282. The Nicotine Poisoner

Summary

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Murder With My Husband — Episode 282: The Nicotine Poisoner

Podcast by OH NO MEDIA
Air date: August 18, 2025
Hosts: Peyton Moreland (true crime lover), Garrett Moreland (her slightly reluctant husband)

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Overview of the Episode

This episode investigates the chilling case of Linda Kincaid, a vibrant power plant worker in San Clemente, California, who fell ill under mysterious circumstances in the early 1990s and ultimately died. The story explores how her much-younger husband, Paul Curry – a Jeopardy! contestant with a genius reputation – became the prime suspect in what would eventually be exposed as a calculated, slow-motion murder employing nicotine as the fatal weapon. Peyton and Garrett discuss not only the criminal investigation but also the red flags, the psychology of victims, and the forensic hurdles that made this case notorious.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Linda Kincaid: Her Life and Relationships

• Linda was a successful manager at a local power plant, known for her style, ambition, and sociability (05:35).
• She met Paul Curry, 13 years her junior and a reputedly brilliant nuclear engineer (and Jeopardy! veteran), whom she married after a whirlwind romance (08:49–12:57).
• Their marriage, while outwardly affectionate, was curiously non-intimate: “Linda told her friends that Paul was never even interested in consummating their marriage… She liked being intellectually challenged by Paul.” (13:02)

2. Early Signs: Mysterious Sickness and Suspicion

• Linda suffered a sudden illness after the couple took a cruise in June 1993, initially attributed to hantavirus, which didn’t fit her symptoms (13:54–15:22).
• Despite repeated hospitalizations, doctors remained perplexed by her recurring, near-fatal symptoms.
• Friends and hospital staff grew suspicious, especially as Paul was the sole caregiver and Linda’s condition worsened primarily when at home (18:27).

3. Mounting Red Flags and Financial Motives

• Paul pressured Linda soon after their wedding to make him the beneficiary on all her life insurance and retirement accounts—totaling nearly $1 million (22:34–23:20).
• Linda’s friend Mary and hospital nurse Sherry Bundy both voiced suspicions about Paul’s motivations, but Linda stayed, unable or unwilling to believe the man caring for her was harming her (24:47–25:58).
• Paul had hidden a prior marital history and three children, only discovered by Linda after a phone call from an ex (24:12–24:51).

4. Evidence Emerges: Hospital Incidents and Early Police Involvement

• Hospital staff caught signs of tampering: Nurse Sherry Bundy noticed a cloudy IV bag laced with lidocaine, and Nurse Nancy Rowe later observed intentional damage to Linda’s IV port (25:58–28:51).
• Linda admitted to police: “Well, the only person I could think of that would even have a motive… would be Paul, my husband. And the only motive I can think of is money. But I don’t want to really even believe that…” (27:17)
• Despite suspicions and some circumstantial evidence, no charges were filed, and Linda returned to Paul after each incident.

5. Linda’s Death

• Linda died at home on June 9, 1994, after a rapid decline, with Paul alone in the house (18:27–21:27).
• An initial autopsy revealed nothing conclusive, labeling the cause of death as undetermined (29:22).

6. Paul’s Behavior After Linda’s Death

• Paul quickly collected on insurance policies, totaling over $400,000, plus ongoing retirement benefits (29:22).
• Additionally, he filed a claim for a “stolen" Rolex and jewelry worth $9,000 just days after Linda’s passing (33:31–34:42).
• He abruptly left his job after being exposed as having faked engineering credentials, moved states, and started a new life with another woman (30:46–33:21).

7. Cold Case Breakthrough & Forensic Revelations

• In 2002, Detective Yvonne Scholl revived the dormant case. She uncovered that Paul’s previous wife also became mysteriously ill during their marriage but survived (33:33–35:53).
• Investigation revealed that Paul had boasted, “I could actually make a deadly poison in my garage… it would be really hard to detect.” (37:38)
• A re-examination of Linda’s tissues found toxic nicotine levels “50 to 100 times more than a regular smoker’s,” plus marks of a likely needle injection behind her ear (38:43–39:37).
• Theory: Paul experimented with various toxins, including lidocaine and nicotine, ultimately killing Linda via a lethal nicotine injection, masked by sleeping pills (39:38–40:16).

8. Prosecution and Conviction

• Detective Scholl orchestrated a Kansas interview with Curry, where he admitted he was “the only one” with Linda when she died—“an admission that he was the only one who could have poisoned Linda.” (41:42)
• In 2014, Paul Curry was convicted of insurance fraud and first-degree murder with special circumstances, sentenced to life without parole (42:28–43:15).

9. Reflections: Victim Psychology and Manipulation

• Peyton and Garrett discuss why Linda, despite clear signs, could not abandon Paul—citing the psychology of abusive and manipulative relationships.
  • “Perhaps Linda was loving and generous. She was blinded by that… Sometimes the most evil people can be the ones living right beside us.” (43:28)
  • “It’s not her fault at all… That can be very manipulative.” (44:18–44:33)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the couple’s platonic marriage:
  Peyton: "Linda told her friends that Paul was never even interested in consummating their marriage. Oh, but for Linda... it seemed that mental stimulation was enough." (13:02)

• On suspicion and love:
  Linda, to police: “Well, the only person I could think of that would even have a motive… would be Paul, my husband. And the only motive I can think of is money. But I don’t want to really even believe that or think that.” (27:17)

• On toxicology findings:
  Peyton: “She finds that Linda had 50 to 100 times more nicotine in her system when she died than the average smoker would.” (38:43)

• On Paul’s hubris:
  Peyton: “He basically admitted at this barbecue, ‘I could actually make a deadly poison in my garage and then… it would be really hard to detect.’” (37:38)

• On victim psychology:
  Peyton: “We never really know what’s going on behind closed doors…. Sometimes the most evil people can be the ones living right beside us.” (43:28)

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Important Timestamps

• 05:35 — Introduction of Linda Kincaid, setting the scene.
• 08:36–13:02 — Paul Curry’s Jeopardy! fame, relationship dynamic, and unique aspects of the marriage.
• 13:54–18:27 — Onset of Linda’s illness, failed diagnoses, and increasing suspicions.
• 22:34–23:20 & 24:12–24:51 — Financial motives and discovery of Paul’s secret past.
• 25:58–28:36 — Hospital sabotage incidents and interviews with Linda/police.
• 29:22–33:21 — Linda’s death, Paul’s insurance collection, confessed fraud regarding credentials.
• 33:33–37:38 — Cold case reopening; discoveries about Paul’s past, his ominous statements.
• 38:43–39:37 — Critical forensic breakthrough: nicotine poisoning proven.
• 41:42–43:15 — Interrogation, confession, and final conviction.
• 43:57–44:44 — Discussion on manipulation and why victims stay.

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Episode Tone and Style

• Peyton is deeply invested, empathetic, and detail-oriented, bringing not only facts but emotional context ("I love it and I hate it" vibe).
• Garrett brings skepticism, relatable commentary, and levity (“I already know where this is going…” at 21:27; frequent asides and hypotheticals).
• The tone is accessible, conversational, and often punctuated by dark humor and mutual teasing between the hosts, even amid harrowing content.

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TL;DR

Linda Kincaid was slowly and methodically poisoned by her husband, Paul Curry, who leveraged his intelligence, deception, and the trust of those closest to him. After years undetected and unpunished, a persistent detective re-examined the evidence, revealing a rare and insidious use of nicotine as a murder weapon. Through a combination of dogged investigation and advancements in toxicology, Curry was eventually convicted, but not before Linda’s tragedy served as a stark warning about the hidden dangers of relationships built on manipulation and greed.

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Hosts' closing message:
Peyton: “All right, you guys… That was our case this week. The case of Linda Kincaid. And we will see you next time with another one. I love it and I hate it. Goodbye.” (44:45)

Transcript

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[Garrett Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland.

[Garrett Moreland]

And I'm Garrett Moreland.

[Peyton Moreland]

And he's the husband.

[Garrett Moreland]

And I'm the husband.

[Peyton Moreland]

Are we ever going to do that and then not have a break after.

[Garrett Moreland]

What if we said and I'm the husband, and this is the last episode of Murder with My Husband we are.

[Peyton Moreland]

Doing because we won the lottery.

[Garrett Moreland]

We won the lottery. I won. And I am sharing with all of you. Send me an email, send me a DM on Instagram and I will share with you. Unless you've been mean, I will look up to make sure you've never said anything mean to me in my entire life. But if you've been nice, you are all getting $10,000. What? Is that too much?

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah.

[Garrett Moreland]

Nah, I like. I love my listeners.

[Peyton Moreland]

Okay, 10 grand of Garrett's portion of my portion.

[Garrett Moreland]

That's insane.

[Peyton Moreland]

It's a dog eat dog world reminder.

[Garrett Moreland]

We. I got a lot of DMS and emails and questions recently about our bonus content. You can subscribe on Apple, you can subscribe on Patreon or Spotify. If you subscribe on Spotify, it's not Spotify Premium. That's out of our control. So I'm sorry, those are two different things. But if you subscribe on Spotify, you get our bonus episodes and all of our ad free content. Same thing on Apple subscriptions. Just wanted to remind everyone, if you have any questions, shoot us an email or shoot me a DM and I can help you out. That's, I think, all we have as far as announcements.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah.

[Garrett Moreland]

Thank you to everyone who was concerned about my head. I thought I mentioned it, but maybe I was being confusing. I did do an mra and they mri and an mri and they did. They've already told me what's there. They said it's fine, that everything's okay. The cyst is good to go. I'm actually getting. Actually, I was supposed to do another MRI today and I forgot and I went to pickleball instead. So I need to reschedule and probably gonna reschedule for Monday. The day this episode comes out. I'm gonna do another MRI just to make sure nothing's growing. Everything's good to go. But I honestly appreciate everyone's messages and. And thoughts and concerns. I love it. So thank you. That can kind of be my 10 seconds. I don't really have anything new besides that. Yes, I do. Pause. If you are a bagel chef or you know how to make bagels and you think your bagels are the best bagels ever, or if you're looking to help me with making the best bagel ever, please shoot me a message. My dream is to open a bagel shop. I've been getting a little more serious about it. I've been doing a lot of research. I've made bagels before. I love bagels. I'm obsessed. But all the bagels in Utah, they suck. I've heard there's a couple places maybe up north. Way too far for me. All the places close to us. The bagels suck. I'm looking to open the best bagel shop in all of Utah. In all the world. To be honest. I know it's going to be hard to compete with New York or anywhere on the east coast in general. But please message me. I'm looking to pay someone to help me with recipes to if you live in Utah and you make bagels, even better. That's it. That's all I got. Don't want to make this too long. So let's hop into this week's episode.

[Peyton Moreland]

Our sources for this episode are oxygen.com unilad.com cjonline.com thesun.com crimeonline.com thecinemaholic.com grunge.com crack.com cbsnews.com express.co.uk abc news.go.com abc7.com case law. FindLaw.com and World Health Organization all right guys, trends come and go. Bell bottom jeans, Pokemon flip phones. But if there's one trend that I'm happy about disappearing and never coming back, it's probably smoking cigarettes. Now, thankfully, we're no longer being told that smoking is sexy and cool and for the bad boys and girls. Because the truth is out there, cigarettes kill both users and those who live in close proximity to one. But that doesn't mean that cigarette smokers have gone extinct completely. 8 million people still die each year from smoking and secondhand smoke. And the reason some people just can't kick the habit is because of a little stimulant added to cigarettes called nicotine. That poisonous little chemical on its own isn't enough to kill someone, but it definitely keeps them coming back for more. Unless you have it in extremely high doses. Which honestly, is why, if you want to get rid of someone bad enough and you're looking for a way to get away with it, nicotine can actually make for the perfect murder weapon. Let's head now to San Clemente, California, where in the late 80s, a 45 year old woman named Linda Kincaid is working at a Southern California Edison power plant. Now, Linda has been working at this power plant for years. She started at the bottom as a secretary and worked her way up to a manager position before becoming the top training coordinator at the plant. And according to everyone, she Was easily the most fashionable, kindest go getter that worked there. Linda always showed up for work dressed in the trendiest outfits. She worked hard for her money and she liked to spend it on nice expensive things. She was always planning her next big vacation and seemed to always be partnered up with a new attractive man. Now, throughout her time working at the power plant, Linda had been married and divorced twice. And then dating an on again, off again boyfriend named Bill. This is before meeting another coworker in March of 1989. And this coworker is one she fell head over heels for. A 32 year old nuclear engineer named Paul Curry.

[Garrett Moreland]

Fun fact, majority of affairs actually start at like your work. Just thought I'd throw that in. I don't know if we're going on an affair. Going towards an affair. I'm just saying.

[Peyton Moreland]

Well, she was kind of on and off dating Bill, so I think. Then moving on to Paul. I don't know if she's considering it an affair or there was overlapping time, but either way, Linda really had it figured out at this point. She had been working at the plant for 27 years. She had been single for some time. She bought herself a big beautiful house in the San Clemente area. But there was something about Paul Curry, despite him being 13 years younger than her, that Linda just couldn't resist. He was charming. He had a pretty good reputation around the office. The only real complaint anyone had about Paul Was that he was maybe a little too smart for his own good. So smart that Paul had actually been on jeopardy. Not once, but three times.

[Garrett Moreland]

Whoa, that's amazing.

[Peyton Moreland]

Before meeting Linda. Now, over the first two episodes, he won a total of $24,000. But on his third appearance, Paul was stuck on one of the final questions. I'm gonna ask you. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

[Garrett Moreland]

This is good. I want to hear this.

[Peyton Moreland]

Though his second administration was scandal ridden, he was almost nominated for a third term four years later.

[Garrett Moreland]

Say the question again. Repeat, please.

[Peyton Moreland]

Though his second administration was scandal ridden, he was almost nominated for a third term four years later.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. Wait, give me a second.

[Peyton Moreland]

It has nothing to do with Monica Lewinsky.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. Thank you. I know that.

[Peyton Moreland]

You're welcome.

[Garrett Moreland]

Who is this is probably wrong. Ronald Reagan. No, I don't know.

[Peyton Moreland]

Why did you act like you knew this?

[Garrett Moreland]

What do you mean? I'm on Jeopardy. I gotta be a little confident. Wait, wait, let me. Can I get one more guess?

[Peyton Moreland]

Okay. Do you want me to tell you what Paul wrote down?

[Garrett Moreland]

Yes.

[Peyton Moreland]

He wrote down Andrew Jackson. And that is wrong.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. Well, I guess I'm a little confused because the, the third term thing's confusing me because I said Ronald Reagan, but that wasn't even. That was impossible as well. So, honestly, I have no idea.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, I think you're gonna get a little bit of crap for that answer.

[Garrett Moreland]

Well, I know, but I'm explaining why I said it, because I, I didn't know what else to say, and you can't do three terms, so I honestly have no.

[Peyton Moreland]

I mean. Yeah, well, he died.

[Garrett Moreland]

Well, yes. Yeah. Thank you. I mean, this is obviously a long time ago.

[Peyton Moreland]

He literally couldn't do three terms, so.

[Garrett Moreland]

I don't know who it could have been.

[Peyton Moreland]

Okay. The correct answer was Ulysses S. Grant.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, yeah. See, I, I, that was gonna be my next guess.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah. Therefore, ending Paul's reign on Jeopardy. Now, what Paul did win that episode was a color TV and a lot of bragging rights. In fact, it might have been those bragging rights that had a few people almost turned off by Paul. Some said he was prone to talk over people, to be a little bit condescending at times, maybe even a bit full of himself. But if Linda saw that side of him, she wasn't put off by it. Instead, it seemed to draw her closer to Paul. Because on September 12, 1992, three years after they started dating Linda, Paul and Linda actually ran off to Las Vegas to tie the knot. He moved into Linda's beautiful big home. And even though the couple lived together, worked together, and were now married to one another, they still seemed to spend all of their free time together, too. And a lot of people who knew Paul said he was a really great doting husband, the kind of guy who would cook his wife dinner, creating his own salad dressings with herbs and vegetables from their own grapes garden. There was just one little thing that made people question the type of marriage Paul and Linda had, and that was the fact that Linda and Paul were actually never having sex. Their marriage seemed to be a purely platonic relationship.

[Garrett Moreland]

How did they know this? Like, did they go around parading that they didn't have sex? That seems a little weird.

[Peyton Moreland]

Linda told her friends that Paul was never even interested in consummating their marriage. Oh, but for Linda.

[Garrett Moreland]

Wait, so they've never had sex?

[Peyton Moreland]

Yes, but for Linda, it seemed that mental stimulation was enough. She liked being intellectually challenged by Paul. They had deep, meaningful conversations that were seemingly more important to her than any sort of sex. And it's because of that that the relationship worked for both of them, like the intimacy was still there in ways. Paul would tell Linda he Loved her. He would take care of her when she was sick. He would draw these big, lavish bubble baths her. Pamper her in ways she'd never been pampered. One time, after an argument between the two, he even booked them a three day cruise as an apology. But what was supposed to be this, you know, apologetic getaway ended up being the beginning of a pretty complicated year.

[Garrett Moreland]

Interesting.

[Peyton Moreland]

Okay, so it was around the end of June 1993, when the couple boarded that cruise ship for their adventure. But that trip went sideways quickly when a bunch of passengers came down with something called hantavirus. It's a condition that comes from rats and can lead to flu like symptoms that can be deadly. Now, unfortunately for Paul and Linda, they were two of the passengers on the ship who got sick. Now, thankfully, days after that trip, Paul and Linda's health improved. But then, just a few days after that, Linda found herself back in the hospital. In July, it seemed like the condition had come back with a vengeance. When Linda's friends went to visit her in the hospital, they said it looked like Linda was near death. That she had appeared to age 40 years. She had lost 25 pounds. Doctors said her organs were failing. The problem was they couldn't find any sign of the virus in her blood work anymore. Okay, they were pretty baffled about what could have been making Linda feel worse than before. So they began considering whether it was radiation poisoning from Linda's time at the power plant. But they ended up ruling that out, too. Then they started to wonder if all of this was just psychiatric. Was Linda suffering from some kind of Munchausen syndrome?

[Garrett Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

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[Garrett Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

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[Garrett Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

Shop my favorite bras and [e-mail] and after you place your order, be sure to let them know that we sent you. So place your order, finish doing all of that and then just select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows. It lets them know that you came for us to basically just lets them know that you are supporting our show and supporting them. Nothing was really making sense to them. Linda was in the hospital for 21 days at this point.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh my gosh. That is a really long time to be in the hospital.

[Peyton Moreland]

She was kind of hovering the line of life and death. She had suffered a stroke in the hospital. Then slowly but surely, Linda started to bounce back. Her symptoms died down and she was eventually discharged to go home. Now Friends said that's when Paul really stepped it up. He appeared to be doting on her more than ever, really doing whatever Linda needed was kind of at her beck and call. The illness actually seemed to bring the two of them closer together. That is until December of that year, when Linda's illness mysteriously returned. It was New Year's Eve, 1993, when Linda became violently ill again, noticing that it was the same symptoms she had felt over the summer. Severe vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration. Linda wasted no time asking Paul to just rush her back to the hospital. And once again, her doctors were totally baffled. Nothing was coming up in her blood work. None of their theories made sense. Even Paul himself seemed totally rattled and confused by her illness. He spent countless hours at her bedside taking care of her, tending to her every need. And he actually did seem really devastated over the fact that his wife of only just a year seemed to be at death's door again. But again, after several days, Linda bounced back. She slowly began to recover and was dispatched and told she could go home. Now, for the next six months, Linda resumed her life, though never really feeling back to 100%. Instead, this time, the condition seemed to be gradually taking a toll on her body. And on the morning of June 9, 1994, Paul sent an email to one of Linda's friends. It was a woman named Mary Sebold. Now, Mary found it strange to be getting that email from Paul that day. She had never gotten an email from him before in her life. But the content of that message was even more worrisome. Paul emailed Linda's friend Mary and said that Linda was feeling worse than ever, that she was wobbly and incoherent, and he wanted to know if Mary would be able to come over and help. Now, apparently, Linda was feeling well enough to go to work that day, though. But she came home and went to bed Almost immediately at 6pm however, around midnight that evening, Paul said he woke up to the sound of their cat in their bedroom. And when he looked over at Linda asleep in their bed, he realized she was no longer breathing. So Paul dialed 911 and paramedics rushed to the house right away, but it was already too late. Linda was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead in the very early hours of June 10, 1994, at just 50 years old.

[Garrett Moreland]

I already know where this is going just because of what you explained at the beginning of the case. I won't say much, but I'm curious to see how this unfolds.

[Peyton Moreland]

So at the hospital, the doctors are like. So she finally just come to this illness. But there was one person at the hospital that felt there was something off about Linda's illness. A nurse named Sherry Bundy. Sherry had been treating Linda a lot through her many hospitalizations. And when she heard about Linda's death the following morning, her first thought was, Paul finally did it. This nurse believed that Paul was the one who had been making Linda sick. And it turns out she wasn't the only one who thought this. Linda's friend, Mary Sebold went and stayed at the couple's home for a bit. After Linda first got sick back in 1993, she had a sneaking suspicion that Paul might have been mysteriously causing her friend's illness. And when she got a peek of what was hiding in their home, that suspicion only grew.

[Garrett Moreland]

I wonder if anyone ever said anything to her as well.

[Peyton Moreland]

We'll get there.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

So Mary uncovered paperwork that showed Paul had been made the beneficiary in almost all of Linda's finances. Which wasn't a total shock to Mary. Only a month after Linda and Paul tied the KNOT Back in 1992, Linda called Mary to say that Paul had been pressuring her to make those changes on all of her paperwork right after getting married. The mortgage, the 401k, you name it. Paul even encouraged her to take out a new one million dollar life insurance policy on herself. And then insisted that he didn't actually need one because he was 13 years younger than her. Remember, she was only in her mid-40s at this time. She was healthy when she married Paul. Luckily.

[Garrett Moreland]

That's funny, because you're actually supposed to get it as young as possible because that's when it's the cheapest.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, like his would have even been cheaper.

[Garrett Moreland]

Exactly.

[Peyton Moreland]

Luckily, Linda didn't listen. She didn't take out another life insurance policy. But that's because she already had a few totaling close to $1 million. And Paul did successfully convince her to make him the beneficiary on those accounts. But this was not the only red flag Mary found out regarding Linda and Paul's marriage. Remember how I mentioned Paul and Linda had gotten into an argument about something and that's why he even booked that three day cruise. But then they both got the virus on it. Well, the reason the two of them were even fighting was because a woman had called Linda's house looking for Paul. She was trying to find out when he would be sending his next child support.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

That's when Linda learned Paul had been married not once but twice before and had never told her imagine just like discovering this one day.

[Garrett Moreland]

And we're also in a time period where you could, you could hide that stuff. It was a lot easier to hide that you were married. I mean, now with social media and honestly, even just searching people on the.

[Peyton Moreland]

Internet, it is harder.

[Garrett Moreland]

You can't do that. But back then you totally could have.

[Peyton Moreland]

And not only did he not mention these two former marriages, he also didn't mention that he had three children.

[Garrett Moreland]

Holy cow. Crap.

[Peyton Moreland]

From these former marriages.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

Now of course, obviously, as we know, his solution was to just whisk Linda away on a three day vacation to make it better. But then, as we know, after that, Linda began getting sicker and sicker. And Mary just did not find the timing all that coincidental. In fact, once Linda was well enough, she encouraged her to move out of the home with Paul. Mary outright told Linda, honestly, I think he's doing this to you and I'm afraid Paul might actually kill you if you continue living with him.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, no. And I'm guessing she, I mean, I don't blame her because obviously it's not her fault and it's, you never think your significant other is going to kill you. So I'm sure she was like, oh, it's okay, and so forth.

[Peyton Moreland]

Here's the thing. Mary couldn't tell Linda why or how Paul was doing it. So that's the thing. She also didn't have like evidence, so. But she was certain the day would come when it would be too late to fix all of this. And she was right. Because Linda was so in love with Paul, she never took her friend's advice. Instead, she died at home in bed with Paul on June 9, 1994.

[Garrett Moreland]

So sad.

[Peyton Moreland]

And perhaps the most heartbreaking part of all of this. Linda might have been fully aware what was happening to her and that Paul was responsible. And she still chose to forgive him and stay by his side. I say that because early on during one of Linda's hospital stays back in July 1993, that nurse I mentioned before, nurse Sherry Bundy, who had been treating Linda, this is when she first noticed something odd. While checking her IV drip at the hospital, she saw the medication looked a little more cloudy than usual. So Sherry did the right thing and reported it to the hospital higher ups. They immediately switched out the bag and sent the cloudy one out for testing. And they found that a numbing agent had been infused in her IV drip and it was something called lidocaine. So they reported it to the police and detectives actually came to the hospital to speak with Linda, around August 1993, about what's going on. Now, during this interview, detectives flat out ask her if somebody was trying to do something to you, they were trying to poison you. Do you have any idea who that would be? This is what she says, quote, well, the only person I could think of that would even have a motive to do it would be Paul, my husband. And the only motive I can think of is money. But I don't want to really even believe that or think that. She tells them all about the life insurance policies, the pressure to change her financial paperwork, the secret past wives and children. She tells the police all of this very early on.

[Garrett Moreland]

This is so interesting. It's like she knew but didn't want to. I mean, like anyone, you don't want to admit it, right?

[Peyton Moreland]

She tells the police, but I'm very much in love with Paul. I don't think he would do this.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

She doesn't press charges. She doesn't, like, insist the investigation go on. She starts to recover. She goes home, back to her life with Paul, and the investigation kind of ends there, at least until New Year's Eve, when Linda finds herself back in the hospital. Now, during that stay, a different nurse named Nancy Rowe was on duty tending to Linda. One afternoon, Paul was spending some time at her bedside, but moments after he left, Linda's alarm went off. Now, when Nancy went in to check on Linda, she found her IV port had been broken in a weird way that she felt looked intentional and not by Linda herself. So she reports it to the police. So she reports it, and once again, police come back and get involved in Linda's health again.

[Garrett Moreland]

It's interesting because hospitals also usually are pretty strict, you know, about, like, getting into someone's room. Who are you? There's a lot of nurses, people usually asking questions. Exactly. So even more like the only person it could be is him.

[Peyton Moreland]

Right. So the police file this under potential tampering, but they don't do anything. The only real change was that the hospital staff actually decided to ban Paul Curry from going into the room because they were like, listen, like, someone tampered with her stuff. So you're not allowed in. So Linda recovers and then goes back home with Paul. So it's safe to say that Linda has had plenty of warnings that there's a chance that Paul was trying to hurt her, but like Garrett has said, could not get herself.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

To admit it. And it is understandable.

[Garrett Moreland]

It really is understandable. It's not her fault at all.

[Peyton Moreland]

So she goes home, and that's when things turn deadly. While she didn't have any prolonged hospital visits, Linda wasn't recovering in the way she should have for a 49 year old woman. And six months later, she was dead. So the medical examiner at this time said they couldn't find any proof that Linda was poisoned, which meant Paul was never investigated as a suspect in her death, despite the reports that had come out of the hospital. That also meant he was able to collect on Linda's already established life insurance policies and and her 401k which listed him as a beneficiary. He gained a total of $419,000 plus $564 a month from her retirement benefit. But something else was revealed about Paul. Shortly after Linda's death, Paul was transferred from the power plant he worked at with Linda to a new facility. And during a routine background check, which I guess the previous power plant just didn't do, the new employers found something interesting. They discover Paul was actually never a qualified engineer. He had never even gotten a college degree. He'd faked it. He was a total fraud.

[Garrett Moreland]

That's interesting you say that because I just saw a video of a cop that went to a home, pulled over a nurse and she had been a nurse for like multiple years.

[Peyton Moreland]

Oh, I saw this.

[Garrett Moreland]

And she didn't even have a nursing license. Nothing. She used someone else's and had just.

[Peyton Moreland]

Been like literally working.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yes.

[Peyton Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

So the new employer's like, hey, you don't actually have a degree. And he's like, wild, yeah, you're right, I don't. Here's my resignation letter. Bye. He doesn't even try to fight it.

[Garrett Moreland]

Because he got all this money, right?

[Peyton Moreland]

He's rich. He doesn't need a job. Instead, he let the house go into foreclosure. He bought himself a Cadillac, and six months after her death, he started over with a new life in Nevada. With that, Linda's death went uninvestigated for years. It wasn't until 2002 that Sergeant Yvonne Scholl with the Orange County Sheriff's Department's cold case unit started looking back and she realized, guys, I'm pretty sure we let a murderer walk free on this case. So Sergeant Scholl began by digging into Paul's background and saw there were a lot of things about this guy that were secrets and lies. For starters, she found that mere days after Linda had passed, Paul was busy calling their insurance company to say someone had actually stolen Linda's 18 karat gold Rolex and some other jewelry. She dies, he calls insurance and says, hey, someone stole this. And he walks away from that with $9,000. Okay, it's just a completely unrelated thing, but that the motive was still money for and a lie.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, I think about that sometimes, which is funny you brought that up because I literally was just thinking, not in a weird way, but I was like, if Peyton died, like, if your significant.

[Peyton Moreland]

Other dies, please don't bury me now.

[Garrett Moreland]

Listen, if your significant other dies, at what point do most people try to get insurance money? I guess is what I'm trying to say.

[Peyton Moreland]

Right, yeah. Because if you notice like media outlets and it's even what I report because.

[Garrett Moreland]

I'm like, are you just not supposed. You just ignore it?

[Peyton Moreland]

They like always point it out. It's like everyone immediately goes in to see how fast they collected life.

[Garrett Moreland]

So like, do you just now be like, okay, I'm going to wait 60 days? Like, at what point do you actually collect on it?

[Peyton Moreland]

Obviously him lying about the Rolex has nothing to do with like life insurance policy, but it just goes into the fact that like he got all this money from her and then lied after she died. Like. Yeah, anyways, it is a good question.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Peyton Moreland]

I've heard people.

[Garrett Moreland]

I just hope. I literally hope I don't deal with it.

[Peyton Moreland]

So I've heard of people who wait years because collecting it makes it feel final.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, that would make sense.

[Peyton Moreland]

And so they just, they can't get them.

[Garrett Moreland]

I was thinking about it, I was like, I feel like I'd be so sick to my stomach it wouldn't even be on top of my mind.

[Peyton Moreland]

Right. But maybe other people need it to survive. You know what I mean?

[Garrett Moreland]

True. That's a good point. Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah. I can't. Okay. I'm not even going to think about that. But Scholl obviously found this a strange thing to do, especially before his wife's body had basically even run cold. This was just the tip of the iceberg though. When Shoal tracked down those two mysterious ex wives Paul Curry had, one of them had a pretty similar story to tell. Paul's second wife said there was a point in their marriage when she started to get sick too. That it began by her feeling dizzy and then she lost all of her energy to the point where she couldn't even get out of bed. She also claimed that doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She said she felt like this for over a year of their marriage. And like Linda, Paul had also encouraged her to take out a life insurance policy. Luckily, this ex wife refused to do so. But when she did, Paul just up and left her for Linda. Shaw also went back and spoke to witnesses, friends and family who knew and interacted with Paul during his marriage to Linda. And one of them had something very interesting to say. They had overheard Paul talking to someone at a barbecue where he claimed that he thought he could kill someone without ever getting caught. This Reminds me of Josh Powell because he talked to people about the best way to hide a body, and then his wife went missing.

[Garrett Moreland]

Peyton and I do a true crime podcast for our jobs, and we never talk to people about this. That's just weird. If that ever comes up in a random conversation, stay as far away as you can.

[Peyton Moreland]

Well, low key. You're kind of dumb because insane. It's. It's almost impossible to get away with it. Like, I agree, yes, it happens all the time, but if it's like, someone, you know, like your wife, it's gonna be pretty freaking hard to get away with it.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

He basically admitted at this barbecue, and this is where it gets even worse. He admits, oh, I could actually make a deadly poison in my garage. And then if I administer to that someone, it would be really hard to detect. So when Sergeant Scholl figures all of this out and looks back at Linda's autopsy, she notices that Linda's post mortem toxicology report came back positive for something that was a little interesting. Nicotine. But as Sergeant Shull discovers, Linda wasn't a smoker. Now, remember, the autopsy was done in 1994, and at this point, it's 2002, 2003. So the technology of toxicology reports is a lot more advanced even now than it was nine years ago. And this time, when Scholl has Linda's samples reanalyzed, she finds that Linda had 50 to 100 times more nicotine in her system when she died than the average smoker would.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

And she also had a toxic amount of Ambien in her system as well. Wow. Here's the thing. Nicotine poisoning like this is really hard to pull off as a murder weapon. It needs to be ingested or injected and absorbed into the bloodstream. But Shoal began to wonder, hearing how doting of a husband Paul was cooking Linda these meals. And homemade salad dressing.

[Garrett Moreland]

You just slip it into some dressing.

[Peyton Moreland]

And very slowly over time. But when she consulted an expert, he's like, listen, there's no way something like this could kill her slowly. Sure, it would create symptoms like pain, nausea, and sweating, but in order for this to be a murder weapon, it had to be a huge dose and administered swiftly. So that's when Shull noticed something else on the autopsy report that seemed to be overlooked. There was a small mark behind Linda's ear that looked like a needle puncture.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

So she develops a theory. Paul had been experimenting with different poisons for some time after the two got sick on the cruise. He was like, hey, I can kind of take advantage of this. And his first poison of choice was lidocaine, which is what he slipped into Linda's IV at the hospital. Now, when that didn't work and Linda recovered, he began slowly poisoning her with nicotine in her food. It was making her sick, but not sick enough to kill her. So on the night of June 9, he gave Linda a strong dose of Ambien, and then he injected her with a massive dose of nicotine, killing her within a half hour of administering it.

[Garrett Moreland]

That's so sad.

[Peyton Moreland]

But where do you get all this nicotine? After consulting again with experts, Sholl learned he only needed one pack of cigarettes to get the amount he needed. So I have no idea how you turn a pack of cigarettes into an injectable form, but police are pretty confident that this is what he did. So I will say, though, building this case against Paul happens really slowly. Scholl knows her theory is nothing more than that. A theory. What she really needs is to get Paul Curry to confess. So finally, around 2010, she finds a way to get to this guy. She goes to Kansas, where Paul's now living with a new wife, a new son, and a brand new job as a building inspector. She shows up at his house pretending to be a local police officer with questions alongside two actual local detectives. Scholl tells Paul that they are there to close out the final details of a death investigation regarding Linda Kincaid, his ex. I guess Scholl thought if she pretended to be from Kansas, Paul wouldn't think he was getting arrested. And seemingly she's right, because Paul admits to them, yeah, Linda is my ex wife. And Scholl says to him, quote, the night Linda passed away, you and Linda were alone, Correct? And Paul's like, yeah, that's right. So she goes on asking, so there was no one else in the house with you that night? And he's like, yes. Now, this might not sound like a smoking gun, but to Shoal, this admission is actually pretty strong because it proves that he's admitting he was the only one who could have poisoned Linda. And because we know that poisoning, in order to be fatal, would have to happen pretty quickly, there's only one person with her that night, and he himself admits it, Paul Curry. So she confronts him about it right there. She says, did you poison your wife? He's like, no. Shoal now has what she needs, though, to finally arrest Paul Curry. Sixteen years after Linda's murder, an admission that he was home alone with her when she died of fatal nicotine poisoning is enough. And When Paul's new wife, Teresa, visits him in jail the following day, he admits to her that the case against him isn't looking good. Unfortunately, it would take another four years to get him into court.

[Garrett Moreland]

It's annoying.

[Peyton Moreland]

Paul was charged with insurance fraud and murder in the first degree with special circumstances. And on September 11, 2014, his trial begins. But it's not really an easy case to try. There were no syringes found in the home, no receipt for the nicotine or cigarettes purchased to kill Linda. I mean, this case is pretty circumstantial.

[Garrett Moreland]

How are you gonna find all that?

[Peyton Moreland]

Paul's defense team argued that Linda was sick long before she met Paul, and she gave herself a nicotine enema, which is sometimes used to treat ulcerative colitis. But there was no evidence Linda had ever done this. Instead, everything pointed to Paul. The hospital staff testimony, the IV bags that have been tampered with, the injection site found behind Linda Curry's ear.

[Garrett Moreland]

I think there's enough circumstance circumstantial evidence that I think he gets charged.

[Peyton Moreland]

In 2014, Paul is found guilty of insurance fraud and murder in the first degree with special circumstances. So now, at 58 years old, Paul Curry was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

[Garrett Moreland]

Good. Good.

[Peyton Moreland]

But that still doesn't answer one huge question people had about the case, which was, if Linda knew this was happening to her, why would she stay in the house with Paul? But I think the truth is we never really know what's going on behind closed doors. Perhaps Linda was loving and generous. She was blinded by that. And the fact that not everyone we let into our lives has pure motives. Sometimes the most evil people can be the ones living right beside us.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. And I also don't think it's any different than. Sadly, any different than, you know, I mean, abuse, vic, abused victims, right? People who are in a relationship, that's domestic violence. I mean, sometimes they're in relationships for 5, 10, 20 years before they get out. I think it's. I mean, he could have been a very manipulative person. I think there's so much that could have happened that we just have no idea.

[Peyton Moreland]

Well, and I think it's also important to note that every source, every friend claims that Paul was a very doting husband. He was very loving. When she was sick, he was at her beck and call, like, feeding her, taking care of herself.

[Garrett Moreland]

That can be very manipulative.

[Peyton Moreland]

Like, yeah. How do you look at him and feel this love from him and feel this, like, I wouldn't be able to.

[Garrett Moreland]

Survive without oh, he's killing me.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then be like, but he's killing me.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, that's.

[Peyton Moreland]

That's really hard for your head.

[Garrett Moreland]

Agreed.

[Peyton Moreland]

All right, you guys, that was our case this week. The case of Linda Kincaid. And we will see you next time with another one. I love it and I hate it. Goodbye. Oh, what you eating?

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Wow, that sounds amazing. Can I have a bite?

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[Peyton Moreland]

Not even a little.

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[Peyton Moreland]

What if.

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