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- [00:00]
A
You're listening to an. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy a mochi moment from Sadie, who writes, I'm not crying. You're crying. This is what I said during my first appointment with my physician at Mochi because I didn't have to convince him I needed a GLP one. He understood and I felt supported, not judged. I came for the weight loss and stayed for the empathy. Thanks, Sadie. I'm Mayra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com Sadie is emoji member compensated for her story. No media podcast. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland.
- [01:04]
B
And I'm Garrett Moreland.
- [01:05]
A
And he's the husband.
- [01:06]
B
And I'm the husband.
- [01:07]
A
Quick, before we get into the episode, I have a question to ask everybody. Listening. Have you ever woke up in a bad mood and then went to work in a horrible mood?
- [01:22]
B
Ok, anyways, because. No, don't do this. Don't do this.
- [01:28]
A
Last week.
- [01:28]
B
Don't do this.
- [01:29]
A
Last episode, I was in a horrible mood. Garrett gave me a hug before we started recording. He was like, it's okay. We're going to get through this. We can do this. Like, I just woke up in a bad mood. I was having a bad day. Record the episode upload. Just so read a whole bunch of comments saying that I am a very mean person to Garrett and that I. My energy is off and I'm a horrible person. And so this is my formal apology to everyone for who picked up on my bad mood last week. I just simply was in a bad mood. That's all. No conspiracies here.
- [02:13]
B
All right. Thank you, baby. Thank you very much.
- [02:15]
A
You're welcome.
- [02:16]
B
Yeah, I don't know. I'm just always happy, you know?
- [02:19]
A
Oh, my gosh.
- [02:20]
B
Just kidding. I don't know. Do you want me to say anything about that? I haven't got much to say about it.
- [02:27]
A
I mean, you can say my favorite.
- [02:28]
B
Comment, we were just doing our thing.
- [02:29]
A
Was they said Garrett's walking on eggshells.
- [02:33]
B
Yeah, I'm not. I promise.
- [02:36]
A
I don't think. I think Garrett stomps on eggshells.
- [02:39]
B
Yeah. Yeah, I like that. I like it. I like that, too.
- [02:42]
A
Though Gary is so, like. He is so grounded and confident. He would never, ever walk on eggshells around someone, and it's actually admirable.
- [02:52]
B
Thanks, baby. I appreciate that. As crazy as I look right now on YouTube, I appreciate that.
- [02:57]
A
At least they'll just call you crazy. Not mean to me.
- [02:59]
B
Well, Peyton's not mean. Just been a busy month for us. We love you guys. Thank you for being here. Thank you for supporting us. If you are watching on YouTube, I am sorry I look insane. Honestly, we kind of woke up and came down to record. I've been sick for like a week and a half, so I'm just still congested and stuff. And I was like, I'm not going to take a shower and get ready. My hair can look crazy. I'm going to show off my hair transplant. I got some hair going. And here we are recording again. Thank you for being here. We hope you all had a great Halloween. If you did something. If not. Peyton and I didn't really do anything. We kind of just sat at home, we passed out some candy, we hung out. Peyton dressed up. Yeah. That was our Halloween, huh, baby?
- [03:44]
A
Yeah, it was fun, actually. It was. It was low key. But honestly, the vibes were it, like. It was fun.
- [03:51]
B
It was good. It was a good time. We got our morning coffee. We got our morning drinks. We are here to tell you guys a good case. And on that note, hopping into my 10 seconds, I have nothing because I've been sick. And if one of you out there is like, yeah, you're always sick, you know what? You can shove it. Okay. Shove it. Okay. Do you have ibs? No. All right. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. I always see the tik. I always see these tiktoks. And people are like, oh, that one friend with stomach issues. You don't understand. You do not know what it's like to have ibs. I just deal with it. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty good at dealing with it. Huh?
- [04:35]
A
Yeah.
- [04:36]
B
Yeah. You heard it here first, folks. Anyways, let's hop into today's case. Oh, we got Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. We got the holidays coming up.
- [04:48]
A
Sure do.
- [04:49]
B
So for everyone celebrating holidays, it's a good time of year. We're probably going to do. As it gets closer, usually around Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, we kind of pick a couple families and we help them with the holidays. So stay tuned for that. We're going to be doing that just.
- [05:06]
A
To submit a family. Like, we did last year.
- [05:08]
B
Yeah. Yeah. So we'll give you more updates on that. If you're new here. We'll. We'll give an update soon on that. Other than that, let's hop into today's case.
- [05:18]
A
Our sources for this episode are my news 13.com haunted history tours.com court tv.com sacrosanctum.org horobsessive.com west.com oxygen.com newyorktimes.com wkms.org and deadly cult season one now, there is nothing wrong with looking for a little magic and fantasy in the world, especially when the news nowadays feels so dark. We all want to believe that there is something out there that can fix everything with the wave of a wand or the snap of a finger. Or at least something that can offer us a temporary escape or from reality. I think that's why so many of us love Halloween. It's the one time a year where we can become someone other than ourselves.
- [06:05]
B
And it's like, accepted.
- [06:06]
A
Yeah. We can exist in a world that feels different from the one we live in every day.
- [06:11]
B
You know, I think that's why. Sorry to interrupt. I think that's why a lot of people also do. What are those called? Like the Renaissance fairs. But there's a name for it. Not a Renaissance fair play. No, no, there's a. There's an actual name for it.
- [06:26]
A
LARPing.
- [06:27]
B
Yes. LARPing. Yes.
- [06:30]
A
It's just kind of nice to like escape the world for a second.
- [06:33]
B
Just kind of do. I think it's no different than watching a, like sci fi movie or action movie or TV show or playing video games. You can kind of just escape anyways.
- [06:44]
A
And everyone needs that. Honestly, like, it's healthy to have one foot in reality and, you know, being like, this is what's going on. Being a responsible citizen and adult. But at same time, for everyone's survival and mental health, you have to have those things to escape into. And on Halloween, at least for one day, we can pretend that magic and the supernatural exist. But for some people, Halloween doesn't end when spooky season is over. For some, the fantasy world is a place that they choose to live in every single day. And when the lines between fantasy and reality start to blur, it can have dangerous repercussions. Especially when the ones playing pretend don't think there will be any consequences for their actions. So let me start today's story by introducing you to Rick Wendorf and Naoma Ruth Queen, or Ruth as she went. So in 1996, Ruth was a Stay at home mom living in Eustis, Florida with her life partner, Rick. The two had met years earlier after Ruth separated from her first husband in which she had two daughters with. Now both Rick and Ruth were working at a metal and plastic factory when they were first introduced and they fell in love. And that is when Ruth got pregnant with Rick's baby. So adding a third daughter to blended family, it was a little girl they would call Jennifer. And while Rick and Ruth never got married, they decided to move in together. And after Rick climbed the corporate ladder at the factory, they decided they were making enough money for Ruth to now be a stay at home mom for their new daughter. They actually bought five acres of property in Eustace and built their dream home together. And then in 1981, they welcomed another little girl to their family, who they named Heather. And by many accounts, this family seemed really happy. They took frequent vacations to Disney World, they went camping together, the girls took music lessons. And Ruth and Rick were basically saving for their daughter's futures.
- [09:15]
B
Okay, sounds like a pretty fun life, not gonna lie.
- [09:18]
A
But the two newest daughters, Jennifer and Heather, kind of grow up to be very different people. And Ruth and Rick have a hard time navigating that, like how to parent these two girls differently because they are so different. So Jennifer kind of took the popular cheerleader route. She was runner up for the title of Miss Eustace. She was smart and studious with a scholarship to attend Florida State University in the fall. And meanwhile, Heather was a little more introverted. She was artistic and alternative. She had an interest in the supernatural and the occult, which, you know, before the year 2000 is a pretty big deal. She wanted nothing to do with beauty pageants or sports. But Heather and Jennifer seemed mostly okay with being two different people. There didn't appear to be much animosity between the sisters or jealousy between them. But there were some things about both of the girls behavior that just didn't work for their parents. So by her junior year, 17 year old Jennifer, our beauty queen, had started cutting classes because she had began seeing a 21 year old boy named Tony. Jennifer, who worked at a supermarket with Tony, began lying to her parents about her whereabouts. And so her parents start trying to keep her from seeing him, this much older boy. I mean, this is pretty typical teenage behavior. That was until Tony crashed and totaled Jennifer's car. So that is when Ruth and Rick sort of stepped up the monitoring on their daughters. Ruth even took a part time job at Eustis High School just so she could be at the school to keep an eye on Heather and Jennifer. Because it was around this time that Heather also started acting out in her own ways. It started off small. She kind of began changing her style. She put dead flowers in vases around her room, an inverted cross hanging on her bedroom wall. Then her drawings and her art got a little darker. She was starting to attract the attention of other teachers and students and not in a good way. Heather actually strung up a Barbie doll with a noose which she then tied to her school backpack and walked around school with for everyone to see what is up. So according to her sister Jennifer, she also walked in on Heather harming herself around this time.
- [12:04]
B
Okay, sorry, keep going.
- [12:05]
A
So the two sisters are kind of just, you know, struggling and acting out in their own ways.
- [12:11]
B
Yeah, I mean it's sad.
- [12:12]
A
It was then that Ruth and Rick, the parents, were planning on sitting their girls down to have a serious talk about the future. But unfortunately they never got the chance. So on the night of November 25, 1996, which also was the day I.
- [12:29]
B
Was born by the way, that is true.
- [12:31]
A
November 25, 1996. 17 year old Jennifer comes home in the new car her parents had got for her because her older boyfriend had totaled hers. It is a little after 10pm which is past her curfew. And since she knows she's broken the rules, she tries to sneak into the house, be extra quiet. And that is when she sees her dad Rick lying there on the couch. The TV is still on and she's like okay, good, he's asleep, I'm just gonna sneak right by him. But then when she tiptoes over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, she notices something terrifying in their kitchen. There is blood everywhere. So she's kept the lights off cause she's trying to be sneaky. No way.
- [13:18]
B
Rick's dead on the couch.
- [13:20]
A
So at this point she's like, I gotta flip this light on. So she switches the light on and sees the blood has actually come from her mother Ruth, who is lying face up on the kitchen floor. She looks over, notices her dad has also been stabbed to death on the couch. So at this point she goes to look for her sister Heather, because that's the only remaining member of the family. She can't find Heather anywhere in the house. So Jennifer dials 91 1.
- [13:52]
B
I don't. Okay, I already have some thoughts on this, but I'm gonna let you keep going.
- [13:56]
A
She tells the operator. I think my mother and father have been murdered and my 15 year old sister Heather is missing.
- [14:05]
B
I Am not gonna say much, but I think my first instinct is Heather might be involved. That's all I'm gonna say for now.
- [14:14]
A
So police arrive to the crime scene and they find 49 year old Rick has been beaten to death.
- [14:20]
B
Oh my.
- [14:20]
A
Chances are he never even saw his attacker coming. It looks like from the one pool of blood on the couch, he was sound asleep when whoever murdered him delivered the fatal blows. Later in an autopsy, they will find he had 22 wounds in total.
- [14:40]
B
Okay, I take back my statement of Heather being involved.
- [14:44]
A
Because it was beating?
- [14:45]
B
Yeah, because it was beating. I just thought doesn't seem possible or plausible to me.
- [14:50]
A
Meanwhile, 54 year old Ruth looks like she had been trying to defend herself from the attacker. Her hands are above her face. It appears she was beaten so badly there are actually pieces of her skull that have landed in the next room over. An autopsy will find that she has 23 wounds in total, 16 of them on her head area. Now, at first, this kind of does appear to police to be a robbery gone wrong. There is some jewelry missing. A credit card is gone, as is the family's blue Ford Explorer. They collect DNA from under Ruth's fingernails since it's clear that she did fight back. And there is also a bloody shoe print in the home for police to examine as evidence. What's interesting though, as police are investigating this double murder, possible kidnapping, they find a note from the missing daughter Heather. And the note is basically a goodbye to her parents, indicating that she was running away.
- [15:58]
B
Okay.
- [15:59]
A
But even more shocking is that on the right side of Rick's chest, there is a burn that looks deliberately made on his chest in the shape of the letter V. So when police speak with Jennifer, she tells them whatever happened to her parents, she now believes after kind of like sitting with the scene a little bit, that her sister or her sister's friends were likely involved.
- [16:32]
B
Okay, nevermind.
- [16:33]
A
She's like, I'm not sure Heather did it on her own. She might have even been forced. It's not like I feel like she wanted to hurt our parents, but this is just kind of what I'm starting to feel. But Jennifer pointed to one person in particular that Heather hung out with that always seemed to be bad news.
- [16:51]
B
15 years old, correct?
- [16:53]
A
Yes. Okay, so the person that Jennifer is like, maybe this is who did it, is a friend of Heather's that used to live in Eustace, but had since moved back to his hometown in Kentucky. Someone who definitely lived in a world of fantasy and had seemingly kind of been slowly roping Heather into this as well was a 16 year old kid named Rod Farrell. All right you guys, this podcast does not happen all by itself. Our manager producer truly works behind the scenes to make sure everything run smoothly, which is why it's crucial for her to get a good night's sleep. So we actually hooked her up with the Legend Hybrid mattress from Lisa and she has never slept better. That is what she reported back to us. And a happy producer makes for a happy production.
- [17:48]
B
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A
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B
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- [18:45]
A
Do not skip that Promo code husband. That's Lisa. L E-E S A.com promo code husband for 25% off mattresses plus an extra $50 off support our show and let them know we sent you after checkout Lisa.com promo code husband I've said it once and I'll say it again. I love quince. The weather is changing and quince delivers layers that last. Sweaters, outerwear and everyday essentials that feel luxurious, look timeless and make holiday dressing and gifting effortless. Quince has it all guys. $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters made for everyday wear. Denim that never goes out of style. Silk tops and skirts that add polish and down outerwear built to take on the season. It's honestly perfect for gifting or even upgrading your own wardrobe. Honestly, Quint's Italian wool coats are at the top of my list. The cuts feel designer and the quality rivals high end brands but without the high end markup and I'm so excited to tell you guys. But I actually just did another quince order and and I ordered my silk skirt that I love in other colors. They have so many fun colors now and I ordered different lengths as well because the weather is changing and I just think a silk long skirt is so beautiful for this time of year. And by working directly with ethical top tier factories, Quince skips the middlemen and offers prices 50% less than similar brands. So step into the holiday season with layers made to feel good, look polished and last from Quince, perfect for gifting or keeping for yourself. Go to quince.com husband for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Quince Q U I n c e.com husband to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com husband now rod was born and raised in a small town called Murray, Kentucky. Rod's mother, Sondra Gibson, was only 17 when she actually had Rod. And his father Rick, not the same other father. Rick, who has been murdered, was also a teenager at the time they got pregnant. And while the two got married a few days after Rod was born, they actually just split up a few weeks after that. So Rod and Sondra, mother and son, move in with her parents, which is actually a very strict Christian home, which Sandra obviously didn't want to move in with her parents. She feels out of place here because she just had a baby as a teenager. But Sandra worked hard to get her and Rod out from under her parents roof so she and Rod could go on and live their own life. Now Sandra claimed her parents were the, quote, mentally and emotionally abusive types who made her existence a living hell. So as a result, Sandra had rebelled in a lot of ways, which included turning to sex, work and exotic dancing as a way to try and make her own money. And while he grows up, Rod sees the rebellious side of his mother and it's just the two of them and he seemingly kind of starts to follow suit. Not only that, the two were very close. They took up a lot of the same interests as mother and son. For example, some of Sandra's neighbors spoke about them wandering around the neighborhood holding hands even into Rod's teenage years. So from the outside looking in, a lot of people said that they appeared to be more like boyfriend and girlfriend rather than mother and son. And Rod also became fascinated with Sandra's obsession with the occult. So she had introduced him into a role playing game called Vampire the Masquerade. Rod also said he was exposed to occult rituals as a child and human sacrifices. So I'm not sure how true that is, but this is just what he's telling people.
- [22:56]
B
That's a. Okay.
- [22:57]
A
So as you can imagine what is going on, friends are kind of hard for Rod to come by, considering the way he grew up, at least in his preteen years. So when his mother, Sondra, meets another man, one living down in Eustis, Florida, Rod didn't put up a fight when she's like, hey, pack your bags. We're moving to Eustace to be with my new boyfriend. But it was clear right away that Eustace wasn't going to change the road that Rod was now on with his obsession with the occult. As he entered high school there, he was seen outside in the schoolyard wearing a thick black trench coat, even in the 100 degree Florida heat. He began taking martial arts training. He learned how to wield swords and other weapons. Remember, he loves this role playing vampire game. And his mother had little rules when it came to what Rod could do and couldn't do. She didn't give him a curfew. He was allowed to stay out all night as a teenager. He could skip school when he wanted. He began using drugs. And it presumably got worse once Rod made some new friends, one of them being Heather Wendorf. So the two would stay out late at night, going to cemeteries, hanging out by old mausoleums. They'd have deep discussions about art and the occult. I think it's pretty safe to say that as teenagers with underdeveloped brains hanging out in the cemeteries, their reality begins to differ from other people's reality.
- [24:32]
B
Oh, yeah. I was gonna say, especially as a male, too. Like, yeah, I feel like my brain was not developed until a couple years ago. Like, it just takes a long time, right?
- [24:44]
A
And Rod began telling Heather things. He, like, genuinely tells Heather, his teenage friend, that he is immortal and he's being serious, Dead serious.
- [24:59]
B
Okay.
- [25:00]
A
He was, quote, the devil's child walking with earthly feet.
- [25:06]
B
Okay, that's not good.
- [25:07]
A
And he'd ask Heather things like, quote, what if you and I were deemed rulers of the world?
- [25:14]
B
Okay. All right, look, I'm all for video games. I'm all for, like, role playing. Like, yeah, this is just.
- [25:24]
A
I think also at this point in.
- [25:26]
B
Time, that's not good.
- [25:27]
A
Like, the. It started kind of in the 70s, but getting up into the 80s and 90s.
- [25:33]
B
Like, satanic panic.
- [25:34]
A
Yes, the occult, but we're kind of.
- [25:36]
B
Far from the satanic panic.
- [25:38]
A
Well, I think spreading into other places kind of took, like, it was a big thing around this time.
- [25:44]
B
When was Dungeons and Dragons big? Is it around this time? Does anyone.
- [25:47]
A
Yes.
- [25:47]
B
I don't remember.
- [25:48]
A
It starts around this time, and people did believe Dungeons, Dungeons and Dragons was like, an evil game.
- [25:54]
B
Okay.
- [25:55]
A
And I will Say, because of this, because of the older generations belief in satanic panic and the occult and evil taking over the world, it became a way for kids to rebel. Yeah, like, kids who wanted to rebel were like, well, if I just get into the occult, I'm cool and I'm rebelling against my parents.
- [26:15]
B
But I mean, thinking you're the devil's child and you're the ruler is not good.
- [26:21]
A
Well, it's also a little different than, like liking the color black and hanging out in cemeteries, you know what I mean? Like, being quote unquote, emo or goth is very different than being like, I'm Satan's baby.
- [26:32]
B
Yes.
- [26:33]
A
You know what I mean? Like, there's just a step farther here that is no longer reality. So over time, Heather introduces her new friend Rod to a friend from a different school in the area named Janine. And Rod and Janine actually start dating, which Heather, according to sources, didn't seem to mind. Their relationship appeared pretty platonic, like just friends, but with one more person to entertain. Rod's lies get even stranger because he now has two girls who are kind of into what he's saying. And believing him, his beliefs come become a little bit more convincing, especially to himself. He tells Janine, his girlfriend, that she is an ancient queen and that he had been alive as far back as the 1500s. He actually tells her, I am a 500-year-old vampire, not named Edward, but named Visagio.
- [27:34]
B
Holy crap. Okay, cool.
- [27:37]
A
But Rod's time in Eustace was actually short lived. So after his mother's relationship didn't work out with the new boyfriend, she's like, hey, Rod, we're moving back to Murray, Kentucky. And this is around the start of his sophomore year. So Rod moves with his mom, but keeps in touch with Heather, often racking up huge phone bills with her as they talked for hours every night. They are best friends. But that time in Eustace had awakened something in Rod. This time with these two girls where they all kind of lived in this false reality. And it helped him find his charm and charisma once he moved back to Kentucky. So upon his return, Rod met a student at his high school who was also into the occult, a teenager named Jaden Murphy. Now, naturally, Rod gravitated towards Jaden and his small group of friends, who, in a devoutly Christian school, all stuck out in a pretty big way. For Rod, it felt like he had finally found this community that he had been searching for. Like these two girls had given him the confidence to then go back and be confident. Enough to have a solid friend group who was like him.
- [28:51]
B
Yeah.
- [28:52]
A
Jaden and his friends were also really into the role playing game Vampire the Masquerade. So this friend group kind of begins dabbling in vampiric rituals. The two, Jaden and Rod, become fast friends. And In January of 1996, after a little over a year of knowing Rod, Jaden invites him officially to become a part of his vampire family, if you will, his coven.
- [29:24]
B
They would have loved Twilight around this time.
- [29:27]
A
Loved it.
- [29:28]
B
Loved it.
- [29:29]
A
And he offered to help, quote, cross him over into this vampire family in an sort of initiation ritual. Now, Rod's dream of becoming an actual vampire at this point is starting to come true, at least to him. So late one night, the two friends meet in a local cemetery. Jaden cuts himself with a razor blade and says, here, Rod, drink my blood. And then Rod, no, thank you, does the same, cuts him and lets Jaden drink his blood. And then they sit in a corner, quiet meditation, waiting for the transformation into a vampire to take over. And, well, I mean, they believe this is happening, but it's clear that Rod does not see himself as a follower. So even though this was Jaden's idea to, like, come here and become vampires, Rod is not the type of guy to be like, I'll just do what you say. Shortly after this initiation ceremony took place, Rod decided, thanks for turning me into a vampire, but I think it's time that I start my own vampire cult.
- [30:38]
B
Okay.
- [30:39]
A
So he approaches this kid he'd known for a long time named Howard Scott Anderson. Now, Scott, as his friends called him, and Rod kind of had a lot in common in more grounded ways. They both came from unstable households, both had parents who were struggling to make ends meet, and both had caretakers who were kind of said to be emotionally, maybe even physically abusive. So in a way, when Rod introduces this new vampire cult that he's starting to Scott. Scott's like, actually, yeah, it sounds like a great escape from my real life. A way to feel like they had some control in their own lives, which is why Rod's like, yeah, all you got to do is drink my blood and you can join my cult. So Scott accepted Rod's invitation to partake in the blood drinking ritual. And. And from there, Rod used that charisma and charm that he had been developing in Florida to recruit two other local friends to his cult charity. Kessie and Dana Cooper.
- [31:42]
B
Just crazy, the amount of people, I guess. Not that crazy. I think they could be vampires. I was gonna say it's crazy, but I Don't know. I guess. Not that crazy. Isn't there a huge group in, like, Washington where Twilight was started, where they all think they're vampires?
- [31:58]
A
Seattle. Yeah.
- [31:59]
B
Well, I don't think it's in Seattle. Isn't it, like, West Washington or something? It's not Forks.
- [32:05]
A
I don't think so. No.
- [32:06]
B
No.
- [32:06]
A
I never heard of a vampire cult there.
- [32:08]
B
I think it's something.
- [32:09]
A
I do know. Seattle. I think it's somewhere to have vampire cults. And then also New Orleans is rumored to have pretty big vampire cults.
- [32:19]
B
Okay.
- [32:19]
A
But here's the thing. You also. There was pretty popular vampire movies around this time.
- [32:24]
B
Yeah.
- [32:25]
A
And so. And especially, like, I think it's called the Lost Boys. I've watched it. But it's basically like, this group of bad boys who are actually vampires. And they're like, teenagers, early 20s, and they're, like, cool.
- [32:37]
B
Kind of like Vampire Diaries in a sense.
- [32:40]
A
Yeah. But it is way more like gang culty. Like, it's like this culty group of vampires. And so I think it's called the Lost Boys, if I'm remembering right. And they, like, torment this local group of teenagers, but essentially, I mean, they could be looking at themselves kind of like that.
- [32:58]
B
It's just crazy. The. I mean, I get it, but I don't get it, but I get it, you know?
- [33:02]
A
And I think, like, with Rod's abnormal upbringing, where rules didn't really apply to him and it was okay to be different, like, actually, like, urged to be different, he starts kind of slowly morphing into the perfect cult leader. Because the next two girls that he asks to join his cult also come from dysfunctional households, which is like a typical predatory.
- [33:28]
B
I'm just trying to figure out if, do these kids and, like, people that do this, do they actually believe they're vampires or as part of them, they know they're not. They just want it to be true. You know what I'm saying?
- [33:40]
A
I don't think it matters.
- [33:42]
B
I know, but I'm just curious, like, how many of them actually think, like, no, I'm a vampire, or it's just.
- [33:48]
A
Like, let me belong to something?
- [33:49]
B
Correct. Yes.
- [33:50]
A
I don't know.
- [33:51]
B
Yeah.
- [33:52]
A
So now that Rod had kind of started his own vampire family, it was them against the world. And real life responsibilities were slowly slipping away from these kids, or at least to Rod. Not only did Rod begin skipping class, he was now being outwardly disobedient at school. He was smoking on school grounds, talking back to teachers. And Rod supposedly recruited more members from there at One point, Rod and Jaden's vampire coven had seemingly merged. So they decide to, like, become one. And that basically ends up being about 25 kids in total that are in these vampire cults. And one of those members, get this, apparently, is Rod's own mother, Sandra. So she joins her son's vampire family.
- [34:45]
B
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A
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B
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- [36:55]
A
It was said that Sandra even wrote letters to jaden Murphy's friends 14 year old brother saying that she wanted to be his quote, vampire bride for eternity.
- [37:06]
B
What the.
- [37:07]
A
A 14 year old boy. So she goes full force in this.
- [37:10]
B
That's insane. That is insane.
- [37:13]
A
His mom. So you have to think like in this delusion, if your own mother is involved. Rod really believes this. Like his. His reality has now completely shifted. They often had their meetings and gatherings at an abandoned cement structure in the middle of the woods that they decided to call Hotel Hotel California. And there they would drink each other's blood and partake in other occult rituals. And while I don't know if this was true of the other members, I do know that Rod started taking heavy drugs as well. During this time he was doing PCP, LSD, heroin, and he gets more violent. By May of 1996, Rod had been suspended from his high school for being too disruptive on campus. And things at home seem to be getting worse too. Sandra actually filed a quote, beyond parental control report on her son Rod. Now this is interesting because I feel like we don't see this happen a lot. Basically these reports are a legal document a parent will have issued for someone 16 or younger to basically say, like, I can't parent this person anymore. Like I don't have any control. I can't manage them. It points out that their behavior is possibly a risk to themselves and to others. And it gives permission for the juvenile court or social services to get involved when things get out of hand. Though I will say this does not legally absolve a parent of their responsibility or accountability for their child's actions. It's kind of basically like just red flagging the system. But apparently a big part of the reason why Sandra even did this while also partaking in her son's delusion and is because she claimed that Rod had started being verbally abusive and was threatening to kill her. Though according to other members of the vampire family, Sandra was not much better. Like she was just as abusive and at least verbally back to Rod. So things seem to get so out of hand in that family that in September of that same year, Jaden was even pulled into it.
- [39:16]
B
Wow.
- [39:16]
A
He and Rod got into a massive argument. It turned into a physical altercation. I don't know what sparked it, but I know it ended up with Rod threatening Jaden and Jaden throwing Rod up against a wall. Jaden actually served six months in prison for the assault. And Rod gets off scot free. Over time though, Rod's violence escalates further. He starts becoming violent towards animals. I'm not Going to go into detail, but he was killing animals, like several animals from the Humane Society, like breaking in. So.
- [39:51]
B
So I mean all the signs are there that he's basically going to kill somebody.
- [39:56]
A
Yes. So Rod was brought in for questioning after killing these animals, but police could find no evidence that it was actually him. He denies all involvement. He ended up getting off for this crime without a conviction. But unfortunately that would just be the precursor to what Rod was planning next. So as I mentioned, Heather Wendorf and Rod had stayed in touch this entire time after he had moved back to Kentucky. So she's kind of like hearing from the outskirts everything that is happening, that he had started this huge cult, he had this following. There were a lot of late night phone calls where Rod kept her up to date.
- [40:40]
B
I would assume like law enforcement has to be aware of this at this point. Right?
- [40:44]
A
I mean, I don't think enough to like do anything or understand how serious it was.
- [40:49]
B
They probably think it's a joke at this point.
- [40:51]
A
Just high school kids. Okay, kids. So Heather is also keeping him up to date on what's happening back in Eustace. And it's during these late night phone calls that she mentions something to Rod. She says her father was sexually abusing her. Now, from what I could find, there was never any evidence or police reports to reflect this, but nonetheless, Rod saw this as an opportunity, a chance to swoop in and save Heather, be her knight in shining armor or her vampire in shining armor. So 16 year old rod at this point rounds up his followers. 16 year old Charity, who's actually his new girlfriend, 19 year old Dana, 16 year old Howard Scott, and told them, hey guys, we are heading to Florida on a vampire mission. So in the early morning hours of November 23, 1996, they hopped in Scott's car and they begin driving south. Initially, Rod told them the plan was just to pick Heather up and then all go to New Orleans together. They felt that there, in a city that embraces the occult, they would be amongst like minded people. Perhaps they could even expand their vampire clan further, maybe live there long term together. Except there was clearly more to the plan that Rod wasn't sharing with his other clan members. So two days after Rod and the others arrived in Eustace, they pick Heather up and go to a local cemetery. Rod and Heather walk off for a bit. Scott said they were gone for about an hour and a half. And during that time, Rod crossed Heather over in his standard ritual. Basically, drink my blood, I'll drink yours. During that meeting, Heather explained to the others, how her father had been abusing her, her mother was refusing to believe her, and. And she was looking for someone who could finally do something about it, get her out of her situation. So Rod introduces this detailed plan to the rest of the cult. Since they had gotten a flat tire on Scott's Buick that day, they now needed another car to drive to New Orleans. And Heather's family had this nice new Ford Explorer. So that night, Heather would sneak out of her house and meet the other girls in the group a quarter mile up the road. And meanwhile, Rod and Scott, the boys, would sneak into Heather's house, steal her parents Ford Explorer so then they could take the car to Louisiana. And that's what happened. Sort of.
- [43:17]
B
Except people died.
- [43:19]
A
Yeah. So after Heather left that night, Rod and Scott went into the Wendorf's garage and saw the Explorer. They didn't just hop in and pull out of the garage. Instead, Rod grabbed a crowbar and went into Heather's house with Scott kind of nervously following behind him. Rod tells Scott, we're just going to steal a few more things from the home. He's like, we also need to arm ourselves. That's why I'm grabbing the crowbar, just in case. So Scott goes in with him and starts and starts snooping around the house for money and jewelry. And then Rod spots Heather's dad, Rick, sound asleep on the couch. And I don't know what goes through his head. I don't know if he was like, I'm a vampire. And he was like, I gotta unleash this violent rage that has been building up inside of me. And I'm delusional at this point. Rod, or rather Basago, his vampire alter ego, as he was actually calling himself at this point. He walks over, he lifts up the crowbar, and he just starts swinging at sleeping Rick, beating him to death on the couch. And that's.
- [44:31]
B
Oh, my gosh.
- [44:33]
A
When Scott sees what's happening, he starts to freak out. He didn't think they were gonna hurt anyone. So he obviously goes up to Rod, what are you doing? And according to Scott, Rod had this demonic look in his eyes and he screams back at Scott to go find the keys to the car. So Scott claims he was terrified. He did what he was told. And that's when Ruth came out of the bathroom and spotted Rod. And according to Scott, she begins fighting back. She threw a cup of hot coffee at Rod. She scratched him in the face. It only made him angrier. He starts swinging at her.
- [45:10]
B
Oh my God.
- [45:11]
A
With the crowbar attacking her Even worse than he did Rick. And after both Rick and Ruth were clearly dead, Rod burned the letter V into Rick's skin.
- [45:24]
B
Oh, for like, vampire.
- [45:25]
A
For his vampire named Visago.
- [45:28]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [45:29]
A
And while Rod is marking his territory, if you will, Scott grabbed the keys and the couple's credit cards, and then they both jump into the Ford Explorer. They catch up with the girls a little ways down the road. They swap the license plates of the two cars, putting the plates from Scott's Buick on the Explorer, and then they take off for New Orleans. Now, obviously, the boys are. At least Rod is covered in blood. There's a crowbar in the backseat of the car.
- [46:00]
B
What does Heather think?
- [46:02]
A
Well, Rod obviously needs to tell them what happened because they are confused. And when he tells them what happened, supposedly it comes as a shock to the three girls. They begin screaming and crying, especially Heather. She was like, this was not supposed to be a murder.
- [46:19]
B
Her parents just got killed.
- [46:20]
A
You were supposed to just take my parents car. But Scott says he wasn't really buying Heather's tears. While he didn't know for sure, he actually felt like he had been set up and that Heather and Rod, when they had, like, walked earlier that night, he had planned this and then, like, set Scott up. And Scott went in and this murder plan happened, and he felt like Heather knew about it beforehand.
- [46:46]
B
Interesting.
- [46:47]
A
So it's not long after that Jennifer comes home, obviously sneaks in, finds her parents dead, her sister missing. She calls 91 1. The police arrive.
- [46:56]
B
This trial is going to be insane because you have a bunch of different young kids who were all going to rot each other out, disagree with each other, lie. It's going to be a mess.
- [47:09]
A
And it's kind of like what you were saying earlier. I think think the curtain will fall really quickly on who actually believes the delusion they're living in and who was just doing it to be a part of something and is quickly going to be like, I had no part in this.
- [47:23]
B
Yes.
- [47:24]
A
And obviously when police arrive, she says, hey, now my sister's missing. I don't know what's going on, but I do. She has some, like, scary friends that could have done this. So she's completely right with her assumption that maybe her sister's friends had something to do with this. So once police realize that the family's car has been stolen, they have a big piece of evidence to work off of. So they put out the license plate information that night, and within a few hours, they actually get a hit. Police in Seminole county, just 38 miles away, say they found an abandoned vehicle with those plates in their jurisdiction. Obviously, it's not a Ford Explorer. It's on Scott's Buick because they switched license plates. So then they look up the VIN number to the car that has the family's license plates. They find that it's registered to Howard Scott Anderson in Kentucky. After hearing that he's definitely friends with Rod and been traveling with him, and they most likely now have Heather, they now have a solid lead on this investigation. The problem is they don't know where the teenagers are headed. They just have what they assume to be the license plates on the Ford Explorer. Well, these kids make a lot of mistakes along the way. For instance, they use the Wendorf's stolen credit card to purchase gas and a knife on their route to Louisiana. But they keep going, despite seeing reports on the news that the police are onto them. And a few days later, they get to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and it's there they start dumping things. Their clothes, the murder weapon. None of them have slept. They're exhausted. They're running out of money. So Charity, this is Rod's girlfriend, actually does something drastic at this point in, like, just.
- [49:07]
B
Oh, no.
- [49:08]
A
What? I imagine to be just, like, confusion, fear, hysteria, Hysteria. She calls her grandmother and is like, hey, can you send me some money?
- [49:19]
B
Okay.
- [49:20]
A
Now, obviously, Charity's grandmother at this point has heard that her granddaughter is in trouble because the parents have been contacted. She's like, so you're on the road with murderers. Like, you guys are wanted right now. You know that? And so Charity's grandmother is like, girl, go to the police.
- [49:38]
B
Yeah.
- [49:39]
A
Turn yourself in. Tell them what happened. The grandmother hands over the number Charity called from, and police are able to trace it to a phone booth just outside of Baton Rouge. Grandma doesn't send the money. Instead, she sends a team of police officers who find and arrest the five teenagers on November 28. This is just three days after the murders. So it doesn't actually take long to get Rod Farrell to confess to the murders and to being the mastermind, because as you can imagine him fully believing this delusion.
- [50:13]
B
He's like, oh, yeah, this is what had to happen.
- [50:14]
A
He is more than happy to be like, I'm a vampire, and I murdered these people.
- [50:19]
B
Okay.
- [50:20]
A
Now, Scott, however, is like, listen, I was at the scene of the crime, but I did not murder either of those people. I had no idea it was going to happen. I didn't know this was the plan. And meanwhile, Charity and Dana say they had no idea the plan was to commit murder either. Until after the boys got back in the car and said it happened.
- [50:40]
B
And here's the thing. There is a ginormous line between stealing a car and murdering two people.
- [50:47]
A
Right? So the girls are like, no, no, no. We just thought we were getting Heather away from her abusive dad and that we were all going to run away to New Orleans.
- [50:56]
B
And now also, I mean, I guess we'll see what happens with Heather and all that. I just, I think it's hard, Rod obviously being delusional. Heather sounds like she might be pretty delusional as well. It's hard. I'm not saying it didn't happen to not discredit it, but it's also hard to believe if the dad was abusing, because this is a mess. So how do you know what's true and what's not true?
- [51:20]
A
And I think also police don't know whether to believe Heather about if she knew the plan or not. But they, after talking and investigating, they start to lean on the side that Heather did come up with the murder plan with Rod.
- [51:36]
B
Okay, so.
- [51:36]
A
But she's claiming through and through she didn't know he was gonna murder her parents.
- [51:41]
B
Yeah, I don't know about this.
- [51:42]
A
Rod's mom, Sandra, was also questioned. She's like, once they kind of hear about the dynamic there and what had been going on back in Kentucky, police question Sandra. They're like, did you know about the murders? And she's like, well, actually, I overheard Heather asking Rod to kill her parents.
- [52:04]
B
Okay, but how can we trust her too? Because she's delusional.
- [52:07]
A
Well, and also, it's like protecting your son by not putting the entire blame on him and claiming he was doing it for Heather.
- [52:14]
B
That's a good point.
- [52:14]
A
They give her a polygraph and Sandra fails it. And after she fails the polygraph, apparently she recants the statement. She's like, never mind. I lied.
- [52:22]
B
Okay.
- [52:23]
A
I didn't hear this.
- [52:23]
B
Okay.
- [52:24]
A
So eventually, Rod Farrell was charged with armed burglary, armed robbery, and two counts of murder in first degree. He pleads guilty to all of it at the start of his trial in February of 1998. 17 year old rod was then sentenced to death, making him the youngest person on death row in Florida at the time.
- [52:47]
B
I mean, this isn't. This is brutal murder. Like, I not surprised he got sentenced to death. I think it's.
- [52:53]
A
It's Florida as well.
- [52:55]
B
And yeah, I mean, I have no, not much to say about that. I mean, justice, like, he killed. It's insane.
- [53:03]
A
A sleeping person killed two people. However, this obviously is later overturned in 2005 when the US Supreme Court ruled that juveniles couldn't get the death penalty, which, as you guys know, I also adamantly agree on. Rod was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now, as for the others who were maybe under his spell, was this a cult? Were they almost manipulated? We don't know. Now, Rod's girlfriend, Charity Kessie, was convicted of two counts of third degree murder, Obviously because after finding out the murder happened, she didn't turn anyone in. Robbery with a gun or deadly weapon, and burglary armed with weapons. So she gets Char with the robbery and burglary, even though, according to the statement, she wasn't at the actual crime. She was given ten and a half years in state prison. Dana Cooper was convicted of the same charges. She was given 17 and a half years.
- [54:04]
B
Wow.
- [54:04]
A
Wow.
- [54:05]
B
Actually surprises me. They got so long.
- [54:07]
A
Well, Scott Anderson was convicted of the same charges as Rod, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
- [54:14]
B
Really?
- [54:15]
A
He wasn't sentenced to death like Rod originally was, though Scott later had his sentence reduced to 40 years behind bars. Life in prison at 17. As everyone admits, he didn't even touch the murder weapon. You're still there.
- [54:30]
B
I don't. Huh. I don't know if I agree with that. I think we've done other cases where people have been not brainwashed, but, you know, in a sense to do something.
- [54:43]
A
I mean, brainwashed or not, if the story is true, and he showed up thinking they were gonna take a car and then his friend murdered two people, life in prison does seem pretty heavy for that.
- [54:54]
B
I think even 40 years seems pretty heavy. Usually I am on the aggressive side.
- [55:00]
A
I mean, granted, afterwards he didn't immediately go to police, but they're also teenagers. Group mentality.
- [55:06]
B
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if I agree with that. Anyways. I mean, it's not our job not.
- [55:09]
A
To make excuses because obviously.
- [55:12]
B
No, I just. It's just interesting.
- [55:14]
A
I don't know, it's just that, like, the whole group adamantly claims, including Rod himself, that Rod was the only one who touched the murder weapons.
- [55:21]
B
Yeah. So I don't know.
- [55:22]
A
It's not like these typical teenage stories where it's kind of confusing about who actually did it.
- [55:27]
B
Yep.
- [55:28]
A
So the interesting part about this aftermath is that when it came to Heather Wendorf, she seemed to get off the hook easily. The state attorney decided not to prosecute her.
- [55:42]
B
You are kidding me right now?
- [55:44]
A
Her lawyers argue she didn't know about the murders until after they were over that she was a victim in this. That she went with the group because she feared for her own safety because the person driving the car had just murdered her parents. This is what her defense is arguing.
- [56:00]
B
Wow.
- [56:01]
A
So she never even faced charges for her parents death.
- [56:04]
B
Disagree with that.
- [56:05]
A
But Heather's family still seemed to blame her for Rick and Ruth's murders. Afterwards, Jennifer was sent to live with her aunt and uncle before going to college. And they refused to let her have any contact with Heather. And meanwhile Heather was sent to live with her grandmother. She then went to a psychiatric facility and then to a foster family. She later went to art school. She got married. She moved to North Carolina before finally reconnecting with some members of her family. The question still remains though, did Heather know what was going to happen to her parents? I don't know if we will ever know. Is it possible she thought Rod and all of his claims were nothing more than storytelling and fantasy? Perhaps everyone underestimated Rod Farrell and what he was really capable of. Which just goes to show when we believe something long and hard enough, the lines between reality and fantasy really do blur. And it's in that gray area that possibly the most dangerous decisions are made. And that is the story of the murders of Ruth Queen and Rick Wendorf.
- [57:21]
B
I think the only thing honestly that I am not sure about is like Scott sentencing and maybe the other girl sentencing. Because I think it was group mentality. I think Rod led the whole thing. I think if it was this day and age the sentencing would actually be less. I think we're less harsh than we used to be. But also, I don't know. I don't know. We will. I don't think we'll honestly ever know exactly what happened. Exactly went down. We don't have text messages. We don't have more evidence such as this. Insane. Like I think it's insane. I feel like those parents are dead. Crazy, crazy, crazy case. I don't know. It's.
- [57:59]
A
And five kids were on the run for three days.
- [58:01]
B
It's pretty mind blowing.
- [58:03]
A
I will say. Obviously I think the reason. If I could come up with an explanation for why you're saying we used to be more harsh. I think it's because we have better understanding of psychology now. When you understand what actually goes into manipulation. Group mentality, underdeveloped brains that. Especially the teenage group mentality.
- [58:23]
B
Oh, like Rod.
- [58:25]
A
Right.
- [58:26]
B
Do whatever you want.
- [58:26]
A
But oftentimes there is one leader. And when that happens in teenagers, teenagers will do things they wouldn't normally do. I'm not saying this is an excuse for the behavior. Every decision made in this case was wrong.
- [58:39]
B
Yeah.
- [58:40]
A
Every single decision. As soon as they found out it was. I mean, just going to even steal a car was wrong. As soon as they found out it was murder, theoretically, they should have immediately left and went to the cops.
- [58:51]
B
I think I'm just trying to think right. So, okay, let's say Scott's in there and let's say Scott tries to stop Rod. What if Rod then goes to kill him?
- [59:00]
A
Which is what Heather's defense said was. How are you expecting Heather to get out of this car and go to cops when this person just brutally murdered her parents and she's in the car with them?
- [59:11]
B
I just think it's crazy. Scott got 40 years. I don't know why I'm thinking so much about that. I just think it's wild because if he didn't touch. Everyone admitted he didn't touch anything. He was just like, oh, shoot, I'm going along with everything now. What's happening? Things are going insane at 17, too.
- [59:27]
A
It's not like he was 30 years.
- [59:29]
B
I'm usually not in agreeance with this stuff. I'm usually in agreeance with long sentencings and the death penalty, but this one I'm not. I don't agree with it. And I might be curious to actually know maybe a little bit more like more about Scott, more about what was.
- [59:44]
A
Going on, what he has to say.
- [59:46]
B
What he has to say. But I think I disagree with this.
- [59:48]
A
You actually just brought up a good point. Keep in mind that majority of these kids didn't come from very stable families. Take Heather out of it. The people that he had, like, recruited were all from very dysfunctional, vulnerable families.
- [60:03]
B
Yeah.
- [60:04]
A
I just want to make clear before we end, Garrett and I are not excusing any of the bad behavior. We're trying to psychologically, magically come.
- [60:12]
B
All of this. At the end of the day, this is ridiculous. And screw. I mean, Rod deserves what Rod 100%. I mean, please rot in prison for life. I don't know how else to say it. And if you don't agree with me, sorry, that's it.
- [60:26]
A
Yeah, I think. No excuses, but pondering an explanation behind the psychology of how we get to this place is needed. It is needed because that is how we further understand humanity and how it is so not black and white. All right, you guys, that is our episode for this week. Spooky season is officially over. So vampire cults and all the spooky things, we will probably typically go back to our just regular true crime cases. Even though this is true crime. I tried to do a more spookier theme for the month. Yeah. I will see you next time with another episode. I love it.
- [61:03]
B
I hate it.
- [61:04]
A
Goodbye. Foreign. Thanks to Simplisafe for sponsoring the show. Get exclusive early access to Simplisafe's Black Friday sale where you can save 60% on any new system. This is their biggest deal of the year. Go to simplisafe.com husband that's simplisafe.com husband to save 60% on any new system.