Jerry Brudos: The Shoe Fetish Slayer (Part 2)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Morbid Network | Wondery
Episode Title: Episode 618: Jerry Brudos: The Shoe Fetish Slayer (Part 2)
Hosts: Ash and Elena
Release Date: [Assumed recent based on transcript]

---

Introduction

In Episode 618 of Morbid, hosted by Ash and Elena, the duo delves deeper into the chilling case of Jerry Brudos, infamously known as the "Shoe Fetish Slayer." This episode is a continuation from Part 1, offering a comprehensive exploration of Brudos' heinous crimes, the subsequent investigation, and his eventual capture and sentencing.

---

Background on Jerry Brudos

Ash and Elena begin by recapping Jerry Brudos' modus operandi, emphasizing his sadistic tendencies and fetishistic motives. Brudos was not just a serial killer but also a necrophiliac, adding layers of horror to his crimes.

---

Detailed Account of the Crimes

1. The Murder of Karen Sprinker

• Date: March 27, 1969
• Victim: 19-year-old Karen Sprinker
• Location: Salem, Oregon
• Incident Overview:
  • Karen left home for lunch and shopping, planning to return to school with new clothes.
  • Brudos, lurking in the parking area, initially fixated on another woman before shifting his attention to Karen.
  • At [12:00], Elena advises:

    "Never let someone take you to a second location."

Brudos grabbed Karen outside the department store, brandishing what appeared to be a pistol (later revealed as a toy). Despite Karen resisting, she was forcibly taken to Brudos' basement where she endured sexual assault, humiliation by dressing in stolen women's clothing, and was eventually strangled to death. Her body was disposed of in the Long Tom River, weighted down with mechanical parts.

2. The Attempted Killings of Sharon Wood and Others

• Date: April 21, 1969
• Victim: 24-year-old Sharon Wood
• Location: Parking garage
• Incident Overview:
  • Brudos attempted to abduct Sharon as she left work.
  • Sharon fought back fiercely, biting Brudos' thumb and screaming, leading to his escape when a car arrived.

Additionally, Brudos attempted to abduct a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old girl, both of whom narrowly escaped, thanks to timely interventions.

3. The Murder of Linda Slauson

• Date: May 28, 1969
• Victim: Linda Slauson
• Location: Long Tom River
• Incident Overview:
  • Brudos approached Linda under the guise of a store detective, accusing her of shoplifting.
  • She complied initially, only to realize the malicious intent.
  • Linda was sexually assaulted, photographed, and strangled, her body also disposed of in the river.

4. Discovery of Jan Whitney’s Body

• Date: July 28, 1969
• Victim: Jan Whitney
• Location: Willamette River
• Incident Overview:
  • Jan Whitney's body was found tied to railroad iron, confirming Brudos' pattern of disposing bodies in similar manners.

---

Investigation and Capture

As the bodies of Karen Sprinker and Linda Slauson were discovered, law enforcement began linking the cases due to similarities in the disposal methods and the nature of the assaults. Brudos' history of assault and prowling near the Oregon State campus raised suspicions.

Breakthrough: The Ambush at the Oregon State Dorm

• Date: May 14, 1969
• Incident Overview:
  • A student reported a suspicious man calling her out of the blue to ask her on a date.
  • During the arranged meeting, detectives surveilled Brudos covertly.
  • When Brudos arrived to pick up the student, detectives apprehended him.

Evidence Secured:

• Basement Findings:
  • Copper wire and nylon cord matching the materials used to dispose of the victims.
  • A stash of nude photographs depicting women dangling from ropes.
  • Women's clothing collected from various victims.

Notable Quote at [54:10]:

Elena: "It's wild to look at somebody in the moment that, like, they have no humanity."

---

Trial and Psychiatric Evaluation

Brudos initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a defense that heavily relied on psychiatric evaluations. Seven psychiatrists assessed him, concluding that while he exhibited signs of paranoia and antisocial personality disorder, he was aware of his actions and their moral implications.

Key Insights from Psychiatric Reports:

• Affability and Agitation:
  • Brudos was described as both talkative and agitated, indicating manipulative behavior.
• Emotional Detachment:
  • Showed no remorse or emotional response when discussing his crimes.
• Understanding of Right and Wrong:
  • Capable of comprehending the gravity of his actions, contradicting the insanity plea.

Notable Quote at [63:42]:

ASH: "That is a huge part of his pathology, but it doesn't get known how bad he was."

---

Sentencing and Imprisonment

On June 27, 1969, Jerry Brudos changed his plea to guilty, resulting in three consecutive life sentences. Despite the initial sentence allowing for parole, continuous evaluations ensured that Brudos remained incarcerated for life.

• Parole Board Decisions:
  • Multiple parole attempts were denied, and in June 1995, it was declared that Brudos would never be eligible for parole.

Prison Life:

• Brudos became a model prisoner but faced hostility from fellow inmates, particularly targeting sex offenders.
• Death:
  • Jerry Brudos died of liver cancer on March 28, 2006, providing a sense of closure to the victims' families.

Notable Quote at [75:56]:

Elena: "And I am so glad he's dead."

---

Conclusion and Reflections

Ash and Elena reflect on the psychological aspects of Brudos' behavior, pondering the nature versus nurture debate in the development of such extreme criminal pathology. They emphasize the importance of understanding the underlying causes to prevent future cases.

Notable Discussion Points:

• Nature vs. Nurture:
  • The hosts discuss the potential genetic and environmental factors contributing to Brudos' actions.
• Preventative Measures:
  • The need for comprehensive psychological studies on incarcerated serial killers to better understand and mitigate such behaviors.

Notable Quote at [68:53]:

Elena: "It's just something to look into, and I think we should see what studies are currently being done on this kind of stuff."

---

Final Thoughts

Episode 618 serves as a stark reminder of the depths of human depravity and the complexities involved in criminal psychology. Ash and Elena provide an in-depth, empathetic, and analytical narrative that not only recounts the events but also encourages listeners to contemplate the broader implications of such tragic cases.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• [12:00] Elena: "Never let someone take you to a second location."
• [54:10] Ash: "This person, like, torturing someone."
• [63:42] Ash: "That is a huge part of his pathology, but it doesn't get known how bad he was."
• [75:56] Elena: "And I am so glad he's dead."
• [68:53] Elena: "It's just something to look into, and I think we should see what studies are currently being done on this kind of stuff."

---

Disclaimer: This summary is based on the provided transcript and aims to encapsulate the key elements of the podcast episode without direct promotion or endorsement of any content.

Transcript

[Ash]

Wondery plus subscribers can listen to Morbid early and ad free. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Elena]

You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast.

[Ash]

Hey everyone, let's talk about protein for a second. There's this rumor that getting plant based protein is tough, but listen, there are some amazing options out there even if you're not vegan. Adding more plant based protein to your diet is a fantastic way to nourish your body and support the planet. My good go to for tasty protein and superfood pack shake is Cachava. Every serving of Cachava offers 25 grams of 100% plant based protein. But that's not all this all in one shake has fiber, quality, fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and so much more. I love that I can tick so many boxes with just one delicious shake. If you know me, you know that vanilla and chai are my favorite flavors and I like to combine them. But they also have chocolate, they've got matcha, and they've got coconut acai. I'm a big fan of the coconut acai as well. After drinking Kachava first thing in the morning because that's when I always drink it, I feel satiated for hours. I feel focused, calm and ready to take on my day. Something that I really love to do if I even want like a little bit more protein is just add a scoop of peanut butter to the vanilla and chai concoction that I make. And that oh is just scrum diddly umpious honey. Kachava is offering our listeners 10% off on their subscription for a limited time. Just go to kachava.commorbid spelled k a C H A v a and get 10% off your first order. That's K A C H A V A dot com morbid what's it like to get the new iPhone 16 Pro with at and T Next up Anytime? It's like when you first light up the grill and think of all the mouthwatering possibilities. Learn how to get the new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence on AT and T and the latest iPhone every year with AT and T next up anytime ATT connecting changes everything. Apple Intelligence coming fall 2024 with Siri and device language set to US English. Some features and languages will be coming over the next year. $0 offer may not be available on future iPhones. Next up Anytime features may be discontinued at any time, subject to change additional fees. Terms and restrictions apply. See att.com iPhone for details hey, weirdos.

[Elena]

I'm Elena.

[Ash]

I'm Ash.

[Elena]

And this is morbid.

[Ash]

It sure is, honey. But.

[Elena]

It sure is, honey.

[Ash]

You know what else is morbid? The freaking crick in my neck.

[Elena]

That's pretty morbid.

[Ash]

So morbid.

[Elena]

Pretty mobid. Mob mad.

[Ash]

It's pretty macabre.

[Elena]

Macabre indeed.

[Ash]

Macabre, you said.

[Elena]

So what's. What's. What's blowing your skirt up? What's up?

[Ash]

You know, it's a big, real season. Real Housewives. There's so many Real Housewives on right now.

[Elena]

Oh, I love that.

[Ash]

New York is on. Potomac is on. Doing pretty good. Steady Potomac season.

[Elena]

There you go.

[Ash]

SLC is popping the fuck off. Might I say that this might be my favorite season of SLC that's ever happened. I love the New Housewife Bronwyn.

[Elena]

There you go.

[Ash]

Yep. And then what other one is on right now?

[Elena]

Why can't I think things.

[Ash]

Oh, O.C. o.C. Just had a fucking banger of a season, and I think that the season finale might be this week.

[Elena]

Wow.

[Ash]

Really looking forward to the reunion.

[Elena]

So Bravo heads. It's Real Housewives season.

[Ash]

Yeah. Have at it. And let's just hope that New York gets better. What are you guys doing?

[Elena]

I really. I couldn't. I tried. I am an OG New York cast. Girly.

[Ash]

Oh, same.

[Elena]

Once it flipped over, I was like, no.

[Ash]

Like, those women raised me. Essentially. Literally did those. Those women raised me.

[Elena]

And then for better, for worse, they raised me.

[Ash]

It's. Yeah, it's okay. I still, like, literally. I was watching the season with Jules the other day.

[Elena]

Oh, I love the old. I'll watch them over and over.

[Ash]

That's one of my favorite seasons.

[Elena]

It's just chaos.

[Ash]

Yeah. I really wanted to be. And I was. I was excited for the new, like, the new reboot of New York, and it was fine. Like, I was like, okay, season one, it wasn't, like, my favorite thing ever.

[Elena]

I hate season two.

[Ash]

So I couldn't bother Ben Mandelker. I have to pull it up really quickly because he had a tweet that explained exactly what Ben.

[Elena]

Ben and Ronnie for life.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

If you're a Bravo head. We've mentioned them before, but just in case you're, like, just joining or something. If you're a Bravo head, go listen to watch what crappins with Ben and Ronnie.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

They're fucking hilarious. And they cover all the Bravo shows and so funny. They're just lovely humans as well.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. And if you're looking for, like, un Campy, like, Just. I don't even know how to describe them. They're, like, indescribable because I love them so much, and you got me into them. Lara and Carrie.

[Elena]

Oh.

[Ash]

So from Sup Sexy Unique podcast. They cover OC and slc and they're just hilarious. Me and Drew listen to those recaps cry, laughing, like, through genuine, like, streams of tears.

[Elena]

Oh, huge, huge Lauren Carrie fan forever. Whatever.

[Ash]

But, Ben, this. This sums up the difference between Real Housewives of Orange county and Real Housewives of New York. Okay, so he tweeted rhoc. You told everybody I pushed Travis down the stairs. Her daughter told Emily's kids that. I mean, you did a background check on Ryan. The FBI is investigating. You talked about my bloody face photo. Are you going to put a hit out on me? And then Real Housewives of New York, I made a pavlova. It's literally all that's happened.

[Elena]

Wow.

[Ash]

It's only been two episodes, so I'm hoping for more. But that's my Real House vibes recap for you guys.

[Elena]

Damn.

[Ash]

How are you?

[Elena]

Well, shit. What do I mean? In your life, you gave a lot for. That was good. That was good information. That was good, Rex. I'm always here.

[Ash]

Good to give the bravo, Rex.

[Elena]

Yeah, I love that. And our Bravo heads listening. Love that.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Hell, yeah.

[Ash]

Hi, friends.

[Elena]

We're well balanced here.

[Ash]

What's going on in your neck of the woods?

[Elena]

Well, I just saw a really cool thing on TikTok, and I was really excited to share it because I think people listening will be like, holy shit. Because I was.

[Ash]

Tell me everything.

[Elena]

I guess Blumhouse is doing, like, this cool. It's an insidious live horror experience.

[Ash]

Ooh.

[Elena]

And I think they're doing. I'm bringing the thing up right now because I wanted to give you guys the right information because I was just. I kept following TikToks about it, and I was like, can I. I want to do this.

[Ash]

I love an immersive experience.

[Elena]

Yeah. It's like a tour. They're going in, like, over 80 cities in North America next year.

[Ash]

Damn.

[Elena]

Yeah, it looks cool.

[Ash]

Like a haunted house kind of vibe.

[Elena]

Yeah, I think it's just like, this, like, immersive. Like, you're gonna be, like, surrounded by insidious, essentially.

[Ash]

Oh, I'm obsessed with that.

[Elena]

It just looks too. The idea of it was just too cool. Not to mention.

[Ash]

Yeah. And Blumhouse, I feel like I love everything that.

[Elena]

And I think there's tickets on sale now. I think so. I. I want to Go. I'll go with you. I'm looking at it. I'm like, I want tickets to this.

[Ash]

Coming to a city near you.

[Elena]

And I'm looking right now.

[Ash]

Is it in our city?

[Elena]

Bitch, it's in our city. It's coming to Boston at the Colonial.

[Ash]

Oh, shit, That's.

[Elena]

We gotta get tickets.

[Ash]

Well, we are getting tickets.

[Elena]

We're going.

[Ash]

See you there.

[Elena]

We're absolutely going.

[Ash]

If you are not there, you are square.

[Elena]

That's very true.

[Ash]

You're not a weirdo.

[Elena]

This is just. This is just me. I just found it. I just wanted to tell you guys about it. So I like.

[Ash]

I like that this is just me. I just found that.

[Elena]

I just wanted you to know.

[Ash]

You talking about horror shit and me talking about Bravo. This is just us.

[Elena]

This really is just us.

[Ash]

This is the dichotomy of our podcast.

[Elena]

I figured, you know what? That was blowing my skirt up at the moment, that idea of that.

[Ash]

So that's one of my favorite expressions ever.

[Elena]

I got it from you. You were. I've heard it before. But you used it recently, and it. And it tickled me.

[Ash]

I used it on the car ride home the other night because Drew loves to say that things didn't blow his skirt up. And it's so funny because Drew doesn't wear skirts, so it just.

[Elena]

It's even funnier.

[Ash]

I like that. Yeah.

[Elena]

Well, you know what doesn't blow my skirt up?

[Ash]

Jerry Brudos.

[Elena]

Jerry Brudos.

[Ash]

He also does not blow my skirt up, but he's. It's a fascinating true crime case.

[Elena]

That's the thing. It's a fascinating case. It's a horrific case, and it's only gonna get worse. And part two is really gonna take it there. So I just need everybody to know.

[Ash]

That I'm just really looking forward to him getting apprehended, because that's always my favorite part of the story is when the police close in. And I don't know how that happens here, so. Papa Dress Sister.

[Elena]

So when we last left you was when he had already kidnapped and murdered Linda Slauson and Jan Whitney. So he's already escalated to horrific acts. And he's doing these. I mean, he's strangling. He's hanging them up by their neck. He's dressing them in other women's clothing that he has stolen all around his career. He's taking lots of photographs. He's taken one of their feet and kept it. And he dumps them in a river afterwards and weighs them down like, he's brutal.

[Ash]

Dude, he was going to try to make a paperweight out of one of their breasts.

[Elena]

Yes. And that wasn't the last time he's going to do that. So.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Oh, God.

[Elena]

So on the afternoon of March 27, 1969, 19 year old Karen Sprinker left her home and she was on her way to the Meer and Frank department store in Salem, Oregon. That day she had made plans to have lunch with her mom and to do some shopping for spring clothes because she was going to be going back to school and she wanted to have, like, additions to her wardrobe. Yeah. She actually had big plans of a medical career as a doctor. And she was brilliant. She was so smart. She had everything going for her. She graduated second highest in her high school class. Like, wow, she was going places. Jerry Brudos had also gone out that afternoon, just driving around, doing his disgusting troll thing. He was looking for women, particularly near the Meyer and Frank department store. That's when he spotted a specific woman. This woman was not Karen. He said later that he couldn't take his eyes off of this woman. He said, quote, I had to have her. He told detectives later. But by the time Jerry had parked his car in the. It was like a multi tiered parking garage.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

By the time he had found a spot and parked his car, the woman had disappeared inside the store. Thank you. So he missed his chance for her. We will not know who that woman is. But I'm like, somebody out there has no idea possibly that they were a second away.

[Ash]

Like, you have to wonder how often that happens.

[Elena]

That's the thing that, like, something just, you know, something gets in. Yeah. Like some kind of intervention just gets in the way. Yeah, yeah. So as Jerry was walking back to his car, he was going back to his car to leave. Like, he was gonna be like. He was like, fuck, I missed my chance. I'm leaving. But as he's walking back to his car, just by chance, he notices Karen Sprinker getting out of her car. Oh, no. And he later said, I didn't like her shoes, but she was a pretty girl with long dark hair. Now, Jerry and Karen were walking towards one another. She was headed to the inside to the, like the department store. And he was headed to the parking lot. And when she got to the front door of the department store, he suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder. Out of nowhere, just walking by a dude and he just grabs you and you're.

[Ash]

She's almost in the store.

[Elena]

She's literally. So what it is, is there's like a stairway that from the parking lot garage into right to the front door.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

So it's like this stairway that is just like door at the bottom of the stair that goes right into the department store. And then right here.

[Ash]

And she's.

[Elena]

She was going down there. And he was like. It was literally like seconds away from that door.

[Ash]

And it's like, nobody saw anything.

[Elena]

No, nobody saw anything. So he grabbed her by the shoulder and he shoved the barrel of a pistol into her ribs.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And he told Karen to come with him quietly. And he wouldn't shoot her. So she did exactly that. Because I can't imagine in that position.

[Ash]

Well. And you. Honestly, I feel like you just have to comply when somebody has a gun to your. Anywhere on your body.

[Elena]

My personal advice to you is never let someone take you to a second location.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Do whatever you can help it.

[Ash]

Obviously.

[Elena]

Do whatever. And that's what I mean. Like, do whatever you can to stop that from happening. Which also, Karen also did try to stop that from happening. She fought like hell.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So do that. Like, don't let somebody take you to a second location. That is far worse than something happening to you right there.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So kick, scream, do whatever you gotta make. Do. Make the most noise you can possibly make if something like this happens. Literally the most noise. Scratch it, eyeballs. Do whatever you gotta do.

[Ash]

Scream, fire.

[Elena]

Yeah, exactly. So. Cause it's that second location when they get you in a car or they're taking you somewhere else, that it's gonna be a lot harder. Well.

[Ash]

And they have the upper hand in a second location.

[Elena]

Yeah. And now you're somewhere where you weren't initially going, so they can't track you. Right. But what she didn't know and what she had no way of knowing was that the pistol he was using was a toy. Oh, no. But it looked like a.

[Ash]

Of course. And you're not going to. You're not going to question that in the moment.

[Elena]

Yeah. So when Karen failed to show up for lunch that afternoon, her mother became alarmed very quickly. And she waited more than an hour at the restaurant. She searched around. She checked the parking lot. And that's where she discovered Karen's car, locked and abandoned. Karen's father, Lucas, reported her missing later that day. And police opened an investigation pretty immediately because they were like, she wasn't running away. She was coming to meet me for lunch. Like, her car is here. Something happened.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

The first lead came in quickly when a young woman matching Karen's description was actually seen at the Southern Pacific railroad station with Two men. It wasn't Karen.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

But matched her description. One of these people bought tickets to San Francisco for all three of them. And the ticket clerk remembered the three young people and told detectives it didn't look like the girl was being forced to accompany them. She looked like she was willing to go there. But Karen's mother was like. And they were really going with this lead. And Karen's mother was like, no, she wasn't running away. Like, this isn't.

[Ash]

And please, everybody, fucking believe her.

[Elena]

She said to them, something happened to that girl from the time she parked her car on the ramp before she could get into the store.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

And he. She just knew. She was like. She didn't make it into that. Into that store right. Now. Once Karen was taken back to Jerry Brudos basement of horrors, he sexually assaulted her. Then he forced her to dress in the stolen underwear and shoes while he photographed her. He took a lot of photographs of Karen. He made her change several times. This was a very long, drawn out, torturous process for her. The photos are heartbreaking. Yeah. Because it's clear. I mean, it's just of her face.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

But because they've obviously cropped it. Yeah. But it's clear that she is just in complete shock and doesn't know how to get out of the situation.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

That's like. It's a horrifying photo. Just because of her face.

[Ash]

Not something I would want to see.

[Elena]

No, I don't recommend going to look for it. But it's just. It's awful what he did to these women. Because you can tell. Like, how do you get out of that? You're in his basement. I have no idea. What do you do? And it's like, you don't know. If you comply. If you. If I comply, maybe he's gonna let me leave.

[Ash]

Like, maybe he just wants this.

[Elena]

Yeah. There's so many things that must be running through your head. When he was done photographing her, against her will, he looped a rope around Karen's neck and threw the other end over the hoist in the basement ceiling. Because he had created this whole, like, loop and pulley system now where he could hoist someone up. He then hoisted her up just enough for her feet to not touch the ground, literally. So her toes were scraping the ground.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And then he left her to strangle to death while he went upstairs and watched cartoons and spent time with his family.

[Ash]

So they were just upstairs while this was going on. Okay.

[Elena]

So he just went upstairs, spent time with his family, his kids, his wife watched cartoons while there is a woman strangling slowly to death in their basement.

[Ash]

That. I don't know how you. I don't know how the human brain can allow you to hurt somebody like that and to, like, also hurt your family at the same time. Like, that's. Yeah, that's with your family, too.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah.

[Ash]

I like, that's just.

[Elena]

And it's just like, such conflicting pieces of your brain.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

How are they turned on at the same time? I don't even.

[Ash]

I don't know about the pathways in Jerry Brutus's brain.

[Elena]

Well, later, he returned to the basement to repeatedly violate Karen's body.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And she had died at that point. Yeah, she had died. She strangled to death. By that point, he had developed a routine. So he spent the next few days photographing her body just like he had done and violating it in other ways because, remember, he is a necrophiliac. And before disposing of Karen's body, he sliced off both of her breasts because he wanted to try to make the paper weights again. When the time came to get rid of her body, Jerry weighted her down with mechanical parts like an engine from, like, an old car and stuff, and dumped her in the Long Tom River. I don't know what happened with the paperweights of it all.

[Ash]

I think it's better that we don't know.

[Elena]

Yeah, I didn't. I didn't go too far into whether they worked or not, whether he was able to finally do it.

[Ash]

For his sake, I hope. No.

[Elena]

Yeah, definitely not. So several months would pass before Karen's body was discovered in May. Wow. By then, she had been in the water way too long for the medical examiner to get much information about her remains. Her cause of death was listed as death by traumatic asphyxiation.

[Ash]

Wow. When you so obviously like, it becomes harder because you got water logged. Will your teeth disintegrate faster in water, too?

[Elena]

No, no. Your teeth will pretty much hang out at the same time. Now, unlike the other bodies who were discovered without clothing, Karen was actually fully clothed when she was found.

[Ash]

So he redressed her.

[Elena]

Obviously so. Yeah. But what was even weirder was the clothing didn't belong to her, and it clearly didn't belong to her.

[Ash]

Was it his wife?

[Elena]

The sizing of the undergarments, for example, were much larger than anything Karen owned or would reasonably be wearing.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Also, when the medical examiner removed the 38D size bra, which was not her size, quote, sodden lumps of brown paper toweling dropped out, revealing that Geri had cut off Karen. This is when they found out that he had cut off Karen's breasts.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

And then stuffed a bra to make her chest appear larger with paper towels. Oh, and all this clothing was clothing taken from other women.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And some of it was like, other women he had murdered. Yeah. He dressed her in this man. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ash]

That's just.

[Elena]

Yep. Awful. Now less than a month passed before Jerry was back out on the prowl. Less than a month.

[Ash]

Holy.

[Elena]

April 21st, Jerry attacked a 24 year old woman, Sharon Wood, in a parking garage as she was leaving work. He walked right up behind her and put a pistol in her back, telling her that if she didn't scream, he wouldn't shoot her. But she said, fuck that. And she fought real hard.

[Ash]

Hell yeah.

[Elena]

She basically was like, I was not. She was having a bad day. And she was like, I was in no mood to deal with this bullshit. So he tried to choke her out. He put an arm around her, like, and literally tried to put her in like a sleeper hold. And she just bit down super hard on his hand. Like, drew blood from his thumb, like, that's how Ann just screamed. She just kept on screaming. And luckily a car drove in as this was happening and she was able to get away because he ran.

[Ash]

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[Elena]

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[Ash]

Can you imagine how traumatizing that experience would be?

[Elena]

How do you move on from that?

[Ash]

How do you ever park your fucking car in a parking garage or go in public or do anything by yourself?

[Elena]

Like, I would never want to be alone again.

[Ash]

No, I don't. I. I'm sure that happens a lot with survivors of, like, attacks like this. Like, they probably don't want to do anything by themselves.

[Elena]

Absolutely. And luckily he. So he ran away and then on the afternoon of April 22, the next day, very next day, he tried to abduct a 15 year old girl and force her into his car.

[Ash]

He's disgusting.

[Elena]

But she got away. Like she was able to run away. He also tried to kidnap a 12 year old on her way to school.

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

Literally grabbed her and was trying to throw her in his car. And she saw a neighbor working in the yard. She's on her way to school. A 12 year old?

[Ash]

Yeah. Like a sixth or seventh grader literally.

[Elena]

Saw a neighbor working in her yard and was able to break free from him and run directly into this neighbor's arms. Like this neighbor just grabbed her.

[Ash]

Talk about timing.

[Elena]

Yes. And it's like what, he was gonna do this to a 12 year old?

[Ash]

Well, it seems like he was trying to look for somebody like easier to overtake.

[Elena]

That was one of the things they said about him later was if you put up too much of a fight with him, he would like that would throw him off because he wanted the easy thing or what he determined to be the easy thing. So that's why they all fought. Most of them fought to some extent.

[Ash]

You know what I mean?

[Elena]

But it was like if you somehow were able to get someone else involved or get. Because as soon as someone else became involved, he was a Wilton flower, he was a little bitch. So it's like if he got you alone, he was more likely to overpower you no matter what. But if you could get someone else's attention or like break free somehow, he.

[Ash]

Was out of there.

[Elena]

He was out of there and it's just like a fucking 12 year. You were going to bring a 12 year old back to your fucking basement of horrors. I can't get over that.

[Ash]

Like you literally have like two children.

[Elena]

Literally.

[Ash]

You're a father.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Like that's disgusting and horrific no matter what. But you're. You add the layer of the fact that he has his own children.

[Elena]

He is, I mean he. I don't think there enough credit is put on how bad this guy is. Yeah, I think it gets overshadowed a lot by like, oh, he's the shoe guy. Like he's the shoe fetish guy.

[Ash]

But there's a lot more.

[Elena]

And that's like the, ugh, what a weird part of this story. And it's like, yeah, yeah, that's real weird. Do you know what else he did? Like it's just like, you gotta look at what this fucker did. Like he's gross, right? Awful.

[Ash]

He's a fucking necrophiliac.

[Elena]

Oh, he's a fucking demon.

[Ash]

And it's crazy. Like you were just saying the shoe thing. Definitely overtakes this story because I know who Jerry Brudos is. I've heard the story, but I actually forgot that he was a necrophiliac.

[Elena]

Yes, that's. And it's like the shoe thing is a big deal.

[Ash]

Yeah, of course.

[Elena]

Cause it's like he. That is a massive part of his pathology, and it's a massive part of what he fetishizes and what he does.

[Ash]

And it seems like why he became who he was.

[Elena]

Exactly. And you heard what he said with, you know, with Karen Sprinker. Right. She. He said, I didn't like her shoes. Right. But she was pretty. Yep. But like he. He had to comment on the shoes. Like, I didn't like her shoes.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So it was a massive part of his pathology. So I'm not knocking the fact that, like, that's a big part of this and it should be a big part of it, but like, I feel like it doesn't get known how bad he was. He was disgusting.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So after trying to abduct a 12 year old and failing just one day.

[Ash]

Later, he's like desperate.

[Elena]

On April 23rd, Jerry drove over to Portland where he spotted 22 year old Linda Sally loading bags on into her car in the parking lot at the Lloyd Center. Armed with that same toy pistol and now a fake police badge. He approached Linda and he flashed the badge and he told her that he was a store detective with the Lloyd center and he was taking her into custody for shoplifting.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

So Linda was like, what are you talking. I didn't shoplift anything. Like, no, I Like, you have the wrong person. But he was very insistent. And she was always one to follow the rules.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

She didn't go against authority, so she went with him.

[Ash]

Well, you're not going to like, run away from what you think is a police officer.

[Elena]

No, and that's. And of course not. And later, after his arrest, Jerry commented on this and said, she didn't fight me at all. She just got into my car.

[Ash]

Well, why would she.

[Elena]

Because you were pretending to be a detective. Like, making it seem like. Like it was so weird. She didn't do anything. You're making it seem like you're a.

[Ash]

Detective, which is the entire reason that you came up with that plan in the first place.

[Elena]

Remember, this is in the 60s. It's like people like, we're just coming out of the 50s here. People are taught to. Even now. But it's like, yeah, especially back then, you were taught to respect police officers.

[Ash]

And especially as a woman, you didn't.

[Elena]

Have a lot of authority figures. That's the thing. So it's like, of course she did.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Oh, it's so annoying. And she apparently, according to him, remained completely silent the whole drive. She didn't even speak up when it was clear that they had passed the Portland city limits and crossed into Salem.

[Ash]

Well, she's probably just trying to figure out how the fuck to get out of there.

[Elena]

Probably in complete shock and terrified and still being like, is he a detective? Like, he flashed a badge, like, what is going on? So they pulled into his home, and she still didn't say anything. And once he'd led Linden to the basement workshop is what he called it, he tied her up with rope and then went back into the house to have dinner with his family while she was tied up.

[Ash]

And they just, like. They never heard screams or anything like that. I guess they never heard struggles.

[Elena]

I'm shocked by it, to be honest. Not the kids, obviously.

[Ash]

No, not the kids. But I'm.

[Elena]

Ralphie, you never heard anything. Which, again, like, we've seen that happen.

[Ash]

I mean, yeah, it happens for sure.

[Elena]

But this is just like, whoa.

[Ash]

Because I feel like a lot of times, like, when. When somebody's like, yeah, I did. I didn't know anything. Is when they're.

[Elena]

It wasn't happening in the house.

[Ash]

Right. Like, when there are bringing back people that they've already killed.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

But the fact that he, like, dragged this girl into the basement and tied her up and then was like, okay, dinner time.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

It's just strange.

[Elena]

That's what's confusing to me is, like, he's bringing live women back to his house to murder in his basement.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

And it's like, there's times where there is, like, you know, his wife is home.

[Ash]

Well, also, like, I mean, maybe this is just me, but, like, you hear a car pull in the driveway. I look at my camera. Or before cameras, I would look out the shades.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Like, I don't know. Yeah.

[Elena]

I don't know. Unless he's picking specific times where Ralphine isn't home when he pulls in. So she just comes home and gets home and starts. He just walks upstairs and is none the wiser. You know what I mean?

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, it's possible. No, definitely.

[Ash]

It's just. I'm like, damn. It's also just a. Another thing of how bold and brazen he is.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah. And how completely, like, having. No, he's remorseless.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

He walks upstairs and has dinner with his family, knowing what's happening down there, knowing somebody else's Child is downstairs in his basement, right? Like, it's. You know what I mean? Like, that's just fucked up. He's looking at his wife, a woman he claims to love, and has another woman downstairs in his basement. And cutter. Yeah. So this asshole had dinner with his family, and then he just goes back downstairs to the basement. And Linda had actually freed herself from her ropes somehow, but she was just sitting there on the couch, okay? Hadn't tried to run away, you know, nothing like that. She likely believed he was going to let her go eventually. He. What bothered me about this is he made it seem. And he had, like, a habit of doing this where he would sit there with detectives and be like, yeah, it's so weird. She just sat there. She didn't even try to get away. She didn't even try to use the phone. And it's like, I think what you're failing to tell us, you big piece of shit, is that you probably told her several times, if you just stay put, I'll let you go and listen to what I say. You're gonna go home to your family tonight, right? And it's like, he's making it seem like these dumb women didn't do anything.

[Ash]

Like, of course I killed her.

[Elena]

And it's like, first of all, you told her you were a detective, so she probably had no fucking clue what was going on. And it's like, don't tell me that you didn't give her some kind of idea that if she just listened and didn't fight back, right, that you were going to let her go. It pisses me off so much because he did. The thing was like, yeah, it's crazy. She just got my car. You flashed her a badge, right? Of course. You said you had to take her downtown. Like, come on. Yeah, this one is very graphic. They're all very unsettling and graphic, but this one just has an added element into it, just so you know. So it was. She just kind of was sitting there when he came downstairs, probably hoping that he was just gonna be like, okay.

[Ash]

You can go to.

[Elena]

Let's get you home. It was only when Jerry pulled out a big belt, like a leather strap, and tried to get it around her neck that Linda lost it.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

She started resisting kicking, scratching at every part of him that she could. Which, again, she's yelling, she's fighting. There's nothing over her mouth to stop her from yelling in his home basement. Yeah, but she was fighting the whole time. And he finally did get it around her neck and he strangled her to death. But she fought hard.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

He did what he did to all the other women that he killed. He violated Linda's body. He photographed her, and then he hung her up by her neck on the usual pulley system. Her body. And while she hung there, he placed needles into her rib cage on either side. What. And attached those two wires and an electrical current attached to a large battery.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

And what he was hoping to do there was. He was hoping that by doing that and, like, sending the electrical current through there, that he would make her body, like, jump or dance.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

On the pulley, like, animate it. What? In some way.

[Ash]

What a fucking weirdo.

[Elena]

Yeah. And it didn't do that. It just burnt her skin, which he was upset to find out.

[Ash]

That's just so sad.

[Elena]

It reminds me of the Hillside Stranglers with the usage of, like, electrical and experimentation like that and stuff, and how they just. And the way they are so fucking callous and cold about it. Later, just being like, what? I want to see what would happen. It's like, this is a person. Like, what are you doing? Like, what the fuck? So a few days later, Cherry waited Linda's body down with another old engine that he could find and dropped her body into the Long Tom river as well, not far from where he had dumped Karen Sprinker's body. And then he just went home. Now, with the recent disappearances of Jan Whitney and Karen Sprinker and the attempted abductions just a few days earlier, like, one after the other.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Linda. Sally's disappearance was taken pretty seriously, like, right away. Like, the other. The other women, I feel like they were like, oh, maybe they were in a. Oh, it's a one off. But now they were like, oh, shit. These might be connected.

[Ash]

Now, when you have three, it's like.

[Elena]

Okay, like, start looking at it.

[Ash]

And not only three women who have turned up missing, but all other disappearances and other assaults and other attempts. Exactly.

[Elena]

Now, everyone who knew Linda described her as very stable and very reliable. Hardly the type of person that would run off without telling anyone. So finally, they listened to people who knew her good. And also, Linda's car was discovered abandoned in a parking lot, which. Which definitely supported the theory that she was taken away from where she was and that she didn't run away with it.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Now, whether he was in a rush or was just careless, Jerry failed to notice how shallow the part of the water was where he dumped Linda's remains. About two weeks later, on May 10, two men fishing on the Long Tom river noticed something partially Submerged in the water.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

When they got closer, they realized it was the partially nude body of a young woman. Her remains had been tied to an auto transmission. It was tied using a nylon cord and copper wiring, which he used for all of them. And that was going to be something that tied him to it because he was very. Those are very specific things. Nylon cord, copper wiring. It's not like a regular rope.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

So by the time the body was discovered, decomposition and the effects of being in the water had made Linda's face largely unrecognizable. Investigators thought it could actually have been Karen Sprinker at first. And ironically, it was just two days later, while investigating that same area for evidence, you know, in Linda, in whoever this body was, that the sheriff's department divers also located Karen sprinker's body about 50ft from where Linda Sally had been discovered.

[Ash]

Oh, wow.

[Elena]

Yeah. So Linda's body was identified through dental records because that's how badly she was decomposed. Karen's body was tentatively identified by her mother through a description of her personal items, which is just horrifying.

[Ash]

That's heartbreaking. Yeah.

[Elena]

Detectives were glad to have some information to work with, but they couldn't ignore the fact that the similarities in the cases suggested that they were likely looking for one killer. Not only were the bodies left in roughly the same area, but they also were killed and weighted down in very similar ways.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

Also, they were mindful of the fact that Jan Whitney had also disappeared under similar circumstances, and they couldn't rule out the fact, the possibility that this was the same person and they had a serial killer.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Now, in the days that followed, divers continued to comb that riverbed looking for any additional evidence belonging to either the women or anything else, for that matter. But they didn't get anything else. Sheriff Charles Ream told reporters on May 15. Were sure there are no more bodies under the bridge. The problem was, though, that they also didn't have a lot of leads to work with at this point. The lack of leads kind of sent detectives back to the drawing board a little bit. So they looked at the last time anyone had seen Linda, and it seemed impossible that her killer could have abducted her in, like, a brightly lit parking lot in the middle of the day. But honestly, he had done. He had done it at least one other time in the case of Karen Sprinker. So. And it is shocking. Like, I understand why they were like, how the fuck did he just grab her in daylight? And, you know, they're thinking, like, he couldn't have Grabbed her, and she fought back in broad daylight. Someone would have seen her. But then they're like, but again, like, it happened to Karen.

[Ash]

Right. You never know.

[Elena]

So you just don't know. But they said that back at Lloyd's, they talked to a clerk that was at the jewelry counter who had last seen Linda, and they ended up being the last person who saw Linda alive besides Jerry Brudos. Yeah, but this clerk said that she remembered Linda because it happened to be a very slow day, and she took a long time making up her mind. So she just had remembered her.

[Ash]

Yeah, she spent a lot of time.

[Elena]

With her, but that's all she could really tell her was just like, yeah, she was in here right now. For months, investigators dug into every aspect of the victim's lives, just trying to find anything that they could connect them together or that they could just figure out anybody connected to them that could do this. But they just kept coming up, like, dead end after dead end. And then in mid May, they finally got a break when an Oregon State University student called police to report an incident. This incident was when a suspicious man had called this girl out of nowhere on May 14th. And this guy just asked her out on a date.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And she was like, I didn't know who he was. He was a man who called me, and I guess he said, I just came back from Vietnam. And he had dialed her number at random. That's what he told her.

[Ash]

That's believable.

[Elena]

And he wanted to ask her out on a date. He was like, you know what? Let's go out. And she said like, you have no.

[Ash]

Idea what I look like. You have no idea what my name even is, and you want to go on a date?

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

You good.

[Elena]

But she said, I didn't know why, but I accepted the date, and I said I would meet him. She's a college student, so maybe she was just like, you know what?

[Ash]

She's a big believer in fate.

[Elena]

Maybe I think that's why she was like, you know what? Maybe this little. It was the 60s. Yeah.

[Ash]

We're in nearing the 70s.

[Elena]

Very, very different time.

[Ash]

Honestly, it me.

[Elena]

Oh, my God.

[Ash]

My future husband just called crazy.

[Elena]

You're like, the stars have a line.

[Ash]

Relatable.

[Elena]

Peloton has a ton of training programs, such as pilates, boxing marathon, prep, strength training, boot camps. There's so many ways to challenge yourself. And personally, I am always trying to do just that. I'm trying to do just a little bit more each week to build on my best. And peloton helps because you can see your actual progress right there on the screen. It's honestly something that's so motivating to me. I love it. And whether it's trying to get a new PR or working towards shaving time off your mile, the instructors, classes and programs make you want to dig deep and get after it. My personal favorites are of course, my Bradley Rose. He is always making me laugh and always making me feel so motivated. But I also have found some new instructors that I love, like Robin Arzone. She's so motivating. She makes me feel like I can push a mountain. She's amazing. So they pushed me hard enough to feel like I can beat my best. Find your push, find your power. With [e-mail].

[Ash]

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[Elena]

So the two met at the Oregon State dorm lounge and the girl said it was a very awkward experience, which I imagine it was.

[Ash]

I hate that it's Jerry Brunos, obviously that she met up with, but I love that she was just like, all.

[Elena]

Right, let's try it. And she went to like a public place.

[Ash]

Yeah, she was smart about it, you know.

[Elena]

She didn't go meet him at like some secluded area or like his house or something. Yeah. So they made small talk briefly, and then the man began telling her about his experience with new massage techniques.

[Ash]

No, gracias.

[Elena]

And before she could even say anything, he was up and standing behind her and massaging her shoulders.

[Ash]

Nope. Get the fuck away from me. Do not touch me without my consent.

[Elena]

Same. He told her to think of something sad while he was doing it.

[Ash]

Why would I think of sad things while you're relieving tension from my body, you fucking idiot?

[Elena]

Well, and she was like, I can't. I don't know what to think of. Like, she was like, what the fuck? So his response was, think of the two girls killed and put in the Long Tom River.

[Ash]

Oh, yeah, I'd say, you know what? I've got to go back to my dorm now.

[Elena]

Get the fuck away from me. Scream. The conversation progressed, and eventually the man mentioned that he believed people should be able to decide for themselves what's right and wrong.

[Ash]

Oh, yeah, that's a good idea.

[Elena]

And she was like, hard disagree. And she said it to him. She was like, hard disagree. Like, that is not how the world works. No. There's bad people in the world. So, like, bad people can't decide what's right and wrong for people. And he became irrationally angry at her for that. Did not want to hear that. And the flare up of anger obviously made her very uncomfortable, scared. But it wasn't until he mentioned that he needed to replace the engine in his car that she really became uncomfortable because she remembered that at least one of the women that had been found in the river had been bound to an engine block when she was discovered. And she was like, too much. Too much is leading back here.

[Ash]

Why is he telling her all of this?

[Elena]

Oh, and it gets worse because the most alarming moment happened when. After they'd been talking about the missing women for a little. Because he kept bringing it back.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Jerry casually asked, and he was referring to her agreeing to meet him when she didn't know who he was. So he was. This is why I think he does this shit, to make women look stupid.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Because he. He invited her. He called her up, pretended to be this guy, got her to come there with him, and now she's gonna kind of shame her for it.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Because he said, what makes you want to be raped like the other girls?

[Ash]

Oh, my God. Whoa.

[Elena]

He casually said that.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Referring to the fact like, well, you just showed up and met a stranger. What makes you want. He's like, they must have done. And again, he's blaming the other girls. Like, they must have wanted to.

[Ash]

Holy sh. And also, like, first, when they were.

[Elena]

Going to a department store.

[Ash]

Well, that's the thing. Like, this girl came for a date and did not want that. That does not mean that she wanted to be raped. And those two girls, you took them against their will, so. What the fuck are you talking about, Small guy.

[Elena]

Exactly. Small guy. It's so true. Like, and that's why when he's doing this whole thing, like, the story. And the story out there for Linda Sally is like, that he just came downstairs and it was so weird. She had Untied herself and she's just sitting there. She didn't even try to call on the phone. She didn't even try to escape. Like, that's the story that's everywhere you read. And it's. There's no, like, it's almost being like, isn't that weird that she just, like, was fine with being in this guy's basement and, like, didn't try to get away? And it's like, no, no, no. It's very clear that this is what he does. That he is. Has clearly made her promises and kept her docile with the hope of getting the fuck out of there.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And then he's going to turn around to the detectives and go, yeah. Isn't it fucking weird? She just, like, untied herself and didn't even try to escape. She must have wanted it.

[Ash]

Well, and I also was thinking, fuck you. And I also was thinking, too. I feel like the fact that he took pictures of women almost led them to believe that, like, he would let them go because then he had some kind of blackmail over them.

[Elena]

Exactly.

[Ash]

And they could just say, like, I'm not going to tell anybody you have.

[Elena]

Those pictures of me.

[Ash]

I'm going to go, yeah.

[Elena]

Like, we have an equal thing here. And I'm going, and I can never have to do this again.

[Ash]

Yeah. And I can see why somebody photographing you like that wouldn't lead you to believe that the next step would be them killing you.

[Elena]

Exactly.

[Ash]

It would actually lead you to believe, like, I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm in this position. I'm going to take these pictures and then I'm going to get the fuck out of here.

[Elena]

I'm just going to try to get myself out of here so I can at least try to get help. Right. Like, I'll do what he says to keep him calm. Right. Because he's also a big guy. That's the other thing.

[Ash]

Even though I just.

[Elena]

Jerry Brudos, he's a small guy. Well, small guy mentality for sure. Exactly. Like, that's. He has the. He has the energy of a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, micromanage.

[Ash]

Small dick energy, if you will.

[Elena]

Tiniest dick energy.

[Ash]

Tldr. Small dick energy.

[Elena]

Oh, my God.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

But he's a big guy. He's a big freckled man.

[Ash]

I actually haven't looked up a picture of him this entire time.

[Elena]

He's heinous. I believe he's heinous.

[Ash]

They usually are. Something you just said about the way that he was just sitting there on the date with her and saying like what he just said to her about, you know, well, why do you want to get raped like those girls? It reminds me, I just watched the new Anna Kendrick movie that she. It's like her directorial debut.

[Elena]

I heard great things about it.

[Ash]

Woman of the Hour I just watched. It was so good. But it reminds me of this one scene in the movie where he gets like upset with a girl that he's very much trying to kill. And it just sent chills down my spine. But 10 out of 10 recommend that movie. Really good.

[Elena]

I definitely want to watch that.

[Ash]

Siri also is interesting.

[Elena]

Siri is also like, you should watch that.

[Ash]

She said, I didn't hear that. What movie was that?

[Elena]

Just tell me more. But that's, that's the thing. I feel like this, if you look him up, he's a big. Jerry Brudos is like a big beady eyed fuck. Yeah, he's big. And I'm sure they were trying to comply because he's a scary fucking intimidating foe to be in his world.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So they're probably still.

[Ash]

He's literal home.

[Elena]

Yeah. So they're trying to just like comply, get the fuck out of there. But I just, it pisses me off that this little asshole likes to make it like, oh, so what makes you think want to do this? Just like the other girls. And it's like, first of all, shut the fuck up.

[Ash]

Right?

[Elena]

They didn't. Nobody wants it. Shut the fuck up.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

And it's like. And you were the weird fuck who called her and did this. And she met you in a public place. Okay. On a campus.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly. Like, she's in, she's safe here.

[Elena]

You're the one being a weirdo.

[Ash]

It's just, it's for the shock factor because you're immediately silly. Like, imagine sitting across from somebody and hearing them say that too. Immediately, all you would like, you would, you would dart back, of course.

[Elena]

And it's to shame them.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly.

[Elena]

It's to make her feel uncomfortable, to make her feel ashamed of them. Like, she has agreed to do this and he's a piece of shit.

[Ash]

So where do we go from here?

[Elena]

So after they'd returned to the dorm, because he walked her back to the dorm, the man asked if he could see her again. And she was like, I'll think about it. But as soon as he left because she didn't want to piss him off. So she was like, I'll think about it. As soon as he left, she Called a Corvailus detective to report it.

[Ash]

March girl.

[Elena]

That's my girl. And they said, okay, here's what we want you to do. We want you to make another date with him, but we will be waiting for him when he comes to pick you up.

[Ash]

This poor girl.

[Elena]

So they were like, you don't have to go on the date. You just have to make a date with him. And she did. So she a few days later, or she made a date for a few days later. And so she was like, come pick me up. And when he came to pick her up, detectives were waiting to question him.

[Ash]

This might be my next favorite apprehension next to fucking the night stalker.

[Elena]

Well, it's kind of. This one's layered because they didn't have anything on him yet.

[Ash]

Oh, so they're just.

[Elena]

They just had this. Right?

[Ash]

They're just questioning him.

[Elena]

Still great, though.

[Ash]

I still love that.

[Elena]

Still great.

[Ash]

But he thought he was going on a date with this girl, but.

[Elena]

Yes, but also, he was, like, creeped. He was probably gonna kill her.

[Ash]

Well, one, he was gonna kill her. And two, I'm like, did you guys put her in the witness protection program?

[Elena]

Seriously?

[Ash]

Because you didn't arrest him after that? He knows where she lives.

[Elena]

The good news is this is what gets them on the radar. Him on the radar. So it does. This leads to his arrest for sure. So he gave detectives his name, but he provided a fake address and denied knowing anything about the murders of Linda and Karen or the disappearances and attempted abductions of other young women. But still, Detective Jim Stovall recalled that how Jerry, quote, attempted to play mind games with him during their interview. So this dumb thinks he's smart, too. Yeah. I would be like, you're laughing. Like, I wish they. I hope they were just so fucking mean to him. I would demean this man until his future generations felt it like that. Just ruin his life.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

According to Stovall, Brudos, quote, used hypothetical examples of what the killer could have done. That struck a little too close to the truth to be coincidence.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

It's giving. If I did it.

[Elena]

I literally was just thinking that. Now, despite their suspicions, investigators had no crime that they could charge him with. Technically, he didn't do anything.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

And Jerry, you know, he was just kind of being weird and creepy, but you can't really charge anyone with being weird and creepy, so they had to let him go. And in the week that followed, they discovered that their instincts were probably right about Brudos, because a search of his name, they went, like, further into his background. It turned up previous charges for assault and kidnapping, as well as his incarceration at the state hospital in his late teens. They also discovered a 1960 arrest where Jerry was arrested for prowling around the Oregon State campus.

[Ash]

Oh, no.

[Elena]

So Brudos also lived in close proximity to where the victims had been abducted from. So as they're putting all these things together, they're being like, all right, something's off here. He's got a record. Yeah, he was acting strange with us. He was trying to play mind games with us. Getting a little too close to the real details of shit. And now he lives close to where they're abducted. Like, all the pieces are falling in. And his car wasn't a match for the one that had been identified in the attempted abduction of, like, some of the young women who had gotten away. But his mother's car was, and she had been known to. She was known to have been staying with him at the time. So he was going to abduct these. This 12 year old, this 15 year old, this 23 year old in his mother's car and probably kill them in her car.

[Ash]

He probably got like some kick out of that because obviously he hated her.

[Elena]

That was for sure, part of it.

[Ash]

Oh, the weird psychological layers to that.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah. So the information Stovall and the other detectives managed to get together was enough to get a warrant. So they really did their due diligence after this meeting. Yeah, they had to let him go. But they didn't let it. They didn't let it lie. They went further and got enough to get a warrant to arrest Amazing. Or to search his home, at least. So they. On May 26, 1969, Stovall and a team of investigators arrived at Jerry Brudos's front door. Wow. Which is not good for him. So the warrant to search his house mentioned the sexual nature of the crimes and the specific ways in which the bodies had been disposed of, including the use of the copper wire and the nylon cord being very specific, very niche. And also the car parts that they had been bound to.

[Ash]

Yep.

[Elena]

In their search of the basement, investigators found copper wire and nylon cord.

[Ash]

Imagine that.

[Elena]

And they matched exactly to those found in the murders. They also found industrial mechanical cloth which matched the cloth that was discovered on Linda's body.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Now, the materials discovered in the basement tied Brudos to the missing and murdered women. But the most damning evidence was the massive stash of photographs showing nude bodies dangling from a rope. And that's a quote and women's clothing discovered all over. Like, all. They found a massive stockpile of this stuff. According to the press, many of the photos of women were taken from the neck down, so it was difficult to identify them or even determine whether they were alive when the picture was taken.

[Ash]

That's horrifying.

[Elena]

But at least one photo, a small image that was confiscated from Jerry's wallet, he was carrying it around with him, was a nude Karen Sprinker.

[Ash]

Oh, that's awful.

[Elena]

And it was like her face was in it. Also in many of the images, they found that there was a mirror that he had laid on the ground underneath the women's bodies so that he could, like, dress them, hang them up, and put a mirror underneath their bodies so he could look up their dresses.

[Ash]

Oh, God.

[Elena]

Ew. Yep. And in one of those specific photos with the mirror, there is an image of Jerry's own fucking face reflected back as he was taking the photo. He's so simple, and it is a. You can see the photograph. It is just of his face. Like, they blew. They. It's not like the whole photograph.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

No, it's just the part that's his face.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And it's haunting to look at because you are looking at the moment that.

[Ash]

This person, like, torturing someone.

[Elena]

It's wild to look at somebody in the moment that, like, they have no humanity. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, that. It's just like they are their most. A creature we can't even fathom. You know what I mean? It's weird to be able to look at someone and in that photo, be it because of the flash or something else, that whatever happened, it distorted his face a little. So his eyes are like, blur. Like, there's no eyes.

[Ash]

Oh, that's horrifying.

[Elena]

And his eyes are, like, the scariest part of him for some. He's very beady, very evil looking eyes.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And they're, like, erased off his face. It's a very.

[Ash]

Oh, that just sent a chill down my spine again.

[Elena]

Yeah. It's very, very unsettling. But it was a very specific thing about him that he would put that mirror under there and take photos because he liked having all the angles.

[Ash]

That's disgusting.

[Elena]

Yeah. So the discoveries in his home were enough for an arrest warrant, honestly, so. And on May 29, Jerry Brudos was arrested for the murders of Karen Sprinker and Linda Sally. Since he had become a suspect two weeks earlier, technically, Jerry had been under constant surveillance. They were not letting him just walk around. That's good. And he was picked up after, and this is interesting, after officers pulled Ralphine over while she was driving his wife and found Jerry hidden under a blanket in the back of the car.

[Ash]

Huh.

[Elena]

And what they believed was that he was attempting to flee the state.

[Ash]

Yeah, she. She was helping him out.

[Elena]

So that's interesting. A few days later, on June 2, two additional murder charges were added for the murders of Linda Slauson and Jan Whitney, as well as a charge for assault while armed with a dangerous weapon related to the attempted kidnapping of the 15 year old victim. She had identified Brudos as the man who tried to abduct her.

[Ash]

Good for her. What a brave girl.

[Elena]

On June 4, the grand jury indicted Jerry for the murder of Karen, to which he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

[Ash]

You're gross, but not insane.

[Elena]

Yep. The judge on the case, Val Sloper, accepted the plea, but ordered that Jerry had to undergo psychiatric examination before proceeding with the case. Because he was like, okay, you want to claim that you're insane, get me some experts that agree with you.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

So in a statement to the press, Jerry's lawyer, Dale Drake told reporters that he expected the trial to begin sometime within the following four to six months because they were going to have to gather all that. But at the same time, District Attorney Gary Gortmaker was holding off on pursuing an indictment for the other three murders because he didn't want to be forced to reveal the details of those cases to the defense. Right. During, like the trial prep for the Karen Sprinker case during discovery. Now, by mid June, the evidence against Jerry Brudos had been piling up, so it seemed very unlikely that he was going to get away with murder.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

In addition to the photographs and women's clothing, investigators had discovered additional evidence indicating that at least two of the murders, those of Jan Whitney and Linda Sally, had occurred in Jerry's home.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

Like at least those two had been murdered in his home. Right.

[Ash]

That in there.

[Elena]

Yeah. And the manner of the deaths were listed as. And this just gave me, like, was very chilling to me. The manners of death were listed as hands, rope and strap.

[Ash]

Oh, I don't like hands. Is really upsetting. Morbid is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now. You're driving, cleaning, even exercising. But what if you could be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of 7 discounts. Multitask right now, quote, [e-mail] progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates. National average 12 month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

[Elena]

Under the circumstances, and believing he could successfully use an insanity defense, Jerry began providing Detective Stovall with details of the crimes. Because he was thinking, well, I'm going to plead insanity.

[Ash]

Who cares?

[Elena]

And he was careful to omit certain pieces of incriminating evidence, like the location of Linda Slauson's body. Because they had not found Linda yet, He did this under the mistaken assumption that they couldn't charge him with her murder if they couldn't find her body, which we know is incorrect. When he wasn't meeting with his lawyers or detectives, he was spending a lot of time with any of the seven state psychiatrists assigned to the case by the state. Wow. In general, they observed what they described as, quote, a man who was agitated, intense, could not sit still for an interview, but rose frequently to start stride around the interview room. And when he was cooperative, the evaluating psychiatrist found him to be affable and talkative, saying that he spoke with grandiosity and immaturity and peppered his conversations with unnecessary details.

[Ash]

A check.

[Elena]

Because he's a lying sack of shit. The doctors also noted that Jerry seemed to demonstrate an appropriate range of emotional responses when discussing most subjects. Except when he talked about the deaths of the victims. And he said. They said during. They all said, during that time, he showed no emotion at all.

[Ash]

That's really scary.

[Elena]

Totally human. Except when he was speaking about the deaths of them where he didn't give a shit. In fact, in one case he called, I believe it was Linda Sally. He referred to her as inconsequential to him as a candy wrapper.

[Ash]

What the fuck? And the fact that he can't even. It seems like he can't even pretend to care.

[Elena]

No. And he makes no. And he makes no attempt to. He's just like, no, I don't care. That's so dark. Yeah. And he said he told them, I act the way I do because everybody takes advantage of me. And that's how he described why he was such a violent predator.

[Ash]

That's not true.

[Elena]

And it was clear.

[Ash]

Take advantage of others.

[Elena]

It was clear to the evaluating psychiatrist that his behavior stemmed from his very bad and very abusive relationship with his mother in particular. But as far as Jerry was concerned, he attacked and killed women because his wife couldn't meet his sexual needs.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

He said she won't dress up like the other women do. And that makes me feel sorry for myself. Makes you feel sorry for yourself?

[Ash]

Also, like, hey, there's this thing called divorce. And there's also this thing called there's many other women on this planet. So, like, if that's a kink that you have, talk about it, figure it out before you get married to somebody and, like, figure that whole part of yourself out.

[Elena]

And just the fact that when someone says. And then it made me feel sorry for myself. Gross. Completely negated gross. Whatever statement you made before that, I don't give a fuck, it made me feel sorry for myself. Shut the fuck up.

[Ash]

Well, it's also just another way to blame another woman.

[Elena]

Of course.

[Ash]

Like, I'm.

[Elena]

It's always. It's women's fault.

[Ash]

I'm mad at her for trying to, you know, drive him past state lines. But I am also sorry for her for that.

[Elena]

For like, what the fuck? He's just always trying to blame a woman.

[Ash]

Anybody else.

[Elena]

Yeah. And in his evaluation report to the prosecution, Dr. Guy Parvaresh summarized Jerry as follows. In psychiatric examination, he was obviously anxious, agitated and depressed. He cried frequently, saying he was sick and that he could not have help. Throughout the detailed discussion of his crimes, he appeared very preoccupied, emotionally detached, and quite certain that these things had to be done.

[Ash]

Nope, they didn't.

[Elena]

In general, I did not find any evidence of a psychotic process or evidence of perceptual disturbances. His cognitive processes are very well maintained, and he. He was able to give details of past and recent events. He shows poor and faulty social judgment and certainly has no insight into the basic. His basic emotional problems. It is my clinical opinion that Mr. Brudos understands the nature of the charges against him and can assist in his own defense. This man has a paranoid disorder and his behavior is a product of that disorder.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Despite this, I believe he can differentiate between what is morally and socially right and wrong 100%. All the other examining psychiatrists had basically the same opinion.

[Ash]

And you said there was like seven total?

[Elena]

Seven of them. They all noted that while Jerry did appear to meet the diagnostic criteria for a psychotic disorder, he was certainly capable of knowing that his behavior and perspectives were socially unacceptable and in certain cases, criminally unacceptable. Right. Also, at least one of the psychiatrists, Dr. George Suckow, noted that on all three occasions. Mr. That Mr. Brudos has requested psychiatric help in his life, he has been in difficulty with the law. So as he saw it, Jerry was savvy enough to use his psychiatric history to his benefit.

[Ash]

Yep.

[Elena]

Citing his mental illness whenever he was in trouble. That's pretty savvy.

[Ash]

That is.

[Elena]

However, he also wrote, though he does describe some rather elaborate fantasies of a sadistic nature towards women in particular, none of these is extensive enough or involved enough to qualify, in my opinion, as being delusional, since he clearly understands that they are not real.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Now, in simple terms, Jerry Brudos may have been a violent sex offender and murderer who saw himself as being above the standards of others, but he was well aware of what he was doing. And when he committed the murders that he was charged for, he was fully. He knew what was going on.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

He knew what it was wrong. He was fine with it. Right. And in fact, several of the psychiatrists who evaluated him diagnosed him with an antisocial personality disorder and noted that there was no known treatment for such individuals. So in George Suckow wrote in the convoluted medical ease of the psychiatrist Jerome Henry Brudos was quite sane and eminently dangerous. In the language of the man on the street, he was a monster. He would always be a monster.

[Ash]

He certainly is.

[Elena]

So he's saying this guy is a monster and he can never be cured. This is who he is and you cannot rehabilitate him.

[Ash]

You just wonder, like, what's missing? What. Like, what piece is missing?

[Elena]

I think the more we see these things, the more I am convinced childhood is so vital to who you become. Something gets broken in a very specific way by a very specific set of treatments or situations that you are in when you are in a perfect state of development.

[Ash]

I don't even know if it's true, because that happens and people turn out fine.

[Elena]

But that's what I mean. I think it has to be a perfect storm. I think it has to be at a certain. I think we don't know what that one spot in development is that if you fuck it up, you're fucked. I think we can't pinpoint it yet.

[Ash]

Well, and I wonder if it's like you. It's so hard to, like, articulate, but I wonder if it's that. But also, like, if not everybody has that thing that you can fuck up. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like they have, like, the people like this who do things like this, like Jerry Brudos did. There's got to be something in them already. Like, I truly believe that there's gotta be something innately wrong with you from the jump that then I feel like I'm a pretty firm believer that it's nature and nurture.

[Elena]

I Agree.

[Ash]

At the same time, I agree.

[Elena]

I think. I mean, when you look at his mother, any mother who can actively hurt their child and, like, neglect their child and show that and, like, abuse their child and, you know, tell them basically that they're not worth what the other child is. There's something broken in that person.

[Ash]

Oh, absolutely.

[Elena]

And it's like, so obviously something could absolutely be in there, biologically and genetically, that's just broken.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

But you wonder where it all starts. Like, where does it. How far back does it. Not only do.

[Ash]

Yeah. Not only do I wonder how far back that starts, but what is that piece?

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And I wish there was, like. I feel like someday we will figure it out.

[Elena]

We need to, like, follow a line back, and you need to, like, first determine where every. Where you see these little bits and pieces of things to determine what. Is this coming through the maternal side, paternal side. Is it both? Does it matter? Does it skip a generation? Does it go every three generations that you see? Is it every generation?

[Ash]

And I feel like there's got to be some kind of like. Like, stimulus where like. Or, like, stimuli. Where something, like one part of the brain connects with another part that it's not supposed to, given a certain.

[Elena]

Yeah. Response. You know what I mean? Pathway that is disrupted or is bifurcated or created. You know, like something is happening.

[Ash]

Yes.

[Elena]

I just want to know what it is. It makes it. Because it's like. And obviously, if we knew what it was, we could stop these things from happening before they happen.

[Ash]

Well, and I just wonder, like, how many studies are being done on incarcerated serial killers? Because I think, like, I'd be happy to fucking fund that just to find out for real.

[Elena]

Like, I would love to be able. I just want to see. And it's something to look into, and I think we should look into, like, what. What studies are being currently done on this kind of stuff.

[Ash]

Yeah, let's look into that a little bit. Maybe follow up in the next episode.

[Elena]

In, like, the second. What are we looking at?

[Ash]

Well, there's. There's got to be some psychology behind this all, and there's got to be some.

[Elena]

There's something in the brain. There's physiology. There's. I feel like there's so many things happening.

[Ash]

There's a lot of work, for sure.

[Elena]

There's got to be some common denominator.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

That just. That no one's been able to find because it's like finding a thread in a haysack.

[Ash]

You know, we need to gather, like, three to five fucking monsters and just Study the. Out of their brains while they're still living, you know?

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

It would be a very hard study to conduct.

[Elena]

It would be a very hard study. That's the thing.

[Ash]

Like, it'd be dangerous, I'm sure.

[Elena]

But.

[Ash]

But I'm just. There's got to be something and I just. I just want to know what it is.

[Elena]

This kind of stuff is fascinating.

[Ash]

It is.

[Elena]

Because it really is. Because like we always said, like, they're not always from a home like this, you know?

[Ash]

No. Or there's. There's things that, I mean, there's things that I hear in certain stories that I can relate to. And I'm like, I. I'm not a serial killer.

[Elena]

Exactly. That's why I think, think it's just. There's got to be a perfect storm of things that once it all meets, it's like all the boxes get ticked and an explosion happens. Yeah.

[Ash]

And I. I don't know, my brain is just really rambling now because I'm also like, why is it more often men than like, obviously there are women serial killers. But it's so, it's. But they happen as often.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

So is it something within, like, within chromosomes? Yeah.

[Elena]

What could this be?

[Ash]

They're just. I just want to know about the story. I know.

[Elena]

It's just like, it really is. And he's really one of those, like. Because you're just like, what the fuck? You are just a straight up monster.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

But then you look at his background and you're like, yeah, some shitty things going on in there. But then you go back to that whole thing of like, a lot of people have shitty upbringings.

[Ash]

Yeah. I find him to be really similar to Ted Bundy.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Especially with like the necrophilia, like that kind of thing.

[Elena]

But then he's got like Hillside Stranglers in there.

[Ash]

Yeah, definitely.

[Elena]

He's got some BTK in there.

[Ash]

Yep, definitely.

[Elena]

He's got. And that's the thing. You look at all these amalgamation fuck's going on.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

What's going on with all you?

[Ash]

And he was before btk, right?

[Elena]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ash]

I mean, I think BTK was like killing at that point.

[Elena]

But yeah.

[Ash]

Not caught.

[Elena]

He was in the 70s.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So he wasn't going yet.

[Ash]

Wasn't going.

[Elena]

This was 69.

[Ash]

He was just about to start.

[Elena]

So by mid June, Jerry had entered similar plays of not guilty by reason of insanity in the indictments for the murders of Jan Whitney and Linda Said Alley. But by the time the psychiatric evaluation started flowing in, it was clear that he Was not going to have anything to back that up. Definitely no expert witnesses, no testimony, no evidence, no diggity. So he had no choice but to change his police. On June 27, 1969, just three days before his trial for the murder of Karen Sprinker, Jerry changed his plea to guilty on all three counts of murder.

[Ash]

There it is.

[Elena]

At the time, the prosecution didn't have enough evidence to get an indictment for the murder of Linda Slaun.

[Ash]

Oh, that's sad.

[Elena]

So that charge was dropped.

[Ash]

That always makes me so sad when.

[Elena]

Like, you know, he did it, but, yeah, they just can't get, like, the official amount.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

When Judge Sloper asked for confirmation, defense attorney Dale Drake said the defense had exhausted every legal remedy for providing Brudos with the defense. And he added the state's evidence, tallied with statements made by Brudos, to his defense team. So when Sloper addressed Brudos directly and asked why he was changing his plea, Jerry said, well, because I did it.

[Ash]

Whoa.

[Elena]

That was his answer.

[Ash]

Simple as that.

[Elena]

He waived his right to a delay between conviction and sentencing as well. So Judge Sloper imposed three life sentences, each running consecutively, putting Brudos in jail for the rest of his life.

[Ash]

Good.

[Elena]

On July 28, just one month after he was sentenced, the body of Jane Whitney was discovered tied to a piece of railroad iron submerged in the Willamette River. That same day, the prosecutor's office released a statement to the press saying although he had confessed, they would not be pursuing a case against Brudos for the murder of Linda Slauson. They said, we have no substantiation. So they just were having trouble getting the pieces together. He confessed to it. Yeah, unfortunately, and this is really heartbreaking. Linda Slauson's remains were never recovered, and Brudos refused to tell investigators where he had disposed of her body.

[Ash]

What a douche.

[Elena]

So the sentences handed down to Jerry brought a lot of relief, especially to women in Oregon.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

As well as for the families of the victims. But many were very concerned, though, because the sentences still allowed for parole. I was just thinking that, yeah, under the terms of his sentence, Jerry could be eligible for parole in as little as 10 years.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

And now receiving three life sentences contingent upon the adjustment he makes during the interim, is what it said. In response to the community's concerns, Oregon Parole Board Chairman Jack Wiseman released a statement saying, there. There'll be a continual study of the case over the course of his imprisonment to evaluate his threat level before parole could even be considered, which we're like, that's basically.

[Ash]

His threat level is pretty fucking high, guys.

[Elena]

Threat level, midnight at all times. And he said there must be sufficient learning, adjustment, emotional, social, and psychological on the part of Brudos before he would be a proper candidate for serious parole, even consideration.

[Ash]

Damn.

[Elena]

So that's nice, but still, the idea of it is still scary. And those families were probably freaking the fuck out. Of course, as it happened, Jerry Brudos became a model prisoner. Once he started serving his sentence, he joined several programs. He even took on a clerical job at the Oregon State Penitentiary. But he did remain a target for the other prisoners, particularly those who targeted sex offenders and sexual killers, including one incident in 1978 when he was stabbed a lot by a fellow inmate.

[Ash]

I just love a lot, a lot.

[Elena]

But he lived. Unfortunately, throughout his nearly four decades in prison, Jerry was considered for parole a number of times, but each time he was denied.

[Ash]

That must have just been gut wrenched.

[Elena]

It made them go through. The families all had to go through it over and over.

[Ash]

Right. Because that's a lengthy process. It's not like they just.

[Elena]

Oh, my God.

[Ash]

You know, the.

[Elena]

The number that must have done in their nervous systems to have to be in fight or flight for that long. Like every year she's on end. Yeah.

[Ash]

And then just wondering how long until the next one.

[Elena]

In June 1995, after repeated parole hearings, the board informed Jerry Brudos he was no longer eligible for parole due to his complete inability to show considerable evidence of rehabilitation. They said to this is the state board chair, Marva Fabian told him, you will be in prison for the rest of your life and there will be no future parole hearings.

[Ash]

Icon.

[Elena]

But Jerry did try to appeal before the parole board every two years, despite them saying this and despite never demonstrating even an ounce of remorse for his crimes.

[Ash]

And it's like, that's all you have to do.

[Elena]

Yeah. No, I'm glad he was incapable. Yeah. On March 28, 2006, Jerry Brudos died in the infirmary at the Oregon State Penitentiary after a long and terrible battle with liver cancer.

[Ash]

Karma.

[Elena]

His death was a big relief to many of the victims families who lived with constant anxiety that you just never know that they're gonna let him out for something. Jan Whitney's sister, Cindy Elliott, told a reporter, I'm feeling relief. You hate to say you're glad that someone is dead, but my family believes it should have happened years ago. And to that I say, fuck, yeah, chill. You're here and you don't have to feel bad at all.

[Ash]

Nope. He took you because You're a loved one.

[Elena]

Fuck that guy.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And he was a blight on humanity.

[Ash]

And continue to terrorize your poor family. I don't think she should feel bad one bit.

[Elena]

You wouldn't tell people where, like Linda Slauson's family. Never had her body to bury. Never had her anything of her to say goodbye to.

[Ash]

And he loved. Absolutely devastating.

[Elena]

Yeah. He did it. It was his last little power trip he could take. And he took it to the grave. Fuck that guy.

[Ash]

Unreal. What a douchebag. What a wild story. I never. I don't know if I knew all the details of that, to be honest.

[Elena]

He's really bad.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, he's a really bad one.

[Ash]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Elena]

He's a piece of shit.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And I'm glad he's dead.

[Ash]

And we're glad to be rid of him.

[Elena]

Yeah. Bye.

[Ash]

Rest in distress, Jerry. Truly don't rest at all.

[Elena]

No. Be tormented for the rest of your life.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Your afterlife.

[Ash]

Yeah. Wow. Thanks for that. Well, if you want a palate cleanser, go buy tickets to that insidious event because that's awesome.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

And we hope you keep listening.

[Elena]

And we hope you keep it weir.

[Ash]

But not so weird as Jerry Buddha's because. Wow. If you're listening to the show and you're doing that. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Get out of here.

[Elena]

Bye.

[Ash]

If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.

[Narrator]

In a quiet suburb, a community is shattered by the death of a beloved wife and mother. But this tragic loss of life quickly turns into something even darker. Her husband had tried to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill her. And she wasn't the only target. Because buried in the depths of the Internet is the Kill List, a cache of chilling documents containing names, photos, addresses and specific instructions for people's murders. This podcast is the true story of how I ended up in a race against time to warn those who lives were in danger. And it turns out convincing a total stranger someone wants them dead is not easy. Follow Kill List on the Wandery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Kill List and more. Exhibit C. True crumb shows like Morbid early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Check out exhibit C in the Wondery app for all your true crumb listening.