
Loading summary
Karen Kilgariff
This is exactly right.
Georgia Hardstark
Hello, welcome to Rewind with Karen and Georgia.
Engineer Steven
That's right. That means it's Wednesday. And that means we're recapping one of our old shows with all new commentary, updates, and insights.
Georgia Hardstark
And today we're recapping episode 32, which we named just the 32 of us. I thought we were done with the number pun.
Engineer Steven
I can hear myself, and this may not have happened, but I can absolutely hear myself in my memory going, yeah, but it's so funny. We have to go just for this one.
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah, like, you know you can't. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
Karen Kilgariff
Right.
Georgia Hardstark
If there's a good one.
Engineer Steven
If there's a just 32 of us, that's pretty funny.
Karen Kilgariff
It's so good.
Engineer Steven
So join us today as we take you back to September 1, 2016, when sausage party was still in theaters.
Georgia Hardstark
Classic. It's a classic. And now we can all be day one listeners.
Engineer Steven
Okay, here's the intro of episode 32.
Karen Kilgariff
Hello. Welcome to my favorite murder. My name's Karen, and I sure love murder. How about you, girl over there this week?
Vince
Girl over there is played by Georgia Heartstar, George Hart, Georgia Georgiet Hardstark, and gee, I love murder too.
Karen Kilgariff
And of course, engineer Steven is here standing by with his mustache and his. His stuff, his equipment, his general style.
Vince
His general style of the Purr cast.
Jessica P.
Oh, thank you.
Vince
Yeah. Welcome. Who did I still trapped in the basement? Vince. So we have our Murderinos that we call people who listen to this podcast.
Karen Kilgariff
I don't. We didn't make that up.
Vince
No, we didn't. But that's what people call it.
Engineer Steven
Okay.
Vince
And Vince said that. So Stephen has the Purr cast about Cats, and Vin said that he. The people who listen should be called perverts with three Rs.
Georgia Hardstark
Right.
Jessica P.
Just really exercise.
Karen Kilgariff
You gotta do that.
Jessica P.
I'm gonna start doing.
Vince
Vince said you can have it.
Engineer Steven
Thank you, Vince.
Georgia Hardstark
He said go.
Vince
You can tell him he can have it.
Karen Kilgariff
That's a free one from Vince.
Vince
Free one. Awesome. Cool.
Engineer Steven
Hi, Everybody.
Karen Kilgariff
It's episode 32 was up. I'm gonna bring Wazza back.
Vince
Are you?
Karen Kilgariff
I've already threatened to do that.
Engineer Steven
Wazza.
Vince
And that's how she got murdered.
Karen Kilgariff
She was so hacky. The town killed her, the city killed her.
Vince
She. She got killed.
Karen Kilgariff
Do you have housekeeping?
Vince
I mean, I have things I just generally want to talk about.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, I'll say mine that are Internet.
Vince
Specific, that are important.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, mine are important. Yours are. Before I start just babbling, you be Quiet, because it's my turn.
Vince
How much I hate tv.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, did you.
Vince
I fucking. I just. I don't. There's a block and I mean to. And I haven't. No. The answer is no.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, then you don't want his DNA inside you, and you'll never get to have it. He was also on Colbert. We actually watched it at work because enough people at my work like him that we were all like, let's watch.
Georgia Hardstark
Is he cute?
Vince
And he is perfection.
Karen Kilgariff
It's. There's something like Disney esque about the scale of the size of his eyes to the rest of his face. His nose, like he got a nose job. It's so perfectly shaped. And then in general, he just has the. He has the charisma, but he's very low key. Like, he's smart enough to know not to overplay it.
Vince
We're talking about Riz Ahmed.
Karen Kilgariff
We're talking about Riz Ahmed, Britain's own.
Vince
And he's got the British accent, man. Like the, like the, like street British accent.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, Stop it. But he can do any British accent.
Vince
Well, I guess I only heard. I only heard him speaking in a British accent when he was rapping. So I was like, yeah, he was trying to.
Karen Kilgariff
He's turning it a little bit on, but okay.
Vince
Well, that.
Karen Kilgariff
But also I saw him in the. The Unwilling Fundamentalist. What's that movie he stars in a movie about a fundamentalist that doesn't want to be unwilling? Who doesn't? The word isn't unwilling, though. Sorry. It's part of the title. I'm his number one fan. But in that one, he had, like.
Vince
A posh British accent. No, I want it to be dirty.
Karen Kilgariff
Please, Jesus, keep it dirty. Hi, Vince, it's Karen. She said more gross stuff about Riz Ahmed this time. The thing I wanted to mention was a woman named Leanne Moffatt made us this amazing animated opening to our podcast theme song. You can see it on the Twitter page. You can see it on the Facebook page.
Vince
I'll put it on the. I'll put it on the. We have a new Facebook fan page because people told us that that's how you're supposed to do things.
Karen Kilgariff
Don't be closed off all the time. Maybe open some stuff up.
Vince
Yeah, so we have a new Facebook fan page. I will post it on. There it is. It's your. Like, how do you. How did you feel watching it with your music and your voice?
Karen Kilgariff
I couldn't breathe. Yeah, and. But also, it's that weird thing of, like. It's very Strange when someone holds up something you did and goes, now, here's something I did to match it. Like, it's just magical. I love it.
Vince
It's gorgeous.
Karen Kilgariff
And it's the cutest. Like, the style of it is so, like, there's a little skeleton in every.
Vince
Scene and the way it moves, the way everything flows and moves.
Karen Kilgariff
But it's creepy. Very creepy. It's all perfectly done. So, Leanne Moffat, thank you so much for. Thank you Doing that and thinking of us and participating in that very creative and cool way.
Vince
Thanks to everyone who created. Like, there's so many cute drawings of us. Even though we berated them last week.
Karen Kilgariff
They like it.
Georgia Hardstark
I know.
Vince
I keep posting them on Instagram. We have an Instagram. My favorite murder. And I just am constantly. I, like, can't stop posting all day. And I feel like I'm getting annoying because there's just so much cool shit to post.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, it's fun to be able to go like, well, here's hair. Because the people like it when you notice their shit. It's, you know.
Vince
Can I tell you my favorite one from our last episode is? You know the part where I go do a dead body, A female dead body. Someone took a photo of my face and put it over the face in Sound of Music. Sound of Music, where she's singing on this on the hilltop to all the children. And it's just my little face. Like, a perfect photo of me with my mouth open, like, looking like I'm seeing. And it says, doe de Stephen. Showing it to Karen right now. I will put that on my Facebook page, too.
Karen Kilgariff
That's brilliant.
Vince
Who did it? Jessica P. Thank you, Jessica P. Well.
Karen Kilgariff
Done, Jessica P. That is hilarious. Because also Georgia's face, her mouth is open. It looks like she's going, hey. But she's holding a guitar. That's hilarious.
Vince
So much good shit.
Engineer Steven
Good.
Karen Kilgariff
You know, sadly, somebody put my face inside of Selena's face. Oh, no, no, no. It's not truly, sadly. This is a comedy podcast, but it was a picture of me before I stopped drinking. You can find such a range of hideous pictures of me online.
Vince
Me, too.
Karen Kilgariff
It's hilarious. I hate it. It's not cool at all when your weight fluctuates.
Vince
It's. You just.
Georgia Hardstark
And you get photographed for things a lot.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
And you just.
Karen Kilgariff
You just kind of have to separate and you just. Like, my thing is just like, whatever. I know what I look like.
Georgia Hardstark
Mine's not.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, my God. This one where they put my face and just. I'm pretty sure. It was Selena's picture. It was, like, big 80s hair with the pink background. Did you see that, Steven?
Vince
Mm. Mm.
Karen Kilgariff
It was. I was like, is that Charles Bronson wearing a wig? Like, it looked horrifying. But of course, I'm not complaining, because of course, all the people who saw it were like, oh, my God, this is so cute. Where you're just like, what? Anyway, I had to complain. And also just. We looked it up. This was in. Oh, wait, this. If it. If it was from the Minnesote, then you might not know what we're talking about. But last week's Mini Correction Corner. What's that? We have to say Correction, corner, corner, meow, meow, meow. Georgia talked about a lady who had a disease and many doctors, frighteningly enough. Listen to this podcast. Yeah. Because those are the people. Or medical students. I'm not sure. People who know how it's actually pronounced.
Vince
Well, sorry, not sorry. I'm not a doctor or a medical student.
Karen Kilgariff
Never say sorry. Not sorry. Just don't be sorry.
Vince
Oh, okay.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
I thought you were berating me for trying to bring that back when you're trying to bring. What was it?
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, good point. No, throw that right in my face. I accept that you're 100% right, but I hate sorry. Not sorry, because you don't have to be sorry at all.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
Is that. I. I saw that crop up in, like, Girls Talking, where it's sorry. That's not sorry. Where it's like. No, no, no. What? You start out as, look, motherfucker, and then you say your actual opinion. Sorry, I'm yelling.
Vince
Don't apologize.
Engineer Steven
I'm so tired.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, you're right. I'm so tired. Oh, here's how you pronounce it.
Vince
Well, now I'm having a seizure. Jesus.
Karen Kilgariff
I got it. There's, like. That's a sound clip from some guys on the radio or something in England who also didn't know how to say Guillain Barre syndrome.
Vince
Guillain Barre.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, so there's.
Vince
Well, consider me wrong. Again.
Karen Kilgariff
Consider me always wrong.
Vince
Correction, corner, correction, corner. What else? How are you? What do you want to say? Anything.
Karen Kilgariff
I wish you guys could see Georgia right now. Her legs are so far up in the air. She is the most casual person I've ever seen in my life.
Vince
This is the lounge. Iest.
Karen Kilgariff
You're fucking lounging in your home lounging.
Vince
So hard right now.
Karen Kilgariff
As is your American right.
Vince
Stephen, can you take a photo of me lounging hard right now? I'll put it on the vent. Let me fix my sweat. I'm also sweating.
Karen Kilgariff
That's cool. Sweat lounging.
Vince
And I got a. I got a Mimi cat on the.
Engineer Steven
Cool photo.
Vince
Just happen. Check it on the. Let's plug our places. Instagram.com. my favorite murder. Oh, the face.
Karen Kilgariff
That's a good picture. Finally, a picture of myself.
Engineer Steven
I'm not mad.
Karen Kilgariff
I love it.
Vince
Look at those cheekbones, Karen.
Karen Kilgariff
I. I wasn't even really sucking them in. My part's a bit off. Look at.
Vince
You look so hilarious. That's my entire butt. Also, that's going to end up on. That's going to end up on Wiki Feet, I promise you. Can I have a Wiki Feet page? I mean, look at my feet. They're pretty cute. Let's be. Hon.
Karen Kilgariff
You deserve it.
Vince
Thank you. Yeah, I'm going to own it. You know why? Because I don't have a Wikipedia page, so I'm okay with Wikibee.
Karen Kilgariff
So you're going to be fine.
Vince
Here we go.
Karen Kilgariff
You got to break in somehow.
Vince
Do you know what else pisses me off?
Karen Kilgariff
What?
Vince
I'm not going to tell you. Never mind. I am pissed off that my high school, they have, like, a list of, like, alumni who have done things not on there.
Karen Kilgariff
Where's the list?
Vince
On Wikipedia.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, please. Will someone who's good at computers go on to Wikipedia and edit that page? What's the high school name?
Vince
Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California.
Karen Kilgariff
Woodbridge High School, Irvine, California.
Vince
Also, let everyone know. I hate. I hated them all. I hate them.
Karen Kilgariff
No, don't put that part in. Now, this is your high school Wiki feet page.
Vince
Okay? The fan page. Okay, here's. This is hilarious. So I tried to start the fan page. We can't use the word murder in the title because Facebook is like, we recognize a word that you can't fucking. You can't say because you're not. You're a grown adult. And you know what I mean.
Karen Kilgariff
Fine.
Vince
So it's MFM Podcast is the name of the Facebook page. Fan page.
Karen Kilgariff
Cool. So you kind of have to be an insider to know that it's just.
Vince
The initials, like Winky Wink. And then I think that means also that maybe your family and friends won't know that you're part of a murder group.
Engineer Steven
I think that's good.
Vince
Yeah, I think that's what people are worried about until they see the logo again. Grown adults.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah. I mean, that's the other thing, too. Of all the people we know that.
Engineer Steven
Say, I'm not weird.
Karen Kilgariff
I'm not alone. All that excitement well, now it's turning into. Because then the second wave seemed to be. People at work keep catching me listening to this and giving me dirty looks or seeing the logo and giving me a weird look. But we just got a tweet from somebody who sent a picture that said, was it on the Facebook page or Twitter? I can't remember where. They hang up a sign on the door that says, murder time. Do not come in. And then listen to the podcast at. At work all together.
Vince
Oh, like the whole crew does.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, well, I mean, she didn't. She was very vague about all of it.
Vince
We're shouting her.
Karen Kilgariff
I should find the name. But if you guys hear this, will you please send us at least slightly more information so we can give you a legit shout out? Because I. It made me laugh so hard when I saw that picture.
Vince
Or send us a photo of all of you listening.
Engineer Steven
Secretly listening.
Vince
Also, I love that I've been. I've been noticing in the Facebook page, like, I'll, like, look at some comments sometimes late at night, and it'll be like, comment, comment, comment. And then someone will comment to someone who already commented and be like, alex, you're in this group.
Karen Kilgariff
You're in, like, oh, my God, Melissa.
Vince
I can't believe it. We're like, we're totally good.
Georgia Hardstark
Like, it's.
Vince
People keep recognizing their friends in there, and it's, like, hilarious. And I love it.
Karen Kilgariff
I love it. Well, the same thing happened to me with my sister's best friend, Adrienne, who I talked about, I think, on the very first episode.
Vince
She had a hometown.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, she. Well, she loved Richard Ramirez. So when I said, who should I talk about? It came out of her mouth so fast that that's when I discovered she was a murderer before the podc. And it was shocking because I known.
Engineer Steven
Her since she was 12 years old.
Karen Kilgariff
And I was 10 years old and never knew that that was an interest of hers. So she recently started listening. She went backwards through it and has been texting me constantly of like, dude, I love this podcast so much. And Adrienne and my sister were two of the most evil teenage girls anyone could have had the nightmare to grow up with. They were sullen and sulky, and I. The only way they would let me hang out with them when she spent the night on weekend, she would come and stay the whole weekend with us, but they would lock the door and leave me out of the room. And what I had to do to get in the room with Laura and Adrian was make up a lip sync dance Routine to a Pat Benatar song.
Vince
Well, we're not moving forward right now on this podcast until you fucking do that. Let's relive your nightmares.
Karen Kilgariff
We just basically play a Pat Benatar song.
Vince
But yeah, explaining.
Karen Kilgariff
That's all it would be. And then you'd be like, right now she's lifting her leg straight above her head.
Vince
Oh, my God, that's so sis. Big sisters, man.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, and also, just if you're younger and you hate your sister, just know that's going to change around when you're like 22. And then you're going to be besties for the rest of your life.
Vince
You're going to become the cool one.
Karen Kilgariff
Exactly.
Vince
My sister knows what's up.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, and also I have my sister and Adrian to thank for, like, all of my training, because that's pretty much the most professional training I got.
Vince
And then, oh, yeah, on stage, it was pretty exciting. I think my. I'm scared. I think my dad might start listening to this because. What?
Karen Kilgariff
I thought he was already.
Vince
I don't think so. Because he was like. I was hanging out with him over the weekend and he was like, tell me about your thing. Like, they don't understand that it's a thing. And I was like, oh, it's this thing. And I'm like, well, he doesn't know how to download podcasts. And then he looked at his phone and he, like, showed me the podcast and he was like this. And I was like, uh, huh. Yeah. No, it's okay. He's cool.
Karen Kilgariff
He doesn't care about the F word, does he?
Vince
Oh, my God, no. My God. You can't have me as a child and care about the F word. Care about a lot of things. Honestly, I think he's happy that I'm alive. Survive my own.
Karen Kilgariff
I am too.
Vince
I mean, that I'm alive or that.
Karen Kilgariff
You'Re alive, but you're alive.
Vince
Both of us. Me too.
Karen Kilgariff
It was supposed to be a compliment.
Vince
Oh, thank you. All right, you guys, we're gonna get into our favorite murders.
Karen Kilgariff
Yes.
Vince
We're gonna take a quick pee break. We'll be right back for my favorite murder.
Karen Kilgariff
Skippers, this is your time to come on home.
Vince
Come on home. Be right back.
Engineer Steven
All right. That was a. A big long one. Did you really not ever finish the Night of? You've never seen the End?
Georgia Hardstark
I didn't ever finish it. I just. I'm so impatient with shows. Like, I just don't. I can't get through anything. If I get through a series, it. It should get an Oscar immediately. Cause it's good.
Engineer Steven
Can you think of an example of a series you got through because you liked the lead actor? The way I, of course, was returning week after week for my friend Resembit?
Georgia Hardstark
No, But I can think of one that I got through even though I don't like the lead actor, and that's how good it was. But this might get us in trouble because it's Ozark.
Engineer Steven
Oh, you're not a Bateman fan?
Georgia Hardstark
I love Jason Bateman. I think he's a great actor. He just does this thing that drives me crazy. And you'll never. You'll never not see it again if I tell you. Or he goes, okay. At the end of every, like, sentence.
Vince
Okay, okay, okay.
Engineer Steven
Yeah, he's being.
Georgia Hardstark
He does that.
Engineer Steven
He's being casual, improvisational. Real, real talking.
Georgia Hardstark
Exactly. And I know that. And he knows what he's doing, but I can't ignore it. And I can't be like, that's a character, because Jason Bateman keeps fucking doing that.
Engineer Steven
Yes, that's right.
Georgia Hardstark
But it was such a good show that I was able to get past that.
Vince
Wow.
Georgia Hardstark
So, yeah, I think we can leave that in.
Engineer Steven
Okay.
Karen Kilgariff
His hands on his hips.
Georgia Hardstark
Okay, go ahead. Yeah, no, leave it. Let's fucking. Let's get some fucking drama stirred up on this podcasting.
Engineer Steven
Come on. Cross. Cross podcast.
Georgia Hardstark
Come on.
Engineer Steven
Rivalries.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, come on.
Georgia Hardstark
They've never heard of us. Let's fuck.
Karen Kilgariff
Here's. Yeah, exactly.
Engineer Steven
Well, here's how they will hear of you. Do you know that you talked about that you didn't make it on your high school's Wikipedia page. You are now on your high school's Wikipedia page.
Georgia Hardstark
I know. Some beautiful murderino fucking went and added me. I don't. I wonder if it's still there. And said that she hate Georgia attended high school. Dah, dah, dah, dah. And she hated every minute of it.
Engineer Steven
Or something like that.
Karen Kilgariff
Hey, hey.
Georgia Hardstark
That was an honor. That was definitely one of those moments in the podcast where I was like, wow, this is like. This is real. This is huge. This is, like, cool. It's huge. And I was so appreciative of it.
Engineer Steven
What I think is funny is that it's the Wikipedia page for your high school. It's not even, like, your Wikipedia page. It's like you were bummed about something.
Karen Kilgariff
That's real. Sub, sub, sub, you know?
Georgia Hardstark
No, because every high school Wikipedia page has people who have note who attended every single one of them, including this one, and had, like, these random, like, you know, Sports commentator or whatever, and I'm like, okay, can I. I think I. I think I've reached that excuse. I was on Cooking Channel. Can I please have it? You know? Yeah. So, I mean, I bet yours has one, too. Did we ever look it up?
Karen Kilgariff
I doubt it.
Engineer Steven
I mean, no. I don't think a. A high school that has, like, literally 200 kids at it in a small town in Northern California has a Wikipedia page.
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah. This was a big one, too.
Engineer Steven
Yeah, we may have done. Unless we broke the law somehow, which.
Karen Kilgariff
Or like.
Engineer Steven
Cause we got a nice new football field or something, but I don't think so.
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah.
Vince
Yeah. Okay.
Engineer Steven
I don't know, though.
Vince
It's okay.
Georgia Hardstark
It's like, you get your high school's, like, low key, and mine is, like, you know, high key.
Engineer Steven
High key in the highest key.
Georgia Hardstark
I think we should post the photo on the. When we post this episode on Socials of the couch. Photo of us. One of my favorites.
Engineer Steven
One of the great casual photos. What's the real word I'm looking for?
Georgia Hardstark
Ass shot. Just complete butt shot of me.
Engineer Steven
Yep.
Georgia Hardstark
Ass and feet.
Engineer Steven
Georgia wearing her hot pants. Yep. With me, with kind of my weird bald spot of, like, my cowlick. My cowlick bald spot. That's always been there.
Georgia Hardstark
What's noticeable in this is your cheekbones. Every time this gets posted, people comment on your cheekbones.
Engineer Steven
I'm very blessed.
Karen Kilgariff
Very blessed.
Engineer Steven
Thank you, Pat. That's all Pat Kilgariff's doing.
Georgia Hardstark
Pat, those feet. I don't know whose those are. On me. Thanks, Dad. I think those are Marty's.
Engineer Steven
It would be amazing if you found out you were making so much money on Wikifeet right now, man.
Georgia Hardstark
Honestly, if Fans only, whatever it's called, existed in my 20s, I would have made some serious cash on those feet. Yeah, but what are you gonna do?
Engineer Steven
All right, well, let's get into George's story right now about the murder of Selena.
Vince
Hey, we're back, Skippers. Hey. Hi, friends. All right. My favorite murder this week is Selena Quintanha Perez. No. And the reason I'm doing it is that it is audio Eng near Stevie Ray Morris of the Perk Cast. Favorite murder attributes.
Jessica P.
I. Yeah. No, I.
Vince
You've been sending me shit.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Jessica P.
I was, like, sending you texts, and I was like, oh, my God, I'm watching. And then Erin Brockovich did, like, a true crime. It's crazy that I watched it.
Vince
I watched it.
Jessica P.
Well, I grew up listening to Selena because I'm half.
Vince
My family.
Jessica P.
I'm half Mexican, and so that music was always playing. And I remember, like, even listening to the music, just feeling really sad for some.
Vince
Were you little when she died? So you didn't know yet?
Jessica P.
I mean, I knew it affected because I would still go over to my family's houses and stuff and, like, she was huge.
Karen Kilgariff
She was like Madonna times 20.
Vince
Well, I'll tell y'all about it.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh. Oh.
Vince
Did I? Stephen Quintanilla. Quintanilla.
Jessica P.
Oh, I don't. I mean, I'm Mexican, but I don't know how to speak Spanish.
Karen Kilgariff
Okay.
Vince
I wrote it down like I was very.
Jessica P.
She didn't know how to speak Spanish either.
Vince
I know, I know. Both of you shut up.
Karen Kilgariff
Oops.
Vince
Oh, Karen, your doorbell phone is ringing. Selena Quintanilla Perez was born on April 16, 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas, and was called the Mexican American Madonna.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, I must have known that. I've watched the movie with JLo.
Vince
I haven't seen it.
Engineer Steven
Wonderful.
Vince
Gosh, she's beautiful. They were both beautiful. And she was poised to become a crossover success when her death turned her into a legend. Selena's father discovered Selena's quote, perfect timing and pitch and helped his kids form a band. And she was like 9 years old when they started performing.
Karen Kilgariff
Wow.
Vince
The band. Once the parent her parents lost their family restaurant, the band became the family's main source of income. And they were in poverty. And this career, Selena's career just shook them out of poverty because they were evicted from their home during the Texas oil bust of 1982. And they moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, which sounds very hot, doesn't it?
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, I think it's super Southern in Texas. Like down in the Gulf, maybe, right?
Vince
I know. I was like, right? Do I wanna.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, my cousin Cheryl lived in Corpus Christi when I was, like, in junior high. But why do I ever say anything?
Vince
Is that a big military town? I think it is, yes.
Karen Kilgariff
In fact, it has 25 that I have.
Vince
Let's just talk about Corpus Christi for the rest of this. So then the family band began recording music professionally. And in 1984, when Selena was, I think, 13, the band released its first LP. Selena, Los Dinos.
Karen Kilgariff
Fuck.
Vince
I hope.
Karen Kilgariff
I hope you don't get Selena and Fred Flintstone's dog. Dinosaur.
Vince
Hate mail can be sent to Karen Kilgariff.
Karen Kilgariff
I'm just translating.
Vince
Karen Kilgariff's apartment or house. The address is. So. Yes, Steven, you are correct. Selena was a third generation Texan of Mexican descent. So she didn't grow up speaking Spanish, so she didn't know Any. But she learned all her songs phonetically. And when her popularity grew, she had to learn it. And she did very quickly.
Karen Kilgariff
Just like Rocksette.
Vince
Like what?
Karen Kilgariff
The band Rockset.
Vince
What were they, German?
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
Or Swedish or something. Oh, they had to learn English.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, no, they just sang phonetically. They didn't know what they were saying.
Vince
That's funny.
Karen Kilgariff
Must have been love. But it's all that. She had no clue what that song is.
Vince
Oh, but it's so powerful. But it sounds so.
Karen Kilgariff
The ignorance makes it powerful.
Vince
That's what it is like. Because that's what love does to you. Makes you stupid. Idiot.
Karen Kilgariff
That's right.
Vince
Okay. Grew in popularity in the year 1987. She won the Tinejo. Oh, God. Tahano Music Award. I like. I was watching videos to get this correctly and I'm just screwing it all up. Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year. And then she landed her first major record deal with Capital Latin in 1989. So she performed several times at the Houston Astrodome to sold out crowds of more than 60,000 people. And after her death, Time described her as the embodiment of young, smart, hip Mexican American youth from a tight knit family and a down to earth personality. A Madonna without the controversy, essentially. She was huge Mexican American star in her community and was poised to become a mainstream cess. And that community was obsessed with her and proud of her and felt like, you know, she was one of their own and she was a big fucking deal.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
And she seemed like a very sweet person. Everyone in her band was her family except the guy, the guitarist they hired, who she ended up marrying. Like they were. They seemed like good people.
Karen Kilgariff
It's like a Jackson 5 situation. Totally super talented young kid.
Vince
Yeah. But not creepy. And her dad was the manager, so they were very.
Karen Kilgariff
More like a Partridge Family.
Vince
But there we go.
Karen Kilgariff
But actually.
Vince
Or like a man family. Cut that out. Don't cut that out. Not Sorry. All right, where am I cut to mid 1991. Yolanda Saldivar. She was so. You see all these photos of her and videos of her. She was. When she got arrested, she was 35 years old. What? That's quote, unquote, my age. She's 35. She looks like a fucking grandma.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
Okay, so 91. Yolanda Saldivar was around 30 and she was an in home nurse for patients with terminal cancer. And just a fan of Tejano music. Just a fucking random woman. She had a history of stealing money from her employers as well as trying to become intertwined with the lives of other performers. And she attended one of Selena's concerts and became a fucking psychotic fan with the intent of starting Selena's fan club. She started obsessively calling Selena's father, leaving almost 15 messages until he gave her permission in June of 1991 to be the president of the fan club. Which sounds like, okay, you know what? Take this. Run with it. Do your thing. Right, right.
Karen Kilgariff
Because you're harassing us.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
So, I mean, that's. It's. It's the thing that they didn't know back then that people know nowadays, which is don't engage. Right.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
15 calls to anybody at any time is too many.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
I don't care if, like, you have a flat tire and you're calling a call.
Vince
And she wants to run this thing and make us more money, and it's a thing that we haven't started, and maybe it'll help her with her. Like, this is what I'm thinking was there. You know what I mean?
Karen Kilgariff
I'm just saying that's three calls. Totally in a day.
Vince
Totally, totally. Also, like, you don't need to have contact with her after that. Okay. So as president of the fam Club, she was responsible for membership, benefits, collecting money, and promoting Selena, all that kind of thing. And she actually didn't meet Selena until Dec. 91, but they became close friends, and Yolanda became a trusted. Trusted by her whole family. In 94, she became Selena's assistant and quit her job as a nurse.
Engineer Steven
Oh, I didn't know that.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, I did not know that. I thought she was just the fan club.
Vince
No, she became her assistant. She quit her job as a nurse, even though she was making more money as a nurse than she was doing this, like, she was just so obsessed and had posters all over her house and people come over. She would just make them watch Selena videos. Talked about nothing else, and was just, like, kind of, like, crazy about Selena.
Karen Kilgariff
Wow.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
I was kind of that way about kids in the hall for a little while, but it was a dark period in my life. Were you? Yeah, it was just. I had flunked out of college, and I was just weirdly obsessed. It was when they were running them on Comedy Central, and I just. It was the only thing that made me happy.
Vince
Laugh was the creepiest. That was. I've never heard that laugh before.
Karen Kilgariff
I just realized, I mean, every. We all have the potential. Everybody likes a thing. Sure. Like, crazy.
Vince
And wants them, like, has this feeling of, like, ownership and, like.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
And like, no one understands it the way I understand it. It's almost made for me kind of a thing.
Karen Kilgariff
Yes.
Vince
But have you met them and told them that?
Karen Kilgariff
See, my thing is that. And maybe it's just from working in tv, I really don't like celebrities. Like, there's nothing more disappointing. And I think most people know it these days from reality TV and stuff. Celebrities are very disappointing in real life.
Vince
Except for us.
Karen Kilgariff
Not calling us. Yeah, no, they're just. I mean, the most they'll be. Is slightly pleasant, but for the most part, you will. You will have regretted trying to be like, hey, can I get a picture? I'm a big fan, or whatever.
Engineer Steven
You're not gonna let you in.
Vince
And it's some obscure thing, and they're.
Karen Kilgariff
Like, they don't care. They don't care. It's super weird. It's like, you know.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
It ruins it, almost.
Georgia Hardstark
So.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
Good luck, everybody.
Vince
Good luck in life with your cute little fantasies. All right, well, then. So in 94, Selena starts opening fashion boutiques. She has two of them opening up. It's called Selena, Etc.
Engineer Steven
I didn't know that.
Vince
Yeah, I didn't either. Because she has this crazy style. It's very 90s and very, like, on point. Like, you know, almost Madonna y, but a little more hip. Cute, Right?
Karen Kilgariff
It's those hu. Well, from what I remember in the movie, there's, like, a lot of ruffles and a lot of, like, you know, shimmery velvety pants and stuff like that.
Vince
Hoop earrings and red lipstick and. Yeah, it's pretty fucking sweet.
Karen Kilgariff
Sweet.
Vince
So. So she. She's opening these clothing. These fashion stores, and asks Salivar to become the manager of the boutiques. So Saldivar, because of doing this, is authorized to write and cash checks, had access to the bank accounts associated with the fan club and the boutiques, and Selena gave her an American Express card for the purpose of conducting company business.
Karen Kilgariff
So she put her stalker. She made her stalker. The CEO of the company know that.
Vince
She'S the stalker, though.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, right.
Vince
Oh, yeah. Celine has no idea that she's the stalker. She just thinks she's a good friend.
Karen Kilgariff
Of hers that's, like, willing to do all this hard work. Yeah.
Vince
That's like. You know, Celaena's in this bubble of becoming famous and touring and all these things, and this person is becoming a trusted confidant and is a huge fan.
Karen Kilgariff
And clearly is an intelligent woman if she's a nurse. Yeah.
Vince
And all that other. Yeah, totally.
Engineer Steven
Yeah.
Vince
Yeah. And everyone said she was very manipulative and good at, you know, being manipulative.
Engineer Steven
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
15 calls.
Engineer Steven
That's all I have to say.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, 15 calls.
Vince
It worked somehow. So within a year, Saldivar had mismanaged the boutiques, and they were failing. And then upon investigation, the family finds out that Saldivar had embezzled more than I saw 60,000, but I also saw $100,000. And forged checks from both the fan club and the boutique. But Selena refused to believe it. She was like, no way. That's my friend. Like, even her father, who was a manager, and her husband and brother were like, dude. They were like, dude. Probably not like that. But eventually, Selena kind of sees some shit going on and believes it. And the family fires her, tells her not to come near Selena. But Selena still wanted to become friends, stay friends. She was like, you don't work for me anymore, but let's stay friends. So at this time, Saldivar purchases a snub nose.38 caliber revolver. And here's what I think is the fucked up thing is.38 caliber hollow point bullets. Then the bullets were designed to cause more extensive injuries than normal bullets.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, no.
Vince
Which, like, throws out later. We'll talk about it. So on March 31 in 1995, she convinces Selena to meet Yolanda her alone in a Days Inn motel room, promising to restore to return financial documents that she had stolen and telling Selena that she had to come alone and that she had. That Yolanda had been raped and needed someone to talk to.
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, no.
Vince
And this, she has to make up this lie because three other times in the past, like, couple weeks, Yolanda had tried to get her alone, and it had been foiled every time. And her husband had come, or they had met in a parking lot or something like that. So Yolanda was trying to get her alone.
Engineer Steven
Yes.
Vince
So in the hotel room, they kind of fight over the documents. And as they're doing that, the gun comes out, and Selina turns to run out the door. And Saldivar shoots her in the back as she's running out, severing an artery leading from her heart. And it came out the front of her chest on the other side. So it's kind of like a shoulder shot. And Selena's running towards the motel lobby as she's bleeding. And Saldivar comes. There was a witness said that she chased after her, pointing the gun at her and calling her a bitch. Selena ran 130 yards to the motel's lobby and collapsed on the floor. And meanwhile, Yolanda's now trying to escape in her car. And it was theorized that she's heading to the recording studio where the rest of Selina's family is. To kill them, too. That's what they thought. But a police officer who was around the corner responded, stopped her, and instead of getting out of the car, she pulls the car into a parking space and gets kind of blocked in in this parking spot. So she's in her car in a parking spot with a gun. Won't come out. In the meantime, the motel staff is trying to help Selena. An ambulance comes in less than two minutes, but Selena's pronounced dead at 105 from loss of blood and cardiac arrest. Her last words were. Were. This fucking makes me want to cry. Her last words. Yolanda Salvador, Saliva Saldivar, room 158. Those were her last words. Like, not tell my family I love them.
Karen Kilgariff
She was just trying to make sure they knew who did it.
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah.
Vince
Which makes me so sad. It's just like the last words out of your mouth are about your killer's name. Well, yeah, I mean, I know like. I know like, you should get them out, but then I just wish it could then be like something sweeter. She was only 23 years old. Oh, no, baby. Well, an autopsy's performed, and this is what I thought when I heard about her running after getting shot. She died of heart failure. Wait, no. We realized Selena's heart, fueled by adrenaline and I think from running, pumped all the blood out of her circulatory system. So I feel like if she hadn't run, she either might have gotten shot again by, you know, Yolanda, or the blood might not have.
Karen Kilgariff
It's those hollow point bullets.
Vince
Yeah. I mean, I don't think you can get shot and it comes out the other side. And you can survive that, right?
Karen Kilgariff
No, because isn't that part of it is like they explode inside you, and so when they come out, they just. Instead of a bullet hole size coming out, it, like, rips out. I mean, those things are evil.
Vince
Yeah, well, that's the thing is so event. So Saldivar's trying to say. Illin's trying to say that it was an accident, that she was gonna kill herself. But it's like, well, why did you buy those bullets then? You clearly had a motive. So, meanwhile, there's a nine hour standoff with Yolanda in which she is in her car with the gun to her head, hysterically on the phone with the hostage, with the negotiator trying to say that she didn't mean to kill her. She was an accident. She was trying to kill herself. And all these other excuses, but ultimately, see, she gave herself in and she got arrested. She's tried for first degree murder and claimed that the gun, quote, accidentally went off and all these other excuses, but ultimately it didn't work. And the jurors deliberated for less than three hours. And on October 23, 1995, they found Saldivar guilty. She's sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years, which is going to be March 30, 2025. But everyone's like, she is so incredibly hated in Texas. She will be murdered and she has to be in solitary confinement because of that. Because the rest of the.
Karen Kilgariff
Everybody wants to kill her in jail.
Vince
Yeah, everyone in jail who was huge Selena fans her whole life wants to fucking murder her.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, that's. I mean. Yeah.
Vince
Yeah. So she's. She spends every day, 23 hours a day alone in a nine by six foot. Let's see. So. The case has been described as the most important trial for the Latino population, and it was compared to the O.J. simpson murder trial. It was one of the most publicly followed trials in the history of Texas.
Engineer Steven
Wow.
Vince
Her posthumous 1995 crossover album, Dreaming of youf, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and became triple platinum.
Karen Kilgariff
That just gave me chills. I know.
Vince
She was the first Hispanic artist to have a predominantly Spanish language album debut and peak at number one.
Karen Kilgariff
That's so fucking cool.
Vince
I know.
Karen Kilgariff
I mean, terribly sad. But also because I remember that being in the movie where it's like the, The. It's a tragedy anyway.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
But this was someone who was poised on the verge of crossing over at a time before that was like before JLo, before any of those things were.
Vince
We remember, like in the late. You and I, and people our age will remember in the late 90s, like this huge. This huge Latin pop explosion. And that was like the first time it became mainstream. So Selena's doing this in the early 90s.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah. So she's for Ricky Martin before, like, any of that, where it was kind of like the sexy, you know, Shakira. Any of that wasn't.
Vince
That wasn't on American pop radio. Yeah, like, that was not on there at all. So she was kind of a trailblazer and seemed like a good person. And this fucking psycho bitch fan. I didn't know. I always pictured it differently. And it's just like so fucking tragic.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, it's also fascinating, that thing of like, when you can. It's like when you were saying, you know, she's just this random person, but you do trace those things of, like, a person who embezzles, a person who, like those kind of smaller crimes. That's how every story goes like this, where it's like, they always have a background where they're trying to get anything they want at any price.
Vince
And they have, like, gray area morals, too.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
Like, I don't like. Yeah. If I knew a friend embezzled money, I would not trust that person.
Karen Kilgariff
You're not allowed to steal money from other people.
Engineer Steven
It's not your money.
Vince
No, no.
Karen Kilgariff
You don't get to ha.
Vince
You have to abide by certain rules in life and not screw other.
Karen Kilgariff
You don't want to be that person. Like, I remember there was a cafe I was working at when I was a teen. And I had in my mind, I decided that I could take a $20 bill when I was closing at night so I could buy beer because they only paid me minimum wage. This whole rationalization. And I did it two times, Was racked with guilt about it. And then the manager told me. Did I tell you this story? The manager, who was also my friend, like, someone I hung out with, he goes, I don't. Something's going on. We're always short. I think it might be the janitor. And then I was like, oh, my. Because that's what happens. You steal. Somebody else could go down for it. Or like. I mean, the idea that he even would suspect this person who has nothing to do with it. Then I thought maybe he told me that because he knew it was me because it was always me or was me the two times. And that was just a manipulation, which. God bless you, genius move.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
But also, like. And then I. Like, the next week, I was talking to my dad on the phone and we were talking about something else. And then he goes, karen, there's some people out there that just can't keep their hands out of the till. And then I almost threw up. Cause I was like. I almost wanted to go. That's me.
Vince
My dad is. My sweet dad is talking about bad.
Karen Kilgariff
People, and I'm the bad one. You don't wanna be the bad person.
Vince
No.
Karen Kilgariff
You don't need. Whatever the thing is you think you need.
Vince
You don't.
Karen Kilgariff
Get your own.
Vince
Get your own.
Karen Kilgariff
Get your own. You can.
Vince
Yeah. Keep your hands out of the kitty.
Karen Kilgariff
That's super weird that I talked about that picture.
Vince
So weird.
Karen Kilgariff
Sorry about that. I didn't care.
Vince
It's super. Like, we've never talked about her before. No, not at all. That is super weird.
Engineer Steven
All right. Wow. That was A big story to cover.
Karen Kilgariff
Do you have updates?
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah, I do. So Selena's music and legacy, of course, continue to live on after her death. In 1995, a wax statue of Selena was unveiled at Madame Tussauds Hollywood, and she was inducted into the Texas Women's hall of Fame at Texas Women's University. Netflix, of course, released Selena the series. And in 2023, Rolling Stone ranks Selena at number 89 on its list of 200 Greatest Singers of all time, which is incredible. Also, Mac released a limited edition Selena makeup line. And it's been 30 years since Selena was murdered, which. Which is crazy. That's been so long. And that means that Yolanda Saldivar is eligible for parole this year. Her file will be reviewed, including letters of support and protest, and a case summary will be prepared for the board voting panel. Her parole review date is March 30th of this year, 2025. So that's something to keep an eye on. It's such a high profile case, you know, I can't imagine she's going to be paroled. Not that that's what it's about, but.
Engineer Steven
No, but I mean, that was such a. That story of like a person so inside turning on her is such a nightmare story. It's like it's not. This woman was not a serial killer. She was not like this hardened criminal in this way. Something horrible happened. And it doesn't feel the same as the story of the usual stories that we tell of, you know, a man being out there trying to kill every woman that he sees.
Vince
Right.
Georgia Hardstark
But she took advantage of this vulnerable person in a way that was so ugly, and then. And then killed her when that person.
Vince
Found out about it.
Georgia Hardstark
It's just so cold blooded to me. That. And just horrible. Yeah, let's keep an eye on that. And so this is another kind of epic story that you've done that gets brought up a lot. And so let's hear Karen's story about the Zanku Chicken murders.
Vince
Did I talk about your murder yet?
Karen Kilgariff
What's interesting is.
Engineer Steven
No, no.
Karen Kilgariff
All right, Karen, but you've lived near it. I'm sure you've heard about it.
Vince
Okay.
Karen Kilgariff
Because it's the Zanku Chicken murders.
Vince
Ooh.
Karen Kilgariff
And there's one on my way from work, driving here.
Vince
There's one here.
Karen Kilgariff
I drove by one. Yes, let's tell everyone.
Vince
Let's give everyone directions from Zanku Chicken to my apartment.
Karen Kilgariff
That's why I got real vague. Yeah, but this. So my mouth is watering.
Vince
Zanku Chicken is So good.
Karen Kilgariff
Zanku chicken is legendary in Los Angeles. If you've ever visited here, if you have friends that live here and you're not wealthy, you've probably eaten here because Sanku chicken is the best food that you can get for a decent price. And everybody knows it and everybody talks about it. It's up there with Roscoe's chicken and waffles in that way of like, if you're here, you have to go try this.
Vince
Definitely.
Engineer Steven
And Pink's.
Vince
Pink's Hot dogs, that kind of thing.
Karen Kilgariff
Pinks is shit.
Vince
It's so shit.
Karen Kilgariff
But it's fun to stand in line drunk. So go there.
Vince
Not gonna lie, I chomp some chili dogs my day.
Karen Kilgariff
But I've. For 20 years, I've driven by Pinks and watched people standing in line at 3in to get those hot dogs. So the first time I went there, I was like, this is gonna be crazy. And it was just hot dogs.
Vince
It's just hot dogs. But yeah, they're gross in a good way.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, it's like greasy, drunken food.
Vince
Total. Totally.
Karen Kilgariff
Okay. So I got most of my information from this awesome article from Los Angeles Magazine that was written by a guy named Mark Arax. And it's from April 1, 2008. There's way more information than I could even entertain. So if this interests you at all, look at that. You can Google it and it'll come up right away. And I remember reading this probably five years ago, because when this murder happened, everybody knew about it all of a sudden, and everybody was crazy freaked out about it. It'd be like your local mom and pop cafe, like some terrible thing happening there. But the story behind it is kind of fascinating because it's like. So in Los Angeles, there's a city that's right behind the hill that says Hollywood on it. Right behind that city is both Burbank and Glendale. I mean, right behind that mountain is Burbank and Glendale. And Glendale has the single largest population of Armenian people. That isn't Armenia in the world. Wow. It's huge. And Armenians came there after they were. There was the Turkish genocide, which there we see parades about and flags about. And it's like. It's weird because I never heard of anybody being Armenian until I moved to la. And now I feel like I know a ton of stuff about the Armenian culture simply because, like, I live in Burbank. I live close to Glendale.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
So anyway, this is. This restaurant, Zancoo Chicken was started originally in Beirut, Lebanon, by a man named Vart. And the pronunciation on this is going to. If you're Armenian or if you're just not a Valley girl, it's going to offend you. Vartkin, Martis Iskandarian and his family started the first Zankou chicken in Beirut in 1962.
Vince
Oh, wow.
Karen Kilgariff
And then they brought it over here in 1983. And it was. The chain actually was opened by Marderos, who is the son. And his parents were not interested in having a restaurant in America. They wanted to do dry cleaning, maybe go into the suit business. They looked into all these other businesses that were more kind of reliable than a restaurant. But Marderos believed that this. He looked around and he saw how few Middle Eastern restaurants there were with such huge populations of people that would appreciate the food. There was almost no food to feed them. That was like, from their home. Totally. So they opened their first restaurant at the corner of Sunset in Normandy in east east la. Hey. And the LA Times said it's the best roast chicken in town at any price. Which is kind of really saying something for the shishi restaurants they have here. The Zagat Guide would say that Zanku was one of America's best meal deals. America, not just la, which is cool. Jonathan Gold, who's a very famous food writer, he adores Zanku Chicken, reviewed it and said the chicken was superb. And nothing in heaven or on earth compares with the garlic paste.
Vince
Oh, my God. That garlic paste.
Karen Kilgariff
The garlic paste is what everybody talks about. And it was invented by Marderos grandmother.
Vince
Shut up.
Karen Kilgariff
And his mother makes it. Made it all by hand, so it was a secret recipe. People still don't know what's in it. It's this white paste that you get with your chicken and your rice and your hummus and your.
Vince
This little tub. It's like a side on the side.
Karen Kilgariff
And it is tangy and pungent and garlicky. But there's something else going on. It's kind of like butter. Like you can't figure out. All you want to do is eat it and put everything that you eat into it.
Vince
Then for the next day, you're belching garlic.
Karen Kilgariff
Yes, it's filled with garlic. You reek of. It's quite an experience. So that was kind of their secret weapon. Aside from the fact that they figured out that other rotisserie chicken places, they realized you have to move the chicken itself and you have to play with the temperatures. You can't just keep it on one temperature all the time. So they basically kind of went in there and tried to figure out how to give people who wanted to eat authentic Middle Eastern food the best version of that food and not just go like, here, here's whatever. Which is amazing. Apparently, one time on Curb youb Enthusiasm, Larry David referred to it as chicken. So good it could end the rift in the Middle East. So, like, everybody in LA knows about this.
Vince
It was also in a Beck song.
Karen Kilgariff
That's right. That's right. There's a list on Wikipedia of all the popular culture things. There was somebody on Buffy the Vampire Slayer also liked to eat there. So they started as this hole in the wall chicken place. And after, I would think, like, over two years, they were making $2 million a year.
Vince
Holy shit.
Karen Kilgariff
And half of that was pure profit.
Vince
Oh, my God.
Karen Kilgariff
So they obviously. Great. So there were rumors. Oh. So in this article. This is one of my favorite things in this article. This guy Mark, the writer, starts out by talking about the Armenian culture and everything. And he says there's a saying that little old Armenian ladies say in Armenian, which is, let's sit crooked and talk straight. Which totally made me think of us.
Georgia Hardstark
Oh, my God.
Karen Kilgariff
Isn't that the best? Let's sit cook crooked and talk straight. That's basically, let's gossip.
Vince
I mean, that is us to a T. I know. I'm fucking in love with it.
Karen Kilgariff
It's the best. So, of course, in the Armenian. I keep saying culture, but what I mean is community. This family rose to prominence, obviously, because they all of a sudden started making this tons of money, and their food was crazy popular, but they also were huge philanthropists and gave so much back. So they were kind of within that community because they were a huge part of it. So there was gossip. It was never confirmed that Pepsi was offering the company $30 million for the chain and the trademark. Holy shit. And this was when it was kind of, like, peaking in its popularity. And at that same time, even though Madeiros's parents did not want to expand, they just wanted to keep that one. The first shot, he was like. He kept fighting to expand. He's like, we have to do it. We have to do it. So finally, they agreed to split. And what they agreed to do was. I think it's Murderos. Sorry if I'm. I know I'm pronouncing his name wrong, but they agreed that he would take the concept and he would build the chain. And any stores that he opened doing that, whether they failed or succeeded, would be on him. Because that's basically what the family was afraid. Don't. Let's not lose all our Money, we got a good thing. Let's just keep this good thing going. And in return, he would sign over his stake of the original in Hollywood to his parents and his two sisters. But they weren't splitting. It wasn't. They weren't. They weren't. You know, it was. They were still completely together as a family. The garlic paste was still made by his mother. At all the Zancoos, which I just can't get over, is this woman who was probably at the time in her, I would say probably late 60s, early 70s. And they say in this article they talk about how this mother, I think her name is Margaret, spelled with rit. She worked. She got up at 7:30 every morning and went into work and worked till 7:00 at night. And when she was done cooking for the restaurant, she would start to cook for the people that worked at the restaurant.
Vince
Oh my goodness.
Karen Kilgariff
Like, cook people their homemade food from home that they.
Vince
Take a break, honey.
Karen Kilgariff
No, she couldn't do it. She was like, obsessive, which I love. Oops, sorry. That reminds me of my grandma. Like, my grandmother's index fingers were both bent at almost like right angles because of how much she cleaned. She came over here from Ireland when she was 17 and she was a maid for most of her life until she met my grandfather. So it's like those old country people are just like, we're here to earn it. We're here to here to fucking get it.
Vince
You're able to do it.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, that's right. And also, if you start a business, you gotta give it your all. So you make it into something totally. And they really did. They were this amazing family success story. And Marderos, well, he would constantly say to the whole family, success means nothing if we don't stay as one. Greed must never rear its head. There's plenty for all of us. And so he had a sister and she had two sons. And they loved all of each other. They were cousins, but they were. They felt more like they were each other's, you know, he had four boys, she had two sons. They were all, you know, very, very close. In fact, his wife was quoted as saying, before we married, he told me, I'm going to live with my parents my whole life. I will never leave my mother. She was queen of the house, not me. Next to God, it was his mother.
Vince
Holy.
Karen Kilgariff
So just to give you a sense of that. So Madeiros is diagnosed. Sorry, I don't have the date on this, but I believe it was in like 2001, I think or so he gets diagnosed with inoperable bladder and brain cancer.
Vince
Holy shit.
Karen Kilgariff
So he basically felt like he knew something was wrong. He had pains in places, but he didn't go to the doctor. He avoided it. And so by the time he went in, it had spread. So he holds a family meeting, and he tells his mother and his sister and his wife that he's dying and that when he dies, he wants the Zancu business to go to his four sons.
Vince
Oh, my goodness.
Karen Kilgariff
Now, the problem there is that his four sons were, at the time, and had been for a couple years, fuckups and in ways where the oldest son had been caught trying to cheat on a law school entrance exam. And so was. Had been a top student at, I think it was Woodbridge University. And so he basically got kicked out and was, like, barred from ever taking the test because he was gonna cheat.
Engineer Steven
Wow.
Karen Kilgariff
So after that, he became an evangelical Christian. He was like one of those guys that stands on the street, like, with a bullhorn.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
The second oldest son was tried for attempted murder when the pimp of the sex worker that he had just visited stole money from him. And he ended up chasing him up the freeway and shooting at his car. And he ended up getting tried for attempted murder.
Vince
Wow.
Karen Kilgariff
And it turned out to be a mistrial. So he never had to go to jail. But of course, that Mark. And of course, you know, if this is the richest family in the community and shit like this starts popping off.
Vince
Everyone'S talking about it.
Karen Kilgariff
Everyone's talking about it. Then the two younger were basically just on drugs. But when I was reading this article, it sounded so harsh. But it's like, that's that thing of, like, I feel like you can't get rich quick like that and have things just go great.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
Because once you start getting all the money you want and you can buy all the money things you want, then you start wanting the things you can't have. And it gets a little nuts like that.
Vince
Oh, I got it. Look at my riches.
Karen Kilgariff
I just. Please watch your behavior is what I'm saying. Okay. So when he makes this announcement, the room goes silent because that's. He's saying they're the ones that should get it. And his sister and his mother are both just staring at him. And see, it says his mother sat stone faced. She didn't ask what kind of cancer he had or what the prognosis that the doctors gave him. Instead, she blurted out in Armenian, your sons, the shadow they cast is not yours. And then she got up and she walked up the stairs and shut the door.
Vince
Holy shit.
Karen Kilgariff
Now, she lived with him, as he had said, him and his wife Rita. She wouldn't speak to him. So she would get up at 7:30 every morning, go to work, come home. They'd be standing in the kitchen. She'd get a glass of water and go upstairs and shut the door.
Vince
Your son's dying.
Karen Kilgariff
Yes. And as he was getting chemotherapy, as he was losing his hair, he ended up losing 60 pounds.
Vince
Oh, my God.
Karen Kilgariff
He was dying of cancer. Silent treatment.
Vince
That's so sad.
Karen Kilgariff
It's really fucking. And it's very old country. I mean, it's how some people are. It's hard. And obviously, I think knowing, at least based on what the wife says, the relationship that he had with his mother, this was breaking him. It was terrible.
Vince
Sure.
Karen Kilgariff
So after a year of the silent treatment, he went into his mother's room and he took down. There was a picture of him as a child in Beirut with her when he was like 4 years old that she had kept up on her dresser. He took it down, he took out the picture. He ripped it in half. He burned the half with her on it. And he crumpled up the half with him on it and threw it away and then put the frame back up. And two days later, their house catches on fire.
Vince
No.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah. Yeah. And their house. Him and his wife almost get caught in the house. They have to get rescued by fireman. The house burns down. The mother takes, you know, her stuff or whatever, I don't know how much she had left, and moves in with the sister. So she's gone, and that's the last.
Vince
Did the house catch on fire? We don't know.
Karen Kilgariff
No. But he. As he's going into his sickness and on, you know, I'm sure tons of painkillers. And in a weird place, he's telling his son Steve, that the fire is his mother's doing, that she knew based on what he did to the picture, that that's. That was her. And. Oh, my God, I can't stop doing that. It's okay, Stephen. We need a new setup. Sorry. So, yeah, he's hallucinating, basically, and saying that. That it was somehow her doing. He believed that his mother and her sisters and his sisters were plotting against him.
Vince
They are. To not give your fucking kids this goddamn business.
Karen Kilgariff
Well, yeah, I mean.
Vince
I mean, yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah, they were. It's. It's everybody's worst nightmare. It's kind of like, oh, so this. This is actually what it comes down to, really, at the end. So Steve having To hear this. And of course, loving his grandmother and being in the middle of it, said, can't you ever forgive her? And Marderos was quoted as saying, God will forgive the devil before I can forgive my mother.
Vince
Holy shit.
Karen Kilgariff
And then he said, because this is a mother, not a devil, which is super sad. It's like, yeah, ultimately, your mother turned her back on you when you were in your worst place. And also, it's that thing of. I'm sure after years and years of busting her ass to make this restaurant work, he was gonna come in and be like, here's how it's gonna happen. So it's like giving bad news and bad news.
Vince
It could also be like, you know how some people get mad at someone who's sick because it's easier than the sadness you can feel.
Engineer Steven
Yes.
Vince
So she might have been mad at him that she had to watch her son die.
Engineer Steven
Yes.
Vince
And it's easier than.
Karen Kilgariff
It's a thousand percent easier.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah. That's. It's a stage of grief.
Vince
Totally.
Karen Kilgariff
But she. Yeah, it's. It's hard. Yeah. Because when someone else has a disease, then it's all about them and how hard it is for them. You can't be mad at them. Like, I'm sure she had tons of. It was just this impacted problem.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
So anyway, on January 14, 2003, Marderos, who had been bedridden and was dying, gets out of bed, puts on a white silk suit that he hadn't worn in 20 years, gets a 9 millimeter handgun and a.38 caliber revolver, and walks down the stairs of his house. House. His wife Rita, couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Vince
Dude.
Karen Kilgariff
And she. She said in the way it's written in this article, for a man so near death, cancer everywhere, he looked beautiful. So he's having some weird last.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
Later on in the article, they went. He does not have that outfit on.
Vince
Okay.
Karen Kilgariff
So they think that she's remembering it because it's this crazy moment, and she's remembering him basically as his beautiful young self that she fell in love with.
Vince
I'm gonna cry.
Karen Kilgariff
Because it's a really beautiful story. But she. They lived across the street from each other in Beirut. And she. He was 19 and she was 12. And he was like, no, no, no, no. They did that. That's not when it started. That's when she first noticed him because he was like, the high roller. Yeah. Don't be freaked out. It's actually very sweet. And then when she got older, like, she was 18 and he was like 26. They started dating, okay? So it's very sweet. Like she was in love with him all her life.
Vince
Oh, I'm gonna cry.
Karen Kilgariff
So she said, you're too weak to go anywhere. Please get back in bed. And he said, I feel better, don't worry. I'm just gonna go down to Zancu and see my friends. So she. To see an old friend. And so she, you know, was like, all right, I'll see you soon. But he didn't go to Zancu. God damn it. He didn't go to Zancu. He went to his sister. The housekeeper lets him in. He sits at the table. The housekeeper gives him lemonade. His sister comes downstairs. She was in the shower. They sit and have a pleasant conversation and share some lemonade. Then Margaret, the mother, comes home from work around 2pm and she greets him. She says hello to the daughter first. Then she says hello to him, puts her stuff down, sits at the table. And the housekeeper goes downstairs to her apartment because she knows that they need to talk to each other. So they talk for about five minutes and it's just normal chit chat. And then he reaches into his waistband for his gun and he shoots his sister across the table.
Engineer Steven
Dead.
Vince
Shut the fuck.
Karen Kilgariff
Point blank. And then his mother screams and runs for the door. And he runs after her and he blocks the door and stands in front of her about like 15ft away from the door, it said. And he raises the gun in Armenian. She says, don't shoot me, please. And he shoots her eight times. He shoots her once. She goes down on the ground and then he stands over her and shoots.
Vince
Her seven more times. Shit.
Karen Kilgariff
He looks around the room and sees his 23 year old nephew is on the stairs from.
Vince
No, no.
Karen Kilgariff
And he just turns around, goes over into the living room, sits on the couch and shoots himself in the head.
Vince
Holy fuck. Are you serious?
Karen Kilgariff
So.
Vince
Oh my God.
Karen Kilgariff
Now Rita, the wife, well at least at the time of this article, was. Had to be in charge of all the Xander. And it was this whole. They were in court about the trademark and who owned the rights to it was. It's this huge thing and I didn't even get into it because there's so much more to this article.
Vince
The poor woman, after maybe years or maybe however long, taking care of her sick husband, that's fucking stressful as hell.
Engineer Steven
And raising four boys who are not doing.
Vince
Who are fuck ups, who were rich.
Karen Kilgariff
Kids, you know, who were like, who were rich kids. And she was a very traditional kind of old School wife where she didn't work, she didn't go to the store, she stayed home and was a housewife and took care of that family and suddenly just got thrown into this.
Vince
I would never want to raise rich kids, you know.
Karen Kilgariff
No. Well, but also because that's not anything you have experience with. So like they're having a whole life that you don't even.
Vince
They can do whatever they want.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
So then, then after taking care of her sick, dying husband, then this happens and she has to be in charge of so much shit she didn't expect to be in charge of.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah.
Vince
That poor woman.
Karen Kilgariff
Yeah. So I don't know. That's. That's that rough story behind the best restaurant in la.
Vince
Who owns it now? Is it still in the family?
Karen Kilgariff
I think they still do, but I'm not sure. I didn't get like once the murder part was over, that article goes on forever talking about all that part.
Vince
Yeah.
Karen Kilgariff
So I figure if people are super interested in who owns the rights to Zaku Chickens, you can go for it.
Vince
But I don't give a. I want to a. My stomach is growling.
Karen Kilgariff
I know.
Vince
Are you hungry now?
Karen Kilgariff
Oh, that's. I want to eat four chickens.
Vince
I do too. I'm like already thinking about what I'm gonna order tomorrow when I go.
Georgia Hardstark
Okay, we're back. Karen, do you have any updates?
Engineer Steven
There are a couple. So. And I've actually thought about this a lot because the line that journalist Mark Arax used when he wrote this article for Los Angeles magazine about the Zanku chicken murders that Sit crooked and talk Straight, which is an Armenian saying, as I learned from Mark Arax in that article has basically people love that line and they love it for this podcast. So it's been brought up in relation to this podcast. So I just wann to be very clear that we didn't make it up. Mark Arax actually didn't. But he did. He found it. And he, you know, that's that like beautiful long form journalistic work that someone does where they're like building out this world. Not just like, you know, the hard and fast true crime journalism, but like this beautiful story of fully fleshed out of what this family is all about and where they come from. So I thought about that a lot afterwards. Cause it was just like, man, that one part of an article got so kind of popular. Stuck.
Georgia Hardstark
It totally stuck.
Engineer Steven
So thank any older Armenian lady you see the next time you see them if you like that saying. Cause that's who probably her mother said it first. Anyway, in 2006, a court ruled that the trademark that they were basically all fighting over for Zanku Chicken, something I eat literally twice a week minimum. Just have to.
Georgia Hardstark
So good.
Engineer Steven
The trademark for that belonged to both sides of the family. That's what the court ruled. So Rita Iskandarian and her four sons own the Zankuz that Madeiros opened. The surviving nephews inherited their mother's share of the first Zankou, the one in Hollywood, and they still co own it with their aunt.
Karen Kilgariff
Though they all still battle over the.
Engineer Steven
Trademark, both sides have continued to basically expand the franchise.
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah, one thing I love about this podcast is I think a lot of people who listen ended up when they come to LA for a vacation, go to Zancu now and Del Taco. And I'm fucking proud of that.
Karen Kilgariff
Hell, yes.
Georgia Hardstark
You know, if we've given anyone any, like, good tips, that's one of the best, I think. I mean, go to Zancu.
Engineer Steven
Yes, and go to Zancu. Because the Armenian culture in Los Angeles is huge.
Georgia Hardstark
Definitely.
Engineer Steven
It's the second largest, densest population of Armenians outside of this country of Armenia.
Vince
Yeah.
Georgia Hardstark
Actually, that photo that we took is in. Taken. My first apartment in Hollywood was in Little Armenia. And Little Armenia, and it was such a pleasant neighborhood and the shops and I just. I loved it.
Engineer Steven
Yeah. And that's Little Armenia. And then Big Armenia is Gleno.
Georgia Hardstark
It's called Glendale.
Engineer Steven
Yeah, get over there with the Kardashians over at the Carousel restaurant. But I think it's kind of cool because it's like this story, this restaurant is such a huge part of the city, and the background of the restaurant is just as much a part of Los Angeles as movies and anything else. It's like if you're going to Zancoo on your trip out here, you're doing yourself right, and you're really getting a true taste of la, I think.
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah, absolutely.
Engineer Steven
All right. This episode was originally titled Just the 32 of Us.
Georgia Hardstark
I mean, it's classic. But just to humor us, let's see what we would name it these days based on something we said in the episode. So I like this one. Consider me wrong again, which I said during Corrections Corner, that could be tattooed on my fucking gravestone.
Engineer Steven
It's a real exercise in humility. Corrections Corner, as a practice, I think we've really. We've set ourselves up really nicely to just do that inner work every week. How do we fuck up?
Georgia Hardstark
How do we fuck up in public? Yeah, for sure.
Karen Kilgariff
Also, there's Skippers.
Engineer Steven
Come on home, which is us joking that Skippers should come back. Listen to the episode after they finish the intro.
Georgia Hardstark
Yeah. Start now. Press play now, Skippers. Well, thank you for not skipping. We appreciate you guys sticking with it, even if you did skip in the beginning and maybe don't skip now.
Vince
Like.
Karen Kilgariff
Cool.
Georgia Hardstark
Thank you.
Engineer Steven
I feel like people listening to Rewind are the opposite of Skippers.
Vince
They're just like.
Engineer Steven
We want to hear every. Every dirty, fucked up thing you've ever done. We're gonna be here for all of it.
Vince
Yeah.
Engineer Steven
We're gonna hear every story. We're gonna hear every horrible thing, every.
Georgia Hardstark
Anecdote, every corrections corner. Yeah.
Engineer Steven
All right. Thanks, you guys.
Georgia Hardstark
Stay sexy and don't get murdered.
Vince
Goodbye, Elvis.
Georgia Hardstark
Do you want.
Release Date: February 12, 2025
Podcast: My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
Network: Exactly Right
Hosts: Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
In this special episode of Rewind, hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark revisit Episode 32, titled "Just the 32 of Us." The Rewind series aims to revisit past episodes, providing fresh commentary, updates, and insights to both long-time listeners and newcomers.
Karen Kilgariff opens the episode with enthusiasm, noting, "This is exactly right." Georgia Hardstark welcomes listeners, setting the stage for a nostalgic yet updated discussion.
A significant portion of the episode centers around the hosts' interactions with their listeners—affectionately known as "Murderinos." They discuss the challenges and humor involved in managing a fan base, highlighting their endeavors to expand their social media presence.
Engineer Steven (Vince) shares insights about launching a new Facebook fan page, navigating around restrictions by branding it as "MFM Podcast." Georgia reflects on the enthusiasm of their fan community, saying, "People keep recognizing their friends in there, and it's, like, hilarious."
Notable moments include the playful banter about naming the fan base and the humorous attempts to engage followers with inside jokes and memorable moments from previous episodes.
Karen reminisces about her early episodes, particularly her experience with Adrienne, her sister's best friend who was secretly fascinated with serial killer Richard Ramirez. This story underscores the complex dynamics that can arise from intense fandoms and personal relationships.
Karen Kilgariff recounts, "She'd lock the door and leave me out of the room. The only way to get in was to make up a lip sync dance routine to a Pat Benatar song."
The discussion highlights the fine line between admiration and obsession, illustrating how personal connections can influence one's perception of true crime stories.
A substantial segment of the episode delves into the tragic murder of Selena Quintanilla Pérez by Yolanda Saldivar. Karen and Georgia provide a comprehensive recounting of the events leading up to the crime, the investigation, and its aftermath.
Vince narrates, "On March 31, 1995, Yolanda convinces Selena to meet her alone in a motel, where she shoots Selena in the back as she tries to escape."
They explore Yolanda's manipulation, Selena’s unwavering trust, and the emotional impact on fans and the Latino community. The hosts emphasize the significance of Selena's legacy, noting her groundbreaking achievements and lasting influence.
Karen Kilgariff reflects, "Selena was the embodiment of young, smart, hip Mexican American youth from a tight-knit family."
Notable quotes include discussions on the nature of Yolanda's actions and Selena's posthumous fame, such as:
Vince [21:35]: "Yolanda Saldivar, room 158. Those were her last words."
Transitioning from Selena’s story, Karen introduces the Zanku Chicken murders—a case intertwining business success with familial tragedy. This story centers around the Armenian family behind the beloved Los Angeles restaurant chain, Zankou Chicken.
Karen provides an engaging narrative of how Marderos Iskandarian, the visionary behind Zankou Chicken, built a thriving business amidst personal and familial challenges. However, underlying tensions and unresolved conflicts culminated in a devastating outcome.
Karen Kilgariff shares, "On January 14, 2003, Marderos gets out of bed, puts on a white silk suit, and tragically ends the lives of his family before taking his own."
The hosts delve into the cultural backdrop, the Ethiopian-Armenian community in Los Angeles, and the intricate family dynamics that led to such a harrowing incident. They discuss the business implications, including trademark disputes and the enduring legacy of Zankou Chicken.
Georgia Hardstark adds depth to the story by highlighting the cultural significance of Zankou Chicken in LA, saying, "It's the best roast chicken in town at any price."
The episode also provides updates on the long-term impacts of both cases discussed.
Selena’s Legacy:
Zanku Chicken’s Continuation:
They reflect on how Zankou Chicken remains a staple in LA’s culinary scene, symbolizing both success and the deep-rooted complexities of family businesses.
As the episode draws to a close, Karen and Georgia engage in playful discussions about renaming Episode 32 based on memorable moments from their conversations.
They consider names like "Consider Me Wrong Again" and "Skippers," ultimately settling on options that reflect their humorous and introspective interactions.
Georgia Hardstark concludes with a light-hearted invitation: "Stay sexy and don't get murdered."
Episode 32 of Rewind with Karen & Georgia offers a rich tapestry of true crime narratives interwoven with personal anecdotes and cultural insights. By revisiting and dissecting significant cases like Selena’s murder and the Zanku Chicken tragedy, the hosts provide a multifaceted exploration of crime, community, and legacy. Their engaging dialogue, sprinkled with humor and heartfelt reflections, ensures that both new listeners and dedicated fans find value and entertainment in this comprehensive recap.