01-01-26 - Mexican Prisoner Kills Visiting Family In Jail - BO

Summary

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Episode Overview

Main Theme:
This episode of Holmberg's Morning Sickness (01-01-26) centers around a shocking news story: a Mexican prisoner, formerly a police officer, who murdered his visiting family in jail. The hosts—John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, and Dick Toledo—explore the bizarre circumstances, the psychology of criminals (and those who love them), and the broader implications about human nature and relationships. The episode weaves in humor, disbelief, and social commentary, with the group riffing on the stranger-than-fiction elements of the case and connecting it to other notorious true crime examples.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bizarre Dating Choices Involving Criminals

• Deborah Milkey & Larry McFeely:
  • Start with listeners joking that Larry McFeely should date Deborah Milkey, a notorious inmate, referencing the phenomenon of women and men attracted to infamous criminals.
  • Notable quote: “You know, medically… your hymen grows back after not using your stuff for seven years. You technically re-virginize. She’s been in jail for 22 years…” (John Holmberg, 01:15)
  • The hosts debate if past crimes are dealbreakers in relationships, with a tongue-in-cheek assessment of dating someone with a murder conviction.

2. The Mexican Prison Family Massacre [02:00-06:30]

• Story Details:

  • A former Mexican police officer serving time for murdering his wife later murdered his long-term girlfriend, her child, and his children during a prison visit.
  • Discussion framed around disbelief at both the brazenness and the prison’s lack of security.
  • Holmberg: “You can’t even do a friendly visit to your jailed family without this… How does a girl date a guy long term when the last thing he did as a free man was slaughter his wife?” (John Holmberg, 02:40)

• Security Lapses:

  • Authorities admitted that guards were “busy playing cards” while the killings happened.
  • Quote: “All the guards were busy during the incident playing cards. Well, then you’re not guards…” (John Holmberg, 04:44)
  • The killer used improvised weapons made in the visiting room.

• The Psychology of Dating Killers:

  • The hosts are confounded by women attracted to violent inmates.
  • Memorable moment: Sarcastic riff in which Holmberg and the others act out women ignoring the killer’s past:
    • “How did your last relationship end? …I slaughtered her. Oh, you guys want to get some awesome Blossoms?” (Holmberg, 05:22)
  • Comparison to infamous U.S. murderers (the Menendez Brothers, Scott Peterson) and their fanatical female admirers.

3. Gender Differences in Criminal Attraction [08:00-11:00]

• Holmberg observes that men seldom chase after female murderers, suggesting something gendered about the “bad boy” attraction.

  • “You never hear about guys getting murdered by a woman who’s murdered before. We don’t date you anymore as a group. She killed a couple people, but she’s got a kind heart—No, you’re out.” (Holmberg, 08:20)
  • Speculates on why women might romanticize or try to "fix" violent men, while men are more averse to dangerous women.

• Dark Humor:

  • The group acts out exaggerated conversations between killer and new girlfriend, leaning into absurdity and gallows humor.
  • “First I will punch you in the face.—Yes! I like it rough.—You’re insane.—I shouldn’t be a gent.—You should!—Yeah, I want to be the mother of your children.—Okay, but I’m going to kill all of you, you know this going in…” (Holmberg as both voices, 10:47)

4. Prison Family Visits Aftermath & Systemic Issues [11:30-13:00]

• Questions about future policies, the impact on other prisoners/families, and the possible involvement of organized crime due to killer’s police background.
• Holmberg: “Bottom line is… this girl’s best option as a mate? Well, he’s only killed one woman, what’s the big deal? He’s a real keeper…” (06:52)
• Brady: “How well do you think the next family day is gonna go at that prison? Not just for him—for everybody…” (06:19)
• Riffs on how the prison system, guards, and culture enable or fail to prevent violence on this scale.

5. Real-Life Case Adjacent Tangents [13:00–17:00]

• Transitioning into a lighter but thematically related real estate mishap: a random Christmas card from a real estate agent nearly causing a marriage crisis when a wife suspects her husband of buying a secret house for a mistress.
• Comparisons drawn between paranoia in relationships and trust issues highlighted by the crime story.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the absurdity of dating murderers:
  • “He’s adorable. I want to be his long-time catch. Everybody deserves a second—No, they don’t.” (Holmberg, 05:22)
• On prison security:
  • “Where were the guards? He had a piece of metal… made weapons while they, I guess the whole family sat inside pounding, screaming. Where are the guards?” (05:10)
• On women’s attraction to criminals:
  • “We don’t have that bad girl desire. We like dirty girls… but we don’t like to date them… There’s no line around the prison to go hang out with Jodi Arias every day at noon.” (Holmberg, 09:18)
• On killer’s relationship psychology:
  • “How is he not jealous of this one if the last one ended in murder because of jealousy and he was free and this chick’s out doing whatever she wants and he’s in the can wondering what she’s doing?” (Holmberg, 12:04)
• On the logic of women who date murderers:
  • “I just don’t understand the female brain. Not all of you, but a good portion — that you don’t talk to each other about stuff like this. A dude would say, you know she killed a guy, right?” (Holmberg, 12:42)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:06 — Opening banter about prison lovers and infamous Arizona cases (Deborah Milkey, Jodi Arias)
• 02:21 — Introduction of the Mexican prison massacre story
• 04:44 — Details on the security lapse (“guards were playing cards”) during the murders
• 05:22 — Sarcastic discussion on dating murderers and “second chances”
• 06:19 — Discussion on how this impacts prison family visitation and comparisons to U.S. true crime cases
• 08:20–09:30 — Gender double standards and cultural fascination with “bad boy” criminals
• 10:47 — Comedic dark roleplay between murderer and new girlfriend
• 12:04–13:00 — Psychological motivations behind romanticizing killers
• 13:53 — Transition to real estate mishap story (lighter relationship trust issues)

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Tone and Flow

• The episode is fast-paced, irreverent, and mixes dark humor with incredulity and moral questioning.
• Hosts frequently lampoon both the criminals and those who are attracted to them, often breaking into comedic skits.
• There’s an undercurrent of social critique on both justice systems and human relationship psychology, never losing the show’s signature sarcasm and edge.

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For those who haven’t listened:
This episode is a whirlwind through a jaw-dropping true crime case and the weird world of people who fall in love with murderers. It’s simultaneously a skewering of criminal justice shortcomings, a meditation on trust and attraction, and a showcase of the hosts’ sharp humor. If you like “news of the weird” blended with comedic social commentary, this episode is a can’t-miss.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

It's good to be on top, isn't it? Yeah. So get on top and ride with the top morning show in town and the best of Holmberg's morning sickness. 98KUpD Multiple people now emailing me that Larry McFeely should date Deborah Milkey. You know, it's no Jodi Arias. She's not getting out anytime soon. And we actually thought the crazier the lady, the better. One good thing about Deborah Milkey is, you know, medically. And I don't know if a lot of ladies know this, your hymen grows back after not using your stuff for seven years. You technically re virginize. She's been in jail for 22 years. I'm not sure how many visits could have been used. I mean, it could have been. Could have been beaten up badly, but maybe, maybe she was treated with some sort of royalty. You gotta find out by asking. You don't know by guessing. You only know by asking. So. And Debbie McFeely has a nice kind of role. A little less crazy than the chicks Larry's dated at the past. Not real good with kids, as Mike Rembrandt points out. But what are the odds she does it again? Another person said true. So, Larry, maybe. Maybe this is just the loony that we're looking for for Larry McFeely.

[C]

Holiday parties and station get together who will be awesome.

[A]

Fantastic. So you're dating Deborah Milkey. Huh? Yeah. You guys like her? I think we have to. I think this is one of those moments where we just have to be nice to the boss's girl. How do we set that up? Is she going to be like on. On an Internet site? How fast? Well, and this is the thing and. All right, here's the reason I bring this up is because Brady hands me a story after and I say, what are the odds she does it again? And I don't know that. Mexico is such a disaster. Up and down border to border, coast to coast. Nothing good happens in Mexico while the people in charge of Mexico remain in charge of Mexico. Even you can't even do a friendly visit to your jailed family without this. A former police officer jailed for murdering his wife killed his entire family when they came to visit him in prison. Now, I don't know how that even happened. How does he pull that off? Domingo Villa Arellano, 40 years old, was jailed in a maximum security Punta Grande in Guadalajara in 2006 after he killed his wife in a jealous rage. Jealous rage. He was so mad at his wife, whatever she had done, that he slaughtered her, got kids with her, killed her. Anyway, the next sentence blows me away. His long term girlfriend, Isella. Wait a second. How did he do that? How does a girl date a guy long term when the last thing he did as a free man was slaughter his wife? She's misunderstood, John. So anyway, she's been his long term squeeze for the last six years because I guess there were no other goods. He's the best option in Mexico. She decided to take their two kids and stepdaughter. His kid, to visit him in prison. No one could have predicted what happened next when the kids said, we're not real big fans of Isella, Dad. We like the mom better. Remember the lady you slaughtered? She was nicer to us. And we don't really care the way this Sella lady treats us. Well, that was enough for Domingo Via Arellano to say, ah, where's a liar? And he stabbed and killed everyone in the room. His kids, the step with a shift, the long term girlfriend. So.

[C]

And the oldest daughter actually got away.

[A]

Here's another great quote.

[C]

But died.

[A]

Yeah, she was 17. She ended up dying at the hospital. Another great quote. According to state Attorney General General Luis Najera, all the guards were busy during the incident playing cards. Well, then you're not guards, because your whole purpose is to guard the situations that normal folk who are free are talking to guys who have murdered. And where was he getting the weapons? They were just on him. Wires in the room.

[C]

He had a piece of metal, a.

[A]

Little chunk of metal and a wire he made. He made weapons while they, I guess the whole family sat inside pounding, screaming. Where are the guards?

[C]

He had to have known something was going down to begin with.

[A]

Yeah, he had to. He wanted to kill them going in either way. So you say, what are the odds they do it again? And then you got this guy. But more importantly, credit to this guy's ability to swing a chick because I don't know, I'm pretty much as a friend talking every girl I know out of dating the guy who last. How did your last relationship end? Oh, I slaughtered her. Oh, you guys want to get some awesome Blossoms? He's adorable. I want to be his long time catch. Everybody deserves second. No, they don't. No, not everybody does.

[C]

He feels he's starting fresh again.

[A]

Well, because he wiped them out. Took the blood of the youth. No, not everybody deserves a second chance. Totally disagree with that. You slaughter your wife, you shouldn't be on match.com making moves and certainly shouldn't have I sella your longtime girl going, well, he's changed. I don't know who's her parents.

[B]

How well do you think the next.

[A]

Family day is gonna go at that prison? Not just for him, for anybody, for everybody. Yeah, one bad apple. He ruined it for everybody else in the jail for family Day, especially the guards who really have to be on now.

[C]

The guards also saw the guy going nuts, right? I'm not going in there.

[A]

Going in there. That guy kills people. He's really good. They don't have guns. Guns are nothing compared to this dude. He makes weapons out of paper. Look at him slaughter his family in there. When he's done, he's going to get a stern talking to from Generalissimo Warden.

[C]

All right, Domingo, knock it off.

[A]

Yeah. Hey, are you done in there? It's horrifying. Maybe they maybe get a job out of this. Actually. Well, he's a former cop. That tells you everything you need to know about Mexico. Might be a cartel that pulls him out. Bottom line is it tells me all I need to know about that cesspool country of Mexico is that this girl's best option as a mate. Well, he's only killed one woman. What's the big deal? He's a real keeper. Well, man, I would. You can't just say it's Mexico because you got. The Melendez brothers got girls and he.

[C]

Probably took her out so he could be with. Took out the first one.

[A]

I know chicks are crazy and they'll date prisoners. It doesn't make any sense to me. But again, you bring up the Melendez brothers. Interesting Mexican last name. Hmm. I'm just saying. Mexico. At the very least, if you visited the Melendez brothers, someone would be in the room to at least walkie talkie over some help when he started to slaughter four people. Yeah, probably not gonna get away with that number. And here's the other part. The 17 year old girl escaped from the murder and had to run away before she found anybody. This was just like in a shack somewhere nearby. This is a setup. Van Der Sloot can't get him off him. I know. That's the. That's. There's another one I don't understand. How do you go. And even if he's lying to you, Vandersloot wasn't. He told that girl, I'm yourn Van Der Sloot and I'm hiding in Chile for all those murders. Your eyes. What is wrong with you ladies? You know what? You never hear about guys getting murdered by a woman who's murdered before. We don't date you anymore as a group. She killed a couple people, but she's got a kind heart. No, you're out. Deborah Milkey won't get a guy to date her now. Maybe she'll get.

[C]

Oh yeah.

[A]

No dude. No dude will. Will commit to bang her. Maybe they'll banger. But no dude's gonna be like, I'm marrying Ms. Deborah Milky. It ain't happening.

[C]

She'll meet the guy that has no idea who she is.

[A]

No, no, no, no. I don't find out. I think Looney goes to. I don't think it's half as loony as the girl gender. Still no way. Half as a chance. Chicks you don't see. Like, we make jokes about Jod Arus, but you don't see a line around the prison on visiting day like you did when Scott Peterson went to jail of women who had no idea who he was. No, you still won't do it. Guys are still like, well, didn't kill a man.

[C]

It is different.

[A]

Yeah, chicks go nuts because we don't have that. We want to change them. We don't have that bad girl desire. We like dirty girls. We like girls, but we don't like to date them. We like to bang them and then learn our lesson. Yeah. There's no line around the prison to go hang out with Jody every day at noon. In San Diego, they had numbers. It was at San Diego or wherever that Peterson Guy was. They had to draw numbers for visitors. The dude was a star. They do it all the time for these sexy murderers. Women will do. Remember the guy who was the horrible human being that they made a look at this model's mug shot. What? Did you just hear what you said? Yes, he's gorgeous. Look at the eyes on this man. Do you know what he's done? And the guy's gonna be a model now. Then they found out, oh, he's got some sexual assault and attempted rape and a couple of murders under his belt. Maybe we shouldn't make him the face of our new product. But chick still ate him up. Yeah, that scared me when I read that next one. When his long term girlfriend came to visit him. How did your last relationship end? Well, my wife, she was a bitch pig. And I cut her from her genitals to her throat like a two pound trout. And I open her up and I throw her intestines into the air. And I scream, nevermore. The streets will flow at the blood of the infidel woman. Oh yeah, my boyfriend just left me for another girl. It seems like you really care. You have emotion.

[C]

Here's your menudo.

[A]

You're deep. That's right. And then he served her menudo. Here is some menudo I made for you out of my wife. Oh my God. You made me dinner. You don't see nothing through the trees. You can't see what's going to happen to you. I just know I like menudo. When a man makes is made from the intentions of a woman. I am a crazy man. You're just the spitfire I'm trying to tame. You're sweet. You don't understand what's about to happen to you. First I will punch you in the face. Yes. I like it rough. You're insane. I shouldn't be a gent. You should. Yeah, I want to be the mother of your children. Okay. But I'm going to kill all of you. You know this going in. We don't need paperwork.

[B]

You roll the dice.

[A]

You know you're going to die, right? No, I'm not. You're silly. This bitch is a keeper.

[C]

Let's go.

[A]

I want this slut in my house right now.

[C]

Go over the pros and cons of dating me.

[A]

And how is he not jealous of this one if the last one ended in murder because of jealousy and he was free and this chick's out doing whatever she wants and he's in the can wondering what she's doing. How does she not put two and Two together.

[C]

We don't know the whole. I mean, I, I see it long term girlfriend is. Maybe he was getting rid of the first because he had.

[A]

He liked the girlfriend better and that's good to her. Oh, the girlfriend, she killed. Thank God you kill for me.

[C]

And then he all suddenly hears, wait a minute, you're not treating my kids well.

[A]

Right? Well, he's got morals.

[C]

You know what? They're all messed up. I'm taking them all out.

[A]

This is Romeo and Juliet times like 100. Yeah, yeah, it's Jerome and Julia. Beautiful. I just, I don't understand the female brain. Not all of you, but a good portion of you that you don't talk to each other about stuff like this. A dude would say, you know she killed a guy, right? Yeah, but she's different. She killed a guy. He must be a very attractive man. Dude, you don't know the circumstances. Yeah, this picture, that's the other thing, Eric, you just say he must have been a very attractive man. There are 30 of these at Home Depot right now. She could have had anybody, Horatio sans him. It's the, it's the drawing. It's the Mexican guy. Anyway, the world's all gone mad, I tell you. Mad. Merry effing holidays from the big Red Radio. Holmberg's morning sickness. This segment is brought to you guys by Action Ride Shop. Now if you're thinking about heading up north to hit the slopes for some.

[C]

Skiing, some boarding, or if you're just.

[A]

Going to stay down here in the valley and do some mountain biking, Action Ride Shop is your place to be. They got all the gear and all the knowledge you're going to need, so check them out [e-mail] or better yet, just go visit them over there on Gilbert Road and Southern. It's Action Ride Shop. And then Christmas is upon us. I don't know if you're getting all your Christmas cards. Getting a good pile going at the house now. Yeah, a lot of Christmas cards and I saw a story, one of my favorite ones maybe ever as you know how real estate agents will sometimes do. Like if you ever dealt with a real estate agent, they'll send you like even if you just go into an open house sometimes you put your name down and you get a Christmas card from someone you don't even know who it is but you just get a Christmas card from. There's a lady in Georgia who's a real estate agent, so she's got a bunch of cards. She's got about 12 left. So she goes to her database and just randomly chooses 12 families to send her last few cards out to. She'd send them to her family or friends and all that, and then throws another one out there. It says, hey, thank you for everything, for a great 20, 24. Have a great day. So she gets a knock on her door from a guy who says, hey, I don't know what you're thinking here, but you gotta explain this to my wife. It's like, what this random Christmas card says. We talked in June. She thinks I bought a house for my goomar, and he thinks that I did business with you, and I can't talk her out of it. Merry Christmas. We're happy to have you in our real estate family. And, you know, just gets it to this dude, and he comes flying into her house and says, hey, you gotta do this. So she's like, I'm not doing that. And he said, you sent a Christmas card to my house by mistake. And my wife accuses me of buying a house for my hidden girlfriend because you supposedly talked to me back in June. And you got to straighten this out because it's getting really, really ugly at my place. And she said she called the doghouse hubby who put his wife on the phone, and she said the stormy spouse was able to laugh about it. She was actually very nice. She said. They both were. I apologized and said, you know, I come from a church background. You give Christmas cards to everyone, whether you know them or not. And the wife's like, well, that's a little weird. She said, but I had more. More than enough cards to send to you guys. The lady's like, yeah, that's okay. I understand. This dude's got. This wife's not asking any questions if she's got the suspicion that the real estate agent bought a house for the goomar. And then the real estate agent calls and goes, no, that didn't happen. That's silly. Then the guy's like, got away with that one lady. I don't know about you, but it's pretty obvious what's going on here. She's gotta be hot. She must be so hot because she's. That's like having a family try to fool you with twins that don't exist. You gotta be sexy for that to work. I mean, how stupid is this wife? That's a pretty dumb move right there. Did you buy a house for a girlfriend? You're out of your mind. I'll be right back. I gotta go to. Hey, lady, what's up? Are you thinking Dropping off Christmas cards randomly, saying we did business together. I got girls all over town. My wife thinks I'm buying them houses now.

[C]

What are you making a bag for?

[A]

I don't. I don't know if you can tie those two things together. It's a little late. But if you keep that up, this. He's gonna throw you in there. Ladies, if you're suspicious that your husband has purchased a home for a girl, you can't get mad at the real estate agent. Can we just make that real? Doug Hopkins can't take a punch from somebody because he bought a house and he's taking the business. Estate agent doesn't say, is this for moral good, this home you're purchasing? No, it's none of your business. He's just buying a house, and if he's gonna stuff a side piece in it, that's the wife's job to figure out. Yeah, he's. You know, he's keeping her happy, quiet. And, lady, you can't get mad at this real estate agent who just fired off a card. They send out cards like, I gotta. I got one for my plumber. That doesn't mean I bought a house for someone else who had bad plumbing. We haven't had a plumber here all year. Well, I gotta go. Travis, you got to help me out here, man. He thinks the plumbing's gone bad at a girl's house that I purchased, but it's too far.

[C]

Like, I wonder how often that's happened that the. You know, like a couple together for years, husband passes away and, you know, it's the discovery part of. Oh, he had three houses.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And then, you know, the stuff that.

[A]

Oh, well, yeah.

[C]

No one was. You know, it wasn't assigned to anyone, so she gets it by.

[A]

If you're purchasing homes for people, well, you wouldn't get it that way. It's not like a will or trust or anything. It goes right to probate, which is good. If he didn't keep it on the. If he didn't keep it in the legal.

[C]

But the surviving goes away.

[A]

Maybe that's the thing.

[C]

She would know about it.

[A]

You think so? Yeah, she'd definitely be. You know, you put it in the gumar's name. You can't buy her a house. You know, you got to have some sort of a LLC over on the side no one knows about. Or you put it in the workshop, bought it, or Bada Bing bought it. You don't do it yourself. That's dumb. But if you're suspicious that your spouse is buying homes for someone else. Not the real estate agent you should be yelling at. You're getting a little sloppy. That real estate agent. If you're gonna start selling houses to my husband's girlfriends. I don't know what you're talking about. I just. I sell houses now. Doug's gonna have to have that in his commercial. I want to buy your home, but let's keep your girlfriend out of it. It's insanity. Asking too many questions. Don't have you just go in and say, I'd like to buy this. The real estate agent doesn't say for whom. It's a rental property. And also, dudes, if you're out there buying houses and not telling your wife about it, that's gonna backfire. You can't do that. Ladies get. You know they're not too happy with those giant purchases they're not in on. I got us a house today. Are we moving? Nope. We're gonna rent it to these beautiful college girls. Oh, that sounds like a nice idea. Sure, sure, sure. Found the kindness of my own heart. Yeah. You know what? I'm gonna give them a free rent for the first year. How will they pay? I don't know. We'll come up with something. This is dumb, but yeah. The real estate. That's a Christmas. A Christmas wish for everyone. A beautiful one. It's also pretty. Arizona's most powerful, powerful rock ra. Yes, early birds always rise to the occasion for summer vacation planning because early gets you closer to the action. So don't be late. Book your next vacation early on verbo and save over $530 on week long stays. Average savings $550. Select homes only. Minimum 7 day stay required.