← MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
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- [00:00]
Mr. Ballin
Hey prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. On a Summer Morning in 2007, a woman was working in the printing shop she owned in a suburban strip mall. Suddenly, she heard a loud banging sound coming from somewhere above her. She stopped the printer she was working on so she could hear better, and the sound kept coming. Bang. Bang. Bang. It was like metal drawers opening and slamming shut over and over again. She was about to go outside to see what was going on, but then she stopped and just started laughing. Her friend, who owned the business right above her on the second floor, had a habit of rearranging his office. So the banging she was hearing was very likely the sound of the file cabinets just getting moved around. And so as a joke, she shouted up through the ceiling, hey, keep it down up there. I'm working. And then she restarted the printer. But about an hour and a half later, she heard another loud sound. This time it was the wail of sirens as police cars raced into the parking lot. The woman would soon find out that the noises she had heard earlier were not her upstairs neighbor rearranging furniture. Instead, it was the sound of one of the most violent crimes to hit this safe, quiet suburb in years. But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format, the then you've come to the right podcast. Because that's all we do. And we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, please secretly lower the follow button's WI fi signal strength so everything loads painfully slow. Okay, let's get into today's story on Fear Thy Neighbor from ID Hear true stories from the victims of deadly neighborhood disputes. Most violent crimes that capture the public's imagination are about serial killers or crimes of passion. But what happens when the person you fear the most is living right next door? Each episode focuses on a different town where neighbors fall out over what should be minor and resolvable issues. Like when a neighbor borrows a lawnmower but returns it damaged, which sets off a violent course of events. Or how a man in Vancouver moves into a new building and finds himself helping out an elderly neighbor. Then they have several disagreements and a falling out that leads to his death. Here are these true stories told by the victims, their families, and their neighbors, featuring real 911 calls and surveillance archives. Listen to Fear Thy Neighbor wherever you get your podcasts Sherry Papini went missing in 2016. The story that the world thinks they know is that I, I am a master manipulator. She is California's real life gone girl. It's not me. This was a hoax.
- [02:58]
Kristin Thorne
Oh, you're only talking now because you.
- [03:00]
Mr. Ballin
Got caught and could this person be playing you? This is just a lie.
- [03:05]
Kristin Thorne
Now I get to tell the truth.
- [03:07]
Narrator
Sherry Papini Caught in The Lie an ID documentary event Monday at 9.
- [03:18]
Mr. Ballin
On June 7, 2007, 48 year old Bob Eidman sat at his desk across from a client at the small auto insurance company he owned in St. Charles, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Bob and his client talked like they were old friends. That was how Bob was with all of his clients. Part of the reason for this was that Bob just loved talking to people. But he also knew that a lot of his clients came to him when they had no other option and they were often stressed out about making car insurance payments, so he tried hard to put them at ease. Bob went out of his way to work with people who had bad credit or a history of traffic violations or maybe who had gotten a dui. These were people who desperately needed auto insurance because without it they couldn't drive, but they simply couldn't get insured by larger companies. Bob was well aware of this and made sure he never, ever took advantage of these people's desperation. Instead, he offered affordable rates, accepted cash payments, and worked with clients to come up with insurance plans that they could actually handle. And so, because of this, Bob had gotten a reputation in town as being as much a benefactor as he was a businessman. In the office, Bob's client handed him an envelope of cash to cover her payment for the month. They talked a bit longer and then the client left. Once the door was closed, Bob marked the payment in his books, opened a desk drawer where he kept his cash hidden, and tucked the money inside. After that, he looked down at his phone and realized it was later than he thought. So he quickly grabbed a stack of business cards off his desk, slipped them in his pocket, and walked out. Bob's office was on the second floor of a strip mall, so once he was outside, he walked right down the steps to the parking lot, got in his car and pulled out onto the street. Even though St. Charles was only about 30 minutes from the major city of St. Louis, it felt like a small town. This was a place where a lot of residents kept their doors unlocked and even left their keys in their cars. As Bob drove, he saw loads of people outside enjoying the beautiful spring weather and walking along the Missouri river that wound its way through St. Charles. Bob was a member of the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, so he loved seeing people taking advantage of the natural beauty the town had to offer. And as an active member of the community, he really believed this was the kind of place where someone could help others and still succeed in business. A few minutes later, Bob pulled into the parking lot of a car dealership in town. And when he did, he got a huge smile on his face because he saw his wife Diane standing outside the showroom waiting for him. So Bob parked his car, hopped outside, and walked right over to his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The two had been married for 28 years, but they'd only started working together about a year ago when Bob opened up his insurance business. And people who knew them thought they complemented each other perfectly. Bob was this big guy with messy gray hair who loved to talk, while Diane looked and acted like a total professional. And even though they went about things differently, they shared a drive and an appreciation for hard work. In fact, Diane had a full time job at a hospital, but she still managed to carve out a few hours almost every day to help her husband in his office or to do some marketing for the insurance company, which is actually why they were there. At the car dealership, Bob handed Diane half of the business cards he'd brought. And then the two of them split up and began talking to everyone at the dealership who might be looking for a new car. This was one of the ways they marketed Bob's company and found new clients. The two of them spent the rest of the day handing out cards and talking to people. By the time they were finished, they were worn out, but they felt like they'd put in a good, honest day of work. That night back at home, Bob stayed up and brainstormed more possible marketing ideas while Diane went to bed early. She had to be up and out of the house by 5am the next day to make her shift at the hospital. Bob knew how hard it had been for Diane, working basically non stop across multiple jobs. But he told himself this would all be worth it. The risk he had taken by opening up his own business would eventually pay off. He knew it then. He'd be able to give Diane a happier, easier life. At 10am the following day, June 8, Bob walked into his office, went to his desk and got right to work, going over his financial statements and planning client meetings. And he'd been working for about an hour when he heard the office door open, so he stopped what he was doing, and he looked up from his desk at 12:30pm so two and a half hours after Bob had gotten to the office, a postal worker was making her daily rounds through the same strip mall. She delivered mail to all the businesses on the first floor and then headed upstairs to drop a package off for Bob. She opened Bob's door, said hello as she walked in, and then stopped cold right inside the doorway. She began to scream, dropped the package on the ground, and ran back down the stairs yelling for help. People began coming out of their shops and offices to see what was going on. At the same time, this postal worker just happened to spot a police cruiser coming down the street towards the strip mall. So she sprinted across the parking lot and ran out into the road and shouting and waving her arms to get their attention. The police cruiser came to a screeching halt and an officer got out and asked her what was wrong. And the postal worker, who could barely breathe, began to describe what she had just seen. A moment later, that same police officer was entering Bob's office. And just like the postal worker had done, the officer froze in the office doorway. He had been on the force for years, but what he saw in the office still hit him hard, because on the floor right in front of him, Bob lay motionless, surrounded by a pool of blood. The officer quickly pulled himself together, ran across the office, and crouched down over Bob's body. He checked for a pulse, but it was clear Bob was dead. Not long after the officer contacted the station to report the death, Detective Donald Stepp of the St. Charles Police and his superior, Captain Pat McCarrick, arrived at the scene. These were two of the most experienced investigators on the force, but even they had not had to deal with many homicides in St. Charles, because at the time, the city had a far lower murder rate than the state of Missouri and the country as a whole. Detective Stepp and Captain McCarrick did a walkthrough of the office, and then they examined Bob's body. They saw multiple bullet wounds, but one of the shots looked like it had just grazed Bob Stepan. McCarrick also found spent shell casings and also live rounds from a 9 millimeter handgun spread out at different spots across the floor. Because of these live rounds on the floor, which are just unshot bullets, so intact, full live rounds, the investigators thought the killer's weapon might have jammed at some point. And so maybe in an attempt to clear the jam, they had ejected these live rounds onto the ground. Or perhaps the killer might have just been an inexperienced shooter and sort of unintentionally ejected these live rounds without shooting them. The investigators dug through Bob's desk, and they noticed there was no sign of a wallet or any form of id they checked Bob's pockets and didn't find a wallet there either. So they thought maybe this had been a robbery. But not long after that, they discovered the money in Bob's cash drawer. They didn't know why a robber would have taken Bob's wallet and left all this cash behind, but maybe there was a chance that the killer was not only an inexperienced shooter, but also an inexperienced thief. Soon, the investigators were joined by members of the county forensic team. Forensics officers examined and collected the shell casings as well as the live rounds. They dusted for prints and did a thorough search of Bob's body and clothes for possible DNA samples. While the forensics team worked in the office, Step and McCarrick made their way outside and began questioning owners and employees from the other businesses in the strip mall. The woman who owned the printing shop right below Bob's office proved to be the most helpful. She told investigators she had seen Bob pull into the parking lot around 10am and at about 11, she said she'd heard loud banging coming from upstairs in Bob's office. She said that she figured Bob was just moving file cabinets around or something. And as a joke, she'd even yelled up to him from her office, hey, Bob, you know, keep the noise down. But now that she knew what had really happened to Bob, she wished at the time she heard those noises she had gone upstairs to check on him. The investigators asked her if she could think of anyone who might have had an issue with Bob, but the woman said no. Bob was one of the most likable people she knew, and she figured everyone the police would talk to would say the same thing because that's just who Bob was. A few minutes later, as the investigators walked out of the print shop, Detective Step scanned the strip mall, and the front door of a Mexican restaurant caught his attention. Positioned right above the restaurant door was a security camera that pointed out towards the parking lot and the street. So the investigators went inside the restaurant and asked the owner if they could have his surveillance footage from that morning and also the night before. The owner said, of course, and handed over the footage. Foreign the show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Mental health awareness is definitely growing, but there's still progress that needs to be made. 26% of Americans who participated in a recent survey say they have avoided seeking mental health support due to fear of judgment. And I can totally relate to that because there was a time in my life where I too avoided getting help because I didn't want people to know I was getting help. But when people hesitate to get the support they need, it doesn't just affect them, it impacts families, workplaces, entire communities. And so this Mental Health Awareness Month, let's encourage everyone to take care of their well being and break the stigma. I believe the world is better when people are mentally healthy and happy. Therapy can help you develop stronger communication skills, improve coping mechanisms, and help you better understand yourself. Working with a therapist should not be seen as a step backward or but seen as an investment in your future. BetterHelp has over 10 years of experience matching people with the right therapist from their diverse network of more than 30,000 licensed therapists with a wide range of specialties. We're all better with help. Visit betterhelp.com MrBallandPod today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelpH. E L-P.com MrBallenPod Lamont Jones World is.
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Narrator
Shattered when his cousin dies in custody just weeks after entering prison. The official report says natural causes, but bruises and missing teeth tell a different story. From Wondery comes Death County, Pennsylvania chilling true story of corruption and cover ups that begins as one man's search for answers, but soon reveals a disturbing pattern. Lamont's cousin's death is just one of many and powerful forces are working to keep the truth buried. With never before heard interviews and shocking revelations, Death County, Pennsylvania pulls back the curtain on one of America's darkest institutional secrets. This isn't just another true crime story. It's happening right now. Follow Death County PA on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Death County PA early and ad free right now by joining Wondery.
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Mr. Ballin
By the time the investigators had spoken to everyone in the strip mall, it was about 3pm around that time, Stephen McCarrick headed towards the stairs to rejoin the forensics team inside of Bob's office. But as they were walking, they heard an officer shouting their names from the parking lot. They turned around and saw the officer standing there with a woman. And as they made eye contact with this officer, he quickly came over to them. He said the woman he was with was Bob's wife, Diane. She'd been trying to get a hold of Bob, but he never answered. So she came up here to see if everything was okay, he said. Diane obviously knew something was going on here because of the police presence, but she didn't actually know what had happened to Bob. Detective Step took a breath, and then he and his captain went to go speak with Diane. They introduced themselves, and then Step broke the news that her husband had been found dead in his office and that someone had shot him. Then step and McCarrick offered their condolences, but Diane's response took them completely by surprise. Diane barely reacted at all, and she didn't even say anything. Now, the investigators knew that people handled news like this in very different ways, but neither of them had ever seen something like this. It was like Diane was completely devoid of emotion. Step and McCarrick shared a quick look, and it was clear they both thought this was strange, but they were experienced enough not to jump to conclusions based on a single reaction or non reaction from somebody who just heard such terrible news. Step broke the silence and told Diane they'd like to ask her some questions so they could try to figure out, you know, where to start this investigation. Diane finally spoke and said she would help if she could. Step called over to the officer who had brought them Diane and asked him to go get them a chair. The officer ducked into one of the offices and quickly came back out again with a metal folding chair and placed it down next to Diane. Diane took a seat right there in the parking lot, and then step and McCarrick began questioning her. As the victim's spouse, Diane was automatically a person of interest. So the investigators started with basic questions about her and Bob's marriage. How was their marriage going lately? Did they fight? Did they have financial problems? But Diane said she and Bob had a great relationship. They fought like any married couple would, but it was nothing serious, she said. Financially, they were fine, and with Bob's growing business, they actually hoped to be in even better shape financially soon. Without missing a beat, captain McCarrick asked if Bob had a life insurance policy, and if so, was Diane the beneficiary? This was a pretty standard question in this situation when dealing with a victim's spouse or children, because somebody killing a family member to collect the life insurance policy was definitely not unheard of. Diane said, yes, Bob had life insurance, and she was the beneficiary, but it was a small policy. The payout was maybe $5,000. Now, immediately, neither of the investigators thought that was enough money for somebody to want to kill over, but they didn't want to rule anything out yet. At some point, Detective Stepp asked Diane if she knew of anyone who might want to hurt Bob, and he sort of expected her answer to be similar to the one the print shop owner had given. But Diane's answer was very different. She said she did know somebody. There was a man who might have it out for Bob. She said his name was Kevin Green, and he was a rival auto insurance salesman in town. Bob had recently accused Kevin of stealing one of his clients and had actually gone to Kevin's office to confront him about it. After jotting down Kevin's name, Step asked Diane one more question. Did Bob usually carry cash on him? Diane nodded. She said he always had a good amount of cash in his wallet, and he always carried his wallet in his back pocket, even when he was sitting at his desk. After speaking to Diane, Stephen McCarrick returned to Bob's office, where forensics officers were still working. Bob's missing wallet meant that his murder could be the result of a robbery gone bad, like they'd thought. And so they shared the information about Bob always carrying his wallet in his back pocket with the forensics team. After hearing this, one of the forensics officers walked over to Bob's body, crouched down, and studied the back pocket of his pants. She said she would cut away the pocket from the pants and keep it as a potential source for a DNA sample. Upon hearing this, Stepan McCarrick looked confused. DNA samples could only be taken from bodily fluids, and unless they were missing something, it did not look like the pocket had any fluids on it. The forensics officer saw their looks and told them that this was sort of a long shot, but DNA testing technology was making huge advances very quickly. So maybe down the line, they might be able to pull something useful from that back pocket, despite there not being any obvious fluids on it. Now, Step and McCarrick would love it if that wound up being the case, but there was obviously no way they could count on that. So in the meantime, they decided to start with the one person Bob might have had a beef with. Kevin Green, the rival insurance salesman. Several hours after Bob's body had been discovered, Detective Stepp and Captain McCarrick walked into another small auto insurance office in St. Charles. And there they found Kevin Green working at his desk. Kevin smiled warmly and then asked how he could help, almost like he might try to sell them something. But when they told him that Bob Eidman had been murdered, Kevin's smile quickly disappeared and he looked genuinely shocked. The investigators laid out their reason for being there. They knew that Kevin and Bob were rivals and that Bob had recently confronted him about stealing clients. But Kevin just shook his head and said it was not like that at all. He and Bob did not have a confrontation. They just spoke. And there was no rivalry, at least not how the detectives were making it sound. He said that he and Bob were competitors, but they were cordial with each other and actually seemed to get along just fine. Step asked Kevin if he could give them a timeline of how he'd spent his day. Kevin nodded and said he'd just gone shopping that morning at a sporting goods store. And then after that, he had come into work after taking down some notes. Step nodded and said they would be in touch if they needed anything else. Then the two investigators left. In the days immediately following the murder, Detective step and Captain McCarrick got members of their team to begin to follow up on Kevin's alibi. As for the two of them, they began to focus on the theory that Bob's murder could be the result of a robbery gone bad. If that was the case, they knew they could be looking for anyone off the streets. But they hoped that the surveillance camera footage they had gotten from the Mexican restaurant would help make the search a whole lot easier. So step, McCarrick and another member of their team began the painstaking process of sitting in a cramped office and watching the grainy video footage frame by frame. And after only doing this for a short time, everything on the screen began to look like a blur of black and white. And it was hard to even make things out clearly. But suddenly, as Step was staring at the monitor, he thought he saw something. And it was like he had just suddenly woken up. He told the officer they were working with to rewind the footage. Several minutes back, the officer did. And then all three of them leaned into the screen and watched. And this time, McCarrick and the other officer saw what Step had seen. The same car, a Ford Focus, drove slowly through the strip mall parking lot twice within the span of a few minutes on the day of the murder. It sort of looked like the driver was staking out the place. And the final time the car drove through the lot before disappearing from the footage was about 11am and that was right around the time the owner of the print shop had heard all that noise coming from Bob's office right above her. And just about 90 minutes before Bob's body had been discovered. Unfortunately, the car's license plates weren't visible on the footage, and so step and McCarrick knew that that would make their jobs a whole lot harder still. They had a brand new lead here, and that was exciting. So they had members of their team compile a list of every registered Ford Focus in the county and told them to start tracking down each of the owners. They also set up Roadblocks in St. Charles in the hope that the Ford Focus in question might end up at one. Step and McCarrick knew that finding this car from the footage could take a long time. After all, there were a lot of Ford Focuses to check, and there was no guarantee the one they wanted was registered in this county. So while the search for the Ford Focus got underway, the two investigators turned their attention back to the one suspect neither of them could get out of their minds. Bob's wife, Diane. During the week following the murder, Detective step and captain McCarrick began digging deeper into Bob's relationship with his wife. They knew that Diane's strange and sort of cold reaction to the news of her husband's death did not necessarily mean she was guilty, but they just couldn't shake the feeling that something had been off about her. So they reached out to Bob's cell phone carrier to secure his phone records. And they also started looking into Bob and Diane's finances. And it didn't take them long to discover that Diane had lied to them. Step and McCarrick learned that the couple was not doing well financially. Like Dianne had suggested. Starting and operating the insurance company had put Bob in significant debt. So much debt, in fact, that he had been in jeopardy of losing his business. But that wasn't even the biggest thing that jumped out at the investigators. They got more information on Bob's life insurance. The policy Diane had told them was worth just $5,000. And they learned that, in fact, Bob had three life insurance policies that collectively were worth a total of $400,000. And Diane would get all of it with Bob dead on June 20th. So almost two weeks after the murder, Step and McCarrick sat across from Diane in an interview room at the St. Charles Police Station. And they did not waste any time skirting the issue. Step said they knew Diane had lied to them about her and Bob's financial situation. And perhaps even more importantly, they knew she had also lied about the amount of money she would receive from Bob's life insurance. Diane stayed calm and quiet, like she had when the investigators interviewed her the first time. She said she had lied about her and Bob's financial situation for one simple she was embarrassed. This response actually didn't surprise Stepan McCarrick. A lot of people do not feel comfortable talking about money problems, even to police conducting a very serious investigation. But Step didn't back off. He said Diane's response did not fully explain their issue because it didn't explain why she'd lied about Bob's life insurance. What does that have to do with being embarrassed? But all Diane could say was she didn't realize the payout was as big as it was. Stepan McCarrick did not quite buy it. And so they asked Diane to take a polygraph test. She agreed, and they set up the test that day, and the results came back inconclusive. Now, despite all the reasons the investigators now had to suspect Diane, they had no clear evidence actually tying her to her husband's murder. So they had to let her go. After two weeks of their investigation, Step and McCarrick believed they had several strong leads, but nothing concrete. The rival insurance agent's alibi had checked out. There was still a chance he could have hired someone to kill Bob, but it was an outside chance. On top of that, police had not gotten a hit on the Ford Focus from the surveillance footage, and they hadn't gotten anything from the DNA tests conducted on blood samples taken from the crime scene. But finally, as June came to an end, Stepan McCarrick got a hold of Bob's detailed phone records. And those records immediately raised a red flag. Because there was one number that Bob called over and over again, and it wasn't Diane's. It was a Kansas City, Missouri number belonging to a man that neither investigators had heard of. His name was James Hall. And so Step contacted James and asked if he knew who Bob Aidman was. And James said yes, he knew Bob very well. In fact, the two of them had been lovers. Hey, listeners. Big news for true crime lovers. You can now enjoy this podcast ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. Listen to all episodes of my podcasts, Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries and Mr. Ballin's Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories, along with a huge collection of top true crime podcasts. Completely ad free. No more wading through cliffhangers or dealing with ads, because, let's be honest, ads shouldn't be the most nerve wracking part of true crime. To start your ad free listening journey, download the Amazon music app for free or head to Amazon.com ballen that's Amazon.com b a l l E N Dive into uninterrupted true crime stories today. Hey, guys, Mr. Ballin here. You know how I tell strange, dark and mysterious stories? Well, I've stumbled on some strange, dark and mysterious medical stories that really are just as wild. Like there was a story about this woman who accidentally swallowed something that got lodged in her heart. There was a story about a guy where a tree grew in his lung. Or there was a story about this person who their skin turned bright blue. Or this town. Everybody started laughing uncontrollably. That lasted for months. I mean, the list goes on. And these are not urban legends. These are real mysteries that we dive into that have left doctors and scientists baffled, sometimes for years. And so that's why I created Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries, a totally separate show all about these wild mysteries of the human body. Follow Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to listen to episodes early and ad free? Well join Wondery or listen on Amazon Music with prime in early July 2007 so almost a month after Bob's murder, Step and McCarrick made the three and a half hour drive from St. Charles to Kansas City. Once they were there, they teamed up with some local police and then paid a visit to James at his house. James had known about Bob's murder soon after it happened, so he wasn't surprised. The police wanted to talk to him and James did not try to hide anything. He said that he and Bob had met online and had been having an affair for about eight months. James even showed the police a bunch of love letters and gifts that Bob had given him. Initially, Step and McCarrick didn't find anything strange about this, but the more James talked and the more personal items that he showed them, it started to look like he never threw away anything connected to Bob, and the investigators thought this went past the point of romance and into a possible obsession. Finally, McCarrick asked James if anything in their relationship had changed before Bob was killed, and James said yes. There had been a huge change because Bob's wife Diane had recently discovered an email exchange between him and Bob and so she'd learned about the affair. After that, Bob told James he would have to cool things off for a bit with them and focus instead on his marriage to Diane. As Detective, Step and Captain McCarrick made the drive back to St. Charles. They began to realize that they now had a full on love triangle to consider. There was a chance that James had gotten angry when Bob started to back away from their relationship and maybe he lashed out and killed Bob. But Diane, who already had a clear financial motive, might have also gone into a rage and murdered Bob because he was cheating on her. Both of those theories made sense, but without any real evidence, Step and McCarrick felt like they were just stumbling around in the dark by the late summer of 2007, Step and McCarrick were growing increasingly frustrated with the case. The investigation just kept going the same way it had from the beginning. They had several strong suspects and no concrete evidence. They continued to try to find the Ford Focus, along with some clue that might link Diane James or anyone else to the crime scene. But nothing turned up on either front. And as the months passed by, new leads stopped coming in. Other investigations demanded the cops focus. And so Bob's case started to go cold. Fast forward to April of 2008, ten months after Bob's murder. Detective Stepp was at his desk when a phone call got transferred to him. He picked up and he heard the voice of a county forensics officer on the other end. And she sounded excited. As Step listened to her, a stunned look came across his face. Because things like this just didn't usually happen in investigations. The forensics officer explained that the long shot the team had taken by cutting away Bob's back pocket from his pants had paid off. Because now, almost a year later, the process known as touch DNA sampling had taken a massive leap forward. Essentially, in the past, usable DNA samples could only be obtained from bodily fluids. But now, new touch testing methods allowed the lab to obtain DNA samples from skin cells. And so the lab had tested Bob's back pocket, and they found that whoever had taken Bob's wallet out of that pocket had left their skin cells behind. So they now had a sample of that person's DNA. Detective Stepp hung up the phone, still in shock. This case that he'd basically given up on suddenly felt like it was about to be solved. And all because a forensics officer had seen what the future might bring and had saved a pants pocket. Step went to McCarrick's office and told the captain about this huge development. And right away, McCarrick got to work reassembling the investigative team. But even with this new DNA sample, it would still take the investigators some time to put everything together. But eventually, they would sit down face to face with the person who had left their skin cells behind at the crime scene. And at that point, Detective stepp and Captain McCarrick knew who killed Bob Aid. Based on the DNA sample evidence found at the crime scene and interviews conducted throughout the investigation, the following is a reconstruction of what police believe happened to Bob Aidman on June 8, 2007. At 11am that day, the killer and their accomplice sat in a parked Ford Focus in the lot of the strip mall just past Bob's office. They each held a gun, and they Each had a bandana tied around their neck. At some point, the killer raised their bandana up over their nose to cover their face. And at that point, the accomplice did the same. Then the killer looked over at the accomplice, nodded, and then they both got out of the car and ran up the steps to the second floor of the strip mall. They quickly made it to Bob's office, opened up the door, stepped inside, and shut the door behind them. Bob, who was doing some work at his desk, looked up. But before he could say or do anything, the killer and the accomplice raised their guns and the killer fired. The bullet grazed Bob on the chin, and he immediately began to scream and put his hand up to the wound. But the killer just moved closer to the desk and fired again. And this shot hit Bob on the neck. Blood poured from his wound as he fell out of his chair and hit the floor. The killer immediately ran around the desk and aimed right at Bob's face and fired the gun again, this time shooting Bob through the eye. Bob would die laying right there on the floor of his office. Once Bob was dead, the killer crouched down and took Bob's wallet out of his pocket. Back pocket. Then the killer and the accomplice searched the office looking for cash they knew Bob kept on hand, but they couldn't find anything. And then they heard shouting coming from right below them. And so in a panic, the killer just grabbed Bob's wallet, put it in his pocket, and then screamed at the accomplice that they needed to run. So the two of them fled the office, slamming the door behind them. They went down the steps, got back in the Ford Focus, and the killer hit the gas and they split, sped off down the street. And when they'd gotten miles away from the strip mall, the killer took Bob's wallet out of their pocket and looked inside of it. The killer took out the cash they saw and handed half of it to their accomplice. Bob Eidman's murderer was not a jealous wife, an obsessed lover, or a business rival. It turned out that the investigators first theory was right. Bob had been killed by someone who simply wanted to rob him. And that was a man named Paul White. But Paul was not a complete stranger to Bob because Paul's wife was one of Bob's clients. And months before the murder, Paul had gone with his wife to Bob's office when she made a cash payment for her car insurance. So Paul knew Bob must keep cash on hand. On the night before the murder, Paul had lost $1,200 playing blackjack and craps at a casino. And so he was desperate for money. And his solution was he would kill Bob and take all his cash. After staying up all night, Paul got a hold of two guns. Then he got his friend, a man named Cleo Hines, to come with him to provide extra muscle. And then the two of them went to Bob's office and killed him and then robbed him. However, they didn't find the cash in Paul's desk drawer. And so they ended up committing this cold blooded murder just for the money they found in Bob's wallet, which was $300, or after splitting it, 150 bucks each. And they took that money right back to the casino and quickly lost all of it. The investigators had been on the trail of that Ford Focus, which would turn out to belong to Paul's accomplice Cleo. But after almost a year of searching, they still hadn't tracked it down. But when the crime lab conducted their DNA touch testing on the skin cells they pulled from Bob's pocket, those samples eventually led them to Paul, who happened to be in prison at the time for committing forgery. Investigators were quickly able to connect Paul to his accomplice Cleo and to the Ford Focus they'd seen on the surveillance footage. Bob's wife Diane, who had nothing to do with the crime, would break down in tears during Paul and Cleo's trial. Paul and Cleo were both convicted and each of them were sentenced to two life terms in prison with no possibility of parole. 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. Thank you for listening to the Mr. Ballin podcast. If you enjoyed today's stories and you're looking for more bone chilling content, be sure to check out all of our studio's podcasts. There's this one, of course, the Mr. Bolland podcast. And there's Mr. Bolland's medical mysteries. Bedtime stories, Wartime stories run full redacted and late nights with Nexpo. All you have to do is search for Ballin Studios wherever you get your podcasts. To watch hundreds more stories just like this one, head over to our YouTube channel, which is just called Mr. Ballin. So that's gonna do it. I really appreciate your support. Until next time. See ya. Hey, prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today and before you go. Please tell us about yourself by completing a short survey@wondry.com survey last year, long.
- [39:22]
Kristin Thorne
Crime brought you the trial that captivated the nation. She's accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston police officer John o' Keefe, with her car. Karen Reed is arrested and charged with second degree murder. The six week trial resulted in anything but resolution.
- [39:37]
Mr. Ballin
We continue to find ourselves at an impasse. I'm declaring a mistrial in this case.
- [39:42]
Kristin Thorne
But now the case is back in the spotlight and one question still lingers. Did Karen Reed kill John o' Keefe?
- [39:50]
Mr. Ballin
The evidence is overwhelming that Karen Reed is innocent.
- [39:53]
Narrator
How does it feel to be a cop killer?
- [39:55]
Kristin Thorne
Karen I'm Kristin Thorne, investigative reporter with Law and Crime and host of the podcast the Retrial. This isn't just a retrial. It's a second chance at the truth. I have nothing to hide. My life is in the balance and it shouldn't be.
- [40:12]
Mr. Ballin
I just want people to go back.
- [40:14]
Narrator
To who the victim is in this.
- [40:15]
Mr. Ballin
It's not her.
- [40:16]
Kristin Thorne
Listen to episodes of the Retrial exclusively and ad free on Wondery.