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In 2010, Devin Griffin woke up early on Halloween morning. He was headed to church in Sandusky, Ohio. Only half awake, the 16 year old splashed water on his face and ran a comb through his short brown hair. He desperately wanted to crawl back into bed, but he was part of the choir and couldn't miss service and so he quietly snuck out of the house while the rest of his family slept. When he got home a couple hours later around 11am, all he wanted was to relax. The house was quiet so he assumed his mom and stepfather were sleeping in. Devin called out a quick hello through their closed bedroom door and went straight upstairs without waiting for a reply. The next couple of hours melted away as he lay in bed playing video games, but by 1:30 in the afternoon, he still hadn't heard from his parents. Curious, he went back downstairs to the master bedroom and rapped on the door. There was no response. Devin cautiously turned the knob and saw the outline of his mother and 46 year old Susan Liske under her maroon comforter. Next to her was his stepfather, 53 year old Bill Liske. The blanket was pulled up so he could just barely see their hair sticking out from the top. Devin couldn't believe they were sleeping in so late. He tiptoed over to Susan and gently shook her leg. When she didn't move, he pulled down the comforter. The Pillow was stained dark red and sopping wet. At first, Devin thought his mom must be playing a Halloween prank on him. He grabbed her shoulder and started talking frantically, begging her to wake up. But soon he realized this was no joke. The 16 year old burst out of the room, crying and screaming for help. He called his aunt, who then called 911, and the authorities rushed over. The detectives were shocked by what they found. Bill Liske had been shot five times in the head at near point blank range. There were no signs of a struggle. His arms lay peacefully by his side in what looked like a sleeping position. Detectives realized Bill had been killed while he was still unconscious. Susan, on the other hand, didn't look like she was sleeping. She was awkwardly positioned, leading authorities to believe her body may have been moved after she was killed somewhere else in the room. Sadly, that wasn't the only grisly scene authorities found. When detectives swept the rest of the house, they noticed a locked door upstairs. The room belonged to Devin's 23 year old brother, Derek. Police eventually broke in and spotted his body in the fetal position in his bed. There were several gaping wounds on his head, indicating he'd been killed by blunt force trauma. Not long afterward, authorities made another terrifying discovery. Downstairs, a hammer, still sticky with gore, was stashed in a closet. This meant they'd found at least one of the murder weapons. The scene was one of the most violent the Sandusky detectives had ever witnessed. They wrapped Devin in a shock blanket and asked him if he had any idea who might have done something like this. The 16 year old thought for a moment, tears still running down his face. There was only one person on his mind. Though it broke his heart to say it, he immediately gave police the name of his stepbrother, 24 year old BJ. Before Devin left for church, he saw BJ outside the family home getting ready to run some errands. Now BJ was nowhere to be found. Investigators immediately dug into BJ's records, and what they found set off all kinds of alarm bells. BJ had a serious criminal record. He took medication for mental illness and had a history of being violent with his family. His catalog of crimes went back eight years. His first brush with the law was in 2002, when he was just 16 years old. That was a year after his dad, Bill Liske, married his stepmom, Susan. At the time, BJ was getting in trouble at school for misbehaving and skipping class. Susan imposed some new rules in the house aimed at getting him back on track. But this turned into a fight when BJ refused to comply. At one point, he even threatened to harm himself. Bill called the police. When they tried to intervene, BJ turned violent. He attacked the officers, leading to charges in juvenile court. The Liske family had tried to get him the help he needed, but living with BJ continued to be a challenge. In 2004, when he was 18, he got into another violent argument with his stepmom. The fight ended after he punched her in the chest. Then, only two months later, he attacked her again, striking Susan with a coffee cup before swiping her car keys and taking off in her vehicle. That earned him charges for felonious assault and robbery. The state ended up dropping its case against him after Bill and Susan decided not to press charges. But Susan's sons, Devin and Derek, were adamant that something had to be done. They wanted their stepbrother to stay away from their mom. Bill agreed. Soon afterward, he kicked BJ out of the house. Susan, Devin and Derek weren't the only ones who were happy to see him go. A family friend who lived next door, Mark Gradle, suspected BJ of being responsible for a number of murdered neighborhood pets, though he never had any proof. Someone had shot Mark's dog with.22 caliber bullets, and he thought it looked like BJ's handiwork. Even so, Bill insisted BJ was harmless as long as he took his medication. The problem was BJ would randomly stop taking his pills, leading him to spiral. Bill wondered if his son just needed a more structured living situation. After kicking BJ out, Bill and Susan found a local group home for mental health patients for him to stay in. BJ was combative there too, leading staff to call the cops on at least three occasions. But no matter how complicated the relationship between father and son had become, Bill still loved BJ. And by 2010, they seemed to be in a better place. It had been a while since BJ had had an episode, and he seemed more cooperative in his group home. So a week before Halloween, Bill took a week off work to go on a hunting trip with BJ, who was then 24. The two drove down to the family's cabin in Carroll county, about two and a half hours south of Sandusky. They spent a happy week together, hunting and taking in the great outdoors. There were no signs of conflict, just good old fashioned father son bonding. On October 30, they went back home and had a small party with some family friends. Mark Gradle, the neighbor who was suspicious of BJ was there. He told the police there was no Sign of friction that night, the get together continued until around midnight. Since Bill had been drinking, he decided not to drive BJ back to his group home. Instead, he set up a bed for him on the sofa downstairs. The next morning was Halloween. Mark Gradle's wife Michelle was woken up at around 6:30 by what sounded like gunshots. Since her neighbors were avid hunters and occasionally did target practice in their yard, she didn't report the noise to police. Around three hours later, 16 year old Devin Liske pulled up the driveway of his home while Bill and BJ were out on their hunting trip. He'd spent the week with his own father. He'd only come home that morning for a few minutes to change into his church clothes. As he parked outside, he spotted his stepbrother loading some bags into Bill's pickup. Devin said BJ was unusually chipper that morning. Usually their interactions were brief, but for whatever reason, BJ took the time to strike up a conversation with Devin, asking about his plans for the day. He was particularly interested in how long Devin planned to be away. At church, Devin answered his questions but didn't have much time for small talk. He ran upstairs, changed into his choir outfit and hopped back into his car. Before he left, BJ said he was just going out for a quick errand and that he'd be back soon. Devin said goodbye and pulled out of the drive. He didn't want to be late for the morning service. A few hours later, Devin returned from church to find his mom, brother and stepfather dead in their house. Police didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but after hearing the 16 year old's account, BJ became suspect number one. They put out an all points bulletin to search for Bill's F150 truck. In the meantime, they searched the Liskies home looking for the gun used in the murders. After failing to locate it, they spread out and searched the surrounding area. One investigator spotted a muddy footprint next to a nearby pond leading them to believe the culprit had tossed the gun in the water. They got a crew out to drain it while a canine team searched the rest of the property. In the meantime, officers fanned out across Ohio to search for BJ and by that point he'd been missing for at least four hours and giving him quite a head start. But authorities had some idea of where he might end up. Several detectives raced onto the highway heading south toward the family's hunting cabin in Carroll County. Their instincts were dead on. Police burst through the doors and caught BJ by surprise. He was taken into custody without incident and charged with three counts of aggravated murder. At the station, BJ Appeared to be in a kind of daze. His responses to detectives were not only short and vague, but he refused to explain his behavior. Eventually, investigators allowed him to speak to his mother over the phone. When she asked why he did it, all he said was he wasn't in his right mind. Moments later, he became distraught and told her he couldn't talk about it anymore. After hanging up, he seemed to have a change of heart. He began cooperating with investigators and announced that he would plead guilty. In 2011, BJ was given three life sentences with no chance of parole. He would later say, I loved my dad very much, and it makes me feel sick every time I think about what I did. I can't really explain why this all had to happen, but I think most of it all had to do with my mental illness. In 2015, BJ was found dead in his prison cell at the age of 29. His death was ruled a suicide. The story of the Liske family is one of compassion and loss. Despite their troubles, Bill, Susan, and Derek loved BJ and tried to get him the help he needed. Sadly, their bond was shattered by a tragic act of violence that can never be undone. Even so, Devin hasn't let resentment shape his life. Every year on Halloween, he honors the memories of his mother, brother, and stepfather. Since their deaths, he's graduated high school, gotten married, and had a child of his own. Recently, his family all dressed up in Superman costumes to go trick or treating. Devin is determined to show his son the beauty of Halloween. His attitude should be an inspiration to us all.

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A (19:29)

The detective said missing kids usually come home. What happens when they don't?

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Based on a true story Police looking for John Gacy.

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We discovered bodies. By the looks of it, they're younger men. The things he did to those kids. He's sick.

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Do you know how many there are?

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Up to you to find out.

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Five years after the Liske family tragedy, another small town faced its own Halloween horror story. Mike and Kathy Scott lived in Pendleton, South Carolina, and to them, family was everything. The couple was especially close with their elderly mothers since both women were Widowed, they shared a gray double wide trailer on Mike and Kathy's property. Kathy's 32 year old daughter, Amy Velardi, also lived in her own trailer on the compound with her two children and new husband Ross. With so many people, things could get hectic. But Mike and Kathy wouldn't have it any other way. On Halloween night in 2015, the couple was enjoying a mellow night in. Mike had a brief phone call with his sister Pam, who he talked to every day. Pam would later report that nothing seemed wrong during their chat. Only Mike didn't call Pam the next day as usual, or the day after that. This was strange. He rarely ever missed a check in. Kathy's daughter, Amy Velardi also started to worry. She was used to seeing her mom every morning walking the dog. But for two days there was no sign of her. On November 2, Amy decided to go to the house. When she knocked on the back door, it creaked open. Amy crept into the dark entryway and fumbled for the light. As soon as she flipped the switch, she screamed. The bodies of Mike, his 80 year old mother Barbara and Kathy's 82 year old mother Violet lay slumped over each other on the hardwood floor. Blood spattered the walls, the floor and the sofa. Amy's mother Kathy was nowhere to be seen. Amy ran out the back door and called the police. Investigators were horrified by the gory scene. Mike, Barbara and Violet had all been stabbed repeatedly and shot twice. Not only were their throats slashed, but there were also wounds on their chests. Still shaken by the state of the victims, police searched the house for Kathy. They found her body upstairs in her bedroom. She had been shot and stabbed just as brutally as the others. The cops collected all the evidence they could. A photographer painstakingly took pictures from every possible angle. In several of them, bloody footprints could be seen on the floor. Detectives noticed that most of them were barefoot and likely belonged to the victims. But there were shoe prints too. These were probably left by the killer. While they searched the scene, curious onlookers gathered outside the police tape. It didn't take long for word to spread through pendleton. With only 3,500 residents, it was a close knit town. Amy Velardi and her husband, a 28 year old former Marine named Ross, received an outpouring of support. No one could believe a local was responsible for such brutal murders. For their part, the police were stumped. There were no signs of forced entry. That combined with how violent the crimes were led them to believe the victims had known their killer. But no one knew what the motive could have been. Amy and the rest of the family insisted that Mike and Kathy were just ordinary members of the community. Mike worked for the department of transportation and was nearing retirement. On the side, he sometimes bought and sold gold. Kathy was a former waitress who cared for Barbara and Violet full time. They were loving, honest people. Investigators dug deep, searching for a dark secret that might explain the family's grim fate. After countless hours pouring over personal text messages and financial records, they didn't find any obvious culprits. But they did settle on a possible motive. Money. After a lifetime of hard work, Mike and Kathy had accumulated some modest savings. But they didn't trust their cash with the local banks. Instead, they kept tens of thousands of dollars secreted away in their home. And after the murder, most of that money was missing. So the question became, who knew about the cash and was willing to kill to get it? Detectives combed through Mike's social media looking for an answer. He did business in cash, sometimes buying gold using ebay and Facebook ads. That reminded authorities of another recent murder in the area. In that case, a man had been killed by someone he met online. The murderer set up the fatal meeting by posing as a potential customer and asking to buy jewelry from the victim. The culprit was caught, but investigators wondered if this was a copycat crime. But when they looked into Kathy's text messages, they started to develop a new theory. It turned out Mike and Kathy didn't get along with everybody. Just like any other family. They had some personal drama, and most of it had to do with Kathy's daughter, Amy Velardi. Though she lived only 50 yards away from her mom, Amy and Kathy weren't on the best terms. Kathy believed her daughter was irresponsible, especially when it came to her children. Amy liked to go out on the town and rarely held down a full time job for long. Recently, she and Ross had been running a dog grooming business together, but they were having trouble making ends meet. According to friends of the family, Mike and Kathy were heavily involved in raising their grandchildren. Kathy's brothers even claimed that Amy used her kids to extort money from her mom. She always seemed to be low on funds and had a reputation for spending recklessly. But that was only one side of the story. In Amy's opinion. Her mom was an intrusive narcissist who butted into her life too often. She said as much to friends in text messages. However, one neighbor reported overhearing Amy saying something much worse. That her mother would be better off dead. With threats like that, it Seemed inevitable that the two would have a major falling out. And only a few months before the Halloween murders in the summer of 2015, that's exactly what happened. It was the 4th of July. Mike and Kathy's church had an Independence Day picnic, and they brought Amy's kids. When they came back to the family compound that night, they saw that Amy and her then boyfriend Ross were having a party with some friends in their trailer. Because there was drinking involved, Mike and Kathy decided the grandkids should stay over at their place for the night. Amy disagreed. She wanted her children to sleep in their own beds. When Mike tried to talk it out with her, A screaming match erupted on the lawn. It ended with Amy vowing never to speak to her mother or stepdad ever again. Months passed with little to no contact between the families, even though they lived right next door to each other. Finally, a week or so before the murders, Amy and Ross got married at the local courthouse. Mike, not Kathy, swallowed his bride and went over to congratulate the couple. He apologized for fighting on the 4th of July, and the families made up. Or so it seemed. After hearing about the blow up, Amy and Ross became prime suspects in the quadruple murder. And when detectives searched their trailer, they found $67,000 in cash, which they confiscated and took into evidence. Police believe the money was stolen from Mike and Kathy, but Amy and Ross claimed it was their life savings, earned through their dog grooming business. Amy insisted that, like her mother, she distrusted banks and kept money on hand in her home. Investigators ran a DNA test on the money, hoping to find blood or some other physical evidence that tied it to the Scott family. The results were inconclusive. Police still suspected the stash was stolen, but they didn't have any hard evidence to prove it. That meant it was time to go back to the drawing board. And when the autopsy reports finally came back, detectives gained insight into the night of the murders. The medical examiner determined the stab wounds were delivered by a long knife with at least a 7 inch blade. It also likely had a cross guard dividing the hilt from the blade. This wasn't the kind of thing you'd see on a regular knife. It was more like what you'd find on a sword or special knives designed for military combat. And because all the victims were both shot and stabbed, investigators theorized there may have been more than one killer. It would have been unusual for a single murderer to alternate between different weapons. Based on the state of the bodies. They also determined that Mike was likely the first target, Being the sole man in the house. The killer or killers might have wanted to take him out first. Meanwhile, Barbara and Violet, the two 80 year old women, sustained many wounds that showed self defense. Violet was nearly decapitated while Barbara was stabbed six times in her neck, chest and shoulder. These results provided investigators with a tentative timeline. More importantly, it was consistent with their primary suspects, Amy and Ross. If the two of them worked together, that would explain why multiple weapons were used. And Ross was a former marine, so he was trained in military combat. He could have easily overpowered 58 year old Mike and two women. When detectives questioned him about the military knife called a KA bar that all soldiers receive, Russ said he wasn't sure he ever had one. If he did, he had no idea where it might be. Now, detectives didn't buy that for a minute. In their mind, the case against Amy and Ross Velardi was steadily building up. But most of the clues were circumstantial and relied on testimony from overheard conversations or emotional text messages. So far, the police still hadn't found the murder weapon or any other hard evidence they could use in a courtroom. That's what they needed if they ever wanted to hold the killers responsible. For that, they would need some help from an unlikely source.

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E (33:10)

In 2013, the murders of Claudia Maupin and Chip Northup left their town of Davis, California paralyzed in fear.

A (33:17)

The victims were an elderly couple. It was up close and personal.

E (33:22)

Even more chilling, the prime suspect was a teenager.

A (33:26)

He's. I think the word is psychotic.

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From 48 hours binge the full series 15 inside the Daniel Marsh murders Now on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get Your podcasts.

A (33:44)

On Halloween night in 2015, someone committed a horrific quadruple murder in the small town of Pendleton, South Carolina. In the months after the victims were discovered, investigators honed in on Amy and Ross Velardi as their number one suspects. But even though they had a strong motive, police weren't able to definitively tie Amy and her husband to the crime. One of the few pieces of evidence they did have was a bloody shoe print taken from the victim's living room. Experts analyzed the unique tread on the print and determined it belonged to an Asics brand speed star running shoe. Now they just had to figure out if Amy or Ross own that particular model. Detectives scoured social media posts and photographs of the couple, hoping to spot one of them wearing the shoes in question. But after an exhaustive search, they weren't able to find a picture that corroborated their theory. Investigators were disappointed. The shoe was all they had to go on. Soon, the case stalled. Months passed away without any new breakthroughs. Detectives reached out to the community asking for tips, but no new leads surfaced. Gradually, enthusiasm in the department waned, and the case ran cold. The lack of progress frustrated everyone, including Amy and Ross Velarde. In 2016, they sued the local sheriff's office. But it wasn't because they were angry that the killer hadn't been identified. Rather, it was because the $67,000 the police confiscated from them hadn't been returned. The authorities still believe the money was stolen from Mike and Kathy Scott, although they hadn't been able to prove it. Now, two years later, a judge sided with the police. He denied the Velardi's motion, saying the money couldn't be released without a trial. Amy and Ross were furious. But they weren't the only ones with complaints about the way the case was being handled. It was hard for many people in Pendleton to believe that the murders remained unsolved after more than two years of investigation. But the police were trapped in a holding pattern. Without new evidence, they couldn't charge their primary suspects with anything. And if they pushed for a trial without hard proof, they risked losing the jury's votes and letting the perpetrators walk free. Mike and Kathy Scott's surviving relatives knew they needed a champion. Someone who could find what the cops had missed and connect the final pieces of the puzzle. Mike's sister Pam worked to spread the word about the case through newspapers, online messaging boards, and even on TV shows. Finally, in 2023, she got an answer to their prayers when the hosts of the Oxygen TV series Cold justice took an interest in the case, prosecutor Kelly Siegler and former detective Steve Spingola traveled to Pendleton to talk over the investigation with local authorities. And when they arrived, they found a town hungry for answers. Mike and Kathy's relatives, neighbors, and friends were all eager to share their suspicions about Amy and Ross. By the end of their interviews, Kelly and Steve believed investigators were on the right track. But building a strong case was easier said than done. Luckily, Cole justice called in some backup. First, they brought in a social media expert to dig through Amy and Ross Velardi's Facebook posts one by one. It wasn't an easy task. Amy posted a lot. But eventually, the search bore some fruit. The expert was able to confirm the falling out between Amy and her mother just months before the murders took place. More importantly, he also found a missing link between the cash the police confiscated and the money Mike Scott kept in his house. Thanks to two remarkably clear Facebook photos, the expert matched the serial numbers of several hundred dollar bills to both Mike and Ross. Though it wasn't a smoking gun, it showed that the money in Ross trailer had originally belonged to Mike. Amy and Ross still might be able to argue that Mike gave them the money voluntarily, but it was a good start. The discovery prompted police to take another look at text records between Amy and Ross. They discovered that the couple's finances were definitely strained prior to the murder. A month earlier, Ross texted his wife to tell her they only had $40 left in their business account. And just two weeks before Halloween in 2015, Amy contacted her husband about debt collectors coming into their shop. Both of these findings contradicted the couple's previous claim that they had a steady income from their dog grooming business and savings totaling $67,000. Things just weren't adding up. And soon, police found their smoking gun. Late on the night of the murders, Amy asked her husband to run to the store to grab a six pack of beer. When detectives pulled up the surveillance footage from a nearby convenience store, they were astounded by what they found on video. Ross Velardi was caught wearing Asics Speedstar running shoes, the exact model found at the scene of the crime. All of a sudden, the cold case was heating back up. Finally, detectives could use the footprint evidence against Ross. But they weren't ready to make an arrest just yet. They needed to make sure their case was airtight before bringing it to trial. Once again, the staff on the Cole Justice TV show gave them what they needed. They caught Ross on camera, making statements that contradicted what he told police immediately after the crime. Back in 2015, Ross and Amy insisted they were at home the night of Halloween with their two kids. But in 2023, Ross told Cold justice that his parents were watching the kids that night. He went on to say that he and Amy left at one point to pick up the children from his parents house. That didn't just go against his previous statements, but it was also contradicted by cell phone location data. Those records firmly place the Velardis at or near their trailer during the estimated time of the murders. Investigators believed Ross was trying to create a new alibi for himself eight years after the fact. As if that wasn't damning enough, Amy's cousin said she often saw Ross carrying around a military combat knife, the kind of weapon he told detectives he didn't recall ever owning. Soon after this, police were finally ready to strike. They arrested Ross and Amy outside their home. The couple was charged with four counts of murder in February of 2024. A judge denied their requests for bond as of this recording. They're currently still awaiting trial. After her eight long years, police believe they finally found the people who killed Mike, Kathy, Barbara and Violet. Regardless of what happens at trial, we can only hope their family finds closure soon after so long. It's time for the ghosts of the past to be put to rest. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this is Murder True Crime Stories. Come back next week for the story of a new murder and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference and to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free and instead of having to wait for each episode of a two part part series, you'll get access to both at once plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back on Tuesday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benidon, Natalie Pertovsky, Rachel Engelman, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Tara Wells, Haniya Said, Spencer Howard and Russell Nash, thank you for listening. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is perfect for spooky season dive into the real life events behind the world's most terrifying blockbusters and beyond. Twisted Tales is a crime house original. Listen wherever you get your podcasts new episodes out every Monday.