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The Magician and the Fool: The Story of the DC Snipers, Pt 2

The Magician and the Fool: The Story of the DC Snipers, Pt 2

Released Friday, 5th April 2024
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The Magician and the Fool: The Story of the DC Snipers, Pt 2

The Magician and the Fool: The Story of the DC Snipers, Pt 2

The Magician and the Fool: The Story of the DC Snipers, Pt 2

The Magician and the Fool: The Story of the DC Snipers, Pt 2

Friday, 5th April 2024
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Episode Transcript

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0:02

When someone is hurt in a truck

0:05

accident, the one question everyone has is

0:07

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Colombo Law is the law firm people call

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to get answers heard by a truck. Call

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Columbo Law. Hello campers,

0:46

grab your marshmallows and gather round. The

0:48

True Crime Can't fire. Where. Your

0:50

Camp Counselors I'm Katie and I'm Whitney.

0:53

And. We're here to tell you a true

0:55

story that has way stranger than fiction or

0:57

roasting murderers and marshmallows around the true crime

0:59

campfire. When

1:06

we left you at the end of

1:09

Part one, John Allen Mohamed and Leave

1:11

Boyd Malvo had begun a killing spree

1:13

that took them from Tacoma, Washington through

1:15

Arizona, Louisiana in Maryland. By.

1:17

October. two thousand and two. They

1:19

had killed or wounded ten people,

1:21

with Mohamad pointing his finger and

1:23

Malveaux pointing his gun. Malveaux.

1:26

Believed himself to be a soldier in the

1:28

fight to free the marginalized people of the

1:30

world. Muhammad. Made him

1:32

his acolyte traveling across the country,

1:34

playing him anti American propaganda through

1:37

headphones as he slept, putting him

1:39

through a grueling physical regimen, as

1:41

well as making him eat a

1:43

sparse vegetarian diet. Muhammad.

1:45

Told him that white people were devils and

1:47

that they had to prepare for the oncoming

1:50

race war. For. Thirty days.

1:52

they would kill six white people a day

1:54

until the Us government agreed to their terms

1:56

and paid them off to go away. Join.

1:59

us know for part two of The Magician

2:01

and the Fool, the story of the DC

2:04

Snipers. In

2:17

particular, Muhammad prepared Melvoh to target

2:19

pregnant white women. He

2:21

said American culture quote, is based on

2:23

death, and since that's the only language

2:25

they understand, that's the language we're going

2:27

to speak. I'm going to punish this nation

2:29

for what it did to me. What

2:32

Lee didn't know was that Muhammad's motive had

2:34

nothing to do with politics or social justice.

2:36

It was about as bog standard as they

2:39

come, revenge against his ex-wife

2:41

in custody of his kids. His

2:43

ex-wife Mildred had gained custody of the couple's

2:45

three children after Muhammad kidnapped them for 18

2:47

months. After the

2:50

court case, Mildred's lawyer insisted that she not

2:52

wait to take the kids back to her home

2:54

in Maryland because he was so convinced she was in

2:56

danger. At the beginning of

2:58

September 2001, Mildred brought

3:00

her babies home, finally. It

3:03

was lucky too because it was just like, I

3:05

think, five or six days

3:07

before 9-11 that she was able to leave.

3:10

If she would have waited, it's possible she

3:12

would have had to wait due to the

3:14

planes being grounded. That's so funny because, you

3:16

know, the last case we did was the

3:18

same on 9-11 also with Elisa McNabney. That's

3:20

wild. This

3:22

threw a wrench into Muhammad's quest for

3:25

revenge. He didn't know where his

3:27

ex-wife was. No problem, though.

3:29

Muhammad got in contact with a

3:31

Tacoma-based men's support group. His

3:34

ex-wife was crazy. She wouldn't let him see the

3:36

kids. He had no idea where his precious angels

3:38

were. Now, any kind of

3:41

responsible person would look into this, right? Right?

3:45

Make sure he hadn't like kidnapped his children

3:48

for a year and a half or abused his wife

3:50

or was stark raving mad. Right? Right? Not

3:55

so much. They immediately made themselves

3:57

helpful and tracked down Mildred's attention.

4:00

dress in Maryland. Oof.

4:05

So this is how we get to a small used

4:07

car dealership on September 11, 2002. Muhammad

4:11

and Malvo had been studying up on

4:13

the Irish Republican Army's Green Book for

4:16

tips on urban guerrilla warfare. Always

4:18

a solid plan, right? According

4:22

to Malvo, they had perfected shooting out

4:24

of cars, which was ideal for an

4:26

unassuming sniper's nest in a quick getaway.

4:29

But sure shot auto sales in Trenton, New Jersey,

4:31

they met with owner Chris Okupsky and told him

4:33

they were looking for a cheap car. In

4:36

particular, they wanted to look at the 1990 Blue Chevy Caprice

4:39

in the lot. To Chris, the

4:41

pair seemed kind of closed off like they didn't want

4:44

him in their business. When

4:46

he handed them the keys, they got right to

4:48

business being as weird as possible. They

4:50

kept getting in and out, laying down in

4:52

the back seat, lifting up the back seat,

4:55

scrutinizing the trunk a little more closely than

4:57

the standard. Did my gym bag fit back

4:59

here? Chris thought it was

5:01

kind of odd, but they had cash in hand and

5:03

purchased the car for $250. A

5:07

friend of Muhammad's, Nathaniel Osborn, agreed to

5:09

help Muhammad register the vehicle and allowed

5:11

Muhammad to register it at his address.

5:14

Osborn was a Jamaican citizen that had

5:16

met Muhammad during his time overseas. And

5:19

I want to be clear, there's no reason

5:22

to believe that this Osborn character had any

5:24

idea what Muhammad had planned. So just

5:26

a little TCC tip for y'all. Don't

5:29

let a friend ever use your name, address

5:31

social security number, or any other identifying info

5:33

on a government document. There's no

5:36

good and legal reason to do that, and it will

5:38

almost always end badly for you. Yeah,

5:40

we've seen that a bunch of times. If

5:43

somebody says, hey, can I just borrow your

5:45

social security number? No. Right.

5:48

No. And Osborn ended up

5:50

in neck deep and trouble.

5:52

He was questioned by Homeland Security. I'm

5:55

sure they crawled all the way up his ass for months. Lee

6:00

and John went about molding the vehicle to their

6:02

needs. They removed the metal separating the back seat

6:05

from the trunk so someone could crawl back to

6:07

the trunk, but now they needed a way to

6:09

fire a gun from there. They

6:11

sawed out a notch right above the license plate

6:13

that was just wide enough for a rifle's barrel.

6:16

Lee could lie flat on his stomach, look

6:19

through his sight, while John would act as

6:21

the spotter, giving him his targets via walkie-talkie.

6:24

The next thing to do was to test it out. On

6:27

October 2, 2002, 55-year-old

6:30

James Martin was heading to the

6:32

grocery store for a quick trip after work. His

6:35

church's youth group was meeting that night and he

6:37

was buying snacks for the kids. He

6:39

was a busy guy. He volunteered at

6:41

his 11-year-old son's elementary school as a

6:44

judge for science fairs and a representative

6:46

for the PTA. He helped get the

6:48

school new computers. He was a Boy

6:50

Scout leader and worked at the National

6:52

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He

6:54

was pretty much everything you could hope for in a citizen.

6:57

He made the world around him a better place.

7:00

And in the late afternoon that October, he

7:02

was shot dead outside of his car by

7:04

Lee Boyd Malvo. No

7:07

one at the scene had seen anything. That

7:09

first day was a trial run to make

7:11

sure they could shoot someone and escape without

7:14

catching attention. It worked, and

7:16

the next day they began their reign of terror

7:18

in earnest. The next morning

7:20

Jim Ross was heading to his local

7:22

YMCA for his morning workout. In

7:25

the parking lot, he noticed a blue Chevy Caprice

7:27

parked with two men inside. The older one

7:29

was sleeping in the driver's seat and the younger one was

7:31

sleeping in the back with his legs propped up on the

7:33

passenger seat. Something in his

7:35

gut pulled. He couldn't figure out why,

7:38

but he didn't like what he saw. Even

7:41

now, he can't articulate why he had

7:43

such a bad feeling. He just says, I've

7:45

never seen anyone do that. He

7:48

told himself to calm down, that people sleep in

7:50

their cars all the time. In

7:52

fact, when he checked at the Y, the other members

7:54

said, oh yeah, that's Lee and John. They work out

7:56

here with us. So there it was. Nothing

7:59

amiss. It's funny,

8:01

right? Who knows what Jim's subconscious picked up on that

8:03

made him question what Lee and John were doing, but

8:05

he talked himself out of it. Most

8:08

of us would, I suspect. There's nothing illegal about

8:10

sleeping in your car. A cop probably would have

8:12

just made them move. That

8:15

morning, John told Lee that he wanted 10 bodies.

8:18

They had already staked out about 15

8:20

places to target. Stores, parking lots, gas

8:22

stations, post offices. At

8:25

7.41 a.m., 39-year-old landscaper

8:27

James Sonny Buchanan was shot and killed while

8:29

mowing the grass at a car dealership. One

8:32

of Sonny Buchanan's coworkers, Al Briggs, found Sonny

8:34

on the ground next to his lawnmower surrounded

8:36

by witnesses. He knelt down next

8:39

to his friend and spoke to him as Sonny struggled to

8:41

breathe. Just lie down, Sonny. Help

8:43

is on the way. Al

8:46

held his hand, placed his hand on his

8:48

shoulder, and comforted him as his friend took his last breath.

8:51

To this day, Al shakes, recalling watching Sonny

8:53

die. Geez Louise.

8:57

30 minutes later, at 8.12, taxi driver

8:59

Prem Kumar Walakar was shot and killed outside of

9:01

a mobile gas station, five miles away and 15

9:03

minutes by car from the first killing. Dr.

9:06

Caroline Namro was sitting in her car at the

9:08

pump next to Prem Kumar, and she made eye

9:10

contact with him and smiled. The kind

9:12

of awkward eye contact where you didn't mean to do

9:15

it, but you grin anyway. She looked

9:17

down to grab her credit card and heard a loud

9:19

bang. When she looked up again,

9:21

Prem Kumar was on the ground. Dr.

9:24

Namro is an emergency pediatrician. As

9:27

terrified as she was, she did her best to stabilize Prem

9:29

Kumar, but it was too late. She

9:31

could tell the exact time when he started agonal breathing, the

9:34

desperate breaths right before someone dies. He

9:36

was gone. Prem

9:39

Kumar immigrated to the US from India when he was 18

9:41

so he could get an education and send money back home.

9:44

As the oldest son, he helped his younger

9:46

siblings save money to immigrate themselves. Finally,

9:49

he was getting ready to retire after a lifetime

9:52

of working. He was working earlier

9:54

than usual that morning because the weather was supposed to be

9:56

nice that day and he wanted to enjoy it. He

9:59

left behind his wife and she was children, a son and a daughter.

10:03

Another 20 minutes later, Lee shot and killed 34-year-old

10:05

Sarah Ramos as she sat at a bus stop

10:07

bench reading a book. This was

10:09

two miles from the mobile where Prem Kumar was shot. Lee

10:12

said that they decided to wait, watch the bus stop,

10:14

and shoot the first person who sat down there. Sarah

10:18

Ramos was an El Salvadoran immigrant who worked

10:20

as a babysitter and housekeeper. She

10:22

was an active member of her church and loved

10:24

by her friends, her husband, and her 7-year-old son.

10:28

The bullet was fired through her head. Witnesses

10:31

were so confused that they initially reported as a suicide

10:33

to 911, but at the scene the cops couldn't find

10:35

a gun. They realized pretty quickly

10:37

that it was a homicide. As

10:40

a canvas for witnesses, one told them that they

10:42

saw an Azuzu white box truck speeding away around

10:44

the same time they heard the gunshot. That

10:47

white truck would haunt the case until the very end.

10:51

By this point, the police started to realize

10:53

that something was happening in Maryland. The

10:56

media noticed it as well and started circling. The

10:59

media held onto the white truck lead

11:01

immediately. There was no wait

11:03

and see. There was no further canvassing. They

11:05

released the white truck without thinking twice. As

11:08

Lee Malvo would later say, this played right into their

11:11

hands. The message, he said,

11:13

was, these people are idiots. They

11:15

cannot protect you. Muhammad

11:17

told him, I want to make these people

11:20

feel helpless. I can't

11:22

help but wonder if that message was specifically

11:24

from Mildred Muhammad. You

11:26

can't run. You can't hide. The

11:28

people protecting you are incompetent. I

11:31

doubt you. Just like he

11:33

said at the courthouse that day a year ago. At

11:36

9.58, 25-year-old Lori Ann

11:39

Lewis Rivera was shot while she vacuumed

11:41

her minivan at a shell station 15

11:43

minutes away from where Sarah was killed. Lori's

11:47

husband, Nelson, said that he met Lori at

11:49

church and she had a really nice heart.

11:52

The couple had one daughter named Jocelyn. Nelson

11:56

remembers that the morning she died, Lori was

11:58

still asleep when he left for work. He

12:00

kissed her on the cheek before he slipped out of the room.

12:04

You never think that's going to be the last time you do that,

12:06

but for him it was. Lee

12:09

and Muhammad were parked waiting for the first person

12:11

to use the gas station vacuum. She

12:14

was shot in the back and an ICU

12:16

nurse heard her calling for help. She

12:19

found Lori on the ground bleeding from the mouth.

12:22

The nurse thought that maybe she was having a seizure

12:24

or something, or maybe something

12:26

had blown up in the vacuum and started

12:28

doing chest compressions. The

12:30

ambulance seemed to take too long, and so when

12:32

a nearby pregnant woman asked how she could help,

12:35

the nurse asked if she could find help,

12:37

and this heavily pregnant woman ran down the

12:39

street looking. Like

12:41

Mr. Rogers once said, in stories like this, I

12:44

think it's important to look for the helpers, because

12:46

it reminds you that for all the darkness out there,

12:49

there's still good, too. But

12:51

heartbreakingly, despite everybody's best efforts,

12:53

Lori was pronounced dead on

12:55

arrival at the hospital. When

12:58

Nelson Rivera was brought to the scene in

13:00

the days, he asked where his daughter was. Had

13:03

she seen her mother die? The

13:06

detectives kind of looked at each other confused and said

13:08

there was no baby in the car. Luckily,

13:11

Lori had dropped Dosseline at daycare a few minutes

13:13

before she stopped to vacuum out the car. After

13:17

Lori, Malvo and Mohammed took a break. They

13:20

drove 40 minutes to D.C. and grabbed some

13:22

food at a Jamaican restaurant. Then

13:25

they waited in their car at a busy intersection

13:27

to wait for a target. It

13:29

was nearly 12 hours after Lori Rivera's

13:32

murder when Lee aimed his gun toward

13:34

Pascal Charleau, a 72-year-old who

13:36

was walking down the road. He

13:39

had just called his wife and let her know he was on

13:41

his way home. Pascal

13:43

was a lovely man. He

13:45

loved gardening and helping his community. He

13:47

was a retired carpenter and handyman who would often

13:50

repair his neighbor's houses for free. He

13:52

and his wife had raised five children together and

13:54

were finally enjoying their retirement. D.C.

13:58

homicide detective Tony Patterson. had been aware

14:00

of what was happening in Maryland and felt

14:02

like they were probably in the clear until this shooting.

14:06

After talking to witnesses, though, he got a pretty

14:08

crucial clue. One guy said

14:10

he heard the gunshot and had seen a

14:12

dark colored Chevy Caprice driving slowly away from

14:14

the scene with its lights off, despite it

14:16

being quite dark outside, which is why he

14:18

remembered it. Detective Patterson thought

14:20

this was a good lead and sent out a

14:23

bolo. He did a write-up

14:25

and hand delivered a copy to the command center

14:27

in Montgomery County where the other shootings had happened.

14:30

The team there kind of dismissed him. After

14:33

all, now many witnesses were recalling the white

14:35

truck. Or was it a van? Either

14:38

way, a Chevy Caprice wasn't even close to

14:41

that. The media had taken

14:43

the white truck angle and ran with it,

14:45

and the misinformation was spread and fast. This

14:47

is a mistake a lot of investigators make

14:50

and media too. They limit the investigation by

14:52

putting it in a box. The

14:55

way killers are named can be a good example of this.

14:57

The media name for the culprit in this case,

14:59

the DC Sniper or the Beltway Sniper, not

15:02

only limited the number of killers, but

15:04

the geography too. I mean, these

15:06

two were actually killing people all over the country,

15:08

not just around DC. The

15:11

Green River Killer is another one. Gary Ridgway killed

15:13

women and dumped their bodies in several locations, especially

15:15

after the media started calling him the Green River

15:17

Killer. He was like, oh, well, I'll just change

15:20

the run. The

15:22

worst thing you can do is make these kinds

15:24

of assumptions. They're total case killers. Yeah,

15:27

it kills me that they could have had a huge

15:29

break in this case on the first day, day one,

15:31

but instead, you know, just, and now it's not white.

15:34

So it's not a white truck. It's

15:37

just, it's really unfortunate those investigators couldn't

15:39

see past their own assumptions. The

15:43

one thing the investigators knew for sure was that

15:45

the bullets found that each scene had been fired

15:47

from the same gun. Meanwhile,

15:49

Lee and John were jubilant. The

15:52

police were scrambling around overwhelmed. This was the

15:55

result they were hoping for. I

15:58

will say the cops were very quick about getting angry. ATF

16:00

and FBI assistance. I mean, not only did it

16:02

cross state lines, but they needed everyone they could

16:04

just to stay on top of the crime scenes.

16:08

The next day, Friday, October 4th, in

16:10

Spotsylvania, Pennsylvania, Carolyn Seewell was heading back

16:13

to her car after a trip to Michaels when

16:15

she was shot in the back. Two

16:17

witnesses called 911, and Caroline was transported

16:19

to the hospital in critical condition. That

16:22

morning, she and her husband had talked about the murder spree

16:24

from the day before. They'd seen it on the

16:26

news and talked about how scary it was. Then,

16:29

Caroline got their two kids to school and went about her day.

16:32

She was at Michaels for some new decor, but now she was

16:34

fighting for her life. She would

16:36

survive. Police

16:38

Chief Charles Moose was the public face for the

16:40

investigation. As the shootings continued, he'd

16:43

hold a conference every day, answering what questions

16:45

he could and updating the public about this

16:47

case. During active situations

16:49

like this one, police are especially aware of

16:51

two things. The public

16:53

is listening, and so are the culprits. After

16:58

the first day, Chief Moose put all the

17:00

Montgomery County schools on lockdown. Still

17:02

in session, but no recess or outdoor activities.

17:05

He insisted that it didn't appear that the killer or killers

17:07

would go after children, but it was better to have some

17:09

caution. Schools told parents that their

17:11

children would be safe. Lee

17:14

and John listened to the radio, switching back and

17:16

forth between coverage. They wanted to

17:18

make sure their message was getting across, that Americans

17:20

weren't safe. Lee

17:22

knew John had a plan in his head. He

17:25

had the whole thing mapped out. All Lee

17:27

had to do was trust the man he now called Dad. The

17:30

night after Caroline Seawell was shot, Muhammad took Lee to

17:32

a Barnes and Noble and told him to buy a

17:34

deck of tarot cards. The shootings

17:36

died down over the weekend. Chief Moose announced the

17:38

school would be in session on Monday, and the

17:41

school officials reassured parents that their kids' safety would

17:43

be their first priority. John

17:45

Muhammad took that personally. Content

17:47

warning for this next part. If you're not in the

17:49

right headspace to hear about violence against a child, you

17:52

can fast forward the next 30 seconds or so. He

17:54

chose Benjamin Tasker Middle School and Bowie, Maryland

17:56

as their next target. He

17:59

told Lee to shoot as many as kids as he could as they got

18:01

off the bus. Lee

18:03

said that Muhammad was really specific about the school

18:05

he picked, so we did a little digging on

18:07

Benjamin Tasker to find out if there was anything

18:10

that stuck out. Most likely

18:12

this school was named after Benjamin Tasker

18:14

Sr. who was a governor of Maryland

18:16

during colonial times in the mid-1750s. If

18:19

you've even breathed air next to an American

18:21

history book, you probably know what's coming next.

18:24

His family likely owned slaves and his son

18:26

was a prominent slave trader. Now he

18:29

never said why he chose this school, but

18:31

is it possible he knew about that family

18:33

history? I don't know, but it's a compelling

18:35

motive. Yeah, the school was also

18:37

surrounded by a pretty thick copse of trees, so it

18:39

provided a lot of cover. So

18:42

it could be that, could be that the name of the

18:44

school drew his attention, it could be both. Yeah,

18:47

and really I don't think it was about, like we said

18:49

earlier, I think it was about Mildred 100%, but

18:51

yeah, I mean it could have just

18:54

been an extra little motivation

18:56

for sure. And if he's

18:59

lying to Lee about his

19:01

motive. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. As

19:03

children started filing into the school, Lee, for the

19:05

first time in months, was feeling doubt. No

19:08

school bus appeared and Malvo said he

19:10

felt hopeful. Maybe Muhammad would call

19:12

it off. Through the walkie-talkie,

19:15

he asked for instructions. Instead,

19:17

Muhammad said, take what's available. Lee

19:20

didn't want to kill a kid. He'd shot 16 people

19:23

at this point, but never a child, and his

19:25

instincts were screaming at him, but

19:27

he couldn't disappoint Muhammad. So he

19:30

picked somebody out. Iron

19:32

Brown was a 13 year old boy. His

19:34

bus driver had suspended him because he'd been eating

19:36

a Twizzler on the bus, so his aunt, Tanya,

19:38

who was a nurse, had just dropped him off

19:41

at school and was starting to drive away. Lee

19:43

was waiting. As he caught

19:45

the kid in the crosshairs, he noticed something. Iron

19:48

looked like Same

19:50

build, same complexion, even

19:52

around the same height. He knew

19:55

this was wrong. He knew it. But

19:57

the stronger voice, Muhammad's voice, Dad

20:01

told him to squeeze the trigger. He

20:04

held Iron's head in his sights for a

20:06

long moment, and then he dropped

20:08

his aim to the kid's lower back. When

20:10

he told Muhammad later that he'd shot the kid, he asked

20:13

Lee if the kid was dead. Lee said,

20:15

maybe. Muhammad

20:18

accepted without much reprimand. The

20:20

message was the same. You aren't safe.

20:23

Your kids aren't safe. Your government can't

20:25

keep you safe. Only

20:27

for Iron Brown, his aunt hadn't left yet.

20:30

She lifted him into her car and rushed him to the

20:32

ER. As she drove, she

20:34

called 911 to let them know she was on her

20:36

way. The call is just horrific.

20:39

The whole time she's promising that he's not going

20:41

to die, to hold on to

20:43

his womb, to stem the bleeding. You can

20:45

hear this poor kid groaning, and his

20:48

aunt just desperately honking her horns, screaming at

20:50

other drivers to let her through. It's

20:52

awful. He told her

20:54

that he loved her, and he appreciated her. Just

20:57

in case. A kid facing death

20:59

telling his auntie he loved her. The

21:03

hospital prepared for the worst kind of injury.

21:06

Rifle bullets tend to cause what's called

21:08

a blast injury, which causes intense trauma

21:10

to the organs in a cone shape.

21:13

Iron's spleen, pancreas, liver,

21:15

and stomach were all severely damaged, on

21:18

top of losing incredible amounts of

21:20

blood. The doctors were

21:22

sure Iron was going to die. Fortunately,

21:24

thanks to Tonya's quick thinking and

21:26

the doctors' hard work, Iron survived.

21:31

Today he owns his own business, and

21:33

does inspirational speaking. To

21:36

the investigators, this was a terrible reminder that

21:38

they were two steps behind the shooter at

21:40

every stage. Chief

21:42

Moose was so angry that he cried at the press

21:45

conference. Someone is so

21:47

mean-spirited that they shot a child, he

21:49

said, his rage just barely masked.

21:53

Some of the public thought that his crying was a

21:55

sign of weakness, but even more acknowledged that it was

21:57

a sign that he cared. To

21:59

the public, the message was clear. No

22:02

one was safe, not even the most

22:04

vulnerable. To this killer there

22:06

were no rules and all bets were

22:08

off. When

22:25

someone is hurt in a truck accident,

22:27

the one question everyone has is why

22:29

did this terrible collision happen? To

22:32

answer that question takes an experienced team

22:34

of lawyers and experts. Not

22:36

everyone has this type of experience. At

22:39

Colombo Law we are truck injury

22:41

lawyers. It's what we do every

22:43

day. When someone is hurt

22:46

by a truck, Colombo Law is the law

22:48

firm people call to get answers. Hurt

22:50

by a truck? Call Colombo Law. The

23:06

feds and the ATF investigators combed the new

23:08

scene and brought in a canine to search

23:10

the woods that surrounded the school. His

23:13

name is Beacon and he's obviously a very

23:15

good boy. His

23:17

handler, US Marshal Mike Peele, started

23:19

by finding the best vantage point

23:21

if someone wanted to shoot somebody in front of the

23:23

school. He was looking for any

23:25

shell casings left behind. Shell

23:27

casings are some of the hardest things for a search

23:30

dog to find because there's very little sense.

23:33

Nobody really thought that Beacon would find anything so

23:35

they were just kind of going through the motions.

23:38

Then one of his colleagues said, hey pay attention

23:40

to your dog. Beacon

23:42

was paying really close attention to a

23:44

branch on the ground and drooling. Mike

23:47

told the searchers to focus on that area

23:49

and later that night he was informed that

23:51

he and Beacon hit pay dirt. There

23:54

was a shell casing and a note found at

23:56

the scene. Notes,

23:59

campers. Notes again. Some

24:02

killers can't really help

24:04

but brag. And it almost

24:06

always becomes their downfall. Yeah.

24:09

All you're doing leaving a note is just giving

24:11

us more evidence. So go for it. The

24:15

note. This is so fucking dorky. I can't understand

24:17

the process. The

24:20

note was written on a death tarot

24:22

card. On the

24:24

face of the card, it read, call me God.

24:27

On the back, it said for you,

24:29

Mr. Police code, call me God. Do

24:32

not release to the press. Each

24:35

separate line was surrounded by quotes,

24:37

which I don't know why I just find it annoying.

24:41

How are you quoting? Who are you quoting,

24:44

sir? Also, can we talk about

24:46

how the death tarot card is actually

24:48

about like, yeah, it's about change. I'm

24:51

so irritating. It's so clear. But see, again,

24:53

this is why when you when you do

24:55

this stuff, you give evidence. Because you're showing

24:57

that you're not that actually invested in this,

24:59

quote unquote, little signature that you're trying to

25:01

fake. Yeah. Because you don't know what you're talking

25:03

about. Right. I mean, people who are into tarot never

25:05

get tired of telling you that the death card doesn't

25:08

mean that it means change. Right. Anybody knows

25:10

that. Apparently not John Dipshit Muhammad.

25:14

I hate this guy so bad. So bad. ATF

25:17

criminal profiler Ronald Tunkel got quite

25:19

a bit of info from the note

25:22

from the phrase Mr. Police. He gleaned that the

25:24

speaker had beef with the police. From

25:26

Call Me God and Do Not Release to the

25:29

Press. He assumed that the killer was an older

25:31

male. The police decided

25:33

to hold this information back from the press. They

25:35

didn't want to egg on any more shootings, except

25:38

the press found out. Obviously,

25:41

somebody in the investigation leaked to the press

25:43

for some dumbass reason. It

25:46

ran on a local radio show. Good Morning

25:48

America and The Washington Post. Why

25:51

they thought it would be a good thing or an ethical

25:53

thing to release this information. I'm not sure, but they went

25:55

ahead and did it. Moose

25:57

was pissed at the press. conference

26:00

that day when a reporter asked him about the

26:02

tarot card he was like look I don't know

26:04

why you feel the need to ask that I

26:06

don't know why someone felt like they needed to

26:08

sell their soul to give the press that info

26:10

right now the people of Montgomery County

26:13

haven't told me that they'd like the media to take

26:15

up this case if they would like that

26:17

to change they can let me know and I can

26:19

put my people on other work while you all meaning

26:22

the press can work on this one I

26:24

mean I'm paraphrasing a little bit that was

26:26

the diss moose has an attitude he's honestly

26:28

he's the best I love like I love chief

26:30

I'm not having it his

26:33

favorite statement this whole time is it

26:36

would be inappropriate for me to release more that

26:38

info at this juncture that's his like

26:40

that's his catchphrase this whole time to the press in

26:44

this case I can totally see where he's

26:46

coming from look the media undoubtedly does important

26:48

work in all other cases

26:51

except crime I am good with them

26:53

releasing info to the public but during

26:55

an active investigation especially when the case

26:58

is currently ongoing and you've got unidentified

27:00

people shooting random civilians that just seems

27:02

irresponsible I

27:05

think they were just focused on getting a scoop before

27:07

their competitors not public safety in

27:10

the documentary series I sniper the reporters attitudes

27:12

were like well of course our work is

27:15

super important we have to keep the public informed I

27:18

don't know that just rubs me the wrong

27:20

way well yeah I mean what they what

27:22

did they do to protect the public exactly by

27:24

announcing this note especially since a lot of them

27:26

didn't even get the wording of it right they

27:29

reported that the note said I am God not

27:32

call me God which I think is a

27:34

pretty significant difference and actually points to a

27:36

pretty gross level of carelessness and a lack

27:38

of understanding of what criminal profilers do because

27:41

you know you're not paraphrasing when you're

27:43

like the wording is really important yeah

27:46

yeah I think it doesn't show

27:48

that he has a God complex it shows that he has

27:50

a God complex in this specific

27:52

case right like I am

27:54

God and call me God are two different things

27:56

I think they wanted yeah he wanted he wanted

27:59

the press and media to call him God.

28:01

He was naming himself as like a, he was like

28:03

BTK-ing it, you know? Ice

28:06

Sniper, by the way, is fantastic. It features

28:09

interviews with Lee Malvo, his father, his aunt,

28:11

Mildred Muhammad, surviving victims, victims' families, and the

28:13

police investigators. It's eight episodes and I had

28:15

to download a separate app to find it,

28:17

but if you want eight more hours of

28:20

content on this case, I fully recommend it.

28:22

It's really good. The

28:25

press took this little note and ran.

28:27

CNN, Fox, Good Morning America, MSNBC, all

28:29

ran specials about the sniper on the

28:31

loose. The media seemed frustrated that

28:33

the feds hadn't released any info on their profile,

28:35

which, uh, yeah,

28:38

of course not. It's probably not done yet. You

28:41

really can't keep a good reporter down, though, so they

28:44

hired their own profiles who came up with their own.

28:47

Like, it was most likely a middle-aged

28:49

male. Alrighty, right.

28:53

White. Wrong. Working

28:55

alone. Meh. Gone

28:59

through a nasty separation or divorce. Oh,

29:01

good, getting warmer. Significant substance

29:04

abuse. Wrong.

29:07

Military background or training in firearms. Oh,

29:10

ding ding ding. Driving a

29:12

white van or truck. No.

29:15

Loving the press attention. Hmm,

29:18

I wonder if you're contributing to the problem there,

29:21

Miss Katie Couric. So,

29:23

like, 50% accuracy from the news profiles, but

29:25

the thing is that most profilers will warn

29:27

investigators that the profile is a tool, not

29:30

a magic wand. You can use it as

29:32

framework for your search, but don't let it

29:34

blind you to other possibilities. Yeah,

29:37

everybody wants this stuff to be magic. It's

29:39

the same with, like, body language analysis. People

29:41

want to think this stuff is definitive and

29:43

it's just not. They're just tools in the

29:45

toolbox. Like, I remember years and years ago

29:47

when the Maddie McCann case was going on

29:49

and, you know, when everybody was really whipped up

29:51

about the Maddie McCann case and there were all

29:54

these, like, quote unquote body language experts on YouTube

29:56

like, oh, Kate McCann scratched your nose here, so

29:58

that means that the McCanns kill their daughter,

30:00

well guess what? Now we know they

30:02

didn't. Yeah. And maybe

30:05

she just had an itch for God's sakes. And

30:07

there is a place for that stuff. I mean,

30:09

you know, like I watched the behavior panels videos

30:11

and they're fascinating, but it's not magic. It's not

30:13

definitive. Even they will tell you over and over

30:15

again, you can't prove somebody's lying from this. Right.

30:18

It's just one thing to add to a lot

30:20

of other things and it is not a substitute

30:23

for, you know, the gumshoe just plotting

30:25

kind of more, less sexy detective

30:28

work that goes on in the background.

30:30

How many, how many cases do we cover that are

30:32

solved by that kind of analysis?

30:34

Like none, right? It's the boring

30:37

stuff. It's the paperwork. Absolutely. It's,

30:40

have you seen Psych? It's that box of

30:42

stuff that Detective Lassiter has where he's like,

30:44

the answer is always in the box. And

30:46

that's so true. The answer is always in

30:48

the box. Yeah, it's

30:50

just not that sexy. You can't just look at

30:53

somebody the way they're holding their shoulders and tell,

30:55

oh, she's definitely lying. Yeah. Maybe, maybe

30:58

BBC Sherlock, BBC Sherlock was

31:00

not a documentary. Usually

31:06

serial murderers go after a very specific type

31:08

of victim and that can

31:10

tell profiles a lot about who they are.

31:12

For example, serial killers very rarely murder people

31:14

outside their own race. If they do, that

31:16

can indicate another motive. Green River killers,

31:18

an example of that. Lee

31:21

would later say that he and Muhammad were just tickled

31:23

pink at how wrong the media assumptions were about them.

31:25

And I mean, he was right. You

31:28

can't find a blue Chevy Caprice being driven by a

31:30

black man and his teenage trigger man when you're sifting

31:33

through the haystack of white trucks and vans. Yeah.

31:36

The FBI set about creating a tip line and

31:38

they were soon flooded with thousands of callers that

31:40

were convinced that their ex-husband or their friend's cousin's

31:42

dog center was guilty. As usual,

31:45

they got a fair amount of attention seekers that

31:47

admitted to being the sniper themselves. So

31:49

far, they weren't having much luck getting information from

31:52

the public. Back at

31:54

the YMCA, Jim Ross saw John Allen Muhammad

31:56

sitting in the locker room staring off into

31:58

the distance. Jim asked if he was

32:00

all right." Muhammad said, No,

32:02

I'm not. No, my

32:06

dude, you most certainly are not. There

32:09

was no shooting on the 8th of October, but at 8.18

32:11

p.m. on the 9th, 53-year-old Dean Harold

32:16

Miles was getting gas at a Cinoco when

32:18

he was shot. He

32:20

was a Vietnam vet who was awarded the

32:22

Purple Heart for injuries that left him permanently

32:24

disabled. He had no children of

32:26

his own, but he was an amazing uncle to his

32:28

nieces and nephews. He was a

32:30

frequent sponsor of children in poverty all over the

32:33

world, too. He died

32:35

at the scene, and police set up a perimeter

32:37

to question all the drivers in the area. Officer

32:40

Steve Bailey was in charge of questioning

32:42

drivers. As he approached

32:44

a blue Chevy Caprice, he observed that the

32:46

driver, a tall black male with short hair,

32:49

appeared to be the only occupant. He

32:51

asked the driver what he was doing in the

32:54

area, and he replied that he was returning home

32:56

after a vacation when the police directed him to

32:58

this area. To Bailey, he

33:00

seemed cool as a fridge full of

33:02

cucumbers, very polite and normal. Before

33:05

he let him go, the man asked Bailey, concerned,

33:07

screwing up his face, when are you going to

33:09

catch this guy? When is it going to stop?

33:11

Fuck you, John Mohammed, you

33:14

asshole. Meanwhile,

33:16

Lee Malvo laid quietly in the trunk

33:19

of the car listening to the muffled

33:21

conversation. Finally, the

33:23

car started moving again, and we

33:25

can't really blame Bailey here. Mohammed was

33:27

very clearly a master manipulator, and I'm

33:29

not sure there'd be any reason to

33:32

indicate anything off about his demeanor or anything

33:34

like that, but it just kills me to

33:36

think of how close the police had gotten

33:39

multiple times. This dude

33:41

was looking Mohammed in the face and didn't

33:43

suspect a thing. Just chills us so creepy.

33:45

But again, we've seen that a million times

33:47

in cases like this, where they're just that

33:49

smooth. Dahmer had a body in the back

33:51

of his car one time and talked his way

33:53

out of it. Another

33:56

two days later, at 9.30am on October 11th. Kenneth

34:00

Bridges was pumping gas at an exon

34:02

in Fredericksburg when he was shot and

34:05

killed. Kenneth,

34:07

a 53-year-old businessman, also founded a

34:09

community organization called MATA, which was

34:11

focused on uplifting the economic position

34:14

of African Americans. His

34:16

vision, according to his obituary, was,

34:18

quote, dedicated to the economic, spiritual,

34:21

and social upliftment of people of

34:23

African descent. It was

34:25

his fervent belief that people of African descent

34:27

are the only ones who can change the

34:29

terrible circumstances that exist in most of our

34:31

communities. All of the

34:33

resources to accomplish this seemingly impossible

34:36

task already exist within our community.

34:38

The skills, the knowledge, the creativity,

34:40

the money. Ken knew

34:42

that the key ingredient that prevents people of

34:44

African descent from taking control over

34:46

their individual and collective destiny was

34:48

and continues to be lack of

34:50

knowledge of self. Ken

34:53

dedicated his life to imparting this knowledge of self

34:55

into each and every person of

34:58

African descent within America and across

35:00

the planet. He

35:03

left behind a wife, Jocelyn, and five children, Asia,

35:06

April, Justin, Joshua, Alana,

35:08

and Alyssa. I

35:11

find it highly ironic that Muhammad claimed to

35:13

be fighting for the plight of Black Americans

35:15

and yet targeted somebody who genuinely put his

35:17

money where his mouth was, who

35:19

was genuinely passionate about making the world a better place

35:22

rather than somebody who was using the same, quote,

35:24

unquote, vision to create nothing but a place. Later,

35:27

Lee would say that the reason that Kenneth Bridges

35:29

and other Black people were killed during this spree is that

35:31

it's a cloak. If

35:34

you only kill white people, then they know something. Now,

35:39

remember, the original plan was to kill six white people

35:41

a day for 30 days. I'm

35:44

including a big old capital S speculation here,

35:46

but I think that Muhammad told Lee that

35:49

it was a cloak, and it was true. It wasn't to throw the

35:51

government off their motive, though. It was

35:53

to cloak Muhammad's true target, Mildred. At

35:57

this point, I'm not going

35:59

to be able to do that. Gas stations started putting

36:01

tarps up to block their pumps from the

36:03

street in an effort to protect their customers People

36:06

were crouching down behind their cars while they pumped

36:08

gas or sitting in their cars And

36:10

I was actually living in Baltimore at the time and

36:13

it scared six kinds of shit out of me Every

36:15

time I had to leave the house and I was teaching

36:17

high school and all the kids were

36:19

scared I mean it was just a feeling of not

36:22

being able to trust the world around

36:24

you that no rules thing that we

36:26

said earlier It's just this totally off-balance

36:31

Insecure awful feeling which is exactly how Muhammad

36:33

wanted everybody to feel like this or how

36:35

he wanted his ex-wife to feel anyway Yeah

36:37

for sure I was about 11

36:39

years old and living in the southwest when the

36:41

fall started and I remember being absolutely

36:43

fucking terrified Like it just seemed so

36:46

like close even though it wasn't you know

36:48

what I mean? Absolutely.

36:51

Well, they were killing people everywhere. Yeah, true

36:54

I was also super scared of anthrax, but that's

36:56

a different story. Oh me too. Yeah, that was

36:58

my guy. Oh Back

37:01

in the Pacific Northwest Robert Holmes was watching the

37:03

news at his buddy's house The DC sniper had

37:05

been dominating the news and every time he saw

37:07

a new story on it He had a horrible

37:09

twisting feeling in his gut. He

37:11

thought he knew who the sniper was He

37:14

had been friends with John Allen Muhammad for years since they

37:16

served in the military together In fact

37:18

Lee and John had stayed with him for a few days

37:21

before the spree started John

37:23

introduced Lee as a sniper which hit Robert wrong

37:25

because to him a sniper someone with a body

37:27

count Typically a good shot is just

37:29

called a merph man Finally

37:32

after watching news coverage on Kenneth Bridges, he knew

37:34

he had to report his hunch He

37:36

called the FBI office and didn't get

37:38

a call back But that doesn't

37:40

mean no one listened Throughout

37:43

all these shootings John Allen Muhammad consistently drove

37:46

around Mildred Muhammad's neighborhood likely keeping an eye

37:48

out for her his children They

37:50

followed her and even looked into her house Lee

37:53

knew that they were going to try to take his children

37:55

once they extorted the money from the government But I don't

37:57

think he understood that she was the true target of their

37:59

killings Once, Mildred saw

38:01

the car outside of her house. As

38:03

he passed by, she saw two men. One

38:06

in the driver's seat, a black

38:08

teenager, and the other was hiding his

38:10

face with a newspaper, which was

38:12

so smooth, John. Wait

38:15

for a suspicion. Mildred

38:19

knew it was only a matter of time before John found her

38:21

in the children. He was a good tracker.

38:24

She said that she was on high alert since the moment she

38:26

saw him at the courthouse. She knew

38:28

he would come for her. And she knew it would

38:31

be a headshot. On

38:34

October 14th, Linda Franklin was walking to her car

38:36

in the covered parking lot of Home Depot in

38:38

Falls Church, Virginia when she was shot and killed.

38:41

Linda worked as an FBI intelligence analyst.

38:44

There is no proof that Malvo and Muhammad had any idea

38:46

who she was. Her husband was with

38:48

her when she was shot, and Lee said that the pain in

38:50

his eyes was the worst kind of pain I've seen in my

38:52

life. Afterwards he said he felt

38:54

like the worst piece of scum on the planet. And

38:58

it is insane to me that it took him

39:00

this long to recognize the pain he was causing.

39:04

So far no one who had been shot was with

39:06

someone they knew. He had been causing those ripples of

39:08

grief and pain this whole time and it never occurred

39:10

to him. Wow. That's

39:12

just... Yeah. That's

39:15

incredible. Yeah. And

39:19

it's very like a very teenager thing, right? Like it

39:21

never occurred to him that people would be in pain

39:23

from what he did. Well

39:25

I think, you know, when you're... I

39:27

mean we could basically call... I mean,

39:29

Muhammad is using the same kind of tactics that

39:32

you use to torture people. He's using the

39:35

same kind of tactics that cult leaders use

39:38

to brainwash. I mean

39:40

literal brainwashing techniques. I think maybe he was just

39:42

so caught up in it that,

39:45

you know, reality seemed pretty

39:48

remote. And then when

39:50

something that intense slaps you in the face,

39:52

yeah, you know, maybe that is the first

39:54

time, but that is really scary. Yeah. That

39:57

it never occurred to him, well of course you're... devastating

40:01

lives. Right.

40:05

This was like a yeah, this is a two man cult or one

40:07

man cult if you don't count the cult leader as a member. Linda

40:12

was a wonderfully kind person. Her friends and co

40:14

workers adored her and said she didn't have a

40:16

mean bone in her body. And she'd

40:18

give a stranger the shirt off her back. Her

40:21

husband William and their two adult children were devastated

40:23

by their loss. As

40:26

the police were questioning witnesses, a man came forward who

40:28

said he saw the shooter of the gun. This

40:31

would be a huge break in the case. The

40:33

witness's name was Matthew Slim Doughty. He

40:36

said that he saw a Middle Eastern man with

40:38

an AK 47 shoot Linda and escape in a

40:40

cream colored van with a broken tail light. Right.

40:45

That'd be great. Except we know it's bullshit.

40:48

Why do people do this? Of

40:50

course, the cops didn't know that it was bullshit

40:52

at first. But eventually while reviewing the CCTV footage,

40:54

they saw that Doughty was inside the store at

40:56

the time of the shooting and couldn't have possibly

40:59

seen what he said he saw. He

41:02

was charged with making a false statement and sentenced

41:04

to six months in prison. At

41:06

trial, he said that he was reporting on behalf of his

41:09

friend who said he saw the shooter in the parking lot

41:11

across the street. Again, this couldn't

41:13

be true based on his description. Yeah,

41:16

and Doughty had a long history of run

41:18

ins with the cops. Three years later, he

41:20

was charged with the rape and murder of

41:22

a woman named Judy Cote and he was

41:24

sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison.

41:26

So clearly a real champ. Scumbag.

41:30

Muhammad and Malvo waited another five days

41:32

before attempting any further attacks. At

41:36

Ponderos the Steakhouse on October 19th in Ashland,

41:38

Virginia, Jeffrey and Stephanie Hopper had stopped for

41:40

dinner on a trip home from a family

41:42

visit. They were walking companionably

41:44

and arguing about who loved each other more.

41:46

You know, I love you more. No, I love

41:48

you more. Oh, Lee

41:51

Malvo had them both in his sights. He bounced

41:53

between them, but eventually settled on Jeffrey and made

41:56

the shot. He shot Jeffrey in

41:58

the stomach. As Jeff lay on

42:00

the ground bleeding, Stephanie asked somebody nearby to call 911

42:03

while she attended to stop the blood flow. When

42:05

police arrived, she was using a cloth to keep pressure on

42:07

his wound with his head in her lap. The

42:10

police officer asked to see the wound and then

42:12

told her to place the cloth back and apply

42:14

pressure. That it wasn't rocket

42:17

science. The hoppers laughed. Jeff

42:19

said, that's funny. My wife is

42:21

a rocket scientist. I

42:24

just find it like wonderful that in this moment of

42:27

pain and fear, he found a way to laugh and to

42:29

brag about his genius wife. It's very wife

42:31

guy. He's a wife guy. Jeffrey

42:34

would survive his injuries. And Lee

42:36

said later that he was still having severe doubts about his

42:38

crimes. I don't think that it

42:40

was an accident that Muhammad chose a restaurant where people

42:42

would be most likely going with their spouses and families.

42:45

I think this was a test. Malvo

42:47

said that he knew he couldn't go back without

42:49

having shot someone, but that his shot

42:51

to Jeff Hopper's stomach was a compromise. He

42:54

was trying to make it as non lethal as possible. Do

42:58

we believe him?

43:01

I don't know. And I'm not sure it matters. I

43:04

don't care. Yeah. I

43:06

don't care. Jeff Hopper lost 75%

43:09

of his stomach tissue as well as to staying severe

43:11

shrapnel injuries to his liver. He could have died if

43:13

his wife hadn't been as savvy as she was. He

43:15

could have died if the paramedics have been a little

43:18

slower. He could have died if he lost just a

43:20

little more blood. I don't actually think

43:22

Malvo's intentions matter when it comes to the end result, but

43:24

it certainly gives us a peek into his mindset. He

43:27

was unhappy. I don't know how you could convince yourself

43:29

that a gut shot wouldn't be devastating.

43:32

I mean, that's, come on. Like I

43:34

don't buy that. I'm sorry. He

43:37

was just so right. Like his whole thing

43:39

is I need to please Muhammad, but it's

43:41

like, who cares? Take

43:44

that gun and shoot him. Yeah. She

43:46

hates that situation. Right. But that's what

43:48

brainwashing is. I guess. I mean, he

43:50

just, yeah.

43:52

Sucks. At the

43:54

scene, police found a four page letter from

43:56

the sniper demanding $10 million and it was

43:58

wild. In

44:02

it, they claimed to have called

44:04

the sniper tip line at least six times, named

44:07

the people they talked to, and said that their calls

44:09

were brushed off. The letter

44:11

reads in part, For you, Mr. Police, call me God.

44:13

Do not release to the press. We

44:15

have tried to contact you to start negotiation, but

44:18

your failure to respond has cost you five lives.

44:20

If stopping the killing is more important than catching us

44:23

now, then you will accept our demand, which is non-negotiable.

44:25

You will place $10 million in the

44:27

Bank of America account, and that includes the bank account info

44:29

from a stolen credit card, which could be linked back to

44:31

them, but I don't know, I'm just an idiot. We

44:35

will have an unlimited withdrawal at any ATM

44:37

worldwide, which is not possible. You

44:39

will activate the bank account, credit card, and PIN

44:41

number. We will contact you at 6 a.m. on

44:43

Monday morning. You will have until

44:46

9 a.m. Monday morning to complete transaction. Try

44:48

to catch us withdrawing. At least you

44:50

will have less body bags. If trying

44:53

to catch us now, more important than

44:55

prepare you body bags, purposeful misspellings, by

44:57

the way. If

44:59

you give your word, you are word. If

45:01

we give you our word, that this is what takes

45:03

place. Word is bond. P.S. Your

45:06

children are not safe anywhere at any time. On

45:10

the 21st, police in Richmond, Virginia arrested

45:12

two men in a white van at

45:14

a gas station. It turned

45:16

out they were just two guys, but were

45:18

undocumented immigrants and were subsequently deported.

45:21

God, that's got to suck, right? You

45:24

didn't do the thing they detained you for, but got

45:26

caught doing the other less serious thing? That

45:29

absolutely sucks. Two

45:32

days later, Conrad Johnson was shot and

45:34

killed at 5.56 a.m.

45:36

in Aspen Hill, Maryland. He

45:38

was preparing for his shift as a bus driver. At

45:41

this point, police were able to confirm that the

45:43

car they were looking for was actually the blue

45:45

Chevy Caprice. That

45:47

day, Chief Moose released info regarding the

45:49

four-page letter found at the steakhouse shooting.

45:52

At 3.15 a.m. on the 24th, police

45:55

were able to identify the Caprice parked at

45:57

a rest stop in Myersville, Maryland. Lee

46:00

boxed them in. When

46:02

they made contact, they noticed two occupants in the

46:04

vehicle, one middle-aged man and

46:06

one teenage boy. The

46:08

man looked calm and resigned. The

46:11

kid looked terrified and was sweating buckets

46:13

despite the cold air. Finally,

46:16

John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo's

46:18

reign of terror was over. Everyone

46:21

in the area could breathe a sigh of relief. Lee

46:24

has said that John Muhammad sexually abused him

46:27

the entire time he knew him. There

46:29

is, of course, no evidence of this, but I sure as

46:31

hell wouldn't put it past the guy. Lee

46:34

didn't come out about it until about 10 years

46:36

after his arrest, and at this point Lee really

46:38

has nothing to gain from it. It

46:40

also fits with Muhammad's profile as

46:42

manipulative and controlling and a cult

46:45

leader. Lee said

46:47

that sex would be a reward and a

46:49

tool for Muhammad to get what he wanted.

46:52

The immigration officer that took Lee in for

46:55

deportation said that he had a terrible feeling

46:57

about their relationship. When

46:59

he brought Lee in, he caught them coming

47:01

out of the group shower together, strangely close.

47:05

The two were tried separately in the fall of 2003

47:07

in Maryland and Virginia. Both

47:11

were found guilty. Lee

47:13

Boyd Malvo was sentenced to six consecutive

47:15

life sentences in prison without parole in

47:17

exchange for his testimony against Muhammad. John

47:20

Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death. John

47:24

represented himself during the Virginia trials because,

47:27

of course, he did, and of course he

47:29

failed miserably. What

47:32

I find so infuriating about this case is that

47:34

John and Lee claimed to want to be making

47:36

the world a better place. They pretended to care

47:38

about uplifting the communities they lived in. It

47:41

was their victims, though, that exemplified the

47:43

best of us. They

47:46

were great parents, friends,

47:48

children, coworkers, upstanding citizens, people

47:50

who lived here their whole lives, people

47:52

who were immigrants, people who put a

47:54

mark on this world for being good,

47:57

lovely human beings. They took

47:59

these people's lives. lives, their peace, out of

48:01

the selfish need to make the world

48:03

look as dark as their own souls.

48:07

Lee is exactly where he should be, serving

48:09

life in prison. He seems

48:11

to have remorse for what he's done, but that doesn't

48:13

take away the destruction. On

48:17

November 9, 2009,

48:19

John Allen Muhammad was executed by lethal injection,

48:21

with members of the press and the families

48:24

of his victims watching. His

48:26

kids wanted to speak to him before his death, and

48:28

he refused. He hasn't spoken a

48:31

word to them since he lost custody. Mildred

48:35

Muhammad is still a domestic violence advocate.

48:38

She is an author and inspirational speaker.

48:41

John Allen Muhammad once told Lee, "...all

48:44

my defects are a reflection of the culture.

48:47

I am what they made me." And

48:49

doesn't that perfectly describe who he is? One

48:52

that can find the splinter in somebody

48:54

else's eye while missing the branch in

48:57

his. So

48:59

that was a wild one, right campers? You

49:01

know, we'll have another one for you next

49:03

week, but for now, lock your doors, light

49:06

your lights, and stay safe until we get

49:08

together again around the true grand campfire. And

49:10

this week we want to send a special happy

49:12

birthday shout out to our super fan Trish. Trish,

49:15

your husband Mike emailed us and asked us to

49:17

do this for you, so he seems like a

49:19

keeper. He says he loves you very much. Aww.

49:23

We hope you have an amazing birthday. Happy

49:25

birthday. And as always, we want

49:27

to send a grateful shout out to a few of our

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lovely patrons. Thank you so much

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either way, and Sherry. We

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