

52:49

come meet us. Get a sticker

52:51

or 50.

52:52

Katie Palmer, John Palmer,

52:55

their two children, their entire

52:57

family, their friends,

53:00

anyone who has experienced this

53:02

loss, they are bees.

53:05

And remember,

53:07

be vigilant,

53:08

for when you mess with the bees, you

53:10

get the hive.

53:25

Thank you for listening to A Nefarious

53:28

Nightmare. Original intro music

53:30

by Ghost Stories Incorporated.

53:33

Remixed by Ryan RCX

53:36

Murphy. Additional music provided

53:38

by Epidemic Sound.

53:41

This podcast was researched,

53:43

scripted, and produced by Amanda

53:46

Cronin

53:47

and Courtney Finner. A Nefarious

53:49

Nightmare is a Cloud 10 iHeart

53:52

Podcast,

53:53

managed by A Nefarious

53:55

Nightmare, Sim Sarna, and

53:57

Jamie Rice of Murderish.

53:59

and dirty money moves. Thank

54:02

you again for listening and be vigilant.

54:06

Thanks again for listening to True Crime by Indie

54:09

Drop-In Network. If you would like to nominate

54:11

a True Crime podcast to be featured, just

54:13

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54:16

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you would like to contribute, please consider buying

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me a coffee. You can go to buymeacoffee.com

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54:36

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54:39

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54:43

Just go to indiedropin.com.

54:45

All right, see you next week.

54:56

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