Episode 611: Preston Murr and the Boise Murder Mansion

Summary

Morbid Network | Wondery Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Episode 611: Preston Murr and the Boise Murder Mansion
Release Date: October 21, 2024

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Introduction

In Episode 611 of Morbid, hosts Ash and Clinton delve into a chilling true crime case intertwined with local legends of a haunted mansion in Boise. Titled "Preston Murr and the Boise Murder Mansion," the episode explores the brutal murder of Preston Murr, the ensuing investigation, the subsequent trial of Daniel Rogers and Darren Cox, and the haunting lore that has enveloped the manor at 805 West Linden Street.

Background of the Case

Preston Murr, a 21-year-old petty criminal from Idaho Falls, found himself entangled in a violent confrontation that would ultimately lead to his gruesome demise. His history included minor offenses, primarily related to disturbing the peace, but nothing that hinted at the violence to come.

On June 29, 1987, Preston attended a friend's funeral in Boise, where alcohol-fueled arguments erupted, involving Daniel and Catherine Rogers. This altercation led to Preston being cited and asked to leave. Later, Preston reported receiving death threats to his sister's apartment, prompting him to seek help from Daniel Rogers and his acquaintance, Darren Cox.

The Night of the Murder

Timestamp [07:10]: The night of June 30, 1987, marked a turning point. Clinton Sparks narrates how Preston and Daniel sought stolen firearms, leading them to a confrontation at the Rogers' residence. The situation escalated quickly:

• Timestamp [31:23]: Investigators determined that Daniel Rogers shot Preston in the head with a .357 Magnum revolver. Preston was further wounded as he attempted to flee, leaving a bloody trail leading back to the Rogers' home.

• Timestamp [16:41]: Preston's remains were later discovered in 13 garbage bags across Boise, confirming the brutality of the crime.

Investigation and Discovery

The initial call to 911 by Clinton Sparks was mishandled, resulting in a delayed police response. It wasn't until the following day that further evidence surfaced, including multiple bloody handprints linking the Rogers' residence to the crime scene.

• Timestamp [13:29]: Blood spatter throughout the Rogers' home indicated a violent struggle.
• Timestamp [14:18]: A bloody handprint was found on Clinton’s front door, and additional evidence like a handgun and bullet fragments connected directly to Daniel Rogers.

The Trial

Daniel Rogers faced multiple charges, including possession of controlled substances, assault, and first-degree murder. His defense attempted to exonerate him by claiming blood phobia, arguing he couldn't have committed the dismemberment of Preston's body.

• Timestamp [39:32]: Rogers testified that he had an extreme phobia of blood, stating, “I couldn’t have done this because blood makes me want to throw up.”
• Timestamp [35:54]: Despite his defense, overwhelming forensic evidence—including fingerprint and ballistics—tied Rogers directly to the murder.
• Timestamp [45:09]: The jury deliberated for over six hours before finding Daniel Rogers guilty of first-degree murder. Preston's mother expressed her relief and satisfaction with the verdict.

Convictions and Aftermath

Following Daniel Rogers' conviction, Darren Cox pleaded guilty to being an accessory and was sentenced to five years in prison along with a $10,000 fine.

• Timestamp [45:41]: Ash emphasizes the severity of the crime: “This man helped his friend kill somebody and dismember their body to the point where it had to fill 13 trash bags.”
• Timestamp [46:14]: Despite his involvement, Cox received a relatively light sentence, highlighting discrepancies in the justice system.

The Haunted Mansion Legend

Post-trial, the Rogers' residence at 805 West Linden Street gained notoriety as the "Boise Murder Mansion." Over the years, numerous reports of paranormal activity have surfaced, intertwining the brutal history of the house with local ghost stories.

• Timestamp [48:03]: Deanne Davis, the new owner in 2012, reported no unusual experiences, though her daughter felt an ominous presence in the basement.
• Timestamp [51:02]: Michelle Hart, a content creator, collected various ghost stories from visitors, including sightings of spectral figures and unexplained noises.
• Timestamp [53:00]: Testimonies included sightings of a “big, black, oily looking thing” and a woman in 1800s attire banging on windows without sound.

Current Status and Tours

In Spring 2024, efforts to open the mansion for paranormal tours commenced, with a partnership between Mark Iverson of IDA History and the current owner. Portions of the tour proceeds are designated for preserving the mansion, allowing the public to engage with its haunted legacy responsibly.

• Timestamp [54:35]: The mansion, once neglected, is being restored to accommodate tours while addressing its storied past.

Notable Quotes

• Timestamp [07:24]: "Clinton, I just didn’t know what to do in that situation. I’d be calling the police." – Elena during initial discussion about the night's events.
• Timestamp [39:53]: "I couldn't stand the sight of blood. I felt like I was gonna throw up." – Daniel Rogers during his defense testimony.
• Timestamp [45:09]: "Preston's mother, May, told reporters, 'I'm so happy with the verdict. I'm delighted.'" – Ash quoting May Murr.

Conclusion

Episode 611 of Morbid masterfully intertwines the horrors of a violent murder with the lingering specters that haunt a once-grand Boise mansion. Through meticulous research and engaging storytelling, Ash and Clinton shed light on the dark interplay between human violence and the mysteries that follow, offering listeners both answers and lingering questions about the nature of haunted places and unresolved crimes.

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Notable Moments & Discussion Points:

• Initial Police Response Failure ([07:10] – [11:45]): The mishandling of Clinton Sparks' 911 call and delayed police intervention set the stage for the unfolding tragedy.

• Forensic Evidence Without DNA ([36:02] – [38:50]): The reliance on fingerprinting and ballistics in the absence of advanced DNA testing underscores the challenges of solving crimes in the pre-DNA era.

• Haunted House Lore vs. Reality ([48:03] – [56:38]): The contrasting experiences of residents and visitors highlight the subjective nature of paranormal encounters, influenced by the house's grim history.

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Speaker Attribution:

• Ash: Co-host of Morbid, providing narrative and analysis.
• Clinton Sparks: Co-host of Morbid, engaging in dialogue and recounting testimonies.
• Elena: Sponsor segments and occasional commentary.

Note: Advertisements and sponsor segments have been excluded from this summary as per instructions.

Transcript

[Ash]

Wondery plus subscribers can listen to Morbid.

[Elena]

Early and ad free.

[Ash]

Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Clinton Sparks]

You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast.

[Elena]

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[Ash]

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[Elena]

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[Ash]

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[Elena]

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[Ash]

Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash.

[Clinton Sparks]

And I'm Elena. Whoa.

[Ash]

And this is morbid.

[Elena]

Do you ever.

[Ash]

I bet some people think that we hate each other based off of our, like, answers.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yes.

[Ash]

Like, I just went, whoa. Like, I was like, okay, calm down. But it really. I was just like, wow, she's crazy.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, there are definitely some people who think we hate each other.

[Ash]

Should we tell them?

[Clinton Sparks]

Guys, we actually hate each other.

[Ash]

It's really hard to be around each other.

[Clinton Sparks]

It is. I hate it. It's the worst.

[Ash]

It's terrible.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Did I even say, and this is morbid yet?

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Okay, that's good.

[Clinton Sparks]

So we're here.

[Ash]

We're here. We love each other.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's true. In fact, I just said, hey, I did something crazy. And she said, what? And I said, I ordered a bunch of pumpkin bagels on a whim that are coming tomorrow. And she said, that's not crazy at all. I'm excited about that. And I was like, that's why you're my people. That's love.

[Ash]

That's actually not crazy in any way.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, you were like, that's not crazy at all.

[Ash]

Especially based off the things that I impulse purchase.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

When I show you my impulse purchases, you go, that's literally insane. Mine aren't bagels.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, mine are just like, look at these bagels. They look like a pumpkin.

[Ash]

I don't have kids, so I just be buying myself eating cool shit.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'm so excited to put those bagels in the girls lunches.

[Ash]

I'm so excited to put one of those bagels into my face. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah, brother. Well, it's morbid. We're reun in person. I'm not Covid anymore. You're not covidy anymore?

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, I'm negative. I'm still. I still got that, like, lingering cough, which is very annoying.

[Ash]

I never fucking got one. I did wake up this morning, though. I also tested negative finally, which is great. And I woke up this morning and I was like, sneezing a lot.

[Clinton Sparks]

That could be allergies.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Clinton Sparks]

Because everything's kind of, like, moving around now with the rain and stuff.

[Ash]

You know, it's so weird. Like, you're. You're just like, laying in your bed and then you wake up with allergies. Like, did the allergies come in my room? Do you know what I mean? I don't really get it.

[Clinton Sparks]

Did they make an appointment? And I didn't write it down?

[Ash]

Like, I don't sleep with my windows open. So how did the Allergies get in.

[Clinton Sparks]

I think your body is just like, oh, it's allergy out there.

[Ash]

Maybe that's got to be it.

[Clinton Sparks]

I think that's. That's the scientific reason for it.

[Ash]

I would love if I asked my doctor and he just said, well, your.

[Clinton Sparks]

Body'S just, like, allergies out there.

[Ash]

Specific doctor, too, to just say that.

[Clinton Sparks]

I feel like my doctor might say that, honestly.

[Ash]

I also.

[Clinton Sparks]

Which I appreciate.

[Ash]

We don't have this.

[Clinton Sparks]

No. I like.

[Ash]

Anyway. No.

[Clinton Sparks]

Communicate. It was just like.

[Ash]

No, no, no. We don't have the same doctor, but.

[Clinton Sparks]

We do go to the same mine, I think would.

[Ash]

Mine also would. Yeah, maybe it's like a practice wide thing.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, I like that.

[Ash]

All right, well, that's doctors. That's allergies and my abysmal understanding of them and onto the episode.

[Clinton Sparks]

Because it's spooky season, y'all. Spooky season. Spooky season.

[Ash]

But I feel like we kind of, like, made this a theme that we're also doing. Like, I feel like a lot of times we go, like, full spooky, which is, like, super fun.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But without even meaning to, we've intertwined true crime into this spooky season.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. It's definitely become, like, a more, like, mishmashed one, which I like. Yeah, it's a lot. We've touched upon a lot of different things. Got some, like, spooky. We did some spooky cemeteries and, like, spooky hotels, which is fun. We've done some haunting, some, you know, fake haunting. Some true crime that caused the fake hauntings.

[Ash]

Yeah. You know, so we're actually in a place of, like, true crime causing the fake question mark hauntings.

[Elena]

This is a place that, like, honestly.

[Ash]

I'll be quite frank and open with you at the beginning. Most of this is just true crime, and the end is, like, a little bit haunted. But there's debate over how haunted it truly is.

[Clinton Sparks]

Ooh.

[Ash]

So we're going to be talking, unfortunately, about the murder of Preston Murr, but also the Boise murder mansion.

[Clinton Sparks]

Ooh.

[Ash]

So a little after midnight on June 30, 1987. So not too far back, guys.

[Clinton Sparks]

No. I was born.

[Ash]

I was not.

[Clinton Sparks]

So there's.

[Ash]

I wasn't even a star in the sky. Wow. But you were.

[Clinton Sparks]

I was.

[Ash]

You were out of the sky.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. I mean, I was only, like, two, but still, that's. I was here.

[Ash]

That's kicking. You might have been able to walk.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, I mean, I hope so by then. I don't know.

[Ash]

Milestones. I'm not there yet. Okay. But anyway, I was like, maybe.

[Clinton Sparks]

I hope.

[Ash]

I don't know. I don't know how any of that works. But a little after midnight on June 30, 1987, when Elena knew how to walk. Yes, Clinton Sparks was woken from sleep by what sounded like somebody running down the street and shouting out of. Outside of his window, no, I'll just.

[Clinton Sparks]

Go back to sleep.

[Ash]

No, no. That's exactly what we tell people not to do.

[Clinton Sparks]

I know, but it's so scary.

[Ash]

It is so scary. The noise was loud enough to disturb his dog, who started barking uncontrollably at the noise outside. So that's when you really can't go back to sleep.

[Clinton Sparks]

No, you can't.

[Ash]

So Clinton got out of his bed to investigate the noise, and he looked out his front window, where he saw, quote, two figures running toward the door. A moment later, one of the figures had reached his front steps and was banging on the front door frantically. Clinton later said, I didn't know what was happening. I didn't hear voices at that time. So, completely terrified, he backed away from the door, and at that very moment, he heard a man's voice shout, let go of me. Let go of me.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh.

[Ash]

And to him, the voice sounded desperate, sounded terrified. He said it sounded like someone who was in a lot of pain. Oh. So after hesitating for, like, a minute or two, because, you know, you gotta be.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, well, I would not know what the to do in that situation. I'd be calling the police.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's the only thing I would know how to do.

[Ash]

That's the thing. Like, immediately. All you. Like, all. All you need to do in that situ situation is call the police. You don't have to open the door.

[Clinton Sparks]

But because this is 1987, it's not like he has a cell phone on him where he can just quickly call.

[Ash]

No, he's got his landlocked, like.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So he opened the door, and he saw what appeared to be a large smear of blood on his storm door. And he said he could still hear yelling from somewhere outside, but by then, whoever had been at the door was gone. So he was like, what the fuck do I do? And I think he probably was sitting. Remember, this is like, the middle of the night. So he's like, yeah, did this just happen?

[Clinton Sparks]

Like, what the. He's very, like, shaken and damn, what a badass that he opened that door. Like.

[Ash]

Yeah. Because not everybody would. No, I don't know that I.

[Clinton Sparks]

And honestly, it would be very dangerous, too, if you you know what I mean? Like, it sounds like there's multiple people out there.

[Ash]

Oh. Knowing what we know, I think it's a good. It's not a good thing that he didn't open the door, but I think it.

[Clinton Sparks]

It could have gotten a lot worse.

[Ash]

Yes, exactly.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ash]

So after waiting about 10 minutes, he called 911 to report what he believed was a violent altercation of some kind. And he said, I'm pretty sure there's somebody out there in need of assistance. Like, somebody's bleeding and screaming. So he told the dispatcher, a couple of guys came up and beat on the door. I went outside and looked, and there's some blood on the door, it looks like. And he said he couldn't see anybody in the street at that time, like, when he was calling. But he said it appeared as though, quote, something's going on in the house across the street. And when the dispatcher asked what Clinton wanted them to do for him, he was like, well, I'd like an officer to come check out the neighborhood to look around.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'd be so irritated. I'd be like, what the fuck do you think I want you to do?

[Ash]

Like I want you for writing me.

[Clinton Sparks]

A haiku about it. The fuck do you think I want you to do?

[Ash]

That's the.

[Clinton Sparks]

You're the goddamn emergency services. Come. Emergency, serve, please.

[Ash]

Like I just told you, I heard.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yelling and there's blood on my door.

[Ash]

And somebody in need of help. And you're like, well, what do you want me to do? I'm like, your job.

[Clinton Sparks]

I want you to tell me what you think of the new Terminator movie.

[Ash]

Could you tell me a nighttime lullaby? Who are you? Not somebody smart.

[Clinton Sparks]

No.

[Ash]

So he was like, can you send somebody out to have a look around? And he gave the address in the cross street and then was like, okay, like, hope you're coming.

[Clinton Sparks]

Goodbye now.

[Ash]

That same evening, a fire had broken out at a house across town. And the dispatcher decided that emergency should be given a higher priority, the fire than the disturbance. So Clinton's call wasn't even flagged as an emergency.

[Clinton Sparks]

Wow.

[Ash]

Which is very.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's wild.

[Ash]

Crazy.

[Clinton Sparks]

Like, I understand that a fire is, like, happening right now. Yeah.

[Ash]

So, like, that's.

[Clinton Sparks]

You gotta triage those things. But it's, like, still a big deal. Someone's bleeding outside. Well, that's.

[Ash]

You. You do have to triage them. Yeah. To, like, some level of importance. And if somebody's bleeding, I think that would be, like, high on the list.

[Clinton Sparks]

I would think so.

[Ash]

Strangely enough. Though the call wasn't dispatched to an officer until 48 minutes after the call was placed.

[Clinton Sparks]

Awesome.

[Ash]

At that time, the officer who was assigned to the call was busy and asked that it be reassigned. But for whatever reason, the dispatcher never sent the call to another officer.

[Clinton Sparks]

What the fuck?

[Ash]

It was like a huge fuck up.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So the next day, another resident in the neighborhood called the police to report what they believed was a large amount of blood in the street.

[Clinton Sparks]

Okay.

[Ash]

So much so that, quote, someone or something could have blood enough to have died. They said, what the fuck? So at that point, officers finally got around to investigating the front door of Clinton Sparks home, where they did indeed find a bloody handprint. Sergeant Jim Tibbs told a reporter it appeared like he had a whole handful of blood. So there was like a straight up bloody handprint on Clinton's door.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, yeah.

[Ash]

And Clinton's house wasn't the only one. Police also found a bloody handprint on. Bloody handprints. Excuse me. On the windows of another nearby home. Like multiple.

[Clinton Sparks]

My goodness.

[Ash]

So they were able to follow a literal blood trail from the large pool in the street all the way to the front door of 805 West Linden street, the home of Daniel and Catherine Rogers. The couple told the investigating officers that they actually weren't home the night before, and they didn't know anything about the blood or the supposed fight that happened in the street. But when officers returned with a warrant a short time later, they discovered that the blood trail led inside the house and continued down into the basement, where they discovered more than 13 pounds of marijuana scales and packaging material.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, oops.

[Ash]

Yeah. So Daniel and Catherine Rogers were immediately arrested. Yeah. And that. They got arrested at that point on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. And the house was cordoned off for.

[Clinton Sparks]

Further investigation because were they just like hanging. They were just in that house with that blood trail going through it? Yes, Just like stepping over it when they had to get to the kitchen for a snack, I guess.

[Ash]

What do you.

[Clinton Sparks]

What?

[Ash]

I guess they just hadn't cleaned up.

[Clinton Sparks]

And then the cops come and they're like, oh, it's fine. This is. We shouldn't clean this up. I think. Yeah, no, no.

[Ash]

This is not like.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'm glad that they didn't.

[Ash]

Yeah, obviously. But, like, when also the cops come and remember 1987, weed was not legal. So you have 13 pounds of weed in your basement.

[Clinton Sparks]

I don't know, maybe clean up maybe.

[Ash]

Just like, you know. Yeah, maybe do anything.

[Clinton Sparks]

Literally anything.

[Ash]

But again, glad they didn't so as they continued searching the Rogers home, investigators found a significant amount of blood spatter on multiple surfaces throughout the house, obviously indicating that something pretty violent had happened.

[Clinton Sparks]

There and that they are not good, clean people.

[Ash]

No, no. Even though there wasn't any victim found in the home and no wounded victim had reported to area hospitals, Tibbs told a reporter, we're safe to say that it was human blood. Now, during their canvas of the neighborhood, one neighbor told officers that she actually saw Daniel Rogers hosing down the front porch of the house that morning, as well as the yard and sidewalk in front of the house. So he cleaned the outside of the home, but not the inn. In further searching of the home slash crime scene at this point, crime scene technicians discovered a handgun and bullet fragments lodged in the wall by the front door, one in the laundry room and one in the door frame leading to the basement. So, like multiple bullets, just bullet fragments just lodged into various places in this home.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's probably fine.

[Ash]

Yeah, totally.

[Clinton Sparks]

We don't have to worry.

[Elena]

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[Ash]

Now given the large amount of blood found inside and outside of the home, investigators started to theorize that the house had probably been the site of a murder.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, likely.

[Ash]

But unfortunately, without a victim, they weren't able to charge the couple with anything other than the possession charges.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's so fucked up.

[Ash]

But under the circumstances, a judge set their bond at an unusually high amount of $250,000 each. So it was going to be very like, unlikely that they'd be released. Now, the next day, two 13 year old boys were fishing on the banks of Boise Snake river when one of their fishing lines got caught on two plastic bags floating in the river. And the boys hauled in the bags and when they opened them, they discovered the arms and fingers of a man that police would later identify as 21 year old Prestonmer.

[Clinton Sparks]

Holy.

[Ash]

Two 13 year olds finding that gruesome of a discovery, like in 21 and 21 years old. And that's just his arms and fingers. So where's the rest of them?

[Clinton Sparks]

What happened here?

[Ash]

Well, the next day, Carl Kitchen was fishing with his family when he spotted several objects floating in the Brownlee reservoir. When he managed to bring the bags to shore, he opened them to discover more body parts. Later determined to belong to Preston Mer, Kitchen later told a jury, I saw it had to be a piece of a human body from above the navel to just below the leg joints.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, my God.

[Ash]

Yeah. Investigators would eventually find 13 garbage bags in total, all containing Preston Mer's remains.

[Clinton Sparks]

Wow.

[Ash]

Now, Preston Murr was like a petty criminal who had spent his short life in and around Idaho Falls, Idaho, and he'd been arrested on a handful of times for minor offenses, just like disturbing the peace. He wasn't A violent guy.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But just a few days earlier, on June 29, he had attended a funeral for a friend. And during the funeral, several attendees, including Daniel Rogers, had gotten drunk and gotten into an argument that quickly did escalate into a physical altercation. So the police were called to this funeral, and Preston Murr and the other men were given a citation and asked to leave. So Preston went back to his sister's apartment where he was staying, and he called the police to inform them that after he left the funeral, somebody called his sister's apartment and threatened to kill him.

[Clinton Sparks]

Whoa.

[Ash]

Now, according to his sister, Tonda Streeper, Preston drank and smoked pot recreationally. But as far as she knew, he wasn't involved in any major criminal activity. She told her reporter she didn't know anybody who would want to kill him.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So when investigators put all the pieces together, a picture of what had actually happened to Preston Mer started to emerge. With Daniel and Katherine Rogers at the very center of it all. By the end of the week, Catherine had been ruled out as a participant in the murder, but detectives had identified Daniel Rogers Accomplice, 31 year old Darren Cox. Both men were charged with the murder of Preston Murr, and Cox ended up being held without Bailey. So the more detectives learned or looked into Daniel Rogers background, the more they became convinced that he was the primary shooter in the death of Preston Murr. Because he had a pretty violent past. He dropped out of high school in the ninth grade and spent most of his life just working menial jobs. He met his first wife, Kay at one of those jobs, and they quickly got engaged and married. Later, Kay would tell a reporter that she never actually loved Daniel, but she saw him as her ticket out of her own abusive family. Family.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, that's sad.

[Ash]

What's even sadder because he was just as abusive to her. Her dad was like, really, really abusive. I read one of the newspaper clippings that Dave found I was reading, and their dad used to like, wake them up in the middle of the night and sit them on the couch and like, hold them at gunpoint. Like, she grew up in an incredibly abusive home.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, that makes me so sad.

[Ash]

Yeah, it's horrific. So then she married Daniel, and he was just as bad.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, that happens so often.

[Ash]

Yeah, it's. It's hard. The cycle repeats because it's like you don't know anything.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's all you know.

[Ash]

So you don't know.

[Clinton Sparks]

Well, that's what you think love is.

[Ash]

And that's what you think you deserve. Exactly. But so they moved around for a while from state to state across the south mostly. They had their first son together. And then Daniel just suddenly ran off one day with the neighbor's wife.

[Clinton Sparks]

Damn.

[Ash]

Daniel back at it again with the neighbor's wife. Like, holy shit. Yeah. And then he just came.

[Clinton Sparks]

But honestly, I'm glad. Oh, he came.

[Ash]

No. Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

Going to say, like, he's gone. Bye.

[Ash]

No, Daniel never goes away.

[Clinton Sparks]

I wanted K. To be free.

[Ash]

He just showed up one day, like, came back and begged K. To take him back. And she was like, no, you're a piece of. So he kidnapped their six month old son, essentially holding the baby as hostage until she agreed to take him back.

[Clinton Sparks]

This guy?

[Ash]

Yeah, He's a piece of. I know. And she has her own issues too, which is sad. But she. The good news is it really sounds like she turned her life around.

[Clinton Sparks]

Good job, K. Yeah.

[Ash]

So in 1975, Daniel and Kay's relationship came to an end when he ended up turning her into the police in order to avoid being arrested himself for a robbery that they committed together in South Carolina. They had committed a couple robberies, and K. Had committed other robberies herself in the past with various accomplices, even without Daniel. So she ended up. When he turned her in, she ended up being sentenced to 12 years in prison.

[Clinton Sparks]

Holy.

[Ash]

Yeah, because these were like armed robberies too.

[Clinton Sparks]

Damn.

[Ash]

At that point, Daniel was awarded temporary custody of their two kids at this point.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, God.

[Ash]

And then this is insane. Two years later, the day. The very day that he was awarded permanent custody of his two kids, he was arrested after shooting and killing his friend George Weatherax during an argument. He shot his friend in the head during an argument.

[Clinton Sparks]

My God.

[Ash]

The very day that he was awarded custody of his two children, like, permanently.

[Clinton Sparks]

Why was he not put away forever?

[Ash]

I don't know.

[Clinton Sparks]

Like, this man is a problem for some reason.

[Ash]

It was only second degree murder that he got convicted for. So he only served five years in prison for this.

[Clinton Sparks]

My God.

[Ash]

Yeah. When he was released in 1982, he married Catherine and moved to Boise with his new wife and two children still. And a few years later, he just decided that he was tired of fatherhood. So he called Kay and told her to come get the kids and take them for good.

[Clinton Sparks]

So she's like, okay, I can't understand these people.

[Ash]

Luckily, K, it sounds like she, like, got married. I think she became like a real estate agent. Like a very successful real estate agent.

[Clinton Sparks]

Okay.

[Ash]

K. And she, like, she got the kids together. Like, everything was good.

[Clinton Sparks]

Okay. K. Yeah.

[Ash]

Happy for K. Since palming the kids off on his ex wife, Daniel and Catherine, his new wife had been earning a living selling drugs, primarily cocaine and weed. And through the checks that they. They also got an earning through the checks that they received from the state for foster care services.

[Clinton Sparks]

No, I'm sorry, what? Wait, they were foster?

[Ash]

Somehow they were involved in like, foster care?

[Clinton Sparks]

No.

[Ash]

I don't know how. As a convicted second degree murderer, I'm very confused. I don't know if they just used Catherine's credentials, but I'm assuming.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, my God.

[Ash]

You check into both credentials.

[Clinton Sparks]

You should, right?

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

Speaking of foster parents. And I'll say like, no, this is. I'm going to flip it on.

[Ash]

Okay, good, good.

[Clinton Sparks]

Because that just made me really sad that they were foster. These poor kids are going to that home.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

But I can tell you, like, there's a foster parent that I'm.

[Ash]

Tick tock.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. I love her and she. So I think her thing is them Hoffers, because their last name is Hoffer.

[Ash]

I think we've talked about them.

[Clinton Sparks]

I think we have. And she, they. She and her husband are like incredible. Just if you believe in angels on their angels on earth. Like, I fully am. Like, you are supposed to be here for these kids.

[Ash]

Yes.

[Clinton Sparks]

Her name is Cindy and they are just like the kindest seeming people.

[Ash]

And they take babies.

[Clinton Sparks]

They take newborns. Like she has taken newborns that are literally like hours old. Like, literally hours old. But she is like. And she treats them like, like you would treat your own newborn. And it's just like she. And she like, never shows their faces. No, she respects their privacy even as newborns. You know what I mean? Like, no matter what. And I think they. She also has a podcast.

[Ash]

Oh, does she?

[Clinton Sparks]

And it's called Mom's the Word.

[Ash]

Mom's the Word.

[Clinton Sparks]

And it's a podcast with her friend.

[Ash]

Oh, I want to listen to this.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. So it's called Mom's the Word. I want to start listening to it because I just like. And you can follow like her on Instagram or on TikTok. I think it's them. Hoffers is their thing.

[Ash]

And you can donate too. Like, I think, I think she has like a link tree and you can.

[Clinton Sparks]

Donate so Amazon things to like, just help with. Because she's always like stocking up on things because she takes kids at like babies at like a moment's notice and at every age. So she's got kind of a stockpile of supplies to be ready for whatever.

[Ash]

Which obviously she needs to replenish every now and again.

[Clinton Sparks]

And I came across her for the first time when I saw, like, I was just flicking through my for you page, and it was a her before she was about to receive a newborn infant in the middle of the night. And I just, like, couldn't stop watching her. I remember when you found God, like, and she was just, like, so lovely.

[Ash]

Probably like a year or so ago. Yeah, I remember. Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

But, yeah, so that. That just bummed me out so much that I was like, I need a happy.

[Ash]

Like, there's good people because there's so.

[Clinton Sparks]

Many good foster parents. Like, so many good ones.

[Ash]

Hope that, like, they were good to the kids.

[Clinton Sparks]

I hope so.

[Ash]

I. I didn't find anything to say about, but I don't know. But their. Their contract with Idaho Health and Welfare ran out in June of 1987. So something happened where maybe they were like, hey, we missed that one of you is a convicted murderer.

[Clinton Sparks]

So.

[Ash]

But yeah. Now, going back to the unfortunate murder of Preston Murr, given the state of his remains, the autopsy obviously took more than 10 hours.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, my God. I can't even fathom what that room looked like.

[Ash]

According to the medical examiner, Preston Murr's cause of death was a single gunshot wound to his head from a.357 caliber handgun. But the doctor noted that Preston had sustained additional gunshot wounds, including one in his shoulder. But because of the condition of the remains and the amount of time that they'd been submerged in water, also, it was difficult to determine if there was any other significant trauma to the body, but they were able to say that there was two gunshots. Now, although investigators were fairly certain that Daniel Rogers had committed the murder, it wasn't until they interviewed Preston's girlfriend that the rest of the puzzle kind of came together. According to his girlfriend, after threat the threatening phone call that he got at his sister's apartment, he called Daniel Rogers and Darren Cox, who, like, seemed to be at the. I don't know if they were like, friends. Friends. Yeah, they seemed to be like they were acquaintances at the very least, you know, like they know each other. And he believed they would know who threatened him and what he should do about it and obviously felt like safe going to them. So they met at a local convenience store where the cashier recalled seeing Preston use the pay phone while holding a wooden baseball bat. The three men then returned to Preston's sister's apartment and discussed the fact that several guns had been stolen from Daniel Rogers house. I think there was, like, a lot of crime going on in this circle, honestly. So Preston told Daniel that he knew where they might be, where those stolen guns might be, and after all, after that, all three of them drove around Boise for hours looking for the house where Preston thought the weapons would be, but they just couldn't find it. So he called his girlfriend and he said they were going back to Daniel Rogers house on Linden Street. Now investigators theorize that a little after midnight, Preston and Daniel got into some kind of argument where Preston was shot in the shoulder and then as he attempted to flee the house, he went to Clinton Sparks door where he left that bloody handprint. But unfortunately Daniel and Darren caught up with him and dragged him back to the house, leaving that long trail of blood in the street that holy shit. As you remember, led right to Daniel Rogers door.

[Elena]

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[Clinton Sparks]

Audible.Commorbid.

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[Ash]

Now, once they got him back inside, they believed Daniel Rogers shot Mer in the back of the head. And then he and Darren dismembered Preston's body, and they placed his remains in 13 trash bags, which they then dumped in three different locations across Boise. After they disposed of the remains, they went back to the house and attempted to clean up the crime scene. Yeah, I think outside, like, they hosed down some stuff outside.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's really lazy business.

[Ash]

I don't know what they did inside. Maybe they were very tired after the outside. Yeah, but that accounted for the neighbor witnessing Daniel hosing down his car, the yard, and the front porch. So in late July, the ADA county prosecutor, Greg Bauer, which I feel like we've encountered another case with him. It sounded like a very familiar name. Greg. Yeah, but Greg Bauer filed an additional charge of assault against Daniel Rogers for his role in yet another violent crime, the beating of a man named James McMillan, which he had been accused of committing along with his friend James Miller. So they just. They found that and added that charge too.

[Clinton Sparks]

They were just like, you know what?

[Ash]

You also did this.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Ash]

I think in, like, interviewing people in his life, it probably came up and.

[Clinton Sparks]

They were like, let's pile these on.

[Ash]

Exactly.

[Clinton Sparks]

Keep them in here as long as we can.

[Ash]

Well, I think they probably saw, like, oh, weird that he murdered a man, his friend, by shot in the head and got out in five years. So by the end of the month, Daniel Rogers was arraigned on three separate charges. One for the drug possession with intent to distribute, one for the assault on Miller, and one for the first degree murder of Preston Murr. And he pleaded not guilty on all counts. At a preliminary hearing held in early September, multiple people testified about what they witnessed on the night of Preston's murder, including testimony from multiple detectives who relayed what Darren Cox had told them about the night of the murder. Because he sang like a canary.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, of course.

[Ash]

According to the to Boise Detective Dave Smith, when the upper torso was thrown in the river, it started floating. Cox was directed by Mr. Rogers to retrieve it and take it to the foothills. Detective Smith testified. After his arrest, Cox, quote, broke down and said he wanted to tell me the truth, but then later became concerned about his confession. Detective Smith continued, he was worried about what he told me, worried about what was going to happen to him.

[Clinton Sparks]

I mean, you should be.

[Ash]

Yeah. Which is like, you should.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

You should give up whatever information you have about somebody's murder.

[Clinton Sparks]

You should also be worried.

[Ash]

But now you got to be scared.

[Clinton Sparks]

Because you're gonna face the consequences, and.

[Ash]

You'Re both gonna go to prison together.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So good luck with that.

[Clinton Sparks]

That.

[Ash]

But according to Smith, Darren Cox later led investigators to a local dumpster, where he disposed of Preston Murr's upper torso and multiple other items related to the murder. Detective Smith said the stench was very prevalent. There was a lot of blood, two shoes, as well as gloves that had blood on them. And further, we found one sock, just like all his stuff, just thrown in a dumpster.

[Clinton Sparks]

With part of his torso.

[Ash]

With part of him. And he's 21 years old.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. That's a baby.

[Ash]

Like, he has whole life ahead of him. Daniel Rogers lawyers Emile Mission and John Adams objected to the inclusion of Cox's statements to the police. But that was overruled by the judge, who was like, no, I'm pretty sure that's valuable pertinent info, but thanks. Yeah, that's a direct quote. The defense also requested that the judge close the hearing and trial to the media, with a member of the defense telling a reporter, I can't even imagine how bad it's going to be if the media sits in on this. But regardless of their concerns, the judge said, nah, I kept it open.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh.

[Ash]

Denied the request.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh.

[Ash]

In the months leading up to the trial, the defense team tried again and again to get the trial moved to a new county. And at one point, they even moved for a mistrial after the prosecutor, Greg Bauer, quote, told jurors that Rogers was in police custody on other charges when he was arrested in Mer's death. According to Emile Meechen, Bowers, quote, clearly violated the court's ruling and forever tainted the jury panel. But the judge disagreed and declined the motion.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, wow.

[Ash]

There was, like, a lot of going.

[Clinton Sparks]

On, and I love that this judge.

[Ash]

Is just like, no, no, it's fine. Daniel Rogers trial finally started in March, in early March of 1988. In his opening statement, Bauer gave the jury a brief history of his criminal history, despite the judge explicitly disallowing such information, and presented the state's theory that at some point after the three men had gone back to Daniel's house, Daniel and Preston argued over drugs, and Daniel shot Preston to death. The reference to the previous criminal charges and pending drug charges obviously were objected to by the defense.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

They immediately again moved for a mistrial. They were hoping so desperately for a mistrial in this case.

[Clinton Sparks]

Hope and wish and praying.

[Ash]

But guess what? That was rejected by judge George Kerry.

[Clinton Sparks]

He's not.

[Ash]

No.

[Clinton Sparks]

He only knows no.

[Ash]

He's not here to play.

[Clinton Sparks]

No.

[Ash]

Among the various witnesses who testified on behalf of the prosecution were multiple police officers, multiple crime scene technicians, who explained the evidence that was discovered from the blood in the street to the evidence also collected inside the house. Officer Mike Majors explained to the jury what the search team had discovered on their initial search of the home, which was the gun, ammunition, and an axe which Daniel Rogers buried in the garden next to the house.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, my God.

[Ash]

Obviously, that was used.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Similarly, Boise crime lab technician Darla Shaver presented irrefutable fingerprint evidence that was collected from the house, including prince on the gun and the very bullets that killed Preston Mer.

[Clinton Sparks]

Holy.

[Ash]

Similarly, even though DNA. DNA testing was unavailable to them at the time, the technicians were able to determine all the blood that they found in the house on the street. And the ax was from the same person with type O blood, which was a match for Prestonmer.

[Clinton Sparks]

Damn, look at them.

[Ash]

I know. And I think it's. That's why I do love when we cover cases that are, like, not super modern, because they have to work. They really do.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's not that I'm saying people now don't have to work.

[Ash]

No, of course they have.

[Clinton Sparks]

The people now do have a lot more at their disposal to solve these crimes. Digital footprints and cameras everywhere and DNA, all these, you know, familial DNA and all this fun stuff. That is great, and that's what we want. But that's why we're always saying, like, the older cases are just, like, they're fascinating to see how they come to the conclusion, because they have to be. Be so creative.

[Ash]

And you have, like, when you have DNA, it makes or breaks a case.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Think about, like, you had to make or break a case without DNA because that wasn't even an option.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Like, it's. It's just crazy to think about. And 1987 doesn't even sound like that long ago, but to think that, like, wow, they didn't even have DNA testing. Like, obviously it was, like, in its infancy. They were working on it, but just that they didn't have it at their disposal yet.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's crazy.

[Ash]

It is. Crime lab technician Wally Baker also testified that the bullet removed from Preston Merce skull was a match for one of the slugs pulled from the door frame at the scene. And both of those came from Daniel Rogers.357 Magnum revolver. And so they asked whether two identical guns from the same manufacturer could produce similar results. They wanted to see, like, oh, maybe.

[Clinton Sparks]

We can get something.

[Ash]

Get something here. But Baker said, even consecutively made barrels are different, meaning every gun, which I didn't know this, and I thought it was interesting. Every gun that comes off an assembly line is unique in some identifiable way. Which is how they could conclusively say that both bullets came from Daniel's gun.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. The inside of a gun barrel has almost like its own fingerprint. Really. When the bullet passes through, it's going to leave marks that you won't find on another gun.

[Ash]

I never knew that.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

That's so interesting.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. Isn't that interesting?

[Ash]

Yeah. How did you know that?

[Clinton Sparks]

That. Just like, I took a ballistics class in. In college once.

[Ash]

Cool.

[Clinton Sparks]

Like a. Like, forensic science had ballistics as part of it.

[Ash]

That's cool.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

I feel like that'd be, like, very interesting.

[Clinton Sparks]

It was.

[Ash]

Sometimes I'm like, wow, I really wish I paid attention in college or, like, did something like this, you know?

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. Well, that's the thing. It was like, something I was really interested in. So I liked it so much, I.

[Ash]

Just wanted to be a teacher back then. And then I said, I don't know if I want to do that. No. Then I said, I think I want to do hair. But anyway, when it came time for the defense to present their case, they offered a pretty simple but also very questionable explanation. They said, Daniel Rogers didn't kill Preston Murr. Darren Cox did.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, there you go. You might as well give it a shot. You know, I think that was pointed.

[Ash]

At the other guy. Thing they could have done at that point.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's literally all they have.

[Ash]

So according to Daniel Rogers, who took the stand in his own defense, interestingly good idea. He couldn't have participated in this murder or this dismemberment because he had an extreme phobia of blood. That's for real.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'm sorry, what?

[Ash]

Guys, I know you think I did this, and I know that, like, these bullets were shot from my gun and everything, but I didn't. I have a gun, but I would never shoot anything because I can't see a bleed because I'm so scared of blood.

[Clinton Sparks]

Blood gives me the X, so I can't. I'm like, blood makes me go, oh, you shot. That's why I couldn't have done this.

[Ash]

You shot your friend in the head and served time for that already. Yeah, like when you shoot someone in the head, I'm willing to bet that's pretty bloody.

[Clinton Sparks]

I gotta know in their, like, pre trial stuff, when they're all sitting in there, they practice. Like, he pitched that idea or somebody gave him that idea.

[Ash]

They said, good, good.

[Clinton Sparks]

And they all said, good idea.

[Ash]

Yeah, let's.

[Clinton Sparks]

Let's have you do that.

[Ash]

He literally said, direct quote. I can't stand the sight of blood. I felt like I was gonna throw up.

[Clinton Sparks]

Whoa.

[Ash]

And he said he had an extreme phobia. Not just a phobia, an extreme phobia.

[Clinton Sparks]

I, you know, I doubt it.

[Ash]

Yeah, you got to be quicker.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'm just going to go out and say, I doubt it. I got.

[Ash]

I'm like the man in the. Is that the commercial? Commercial?

[Clinton Sparks]

You got to be quicker.

[Ash]

Be quicker than that. That's what I would have. Somebody should have just like, called Paul. Not man to go.

[Clinton Sparks]

You got to be quicker.

[Ash]

You got to be quicker than that. That's ridiculous.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's. Honestly, that. That is.

[Ash]

He said, guys, this is our best bet.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's reckless. I got something. That's reckless behavior.

[Ash]

I'm freed of blood. I couldn't have done this.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's reckless testimonial behavior.

[Ash]

Tell them there's no way it. I got phobias.

[Clinton Sparks]

Bloods.

[Ash]

Makes me go. Makes me want to throw up. Like, what, you dismembered a man's body? Are you fucking kidding?

[Clinton Sparks]

He's the worst.

[Ash]

Now, during several hours of testimony, Daniel Rogers explained to the jury that it was Darren Cox who had gotten in a fight with Preston while the two were smoking some weed in the basement. And he said he heard. He wasn't even there. He was upstairs.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And he heard the fight escalate from where he was upstairs so far away. And he said by the time he made it down to the basement, which was, you know, so far that Darren Cox had Pulled out a knife and was threatening Preston. And he said, I decided to break it up. He told the jury they weren't paying me a bit of attention at this point. They were fighting and cussing at each other.

[Clinton Sparks]

Of course they were.

[Ash]

So he said he fired a warning shot to break up the fight in his own home.

[Clinton Sparks]

Okay.

[Ash]

If I was Catherine, I would be, oh, honey, yeah. Warning shots in my house. Uhuh.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'mma get you.

[Ash]

But he said that only caused Preston Myr to rush at him, knocking him to the floor on his way up the stairs to flee. But he said Darren Cox then grabbed the gun from him, from Daniel, and chased Preston Murr out onto the street, eventually dragging him back into the house. He said, next thing I do is I try to go and stop them. When I got to the kitchen part of the house, I heard the gun go off. So he's like, it's weird. I'm always so away. These things are happening and I just hear them.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's wild. I'm just like never there. But I'm. I'm around so I can hear things.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'm just never close.

[Ash]

I'm never right there.

[Clinton Sparks]

And it's because I'm so scared of blood.

[Ash]

That's the thing.

[Clinton Sparks]

I'm worried somebody's gonna like, scrape themselves somewhere and I'm just gonna go, ah, I just.

[Ash]

Yeah, I just fire warning shots in my own home.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But in his version events, he was simply an innocent bystander who actually tried to intervene to save Preston Myrrh. What a hero.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, wow.

[Elena]

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[Ash]

You know, I'm going to be getting the wireless ones.

[Elena]

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[Clinton Sparks]

But.

[Ash]

But we'll deal with them later.

[Elena]

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[Ash]

Ordered it in white because I'm a.

[Elena]

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[Ash]

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[Elena]

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[Ash]

Off your first order. But the problem was that none of the evidence supported his theory or his story. And by all accounts, of the two men, it was Daniel Rogers, not Darren Cox, who was more likely to react with explosive, deadly violence.

[Clinton Sparks]

A good try.

[Ash]

He had a whole fucking full blown history of it.

[Clinton Sparks]

He shot his friend in the head once.

[Ash]

To shoot your friend in the head and serve time for it, and then kill another man and go up to the jury and to insult them that way by saying, I have a phobia.

[Clinton Sparks]

Of blood, so couldn't have been me.

[Ash]

So what happened when you shot your friend in the head?

[Clinton Sparks]

Couldn't be me. Flow. Yeah.

[Ash]

After two weeks of evidence and testimony, the jury deliberated a little more than six hours, which I'm like, six hours?

[Clinton Sparks]

It took you that long?

[Ash]

But they found Daniel Rogers guilty of first degree murder.

[Clinton Sparks]

Good.

[Ash]

Preston's mother, May, told reporters, I'm so happy with the verdict. I'm delighted. And a few weeks later, Daniel Rogers returned to the court and was sentenced.

[Clinton Sparks]

To life in prison by Daniel.

[Ash]

Rightfully so. Now, based on the outcome of Daniel Rogers trial, which named him as the shooter, Darren Cox retracted his original plea of not guilty and decided to make a deal with the district attorney to plead guilty to charges of being an accessory to a felony and aggravated assault. In exchange for his plea, he got a sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.

[Clinton Sparks]

My God.

[Ash]

I just want to reiterate that this man helped his friend kill somebody and dismember their body to the point where it had to fill 13 trash bags.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. Like, come on.

[Ash]

And he got five years in prison and a fine. Wow, That's. That is indeed. But in his version, event of events, he said he didn't know what was happening until after the assault began. And after that, Daniel Rogers threatened his life, telling him, you're either with me or you're against me. And he interpreted that to mean that Daniel would also kill him if he didn't assist in disposing of the body.

[Clinton Sparks]

Damn.

[Ash]

As far as his participation in the murder and mutilation, he said, it was more or less for my own safety, you know? More or less like, oh, you dismembered a man for your own safety?

[Clinton Sparks]

More or less.

[Ash]

If that helps you sleep at night.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's the More or less for me.

[Ash]

Yeah. You know, more casual, just offhand.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But in the years since his trial, Daniel Rogers has actually tried to have his verdict overturned and petitioned for a new trial multiple times, claiming, among other things, that the court abused its discretion in revealing his criminal past and the jury was biased by media attention. But as of now, he has been unsuccessful.

[Clinton Sparks]

Wow.

[Ash]

Now, the convictions of Daniel Rogers and Darren Cox for the gruesome murder of Prestonmer should have been the end of this tragic story. But for the house on Linden street, it was just the beginning of a new and definitely more macabre status as the murder mansion, Boise's most notorious haunted house. Ooh. It's kind of unclear at what point the rumors of the haunting began or who started them. But it actually does turn out that Preston Murr is not the first person who died in that house. In June of 1952, the home's owner, 91 year old Birdie Sexton, she died in her home. I know. Birdie's like one of my favorite names. She died of natural causes after living in the house for 44 years. A few years later, in 1958, 71 year old John, I think it's Egan, also died in that home, followed a year later by 9089 year old Ellen Marker.

[Clinton Sparks]

Damn. This is like the Florida of houses so far.

[Ash]

Yes, it is.

[Clinton Sparks]

Just like that. Retire.

[Ash]

Yes.

[Clinton Sparks]

There you go.

[Ash]

It's so true.

[Clinton Sparks]

But maybe I hope they were all like comfortable and happy in their home.

[Ash]

I know. I hope so too.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And then the next person to die in the house was murdered.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, what a testament. Because before that, it's just like super old.

[Ash]

Yeah. People at the end of their lives.

[Clinton Sparks]

At the end of their lives dying of natural causes in the home that they.

[Ash]

That they live in.

[Clinton Sparks]

Presumably love.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly.

[Clinton Sparks]

You know, feel comfortable and. But terrible way to end that than.

[Ash]

A 21 year old who is shootily murdered and brutally killed. And that was nearly 30 years after Ellen Marker had passed away. Despite the gap in years and decidedly different circumstances of deaths, this group would serve as the basis for the rumors of the haunting at 805 Linden.

[Clinton Sparks]

I mean, I get it. I would also want to recipe here.

[Ash]

In 2012, local news channel KBOI interviewed the home's new owner, Deanne Davis. She hadn't experienced anything unusual herself, but she was well aware of the rumors about her house. She told them living there. I don't, I really don't feel that I was ever afraid or felt it was haunted. But there are so many stories that everyone else is convinced it is.

[Clinton Sparks]

Well, maybe you're not afraid because they're like all happy ghosts.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly. That's what you would hope.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

For the most part, she and her children had no reservations about living in a house where something that tragic had happened. But even they weren't immune to the stories and speculation about the house. One of her daughters said, I feel there's something kind of there and kind of not. When I went into the basement, it was dark and I was scared. And when I went in there, I was like, get me out, get me out. Because I felt there was something there and I didn't want to go near it.

[Clinton Sparks]

I mean. Yeah, I feel like there's got to be some kind of vibe.

[Ash]

Yeah. Even if it's not like haunted or.

[Clinton Sparks]

Like, you know, like malevolent, you know, it's like.

[Ash]

Right.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's just a vibe that something's there, there.

[Ash]

Cuz like the energy, I always say the energy. That's dark energy. That's like so excited, that's dark sided, that sinister babe, what happened in there. And I feel like that stuff doesn't just like go away, you know, dissipate. Exactly. But according to Deanne Davis, from the moment she moved in with her kids in 2008, they were constantly asked by the neighbors and even paranormal enthusiasts if they would ever open the house for tours. No, like it's my literal home.

[Clinton Sparks]

No, that's a. That's a wild thing to ask someone.

[Ash]

Imagine asking.

[Clinton Sparks]

Don't ask your neighbors.

[Ash]

Imagine walking up to your neighbor and being like, are you ever gonna like open this place up for tours?

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. Like your house is fucked up. You ever think of having people tromps through it for a couple bucks?

[Ash]

Like, it's like, no thanks. It's also like older people died here at the end of their lives and then a poor young man was brutally murdered. What's there to see?

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, you just want to walk through my house so you can feel if it's creepy.

[Ash]

I'm not good.

[Clinton Sparks]

What?

[Ash]

I think it's the rumors that really added to everything.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh yeah.

[Ash]

But she said it had a lot of fame that people would want to come by and have a tour of the house. It's like third. It's listed like third in the United States as haunted houses. I don't maybe at that time, as of 2016.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

I'm not sure if it still is. But according to the lifelong Boise resident and content creator for Boise radio station 179 Light FM, Michelle Hart said there are so Many rumors about the house. Everything from a crazed serial killer who killed multiple people in the home to it being a frat house for Boise State, where brothers frequently saw blood running down the walls.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, we got more of that.

[Ash]

Yep.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's fun.

[Ash]

Stories of a woman dressed in clothes from the 1800s standing in the window. Okay, which is interesting.

[Clinton Sparks]

None of that makes sense. But no. Right.

[Ash]

No. She did clarify that the house was actually never used as a BSU frat house.

[Clinton Sparks]

Good.

[Ash]

But its association with the Mer murder gives it a certain legitimacy and credibility that allows that speculation and the rumors to grow. In the years since Daniel Rogers was sentenced, the house has been owned by a handful of people. And not a lot of those people put a lot of effort or money into its curb appeal, which kind of only added to the notoriety because it.

[Clinton Sparks]

Looks pretty looking, a little haunted. Haunted?

[Ash]

Yes. According to Hart, there are multiple vehicles parked on the property. What appears to be trash piled in the second story window, broken windows, and debris all over the front porch.

[Clinton Sparks]

I mean, that'll do it.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Not great. While Hart herself has never gone into the house or onto the property, she's been collecting stories from those who supposedly have. And one story from a young woman named Lacy. Her best friend's father owned the house and hired his daughter and some friends to do some yard work and cleaning. And she said, we worked there for about a week. Nothing weird ever happened when I was inside, but I did not want to go near the basement. And then others had more detailed experiences. According to one of Heart's respondents, referred to as Dan D. We were upstairs in one of the side bedrooms when we heard someone walk upstairs. Didn't think much of it. Thought it was the roommate. But then we heard it again, and we never heard anyone go downstairs. Me and my friend B. Went to check it out. We thought it was someone breaking into the house. House. We checked everything out. Don't see anyone. So we go and stand on the porch to let whoever was there know we're watching if he comes back. I just thought I was tired until B asked me if I was seeing this stuff too. We figured out that we weren't looking for a person. I stepped out into the front yard and look up to the main bedroom. Upstairs in the window is a big, black, oily looking thing. I doubt what I'm seeing until it moves back toward the dresser, stops, goes to the door, and disappears.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, that's creepy.

[Ash]

An oily looking, big, black, oily looking thing. Hate it now. Like Dan D. Another respondent, Christy, also saw Inexplicable things in the windows. She said. When I lived on Leadville, when I was a kid, I saw a woman in an upstairs window banging on it. It looked like she was screaming, but there were no sounds.

[Clinton Sparks]

Oh, that's terrifying.

[Ash]

Horrifying.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's chilling.

[Ash]

So a lot. For a lot of people, it's like. It seems like people who don't live in the house have experiences, but for those who actually lived in the house, the experiences are much less supernatural and they just have more of, like, an ominous feeling.

[Clinton Sparks]

So there it is. It's the vibes.

[Ash]

But, yeah, there's definitely something there. According to a BSU student who rented a room in the house, the basement was creepy and had a weird feeling to it. We would take people down there to scare them. I never saw any ghosts, but you could tell something wasn't quite right.

[Clinton Sparks]

And it's the basement.

[Ash]

The basement, which.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. Which makes sense.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's where, like, the really bad happened.

[Ash]

Exactly. So whether or not the house is truly haunted is a matter of debate. But for those who are interested in finding out for themselves, they actually might finally have the chance in spring. In the spring of 2024, Mark Iverson, the creator and tour guide of IDA IDA history, began advertising upcoming tours of the house on Linden Street. And according to him, he, quote, hit it off with the home's owner, and the two of them are working together on opening the inside of the home for tours. And a portion of the proceeds from the tour will reportedly benefit the preservation of the mansion and the property. Which is nice.

[Clinton Sparks]

That's good that it'll go back to, like, taking care of the property.

[Ash]

Yeah. Because it sounds like for a long time, the property, like, wasn't being maintained or taken care of.

[Clinton Sparks]

And that's also feeding into all, like, the lore.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly.

[Clinton Sparks]

So it's like, that's better.

[Ash]

Yeah, I think so, too.

[Clinton Sparks]

Wow.

[Ash]

But what a story, huh?

[Clinton Sparks]

That is a tale. It's a tale I've never heard of that I never even heard of this place.

[Ash]

Dave suggested it, actually.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, Dave always comes out with these things that I'm like, well, well, Dave.

[Ash]

Well, Dave, did you end up seeing if it was on a list anywhere?

[Clinton Sparks]

I looked. I'm not seeing it on any of the lists I'm looking on, but there's so many lists now.

[Ash]

It could be on another one that I'm like, it.

[Clinton Sparks]

Who knows which one that person was looking?

[Ash]

Yeah, I looked at one point and I didn't see it, but that.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, it's really just on, like, Idaho things.

[Ash]

That makes sense. Probably, like, one of the most haunted places in Idaho.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. For sure. But wow. What a tale. What a. What a sad, sad tale.

[Ash]

Yeah. I don't know if I would want to go. Poor Preston.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah. That's the thing. The, like, what happened to Preston was.

[Ash]

Like, so, like, brutal and senseless and.

[Clinton Sparks]

That he was running down the street trying to get help.

[Ash]

I know.

[Clinton Sparks]

And, like, those poor people who, like, you know.

[Ash]

Poor Clinton.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, like, poor Clinton. Like. Like, nobody blames that. You, like, hesitated for a second, like. No.

[Ash]

And he did the right thing and called the police. I mean, he did.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

The dispatcher, if anybody failed. Yeah. Truly, like, that was.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah, that dispatcher failed.

[Ash]

Not a great dispatcher moment.

[Clinton Sparks]

Sorry. Like, poor Clinton. Poor the people who. You know. Like, that's. That's rough.

[Ash]

The neighborhood, like, damn. Waking up to that in your neighborhood.

[Clinton Sparks]

Just a big house, too.

[Ash]

Yeah, It's.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's.

[Ash]

If you look it up, it's a big.

[Clinton Sparks]

It is a mansion.

[Ash]

I was just gonna say. Yeah.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

It's interesting.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

An interesting tale. Al together, but in a tragic tale.

[Clinton Sparks]

Really scary one. Yeah.

[Ash]

That is. The murder of Preston Burr and the Boise murder mansion. So keep an eye, because you might be able to take a tour if you want to.

[Clinton Sparks]

If that's what you're thinking you want to do.

[Ash]

That's your deal. If you live in Boise.

[Clinton Sparks]

Yeah.

[Ash]

I love saying Boise.

[Clinton Sparks]

Boise.

[Ash]

Boise.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's Boise.

[Ash]

I just like it.

[Clinton Sparks]

It's Boise, Idaho.

[Ash]

I hope you like Boise, too. And I hope you keep listening.

[Clinton Sparks]

I hope you keep it weird, but.

[Ash]

Not so weird that you don't just keep talking like this. I talk like this all day now. All right, love you. Bye. Bye. Bye, SA Weirdos. Did you guys hear the good news?

[Clinton Sparks]

The good news? We are so excited to be partnering with Spencer's and a new Morbid line available online and in store right now.

[Elena]

Honey, they got blankets, they got jewelry. They have the comfiest sweatshirts. I've been living in my sweatshirts from them. And the pajam jam bottoms. You know, I love a good pajam jam. Also, there is a beauty palette and some makeup brushes.

[Ash]

Omg. So exciting. I'm obsessed. Go buy everything. I have one of everything and so should you.

[Elena]

Best of all, Spencer's is offered. Offering 20% off one item when you.

[Ash]

Use the code Spencer's Morbid.

[Elena]

S, P, E, N, C, E, R S. You know how to spell morbid? For any online order now through October 20th, go buy Morbid at Spencer's at Spencer's.

[Ash]

Go buy your morbid at Spencer's At.

[Elena]

Spencer's.

[Ash]

If you like morbid.

[Elena]

You can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus us in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Ash]

Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[Elena]

Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.

[Greg Bauer]

Hotshot Australian Attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her uncle.

[Ash]

She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all.

[Greg Bauer]

I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list.

[Clinton Sparks]

She was addicted to the game she had created.

[Ash]

She just didn't know how to stop.

[Greg Bauer]

Now, through dramatic interviews and accidents us I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on Wondry Plus. Join Wondry plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and listen to more. Exhibit C True Crime shows early and ad free right now.