Love and Radio: Blood Memory

Episode 03: The House in North Tustin

Original Air Date: February 16, 2026

Host: Nick van der Kolk | Guest: Michael Thompson

Overview

This episode of Blood Memory plunges deep into the criminal underbelly of 1970s Orange County, following Michael Thompson’s recollections of a series of chilling events surrounding a murder case, a kidnapping plot, and a tangle of relationships and motives. At its heart, the show examines how Thompson—an ex-rodeo rider—becomes entangled in a high-stakes game involving drug runners, law enforcement, and vulnerable women.
Through atmospheric production and immersive interviews, listeners are transported into the blurred lines of morality, complicity, and fate.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Life Before Crime: The Rodeo Circuit & Marriage to Burdell

• Thompson’s backstory: A young bull rider, Thompson spends winters in Tahoe working as a boat carpenter.
  • “I’d been on the rodeo circuit… I would work as a boat carpenter… But this time I went back down into Orange County. I had been married to a young lady named Burdell.” (01:45 – 02:20)
• First meeting Burdell: After being stranded by a snowstorm and contracting double pneumonia, he meets Burdell, who nurses him back to health.
• Marriage of convenience: Burdell's late husband’s family had custody of her son; marriage to Thompson helps her regain custody.
  • “I married her and she got her son back. Once that happened, I went on my way.” (02:58 – 03:16)

2. Introduction to Crime: A Plot Unfolds

• Louis Gozadis’ Dilemma: Burdell’s cousin Louis shares concerns about two men, Butch Nunley and Roo Steele, plotting to kidnap the children of John Solis, a major drug dealer.
  • “They were plotting to kidnap children of… John Solis.” (04:08)
• Chain of information: When Louis refuses to warn Solis directly, Thompson contacts Solis himself and is brought in for a tense meeting.

3. Solis’ Drug Operation & Vulnerability

• Solis' profile: Orange County’s most notorious marijuana dealer, prone to violence but also a family man.
  • “By his own admission, he bought and sold as much as a ton of weed a week…” (04:41 – 05:29)
• The plan: Butch and Roo, insiders in Solis’ operation, eye his children for ransom.

4. Unearthing the Murders

• Discovery of Bodies: As Thompson renovates the Tustin house with Burdell's son, they are interrupted by Mike Sesma—Solis’ enforcer—who claims two bodies are buried beneath the property.
  • “Sesma drove in in a Cadillac… said, stop what you’re doing… because there’s two bodies buried there.” (07:24 – 08:14)
• Thompson’s reaction:
  • “I don’t know that it shocked me or surprised me or anything else. My immediate concern was the boy and that he not discover it.” (08:21)

5. Protecting Pat Nunley

• ‘Loose end’: Overhearing plans to kill Butch Nunley's wife, Pat, Thompson intervenes.
  • “I overheard this, so I got her phone number and I called her.” (09:52)
• Pat’s situation: Living in poverty, prostituting herself to support her kids.
• Escape plan: Thompson offers Pat and her children a new start in Oregon, plagued by her hidden drug addiction and the fatal twist of her alleged breast cancer.
  • “It was important because I thought she was in danger… my concern was for her and her children.” (11:05 – 11:09)
• No romance, just rescue: Thompson rebuffs any notion of romantic interest.
  • “No, I had no interest whatsoever. I was married to Burdell, but… that was never an issue. My idea was to help her, and that's exactly what I was doing.” (12:45)

6. Thompson’s Relationships: Marriage, Motives, and Intimacy

• Marriage as protection: Both marriages were based on necessity or rescue, not love or intimacy.
  • “I talk a lot about intimacy, but I can’t really tell you that there was that much intimacy involved there. It was indifference, not necessarily on my part…” (15:39)

7. The Investigation & Arrest

• Family betrayal: Thompson’s sister Pat informs the District Attorney about the murders, implicating him.
  • “She told the District attorney she knew about these two bodies… it was enough that I had knowledge for them to arrest me along with Solis and Sesma.” (19:22 – 19:57)

8. The Trial: Narrative, Evidence, and Misconceptions

• The state’s story: Prosecutors frame Thompson as the mastermind, claiming he concocted the kidnap story to kill Butch and start anew with Pat.
  • “They concocted this story that the kidnap plot… was never true, that I concocted it… to steal away Nunley’s life.” (22:05)
• Relationship speculation: The idea of Thompson and Pat as lovers becomes a motive at trial—both deny it under oath.
  • “Testimony… indicated that Thompson and Mrs. Nunley became lovers. Solis testified that Thompson admitted as much. But proving that is difficult, particularly since Thompson and the former Mrs. Nunley denied the charge under oath.” (22:24 – 22:59)
• Thompson’s reflection: He expresses frustration at the reduction of Pat and himself to caricatures and the trial to a “personality contest.”
  • “I was really disappointed in the process, the judicial process… this was not justice. This was not a hearing. This was a personality contest.” (32:45)

9. Recollections and Contradictions: The Murder According to Mike Sesma

• Sesma’s Version: Sesma testifies to physically killing Nunley after Thompson allegedly beat him, stating, “I couldn’t bury somebody alive, so I shot him with his own gun.” (29:11)
• Complex web: Testimony is contradictory, with claims of pre-dug graves, shifting motives, and conflicting accounts of the events.

10. Sentencing and Aftermath

• Life sentences: Thompson and Sesma are both sentenced to life in prison, with the judge lamenting the severity of the crime.
  • “This was the most horrible crime I have ever seen in my years as attorney or judge.” – Judge, quoting LA Times (33:10)
• Thompson's emotional state: He claims detachment or numbness at sentencing, observing the fundamental cruelty of incarceration.
  • “The worst thing that you can do to a human being is put him in a cage. And I know that from experience.” (33:47 – 34:32)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Morality and Violence:
  “Some violence is necessary if part of the cycle of life… But violence is never acceptable as a trivial act. Violence without ethics is brutality.” – Michael Thompson (00:34 – 00:49)

• On the Reason for Marriage:
  “With Burdell, it was a marriage of convenience. With Pat Nunley, it was based on her circumstances…” – Michael Thompson (15:40)

• On the Judicial Process:
  “I was really disappointed in the process, the judicial process… this was not justice. This was not a hearing. This was a personality contest.” – Michael Thompson (32:45)

• On Prison:
  “The worst thing that you can do to a human being is put him in a cage. And I know that from experience.” – Michael Thompson (33:47)

Important Timestamps

• 01:45 – Thompson introduces his backstory and Burdell
• 04:38 – The kidnap plot against Solis is introduced
• 07:24 – The discovery of the bodies in the backyard
• 09:52 – Thompson’s intervention to help Pat Nunley
• 15:26 – 16:00 – Thompson discusses his non-romantic marital relationships
• 19:22 – 19:57 – Sister Pat’s testimony and Thompson’s arrest
• 20:07 – 20:52 – News coverage of the murders and trial
• 22:05 – 22:59 – The prosecution’s version: relationship speculation
• 29:10 – Mike Sesma describes shooting Nunley
• 32:45 – Thompson’s “prepared statement” at sentencing
• 33:10 – Judge’s condemnation and sentencing

Episode’s Tone and Sound

True to Love and Radio’s signature style, the episode is deeply atmospheric, using sound design, archival news clips, and immersive first-person narrative to create a sense of creeping dread and moral ambiguity. Nick van der Kolk’s probing yet gentle interview style brings out Thompson’s introspective and often stoic voice, which is counterbalanced by emotional undercurrents of regret, detachment, and, at times, subtle bitterness.

Conclusion

The House in North Tustin peels back the layers of a cold case, examining not only the factual details of murder and conspiracy, but also the tangled moral decisions that led Michael Thompson from the rodeo circuit to a courtroom. Through his own admissions—and the often contradictory accounts of others—the episode plunges listeners into questions of complicity, loyalty, and the price of trying to do “the right thing” in a world without easy answers.