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Real Life Real Crime
True Crime Time For April 21, 2025 | FSU Shooting, Diddy Allegations, and Cold Case Breakthroughs
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Americans love using their credit cards the most secure and hassle free way to pay, but D.C. politicians want to change that with the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. This bill lets corporate megastores pick how your credit card is processed, allowing them to use untested payment networks that jeopardize your data security and rewards. Corporate megastores will make more money and you pay the price. Tell Congress to guard your card because Americans lose when politicians choose. Learn more@guardyourcard.com foreign.
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Hello everybody and welcome to True Crime time for Monday, April 21, 2025 and I am not Woody Overton. I am Cindy Overton and I hope that everyone had a great and safe Easter. You got the golden egg, you had a great meal, you spent time with friends and family. You spent time relaxing, reading a book, watching a TV show, had a crawfish bowl, had some steak or roasted a lamb. I have no idea what your family does, but whatever it does, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that it was the best Easter you have ever had. As for me and my family, it was a bittersweet Easter and we will wait for Woody to come back to explain that. But I just want to take a moment to let y'all know that the Overton family is experiencing an extreme loss at this time. And because of that, I am going to do the best that I can to continue to push out episodes in the best way that I can and keep the show going in the best way that I can. So thank you for your patience and understanding and continued support during this time. One of the things that I thought about the other night and I thought it would be a really fun idea to implement was and is to have you, our wonderful lifers, tell stories of your own in a segment that we're going to call True Crime Time with the Lifers. And what that looks like is you telling your own story that you want to tell. Crime related, of course, and or you find a story that you think is intriguing, something that we would love to hear, and you record your version of it and send it to me@cindy cyndieallliferealcrime.com I will edit it into an episode and push those stories out for the next at least three days. For true crime time for this week of April 21, 22nd, 23rd and 24th, I want to at least use the 22nd, 23rd and 244th to be lifer stories. We do already have one in. It's a great anonymous story. I am not going to tell you who it is Because I promised this person that they would remain anonymous and I hope that this person sends in more and I hope that the rest of y'all join in to record is easy. You can go to your voice memos on your phone and hit the record button and then share it to me. And that's as easy as it gets. So as far as an Android phone, to be honest, I'm not quite sure how that works. I'm assuming that they have some type of recording app on Androids as well. If it is a longer story, we can figure that out. If it's something that's going to require a little bit more time, we can figure that out. But I don't think that we're going to have any time problems by you recording voice memos on your phone and sending them to me. And I will get them uploaded, composed into an episode and pushed out. So I hope that that works for y'all. I hope that y'all really enjoy this fun addition to the show. We will then, after this week, incorporate it into episodes weekly. So depending on the number of stories we get, we will do it in one or two episodes a week. Maybe one or two stories at a time. I am also going to let you know when I add your story to an episode. That way you can have your friends and family join in on the fun and listen to you on True Crime Time four. And I think that's going to be fun. So I have another thing that I have to say. I cannot go without mentioning this. I want to say a huge congratulations to our son for running his first 10k this past weekend. He placed 153rd in his age group and there are pictures on social media. We are so proud of him. He started training for this very recently. He. He has never raced before and he set his goal and he succeeded and I am so, so, so proud of him. He is now registered for the Louisiana Marathon, which is in January. And his ultimate goal is to be an iron man. And I know Kimmy, your hubby is an iron man, so maybe they can do an iron man together. I don't think guys like, you know, run side by side and swim side by side and bike side by side in Iron Man. I don't know, but thought maybe that would be cool for them to bond over that. I know y'all met LA at. I think it was the live. I think it was a crew bash in 2021 or maybe 2022 at the Hilton, hanging out in the wee hours of the morning. But anyway, let's get started with today's episode. I'm going to be first, starting with the tragic incident of the Florida State University shooting. It's so, so sad. I don't really, I just, I, it's just sad. So I'm just going to begin and as I'm sure most of you know the story now, but I just want to, you know, tell it from the True Crime Time 4 perspective. So it was noon on Thursday, April 17, 2025, and it was kind of quiet, you know, at Florida State University student union and students and faculty and staff were just going about their day, obviously unaware that within minutes their lives would be irrevocably changed. At approximately 11:56am 20 year old political science student Phoenix Ickner opened fire near the student union. He was armed with a handgun and a shotgun and he began a shooting spree that lasted for four minutes. And I wish that I could do a woody thing right now like where he likes to pound. Not like he likes to, but he'll use a demonstration of like beating on a table or the wall behind him when we're talking about like stabbing someone a certain amount of times. And I would just like to do a four minute, just honestly, I would like to do a four minute moment of silence for these victims. But I don't think y'all want to hear four minutes of dead space. So we're just going to imagine what that four minutes felt like to everybody and how long and how terrorizing that was. But Ignor, who had arrived on campus in an orange Hummer, first attempted to use a shotgun. The shotgun jammed and so then he switched to his handgun and he fired indiscriminately, of course, causing chaos and panic among those present. Students barricaded themselves in classrooms. Some even chewed gum to affix paper over windows to hide from the shooter. One student recounted hearing 15 rounds fired in rapid succession. Another survivor, Madison Askins, described how the shooter approached her, reloaded his weapon and calmly said, keep running. So who are the victims? Well, everybody that was there is a victim. But two individuals lost their lives in the attack. A 57 year old campus dining director and former assistant football coach Robert Morales lost his life. And Tiru Chaba, 45 years old and he was a regional vice president of Armark Collegiate Hospitality. And that is, I think it's Aramark. I think I said that wrong. If I am saying this correctly, it's the same one that Southeastern Louisiana University, where we will be doing our live event in July, that's the same hospitality group that they use their food services. Even though both were not students, they were definitely integral, you know, members of the university community. And then there were six others that were injured, including a 23 year old graduate student who was shot while running away. So shot in the back, he was fleeing. And all injured victims were reported to be in fair condition and thank goodness, expected to recover. So let me tell you a little bit about the shooter. Phoenix Ichner, born Christian Gunner Erickson. He had like a really tough, tumultuous upbringing. His parents engaged in a prolonged custody battle culminating in his mother abducting him to Norway in 2015. And then at some point they returned. After their return, Ignor lived with his father and stepmother. And Jessica Ignor, the stepmother, was a long time Leon County Sheriff's deputy. Phoenix was known on campus for espousing far right white supremacist views and had been expelled from a university debate club for his extremist rhetoric. Investigators revealed that he used his stepmother's former service weapon in the attack. So what happened once he stopped firing? Right. Law enforcement responded swiftly and Ignor was shot by police after refusing to comply with commands and was taken into custody with non life threatening injuries. The campus was placed on lockdown and classes were canceled for the remainder of the week. Students returned to campus the following day to retrieve belongings and pay respects to makeshift memorials adorned with balloons, candles and teddy bears. The shooting has obviously sent shockwaves through the community and the nation. And Governor DeSantis and President Donald Trump offered condolences. With President Donald Trump reaffirming his support for the second Amendment. And Fred Gutenberg, father of Parkland shooting victim Jamie Guttenberg, expressed anguish, noting that some of his daughter's friends, which were now Florida State University students, had survived their second school shooting. And as I said that, I got goosebumps and of course, you know me by now. I'm going to tear up. And so can you imagine? I just hope that those students are getting the help and support that they need, all of them. But experiencing two and surviving is amazing. And I just, that's just really emotional. So the Florida State University shooting is a reminder of this pervasive issue of gun violence in educational institutions. And it makes you question even more how these tragedies can be prevented. And if Phoenix wasn't able to get a hold of a gun or guns, he would have used knives. And if he couldn't, I mean, we're assuming, I'm assuming this, but my point is, is if someone doesn't have access to guns like we tell stories all the time of people in places where they don't have access to guns. They will use a knife, they will make a bomb run over people. Like if someone wants to harm, they will. And so my question is, how do we stop it? At some point are we going to be able to develop a profile and be able to hopefully see the tendencies in someone's behavior and help us to stop this? I don't know. I mean, I don't know. If Woody was here he would have a lot to say about it. He would say that that's. I have no idea what he would say. I would think that he would say that would be impossible because you have no idea what's going to make someone snap, what the motivation is. You know, just everybody's, you know, very unique but they've been able to do it for serial killers and sometimes, you know, it doesn't happen exactly the way they think. Just like with Derek Todd Lee, they thought he was a white male and he wasn't. So sometimes those profiles don't, don't work but they've been developed for a reason. So I don't know. I really don't know and I don't want to speculate and I don't want to anything other than condolences for those sweet people and their families and all of the students at FSU and the faculty and I just hope that there's speedy recovery and everyone gets the support that they need. So we're going to go to another story. And the beginning of this story takes place on October 2, 2017 and the quiet city of Medford, Oregon. It was shaken by a crime that would unravel a tale of forbidden love, alleged abuse and meticulously planned murder. So it starts off with a disappearance. Maggie Fryer's frantic 911 call reported her ex husband who is 50 year old Aaron Fryer and their 15 year old daughter Ellen Fryer as missing. And upon arrival at Aaron's home police discovered a gruesome scene. Blood spattered walls, shattered glass and a trail of blood leading to an unknown destination. Aaron's car was also missing and it was captured on a neighbor's security camera leaving the residence around 5.30am so an investigation ensued and and all hands were on deck and they mobilized the Medford police detectives including Detective Bill Ford and Detective Shannon Reynolds. And their initial assumption was that Ellie might have been a victim of homicide. However, hope surfaced when Ellie's 11 year old sister Sierra provided some crucial information. Sierra recalled waking up to her father's yelling and the sound of something crashing at 5am she also reported seeing two individuals walking back and forth outside, one of whom she identified as 22 year old Russell Jones. So approximately four hours after the initial report, Ellie was found unharmed walking alongside a busy street with her 19 year old boyfriend, Gavin McFarland and Russell Jones. All three were taken into custody for questioning. During the interrogation, Russell Jones, who was known for being talkative, was offered a cigarette by Detective Ford. And this was a tactic referred to as smoking and joking. And I wish that Woody was here because he would be able to tell you so many stories of when he used this tactic. And he also tells stories of using the tactic when he knows that he's fixing to, as he calls it, get, get the juice out of someone and take them outside for a cigarette. And there's another thing that happens right before he knows they're ready to confess. Once that person gets the cigarette and then everything is in place. So I guess that's kind of what this is like. This approach led Jones to confess his involvement and direct police to Aaron Fryer's body, which was found wrapped in a green tarp and a tinkerbell fleece blanket off a remote highway 20 miles north of Aaron's home. The murder weapon was a bloody baseball bat and it was discovered lodged in a nearby tree. So why like, obviously, what's the motive? Their investigations revealed that Aaron had forbidden Nelly from seeing McFarlane, leading to tensions. And text messages between Ellie and McFarland indicated a plot to kill Aaron. In one message, Ellie wrote, we need to make sure he's dead by the time we leave his house. And another read, you can kill him in less than a minute, right? Oh my gosh, that's just sick. This is her father she's talking about. Just because he won't let her date McFarlane. Ellie claimed that her father was abusive. She has alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse. However, these claims were not substantiated by evidence or corroborated by her sisters, who described Aaron as a loving father. Detectives remain skeptical of Ellie's allegations, noting inconsistencies in her statements.
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Americans love using their credit cards the most secure and hassle free way to pay. But D.C. politicians want to change that with the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. This bill lets corporate mega stores pick how your credit card is processed, allowing them to use untested payment networks that jeopardize your data security and rewards. Corporate megastores will make more money and you pay the price. Tell Congress to guard your card because Americans lose when politicians choose.
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Learn more@guardyourcard.com so in October of 2018, Gavin McFarland pleaded guilty to murder in conspiracy to commit murder and received a sentence of 25 years to life. And I say it all the time, please, if you know you're guilty, obviously you know you're guilty. But please don't make us spend so much time, money, energy on your defense when you don't deserve one. So thank goodness Gavin did that. But in January of 2019, Ellie Fryer also, thank goodness, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 25 years. Russell Jones entered a non contest plea to conspiracy to commit murder in August of 2021 and received a 15 year sentence. Ellie Fryer, who's now 23 years old, has been serving her sentence in a juvenile detention center and is set to be transferred to an adult prison in December of 2026. And while she has been in prison she has earned two master's degrees. Her younger sister Sierra has joined the National Guard honoring her father's aspirations for her. And this is just a tragic case that we never ever ever know what's going on inside of a family. What family relationships look like and what abuse looks like to one child is different than another. I mean, obviously sexual abuse is sexual abuse, but I don't know, it's just horrible. So I'm just glad that they pled guilty. They're serving their time and that's it. Like kudos to them I guess, for doing the right thing in that way, at least in my opinion. But, but I'm going to move on and we're going to go to New York City. On April 18th of 2025 in New York City, there was a lot of people in a courtroom and they were there to see Sean Diddy Combs. And as y'all know, he is a titan in the industry, in the music industry and he's now facing some grave allegations. And the judge's decision was clear. On this day, Combs request to delay his upcoming trial was denied, setting the stage for the legal battle that has captured national attention. So a little bit of the timeline of events. So on September 16, 2024, Combs was arrested following a federal indictment on charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. And the arrest stemmed from a series of investigations and civil lawsuits, notably one filed by his former partner, Cassie Ventura. And she alleged abuse and exploitation. Then on October 10th of 2024, Judge Aaron Subramanian scheduled the trial to commence on May 5th, 2025 and Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges. Then In March of 2025, a superseding indictment introduced additional charges and a new alleged victim intensifying the case against Combs. On April 18, 2025, Judge Subramanian denied Combs legal team requests for a two month trial delay, asserting that the defense had sufficient time to prepare. So the trial is set for May 5, 2025 and it will remain there. So that is it on the P. Diddy story. And I have one more story to tell you. And this is a quest for justice and this is a 53 year quest for justice. So I'm going to take you back to July 7, 1972 and 26 year old Phyllis Baylor embarked on a journey from Indianapolis to Bluffton, Indiana with her three year old daughter. They were en route to visit Phyllis's parents and the trip was just like over 100 miles. So not a far trip. I mean you could do that in a couple hours, right? So tragically they never reached their destination. So Phyllis and her daughter departed around 8pm and when they failed to arrive in Bluffton, the family members were concerned and reported them missing. The following Morning at approximately 10:30am, Phyllis's car was discovered abandoned on the northbound highway of I 69 in Grant County, Indiana. But the hood was up and no one was in sight. About an hour later, a passerby found Phyllis's body in a ditch alongside West Road in Allen county with her daughter unharmed beside her. So an investigation, of course, was started, and the autopsy revealed that Phyllis had been sexually assaulted and died from a single gunshot wound to the head. And at the time, DNA testing was not available. And despite extensive investigations, no arrests were made. Years later, a partial DNA profile was developed from evidence collected at the scene, but it was insufficient to identify a suspect. But as we know, there's been many breakthroughs in forensic genealogy. So in 2024, advancements in DNA technology allowed the Indiana State Police Laboratory to develop a more comprehensive DNA profile from the evidence. And collaborating with Identifiers International, which is a forensic genealogy company, investigators utilize the genetic genealogy to identify the suspect. And that's exciting. So, I mean, of course I say it's exciting because we're getting a case solved here, which is amazing. So in early 2025, they matched the DNA to Fred Allen Linneman, who would have been 25 years old at the time of the murder. So let me tell you about Mr. Fred Allen Lennon. I don't think I'm saying it right, but he was originally from the Anderson area in Indiana, had a significant criminal history, including car theft. He had no known connection to Phyllis Baylor. Investigators discovered that he was murdered in Detroit in 1985 at the age of 37. And if he were alive today, authorities stated he would have been charged with her murder. So he kept living that risky lifestyle, and it caught up with him, and he's no longer here. But anyway, at least the families, in my opinion, have answers. They know who did it. Obviously they don't have a motive, but they at least have answers. And that's, I think, the only thing. Not the only thing. There would be so many things that would kill me if I didn't know who my child. I don't even want to go there. So this case underscores the power of forensic genetic genealogy in solving cold cases. As Colleen Fitzpatrick, the founder of Identifinders International, noted, this case is an example of still another homicide that would never have been solved without forensic genetic genealogy. And after more than five decades, Phyllis Baylor's family finally has answers, bringing a measure of closure to a long standing tragedy. And that poor little girl that was lying was sitting next to her mama, waiting for someone to come. I can't imagine I hope that she is safe and secure and has had a wonderful life. I wish that I had some information on her and how she's doing. One more story about a Canadian Drummer. So on April 9, 2025, the music world was rocked. Well, I mean, I guess it was the music world. I'm not in the music world. But it was rocked by the arrest of Joseph Paul Ciders or Satyrs. He was a 44 year old drummer for the Canadian indie rock band get the name the New Pornographers. He was known Cider Satyrs S E I D E R S was known for his multi instrumental talents and contribution to the band's success since 2014 and he now faces serious charges of child sexual abuse materials. With a name like that, what do you expect? But the Investigation began on April 7th when an 11 year old boy reported to authorities that a man had recorded him with his cell phone while he was using the restroom at a Chick Fil A in Palm Desert, California. Two days later on April 9, deputies received another report from the same location about a man exhibiting similar suspicious behavior. And upon arrival, the police approached Siders at the scene. A subsequent search of his vehicle, his home and cell phone uncovered evidence linking him to the incidents and revealed possession of child sex abuse materials. So he's now been charged with possession of child sex abuse materials, molesting a child, invasion of privacy and attempted invasion of privacy. He is currently held on $1 million bail at the John J. Benoit Detention center in Indio, California, with a court appearance scheduled for tomorrow, April 22. So what does the ban say about this? Well, the New Pornographers expressed their shock and dismay over the allegations, stating on Instagram, everyone in the band is absolutely shocked, horrified and devastated by the news of the charges against Joe Siders. And we have immediately severed all ties with him. So in conclusion, as the investigation continues, authorities believe there, there may be. Yeah, he doesn't just start going to Chick Fil A doing this. There may be additional victims and they urge anyone and everyone with information to come forward. You know, when my kids were little, they would come with me to the bathroom. And even at the age that these, let's see, 11, no, an 11 year old. My 11 year olds would not come into the bathroom with me, but there's just no way of protecting them. And thank goodness they reported it and they just didn't think that it was okay that this man was, you know, recording them or whatever. So kudos to them, kudos to their family for probably having a talk with Them about stranger danger and how to stay safe in public. Thank goodness for that. And I think I'm going to end this here today. I do have a couple more stories to tell, but it's just me flying solo and I hoping that you're still here. You probably turned this off when you were like, oh, no, Woody, I'm not going to be here anymore. But I do want to again, just please ask for prayers for the Overton family at this time. Like I said at the top of this, Woody will definitely share what he's going through when he comes back. And I just ask for prayers for the whole Overton family, of course, including, you know, myself and the kids. And I want to please beg you to send in your story so you do not have to listen to me Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I would love to listen to you, the lifers, tell your stories. And you know what? If you don't want to have. If you don't have a story to tell, if you do not want to retell a story like we do, if you don't have a story, a personal story that you want to share and you want to just send in a review, a verbal review, a verbal something, anything that you want to talk about. This is your time. Behind the mic. And I might ref. Let's say true crime. No lifers behind the mic. I don't know. I kind of made up. I kind of like Woody. Woody has his best thoughts when he's, like, half awake and half asleep. That sweet spot for him. I kind of do the same thing. The difference between me and Woody is Woody actually remembers his thoughts. I don't. So when I had this thought of doing the lifer stories, I actually got my phone and typed it in so I would not forget. But I just want to thank you so much for listening, and I want to thank you for your support. And I beg you to please, please continue in your fight for justice for Haley. Just because we did the call to action, just because emails have been sent, phone calls have been made, just because last Friday you did not get a justice for Haley episode does not mean we're done. We don't just, like, wipe our. Wipe our hands clean and say, okay, we did our job. It's up to the, you know, court system now. Or it's up to the D.A. it's up to the investigator. No lifers. We're just getting our fight started. Woody has laid it out. Ms. Barbara has laid it out. Stella and Tyler have laid it out. You have videos. You have everything. Everything except Autopsy pictures. There are a few text messages, but everything that you need to fight and do your CTA and you know, which is a call to action. Follow through with the cta, keep sending those emails, reword them, reframe them, thank them for getting the lead investigator on the scene. Thank them for acknowledging it, like whatever. Like use, you know, honey gets more flies than vinegar. However it goes, like be, just be gracious and grateful to them. Do whatever you want to do. Like Woody says, however you want to do it, you do it. But we have not forgotten about Haley. We will never forget about Haley. We will continue to fight for justice for Haley as long as we have to. And as we learned in Courtney Coco's case, even once the, you know, the evidence was handed over in a pretty bow tied package that Woody made for Alexandria, they still have to go and do their own investigation and prove that everything that, you know, Woody gave them was correct. And they ended up finding more information. We just, this isn't anywhere near over. Please do not stop. And so two weeks ago was just a couple more things before we go. Two weeks ago was National Crime Victims Week. We were grateful because it coincided with the week that we dropped the call to action for Haley. But all of April has something that we talk about on this show as an awareness week. So. Or it's an awareness month. So this is sexual assault awareness month, Child abuse prevention month. And. Well, what does that mean? Right? So why, why do we have this? What can we do? Well, you can look up searches and there's things in your communities. Every community treats this different. For us with our Justice 4 series, on Fridays, we wore pink for justice for Courtney or red. We put pink lights on our porch lights and lit those lights up and sent pictures in and flooded Facebook with that. With justice for Haley, we do sunset pictures and sunrise pictures and that's the way we've gone with her. And at some point, once this goes to court and Brooks is charged with murder, we will probably pick a light color and light our houses up that color and support. And so that's what people do. So for example, to show your support for child abuse awareness, you wear blue. So you, we, you know, you can do that. And what made me think of this was with LA running and the Crescent City Classic yesterday, it was so touching, so emotional because I was watching all of these runners run and they were running with strollers. They were running with an American flag, not just like holding an American flag, you know, pinned to their body like an American flag on a wooden stick. A pole, you know, like carrying that for this run. There was a man in a whole full fireman suit doing the run. And I know that a lot of firemen do that for 9, 11. They climb the stairs, you know, they all go to a gym and they walk on the stepper and they climb that many, as many flights of stairs as the World Trade Centers. And they do, you know, things like that. Well, there was people running with certain colors on, all one color. There was people running with T shirts that had, you know, their own causes on them. There were so many people running, pushing wheelchairs. And I just sat there and I cried. I mean, I'm. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I did. I cried. I was. It hit me. Every single person running that has a Y like for, for la. His why is for health and fitness and pushing his body and setting a goal and achieving it. And for others, it was whatever theirs is. And it was very, very touching. And it made me want to do more for victims. That made me want to do more to advocate for people that cannot advocate for themselves. So, anyway, I thank you for listening to me ramble today and I'm going to end it here. I hope you have a blessed day.
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Americans love using their credit cards the most secure and hassle free way to pay. But D.C. politicians want to change that with the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. This bill lets corporate megastores pick how your credit card is processed, allowing them to use untested payment networks that jeopardize your data security and rewards. Corporate megastores will make more money and you pay the price. Tell Congress to guard your card because Americans lose when politicians choose.
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Learn more@guardyourcard.com your next unforgettable experience can happen anytime. Take an AMEX card with you for rewards wherever you go. Morning coffee run with an old friend. Earn cash back. Weekend getaway. Earn miles. AMEX rewards your inner explorer. Learn more@americanexpress.com terms apply.