← MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
The Business of Death (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
00:34:00
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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. In 2002, two days after Halloween, a police officer stepped out of a house in the small town of Navasota, Texas. He shielded his eyes from the early morning sunlight, then ducked under the band of yellow tape that surrounded the house. This officer had been working all night and really needed a break. So he went down to the sidewalk and lit a cigarette. And as he smoked, his eyes fell on a muddy ditch that ran alongside the street. And he saw something in the ditch that just seemed out of place. He walked over and crouched down to examine the object. And when he saw what it was, his heart began to race. It was a mask. Now, under normal circumstances, finding a mask two days after Halloween wouldn't be that strange. But this was not the kind of mask you would buy at a costume shop. And the officer had found it 25 yards away from the site of a murder. But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious delivered in story format, 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 clear the follow button's browser cache. So they lose all their saved passwords, then reset them all to complicated patterns of random numbers and letters. Okay, let's get into today's story. Growing up, Melissa had the perfect life. And until she discovered her father's dark secret, he was the notorious Happy Face Killer. Experience a thrilling new Paramount original series inspired by a true life story. Now, when Melissa's father confesses to a new murder, she must choose between protecting her secret and risking everything to uncover the truth. Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid star in Happy Face new series now streaming exclusively on Paramount. Inspired by a Southern legend, Huggin Molly is a monstrous spider woman. Her patchwork dress is stitched from the clothes of children she snatches when she skitters down from her lair deep in the mountains. She wraps them in her red yarn like little flies in the clutches of her palm. The children watch their homes fade in the distance. The earth blurs beneath her spindled legs as she rushes over hills and fields, the moon and stars the only witnesses to their vanishing. To her lab they'll go wrapped in red, waiting to be found, waiting to be woven whole. Explore more Deep south mythos and encounter creatures like Molly in South of midnight. Available April 8, 2025 on Xbox Series X and S Game Pass ultimate and PC and Steam. Pre install on Game Pass or pre order now. Terms apply. See xbox.com subscription terms. Rated M for mature. On the morning of November 1, 2002, a 54 year old man named Lonnie Turner stood inside the back room of a funeral home, carefully trimming the hair on a dead man's head. Lonnie was the owner and head mortician of the Jones Funeral Home in Navasota, Texas, which is a small town just north of Houston. Lonnie had already drained the blood from the body and filled its veins with embalming fluid. Once he wrapped up the haircut, he dressed the body and then applied makeup before moving it into its casket for the wake that afternoon. When he was done, Lonnie headed down the hallway and up the steps to his office. The whole time he walked, his feet ached. Lonnie was only 54, but lately he'd been feeling exhausted from his job and from all the volunteering he did outside of work. As he reached the sitting area outside his office, he looked at the photos that lined the walls. There were pictures of Lonnie with the town mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Navas. He was the first African American member of the Navasota City Council, and just two years ago he'd received the Citizen of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce. The plaque hung on the wall just outside his office, and every time he looked at it he felt a swell of pride. But when he went into his office, Lonnie's smile quickly faded because his 21 year old son, Junior, was sitting in Lonnie's chair, his feet up on Lonnie's desk, talking loudly non stop into his cell phone. Lonnie tried to get his son's attention, but Junior just clearly ignored him. So Lonnie just stood there, arms crossed, giving his son a very stern look. Finally, Junior stopped talking on the phone and turned to face his dad. But instead of saying hello to him, he told his dad that he was about to register for the Texas Mortuary Law exam, which he had to pass to get his mortician's license. And getting that license was the very first step for Junior to be able to take over the family business, something Lonnie was all too aware of. Now. Lonnie knew part of Junior probably just wanted to get out of his father's shadow. It had to be hard sometimes when your father was one of the most well known people in town, but as much as Lonnie did want to hand over the funeral business to his son, he wasn't going to do that until he felt certain that his son could actually handle it. Because currently, his son acted really immature basically all the time. And so, instead of Lonnie reacting to what his son had just told him about taking this mortuary exam, Lonnie just said, okay, well, there's still work to be done here at the funeral home. And that before Junior could protest, he told him he had to move their latest client's coffin into the chapel for the wake. He needed to order more embalming fluid and get the company car washed. Then Lonnie threw the car keys to his son, and after Junior grabbed him, he just stood up and stormed out of the office looking totally annoyed. But Lonnie didn't care. He was tired of his son's bad attitude and entitled behavior, and he knew he needed to be tougher on Junior. If he didn't. He felt like Junior's habit of being sort of lazy could land him in serious trouble. Just then, Lonnie heard voices coming from outside of his office. He peeked into the hallway and he saw his son talking to another young man. It was 19 year old James White, Lonnie's godson. James had grown up around Lonnie's family and had always looked at Lonnie like an uncle and a Junior like an older brother. Now, James worked part time at the funeral home with both of them. But as Lonnie listened to this conversation that was going on, he realized his son was telling James to do several of the tasks that Lonnie had literally just assigned him. And he'd caught Junior doing this before, paying James extra to do work he wanted to avoid and taking advantage of the fact that James looked up to him and would basically do whatever he asked. And this made Lonnie furious because he didn't give Junior tasks just to keep him busy. They were a way of preparing him to take over this business. For Lonnie, this was just further proof that his son was not ready for serious responsibility. Lonnie sighed, but he didn't confront his son or James. He just let them do their work and then told them to leave early once they were gone. Lonnie spent the afternoon making preparations for upcoming funerals and speaking to grieving family members. By the time he could finally head home, he was totally exhausted. After locking up the funeral home, Lonnie drove through downtown Navasota towards a small neighborhood at the edge of town. When he pulled up in front of his big two story house. It was dark outside. He parked and walked around the house to the back porch. The light was on and the back door was unlocked, just like Lonnie always left it. He went inside and noticed that Junior wasn't home yet. Lonnie assumed he was out with his friends like usual. So Lonnie just turned on the TV and made himself some dinner. He ate, watched some local news, then spoke to a client on the phone around 9:15. They talked for a few minutes, and then after that, Lonnie headed to bed. And he was so tired from work that day that he fell asleep pretty much immediately. And he was sleeping soundly when suddenly there was this loud creaking noise that woke him up. Lonnie sat upright in bed, confused. And before his eyes could adjust to the darkness, he heard something else. The sound of breathing. Someone else was in the room with him. A couple hours later, just before midnight, Lonnie's son Junior pulled into the driveway outside the house. As always, he walked around to the back porch as well. But when he got there, he noticed the porch light wasn't on, and it typically was. And so he checked the bulb and actually found that it was slightly unscrewed. So he tightened it until the light came back on. After that, he opened the unlocked door and went inside. He headed upstairs to his bedroom. But on the way there, he noticed his father's bedroom door was open. Now, his dad always slept with the door shut, and it wasn't like him to be up this late. So Junior called out and asked if everything was okay, but there was no response. So Junior walked closer to the open door and peeked inside. But when he did, he saw his dad was not in bed. Instead, Lonnie was lying on the floor beside the bed, perfectly still. And on the wall above him was a huge, dark red streak of blood. Junior just stared for a moment in shock and then immediately turned and sprinted to his bedroom. There, he lifted up his mattress, revealing a collection of handguns, and he grabbed one at random. He jammed the gun into the waistband of his pants and then fled down the stairs. Junior burst through the back door, jumped into his car and started speeding towards the nearest police station. As he drove, he used his cell phone to call 91 1. When the dispatcher asked what the emergency was, Junior told them his dad had been shot and killed. When they asked if he had checked for a pulse, he admitted that he hadn't. He said he'd left in a hurry because he was scared. Whoever had killed his dad might still be in the house. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace makes it easy to create a website and grow a business all in one place, all on your terms with these brand new product features introducing design intelligence from Squarespace, empowering anyone to build a beautiful, more personalized website tailored to their unique needs. Squarespace Payments is the easiest way to manage your payments all in one place. Onboarding is fast and simple. 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While Junior was speeding to the police station, an officer named Rob Bailey was patrolling the town. It had been a quiet night. That is, until his radio crackled and dispatch told him that a deadly shooting had just been reported at an address on the edge of town, and the shooter might still be inside the building. And Officer Bailey immediately recognized the address, because, like most officers on the Navasota police force, he knew Lonnie and the entire Turner family personally. And so he sped to Lonnie's house, praying that his friend was okay. When he got there, he parked and headed straight to the backyard, because he knew Lonnie always went in through his back door. But while he was rounding the house, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. The lights were on downstairs, and he could see someone moving around inside. Now, part of Officer Bailey hoped that this shadowy figure was Lonnie himself, and that despite the report of a deadly shooting here, that Lonnie was somehow okay. But he knew that wasn't likely. More likely was this shadowy figure was the shooter. And so, with his hand on his sidearm, Officer Bailey carefully walked to the back porch and knocked on the back door. There was a long moment of silence. Then he heard footsteps from inside. The door opened, and when Officer Bailey saw who was standing there, he was confused. He recognized the man, but it wasn't Lonnie Turner. It was Lonnie's brother, Lawson, which was very unusual, because the officer knew that Lawson lived almost three hours away. And as for Lawson, he also looked confused to be seeing a police officer standing at the door. And when Officer Bailey told him that he was actually here responding to a possible shooting, Lawson looked even more bewildered. He said he didn't know anything about a shooting and said he had only arrived a few minutes ago and found the house totally empty. Officer Bailey didn't know what to make of that, but he asked Lawson to please wait outside. And then Officer Bailey went into the house. Bailey went straight to Lonnie's bedroom. And there, just as Junior had described it, he would find Lonnie Turner laying on the ground beside the bed with the wall streaked with blood behind him. Bailey leaned down to check his friend for a pulse, but there wasn't one. Officer Bailey just stood there for a moment, struggling to process the fact that his friend and one of the most respected men in the city was dead, most likely murdered. A moment later, Officer Bailey collected himself and radioed for backup. After that, he remembered that he had a possible suspect waiting outside. Officer Bailey rushed downstairs and out into the backyard. Lawson seemed eager for news about whatever was going on, But Officer Bailey wasn't sure how Much, he should say he was a patrol officer, not a homicide investigator. So he was kind of out of his depth. But he still felt like he had to do something. So he asked Lawson what he was doing at his brother's house. Lawson said he was on his way to Houston, and he was planning to spend the night at his brother's house to break up the drive. He said he'd gotten to the house just a few minutes before Officer Bailey did, and when he'd gone inside, he'd called out for Lonnie, but no one had answered. He'd even looked in Lonnie's bedroom and didn't see him. So he figured Lonnie was out dealing with some funeral home business and would be back soon. And listening to this, Officer Bailey literally couldn't believe what Lawson was saying. The walls in Lonnie's bedroom were literally covered in blood, and his brother's body was literally laying on the floor in front of him. It didn't make sense that Lawson could have looked inside that room and not noticed those things. So even though Officer Bailey was not a detective and was not in charge of this case, he wanted to see how Lawson would react to the news of his brother's death. So he just came right out and told him. And when he did, Lawson looked shocked and then totally devastated. And then he broke down sobbing. Officer Bailey watched him, trying to judge if his tears were genuine, but he couldn't tell. But just then, Officer Bailey looked up and saw headlights approaching the house. Detective Travis Higginbotham parked in Lonnie's driveway. Higinbotham worked for the district attorney's office and had been appointed as the lead investigator on this case. He already knew that the murder of a local celebrity would garner plenty of attention. And also the fact that the Texas Rangers, who were the state police, had been called in to help on this case only made it more high profile. And so for Detective Higginbotham, he knew this case could either make his career or break it. Higginbotham got out of his car and met up with Officer Bailey in the backyard, and he was surprised to see another man was sitting outside and crying. Officer Bailey quickly explained the situation, and the detective agreed that Lawson seemed suspicious. But before Higginbotham could even begin to think about that, he needed to go inside and survey the crime scene. He went to Lonnie's bedroom and took note of the trajectory of the blood spatter on the walls. Then he examined Lonnie's body and the Detective found two bullet casings from a nine millimeter pistol nearby. Given the location of the wounds and the fact that there was no gun anywhere in the room, it was fairly obvious this couldn't be a suicide. So Detective Higginbotham started looking around for clues about a possible motive for murder. Nothing in Lonnie's bedroom, or the rest of the house for that matter, had been disturbed. Lonnie's wallet and his watch were out in plain sight. And There was also $7,000 in cash in an unlocked safe. So it didn't seem like the motive for this was robbery. There were also no signs of a break in, which made sense, considering Lonnie kept his back door unlocked. But that also meant whoever killed Lonnie likely knew in advance he did not lock his back door. So it seemed like a working theory was whoever killed Lonnie knew him personally and maybe had some kind of vendetta against him. As he was thinking this over, Detective Higginbotham heard Lonnie's brother Lawson still sobbing outside in the yard. And so Higginbotham got up and headed out to question him. Lawson was clearly distraught, and he started by just repeating everything he'd already told Officer Bailey. And like Officer Bailey, Detective Higginbotham found his story to be very suspicious. The idea he looked in his brother's room and didn't notice his brother's body or the blood on the wall just didn't make any sense. So Higinbotham leaned forward and asked Lawson a much more pointed did he own a gun? Without hesitating, Lawson said, yes, he actually had it in his car right now. Lawson led Detective Higginbotham to his car and pointed at a pistol that was just sitting out in the backseat. But the detective saw right away the gun was a.32, not a 9 millimeter. So it very likely was not the murder weapon. But Higinbotham did not think that proved Lawson was innocent. So he decided to bring him to the station, not for more questioning, but for a test. Once they were at the police station, Higginbotham had Lawson's hands swabbed for gunshot residue. The idea was to see if he had fired a gun recently, like that evening. But the results came back negative. Lawson did not have gunshot residue on his hands. However, that didn't totally rule out the possibility that he had fired a gun that evening. Because Lawson could have fired a gun with gloves on, or he could have just vigorously washed his hands afterwards. And so, because Detective Higginbotham didn't have any other evidence against Lawson. He had to let him go for now. But the detective was not totally disappointed, because he had another person of interest waiting for him right down the hall. In a nearby interview room, a Texas Ranger was already questioning Lonnie's son, Junior. Detective Higginbotham joined their session and began observing Junior's behavior. Unlike Lawson, who'd been devastated by his brother's death, Junior seemed strangely calm. And his story also seemed very suspicious. According to Junior, when he'd seen the blood on his dad's wall, he had immediately assumed that his dad was shot and killed, even though he didn't hear gunshots or see shell casings. And he didn't check to see if his dad still had a pulse. Junior claimed this was all just gut instinct, but Detective Higginbotham thought it sounded more like Junior already knew what had happened before he'd ever stepped foot into his father's room. But again, Junior swore that was not true. He said he'd been terrified that whoever had shot his dad was still in the house. So he grabbed one of his own guns to protect himself. And then, to prove his story, Junior pulled a handgun from his belt and placed it on the table. Higginbotham was stunned. Civilians were not supposed to be allowed to bring weapons into police stations. The detective didn't even know how Junior managed to get the gun inside. But regardless, Junior having a gun during his interview definitely did not make him look any less guilty. However, when Detective Higginbotham took a closer look at the weapon, he saw it was not a 9 millimeter. But still, if Junior owned an arsenal of handguns, the detective figured there could be a 9 millimeter in there somewhere. So just to be safe, Detective Higinbotham also had Junior's hands swabbed for gunshot residue. And this time, the test came back positive. Which would typically mean that Junior fired a weapon that night. But once again, the results were inconclusive, because in theory, Junior could have gotten that residue on his hands simply by handling the pistol he brought into the station. Higinbotham was weighing this possibility when he got a call from the team of investigators who were still collecting evidence at the crime scene. They'd just found the cachet of guns under Junior's mattress, and one of them was a 9 millimeter pistol. Now, it would have to be tested against the shell casings found at the crime scene, which would take time, but it could be the murder weapon. And when Higginbotham confronted Junior about this. Junior's response shocked the detective. Because Junior claimed that that specific 9 millimeter gun had actually disappeared from his collection several weeks ago. He had no idea how it had gotten back under his mattress. To the detective, this excuse sounded ridiculous. But he asked Junior if, when the gun went missing, did you report it missing, And Junior said no. At this point, Junior's story seemed to be getting flimsier and flimsier. But one thing prevented Detective Higginbotham from arresting him on the spot. Junior claimed to have an alibi. He said he had spent most of the night hanging out with his girlfriend. They ate at a restaurant, then headed to her place for a few hours. And then on his way home after the date, he stopped at a car wash. Higginbotham wrote down Junior's girlfriend's name as well as the name of the car wash so he could look into the alibi later. In the meantime, he let Junior go, but promised they would speak again soon. The next morning, Detective Higginbotham made several calls to verify Junior's alibi. And pretty much everything Junior had said checked out. He'd definitely been to his girlfriend's house and the car wash, but there were still small gaps in his schedule where he theoretically could have had time to go home and kill his dad. The Detective side Junior and Lawson both had such unbelievable stories. He was sure one of them was lying, but he just couldn't tell which one. Just then, the phone on Detective Higginbotham's desk rang. It was the district attorney, and he had big news. A police officer who'd been cataloging evidence at Lonnie's house had gone on a smoke break. And when he did, he found a pair of gloves and a makeshift mask lying in a Creek just 25 yards from Lonnie's front door. Detective Higginbotham's eyes went wide. He knew that if Lonnie's killer had worn that mask, it would probably still carry trace amounts of their saliva, which would contain their DNA. Testing the mask for DNA would take time, but it could potentially solve the case. Higginbotham ended the call feeling much more optimistic about the case. He arranged for DNA samples to be collected from Junior and Lawson so he could compare them to the mask. But almost as soon as the detective did that, he received another phone call. And this one sent him in a totally different direction. That call was from a Texas Ranger who said he'd done some digging, and he had discovered a criminal case involving Lonnie from a few months before his death. Apparently a thief had stolen several blank checks from Lonnie's office, then made them out to himself, forged Lonnie's signature and stole close to $8,000 from Lonnie's account. Lonnie found out and pressed charges. And because he pressed charges, this meant the police had copies of those fraudulent checks and those checks had the thief's name written on them. The thief was Lonnie's 19 year old godson. J.
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Mr. Ballin
After speaking to the Texas Ranger, Higinbotham asked around and learned that James White worked part time at the funeral home. Evidently, Lonnie had forgiven him for the theft. But Detective Higginbotham didn't think that made James trustworthy. In fact, he thought that James could be just as strong of a suspect as Junior and Lawson. James was close to the family. He likely knew that Lonnie kept his back door unlocked. He also might have even known where Junior hid his guns. And so Detective Higginbotham knew he needed to question James immediately. So he Made some calls, and before long, he managed to track James down. James seemed very upset about the death of his godfather, but he was very cooperative and answered all of the detectives questions. And he admitted to forging the checks, but vehemently denied any involvement in Lonnie's death. And like Junior, he had an alibi for the night of the murder. James said he'd been at a club in a neighboring town with some friends who would all be able to confirm the story. Detective Higginbotham promised to contact them. Then he thought back to the mask that had been found outside of Lonnie's home. And he asked if James would be willing to provide a voluntary DNA sample. And right away, James said yes. Higginbotham collected a DNA sample from James and then headed back to the DA's office. When he got there, he sent James DNA to be tested alongside the mask, just like Junior's and Lawson's. After that, he went into his office and he found a report on his desk. It was from the ballistics lab. They'd analyzed the shell casings from the crime scene and the 9 millimeter pistol found under Junior's mattress. And they had confirmed what Detective Higginbotham already suspected. Junior's 9 millimeter gun was in fact the murder weapon. Reading this, Detective Higginbotham was ready to arrest Junior right then. But when he asked the district attorney for approval, he said no. The DA said it was too early to make an arrest. With all the attention Lonnie's murder was getting, their case needed to be airtight. So before they made their move, they had to wait for the results of the DNA test on that mask. Detective Higginbotham knew there was always a chance the DNA test results could be inconclusive and get them nothing. So he continued to investigate his main suspects. And he kept an especially close eye on Junior. And in the weeks following his father's death, Junior went on a massive shopping spree. With his inheritance, he bought an expensive boat and a luxury car. And he also hired a lawyer, even though he had not been charged with anything. This only made the detective more certain that Junior had to be guilty. And he was about to March into the DA's office and ask for permission to arrest Junior again. But he knew what they'd say. He would need more evidence. But then, two months after Lonnie's death, Higginbotham heard from a fellow detective that a different suspect was also behaving erratically. Lonnie's godson, James had been caught trying to rob a bar. And during the robbery, he hit the owner of the bar with a cash register. Clearly, James was hard up for cash and willing to go to extreme and violent lengths to get it. With this, Detective Higginbotham found himself feeling totally overwhelmed by all the evidence against each of his potential suspects. However, all this evidence was kind of all over the place. He couldn't really put it all together. And so he went into his office, sat down at his desk, and went back over all the information he had about James, Lawson and Junior. James was a known thief with access to Lonnie's house. He could have easily gotten inside and killed Lonnie during a robbery gone wrong. However, no valuables had been taken from the crime scene, which didn't seem to add up. If the motive was burglary, then there was Lawson. He was literally in the house when police arrived. And his story about looking in his brother's bedroom and not noticing the blood on the wall or the body on the ground was hard to believe. And finally, there was Junior. Junior owned the murder weapon and had gunshot residue on his hands on the night of the murder. And also the fact that he fled the crime scene before verifying that his father was actually dead still just didn't sit right with Detective Higinbotham. And most importantly, Junior stood to benefit the most from his father's death. With Lonnie out of the way, he inherited a significant amount of money and a successful funeral home business. And so Detective Higginbotham was sure he was so close to figuring out who killed Lonnie. And sure enough, just a few days later, the DNA test results from the mask came back. And when Higginbotham saw them, he knew the case was solved. Based on the evidence collected at the crime scene and interviews conducted throughout the investigation, here is a reconstruction of what police believe happened to Lonnie Turner on the evening of November 1, 2002. That night, sometime between 9:15 and 10:00pm the killer drove into Lonnie's neighborhood with their headlights off. They parked outside of Lonnie's house, then put on their gloves and their mask. A mask they had made earlier by cutting holes in a jim shoe bag. Now, if all went according to their plan, no one would see them tonight. But if somebody did catch a glimpse of them, the killer could not afford to be recognized. And so, as an extra safety measure, the killer grabbed a 9 millimeter pistol that they'd brought with them and then stepped out of the car and hurried towards the back of Lonnie's house. When they got to the porch, they reached up and unscrewed the porch light bulb just enough to break the circuit and kill the light. Then the killer reached for the doorknob, and, as expected, it was unlocked. The killer headed inside and went straight for the master bedroom. They knew the thing they'd come here for was inside of that room. They reached the door, turned the knob, and carefully pushed the door open just a crack. The killer peeked inside. He saw Lonnie was lying in bed, snoring. The killer watched Lonnie for several seconds. They knew entering the room was risky, but at this point, they'd come too far to turn back now. So eventually, they pushed the door open further and began to go inside. However, the killer only got one foot into the bedroom before the door made a loud creaking sound. The killer froze. They looked over at the bed, and to their horror, Lonnie stopped snoring, sat up suddenly, and looked right over at them. For a moment, the two just stared at each other. The killer had no idea if Lonnie could recognize them with their mask on. But Lonnie looked like he was about to stand up and confront them. So, in a panic, the killer raised their gun and fired. Lonnie screamed, and the killer immediately fired again. And Lonnie went limp and then rolled off the bed onto the ground. The killer was so shocked by what they'd done that they didn't even wait to see if Lonnie was dead. Instead, they just turned and ran out of the room, completely forgetting the thing they had come here for. And the killer was almost out the door and out of Lonnie's house when they realized they couldn't just flee the scene while carrying the murder weapon. So they ran back inside, went to another bedroom, lifted up the mattress, and dropped the gun underneath. After that, the killer sprinted out the back door, tore off their gloves and mask, tossed them in a nearby ditch, and then jumped into their car and sped away. In their panic, the killer never considered the fact that they had been breathing through that mask the entire time they were in the house. So they didn't realize that that mask was full of their DNA. And so if investigators got the mask, it would lead them directly to the killer. When Detective Higginbotham saw the DNA test results, he knew the killer was not Lonnie's son, Junior, who owned the murder weapon. And it wasn't Lonnie's brother, Lawson, who was in the house when police showed up. Instead, the killer was James white, Lonnie Turner's 19 year old godson. James was desperate for money and willing to do just about anything to get it. And he'd been to Lonnie's house countless times. So he knew Lonnie kept the back door unlocked and and he kept a safe full of cash in the master bedroom. He also knew where Junior kept his gun collection. So James planned a robbery. He bought a pair of gloves and made that makeshift mask. And then two weeks before the murder, he stole the 9 millimeter pistol from under Junior's mattress. Not because he wanted to kill Lonnie, but just in case anything went wrong. Finally, on the evening of November 1st, James put his plan into action. But when the bedroom door creaked and it woke Lonnie up, James knew he was caught. So he shot Lonnie in a panic and then ran away without even taking any money. Even though Lonnie's Safe, which contained $7,000 in cash, was sitting unlocked not far away. Which means James killed his godfather for nothing. James was arrested and quickly confessed to pulling the trigger. He also admitted that he'd convinced his friends to lie about his alibi. However, James insisted that the crime was not actually his idea. He claimed Lonnie's son Junior had literally forced him to commit the murder at gunpoint because Junior wanted his inheritance. However, there was no evidence suggesting that actually happened. Ultimately, James White would make a plea deal and received a 20 year sentence. 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, this podcast, the Mr. Ballin podcast, and also Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries, Bedtime Stories, Wartime Stories. Run fool and redacted. Just search for Ballin Studios wherever you get your podcasts to find all of these shows. To watch hundreds more stories just like the ones you heard today, head over to our YouTube channel which is just called Mr. Ballin. So that's going to do it. I really appreciate your support. Until next time, see ya. 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