Hell in Heaven - 2: Trouble in the Valley

Summary

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Hell in Heaven: A Mysterious Death in Paradise

Episode 2: Trouble in the Valley

Host: Becky Milligan (Exactly Right/iHeartPodcasts)
Date: October 9, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the early years of John and Anne Bender, their romance, and their move to Costa Rica where they built a lavish mansion in the Diamante Valley. As their dream of paradise curdles under isolation, suspicious locals, failing health, and erratic behavior, the veneer of their sanctuary begins to crack, setting the stage for the tragedy to come. Interviews with neighbors, former staff, and family friends provide vital perspectives, while the host explores both the external pressures and internal struggles that led to their downfall.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. John and Anne’s Beginnings in Virginia

• First Meeting (02:02 – 04:58):
  • John, a wealthy Wall Street genius, meets Anne at a party on his Virginia farm. Their connection is immediate.
  • Both have histories of mental health struggles; Anne is forthcoming about her bipolar disorder, and John shares his battles with depression.
  • Their whirlwind romance leads to cohabitation within two weeks, and marriage within a year.
  • Quote - Carol Vaughan (author, 03:44):
    “They locked eyes across the punch bowl... It was love at first sight for both of them.”

2. The Costa Rican Dream Turns Fortress

• Arrival and Local Tension (06:03 – 08:20):
  • The Benders arrive in Costa Rica with enormous wealth—rumored to be $600 million.
  • Their futuristic, circular mansion, "Boracayan," is a source of gossip and suspicion among locals; they are seen as outsiders flaunting wealth, violating the local ethos of modesty.
• Neighborhood Perceptions (07:15; 07:37):
  • Quote – Nicole Kulvik, neighbor (07:15):
    “If you live in Costa Rica and you have money, they did kind of the opposite of what you’re supposed to do... You don’t build grand palaces calling attention to yourself.”
• John and Anne's Isolation (08:33 – 09:57):
  • John rarely leaves the estate; only travels by helicopter, always surrounded by armed guards.
  • Anne ventures out occasionally, often in disguise for privacy and safety reasons.
  • Quote – Jesse Bland, neighbor (08:54):
    “John never left the property except in the helicopter. He always had a machine gun guard with him... It’s like he totally lived in fear.”

3. The Fortress Mentality and Growing Paranoia

• Security and Silence (14:46 – 15:32):
  • Tight security measures—guards under strict orders not to talk about anything, even with their families.
  • Locals suspect links to crime due to secrecy.
  • Quote – Jesse Bland (14:46):
    “They were supposed to be totally silent and that was the rules. Total silence on everything.”
• Consequences for Local Community (15:45):
  • Some locals who sold land to the Benders squandered their sudden wealth, breeding resentments and sorrow.
  • Anne later acknowledges local anger: “There was a sense of, who are these rich gringos? And who the hell do they think they are?”

4. 'Dark Energy' in the Valley

• Superstition and Energetic Unrest (17:01 – 18:48):
  • The Diamante Valley, known as Las Tumbas (“the tombs”), is considered energetically strange.
  • Local spiritualist Jose describes it as a site of ancient indigenous trauma and energetic imbalance, implying the land itself is “sick.”
  • Quote – Jose, local healer (17:40):
    “...the land was very sick because there’s a lot of people in the area... foreigners come and do things without meditating or consulting with the land.”

5. Day-to-Day Life and Staff Insights

• Former Staff Perspective (20:12 – 23:35):
  • Osvaldo Rojas, former head of staff, recalls John’s controlling behavior and obsessive love for orchids and animals—with angry outbursts if things went wrong.
  • Quote – Osvaldo Rojas (21:17):
    “One night, an anteater managed to get in and ate all the ants. That was a huge problem for John. A guard even got fired over that.”
  • Staff always communicated with Anne via walkie-talkies; cleaning and other routines strictly controlled for privacy.
  • Both Benders begin living highly reclusive lives inside the fortress-like estate.

6. Anne’s Declining Health and John’s Desperate Measures

• Lyme Disease Revelation (23:35 – 24:56):
  • It is believed Anne contracted Lyme disease from a Virginia deer tick. Misdiagnosed, it ravages her body and mental health.
  • Osvaldo notes:
    “She looked burned out. Over time, her physical and mental health was in decline. That beautiful, spectacular woman we met when she arrived just vanished.” (24:56)
• John’s Attempts at Jungle Medicine (25:16 – 27:31):
  • John turns to jungle plants, making herbal concoctions to treat Anne when conventional medicine fails.
  • Quote – John Corvik (25:31):
    “There’s a little plant that would grow right next to our farm. It tastes terrible... when you have dysentery... you drink a couple cups... All of a sudden it’s all gone.”
  • Friends and family testify to John’s devotion, though his background is far from medical.

7. Fracturing Relationship and Increasing Reclusiveness

• Anne Withdraws, John Obsessive (29:03 – 29:57):
  • Anne seeks treatment at a private hospital, sometimes traveling abroad; she becomes increasingly isolated, “trapped” in the house, if not physically, then mentally.
  • Osvaldo hints at deeper struggles:
    “...there are more things I would like to say, but I just can’t because I might get in trouble.” (29:51)
  • He observes:
    “One would imagine this is a beautiful couple. But it was exactly the opposite.” (30:01)

8. Foreshadowing the Oncoming Collapse

• Outside World Intrudes (30:31 – 32:15):
  • Introduction of “Michael,” an ex-mercenary, who hints at being contracted to forcibly “intercept” John Bender and send him back to the U.S.
  • The episode ends on this ominous note, promising revelations about who wanted John ‘intercepted’ and why.
  • Quote – Michael, played by actor (31:24):
    “Basically, I don’t like the term... mercy... but basically, that’s what it is.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Host Becky Milligan (02:02):
  “Virginia March 1998... this is where John and Anne’s story together begins, but it’s also the setting for a cruel twist of fate that would set in motion increasingly bizarre behavior, a slow retreat from reality.”

• Nicole Kulvik, neighbor (07:37):
  “Their palace in the distance... stuck out like a sore thumb.”

• Osvaldo Rojas, head of staff (21:29):
  “A guard even got fired over that [ants].”

• Neighbor Jesse Bland on new arrivals (13:22):
  “I always say we were escaping something. Some of them were criminals too. Lots of foreign criminals come to Costa Rica escaping, if you want to say justice.”

• Osvaldo Rojas on the couple’s relationship (30:01):
  “One would imagine this is a beautiful couple. But it was exactly the opposite.”

• 'Michael' (31:24):
  “I was contracted by a third party to kind of intercept Mr. Bender and send him to the States. So we worked on intelligence to get Mr. Bender’s whereabouts, and when we did, we mounted an intervention…”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• John & Anne’s First Meeting, Courtship: 02:02 – 04:58
• Move to Costa Rica, Estate Construction: 06:03 – 08:20
• Local Neighbors’ Perspectives: 08:33 – 10:12; 13:22 – 15:32
• Valley’s ‘Dark Energy’ & Spirituality: 17:01 – 18:48
• Staff Perspective on Life in the Mansion: 20:12 – 23:35
• Anne’s Health Crisis & John’s Home Remedies: 23:35 – 27:31
• Relationship Erodes, Anne’s Isolation: 29:03 – 29:57
• Introduction of 'Michael' and Foreshadowing: 30:31 – 32:15

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Tone and Style

The episode is narrated with a blend of journalistic rigor, suspense, and empathy, blending vivid scene-setting with careful witness testimony. The tone is immersive and slightly ominous, as the host guides listeners through both physical landscapes and emotional territory, always returning to the theme: How did paradise become a prison—and ultimately, a crime scene?

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To be continued: The next episode promises to probe who ordered John’s forced returns, as the valley’s sinister currents pull the Benders even deeper into trouble.

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Transcript

[Nicole Kulvik]

This is exactly right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I don't know if you've heard, but Mint's Premium Wireless is $15 a month. But I'd like to offer one other perk. We have no stores. That means no small talk.

[Becky Milligan]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

No, it's not.

[Jesse Bland]

It's just weather.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It is an introvert's dream. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Andrea Gunning]

Of $45 for 3 month plan $15 per month equivalent required New customer offer first 3 months only then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. Cementmobile.com this is Andrea Gunning from Betrayal. I want to take a moment to talk about something that impacts how we feel every day. Our gut health. If you've been dealing with sluggish digestion, constant fatigue, brain fog, trouble losing weight or poor sleep, your gut may need some extra care. Introducing Biomass, a novel supplement that contains everything you need for a healthy gut. Enjoy comfortable digestion, boundless energy and even smoother weight management when following a healthy lifestyle. Just take two Byoma capsules each morning before breakfast and start feeling your best. Visit Byoma Health and use Code betrayal to get 15% off your first order.

[Becky Milligan]

What kind of man would let this happen to his family?

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Inspired by shocking actual events, I'm working.

[Andrea Gunning]

On a story about the Murdoch. Their abuses of power are playing out in real time.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and.

[Jesse Bland]

Jason Clark, it's only cheating if you get caught.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Hulu Original Series Murdoc Death in The Family premieres October 15th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney. For bundle subscribers, terms apply.

[Becky Milligan]

Virginia March 1998 this is where John and Anne's story together begins, but it's also the setting for a cruel twist of fate that would alter the course of their lives and set in motion increasingly bizarre behavior, a slow retreat from reality. They met for the first time at a drinks party at John's house on his hundred acre Virginian farm. She was in her late 20s and he was in his mid-30s. It's a beautiful home, colonial style, with a porch, large shutters and manicured lawns. In walks Anne Anne Patton, as she was then. She was the daughter of an international banker. Born in Rio de Janeiro, where her father was working at the time. She lived a life of privilege in Lisbon, London and New York. She's petite, elegant. He'd worked briefly as a male model. The attraction is instant author Carol Vaughan, who lives in Costa Rica and wrote a book about the benders. They locked eyes across the punch bowl. And they moved in to help themselves to some punch. Probably non alcoholic because neither of them drank. It was love at first sight for both of them. Anne thought John was brilliant and phenomenally handsome. They just clicked for her. He symbolized a future with a capital F, she'd say later. John's father, Paul, saw it as a meeting of minds.

[Jesse Bland]

She's obviously very smart and she was really interested in the stuff he was doing.

[Becky Milligan]

Anne was a recent fine arts grad who'd fled New York to start again in Virginia. She was done with city life and wanted to live in a log cabin. John had a brilliant mind and was also searching for an inner peace away from people. They seemed to have so much in common. They both loved animals, nature, and were lonely. But there was something more they shared. John, in reaching down to fill his cup or her cup, noticed that her hand trembled quite a bit. And he said, oh, are you okay? And she said, well, I suffer from bipolar disorder. We've pieced together this meeting from a number of sources. Apparently, Ann told John the trembling was caused by her medication. She said she'd just been diagnosed. Then it seems John started talking about mental illness in his family and about his own experiences of depression. The pair began a whirlwind romance. Two weeks later, she moved in with him. Soon after, he proposed. Anne and John married within the year.

[John Corvik]

We would laugh because we were supposed.

[Becky Milligan]

To never get married. It was a shock to his friends, like Steve Reed. He thought the bachelor would never get married.

[John Corvik]

So then when I heard he got.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

Married, I said, somebody won him over.

[Becky Milligan]

It was written in stone. Right then and there. They were fated to be together. Faded from that day. Anne said there was never any doubt that they were meant to meet. But fate had other plans for the couple, too. And a cruel, unexpected twist of fate with devastating consequences. It would change them both profoundly and destroy their dreams. And culminate in a violent death for which one of them would stand trial. From exactly right Media and iHeart podcasts produced by Blanchard House, this is Helen Heaven. I'm Becky Milligan. Chapter 2 Trouble in the Valley Two years after first meeting in Virginia, John and Anne moved to Costa Rica with a dream. They built their enormous house Boracayan in Diamante valley. It was four stories with no walls, set in 5,000 acres. The land had apparently cost them $10 million. A lot of money, but not to them. Remember, they'd arrived in Costa Rica with a reported $600 million. All sorts of stories began to circulate. They were laundering money for the drug cartels in Mexico or involved directly with them, that precious gems were being smuggled into the house.

[Nicole Kulvik]

In general, if you live in Costa Rica and you don't want to be preyed upon and you have money, they did kind of the opposite of what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to live simply. People come there to live with nature, to live simply. You know, you live your life. You don't build grand palaces, calling in attention to yourself.

[Becky Milligan]

Nicole Kulvik, who lived near the benders.

[Nicole Kulvik]

I would go on walks through LA Florida, and going up the mountain, there was a little point where you could spot, stop and look out over the valley and you could see their house, you know, their palace in the distance, you know, kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. People would just say, yes, they've got a lot of money. You know, they're very private. They built a little sanctuary over there where they're, you know, for the animals. And they're. They were, you know, nature conservationists. This was the talk in the valley, you know, they were very wealthy, and you could tell just by looking at their house, you know, how different it was from everyone that lived there.

[Becky Milligan]

Their lavish development benefited the valley with jobs, electricity and running water. But their obvious wealth and their intense need for privacy was not going down well with some of the old timers.

[Jesse Bland]

I'm Jesse Bland. I was born in a little town called Westmoreland, Kansas.

[Becky Milligan]

Jesse is an engineer and inventor, and his wife, Mattie is a clairvoyant from Costa Rica. Their land backs on to Bora Cayenne. From their property, they watch the benders escalating isolation and witness their strange behavior.

[Jesse Bland]

John never left the property except in the helicopter. He never traveled by road. When they were building the house, he always had a guard, a machine gun guard with him and four and four bodyguards at 50 or 100 yards out on all corners. It's like he totally lived in fear. One of the workers evidently, I guess, went with him to Colombia, and they said somebody flew over in an airplane and shot him in the arm or something like that.

[Becky Milligan]

Who was that worker?

[Jesse Bland]

I don't know.

[Becky Milligan]

Okay. So we weren't actually able to verify that. Unlike her husband, Anne did venture out of the house.

[Jesse Bland]

She would leave occasionally, even on the bus to San Jose. One time in the post office, she was trying to hide her appearance, so it was very mysterious. One of the workers said that he had to take Ann to San Ysidro and put her on the bus. And he said she was dressed up like an Arab woman. He may have just meant very, very disguised. Or maybe, maybe she was physically dressed up like an Arabic for nobody to see her. I don't know.

[Becky Milligan]

Later, Jesse and Matty would be bystanders to the terrible events which would unfold in the bender's home.

[Andrea Gunning]

This is Andrea Gunning from Betrayal. I want to take a moment to talk about something that impacts how we feel every day, our gut health. If you've been dealing with sluggish digestion, constant fatigue, brain fog, trouble losing weight or poor sleep, your gut may need some extra care. Your gut plays a vital role in your overall well being because scientists now say it's the foundation of your vitality and long term health. That's where Bioma comes in. This novel supplement has everything you need for a healthy and thriving gut. With every serving you get prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics that are science backed and third party tested so you can enjoy comfortable digestion, boundless energy, better focus and restful sleep, and even smoother weight management when following a healthy lifestyle. Just take two tiny bioma capsules each morning before breakfast and start feeling your best. Visit Byoma Health and use code BETRIAL to get 15% off your first order. That's Bioma Health. Code BETRIAL for 15% off.

[Becky Milligan]

What kind of man would let this happen to his family?

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Inspired by shocking actual events, I'm working.

[Andrea Gunning]

On a story about the Murdochs. Their abuses of power are playing out in real time.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark.

[Jesse Bland]

It's only cheating if you get caught.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Hulu Original Series Murdoch Death in The Family premieres October 15th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers terms apply.

[Becky Milligan]

Jesse and Matty's place is down a grassy track and really difficult to find unless you spot the mailbox at the side of the road with their names on it. It's an idyllic plot. They have a wooden house. Jesse has added to it over the years, but it isn't large or very modern. They live a very simple life. It's surrounded by fruit and nut trees. Taller coconut palms sway above us and beyond is rainforest. Oh, aren't they beautiful? They're so delicate and lovely. Beautiful orchids, aren't they? The sound of the birds here. Pale pink, delicate orchids grow tall along the path, and if you stop and listen, tiny birds flutter around and seem to talk to each other, chirping back and forth. There's a pond too, with freshwater prawns. It's covered in lily pads.

[Jesse Bland]

I've Always loved nature. And when I heard about Costa Rica, I wanted to see the tropics. So I ended up coming to Costa Rica.

[Becky Milligan]

It was in the 1970s that Jesse first visited the country. He kept returning until he took the plunge and stayed for good. He was the first foreigner to settle in the valley 39 years ago now. And since then a lot more have come to live there, including the Benders. And with all those years he's clocked up. He has this observation that all the new arrivals have one thing in common.

[Jesse Bland]

We left for a reason. We were, I always say we were escaping something. Some of them were criminals too. Lots of foreign criminals come to Costa Rica escaping, if you want to say justice. In my case, I like to say it's escaping the cold.

[Becky Milligan]

And he bought a little land, planted.

[Jesse Bland]

It to exotic fruits where we have over 220 species of exotic fruits, which is probably the best collection in Costa Rica.

[Becky Milligan]

And what kind of fruit?

[Jesse Bland]

Durian's, Fiji Longan Teringu nuceri Brunet cherries. We have the Paradise Cream Nuts. I have three different species of those that taste like coconut with peanuts. Tarrap that tastes like banana pudding with vanilla ice cream.

[Becky Milligan]

When we visited Jesse, he showed us one of the nut pods which hang from his trees, as big as tennis balls.

[Jesse Bland]

When they're ready, the lid falls off and you have these nuts inside. Paradise Cream nuts.

[Becky Milligan]

This is delicious. Living so close to the Benders, Jesse quickly realized that his new neighbors didn't want to have anything to do with the local community. In fact, he hardly ever saw them. What he did see were the guards who were under strict instructions not to talk to anyone. But Jesse was really curious so just kept asking questions.

[Jesse Bland]

They weren't even supposed to tell their wife anything, not even where they were going, how much money they made. They were supposed to be totally silent and that was, that was the rules. Total silence on everything.

[Becky Milligan]

How did you know that? Did they tell you?

[Jesse Bland]

Well, yeah, they specifically told me that I basically, I'm not supposed to tell you this, you know, but like, you know, we had whatever this morning. We had to be at the beach at 5 o' clock because John arrived in the helicopter and they went out in the speedboat and after a while they came back and we don't know, we don't know what, you know, what happened. They can't say. I mean, we could imagine, but we don't know.

[Becky Milligan]

What do you imagine?

[Jesse Bland]

Well, I personally thought he was probably somebody very big in, in the drugs.

[Becky Milligan]

Jesse, remember, had been living there for years. And he wasn't just driven by curiosity about his new neighbors, but also a concern about the farmers who'd lived in the valley for generations and sold up to the Benders.

[Jesse Bland]

One family that sold to him, they got hundreds of thousands of dollars, and within a few years, it was all gone. And, you know, they broke up with their family, and they're much worse off now than before. They just work hourly wages. They have basically nothing. I think one has an old truck.

[Becky Milligan]

That added to the local anger and resentment, which Anne acknowledged in a later TV interview. She said that there was a sense of, who are these rich gringos? And who the hell do they think they are? John's dad, Paul Bender, he did not.

[Jesse Bland]

Have the greatest relationships with all the people around that place, because what he was doing was sometimes inconsistent, I think, with what some of the people around wanted to do. So he was not trying, I don't think, to develop friendly relations with his neighbors there. Except for the animals.

[Becky Milligan]

Set apart in their big new house on the hill, the Benders were not proving popular with the locals. But some suggest there's another reason why the couple would never find the happiness they were craving in the jungle, that there were other forces at work.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I believe that the valley, it's a portal in itself. You know, it's a. It quite the energetic magnetic field, you know what I'm saying?

[Becky Milligan]

We spoke to Jose, a Colombian American who runs Eco Maste, which is described on its website as a healing sanctuary blending shared ancestral wisdom and ecological education. It's in the valley not far from John and Ann. Jose believes the valley has a peculiar force field which can be disrupted by foreigners moving in, like John and Anne Bender.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The energy that produces that little part of the valley, it's quite amazing because you have clouds coming in from the mountains, which then are meeting up, clouds that are coming in from the ocean. And then it creates this very unique place where it's, like, super humid and super dark. So the message from the mountain was that the land was very sick because there's a lot of people in the area. And this happens all around the world, where they come in and they want to do things in the land without even meditating or consulting with the land or getting to know the land first. So they said, yeah, if the land is sick, and this is because of what had happened in the past, which was a lot of indigenous killings and indigenous artifacts being taken from the earth. So this created an unbalance for the land, and the land was hurt because of this. You know, like, it Wasn't sick physically, but energetically.

[Becky Milligan]

We heard this a number of times. This area is uniquely dark and energetically strange. In fact, his other name is Las Tumbas, the Tombs. It's an Indian graveyard. And this is where Boracayan was built. Beautiful, but with a dark history. And it's this place, Las Tumbas. Diamante Valley, shrouded in mystery with echoes from the past, where our movie star couple landed with seemingly limitless funds. Very little was known about what went on behind the barbed wire perimeter fence. But one man knows more than most. We returned to Osvaldo Rojas. Osvaldo Rojas, hired as their main head of staff, who we also met in chapter one, is clean cut, quietly spoken and has black rimmed glasses which look a bit too large for his face. He's nervous. He doesn't normally talk about his time working for the benders, but agreed to speak to us. At first he's hesitant, his arms crossed, but he begins to relax. From the start, John was not an easy person to work for. It started with the complicated and ambitious construction of the house.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

Initially, the house was going to be all covered by glass, but there was a technical problem with the glass and this would break. So he just got rid of them. This was a big problem for John. That's kind of how we got to know him, because he just shouted and screamed when the glass was shattered.

[Becky Milligan]

Over time, things got worse. There was trouble with the orchids, which John loved.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

Taking care of them was part of his routine almost every afternoon. And God forbid if something happened to any of them. There were some orchids brought from the mountains that needed ant nest in order to grow, for which he ordered special containers to be made. In fact, the guards were supposed to garden.

[Becky Milligan]

John was fascinated by rare species. One, unusually, had to be planted in an anthill, the nutrients in the soil helping it flourish. And that meant the ants needed to be protected.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

But one night, an anteater managed to get in and ate all the ants. That was a huge problem for John. A guard even got fire over that.

[Becky Milligan]

It wasn't just the orchids that triggered John's anger, but also protecting the birds. The problem was that some of the smaller houses on the property were made of glass.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

And we all know birds can crash into the windows and die. He loved animals and couldn't bear to see something bad happen to them. But he would get so angry that people were afraid of him. So we had to run to put curtains in those places. I remember one time when a guard brought him a Bird that had crashed into one of the windows and he was screaming and shouting all over. And I had to tell them, next time you find a bird, just don't bring it to him.

[Becky Milligan]

So he could get angry sometimes?

[Osvaldo Rojas]

Yeah, practically all the time.

[Becky Milligan]

Staff had to adapt in other ways too. Take us Waldo's cleaning schedule.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

We readily spoke to John. Everything was done through Anna. We communicated with her through walkie talkies. We had to ask for permission before going into the house, but we wouldn't do everything on the same day. As we arrived, we waited until Ana said it was okay to come in. We did the basics to keep the house clean and tidy. Then the next day came over again to do other cleaning activities because he didn't like outsiders inside the house for too long.

[Becky Milligan]

And what was their routine each day?

[Osvaldo Rojas]

They got up early, between 5 and 6 in the morning. I arrived at 7 and John was already in front of the computer. Anna would prepare breakfast and he could spend the rest of the day on the second floor where he normally worked on his computer. Sometimes he went for a walk inside the property, but it was not quite often. In the afternoon they will drink some coffee that Anna would prepare. At 3pm I would leave the property and after that I don't know much.

[Becky Milligan]

We know that both John and Anne had mental health issues. But increasingly at the centre of their lives were problems with Anne's physical health. Back to Virginia, the place where John and Anne first met in March 1998. And it's probably here, at some point that Ann was bitten by a tick, a deer tick, which can be as small as a poppy seed. So what you might ask. But it would dramatically alter the course of their lives. Because Ann was infected with a bacteria which causes Lyme's disease, the effects can be devastating if it's not spotted quickly and treated. And it seems that Ann's condition wasn't diagnosed early enough. There's a long list of symptoms. Fatigue, migraines, memory loss, joint swelling and pain to the point of making walking difficult. It can infect your central nervous system too, cause heart problems. The list goes on. Ann was only in her 30s and was walking with a cane. A few years later, she would have to be carried around by John. The illness transformed her. Remember, this wasn't long after they'd arrived in Costa Rica.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

She looked burned out. Over time, her physical and mental health was in decline. That beautiful, spectacular woman that we met when she arrived just vanished.

[Becky Milligan]

As Ann became weaker, John took her health into his own hands. He turned to a natural resource, the.

[John Corvik]

Jungle, there's a lot of medications, a lot. They're on everything, everywhere. In the trees around you, if you're there right now, you'll find aspirin.

[Becky Milligan]

John Corvik told us about what he'd learned about the jungle's natural cures.

[John Corvik]

You can take a scrape of bark off the tree and drop it in your tea. There's a little plant that would grow right next to our farm. It tastes terrible. It's the worst tasting thing you've ever had. If you licked it, you would taste like if you put an aspirin in your tongue all the way to your toes. And then when you have dysentery and you feel like hell and you feel like you're gonna die, you drink a couple cups of this in the morning, a couple cups in the evening. All of a sudden, it's all gone. You know, the little. You know, the little grasses on the ground that you touch and their leaves close. If you pull those out of the ground, wash the roots off, and you have toothache, you can make a tea with those. And then when you gargle and rinse with that, your toothache goes away. Go figure, right? Don't understand how it works or why it works, but it definitely does. And when you start looking into these medicinal plants that are there and their uses, the people that know how to use them, you get into the pharmaceutical names, and then all of a sudden you find out the pharmaceutical industry has been refining these things and making them, and that's what we're buying off the shelves. There's an endless supply of flora and fauna that you can treat things with.

[Becky Milligan]

John took that idea and really ran with it. He started to concoct potions using the plants to help his wife recover.

[Jesse Bland]

I do know that she had a lot of medical problems. He got really involved in that.

[Becky Milligan]

He told his dad, Paul, about the discoveries he was making.

[Jesse Bland]

He was really into that part of her life.

[Becky Milligan]

Jack Schwager, who visited with his son in the last episode, remembers John working on finding a cure. The guy is a really smart guy.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

So at the time, one thing he.

[John Corvik]

Was doing, I remember he was doing.

[Becky Milligan]

Research to try to find, you know, to come up with some cure or to figure out what was wrong with.

[John Corvik]

Anne and stuff like that.

[Becky Milligan]

And he took care of her. So he was kind of devoted to her. As I recall, she wasn't getting help from conventional medicine, you know, any. No doctors had ended up coming up with anything.

[John Corvik]

And so he was kind of researching that himself.

[Becky Milligan]

John's background wasn't in medicine. Yet he was determined to develop treatments for his wife, but her health continued to get worse.

[Andrea Gunning]

This is Andrea Gunning from Betrayal. I want to take a moment to talk about something that impacts how we feel every day or gut health. If you've been dealing with sluggish digestion, constant fatigue, brain fog, trouble losing weight or poor sleep, your gut may need some extra care. Introducing Bioma, a novel supplement that contains everything you need for a healthy gut. Enjoy comfortable digestion, boundless energy and even smoother weight management when following a healthy lifestyle. Just take two Bioma capsules each morning before breakfast and start feeling your best. Visit Byoma Health and use Code betrayal to get 15% off your first order.

[Becky Milligan]

What kind of man would let this happen to his family?

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Inspired by shocking actual events, I'm working.

[Andrea Gunning]

On a story about the Murdaughs. Their abuses of power are playing out in real time.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark.

[Jesse Bland]

It's only cheating if you get caught.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Hulu Original Series Murdoch Death in The Family premieres October 15th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.

[Becky Milligan]

Anne's illness only seems to be part of what was going on at Bora Kayan. There seem to have been other factors at play, too. Anne was becoming a shadow of her former self, increasingly staying trapped in the house.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

She often went to the SEMA private hospital. She would go abroad to continue with her treatment. So she wasn't trapped physically, but perhaps mentally she was.

[Becky Milligan]

Osvaldo's face tightens as he speaks, the distress clear. I ask him an easier question about how they were as a couple. He starts to answer, but then stops.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

Sorry, there are more things I would like to say, but I just can't because I might get in trouble.

[Becky Milligan]

But he did put their relationship this way.

[Osvaldo Rojas]

Yes, sometimes in the afternoons when I get ready to leave, they'd be sitting on the terrace of the second floor to watch the sunset. One would imagine this is a beautiful couple. But it was exactly the opposite.

[Becky Milligan]

The lovers, the pair falling for each other over the punch bowl years before a whirlwind romance, were now facing isolation, chronic illness and local suspicion in the middle of the Diamante Valley. Yet things were about to get worse.

[John Corvik]

Worse.

[Becky Milligan]

The world they were trying to leave behind was catching up with them.

[John Corvik]

Yes?

[Becky Milligan]

Oh, hi. My name's Becky Milligan. I'm giving someone who we're calling Michael a call. He didn't want his voice used, so we're using an actor for his side of the conversation. My audio is from the original call. My colleagues and I work for a podcast company and we're doing the story about John Bender.

[Nicole Kulvik]

Uh huh.

[Becky Milligan]

I didn't know him, but was told that he was somehow entangled in the story about John Bender. So what would you call yourself? How would you describe your job? It quickly became clear that Michael was the sort of person you ring when you have a problem and you need it fixed. A serious problem.

[John Corvik]

Were not related to military at all. It's really interesting. Basically, I don't like the term. I don't like the term. What do you call it?

[Becky Milligan]

Mercy.

[John Corvik]

Correct. I don't like that term. But basically that's. That's what it is.

[Becky Milligan]

Are you involved in this sort of work still?

[John Corvik]

I retired in 2008, but I. I still have some clients at Central America.

[Becky Milligan]

So at the time trouble is brewing for John Bender in the Valley. Michael's phone starts to ring.

[John Corvik]

I was contracted by a third party to kind of intercept Mr. Bender and send him to the States. So we'd worked on intelligence to get Mr. Bender's whereabouts, and when we did, we mounted an intervention to kind of capture him.

[Becky Milligan]

Who wanted John Bender intercepted and why? That's next time on Hell in Heaven. And they went back to get the money. What did you hear though? Tell me what you heard. All I heard was a shot. You've been listening to Hell in Heaven from Exactly Right Media and I Heart Podcasts produced by Blanchard House. Hosted, written and produced by me, Becky Milligan. The producer and co writer is Poppy Damon. Music is by Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nankmanel and Toby Matamon. The sound recordist and head of sound and music is Daniel Lloyd Evans. The lead sound designer is Vulcan Kiziltug. The artwork is by Vanessa Lilac for Exactly Right Media. The executive producers are Karen Kilgarraff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer, with consulting producer Lily Laderwig and associate producer Jay Elias. The creative director of Blanchard House is Rosie Pye. The executive producer and head of content at Blanchard House is Lawrence Grisel. Listen to Hell in Heaven on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Andrea Gunning]

This is Andrea Gunning from Betrayal. I want to take a moment to talk about something that impacts how we feel every day. Our gut health. If you've been dealing with sluggish digestion, constant fatigue, brain fog, trouble losing weight, or poor sleep, your gut may need some extra care. Introducing Bioma, a novel supplement that contains everything you need for a healthy gut. Enjoy comfortable digestion, boundless energy and even smoother weight management when following a healthy lifestyle, just take two bioma capsules each morning before breakfast and start feeling your best. Visit Byoma Health and use code BETRAYAL to get 15% off your first order.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

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[Becky Milligan]

Member FINRA what kind of man would let this happen to his family?

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Inspired by shocking actual events, I'm working.

[Andrea Gunning]

On a story about the Murdochs. Their abuses of power are playing out in real time.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark.

[Jesse Bland]

It's only cheap and if you get caught.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Hulu Original Series Murdoch Death in The Family premieres October 15th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.