Loading summary
Transcript24 lines
- [00:00]
A
Foreign. This is Crime House.
- [00:10]
B
All right, friends, it is time for your daily true crime rundown. Grab your coffee. You're going to want to sit down for this. Settle in. Let's talk about the cases everyone's going to be discussing today. We're starting with the biggest one, a Reddit post about a possible serial killer in Louisville turned out to be a confession hiding in plain sight, written by the killer himself before he ever struck. This is crime house 24 7, your non stop source for the biggest crime cases developing right now. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Vanessa Richardson and we have quite a lineup for you today. Here's what you need to know.
- [00:54]
C
Just got a new puppy or kitten. Congrats. But also yikes. Between crates, beds, toys, treats and those first few vet visits, you've probably already dropped a small fortune. Which is where Lemonade Pet Insurance comes in. It helps cover vet costs so you can focus on what's best for your new pet. The coverage is customizable, sign up is quick and easy, and your claims are handled in as little as three seconds. Lemonade offers a package specifically for puppies and kittens. Get a'llemonade.com pet your future self will thank you. Your pet won't. They don't know what insurance is.
- [01:29]
B
On Wednesday, May 27, the Louisville Metro Police Department released body camera footage and a full account of a case that had been months in the making. One that began with an anonymous Internet post, ended in a SWAT standoff and left one man dead at the hands of police and another man's murder. Finally explained, LMPD's SWAT team arrived on May 14 at the 700 block of West Whitney Avenue in Louisville's Wyandot neighborhood, just south of Churchill Downs, to serve an active arrest warrant on 21 year old Michael Ristof. He was wanted on charges of murder, abuse of a corpse, assault in connection with the killing of a homeless man named Michael Howard. Rostof refused to come out. He then opened fire from inside the home. Rounds struck neighboring houses and vehicles in the area. During the standoff, he called the Metro Safe Dispatch center himself. He told the dispatcher he was armed. He told them he wanted them to shoot and kill him. He said, quote, I am not surrendering. I am going to die. End quote. And then, even more chillingly, he said, quote, I am not here to kill SWAT officers. I am here to be shot by them. End quote. SWAT officers spent nearly 25 minutes attempting to resolve the standoff through non lethal means. They deployed chemical agents. They sent two drones into the home. Body camera footage shows Ristof inside, standing on the stairs, pointing a handgun directly at one of the drones and firing at it. Four minutes later, he was still shooting toward officers. Eventually, Ristof emerged from the home onto the porch. He was wearing a ballistic vest and a helmet, and he was still armed. Officers ordered him to drop the weapon. He didn't comply. SWAT officer Bo Gateguard, a 12 year department veteran, fired one shot. Ristof dropped to the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene. With Ristof's death, the full scope of what police had uncovered over the previous months became public, and the story of how they found him is as disturbing as the crime itself. And it started, of all places, on Reddit. On December 21, 2025, someone posted to the platform under the heading possible serial killer in Louisville. The Post claimed that a friend inside LMPD had overheard homicide detectives discussing multiple killings of unhoused people near the Interstate 65 overpass and that the alleged killer was leaving symbols near the bodies. The Post urged others to come forward with more information. When Louisville Metro Police became aware of the Post, they checked their records. There were no such cases. No killings of homeless people near I65. No symbols, nothing matching what was described. Four days later, everything changed. You can guess what happened. On December 25, 2025, a homeless man was stabbed in Louisville. He survived, but surveillance cameras in the area captured someone on a motorized scooter near the scene. Police had a face. They had a vehicle description, but no name yet. Then, on December 26, officers found the body of Michael Howard in a homeless encampment near Interstate 65 and Crittenden Drive. Howard was nude. He'd been mutilated. Eight of his toes and his genitalia had been cut off. Seven toes were recovered near his body. One was missing. And carved into his skin were symbols matching the description from that Reddit post. Five days earlier. Investigators determined Howard had been killed on December 24, 2025, Christmas Eve. As detectives worked the case, one officer recalled something from the preceding months. He'd spoken with homeless individuals in the area who mentioned someone attacking or harassing them. They described the person as wearing tactical gear. Another officer remembered an encounter with someone matching that description earlier in the year and was able to pull body camera footage from it. That footage helped link an address to Michael Ristof. Police obtained a warrant for Rostov's cell phone records and pulled surveillance footage from businesses in the surrounding area. Police data placed him near the scene of the Christmas Day stabbing at the time of the attack on March 7, 2026. After spotting Rostof leaving his home on a scooter, investigators executed a search warrant and seized his backpack. Inside, they found a photograph of a severed toe stored in icloud. Lab results confirmed that blood found on the backpack belonged to Michael Howard. Then came the detail that tied everything together. When investigators examined Ristof's computer, they discovered that the IP address used to make that December Reddit post traced directly back to his home. Ristof had written the post himself before he killed anyone. He was, according to investigators, describing crimes he hadn't yet committed and inviting the public to wonder about them. Through their investigation, detectives determined that Ristof had a fascination with serial killers, a history of torturing animals, a known idolization of mass shooters, and had made explicit statements about wanting to hunt homeless people. Deputy Chief McKinney confirmed that federal officials had previously investigated Ristoff for threats, though she did not detail the nature of those threats or what came of that investigation. He was indicted by a grand jury on May 13, 2026. The warrant was served the following day and ended the way Rostov apparently intended it to. The case has sent shock waves through Louisville's homeless advocacy community. The Louisville Metro Police Department says it's continuing to investigate whether Rostov can be connected to any other attacks on people experiencing homelessness. The shooting itself is under review by LMPD's Public Integrity Unit, the Kentucky State Police and the Louisville Office of the Inspector General. Michael Howard deserved better, and the people living in Louisville's encampments, many of whom described a months long pattern of harassment and violence before Howard's death, had been trying to sound the alarm long before anyone was listening. The Louisville case is striking in part because of how public the warning signs were. A man who announced his intentions on the Internet before he ever acted on them. But as we'll hear in our next story, sometimes the warnings are even more direct than given in person, filed in writing, submitted to the very courts designed to intervene and still not acted on in time. This one comes from Hawaii's Big island, where a manhunt that gripped an entire community just came to an end. And the question of what could have been prevented is already front and center.
- [08:35]
C
Just got a new puppy or kitten. Congrats. But also yikes. Between crates, beds, toys, treats and those first few vet visits, you've probably already dropped a small fortune, which is where Lemonade Pet Insurance comes in. It helps cover vet costs so you can focus on what's best for your new pet. The coverage is customizable, sign up is quick and easy, and your claims are handled in as little as three seconds. Lemonade offers a package specifically for puppy and kittens. Get a'llemonade.com pet your future self will thank you. Your pet won't. They don't know what insurance is on
- [09:10]
B
Thursday, May 28, dozens of law enforcement officers emerged from a heavily wooded area on Hawaii's Big island with a shirtless and emaciated man in handcuffs. Residents say there were roughly 30 of them had been searching for 36 year old Jacob Daniel Baker, who was suspected of killing three men over three days in the rural Puna District. A tip had come in from a witness who spotted Baker hiding in a field along Kalapana Kapuho Road near the home of one of the victims, ducking down as cars passed by. Surveillance footage confirmed the sighting. Officers responded, searched the area and found Baker hiding in a small cave. He was unarmed. Deborah Davis, a 65 year old SE View resident, was driving along the road around 2:45pm when she crested a hill and saw police cars lined up officers in the street. The man ran from the side of the road toward her car, dove into a driveway and disappeared into the trees with officers in pursuit. About 10 minutes later, she heard a chorus of chihus, which is an excited shout in Polynesian culture, from the officers. Baker emerged from the trees, shirtless, handcuffed, flanked by half a dozen officers. Davis said, quote, when I drove through, there were probably 30 cops. I was just thanking them all and crying. This is a very special community down here. End quote Baker was charged with second degree murder and five additional charges, including first degree burglary and charges related to theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The arrest ended days of fear in a community that had been, by the accounts of many of its residents, holding its breath. But the story of how it got there three men dead, a suspect on the loose and a warning system that failed is one that Puna county is still trying to make sense of. The Puna District spans a large rural stretch of the Big Island's eastern coast, nearly the size of Oahu, according to local officials, with scattered farms, small neighborhoods and the kind of close community where, as one resident put it, not everyone even bothers locking their doors. Jacob Baker had been part of that community for a year and a half, living and working at Josana's Organic Garden in Pahoa, harvesting coconuts, known to neighbors as someone who seemed like, in the words of one acquaintance, a Pretty honest young guy. About two months before the killings, Baker left the farm. Then on May 21, he came back. He was looking for his dogs, which had been taken to the Humane Society while he was gone. He became extremely angry when he found out where the dogs were and according to sources familiar with the situation, he started threatening people on the property. The next day, Friday, May 22, two women went to the 3rd Circuit Court and filed applications for temporary restraining orders against Baker. The first, Janelle Honer, wrote, quote, jacob Baker has threatened my life, end quote. The second, Angelia Romero Hansen, filed about an hour later. Her application read, quote, I came to stay on my friend's farm farm only to realize that all the women left because this man threatened to kill them. Please approve this as soon as possible, end quote. The courts closed for Memorial Day weekend without acting on either application. Over the days that followed, Baker's behavior continued to escalate. On Sunday, May 24, he showed up at a neighbor's home asking if he could stay there. Acting aggressively, the neighbor told him no. Baker left, but came back the next day and stole the neighbor's truck. The neighbor reported it to the police. The truck was later found abandoned alongside Kalapana Road near the Kaimu Corner Country Store, less than a mile from where the third victim's body would be recovered. On Monday night, May 25, officers responded to a home on Railroad Avenue in pahoa and found 69 year old Robert Shine partially submerged in a man made cement pond. At first it wasn't clear whether foul play was involved. An autopsy completed by Wednesday morning confirmed it was Shine had been strangled. His death was a homicide. A neighbor, Jacob Spandle, later told reporters that after Shine's body was recovered, he encountered Baker in the area. Spandle said Baker was shouting erratically, things that didn't make sense, but one phrase stood out clearly. Baker reportedly screamed, quote, unquote, bob's dead. End quote. Three or four times. Shine's daughter Anon, described her father as an avid farmer. She said, quote, I'm just still really in shock and just going through different waves of emotion and disbelief and sadness, end quote. On Tuesday, May 26, just after 12:30pm officers found a second victim at his home off Papaya Farms Road, approximately 400 to 500ft from where Shine had lived. That man, 79 years old and identified by neighbors and community members as Chitta Morse, had died from blunt force injuries. One neighbor said, quote, he was always eco friendly. He was just minding his business, living on his farm, end quote. Later that same Evening, just before 10pm Officers conducted a welfare check on 69 year old John Carse at his home on Kalapana Kapoho beach Road, roughly 19 miles from the first two victims. Kars was found dead. An autopsy later determined he had died from sharp force trauma. Three men, three days, three different methods of killing. Police confirmed no firearm was used in any of the deaths. And on Tuesday, May 26, the same day two of those men were discovered. A judge denied both of the restraining order applications that had been filed the previous Friday. The denial cited insufficient evidence. Two of the three victims were already dead by the time the ruling came down. And on the morning of May 27, with the full scope of what had happened now clear, the Hawaii police department launched an island wide manhunt. Police Chief Reed Mahuna said publicly that capturing Baker was the department's number one priority. Federal agencies joined in the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the U. S. Marshal's office, along with state law enforcement and Department of Land and Natural Resources officers. Police drones flew over the district. Officers searched under homes. Local events were cancelled. People who had never thought to lock their doors started reconsidering. One Puna resident said it simply, quote, everyone's been really scared. A lot of people around here. We just live very close in community. End quote. Some residents took matters into their own hands, patrolling the roads from Kaimu to Pohoiki not to confront Baker if they spotted him, but to keep extra eyes on the area and give neighbors a sense of agency in an otherwise terrifying situation. Then came Thursday afternoon. The tip. The field, the cave, the handcuffs. As of this recording, the investigation into what connected Baker to the three victims and what may have motivated the killings remains ongoing. Police have stated they're confident Baker is responsible for or involved in all three homicides. The only confirmed confirmed geographic connection between the first two victims was that they lived roughly 400 to 500ft apart. Three men lost their lives. The warnings had been given in writing to a court days before anyone died. And a community that considered itself close and safe is left to reckon with the question of what might have been different if those warnings had been heard in time.
- [17:13]
C
If you're the proud parent of a puppy or kitten, you know you can't pet proof your entire life. There simply isn't a sock drawer high enough or a couch cover thick enough. But you can pet proof your wallet with lemonade Pet insurance. Whether it's an unexpected accident or a routine checkup, Lemonade can cover up to 90% of the bill. Plus they can handle claims in as little as two seconds. So before you turn into a complete helicopter pet parent, get a quilt out@lemonade.com
- [17:38]
B
pet okay, before I let you go, you know we can't end without giving you a little something extra. Over on the final hours. Today, Sarah and Courtney are diving into the case of Dale Kerstetter, heist or homicide. So on September 12, 1987, 50 year old security guard Dale Kerstetter clocked in at Corning Glass works in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and was never seen again. Surveillance footage captured him calmly walking off camera beside a masked intru, pausing only to look directly into the lens. When the masked man reappeared hours later, he dragged a large bag from the building and left with $220,000 worth of platinum. 35 years later, investigators still don't know whether Dale was a victim or a willing accomplice. Trust me, you're going to want to hear this one. It's amazing. We grabbed a clip from today's episode. Take a listen and if you like the episode, don't forget to follow the final hours.
- [18:41]
D
Dale Kerstetter's case looks different depending on how you perceive him. Some saw Dale as a survivalist and a pragmatist, the kind of guy who did what needed to be done. When he disappeared from the factory he worked at along with thousands of dollars in platinum, they thought he'd pulled off a heist. Others saw Dale as honest and loyal. They thought he would never commit a crime like that. But he may have been a casualty of one, either abducted or murdered. But almost everyone agrees on one. They hope Dale's alive and they'll get to see him again. Before we discuss the duality of Dale, let's talk about his origin story.
- [19:18]
A
Dale Kerstetter was a simple man who got along with everyone. People considered him kind and generous. Dale was born on March 7, 1937, in Bradford, Pennsylvania, a small town about 80 miles south of Buffalo, New York. According to the podcast Lost and Found, which spoke to Dale's daughter penny back in 2018, Dale spent most of his life in Bradford. That's also where he met his first wife, Nancy, on the school bus. But they didn't date until much later. In fact, Lost and Found got a lot of interesting original details from Penny about her father's life. So we want to shout them out as one of our many great sources for this episode. But let's talk about Dale's life after high school. He actually left early to join the Air Force, which was the only time he lived outside of Pennsylvania. After he was honorably discharged, he earned his GED and took several college courses. Shortly after coming back, Penny told Lost and Found that Dale bumped into Nancy at a carnival. She thought Dale was a blast. Someone who loved to have a good time, had an awesome sense of humor, and at the same time was respectful and trustworthy. They started dating in 1959, and six months later they got married. Dale and Nancy started a big family. First they had Cindy, then Penny, who Lost and Found Learned was actually named after Dale's childhood dog. He was so attached to that dog that after she died, Dale refused to leave his bedroom for two days. According to Nancy, the human Penny ended up being the most like Dale. After her, they had Bonnie, Wendy, and then the twins. Twins? Susan and Al. Six children, five of them girls. Nancy stayed home to raise the kids while Dale went to work. But what Dale really wanted was to spend every second he could with his family. Don't get me wrong, they spent a lot of time together, usually in the great outdoors. In the summer, he'd take them to pick berries, fish, and camp. In the winter, he'd drive them down a country road to go sledding, cook hamburgers over a fire and drink hot chocolate. He hunted, fished, trapped, and went skydiving again with the kids. But he wasn't as country as some people thought. Penny told Lost and Found that Dale enjoyed nice food and reading Forbes magazine. He studied the stock market and tried to invest. He also invested in people. After a father of seven who lived in Dale's trailer park was immobilized after an accident, Dale brought them them food and made sure they were provided for. He took care of his own through thick and thin and maintained his relationships, including his one with Nancy. After 22 years of marriage, Dale and Nancy divorced, but they still remained close, even when Nancy moved to Texas while he stayed in Pennsylvania. Out of Dale's six children, two of them still lived in town. By that point, the eldest, Cindy, was out of the house. So the tide for youngest teenage Al was the only one left who lived with Dale. And the two of them were really close. Al once said he thinks there isn't a kid in the world who wouldn't want to have Dale as their dad.
- [22:20]
D
I think that says so much about Dale as a person as do the details of his career. So, as we mentioned, Dale worked at a plant called the Corning Glassworks. They produce glass rods that enclose resistors used in television sets which helped regulate electrical currents. Dale started working there in 1959, the year after they opened happened. That was also the same year he married Nancy. His job title was journeyman, which meant he operated the machines and performed maintenance work. But he also did other odds and ends. Washed the windows and painted the offices. Basically whatever Corning needed. Once he even installed a new tile floor. But he didn't work there as a security guard until a little while later.
- [23:01]
A
Dale's co workers described him as a survivalist. Once when he cut his own finger, he sewed it up himself. Another time, a propane tank on a forklift rolled beneath a stream of molten glass, which was a ticking time bomb. The tank could have exploded if Dale hadn't jumped on and driven the forklift out in time. He saved at least a few lives that day and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. But people say that Dale was also a little troublemaker, a class clown, if you will. He liked scaring and pranking people as much as he liked making them laugh.
- [23:34]
D
But it wasn't all fun and games. During that period of time, in the late 1980s, a recession spread through rural sections of Pennsylvania. Demand for the electrical resistors that Corning helped produce decreased. By 1987, Dale had worked at Corning for 28 years. But the company was downsizing. Because Dale was reliable and a longtime employee, he kept his job but lost and found, learned that his pay got cut significantly. So to make ends meet, he added overnight and weekend security shifts to his schedule. He didn't have any special security training. In fact, none of the guards there did. Most of them didn't even carry weapons. But Dale told his daughter Penny that he wouldn't patrol the factory without his own gun. The.22 caliber pistol that no one seemed to mind him bringing. By the way, Dale wasn't the biggest guy. At 5 foot 4 and 130 pounds, it would have been easy to overpower him. So he liked the added protection because outside of the guards and the cameras, Corning didn't have much of a security system. They didn't even keep the doors locked overnight.
- [24:38]
A
Courtney, why aren't we locking the doors?
- [24:40]
D
I know this was, you know what, 1987, and this was a very small town, but I don't know, I just feel like you just have to be safe, but you never know the intentions other people have. Especially, like this job in specific.
- [24:52]
A
Yeah, if you're gonna have security guards, why aren't we locking the door? I mean, but to circle it back to Dale, right? You know, that. That just popped out at me. I'm like, why is this even happening? In the first place. But to circle it back to Dale, it's like, I don't know, the whole security operation feels very makeshift. And while Dale has worked there for, like, nearly 30 years, at this point, I'm sure knows that plant like the back of his hand. It just feels like there's a better way. So, like, I wonder if maybe they gave him this gig, you know, and we kind of alluded to it, right, that it's very possible that he was given this gig Just to kind of piece together the money that he was losing from his pay being cut.
- [25:30]
D
Yeah, I mean, I feel like them downsizing and people losing their jobs. Like you mentioned, he was there for a really, really long time. They probably didn't want to just, you know, cut him out. He'd already, like, given so much of his life to this job job in specific. So it makes sense, you know, him taking whatever shift possible to kind of keep making that money. But a lot of people kind of point out, like, what the point of having, like, an untrained security officer does. I think, to me, it kind of boils down to, like, it's a deterrent. There's just somebody there. So if somebody does happen to stroll by and see a security officer, they're probably going to think that person is trained, and they're probably going to stray away and not try breaking in. So. So that's kind of like my thought process on that.
- [26:10]
A
Yeah. When they open the unlocked door and see the security guard, maybe they'll walk right out. Nothing about this makes sense. And I just have to point that out. It's so hard for me. Like, what's the point of having armed security? Right. I know that Dale appears to be the only one that was armed, but armed security with the doors wide open, or at least unlocked, that part really got me.
- [26:29]
D
I definitely understand why Dale would want to bring his own weapon, Especially being, like, untrained. That makes perfect sense to me. I would probably do the same, because you just never know.
- [26:38]
A
But I bet he thought it was, like, an easy gig. Right. Again, he spends so much time there, he knows it like the back of his hand. And I have to imagine that he understands the risk that would come to it. I mean, again, working there almost 30 years, I think he's going to know if they've been broken into, if things have been stolen. I would imagine he was, you know, well aware of the possible risks. Well, last go to Saturday, September 12, 1987, what seems like any other work day for Dale. He says goodnight to his son Al, the last of his kids to live with him. Then he leaves his home in Lewis Run, Pennsylvania and drives the 10 miles to Corning Glassworks. He arrives at 10:30pm and chats with the guard. He's relieving Art Peterson. Dale and Art are friends. Their families even go camping together. A few minutes. Minutes later, Dale takes the plant keys from Art, who leaves without punching his time card. Usually the incoming guard does that for the outgoing guard. So this is normal. What's not normal is that night Dale seemingly forgets to do it. Dale settles in while the remaining employees leave. The place empties out, leaving Dale there alone. After that, he's supposed to check in every hour. But after midnight, nobody hears from him. Him again.
- [27:52]
D
What's weird to me, Sarah, is that people had different accounts of how Dale was supposed to check in. Some say he keeps a record, signing a logbook or something similar. Others say he calls into the main plant. In which case someone should have noticed his disappearance right away.
- [28:08]
A
Yes, but at the same time, there were others who said a new employee was working that night and they weren't aware of the protocol. Which would make sense. Sense because by midnight there's no check in from Dale. He's gone completely silent. And no one seems to notice that he's missing or that a masked stranger is inside the building with him.
- [28:35]
B
That's Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole on the final hours. And that's just a taste. Their full episode on Dale Kurt's Der is out right now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Just search the final hours and make sure you follow if you like it so you don't miss any episodes. You've been listening to crime house 247 bringing you breaking crime news. I'm Vanessa Richardson. We'll be back tomorrow morning with more developing stories. Stay safe and thanks for listening.
- [29:08]
E
At Fred's Appliance. We've been locally owned and family operated since 1962. Founded by a veteran and built on service. This Memorial Day we're offering big savings on top rated appliances. Swing in today to find all brands and all styles on sale. And when you buy more, save more. Up to $500. From the durability of Frigidaire to the innovative technology of ge. Find your next refrigerator at Fred's Shop. The largest supply of in stock. Get it today inventory in the region only at your local Fred's Appliance.