Bill Mize: The Car Crash King | 221

Summary

Scamfluencers – “Bill Mize: The Car Crash King” (Episode 221) Release Date: July 6, 2026 Hosts: Scaachi Koul & Sarah Hagi

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Episode Overview

This episode of Scamfluencers delves into the twisted saga of Bill Mize—also known as “The Car Crash King”—who orchestrated decades-long insurance fraud schemes, enlisting and manipulating his own family, friends, and acquaintances as crash test dummies. Hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi unpack the mechanics and emotional manipulation defining Mize’s scams, which escalated from staged car wrecks to dangerous physical harm in pursuit of financial control and criminal profit. The story traces Bill’s troubled upbringing, ambitions, the family’s descent into his schemes, the devastating fallout—and the legal reckoning that finally ended his reign.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

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The Making of a Scamfluencer: Bill Mize’s Origins

[06:22–12:49] Troubled Childhood & the Allure of Wealth

• Bill Mize grew up in unstable circumstances: an abusive stepfather, neglect from his mother, and periods of abandonment left him craving control and admiration.
• At 17, Bill met his biological, wealthy restaurateur father and adopted the Mize name—choosing to leap from Bill Mize II to IV for effect. This affirmed his belief he was ‘destined for greatness.’
• After his father’s sudden death and a $700,000 inheritance, Bill “completely transformed… within 24 hours he was completely evil. Money is so corrupting.” (Teresa, Bill’s ex-wife, as quoted by Sachi at [12:29])

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From Restaurateur to Scammer

[12:49–17:44] Failed Ventures & Early Crimes

• Bill attempts to build an empire with inheritance money: opens Cricket’s Food and Spirits in Sacramento, modeled after “Cheers.” Delegates unpleasant tasks to his wife Teresa, straining their marriage.
• After a vicious custody battle and feeling slighted by lawsuits, Bill abducts his children and flees to Acapulco—destroying his restaurant before leaving (“shot holes in the walls, poured Coke on the floor” [17:27]).
• Smugglers’ life in Mexico: Bill brings his kids along to transport marijuana across the border, embedding criminal activity as ‘family business.’

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Building the Crash Scam Empire

[19:33–26:12] Expansion, Cosmetic Transformations, and Control

• Bill returns to the U.S., partners with new girlfriend Sandy (a criminal justice grad who supports his shady ventures). He cycles through small-time scams—stealing luggage, filing fraudulent insurance claims.
• In pursuit of respectability, Bill reinvents himself physically (surgeries, tattoos, luxury cars, mansion) and orchestrates his home and family image to appear powerful and affluent ([20:58–21:27] Descriptions of opulent, gaudy house).
• “He was finally transforming into the all powerful, visually arresting, Trump-esque figure he always dreamed of being.” ([21:33])

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The Methods of Fraud: Razor Blades to Crash Scenes

[04:16–05:09, 24:54–26:12] Staging Accidents & Victim Grooming

• Bill would ‘prep’ victims—usually family or friends—by inflicting wounds with razor blades, sandpaper, dirt, and even urine to make injuries plausible, then orchestrate car or slip-and-fall accidents.
• “The bruises, cuts, and injuries all over them were created by Bill before the crash using razor blades, sandpaper, and dirt.” ([03:58])
• First-time scammers would be the ‘at-fault’ party, netting less money, and graduated to victim status for higher payouts.
• Notable moment: Bill forces his nephew Ryan to participate, making him complicit to pay off family debts. “Cheating, lying, stealing … is how you impress Bill Mize.” (Will Jr, [23:37])

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Manipulation and Emotional Abuse as Leverage

[29:19–38:21] Drawing Family Back In

• Angela, who tried to break away, is lured back after a suicide attempt, with Bill providing care and then coercing her into the scams—she feels she “owes him” ([29:33]).
• Bill manipulates family vulnerabilities, using money, affection, and fear as strings, and exploiting moments of need (like Angela’s husband Steve’s injury) to escalate the scams.

Quote:

“Bill doesn’t do favors. He uses their desperation as leverage…” ([36:12])

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The Toll: Humiliation, Injury, and Dependency

[38:21–46:05] Trapped by Debts and Psychological Control

• Bill indebts family, placing his name on their house deeds and forcing them into ever more grueling, dangerous crimes to ‘repay’ him—sometimes pushing them to self-harm (e.g., Ryan chipping his own tooth).
• “It’s starting to seem like the humiliation is a feature and not a bug.” ([40:46] Sarah)
• Family members become “on call” for Bill’s whims, barred from social media, ordered to clean his property, threatened with violence (he shoots his gun in the house during a drunken outburst, [41:53]).

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Cracks in the Empire: Burned-Out Family and New Recruits

[46:05–47:33] Network Expansion and Loyalty Erosion

• As family members break down or quit (e.g., Will Jr.’s addiction and breakdown), Bill recruits vulnerable outsiders but can’t maintain control.
• Despite losing participants, Bill keeps using their names for ongoing insurance scams.

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The Fall: Investigation, Indictment, and Aftermath

[48:12–58:48] The Law Closes In; Chaos Ensues

• When one member is arrested for drug charges, Bill spirals into paranoia: stockpiling, prepping for a supposed siege, composing a “downfall mix” CD featuring “My Way” and The Godfather theme ([49:13–50:45]).
• FBI raids in 2018 produce enough evidence for a massive indictment: 33 accidents, over 100 charges, more than $6 million in fraud.
• Bill flees but is eventually caught and extradited from Florida; the rest of the family receives sentences ranging from home detention to years in prison.
• Ryan, Angela, and Will express “relief” and gratitude that the law intervened.

“This has truly saved my life, and I will forever be grateful.” (Ryan, [55:45])

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Aftermath and Reflections

[58:48–62:38] The End of the Scam—and Its Legacy

• The family rebuilds after serving time—some start new (and legal) businesses, even sharing their story on TikTok (“The Original Prison Couple”).
• Bill is sentenced to 12 years, ordered to pay $7.1 million in restitution; his mythos as a mafia don evaporates when even his closest kin turn against him.

Quote:

“When they all finally turned, it was a car crash you couldn’t look away from.” ([58:40] Sarah)

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Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

• [12:29] Teresa (via Sachi):
  “It just changed his whole DNA …within 24 hours he was completely evil. Money is so corrupting.”
• [21:27] Sachi:
  “These rooms look like what Trump would do if he didn’t have any money. It’s very rococo…ooky, spooky, really male.”
• [24:54] Sachi (after seeing photos of Sandy’s staged injuries):
  “She really clearly has a head wound. She’s laid up in a bed. I mean, these are the kinds of photos you see after someone crashes their car.”
• [29:33] Sarah:
  “He was the one who picked her up from the hospital … In return for his love and care, she feels like she owes him.”
• [38:21] Sarah:
  “Bill’s family is either dependent on him for money or scared to go against him. But everybody has a breaking point.”
• [41:53] Sarah:
  “When Ryan and Kimmy return from a trip to Disneyland … Bill gets so drunk and angry that he shoots his gun into the ottoman right in front of them.”
• [54:22] Sachi (reading Bill’s letter):
  “Please understand my options are all very bad. I do not want to die in jail … I would just be a burden to the few people in the world that even really care about me.”
• [55:45] (Ryan’s statement):
  “This has truly saved my life, and I will forever be grateful.”
• [59:23] Sachi:
  “This episode bummed me out… There have to be easier ways to get six-figure sums here and there than getting your relatives to punch themselves in the face, and cut themselves with razors and pull their teeth out. There have to be better ways.”
• [60:09] Sachi:
  “You can get people to do this… you can do anything, and of all of the things that he decided to do, it was, ‘I want you to pretend you chipped your tooth when you crashed your car.’ That is such a waste of such robust and impressive power.”

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Important Timestamps

• [04:16] The mechanics of staging a crash and “prepping” family as victims
• [12:29] The transformative effect of Bill’s inheritance (Quote from Teresa)
• [24:54] Visual description of “injuries” in staged hospital photos
• [29:33] Angela’s coerced return to the family business via emotional leverage
• [41:53] Bill’s escalation to armed threats/danger in the family home
• [49:13] Bill’s paranoia after the ring begins to unravel
• [54:22] Bill’s letter from the run—his rationalization
• [58:40] Reflections on the crash of the family and the end of Bill’s scam

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Host Reflections & Lessons

• The scam ultimately was as much about control and humiliation as money. Bill’s need for dominance drew his family into a web few could escape without outside intervention.
• The persistence and psychological patience Bill showed are what made the scam so dangerous—and, eventually, unsustainable.
• The insurance industry’s susceptibility and the inherent brokenness of systems that reward shamelessness and persistence are underlined:
  “The story is also a testament to the bullshit around insurance. Like, if you’re just persistent enough and if you’re a good enough liar, you can kind of get away with it … What is the structure of our society?” (Sachi, [60:57])

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode offers a gripping, often darkly comic account of how desperation, greed, and emotional manipulation can twist a family into a criminal empire—and how, in the end, courage and outside intervention are required to escape. The vivid storytelling, candid co-host banter, and sharp observations on money, power, and family cult dynamics make this an unmissable listen for true crime and scam aficionados alike.

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Further Reading and Sources

• “Collision Course” by Lauren Smiley (New York Magazine)
• The Sacramento Bee
• Court Documents

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Compiled by your podcast summarizer, maintaining the hosts’ sharp wit and the episode’s tension and insight.

Transcript

[Sarah Haggie]

Audible subscribers can listen to all our episodes of Scamfluencers ad free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. A heads up to our listeners. This episode contains mention of suicide. Please listen with care. Sachi, maybe this is a dark thought, but have you ever been so broke you kind of wish to get a lot of money in a small, non threatening or life ruining settlement of some kind?

[Sachi Cole]

I was hoping to get like a bunch of money from that like AI book lawsuit. Remember there was that class action that was like, if your book has been used for AI training, you were owed a little bit of money.

[Sarah Haggie]

I'm waiting.

[Sachi Cole]

I'm still waiting.

[Sarah Haggie]

Well, I'm still waiting for my $49 in the Canadian bread fixing scam.

[Sachi Cole]

I knew were gonna talk about the bread fixing, which I'm also owed money from that. I lived there when that happened and I haven't seen a dime.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yes, you are owed money, but I did it right at the deadline.

[Sachi Cole]

Sorry, a friend of mine just got $49.

[Sarah Haggie]

Everyone's getting $49.11 or something. Well, today I'm gonna tell you about a proud patriarch who went to incredibly dangerous and sadistic lengths to get the life he deserves by forcing his family to pay the price. It's March 2014 in the Mojave Desert outside Henderson, Nevada. Angela Tardy is standing alone on the side of a highway in a pair of yoga pants, shielding her eyes from the hot sun. She's 30 years old with a round face and bright red hair. There's a knot in her stomach as she watches what's happening only 100ft away. Angela's father, Bill Mize, is behind the wheel of her Sebring convertible. He's 53 years old, with graying brown hair and hands decked out in gold rings and chain bracelets. He's a big guy with a square jaw and a smile that makes it clear he's had Botox. Until recently, he and Angela have been estranged, but after years of watching her brother receive her father's love and admiration, she started to feel left out. So when Bill invited her here today, she said yes. Even though what he's asking her to do is scary. She's hoping to earn her dad's love and respect. Bill slams his foot down on the Sebring's accelerator, kicking up a dusty trail behind him. He takes aim at an idling Mercedes where his wife sits in the passenger seat. The Sebring smashes into the Mercedes and the sound of the crash echoes off the nearby desert cliffs. As soon as the cars come to a rest, Angela nervously walks towards them. Bill exits a Sebring as smoke pours out from under the hood. Angela takes his place in the driver's seat and slams the door shut. Then Bill speeds off in a third vehicle. Once he's out of sight, Angela calls 911. When the police and paramedics arrive, they examine everyone for injuries. They find concussions, bruises and open wounds from the crash. Angela acts dazed and says, how could I have done this? Angela repeats the line she rehearsed with Bill that she had been out hiking in the desert all day and was exhausted. She leaned over in the car to grab a cd and then boom. It's scary to lie so brazenly to the people sent here to help. But Bill told Angela that for her first staged crash, she'd have to play the at fault driver. Angela isn't just doing a favor for her dad. She's being initiated into the family business. Bill has been orchestrating crashes like this for years with the help of his wife, his kids, and a whole bunch of friends. These people in the crumpled Mercedes, they're in on it. And the bruises, cuts and injuries all over them were created by Bill before the crash using razor blades, sandpaper, and dirt.

[Sachi Cole]

Right. So just to clarify, they're faking a crash, her dad is making her fake the crash, and then he's also cutting her with razor blades and sandpaper and rubbing dirt on her.

[Sarah Haggie]

Exactly. Yeah, that's exactly it.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Cool, cool, cool. I'm caught up.

[Sarah Haggie]

Cool. Also, playing the at fault driver is harder and there's less money in it. But if Angela pulls this off, Bill says he'll let her play one of the victims one day. That's when she'll see some real money. This crash alone nets Bill more than a quarter of a million dollars from insurance companies. He's got dozens of scams like this one already under his belt. But Bill's about to learn that you can only crash so many cars before the wheels come off for good.

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[Sarah Haggie]

from Audible Originals I'm Sarah Haggie. And I'm Sachi Cole, and this is Scamfluence. Bill Mize came from humble beginnings but always believed he was destined for fortune, and once he came into a sizable inheritance, his main character syndrome went into overdrive. After failing as a restaurateur and drug dealer, Bill finally found his calling, orchestrating a fraud ring of staged slip and falls and car wrecks. Bill liked to lecture people about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, but all he ever did was treat the people closest to him like crash test dummies, then con them out of much of their share of the insurance payout. Bill's obsessed with exerting control over his family financially, emotionally and physically, but there's only so much even the most loyal family members can take, and eventually the rubber will meet the road on Bill's dead end scam. This is Bill, the Car Crash King legend. To understand how Bill came to threaten the lives of his closest friends and family for cash, we need to go back to 1979 in the suburbs of San Francisco. Bill is 17, a nebbish guy with granny glasses, and today's a big day for because he's meeting his biological father for the first time. His dad's name is William Mize ii, and he wants to officially adopt Bill. Up until now, Bill has had a pretty turbulent childhood. He was born out of wedlock in El Paso, Texas, and raised by a single mother named Eve. Eve wasn't in a hurry to settle down, but she did spend a lot of time with wealthy men, and this taught young Bill that a man's value is based on his wealth. Eventually, they settled in the Bay Area with one of these male suitors, who became Bill's stepdad. But it was a toxic dynamic. His stepdad sometimes beat Bill so severely he couldn't attend school. Eve and his stepdad divorced after four years, but Eve Never became a truly maternal figure. In fact, at one point, she left Bill in the care of another woman for a period of time. Bill later claims he was left in an orphanage. This childhood, full of abuse, uncertainty and neglect, left Bill looking for some kind of control over his life. And he found it through work. Bill got his first job at the age of 12 as a bar back. He dropped out of high school after freshman year and emancipated himself at 16. By age 17, he owned his own home. For Bill, this newfound financial stability is a huge change from his rough childhood. And this is when, out of nowhere, his birth father reappears in his life, wanting to adopt him. We're not sure how this happened or why his dad reached out after so long, but Bill is thrilled. His birth father is a restaurateur from a well known family in Kentucky. The kind of lineage that comes with old money and a respected name. Bill agrees to adopt the surname Mize and Sachi. We don't know why, but he decides to skip over being William Mize iii, and he goes right for William Mize iv. For him, the discovery seems to affirm what he's always felt he was meant to be someone who people respected, adored, and feared.

[Sachi Cole]

What a scary thing to think about yourself. Cause it also sort of suggests that he's been biding his time to some degree, waiting for someone to rescue him with a better narrative about himself. And here he is, and it is supercharging his absolute worst instincts.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah, I mean, it's truly one of those classic villain origin stories. Around this time, Bill visits his sister in Idaho. And when he gets there, he meets the girl babysitting her children, 14 year old Teresa Mastin. Teresa has dark hair and curious eyes, and she's immediately drawn in by Bill's long hair, confidence, and romantic sensibility. Despite the age gap, they start dating. And a year later, when Teresa is just 15 years old, she gives birth to a son and they get married. Bill has overcome a difficult, insecure childhood. Now he has a home, a wife, and a son. William Mize V. He sees fatherhood as motivation not only to support his family, but to build the kind of empire he's always believed he deserved. Seven years later, Teresa and Bill are living in Sacramento. It's 1987, and they've added a daughter, Angela, to their family. Bill's now 27, and he's been working as a regional manager of TGI Fridays, adding shifts at a tiki restaurant to make ends meet. His life isn't glamorous, but he's as determined as ever to make something of himself. In the last few years, Teresa has started to see the darker side of the long haired hippie she married. Bill is a serious control freak. They have constant disagreements over how to raise their kids. He wants more discipline, more control over them, but Teresa never reins them in the way he wants. Then Teresa learns tragic Bill's birth father, the man who came along and gave him a sense of self and his name, has died. But Bill doesn't have a normal reaction to his father's death. Rather than mourning, Bill seems thrilled because his dad has left him an inheritance of $700,000 and a house in Arizona. Sachi, can you read what Teresa later tells New York magazine about how this money changes Bill?

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, this is what she said. It, quote, just changed his whole DNA. Almost like within 24 hours he was completely evil. Money is so corrupting. Like $700,000 isn't that much money. But it doesn't take a lot of money for someone to indulge in their worst self.

[Sarah Haggie]

Sometimes it doesn't take much. Well, Teresa struggles to keep up as her husband transforms in front of her. The family moves to Acapulco, where Bill works renting water ski boats to tourists. But Teresa can't stand it there. And after just a month, she moves back to the States alone. About a year later, Bill and the kids move back too, and he's ready to restart his life. He buys a motorboat and a Corvette, and with the rest of his inheritance money, he opens a bar and restaurant called Cricket's Food and Spirits. He wants it to be Sacramento's version of Cheers. Teresa should be happy, right? Bill and the kids are back in the US and her husband seems to be putting his inheritance to good use. But somehow she gets stuck doing all of the dirty work of actually running the restaurant. Meanwhile, Bill saunters in every night dressed to impress and barks orders from his corner table.

[Sachi Cole]

I never worked in food service. I was a retail girlie, famously. Same rip, Smartset and Jacob. But I feel like this kind of restaurant guy is very well known. Everyone's been at a restaurant or a bar where the manager is just yelling at everybody. And that guy sucks. He sucks so much, he thinks he's better than the servers. He thinks he's somehow worked harder than everybody. These are the worst restaurants to go to.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah, it's really Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares vibe. Like, I could see the episode in my head. And it's not long before their marriage falls apart. This time, Teresa leaves For good. And she and Bill start divorce proceedings. The ensuing custody battle is vicious. Eventually, a psychologist is assigned to evaluate Bill's dynamic with his children. And the psychologist seems to validate Teresa's feelings, saying that, quote, the father is controlling, extremely narcissistic, arrogant, and at times insists on his way. In response, in his declaration to the court, Bill takes potshots at Teresa's new boyfriend. He says, quote, he seems to represent a social class I had worked so hard to raise my family above.

[Sachi Cole]

Oh, God, I hate people like this. Like, just own where you're from and be about it. But this thing of, like, I'm better than it, and I worked harder and I refused to be dragged down by some plebe. Ugh.

[Interjecting Male Voice]

Guy.

[Sachi Cole]

Shut up. You got one inheritance check. It's not even that much money. You got one inheritance check and you own a fancy Applebee's.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah. I mean, he's a class trader.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah.

[Sarah Haggie]

So the court ends up granting the couple joint custody. But on New Year's Day, when Teresa goes to pick up the kids, there's no trace of them. Panicked, she contacts the sheriff's office. They search for Bill and the kids for hours, to no avail. She later finds out that Bill took them to Acapulco and they have no intention of ever returning. Teresa is devastated. She's finally free of Bill, but at the cost of her children. She's distraught and shocked that she was married to someone for so long without realizing his true dark nature. But she has no idea how dark things are about to get. It's a year later and 33 year old bill is living it up in Acapulco with his kids, Will and Angela. By now, Bill has a booming business smuggling marijuana from Mexico up to the states, bringing in around $100,000 a year. He's got a gorgeous cliffside villa overlooking the water, and it's so palatial, he even has room for his cousin and her son Ryan to move in. Ryan's dad isn't in the picture and they're barely getting by. So Bill rescues them and whisks them off to Mexico. According to Ryan, Bill was their savior. Bill hasn't said why he went from owning a California restaurant to smuggling weed abroad. But maybe he wanted to get rid of anything that reminded him of Teresa. He did more than close crickets. He destroyed the place on closing night. He broke mirrors, poured Coca Cola all over the floors, and used a shotgun to shoot holes in the walls and ceilings. Then he fled to Mexico.

[Sachi Cole]

I don't know if he's destroying his property because he's enraged or because he's gonna file some bullshit insurance claim later. But this is so petulant. He shot into his walls and poured coke everywhere. That is idiotic.

[Sarah Haggie]

I mean, it is pretty annoying to clean up a sticky spilled bottle of Coke. So I do understand. Mm. After living in Mexico for a year and a half, Bill moves the entire family back to California. Teresa later says that she wasn't told they came back and that by the time she found out, the kids seemed well established in their new home and school district and she didn't want to disrupt their lives. But it turns out those lives weren't all that stable because Bill is still smuggling drugs. And Even though Will Jr is 14 and Angela is only 10, they both tag along to work with him. Meaning they take family cruises back and forth from the US To Mexico, sneaking pot aboard the ship. One day in 1994, Bill is sitting in the cruise ship lounge when a brunette woman with sparkling eyes approaches him. Her name is Sandy Talento, and she invites him to have a drink. Bill tells Sandy that he operates a water skiing business in Mexico. Even though his look is a bit dorky, his gaudy jewelry and purple tuxedo jacket really do it for Sandy. Bill soon learns that Sandy has a criminal justice degree. But when she eventually figures out his real occupation, she apparently doesn't care. Good men are hard to find.

[Sachi Cole]

I guess they are hard to find, which is why you should just try to not find them.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah, I agree.

[Sachi Cole]

There's no point. Give it up. Get a hobby. Learn how to knit, juggle.

[Sarah Haggie]

If you're the kind of girl who's into bad boys, like don't go for Bill.

[Sachi Cole]

We can do better.

[Sarah Haggie]

Go for someone wearing a leather jacket or something. I don't know.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, this isn't even a cool drug to smuggle weed.

[Sarah Haggie]

No. His kids are there.

[Sachi Cole]

Boring.

[Sarah Haggie]

Well, Bill and Sandy officially start dating, and she's supportive of Bill's criminal activities. His kids stay with her in California while Bill makes smuggling trips back and forth to Mexico. When Bill is thrown in a Guadalajaran jail for drug running, Sandy brings the kids to visit. Bill gets out of jail a few months later and decides to give up the cartel life to flip properties in Vegas with Sandy as his realtor. But he's also running multiple small scams on the side. For example, he steals luggage from airports and reports it missing. The airlines pay him up to $2,500 per bag, and by the new millennium, with all the money he's pulling in Bill starts to splurge. He gets a bunch of cosmetic surgeries to become the beefcake he's always wanted to be. He gets corrective eye surgery, a nose job, and even his eyebrows tattooed on. He's also now in great shape and tans regularly. Bill loves being the hotshot who drops off the kids at school in a Jaguar. Bill also buys a huge McMansion in a gated community on the Washington and Idaho border. The house is perched on a cliffside which lets Bill literally look down on his neighbors like a King Sachi. Can you please describe these pictures of the inside of Bill's house?

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, I gotta say, these rooms look like what Trump would do if he didn't have any money. It's just like very masculine. The woods are all really dark, dark wood flooring, dark wood tables and bars and chairs, high backed chairs. It's very rococo, a lot of leather couches. These are the rooms I would see in 90s pornography. It is ooky, spooky and really male.

[Sarah Haggie]

It looks like the inside of the Bada Bing from Sopranos.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, I think Trump would have loved that.

[Sarah Haggie]

In addition to the house, Bill and Sandy buy sparkly outfits for their Chihuahua Chica. Bill is finally transforming into the all powerful, visually arresting, Trump esque figure he's always dreamed of being. But his time smuggling taught him something crucial. Keep it in the family. So that's exactly what he's gonna do whether they like it or not. It's 2007 and 46 year old bill is meeting with his nephew Ryan. Ryan's now in his mid-20s with short black hair and a square jaw. He looks like a quarterback with sweet eyes, but behind those eyes, he's under a lot of stress. He owes Bill quite a bit of money. And lucky for Ryan, Bill's got a repayment plan in mind. He tells Ryan that about a year ago a neighbor rear ended him after doctoring some bills. He managed to get some money out of it and now he has an idea for another accident that could lead to a big insurance payout. Bill wants to stage a scene where a ceiling fan falls on Sandy.

[Sachi Cole]

Hey, why doesn't it fall on him? Why doesn't he do it? Try it.

[Sarah Haggie]

That is an amazing question that we will come back to. Well, Ryan isn't sure he actually wants to get involved. His uncle Bill is always pitching schemes to the other kids in the family. For example, 27 year old Will Jr. Has been voiding checks and pocketing cash at his restaurant jobs at Bill's insistence. And when Will Jr got hurt playing basketball, Bill coached him into lying for a payout and free pain pills. Will Jr. Spent his entire adolescence trying to win his father's approval and according to him, quote, cheating, lying, stealing, shaming and breaking the rules is how you impress Bill Mize. 23 year old Angela, meanwhile, is so fed up with Bill's constant schemes that she's removed herself from the picture entirely. Now it's Ryan's turn to finally be invited in. The idea scares him, but it's also validating. Bill is the only father he's ever known and he's essentially just been asked to join the family business he's in. A few months later, the day of the scam arrives. Ryan waits outside the guest bedroom, listening until he hears a loud crash. He opens a door and sees Sandy on the floor, bleeding from a head injury. The ceiling fan is sitting in a mangled heap nearby. Ryan looks over and sees Bill holding a metal pan and a razor blade. Bill was the one who caused Sandy's injury. He tells ryan to call 911, then hides in another room. Ryan's hands are shaking as he dials. He knows Sandy is okay, but he can still feel the shock coursing through his body. Paramedics put Sandy in a neck brace and take her to the hospital. She plays a consummate victim, even rolling her eyes into the back of her skull. Sachi, here are some photos documenting Sandy's injuries. Can you please describe them?

[Sachi Cole]

Oh, she looks rough. She's in the hospital. She really clearly has a head wound. It looks like she's passed out. There's another photo of her sitting on some steps with this little dog. She's got crutches, she's laid up in a bed. Her foot is elevated and bandaged. I mean, these are the kinds of photos you see after someone. You know, not to put too fine a point on it, but after somebody

[Sarah Haggie]

crashes their car, the images are really scary. Yeah, it's scary to imagine someone knowing they're about to get injured and then ending up looking like this. Months later, Bill tells Ryan that the insurance claim went through. He shakes Ryan's hand and says he's honored his debt. Ryan is overcome with relief and pride. Bill is treating him like a son, praising him with love and affection in a way he had never really done before. And although Sandy has never spoken about why she helped Bill scam, we can guess that she was also drawn in by his charisma and wanted his love and approval. Before this, Bill had already achieved so much of what he's dreamed of. The giant house, the fancy cars, the stacks of cash. But this new scam, which involves injuring those around him, gives him what he wants most of control.

[Sachi Cole]

This guy's been evil for a while in a lot of ways, but to jump from just sort of your garden variety asshole to abusive restaurant manager, to drug smuggler, and now to I'm going to bludgeon my relatives in order to get rich quick is a terrifying progression.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah. And Ryan will soon learn that Bill isn't ready to let go of him just yet. More favors are in his future because Bill has finally settled on the scam he wants to build his life around. And he's willing to put his family in danger to make it happen.

[Interjecting Male Voice]

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[Raza Jaffrey]

I'm Raza Jaffrey, and in the new season of the Spy who we open the file on Benedict Arnold, the spy who betrayed the American Revolution. America is fighting to free itself from the British Empire, and one of its foremost generals is Benedict Arnold. He's a smuggler turned battlefield heroes and admired for his aggressive tactics. But when a war wound, a new wife, debts and politics test his loyalty to the mags, he turns spy and devises a plot to shatter the revolution and help Britain capture rebel commander in chief General George Washington. And that plot would make him the most infamous traitor in U.S. history. Follow the spy who now. Wherever you listen to podcasts, you can also listen to the full season of the Spy who Betrayed the American Revolution early and ad free on audible.

[Sarah Haggie]

I feel like a legend. It's March 2014 in the Mojave Desert, and we're back to where we started this episode. Bill's daughter Angela is sitting behind the wheel of a steaming Chrysler Sebring. As the cops ask her questions, she parrots back the story she rehearsed with Bill. Angela is still new to this whole operation. More than a decade ago, when she was 17, she distanced herself from her family and decided to live on the straight and narrow. But she didn't cut her family off completely, and they made sure she felt their disapproval. Even though Angela didn't want any Part of their world. Being left out felt even worse.

[Sachi Cole]

I really can't imagine being raised like this. I was raised by such staunch rule followers. It must take so, so much to first recognize that what they're doing is wrong and then also to try to get out of that situation.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah, exactly. And things came to a head last year when Angela tried to take her own life, despite her attempts to dist herself from her dad. He was the one who picked her up from the hospital, took care of her, and set her up with a nicer apartment when she was at her lowest. In return for his love and care, she feels like she owes him. Before long, she's being dragged into Bill's operation, and she quickly learns how his scheme works. Her dad enlists crash perpetrators and victims, including family and friends. Then he roughs him up beforehand to make the crash look realistic. Angela watches as he cuts them with a razor and rubs dirt in the wound. Sometimes Bill even pours urine on the fake victims to make it look like they passed out and lost control.

[Sachi Cole]

A lot to consider here. Is he just collecting his own pee to pour on people?

[Sarah Haggie]

Listen, there are elements of this that feel fetishistic. Yes.

[Sachi Cole]

Okay, well, interesting use of pee.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah, I mean, they're already getting hurt. Why not ask them to piss themselves?

[Kate McKinnon]

Yeah.

[Sachi Cole]

Couldn't it be their own pee?

[Sarah Haggie]

Like, oh, that's a bridge too far. Pee your pants. Well, after each accident, Angela and the other actors head to the hospital. They receive treatment, claim they forgot their insurance card, and bail without paying. Then Bill assumes a fake name, like William Westfall or Chad Harris, and poses as a victim's advocate to help the victims get the biggest payout possible. He negotiates with the insurance companies, usually by threatening a huge lawsuit on his client's behalf. And the insurance companies, looking for a break, always settle. Since everyone involved in the crash is in on it, they let their insurance companies settle without a fight, knowing they'll get a slice down the line. After the Sebring crash, Angela gets her payout from Bill. $10,000 plus a brand new Cadillac. The biggest reward is that she finally feels like she's in her dad's club. She starts getting invited to his parties and on his vacations. Angela has the fatherly approval she's wanted for decades. She's officially welcomed back into the family, even if it means she has to live a life of crime. But when felonies are the one thing keeping a family together, it's only a matter of time before they start to splinter. It's 2015 at Spokane's Davenport Hotel. Ron Wells, a local businessman, sits across from Bill. Now 54, Ron is a big guy with bushy eyebrows and he's a decade older than Bill. He's a successful real estate magnate who mostly focuses on flipping historic buildings. Everyone in Spokane knows him. Ron's not only a millionaire, but a respected man around town. Bill wants some of that shine and tells Ron he wants to join him in flipping houses. From their first meeting, it's clear they're not interested in the same kind of real estate deals. But Ron finds Bill refreshing. Ron has recently come out as gay and is in the middle of a lengthy divorce from his wife. So he's in the mood to celebrate and make new pals. Ron quickly joins Bill's entourage. He parties with them at their palatial estate in Spokane and smokes high quality weed with Bill. Bill even invites him on vacation with the rest of the Mize family in New Orleans. Here's a photo of them all together. Sachi, can you describe it?

[Sachi Cole]

Well, I'll tell you what, they all look really normal. They just look like normal people having a laugh. Couple of bright pink tops happening here. And Bill looks like someone who would be rude to me at a bar. So that feels right.

[Sarah Haggie]

Let's just say they look like they

[Sachi Cole]

party, they look like they throw them back. I would be afraid to run into these people at the pub, you know?

[Sarah Haggie]

Oh, big time. And Ron is having a great time with Bill. But some of what he sees gives him pause. Like a briefcase full of cell phones all labeled with different names. Bill tells him that he's an insurance consultant helping crash victims maximize their payouts, and Ron decides to believe him. One day, Ron complains to Bill he's having a hard time getting payments from one of his clients. Bill offers to break the guy's legs in a serious enough manner that Ron is convinced he isn't joking. Ron was eager for a. And as he and Bill grow closer, he's become the master of looking the other way. Even if Bill is doing illegal things, at least Ron isn't involved. But Ron's about to learn that Bill doesn't keep friends around unless they start pulling their weight. That same year, Bill's car crash enterprise continues to grow. He invites other trusted individuals into the fold, like Misael Reyes Tehimaroa. Misael was one of Will Jr's roommates and he stayed a close family friend. Well, at least close to Bill. Bill now has a small cabal of actors staging wrecks and pulling in payouts. But despite the money that's coming in. He sees that his kids are struggling with the carnage his scam requires. He can't afford to have them pull away. Otherwise, who will keep this cash cow going? So when Bill spots an opportunity, he seizes it. Angela has a new husband, Steve, who's agreed to turn a blind eye to the family business. But when he tears his acl, Bill knows exactly how to use this to his advantage. First, he urges Steve to fake an accident so he can get a big payout. But Steve refuses to, which is noble. But the couple is struggling. So with thousands of dollars in medical co pays piling up and Steve unable to work, Angela swallows her pride and asks Bill for help. But Bill doesn't do favors. He uses their desperation as leverage to pull her into another scheme with him. Later that year, Bill stages a fall at Angela's house using Misao before the so called accident. Bill takes a razor to Misael's head to create a wound, then pushes him down a flight of stairs. To Bill, the scene looks perfect. Misael is bleeding profusely while Angela calls 911. But when she asks to staunch Misael's bleeding, Bill forbids it. He wants the scene to be as brutal as possible. Angela can't help but cry. And she's not the only kid who's starting to crack. Will Jr. Is also struggling. He has a wife and kids and a crippling opioid addiction stemming from an injury a decade earlier. In 2013, he had a mental breakdown and spent two weeks in a psych ward. Bill's intense judgment pushes Will Jr away, not just from the family business, but but from the family entirely.

[Sachi Cole]

This is an unspooled person. He is so dangerous in so many ways. I would almost say it's a good thing that he's pushing Will away, but like, it's actually just a testament to how unstable he is and how scary he is.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yes, it's going really far. But Bill isn't worried because in Will Jr. S wake, another relative takes up the mantle of goldenchild Ryan. He never complains about staging crashes and never says no to Bill, but it isn't out of the goodness of his heart. Bill always finds a way for Ryan to owe him a favor. Like when Ryan meets his new girlfriend, Kimmy Boido. She's a pint sized former cheerleader with dark hair and tanning bed skin. They quickly fall head over heels for each other and Bill's over the moon. Not because Ryan's found true love, but because now he's got another Potential crash actor, he agrees to pay off Ryan and Kimmy's mortgage and let them owe him the money instead. All told, the sum is $225,000 with 6% interest. And bill puts his name on the deed to the house for good measure. Evil.

[Sachi Cole]

Evil. This is such a bad idea. I can't believe they agreed to this.

[Sarah Haggie]

He's taking advantage of his family in the craziest ways. And Bill keeps digging a bigger financial hole for his nephew. Whenever Ryan seems overwhelmed or unhappy, Bill swoops in, he sends him on vacation or love bombs him with words of affirmation. He can tell that Ryan just wants to make him proud, and he's more than happy to exploit that. Bill's family is either dependent on him for money or scared to go against him. But everybody has a breaking point, and Bill's about to learn that he's pushing them all to theirs. It's a Sunny Day in 2016, and the Mize house is filled with champagne and laughter. In the backyard, there's a large white tent covering a dance floor. A crowd of people dressed in 20s flapper attire watch as Ryan and Kimmy share their first dance as a married couple. It's a big day for Ryan, filled with emotion, including gratitude for his uncle. Bill threw them a lavish Great Gatsby themed wedding. And despite their differences, Ryan knows he would never be where he is today without Bill. Both he and Kimmy are now full time car crash victims to help pay off their debts to his uncle. But beneath a gratitude for his dream wedding, Ryan is hiding darker feelings about Bill. He's anxious and scared about what the future holds and the work is taking a toll on him. Just a few months ago, Ryan was standing in Bill's bathroom preparing for his sixth accident. He gripped a set of pliers tightly, trying to work up the courage to chip his own tooth. Bill wanted him to claim it happened in yet another car crash. And after 30 minutes and a shot of Jack Daniels, Ryan finally got the nerve to do it. Later, in the aftermath of the staged crash, he spit out the bloody chipped fragment in front of the paramedics.

[Sachi Cole]

Gross. And also the idea that he asked him to do this like a couple months before his wedding day is unspeakably selfish. This guy is like in his own reality.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah, it's starting to seem like the humiliation is a feature and not a bug. But Ryan's commitment doesn't pay off. After the accident, Bill sat Ryan down and delivered the bad news. The insurance company denied their claim, which means no money Was made from the tooth chip crash. So Bill's name will stay on the deed to Ryan's house. And Ryan still owes him a huge sum of money. Ryan's starting to question Bill's operation. He and Kimmy have been doing more than their fair share of running scams. But Bill has been deducting what he calls expenses from their payouts. Things like travel costs, meals, parties, and office supplies. It leaves them with barely enough to pay their bills. And Bill's demands have started to go beyond repayment with interest. Ryan and Kimmy are constantly on call for his various whims. They clean Bill's house, cars and boats. Bill forbids them from posting on social media. And when Ryan and Kimmy return from a trip to Disneyland they didn't tell him about, Bill gets so drunk and angry that he shoots his gun into the ottoman right in front of them.

[Sachi Cole]

I can't think of anybody who should not have a gun more than Bill. There's nobody who should be less armed than this lunatic.

[Sarah Haggie]

He really is acting like a mafioso or something.

[Sachi Cole]

He would like to be. It's an attempt.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yes, of course. Organized crime probably wouldn't even have him.

[Sachi Cole]

Too messy.

[Sarah Haggie]

Well, Ryan wanted to find a way out of Bill's grasp, so he turned to a trusted family confidant, Bill's friend Ron. Ron has a ton of connections, so Ryan quietly sent him his resume, asking him, quote, can you do anything to get me out of this? But he never heard back. Ryan assumes that Ron must be afraid to cross Bill. It's clearer than ever. Ryan is trapped. But today's his wedding day, so Ryan forces himself to snap out of his sour mood. He looks over at his new wife and smiles. There may be storm clouds on the horizon, but he takes Kimmy by the hand and dances the rest of the night away. Ryan and Kimmy are spinning on the dance floor, but their debt hasn't gone anywhere. And neither has Bill. It's October 2016, and Bill is sitting behind the wheel of Ron's Dodge Ram. He slams on the gas and speeds toward a target he's never hit before. A speedboat. It belongs to Bill, and he towed it into the middle of the road for this very purpose. The 36 foot boat jumps into the air and slams back down onto the hood of the Dodge. Smoke pours out behind the twisted metal fragments of the hood. And with that, Ron is officially a member of the Bill's car crash club.

[Sachi Cole]

Okay, so this photo of the crash. I think it's hard to completely grasp how like violent and real. These crashes are. I mean, the entire front of this truck is gone.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah.

[Sachi Cole]

It is twisted metal.

[Sarah Haggie]

This is so scary.

[Sachi Cole]

I can't imagine this happening. Even as an accident, it would be so terrifying. But the fact that these are planned is incomprehensible.

[Sarah Haggie]

No, it's like going against every feeling of self preservation. It's really crazy.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah.

[Sarah Haggie]

Up until this point, Bill's been bringing Ron into his scam slowly. He's asked him for small favors, like depositing a $225,000 check that was made out to one of his so called victims. Bill's bank refused to deal with the check, so he turned to Ron. With his financial connections, Ron was able to get the check deposited, cleared, and sent to Bill, no questions asked. Bill appreciates Ron's help, but he also knows that Ron's in a tough spot right now. His divorce lawyers are squeezing him, his credit cards are maxed out, and his money is tied up in real estate. Ron needs cash and quick. So when Ron asked bill for a $20,000 loan, bill obliged. But he quickly grows impatient, waiting to be paid back. So he tells Ron he's found a better way to repay him. If Ron just lets him destroy his truck for a huge payout, they'll call it even. Plus, Bill is happy to bring him into his entourage. Because Bill is becoming desperate. His crash test dummy ring is bleeding members. Will junior Officially quit the group after his first breakdown, and he soon had another episode in Las Vegas. He was arrested after cops found him running naked down a highway during a drug binge. After that, his wife divorced him and said if he wanted to see his kids again, he'd have to get clean. So that's what he's focusing on now. Even though Will Jr is doing better, Bill doesn't show much empathy. He sees addiction as a weakness, even though he pops Valium like candy.

[Sachi Cole]

Well, it's not an addiction if a doctor prescribes it to you.

[Sarah Haggie]

I mean, Bill thinks he's on the outside of any rules, so of course he's not addicted.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah. Why would it apply to him now?

[Sarah Haggie]

And now Bill has to lean more heavily on Misael, Ron and the other members of his entourage. Like Michael White, a friend of Ryan's who fell on hard times and got sucked into participating in two crashes. Or Bonnie. Bonnie, a widow who accepted Bill's financial help only to get roped into staging three crashes, the last of which she didn't realize was happening until she had already been tricked into entering the car. Not everyone sticks around that long. A guy named Jason Westfall participated in one crash and then changed his number and cut Bill off. Luckily for Bill, he still has use for these abandoned actors, or at least their names. Insurance companies would surely catch on if a man named Bill Mize submitted three insurance claims a year. So instead he submits claims under false names to escape detection. And now he's got Ron, one of the most well respected men in town, on his roster. But for every new recruit, Bill is losing someone closer to home. And his lack of control is about to get the attention of the authorities.

[Kate McKinnon]

Yo there tis I, Queen Motuana of the Night Realm, aka Kate McKinnon and

[Sachi Cole]

her raven minion JoJo, aka Emily Lynn.

[Kate McKinnon]

If you do not download and binge my show, heads will roll. Heir apparent on Audible.

[Sachi Cole]

I will cut off your head.

[Sarah Haggie]

Oh no. Maybe just tell them about the guest stars like Richard Kind, Carrie Coon, Jimmy Fallon, at all.

[Kate McKinnon]

But they were in it. And if you don't listen to them, then I will cut off your tongue. Then cut off your head and then put the tongue in the head hole.

[Sarah Haggie]

Ah, you tried.

[Kate McKinnon]

Listen now exclusively on Audible and download the Audible app today or off with your head.

[Sarah Haggie]

I'm kidding. I feel like a legend. In November 2016, Bill gets alarming news. Misael has been arrested for trafficking drugs. A member of his fraud ring being rung up on charges does not bode well for Bill. So ever the strategist, he decides to speak at Misael's bail hearing. He wants to make sure Misael won't squeal about their other activities. So Bill convinces the judge to make him Misael's legal custodian. Meaning Misael can be released into Bill's care as long as he shows up for court.

[Sachi Cole]

Is that allowed? Is that how court works? That if some kindly white man. I guess that is how court works. If some kindly white man shows up and says, I'll handle it, then they just let them, basically.

[Sarah Haggie]

But Bill's still paranoid that his protege is talking to the Feds. Rumors are swirling that the authorities have visited Bill's notary. And some of Bill's banks suddenly close his accounts without explaining why. Bill feels the walls closing in. He starts to get depressed and then maudlin. Eventually, he takes to his king size bed, staring at the ceiling while blasting My Way by Frank Sinatra. He had Sandy burn a special mix CD for his downfall, which also includes the theme from the Godfather. He starts burning copies for his family members, telling them to play it in his honor. When he inevitably dies or goes to Prison. When he's not wallowing in self pity, Bill's going full prepper. He stockpiles food and weapons and outfits his home with a generator and barbed wire. In March 2018, after a year and a half of waiting for the other shoe to drop, Bill decides he deserves some fun. So he and Sandy indulge in one of their favorite getting remarried. They first got married in the 90s, but every few years they divorce in order to declare bankruptcy separately. Bet you never thought about divorce this way, eh, Sachi? A new approach.

[Sachi Cole]

I never thought about it this way. It is opening up a whole new world for me. I didn't know you could do this. My whole life could have been different.

[Sarah Haggie]

Oh, yes, you're learning something about divorce that you never thought you'd learn, which is pretty cool.

[Sachi Cole]

I hate to learn something new when I am the expert. How embarrassing.

[Sarah Haggie]

Well, Bill and Sandy cram the whole family into a stretch limo and head to a chapel in Vegas. Bill's outfitted in a black button up with a white tie, while Sandy wears a royal blue gown. She holds their Chihuahua Chica in her arms, who's dolled up in her own silver sequined outfit. Their family watches from the pews as the officiant runs through the service. Bill taps his foot impatiently and then interrupts and adds his own vows to never testify against each other and to always have each other's backs. Two months later, Bill's paranoia is validated when he hears a knock at his door in Spokane. It's the FBI. They've got a warrant to search his estate and Ryan's house too. They turn the place upside down and leave with boxes of evidence. The chips have fallen and Bill is left exposed. The FBI has more than enough evidence to take him down, but it's not in Bill's nature to go quietly. A week before Christmas 2018, Bill is finally indicted. And he's not alone. 22 co conspirators are named alongside him, including his two kids, Sandy, Ryan, Kimmy and Ron. They're charged with staging a staggering 33 accidents between them, adding up to 101 counts of money laundering and fraud. The feds claim that all told, the family pulled in more than $6 million through their scam. The first hearing is held in the new year and Bill pleads not guilty to 87 counts. To his relief, Bill, he's released on bond without location monitoring, and he promises to pay $750,000 if he skips court. Bill might be a free man for now, but his life is Quickly unraveling, the tight grip he kept on his family is gone. It's an every man for himself situation. And everyone starts spilling to investigators. In one of his meetings with the authorities, Ryan learns that Bill actually did get a huge payout from the tooth chipping incident. He lied to Ryan when he said the claims were denied and pocketed the entire check, more than a quarter of a million dollars for himself.

[Sachi Cole]

This is still not enough money. I still feel like no one is making enough money for any of this, frankly.

[Sarah Haggie]

No, not at all.

[Sachi Cole]

To get this guy to do all of that stuff to his face, to get him to do any of it, but to do all of that stuff to his face right before his wedding, and then to lie to him and say, oh, it didn't work, just so that he could keep, like, a little more than the already significant amount that he's keeping for something that he didn't even do. Like, he hasn't even performed this fraud. He's just a facilitator. It's. Oh, this is so gross.

[Sarah Haggie]

It's so upsetting on so many different levels. And I think just speaks to the hold he had on all of them.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah.

[Sarah Haggie]

Over the next year, all the members of Bill's crew take plea deals and wait to learn their sentences. Everyone except bill. Then, in June 2019, Angela receives a letter from Bill postmarked from San Diego. Sachi, can you read part of it?

[Advertiser Voice]

Yeah.

[Sachi Cole]

Bill wrote, quote, Please understand my options are all very bad. I know. I do not want to die in jail, and it will serve no purpose for me to be there. I will not be able to help anyone and would just be a burden to the few people in the world that even really care about me. Hey.

[Sarah Haggie]

What?

[Sachi Cole]

That's not what jail does.

[Sarah Haggie]

It is the craziest logic.

[Sachi Cole]

That's not the point of jail. As we have said many times, we do not believe in jails except when we do. And this is one of those cases, when I think we do, it does serve a purpose, which is that you will stop telling your nieces and nephews and children to break their bones and

[Sarah Haggie]

teeth for your enrichment. He's so delusional. He's so delusional. And with that, Bill is gone. While he's on the run, the rest of his family and friends stay in Spokane and deal with the fallout. Ron gets sentenced to a year of home detention and is ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution. Will Jr also gets a year of home detention. The judge decided to go easy on him because he'd already left the crime ring of his own accord. Angela gets six months in prison. Ryan gets 19 months, and Sandy gets the largest sentence of all, six years. In their sentencing statements, Ryan, Angela, and Will all take responsibility for their actions. Ryan even thanks a judge for ending their servitude, saying, quote, this has truly saved my life, and I will forever be grateful.

[Sachi Cole]

This is so wild, because what he's really saying is like, thank God you caught us. Like, this is the only way for him to stop, the only way for him to have escaped.

[Advertiser Voice]

Bill.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah. Exactly a year later, in early 2020, a familiar man is spotted walking through a liquor store in Henderson, Nevada. It's Bill Mize, wearing dark sunglasses and a Nike Polo. He hasn't been seen since he went on the lam a year earlier. When he notices someone staring at him, he freezes. A chill runs down his spine, and his heartbeat quickens. Is he about to be tackled to the ground and cuffed? But then he realizes it's just a distant member of his extended family saying hello. Bill is relieved, but keeps their exchange brief and gets the hell out of there. Bill's proven that when the chips are down, he only looks out for one guy himself. But he's about to find out that what goes around comes around. After completing his year of home detention, Will Jr. Went on to live a quiet life, just like Angela, who left the family to relocate out west. After Kimmy and Ryan were released, they moved into Kimmy's childhood home in Spokane. They had to sell their old house to pay restitution. Ryan went legit, getting a job at a mechanic shop. They also launched a prison consulting business and started a TikTok account called the Original Prison Couple, where they detail everything they've been through. It currently has more than 150,000 followers. As for Sandy, it appears she may have been released from prison early in 2023, though the exact details remain unclear. Bill Mize was finally captured in November of 2023. U.S. marshals arrested him at a marina in Jacksonville, Florida, where he'd been living on a boat. He was extradited to Spokane and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He also had to pay $7.1 million in restitution. According to Ryan's TikTok, he attended Bill's hearings, but not out of support. In the videos he posted, Ryan is now the one in control of Bill's story. In the end, Bill gambled big and lost it all. He wanted to be his own version of a mafia don with a family that would never go against him. But when they all finally turned, it was a car crash you couldn't look away from. Sachi, what would be on the CD you burn for your family to listen to upon your death or imprisonment? I have a feeling many men buy 50 cent would be there.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, well, you know how I feel about 50 Cent. Yes.

[Sarah Haggie]

And that would be one of those for sure.

[Sachi Cole]

It's very positive. God, what would I play? I mean, I would probably leave everybody a really loquacious, like, voicemail from me, you know, listing out every grievance that I still had, everybody who still owed me something, feuds and fights to continue after my death, you know, commands. I would have directives for people to, you know, get some closure for me from beyond the grave.

[Sarah Haggie]

Wow, we really learned a lot in those few moments.

[Sachi Cole]

God, this episode bummed me out.

[Sarah Haggie]

It's so sad.

[Sachi Cole]

It's such a weird scam. There have to be easier ways to get, you know, six figure sums here and there than getting your relatives to punch themselves in the face and cut themselves with razors and pull their teeth out. There have to be better ways.

[Sarah Haggie]

I think he's one of those scammers that like, control is also as important as the money. Like, it's so clear he wanted to totally control everyone and it functioned like a cult almost. It's hard to get people to hurt themselves, first of all, and it's really hard to get them to do that for not a lot of money. So the manipulation element probably looms so large over their choices.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, I mean, this is really what I don't get about this scam is like, you can get people to do this. You're convincing enough, you're scary enough to get people to do this. You can do anything.

[Sarah Haggie]

Yeah, that's so true.

[Sachi Cole]

You can do anything with that power. And of all of the things that he decided to do, it was, I want you to pretend that you chipped your tooth when you crashed your car. That is such a waste of such robust and impressive power.

[Sarah Haggie]

I've known people who've had small injuries or something and have gotten money from insurance. And it, the thing is, like, the actual process is very, very taxing. It's really, really hard. Bill had to be so good at speaking to these companies and being so annoying for them to just be like, fine, we'll settle.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah. I mean, the story is also a testament to the bullshit around insurance. Like, oh, if you're just persistent enough and if you're a good enough liar, you can kind of get away with it. Like, what are we doing what is the structure of our society. This story is making me rethink living amongst humanity.

[Sarah Haggie]

Knowing that he landed on the scam after doing multiple different scams is also scary as hell. This one's hard again. It's also interesting when someone's not a lazy scammer. They're also really disciplined about how much work has to go into making the scam believable. I think he's an incredibly patient person as well. I don't think there's any universe where it didn't implode the way it did. But for it to have gone on as long as it did meant he had a lot of patience, which is a very scary quality when it comes to a very scary person. Scary, patient people are the scariest of them all.

[Sachi Cole]

I guess the lesson today is to be cautious of any man too eager to do paperwork. I don't trust that. Why do you want to do that? What's wrong with you and what are you up to?

[Sarah Haggie]

Agreed. And also that you know, if there's someone you're terrified of and you notice their quality is that they can wait. They are like one of those really scary animals that hunts you for days and days before they kill you. You run. You run. If you are scared of someone and their patient, get as far away as possible, as some people did in the story. Which good for them, but still, yeah, terrifying guy.

[Sachi Cole]

I guess the other lesson is you should get arrested. If you are so incapable of getting out of your own trouble, go to jail, just like in Monopoly.

[Sarah Haggie]

Wow, that is brilliant. I don't know what else we can even say.

[Sachi Cole]

Follow Scamflancers on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Scamflancers ad free by joining Audible from Audible Originals.

[Sarah Haggie]

This is Bill Mize, the car crash king for Scamflancers. I'm Sarah Haggie.

[Sachi Cole]

And I'm Sachi Cole. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email [e-mail] we used many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were Collision Course by Lauren Smiley for New York Magazine, reporting by the Sacramento Bee and Court Documents.

[Sarah Haggie]

Madeline Cook wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Hagie. Olivia Briley is our story editor. Our senior producers are Sarah Enny and Ginny Blume. Our associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our managing producer is debating Desi Blaylock. Fact checking by Kalina Newman. Sound design by James Morgan. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez. For Freeson Sync, the executive producer for Audible is Jenny Lauer Beckman. The head of Creative Development at Audible is Kate Navin. The head of Audible Originals North America is Marshall Louie. The Chief Content Officer is is Rachel Gyazza. Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC. Sound Recording Copyright 2026 by Audible Originates, LLC.

[Sachi Cole]

Legend.