Daphne (2:21)

I agree. We have some other good ones coming the rest of this month. Actually, our 550th episode of Going west is going to air on Halloween day. We've got a little something up our.

Heath (2:31)

Sleeves, so a little something spooky for you guys.

Daphne (2:34)

So thank you guys for tuning in. I guess without further ado, let's just dive right in.

Heath (2:37)

All right, guys, this is episode 547 of going west. So let's get into it.

Daphne (3:06)

Save 1996. Two parents were brutally murdered inside their home. But the killers were total strangers. And more intriguingly, they were a group of teenagers from Kentucky who called themselves vampires. Heading for New Orleans, this cult traveled across state lines, Leaving behind a scene of ritualistic violence that shocked the nation. These are the murders of Naomi and Richard Wendorf, Also known as the Teen Vampire Murders.

Heath (4:29)

Foreign.

Daphne (4:32)

Ruth Adams was born on November 4, 1942 in Harts, West Virginia. She had two daughters named Paula and Sandy, from a previous relationship when she met and married a man named Richard Wendorf. Her husband. Richard originally hailed from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Heath (4:51)

Wisconsin, that's a hard thing. Oshkosh, Wisconsin, thank you.

Daphne (4:55)

But moved to central Florida as a teenager. And then after they got together, he and Naoma settled in Eustis, Florida, which is about 40 miles or 64 kilometers southwest of Orlando. The pair had two daughters together, Jennifer and Heather. Now, Jennifer was popular. She was athletic and a cheerleader. Whereas Heather could be described more so as like moody and a bit more subdued. She was definitely the. The quiet sister. And this led her to befriending another self proclaimed social pariah, Rodrick or Rod Farrell. Which is why today's story even exists. However, his time, Rod's time in Eustis, Florida was very short lived. He moved on a whim with his single mother, Sondra Gibson, to be closer to her boyfriend in Florida. Of course. But soon enough, Rod and his mother Sandra were back in their hometown of Murray, Kentucky, Leaving Florida behind. And by the way, Murray is a town of about 17,000 people in western Kentucky, Just north of the border of Tennessee. And there Rod was known around town for being a troublemaker and later a self proclaimed vampire.

Heath (6:13)

Yes, that is where today's story takes a wild ass turn.

Daphne (6:16)

Yeah, because according to Rod, he was a 500-year-old vampire. Which makes him like what, twice as old as Lestat. Yeah, named Vassago, which years later he described as his alter ego. Vassago is thought to be an accidental misspelling by the way of the demon Vassago. Rod spelled it V E S a G O and the demon is V A S, S A G O. Who is considered the prince of good nature. Despite of course, being a demon. He's considered like one of the nicest demons, which I really don't think connects to Rod at all, as you guys will see.

Heath (6:53)

Yes, because Rod is a piece of shit.

Daphne (6:55)

Nothing nice about Rod at all. Now, Rod came from A bit of a troubled background and seemed to use his, like, vampiric alter ego as a form of escapism, which we've seen in many other cases from people who have experienced trauma or abuse and, you know, clearly as kind of a unique coping mechanism. Rod's parents were high school sweethearts and teen parents, and his dad took off when Sandra was still pregnant, leaving Rod without a father. Sandra, too, suffered from her fair share of trauma, having accused her dad, Harold Gibson, of molesting her, and Harold even allowed his friends to gang rape her. This is again, Sandra, who is Rod's mother. Her older sister later corroborated these claims and said that she had been sexually abused at the hands of their father as well. And it's really sad because it even seemed to go further from there because it seeped into Rod's life as well, Because Rod eventually confided in his mom, Sandra, that he, too, was molested by his grandfather. But when asked about this and whether it affected his behavior down the line, he said in an interview, quote, I would rather not go into that.

Heath (8:08)

Jesus, Harrell is just going after everybody.

Daphne (8:11)

Yeah, he's. I mean, a horrible, horrible, sick human being.

Heath (8:14)

Yeah, well, he's probably dead now, and thank God for that.

Daphne (8:16)

Thank God.

Heath (8:17)

Well, back home in Murray, Kentucky, Rod fell in with a pretty rough crowd, including a friend of his named Jaden Murphy, whom he looked up to and seemed to kind of want to emulate. I mean, it even appears that he got into the vampire stuff as well, or at least his interest in it kind of heightened because Jaden told him that he had become a vampire, and Rod was pretty eager to follow suit. So together they performed a blood sucking ritual in a local cemetery in order to usher Rod into Murray, Kentucky's underground vampire scene.

Daphne (8:50)

That's. I mean, it is crazy to think that people out there are claiming to be vampires and having rituals and stuff like, this is real and it might be happening right now. You know what I mean? Like, it's so weird how much stuff goes on that we don't see.

Heath (9:04)

I gotta tell you that back when I was in high school. Oh, no. I kind of hung out with, like, I was more of a punk kid, but I knew that. But I lived in a small town where there was a lot of, like, cowboys and stuff like that. So, yeah, I kind of hung out with, like, the goth kids as well because they were similar to me. But I knew kids like that that, like, you know, Wittero.

Daphne (9:26)

Black trench coat.

Heath (9:28)

Yeah. Wear black trench coats. They would kind of Run around the halls of the high school hissing at people like they were vampires. Which is weird.

Daphne (9:34)

Which is like. But like, harmless, as long as they're not, like drinking innocent people's blood.

Heath (9:40)

I want to say in like 95% of all of these cases, it's really just harmless kids kind of wanting to express themselves in some way.

Daphne (9:49)

100%, which we love.

Heath (9:51)

But then we also have Rod Ferrell.

Daphne (9:53)

Yeah. People who take it to like a completely different kind of level.

Heath (9:57)

Yeah. Well, according to Rod, he officially became a vampire on January. In January of 1996.

Daphne (10:05)

And then he just like immediately became 500 years.

Heath (10:08)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's like, finally, I'm 500 years old now. So Rod explained the process by saying the crossover was relatively simple. He took me to Old Salem cemetery and he took me to a certain tree where all chosen ones have been made by their sires. And by the way, a sire is a vampire who has created another vampire. And that's when Jaden took out his blade. I made three slits on my left arm and he drank from me. And then he made slits on his arm and I drank from him. And we basically sat in quiet meditation for a few hours before departing. Now, Jaden, Rod, and their friends were of course, goths, as you guys could probably imagine. They wore similar clothes and makeup and they would roleplay their identities as vampires and also took up hunting for blood to consume. And get this. Rod's mom, Sandra, was supportive to the point of being a little bit. Well, I won't even say a little bit. A lot of an enabler. And she actually started dressing like him and feeding into this world that he had fallen into. Like, Sandra took the identity so seriously that she later faced criminal charges for propositioning a 14 year old boy for sex in order to complete an initiation rite. Let's into this cult.

Daphne (11:29)

This is a grown ass woman.

Heath (11:30)

Yeah. You're too old to be, you know, playing this whole game.

Daphne (11:34)

And it's fine. Again, like, if you're dressing a certain way, like, who cares about that? Like, feed into your creativity 100%. But when you're doing things like this, propositioning a 14 year old boy for sex because you think it's part of an initiation ritual or. Right. Whatever you said.

Heath (11:51)

Yeah, right.

Daphne (11:52)

Come on.

Heath (11:52)

Yeah. It's just. It's just crazy and it's going to get a lot more crazy. But first, under the guise of being this, you know, caring and encouraging mother, she even painted a pentagram on their living room floor. Later saying that she didn't believe that Rod's behavior marked the beginning of criminal activity and that she was just merely fostering his creativity.

Daphne (12:12)

Again, beyond creativity.

Heath (12:15)

But yeah, you're a grown ass adult. Like you, just because your son is kind of into these things does not mean that you need to like go all out and start painting pentagrams on your floor.

Daphne (12:26)

Yeah, it seems like the trauma really runs deep in both of them. I think that escapism that I was saying that Rod had, maybe his mom has a little bit as well, and it was easy for her to kind of fall into it too.

Heath (12:39)

And I also think that because of the fact that it was really just Rod and Sandra, because Rod's father was gone at this point, that maybe she felt like she would lose Rod if she didn't kind of give in to this. I don't know. I'm not trying to make excuses for her because she's a dumbass. I know, but you get what I'm saying, 100%.

Daphne (12:57)

Well, this quickly turned from this again, like this kind of more harmless folly and dress up with his friends to much darker, evil criminal activity. When Rod's temper and behavioral problems really revealed themselves. One afternoon, Rod was out for a walk with his buddy Jaden when they found a kitten, which Rod picked up and started to pet. And I want to give, of course, as we usually do, a little bit of an animal abuse warning here. It's not detailed at all, but I just want to tell you to maybe skip a few seconds if you don't want to hear it. We understand. So he was petting the cat, and when the cat scratched him, probably because he was being rough with the cat, like we can imagine, he wasn't being like, you know, whatever cats do that Rod got angry and he hurled the cat against a tree and killed it instantly. Jaden was actually shocked and appalled by this and began to distance himself from Rod after that. You know, it's. It's not every day that you see your friend kill a cat. So it seems like he's kind of drawing the line at real cruelty and death. Like, oh, yeah, I'll drink my friend's blood, but I don't want to hurt somebody.

Heath (14:08)

Yeah. And remember that Rod was really looking up to Jaden at this point. He really wanted to be like Jaden, but you know, Jaden, like you're saying, is kind of like he's drawing a line here. But Rod, I think is. And just this is just his personality as well. He just wants to impress people.

Daphne (14:26)

Yeah, I completely agree with you. And that's why this part is really interesting, because, like, you're saying he looks up to Jaden. He probably does want to impress him and seem like he's this big, bad vampire, but raw or. But sorry, Jaden is not into this. He's saying, while you're taking this to a. In a different direction. And so they kind of start to. To beef it out a little bit. They have this disagreement. And then because of that disagreement, Rod threatened to murder and disembowel Jaden's fiance at the. Remember, they're teenagers. Even adding in the detail that he would place her head on a stake for decoration. So Jaden is now like, whoa. Like, this is again, going deeper and deeper, farther and farther away from what I'm comfortable with. And I don't want any part of what you're. You've got going on.

Heath (15:16)

Yeah. And. And real quick, I just want to give you guys a slight little history fact. So I. I think Rod saying this head on a steak thing actually comes from Dracula or the original Dracula, Vlad the Impaler. And he would murder his enemies, and he would put their heads on stakes for everyone to see. He would also drink blood. That's how he got the name, the original Dracula, you know, so I'm sure that's kind of where this came from with Rod.

Daphne (15:42)

I feel like you're totally right there. Like, it feels like he probably did read about things like this.

Heath (15:47)

Yeah, he idolized other vampires and Dracula and stuff like that.

Daphne (15:50)

Other vampires?

Heath (15:51)

Yeah. You know what I mean?

Daphne (15:52)

No, but, Yeah, I mean, 100%. He's probably wanting. He wants to embody people like Vlad, people who are dark and dangerous. He wants so badly to not just be like this regular teenage kid.

Heath (16:03)

Yeah, he's edgy.

Daphne (16:05)

Well, after he said this about Jaden's fiance, about putting her head on a stake for decoration, they had a nasty physical altercation, Rod and Jaden did, leading Rod to get kicked out of Jaden's family home, which is where he had been living at the time, by the way. Rod broke away from his slightly more innocent cult friends, who dabbled in blood drinking and roleplaying, and leaned full tilt into starting a more extreme iteration of his own cult. He was also engaging in heavy drug use at the time. Actually, by his own admission, Rod was using acid, marijuana, pcp, and when he could get it, meth and heroin, which surely all of those things was not helping his mental state at this time. So now he lost all of his vampire friends, but he still says, well, that's who I AM So now he has to find a new crew, a crew that could get into what he was into, which I'm honestly surprised that he was able to find. So he recruited a handful of new vampires, all of whom were troubled teenage dropouts like him who longed for a sense of community and sadly went in the very wrong direction to find it. Before long, four more local teenagers, including Michael Schaefer, Howard Scott Anderson, who went by Scott. We're going to talk about a Scott today. Charity Kesey and Dana Cooper had joined Rod's tight knit group. And I'm sure he honestly loved this, loved getting away because now he's like, well, I'm the leader. He even called himself their vampiric father. And he boasted that he would claim responsibility for them performing their crossing over ceremonies and even beginning to date fellow member Charity. So none of these people were like self proclaimed vampires until they met him. And he's saying, oh, I want to recruit you. Join my group, I'll be your vampiric father.

Heath (18:02)

And this is how it always starts. I mean, you look at Charles Manson and just the fact that he was able to manipulate his followers to. And they were all, you know, basically runaways and social outcasts, things like that.

Daphne (18:15)

Very true.

Heath (18:17)

Well, he later spoke highly of his new lifestyle, but he was very, very condescending about it, saying, quote, it is one individual literally being trusted enough or loved enough to open that other person's flesh and seek out their most prized possession, their very core of themselves, which would be in belief, their blood. At which point ingesting it, taking that other person to them, shows a love for the other individual too. The victim, however, sometimes sanguinary vampires, the blood feeders, many times actually will go beyond that belief and look at the fact that it's the core essence of a being. It's for them, food. And sometimes that can be taken out of context, like many things can and pretty much anything in life. Ah, ah, ah. Sorry, I had to throw that in there.

Daphne (19:05)

What a blowhard.

Heath (19:07)

He's just a dumbass. You know, he's really taking this whole thing. He's so pumped up about being the vampiric father. Well, unfortunately, it was around this time that Rod began reconnecting with his friend back in Eustace, Heather Wendorf. So now we're gonna circle back to the Wendorf family. Heather and Rod had apparently dated back in their early teens when he lived in Florida, but they reconnected by talking on the phone when he was back in Kentucky. These occasional catch ups blossomed into Hours spent chatting on a daily basis. And according to Rod, Heather confided in him that she was being sexually abused by her father and that her mother had done nothing to stop it. But I want to say that these claims have never been corroborated. So we're not exactly sure the truth of that situation, you know, if Heather was actually serious about this or if she was potentially lying to impress Rod. Rod even alleged that she begged him to kill her parents so that she could escape. Heather's sister Jennifer, who disputes any claims of abuse taking place in the house, said that she recalled her sister asking her if she ever thought about killing their parents, though Heather did later deny this. Now, according to Jennifer, when Heather reconnected with Rod, she told Jennifer that she knew somebody who could kill Jennifer's abusive boyfriend. So this kind of felt like the first sign that Heather was maybe making dark connections and relationships because of Rod. In Murray, public opinion of the so called vampire cult was shifting from forced tolerance to basically outright disdain. And In October of 1996, the cult officially became outcasts in small town society following a particularly depraved act.

Daphne (20:56)

Yeah, this one is bad. On the morning of October 14, 1996, at the Murray Calloway Animal Shelter. Don't worry, I'll give you a warning. Shelter employees arrived to find as many as 40 dogs running wild in the street. Eight were left unaccounted for altogether and were believed to have escaped. But the real horrors were in the yard where they found a chain link fence had been bent back which allowed intruders to sneak into the shelter. I want to give you another animal abuse warning. Again, I'm not going to give details, we don't like doing that, but you know, we always want to give you a warning. These intruders had mutilated two puppies. Found in the grass was a circle of tamped down earth where the attackers were believed to have circled around the remains of the animals. Eerily so. It's almost like, you know, this makes you think of a ritual.

Heath (21:54)

Yeah, they're trying to perform some sort.

Daphne (21:56)

Of ritual, a very sick one. And sadly, no one at this time was arrested for the murders of multiple innocent dogs. And the whole town was really on edge just knowing that some depraved, senseless individuals were loose in their community. Like imagine being in this small town and you hear that this happened and know that multiple people did this and that they're just somewhere out there. Like it takes a specific kind of person to mutilate a dog.

Heath (22:27)

Yeah. And remember, this is Again, a town of only 17,000 people. So it's not. It's not very big at all. So probably a lot of people know a lot of people around town, and they probably know who Rod is, too.

Daphne (22:40)

Yeah, I agree. I think people probably. Rumors were swirling. People kind of had an idea. But in the aftermath of the attack on the animal shelter, Sheriff Stan Scott said, quote, we're dealing with some sick individuals, and I want them caught. This goes way beyond a simple breaking and entering. This is a case of absolute vandalism, and these people need to be caught. Due to the way the animals were dealt with, there was some indication that the incident was related to some kind of cult activity. This is why Heath said that this group is starting to get even more side eyes than usual. Because as, I mean, the sheriff is literally saying that this is cult activity. So people are like, well, who the hell in our town is like a cult? Yeah, I know.

Heath (23:28)

Yeah, these teenagers.

Daphne (23:30)

And by the way, again, I didn't want to read it because it's so sad, but in this quote from the sheriff, he actually explained how some of the animals died and just how brutal and cruel it was. You know, obviously not like killing an animal in any way is just. Or okay, but these animals suffered. This was really, really, really messed up. Now, by early November, Sheriff Stan Scott announced that he was preparing charges for two juveniles based on compiled evidence and reports from locals because the town was talking. But he declined to announce their names just yet. He told the press, quote, these are the only two we can charge at this time, but the investigation is continuing. He was prepared to charge the pair with criminal attempt to commit burglary and criminal trespassing, as well as, of course, cruelty to animals. He also claimed that he believed as many as 10 people could have been involved. But Rod was slippery and managed to skip town before a warrant could be issued for his arrest for these acts. Rod claimed that he felt ostracized from and persecuted by his community for things he didn't do.

Heath (24:48)

No, there are things he absolutely did do.

Daphne (24:50)

Yeah. And that they blamed him for much of the criminal activity taking place, including the horror at the animal shelter. So he and his friends hatched a plan to escape.

Heath (24:59)

I just hate the fact that he's playing the victim now. I know. It's like. It's like you're not persecuted for no reason. Like, you brought all this on yourself because you're a bad person.

Daphne (25:09)

This isn't just like, oh, you're coming at me because I'm goth and you think that I'm into dark shit. It's like, no, you literally are. And you talk about the fact that you are, but then when push comes to shove and the sheriff shows up, you're like, no, I didn't do anything, and you did.

Heath (25:23)

Well, that's his excuse. You know, that's exactly what he's going to blame it on is just the fact that, like, oh, they're. They're persecuting me because I wear black and whatever, because I think I'm a vampire.

Daphne (25:33)

Exactly. Well, his buddy Michael Schaefer actually stayed behind. He did not leave with the group because he was headed to an inpatient behavioral treatment center. But the other four members of their culture, Rod, Scott, Charity, and Dana, remained. So the group took off for Heather's hometown of Eustis, Florida. Now, their plan was eventually to head to none other than New Orleans, of course. Of course. Where they felt that they could really indulge their vampire fantasies free of judgment, in a community known for fostering artists and those fond of the paranormal and the occult.

Heath (26:12)

Yeah, it's kind of the perfect place if you think you're a vampire. It's the perfect place to go, unless.

Daphne (26:16)

You'Re a piece of shit criminal about it.

Heath (26:18)

Oh, had. Had. I think Interview with a Vampire had come out by that time, right? By, like, 1996 or was it later?

Daphne (26:24)

Yeah, I think it came out in 94.

Heath (26:27)

Yeah. Okay. So. So this would have been kind of. I mean, they might have been inspired to travel because obviously that takes place in New Orleans. It has to do with vampires and stuff.

Daphne (26:38)

It was like New Orleans has just always been that staple. But I'm sure they love this movie.

Heath (26:42)

Oh, yeah, of course. I'm sure. And not to say that, you know, this movie was the first kind of thing that had to do with vampires in New Orleans because there's a long history of all of that being There was some type of inspiration. So the group piled into Scott Anderson's Buick and drove the 12 hours from Murray, Kentucky, to Eustis, Florida. Now, after arriving in Eustis, Rod performed Heather's crossing over ceremony, and the group made plans to head out for New Orleans with Heather in tow. According to Heather, she got swept up in this fantasy of it all. Rod told her that he was hundreds of years old and that he had come back to life. And she recalled, it was like a fairy tale. So much more interesting than getting up, going to school, going home, and then going to bed. While back in Eustace, for the first time in over a year, he reconnected with A few of his old friends and told one of them that he planned to kill Heather's parents in order to steal their car. Now this friend was obviously very horrified by this and apparently thought that Rod was just bluffing. But the group hit an unexpected snag because Scott's car was on its last legs and had sustained a flat tire. And nobody in the group had enough money to replace it or probably enough brains to replace it.

Daphne (28:05)

Of course they don't. They're going to New Orleans to be vampires and they have no money, like no. Probably nowhere to stay. Like they're just, they're teenagers. They're all like 16 years old.

Heath (28:16)

Yeah, well. So after all of this went down, after Scott's car was basically just not really working for them, Heather offered up a solution that they could steal her parents Ford explorer. So on November 25, 1996, Heather attended school as usual, and then she came home to see her parents. Now nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she scribbled a note for her sister saying, I love you, Jennifer. I'm not coming back. Please don't follow us. Now, she left this note upstairs in Jennifer's bedroom and then was then picked up by Rod, Scott, Charity and Dana. She waited in Scott's car with Charity and Dana while Rod and Scott circled to the back of the house. Heather told him that the keys would be on the nightstand next to her parents bed and that she also requested that they take a few mementos from her parents, which was a pocket knife from her dad and then a string of pearls from her mom. So Rod and Scott cautiously surveyed the house and then they headed into the garage. The boys crept around the garage looking for a weapon and that's when they found a crowbar, which Rod picked up. They entered the house through the door in the garage and then they slinked down the hallway. Inside, Naoma was in the shower and Richard was asleep on the couch. Which unfortunately made for two very easy targets.

Daphne (29:48)

In his later interrogation, 16 year old Rod said coolly that he spotted Richard on the couch and decided to attack him with little forethought. Knowing that this was what he needed to do to care for his followers. Rod whacked 49 year old Richard on the temple, knocking him out. In that interrogation days later, Rod said, with no discernible remorse, it's now or never. Because if he gets up, I'm a fucking dead motherfucker. So I just beat him until he died. And by the way, although Scott was not directly apparently involved in the slaying, he also did nothing to stop it. He just stood by Rod's side and watched him murder these people. So Richard sustained 22 blows to the head and about 10 to his chest. Rod and Scott then continued to look for the keys to the family's Ford Explorer. But hearing the commotion, 53 year old Naomi came into the living room, horrified at what she saw. She tossed her coffee at Rod as a deterrent before dragging her fingernails across his face and grabbing his wrist to wrestle him away from her. As Scott looked on once again, Rod hit her on the head with the crowbar 21 times. Scott later claimed that he didn't condone what happened, but that he felt powerless to stop it. Which is such, because, you know, you knew why you were going in there. You knew what Rod was doing, and if you didn't like what he was doing, you could have teamed up with the two victims before they were murdered and gotten Rod to stop or left the house or found a phone.

Heath (31:33)

Like there could have been something that you could have done.

Daphne (31:35)

Yeah, and maybe this was like a peer pressure moment where he felt like he had to go along with it, but it's like. Like you're literally watching somebody murder people. Like, figure it out.

Heath (31:43)

Well, again, this is a cult, you know, and so they. They don't want to upset, you know, father or vampiric father or whatever the hell he calls himself. But the other thing I think that's really funny is like, okay, so you need a Ford Explorer because obviously you can't fly like a vampire, you fucking dumbass. And also, that's probably not how a vampire would fucking kill someone. You know, it's like you're. You're really proving that you're not this 500-year-old vampire to your cult.

Daphne (32:11)

I think it's coming to a head very, very quickly here. The ruse is up. The jig is up. So Rod and Scott then made off with the Keyes and the Ford Explorer, pulling around the corner to change out the Wendorf family's license plates with Scott's, and then headed out to meet the girls who were waiting in Scott's car. Then they abandoned Scott's car and headed on to their destination of New Orleans. Once they were on their way, the boys revealed that they had killed Heather's parents. And to Rod's apparent surprise, she seemed appalled and devastated, screaming in agony. Meanwhile, back at the house, Jennifer Wendorf arrived home from work to find her parents brutally beaten. So she placed a frantic call to 911, telling them that her parents were dead and that she was especially concerned about her missing 15 year old sister, Heather. You know what a girl's best friend is not diamonds. Her lawyers. From executive producer Ryan Murphy comes a fiery new legal drama. It's our own boutique women representing women you can't afford to miss. Make it rain Showtime ladies. Stand up straight and breeze into that room like a storm no one saw coming. Hulu Original Series All's fair from ease November 4th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers.

Heath (33:51)

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Heath (35:53)

Approval I can't believe they're having a gender reveal for their dog. No, no, no, no. This is a breed reveal. Oh. So, yeah, they're finding out the breed of the puppy they're rescuing. So they could just be spending all their money on, like, pet insurance Instead. We got lemonade for Roscoe and it covered vaccines, microchipping. We saved 90% on vet bills.

Daphne (36:11)

Oh, here we go.

Heath (36:15)

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Daphne (39:38)

Honestly, go, mom. That couldn't have been too easy of a decision for sure.

Heath (39:42)

Well, on November 28, 1996, which happened to be Thanksgiving Day, all five teenagers were arrested on the spot after being swarmed by over a dozen police cars. And not only was Rod arrested for two counts of first degree murder, Armed burglary, and armed robbery, he was also charged with animal abuse for those puppies. Though the other four conspirators seemed meek and apologetic about their role in the slayings, Rod could be seen sticking his tongue out at reporter, smearing his face on a glass partition at the prison, and yelling God bless America. In a mocking tone. The group was then extradited back to Florida and interrogated at length. On November 29, 1996, Heather swore that after finding out about what rod had done to her parents, she only stayed with them because she was scared of what Rod would do to her if she tried to leave, Even though she was apparently the one who originally said that she wanted to kill her parents and then take their car. But ultimately, she was released when police didn't believe that she was involved in the murders. After her son Rod's arrest, Sandra, the crazy nut, moved back down to Florida to be close to him, settling in umatilla, which is about 10 minutes north of Eustis. But what was actually kind of awesome here was that the town was so displeased that she was moving back to the area, because obviously, they did not want Sandra living there, Especially because she was seemingly supporting her son. So they actually filed a petition to get her to move away from the area. Sandra later expressed distaste at how she was characterized, both in the media in the lead up to the trial and in the courtroom during the trial, complaining that she was viewed as mentally unstable. Sondra Admitted, quote, at first I was really upset about it. I know their job is to help Rod.

Daphne (41:43)

The trial began on February 12, 1998. Rod was described to the court as a manic depressive with a substance abuse problem and schizotypical disorder. Dana and Charity accepted plea deals pleading guilty to two counts of being principal to third degree murder for reduced sentences of 17 and a half and 10 and a half years. So they are free today and Dana was the one to receive the longer sentence of 17 and a half years. And the reason for that was because at 19, she was the only legal adult in the group. Everybody else was around 16 or a little bit older. But then of course, as we know, Heather was 15. So they were all, all around that general range. Except for Dana. Scott was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for his role in the murders because again, although it doesn't seem like he did any of the killing, he knew the plan, he was a part of that plan and he didn't stop it. Heather maintained that she had nothing to do with her parents murders and that Rod's claims were merely an opportunity for him to excuse his heinous actions that night. So Heather wasn't charged. Even after two grand juries convened to discuss her case, the jurors ultimately decided that they had no reason to believe that Heather was a knowing participant. However, they did announce to both Heather and the court, while she certainly acted inappropriately in planning to leave home, and arguably so in remaining with the others after learning what had been done, we acknowledge that these acts are not crimes. We also wish to unequivocally state that these actions were wrong. Heather Wendorf, her sister, and the families will live the rest of their lives with the consequences of Heather's choices of associates and activities. Nothing that anyone can say or do will change the loss they have suffered. We wish them God's mercy and grace in the recovery that must follow. In a shocking turn of events, on February 27, 1998, despite the fact that he was only 16 at the time of the murders, Rod was given the death penalty at just 18 years old when the trial occurred. This made him the youngest person on death row in the United States at the time. And of course there were so many factors to this, but the fact that he had, he had this cult, he was very manipulative, he murdered animals, he murdered two innocent adults brutally. And then he tried to get away with it. He showed no remorse, like there this was, was no accident. Like it was very clear to the court and to the jury. That this was a very evil individual. So I get it.

Heath (44:35)

Yeah. And it just. It felt like he was really trying to get notoriety from these crimes because he just thought it was cool. Like, he was just this edgy kid who I'm sure for a lot of years in prison wanted people to think that he was this cool vampire who murdered people.

Daphne (44:53)

Well, yeah, Even more so, because whether or not this was an act, he seemed almost excited at the prospect of being put to death via the electric chair. In a prison interview that he granted after receiving his sentence, he said nonchalantly, the electric chair's always been a main icon in the darker way of life. Everyone sees it as this big, majestic throne of death. So I always did wonder what it'd be like to sit in it and actually experience death through it. It. So that part doesn't really bother me at all. Again, blow hard. Like, come on.

Heath (45:27)

You're just so narcissistic.

Daphne (45:30)

Regarding the murders, he admitted, quote, it never really crosses my mind much.

Heath (45:37)

That tells you everything.

Daphne (45:38)

Tells you a lot. According to his mom, Sandra, the only time that he cried or showed any emotion during the trial was when his dad showed up to the trial, but only stayed for one day, referring to him solely as the child and never speaking directly to Rod.

Heath (45:56)

Oh, so. Oh, that's what I was gonna say. You got. This is the reason. Probably a big reason for a lot of this is the fact that Rod had daddy issues. I mean, the fact that he didn't even cry about the murders that he committed, but he cried that his dad referred to him as the child and.

Daphne (46:16)

Then left after one day.

Heath (46:17)

Yeah, it just. That, again, shows you kind of where Rod's at.

Daphne (46:21)

Yep.

Heath (46:23)

Well, to the dismay of Heather, Jennifer, and their family and all of us, in 2000, Rod's sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court and commuted to life in prison. But at least, you know, we know that he is never getting out of there. Almost surprisingly, in more recent interviews, Rod actually does seem remorseful and seems to want to atone for what he did. And it's kind of one of those things where it's like, oh, it was really cool when you were 16, but now that you're an adult and you have your adult brain now, you can kind of think things through.

Daphne (46:56)

Now you have to. Now you're actually facing the music of what you did, and you're growing and. And not to say because there's plenty of teens that don't act like this and don't do what he did, including you. And I like it's not an excuse that, oh, he was just young. No. But, yeah, as he's growing, he's like, shit.

Heath (47:13)

Well, and there's plenty of people that are in prison that, you know, still to this day don't have remorse. But we saw this in another episode of Going west that we did on the or. It might have been Real Crime, our bonus series. It was the Scream murders that took place in Idaho Falls where these two teenagers killed their classmate.

Daphne (47:32)

Yeah.

Heath (47:33)

And it seems like they thought it was so cool. They filmed it. They wanted to be a part of. They wanted to make it into a movie. And then when they became adults, they were completely remorseful.

Daphne (47:42)

I do feel like out of all the cases we cover, we see remorse the most from adults who committed crimes as teenagers. I actually feel like. I'm not surprised that he. Not fully surprised that he kind of changed or started to see that what he did was wrong. Not to say that he could be released and just be a normal, functioning, wonderful member of society by any means. But. But I do feel like we see this.

Heath (48:06)

Yeah, we do. And it's. I feel like it's because at that point, when you're an adult, when you're, you know, in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, committing crimes and murders and things like that, you very much know better. Not to say that this is an excuse for Rod. He was a very dumb teenager, and he did a horrible, horrible thing. But, yeah, I agree. It's kind of like if you're an older person and you can do something like that, clearly you haven't learned anything through life.

Daphne (48:33)

Right, of course. But it's like a lot of. Like, we're all. We're all dumb when we were teenagers. But it's on a totally different level when you brutally murder people and animals. That's something that you and I wouldn't have done even back then when we were dumb teenagers. So I feel like it does still take a very specific person to do something like this. And I still don't want to let him off just because he's showing remorse, but I am glad that he is at least taking some small accountability.

Heath (49:02)

Well, in 2019, during a hearing attempting to reduce his sentence, Rod maintained his story that Heather told him that she was being sexually abused and that the murders were an attempt to rescue her from, you know, those dire circumstances at her home. He addressed the court with humility that he had not exhibited before, saying, regardless of the outcome of this re sentencing, please just know how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt that I have caused I'm sorry for all the pain and your loss. I'm sorry for everything. In addition to being an active participant in extracurricular activities at the prison, Rod claimed that he had his fiance to thank for this. Leslie Bullard is an advanced language arts teacher at a high school in Texas who explained that her curiosity about the case turned into correspondence between the pair and then eventually blossomed into an unexpected relationship. Dear I really, truly hate when this happens because I just feel like, don't give them that.

Daphne (50:02)

Don't give the killers that you get.

Heath (50:04)

Some semblance of normality or whatever. She described that their connection was beyond romantic. She even credited herself with getting Rod excited about attending church, saying that she was thrilled to teach him about how to enjoy religion in a way that was less heavy handed than Murray, Kentucky, which she described as a fire and brimstone Bible Belt community. At his resentencing hearing, Leslie assured the court that she will provide him a home, an education and a job if he's able to be released, telling the court, I will do anything for him. The last published report in the press about their relationship was back in 2019, so it is still unknown whether or not they're still together.

Daphne (50:53)

Sandra admitted, quote, there have been a lot of girls, adding that at the time of his engagement to Leslie, Rod had already been married and divorced to another one of his little jailhouse groupies.

Heath (51:05)

This really reminds me of Richard Ramirez. You know how, like, there was all these girls that were trying to, like, marry him or date him while he was in prison. Yeah.

Daphne (51:14)

I mean, this happens all the time. It's so annoying.

Heath (51:16)

It's so gross.

Daphne (51:17)

But through everything, Sandra remains a staunch supporter of her sons. Like herself, Sandra claims that her son has learned and evolved and that she considered him, or considers him presently, a more enlightened being. Now, ahead of his resentencing hearing, she said proudly, quote, he's changed so much. Of course, he's 39 now. He was 16 at the time. There's a lot of positives to look at. I know he wants to do really well, to be in the right location, to get on with his life. He doesn't want to hang around with the victims. I'm a lot like that. As I've gotten older, I've learned that it is very important to live a decent life. You can really make a difference, especially when you're not murdering.

Heath (52:04)

Yeah, yeah. I don't know. It just. I get annoyed by that because it's like you were a part of this entire situation.

Daphne (52:12)

And she supported him after he was found guilty for murdering two innocent people and animals.

Heath (52:17)

Also, she tried to have sex with a 14 year old for a ritual.

Daphne (52:21)

True. So the same year as Rob's resentencing hearing, 2019, Scott Anderson's sentence was reduced from life to 40 years, of which he has now served more than half. Jennifer testified at Rod's hearing saying, quote, the pain will never go away. Life was perfect before the murder. I had a scholarship to sfu, great friends. I was co captain of the cheerleaders. I had been promoted at my part time job at Publix. I was able to save money and even pay some of my bills. My life was so full. I had love, I had it all until I had nothing. She begged the judge not to allow for a reduced sentence, telling him, may I have a place that's not traumatized by looking over my shoulder. If he ever gets out, I'll be destroyed. I'll be back to that lonely little girl 23 years ago. She also said that she was haunted by flashbacks of seeing her parents in the state in which she found them after their murders. Jennifer shared that the whole extended family struggled to navigate the loss, including most of all, my tender little sister, Heather. She didn't get a chance to say goodbye. After the dust settled on her parents trial, Heather moved to North Carolina to attend art school and later got married. She was not present at the hearing and Rod's request for a lesser sentence was denied. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

Heath (54:08)

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this wackadoo story about teenage vampires and murder.

Daphne (54:14)

For photos from today's story, please head over to our socials. We're on Instagram at Going west podcast. We're also on Facebook. We have a private discussion group, Going West True Crime Discussion Group or Going West Discussion Group. And then we have a regular page called Going West True Crime. We are also on TikTok. We're on YouTube. Head over, check us out. Thank you guys so much for tuning into this episode. Again, thank you to Zoe and Heath, our very own Heath, for recommending today's case.

Heath (54:42)

And like Daphne said, we're going to have more spooky episodes for you guys coming up in this month of October. And especially there's going to be one that's going to come out on Halloween day for you guys. So check that one out.

Daphne (54:54)

Yeah, that will be episode 550. So get ready for some more. We will see you guys again on Friday.

Heath (55:01)

All right guys, so for everyone out there in the world.

Daphne (55:04)

Don't be a stranger. Sam Sa.

Heath (56:14)

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