Chapter 5 | Hour of Need

Summary

Bone Valley – Season 5, Episode 5: “Hour of Need”

Podcast: Bone Valley | Host: Paul Solotaroff
Air Date: July 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

In “Hour of Need,” Paul Solotaroff continues his investigation into the wrongful convictions at the heart of Bone Valley’s fifth season, “The Devil’s Quarry.” This chapter delves deeply into the trauma and courageous testimony of Rachel Lahr, a survivor of abuse by Howard Gombert—the man many believe to have actually murdered Josette Wright, a young girl whose death upended Carmel, NY. Through Rachel’s voice and memories, the episode exposes how survivors are repeatedly let down by law enforcement and the criminal justice system. The narrative also traces the ripple effect of these failures: not only was Rachel denied justice, but innocent men, Anthony and Andy, suffered wrongful imprisonment for crimes most evidence points to Gombert committing. The episode emphasizes trauma, resilience, and the haunting consequences of systemic failure.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Rachel’s Reluctant Return to the Past

[01:30–05:10]

• Context: Rachel Lahr, a key witness and survivor, details her repeated (and often ignored) efforts to alert authorities to Gombert’s abuse.
• Strains of Trauma: Despite the emotional toll, Rachel ultimately agrees to share her story to help clear wrongly convicted men, driven by her affection for Josette:
  • "I love that kid, so I’m going to do this for her. But…no talk of Howard." – Rachel, [02:49]
• Process: Rachel and reporter Kathleen sort through old photos and letters, an act that painfully exhumed years of unaddressed childhood trauma.

2. Childhood Abuse, Systemic Failures, and Survival

[05:10–15:06]

• Gombert’s Entrée: Rachel recounts how Gombert (her mother’s boyfriend) entered her life and initiated years of sexual abuse when she was around 8 years old:
  • "I was 8 and 9 years old when it started." – Rachel, [08:14]
• Systemic Betrayals: After reporting Gombert, Rachel is removed from her home (not him). In court, forced to face her abuser, she crumbles under pressure and the case collapses:
  • "They just become dark, and it’s like they pierce through you…froze me. I walked off. Said I couldn’t do it." – Rachel, [14:32–15:06]
• Aftermath: Charges are dropped and Gombert is released. He returns to Rachel’s life, the abuse continues, and authorities fail to protect her.

3. Connection to Josette Wright’s Murder

[16:00–25:10]

• Gombert’s Interest in Josette: Rachel describes how Josette began frequenting her house, becoming entangled in their family life and catching Gombert’s attention.
• Threats and Escape: Once pregnant, Rachel is threatened by Gombert if she refuses to become his live-in sitter—the same coercion extends to threats against Josette:
  • "He told me that if I didn’t tell my mom that I was going to move in with him…he was going to get Josette too." – Rachel, [17:45]
• Desperate Flight: In fear for her life and her unborn child, Rachel jumps off Gombert’s moving motorcycle to escape him—a visceral replay of survival:
  • "I didn’t like, you know…but I’m on the back of a motorcycle…I felt the knife…he’s gonna kill me…And I jumped off the bike while it was moving." – Rachel, [19:22–19:32]
• Last Moments with Josette: When moving away, Josette pleads with Rachel to take her along, suggesting profound neglect and a sense of foreboding.

4. Law Enforcement’s Continual Failings

[25:20–28:01]

• Ignored Warnings: After Josette’s body is found, Rachel tells police about Gombert’s affinity for young girls and key details—yet the focus remains on Anthony and Andy; Gombert is essentially given a pass:
  • "Instead, Castaldo picked Anthony and Andy out of a hat and chose them as Josette’s killers." – Paul, [27:01]
• Continued Threat: Even after relocating, Rachel is threatened and abused again by Gombert. Despite reporting (and submitting to a rape kit), police action is nonexistent.

5. The Wrongly Accused: Anthony’s Perspective

[28:01–31:18]

• Discovering Rachel’s Statement: Anthony, imprisoned for Josette’s murder, reads Rachel’s original account, learning for the first time about Gombert’s proximity to Josette and prior abuse.
• Connecting the Dots: Anthony recalls an incident where he robbed a man for drugs—a man he now realizes was likely Gombert. He speculates that this encounter could have led Gombert to frame him:
  • "I think the reason why I was first ever suspected was because that guy was mad that I robbed him." – Anthony, [30:55]

6. Legal Ethics, Appeal & The Crucial Role of Testimony

[33:59–36:46]

• Attorney Conflict: Anthony realizes his trial lawyer, Bob Leader, previously represented Gombert on a rape charge—a staggering conflict of interest.
  • "So wait a minute…this guy, a conflict of interest. What is this?" – Anthony, [35:13]
• Grounds for Reversal: New legal counsel files an appeal on these grounds—after 15 years, Anthony’s conviction is overturned, a turning point owed to Rachel’s willingness to testify.

7. Healing and Purpose After Trauma

[36:34–37:47]

• Rachel’s Reflection: Rachel describes her journey from anger to acceptance and meaning-making:
  • "I learned that sometimes you have to go through things…to help others. If that’s my purpose, I feel like I’ve tried to uphold that." – Rachel, [37:13–37:47]
• Anthony’s Letter: Anthony writes a heartfelt note thanking Rachel for her courage and pivotal role in exposing the truth:
  • "First and foremost, I can’t thank you enough for helping me and my family…You are the most important person in this case." – Anthony, [37:55–38:50]

8. Jailhouse Revelations: Santoro and Gombert’s Jail Confession

[38:51–44:48]

• Chance Encounter: Joe Santoro, an inmate transferred from Connecticut, describes meeting Gombert in prison and hearing him allude to Josette’s murder—and that two others (“suckers”) took the fall.
• Descriptions of Gombert: Santoro chillingly describes Gombert as a “weasel predator” and recounts hearing Gombert say, "Yeah, they got these two other suckers for it though, so they’ll never get me." – Gombert, as relayed by Santoro, [41:47]
• Evidence Secured: Santoro writes down everything he hears in detail, recognizing the potential impact for Anthony’s defense.
  • "I am delivered the confession of Howard Gombert in this jail at the time I needed the most." – Anthony, [44:14]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Failure and Loss:
  "What goes through my head is how many of them could have been saved if they would have just listened to me." – Rachel, [05:31]

• On Surviving Court:
  "He was put basically right in front of me, feet away. And Howard’s got this look and scared the shit out of me." – Rachel, [13:07]

• On Systemic Betrayal:
  "The prosecutor told the papers that Rachel recanted…" – Paul, [15:06]

• Profound Regret:
  "I feel like I could have protected her by staying." – Rachel, [25:10]

• On Discovering the Legal Conflict:
  "You can’t rep a client on a murder charge when you’ve repped another viable suspect for that crime." – Paul, [35:20]

• On Sarah’s Healing:
  "There was a part in my life where I was just so mad at him…and like why?...But I learned that sometimes you have to go through things. They might not be for you, but to help others." – Rachel, [36:43–37:47]

• Jailhouse Confession:
  "Yeah, they got these two other suckers for it though, so they’ll never get me." – Santoro recounting Gombert, [41:47] "This is an act of God. I am delivered the confession of Howard Gombert in this jail at the time I needed the most." – Anthony, [44:14]

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Timeline of Critical Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:30–05:10 | Rachel’s historical efforts to warn authorities | | 06:08–08:14 | The genesis of Gombert’s abuse and terror | | 10:22–12:04 | Rachel’s first confession, failed intervention, and trauma in court | | 15:06–17:31 | Resetting life with Gombert’s continued presence; the impact on Rachel and Josette | | 19:22–20:08 | Rachel’s harrowing motorcycle escape | | 25:10–27:01 | Aftermath of Josette’s disappearance; law enforcement’s dismissal of Gombert | | 28:01–31:18 | Anthony’s realization about Gombert and suspicion fallout | | 33:59–36:34 | Discovery of Bob Leader’s conflict of interest and legal reversal | | 36:34–37:47 | Rachel’s reflections on faith, healing, and meaning from suffering | | 39:15–44:14 | Joe Santoro’s jailhouse revelation and Gombert’s indirect confession |

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Conclusion and Episode Impact

This chapter of “The Devil’s Quarry” underscores the disastrous consequences when police and the legal system discard credible victims, and how the resulting wounds reverberate for decades. Rachel’s testament of survival and her eventual role in exposing the truth not only undoes wrongful convictions but also brings into focus the persistent threat posed by the real perpetrator. The episode’s weaving of personal testimony, legal intrigue, and chance jailhouse encounters reveals a toxic web of corruption, complicity, and missed justice—but also the hope found in the courage of survivors and those who eventually listen.

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For further information and previous episodes, visit Bone Valley on Lava For Good.

Transcript

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[B]

This series includes sensitive and potentially distressing topics, including sexual assault and abuse involving children. Listener discretion is advised. Since middle school, Rachel Lahr has been telling the authorities better moms than boyfriend Howard Gombert. She told her guidance counselor. She told Putnam sheriff's detectives and Carmel cops. She told three different judges in Putnam county and at least that many DAs and their assistants. And each time she told her story, she'd go into a steep tailspin, reliving the violations and the helplessness afresh. And then I called Rachel five years ago and asked her. The unaskable. I was reporting the wrongful convictions of Anthony and Andy and needed her help clearing their names. But she told me about the screaming nightmare she had each time that she came forward, the feeling of going crazy for weeks on end, and the sickness that settled in her bones. In the end, though, Rachel agreed to talk, but only as it pertained to Josette. I Love that kid, she said, so I'm going to do this for her. But she insisted there'd be no talk of Howard. She was done pouring gas on that grease fire. So last fall, she talked to me from her living room. I asked my questions over the phone while she sat with our reporter. Kathleen. Would you like a pseudonym for this conversation?

[A]

Give me some. Give me something else. Yeah, give me. Give me a. Whatever. I'm like all over the place.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Feeling about doing all this again.

[B]

I mean. Over the course of the next hour, Rachel talked about Josette. About the sweet but love starved girl who felt unseen and who've been grateful to hook on with Rachel's family. Dropping by there after school and sticking around for dinner. Spending hours learning to crochet with Rachel's mom. But each time she went in deep about Josette, Rachel ran into a problem, a problem named Howard Gombert.

[A]

So, you know, to try to get around the whole not talking about Howard thing with. About Josette is kind of hard because he met her at my mom's house, you know, of course.

[B]

So in the end, she decided to sit for us again to meet another day with Kathleen.

[A]

Can I get you to introduce yourself and tell me what you have for breakfast or lunch so I can get a level? I didn't eat anything today. Not one thing. No. Now I want to give you some almonds or something.

[E]

No.

[B]

Kathleen sat with Rachel as she delved into her past, rummaging old photos and dusty scrapbooks and reading out bits of letters.

[A]

So I did find some. Good. You're going up into the attic. No, I'm just grabbing this.

[B]

It was clear she hadn't done this in a very long time. Exhuming her girlhood year by year.

[A]

Grade 3, that is. Around the time when it started.

[B]

By it, she means the moment Gombert entered her life and her home, from which he'd take advantage of young girls in and around Putnam County.

[A]

And what I know, what goes through my head is how many of them could have been saved if they would have just listened to me.

[E]

Do you hear my madness?

[B]

Laughter hides my fears Sorrow's depths are

[C]

endless

[B]

in this valley of tears. This is the devil's quarry. Rachel was around 8 when she first met Gombert. She was living with her mom and brother in an apartment three miles east of Carmel. One day she stopped at a gas station with her uncle. The uncle started chatting with a stranger there. That stranger was Howard Gombert.

[A]

And whether it was about getting some weed or getting, you know, whatever drug was Involved, he ended up coming back to the house.

[B]

Gombert would have been in his early 20s then. He was handsome in a 70s windblown way with a center part mullet, a thin mustache and a dimple in his chin. Dressed in black boots and driving a motorcycle. He was something of a seducer in those days. Just weeks after meeting Rachel's mom, for example, he'd moved himself into their flat. The physical and sexual abuse began soon after. Rachel had already seen her mom manhandled by guys that she brought home.

[A]

She was a very loving lady. She wore a heart on her sleeve. But like many of us, she was traumatized.

[B]

But Gombert was a different beast entirely. A few months after Gombert moved in, Rachel was alone with him in the apartment. Her mom is off at work, and Rachel was folding laundry. Gombra came up behind her, saying he knew boys were gonna like her. Then he lured her to the back bedroom, where he raped her for the first time.

[A]

I was 8 and 9 years old when it started.

[B]

Soon, Gombra crept into her bed at night. She'd awakened to his hand clasped over her mouth, his groin pressed up against her. It went on like this for years, she says, the rapes, the whispered death threats. She was made to feel like her body wasn't hers, like it was his to do with as he chose. Nor was that his only form of abuse.

[A]

Let me just give you an example. Cigarettes were found under my bed. I. I started smoking early. Howard whooped my ass. He whooped my ass just to show my mom that I was being disciplined.

[B]

Five years of this went by. Gombert moved in and out of her house, but kept coming back for little

[A]

visits for many years. Like it felt wrong. I knew it was wrong, but I didn't actually find out until I was sitting in health class.

[B]

An instructor was teaching a module on sex ed that day. And the difference between right touch and

[A]

wrong touch, you know, no touching in the bathing suit areas. And I was sitting in class learning that it was all wrong. It was all wrong. And it just kind of verified what I was feeling, you know? And that's why you're not supposed to say anything. That's why nobody's gonna believe you. You know, like, keep this between. It was all wrong.

[B]

Rachel confided in a friend soon after that. It was the first time she told anyone about Gombert. Her friend told an adult at the school.

[A]

The next period, I was called up to the guidance counselor's office, and I never went back home. I ended up at the sheriff's department. I spent the rest of my day in that sheriff's department.

[B]

Putnam detectives arrested Gombert and charged him with raping a minor. But it was Rachel who was removed from her own house.

[A]

I just wanted to go home, you know, like, in my head, being that young and not. They took him out of the house, so why couldn't I go back home?

[B]

A worker from child services was assigned to her case. Rachel moved into the Cabrini Girls home in Carmel. A month or two later, she was summoned to court to testify against Gombert. She'd been prepped for the hearing by her child services worker to tell her story remotely via video feed from a separate courtroom. That was and remains the procedure in child rape cases.

[A]

I remember the day of court, and they had me in the side room. We're setting up, getting ready to do the testimony or getting ready to do, you know, start the court. I was scared. I mean, like, I was nervous. I was. I'm, like, shaking inside now. Yeah, it was something that, you know, like, I didn't want to do, but I had to do.

[B]

Then suddenly, a commotion. Someone came in and pulled her advocate aside.

[A]

And it was said, no, you're not allowed to do a video testimony. You actually have to go on the stand.

[B]

She asked her worker what that meant. The worker couldn't tell her. This is the answer Rachel got from the judge.

[A]

You know, like, he has the right to hear you accuse. You're accusing him.

[B]

Frantic, she asked her advocate what to do. Don't worry, said the advocate. I'm with you every step. Just look at me when you tell it, not at him.

[A]

She would sit and be my focal point. But that all suddenly changed.

[B]

The room the hearing was held in was claustrophobically small. Some folding chairs, a couple of tables, a judge behind one of them. Rachel took her seat beside the judge. And three feet away at his lawyer's table, sat Gombert.

[A]

He was put basically right in front of me, feet away. And Howard's got this look and scared the shit out of me.

[B]

And then there was his lawyer. The name of that lawyer, Bob Leader. Five years before, he represented Anthony for the murder of Josette Wright. Bob Leader was Howard Gombert's lawyer.

[A]

I don't remember what the questions was, but it was, you know, like, pertaining to what I am accusing him of

[E]

or

[A]

what happened or the incident or, you know, I'm sure it had to do with what I said in the first place, you know, like what brought me to that guidance counselor.

[B]

Rachel started her Story tripping over the words, trying just to breathe and not pass out.

[A]

And I started like I did. I testified 100% with my head down for reason. And the judge, I can't even remember who he was. He said, I can't hear you. Pick up your head.

[B]

She did. And there were Gombert's eyes staring back at her.

[A]

They just become dark, and it's like they pierce through you and froze me. And it just became overwhelming for me. And I walked off. Said I couldn't do it.

[B]

Rachel bolted from her chair and fled the room. There was no hope of getting her back into the chair. The rape charge was dropped. Gombert was released. The prosecutor told the papers that Rachel recanted. Whipsawed. Rachel returned to the group home. Several months later, her mom moved to Carmel. She took an apartment down the road from the group home. Rachel moved back home with her at the age of 15. And guess who was waiting for her there.

[A]

Howard was still around. My mom thought that if she was there, nothing would happen. There was people around. I was protected. She was wrong.

[B]

One of Howard's spots was the woods off Fields Lane. He put Rachel in the back of his bike and take her to his secret place there where he'd do whatever he wanted with her. After he split with Rachel's mom, Gombert, now in his late 20s, moved in with his teen girlfriend. But he'd still drop by Rachel's mom's apartment. Sometimes he'd drag his girlfriend along. Other times he'd show up solo. He just seemed to somehow know when Rachel was alone there and to steal up from behind her wherever she happened to be. Still, Rachel tried to live a normal adolescence. She hung with her friends in Carmel after school. She had her first boyfriends and looked after Josette, who kept showing up at her house. The girl was there so often, she was practically on the lease. And that's where she got to know Gombert. After Josette was killed, Rachel's mom told the cops that Gombert took an interest in Josette and that Josette returned his interest and would ask about him when he wasn't around. In the fall of 93, Rachel fell pregnant. She didn't know if the baby was her boyfriend's or Gombert's. As it happened, she was with Gombert the day she got the news from the doctor. When she got off the phone and told him, Gombert lost his mind.

[A]

He told me that I was moving in with him.

[B]

That wasn't an invitation. It was an order. She was going to be the live in sitter for Gombert's toddler, the baby he had with his girlfriend or else.

[A]

He told me that if I didn't tell my mom that I was going to move in with him to watch his daughter, that he was going to get Josette too. And he said no, gonna leave her alone.

[B]

And that's when she told Gombert that she's moving out of Carmel. They fought about her leaving and his designs on Josette until Rachel couldn't take it anymore.

[A]

And I just wanted to go home. It was a rough day, you know, he went through a lot that day with Howard.

[B]

But it was late by then. She was miles from home. She had no choice but to accept a ride from Gombert.

[A]

Somehow I ended up on that bike, and he was bringing me home, sitting behind him.

[B]

Rachel walks the road.

[A]

He goes to make a right. Shouldn't have, like, why are you going up this road? But he went to turn. I never held on to him. I didn't like, you know, But I'm on the back of a motorcycle, so I kind of had his jacket. And I felt the knife. He always had a knife on him. He always had some kind of weapon. And I just got this feeling, he's gonna kill me. I didn't know why he was turning. I didn't know where he was going. And I jumped off the bike while it was moving.

[B]

She hit the asphalt hard.

[A]

I jumped off and tried to protect my stomach. I was pregnant and screwed myself up like I messed up my knee, my elbow, like I jumped out into traffic and I just started running. I just started running like I just wanted somebody to come down that road and stop. And nobody did. Nobody came down the road.

[B]

She heard the roar of bike turning back and gunning for her. Bruised and bloody, she watched herself get back on the bike.

[A]

So he got me, and now he's nervous, you know, trying to come up with a story on how I fell off the bike.

[B]

It was an accident. Gomber told her, you fell off the bike. Anyone asks you, that's what you say. But Rachel defied him. She confided in her boyfriend, told him she jumped because she feared for her life.

[A]

I immediately told him what happened, and he was pissed. But nobody ever did anything, you know, like nobody ever did anything. That's a really chilling story. My heart's beating fast. My whole insides are shaking.

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[B]

In spite of Gombert's threats, Rachel went ahead with her plans. She packed up her life in a movie, moving boxes, brought them out to the curb. That was when Josette walked up, burst into tears on the sidewalk. The two girls hugged while both of them stood there sobbing.

[A]

Quite honestly, I remember her saying, just take me. They won't even notice I'm gone. I was like, we can't. We can't take you. You know, it crushed me. I worried about her. I worried about her. But I did tell her to stay away from Howard, though. I told stay away. You know, like kind of threatened me with her. You Know, like. So I worried about her.

[B]

For good reason. Josette vanished a couple of months after Rachel moved. Rachel had no house phone, so her mom stopped by to tell her.

[A]

I was angry at myself. I feel like I could have protected her by staying.

[B]

A long, silent year went by. No word about Josette. Then two days after cops found her body, they stopped by Rachel's house. She talked to them about Gombert.

[A]

My first thought was, son of a bitch, did he get her? You know, like, honestly, that hit me hard.

[B]

Alas, she didn't trust the cops or anyone else in the system. Not after that system had so callously failed her. When she reported Gombert five years prior, her police statement made no mention of Gombert's spot off Fields Lane or the vile things he'd done to her in the woods. But as I reread her statement to Putnam Detective Bill Quick, I'm struck by what she did tell them. That she was freaked by the idea of Josette babysitting for Gombert. That Gombert often drove his girlfriend's car, a car just like the one Josette was last seen getting into. All of that tallied with what other girls told them. The Gombert was a creep who liked young girls. But those cops didn't drag Gombert out of his house and toss him in the box with Castaldo. Instead, Castaldo picked Anthony and Andy out of a hat and chose them as Josette's killers. In doing so, he and Quick gave Gombert a pass. A get out of town free card, if you will. Gombert hightailed out of Carmel in 95, lived in Connecticut for several years. But Gombra couldn't help himself. He kept crawling back to New York to hurt Rachel. She'd moved to the safest place she could find, a remote cottage high up in the hills. One night, she and her infant were fast asleep when she awoke to a hand over her mouth. He told her he'd take her baby and sell her to strangers if she didn't submit to him. When Gombert left without her infant, Rachel says she reported him once again, this time to the state trooper who drove her to the hospital where a rape kit was performed. I've read the hospital report, but it's not clear whether the trooper documented the attack. In any case, they never brought Gombert in. Six years later, in 2002, Anthony sat in prison reading his case file. He was halfway through it when he came to the statement that Rachel gave to police, the one about Howard Knowing

[A]

Josette, he opened up this Howard box, not knowing what he was going to find, but didn't know that I was in that box.

[B]

Anthony told his investigators to go out and find Rachel, a girl he knew from hanging around the group home. They found her, all right. And when they brought her story back to him, Anthony was staggered.

[C]

The last time I seen her, I think she was working at a gas station. I had no idea she was suffering anything.

[B]

But sitting with her story tripped memory

[C]

for Anthony, I rob somebody I believe to be Howard Gombert.

[B]

It was an evening in the fall of 1994, right around the time Josette went missing. Anthony was selling drugs back then, was out with two of his stoner pals in Carmel.

[C]

So I'm out there. There's the courthouse. There's this little area where there's these three benches. And I'm standing out there, and this guy comes up to me, right? And he says, I want some. Some crack or some blow.

[B]

Tom, one of his friends, you gonna. On site. So the other kid, Rick, they whisper to Anthony, this guy's a dick. He's no good.

[C]

And. And Rick and Tom were like, this guy. So he abused. Abused my girlfriend. Abused my girlfriend. So I'm like, all right, well, you wanna. You wanna do something about.

[B]

I'm like, yeah. Anthony walked over to the guy and told him, yeah, I'll help you out.

[C]

I said, all right, we gotta go take a ride.

[B]

The guy gave Anthony a hundred bucks in cash. They all got into Big Larry's Bronco, the three teens and the guy seeking drugs.

[C]

And I'm like, where are we gonna take him? So we're driving around, and we pull up in. In this little area, and I'm like, I. I'm not trying to be violent to him. I just. I got his money in my pocket. I just. They're like, let's fuck him up. I'm like, no, just leave him.

[B]

Anthony pulled the car over, told the guy to get out, and I left him there.

[C]

It wasn't until I had paperwork and I kind of pieced it together because how many people did Tom go out with?

[B]

Replaying that memory now the truth of it hit him. Tom's girlfriend at the time was Rachel. And the guy he'd ripped off for the hundred bucks, that had to be Howard Gombert.

[C]

I didn't know that he was a killer. I didn't know that he was a rapist. I just knew these people didn't like him. And I like to take things from people that are bad and So I left them there.

[B]

For years, one question had plagued him in prison. Why'd the cops home in on me? He still had no definitive answer. But now he had a theory.

[C]

And you know what I think I've never been able to prove this, but I've said it to a few people. I think he said that I killed that girl. And I think the reason why I was first ever suspected was because that guy was mad that I robbed him.

[F]

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[H]

My Hidradenitis suprativa symptoms made me pull back from my plans, my work, my friends. I wanted to pull life closer, not push it away. I talked with my doctor about Cosentyx and found real relief.

[D]

Cosentyx Secukinumab is prescribed for adults and children 12 years of age and older with moderate to severe hidradenitis superior operativa. Don't use if allergic to Cosentyx. Get checked for TB before starting. Increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur like TB or other serious bacterial, fungal or viral infections. Some were fatal. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Had a vaccine or planned to or if IBD symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions and severe eczema like skin reactions may may occur. Learn more at 1-844-COSENTIX or cosentix.com Ask

[A]

a dermatologist about Cosentyxima gran estrella.

[B]

It took him years of motions, of failure upon failure, of judges turning blind eyes to the facts. But Anthony finally submitted an appeal that broke through. What sparked it was another flashback from the 90s. The memory of a meeting with his lawyer Bob Leader before his trial in 97.

[C]

We have these legal visits in these small rooms, and it was in the visiting room there.

[B]

Anthony remembers Leader telling him he had evidence, evidence on a man named Howard Gombert that pointed to him as Josette's killer. He told Anthony he was going to go after Gombert as the killer during the trial. Except that, yeah, he never so much as raised Gombert's name to the jury.

[C]

Leader was like, yeah, I think. I think we're going to go after this guy. Leader is like, yeah, I had him on a rape case.

[B]

That case, Anthony learned now dated to 1991. Gombert's accuser was none other than Rachel. That's right. The lawyer had repped Anthony for the rape murder of a 12 year old, had also rep Gombert for the rape of a minor girl.

[C]

So wait a minute, it's just like this guy, a conflict of interest. What is this?

[B]

Having studied law for years now, Anthony put the pieces together. His lawyer, Bob Leader, had committed disparable breach of ethics. You can't rip a client on a murder charge when you've repped another viable suspect for that crime. No matter that he wasn't Gombert's attorney in 97, Leiter still had a duty to protect Gombert at Anthony's trial. And his having done so had denied Anthony's right to a fair trial. It was the perfect grounds for an appeal. Anthony's new lawyer wasted no time filing a motion with the courts. After he'd served 15 years, Anthony's conviction was set aside. He was granted a new trial in 2011, thanks in large part to Rachel and to the investigators who found her, Anthony's conviction was overturned. Still, he wasn't free yet, very far from it because the DA filed to try him again. In the run up to his new trial, Anthony's lawyer approached Rachel about testifying on Anthony's behalf. It was an enormous ask.

[A]

I didn't understand my purpose or, you know, and having to heal and realize

[H]

like, wow, like I.

[A]

My life has just been horror movie kind of like, you know, like I'm very spiritual. I wouldn't say I'm religious. I was mad at God. There was a part in my life where I was just so mad at him

[H]

and like why?

[A]

Why? But I learned that sometimes you have to go through things. They might not be particularly for you, But I had to go through something to help others. And, you know, if that's what my purpose is, then I feel like I've tried to uphold that.

[B]

When he learned that Rachel would testify for him, Anthony poured out his thanks to her. In a letter,

[A]

it says, first and foremost, I can't thank you enough for helping me and my family prosecute Howard Gomperty. You are very courageous. And it is because of this, me and Andy will be able to once again have a life. I know this to be true. And it's not important that you write me back. I just want you to know that we are forever grateful. You are the most important person in this case. Had you testified, my jury would not have believed Denise Road. The judge was protecting the DA by keeping you out. To hell with Howard Copper. Sincerely, Anthony. Thank you.

[B]

In 2012, Anthony moved back to the Putnam jailhouse and Carmel to a trial. One morning, he heard his name called out in lockup. Another inmate heard it and his ears pricked up. His name was Joe Santoro, a short, muscular guy covered in prison ink who just transferred into Putnam lockup.

[C]

He hears my name at commissary.

[E]

So I call him over and he's like, hey, what's up, man? Yeah, I heard a lot about you. You. Yeah, I heard a lot about you too, man. He's like, yeah, none of it's true though. I said, yeah, I know. I said, for. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you're in here, man. I know you ain't do that. How you know I didn't do it?

[B]

Santoro said he'd been in prison in Connecticut when he was doing a bid for possession. Then he shared a story about an inmate he'd met there.

[E]

So, I mean, this sounds funny. It sounds weird. Like we cross paths in the shower, right? And I heard him talking to somebody else.

[B]

Specifically, he heard him talking about Putnam county.

[E]

And I'm like, put county.

[B]

Santora had grown up in Putnam. He looked the other inmate over.

[E]

He looked like a beady eyed weasel, like rat. You know, once I seen him and I seen his. And then I knew. You could just tell right off the jump. When I looked at him, I knew he was a sex offender. You see that he's a predator, but he's a predator for everybody. And then you have the weasel predator, little that with that beady eyes and they just. They prey on the small, the weak, easy, you know, Like a vulture, you know, she's playing the dead. So somebody like that, not too many people want to hear what he has to say.

[B]

But again, the man mentioned Putnam County.

[E]

So I'm giving him airtime. He just wants to talk. He was telling me stuff that I couldn't believe I was hearing.

[B]

Then the beady eyed weasel mentioned a body.

[E]

He explained it was real Josette.

[B]

As a teen growing up in Putnam, he'd learn a legend of Josette backwards and forwards.

[E]

She was this little girl that was raped and killed by Anthony the Pippo and Andrew Krivac. And that there was pieces of, you know, they did some dirty to this little 12 year old girl. And I always had a, a place in my heart of hatred for them. Like for that, like I, I hated those kids for that like, piece of. Rape this little girl and kill her like that. It's up.

[B]

So now hearing this guy in a Connecticut prison talking about a body named

[E]

Josette and I'm like, like, what? And in my head I'm like, oh my God. Like this. What is this guy talking about? Yeah, they got these two other suckers for it though, so they'll never get me. I'm like, two other suckers. I mean, why? They suck at this. He's like, you know, you know, I'm like, you know what? He's like, you know what it is? Like, oh my God. I'm like, what is this guy saying right now? In my mind I'm like, this is, you know, it's explode. It's an explosion. In my mind, he flat out was like, you know, they got two other suckers fat. So that to me right there, that meant you did that if. Yeah. Why are they suckers? They wouldn't be suckers if they did it. You don't know how big of a deal this was. Like when I was like, I'm gonna go tell all my friends about this, this is crazy. And I was like, I was just writing it down. Like, I'm gonna wait until they hear this.

[B]

Santoro ran to his cell and scribbled everything he'd heard. Four pages of notes, single spaced. And then a couple months later, he was sent to the Putnam jail or he heard Anthony's name being called over the PA while he had those notes on his person.

[E]

When I got to fucking Putnam, it was almost like it was like fate, I guess. I don't really believe in that shit, but it was like the world, right and wrong, I guess. You know, the Pippa was there.

[C]

He starts telling me, what is A credible account of being with Howard Gombert. And he started talking about what he said about the red car, Josette, the two suckers. So he literally went from Howard Gombert's Connecticut prison to Putnam County Jail. And he had a set of notes where he says, Howard Gombert said that he had sex with Josette around the time she disappeared.

[B]

Santoro let Anthony read the notes.

[E]

Read that. Amy reads. Kids start crying and I'm reading this shit.

[B]

I'm like, holy shit.

[C]

I'm like, I gotta get this out of the fucking jail. So I'm like, I call my lawyers. I'm like, you guys gotta come. And I'm like, this has gotta get into the court.

[E]

He said, yo, we've been looking. I've been trying to fucking, like, we've been looking at this guy. I'm like, yeah, he's a sicko.

[C]

I'm like, this is an act of God. I am delivered the confession of Howard Gombert in this jail at the time I needed the most.

[B]

The Devil's Quarry is a production of Lava for Good in association with Rolling Stone Films and Signal Company Number One. I'm your creator and host, Paul Solotarov. Executive producers are Jason Flom, Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wardes and Gilbert King from Rolling Stone Films. Our executive producers are Alexandra Dale and Shawn Woods. Our producers are Kara Kornhaber, Hannah Beale, Jackie Pauley, Austin Smith and Kathleen Horn. Our editor is Joel Lovell. Fact checking by Lucy Croning or. Our sound designer is Brit Spangler and our engineer is Austin Smith. Additional reporting by Kathleen Horan. Original music arranged and produced by Alexis Cuadrado at the Plaza Rojas. Studio head of marketing and operations, Jeff Clyburn. Publicist Nathaniel Baruch. Art director Andrew Nelson. Social media stadium manager, Sarah Gibbons. Legal review provided by Clarice Law and Gibson Dunn. Our theme song, the One who's Holding the Stars, is performed by Alexis Quadrado at the Plaza Rojas studio. Vocals by Rob Reddy of Californicorns. Written by Leo Schofield and Kevin Herrick at the Florida Department of Corrections, Hardy Correctional Film Facility.

[H]

My hydrodonitis suprativa symptoms made me pull back from my plans, my work, my friends. I wanted to pull life closer, not push it away. I talked with my doctor about Cosentyx and found real relief.

[D]

Cosentyx Secukenumab is prescribed for adults and children 12 years of age and old, older with moderate to severe hidradonitis suppurativa. Don't use if allergic to Cosentyx. Get checked for TB before starting. Increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Like TB or other serious bacterial, fungal or viral infections, some are fatal. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough, had a vaccine or planned to, or if IBD symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions and severe eczema like skin reactions may occur. Learn more at 1-844-cosentix or cosentix.com Ask a dermatologist about Cosentyx.

[I]

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[B]

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