← MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
Deadly Plans
00:30:04
Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about people who went to disturbing lengths to carry out their plans. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.
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Today's podcast will feature two stories about people who went to disturbing lengths to carry out their plans. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. The links to the original YouTube videos are in the description. The first story you'll hear is called the Last Tenant and it's about a man who was very stubborn all the way until the very end. And the second and final story you'll hear is called the Good Reverend and it's about a reverend and a vagabond who are involved in a wild mystery. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right place. Because that's all we do. And we upload two, three, even four times every week. So if that's of interest to you, please offer to clean the fall abuttons house. But instead of cleaning it, just go ahead and bring in a whole wrecking crew to level their property. Okay, let's get into our first story called the Last Tenant. Appliance breakdowns happen and repair expenses add up. Help protect your wallet with an American Home Shield warranty. AHS can help fix major appliances and home systems no matter how old. And if they can't repair the covered item, they'll replace it. Plus, as a benefit to select plans, you can video chat with a live repair expert. American Home Shield. Don't worry, be warranty. Get 20% off any plan@ahs.com MrBallin and see promo details. See ahs.com contracts for coverage details including service fees, limitations and exclusions. Cape Fear is a new series now Streaming on Apple TV. This 10 episode mystery thriller is executive produced by Martin Scorsese and stars Academy Award winner Javier Bardem, Academy Award nominee Amy Adams, and Emmy nominee Patrick Wilson. When convicted murderer Max Cady is released from prison, he begins infiltrating the family of the married attorneys who help put him behind bars. On the morning of July 5, 2008, a 50 year old man named David File walked up to his apartment in Bishopstoke, which is a small village in southern England. So this apartment complex was massive. It took up an entire block and it was comprised of several two story buildings. When David moved in eight years earlier, this apartment complex was sort of bustling and doing quite well. There were loads of tenants. It was well kept. I mean it was a nice place to live. But now the place was kind of falling into disrepair. There were weeds Everywhere it was kind of dirty, there was graffiti. I mean, buildings were all boarded up. I mean, this place really had fallen on hard times, almost like it was abandoned. And in many regards, it basically was. In fact, David was literally the last tenant in the entire complex. There were a total of 72 apartments in this complex, but 71 of them were boarded up and totally abandoned. It was just this last apartment that David lived in. And on this day, as David approached his front door, he noticed there was something taped to it. It was a piece of paper. So he walked up and he read it, and he quickly understood it was an eviction notice. They were kicking him out. And so he angrily ripped it off the door. And he went inside his cramped, small apartment. You know, there's a full size billiard table sitting right in his living room, and everything was just tight and on top of each other. But this was David's home. He loved it here. He did not want to leave. And so he took this eviction notice and he went over to the kitchen and he just threw it on top of a pile of other papers that were mostly all from the company that owned this complex. The company was called Atlantic Housing. So part of the reason this building had really fallen on hard times here is because two years earlier, Atlantic Housing had to decided to tear this place down. And so they had offered to help relocate all the tenants, and basically everybody else had agreed to leave and, you know, take the assistance from Atlantic Housing, but not David. He refused to leave. And so eventually Atlantic Housing got fed up with David. Cause they're offering him money, they're offering him assistance. I mean, they're really trying to just get him to leave so they can move forward with their project. And so eventually, when he wouldn't budge, no matter what they offered him, they just sued him. And it took two years, but eventually a court ruled that, okay, Atlantic Housing, you can kick him out of your building. And so, David, you're being evicted. And so David knew this was coming. He knew he was going to be evicted, but he just simply could not accept the ruling. He's looking around at his cramped little apartment that he had called home for eight years, and he just loved it here. He didn't want to leave. And so he thought to himself, you know what? They can try to evict me, but I'm not leaving. And so David decides he's gonna protest, but not some little protest. He's gonna do something that is so big, so extreme, that it will guarantee people will pay attention and recognize that this ruling is wrong. And David knew exactly how he was going to do that. And so later that afternoon, David made his way over to his storage closet, and he pulled out some rope and an electric timer and a power tool, and he brought these supplies over to his living room. And there, David rigged up this elaborate trap that he was designing specifically so that when Atlantic Housing or the police or whoever it was that showed up to evict him, that when they opened his door, they would have to be confronted by this trap. And for David, he felt like this was his last ditch effort to prove once and for all that this eviction was wrong. A few hours later, two police officers, along with David's very worried parents, stood outside of David's apartment. Earlier that afternoon, David's parents had tried to get in touch with David, and they had called him repeatedly, but he hadn't answered. And so at some point, they had driven over to his apartment, and they had pounded on the door and tried to get his attention, but he hadn't come to the door. However, they had heard this strange sound coming from inside the apartment, and it was unsettling enough and considering the whole circumstance of not being able to get in touch with their son, that they decided to call the police. And so when they got there, you know, the police, they're knocking on the door, yelling out for David, but still no answer. And the police, too, they can clearly hear this strange sound, which almost sound like a mechanical whirring sound or something. They couldn't quite place it, but there definitely was something odd happening in this apartment. And so, given the fact that there's real concern around what's going on with David, the police decide to kick in the door and see what's going on. And so they get out of the way, and one of the officers steps back and kicks the door down. And as soon as the door flies open, that loud, mechanical whirring sound becomes way louder, so loud. And they suddenly get a complete view into the apartment, and all of them just froze and gasped. So the trap that David had built had functioned exactly as he intended it to. Basically, the authorities were gonna come in the front door and be horrified by what they saw, because this trap really was not for them as much as it was for David. He was sort of putting himself into a trap as a display of his protest that you can't pull me out of here. And now authorities have arrived, and they've seen the results of this trap. What the trap was, was a power tool that was on that was the mechanical whirring Sound they heard. And it had been tied by David to one of the legs of his billiard table, like an arm jutting off the side of this billiard table. And then the tool had this electric timer that he had rigged to it so that when it went off, it would start the tool. And what was this tool? It was a chainsaw. And what did David do? He intentionally positioned his neck right up against the teeth of this chainsaw, set the timer, and then waited. And he basically timed it so that shortly after getting in position, the timer would go off, it would cut his head off. And then presumably authorities would look, look inside the apartment and see what, in David's mind, they were responsible for his death. And sure enough, when the police and the parents looked in, they saw the trap, they heard the saw buzzing, and they saw David's severed head on the ground. Despite David's final protest really having a lot of the effect that he was hoping for, I mean, it did make headlines all over the uk. A lot of people heard about this, and they were horrified by it. Despite all that, shortly after his death, the apartment complex was demolished. When you are refreshing your space, choosing a paint color can feel weirdly high stakes. Will that seafoam green that you loved online look more like split pea soup on your walls? Luckily, Sherwin Williams takes the guesswork out of finding the perfect paint color with three easy ways to sample. You can choose color with confidence, testing shades in your actual space before making the final call. Order color chips, peel and stick or color to go paint samples@swsamples.com or visit your neighborhood Sherwin Williams store to get started today. So I've got a road trip coming up, and I have unfortunately learned the hard way that the worst time for car trouble, and often the most common time for car trouble, is when you are miles away from anywhere familiar. So this time, I made sure that I had my car looked at in advance to make sure it was ready and safe. And also, you know, just generally speaking, staying on top of routine auto maintenance can really help you avoid bigger issues down the line and also just prevent unexpected, costly repairs. And so what I did is I went to the Firestone Complete Auto Care right near my house, and let me tell you, great decision, because the whole experience was so smooth. Just from making the appointment online, to dropping off my car, you know, to the text communication with the people that were there while my vehicle was being serviced, and then also picking it up, it all went great. And so I know, you know, in the future, if I have any issues with my car or if I want to be preventative. Whatever it is, I am definitely going back to Firestone. So whether it's tires or an oil change or your brakes, your battery alignment or diagnostics, Firestone Complete Auto Care has everything your car needs, making it truly a one stop shop. And this year there's additional reason to celebrate. Because Firestone Complete Auto care is celebrating 100 years of dependable, reliable, value driven service. And with locations all across the country, expert care is always within reach. Get more life out of your car. Visit firestoneauto.com to find a location near you. Again, that is firestoneauto.com Appliance breakdowns happen and repair expenses add up. Help protect your wallet with an American Home Shield warranty. AHS can help fix major appliances and home systems, no matter how old. And if they can't repair the covered item, they'll replace it. Plus, as a benefit to select plans, you can video chat with a live repair expert. American Home Shield. Don't worry, be warranty. Get 20% off any plan@ahs.com MrBallin and see promo details. See ahs.com contracts for coverage details including service fees, limitations and exclusions. The next and final story of today's episode is called the Good Reverend. On the afternoon of January 5, 1909, a 56 year old reverend named John Carmichael kissed his wife and kids goodbye and then stepped out of his cottage into the cold and wrapped his cloak around his black suit and and then he hopped on his horse and he galloped out onto the road. Reverend Carmichael lived in a rural part of Michigan, and on this day he was making his way to another town about nine miles away called Columbus, where he was going to host this big religious revival. Basically he was going to hold this big sermon and try to get new people to join his church. And so as the Reverend galloped his way down the road, he saw all these kids outside having snowball fights and making snowmen and it was just really nice. But also in virtue of being the Reverend, basically everybody in town knew him. And so either the kids wanted to say hi to him or their parents parents did. And so as the Reverend is really just trying to hustle his way to Columbus, he kept having to stop over and over again to have small talk and play nice. But after about 30 minutes he had reached a point in the journey where all the houses were kind of behind him and he had this kind of nice quiet stretch where he knew he wouldn't be bothered by anybody. He had made this journey many times to Columbus. And he always looked forward to this stretch of the road. It was just very peaceful and gave him a chance to kind of just be left with his own thoughts and think about his upcoming sermon and what he wanted to say. He. And so as the Reverend was having this sort of peaceful time, trotting his way down the snowy road, he heard the sound of hooves fast approaching him. And so the reverend turned around and he saw there was this very rough looking guy wearing this brown stained shirt with a long overcoat over it. And the guy's hair was slicked back and greasy, and he had this big weird grin on his face, and he was waving wildly at the reverend, obviously trying to flag him down. Now, inside, the reverend did not want to talk to this guy because he knew who this guy was. His name was Gideon Browning, and he lived in the town where the reverend lived. And he was known for being kind of erratic and had a horrible drinking problem. And frankly, you know, the reverend just wanted to be left alone. Here he was enjoying his ride, and here comes the town drunk. You know, he doesn't want to be around this guy. But also, the Reverend understood that he was the reverend in town. People knew who he was. He couldn't just be a jerk to people. He had to be kind. And so he smiled at Gideon and waved to him to be polite, but was dreading this interaction with Gideon. And in fact, weirdly enough, the reverend over the past several weeks had been running into Gideon all over town, to the point where it was becoming weird that he just kept seeing Gideon. And every time he interacted with Gideon, it was just awful because Gideon was just totally an unpleasant person. But here he was once again having to have yet another interaction with Gideon. And as soon as Gideon came right up alongside the reverend, his first question was, hey, Reverend, can I ride with you? And the Reverend again is like, my goodness, I don't want to do this right now. But he was like, of course we can ride together. And pretty much immediately, the Reverend regretted this decision because Gideon would just not shut up. He just talked the entire time. They were supposed to be in this peaceful part of the reverend's journey. But not only that, the questions Gideon was asking Reverend the whole time they were riding together were sort of invasive. Gideon wanted to know exactly where the reverend was going and what he was doing there. And, you know, how many churches did the reverend own? And just all these personal questions. And sort of against his better judgment, the Reverend was being truthful with Gideon. He told Gideon that he was going to Columbus to have this big revival. And he also told Gideon about one of the churches that he owned in a town called Rattle Run. And as the reverend was again kind of giving up this information that he kind of wished he wasn't, he noticed Gideon began doing something strange. As Gideon was galloping along, keeping a fixed gaze on the reverend, Gideon reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver coin and began flipping the coin into the air and catching it and flipping, flipping it and catching it over and over and over again, never affecting his writing. I mean, it was like Gideon wasn't even aware he was flicking this coin. And the reverend, you know, he's kind of watching Gideon do this, and it was sort of impressive. Like, Gideon was just able to flick this coin over and over and never drop it and just keep on stride. But more than just being impressed with Gideon's hand eye coordination, the reverend began to notice that he really liked what Gideon was doing with this coin. It was kind of soothing in a way. Not so much the actual coin flipping in the air, but the sound it was making, the sound of it spinning in the air and slapping into his palm over and over again, it just kind of put the reverend at ease, and he didn't know why. And so after a while, the reverend just kind of stopped answering Gideon's questions and just kind of stared at the coin and listened to that sound. And he just felt himself drift into this weird, relaxed state, almost like he felt asleep. And so as this weird thing is going on with this coin, the two men eventually reach this crossroads where there's a general store. And at this point, Gideon catches his coin, puts it back in his pocket, and the two men, they come to a stop at this general store. Even though the reverend did not want to go to this general store, he just kind of followed Gideon up to the hitching post. They both got off their horses. They tied their horses to the post. And again, the reverend's thinking, I can't stop here. I gotta go to Columbus. I gotta get to this revival. But Gideon just turns to the reverend and says, hey, we gotta make a stop here. We need to get something. And the reverend found himself saying, okay, what are we gonna get? And the reverend's thinking, what am I saying? I don't want to do this. I don't want to stop here. I got to go. But he just stood there, just waiting for Gideon to tell him what they were going to buy. And Gideon, who had that big grin on his face again, he said, well, actually, I'm not going to go into the store. You are. You're going to go in there, you're going to buy me a new hatchet, and you're going to bring it out here and give it to me. And now everything about this was totally weird to the reverend. He did not feel like this was a normal request, nor did he want to go in the store. He wanted to leave, but for some reason, he just said, okay, and he turned and shuffled in the store, found a new hatchet, paid for it with his own money, walked outside, handed it over to Gideon, and then at this point, the reverend just wanted to get on his horse and get away from Gideon. But the second the reverend got back on his horse to do that, Gideon hopped on his horse and said, hold on a minute, Reverend. We're not done yet. Now we're going to go to your church and Rattle Run, because I'm getting married soon, and I'm thinking about maybe getting married in your church, and I want to scope it out. And so the reverend at this, who, again, just wants to go to Columbus, he doesn't want to be around Gideon at all. But for some reason, he just said, okay, yeah, we'll go to my church in Rattle Run. And so at this point, Gideon pulled out his coin and started flipping it again and again. And the two men rode side by side in the direction of Rattle Run. And the whole time, the reverend's thinking, what am I doing? Why are we doing this? And also, in addition to just brain fog and confusion, the reverend also realized that Gideon was clearly lying to him because he knew Gideon was mar. So what's he talking about? Needing to scope out his church to see about potentially getting married there? That didn't make sense. Like, why was Gideon actually wanting to go to his church? The reverend didn't know, but he was really starting to feel scared. But again, he just couldn't stop agreeing to the things Gideon wanted to do. And so the two men galloped their way to Rattle Run. The whole time, Gideon's flipping that coin and staring at the reverend, and the reverend's just totally transfixed on the coin. And then they get to the church. Gideon puts the coin in his pocket. The two men hitch their horses to the post outside. They go up to the front door, the reverend unlocks it. They go inside, and sort of automatically, the reverend walked to the back of the church, and he lit the stove. And then as he was walking back towards the front, where Gideon was still standing right in front of the doorway, Gideon suddenly told the reverend to stop. Where he was. And so the reverend stopped in the middle of the church and he's just looking at Gideon, who's got that coin back out, and he's flipping it up and down again. And at this point, the reverend just looks at Gideon and says, well, do you want to look around? And Gideon, who's flipping that coin up and down, just says, no, I don't need to look around. There is no wedding. Hey, Reverend, go ahead and lift up your left arm. And at this point, the Reverend is terrified. He's confused, and his left arm just suddenly raised up into the air. He had no control over it. And then a second later, Gideon says, hey, go ahead and raise your other arm. And so the reverend, who's still got his left arm out to one side, felt his right arm come up to the other side. And so at this point, the reverend's just standing there with his arms out to the side. And it was at this point that the Reverend understood what was going on. Clearly, Gideon had hypnotized him. That could be the only explanation for what was going on here. But before the Reverend could say or do anything about how totally weird the situation was, Gideon, who was flipping that coin and had a big grin on his face the whole time he was making the Reverend raise his arms up. Suddenly Gideon's face completely changed and he became deadly serious. And he was staring at the Reverend and then he dropped the coin to the ground and began moving towards the Reverend. Summer is a great opportunity for kids to review challenging concepts, strengthen core skills and head into the start of the school year feeling more prepared. And this is where IXL can help. A couple of things that I like about IXL is that it's really easy to fit into my kids busy summer schedules and the instant feedback helps them understand what they missed instead of just moving on. My kids also like how engaging it is, which makes a big difference because they actually want to use it instead of it feeling like just another assignment. IXL is an award winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning. IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US and studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests proven in all 50 states make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and MisterBallen podcast Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com mrballin Visit ixl.com mrbalin to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. This is a paid ad by BetterHelp. Not everybody thrives when life gets overwhelmingly busy. You might start to notice things feeling a bit off. Maybe even moments you usually enjoy just don't hit the same. And that's often a sign. It's just time to slow down, to recharge, and to be more mindful about what you take on. So I used to just power through everything. No breaks, no stopping, just go, go, go. But over time, I realized that pace is just not sustainable. Now I check in with myself a bit more, I step back when I need to, and I reset when I need to. And being more intentional with my time and energy has definitely made a big difference in just not feeling constantly drained. And if you struggle to do this on your own, therapy is another great option to try to get out of autopilot and have a solid reset. Therapy with BetterHelp may help you better understand your needs, feel more confident setting boundaries, and create a rhythm that feels sustainable. You can also feel very confident knowing that BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully qualified. Take a pause. With therapy, BetterHelp can help life feel manageable again. Sign up and get 10% off@betterhelp.com MrBallenPod Again, that's betterhelp.com MrBallenPod the following day around noon, the caretaker for Reverend Carmichael's Rattle Run church made his way to that church to check in on the building. He knew Reverend Carmichael was going to be in Columbus for a few days. And so we just wanted to make sure, you know, nothing was out of the ordinary. Ordinary. And as this caretaker galloped up to this small, white steepled church, he noticed right away there was a column of smoke coming up out of the chimney. Clearly there was a fire lit inside of the church. And the caretaker's thinking, that doesn't make any sense. The Reverend is not supposed to be here. So who could possibly be in the church right now? And then after the caretaker got up to the front door, he was about to put his key in the lock when he discovered the door was already unlocked. And so instinctively, he put his hand on his pistol on his hip, and then he grabbed the handle and he flung the door open. And when he looked inside the church, he just froze because the entire interior of the church was drenched in blood. There was blood on the pews, the walls, on the altar. And then also amongst all this blood, the caretaker also noticed there were little pieces of ripped up fabric all over the place. And he saw one of them had a unique button sewn into it, A button he recognized as belonging on Reverend Carmichael's suit. And so the caretaker is horrified. He's looking around. He doesn't see anybody. But he sees there's a drag trail right down the center aisle all the way up to the altar. And it curves around to the right out of view. Now, the caretaker wanted to turn and run away, but he was worried that maybe Reverend Carmichael was in here somewhere and was maybe still alive and he could help him. And so the caretaker felt like it was his response, responsibility to investigate. And so he drew his pistol and he began walking down this bloody aisle, kind of looking around for any sign of anybody inside the church. But it was deadly silent. And he eventually got about halfway down the aisle when he spotted a silver coin sitting in the middle of the aisle covered in blood. And he kept on walking to where the blood trail turned around the pew. And it led right up to that stove that was obviously still smoldering. And the door to the stove was shut, so the caretaker couldn't see what was inside. So the caretaker just walked up to the stove, and after looking around one more time to make sure nobody else was in here, he opened up the stove. And inside the stove was a human skull. News of Reverend Carmichael's horrific murder very quickly spread all around town. And beyond just that town. I mean, this was all over the place. And within 24 hours, there was this huge police investigation that was launched to try to figure out who killed him. And very quickly, the police in Rattle Run spoke to the sheriff of the town where the Reverend lived. And they learned that on the same day that Reverend Carmichael had left to go to Columbus and then obviously was killed inside of his church. Well, on that same day, a man named Gideon Browning had had this really big blow up public fight in town. Same town as Reverend Carmichael with his brother in law. And this fight was so explosive, lots of people saw it and heard it. And people said after this big fight with his brother in law, Gideon had hopped on his horse and rode off angrily. And the kids in that town who were outside that day having snowball fights and building snowmen, they would say that they saw Reverend Carmichael traveling down this road because he talked to all the kids and their parents. And not long after, Reverend Carmichael had kind of disappeared down the road. They also reported seeing Gideon Browning coming down the same road, heading in the same direction as. As Reverend Carmichael. And after that, nobody had seen Gideon since. And so, very quickly, Gideon became the number one Suspect in this murder. And basically the thought was, you know, Gideon was so angry from this fight with his brother in law that he must have just taken out his anger on the reverend. Basically, the reverend was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got killed. Now, the police knew this was a flimsy theory at best, But Gideon had a reputation for being totally erratic and a total drunk. And so it kind of fit with who he was that this was something maybe he would do. And so within 24 hours of the murder, there was this huge multi statewide manhunt for Gideon. Three days later and 500 miles away from the town of rattle run, in a city in Illinois, A man opened the door to a boarding house and stepped inside. And the owner of the boarding house, her name was Miranda Hughes, she was sitting behind the front desk. And when she looked up and saw this man, she had to stifle a gasp because this man looked absolutely horrible. He was wearing this really dark, stained brown shirt with a long overcoat over it, and he was shivering and skinny and pale and just looked like he was about to die, basically. But the man just walked up to her and said his name was John elder and he wanted to rent a room. Now, Miranda, for a second thought about refusing this guy service just because honestly, he kind of frozen, frightened her. But then again, Miranda thought, you know what, A lot of my guests are pretty rough these days, and this guy's got money and he wants a room. So there you go, I'll give him a room. So she brought him upstairs to a room on the second floor. She opened it up, John stepped inside, and Miranda, as a courtesy, said, hey, do you want me to make you some food? And John, without even turning around, just says, no, I'm fasting. And then he shut the door in her face. For the rest of the weekend, despite what John told Miranda, Miranda would come up to his room and leave food outside of his door at every meal time. It was something she did for her guests. But John never came out to get the food. And for a little while, Miranda was actually kind of concerned about this guy, considering how terrible he looked. And, you know, now he's fasting. That didn't seem healthy. But at the same time, Miranda was kind of happy to not have to deal with this guy. And so she basically ignored him. But on the morning of January 12th, so one week after the murder, and three days after John Elder had checked into this boarding house, Miranda was walking across the back lawn of the sporting house when she heard what sounded like somebody moaning in pain coming from the outhouse. Now, normally, Miranda would never even think of going to the outhouse and seeing if somebody was okay in there. But the sound this person was making sounded so obviously like they were in pain that she just couldn't help herself. And so Miranda ran to the door of this outhouse and she yelled inside, hey, are you okay in there? And the only sound she heard coming out was more moaning and whimpering. And so, acting on a gut instinct, Miranda grabbed the door and flung it open. And what she saw made her scream. It was John Elder. And he was sitting on the toilet, looking up at her with wide, panicked eyes. And his throat had been slashed from ear to ear. She could basically see deep into his neck. This was a fatal wound. And he was bleeding everywhere. And so Miranda stumbled backwards, turned around, and ran to go find police. By the time the police arrived at the boarding house and went to to the outhouse, John Elder was already dead from this horrible wound. And at first, the police did not connect the death of John Elder to what had happened in Rattle Run, 500 miles away. They were totally disconnected. That is, until police searched John Elder and they found in one of his pockets was a blood stained letter addressed to the sheriff of Rattle Run. And as soon as the police read it, they knew they had something huge on their hands. Because John Elder was not who he said he was. To understand who John Elder was and to even begin to understand what happened in Rattle Run, we need to go back to January 6th, the day that Reverend Carmichael left his house and began making the journey to Columbus for this big revival. During that journey, Reverend Carmichael did come in contact with Gideon Browning. Gideon Browning came up alongside him. They rode together. You know, they went to that general store, and Reverend Carmichael did buy that hatchet for. For Gideon. And they did go to the Rattle Run church. But the reason they did all these strange activities together is not because Gideon had hypnotized Reverend Carmichael. The actual reason for why they did these things together is even more bizarre. In the weeks leading up to that fateful day, January 6th, Reverend Carmichael was running into Gideon Browning all the time, all over town. It was like everywhere the Reverend went, there was Gideon. And then on January 6th, when the Reverend is making his way down the road and he turns and sees Gideon Browning coming up alongside him, he's like, oh, my goodness, it's happening again. But the way the Reverend handled this was not to say, wow, what a strange coincidence. I keep running into this guy everywhere I go. Instead, the Reverend believed that Gideon must have Some sort of special power that he's able to know where I am at all times. And he's using that power to try to intimidate me by swing, spying on me. And so on January 6, when Gideon came galloping up alongside of the Reverend, the reverend's already completely paranoid and on edge about Gideon fearing this guy has magical powers, basically. And then when Gideon pulled out that coin and began flipping it into the air, which apparently was just something he did, the reverend took that as, oh, my goodness. In addition to having magical powers to always know where I am, Gideon also has the power of hypnosis. And that coin that I can't take my eyes off, that sounds so incredible, and it's so soothing me. Well, that is hypnotizing me. Gideon is now controlling me and my thoughts and my body. And so at this point, the Reverend actually believed he was hypnotized. And so he just kind of began going along with anything Gideon wanted. And so it's assumed that Gideon did want to stop at the general store and just kind of said, hey, do you want to stop at the general store? And the reverend's like, yes, I'll stop at the general store. And then maybe Gideon asked the reverend, hey, do you mind buying me a new hatchet? And the reverend's like, yes, I'll buy you a new hatchet. And he goes in, gets the hatchet, comes back out. And then apparently, you know, Gideon said, hey, I want to go check out your church in Rattle Run. And the reverend was like, yeah, okay, let's go check it out. And then when they got to the church, at some point, the reverend just went to the middle of the church and put his arms out to either side like he was Jesus Christ nailed to the cross, even though, you know, Gideon had not made him do that. This is the reverend, like, caught up in his own delusion as he's standing there like this. Gideon, who's flipping the coin, fumbles it, and it falls to the ground. And the reverend, who believes that coin, has full control over what he's doing. He thought, oh, my gosh, the spell is now broken. I need to save myself. And so the reverend ran and grabbed that hatchet, and he forced Gideon to take off all his clothes. And then he made Gideon hand the clothes over. And once the reverend had those clothes, he hacked Gideon to pieces and then burned his body in that stove. And then after this horrific murder, the reverend took his own suit and basically ripped it off and shredded it to bits and then kind of threw it all around the church to make it seem like he had been the one who was killed. And that was his skull inside of the stove. And then he put on all of Gideon Browning's clothes, the brown dirty shirt and the long coat. And then he traveled 500 miles to Miranda Hughes's boarding house where he went inside and booked a room under the pseudonym John Elder. And while the Reverend was hiding out inside of this building boarding house, the police in Rattle Run very quickly figured out that the body inside of the church, the skull inside of the stove, and the remains that were in there did not belong to Reverend Carmichael. They belonged to Gideon Browning. And so immediately it went from, you know, Gideon Browning must have done it to no, no, no. Reverend Carmichael is the killer and he killed Gideon. But before they could track the Reverend down, Reverend Carmichael, AKA John Elder, had gone into that outhouse and slit his own throat. However, when the police searched John Elder's body, so Reverend Carmichael's body, they would find that blood stained letter addressed to the sheriff in Rattle Run. And basically it was a confession. Now granted, it was the confession of Reverend Carmichael, who genuinely believed Gideon had hypnotized him and had all these special powers and he basically was acting in self defense. But nonetheless, it was still a confession to murder. Now, of course, there's lots of details in the story that we can't be totally sure of. Like we don't really know what the discussions were like between Reverend Carmichael and Gideon Browning when they met on that road and then eventually made their way to the church and the murder happened. This is basically just the best theory around what happened. Also, it's worth noting that there was a history of mental illness in Reverend Carmichael's family. But this story happened at a time when nobody took mental health seriously. And so it's very unlikely that even if authorities had known about that, that this crime could have been prevented. A quick note about our stories. They are all based on true events, but we sometimes use pseudonyms to protect the people involved. And some details are fictionalized for dramatic purposes. The Mr. Ballin podcast Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories is hosted and executive Produced by me, Mr. Ballin. Our head of writing is Evan Allen. Produced by Jeremy Bone and Cole Ocasio Research and fact checking by Shelley Shue, Samantha Vanhus, Evan Beamer, Abigail Shumway, Camille Callahan, Alex Paul, Ben Faciano Research and fact checking supervision by Stevenier Audio Editing and post produced by Whit Locasio and Jordan Stidham Production support by Antonio Minotta and Delaina Corley Artwork by Jessica Clogston Kiner Theme Song Something Wicked by Ross Bugden thank you for listening to the Mr. Ballin podcast. And just a reminder, every new and exclusive episode we put out on the Mr. Ballin podcast, you can also now watch on the Mr. Ballin YouTube channel that very same day. And trust me, some of these stories you truly have to see to believe. Again, my YouTube channel is just called Mr. Ballin. If you want to listen to episodes one week early and ad free, you can subscribe. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcast plus on Apple Podcasts or visit siriusxm.com podcastplus to listen with Spotify or another app of your choice. So that's gonna do it. I really appreciate your support. Until next time. See ya.
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When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life. And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients@goodtokknowfacts.org no spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts. For more than 140 beverage ingredients, visit
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goodtokonofacts.org Arby's Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich is done the hard way. It's made with diced all white meat, grilled chicken, then combined with hand sliced apples, hand sliced grapes and hand sliced celery. It's a sandwich crafted by hand and once you taste that first bite, you can't help but give it jazz hands. You can't see it, but I'm doing jazz hands right now. Arby's we have the meats at participating Arby's for a limited time.