RedHaunted x I Could Murder A Podcast | #423

Summary

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RedHanded x I Could Murder A Podcast | Halloween Special 2025 (#423)

RedHanded with Wondery | Date: October 30, 2025

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Overview: “Halloween Hijinks & Hauntings”

This special crossover episode brings together the hosts of RedHanded (Suruthi and Hannah) and I Could Murder A Podcast (Freddie and Elvis) for a raucous, spooky Halloween celebration. Set in Sam Drake’s House of Magic in South London, the crew dons costumes, swaps chilling listener tales, dives into iconic unsolved mysteries, and shares personal stories of brushes with true crime cases and hauntings—all with their trademark dark humor and playful British banter.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Introductions & Costume Chat (03:00–07:15)

• The episode begins with laughter over the elaborate and eccentric costumes each host wears, including Freddie Mercury, Elvis, Hannah as Darla, and Suruthi’s “toilet snake” (her biggest fear: a snake emerging from a toilet).
• Memorable moment: The group jokes about awkward Halloween costumes and pop culture references.
  • Freddie: “I used to get my mum to buy the little fake mustaches when I was little…I wanted to have a hairy chest and that was all I wanted.” (04:38)
  • Suruthi: “It’s basically the idea of sitting on a toilet and a snake coming out of the U bend and biting you. Biting me on the vagina.” (06:08)

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2. Death Row Meals & True Crime Icebreakers (08:07–10:40)

• The classic “death row meal” question is posed:
  • Hannah: “A bucket of BBQ fried chicken from Changwon, South Korea. Nowhere else.” (08:26)
  • Elvis: “Probably some form of curly fry. Maybe a loaded one…a stone-baked pizza would be on there as well.” (08:38)
  • Freddie: “I might go back to eating meat for a doner kebab for the final one…I’ll lose my morals at the very end.” (08:57)
  • Suruthi: “Right now I would just like a big bowl of fried rice…my biggest anger is when I go to a restaurant and...they won’t let me take [rice] away because they tell me it’s like health and safety.” (10:12)
• Freddie shares a harrowing story about nearly choking on doner kebab, which required hospital intervention (09:15–09:53).

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3. Ethics in True Crime Podcasting (10:37–13:12)

• The group discusses whether there are cases they won’t cover, citing high-profile, sensitive UK tragedies (James Bulger, Dunblane massacre) and the careful approach required.
  • Elvis: “James Bulger, that case absolutely broke my parent’s heart, as did much of the country at the time...” (10:48)
  • Freddie: “We were quite light-hearted with our true crime, but we were quite down the middle for that one.” (11:18)
• Suruthi shares a spooky glitch with her laptop while attempting to write about the James Bulger case, unsettling her and reinforcing the gravity and strange coincidences around sensitive material. (11:38–12:47)

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4. Listener Engagement: Signal Awards Shout-out (13:12–14:57)

• The RedHanded team encourages fans to vote for their new series Flesh and Code at the Signal Awards, describing the show as an 18-month labor of love about AI relationships and digital ethics.

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5. Unsolved Mysteries: The Case We’d Solve (15:55–21:57)

Each podcaster picks the unsolved criminal mystery they most want answered:

• Freddie: The “Staircase”/Michael Peterson (“I’ve landed on the owl theory…the little micro owl feathers”—16:24)
• Elvis: JonBenet Ramsey (“I don’t feel comfortable when I watch interviews with brother Burt”; also mentions Yuba County Five—17:03)
• Suruthi: Robert Wone (“There is literally not one shred of evidence that anybody came into that house…”—18:00).
  • Details the striking forensic oddities: undisturbed crime scene, no sign of forced entry, and unexplained bodily evidence.

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6. Fan Contact: When the Case Comes to You (21:57–26:09)

• Both podcasts recall times when people related to their cases reached out:
  • Freddie: “We’ve had a couple interesting ones—a jury member from the Menendez case; … Randy Herman Jr’s wife messaged us, offering access to him in prison.” (22:09–22:52)
  • The crew reflects on the emotional impact of receiving feedback from victims’ families, perpetrators’ relatives, and people living through infamous events.
• Suruthi: “It’s easy to lose sight of who’s listening and how many people are … it’s just good to be cognizant.” (26:12)

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7. Notorious Listener-Initiated Fallout: The ‘Ham Face’ Affair (26:43–30:38)

• Suruthi recounts covering the Gable Tostee case (Australian Tinder death) and the unexpected aftermath when Tostee himself, angered by her on-air joke about his face, got in touch and threatened to report them for tax evasion:
  • Suruthi: “I did say he’s got a bit of a ham face…our listeners…were like, don’t call him ham face. It was just a little joke between us.” (29:08)
  • Elvis: “Midway through… I realized you were holding a snake going for a toilet lid and I just started staring at the snake.” (30:14)

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8. Ghost Stories & Red Haunting Returns (32:38–43:10)

• Red Haunted segment: The group reads chilling paranormal listener submissions:
  • Nursery Ghost (34:15): A phantom baby appears on a video monitor in an attic nursery and cold spots, lights flicker; staff shaken but the incident leaves no physical trace. (Story at 34:15–37:34)
  • Discussion about the famous Kurím child abuse case, where a baby monitor helped uncover horrific abuse. (34:43)
• The hosts riff on how different people visualize true crime—some in first person, others as cinematic “fly on the wall” (41:09–43:10).

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9. “Spooky Corner” Listener Story Swap (43:12–52:00)

• Jim B.’s Haunted Shortcut (44:00):
  • Jim, “fortified by the world’s supply of alcohol,” takes a nighttime shortcut through woods, encounters a bobbing, internally-lit, faceless Regency-era ghost—he literally wets himself in fear.
  • Listeners learn about the tragic historical duel that may explain the apparition.
  • Hannah admits, “Oh I definitely would have pissed myself.” (52:12)
  • “A wheelbarrow on a port is something I’ve never pictured before.” (Freddie, 60:13)

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10. How Would You Commit the Perfect Crime? (52:48–54:31)

• The hosts joke about methods for getting away with murder:
  • Elvis: “Old folks home, just slip something in the food…” (52:58)
  • Hannah: “Ice sword is a good one.”
  • The “icicle knife” myth is discussed and refuted.

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11. Listener Haunting: “Fisherman’s Friend” at the Anchor Inn (54:45–59:55)

• Hannah reads a listener’s account of a haunted pub in Cockwood, Devon, including ghostly apparitions, unexplained alarm triggers, and the sighting of a spectral fisherman matched to a historic photo.

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12. Double Vision Haunting (60:18–62:58)

• Another listener, “Darren Pittway”, describes a childhood event where two toddlers in different flats simultaneously see an old woman with a dog (“woof woof”), are later found soaking wet, and each points to the same spot. Neither of the (now adult) witnesses can explain it.

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13. Final Thoughts and Plugs (62:58–end)

• Each team thanks listeners, encourages them to check out both podcasts (and the Flesh and Code series), and teases future holiday specials.
• Elvis: “Thank you so much to you guys and to your lovely crew, and thank you so much for having us on. It’s been a very big pleasure.” (63:16)

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Notable Quotes & Highlights

“I used to get my mum to buy the little fake mustaches... when I grew up, I wanted to have a hairy chest and that was all I wanted.”
—Freddie (04:38)

“It’s basically the idea of sitting on a toilet and a snake coming out of the U bend and biting you. Biting me on the vagina.”
—Suruthi (06:08)

“You either believe in rehabilitation or not when it comes to children… my idea was just like, you can’t just say one thing for one case, one thing for another… Some people just went to town.”—Freddie on the James Bulger case debate (12:51)

“I’ve landed on the owl theory… the micro owl feathers!”
—Freddie (16:19)

“There is literally not one shred of evidence… It’s one of them. It’s definitely one of the men in the house.”
—Suruthi, on the Robert Wone case (18:00)

“It’s easy to lose sight of who’s listening and how many people are… it’s just good to be cognizant.”
—Suruthi (26:12)

“I did say he’s got a bit of a ham face…”
—Suruthi, on the Gable Tostee fallout (29:08)

“That was very good vocabulary, Jim. It was great.”
—Suruthi, on Jim B’s haunted shortcut story (51:48)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:00 – Costume introductions and shenanigans
• 08:07 – “Death row meal” and food talk
• 10:37 – Ethical lines in true crime content
• 13:12 – Signal Awards & Flesh and Code pitch
• 15:55 – “Case you’d solve” roundtable
• 21:57 – Listener contact and feedback from cases
• 26:43 – The Gable Tostee/Ham Face saga
• 32:38 – Paranormal story swap begins
• 43:12 – “Spooky Corner” and Jim B.’s ghost story
• 52:48 – “How would you commit the perfect murder?”
• 54:45 – “Fisherman’s Friend” listener tale
• 60:18 – Cardiff ghost dog/old lady story

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Tone & Takeaway

The episode is a hilarious and often mischievous blend of macabre storytelling, true crime nerd-outs, and irreverent group chemistry. The combined hosts build an atmosphere both lighthearted and chilling, never taking themselves too seriously but always honoring the spooky subjects and the real-world impacts of the stories they tell. Listener stories, unsolved cases, and an open discussion about the ethics and feedback loops in true crime podcasting make this a rewarding Halloween treat for fans old and new.

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Transcript

[Suruthi]

Wondry plus subscribers can listen to Red handed early and ad free. Join Wondry plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Ad Host]

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[Elena Urquhart]

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[Suruthi]

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[Suruthi]

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[Elena Urquhart]

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[Suruthi]

Hello.

[Hannah]

Hello.

[Ad Host]

I'm Sruti.

[Hannah]

And I'm Hannah. And welcome to Red Handed Halloween Special Part 2, 2025 Finale Edition with Freddie Mercury and Elvis.

[Freddie]

Hey.

[Elvis]

Hello, hello, hello, hello. Good to see you both.

[Suruthi]

You too. Thank you so much for joining us today in this very interesting spot that we are in. We are in Sam Drake's house of Magic in Kennington, South London. Very interesting.

[Hannah]

Nearly dropped Nemo there.

[Freddie]

Very interesting place.

[Suruthi]

But before we get to that and everything else we're doing today, do you guys want to please introduce yourselves?

[Freddie]

We are. I could murder a podcast.

[Suruthi]

Excellent, by the way.

[Freddie]

Thank you so much.

[Elvis]

It was all we had. It was all we had.

[Freddie]

It was all I had.

[Suruthi]

It's better sometimes.

[Elvis]

We're a true crime podcast. We're a little bit of a in comparison, but we're still finding our way in the world. Yeah. We just wanted to say, you know, happy Halloween. Tricky time of year, but this is a real treat to be here today. So thank you so much.

[Freddie]

I like that.

[Elvis]

Thank you.

[Suruthi]

I know it's such a tricky time.

[Freddie]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Hannah]

I'm really embarrassed that I took so long to get that.

[Elvis]

Do you know what it was? We went down to go to the toilet before we came on, I realized, like, in this costume, which is an Elvis costume, not Superman, the magician said.

[Freddie]

He looks like Superman. He said it's a shit costume.

[Suruthi]

He is a shit Superman costume.

[Elvis]

Fucking yeah.

[Freddie]

Fucking shit.

[Elvis]

Fucking shit.

[Freddie]

But good Elvis.

[Elvis]

Yes. But I realized I couldn't take it all. I had to take it all off to go to the toilet. And then I thought, halloween trick, treat, boom. Let's go and film.

[Hannah]

Welcome to the world of jumpsuits. It's not fun.

[Elvis]

Little pockets, no pockets, and just very unflattering.

[Hannah]

That's not true. You look wonderful.

[Elvis]

You're so kind. Thank you so much. But yeah, thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it.

[Suruthi]

Thank you so much for joining Us today. Your outfit's quite self explanatory. Anything do you want to tell us about the little Freddy?

[Freddie]

It's just a coinc. My little Freddie.

[Suruthi]

Your little Freddy.

[Freddie]

There is a little Freddy down here. We were just looking down. Yeah, it's. I just growing up. I love Freddie Mercury. I used to get my mum to buy the little fake mustaches when I was little because I liked them so much and when I grew up, I wanted to have a hairy chest and that was all I wanted.

[Suruthi]

Wow. Mission accomplished.

[Freddie]

Thank you so much.

[Suruthi]

Congratulations.

[Freddie]

But, yeah, that's the only real reason for Freddy. But Elvis.

[Elvis]

Yeah. We went through a few other costumes for me just to go alongside Freddie and I was just gonna come in an orange jumpsuit. But then the fodder that. That would open me up to.

[Suruthi]

Oh, yeah.

[Elvis]

What I've been accused of, what I've gotten away with, what I've been charged with.

[Freddie]

We'll go through that later.

[Suruthi]

Oh, I thought you were gonna be. Because everyone would be like, it's not funny to laugh at somebody being sent to prison.

[Elvis]

Oh, yeah. And there was a moral element to it as well. I was also. Austin Powers was in the running, but I also thought. I googled it. He's offensive to some crowds. So I played it safe with Elvis.

[Freddie]

I think he's quite problematic as well.

[Hannah]

Bit of a non.

[Ad Host]

Yeah.

[Elvis]

Oh, there are stories.

[Hannah]

Priscilla in when she was.

[Elvis]

I got that part.

[Suruthi]

Hannah.

[Hannah]

Well, I have been waiting 10 years for this moment.

[Suruthi]

It's fantastic.

[Hannah]

Thank you. Well done. I cannot express to you in words how happy this will make my mum because she. Every year she will text me and be like, well, when are you going to do Darla for Halloween? And she send me all of the links. So everyone thinks I've made a massive amount of effort. But actually I've just been waiting for this moment.

[Suruthi]

Costume hoard.

[Hannah]

And now I've done it. So now I can die happy.

[Freddie]

It is great.

[Hannah]

Thank you very much. I'm going to put Nemo on the floor.

[Suruthi]

Good costumes all around. I think I have gone a bit more abstract. I have gone with this because I didn't want to be a total stick in the mud and not do it at all. So I went with my biggest fear, which is a toilet snake. So it's basically the idea of sitting on a toilet and a snake coming out of the U bend and biting you. Biting me on the vagina. Yeah, that's.

[Freddie]

Yeah.

[Suruthi]

And then I saw recently a video of a man in Thailand and it happened to him, but it Bit him.

[Hannah]

On paws and it wouldn't let go.

[Suruthi]

So I don't know actually why was anyone filming him while he was on the toilet?

[Freddie]

Yeah, that's true. It's curious.

[Elvis]

Oh, he wasn't filming it himself. It was a third person.

[Suruthi]

Now I think about it.

[Freddie]

Have you heard about that fish that if you wee into the Amazon, water goes up the stream? Yeah, that's scary. But I don't know what that looks like in a costume for Halloween. No, that is a piss fish.

[Suruthi]

Great fish. It's because it reminds me of that scene from 90 Day Fiance. I don't know if anyone else has watched it.

[Elvis]

Oh, I love it, Paul.

[Suruthi]

Where he goes to the Amazon.

[Freddie]

Yes.

[Suruthi]

To meet Kyreni. And he wears a condom to get into the water because he's scared the fish is going to swim off his penis.

[Freddie]

Oh, I love that show so much.

[Suruthi]

That's not what we're here to talk about. Introductions made. Shall we have a little drink?

[Freddie]

That's actually.

[Elvis]

It's not bad.

[Hannah]

It's not as disgusting as you think.

[Elvis]

You get the kick of the Red Bull and then you get the wine.

[Suruthi]

Exactly. Best of both worlds.

[Elvis]

Turbo.

[Suruthi]

We thought it'd be fun. Well, you know, four true crime podcasters are hanging out together to do some bait ama. And for the Americans, that means obvious. And maybe people younger than us.

[Hannah]

I think bait is the word that we use the most that very specifically indicates how old we are and where we're from.

[Suruthi]

Yes, probably.

[Freddie]

I say sweet, as in like, oh, for good and cool. And I feel that's very uncool to say now.

[Suruthi]

Where did you guys grow up?

[Freddie]

Cambridge. Oh, that's why I say sweet.

[Suruthi]

So who wants to kick off with the first bait question?

[Freddie]

What's our usual typical ones? It's the.

[Elvis]

Well, we've learned just before we started filming where your stance is on curly fries. And on that subject, usually quite a typical one is what would your death row meal be?

[Hannah]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Suruthi]

Okay. I feel like this changes a lot for me. What's my death row. What's your death row meal?

[Hannah]

A bucket of barbecue fried chicken from barbecue fried chicken in Changwon, South Korea. Nowhere else.

[Suruthi]

You're very loyal. That is a consistent answer. I like that. Curly fries.

[Elvis]

They're up there. Yeah, it would probably be some form of curly fry. Maybe a loaded one. No, I'm a big pizza guy as well, so probably a stone baked pizza would be on there as well.

[Freddie]

Any toppings? Just my.

[Elvis]

Gee, maybe a meat feast. Maybe some Korean chicken on top. I don't know I'm being greedy now.

[Freddie]

Leave a mess to clean up. I'm veggie, but I might go back to eating meat for a doner kebab for the final one.

[Hannah]

That's a great answer.

[Freddie]

I'll lose my morals at the very end if I'm there. I would have lost my morals. It was a Death Row meal.

[Elvis]

Are you happy for me? Because that literally links to Death Row. To talk about you nearly dying from Madonna kebab.

[Suruthi]

Yes, please.

[Freddie]

Didn't really die. I just went veggie. I have a thing where sometimes I choke a bit and it gets. Basically I. I got really excited.

[Suruthi]

Not in a sexual way.

[Freddie]

Not a sexual way. No. I didn't enjoy it. And, yeah. First bite of this mixed kabbalah basically got lodged in my throat and I had to go to hospital about it. And they'd put a thing down my throat to try and see it. They asked me to swallow as I can't swallow because I'm choking. And then I'm basically in this. The room just swollen. The camera whilst being a bit sick. And then they kept me overnight. I woke up with doctors around me. They go, drink this water. I can't drink because I can't swallow. They're like, drink it. So did that. I'm sick immediately in front of them. Oh, my God.

[Elvis]

And then they just put me under.

[Freddie]

And took the command of my mouth.

[Suruthi]

So we were there.

[Freddie]

Yeah. Yeah. Just that one bit of kebab. Really savored the first bite for hours and got through it in the end there.

[Suruthi]

And that pushed you into becoming veggie?

[Freddie]

No, just it. No, it was coincidence.

[Suruthi]

Yeah.

[Freddie]

But my last meal. I want to try that again.

[Suruthi]

Fair, Fair. And then you go out on your own terms. If you choke on it again. I like that.

[Freddie]

Exactly.

[Suruthi]

I feel like. Depends on the mood. Right now I would just like a big bowl of fried rice. You know this. My biggest anger is when I go to a restaurant and I've ordered some sort of rice dish and then they won't let me take it away because they tell me it's like health and safety.

[Freddie]

Really?

[Suruthi]

Because apparently it will kill you.

[Freddie]

And I'm like, what I thought was a teaspoon of water and you can microwave it and it's good.

[Suruthi]

Just like, I have no health and safety standards at my house.

[Hannah]

Is there a case that you would never do?

[Freddie]

We had two when we started, which we were very kind of adamant we weren't going to do. And then at the time, I was kind of like, it's a bit strange to pick ones because we cover other ones quite similar to that.

[Elvis]

The two that we said when we started the podcast that we wouldn't go near was the murder of James Bulger and the Dunblane massacre. And predominantly that was because our parents, the age that they were at the time of these two cases, James Bulger, that case absolutely broke my parents heart, as did much of the country at the time. And then Dumb Blaine was kind of.

[Freddie]

A. Yeah, I think my mum was a teacher, so I think she just kind of linked the age of students and all that happening. And so we've ended up covering them, but, you know, we were very careful with them. And yeah, it wasn't. We're quite light hearted with our true crime, but we were quite down the middle for that one.

[Suruthi]

Yeah, you guys, James Bulger was definitely one of them. And similarly, because it's actually quite interesting, because my parents came to the UK when James Bolger was murdered.

[Elvis]

Yeah.

[Suruthi]

Like it was within weeks of when they'd like moved out here. And so they were just like, what the fuck? And it was just like something that really stuck in their minds. But a few years ago I was like, no, this is silly. Like, it's a really important, like pivotal case in UK history. Like, we should talk about it. And I started to write it and I told you this and like my Google Doc just went crazy. It was really bizarre. It was like lines all over my laptop and I just. I couldn't get my laptop to turn off or turn back on. And then when I did, that page just looked super corrupted, even though every other page looked good. And I'm not. I'm not like a believer in spooky things.

[Freddie]

Drink.

[Suruthi]

We said we would play a drinking game where we said we'd drink every time someone said spooky. But the consensus was we wouldn't be.

[Elvis]

Named spooky that much.

[Hannah]

Siri also hasn't been drinking for a while, so she's gonna get fucked up.

[Suruthi]

No way. Hannah, haven't been having caffeine. She's just gonna drop dead. Yeah, it just really freaked me out. Even though obviously there's not James Bolger's fucking ghost in my laptop. But it really freaked me out and I just. I never went back to it. I just was like, no, I'll write something else.

[Freddie]

I got a bit of. I'm sure you guys got flack in the past for having certain opinions on things and my thing.

[Suruthi]

Really?

[Freddie]

Yeah, the nature of the game. I mean, what I said on that Case in particular, I was like, you either believe in rehabilitation or not in terms of with children doing things. And then my idea was just like, you can't just say one thing for one case, one thing for another. You could believe in doing that rehabilitation. And then some people just went to town thinking I was saying, yeah, that's not my point I was making.

[Suruthi]

But it's a tricky one. All right, should we talk about the Signal Awards? Sure, sure. That is the level of enthusiasm we would love you guys to have for us too, because if you remember, we made the podcast series Flesh and Code with Wondery. We were super excited, like, the minute they brought that story to us, because if you haven't listened to Flesh and Code, it's essentially about following people who essentially fall in love with their, like, AI companions. It's about Russian interference and all sorts of crazy things and about how these AI companions are to be trusted, whether this is a good thing, how it was impacting on a larger scale, and the ramifications when Replika, that was the company at the heart of it, took away the erotic roleplay function and didn't go well. Spoilers. So we loved making it. We spent, what, 18 months making that show and we worked so, so hard on it. And so we are going to ask a very small favor of you guys. Shockingly to us, Flesh and Code has been put up for the listeners Choice category of the Signal Awards 2025. So we would love you guys to please help us out and basically try get some more eyes and ears on Flesh and Code because it was a real labor of love for us. What you guys need to do is go to the Signal Awards website and vote for Flesh and Code. Again, it's in the Listener's Choice category and you can find us under documentaries. That's the category you're looking for. And then under limited series and specials. Voting is open until the 9th of October, so you really don't have much time. Like, literally go do this now. And we would just be so incredibly grateful because if we did win the Listener's Choice for Flesh and Code at the Signals Award, then it would just mean the world to us. Thank you.

[Mr. Ballin]

You know those creepy stories that give you goosebumps? The ones that make you really question what's real? Well, what if I told you that some of the strangest, darkest and most mysterious stories are not found in haunted houses or abandoned forests, but instead in hospital rooms and doctor's offices? Hi, I'm Mr. Ballin, the host of Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries. And each week on my podcast, you can expect to hear stories about bizarre illnesses no one can explain, miraculous recoveries that shouldn't have happened, and cases so baffling they stumped even the best doctors. So if you crave totally true and thoroughly twisted horror stories and mysteries, Mr. Ballan's medical mysteries should be your new go to weekly show. Listen to Mr. Ballan's Medical Mysteries on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

[Suruthi]

All right, if there's one case that you could have solved, that's a mystery. What would that case? If you could know the definitive answer.

[Freddie]

Wow, Michael, that's Michael Peterson. I mean, staircase.

[Elvis]

I told you, it's not a bad impression.

[Freddie]

It's a good impression. Wow. I was looking, but yeah, Michael Peterson, the staircase. Because I know some people go, that's. Well, he 100% did both the murders. But I've gone full circle of that and I've landed on the owl.

[Suruthi]

The biggest thing that, like, convinced you it was the owl.

[Freddie]

It's the blood and front door and the little micro owl feathers. How do you get micro feathers in your head? Like, how does that happen? And I've also kind of followed that case a little bit and looked at his son's Instagram recently, and it is Michael Peterson living with him. And it's just a very weird dynamic. And, yeah, I don't know. That one's always fascinated me, but what are you.

[Elvis]

I keep kind of chopping and changing between. I have quite a strong opinion on the JonBenet Ramsey case. I get called out every time I have this opinion because apparently it's a common opinion, but there's not as much weight to it. But I just don't. I don't feel comfortable when I watch interviews with brother Burt.

[Hannah]

Thank you. We're both Burkers.

[Elvis]

You're fine. There was another case. I literally have the name. Maybe you could help me. The name of the case on my mind. It's about a group of young Americans that went missing in the mountains driving back from a football game. Yuba County 5. That case has. So we did. Sounds awful. We did a Christmas special a few years ago up in the mountains in the snow. That case has bugged me so much because there's so much to it and there are so many different. You know, there was a witness that had a heart attack whilst the boys were apparently in the mountain. It's yeah, the Yuba County Five.

[Suruthi]

So fascinated by that one is we did that one years ago.

[Freddie]

What about you guys?

[Suruthi]

I think the one for me on Robert 1.

[Freddie]

Robert 1.

[Suruthi]

I don't know if you guys have.

[Elvis]

Heard about it, it doesn't ring a bell.

[Suruthi]

It's really good. I would highly recommend listening to our episode or waiting till our episode is out, whichever. Basically very, very short summary about it. 32 year old lawyer in D.C. he goes, he works late and then he goes to his friend's house who he's known since university to stay the night because he lives like a 40 minute drive outside of the city and his friend and he lives with his partner Victor and a lodger, Dylan. Everything's normal. He gets there 79 minutes after Robert gets there, which is only at like 10:30 so not like the middle of the night. There's a 911 call from the house and it's the husband and he's calling the police saying someone's been stabbed in the house and it's Robert and Robert's been stabbed and he's dead. They say the three men in the house say there was an intruder in the house but there is literally not one shred of evidence that anybody came into that house. There is no evidence there. It's like, and I don't even mean just like, oh well you know, the absence of evidence doesn't mean no, like there's no way someone could have come into the house. It's like a mid terrace townhouse and the back garden is like literally just a courtyard surrounded by super high fences and there's still cobwebs around the top of the fences and like pollen on the top of the. And like how is somebody going to have vaulted over that into a neighbor's garden and run off into the night even though the neighbours were awake and we're like, we didn't see anybody fleeing through our garden and everything's been undisturbed on the top. Like there's no way. There's no way. So it's one of them. It's definitely one of the men in the house.

[Hannah]

What does the snake think?

[Suruthi]

He knows but he doesn't know if this episode is out yet or not. No. And basically the weird thing is that Robert's found in bed and he's been stabbed but there's no blood. And so they think that someone's cleaned it up. But like you can't clean up blood that easily or that quickly.

[Freddie]

Yeah.

[Elvis]

Was the knife still inserted?

[Suruthi]

Well, that's another question. It wasn't there when the police got there, but the story changes about whether it was in him or whether it was on the bedside table. And I don't think he died of the stab wounds. I don't think they cleaned it up. I don't think he died of the stab wounds. But the biggest thing, and I will leave it at that, is that they find semen on Robert and inside him. And when you hear that, you're like, well, that's who did it. Whoever semen that is is the one who killed Robert. Do you want to guess whose it was?

[Hannah]

His own.

[Freddie]

Robert's.

[Suruthi]

It was his own.

[Elvis]

So is it still a. Don't want to spoil the episode. Is it still a technically unsolved case or was there justice for Robert?

[Suruthi]

No justice.

[Freddie]

Wow.

[Elvis]

Wow.

[Hannah]

Spooky.

[Suruthi]

Wow.

[Freddie]

Turbo wine sound not so bad. Christ.

[Elvis]

Yeah. Well, the setting of that reminds me of a case we covered recently, which was the doctor sneer and Philip. She was a young doctor.

[Suruthi]

Oh, yes.

[Elvis]

In New York.

[Suruthi]

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Elvis]

But there was lots going on in her life in the build up to September of 2001. There were allegations and the part of this episode that I hated was potentially falling into the trap of speaking ill of the dead. But there was a lot going on in her life at the time in terms of. Her marriage was on the rocks. The family were in debt. She'd been sacked from a recent facility that she worked at. There were allegations about different sexuality that she may have. 911 happens. She was out drinking in a bar in New York, in a known gay bar in New York. Her husband was at work. She never came back. But there were calls made to the apartment. 911 happens. She's a doctor. She's in the area, literally walking distance from the Twin Towers. And she was never seen again. So people immediately were, okay, she's a doctor. She ran in to try and help people. And there was. Her brother did an interview on national television to say that I was on the phone with her. She told me she needed to run into the building and help people. And he later admitted that that was a lie and the phone call never happened. So the case, she's still. I think she's been legally declared dead, although she's been missing since 9 11. And it was, yeah, that was similar circumstances, but just such an uncomfortable read in terms of, you know, other people were theorizing she fled the country and she's living a new life and she, you know, faked her death to start this new life. But it's yeah, it's always. It's always hard when you're dealing with cases where there hasn't yet been been justice for these people.

[Freddie]

I've got a good question. So have you guys ever been contacted by anyone involved in any of the cases that you guys have covered?

[Suruthi]

Yes. I feel like you've got a better story. No. So you tell us.

[Freddie]

First, we've had a couple interesting ones. Jury member from the Menendez case.

[Elvis]

Whoa. I mean, to be fair, she did seem like the type of person that would contact anyone that released any content about the case, but very interesting opinions.

[Freddie]

And then the main one was I was out the other day just grabbing a coffee and then got a message from Ben and it was a screenshot and it said, you did a case, an episode on my husband. And we're like, yeah, we don't know who that is. And like we were just kind of sitting there like, you know, when you got just kind of goes, you know, who is this? What have we said about them? And we didn't know in that instance whether or not they were the victim or so we did ask like, oh, so who was it? And it turned out to be. We do Minnesotes on our website, basically. And it was a Minnesota. We did Randy Herman Jr. Randy Herman Jr. Who he. When he was sleepwalking, he killed a housemate.

[Elvis]

Allegedly.

[Freddie]

Allegedly. Well, you know, he did kill them, but where it was murder.

[Elvis]

Sleepwalking heart was alleged.

[Freddie]

Okay, sorry, sorry. But yeah, yeah, so there was a Hulu documentary. Got absolutely slated for being very kind of sympathetic towards him. But yeah, he basically. It's a very interesting case. But yeah, his wife messaged us saying if you wanted access to him and any of the court things, he's still in prison. Which was bizarre. We assumed it was a money making ploy because why else would you really raise awareness? Yeah, yeah. But then they got a documentary which is very sympathetic about it. If we were going to do it, we'd try.

[Elvis]

There's a petition to get the documentary removed, which has got like over 100,000 signatures, which you don't usually hear too much. And it was so it was in August because Tom and producer Dan, who's not here, but they very kindly did like a birthday shout out for me and you know, in the message requests folder on Instagram. So there was like a couple dozen, like, happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. And then just this one line that said, you did an episode about my husband? And I was like, oh, okay. And then they didn't say who it Was, yeah, yeah. We politely responded, you know, okay, thank you so much for reaching out. Who was the husband? Then we got this information. We haven't yet gone back. Hopefully they're not listening, probably sleeping. Cheers.

[Freddie]

I'll drink for that. I've got a second one and I've got my own one, slightly poured one and then. And the other one was where someone who was actually studying at Virginia Tech when that happened and we covered the case and they were very, you know, very nice about it saying like, didn't know the shooter. I don't know if they did. They said that they were there at.

[Elvis]

The time, they were on campus and.

[Freddie]

They just said it's important to keep the message out there. Because the thing with being slightly light hearted, true crime, like you guys do as well, sometimes you think like you're walking a bit of a tightrope. But then when people respond who are actually there in part the case saying it's important to get the story out, really like how you told it, you feel like, okay, that feels the best thing they could possibly ever say. But yeah, it's very jarring to have someone reach out.

[Elvis]

The other one was the dad, Gary Plush.

[Freddie]

Gary Plausher. The footage where the guy's on the phone in an airport and the guy's getting walked through by the police and he turns from the phone, he shoots the guy.

[Elvis]

Gary. I think It's Gary Plausher Jr. His son was going to a local gym. I believe he was getting karate lessons from this older gentleman in this gym. It turns out for many years this older gentleman in the gym was molesting and being sexually inappropriate ways, abusing this young boy. And the father found out about it. The father was the one that got him all these lessons. And the instructor was arrested. He was being transferred from a different state via plane. A news crew were there to film the transfer of him through this airport. And in the background you see a dad with a hat and glasses on and he just suddenly turns and the.

[Freddie]

Yeah, because he kidnapped his sold. He kidnapped his son, didn't he?

[Elvis]

Son.

[Freddie]

Yeah, but his son.

[Elvis]

His son reached out. Yeah, the victim of the case, which is.

[Freddie]

Yeah, it's very kind of. Sometimes you do the podcast, you don't think about who's listening. And like, is this obviously very good to start thinking about that as well?

[Elvis]

But yeah, we just in a little room together or remotely or whatever. You don't think about the wider world.

[Freddie]

Or in a magician's house.

[Suruthi]

No, it's so true. I think it's. It's easy to lose sight of who's listening and how many people are. I don't mean it. And they're like, oh, we have this responsibility. But it's like, it's just good to be cognizant of the fact that people are listening. Because I think when we do live shows, it's like a reminder. And yes, when people message us, but like, yeah, otherwise it's just you two and a mic or you three and a mic. I think we've had a few ones of people get in touch. I think the best one is probably old Ham Face, which I probably shouldn't use that name.

[Hannah]

Ham Face or Uncle Ron, I would argue.

[Suruthi]

Did you guys ever cover or have you come across the Gable Tosti case?

[Elvis]

No.

[Suruthi]

So Gable Tosti, very interesting man. It took place in Australia and basically he matched with this woman on Tinder. And then he goes on a date with her, brings her back to his house. I believe her name was Warina. And she was just on holiday there, like for a wedding from New Zealand. And she's like, you know, having a little holiday, holiday romance. And he immediately starts, like, being quite weird. Like he starts audio recording the entire date without her knowing. And they've gone out, they've had some drinks, they're back at his house. And I had to sit and listen to all of this raw audio. And it is hours and hours and hours long. And it's so inane, but it's also quite invaluable because of what happens next. And basically what ends up happening is that Marina dies. He says that she jumped off his balcony, but what it obviously sounds like in the audio is they have a fight and then he puts her out on the balcony. He says, I just put her out on the balcony and closed the door, but I didn't do anything else. And then she was so drunk and crazy that she threw herself off the balcony. And to me, I was like, okay, you know, I'm not there. It's not a video recording. I can't say anything. But I said, listening to the audio, that's not what sounds like it's happening. Because you can hear him put her outside. And you can hear the glass door of the balcony close and you can hear her voice become more muffled. So it sounds like, yes, she is now on the other side of the balcony and you're inside. I can hear all of that, but the thing I can't hear, she sounds hysterical the whole time he's moving her outside and she sounds really hysterical when he puts her on the balcony. Like, insanely hysterical. And I'm sorry. If somebody locked me out on a balcony and I wanted to get back in, I'd be banging on the door. She never bangs on the door. So I theorize he's put her over the railings and that's why she's so hysterical and she's holding on because what you're telling me and everybody else then that she's standing on the other side of the balcony screaming at you to let her in, but her arms are by her side and she's not banging on the glass door. Like, that doesn't make sense. And also, she falls immediately. She's like, five seconds and she's falling and she hits the floor. And then he calls the lawyer and then he goes to Domino's. Anyway, like I just said, it doesn't make sense that that's what she would have been doing. So I think he put her over the railing. So he is responsible for her death. And he didn't go to jail for it. He got away with it. And then he basically.

[Hannah]

Back on Tinder.

[Suruthi]

Back on Tinder. And he basically found out about it because he does have, like, this weird, like, following of women that are, like, obsessed with him, which is just so despicable, I guess. Yeah. And they basically told him that we had covered this case. And then he got in touch with us and was like, he has this whole thing where he thinks he's very attractive and, like, you know, obviously it was a long time ago she made fun of people's appearance. But I did say he's got better ham face. Bit of a hammy face. It's not my best work. And then basically, our listeners, and we did tell them not to, we were like, don't go looking for him. Please don't look for this man. Don't call him ham face. It was just a little joke between us. And then they were like, calling him this. And then he just got obviously very irate. And I honestly think there's loads of shows that say he did it, but we are maybe a show that two women laughed at his appearance. And I think that's what he did. Right. And yes, it was low, but whatever. And he basically was getting in touch with us, being like, I'm gonna report you to hmrc. Like, that was his threat.

[Hannah]

Literally. Go on. Company's house, mate. Like, we pay our taxes. It's very obvious and clear and easy to find.

[Elvis]

Little clapback as well. Ham. Mr. RC. Well, it was a fucking struggle. That wasn't good. One because I was not familiar at all with the case. And I'm not gonna go and call him ham face, but I'm with the guys. I was gripped by that story. And then midway through around the balcony moment, I realized that you were holding a snake going for a toilet lid and I just started staring at the.

[Hannah]

Snake and I leave.

[Elvis]

Yeah.

[Elena Urquhart]

It'S all a lighthearted nightmare. On our podcast Morbid, we're your hosts. I'm Elena Urquhart.

[Hannah]

And I'm Ash Kelly.

[Elena Urquhart]

And our show is part true crime, part spooky, and part comedy. The stories we cover are, well, research. Of the 880 men who survived the attack, around 400 would eventually find their way to one another and merge into one larger group with a touch of humor. Shout out to her. Shout out to all my therapists. Throughout the years, there's been like eight of them. A dash of sarcasm and just garnished a bit with a little bit of cursing. That motherf er is not real. And if you're a weirdo like us and love to cozy up to a creepy tale of the paranormal, or you love to hop in the Wayback Machine and dissect the details of some of history's most notorious crimes, you should tune in to our podcast podcast Morbid. Follow Morbid on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes early and ad free by joining Wondery plus and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Lawless Planet Host]

How hard is it to kill a planet? Maybe all it takes is a little drilling, some mining, and a whole lot of carbon pumped into the atmosphere. When you see what's left, it starts to look like a crime scene.

[Hannah]

Are we really safe?

[Suruthi]

Is our water safe?

[Freddie]

You destroyed our town.

[Lawless Planet Host]

And crimes like that, they don't just happen.

[Suruthi]

We call things accidents.

[Elena Urquhart]

There is no accident. This was 100% preventable.

[Lawless Planet Host]

They're the result of choices by people. Ruthless oil tycoons, corrupt politicians, even organized crime. These are the stories we need to be telling about our changing planet. Stories of scams, murders and coverups that are about us and the things we're doing to either protect the earth or destroy it. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad free right now by joining Wondry plus in the Wondry app, Apple podcasts or Spotify.

[Suruthi]

Now, shall we do story swap?

[Freddie]

Yes, please.

[Suruthi]

Okay, so this is actually from one of our listeners. So we used to do something on Red Handed A long time ago called Red Haunted, where we would get our listeners to send in their ghost stories. And now we're back with a bang. So let's go this one. Spooky kids. Oh, not doing spooky kids.

[Hannah]

This is the problem with the drinking game thing is that we always think it's a good idea and then everyone forgets halfway through.

[Suruthi]

Okay. Right. So I think this was anonymous because I don't have a name here. I used to work in a children's nursery that operated out of an old refurbished farmhouse. Like many older buildings, there were occasional ghost stories passed around by staff, but they were always laughed off. I didn't believe them until one day something happened that I've never been able to explain. The attic was the infant's area separated into two zones. There was the infant's playroom, and then down a dark, narrow corridor, you reached the cot room where the little ones napped. A video monitor was set up so staff could keep watch of the babies as they slept alongside physical checks every 10 minutes. That afternoon, after the children had finished eating, most were settled down for their naps. Only two of us were on duty. As everyone else had gone to lunch, my colleague went to do a quick routine check. And when she came back, she remarked that the cot room felt strangely cold. So she turned the heating up in there. Neither of us thought much of it at the time, but not long after, we noticed something strange on the video monitor.

[Freddie]

Don't like it?

[Suruthi]

No. I feel like that's the. Did you guys ever. And I'm going to try do that Kurum case. Do you remember that one?

[Hannah]

I sure do.

[Freddie]

Karim.

[Suruthi]

Okay. K u r I m. No.

[Elvis]

I'm immediately thinking of that woman who has had so little sleep, then looks at a baby monitor, sees herself on it, picking her child up, and has a panic attack. Someone's with my baby. And it was her. Because she'd had so little. It went semi viral.

[Suruthi]

Yeah, I haven't seen that one. No, this one's much worse. This is horrible.

[Ad Host]

You should.

[Suruthi]

You should. You can. You can have it for a future Halloween one because we've done it. It was the one where there's this, like, couple that live in this house and they have. Is it. They've got a baby monitor? Yeah, they've got a baby monitor and it starts picking up interference. And this is a real story. I might be getting it wrong. I can't remember the details, but I know the worst bits. I am correct about. And basically it was picking up interference from next door. And there was a family that were abusing their kids, but I mean, like, skinning them. And they were like, have, like, had some sort of weird torture cult going on next door. I feel like I can't remember all the exact details.

[Hannah]

That's basically it.

[Freddie]

That's basically it.

[Suruthi]

And they called the police and that's, like, how the girls were rescued. That's pretty fucked up.

[Freddie]

Jesus.

[Suruthi]

So this isn't as bad as that. So I know. Yes. They see something weird on the video monitor screen. Basically. One of the cots showed the shape of a baby pressed up against the bars of the crib. It was hard to miss, even with the grainy black and white feed. Now, obviously, she says, we were alarmed, so, following safety policy, my colleague went to move the child. She came back almost immediately, though, looking pale and unsettled, and said a sentence I have never been able to forget. There isn't a baby in that cotton. At first I laughed, saying, what do you mean? We both saw a baby on the video feed, clear as day. Assuming she'd made a mistake, I made my way down to the corridor to check for myself. The ancient floorboards creaked with every step I took, like the house itself was warning me. And when I opened the door to the cot room, I realised something was different. The room was icy cold. My skin prickled, my breath fogged. I went to check the central heating. Like my colleague said, it was on full blast. The babies didn't even seem to be affected by the cold. They were all sleeping peacefully. I went from cot to cot, confirming each child was accounted for. And I started to relax. Maybe my colleague was just mixed up earlier. As I made my way over to the cot in question, I waved in the direction of the camera as if to say, everything's fine in here. But then I stopped in my tracks. All the babies were asleep except one. The cot, the one occupied on the monitor was empty. There was completely nothing there now. The goosebumps on my arms were for more than just the cold. Back in the playroom, me and my colleague tried to dismiss it. Maybe it was just a glitch in the monitor. But as we spoke, the lights flickered once, twice, long enough to make us both freeze. We phoned the manager who was downstairs and asked her if there was anything wrong with the electrics today. She said, no. Now. Seriously, spook. We insisted that she spooked.

[Hannah]

I've smashed mine.

[Suruthi]

We insisted she come upstairs. Now. The moment the manager stepped foot in the attic, the lights went out completely for a second before flaring back on steady and bright, the baby stayed quiet as though nothing had happened. Our manager was skeptical, thinking maybe we were pranking her. But when we tried to show her the monitor, the feed was clear. Every cot was visible. There was no trace of what we'd seen. Nothing at all. What could it have been? A trick of the monitor? Our imaginations? I don't know. The two of us saw the same exact thing and neither of us could explain it. But I'll never forget what I saw, what I felt. I still think about that empty cotton and whatever, whoever was inside it. Oh, and it says whisper. So I meant and whatever or whoever was inside it. There you go. What was it? Ghost baby? Demon baby?

[Hannah]

I think. Alzheimer's.

[Suruthi]

Alzheimer's monster.

[Freddie]

If you're running a nursery, I think you should know how many kids are there and the layout. And you should be on that, right?

[Suruthi]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

I just am not convinced that any nursery actually has cots in it. Aren't they supposed to be like free roaming babies?

[Freddie]

That's. Yeah, that's a very good point.

[Elvis]

What was the era of this case?

[Freddie]

Was it, I don't know, back in the day?

[Hannah]

Well, the era is a Gmail that was closed for many years and we have just reopened AOL.com.

[Suruthi]

No, I don't know. I just think they were. Glitch.

[Elvis]

Little glitch. Yeah. I hate to just put it down to that, but a little glitch. Yeah, it's one that made me. Well, I'm immediately thinking of. It's a really interesting question that our producer Dan raised. We were doing a. Do you know The Joel Guy Jr. Case? The parent Annihilator? We were doing an episode together a few weeks ago and he talked about perspective when you're consuming true crime content. And actually this might be a fascinating one to ask you guys and your lovely crew when we were listening to your tale there. Everyone that's listening to that has a different perspective of what you've just explained. Some people view it in first person, third person, cinematically fly on the wall. In The Joel Guy Jr. Case, there was a moment where he's already unfortunately murdered his father. Her mother's out getting groceries for him for Thanksgiving. He's hiding in the house, waiting for his mom to come upstairs to find her husband deceased. And Dan consumes true crime content and reads all of these scripts in first person.

[Freddie]

His head. Yeah.

[Suruthi]

Interesting.

[Elvis]

So Albert Fish, for example, the old needles in the gooch, throw that out. But Dan would be putting needles into himself, whereas I'm straight away, picture him.

[Freddie]

Putting needles into himself.

[Elvis]

Yeah, sorry, sorry. Yeah. So the whole time you explained that I was there, like, I saw the baby monitors. I was a fly on the wall. I'm very cinematic with how I would listen. Yeah, A lot of people are first person.

[Freddie]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Wild. That's when you, like, find out some people don't have an inner monologue. I'm like, what? Yeah, that. What's going on in there?

[Elvis]

He was very. He was very aware of the fact that he sees it because he's felt. So Dan's not perhaps as into true crime as we are. And there were a couple of cases when we used to film in person where you could feel him going faint and like, about to pass out and he needed to go and get some air.

[Suruthi]

So he's consuming true clothes. He's consuming watching peep show.

[Freddie]

Yes.

[Elvis]

Yep, exactly that. Yeah.

[Suruthi]

That's intense.

[Elvis]

He's super hands and he's been known super noodles and. Well, okay, sorry, sorry. Yeah. No, the whole time I was seeing a flickering monitor, I was seeing the room seeing empty cot and it's just. Yeah. I wondered if there were any first personers in the room.

[Suruthi]

No, no, I'd say I'm.

[Freddie]

Any POVs in the room.

[Elvis]

Any povs?

[Ad Host]

No.

[Elvis]

Man, I. Dan asked the question. Loads of people were like, me too, me too.

[Freddie]

He does get a bit crazy quite a lot, doesn't he?

[Elvis]

Yeah, a lot. But that explains it when, you know, in that instance, I suppose he's an imaginary baby.

[Suruthi]

Really. Or is he the scared nurse driver?

[Freddie]

Yeah, the nurse. Because the baby.

[Suruthi]

Or is he the flickering, glitching CCTV camera?

[Elvis]

It's the thing about Perspectives is it blows my mind.

[Freddie]

Yes.

[Elvis]

But no, there are. There definitely are. And I'm sure there'll be some of your listeners that are first person.

[Freddie]

I don't think I could listen to Rick Graham if I was a first person.

[Suruthi]

No.

[Hannah]

Maybe they're the people who don't like it.

[Freddie]

Yeah, true.

[Elvis]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Freddie]

We're torturing Dan every time we do a podcast.

[Elvis]

Yeah. He got very upset yesterday. We talked about the case of Emmett Till.

[Suruthi]

Oh, yeah.

[Hannah]

Woof. Yeah.

[Elvis]

Yeah. And it was again, if, you know, familiar with that story, Dan put himself in first person for that. Which is. I'm saying he put himself like it was a choice.

[Suruthi]

Yeah. Yeah. That's rough. I don't think I could do this if I was in first person.

[Freddie]

No.

[Elvis]

So I was like, come on, let's. Let's keep talking. And then I remembered his perspective and I'm like, oh, wow. Jesus.

[Suruthi]

Okay. No. Well, when people like. Oh, how do you compartmentalize? Just not by being in first person.

[Elvis]

Yeah, yeah, great answer.

[Mr. Ballin]

Yeah.

[Freddie]

Watch it as a film so you're not getting bold.

[Suruthi]

Yeah.

[Freddie]

Disconnected. Yeah.

[Suruthi]

Wow.

[Elvis]

But there were more. There were loads of people that were like, yeah, I do that too.

[Freddie]

Yeah.

[Elvis]

Why'd you keep listening? Why'd you.

[Freddie]

I mean, please.

[Elvis]

Yeah, please, please, please, please listen. But.

[Suruthi]

Well, that's interesting. Yeah, thank you for bringing that up.

[Elvis]

Yeah. Perspective.

[Freddie]

Do you want to share a little story?

[Hannah]

Yeah, give us a story.

[Freddie]

Give us a story, mate.

[Suruthi]

I feel like I've got high expectations for you.

[Freddie]

Yeah, he's really sold it.

[Elvis]

Why?

[Suruthi]

You said it was good.

[Elvis]

I like the story. I'm just reading it.

[Freddie]

You said it sounds good. It slaps.

[Suruthi]

You did say that.

[Elvis]

So this fell really nicely for us as a few series ago we, we released episodes 12 weeks on, 12 weeks off, and Tom did a little segment which was called Spooky Corner.

[Hannah]

Oh, I haven't got one anymore.

[Elvis]

Would you like some of my beer?

[Hannah]

Yes, I'd love some.

[Elvis]

So, yeah, a few months ago Tom had a segment which was Spooky Corner. And yeah, similar to you guys, we had loads of our listeners send stories in and we weren't able to tell all of them, but I'm very happy to be able to share this one today. And it reads as follows. So this was actually sent in by Jim B.

[Suruthi]

Okay.

[Elvis]

Okay. Hi, chaps and ladies. I'm horribly aware that this may be a bit late in being sent, but I wanted to recount this spooky event that happened to me some 30 odd years ago in the hopes that you gents and ladies find it interesting. While this occurred a long while ago just outside Maidstone in Kent, it nonetheless has ingrained itself in the firmament of my memory. Do you have to Google firmament?

[Suruthi]

I've never heard that word before.

[Elvis]

It's in the front of his mind. It's always been on his mind. So here it go. It happened as I was walking home from spending the evening with my mates at the other end of town. Fortified. I love this way of just saying I was pissed. By the way. Fortified by the world's supply of alcohol, I decided to take an unfamiliar shortcut through a nature reserve, most of which was wooded, as doing so would probably take off half an hour from my journey home. The downside of this shortcut was not only that it was a pretty scary place at night, but it also required climbing over a large locked gate and therefore trespassing or trespassing if you speak like me. But as CCTV wasn't really a thing back then, nor was the area patrolled by any kind of security, at least as far as I knew, I thought it was a fairly safe bet that I wouldn't get pinged by anyone. So I went for it, assured in my somewhat addled brain. Adult, tipsy brain.

[Hannah]

Adult's a bit stronger than.

[Freddie]

Yeah, it's fermented. Oh, yes.

[Elvis]

This is actually quite a big sentence. Sorry.

[Freddie]

That's all right.

[Elvis]

Yeah. I put so many commas in this. So I went for it, assured in my somewhat addled brain that my espionage skills would allow me to pass like shadows in the wind. Sadly, I was disabused of such prideful sentiments as I found myself quickly entangled by brambles and another snagging type undergrowth.

[Freddie]

Russell Brand right there trying to get out.

[Elvis]

Yeah. No, but it puts you in perspectives. It puts you there.

[Freddie]

Damn.

[Elvis]

So Bram, basically, he's climbed over a gate, he's had a few to drink.

[Suruthi]

Got it.

[Elvis]

Scary route. Brambles, undergrowth, Tyler's bramble. So as I elected to climb over the gate, it was situated at the very back end of the nature reserve in an area that was left to grow wild. I managed to free myself from the area with much of my arms and legs torn up, and more by dumb luck than judgment, I found myself on a woodland path that dropped down into a wide dip dissected by a stream, which crossed via a small bridge.

[Suruthi]

It's like Tolkien, it's universe building.

[Elvis]

The path then led up to the other side and joined a main path that I knew would eventually lead out of the woods via a stile and requiring the climb of another large gate before I would then be into a small housing estate close to home.

[Suruthi]

This feels like when you read about, like, a hiking route on all trails, it's like a very, very detailed breakdown of all trails. Fuck all trails. I hate all trails.

[Elvis]

Oh, wow.

[Suruthi]

Because I feel like the categorization of their trails is highly inaccurate.

[Freddie]

It's like Dwight Schrute directions all trails.

[Elvis]

The Dutch hikers in Panama, we quoted from that website on that trail. And it was interesting, but this. Back to the story.

[Suruthi]

Well, I will lead you astray. It will tell you it's like a seven and it'll be a nine.

[Elvis]

As I slowly stumbled my way down the path, I suddenly became aware of a light bobbing and weaving through the trees to my left. Groaning inwardly, I assumed I was about to get collared by a security guard or some such attached to the end of a Maglite torch. And so started to prepare the dickhead who got lost on his way home routine, which, to be fair, wasn't that far away from the truth, apart from the trespassing thing. As the light wove its way closer, I soon saw that it wasn't a torch, or indeed a pissed off security guard that was about to give me the good news with a massive Maglite torch. But it was what appeared to be the upper torso of a man with arms flaying about like some sort of macabre puppet that seemed illuminated from the inside, if that makes any sense. That's what he's put.

[Freddie]

Yeah, it doesn't.

[Elvis]

As if that wasn't terrifying enough. I could see that he had no face whatsoever, just like a black void. He had long hair that appeared loosely tied back in a Regency style ponytail plait wrapped in a leather looking ribbon. I could make out the top half of its legs, which seemed to fade into nothing, just above the knee.

[Suruthi]

This guy is the best eyewitness ever. Can you imagine the scene, this being that scared and being like Regency style.

[Hannah]

Leather ribbon and he's fucking pissed.

[Freddie]

The police. I'll be like, can you just come on Finishing shift.

[Elvis]

At this point, I was rooted to the spot, praying that the warm sensation spreading down the front of my shorts was just the result of my labored climb up the steep hill. The figure continued staggering past me, moving rather like one of those people you see in old film reels as the frames jump about, giving the appearance of a jerky kind of walk.

[Suruthi]

Like the ring?

[Elvis]

Kind of like the ring, yeah, very jerky. The figure then passed me and appeared to totally fade out from the head downwards. Looking down, my worst fears were now confirmed as I stared at the wet map of Africa that had suddenly appeared on the front of my shorts.

[Hannah]

I've got a birthmark on my leg that looks like Africa.

[Elvis]

Get it out.

[Suruthi]

There you go.

[Hannah]

Oh, yeah, you're welcome. Yeah, I've got the British Isles on the top of my thigh, but that's for onlyfans.

[Freddie]

But this was piss.

[Suruthi]

So that is the best description of his patch.

[Freddie]

Africa.

[Elvis]

But to be honest, I say that was fair play. After witnessing what I had just seen, with my senses returning to me, I took off at a rate that would give Usain Bolt a run for his money. Excuse the. Excuse the pun. I have never seen anything like this before or since, nor do I ever wish to. Some years later, I did some research into the area to try and see if any similar accounts were reported. Or any weird incidents existed.

[Suruthi]

I love that he waited years before.

[Elvis]

He looked into it.

[Hannah]

He was knocked down on it.

[Elvis]

Bad hangover. Bad hangover. And I soon came across a very interesting piece of history. It turns out the nature reserve is actually part of what was once the private gardens of a large manor house known as Vinters Manor, that owned much of the land around there too. Legend has it that two brothers who lived in the manor both fell in love with the same young lady who was the daughter of one of the tenant farmers. Upon finding out that she was the object of both of their desires, they ended up fighting a duel in woodland not far from their home. The younger brother shot his older sibling, winning the duel and the affections of the young lady. It is. No, please.

[Freddie]

No.

[Elvis]

It's gonna be good.

[Freddie]

Jeremy wasn't good.

[Hannah]

Please.

[Freddie]

No, no, no. Seriously.

[Elvis]

Seriously. It's not like you.

[Freddie]

No, no.

[Elvis]

Okay, so that he's been shot.

[Freddie]

Sorry.

[Elvis]

It is said that the wounded duelist tried to make his way back, but died somewhere in the woods on the grounds of the estate, his stomach blown.

[Suruthi]

Apart on that face.

[Elvis]

So maybe what I saw was some grisly replay of that brother's final moments. I would love to hear what you guys think or would do in a similar situation. Best wishes and a massive thanks for taking the time to read that bit.

[Freddie]

That's why. Cheers, Jim B.

[Elvis]

And Jim B. You can include my name if you want. And his signature. I believe he works in quite a good job.

[Suruthi]

Okay.

[Freddie]

Well done, Jim B.

[Elvis]

Well done, Jim.

[Suruthi]

That was very good vocabulary, Jim. It was great.

[Freddie]

Yeah.

[Suruthi]

I would have thought. Cuz he said that the thing had like a black void for a face. He would have been shot in the face.

[Elvis]

Yeah.

[Suruthi]

No, shot in the stomach. Okay.

[Freddie]

Facing above the knee, he said.

[Elvis]

Isn't he? Okay, what's going on? Yeah, big story.

[Suruthi]

What would I have done? Probably researched it sooner.

[Elvis]

Yeah.

[Freddie]

Less piss.

[Hannah]

Oh, I definitely would have pissed myself.

[Suruthi]

Definitely.

[Hannah]

But I would have just got an erheim.

[Suruthi]

That's true.

[Elvis]

94/5.

[Freddie]

Black cab.

[Elvis]

Black cab home.

[Suruthi]

That's a good one.

[Freddie]

It's all right.

[Hannah]

Yeah.

[Elvis]

Glad I picked you up, Jim, because I would have been crucified. And there's one downstairs. There is a crucifix downstairs.

[Freddie]

And we learned some words as well.

[Suruthi]

Yes, we did. I've forgotten them.

[Freddie]

Adult Pierce Ferment Cat. There you go.

[Elvis]

Also, I could murder red Antidote kind of flows. It kind of slaps.

[Suruthi]

It's very good. It's very good.

[Hannah]

Oh, this must be a question. You get all the Time. If you were going to murder someone, how would you do it?

[Elvis]

Oh, oh, I went immediately quite bad, didn't I? You did show bad insight to my personality.

[Freddie]

Old folks home, wasn't it?

[Elvis]

And just slip somebody in the food. Yeah, but just because that's, you know.

[Freddie]

That'S how to get away with it.

[Suruthi]

Yeah, sure.

[Elvis]

Icicle knife.

[Suruthi]

Yeah, I've heard that one.

[Hannah]

Ice sword is a good one.

[Elvis]

Yes. Yeah.

[Freddie]

Ice sword does.

[Elvis]

Yeah. I do feel quite emasculated.

[Hannah]

Nice dagger.

[Suruthi]

I know people do say that, but I'm like, that's not always the main reason people get away with it. Just because I couldn't find the murder weapon.

[Elvis]

That's very true.

[Freddie]

There's that one in Edinburgh, wasn't it? Where off the. It'll push off the old cliff top.

[Suruthi]

Yeah. What's that called? Arthur's Seat. Is that the one?

[Hannah]

Was it off Arthur's Seat?

[Suruthi]

I thought that's where they found the little coffins.

[Hannah]

Yeah, yeah. They're on Arthur's Seat for sure.

[Suruthi]

Am I making that up?

[Hannah]

No, they're like an ancient little coffins. Yeah, they are.

[Suruthi]

Anyone know about that? Never mind. I've got my.

[Hannah]

That's like a witch thing. It's not related to her. Okay, cool.

[Freddie]

Because you can't deal with a push off a cliff. You can't really judge it.

[Elvis]

Yeah, I know.

[Suruthi]

Yeah. This is the thing. It's like. It's like pushing your wife down the stairs. If you didn't get the owl to do it.

[Freddie]

Don't say like you didn't.

[Suruthi]

You don't know. That's gonna kill her.

[Freddie]

Yeah, exactly.

[Suruthi]

She'll just get up and be like, you push me down the stairs.

[Elvis]

The owls.

[Freddie]

Why was the owl so angry?

[Elvis]

So naturally. Have you seen videos of owls? Like there's like nest cams of. Of owls in America snatching other birds from nests. And it's terrifying.

[Freddie]

Owlsy and rabbits. That videos.

[Suruthi]

And there was other people in the area who were like, I was out jogging and an owl has happened.

[Elvis]

Yeah.

[Suruthi]

In the back of the head.

[Hannah]

They can also sit cross legged.

[Elvis]

Oh, that's cool.

[Freddie]

Yeah, they're really long legs.

[Elvis]

Oh, yeah. The skeletons of an owl are actually quite terrifying because it's just.

[Suruthi]

Well, there you go. Who knew?

[Hannah]

Okay. Desperately. This is from. She spelled it R H I. Which I would say re. Like short for Rihanna probably.

[Suruthi]

Yeah.

[Hannah]

Okay. And here is what she has to say. In my early 20s, I started working at an extremely well known haunted pub in. Wait for it. Cockwood, Devon. It's called the Anchor Inn. The pub has a very nautical old timey smugglers vibe and it's over 450 years old. Originally opened as a seamen's mission way on the local harbour. A haven for soldiers and smugglers and. Or they bring the seamen themselves. Local legend says that the pub is haunted by a friendly fisherman and his dog.

[Freddie]

A fisherman's friend.

[Hannah]

Quite. That is actually the title of this story.

[Elena Urquhart]

Excuse me.

[Hannah]

And I knew all of these stories before I started working there. Little did I know how close I would get to the semen.

[Elvis]

That's where I went.

[Hannah]

I had my fair share of weird experiences whilst working at the pub. Like all of the staff members, I often had a feeling of being watched from the dark corners of the bar. Snugs late at night while locking up. But one night whilst I was chopping onions seems like an odd late night task. Surely that's morning prep. I felt a whole hand on my waist as if to move me out the way. I turned around to apologise to my fellow chef to find that no one was in the kitchen with me. It took a while to shake off the uncomfortable feeling of those hands, them hands gripping me. And as hard as I tried, I could never quite explain it away. Anyway, the time came when I needed somewhere to live and the flat above the pub was surprisingly cheap because it was 100% haunted. But I was poor so I had to live there. Anyway. My first night was eerie. Strange sounds and creaking aplenty with cold breezes coming through the ancient single pane windows that couldn't be replaced because it's a heritage site. Oddly, the sounds of voices coming up through the floorboards of my colleagues and guests laughing was actually quite comforting. So I drifted off to sleep quite happily. It doesn't sound like it. Although I didn't stay asleep. Every night without fail at about 4am I would be woken up in a cold sweat by a blare coming from the pub's burglar alarm.

[Elvis]

Tony Blair.

[Hannah]

Tony Blair is just shouting at the end of your bed. If my sleep paralysis even was Tony Blair.

[Elvis]

Our country is under attack.

[Hannah]

We were talking about this in the Aussie the other day about when like Sophie etc were at school. They were all really worried about obesity. So all the children had to be weighed and everyone had to be weighed in front of everyone. But obviously our generation, Tony Blair was just quite worried that we actually couldn't read. So it was just literacy and numeracy wall to wall.

[Freddie]

I'll prove that worry in a bit.

[Hannah]

Anyway. Every time Tony Blair appeared. I would jump up and go and turn it off and check for intruders. But there was never anyone there. So reassumed that the alarm sensors must be faulty if they're going off at 4 o' clock in the morning every single day. So the landlord had them checked out, but they were perfectly fine. The only thing that could possibly trigger the alarm was the presence of a person, especially Tony Black. One night I woke up in a cold sweat again at 4am, naturally. But this time it wasn't the alarm. There was a loud banging on my wall. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw a bearded man wearing a thick fisherman's jumper and a distinctive hat stood in the corner of my room, staring right at me. I shot upright and flicked the bedside light on, but he had vanished. And then I heard it pause on the flagstones below. Scurrying around the pub downstairs, I grabbed my trusty club. Are you alright? He's sleeping with a club under your pillow.

[Freddie]

Alright, Fred Flintstone.

[Hannah]

And with my heart in my throat, I ran downstairs, only to find the pub completely empty, with all of the doors locked and everything completely still. I knew then for certain that I was not alone. The next morning, I smudged my apartment with sage and used some protective spells that my witchy mother gave me to try and make a pact with my ghostly roommate. You stay in the pub downstairs. Tony Blair and I will stay upstairs. To my amazement, it worked. After that night, the alarm stopped and Tony Blair in his fisherman jumper never returned. Years later, scrolling through Facebook, a local history page had posted a photo of the anchor Inn in 1885, pushing a wheelbarrow on the harbour. Facing the camera was the very same Tony Blair that I saw in my bedroom. Same beard, same war crimes, same thick fisherman jumper, same hat. A little bit of wee came out when I saw that photo.

[Freddie]

So much piss.

[Elvis]

So much piss.

[Hannah]

The picture solidified what I had been trying to laugh off for so long, that the Anchor Inn was in fact, haunted as fuck. Thankfully, I don't live there anymore and I'm only a daytime customer. The end. Thank you.

[Elvis]

Yeah, well done.

[Freddie]

A wheelbarrow on a port is something I've never pictured before.

[Hannah]

How are you getting that stuff off the boat?

[Freddie]

That's true, but just garden. So this was a story from one of our listeners. I'm gonna call it Woof Woof.

[Suruthi]

So that's cute.

[Freddie]

Well, we'll see how cute it is by the end. So 32 years ago, I remember it always stuck with me. First things first, I'm very skeptical. I don't believe in ghosts in the way the mainstream perceives supernatural. And this is probably the only time I can remember in my life I was genuinely afraid. Even though I was just a child, it is still something I question so much to this day. I lived in a two story flat in a small village just north of Cardiff. The flats had the exact same layout with my mum, toddler brother and older brother along with myself. In the top flat underneath was my mum's best friend, her partner and son, the same age as my younger brother. It was a bit of a 90s setup. We had a living room arrangements where kids had the same bedroom, etc. Anyway, one morning me and my older brother were up early watching Sharky and George. Great show. Remember?

[Hannah]

Yeah, Sharky and George Detectives. Yeah.

[Freddie]

And my mum was reading with her younger brother asleep in his cot. We had a massive scream. Mum rushed into the bedroom to find my brother crying at the corner of the wall. She picked him up and he was absolutely soaked, like a bucket of water had been thrown over him. He kept pointing and say lady and woof woof. That's what the woof woof came in. There was a bit of confusion, but we all went to the living room where mum dried and changed him. Then a minute later, thereabout, we heard someone walking up the stairs outside. They were metal so we could always hear someone coming bang on the door and loudly opened it. We heard our neighbor downstairs came in crying with her. Boy was also soaking wet and crying. He also said an old lady and a dog. They were both about 3 years old at the time, so didn't know what each other was saying. Both cots were in the same room and they both pointed in the same corners that mum's friend showed us. It was such a strange experience and the older I got, the weirder I thought. This experience was how they both weren't connected in any way. But they said exactly the same thing and they were both soaking wet. We moved a year later. My younger brother doesn't remember a thing about it. But what do you guys think happened? Just from Darren Pittway.

[Elvis]

Go on Darren.

[Suruthi]

So the younger brother and his friend who lived upstairs both said they saw the same thing and were both found soaking wet.

[Freddie]

Yeah, both. So it said old lady and a dog and they both were soaking wet as if being thrown a bucket over them. But it was two stories, the flats.

[Elvis]

No residue of water bomb, a little bit of balloon scattered on the floor.

[Freddie]

Even with that it's like how are they seeing out the window. Seeing a lady in a. Woof. Woof. Yeah, but if you're a kid in the cot, you're not going to be looking out and seeing outside the window.

[Elvis]

Well, if you're then suddenly wet, I.

[Freddie]

Don'T know, it has to be a great shot for a water balloon for a window. But yeah, Dazzler. He said dazzler on here, by the way.

[Elvis]

Dazzler.

[Freddie]

Yeah, Dazzler. Yeah, that's. Yeah. I don't know how to explain that.

[Suruthi]

Well, that was fantastic. Thank you guys so much for sharing and thank you to everyone who wrote in. Sorry if we didn't pick your story. Maybe next time. Has anyone got any final thoughts, feelings, concerns, Plugs? Listen to our podcasts. Red Handed. I could murder a podcast.

[Elvis]

Yeah, it sounds like you have some humdingers coming out soon. Very interesting cases. So we'll be sure to check those out. Yeah, we're wrapping up. Our series will have been finished Halloween. But yeah, we might do some specials. Maybe some Halloween specials and maybe a Christmas special. But we just wanted to say so thank you so much to you guys and to your lovely crew and, and thank you so much for having us on.

[Freddie]

It's been.

[Elvis]

It's been a very big pleasure.

[Freddie]

An absolute pleasure.

[Suruthi]

Thank you for joining us. We don't often hang out with other podcasters, so this was lovely. So, yes, listen to Red Handed wherever you listen to your podcast. And if you have been listening to the audio version of this, I would highly recommend that you just watch it again on YouTube. And you should also check out our new friends, our commercial podcast.

[Hannah]

And please listen to Flesh and Code.

[Suruthi]

Yeah, please. Because we spent ages making. Yeah.

[Hannah]

And now Wandri said. Happy Halloween.

[Suruthi]

Happy Halloween.