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Real Life Real Crime
True Crime Time For April 24, 2025 | Scott Peterson Update, Lori Vallow Trial, and Listener Crime Stories
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- [00:00]
Cindy Overton
Foreign.
- [00:16]
Woody
Hello everybody and welcome to True Crime. Time for Thursday, April 24, 2025 and I am Cindy Overton. I'm flying solo again today. Miss my post tremendously. We thank you for all of the prayers, all of the comments and all of the love that has been sent to the Overton family during this time. I did not plan on recording today. Yesterday I re released the very first episode of Real Life, Real Crime, Double Clutch and Christina Constance. I hope y'all enjoyed that. It has been a fan favorite for a very long time. It has opened a lot of eyes for people to really think about sleepovers and it is the episode that propelled us to number one in the world and all podcasts and of course True Crime a couple years ago because of a TikTok that was done about it. So I hope you all enjoyed it. And I was going to release another episode today. But we are blessed that two lifers sent in stories and those two lifers are Cheryl Reed and PT Allen has sent in his second. So I wanted to also make a few comments about other things. So I figured I would go ahead and push through and record an episode where with this information in it and without further ado, I guess let's get started. And I would like to start this episode by expressing my condolences to the Vatican with Pope Francis death and wish them well while they do their best to find the best pope to be a leader in the Catholic Church. And I know that this day and age, finding a pope to represent all Catholics is not going to be easy. So many prayers for the Vatican at this time and Pope Francis family and close friends. And with that we actually have an update on the Scott Peterson case. And I'm going to give that. I wish that Woody was here to give it because there were. There's a lot of things in here that I have questions about. So I'm just going to share the information and then when Woody gets back, we can address it. But there's been a significant development in the case or I wouldn't be sitting here talking about it. The Los Angeles Innocence Project has filed a nearly 400 page petition. They did this on April 18th with the California Court of Appeal, and they assert Peterson's innocence for the 2002 murders of Lacey and Connor. And the petition includes what they consider new evidence and witness statements that challenge the original conviction and suggest alternative scenarios. As I read this, what is confusing to me is this is not new evidence. This was from what I know from my research and, you know, pulling everything together for Woody to do scorched. This isn't new. This was addressed in the previous trial. And in my opinion, just because it wasn't addressed adequately, you know, I mean, I guess they're, they're arguing that he didn't have a good defense, but he had the best defense in the world at the time. And it still, still would be arguably the. The best defense attorneys. So, anyway, let's get to the key points at the petition, and I won't speculate. We'll. Like I said, I'll wait for Woody to ask him these questions. But the Innocence Project presents witness testimony indicating that Lacey may have confronted two burglars near her home on the day she disappeared. And a neighbor reportedly overheard a conversation among the burglars about Lacey witnessing their crime, suggesting that she was alive after Scott left for the fishing trip that morning. That's not new evidence. That's been talked about several times. So anyway, then the van that is linked to that burglary was found burned near the Petersons home, which contained a mattress with suspected blood stains. And the defense argues that this evidence was not adequately investigated or presented during the original trial. And then they are also challenging the prosecution's timeline. So the Innocence Project disputes the prosecution's timeline, suggesting that the bodies of Lacey and Connor could not have drifted from the area where Scott went fishing to where they were recovered. They proposed that the bodies were more likely placed in the waters off of the Albany Bulb, a location accessible by car and foot, not by boat from Scott's fishing spot, which I would argue that Scott went and dropped the bodies in that area. Been one of my theories for a while. And then went and put his boat in the water and went fishing. And that's why the witnesses at the marina didn't see bodies in the boat. And that's why if. If the boat would have capsized with him dumping the bodies over, or the body Lacey over, then that wouldn't have happened either. If there was a possibility that it would have capsized, that wouldn't have happened because she wouldn't have been in the boat for it to do that. So, yeah, I, I think that he did that all along anyway. But then the next key point in the petition is that the prosecution claimed that Scott secretly bought the boat to dispose of the bodies and asserts that Scott and Lacey purchased the boat together, which undermines the narrative of premeditation. Well, I'll argue that, too. You can buy a boat with your wife and she's going to support you, but you could still use it to Dump her body. Like, I mean, that's crazy to me. I mean, I don't know. So then we have the DNA testing. In 2024, the court allowed DNA testing on duct tape found on Lacey's clothing, marking a step forward in Peterson's appeal. However, requests to test other items, including the mattress from the burned van, were denied. So the court is currently reviewing the Innocence Project petition. And if the court finds merit in the new evidence and arguments presented, it could lead to a new trial for Scott Peterson. So we'll see what happens with that. But I remember that Lacey actually went and saw the boat the day. The day before the murder or two days before the murder. And she was at the warehouse and she actually used the other bathroom because Scott said that there wasn't electricity or something like that, and his office warehouse space. But as far as I know, she saw the boat. So anyway, I'm gonna, I'm gonna stop talking about that and move on to the next story, which is about Lori Daybell. This is a very, very crazy story that's in all over the news right now. It was November 26, 2019, just days before Thanksgiving, when officers knocked on the door of Lori Vallow's townhouse in Rexburg, Idaho. They weren't there for a warrant, not a raid. They weren't even there for like a major investigation. They just went for a welfare check as they. It seems to happen often. Thank goodness for welfare checks. But Lori's 7 year old adopted son they called JJ JJ Valo hadn't been seen in weeks, and his grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, had grown increasingly worried. JJ had autism and he needed regular care. And their calls had gone unanswered. So when the police went to Lori's door, she answered it calmly and she smiled and she told police JJ was in, in Arizona with a friend. But investigators contacted the friend and that's when the story began to fall apart. The friend hadn't seen JJ in months. And then questions began arising about Tyler Ryan, which was Lori's 16 year old daughter. And Lori claimed that Tylee was away at college, which was another lie. And just like that, questions began. So of course, the questions were, where are JJ and Tylee? But as you dig deeper into the story, it just gets worse and worse. So authorities began to uncover a disturbing pattern. A trail of deaths and disappearances all connected to Lori Valo Daybell. So. So we're going to rewind. We're going to go back all the way to July 11th of 2019, four months before JJ and Tylee disappeared. And that morning, Lori's then husband Charles arrived at her Chandler, Arizona home. According to Lori, Charles had become a threat. She said he was unstable. And so before the morning was over, Charles was dead, shot twice in the chest by Lori's brother, Alex Cox. Now, Alex claimed it was self defense. He told police Charles hit him with a baseball bat. But that's not what the scene looked like. Alex waited nearly 45 minutes before calling 91 1. Lori left the scene shortly after the shooting to take JJ to school and pick up some food. And then Tylee was present that day. But she later gave very vague, very inconsistent statements. No charges were filed at that time, but police kept the case open. So then in September, actually on September 8th of 2019, Tyler Ryan was last seen alive during a family trip to Yellowstone national park. And then 10 days later, JJ vanished too. Lori and her new husband, Chad Daybell, told no one. They didn't do a missing persons report. They didn't have a public plea. Instead, they packed and they moved to Hawaii. So why? Why would a mother harm her children? The answers, prosecutors say, lies in Chad Daybell. Chad was an author, and he wrote about religious end times fiction, but he also believed he was a prophet. He claimed to receive divine revelations about the approaching apocalypse. And Laurie became one of the most devoted followers. And then she became his wife. They believed the world would end July of 2020. They taught that some people were dark spirits or zombies and had to be cast out or even removed. And they believed Tylee and JJ were among the possessed. They also believed that Laurie's late husband Charles had become a dark entity and that his death was necessary. So by the summer of 2020, pressure was building, and police obtained a search warrant for Chad Daybell's property in Rexburg, Idaho. And on June 9, 2020, after hours of digging in the backyard, they uncovered what everyone feared. So sweet. J.J. vallow's body was buried in a shallow grave, and he was bound in duct tape and wrapped in plastic. Nearby, they found charred and dismembered remains of Tyler Ryan. She was so mutilated that it took the use of DNA to confirm her identity. The discovery was horrifying, but it also confirmed what JJ's parents had suspected all along. Lori was arrested in Hawaii and extradited back to Idaho. Chad was arrested at the scene. So in May 2023, Lori stood trial in Boise, Idaho. She was charged with first degree murder of her children, JJ and Tyler, conspiracy to commit murder, and the death of Tammy Daybell, which was Chad's first wife and grand theft for continuing to collect government benefits after her children were dead. The trial went over, went on for six weeks, and the courtroom heard from friends and family and detectives and religious insiders. There was text and call records and Chad and Lori's own bizarre writings painted a portrait of delusion and destruction. So In July of 2023, Laurie was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences with no possibilities of parole. Chad Daybell was tried separately in early 2024 and he faced the same charges, but he had an additional one, the premeditated murder of his wife Tammy. He was convicted and actually sentenced to death. He now awaits execution on death row. So despite those convictions, Lori's legal journey isn't over. She's back in court in Phoenix, Arizona for the trial involving the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. So prosecution alleged that Lori conspired with her brother Alex to Charles's murder, motivated by a one million dollar insurance policy and of course, her desire to be with Chad without interference. So in a strange move, Lori chose to represent herself and she called no witnesses. She did not testify. In her closing argument, Lori said the case was a family tragedy, but not a crime. She claimed Alex acted in self defense. But prosecutors show texts, life insurance records and statements that painted a far more sinister picture. It showed that Lori knew Charles was going to die and that she manipulated her brother into killing him and that she joked about Charles's death just days after. As of right now, the jury is deliberating on Charles's murder and a guilty verdict could just basically mean another life sentence. So I guess that's why she chose to represent herself. I have no idea. But her legal problems still aren't over. She's scheduled to stand trial again in June of 25. And with this trial, she's accused of conspiring to kill Brandon Boudreau, her niece's ex husband. And Brandon had been vocal about Lori's behavior and beliefs. In 2019, someone shot at him outside his home in a drive by attempt and he survived. Police believe Laurie was involved in the planning of the hit. We will definitely update what the jury's verdict is and we will of course give you information in June about what happens with her niece's ex husband. So we will keep you updated on that. So now we're going to add in Cheryl Reed's audio of her story that is so very chilling. It's not a long story, but I cannot believe that this happened to you, Cheryl, and, and we thank you for sharing it with us. And then P.T. allen has shared his second story and it is an amazing story. It reminds me of one of my favorite movies that I haven't watched in many, many years because it, it gets to me so much. And lifers, when you hear the story, you'll know exactly which movie I am talking about. So we're going to share those two stories and then end the episode for today. I did have a couple of other different things that I was going to add to an episode when we get a lifer story, you know, just as filler. But I'm just going to go ahead and add these two and get the episode edited and you know, posted. Oh, so here we go.
- [19:52]
Cheryl Reed
Hi Cindy and all you groove fans. This is Cheryl Reed from now Lake of the Ozarks, former BNB owner in Arizona, which we will be opening a BNB here.
- [20:06]
Cindy Overton
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- [23:05]
Cheryl Reed
I wanted to tell you just one of my many stories. I was a young kid, probably about four or five years old. I remember it vividly. Our church was collecting soda bottles for a fundraiser and us kids were, there was about four or five of us were pulling our little red wagon around to neighbors asking if we could have their soda bottles so we could turn them in for deposits and donate it to the church. We were doing pretty good and we got to this one house and there was two, I want to say they were probably early 20s, two young men and they had a bunch of soda bottles in the garage. And so they were like, sure, you guys can have them. So we were loading them up and then one of them came to the, the garage door and said, hey, if you want some money, come on in and get it. And. And I like, okay, I will, because you know, that's me. And I went in and they closed the door behind me and they pulled out a butcher knife and they held it up and I peed all over their kitchen floor, screaming and crying. My brother and a couple of my siblings went Running home, got my mom. Of course my mom grabbed her gun and my dad's chasing after her down the road like, oh my God, she's going to kill somebody. And by then they had let me out of the house. They were just laughing. They thought it was funny. And they ended up served, I want to say, eight or nine, maybe ten years in prison. They. They got a they. That was kidnapping. And so anyway, mom didn't get to shoot them, but they did get some prison time. And later on in high school, when I saw the house, I was like, gosh, that house looks familiar. And one of the girls I went to high school with, she said, yeah, that's my house. And I said, do you have some cousins, some brothers, you know, boys or brothers? And she goes, no, I had some cousins, I don't have any brothers. And I told her the story and she goes, oh my God, that was you? And I was like, yep, that was me. But yeah, it kind of taught me to have my head on a swivel at a very young age in California. That's just one of my mini stories. I love you guys. Everybody call in your stories. We want to hear them. Love y'all. Bye.
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PT Allen
Good morning, it's PT Allen again with another real life street cop story. I have not written these incidents down. I have not rehearsed them. I'm just recalling off a memory. So if anything's a little non sequitur out of order, I apologize. And these tales are probably not for the thin skinned. If you heard the infamous hog incident, you're familiar with my partner Lincoln. To remind you, Lincoln is a mullet wearing, big, tough, strong as an ox, redneck, with a huge Confederate flag tattoo on his left forearm. Tough as nails, heart of gold. This story is the resurrection of Mean Joe Green. Mean Joe Green, his name was not Joe. His name was not Green. But he bore a striking resemblance to the Steelers defensive tackle from, I think the 1970s. Huge guy, strong as an ox. And Joe didn't work. He got a government check. And every time he got a check, Joe got drunk. You saw Joe in one of two conditions. Either he was hungover or he was a hateful, belligerent, combative obnoxious drunk. And when he drank, he would fight anybody. If he couldn't find a civilian to fight, he'd fight the police. Now, I'm a little guy, I'm only 5 10. At the time I weighed 180 pounds, but. And I'm not a tough guy at all. I'm a smart guy in the military. I learned Marine Corps close quarters combat and I learned some Filipino Kali, which is a dirty Filipino street fighter fighting. If you want an example of that, I'm sure there's a clip of the fight scene from An Officer and a Gentleman with Richard Gere. To give you an idea of what we're talking about, there's another character in this incident that I'm going to address only by badge number, which was 21. Yeah, our department was that small. He is still in law enforcement, so out of respect, I'm not going to mention him by name. One night, Mean Joe Green started a fight. I got called to it. Lincoln and 21 were somewhere else and I had to handle Joe by myself. I got Joe in cuffs, got him to the holding cell at local police department and turned the key. And I think that was his 50th or 60th public drunk and battery charge. So Jolie lays down on the bunk, one of two in the cell, and I'm hoping he's going to sleep it off while I go type the report. Lincoln and 21 had been tied up on another call, so they got there late. While I'm typing up my report, 21 remained on patrol and Lincoln came in the back door of the police department. All of a sudden, Lincoln keys up on the talk around channel that nobody dispatch can't hear. We thought nobody could hear until we found out everybody on MLK Boulevard has a scanner with that freaking frequency and he's screaming into the radio 18 my badge number 10 19. Holding cell 10 18. That means return to the holding cell as quickly as possible. So I go running back there. Lincoln points to the empty bunk where Joe had been and shouts out, joe's dead. Look, I looked across the holding cell and Joe is seated on the opposite bunk. So of course I look at Lincoln like he's got a extra male appendage growing out of his forehead. And that's when he winks at me. Okay, I'm gonna play along. Let's see what happens. Lincoln reaches in between the bars and checks the carotid pulse on the neck of an imaginary corpse on the bunk and shouts out, look, he doesn't have a pulse. He doesn't have a pulse. He's not breathing. Okay, now I get it. This is going to be one of the greatest pranks of all time. And Joe's just sitting there silent on the opposite bunk watching these two nut cases. I take the cell keys out of my back pocket. Those were those huge brass keys that you see in the movies Unlock it and open the cell door. And in the worst example of officer safety in the history of mankind, Lincoln and I both go into the cell, turning our backs to Joe. I check a pulse on an imaginary wrist and an imaginary carotid pulse and look at Lincoln and tell him, call ems. And Lincoln keys up again on that talk around channel. The dispatch can't hear and calls for an ambulance. Unresponsive, subject not breathing. This. By this time, 21 has heard this commotion and he comes to the holding cell. I start performing CPR on an imaginary corpse in a holding cell with Lincoln watching. And 21 arrives to see this charade. I start doing CPR. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. And I actually do imaginary mouth to mouth resuscitation. And I keep going. About this time, Joe has figured out something's not right here. And he deduces, oh, wait a minute. When you're dead, you can't see your own corpse. And he starts to snivel. And I keep on doing CPR. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. I keep this up. I must have kept this up for 20 minutes. Finally, I said, lincoln, there's nothing we can do. Joe's dead. By this time, Joe has figured out that he's dead. And when you're dead, you can't see your own corpse. So he is crying, wailing, tears streaming down his face. Lord, Lord, please don't let me die. Please don't let me die. I want to go home. I want to see my wife. I want to see my children. Please, oh Lord, don't let me die. 21 arrives and catches on to what we're doing. We are messing with Joe in epic fashion. So I tell 21 to call the coroner, which our code name was 11 Charlie, and Joe. 21, excuse me. 21 calls out on the Talk around channel for 11 Charlie and uses the coroner's name, which we knew Joe would know. Send the coroner. And by this time, Joe is losing it. He is curled up in a ball on that opposite bunk, wailing, crying, begging the Lord to let him live. Lincoln says, weren't you a medic in the military? Can't you save him? And I said, lincoln, I've done all I can do. There is no saving Joe at this point. He's even beginning to grow cold. And Joe heightens it up even more. Lord, Lord, please let me go home. I want to see my kids. I'll be good from now on. Don't let me die. Don't let me die again. In the worst example of officers safety in law enforcement history. 21. Lincoln and I held hands and stood beside the empty bunk where Mean Joe Green thought his corpse was. And I began to pray. Lord, Joe was a good guy when he was sober. He had such potential. Please forgive him of his sins, dear Lord. Welcome him into heaven with open arms. His alcoholism was his only shortcoming. Please forgive him of all of his sins, dear Lord. Help him any way you can. Amen. And we close the door and walk out. So we wait about 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and we return, just me and Lincoln. This time. I'm over at the intoxilizer area where the fingerprint materials are. And Lincoln screams out, dear Lord, it's a miracle. Joe's alive. 18. Get over here. I go back and Joe has gone back to his original bunk and he's passed out. We open the cell door again, shake him, and he wakes up and oh my God, it's a miracle. The Lord has brought Joe back to life. Joe starts crying again, hugs us both and praises Jesus for giving him a second chance at life. After his mandatory eight hours of sobering up time was complete, we released Joe on his own record cognizance with a citation for just public drunk this time. A couple of months later, I saw Joe at a convenience store. Joe had quit drinking and got a job at a local industry, was making good money, had joined the AME Church on on Martin Luther King Boulevard. And I was told later by another member of the congregation that every time the doors were open, Joe was there. I don't care what you believe in, your faith, your denomination, your religion. But I feel that this is proof that prayer works. And to this very day, up until this recording, no one has ever told Joe that he really did not die that night. Amen.
- [38:08]
Woody
So what did y'all think? Aren't they great little storytellers? I love it so very much. I thank you so much for your contributions and I cannot wait to see what other lifers send in. Thank you so very, very, very much. So in closing, I again want to ask everybody to continue their fight for justice for Haley. We are not over. The fight is not over. And I would like to also share the links for the live event, which is July 19th, for the VIP tickets, which the VIP experience is going to be an amazing experience. We're going to have shuttle service from the alumni center to literally just a few steps before walking into the theater. And it's in a air conditioned bus. It's going to be amazing. And then after the event, you Go back to the Alumni center in the bus, air conditioned, literally door to door, drop offs. I mean, I can't thank the university enough for allowing us to use this service. And you'll have a wonderful meet and greet with Woody. We're going to have refreshments there. The first drink is on Woody and I think it's. And also with the VIP package, you're going to get a really cool curated gift bag from us and I think it's going to be amazing. So the link for that is bit.l y/RLRC VIP. The general admission tickets are going well. One other thing about VIP experience is you're going to be able to have early access to the theater, pick out your seats and we will have, you know, seats roped off specifically for vip. But that doesn't mean you have to sit there. You can sit wherever you want. And then we'll have the general seats and those are going to be. There's not a bad seat in the house. I mean this, this room is made for entertainment and for concerts, so any seat's going to be amazing. But the short link for those tickets is bit.l y/RLRC General G E N E R A L so that's it for today. I ask for continued prayers for the Overton family for all of just and for anyone that is hurting. And I thank you for the prayers and positive vibes and all of the sweet comments and all of the love that you are sending. I know that it is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support of me during this time. I really, really, really appreciate the kind words that I've received. So I couldn't do this without you lifers and y'all are always amazing. You are so loved, so appreciated. You mean the world to us. So I'm not going to take up any more of your time today. I will release something on Friday. I probably am going to release. I don't know, it will probably be a Haley episode. As a reminder for you to make your calls, send in emails. We're not giving up. I know I say it all the time. I know Woody says it all the time. I just don't want you to think because we do not have new episodes coming out that things are not happening. And I ask you to please share whatever you feel comfortable sharing with your emails or just let us know you sent one. You don't have to actually share the email. Your post will act as a reminder for people to do it as well. We can't do this without you. We cannot do this without you. We miss Barbara has tried and tried with a mama's heart to do this without lifers and when she didn't get the answer, she came to us and now we are going to bring this home for her. So I'm going to let y'all go. I thank you for your support. We thank you for your love and I hope you have a blessed day.
- [43:11]
PT Allen
Pack your body bags. We're going on a slaycation.
- [43:14]
Cindy Overton
Tim, what's a slaycation?
- [43:16]
Woody
A slaycation is a murder or mysterious death that happens while you're on vacation.
- [43:21]
Cindy Overton
If you like to mix humor with.
- [43:22]
Woody
Horror and travel, join me, Kim Davis.
- [43:26]
Cindy Overton
And me, Adam Tex Davis and me.
- [43:28]
Woody
Cherry Kulber as we look at the craziest slaycations that will have you asking what the F is wrong with people.
- [43:35]
Cheryl Reed
You can find slaycations on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.
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PT Allen
Just remember, getting away can be murdered.