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You're listening to an ONO Media podcast. Hey everyone and welcome back to the into the Dark podcast. I'm your host, Peyton Moreland. I'm so glad that you are here, that you are up, that you are listening to today's episode. If you are watching on YouTube, can you please do all the things interact with the episode? It helps so much. And if you are listening on audio and can leave a review, that would be great. Honestly, either way, I'm just so happy you are here. First, my 10 seconds. This episode I am going to talk about Halloween because Halloween was this last week. Honestly, I had so much fun. I dressed up as a brokenhearted cupid, I feel like, which was just kind of right up my alley. We didn't really do like a family costume this year and I didn't go to any parties or anything. So it was more just for fun for me on Halloween. And then Garrett and I stayed home and we passed out candy to the trick or treaters. And honestly, it was just good vibes. We went to dinner, we came back and then I just kind of like lit the candles, I decorated the porch a little bit more. It was just fun. It was like a nice, calm Halloween, but I didn't have any fomo. It was just, it was good. Honestly, it was good. I hope your guys's holiday was good as well. I actually didn't eat any candy, now that I'm thinking about it. Yeah, I'm gonna eat one piece of candy. Okay, I'll. I'll get on that right now after this episode, guys. Okay. Yeah, I think that's all I have for my 10 seconds. So let's get into the episode. If you are a long time listener, you probably know that I talk about Mental health a lot on this show. It is an important topic to me. I think it's good to be open about it. And, of course, I also cover a lot of true crime here. Well, I haven't always focused on the way that these ideas can impact one another, but the truth is, some mental health conditions can cause people to behave erratically, and that might make some people more likely to commit violent crimes. However, it's also important to remember that people with mental health conditions are also more likely to be victims of crimes, too, because they are more vulnerable. And this was particularly true for a woman named Ruthie Mae McCoy. She was part of a very big family. Now, Ruthie Mae had seven brothers and sisters. She was born in Arkansas. But when Ruthie Mae was very young, her whole family actually moved to Chicago because they thought there were more opportunities there. The problem was, was that her family was poor and black, and this was the 1930s and 40s. So, of course, they dealt with a lot of discrimination. So Ruthie Mae's childhood had many challenges, and it really didn't get any better as she got older. She dropped out of high school after her freshman year, and a few years after that, she started developing symptoms of a mental health condition. The problem was that every time she went to see a doctor to try and get help, they were unable to give her a diagnosis. They didn't know what was wrong. And by now it was the 1950s, when a lot of medical professionals didn't understand mental health very well. But it was clear to everyone who knew Ruthie Mae that something was not right. She wore a heavy winter coat on hot summer days and often went out to lie down in the snow in the middle of winter. Ruthie May sometimes had conversations with people nobody else could see, as though she was hearing voices. And she also had a tendency to lose her temper without warning and scream at strangers for no reason. Now, her symptoms honestly made it impossible for Ruthie May to hold down a job. Each time she would get hired somewhere, she'd only last for a few weeks or a month at most, before her behavior just became too erratic. Then she'd either quit or get fired. And things only got worse when Ruthie Mae was 27 years old. That is, when she got pregnant and her boyfriend decided not to stick around, meaning Ruthie Mae gave birth to her daughter, and then she was a single mother afterward. The problem was that Ruthie wasn't in a position to take care of anyone else. Her mental health struggles were just getting worse. She kept checking into hospitals, hoping for Help. And each time this happened, she'd have to leave her daughter behind with a different relative to make sure she was taken care of. But then she'd be released a few weeks or months later without any real progress. Ruthie Mae couldn't get a diagnosis or a treatment plan that worked for her, and nothing ever got better. Now, by 1983, Ruthie Mae was now 48 years old. She couldn't afford rent anymore, so she didn't know where she was supposed to live. She applied for government assistance, and the application was approved, meaning Ruthie Mae got permission to live in a subsidized housing complex. It was at a high rise called Abbott Homes. And the great thing was that with the public assistance, Ruthie Mae didn't have to pay as much rent as in any other apartment building. But I need to be honest. Abbott Homes was a terrible place to live. The building was run down. It was dirty. The hallways always smelled when light bulbs in the halls or stairwells went out. The landlords could be slow to change them. Or worse, they would replace the bulb only for someone to steal it right after. The elevators didn't work consistently. Some units didn't even have doorknobs. Most of the residents wanted to keep to themselves and be left alone. But some people who lived here were criminals, Drug dealers, thieves. Other people in the building were suffering from mental health conditions or substance abuse, and their behavior wasn't always safe or predictable. So Ruthie Mae moves in, and right away she realizes she's not comfortable. She's afraid of her neighbors. She didn't feel comfortable leaving her apartment for anything but necessities. Plus, Ruthie Mae had mobility issues at this point, that made it difficult for her to go up and down the stairs. And since she lived on the 11th floor in unit 1109, to be exact, and these elevators weren't reliable, she had to do a lot of stairs. So Ruthie May just became very isolated. At this point, she spent a lot of time locked alone inside her unit, and this made her mental health much worse. It's not good or healthy to spend that much time on your own. Her paranoia becomes more severe. Ruthie Mae got into the habit of walking up and down the hallways and turning her neighbor's doorknobs. And if anyone's apartment was unlocked, she'd let herself in and then lecture that person for being unsafe. And whenever she did make it downstairs to the parking lot, she'd do the same thing. She would check all of the car's door handles, see if it was Unlocked. She wasn't trying to steal. She wasn't trying to harass. She was scared. She wanted these people to protect themselves. So she thinks that she's helping her neighbors by drawing attention to the way they're not protecting themselves. But everything changed on August 10, 1986. That day. Now, 51 year old Ruthie May was babysitting her grandson, who was 4 years old. He fell down a flight of stairs while he was seeing her at the Abbott Homes. And even though he wasn't seriously injured, Ruthie Mae took him to an ER just to be safe. And while she was there, the doctors and nurses noticed that she was acting oddly. They recognized the symptoms of a mental health condition and recommended that she speak to a psychiatrist. And thanks to this referral, Ruthie Mae actually finally got a diagnosis for the first time in her life. She had residual type schizophrenia. This is a mental health condition where the symptoms are milder than in other forms of schizophrenia, but it can still cause problems in a person's life. In Ruthie Mae's case, she was able to pay her bills. She did practice good hygiene. She kept her home clean. However, it was hard for her to keep a job for long periods of time or get close to other people. Now the good news was that now she had a name for her condition. And Ruthie May was able to take her first steps on the road to recovery. She started regularly seeing specialists at the mental health facility. And at first, Ruthie didn't really trust them. She worried they were just trying to take her money or rip her off. But as time went on, she did start to let her guard down. She told her doctors she didn't like her apartment where she lived. She hated being alone all of the time. She felt vulnerable, but she didn't know anyone well enough to ask them to come stay with her. Now the doctors and nurses listened to her talk and they tried to just be there for her. They couldn't be her friends exactly because of the ethics and power dynamics, but they could make sure that she wasn't totally alone all of the time. And they also decided to connect her with social workers. And these workers helped Ruthie Mae enroll in classes to work toward getting her high school diploma. And they encouraged her to apply for a certain kind of welfare that was specifically for people with mental health conditions or disabilities. It was called ssi. Ruthie Mae could have been collecting SSI payments for years, but she didn't even know it was available until her social workers told her about the program. Thanks to their assistance, she gets a check in the mail on February 10, 1987 and it was worth $1,979. Now at the time this was a ton of money for Ruthie. She wasn't used to having that kind of cash. You guys, I am so excited to tell you about this sponsor, Cozy Earth. I love Cozy Earth. I actually have a ton of products from them. Let me tell you what I have ordered. I have sheets, I have pillowcases, I have blankets, I have pajamas, I have body butter. Honestly, I have candles. I order so much from Cozy Earth and it is because their clothing, their fabric, their everything is such good quality. Some of my favorites are their bamboo pajama set. It's just this soft stretch knit bamboo pajama that just drapes beautifully. It sleeps cooler than cotton so it feels good. And I can't not mention their bubble cuddle blanket, you guys. It is soft. Daisy loves it. I have been dragging this blanket with me everywhere. Honestly, with the holidays coming up, you guys go check out Cozy Earth using my code because it is great gifting options as well as just getting something for yourself. So Black Friday has come early at Cozy Earth. Right now@cozyearth.com you can stack my code Peyton on top of their site wide sale giving you up to 40% off in savings. So guys go to cozyearth.com use my code peyton P A Y T O N on top of sale already. These deals won't last. So start your holiday shopping today and if you get a post purchase survey, be sure to mention that you heard about Cozy Earth from Into the Dark. Wrap the ones you love in luxury with Cozy Earth. If you're still overpaying for wireless, it is time to say yes to saying no. At Mint Mobile their favorite word is no. No contracts, no monthly bills, no overages, no hidden fees, no bs. Here's why you should say yes to making the switch and getting Premium Wireless for $15 a month. Ditch overpriced wireless and their jaw dropping monthly bills, unexpected overages and hidden fees. Plans start at $15 a month at Mint. All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. You can also use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with all your existing contacts. You guys, if you haven't yet, go check out the money you will save. Switching to Mint Mobile Garrett and I could not believe our eyes. Ready to say yes to saying no? Make the switch@mintmobile.com Peyton that's mintmobile.com P A Y T O N upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month limited time. New customer offer for first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited plan taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. So right away, she used the payment to buy new clothes and a warm winter coat. On top of that, she also began donating to charity. Or at least she thought that's what she was doing. The problem was Ruthie Mae started getting letters and phone calls from people she didn't know. They all said they were associated with different churches and good causes. And anytime these people asked for money, Ruthie Mae would send some. She didn't even double check to make sure they were legit. Her daughter begins warning her that, hey, you're being scammed. Like, they know you're on this program. You're being scammed. But Ruthie Mae didn't listen. She thought she was doing the right thing. Now, I don't know exactly how much money Ruthie Mae gave away because she was very secretive about her finances, but I know she made an effort to save a lot of it. Her top goal was to move out of Abbott Homes and into a better apartment. So she was trying to set aside enough money to cover a deposit and first month's rent at a new place. All to say, her life was taking a turn for the better, her mental health was improving, her finances were better, she had a support network, and she was taking steps to get back on the right track. But yet again, everything changed in the course of a single day. On April 22, 1987, Ruthie May called 911 and the things she was saying on the phone were strange and confusing. When the operator picked up, Ruthie said, some people next door are totally tearing this down. They throwed the cabinet down. They want to come through the bathroom. The dispatcher can't figure out what Ruthie May is trying to explain. She wasn't making any sense. Still, the operator sent police to the scene, but they didn't know if they were responding to a break in an assault or something else. So the dispatcher called the situation, quote, a disturbance with a neighbor. Except while the police were on their way to Ruthie Mae's address, another 911 call comes in. This one was from someone else in the Abbott building. And they said they had heard gunshots coming from Ruthie mae's unit, number 1109. So now it's really clear that Ruthie Mae was in some kind of terrible Trouble. That first 911 call was bad, but when the police arrived, they had a new challenge. Ruthie Mae's door was locked, and when they knocked, she didn't come to answer. The officers also called Ruthie's phone number using the same one she had used to dial 91 1. They could hear the phone ringing and ringing inside the apartment, but nobody was answering. Now, eventually, the officers get in touch with a landlord, but they don't have a key to her unit. Apparently, she had her locks changed after a previous break in, and the property managers hadn't updated their set. So by this time, the officers aren't sure what to do. I mean, they could have easily broken down the door, but they're not really sure what's going on here. They don't want to damage the building's property if it's not necessary. They are trying to follow protocol. Now, I know that might sound odd. I mean, Ruthie May had been calling, begging for help, saying she was in danger, and a neighbor reported a gunshot. Most people would hear those details and think, hey, this is definitely an emergency. But the police didn't have a very good relationship with the people at Abbott Homes. Lots of residents distrusted the authorities. Some of them actively disliked the police and behaved aggressively toward them. And the authorities had a long history of ignoring or mishandling cases at this complex. In particular, the residents were poor. Many had criminal records. It was the sort of place where people frequently fell through the cracks, which apparently is what happened with Ruthie Mae this day. Rather than force their way inside her apartment, the police just left. They never confirmed if Ruthie was okay. They never got into her unit. So a day later, another woman from the building, Deborah Lasley, called the police on Ruthie Mae's behalf. Debra was one of Ruthie's friends in the building. They usually spoke to each other every day, even if it was just for a few minutes. And Debra hadn't heard from Ruthie mace since the 22nd, the day of the 911 call. So now she is requesting a wellness check. But it was like history was repeating itself. The police came to unit 1109. They tried the door, and they couldn't get in. Ruthie Mae wasn't answering her phone or coming to the door when they knocked. And rather than investigate any further, they leave. Now another day passes, and now it's the 24th. And that's when Debra realizes, yeah, the police are not going to help. So instead of continuing to request wellness checks, she contacted the landlord and said, hey, Ruthie Mae is in trouble. The landlord still didn't have a working key, but they called someone to actually drill a hole in the door so they could open it. And when they get inside and walked into Ruthie Mae's unit, they find her dead on the bedroom floor. She was 52 years old. Right away, the landlords called police detectives to the scene. Once again, they determined that Ruthie May had been deceased for a while. Her body had already begun to decompose. She had died of four gunshot wounds. One of them, the fatal one, hit her in her chest, and the others had struck her in the shoulder, leg, and torso. Now, the really sad thing is that these injuries probably weren't instantly fatal. Ruthie May probably lived and suffered for several minutes after she got shot. She died alone and frightened. When the police searched the scene, they found that some of Ruthie May's possessions were missing, like her rocking chair, a television, and a phone. Additionally, it was impossible for the police to say what had happened to the money Ruthie Mae had received from ssi. It had never been deposited with the bank, and the cash wasn't in the apartment. So investigators suspected that the murderer might have taken it. But they couldn't prove that that was the case. Ruthie Mae might have spent it or given it all away, as I mentioned earlier. But even if they couldn't account for the cash, the police thought it was notable that her other possessions had disappeared, too. This made them think this was all a robbery gone wrong. And since there don't appear to be any signs of forced entry, the detectives also concluded that her killer was probably someone she knew. Perhaps a friend or acquaintance had knocked on her door. Ruthie let them in, and then they killed her to rob her. Now, the problem was that the police were making some incorrect assumptions and missing key pieces of evidence. These mistakes came to light after a reporter with a publication called the Chicago Reader heard about Ruthie May's murder right away. He concluded that the detectives were not running a good, thorough investigation. He published a long article about the clues that they had overlooked. It was part of an attempt to draw attention to Ruthie Mae's case and help her get justice. The article spent a lot of time talking about the medicine cabinet in Ruthie Mae's bathroom. Now, imagine you go into your restroom and you move the medicine cabinet away from where it's sitting. You might have to pull out some nails or screws to do this, but once the furniture is out of the way, you're probably staring at a blank bathroom wall. That's the setup in most homes and apartments with a medicine cabinet, you wanted to get at the pipes or the insulation behind it. You would need to drill a hole or knock down the wall. But this is not how Ruthie Mae's building worked. Apparently, there were a lot of plumbing issues, and the landlords wanted it to be easier for maintenance people to access the apartment complex's pipes. So they had just put no wall behind the medicine cabinets. They just nailed the furniture down to the floor. But if you were to remove the six nails and then shove the cabinet out of the way, you'd be staring at an open hole with pipes in it. And if you climbed into this hole and squeezed past the pipes, you'd end up in a narrow passageway that ran through the entire building. Literally, anyone could move their medicine cabinet out of the way, squeeze between the rawls and be able to walk freely through the complex. Now, as people went down these tunnels, they would see openings that connected to other people's bathrooms. And if they pushed their neighbor's medicine cabinets out of the way, they'd be able to get into their neighbor's unit. Basically, anyone in the building could easily break into another unit if they knew about the medicine cabinet trick. And the people in Abbott Homes definitely knew about the medicine cabinet trick. For a year before Ruthie Mae's murder, there had been a string of break ins. Residents would climb into the hole in their own bathroom and then let themselves into other units. So because of this design flaw, people were always getting robbed. Word got around, hey, you're getting robbed from your bathrooms. So some people began dragging heavy furniture in front of the bathroom cabinet to stop strangers from getting in. Some residents actually relieved themselves in buckets because they were so uncomfortable using their bathroom, given that it wasn't really private. And remember how I said that Ruthie Mae's apartment had been broken into before or her murder? Well, the thieves hadn't come in through her door. They did come in through her bathroom. They actually broke the medicine cabinet badly enough that she couldn't even put it back into place. Afterward, she'd asked the landlord to fix it, but it still hadn't been repaired by the day of her murder. Meaning for several months, Ruthie Mae had been living with a open hole in her bathroom. AI had the time of my my life. Hey, I never felt this way before. From building timelines to assigning the right people and even spotting risks across dozens of projects. 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So eat smart@factormeal.com Dark 50 off I actually used my own code the other day and it really did give me 50% off. Use code DARK50OFF to get 50% off your first box plus free breakfast for one year. That's code DARK50OFF@Factor Meals.com for 50% off your first box plus FREE breakfast for one year. Get delicious ready to eat meals delivered with Factor offer only valid for new Factor customers with code and qualifying auto renewing subscription purchase so the Chicago Reader article speculated police are completely missing this. The killer did not come in through the front door. It wasn't necessarily someone Ruthie Mae knew or had let in willingly. This very well could have been a stranger who had come in from her bathroom. And that's why Ruthie May was saying those odd things on the 911 call. Remember, she was saying they they throwed the cabinet down, they want to come through the bathroom. Suddenly these statements are making a lot more sense. Plus, there was another strange clue that the police had missed. But this reporter with Chicago Reader hadn't. It had to do with Ruthie May's phone. You might remember when I mentioned this before, but when her body was found, her phone was missing. The officers assumed it was stolen along with her TV and her rocking chair. Except when those other police officers had responded to Ruthie Mae's first 911 call on April 22. They said they could hear her phone ringing from inside the unit, meaning it had been there after she died, but then was gone by the 24th when Ruthie Mae's body was found. So there were a few possibilities. Maybe the thieves broke into Ruthie Mae's apartment multiple Times they left the phone behind on the first night, but came back and took it later. Or perhaps the killers were still inside the unit when the police arrived that first time. If they had just broken down that door instead of turning around and leaving, they might have actually caught the murderer or murderers in the act. Instead, they turned around and went away, giving the killer two full days to grab that phone and get out of there. The point is, the investigators made a lot of mistakes and this Chicago Reader article was very embarrassing for them. So of course a spokesperson with the police tried to defend their actions. They said they had followed procedures every step of the way. It wasn't their fault that they had missed so much evidence in the investigation. After the article ran, some detectives also threw themselves into trying to solve Ruthie May's case. They knew that if they could catch the real killers, it would be a big PR win. The problem was that when the officers tried to question potential witnesses, they didn't get very far. Like I mentioned before, the people at Abbott Homes did not always trust the authorities. And a bunch of them were unwilling to give statements. I mean, I guess if you call 911 and police barely show up, you wouldn't want to give a statement either. Other people talked to the detectives only to say they hadn't seen or heard anything the night of the murder. Even people who lived right next door to Ruthie Mae should have heard the gunshots. They're like, no, I didn't. Which obviously people are lying. The problem was that either they didn't trust the police, they didn't want to get involved, or maybe they knew who the killer was and so they were afraid to talk. It took a while, but eventually a few people gave the police two names. Two guys who had lived in Abbott Homes. They were 25 year old John Hondrus and 21 year old Edward Turner. Both had a history of breaking into people's apartments to rob them. And they regularly got inside those units by coming through the bathroom cabinets exactly the same way Ruthie May's killer supposedly got into her unit. They had apparently been using these tunnels to commit crimes for at least a year or maybe a year and a half. People like openly knew about it. And as for the motive, the police assumed that John and Edward must have noticed when Ruthie May bought that new winter coat and her new clothes and realized she had gotten some money and decided to break in and find it. On the night of April 22nd. They must have broken into her apartment through her bathroom. And Ruthie May obviously was calling 91 1. She was staying in her bedroom. Also, it sounds like there's more than one accomplice. So how do you leave? Now, the thinking was that John and Edward originally didn't want to hurt Ruthie May. In fact, they probably wanted her alive, unhurt and consc. That way, they could ask her where all of her valuables were hidden and make sure the robbery was a success. But obviously, something went wrong. It's hard to say what exactly. Whatever it was, this situation escalated. And then John and Edward must have shot her to death. The problem was, this is all alleged. This is just police with suspicions. There's no proof that these two men had anything to do with the crime. The investigators never recovered usable fingerprints or DNA. Of course, these were the days before ring cameras or cell phone trackings. There was nothing physical. And when the officers interrogated John and Edward, they both denied having anything to do with it. Now, it's worth noting that John and Edward had a long history of drug dealing and other crimes, but they had never been suspects in a violent offense before. So there was no proof that they were even capable of taking another person's life. Except the investigators got another break when they talked to another building resident named Tim Brown. Tim Brown told the police that on the night of Ruthie May's murder, he was hanging out with John and Edward. And somehow they had managed to get into the next door, unit 1108. And then John and Edward started bragging about how there's these secret passages, and they moved the cabinet out of the way. And according to Tim, he could actually see into Ruthie May's bathroom from where he was standing. And then he also heard her calling out something like, who's there now? According to Tim, John and Edward said, we're going in and we'll be right back. They went into the tunnel, but Tim stayed where he was. So he's standing at the neighbor's opening now. A few minutes go by, maybe five or 10 total. And then his friends returned through the apartment's door. Door, not the bathroom cabinet. And they had Ruthie May's TV and rocking chair with them. So Tim is telling police he was an eyewitness to this robbery. He didn't actually witness the murder, but he watched John and Edward walk into her place, break into her bathroom at the time of the crime, and then he saw them return a few minutes later with her stolen possessions. His testimony was actually enough for officers to charge Edward and John with Ruthie May's murder. So the trial began in 1990 this is three years later. Both men pleaded not guilty. And even though John and Edward were tried separately, their hearings actually happened simultaneously, meaning they sat in front of different judges and juries. But at the same time, I think it's worth noting that the trial received almost no press coverage. It just wasn't a big enough news story. Other than John, Edward and Ruthie May's friends and family, nobody came to court court to watch. There certainly weren't many reporters. Ruthie May's case seemed like it was already forgotten. As soon as the verdict was read, it was going to be really forgotten. Except then something interesting happened. When Tim Brown was called to testify, you remember he was the witness who said he saw John and Edward breaking into Ruthie May's apartment. Basically, this entire, like trial stands on him, but on the stand he changes his story. So on the stand, he claims that he was with John and Edward the whole time. On the night of April 22, 1987, they never broke into Ruthie May's apartment or left his site at all. That the three men weren't together with an airtight alibi. Now, of course, the prosecutors are like, bro, you're our star witness. This, this story's inconsistent. This, this testimony doesn't match what you told police. He's like, well, I only implicated John and Edward because the officers coerced a false statement out of me. He claimed he had been afraid the detectives might physically harm him or try to frame him for the crime. So he had told them what they'd wanted to hear. But now on the stand, he swore that his friends had nothing to do with this murder. And the problem was that without Tim's testimony, the prosecutors didn't really have any hard evidence against Edward and John. Which is probably why ultimately the juries found both men not guilty. Even Ruthie Mays family had to admit that they didn't know what to believe. They were actually happy with the verdict because they didn't want innocent people to be convicted for a murder that they possibly didn't commit. And it's impossible to say if John or Edward were really involved. After all, the police had not done a very good job of earning anyone's trust during this investigation. It seemed entirely possible, given the time period and the situation, that they definitely could have coerced a false confession from Tim. And sadly, following those trials, the officers were never able to identify any new suspects. Interestingly enough, even though Ruthie May's case didn't get solved and it also didn't get a lot of press coverage, it did inspire a horror film. Candyman. But today I want to focus on the true facts, not fiction. As of this recording, Ruthie Mae's murder is still unsolved. It's not like the case just fell through the cracks. I'll also note that Ruthie Mae wasn't killed by a criminal genius who executed a perfect crime. Frankly, her case should have a resolution, but it doesn't. There were factors that led to her murder not being taken as seriously as other people's. It is safe to say police dropped the ball, but so did her landlord and a lot of other institutions. Everyone deserves justice, including Ruthie Mae. And while her loved ones wait for it, the best we can do is remember her and keep telling her story. And that is the case of Ruthie May. Thank you so much for going into the dark with me today, and I will see you for next week's episode. Goodbye.