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Morbid
The Horrific Crimes of the Aspirin Bandit
00:59:22
On February 4, 1941, Bronx police officers were called to the home of John and Catherine Pappas for a report of a homicide. Based on the evidence, detectives theorized that someone had been invited into the Pappas apartment while Catherine was home alone and that same someone had strangled her to death, then ransacked the apartment looking for valuables. To investigators the scene resembled a fairly straightforward robbery-homicide; however, to detective Ed Burns, there were elements of the crime scene that bore a striking similarity to another assault and robbery case he’d been assigned to just two weeks earlier in another part of the Bronx.
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Okay. Last night I had such a conflict in my life. I was wearing this brand new really cute set. It was pink and like really cozy. But I was also making a red sauce. And for some reason, even on simmer, that sauce was bubbling all over the place and it popped up big giant bubbles of red tomato sauce all over my brand new light pink set. And I was really angry for a second. But then I said, it's actually fine because I use tide free and gentle. And Tide free and Gentle has your back, honey. It delivers a powerful clean without perfumes, dyes or irritants tints. It's 100% hypoallergenic care, which is good because I also have sensitive skin. There's a lot going on in my life. It's a concentrated formula and that means less waste, zero extra water and more time for your next true crime Deep Dive. It even works in cold water. Talk about cracking a cold case, honey. No cover ups or compromises here. If it's got to be clean, it's got to be tide free and gentle. Are you ready to get spicy? These Doritos Golden Sriracha aren't that spicy. Maybe it's time to turn up the heat. Or turn it down. It's time for something that's not too spicy. Try Doritos Golden Sriracha. Spicy but not too spicy. A dog's love letter to his squeaky avocado. Dearest squeaky avocado, my heart yearns to chew thee. Alas, I've devoured a small action figure and have taken ill, unable to partake in our jubilant squeakings. Worry not, as I am on the mend. And Lemonade pet insurance covered 90% of the veterinarian's cost. I recommend all the cats and dogs of the land. Get a'@lemonade.com pet soon my tummy will be unburdened and we shall frolic once more. Yours, Jerry. Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. This is morbid bitch. On the weekend. I know, it's so weird. I feel like we very rarely record on the weekend. Weekend. We try not to. The weekend. The weekend. If you've seen the urban legend movie, which I hope you have. If you haven't, go watch it. If you haven't. What the hell are you doing? What the Heliante? What's that? If you haven't seen the urban legend movie, then where the hell are you at? I don't think that one really worked, but whatever. Okay, I didn't need you to double down on my own opinion. But here's the thing. I really liked it. Okay, that's good. I'm just very tired. Yeah. No big facts. So tired. We had our first live show last night at the Wilbur. At the Wilbur. Ye old Wilbur. Ye old Wilbur is what we thought, what we found out it's called. It was so much fun, you guys. I said on my Instagram star, you showed up and you showed out. You did. You showed in every direction you should. In up, down, left, right, center, everywhere, under, on top. It was so much fun. And like we had a couple of like hiccups, but like super minor hiccups. And you guys were just ling with us. Yeah. Cuz they were funny hiccups, you know, ruined anything. But like it started right away when I didn't know when I was supposed to go on stage. I know. And I think everyone heard me over the microphone. Be like, do I go? Do I go up now? And I literally was like, yeah, just, just go. Just go, go. But yeah. So that was so much fun. And we got to meet a bunch of you. It's just. It was great. I know. Everyone was so lovely and the vibe was so good in there. It really was like you guys really brought some just delicious vibes. Yeah. Here's the thing. You're going to be hearing this after it already happened just because of the way the cookie crumbles. But Sunday crowd, you better have brought it. I hope you brought it because Friday brought it. Yeah, they brought it. Yeah. So yesterday's crowd. Yeah. Hope you brought it. And shout out to Lauren who made us the coolest cross stitch I've ever seen and was the sweetest bo be sorry I gave you the most awkward hug of human existence because my shoes were so high and the stage was high up. So I like went to give her a side hug, but I kind of just leaned on her. I think I just grabbed your arm or your hand is not a hugger. Cuz I just didn't know what to do. You hugged last night. Yeah. And I hugged and we all hugged. Hey, it's good. It's all I love you guys. Yeah. I say I'm not a hugger, but then I just go and hug everyone. Yeah, you are. Maybe I'm a secret hugger. You are. I'm. You know what? I'm coming out of the closet as a hugger. You're officially saying it. Here I am. Here she is. Except don't hug me. I'll hug you. Yeah, that's all. It's like, if I want to hug you, I'll hug you. Yeah. Yeah. So if I hugged you, I wanted to hug you. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Yeah, we had. Everybody was so amazing, and we had all the people, you know, that love and care about us back there with us, which was so lovely. Yeah. But, yeah, I'm exhausted. Very big tired. You know, one of my kids is going through, like, a slight little, like, sleep regression type doodad. Little doodad. So I don't exactly sleep through the night ever right now. It's like, it feels like a newborn a little bit. But I slept. I'm sleeping. Sorry. I slept through the night and I slept in and I'm still tired. I got. I didn't sleep through the night. And then I woke up, took one of them to dance, and then immediately went to karate. And this is like, John was gonna just do all the things. Yeah, but you want to. But. Because I was. I had the thing last night and, like, we had some of the day taken. Yeah. I don't like missing, like, you know, bedtime with them and everything. So I was like, no, I want to do it all. And then I was like, but I'm so tired. You're like that Sarah Jessica Parker movie. How does she do it? How does she do it all? Except I think she might be a in that movie. And you're prob. Well, I mean, you're bitching, but you're not a bitch. You're bitching, but you're not a. I like that. Donnis to Darko. But, yeah, so I'm exhausted. But, you know, here we are. It's all. We're here. It's all good. Exhaustion. It's. Yeah. Honestly, life has been like. Well, before I go too far, I was just gonna say, where's this? It's so fun. Professional life has been sick lately. Oh, yeah. We. We are. Professional Life did a 180. Love it. And then, like, personal life won a little, like. Well, it's like life in our. In our own little houses. Great. Awesome. A plus. Outside of that. Outside of that. Could use a little WD40 because it's a little squeaky. I think we need more than that, babe. But you know what? But you know, babe, I got you, babe. I got you, babe. That's my. I'm the. We're Sonny and Cher before they divorce. So there's that. Yeah. But, yeah, we're going to. We have a case for you today. That's why you're Here. They're like, can you. Can you get to it? They're like, can you stop being insane? This could be very unhinged, probably, you know. Here we are. I'm going to talk about the aspirin bandit today. The what? I just took a sip of coffee, like, the worst. The aspirin bandit. This is about someone stealing the aspirin. You would think. You would think it's a little different. So I know that's. That's a very interesting name. But we'll get to it. Topical. So let's. Let's begin at the beginning. Okay. You know, a really good place to begin. Yeah. By the way, I'm sorry about my straw. There's nothing I can do about it. Oh, yeah, Mikey, don't worry. It's fine. I need the coffee. We have it. You know, we're trying to, like, be kind to the environment with glass and metal straws. But then it does a little, like. But it. But you know what? Asmr. Yeah. We don't do it all the time, so don't worry. So on the afternoon of January 13, 1941, Betty Allen was home. Home alone. Home alone. Home alone. I don't. I was going to say home alone. I'm not really sure. I'm not. I don't know what's going on. She was. She was living that. McCulke. McCulke. She was living McColkey kid life. That's what she was. What do we. What? Macaulay Culkin. I did the K2 soon. Jesus Christ. Oh, my God. I told you. Christ Almighty. I warned you. What's the other? Kirkin. What's the other Kirk? McCulkin. God damn it. There's many Culkins. Who's Roman? Roman is Kieran, maybe. Is that Kiernan? There's a Kieran Book A. Now I have to look this up. We're never gonna get to this story. We haven't even started this. Hello. I think it's Kiernan Culkin. Or is it Kieran and Shipka? Yeah, it's Kieran Kolpka. It's Kieran Culkin. But Kiernan. There's Macaulay Culkin. There's Rory Culkin. No, you don't have to tell me all of them. I just like. And Kiernan Culkin. Kieran Culkin is Roman. He is. But Rory Culkin was in Scream 4. He plays Charlie. Oh, I did like Charlie, too. And I thought he was so good in that. He really was. I really thought he was awesome in that. Of all the. Of all the Culkins, Kieran is my favorite. Kieran is your favorite? I mean, I get that. I think. I think he's pretty high up on people's lists right now, but honestly, they all kind of rock. Yeah, they're all good. They're all pretty great. I like you all. I'm just saying. I like you all. Kieran, the best. Since you're obviously listening to this podcast. Listen, listen, Culkin. Weirdos. Listen, Culkin. I feel like I'm losing my mind. Oh, one little side note. Oh, my God. I feel like. And again, this is coming out after the Sunday show. I don't know. I made a joke at the end of the. At the Friday show that, like, Tobias Forge was coming out. I don't know if you should do that tomorrow. I don't think I should do it Sunday. I think I genuinely disappointed everyone because I was like, just kidding. Yeah, don't do that at the end of the show because, like, he's. He's in Mexico. Like, he's. He's not here. It was funny, though, when you were like, I'm kidding. He's in Mexico. Yeah. I was like, come on, he's not even here. Oh, man. But I think. I think everyone believed me for a second, which, like, thank you for having the faith in me that you think that I could get Tobias Forge to come out for the end of our show. That's. Here's the thing. If we were gonna get Tobias Forge to come out, I feel like we wouldn't put him at the end. Oh, I have the show. That'd be so rude. I would have had him sat on that chaise lounge the whole time. What are you about to say? Where would you have him sat? On the chaise lounge. On the chaise. He would have just been a little ornament that's there. And every now and then I'd be like, tobias Forge. What's up, Tobias? So funny that you heard Tobias. But, yeah, it was funny. I made that joke. I don't think anybody was mad at me about it, but I felt the disappointment, so I didn't. I don't think I'll do that on Sunday. Here's how I'll quell your disappointment. Our pumpkin necklaces that I ordered us just came in. Oh, hell, yeah. Yeah, I wanna wear the shit out of that. Let's fucking go. So, yeah, if you were at the Friday show. Sorry if I disappointed you with that joke. I truly didn't mean to okay. Someday we'll have him be a special guest. Yeah. You know, on a chaise. On something. We'll put him on a chaise lounge. But in Sunday, who knows if I made that joke, and if I did, sorry, I disappointed you, too. I'm telling you, I don't know if you should. I don't think I. Maybe I'll just tell you on Sunday that I made that joke and it disappointed everyone. There you go. There you go. And now you'll just hear it again. I figured it out. Okay. Okay. All right. We're losing it. All right. So. On the afternoon of January, February 13, 1941, Betty Allen was home alone and a roan and a roan in the Bronx apartment she shared with her husband. And she heard a knock at the door. When she opened it, Betty was met by a young man with olive skin. That's how he was described. And dark hair, who she had never seen before. The man explained that a few days earlier he had been hitchhiking in Connecticut. It was picked up by her husband, who was driving his bakery delivery route. The young man told Betty he'd had a hard life and had grown up in Boys Town, which was a small village in Nebraska established a few decades earlier by Father Edward Flanagan as a home for orphaned boys. Oh, I feel like I've heard of Boys Town. Yeah. He was on his way to visit his sick sister in New York, and Betty's husband had been kind enough to not only give him a ride, but also lend him a few dollars. Now that he'd arrived in the city, he wanted to repay the small loan, which is, like, really nice. I don't know if I buy it. Betty explained that her husband was still at work and would be home later that day if he wanted to. Never get information. Yeah, you can't do that. Your husband is always home as far as strangers are concerned. The man seemed a little disappointed and again expressed that he really just wanted to return the money. But Betty just reiterated her previous statement. My husband is not home. He will be home later this evening accepting this whole thing. The man was about to leave, but before he did, he wondered if Betty might be able to spare a few aspirin and a glass of water, because he said he had a terrible headache all day and would have to walk back to his sister's apartment, which was, like, kind of far away. And he was really dealing with a headache. All right. Betty was like, yeah, of course. So she said, yeah, wait, wait here. I'll get you the pills and the water. But as soon as Betty had walked away, the man slipped in behind her and closed the door. Oh, no. That is really scary. Really scary. And actually, like, I hate saying this, but that's such a good way to get in. Like, most people really wouldn't think twice about that. He endeared himself. And then he just asked for something very simple, which is like, I really have a headache. And he didn't, like, insist on coming in the house. He, like, waited, knowing that she's not gonna, like, maybe like, or most likely not gonna lock the door behind her, but now, you know. Lock the door? Yeah. So once inside the apartment, the man forced Betty into the back bedroom and pushed her on the bed. Oh, no. Then he. And just as a. Obviously, I think you can all see that this is going to be a rough one. I would love to throw a trigger right now just in case there's some sexual assault in this one. It's a little. Little tough. He tied her hands with a necktie and her feet with a towel, and then he gagged her with a handkerchief. Jesus. She was laying face down on the bed, but she could hear him rummaging through the apartment, you know, presumably looking for cash and valuables. But when he'd finished ransacking the apartment, he returned to the bedroom, and he could. She could hear him taking off his clothes, presumably to sexually assault her. Yeah. Fortunately, just as he had started to unbutton his pants, the telephone rang really loudly and scared him. Oh. It, like, freaked him out. And he quickly dressed himself up and ran out of the apartment. The telephone scared him off. Yeah. That's crazy. I don't know if it's just like, I'm glad, but it's just, like, interference from the outside world. Maybe just make him be like, oh, fuck, like, I'm gonna get in trouble here. I don't know. Interesting. Now, when Bronx Detective Ed Burns came to the Allen apartment, the scene supported the story that Betty had told. Someone had clearly torn the place apart, you know, ripping out drawers, pulling out the contents of the cabinets. But when he spoke to Betty and her husband, Burns only learned, like, a few things of value that have been stolen. He was like, he didn't really take a lot. And other more valuable items were left behind. Weird. So, also, after giving investigators a description of her attacker, both Betty and her husband claimed they didn't know the man, and her husband couldn't think of anyone who matched that description. So that story was a. Was not. Was a roof. Yeah. The rest of the crime scene was pretty unhelpful There was a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin on the table in the kitchen. But when they dusted the glass, neither Betty nor the attacker's prints were even visible on it, indicating that he'd actually been smart enough to wipe it down before leaving the apartment, because he had wiped Betty's off, too. Oh. And when he considered all the evidence, Burns theorized that this probably wasn't the first time this attacker had done something like this, because that was pretty smart. Also, he left behind valuables laying in plain sight while taking, again, the smaller, less valuable ones. So he was like, I don't even think that robbery was the prime motive here. So later that afternoon, detectives brought Betty and her husband into the station to look over, like, a bunch of photos of 50 known criminals that they wanted to have a look at. That's a lot of people. And she flips through a few pages, and she identified Anthony Litzy as the man who attacked her. Okay. At the time, Litzy was known to bronze police for his involvement in a number of robberies a few years earlier. But since he'd been released from prison, he'd stayed out of trouble, and he'd actually maintained employment with a local construction crew. So they were like, fuck, is he, like, back at it again? Yeah. Now, there was nothing in his past, as well, to suggest that he was a violent predator, too, which made them, like, consider what was going on. Yeah, that's weird. But when investigators spoke to his employer, they learned that Anthony had been working at the Park Chester Apartments on the day Betty Allen was attacked, which is where she lived. Okay. So he was brought in for questioning. Under interrogation, Litzy vehemently denied having anything to do with this whole thing, and he offered two of his co workers as alibis. He was like, I did not do this. But when they learned that both of Litzy's alibis were related to him by blood or marriage, that doesn't check out at all. He was arrested for the attack on Betty Allen. All right. I still don't know if it's him. You don't know. So his arrest represented the best possible outcome. A quick resolution that brought this whole thing to a close feels too soon. Or so it seemed. Imagine if I was like. And that's the end. That's it. The end. Yeah. Welcome to the shortest morbid ever recorded. And what a happy ending. He got caught. I know. And, like, you know, Bye. So three weeks after the attempted assault on Betty Allen, Ed Burns was called to the apartment of John and Catherine Pappas. John had been at work that afternoon when someone came to the apartment and killed Catherine. Oh, yeah. According to John, there were several things missing, including a necklace, a diamond engagement ring, and an unknown amount of dimes that Catherine had been saving in a tin on her dresser. Oh. But what immediately caught Burns attention was the open bottle of aspirin and a glass of water sitting on the coffee table. Oh, shit. Now you know why he's called the Aspirin Man. And that is such good detective work to notice something because, again, that's pretty innocent. Innocuous, right? Exactly. Many people get headaches, and especially around this time. We're in the 40s here. Everybody taking some aspirin? You got headaches? Like, shit's rough. We do. Like depression era? Yeah, like, you know, like post depression. It's like everybody's got a headache and you're all taking an aspirin for it. It's just like a normal thing to do. Now, in the bedroom, Catherine's body was on the bed. She had scratches and bruising on her face. Her bra was torn, and her dress was hiked up to her waist, but she was still wearing underwear. Later, the medical examiner would confirm that she had not been sexually assaulted, but she had been strangled, and several of her neck bones had been broken in the process. That's brutal. Brutal. When she was discovered, she had a linen towel tied around her throat, which had been ripped, and the other was used to bind her ankles. And her wrists had been bound with a man's new blue necktie. On the bed, there was also a balled up handkerchief that looked like he had tried to use it as a gag, which is exactly what he did with Betty. I was just gonna say to Burns, the scene clearly looked very much like the Betty Allen scene immediately. Yeah. There was no sign of forced entry. The bottle of aspirin on the table, the apartment had been ransacked and looted. Seam bindings. Yeah. The only difference was, in this case, Katherine Pappas had fought her attacker with every ounce of energy she had in her. And for that, she was likely killed. Yeah, they thought, like, she fought so hard that he. Just, like they lost it right now. Investigators interviewed John, who was an owner of a small coffee import business, and he told them he had been at work when his wife was killed, which was confirmed by several of his employees. And John told detectives he and Catherine had met in Egypt, where she had grown up. And they married just two years earlier. Since their marriage, Catherine moved to America and spent most of her time volunteering with their church where she taught Sunday school. And she just kept up with the domestic responsibility. She's just like a stay at home wife in her 40s. Yeah. Most people think home security is just an alarm that goes off after a break in, scaring the intruder off and maybe getting a neighbor's attention if you're lucky. But that's a reactive approach. By the time that intruders in your house, it's way too late and your feeling of safety has been shattered. That is why you should trust Simply Safe. Their system is designed to be proactive, not reactive. They use smart AI powered cameras to identify threats lurking outside your home and immediately alert Simply Safe's professional monitoring agents. They access two way audio to confront the person, trigger sirens and spotlights to scare them off and request rapid police dispatch when needed. All helping to stop the intruder while they're still outside. I'm obsessed with Simply Safe. I've had it for years at this point and I love just knowing that it is so as simple as the tap of a button on my app to know what's going on at my house that their professional monitoring agents have my back even if I'm not home. And not all my little alarms and sirens and everything are the loudest that you can get. You're gonna love Simply Safe too. Visit simplisafe.commorbid to claim 50 off a new system. That's simplisafe.commorbid. there's no safe like Simply Safe. Okay. Last night I had such a conflict in my life. I was wearing this brand new really cute set. It was pink and like really cozy. But I was making a red sauce and for some reason, even on simmer, that sauce was bubbling all over the place and it popped up big giant bubbles of red tomato sauce all over my brand new light pink set. And I was really angry for a second, but then I said, it's actually fine because I use Tide free and gentle and Tide free and gentle has your back, honey. It delivers a powerful clean without perfumes, dyes or irritants. It's a hundred percent hypoallergenic care, which is good because I also have sensitive skin. There's a lot going on in my life. It's a concentrated formula and that means less waste, zero extra water, and more time for your next true crime Deep dive. It even works in cold water. Talk about cracking a cold case, honey. No cover ups or compromises here. If it's got to be clean, it's got to be tied free and gentle. It's a Cold day here in Alaska. But there's one animal seemingly unaffected. Bright eyed and determined. Enters the husky. Observe as they go up the mountain, guided by pure instinct. They are truly amazing masters of this wilderness. But even these amazing pets can't sign up for Lemonade Pet Insurance. You can sign up now@lemonade.com Amazing. According to John, he returned home around 10pm that night and rang the bell. And he explained that because his wife was new to the country, she was a little anxious and uncomfortable about being alone. Especially when she was home alone, which is smart. I lived here my whole life and I'm anxious when I'm home alone. So what's, what's so kind of him is he got in the habit of ringing the bell when he arrived so that she wouldn't be frightened by him just entering the apartment. Oh my God. That's adorable. Yeah. She didn't want him to hear. She, he didn't want her to hear the door open. Like think somebody was coming. Yeah. Being anxious. Right. But that night after ringing the bell, he put his keys in the door and was surprised to find out that it wasn't locked. Oh. And he was like, that's not. We don't leave this unlocked when she's there. So he went in the apartment and found it had been ransacked and he found Catherine dead in the bedroom, which is when he called the police. That's so sad that she was so worried about being here in the first place. The one thing she was worried about happened. And it's like you do wonder if she felt some sense of that. Yeah. Like she could almost tell that something was impending. Yeah. It's really. I. You hear this a lot in these cases and it's always fascinating where it's somebody who's like really nervous or very anxious about being alone and so locks the door a lot or does whatever they knew and then takes all these precautions. The victim of these things. And you're like, it's just so horrifying to me for someone to be. That's their worst nightmare and it comes true. Yeah. I mean, the one thing they didn't want to happen comes true. And you do like everything you can to avoid it. It's. I hate it. Yeah. So when it was suggested that she might have been having an affair, which they of course brought up. So rude. John flatly rejected the very idea, saying that she was an exceedingly proper woman who would never have done anything to compromise her reputation. He's like, also, we were in love. He's like, also like, she's my wife. So also, he was like, they have a. She has a very small social circle, mostly people she knew from church. And would have been really out of character for her to invite a stranger into their home under any circumstances. So the medical examiner fixed Catherine's time of death between 11am and 3pm Basically, that's when she would have been home alone, like, for, like, the bulk of when she would have been home alone. When detectives asked the doorman if he'd seen anyone unfamiliar that afternoon, he told them as he was arriving for his shift at 2pm he did see a man with olive skin and dark hair leaving the building like he was in a hurry. Now, investigators worked through the night to process the scene, which was really light on evidence and clues. And in the living room, they discovered several cigarette butts in the ashtray. And there was a brand that John and Catherine did not smoke. Oh, so the discovery of all these cigarettes suggested that the killer had lingered in the home and smoked inside like a douchebag. Yeah, of course it was a 40. So they all. Everybody smoked inside. I was like, yeah, that was just normal. But this belief was supported by the presence of coffee cups on the table, which indicated that Catherine had provided at least the inter. Like, Like a coffee, water, and aspirin, at the very least, to this intruder. Huh. Which is, like, out of character. Or maybe he made his own coffee there. Yeah. So a little past 4am One of the investigators discovered a fingerprint on the water glass that didn't match Catherine. Oh, I love it. Which, like, that's badass. I love 4am they're like, got it. They're gonna run it through the database in the 40s. Yeah, exactly. Fortunately, by 19, crime scene investigators had started carrying fingerprinting kits, and they were able to take the fingerprints of everyone who had been at the scene since the body was discovered, at the very least. So having, you know, effectively ruled out everybody there, that meant the fingerprint almost certainly belonged to the killer because they. They checked John's fingerprints as well. The print was rushed to Albany, where the state fingerprint records were kept, and a copy was also sent to the FBI in Washington, D.C. for comparison. As soon as he saw the crime scene, Detective Ed Burns was convinced that this was the same person that attacked Betty Allen. Also, in the weeks since the attack in the Allen apartment, three other rape and robberies had occurred. Two in the Bronx and one in Washington Heights. And in each incident, the attacker had asked the woman for aspirin before attacking them. Since Anthony litzy was in jail when the papa's murder and other attacks occurred. It was impossible that he was responsible for any of the crimes. So he was released from jail. And District Attorney Samuel Foley admitted there was the possibility that the murder was committed by the same person. Yeah, I would think so. Now detectives fanned out across the city, interviewing the owners of various pawn and junk shops around the city, hoping that the killer might have tried to, you know, sell some of the stolen jewelry. But by the end of the day, they were really coming up with nothing. And at the same time, and honestly with remarkable speed at that, the results from the Albany fingerprint analysis came back. And unfortunately, the print found on the water glass wasn't a match for any of the prints on file. Two days passed since the murder of Katherine Pappas, and in that time, investigators best evidence had gone nowhere and there were no new leads. So, super frustrated, Burns and the other detectives returned to the earliest case case, which was the attack of Betty Allen. They were certain that there was something in that case that was going to lead them to the killer. Betty and her husband were called back to the precinct for another interview. And Betty told her story again. She wasn't ordinarily in the habit of letting strangers in her home or even opening the door for people she didn't know. But she said the young man just seemed to know a great deal about her husband. Including the route he drove as a delivery driver. Yeah, so he assumed, she assumed he was telling the truth. He knew all that information, so he's like watching people. So when they first interviewed following the attack, both Betty and her husband were adamant that they didn't know anyone who matched the description of who attacked Betty. And neither of them had any idea how the man knew all these details about them. And Betty reiterated this during the follow up interview. But when they asked Betty's husband the same question, his story changed. This time he explained that just a few days before the attack, he did pick up a hitchhiker while he was on a delivery route in Connecticut. And while they drove, the man told a familiar story. He had been raised in Boys Town, Nebraska, after both his parents died and he was on his way to visit his sister in New York because she was sick and needed help. The story played on Betty's husband's sympathy, so he gave the young man a few dollars, but the hitchhiker insisted that he pay him back. So Mr. Allen gave him their address in the Bronx. Oh, so he didn't want to want to like say that originally, which I get That's. That's rough. He was probably embarrassed and felt so guilty that he was being so, like, blindly trustworthy. That's rough. Now, at the time, Betty identified Anthony Litzy as their attacker, so her husband didn't mention the hitchhiker because it didn't seem relevant. Yeah, although it definitely, definitely was. He was. That's how he saw it. By the time they got around to the second interview with the Allens, the story had become familiar to the Bronx detectives, having heard it from three other victims. In each case, the incident seemed to go in more or less the same way. The young man shows up at the door while the woman is home alone. He claimed to have borrowed money from their husbands and even mentions growing up in Boys Town. They all still hold the same story. In each case, he asks for an aspirin and a glass of water, and that's when he makes his way into the apartment. And he attacks the woman, tying them up with his necktie and whatever else he could find. And then he ransacks the apartment, stealing whatever valuables he could find before wiping the fingerprints off the glass and fleeing the scene. Same thing each time. Now, in each of the four cases, the attacker had been picked up hitchhiking either in Connecticut or New York, and a few days later, he would show up at the victim's apartment. So, to Detective Burns, it seemed entirely reasonable that if there were four victims that they knew about, it was pretty possible there could be more, either in the Bronx or one of the other boroughs. Operating on that hunch, he put out a message to all the precincts across the five boroughs, and he asked for any cases that were similar to these attacks on Allen and the other victims. It's unknown what type of response Ed Burns was hoping for, but whatever it was, it probably paled in comparison to the incredible response he received back. Okay. Now, within a few hours, investigators received a call from police in Manhattan regarding a case that was really similar to the one in the Bronx. The couple was brought into the Bronx precinct, and the husband explained that he had picked up a hitchhiker who told him his name was Jerry Schaffner. He told him he grown up in Boystown and was trying to get to New York to visit his sister, who he'd recently. I think the sister had broken her leg in this instance and needed help getting around. He probably just got tired of saying these exact same thing. You switch it up a little, just a tiny bit. Yeah. Like Betty's husband, the man gave him a few dollars, and the hitchhiker insisted he wanted to pay him back, so he got address. It's just like a bunch of dudes that are trying to be nice. I know, but just giving out their home address. Like, God damn. A few days later, Jerry Shaer showed up at the door when the man was at work, explained the whole thing, and he seemed trustworthy, and the wife felt sorry for him, so she invited him in and offered him some lunch. This is such a wild way to go about things. Hitchhiking with their husbands first, and then, like, he infiltrates the entire family and praying on their goodness. Yeah, like, full goodness. He's training. Right. Fully preying on their trustworthiness because this person is picking you up, giving you money, and then giving you their address. Yeah. You show up and then prey on the wife who's like, do you want to come in for lunch? Like, yeah. Like, do you need. Yeah. So after eating the sandwich that she had prepared for him, Schaffner said he had a terrible headache and asked if she could spare some aspirin when she returned with the pills. That's when he attacked her. He tied her up. Up. He sexually assaulted her. He looted the apartment. He then wiped down anything he touched and left. The call from Manhattan was just the first of many, many, many more calls. And by the end of the day, investigators were flooded with calls from precincts all over New York City with cases that were nearly identical to those in the Bronx. The attacker went by many aliases. Jerry Schaffner, Jerry Mitchell, George Mitchell, George Mundy, George Blake, and others. But the details were literally all the same. The Boys Town thing, showing up looking for aspirin, Attack, assault, wipe off, leave, all of the above. In 1941, police precincts and districts operated more or less as, like, independent entities, basically, despite being like, a larger, you know, the nypd. This had much to do with the limited communication technology, as it did the limited regions they were responsible for. But as a result, they, like, rarely communicated with one another unless a case really required it. As a result, investigators all over New York had no idea they were pursuing the same person in multiple cases across the city right now. Oh, dang. Once detectives in the Bronx started pulling together all the cases, though, a bigger picture of what was going on and how surprising this one was coming into view. By plotting this on all the cases on a map, Burns and the other investigators were able to identify 31 cases going back nine months, all with the same M.O. wow. There was a noticeable pattern in the movements. Like, he would catch rides from drivers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York or New Jersey, and travel into the city. Once there, he would commit three or four assaults, and then he would leave the city, and the cycle would start over again. All right. Yeah. Now, operating on the assumption that if the attacker could have caught rides in the states around New York, it was pretty possible he could have come from further away. Right. Investigators put out a bulletin to eight states on the east coast, stretching as far as Maine and New Orleans. Wow. Asking their fellow detectives to, quote, make a careful check of files for a man who gains entrance by subterfuge. Claiming to know the husband after gaining admittance and gaining women's confidence, he mugs some by applying soiled handkerchief to some's mouth, then ties hands and feet with necktie and steal money and jewelry. In the same bulletin, they included descriptions of Catherine Pappas's missing jewelry and asked pawn shop owners and jewelers to also be on the lookout in those places. They're doing, like, a really good job with this. Yeah, they really are. Meanwhile, detectives reached out to Father Edward Flanagan, the founder of Boystown. Oh. Who explained that he didn't know anyone who fit the description of the man they were looking. Looking for. He did, however, explain that he had received several postcards in recent months from men whose names he didn't recognize, and he offered to hand them over if it would help. That's strange. In their interviews with the victims and their husbands, many reported that the hitchhiker had gone as far as writing out and sending postcards to Flanagan while in their presence. So to make his story more believable, basically. But to find them is so strange. So this man is making up these aliases, and then he says, sits down after telling this story and, like, writes out the postcard so they feel like. And then, like you said, is actually sending them. Because that's the thing. It's like, you could go to that trouble to make the roots believable, but just. Yeah. Which is also weird. But to send them is like a whole other level. Yeah. So while they assume the names on the cards were all aliases, Burns and the other investigators thought, at the very least that the postcards could provide them with a handwriting sample. In fact, when they received a post, the postcards from Flanagan, they were all signed with aliases or simply the Mayor. The mayor. Yeah. But Miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Oh, I love that character. Same. But an analysis of the cards found that the handwriting belonged to the same person. Ah. In the two weeks after the release of the bulletin, the Bronx precinct received a second Flood of reports from surrounding states, all reporting cases that match the movie. Although the victims in all cases are different in age, race, and body type, the details of the attack are nearly identical. And investigators added an additional 50 victims to their list. Oh, my God. Which was an average of one attack every three days. Holy. Yeah. So who the is this person that has all the time in the world to just hitchhike around and kill everybody? I'm saying, like, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing? Where do you come from? That's the thing. They're like, like, who the is this? I have a job now. Among the worst aspects of the aspirin bandit attacks was definitely the physical and psychological trauma that the victims were experiencing. But nearly as bad was the ways in which the victims were re traumatized in the days and weeks after the attack. In nearly all the cases, the attacker was only able to commit the assaults because the women's husbands gave him their addresses. But because they had limited ability to cope with the intense feelings of guilt and shames that caused, they frequently projected their feelings onto their wives, blaming them for the attacks by suggesting they'd done something to Encourage the man. The 40s. In a sense, the victims found themselves in a catch 22 situation. If they found that fought their attacker as Katherine Pappas had, they could end up dead. But if they didn't fight back hard enough, then they were blamed for their assault. Nice to be a. I love being a woman. Oh, how I just love being a woman. Damn, I'd rather be a fairy now. On February 10, she was a fairy. On February 10, as Burns and the other detectives continued trying to piece together the timeline of events and track the killer's movements, they received a call from a couple in Hitstown, New Jersey. According to this couple, they had picked up a young man hitchhiking a few days earlier. And after hearing the story about how he grown up in Boys Town, they felt sorry for him and offered to let him stay with them for a couple of days. The following morning, though, the couple woke up and found that he had stolen a bunch of valuable shit from their house. The whole place was ransacked, and the hitchhiker was gone. So both the husband and wife were artists, and the woman offered to draw a detailed sketch of the hitchhiker. That is so cool. Isn't that awesome? From memory. That is so cool. And when investigators took the sketch to several of the victims, they all confirmed that is 100 the guy. That is the coolest way to be that woman and be like God damn it. You just stole all my. And, like, out of the goodness of my heart, I let you in. But then to be like, you know what? I'm an artist and you didn't count on me. Do it. Rendering a sketch from memory. You didn't count on me having a skill of your ass face. Yeah, that's right. Like that guy. Iconic. So, thanks to the couple in Heightstown, detectives now knew what their suspect looked like. And thanks to the dedicated police work and constant communication across precincts in the States, which is so rare. Yeah, they had a general idea of how far he traveled and how frequently he cycled back through New York. Ah. Unfortunately, what they didn't know was where he was and when he would strike again. Yeah, that's tough. That meant that as much as it pained them to do so, they kind of had to wait until he attacked someone to find his location, which is the case a lot. I was literally just gonna say it's sad how that does happen a lot, but it's also like. Like, what else do. You don't know what else to do. It sucks. It's a real catch 22. Now, it turned out the next attack wasn't in New York at all, but in Washington, D.C. i can't believe they're having a gender reveal for their dog. No, no, no, no. This is a breed reveal. Oh. So, yeah, they're finding out the breed of the puppy they're rescuing, so they could just be spending all their money on, like, pet insurance. Instead. We got Lemonade for Roscoe, and it covered vaccines, microchipping. We saved 90% on vet bills. Oh, here we go. What do you think beige confetti means? I don't know that we'll never get this Saturday back. Get a quote for any breed@lemonade.com pet why are more women than ever choosing Natural Cycles, the hormone free, side effect free way to take control of your fertility? Natural Cycles is a birth control app that uses your temperature to find your fertile window. It is more than a basic cycle tracking app. Natural Cycles is the only FDA cleared and CE marked birth control app and has helped millions prevent and plan for pregnancy naturally. Save 15% when you sign up today with code RADIO15. Learn more@natural cycles.com. did you see the game last night? Of course you did. Because you used Instacart to do your grocery restock. Plus you got snacks for the game, all without missing a single play. That's on multitasking. So we're not saying that Instacart is a hack for game day. But it might be the ultimate play this football season. Enjoy. $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees. Supply first three orders in 14 days. Excludes restaurants. Instacart. We are here. On February 19th, D.C. police received a call about a potential break in at an apartment. But the woman had managed to fight the man off before he was able to get inside. Because they had been in communication with detectives in the Bronx, D.C. police suspected this was probably the aspirin Bandit. So they rushed to the apartment to try to catch him. When they got there, they found the victim in the company of the building superintendent, who chased the would be rapist up the stairs and onto the roof. Roof. But by the time the officers got to the top of the building, the man had disappeared down the fire escape and was gone. So a little less than a week later, on February 25, another call came into the Bronx, this time from detectives in Newark, New Jersey, where another rape, slash robbery had been committed under similar circumstances. That report was followed by three more calls, all reporting similar attacks in New Jersey. So by plotting the attacks on the map of the suspect's movements, investigators in the Bronx are able to track his movements and suspect he's making his way back into New York. And this time they were like, we're gonna catch this. So if their estimations were right, detectives in the Bronx expected their suspect to arrive back in the city on or around March 3rd, which is, yeah, badass that they were able to track him to be like, like, he's coming back in here in March. Yeah, like March 3rd. That is impressive. So they set up checkpoints at every train and bus depot as well as every bridge and tunnel across the city. I love to see anything coming into the city stopping anyone who vaguely resembled the sketch. Good for them, dude. At the same time, police officers flooded the city, checking every motel and hotel for new arrivals and showing front desk staff every the sketch while they were there. They also checked the handwriting samples from the postcards sent to Flanagan against the hotel logbooks, but nothing was an obvious match. But they got everything. They were going for it. So that evening, detectives on Manhattan's west side stopped into the Mills Hotel, a place popular with, like, day laborers looking for a clean but, like, affordable place to stay for a short period of time. Emphasis on the short. Short. As they were sitting in the lobby, they noticed a man enter the hotel wearing the same blue green coat and bright yellow shoes described by many of the victims. Bright yellow shoes? Get the out of here. Yeah, that's like a Real, That's a crime. Like. Bold of you to wear those. I know both of you to wear bright yellow shoes, but especially, yeah, especially when you're committing crimes. And he strongly resembled the sketch that was provided by the couple in New Jersey right after the man registered with the clerk under the name George Koloski. George. George. He started up the stairs towards his room and one of the detectives rushed to the desk and compared the handwriting to the postcards, which appeared to be a match. That is so fucking cool. Such cool investigative work. I love it. However, when the detectives looked up to the register, the man was coming back down the stairs in the direction of the clerk's desk. He said, I'd like my 50 cents back. I just remembered I have to go to work at one o'. Clock. So. Not wanting to miss their opportunity, they seized the man by his arms and forced him to write his name again and again. The handwriting match. Yeah. Which was, as far as they were concerned, reason to place him under arrest. It was very strange that he was just like, oh, I forgot I have work today. I wonder if he's trying to get out of it. He was like, I think those might be detectives. So I believe. Yeah, because why else would you be like, why else would you. Well, never mind. Just kidding. Once they had him in the interrogation room at the Bronx precinct, investigators learned that their suspect's name was not George Kaloski, Jerry Mitchell or George Mundy, but George Joseph Svec, a 23 year old transient with a long criminal record. 23. 23. And several stays at juvenile detention centers in his past. At the time of his arrest, police described him as a, and this is their description quote, a common road bum. A common road bum. That is such a read. He's just a common road bum. Get out of. Get out of here, you robot. You common road. You nasty. No, you're not even common road. You're not even a unique road bum. You're common. You're. You're a basic road. Basic road bub. I am obsessed with that and I will be adding it to my vocabulary, thank you. I'm going to call everyone that pisses me off a common road bum. No, I'm calling them a basic road bum. You. Because here's the thing, you'll go, you basic. And they're gonna think that you're gonna say, but no, you're gonna hit them with road bum. You hit someone with road bumps. Yeah. There ain't no coming back. See it coming. No, they'll never in a million years See that coming and they won't know what hit them. And you know what? That's a little gift from us to you, okay? Use it in your next argument. There you go. You're welcome. Yeah. He had no permanent address and no employment to speak of. Roadblood. So a brief look into George's background revealed a rather unremarkable and directionless young man who'd made his way in the world through theft and other criminal activities. Not great. George was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a large and generally dysfunctional family. Relatable. When he was 12 years old, George was caught robbing his own parents house. House. That's up at 12. Yeah. What? His own mother tried to intervene. He beat her and continued robbing them. What the. He's a demon. Yeah. He's beyond road bum. I wouldn't even. I wouldn't even say he's a basic road bum. This goes far beyond road. Yeah, this goes far beyond road bummery. This is not just your typical day to day road bummery. This is different. It's so different. I really got you. This is just your. Your classic road bummery over here. It's not. This is. This is not. This is. This is not. You are correct. This is not classic road bummery. I don't know what this is. I don't know why that, that word. It's just that phrase is so funny. I love it. How can you not laugh at that? But either way, this, this case of far beyond road bummery got him a short stay in a boys reformatory, not boys town. They were like, don't beat your mom's ass. Don't do that. And when he was released, he returned to his parents home and attempted to rob them a second time. Get out. Get out, get out. Yeah. For the second robbery, he was returned to the reformatory. But that time he was sentenced to five years. By the time he was released, George was old enough to be on his own and spent the next five years supporting himself through robbery and theft. Yikes. When she was told about the news of her son's arrest, Barbara told a reporter. He's my boy and I don't want to see him die in the electric chair. But I don't feel too much sympathy for him. He's always been bad. He's always wanted to steal money and not work for it. I guess. He's no good. Oh, that's so sad. The end of that, I guess. He's no good. It's literally devastating. Oh, that poor mama. Yeah, it's not your fault, girl. I don't know that for sure, but it doesn't feel that way. I can't totally stand on that business because I don't know your life. I'm like, I'm five toes down on that. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Now, when confronted with the accusations, George denied having anything to do with the Papas murder or the other sexual assaults and robberies in several states up and down the East Coast. Ghost. But when investigators fingerprinted him and compared his prints to the print left behind at the Pappas murder scene, they determined it was a match. Oh. Despite the evidence linking him to the crime scene, George was like, nope, didn't do it. Until investigators put him in a lineup. Oh. One after another, victims were brought into the station to view the grouping of six or seven men, including George. And in 1941, there was no two way glass or video monitoring systems. So each victim was brought into a room and. And stood just a few feet from the man who violently, sexually assaulted them. The bravery that that would take, that. That's next level trauma on a level I can't even fathom. Good for those women. Some looked him in the eye and firmly identified George as their attacker. Wow. Good for them. And others broke down and could do nothing else but point at him. Yeah. Because that. You're being re traumatized. Like you just said. Every single one of them identified George as their rapist. Wow. Also, while most of their husbands were able to provide moral support to their wives during this horrible moment, at least one victim's husband lost his composure and tried to attack George before he was physically removed by the room. And I say, why'd you physically remove him? I say snaps for that man. Snaps to that man. Honestly, if my husband didn't try to beat his ass, we'd get in a fight later. Honestly, like, good for that guy. Yeah. I know violence is not the answer to anything. Like, I get it, I get it. But I mean, sometimes, like, I'm sorry if somebody is. If. If I'm a husband and somebody violently raped my wife. Violence is the answer. I'm gonna hurt. For a minute. For a quick moment, for a minute. Just a quick old one, two to the face, you know, quick little boop. Now, before being confronted and identified by at least a dozen of his victims. Wow. George had been confident to the point of fucking cockiness. Ew. Of course, of course, of course. 23 year old. But at some point during the lineup, it must have come clear to him that he wasn't getting out of this. By the end of the lineup, George had lost any hint of his previous cockiness. And in the early morning hours of March 4, he broke down and confessed to attacking at least 15 of the more than 80 suspected victims. And don't forget, that's insane. And don't forget, he's not just a rapist, he's a murderer. Oh, yeah. And he confessed as well to murdering Catherine Pappas. Yeah. So he's a piece of absolute garbage. Garbage. In their interview, George confirmed what police had already learned about him. Most of his victims were women whose husbands he had met while hitchhiking and using his charm in ingratiating manner. He would get enough information from them to sound convincing when he showed up at their door a few days later. And he really did. When it came to the attack on Catherine Pappas, however, he changed his usual approach. On that day, George had happened to stop into the building and look over the names on the mailboxes and decided to take what he described as a blind stab by ringing the couple's doorbell. Why? So she was chosen at random. And he told investigators. She told me she had been making cookies for her husband and offered me some. And your. And if that doesn't make you want to wring his neck. Yeah, that's the thing. Your ass went in there and took her life. This woman who was literally spending her afternoon making cookies for her husband. And she's the one who made him a sandwich, right? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Wow. You piece of dog. Yep, he said. I sat beside her on the sofa. I slipped my arm around her neck and pulled her head back. Then with my right hand, I removed my necktie and tied her hands behind her back. I carried her to the bedroom and put her on the bed. Why? Once they were in the bedroom, Catherine began fighting back hard and even managed to bite George's finger. Good. Leaving a wound that was still visible upon his arrest nearly a month later. Good. She broke motherfucking skin. I hope it hurt. For the rest of his life. And actually into the afterlife as well. George claimed that he eventually clamped his hands around her neck to keep her from screaming. And a few minutes later, he just realized that she was dead. Did he's literally claiming that he accidentally strangled her manually. We've all been over this. We know how long it takes to strangle someone manually. We know how much pressure needs to be consistently put upon someone's an act to manually strangle them. We don't accidentally do that. It's like seven minutes long. Yeah. You don't do it. Get up. Get out of here. At that point, he rummaged through the apartment, grabbed whatever he could, but because he was panicked, he forgot to wipe down the water glass and left behind the fingerprints. Idiot. District Attorney Samuel Foley told reporters following his arraignment, that poor woman never got a chance to scream. No. Now, despite being able to convincingly link George to dozens of other sexual assault victims, District Attorney Foley chose to pursue only the murder charge in the case of Catherine Pappas, because the murderer charge was a capital offense and the prosecutor was seeking the death penalty. So if he were to be found guilty, George would be paying the ultimate price with or without the additional charges. In the months after this, as the district attorney built the case, George began speaking to any members of the press who would listen primarily to minimize his responsibility and reject the claims of additional victims. He asked a reporter, those stories about me attacking 15 or 23 women, where do they come from? Reality you attacked 23 to 50 women? Yeah, they come from the reality. They come from what? Your situation, your made actions. He said, you got me identified by a lot of women. I ain't never seen 3/4 of them in my life. You did immediately upon that statement, how that's phrased. You did it, huh? Yep. You did it. George's trial began in mid April, and he maintained his defiant stance from beginning to end. What a douche. Before the final members of the jury had even been selected, George was admonished by the judge after he jumped to his feet and shouted at the judge, judge, you're supposed to be sitting on this case. Mind your own business. After the judge questioned his lawyer for his methods of interviewing potential members of the jury. Make that make sense for me. You're supposed to be sitting on this case. So he's like, here you are doing your job, which is being in my business. Of all the. That I've committed. And he says, mind your. The judge is like, this is all of my business. He's like, this is literally my courtroom. Not all. Like, this is my actual business. Like, I get paid for this. Like, I'm in the business. Business of judging. Like, of all this, quite literally. What? And I love it because it begins, George. Judge James Bartlett just stared at him. Oh, I love it. And then sternly said, I will not tolerate such outbursts. This is the first and last outburst you will make. He treated him like the child he was. You little baby man, he said, you petulant. You petulant little child. That part. A week into the trial, the Entire case had to be put on hold when Judge Bartlett fell asleep under lamp for about two hours and suffered a particularly bad burn. I was really rooting for him just now and I feel different. I. I feel a little bit different. I really went so hard for him just now and I'd like to maybe back that up a teeny bit. Just like. Just a hair. Just. Just a little hair. Just like a beep, beep. You know, just quick. My guys. What? What? Idiot. What do you mean, babe? What do you mean? You got to stay awake under the sun lamp. Yeah. I mean, not these days. Don't be going under sunlight. Don't go. Don't you go tanning my guy old easy Taxi for a reason. Don't do it. Do you remember when Snooki was so personally angry at Obama for that? I don't want you guys to get melanoma. No. Spray tan. I don't want that. You want to be tan. I mean, I mean like cool spray tan. Yeah. Spray tan. They got the mitts now. They got. I think they have like natural. That's like naughty like because I mean other chemically bad. But do you remember, were you ever a Jergens girly Jergens? Not. I think it's natural. Here's the thing about me. You've never wanted to be tan. No. I did at one point. I really wanted to be tan. But then I realized I'm not meant to be. I'm not really. So I did try that Jurgens journey for like a minute and a half. And then I realized like, this isn't it. Here's the thing. And I. Even when they smell good for like a second. And I'm sorry if you self tan, but I've tried it too. I also wanted to be tan. Yeah, you smell like chicken. There is a chicken. Like chicken self tan. Smells like chicken. There is a little bit of a chickeny smell. There is. You are correct. You can mask it, I guess. But like, I don't know. It never works a certain smell to it. But I think there's like mo. There's like natural ones now that probably don't have that chickeny smell now. Yeah. Because I think a lot of girlies are getting like good spray tans. Some girlies are getting good spray. Get it. Whenever I did a spray tan, one, I looked absolutely bonkers. Yeah. And two, I'd always made my hands look weird. Yeah. I would get it between my fingers. Yeah. But some girls have that mask. That's the thing. Those are the queens which like I was gonna say, you're queens if you can do that. You know who's not a king out here? Yeah. The judge. Sleep under the sunlight and do it responsibly if you're. I really can't believe I was. Went so hard for him. Yeah. But you know what? Two weeks later, the trial had resumed. So he got that. He got over that little speed bump. Yeah, that big old burn. He came back with like such a glow. I was literally gonna say, they said, your Honor, may I? Said, may I? You're glowing. May I? And he said, I almost died. Yeah. He said it was. It was a real journey to get here. Wasn't a good sleep. It was a real journey to get this glow. He said, this glow. You don't want it. Don't come for free. No. Despite having already been warned by the judge about his outbursts, George proved to be incredibly difficult from the moment the trial began. In fact, when he finally took the stand in his own defense, he refused to answer nearly all the questions put to him by the prosecution. Why go on the stand? My fucking guy. He just chose to sit petulantly on the witness stand with his elbows on the railing and his chin cupped in his hand. Oh, what a little bitch. Finally, after countless questions had been asked, and unless unanswered, George told the prosecutor, it's no use continuing with those questions. I refuse to answer them. I told you I killed her. I want to take my punishment. It's only a question of first or second degree murder. So he doesn't give a. Wow. They don't give him first degree. I was, when I was reading this, I was like, if they don't give him first degree murder. Yeah, I'll fight. I'm a head out. I'll fight. I'm ahead. Back in time. Yeah. And then head out. And then head out. And with that, the prosecution rested its case against George and the jury was excused for deliberation. So they deliberated for less than a half hour. Cuz he literally sat on the stand and said, I killed her. Get over it. He literally did Courtney from. From Jawbreaker. He said, I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. Deal with it. That's what that's literally. Literally. He said. He literally did that up. Then he was like, now it's just first or second, which I'm like, did you think you were getting second? You literally said, I killed her. Like you did you really just think that you were going to. You had any chance of getting second after that? That when everything. All the. All the you went through, like you, it was very much premeditation. Literally planned the entire thing. So they come back into the courtroom after less than a half hour and they found him guilty of first degree murder for causing the death of Catherine Pappas. When the verdict was read, the ever defiant George said nothing and just stared coldly at the judge. When asked by reporters for a comment, District attorney Samuel Foley said, this man is a contemptible liar. George has continuously tried to evade the responsibility for what he did in Bronx county on February 4th. He is even low enough to besmirch the name of the woman whose life he has taken. The following day, George was back before Judge Bartlett Barrett. Excuse me. Who set an execution date for July 7, 1941. After the customary appeals and small delays, 24 year old George Sveck was executed in the electric chair at Sing sing Prison on February 26, 1940. 42. Rest in distress, you petulant made. Road bum. Common road bum. Basic road bummery. Just a basic common road bum. Wow, that's a. I can't. I've never heard of that. It is such. It. I think. I almost think we need to like name it something instead of the Aspirin Bandit because it just does not give the full scope. Well, because it's so much more that he's a rapist. He's not just a bandit. So I think we'll name it something different. But it's called the Aspirin Bandit character case. Yeah. Like, it's well known as that. The communication between the different precincts in different states and the detective. Unbelievable. Like in the 40s, the investigative work that went into this was top notch. Like, this is one of those that you go, hats off. There it is. Like, that's what I'm looking for. Because we have so many that you're just like, what the. And then this one, you're like, yeah, investigators. I love the ones where we can. Yeah, we can. Hats off to them because they really went for. For it. Because it gives you like a little bit of hope in humanity when like you're hearing about all these terrible murders and you know, rapes and everything. Like, that's awful. Yeah, you're like. At least these people like went full tilt. Exactly. To catch this guy. And they did. It paid off. This didn't get far. He was only 23 years old. Here's the thing. It was worth it about practicing basic road bummery. You'll always get caught. You're gonna get caught. You're far too basic to. To make it, your road bummery will come to a violent end. Yeah, but yeah, that's the aspirin bandit. What a crazy case. Yeah, well, guys, if you're coming to the show, or you did already on Sunday, it was so much fun. And also I can't wait to see you. Yeah, both simultaneously, all at the same time. So that's what simultaneous is. Yeah. Well, we also hope you keep listening simultaneously and at the same time. And we hope you keep it weird. Simultaneously and at the same time. Don't be classic road bum. Don't practice that road bummery. Sat. Sam. It's time to start businessing. Legal Zoom is here to help. 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