496 - Swim Angry

Summary

My Favorite Murder – Episode 496: Swim Angry

Hosts: Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
Date: September 4, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode of "My Favorite Murder," Karen and Georgia return with equal parts humor and heart, covering two riveting stories: the 1996 disappearance and murder of Ann Marie Fahey—a politically charged case from Delaware that reverberated through a tight-knit community—and the remarkable heroism of Armenian athlete Shavarsh Karapetyan, whose bravery in the face of a catastrophic trolleybus accident in 1976 saved dozens of lives. Interspersed with their signature banter and listener submissions, the hosts create a rich, layered exploration of true crime, survival, community, and unexpected heroes.

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Main Discussion & Key Segments

1. Banter, Upcoming Tour, and Community Catch-up

• Timestamps: [02:14] – [09:35]
  • Karen and Georgia discuss tan lines, fake tanners, stage outfits, and their upcoming live tour (their first in over six years).
    • Georgia: “There’s some cities…San Diego. Why? Get it together. We were there for you.” [05:39]
    • Karen: “Leave the elephants alone. And we’re not going to say it again.” [07:19]
  • Reflections on the changing times, Gen X references, and the supportive MFM fanbase.
  • Plug for Exactly Right Media and an MFM Animated “Crow Omen” episode by Nick Terry.
    • Georgia: “…Nick Terry gets Vince’s beard and he’s like a calico cat beard and he gets it. So spot on.” [08:15]

2. Murder of Ann Marie Fahey: Power, Secrets, and Small Town Scandal

• Timestamps: [09:35] – [41:00]

Case Introduction

• Georgia introduces the disappearance of 29-year-old Ann Marie Fahey in Wilmington, Delaware, 1996.
  • “This isn’t just a story of a missing woman. It’s a story about power, corruption, and how far someone will go to protect their image.” – Georgia [10:34]
• Primary source: Ann Rule’s And Never Let Her Go, and a 2001 TV miniseries.

Background on Ann Marie Fahey

• Annie’s tight-knit Irish-American family, childhood difficulties (loss of mother, father’s alcoholism), self-sufficiency, and mental health struggles.
• Unique detail: Annie’s childhood stuffed animals with women’s rights buttons—“That kind of detail, I see that person so well based on that.” – Georgia [13:40]

Disappearance and Investigation

• Annie fails to show up for dinner with her boyfriend and brother; her meticulous habits make her absence (and the state of her apartment) deeply alarming.
• Roaming discussion of Wilmington culture (scrapple, strong community ties).
• Discovery of a love letter from lawyer/political figure Tom Capano.

Tom Capano: Privilege and Control

• Tom’s background: connected, respected, and with a family of “dirtbaggy brothers.”
• History of predatory, controlling relationships, including a previous plot to hire a hitman.
  • Karen quips: “Why are all the boyfriends that are so terrible, the ones that have, like, six girlfriends?” [24:53]
• Annie was trying to distance herself, but Tom’s obsession continued.

Break in the Case

• Evidence mounts: bloodstains, replaced carpet, and cleaning supplies named “Carbona Blood and Milk Remover.”
  • Karen: “Sir. What? That’s a confession.” [34:44]
• Use of Annie’s donated blood for DNA matching—a first-rate detective moment.

Confession and Conviction

• Brothers Jerry and Louis turn on Tom, testifying to his role in Annie’s murder and the disposal of her body at sea.
• Tom's feeble defense blaming another woman is dismantled.
• He becomes the first person in Delaware convicted of murder without a body or weapon.
• “What a loss.” – Karen [40:57]

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3. Historic Heroism: Shavarsh Karapetyan, the Armenian Lifesaver

• Timestamps: [44:50] – [75:38]

Introduction: Unexpected Armenian Hero

• Karen tells of Shavarsh Karapetyan, a champion fin swimmer from Armenia who, in 1976, selflessly rescued approximately 20 people from a sunken trolleybus in Lake Yerevan.
  • “This is the story of a truly heroic Armenian athlete named Shivarsh Karapetyan.” [47:55]

Background & Training

• Shavarsh’s upbringing, rigorous (almost Rocky-esque) training, and career trajectory in the face of Soviet politics.

The 1976 Trolleybus Disaster

• Trolleybus careens into Lake Yerevan; almost 100 people are trapped.
• Shavarsh, training nearby, runs 13 miles with a 45-pound sandbag then immediately dives into polluted, freezing water, smashing windows to perform repeated rescues.
  • “To this day, I ask myself if I had sprinted to the scene and hadn’t seen Shavarsh in the water, would I have jumped in? The answer is always the same: 50/50.” – Kamo, Shavarsh’s brother [58:50]
  • “I knew that it wouldn’t be right if the world’s fastest underwater swimmer was there and didn’t even try to help.” – Shavarsh [75:22]

Aftermath and Quiet Fame

• Shavarsh contracts pneumonia and nearly dies, with his feat suppressed in the USSR until the 1980s.
• He never tells his wife—she finds out from a newspaper years later.
• Eventually, he receives the recognition he deserves, both in Armenia and internationally.
• Karen: “People that aren’t doing it for the glory.” [75:49]
• Georgia: “Ugh, amazing.” [73:47]

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4. Listener “Honking Hoorays”: Celebrating the Good

• Timestamps: [79:02] – [85:04]
  • Listeners share celebratory emails: successful surgeries, surviving grad school, meaningful celebrity sightings (Pedro Pascal and Michelle Buteau), and the joys of parenting teens.
    • “Yay for Pedro Pascal being all of our daddies. And hooray for those arms.” – Laurenoscopy (listener email) [83:53]
    • “They are fiercely loyal, roast me daily in ways I can only admire…” – Roshni from New Zealand [81:10]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Everything is content.” – Georgia, reflecting on social media/live show moments [04:59]
• “Time is not linear.” – Georgia, in a philosophical aside [05:19]
• “Salami wheel. There’s gonna be a salami. So you’re gonna want to go.” – Karen, teasing live show surprises [06:22]
• “That cost one life.” – Shavarsh, recalling his regret at surfacing with a seat cushion, not a person [63:21]
• “Anyone can find himself in a place where somebody needs [help]. The main thing is to remember what makes you human.” – Shavarsh [73:47]
• On Pedro Pascal: “If all of us can love a man who is hell-bent on protecting our trans community…that speaks to how we define sexiness and healthy masculinity.” – Laurenoscopy (listener email) [83:53]

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Tone and Language

• Witty, casual, and emotionally resonant, with the hosts’ trademark blend of irreverence and sincerity.
• Moments of deep empathy, especially discussing victim experiences and community ties.
• Tangents are humorous and heartfelt, providing natural breaks from heavier content.
• Listener emails bring lightness and community connection.

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Episode Highlights with Timestamps

• Tour banter and nostalgia: [02:14] – [07:41]
• Animated MFM update/Nick Terry: [07:52] – [09:35]
• Ann Marie Fahey case deep dive: [09:35] – [41:00]
• Shavarsh Karapetyan’s heroism: [44:50] – [75:38]
• Listener “Honking Hoorays”: [79:02] – [85:04]
• Notable quotes and segment transitions highlighted inline above.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a prime example of why "My Favorite Murder" continues to resonate: it weaves together true crime research, lived experiences, global heroism, and vibrant listener engagement, all with Karen and Georgia’s unique blend of candor and warmth. Whether exploring small-town Delaware or Soviet Armenia, “Swim Angry” delivers compelling stories, dark humor, and moments that will linger long after the episode ends.

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Stay sexy. Don’t get murdered.

Transcript

[Karen Kilgariff]

This is exactly. Right now streaming on Paramount. Plus Hunted by hackers, stalked by assassins, and wanted by international police, Tony and Ziva are on the run and getting some action.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Car chases, surprise weddings, killer drones, undercover ops, robot dogs, daring heists, prison breaks. Nothing will keep this couple from taking down an international conspiracy and clearing their names.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Good thing espionage is their love language.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Get ready for the ultimate romantic escape with the premiere of NCIS guests Tony and Ziva. Now streaming on Paramount. Plus Goodbye. Let's be real. Finding clean, trustworthy and effective supplements these days is hard.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

Hello and welcome to my favorite murder.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's Georgia Hartstart, that's Karen Kilgariff, and we are professional broadcasters. Have you heard?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Haven't you heard the word about us in broadcasting?

[Karen Kilgariff]

The good word. Do you like that? I'm. And this is just for the YouTube audience wearing a shirt that kind of looks like I might just be sitting here with no shirt on. Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But also, you're insanely tan.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, well.

[Georgia Hardstark]

What happened?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm just going outside. It's so hot outside. I'm just going out by the pool and spending. I mean for me, it is like.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I don't remember having seen your arms in a long time. And they're tan as fuck. It turns out. So pretty.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You know what it is? I should have first revealed my pale arms to you and then had told.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You had I known.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Listen, I'm gonna go out onto the patio this weekend and really do some stuff.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Be careful now. There's UV rays. I put fake tanner on. It's a little orange.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It looks fine.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I'm like trying a bunch of them out for like tour before tour.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like, so I don't look in stripes. Which one is most natural?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, what can you see from the stage? Like, do I look orange?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Actually, you know what's funny about that is I have a dress I tried on that is especially plunging neckline. And I'm like, I think I'm gonna have to use fake tanner on this part of my chest that's never been seen by the outside world. The cleavage, the lower cleave. That has stayed indoors for 10 years.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I mean, you have your own backyard. You have to lay out topless. That's like one of the joys of having your own backyard.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But one of the joys of the house that's next to you being kind of above you is that you just. I would feel so self conscious the whole time.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Can those titties fuck em?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Fuck em all.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Say you're welcome, motherfuckers. You're welcome.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Just keep winking and finger gunsing up at them.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Why is she doing that? Yeah, that's right. Put your tits away.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Uh, why is she doing that? Why does she keep winking at us?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Why does she have her tits out? Um, speaking of touring and tits, I guess. No. What do you have?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Come on.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That was a perfect segue.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Was it? Because.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Get in there.

[Georgia Hardstark]

We're going on tour. I think the tan thing we should say. I could say we should say. We might say when this goes up, we'll be in Denver for our first live show in eight, six years.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, six or seven.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Six or seven years.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What's your number one fear about that first night on stage in Denver?

[Georgia Hardstark]

God, there's just so many. Actually, there aren't any. Everything leading up to it, I'm terrified of. But once you get up there, I'm like, we got this. It's that thing of like. I'm not nervous about how it's gonna go. I think it's gonna go fucking great.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, good.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And I'm just excited about that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay, great.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Maybe like I could trip on the way In. But even that would be, like, kind of funny.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I think we've done that, though.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. And so hopefully someone gets it on video and it's fine.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. Content, content, content, content.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Always. Everything is content.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I think I just had that feeling of like, you can't go back or like you can't recapture the old times. And I loved the old times so much.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes, you can.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You can.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Why not? It's the same now. It's just. Time is different.

[Karen Kilgariff]

True, true.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And that bitch. Is linear. Isn't linear. That's right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Is not.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Is not linear.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Whose side are you on? Georgia said time is not linear. Or mine. Based in. Rooted in science.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Denver's gonna go well or Denver's gonna go terribly.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Denver. What if the best show we ever did, the bananas show we guested on in Denver, that was really fun and truly we peaked.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, it was amazing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You should come to our live shows. There's some cities that. And some nights in certain cities that aren't selling out that we're really disappointed in you. San Diego.

[Karen Kilgariff]

San Diego. Why?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Get it together.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We were there for you.

[Georgia Hardstark]

We were so there for you. And we have great stories from there, too. Or at least I do. What?

[Karen Kilgariff]

That diorama was given to us in San Diego. I could almost bet on it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

See, they used to love us.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, they would make us stuff.

[Georgia Hardstark]

They made us stuff.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But here's the difference. Six years in time, they've taken all of the money out of the normal person's hands and stolen it away.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Who has an extra however much money this is to go?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. There's some exciting things going on at the live shows that we can't talk about and won't talk about. Refuse to talk about.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Salami wheel.

[Georgia Hardstark]

There's gonna be a salami. So you're gonna want to go. I think it's gonna be a great tour and I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to my tan.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. We're now in a tan contest. Georgia, you have to beat this level. Good luck. There's a lot of freckles that might be visual.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's very Ital. I can't achieve as a Eastern European woman.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But, you know, if you've ever gone to Circus Vargas, then you're gonna love what's happening at our live shows. So get over here.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes, that's an old reference, but we need you, the over 40s who know that reference.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes, that's right. Gen Xers and above. Circus Vargas. Circus Vargas.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I fucking remember. Circus Vargas, remember?

[Karen Kilgariff]

And it would just be like a gigantic elephant in the commercial. Like their foot came toward the camera.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You can't do that anymore.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You can't abuse the most beautiful, sensitive animal on the planet anymore. No, it's for the best.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's probably for the best. And that's why we're going on tour, is because you can abuse us. Yes, as much as you want, but.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Leave the elephants alone. And we're not going to say it again.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, we won't. Go to my favoritemurder.com live, get your tickets and see us and find out. Fuck around.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I think if you go to my favoritemurder.com, it'll let you know where to go for those tickets, just in case.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But what if they don't know?

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, no, you're right. That's the exact address. But I'm just saying, I think that landing page is gonna direct you as well.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You don't have to remember it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No. Just in case, should we do a little business about our network?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Sure, yeah, let's do it. We have a podcast network. It's called Exactly Right Media. Here's some info.

[Karen Kilgariff]

This is some very exciting breaking news because everyone loves a Nick Terry, MFM animated. And he is back with his brand new episode called Crow Omen. It's based on Georgia's story about finding a crow in her pool from MFM episode 484, Copse of Trees. And please, all you Day One listeners, keep your eyes out because there is a Vince cameo in this Nick Terry video.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I love when there's an MFM animated Vince cameo because Nick Terry gets Vince's beard and he's like a calico cat beard and he gets it. So spot on.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I love it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's such a good artist.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's such a good episode. You show up as a witch. It's just like, so fucking funny.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It has everything.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Everything.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I did have the idea the other day where I was like, what if Nick Terry made the. Before the show starts, let's all go to the lobby video, but we make a new version of it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I love that. I was gonna pitch a preview of, like, video and shots and stuff like that of my favorite murder. But Nick Terry. Yes, it's great.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Some sort of Nick Terry. Like, oh, my God. And then we get him to do a spoof of Nicole Kidman. Like, heartbreak feels good in a place like this. I mean, like, we could just go to town and be like, oh, my.

[Georgia Hardstark]

God, the big show's about Nicole Kidman. What are we talking about? The way she was, like, jumping for joy when she divorced. Like, I don't know which Nicole Kidman you're referring to in this.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That'd be really good. That'd be good.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Nick. We should do it now.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Nick. Why isn't the red phone pull up? Pick up that hot dog phone. Nick Terry calling Nick Terry.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay. While you're on YouTube, we've also got full episodes of Buried Bones. This podcast will kill you. And my favorite murder. So go check that [e-mail] exactlyrightmedia please and thank you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And you go first this week.

[Georgia Hardstark]

All right, I'm gonna do it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So for my story, we are firmly in the 1990s.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Aw.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Your favorite or least favorite.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I did some good work back then.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I feel it was the best of.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Times and the very, very worst of times.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And 29 year old Ann Marie Fahey was smart, vibrant, and she was going places. But behind the scenes, she was caught up in a secret relationship with a man who was respected and powerful, but underneath, he was hiding something dark. And his actions sent shockwaves through multiple interconnected small communities in none other than Delaware. Have we ever done a story from Delaware before?

[Karen Kilgariff]

No. I honestly thought you were gonna say dc.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, it's. Cause it sounds like Chandra Levy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's not. Yeah, but it totally has whispers of that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's like a parallel crime.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes, but no. Delaware, Delaware. DC's sister city.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay, that's true. 2,000 people are furious that you just said that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

This isn't just a story of a missing woman. It's a story about power, corruption, and how far someone will go to protect their image. And we got so many emails to our email account from Murderinos about this story because Delaware, in this area, specifically in Wilmington, is such a tight knit community. Someone said, like, it's the song for Cheers. It's the same thing. Everyone knows your name, Everyone knows everything. Like everyone's up in each other's business. It's a little big city kind of a thing. Yeah. So this is like everyone from Delaware, hometown. Like, what got them into true crime, essentially. And it's really heartbreaking. The main source for this story is.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A book by Ann Rule.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's right. Called and Never Let Her Go.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Do you sometimes get upset that we are psychically connected? Because I do. Where I knew exactly who you were about to say.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I was gonna say Stephen King.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, there was no. And you're not some other author.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Who else is there? The rest of the sources can be found in the show notes, but also There is a 2001 miniseries about this case called and Never Let Her Go starring Mark Harmon as the main dude. Okay, I bet you've seen it. Mark Harmon is like the buttoned up suit and tie older man, sexy older man guy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's the star of ncis.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And Summer School.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, that's okay. Oh, Summer School, that's full range. And then the woman who plays Anne Marie Fahey is the actress Catherine Morris. And I was like, who is that? And then I look it up and she's like, she's in everything. The show Cold Case, did you ever watch that? Yes, the blonde, she is the main character in that. And I see her face on a regular basis. Cause every time I google Cold Case to like look at Cold Case News. Oh yeah, that fucking show comes up first. So I see her face every day.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And she's been in Murder She Wrote twice. She's been in Silk Stockings, she's been in Death of a Cheerleader that when made for TV movies. So like she's been in all the things.

[Karen Kilgariff]

She is the female Mark Harmon.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Turns out they just.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And then now it's two powers meeting. I have to say this too. The second you said the disappearance of Anne Marie Fahey. The name Ann Marie Fahey is such a. That's my cousin, that's my Anne Marie. To me, being Irish sometimes feels like a small town because everyone has the same lilt, the same thing and you can kind of like. I can see her, feel her.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. So we're gonna start on Saturday, June 29, 1996. And we're in Wilmington, Delaware and a 30 year old man named Mike Scanlon is supposed have dinner with his 29 year old girlfriend, Ann Marie Fahey, along with her brother Robert and his family. But Ann Marie never shows up to meet Mike to head over to dinner. Anne Marie works as the scheduling secretary for the governor of Delaware, a Democrat named Thomas Carver. She's worked for him since he was a congressman. And she is like political and going places and really passionate about it. I read this one little detail and like almost made me cry. She keeps a collection of her ratty childhood stuffed animals at her apartment. And they all have women's rights buttons pinned on their lapel, like pinned on them.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Cause that's like the generations, you know what I mean? It's like here's me as a kid, then here's me as like teenager or getting older.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Here's what I'm passionate about.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And I'm a woman in the world and understand what I'm up against.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. And it just kind of like I see that person so well based on that one little detail.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You know, so Ann Marie, who most people call Annie, is one of six siblings in a close family which is also very involved in the tight knit Irish American community in Wilmington. That's a thing there. I dated a guy from Wilmington and I don't know anything about it except they eat scrapple a lot.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Scrapple?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Scrapple, yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What's that, like a nice hash with your eggs?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Absolutely not. It's like a Spam toast. I'm going to get yelled at for this.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Spam toast. Like avocado toast, but Spam.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I think it's like Spam like a chopped up meat. A lot of chopped up meat.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Let's like guess other even worse stuff so that people get angrier and angrier and write in more and more about what scrapple is.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I think it's a cousin of Spam.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't even need to say that. I know you fucking will and I appreciate it. Annie is the baby of the family. She has four brothers and one sister. So they're all a little older when she's born. So of course they're super protective over little Annie. Annie's mother, Kathleen had died of lung cancer when she was only nine years old. And her father Robert is never the same after this. He struggles with alcoholism. He stops being able to take some of the older kids, who are now young adults by this point, step in to take care of Annie. And they do their best. While they're putting themselves through school, almost all of the older Fahey kids work at a pub, the local pub called Ofriel's, owned by their close family friends. So it is small town.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Small town also. That's just the tragic. Mom dying of cancer when you're nine years old is like the most painful thing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Absolutely. And then the dad loses it. It sounds like he was not able to hold it together. He finally loses the family home when Annie is 15. And so he moves into an apartment. And Annie, who's an athlete and a great student, winds up living with the family that she babysits for in order to stay in her high school.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, cause she doesn't want to be.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Out of the district. Yeah. And they adore her. They consider her part of the family, but she's just not totally comfortable, you know, living there. She just feels weird.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like you're a guest your whole life.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's awful.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Absolutely. And so that arrangement ends towards the end of high school. And at that point Annie briefly moves back in with her and then lives with her two eldest brothers. She's also working in a restaurant and is essentially like a self sufficient adult, even though she's just 17. It's like that, take care of yourself.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Because you have to.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Because you have to. Yeah. And she actually fucking thrives and makes it. She graduates from high school, goes on to college. She initially flourishes in college and then struggles with depression and has to take a break, but she gets therapy and graduates. She does struggle with anorexia as well as so many young women do. The Fahey kids, bolstered by that great community they're part of, had all managed to do well in school, get good jobs and generally make nice lives for themselves. Like they beat the fucking odds. And they really.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's great. They really went for it, probably because they have community. It sounds like it seems like it's.

[Georgia Hardstark]

A very helpful thing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, yeah, it's big. Like there's a family that's like, please come and live with us while this is happening to you.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Or like having other adults to count on when you're a kid who can't count on your parents is just a huge part of it of like making it back in 1996 when Annie goes missing. It's the last week of Delaware's legislative session. So at first Annie's brother and boyfriend think it's possible that she had been caught up working late the night that she was supposed to meet them for dinner. It's normal for staffers in the governor's office to spend the night working at crunch times like this. But then at 9pm, Mike, the boyfriend, calls Annie's older sister, who's very concerned right off the bat. And she starts calling Annie's friends. And one of the friends who work with her says that she's not working late, so she is just missing. And Mike had driven past Annie's apartment earlier in the day before they were supposed to meet to go to dinner and had seen her car there and it's still there, even though Annie isn't picking up the phone in her apartment. Annie's landlady says she hasn't seen her in the last two days. No one's really talked to her. Basically they realized no one's heard from her since Thursday the 27th and now it's Saturday. So the landlady lets them into the apartment and it's really out of character the way her apartment is left. It's really strange for her because she's very neat and organized. She's so neat and organized that she stacks her pennies so that each coin has Lincoln's profile facing in the same direction. Which I'm just picturing Vince. Like he has to have his bills facing the same way and in the right order. And he's really precise about that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Because when you are a child and you grow up in this situation where things are out of your control all of the time, you learn to get some control in the places that you can get it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally. Totally. She also never lets trash sit in her apartment. Always taking like smaller bags out whenever she leaves. But when they get into her apartment today, there's rotting produce all over the kitchen counters. Cause she hadn't put her food away, her groceries away in the kitchen. So there's like a rotting smell, which is so not like her. They also find leftovers from a restaurant in Philadelphia called Panorama that are in the fridge. They don't look super old, but they are dry, so they're not. Not like super recent leftovers. So they've definitely been sitting there for a few days. Mike says he and Annie had not eaten there together. Philadelphia is about a 40 minute drive from Wilmington. There's other weird stuff in the kitchen. There's samples of prescription medication scattered around and packages of food on the counter, but not put away. Annie's purse is also in the kitchen. Her wallet is there with cash in it, but her keys are missing. Her house and car keys are missing. Other than that, the apartment looks mostly the way Annie would leave it. A couple small things are different. It's a small apartment, modestly furnished, but decorated with Annie's little touches. As I said, she keeps her stuffed animals with those pins on them. So at midnight, everyone's worried. Annie's sister calls the police. And once they eventually get there, one of Annie's friends mentions that she has unheard messages on her answering machine. Remember, there's no cell phones, there's a blinking answering machine. They listen to the messages, which are almost entirely from everyone in the room. But all of them are from Thursday afternoon on, so she hadn't listened to them, which is very unlike Annie. She always listens to her messages and calls right back. So Annie's sister Catherine then shows the police something she had found. Before the police arrived, she'd been looking through the letters and cards in Annie's drawers and found a letter that ends with quote, all I want to do is make you happy and be with you. I love you. End quote. It's not signed, but. But it's on a letterhead that says, from the desk of Thomas Capano. So that is here is Mark Harmon.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Right.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay. The name Tom Capano is familiar to Kathleen, the sister. She knows of him. He's a prominent lawyer and political advisor from a prominent real estate family. But she's weirded out by this letter, obviously, both because of the way it ends and because she, Kathleen, is briefly mentioned in it. So it's a long letter that talks about Annie's family with a lot of familiarity, as if he and Annie have talked a lot, and she's never even heard of, like, this dude in relation to Annie. Right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

She doesn't know him personally.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, yeah. Tom is very involved in politics. He's worked as a legal counsel for a previous governor, not the one Annie worked for, and is a political consultant. Tom's father is a very successful real estate developer, and Tom's a very successful lawyer. But he has three younger brothers, Louis, Joey, and Jerry. And none of them are nearly as buttoned up and professional as Tom seemingly is. They've all been involved in various degrees of crime in their personal lives and professional lives. Jerry, as Ann Rule puts it, quote, seemed to care for nothing but guns, shark fishing, big game hunting, and girls with big hair and clothes that fit like a second skin. End quote. Hmm. That's Ann Rule for ya.

[Karen Kilgariff]

She's gonna say it. She's not gonna spare anyone's feelings. Can you imagine if that was like, your big interest is shark f. No, leave them alone. Get away from big game.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Stop it with the elephants and the sharks. So Louie and Joey, two of the brothers, work in the family real estate development business. Jerry is the loosest cannon. He can't be in an office setting, and me neither. And starts a landscaping business and has a lot of client overlap with his brothers. Tom also has an older sister, Marian, who's played by Olympia Dukakis. Fucking legend.

[Karen Kilgariff]

My favorite.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Such a legend. And she's completely excluded from the family business. She's supposed to get an allowance from her brothers, but they just always fight instead. All this to say, Tom has a very good reputation, but his family does not. When Tom and annie meet in 1993, three years before her disappearance, he's about 43 and she is about 26. This is years before she meets Mike, her new boyfriend. Tom is married at the time and has four daughters. Not great, but he also has a mistress named Debbie, who he's been seeing for years. Annie and Tom meet at a political fundraiser and have a lot of people in common, including those close family friends who own the pub. Cause they're also very involved in local politics. So they kind of just meet and click. And they're both from big Delaware families from adjacent immigrant communities. She's Irish and he's Italian, and it's just like this insular community. So they kind of.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You can hear the accordion music playing in the background.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes. So Annie and Tom have a work lunch together after they meet. But quickly after that, they start having dinner dates. Annie and Tom. Annie and her friends are all just starting out, not making much money. And Tom takes her to nice restaurants, gives her that access to the kind of life she hasn't been able to have before.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You know, grooming.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's what they call it. Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Over the next couple years, Tom and Annie are sort of on and off again. And in between, Annie dates other people. During this whole period, Annie struggles with her mental health, particularly with her anorexia. And she experiences a huge setback when her psychologist is killed in a drunk driving accident.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Terrible.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. It takes Annie a while to find a new one. And in this period, she leans on Tom a lot more. All this time, she writes in a diary documenting her relationship with Tom and other things going on in her life. By 1995, when she's 28, she confides in her work friend Jill that Tom seems like he's trying to control her. I mean, you know, he's in his late 40s and he's a professional and he's married and he has children. It's just that. That you can picture that happens all the fucking time, right?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Cause it's like that is part of why he's doing it. You know, he's showing himself. But then he can't. He has to control her because if she steps out of line for one second, he's got all these things at risk.

[Georgia Hardstark]

A lot of things could go wrong.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's not. In no way am I saying that he was right for that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, no, no.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Disgusting and weird.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So he's starting to try to control her. He makes her interview for a job, being a personal assistant to his brother Louis, the sleazy real estate developer. And it's clear that Tom just wants to keep Annie close and under his control. Thankfully, Annie doesn't take the job. But Tom tries to control how she dresses. He tries to isolate her from her friends and becomes upset when he thinks she's spending too much time with them. It's all just. It's textbook control abuse.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Why Are all the boyfriends that are so terrible, the ones that have, like, six girlfriends? It's like, can you just do this to one person and then hang it up? Get yourself a therapist, please.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Seriously?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Jesus.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He also repeatedly tells her that they should end the relationship and then abruptly changes his mind. And there are times when Annie also tries to end a relationship, but he always guilts her into changing her mind. Around this time In September of 1995, Tom and his wife separate. But this is also when Annie meets Mike. And it's actually the governor of Delaware who sets the two of them up, which is like, you legally have to get married now. The governor of Delaware is like, hey, I got a nice guy for you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Have you ever seen or heard of the governor of Delaware?

[Georgia Hardstark]

No. Because he's.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're not real. I don't think they're real.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Mike is kind, and he. You know, he's the same age as Annie, and they start seriously dating in October. And at the same time, Tom is telling both Annie and his other mistress that he has left his wife for them. Okay, you know, got it. The women don't know about each other. Annie tells Tom she's seeing someone and wants to break it off. And Tom starts calling her 20 times a day. He threatens to tell Mike, the new boyfriend, about their relationship, even though it seems like they're not really seeing each other anymore. On one occasion, he bursts into her apartment and gathers every item he's ever given to her. And at this point, in addition to promising to marry Debbie, the mistress who predates Annie, Tom is also having a different affair with a woman from work. Surprising to nobody. So he's just fucking around.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Four total.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Three now. Cause the wife.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Cause the wife was probably like, enough already.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, right. So spring goes better for Annie. She finds a new therapist. She keeps seeing Mike. And Tom seems to be busy with his multiple other women. He's mostly leaving Annie alone. But at the end of April, he turns up again, sending a ton of emails from his work email to her. He starts out by eliciting sympathy by talking about one of his daughter's health issues. And soon he's sending little jokes. He just kind of reels her back in, offering to pay for a new windshield, that crack that she needs help with, and is stressed about just doing those things.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, just like white knighting wherever he can.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Exactly. And despite progress in therapy, Annie's at a point where she's really struggling with her eating disorder. And on June 12, about two weeks before her disappearance, she faints at work. I've done that. Mike, the boyfriend, is aware of her history of anorexia, but she still doesn't want him to know how bad it is at the moment. I. I've totally done that before where I used to have an eating disorder. I don't anymore, and I faint. Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Well, also, let's talk about a control issue that's like eating disorders.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So it's kind of, you know, it's like, bad to worse for her because it's like she already has this issue, and then the people that she has in her life aren't the people that you want helping you in that moment.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Absolutely. And so she's too embarrassed to tell her new boyfriend that this is going on right now. And so she calls Tom. He knows all about it. He's been there for years, and he picks up the phone and he drives her home after she faints. So Tom interprets this as Annie choosing him over Mike. So he keeps contacting her after this. He offers to buy her things. She keeps saying no. He offers to get the cracked windshield fix, and she refuses. And she does so very politely in emails, but she's still firmly refusing to accept anything from him. Like it wasn't an invitation to come back in her life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Then at the end of June, he invites her out to dinner with him on the Thursday night that she was last seen. Annie doesn't reply in the email. So if she does accept, it seems like she did so over the phone, so there's no record of it. And she doesn't tell anyone about the invitation or whether or not she accepted it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I hate that. Like, we've talked about that scenario before where you kind of paint yourself into this corner of no one knows where you are because you think, for whatever reason, that you think that it's.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I hate that. Yeah, just tell someone. So, with Annie missing, her close friends confirm the relationship with Tom to the police and tell them that Annie had complained about him being controlling. There's more correspondence from Tom on his firm stationery. Annie had her detailed diary as well that lays out the whole story of their relationship. One of the most recent entries talks about breaking it off and says, quote, I finally have brought closure to Tom Capan. What a controlling, manipulative, insecure, jealous maniac. End quote.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So now the police are trying to confirm if Annie went to dinner with Tom on that Thursday, June 27, last time she was seen. It seems that way because of the leftovers that were from the Philadelphia restaurant in her fridge. It's A place they had gone to before together. Tom had told his longtime mistress, Debbie that he had plans in Philadelphia that evening, but that he would probably be done by 9:30. So it seems like the plans were with Annie and then he was gonna go to his mistress's house. At 3:30am on Sunday morning the 30th, two detectives knock on Tom's door. Tom says he's aware that Annie is missing. He tells the police that the last time he saw her was that Thursday night. Confirms they went to dinner and that he drove her. That they stopped briefly at his apartment to pick up some groceries he had bought for Annie and then went back to her apartment. He says he put the grocery bag down on the counter, gave her another gift and used the bathroom and left. And that was the last time he saw her, was when he left her at the apartment.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Georgia Hardstark]

The detective asks if they can look around the house, but Tom says that his daughters are asleep upstairs and doesn't want them to get scared and refuses to let them in. And they don't have a warrant. And so they come back the next morning. And so who knows what evidence they would have found if they had insisted on coming in or had a warrant. And when they do come back at 10am, Tom isn't there. They finally track him down. He takes them back to the house to look around. We're not doing a full search, but the house looks very clean is what they say. The detectives are bracing for an uphill battle and for a publicity. Tom is a well known and well respected lawyer with a lot of connections. His brothers are known to be in trouble with the law from time to time, but not Tom. So everyone is pretty shocked about this. Actually. There's some Rotorinos who wrote in that said their dads used to like hang out with him, like in groups with him sometimes. And everyone was very surprised that he was implicated.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Just, you know, he's the good boy, right? On the outside, he kept his shit together well.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And also that's the ultimate position to be in. Because if you're the one that like gets your homework done and goes to school and becomes a lawyer and then you have these kind of like dirt baggy brothers to a degree. We don't know these people, but you always look good, no matter what.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And you can always make yourself look good because you're just playing that. You're playing your position essentially.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Right. So at this point, the Fahey siblings are all working hard to get Annie's disappearance out to the press. And she's on the front page of all the local newspapers. It becomes a huge story because stuff like this does not happen in Wilmington or in Delaware at all ofriels. The pub that was the hub for the fahey's community hangs a banner with a photo of annie advertising a $10,000 reward for information leading to her recovery, which in today's money. $10,000. This is 87. 96.

[Karen Kilgariff]

96.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. It's less than you think it would be. 40,000, $20,000.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's way less.

[Georgia Hardstark]

500. I know.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Annie's therapist comes forward and tells police that she's worried that Tom has abducted Annie because Annie had brought this up as something she worried about in therapy. Him abducting her. She was specifically worried that Tom would hire people to do it. They discussed this at their very last session before Annie disappeared, and she said that she urged Annie to report him to the attorney general's office. Some people believe that Annie did threaten him that night to do that, and that is what maybe set Tom off.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, that would make sense.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, that's horrifying. And it just makes me think of every. That's like every part of law and order. When they go to the therapist and they're like, I can't tell you. And they're like, someone could be dead. It's like, to get that therapist who I'm sure was very motivated to be like, I need to tell you what the last thing she told me.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Right. Because it's exactly what's happening right now. Horrif. Yeah. As investigators learn more about Tom, they learn that he's had other affairs and has a history of becoming threatening and possessive. In one case, in the late 70s, long before Annie, he had been having an affair with an engaged woman while he was newly married. He showed up at her bachelorette party and at the wedding and wrote her obsessive letters for months. So he was just unhinged?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. He couldn't stop. Well, again. Cause it's control.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Right. He's like a stalker. Then he tried to hire a man to beat her up or hit her with a car, specifically requesting these two things. But the man he tried to hire went to the FBI with tapes of Tom's phone calls.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I love when hitmen do that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

100%.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's not that common, I don't think. Yeah, but, like, every once in a while, they'll be like, you know what?

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, this isn't. This is wrong. This is against my code of conduct, and I'm a hitman. And like, who the fuck are you?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's terrifying.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But also this. That idea is like. Like hiring someone to hit them with a car.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Disgusting.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's awful. But authorities essentially at that time, give Tom a slap on the wrist and send him on his way. Wow. I know. The FBI is called into Annie's case at the personal request of Governor Carper, who's Annie's boss. And in July, they do an extensive search of Tom's house. They find out that Tom had replaced. This is just like textbook. Replaced the carpet and the sofa in his living room the weekend Annie disappeared.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He also had gone to a drugstore and bought a cleaning product with this fucking name that is just. Are you ready for this? It's called Carbona Blood and Milk Remover.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh. Sir. What? That's a confession.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

At the Ace Hardware.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But why milk Carbona? I want to ask the Carbona family. Like, can you just do blood?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I wonder if milk stinks. And even when you get it up, like, it still keeps stinking, if it's.

[Georgia Hardstark]

In there, you're a farm girl. There you go, farm girl.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And I've dropped many a latte in my car.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So many more. Latte smell in the cart. Sour.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're just like, it's fine. I like vanilla lattes. And then like a week later, you're like, why does everything turn out this way?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay, you explain. Sorry. Carbona family. Don't me. I get you now.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're like this. Do you understand what milk is like in carpeting?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Milk, Blood.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Milk, blood. It's all in there.

[Georgia Hardstark]

The search also turns up blood stains on the woodwork in the living room and on a radiator and on. On the door of a laundry closet. Like blood. And you're. Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So when the cops knocked, he was standing there.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

If they had just walked in and looked at that room, something might have been there.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. And they didn't have a warrant, but they could have maybe gotten one. But also, he was political, so maybe it would have been impossible. Who knows? You know, it's just a missed opportunity. But they don't have a body to match the blood to. Right. Cause Annie is missing. So the agents learn that Annie donated blood very regularly. They locate. They track down her last donation right before it gets shipped overseas to test it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wow.

[Georgia Hardstark]

In the nick of time. And the blood is found to be a match. That is some detective work. Right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And also fully makes up for having to stand at that doorway, not do.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Anything that might have been the FBI. And then that Might have been the local.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But finish.

[Georgia Hardstark]

God. Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Because also that kind of thing, if it is that overt and horrible of a murder where he just killed her in his living room. Cause he was angry or said everywhere.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. But there's no body. And at the time, it is very rare for anyone to be arrested, for anyone to be tried for murder without a body. It's 1996, but around this same time, when they find all this evidence of blood, Tom's brother Jerry. Tom and Jerry is arrested on drug and weapons charges. And you know what happens to, like, regular criminals? They snitch. Exactly. So he's like, I'll cooperate with you to get a better case on the shit that I'm in trouble with. And essentially completely throws his brother under the bus. Oh, wow. Completely rats his brother out. Wow. Louis, one of Tom's older brothers, also winds up cooperating. So Jerry and Louis tell police that Tom did kill Annie at his own house and that he put her body in a fishing cooler the day after she was last seen. Tom and Jerry used Jerry's boat to go about 70 miles off the coast of Stone harbor, but then the cooler wouldn't sink. So instead, they wrapped two anchors around Annie's body and let her sink into the Atlantic. And then they threw the empty cooler into the water. And when the story's made public, two fishermen come forward saying they had found a cooler in the ocean like the one described off the Jersey Shore, and they had used it to store fish. But the cooler is found to match the one Jerry described, corroborating his story.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm pretty sure, and I could be wrong with all the things we've looked at over the years, but I'm pretty sure I've seen the clip of those fishermen who talk to the news, because they found that. Because it's like they show it, like, floating out here in the middle of whatever. And it is so disturbing. Like, this idea where there are people, as we know in this world, that if they want you gone, you're gone. Cause they know how to do it, and they know those kinds of details.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's awful. Imagine. Yeah. The case goes to trial, October of 1998. In court, Tom tells a different story than anyone's ever heard before. His brothers have ratted him out. He kind of can't fight that. So he confirms that he brought Annie to his house after dropping the gift and groceries at her house.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wait, can I guess? She did something to him.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Even with the mistress. Did it. Her name's Debbie. I'm not Saying her last name because it's just such bullshit. He's saying that Debbie shows up, discovers them together. She's upset, there's a scuffle, and Debbie has a gun. And he grabs Debbie's arm and the gun goes off. That's what he says happened. He admits to hiding Annie's body and claims Debbie helped him do it. Debbie testifies too, and she vehemently denies being at his house that night. Although she does say one time Tom had asked her to buy a handgun in her name, and she did. She says she gave it to him and never saw it again. So all she does is fucking point the finger that he actually has a gun.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, she better imagine he was like, oh, no, here's who I'm gonna throw under the bus. And she's like, the one person that actually loved you, that thought this was all real, and now is finding out you have, you know, all these other mistresses and whatever, and you're gonna blame me?

[Georgia Hardstark]

I have shit on you, bro.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Just like. Like, when does it. It's craven Mark Harmon.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Tom is found guilty of first degree murder. And it's the first time in Delaware history that someone is convicted of murder in the absence of a body or a murder weapon. So they don't have either, but they're still able to convict her. At first, Tom is sentenced to death, but on one of his appeals, the death sentence is overturned. Since it had been decided by a jury verdict that was not unanimous, he is sentenced to life in prison instead. He appeals several more times, and his conviction is affirmed each time. Tom dies in prison at the age of 61 in 2011 of heart failure. Annie is remembered as a bright light in the Wilmington community. And in Brandywine park, there's a bench dedicated to her memory Ofriel's Pub, where all the Fahey kids worked and where Annie first met Mike. Closes in 2001. But until it does, the banner with Annie's picture advertising the reward for information leading to her return remains hanging. Oh, that kills. And I think there's so many murderinos that started with this case from Delaware. So many people wrote in. Yeah. I mean, it's just.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, they kept a sign up.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I know. And that is the story of the murder of Ann Marie Fahey.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What a loss.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Horrible.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. Always. But.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, always, always. But, man, this one.

[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh yeah, I get compliments on all my Article pieces constantly. Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

[Karen Kilgariff]

To claim, visit article.commur and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's a R T I c l e.com murder to get $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. Goodbye. Summer is almost over. And let's be honest, fall fashion is just. Just better.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

The best part, everything with Quince is half the cost of similar brands. By working directly with top artisans and cutting out the middlemen, Quint gives you luxury without the markup.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Quince only partners with factories that uphold safe, ethical manufacturing practices. And they use premium fabrics and finishes.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So I just got a Quince washable silk slip dress. It's maroon. It's so beautiful. It's like perfect for day into night. I can put on a sweater. If I put fancy jewelry on it, it's fancy. If I wear casual shoes, it's casual. It's like the perfect dress to throw in your luggage when you're going on a weekend away.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And you can machine wash it. That's insane. Elevate your fall wardrobe essentials with quince.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Go to quince.com mfm for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com mfm to get free shipping and 365 day returns.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Quince.com mfm Good night.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay, I'm going to turn it around. Are you ready?

[Georgia Hardstark]

I'm so fucking ready.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. Because I was tough.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But there are good things that happen in the world. Remember when? I'll tell you. There's a Twitter account called Historic Videos, but then the handle is history and memes. And so that's. I saw this Reddit, nice three paragraph tweet.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Great.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And I was like, I've never heard this story. And I think other people should know this story, and especially you and I. You being a native of la, me being a longtime citizen. If you live in LA or you watch the Kardashians, you know what a big part of the culture here Armenians are. It's apparently the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia is in Glendale, which is a suburb of la. And so when I started reading this, I was like, oh, this is great. There's lots of people are gonna like this story. So if you don't know, Armenia is a small landlocked country about the size of Maryland. I would wonder how it competes with Delaware. But don't know anything about our states. It's a beautiful country and it's actually filled with beautiful lakes and waterfalls and mineral springs. But the history in Armenia is incredibly heavy. In 1915, toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, around 1.5 million Armenians were murdered in a devastating state sanctioned genocide, which is why there are so many Armenian immigrants in la. So the story I'm about to tell you takes place 60 years after that, when Armenia is under Soviet rule. It is a late September evening in 1976. The workday's coming to an end and dozens of communers are making their way across which is the capital of Armenia and the largest city in the whole country. It's a typical rush hour, but it's interrupted by the sound of screeching metal and then a big crashing boom. And people scream in terror as they watch a packed trolley bus veer off its tracks along Lake Yerevan, a huge reservoir in the city. Later on they'll say that that per investigation, the driver was speeding, but witnesses will actually come forward and report that he had been trying to prevent a pickpocket from leaving the trolley bus. And so he refused to brake to let that person off. And then he was hit over the head with a metal bar and knocked out.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Holy shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So then the trolley bus not only didn't break, but kept speeding. And it flies over a curb and then slams nose first into the concrete perimeter that runs around the reservoir. It flips a few times and then it rolls into Lake Yerevan. And there are nearly 100 people, school kids, factory workers, housewives, retirees that are trapped inside and seconds from drowning in this very cold lake water. But they are not helpless, because one particularly capable bystander immediately springs into action.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Superman.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Kind of. This is the story of a truly heroic Armenian athlete named Shivarsh Karapetyan.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Have you heard of this?

[Georgia Hardstark]

I've read it in the same style that you found it in on like random history. Interesting history, right? Yes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So the main source used in today's story is a 2014 Grantland article by a writer named Carl Schreck entitled the Plunge. And the rest of the sources are in our show notes. So we're gonna go back 20 years before the crash. I just described to 1953, when Shavarsh was born into a working class Armenian family. His path in life is more or less decided because his father, Vladimir, has dreams for his three sons, Shivarsh, Kamo and Anatoly, of them all becoming world class athletes. It's a partially strategic dream that he has because excelling in sports is one of the few ways Armenians, especially those from humble backgrounds, can have any kind of upward mobility without drawing too much attention from Soviet authorities. Sure. So it's like a way to get ahead.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So Vladimir signs his boys up for gymnastics under an incredibly accomplished Armenian athlete and Olympic gold medalist named Albert Azarian. Immediately, Shavar shows a ton of potential. He's said to have a, quote, commanding build, quick reflexes, and relentless ambition. It's the commanding build that really, I think, has gotten you so far.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Me, definitely.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A lot of muscle flexing. But even with such raw talent, Shivarsh's coaches don't think he can make a career out of gymnastics because he begins training when he's a little too old in a sport where competitors peak in their early teens and he's, like, in his mid teens. But nobody wants to see him leave competitive sports because he's so kind of such a natural. So one coach suggests he pivots to swimming. And this is out of left field. As reporter Carl schreck explains in 2014, quote, Armenia is not a nation of swimmers. The country is home to just a handful of public pools. A few of Armenia's lakes and rivers are suitable for swimming. The president of the Armenian Swimming Federation estimates that only 30% of the population knows how to swim.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A figure he says has changed little since Soviet times.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Interesting. I guess if you're landlocked, right, you're not.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Like, maybe they do a little more like standing around and splashing the water up onto themselves in a lake or a stream.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Always nice.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But no, they won't get their face wet like my mom at Blue Lake, when she would be, like, always worrying about her hair and makeup. But Shivarsh commits himself to the sport, and he eventually joins a league dedicated to developing professional Soviet swimmers. And sure enough, Shavarsh is good. He's particularly fast in backstroke and freestyle events, and he quickly earns a reputation for being one of Armenia's most promising young swimmers. But over the next several years, he starts to lag behind the other swimmers in his age group. It's said that he's. As he grows older, he becomes less flexible, and he just starts having a hard time nailing down his stroke technique, and that slows him down. And then, at just 17 years old, Shavarsh is dropped from his swimming league. Of course, this is a huge gut punch for him. His dreams of becoming a champion swimmer are gone. So he hits a bar that night with a fellow swimmer, presumably to drown of sorrows. But that same friend happens to be recruiting athletes for a fin swimming team.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hmm. I don't know what that is.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Luckily, there's a paragraph right under here that will tell you. Fin swimming is pretty much what it sounds like. It's an event where competitors race one another with fins strapped to their feet. It might be two fins, like scuba divers, like they wear. Or it could be what's called a, quote, monofin, which is one big single fin, like a mermaid that you're playing mermaid in the pool.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I was picturing, like, why would they put a shark fin to look like shark.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. And then they chum the waters. It's really strange.

[Georgia Hardstark]

It's roleplay. Don't worry about it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, it's shark roleplay. So Shavarsh is interested, and he doesn't feel like he has any time to work. So even though he was drinking a combination of vodka and beer all afternoon, he says, quote, I took a taxi home, rested up a bit, and came back for my first workout.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay. When you're 17, man, you can do fucking anything.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. And also there's part of it that's like, I gotta do this for my entire future. It's not a hobby.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay, fair enough.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So even for a seasoned athlete like Shavarsh, who's been training in gyms and pools since he was a little kid, Finn's swimming workouts are next level.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, God, I bet.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And many of them happen outside of the pool, and they're geared at body conditioning. To paint a picture, Shivarsha's training might entail running upwards of 18 miles around town with a backpack filled with sand.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Strapped to his back. It's the OG Weighted vest.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes. And here's the OG er weighted vest. He also might run around with a fellow swimmer on his shoulders.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I mean, weighted vest. Steve. Steve. The weighted vest.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Chicken fighting. It's all classic training. He also climbs hills on his arms.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, fuck. Army crawling up a hill. Oh.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wheelbarrow style. As a teammate holds his legs.

[Georgia Hardstark]

How cute.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So he has to, like, get out there. So they're just trying to make. It's kind of like Rocky when he fights the Russian guy. So it's like the workout is insane.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But the Russian guy is the pool.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's right, the pool. Pool is fighting him. Shavarsh also becomes known as the guy who jogs with ski boots attached to big planks of wood around his neighborhood to strengthen his ankles and feet. Okay, he's in it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He's showing off.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He is. He's 18 at this point. 17. 18. One of the most important skills that Shavarsh develops in this training is breath control. In fin swimming, competitors might use snorkels for longer distance races. But in sprints, they typically hold their breath the entire time. So according to experts, you can safely hold your breath for around a minute. Some people can go longer, but then you're getting into dangerous territory where you can actually damage your heart and your brain. So we don't have an exact number for how long Shavarsh could hold his breath. We know it's several minutes, which is pretty unbelievable. Do not try this at home.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, I swear I saw recently, like, the record just got broken for the longest time. Breath holding?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, like some sort of a deep free swim dive or something.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Are you a scientist and you know a lot about it? Write in atmy favorite murder.com and tell us everything about breath holding.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I know because I thought there are some people who could do it, like three minutes or something.

[Georgia Hardstark]

But then, like, I swear recently it was like five minutes, but that doesn't sound right. And like the damage.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's like the damage. Unless it just pops you right into being a mermaid. We found an article where it's 30 minutes.

[Georgia Hardstark]

30 minutes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, three, zero.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You need to hear. We need. What do we need? Breath doctors to tell us all about it. I mean, Jesus Christ, for a minisode.

[Karen Kilgariff]

My favorite murder also is your midsection super wide if you can hold your breath for a half an hour.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Pufferfish.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. Love to discuss breath holding. Further. Murderinos, if you would please.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Engage someone at home is like my time to shine. Finally, I've written you 10 hometowns of actual true crime.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And now it's my cousin Stevie who used to hold his breath and to make himself pass out so that he wouldn't be in trouble with my aunt. Okay, so all of this strength training and breath training pays off big time because Shavarsh becomes an excellent fin swimmer. He rips through pools like a torpedo. And he rarely has to surface because he can hold his breath for so long.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Not that long. 30 fucking minutes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean. But also, I wonder if one minute wasn't just a mistype of Marin's and it was supposed to be like 15 or something. Cause one. Mm. I feel like we could do that. No brag. Okay.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Give me a week and maybe I could do that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, we'd have to do some exercise. We have to get some bags of sand. Vest for you, Steve.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Gotta get Steve the weighted vest.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Get up there. So at just 19 years old, Shavarsh fulfills A childhood dream. He competes on behalf of the Soviet Union in the 1972 European Championship Games in Moscow. And he walks away with gold medals in the fifty and hundred meter fin swimming sport and all the glory he could hold. A Soviet magazine writes, quote, it's safe to say we'll see this young athlete from Armenia at many more major championships. And Shivarsh does fin swim as part of the Soviet team. In the next two European Championships, 73 and 74, he sets World records and takes home a total of eight gold medals. But at this high point in his career, when he's only in his early 20s, he's inexplicably dropped by the Soviet team.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. The reason why is a mystery even today. Shavarsh's best guess is that Soviet sports officials wanted to showcase more Russian athletes for sure on the team. But Shivarsh has gotten used to having the carpet pulled from underneath him. Competitive sports are his life and livelihood. So again, he refuses to give up. He figures that his best move is to practice harder than ever has before until he's so singularly impressive in the pool that the Soviets can't help but bring him back to the team. And that's what Shivarsh Karapetyan was doing on September 16, 1976, the day of the trolley bus crash.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I almost forgot about it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He is now 23 years old, running near the reservoir on another one of his grueling training sessions. And he had already run 13 miles with 45 pounds of sand strapped to his back in a backpack, which in.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Today'S money is like three marathons.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, that much sand for me would be like 300 pounds of sand. I'd be like, I can't lift this and I don't know why you're being so unreasonable.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Seriously.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's joined by his brother Kamo, who's also a competitive athlete in swimming and other events. So Shavarsh and Kamo hear this crash of the trolley bus as it flies off its tracks into the lake. And before Shavarsh can even figure out what he's doing, he finds himself running in the direction of the explosion. Kamo rushes after him. The trolley was bus hits the lake bed and sinks quickly, kicking up a cloud of heavy silt. And it ends up resting about 15ft underwater. Shivarsh, acting purely on impulse and adrenaline, rushes down to the lake, strips to his underwear, throws off his backpack and jumps into the water. Years later, his brother Kamo will tell writer Carl Schreck that quote. To this day, I ask myself if I had sprinted to the scene and hadn't seen Shavarsh in the water, would I have jumped in? The answer is always the same. 50, 50.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow. 50, 50, maybe.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I think that's really honest.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. My first instinct wasn't to save people completely.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's what a big deal, what my brother did.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Which is really cool.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Generous. Very generous.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's autumn in Armenia, so it's cold outside and the water's freezing on top of that lake Yerevan is polluted. This reservoir is not a place where most people would willingly swim at all. But the brothers aren't thinking about that. They can see the trolley pole sticking out of the lake, so they know where the trolley bus is underwater. So they dive down and they start circling it, looking for some sort of entrance that they can pull people out of. But all the windows and doors are shut. None of them are broken. Only seconds have passed since the crash. But already, of course, time is running out. When the brothers come back up for air, Shavarsh instructs Kamo to stay at the surface while he goes back up. He figures Kamo will be safer, but he can also call for help if Shavarsh himself gets stuck or runs out of energy and needs to be rescued. Then he dives back down to the trolley bus, and despite all the silt making the water murky, he somehow manages to find the back window. And when he does, he brought his legs to his chest and thrust his left leg through the window with what he describes as, quote, a karate.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Imagine being in there and like through the silt, suddenly you see this probably handsome fucking guy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You want to see?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, he's very handsome.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Coming to save the day in the water. It's like, hi. Oh, he's cute.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hi, how are you? I'd love to save you in my small bathing suit.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I would love that too.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And my beefy chest.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Such a beefy chest.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's a man that's been running around with weights on his body.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. Save the day, please.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And then that. What a face.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Sweet little face.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What a face. Yeah, yeah. So it's a Hawkeye kicking in the window.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hell yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hell yes. So this kick works. He breaks in. He also slices his leg in the process. Just part of it. So he has this huge gash on his leg. But he's now created a six foot wide opening in this trolley bus window. Without being able to really see, he starts feeling around for bodies before pulling someone through the window and then surfacing with them. Shavarsh hands that survivor over to his Brother who now is able to bring them to some first responders who have just rode out on kayaks. Oh. And then Shavarsh immediately heads back down. He moves unbelievably fast for someone who has just run 13 miles with 45 pounds of sand struck his back.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Or like, not at all. Like, he moves fast for a person.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Just for one of us. So he swims back down to the opening and grabs another person, brings them to his brother, goes back down, grabs another, and so on. He then realizes when he first comes up out of that area, he can swim above the roof and then push off from the roof and basically launch himself up to the surface way faster. So he starts doing it that way. He also pulled the glass of that six foot window out by hand.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Ooh.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So he made it so that no one else would cut themselves the way he cut himself. So now there's a crowd gathered to watch this harrowing rescue mission play out. And one of the men in the crowd is Shavarsh's father, Vladimir, who was also, coincidentally, just in the area when the trolley bus went into the lake. He is so stunned to realize that the men in the water are his two sons. He later says, quote, I thought to myself, it's a good thing I made sure they learned how to swim. Yeah, sorry. I love Armenian style. They're so, like, they don't get riled up.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're not extra.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, they're real. That's so true.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's not like, those are my boys. He's not bragging. He's just like, wow, thank God we got those swim lessons going.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Love it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Vladimir will later recall how tense and anxious these onlookers were. Of course, they have no idea who Shavarsh actually is. At one point, he doesn't resurface after a minute or two, and there is a palpable feeling in the crack that he might have drowned. Mid rescue, Vladimir says, quote, when he finally came up, there was a massive communal sigh of relief.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I'm, like holding my breath right now.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I know. So down below, Shavarsh is still moving very fast with no time to be diligent or to think about what he's doing. At one point, he grabs what he thinks is a person, but realizes upon surfacing that it's a seat cushion.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, no.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It pains him very much. And he will later say, quote, that cost one life. Only a few minutes have passed since this bus actually went into the water, and Shavarsh has already pulled dozens of bodies through that one broken window. We don't know the exact number, but it's estimated that he saves around 20 people from drowning.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Holy shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

20 people? One guy. But as precious seconds passed, Shavarsh realizes there are no survivors left. So in addition to the 20 people he said, he recovers the bodies of around 15 victims.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He keeps doing it even though it's hopeless.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep. He winds down his rescue mission, but he doesn't rest. Cranes have just arrived at Lake Yerevan to lift the trolley bus out of the water, basically to get the rest of the bodies up out of the water. But the crane operators need to figure out how to wrap the crane's cables around the trolley to get it out. It's a dangerous trip, but Shavarsh and his brother Kamo do it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No, you guys have done enough.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're like, don't anybody else get in this water? Yeah, let it just be us. Basically, Shavarsh has to take a crowbar underwater, break out more windows, and then thread the cables through those broken windows by swimming through them through the cab.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Of the trolley bus, where there's, like, bodies.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep. And they kind of can't see. Oh, God. And I'm sure he didn't clear out the broken glass. I mean, it's just he's doing it himself. And ultimately he's successful. The cranes are able to lift the trolley bus from the water, and the rest of the victims bodies are recovered when Shavarsh is finally about to get out of the lake. All of this exertion has taken a real toll on him. Plus the polluted water. His legs start shaking, his vision gets spotty. So his father Vladimir takes him home and urges him to rest. But Shivarsh's condition gets worse. His fever spikes at 104 degrees, he gets delirious. He starts convulsing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Cause he's got that cut. And then the pollution went in it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes, Horrifying. And also the sheer trauma of what he basically got himself into and then had to continue doing.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's just him by himself with those, with both survivors. But then bodies, that's too much. Okay. So he's taken to the hospital where he's diagnosed with a severe case of pneumonia. He's pumped with the antibiotics, and he has to spend the next three weeks confined to a hospital bed. Years later, one of Shivarsha's doctors will talk about how close of a call this was, and they'll say, quote, to be honest, I was surprised that we were able to save his life from that infection. It was the healthy system of an athlete that fought. And after he fought for the lives of others, God now gave him the strength to fight for his own life. So all of this happens, and he goes to the hospital. He's basically in the hospital for about a month. And essentially the people that were there and watched it happen know about it, and so that gets talked about. But most people in Yerevan don't know about the trolley bus accident, and they certainly don't know about Shavarsh's heroic response to it, Although the local government has given him and camo 48 rubles, the equivalent of a quarter of the typical monthly wage at the time. And that's all they get. Even though it's an incredible, newsworthy story, no outlets pick it up. It seems very intentional because it's basically about a tragic infrastructure failure, and the Soviets don't want people hearing about that. Even the official report that documents the trolley bus crash is classified. But shavarsh didn't do it for attention or for glory. And actually, when he marries his wife, Nelly, later on, he never tells her about it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

What? He never tells her, oh, my God, dude.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I know, right?

[Georgia Hardstark]

You got bragging rights. Like, you earned that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You earned it. Shivarsh feels like he has more pressing concerns. He's supposed to be working on his big comeback for the fin swimming team.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You did it. That was your comeback?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, yeah. Just three weeks after leaving the hospital, he goes back to training. So he's in the hospital for almost a month.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's insane.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Basically takes a month of, like, getting his strength back. And now he's well. It was much harder for him at that point. He says, quote, when I started heavy training, I couldn't handle it. Mucus was coming up from my lungs. I was coughing all the time.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You had pneumonia? Yeah, like, less than a month ago.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Put the sand back down, buddy. Shivarsh also finds himself getting very tense when he has to be in water.

[Georgia Hardstark]

No shit.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Which is understandable because of the trauma. But he is so eager to prove himself to the Soviet sports officials. He pushes through all of that fear and pain and trauma, and just a few months later, in the spring of 1977, he makes it to the Soviet championship games once again, this time in Baku, Azerbaijan, your favorite country.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I love it there.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Azerbaijan was the reference country at the first writing job I ever had. Somebody very smart and funny made that reference. And then I was just, that's a country.

[Georgia Hardstark]

So now you know, like, you really, really know that one.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, I really know it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Got it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. I would never reference it because I Don't know anything about it. And I can't pronounce it except for that the 1977 Soviet championship games were there.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Which you've always known.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Which I've always known because I'm a big fan of Soviet Championship games. Shavarsh is up against powerhouse Soviet swimmers. Two of his competitors have set world records. But he's here on a mission to prove himself to be the best fin swimmer in the ussr. And when he hears the starting gunfire, he leaps from the platform, he dives into the water and as he puts it, quote, I swam to the death. I never raced so angry before. And in this race, the now 24 year old Shivarsh sets a new world record.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Damn fucking swim angry. That's what we're learning here.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Swim angry, baby gotta do, do it. Get in there and really want it. Later that year at the European Championship Games, he'll win four more medals, three silvers and a gold. Almost no one in the crowd has any idea that less than a year before this champion almost died saving the lives of 20 people. It's not until the early 80s when a reporter named Sergey Leskov covering a swimming competition in Moscow here about champion Armenian fin swimmer who once quietly saved 20 people in Yerevan. And when Sergei brings the story back to his editor, he's immediately sent to Armenia to get the whole story and cover it all. As Carl Schreck writes in his. I just realized that Carl Schreck's last name is Shrek.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You just realized that?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, I'm just reading it because it's spelt with a C H. Oh, I've.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Been hearing Shrek the whole time.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's just got a very light green complexion.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I was thinking the first time he said, I was like, that had to suck. That moment that that movie came out.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Had to.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I just was like, oh no.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh no, it's me, Carl Schreck.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. Forever.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Will you marry me, princess? No. Sounds good. Carl Schreck, please write in if you're good looking. Okay, so this writer who wrote the piece for Grantland, the Plunge, Carl Schreck says, quote, it's unclear why local authorities decided to hand over documents about the accident to Leskov after keeping it quiet for so long. Perhaps they feared reproach, repercussions from Moscow if they stonewalled a leading national paper's attempt to publish an ideologically sound lionization of a Soviet athlete. Okay, so maybe it's like now he, Shavarsh, has legitimized himself in the story.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He's earned the right to brag about the thing he did. Yeah, got it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Regardless, In October of 1982, the story runs in this one Soviet newspaper under the headline, quote, a champions underwater battle. Mind you, it implies that Shavarsh saved everyone on the trolleybus, which I think that happens in stories like that. And it also does not list the names of the victims. But this amazing Armenian hero is finally getting his long overdue recognition. So word spreads throughout the USSR and one year later in 1983, the most prominent newspaper in the Soviet Union picks up this story and spotlights show in a lengthy article. It has a very wide reach. And for many of the people Shavarsh has saved, this is the first time they've ever learned his name. Cause like, yeah, it all went under wraps.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So they were like, a guy got me out. All these other people died.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And they're like, we don't know.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We don't know who he is. And they find out not only he's him, but he's like this gold medal winning swimmer.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Totally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

This is also the first time Shavarsh's wife Nelly, learns about her husband saving 20 lives.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hey, honey, how do you think that went? I read the newspaper today, and is there something that you've been meaning to.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Be like, tell me whatever you need, whatever you need or want to communicate to me or not communicate with me, do it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Cause you're so hot.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Never speak to me again. Smoke cigarettes in the pavilion's parking lot all day long. About a month after that article runs, the USSR awards Chavarsh the first of many medals recognizing his courage. And over time, he becomes a verifiable legend across the region. Finally, the press allows him or the, you know, the powers that be allow him to get this credit that he so rightly deserves. But he's not gonna stop there. Because 10 years after the trolley bus accident in 1985, a fire breaks out at a Yerevana resident, and Shavarsh bursts into the burning building, shoulder to shoulder with the firefighters, helping to look for survivors.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Is he in a Speedo?

[Karen Kilgariff]

I know.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Cause that would be.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's got one fin on his back. We don't know much more about the details of that scenario. We just know that he went in. He suffers burns in the process, but afterwards he will nonchalantly say, quote, anyone can find himself in a place where somebody needs. And more than once too. The main thing is to remember what makes you human.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Ugh, amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's like, I'm fine with whatever kinds of rescues I have to do. Shivarsh becomes such an important cultural figure that during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, he was asked to carry the Olympic torch into the Kremlin.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Damn.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And you might remember him doing it because on his last leg of the journey, the flame kept going out while he was running. And at one point, he actually stopped and asked a security guard to relight it with the Zippo.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I remember that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's our boy, dude.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He's like, I can get things done.

[Karen Kilgariff]

He's like, what's going on? But also, I kind of remember that guy and being like everybody else was. Looked like a runner, looked like whatever. And Shivarsh looks like older guy running at that point. He was probably in his 60s, I think. So today Shivarsh is around 70 years old. He lives in Moscow, and. And while many years have passed since he dove into the reservoir, he has since become quite the entrepreneur. Shortly after moving to Moscow, he opened a shoe repair shop. It did so well that over the years, he opened several more businesses, including restaurants, clothing, and grocery stores.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Damn.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, just doing it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And I wonder if it's because people are like, that guy's great. I want to get my shoes from that guy.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I trust that guy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, yeah. I'd like to just go talk to him a little bit. In his 2014 Grantland piece, Carl Schreck asked about the night that made Shavarsh a legend. And what Shavarsh says about it is simply quote, there was no other choice. I knew that it wouldn't be right if the world's fastest underwater swimmer was there and didn't even try to help. Nature and humanity would have judged me. God probably would have judged me. And that's the story of Armenian hero Shivarsh Karapetyan.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Wow. Dam a good one.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It was a good one, right?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah. A disaster. A hero, like. Yeah, that was good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A backup. Humility. People that aren't doing it for the glory.

[Georgia Hardstark]

What about his brother? Is he okay? I mean, did he get any fucking cred?

[Karen Kilgariff]

It doesn't sound like that, man.

[Georgia Hardstark]

The younger siblings, we never get the fucking.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You stay over there. Yeah, I'm in charge.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You stay over there, and I'll hand you the people. Wow. Good episode, I think.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Great episode.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And a couple honking hoorays at the end.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

These agents intervene in real time before the break in even begins.

[Georgia Hardstark]

They can access two way audio to confront the person, trigger sirens and spotlights to scare them off, and request rapid police dispatch when needed, all helping to stop the intruder while they're still outside. That's real security.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So join the more than 4 million Americans who trust Simplisafe with their home security. Every day I feel so much more secure being able to check my own cameras and be like, oh, that's a raccoon or oh, that's a person that now there's an actual team of people who are also looking at the same thing. Waiting to help me with it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Absolutely. Visit simplisafe.com fave to get 50 off a new system with a professional monitoring plan and get your first month free.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's simplisafe.com fave.

[Georgia Hardstark]

There's no safe like simply safe.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Goodbye now streaming on Paramount. Plus Hunted by hackers, stalked by assassins and wanted by international police, Tony and Ziva are on the run and getting some action.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Car chases, surprise weddings, killer drones, undercover ops, robot dogs, daring heists, prisoners and breaks. Nothing will keep this couple from taking down an international conspiracy and clearing their names.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Good thing espionage is their love language.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Get ready for the ultimate romantic escape with the premiere of Tony and Ziva now streaming on Paramount. Goodbye.

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[Georgia Hardstark]

We're back with another honking Hooray. Presented by Hyundai.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We're so Excited to be doing your hoorays. And in the ionic five.

[Georgia Hardstark]

That's right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Here we go. What a combination. You want to go first?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Sure. Okay. Can't contain my excitement listening to you ladies talk about TV weather people.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Nor should you. Get out here and hurry it up.

[Georgia Hardstark]

As a Weatherino, I was beaming with pride. You ladies were with me through the worst breakup of my life. And now I'm getting married to the L O M L love of my life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, nice. Okay, good, good, good.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hooray for science and love. Felicia Combs at. And that's on Instagram.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Congratulations, Felicia. Congratulations.

[Georgia Hardstark]

The Weatherinos.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The Weatherinos are behind us.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Who knew?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay, this says Hooray from New Zealand. It's an easy email. Dear MFM, been a faithful listener since 2016, which is the same year that I met my partner. So you can never stop podcasting because that's how I keep track of how long we've been together. My hooray is that I was misled about teenagers. I have two of them coming up to 18 and 16 years old in August. A boy and a girl, respectively. That I love. The bones of them is a given. But expecting their teenage years to be sullen, smelly, ornery, and unfairly unpleasant was a complete misdirect. Instead, I find that I'm living with two smart, funny, curious, insightful, independent, affectionate young people. They are fiercely loyal, roast me daily in ways that I can only admire, and constantly make me see things from a different perspective. Their friends are a gas. I get to listen to new music. So I. I've never said kids these days. Don't know what music is. A phrase that indicates your readiness to be checked into a home for the elderly. Because they get into retro as well. I get to relive my own teenage hood by listening to everything from Guns n roses to TLC in the car. That was like MTV in 1997. Of course there are challenges, but I certainly did not expect the sheer joy of having teenagers in my life. Stay sexy and sing along to November rain. Roshni from. From Aotearoa, New Zealand. Wow.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Teenagers.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Someone cool stepping up and saying, give teenagers a break.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Finally.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Finally.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay, this is an email that says Hooray. My daughter is completing her first week being back at school after having a two kilogram tumor removed from her chest. What? She's six years old and is a murderino in the maze. She's been through two 10 hour surgeries and has maintained her sunny disposition with just the right amount of sass and it says, to her brother when he couldn't find something. Well, how about looking for it with your eyes open? Ooh.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Damn.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hurrah to the NHS UK and the amazing staff at the Bristol Children's Hospital. From Rachel, she, her and B6, ball of joy. XO.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Stay strong, Bea. And to everybody at the Bristol Children's Hospital. Man, just doing the Lord's work. Okay, here's an email and it just says, I just turned in my final capstone for my master's.

[Georgia Hardstark]

I don't know what it costs.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Of course, we don't know. I'm a teacher and I decided to get my master's in film analysis to teach film analysis one day. My capstone paper. Maybe it's like thesis.

[Georgia Hardstark]

End of the.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's a thesis in a different country.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Yeah, that's probably it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's what we'll say it is. My capstone paper, which was 60 pages, discussed the psychology of horror films. While the paper was fun to write, I'm so happy to be done with it. Hooray for never having to write an academic paper again. Justine.

[Georgia Hardstark]

60 pages.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Congratulations, Justine. You did it.

[Georgia Hardstark]

You did.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And you did it without AI.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Hopefully.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, we don't know you. Justine, what are you doing?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Okay, here's what this one says. Hooray for Pedro Pascal. I mean, hey, it could just start and end there, but seeing as the entire world has simultaneously fallen deeply in love with this man, it feels important to note the glimmer of hope I feel in so many of us, all genders, devoting all of our parasocial desires to a man who challenges every function of toxic masculinity in our culture. If all of us can love a man who is hell bent on protecting our trans community, is resisting systems of oppression on the daily, is constantly being lovingly snuggled by other healthy, handsome men in his life, and is the living embodiment of a human cinnamon roll. I. I think that speaks to the changing zeitgeist for how we define sexiness and healthy masculinity. Yay for Pedro Pascal being all of our daddies. And hooray for those arms. Dang. Stay sexy and keep loving the Pedros of the world at laurenoscopy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Lauren. I think that the comparison that he is a human cinnamon roll is one of the most perfect things I've ever heard.

[Georgia Hardstark]

He is all of our daddies.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What baked good are you?

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, my gosh. I'm a Danish.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Clearly. Daniel. Okay, well, I have a celebrity one, too. This was from the email and it just says, I just passed Michelle Buteau on the street. I said nothing. Cause as a native New Yorker, I just let people be people. But I may have gazed at her longingly for half a beat. And then it just says hooray, period. And then there's an asterisk at the end of I just let people be people. And then down here, the asterisk says, this rule does not apply to any and all possible Pedro Pascal sightings. Oh, my God.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Should so good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And that was from Amy Elizabeth Bravo.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Oh, my God. She's like the one. He's the one person that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, that.

[Georgia Hardstark]

She's like, I can mob you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

We're not gonna break this rule for Michelle Buteau. But we are definitely breaking it. When that guy rolls up, all Pedro.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Pascal bets are off.

[Karen Kilgariff]

First you smell the cinnamon and you're like, what is that? There's someone nearby.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Thank you guys for listening to these honking hoorays. Thank you, Hyundai, for sponsoring these honking hurricane.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Thank you, Hyundai.

[Georgia Hardstark]

And thank you to Pedro Pascal.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Especially thank you to all cinnamon rolls everywhere. Stay sexy and don't get murdered.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Elvis, do you want a cookie?

[Karen Kilgariff]

This has been an Exactly Right production.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Our senior producers are Alejandra Keck and Molly Smith.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

[Georgia Hardstark]

This episode was mixed up by Liana Scolachi.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Our researchers are Maren McGlashan and Ally Elkin.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Email your hometowns to my favorite murdermail.com.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Follow the show on Instagram at my favorite murder.

[Georgia Hardstark]

Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And now you can watch us on exactly right's YouTube page. While you're there, please like and subscribe. Goodbye. Talk about stepping up. It's time to level up your game. Introducing the all new ESPN app. All of ESPN all in one place. Your home for the most live sports and the best championship moments. The electricity is palpable. Step up your game. With no annual contract required. It's the ultimate fan experience. Level up. For More on the ESPN app or at stream.espn.com Sign up now.

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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