
This week, in Caldwell, Ohio, a murderous plot unfolds, when an evil & cunning person puts up a Craigslist ad, promising a new job & a new life. The problem is, there is no job, and answering this ad may end your life. Multiple people are...
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James Petrigallo
Audible's best of 2024 picks are here. Discover the year's top audiobooks, podcasts and originals in all your favorite genres, from memoirs and sci fi, mysteries and thrillers. Audible's curated list in every category is the best way to hear 2024's best in audio entertainment, like a stunning new full cast production of George Orwell's 1984 heartfelt memoirs like Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's lovely one. The year's best fiction, like the Women by Kristin Hannah and Percival Everett's brilliantly sub. Right now I'm listening to Starkweather by Harry N. Maclean about the murderer Charles Starkweather. It's pretty good. I can recommend that to you as well. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Go to audible.com smalltownmurder and discover the years best waiting for you. Hey everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show to tell you a little bit more about Shutterfly. Reconnecting with the people in your life is so important, and sending a holiday card is a meaningful way to do that. But it can be hard to know where to start. Who knows? Shutterfly makes it easy to share custom cards that are perfectly you. I already know what I'm doing here. Yeah, yeah. Why not? We'll put the puppies on the cards this year. That's what we're doing with Shutterfly. Send everybody likes pictures of the dogs.
Jimmy Wisman
Sure do.
James Petrigallo
Find the perfect holiday card for you@shutterfly.com and start customizing today. Enjoy. 40% off your Shutterfly order with the promo code Small town. And send something meaningful this year. Get free shipping on qualified orders. See site for details.
Jimmy Wisman
And now back to the show.
James Petrigallo
Hey everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show to tell you about Uncommon Goods. Spark something uncommon this holiday. With just the right gift from Uncommon Goods. The holiday season's busy and it's here. And Uncommon Goods makes it less stressful with incredible handpicked gifts for everyone on your list, all in one spot. When you shop at Uncommon Goods, what you're doing is supporting artists, small independent businesses. You know, people like us. Yeah, good people. Many of the handcrafted products are made in small batches, so shop before they sell out. Because these things sell out small pins. It's not a big giant manufacturing thing. And looking around on the site, I already found things. Good presents for this holiday. Absolutely. Gonna have some stuff made for people. I think. Let's make it personal here.
Jimmy Wisman
It's perfect.
James Petrigallo
And with every purchase you make at Uncommon Goods, they give back $1 to a non profit partner of your choice. You even get to pick. They've donated more than $3 million to date. To get 15% off your next gift, go to uncommongoods.com smalltownmurder that's uncommongoods.com SmallTownMurder for 15% off. Don't miss out on this limited time offer. Uncommon goods were all out of the ordinary.
Jimmy Wisman
Now back to the show.
James Petrigallo
This week in Caldwell, Ohio, an extremely evil and cunning person lures multiple people to their deaths with a Craigslist post promising a new job and life. But all that happens is brutal mur. Welcome to Small Town Murder. Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder.
Jimmy Wisman
Yay.
James Petrigallo
Yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petrigallo. I'm here with my co host.
Jimmy Wisman
I'm Jimmy Wisman.
James Petrigallo
Thank you folks so much for joining us today. We have a wild, insane story for you today. This is who Boy, this is a lot of a lot of crazy and a lot of evil going on today. We'll get into all that and more. But first, definitely head over to shut up and give me murder.com tickets for live shows. Boston and Tarrytown, New York, you are up next. And tickets are very scarce at this point. Get in there and get them, especially in New York. There's only a few left. If you want those, get them right now. So. And Boston too. Now. Get them now. There you go. Shut up and give me murder.com also get all your merchandise and keep going back there because tour dates will be announced soon for 2025 and tickets are going to go on sale next month. So it's happening, everybody. Let's do that. You also definitely want to listen to our other two shows, crime in sports and your stupid opinions, which I'm sorry, that is the most. That's, it's the funniest show going. You got to check out your stupid opinions. And crime and sports. You have to like sports. Check it out. A lot of crazy stuff going on there. Then if that's not enough, oh boy. We know you need more. We have it for you. Patreon.patreon.com Crime in sports will get you all of the bonus material. Anybody $5 a month or above. You get hundreds of back episodes you've never heard before immediately upon subscription and new ones every other week. One crime in sports, one small town murder and you get it all.
Jimmy Wisman
You get it all.
James Petrigallo
Every last drop of it. This week we're going to talk about for crime and sports. We're Going to talk about Marge shot.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Who's just one of the worst people ever who happened to own a baseball team also. And so the combination of those two things, she really got a chance to display her shittiness to the world there and then for small town murder. Speaking of terrible people, we're going to talk about Sarah Boone.
Jimmy Wisman
She's a lot.
James Petrigallo
More importantly, the Sarah Boone trial. The suitcase murderer. The lady who zipped her boyfriend up in a suitcase and said, but I did. It wasn't intentional. That lady.
Jimmy Wisman
I didn't mean it.
James Petrigallo
I watched the whole trial and we're going to talk about it because she testified. It was crazy.
Jimmy Wisman
Time takes it all back.
James Petrigallo
Oh, man, it was wild. It was wild stuff. So patreon.com crime and sports is where you get all that and you get a shout out at the end of the show here. So check that out and it's going to be a lot of fun. That said, I think it's time for the disclaimer. It is comedy show, everybody. We're comedians. There are definitely going to be jokes and a lot of murder, especially this week. Tons of murder. So, you know, those two things, they could mix. You go, how does that happen? It's very easy how it happens. Here's what you have to do. You don't make fun of the victims of the victim's family.
Jimmy Wisman
Why, James?
James Petrigallo
Because we're. But we're not scumbags.
Jimmy Wisman
There you go.
James Petrigallo
That's how that works. So if that sounds good to you, we are going to have a crazy time. If you don't think true crime and comedy should ever go together, then we might not be for you.
Jimmy Wisman
You don't know.
James Petrigallo
You don't know, but you haven't found out yet. You should check it out and find out. But either way, no complaining later.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
That said, I think it's time, everybody.
Jimmy Wisman
Here we go.
James Petrigallo
To sit back. Let's all clear the lungs. What do you say, everybody? And let's all shout.
Jimmy Wisman
Shut up and give me murder.
James Petrigallo
Let's do this, everybody. Let's go on a trip.
Jimmy Wisman
Let's go.
James Petrigallo
We're going to Ohio. Oh, I know how excited everyone's going to get over that. Everyone gets jacked to go to Ohio. We're going to Caldwell, Ohio.
Jimmy Wisman
Where is that?
James Petrigallo
Southern Ohio. About an hour and a half to Columbus and about two hours to Pittsburgh. So right in the middle, we've driven from Pittsburgh to Columbus and we may.
Jimmy Wisman
Have driven through this.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. I don't know if we go south like that because it's Kind of dip. There's a dip down there. It's almost four hours to Delta. Ohio, which was our last Ohio episode. The scariest barn on Earth. And it was Ohio. You bring the crazy. Pretty good. I gotta. I'll give you credit. Ohio, West Virginia, some interesting folks. Florida, you guys are all in contention for craziest murders going here. This is a Noble County. Yeah. Nothing noble about this story, I'll tell you that much. Area code 740. A little bit of history. We'll buzz through the town stuff because this murder is. There's a lot of stuff going on here. So Caldwell was founded in 1857, was named for Joseph and Samuel Caldwell who owned the original town site. Yeah, easy. That's an easy one here. And the railroad reached. The Pennsylvania Railroad reached Caldwell in the 1870s. And that made it a town? Basically. Yeah. No, no towns really happened until the railroad hit and then. Yeah. Cause if you can't have commerce, there was no other. We couldn't put shit on a truck back then.
Jimmy Wisman
Can't sell anything.
James Petrigallo
So. Yeah, you had to have a train going on. So Noble county is the home to the first North American oil well. Oh, if I said where's the first North American oil well? You wouldn't say Ohio, probably Florida every time. Yes, we know. Full of oil. Florida, loaded. That is an old reference from shit. I think the first year of the show.
Jimmy Wisman
Probably two weeks.
James Petrigallo
But it's great. So this was 1814, was the first time oil was struck in North America. Which seems like in Ohio. In Ohio, yeah. Not Oklahoma, not Texas, not, you know, any of the western state. Yeah, I mean none of that. It's very strange here. And it was the center for oil production in the state.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh wow.
James Petrigallo
This area. So 1925, a US Navy dirigible, the USS Shenandoah ZR1, I believe a plane because it was caught in a storm over Noble County. So if it was a boat, it would probably not be over the county of Ohio. In Ohio especially.
Jimmy Wisman
Unless the storm.
James Petrigallo
That would be a really big storm. If it sent a boat over Ohio. That's a terrifying storm. Holy shit. That's a lot. It broke into several pieces, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. So a dirigible which I thought was some kind of Australian instrument. I'm not sure how that works. Reviews of this town here, Not a few of them here. None of them are. Too bad. People seem to like it here. Four stars. I love the fact that it's a close knit town. A lot of mom and pop places that's nice. Everyone's always so friendly. From my experience, the only issue is landlords have raised prices due to the oil and gas boom going on in the area.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, and they've got one going on.
James Petrigallo
Still going on there.
Jimmy Wisman
Who knew?
James Petrigallo
I wouldn't have thought Ohio.
Jimmy Wisman
I didn't know there was oil in Ohio.
James Petrigallo
I had no idea. No, they're still producing it. That's crazy. Here's another four star. Everybody is friendly and helps each other out.
Jimmy Wisman
They sure do.
James Petrigallo
That's it. That's the whole thing. Three stars. It's a small town and it's very nice, but it just feels too confining.
Jimmy Wisman
Right?
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Well, that's. You're not a small town person. I'd rather be anonymous in a big city than famous in a small town.
Jimmy Wisman
What did you do?
James Petrigallo
What have you done?
Jimmy Wisman
What's the story?
James Petrigallo
You're the guy or the gal? You're the. You're the guy or the. It's a guy. Let's be honest. You're the guy who like ran your car through the gas station window and then ran away naked into the night while screaming and yelling about aliens.
Jimmy Wisman
And there was a fire and a squirrel ran out of there on fire. That's probably all talk about how you murdered that squirrel.
James Petrigallo
Murder and naked gas station wrecking. Sons of bitches. Three stars. There's quite a few jobs. Basically minimum wage jobs.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, yeah.
James Petrigallo
That's about. That's not great.
Jimmy Wisman
It's pretty much. I mean small commerce towns. That's what it is.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. There's not a lot going on as.
Jimmy Wisman
Far as very little CEO.
James Petrigallo
Not a lot of six figure salaries and small. You got to own your own business. Yeah, that's how it works. You gotta own like a plumbing company, some bees. H Vac company or something like that. People in this town. 22, 35. Small town. It's a very small town. Male, female here, 50, almost over 52% females. They have run the males out of town here which is. It is.
Jimmy Wisman
Oil fields will kill them.
James Petrigallo
That's. That's what's weird is there's oil and gas jobs. Usually that would be more of a male town. We've from our experience. And there's more females. Median age 51.3. A little bit old, usually about 37 from age 60 and up. All the demographics are high. There is 0% 18 to 20 year olds.
Jimmy Wisman
Is that right?
James Petrigallo
Soon as they are able to leave legally, they're out of here. Out of here quick. 46% married here. So it's a You know, kind of a family town race in this town. 98.8% white.
Jimmy Wisman
Wow.
James Petrigallo
0.2% black, 0.2% Native American, 0.2% Hispanic and 0.5% two or more races. So not a lot of, you know, variety here. Let's see. Religion. Only 27% religious in this town, she says. And they're spread out pretty good. Catholic is the most, 10.5%, but that's not a lot. So it's very interesting. Unemployment rate here is higher than the national average and median household income is lower than the national average.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
Median household income here is 43,185. It is 69,000 in the rest of the country. This is not. They're not doing well. No, this town, they're not crushing it money wise. This is tough. Now, cost of living being 100 is average in the United States. Here it's 79.5. Listen to this stat, people. Median home cost $115,500.
Jimmy Wisman
Very cheap.
James Petrigallo
That's the median home cost. That's insane. There's cheaper ones. Yeah, that's in the middle. That's wild. So if you're convinced that the only place for you to possibly be, this is the place, is Caldwell, Ohio. We have for you the Caldwell, Ohio real estate report. All right. Average two bedroom rental here. $790. About 500 less than the national average. This place is inexpensive.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Here's a four bedroom, two bath, 1944 square feet. This house, which sounds good until you look at the house, it is full of shit on the outside. It's like. It's like the scumbags on your street are selling their house.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, no.
James Petrigallo
And they're leaving all their shit outside.
Jimmy Wisman
They're not taking anything with them.
James Petrigallo
No. They're leaving the El Camino engine hanging from the tree. They don't give a shit, these people. It's a little rough. It says, discover the potential of this charming two story home currently undergoing a remodel and ready for your personal touch. In other words, it's half taken apart.
Jimmy Wisman
And you get to finish.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. There's no floors in half the house and there are zero interior pictures of this house. Good luck with that shit. 90,000 bucks though. Big house for 90 grand, you got.
Jimmy Wisman
Your work cut out for you.
James Petrigallo
It's going to cost you. Here's a four bedroom, two bath, 2120 square feet. It's a nice house. It's a like a raised ranch law. It's a long house. It's got a metal roof on It.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay. Because it snows.
James Petrigallo
Metal roof there and it's on a little over a half acre. I like in the living room there's really nice big like old beams in there.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh yeah.
James Petrigallo
Really cool. It's not bad. 260 grand for that exposed wood and a steel roof. It's not bad. Yeah, it's not bad. And then finally this is on 3.5 acres and they. This is crazy. The ad has a house on it, but there's no house there.
Jimmy Wisman
What?
James Petrigallo
It's just an AI house.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, they.
James Petrigallo
But it shows pictures of the house from different angles. Like. Like there's a real house there. It's. It's bonkers. I don't understand. It says discover your dream home in this beautifully updated log cabin. But there's no lock cabinet. You have to put it there yourself. You can get it put there. Apparently the spacious property features four bedrooms and two and a half baths that don't exist. It's the strangest thing ever. $495,000 just for the lot. For a non existent. I don't know if that includes a house that they're eventually gonna build. I'm not sure I'd want to know the house was there and see it before I'm gonna plunk any money down. Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
You know, just land if I've got.
James Petrigallo
No.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Sounds gross.
Jimmy Wisman
It's a lot of work, man.
James Petrigallo
Things to do here.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
The big Muskie bucket.
Jimmy Wisman
What is that?
James Petrigallo
Okay, that is this. You can see here. See that?
Jimmy Wisman
I don't. What? Oh, it's a. Is it a backhoe?
James Petrigallo
But it's like a big. But it's a giant earth mover. It's enormous. It's huge. Now the big muskie, it's called, was once the world's largest earth moving machine.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
At one time.
Jimmy Wisman
Now we just have the bucket that.
James Petrigallo
We just have the bucket. They got rid of the rest of it. What are you gonna do with that shit? It's all out of. I'm sure now it's not considered big.
Jimmy Wisman
Here's the bucket. So imagine how big it was.
James Petrigallo
That's it. It was the world's. It was the largest drag line ever built and was one of the seven engineering wonders of the world. It's a big deal. Between 69 and 91, 1969 and 1991, by the way. It moved 483 million tons of rocks and soil.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
I don't know how this is a festival, by the way. Who gives a shit? I'm still trying to figure. Oh, it's not a festival. This is. Just go look at the bottom to see. You just go look at the bucket. The bucket weighs 460,000 pounds. Empty. Empty. 460,000 pounds. Empty.
Jimmy Wisman
Imagine the machine that moves that like with ease enough to dig with it.
James Petrigallo
Well, that's what I'm saying. And it carries an additional £640,000 when loaded. So over a million pounds when it's all loaded.
Jimmy Wisman
What the fuck? What's that?
James Petrigallo
I never heard of that before. I don't know how much torque you'd need in an engine. That's crazy. If that's not enough for you though, you'll also see the wall of honor.
Jimmy Wisman
Sure.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. That is listing the names of employees of the Central Ohio Coal Company which operated Big Muskie. Now, Jimmy, I'm booking my plane ticket right now. I gotta see this.
Jimmy Wisman
It's like the Vietnam wall, but of people that worked here.
James Petrigallo
But people who worked for the coal company. That's the strangest thing I've ever heard in my life. It's real weird. The park structural facilities are made from 50 year old red oak trees planted by miners on reclaimed land from mining here. Then there's the Johnny Appleseed memorial.
Jimmy Wisman
Is he from there?
James Petrigallo
Apparently so. I didn't know Johnny Appleseed was a real person.
Jimmy Wisman
You didn't?
James Petrigallo
No.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, I didn't.
James Petrigallo
I mean, you said that like you were positive. I don't think you.
Jimmy Wisman
I guess it makes sense to not think somebody walking around with a pan on their ass.
James Petrigallo
I thought it was real. Yeah. I thought it was just like a.
Jimmy Wisman
But he certainly went and planted apples. Apple trees.
James Petrigallo
Where are all these apple trees come from? Oh, Johnny Appleseed. You know what I mean?
Jimmy Wisman
He's like the Appleseed tooth fairy.
James Petrigallo
And whenever I hear the name, all I think of is this old David Cross joke where he talks about finding a condom in a used condom in the middle of the street in New York City. And he's like. One of two things happen here. He's like, either people just were just banging in the middle of the street and threw it on the ground, or it's some urban Johnny Appleseed, which made me crack up. And that's what it makes me think of every time, throwing it. The legendary Johnny Appleseed has roots in Noble County. His family owned a homestead a quarter mile south of Dexter City. Although he never lived here, he visited often. So they have a festival.
Jimmy Wisman
Who gives a shit?
James Petrigallo
They have a memorial for a guy who came by once in a while. He didn't even like plant shit here.
Jimmy Wisman
Never had a house.
James Petrigallo
Nope. Parley Chapman, his half brother and his family are buried nearby in a family cemetery on the hill above the monument. The memorial is made from small rocks donated from people along the route over which Johnny passed. It reads without hope of recompense, without a thought of pride. John Chapman planted apple seeds and preached and lived and died.
Jimmy Wisman
Is that who his name was?
James Petrigallo
John Chapman? Yeah. His name wasn't Johnny Appleseed. Yeah, I mean he really. He picked the right profession.
Jimmy Wisman
You know what? I should just plant apple, do this.
James Petrigallo
Johnny's father settled along Duck Creek near Dexter city with his second wife and their 10 children. Good Christ Jesus that he should be called Johnny Appleseed.
Jimmy Wisman
Never mind seeding.
James Petrigallo
Jesus, he's seeding everything. Johnny helped his family get settled and it's known that Johnny regularly visited his step siblings who remained there. His last known Visit came in 1842.
Jimmy Wisman
Golly. That man, Jesus Christ lived almost 200 years ago and we all still know who he is. And he didn't do shit.
James Petrigallo
He didn't do shit.
Jimmy Wisman
Didn't do anything.
James Petrigallo
I think he planted some trees and preached. But not here. But not here.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
Somewhere else. Okay.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Crime rate in this town is why.
Jimmy Wisman
What a fascinating man.
James Petrigallo
It's so strange. I want to know more about it.
Jimmy Wisman
Everything.
James Petrigallo
Maybe we'll do a bonus on Johnny Appleseed real life crime rate in this town. What we're interested in here. Property crime slightly above the national average, which. There's 2200 people here.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. How do you. How do you.
James Petrigallo
That's crazy. You know who's stealing from you?
Jimmy Wisman
They got no money.
James Petrigallo
How many crackheads are there? You know the crackheads in a 2200 person town. You know who's stealing.
Jimmy Wisman
But nobody's got any money.
James Petrigallo
They're desperate, but shit. You know who's stealing in that town though?
Jimmy Wisman
You should.
James Petrigallo
Bobby's a thief and he's always stealing. It's Bobby if something's missing.
Jimmy Wisman
So I'm wearing my shirt.
James Petrigallo
God damn. Wearing my shoes on his feet. Violent crime, murder, rape, robbery and of course assault. The Mount Rushmore of crime is about half the national average. So that's it's safe. But they will steal your.
Jimmy Wisman
Because they're desperate.
James Petrigallo
That said, I know it's early in the show, but let's talk about some murder.
Jimmy Wisman
Let's do it.
James Petrigallo
Because this is just a lot.
Jimmy Wisman
Wow.
James Petrigallo
It's a. It's a. It's a load here. This, by the way, there's a chunk of. A lot of information here and there. Comes from a very Good article in GQ called the Craigslist Killers by Devin Friedman. GQ and gq, they did a big, big whole thing on this. So very interesting here. Now, let's talk about a young man first. Yeah, okay. Brogan Rafferty.
Jimmy Wisman
Sick name.
James Petrigallo
Brogan Rafferty. Yeah, that sounds like a. Sounds like he's like. Like that sounds like a rock star's real name. Goes by some joke, goes by Johnny Appleseed, but his real name's Brogan Rafferty.
Jimmy Wisman
Or a western movie villain. That's a bad name.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, or an Irish immigrant, one of the three. So he's 16 years old, as we'll talk about back in 2011, because this is when this whole mess is going to take place. He's a junior at Stowe Monroe Falls High School. Not a particularly bright kid, not a particularly dumb kid.
Jimmy Wisman
Feel your body.
James Petrigallo
Just pretty average guy, old Brogan. One thing that's not about average about him is his size. Oh, he's enormous.
Jimmy Wisman
Brogan's a big.
James Petrigallo
Brogan is 65230.
Jimmy Wisman
Golly.
James Petrigallo
16 years old and still growing big. Big young man here. He's pretty laid back. He's a real. Like a lot of very big people. He's laid back.
Jimmy Wisman
Kind of gotta be. You'll break shit if you jump around too much.
James Petrigallo
When you're big. As a kid, you're taught to always say this about basketball players. They say centers aren't aggressive. I remember Dr. Dwight Howard. For years they would bitch. He's not aggressive. He's not aggressive.
Jimmy Wisman
This fucking Nurkic that the Suns have is a fucking. He's a. So dainty.
James Petrigallo
When you're huge, they. When you're a kid, they tell you to be nice and don't. Don't hurt folks, don't hurt him, and don't die. Even in basketball, no one will want to play with you. Otherwise, he's just going to slot everybody's shots away. So you're taught to be like, gentle and just a little bit less aggressive.
Jimmy Wisman
Take it easy.
James Petrigallo
Lenny as a. Exactly. You don't want to Lenny anybody. And he's a. He's Lenny without the stupidity here. He's polite. Doesn't really like authority, which makes sense when you hear about his background, his family and his childhood. His dad's a big biker guy and a biker gang and all that sort of thing. So he's kind of. He gets upset about things kind of easily, but other than that, not, you know, he's. He's a nice kid. Now he is going to be hanging out with a guy who he shouldn't be hanging out with. Yeah, he's 16. But his best buddy, who he hangs out with every day is Richard James Beasley. How old Dickie Bees is? 52.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
What is. You know, this is a hang out.
Jimmy Wisman
With people your own age. Because this has been a mainstay in this show.
James Petrigallo
It's. It happens all the time.
Jimmy Wisman
Consistent.
James Petrigallo
This is a very. If you know who Dean Coral is. Yeah, this is very Dean Coral without the sex.
Jimmy Wisman
Really?
James Petrigallo
Yeah, because, well, what the hell. Murder. Oh, yeah, yeah. Remember that part when he murdered a shit like 20? Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
But Dean wouldn't be like, if we're not going to fuck, let's just murder. You know what I mean?
James Petrigallo
Yeah, but still, Dean. What I'm saying is Dean was an older guy, not in his 50s, he was in his 30s. But he's an older guy who recruits young people right ahead of time to kind of almost indoctrinates them into his. The way he does things. And so they're okay with killing and okay with doing shit. That's kind of how this works. Wow. The problem too is he didn't meet Beasley when he was 16. He met him when he was 9. Beasley has been basically his mentor since he was 9.
Jimmy Wisman
Not a family member.
James Petrigallo
No. By the way, he met him right when Beasley got out of prison. As we'll talk about how. Well, he's a friend of the family because Brogan's family isn't. They have some problems, as we'll talk about. Mom and dad invite folks in? No, they're just. Well, they're as bad as him. Not murderers, but they're. It's interesting. We'll talk here. Now, Richard Beasley, Rich, as he goes by, doesn't go by Dick, unfortunately. He's a convict, a biker, a professed man of God, and of course, known on the streets of Akron as Chaplain Rich.
Jimmy Wisman
He's been to prison full of shit.
James Petrigallo
Is what he is. He's a giant full of shit liar is all it is. Started talking or started taking Brogan to church when Brogan was nine years old.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh.
James Petrigallo
He's like, I'm gonna take you there. And apparently at that point, he was already a big kid and all that. And Rich wanted to take him under his wing, Became his best friend, what was called what he called his uncle dad, which is insane. He was the one guiding young Brogan through religion and also just teenage stuff. Brogan, rather than go to his friends and talk about as a girl he would like or something. He'd go to Rich and talk about it. Which would be what? Rich would knock her over the head, drag her into an alley. That sounds like, what the fuck you going to this guy for? That's. Tell me. I'll find out and I'll let you know. Brogan called him his counselor. That's what he always called him. This is counselor.
Jimmy Wisman
Too deep already? Counselor Uncle Daddy.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, it's a lot confidant.
Jimmy Wisman
That's a lot.
James Petrigallo
Now, from the GQ article this guy writes, Rich was always. Has always been a rumpled character, a corpulent man in denim and leather and boots with long white hair. He wears an. A balding grandmother's braid.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my.
James Petrigallo
We all see the guy, right? Yeah, that's the guy.
Jimmy Wisman
Frightening.
James Petrigallo
Yep. He is really weird. He would. He would love to minister to street people. Basically, he likes going to people who have no other options.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, children.
James Petrigallo
Children with bad families. Street people who have no other options. You know, like a cult leader. That's what he does. And that's kind of what he's trying to do here.
Jimmy Wisman
Finds broken people.
James Petrigallo
Finds broken people and doesn't fix them. Just. No, just kind of turns them into what he needs them to be for his uses.
Jimmy Wisman
Duct tapes them together.
James Petrigallo
Well, only if it benefits his shit here. So he used to say to the people on the street, I live among you by choice. I can leave if I want, but I want to be here with you people.
Jimmy Wisman
I've got the means to be elsewhere.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Which he didn't. So he would. He was a good. Very good at talking to people. He's got the gift of bullshit and gab, like most con men do. Yeah. He's got a real. What's called A by the gq, a folksy sociability.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
Which is, you know, bullshit artist. The person I avoid, who comes my neighbors. That I avoid.
Jimmy Wisman
Small talk champion of the world.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. That's the worst thing ever. They said that, you know, he can. He knows about how. He knows how to make moonshine. He talks of all about the origin and the bylaws of the Hell's Angels, as well as how right J was when he said to give unto Caesar what was Caesar's. So, you know, he goes. He's got a. He's eclectic. We'll say, certainly. Now, talking about church here, Rich's mother, Carol, who's still alive in this scenario. She's big in the church. Yeah. Okay. She's been going to church forever. All the time. So he shows up once in a while. He'll bring Brogan in there and all that kind of thing. There's a Bible study group that his mother Carol goes to. This is Rich's mother, Carol. And while Rich was in prison in the early 2000s, he would send letters to the Bible study group. How he's doing, you know, prison and all that shit. Carol would read the letters out loud and then they would pray for him. All of them.
Jimmy Wisman
Here's a letter from my son.
James Petrigallo
Yep.
Jimmy Wisman
Prisoner 38428.
James Petrigallo
That's the one. He's going to tell us what they're having for dinner tonight. He's going to tell us about the Red Death tonight for dinner. So he got in trouble when he was in his late 20s in Texas at first. Shitload of robberies.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Robbery guy, then a gun charge. I'm told everybody wasn't. That wasn't his fault, though. The gun charge 50s and 60s was.
Jimmy Wisman
Ripe for gas station robbery.
James Petrigallo
Oh, yeah. Well, this was. That wasn't the 50s and 60s. The 80s.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, yeah, he would have been.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, this is like the 80s.
Jimmy Wisman
He came around a little bit late for that.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. But I mean, in rural areas, they still didn't do security cameras and shit because that's what stopped. Most of those are just cameras.
Jimmy Wisman
Well, cameras and pay at the pump.
James Petrigallo
That too. Yeah. And also now nobody uses cash. So what are you gonna do? Rob fucking Amex receipts? Like that's not real.
Jimmy Wisman
It's not gonna do anything.
James Petrigallo
Not gonna help you much. So he's very. In all these letters here, he spent a lot of time complaining.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Talking about how everything's a misunderstanding and now he's in prison because of it. And he complains about the bed in prison and the food. Yeah. Never says anything about being remorseful. Mainly just makes excuses for all this.
Jimmy Wisman
Type of miserable in there.
James Petrigallo
That's all it is. So. And also too. I mean, he. So he's sending letters to his mom. So now all these church people are waiting for him to get out so they can help him and, you know, minister to him and all that kind of thing after he gets out. He seemed to be trying to be on the straight and narrow. He was going to church and he was being all.
Jimmy Wisman
Really doing it.
James Petrigallo
Really doing it. He become a chaplain. Oh, he wasn't technically ordained, but he said he was training, which he wasn't. Yeah, he's full of shit.
Jimmy Wisman
But he can read and that's what's doing it.
James Petrigallo
He's just full of shit. Yeah, that's all. So the group knew. The Bible group knew he was in A hat. He started a halfway house in Akron on Yale street where he lived. They thought there was some weird people there, including a couple sex offenders, people like that, who he'd bring in. But that was. That's who Rich would get. He'd get the addicted and the. If you're going to run a halfway house, you can't. You're not looking for college graduates and fucking people from good families.
Jimmy Wisman
I need people that you're looking for.
James Petrigallo
People down on their luck and shit like that.
Jimmy Wisman
Seen some shit.
James Petrigallo
They've seen some shit. You know, basically thieves, prostitutes, drug addicts. This is whoever can find on the street and bring in, like a weird cult leader might. And he would live there, too. And that's kind of how it went here.
Jimmy Wisman
Christmas is coming up, James. Did you know that?
James Petrigallo
It is coming up. That's very important. You know what people should do around Christmas? Oh, you need shopping money. And the thing is, sometimes you're going to find money in places you never thought like where. Like subscriptions that you're paying for, you don't need to pay for because you don't even know you're paying for them, but yet they're coming out of your account every month.
Jimmy Wisman
How can you fix that?
James Petrigallo
Rocket Money is what helped me out. That's the thing. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so that you can grow that savings. Rocket Money. Will they negotiate lower bills for you? They can do that by up to 20%. All you have to do is submit a picture of your bill. Rocket Money, they take care of the rest. They'll deal with customer service. You don't need to be on hold for two hours. Rocket Money will take care of it. It's wonderful. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all the app's features. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to Rocket money dot com. Small Town Murder. That's Rocket money dot com. Small Town Murder. Rocket money dot com Small Town Murder.
Jimmy Wisman
Now back to the show.
James Petrigallo
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Jimmy Wisman
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Jimmy Wisman
Now back to the show.
James Petrigallo
So the. It's not a big. Like downtown Akron's not a big place. It's not, no. But he could still find people who are, you know, in a shitty situation here. The way Rich tells it, he ministered to them at the Hope Cafe where people would gather for free coffee and for full color Jesus brochures. They come for that. He fed them. He had a food bank going on and he would feed the guy people from that he delivered. He brought bread to the drunks at the bars so they would have something to eat.
Jimmy Wisman
Soak it up.
James Petrigallo
Soak it up. Well, it was for their families because they were drinking their paycheck, drinking their.
Jimmy Wisman
Dinner and taking the kids dinner, too. So they gave them bread.
James Petrigallo
So here's a loaf of Wonder Bread to take to the family here, which is interesting. So, yeah, people. People thought he was a real nice guy. He would conduct weekly Bible studies at the halfway house for whoever went there, and he'd take anybody. You didn't have to be any kind of special person or anything like that.
Jimmy Wisman
I just walk in.
James Petrigallo
Yep. So that's it. One of the Bible study people said we overlooked things, like signals. We overlooked signals they were there. You think, you think they were there? Yeah, I think they were there.
Jimmy Wisman
You don't see those when your focus is waking up for tomorrow.
James Petrigallo
No. When a guy. When a guy gets out of prison and immediately tries to surround himself with criminals. Yeah, it's a. You know what I mean? You got to wonder if he's up to something.
Jimmy Wisman
And the easiest to really bilk something.
James Petrigallo
There's. Yeah, there isn't much to bilk off of them. They don't have anything. But he can turn them to his, do his bidding and that's whatever he needs to do.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
They don't really have much to give him, but they have shit to do for him. That's it exactly. Sweat equity.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
That's what he's looking for here.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Now the thing about Rich and Brogan. Rich is a family friend of Brogan's parents. So friend of the parents. They hang out in the same biker circles. People talk about his mom. His mom's like a wild biker chick and his dad's the laziest people.
Jimmy Wisman
If they're just pawning their child off on somebody else to watch him, they.
James Petrigallo
Think he's a mom is. We'll talk about it. But mom is a crackhead. And dad isn't around very much. He's just out doing biker shit.
Jimmy Wisman
Hanging.
James Petrigallo
He'll go to the bar on Friday and not come home till Monday. That bar is open late. Yeah, there's a lot of bar.
Jimmy Wisman
You got to leave at some point, right?
James Petrigallo
Apparently not. Yeah. Monday. Monday clear on out after football, I guess. So Rich basically would start taking him to church when he was about nine. And you know, first it was like, I'm going to show this kid something. And then they just became buddies. Yeah, they were just buddies because most 40 something year old people like to hang out with 10 year olds. That's normal. Rich would do his ministering in the ghetto, but then he and Brogan went to services in chapel at this chapel, which is like a big evangelical church type of deal here. Now Rich says, I took him to church because he needed it. Well, it was the right thing to do. His father would go to his bikers clubhouse on Friday and wouldn't be home. And his mother, well, dot, dot, dot. But Brogan loved church.
Jimmy Wisman
I'll bet he did.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. That was his punishment. He wouldn't be allowed to go to church.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
No. It's just a matter to me. I think it's a nine year old with no stability in his life and it's just anything stable would work. You could have taken this kid to fucking Red Robin. He would have been thrilled if. As long as you took him in a steady, you know, as long as he knew he could count on it.
Jimmy Wisman
Leave him out there.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, yeah, I think that's kind of what it is. He was just looking for somebody to pay attention to him and all that. They were regulars at Bible study and they would socialize and do all of that and get to know all the church people. Everyone thought they were an odd pair, obviously.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. Right on site. Yeah.
James Petrigallo
The funny thing is the kid's way bigger than him. Even when he's like 11, he's towering. He's a short little guy. Rich. He's a short, stocky little cat. Yeah. Like he looks like a biker. He's a short, stocky little guy.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, sure.
James Petrigallo
So he. Yeah, they thought they were a weird pair. Very strange. They tried to get Brogan in with kids his age. The church people were like, oh, you should hang out with my son. He didn't like it. He didn't want to hang out with kids. He liked older people to hang out with, which is interesting. One of the church people said he was 9, but he looked 14. He said Brogan was like a puppy. He was following Richard around.
Jimmy Wisman
He was a kid, but he looked.
James Petrigallo
Like a bigger kid, you know? Yeah, he was in the sixth grade, but he looked like he was in the ninth grade, you know. So Richie said. Well, he maintained what you might call the rough look is this church person, you know, the down and outer look. He was very disheveled, but he felt that that gave him an in with the people he was ministering to.
Jimmy Wisman
He related.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, well, when you show up on. When you show up at a crack house, you don't want to look like a cop. I think is the.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, you know, you don't need to look like you showered. Nobody else did.
James Petrigallo
You show up with khakis and a polo shirt. Everyone's going to scatter when you come into the door. Detectives or social services or somebody that works, that gets a paycheck.
Jimmy Wisman
Somebody that's gonna frown upon the behavior we are exhibiting right now.
James Petrigallo
Oh, shit. Now, the family, this is a. This you can tell because you go, who the fuck would let. How can you, their nine year old hang out with some ex convict and just let him take him wherever he wants? Well, when you hear about this family, it's interesting. Brogan's dad, Mike here was this. The GQ reporter talks about when he first met Brogan's dad. And he said, quote, he was in the garage listening to Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water, lifting weights on a quiet afternoon in his three bedroom suburban ranch.
Jimmy Wisman
How old is this man?
James Petrigallo
In his 50s at the time. He's in the garage weightlifting with Smoke on the Water playing. He couldn't be more of a stereotype is what they're saying about his dad as like a 50 year old guy. He says his dad's only 5, 8 which is crazy because Brogan's huge, which is. I don't. I'm not sure it's his dad at this point, is what I'm getting at here. They said that he's basically 5 foot inches. 5 foot 8 inches tall, but he's almost a square is how he's described.
Jimmy Wisman
Five foot eight wide dude.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, Just a little chunky guy. He's got a long ponytail like all the guys there. Hey. They said a small expressionless mouth, shiny dark eyes framed by the longest, most beautiful dark eyelashes that give a poignancy to the latent violence he exudes. That is quite a poetic way to put that.
Jimmy Wisman
The only nice thing he's got is great eyelashes.
James Petrigallo
He's a scary guy with lovely eyelashes. Just lovely lashes. You just want to put mascara all over him, don't you?
Jimmy Wisman
Bugs Bunny and drag kind of eyelashes.
James Petrigallo
That kind of thing. This guy is crushing Bugs Bunny, trying to get Elmer Fudd to want to fuck him. Lashes. Fuck me, Elmer. Lashes, I believe they're called. Right Fmes. You got some? Fuck me. Elmer's on hammer this rabbit hole. God damn. You've heard of a rabbit hole, haven't you? How'd you let. You want to find one right now? Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
Try to find the bottom.
James Petrigallo
I dare you. Let's see it. So Mike's a machinist. He works nights cutting precision doing precision cutting metal for aircraft landing gear. Wow. When you hear the lifestyle this guy leads, you will be terrified to fly if this guy's making the fucking landing gear because I'm scared right now.
Jimmy Wisman
Precision cut. I didn't know. I thought those things were like melded aluminum parts, you know? I mean, I didn't know it was fucking cut.
James Petrigallo
Apparently things laser cut. He is also, at the time, back then, the president of the north coast motorcycle Club, which according to this article, they call a close affiliate of the Hell's Angels.
Jimmy Wisman
The north coast.
James Petrigallo
The north coast, as opposed up there on the coast of Ohio. Very coastal.
Jimmy Wisman
That's Cleveland, isn't it?
James Petrigallo
I believe so. Lake Erie. So according to the cops here, the north coast gentlemen are suspected of meth dealing.
Jimmy Wisman
Sure.
James Petrigallo
And all that kind of thing. Mike doesn't have any criminal record except for one small incident with a public urination charge. So he just had to piss real bad one time, which is very interesting. So they said that the reporter describes him as a straight arrow who does not suffer fools gladly or without punching them in the face. You don't want to piss this guy off. It feels like he can go off on you. At any time. Mike said maybe I wasn't the father I should have been. I wasn't real good at showing emotion, but I was a bit of a disciplinarian. In other words, I'll punch you, but I won't hug you. Yeah. And that's kind of what happened.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So that's the kind of guy he was here. They said he bought a small house, decent school district, taught his kid to box in the garage starting at 5. Doesn't drink on weeknights because he has to work the next morning, but come Friday night it is.
Jimmy Wisman
You won't see him till Monday.
James Petrigallo
You won't. He calls that that's church time, which. That's the meetings of the biker club. And they'd go to different bars and basically he was gone. That was it the whole time. Yeah. He also beats the shit out of Brogan a lot. And we're talking at a young age. Pre 10 years old, he's beating the shit out of this kid. Apparently he lost his report card one time. So Rich, or so Mike, the dad, broke Brogan's nose over it, punched him in the face. For losing a report card. Pre 10 years old. That's a lot extreme. That's fucking crazy. Interesting. And in the mother, Yvette, that is Mike's wife and Brogan's mom said that he was a good provider, but he was terrifying. And especially to Brogan. Brogan was scared shitless.
Jimmy Wisman
So a bad dad.
James Petrigallo
Not a great dad, Terrible dad. But he sees it as. Well, the bills are paid.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So that's my job. Pay the bills, terrify the family, go out on the weekends in that order.
Jimmy Wisman
You'll only see me Monday through Friday afternoon.
James Petrigallo
That's it. I mean, weekends are yours.
Jimmy Wisman
Talk about working for the weekend, man.
James Petrigallo
You have custody there, so that's weird. And that's why Brogan would take to Rich, because Rich does not hit him. Rich doesn't do any of that shit. Rich is. Well, Rich is trying to indoctrinate him. So he's trying to make him love him rather than Mike is like, you have to love me. I'm your father. Here's a broken nose.
Jimmy Wisman
So this is affection that Rich is giving him. Actual. What he believes is genuine emotion.
James Petrigallo
Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
It's called grooming.
James Petrigallo
That's what it is.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So. But he said that he did broke and did learn from his dad how to take care of himself in a fight.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
You know how to. How to basically be self sufficient. Sure. How to keep a house clean and all that kind of shit.
Jimmy Wisman
How to take a punch.
James Petrigallo
How to take a punch. Because you're going to need that. So he. But he really. Mike thought he was doing a good job raising the son, even though he beats the shit out of him and let some weird ex convict basically mentor him from the age of 9 on. He thought that was a good parenting job. Well, not good, Mike.
Jimmy Wisman
I got. I got help. That's all.
James Petrigallo
That's. Well, he's in the backup. I can't tell you what happens on the weekends. I'm not even here. He said, though, you know, it was a. He had. At least it was a house. They didn't move around all the time or anything like that. That's. That's helpful. Now, Yvette, though, is a mess. Mom. Mom's a disaster. Apparently, Brogan told Yvette Jesus Christ would tell her. It would tell her, you can go smoke crack. Go on a crack binge. I don't care. Because he said no matter what she said she was going to do, she was going to go on a crack binge anyway. So he'd just tell her, you don't have to go to the McDonald's playland. Just go smoke crack. Yeah. Just fuck it. Which is very interesting. And she was supposed to be watching him on the weekends, but he said she would disappear.
Jimmy Wisman
Sure.
James Petrigallo
And do all that. The reporter describes Yvette as a biker chick from the first time she got on the back of a motorcycle. That's the way she described herself. She said I was hot as shit. I ain't gonna lie. That's Mom.
Jimmy Wisman
So glad you didn't lie to us.
James Petrigallo
I ain't gonna lie. I was hot as shit. She said, hair down to my ass. I was hot.
Jimmy Wisman
That's not.
James Petrigallo
That's just. That's hot for her.
Jimmy Wisman
Doesn't mean anything.
James Petrigallo
45 miles an hour, hair flying off the back of a motorcycle. That's hot.
Jimmy Wisman
She got knots in it.
James Petrigallo
That's it.
Jimmy Wisman
So hair down to my ass. Okay.
James Petrigallo
That makes you hot. Apparently, she arrived in northern Ohio from the south, and she came up. She's skinny, hair, you know, hot as shit.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
With a test, the reporter said a taste for denim and leather. A taste is a weird way to put it. Makes it sound like you're eating denim and leather. She liked to party a lot. A real lot. And she's a little out there. She once rode a big dirt bike. I'm going to read an exact quote from the article. Quote she once read a big old. She once rode a big old dirt bike. That Belonged to a Mexican, whatever that means. Okay. All the way back from Daytona beach while the bike's owner leaned back and slept against the luggage rack and quote, she ain't. She said she, quote, ain't never rode a dirt bike before.
Jimmy Wisman
On the street.
James Petrigallo
On the street. She's rode from Florida to Ohio on a dirt bike, which is like the white trash. Oregon Trail is what that is. Florida to Ohio on a dirt bike.
Jimmy Wisman
While a Mexican sleeps on the back.
James Petrigallo
Yes, with a sleeping Mexican on the back. That's. That right there is the white trash.
Jimmy Wisman
I don't think I've ever seen a dirt bike with a luggage rack. That's hysterical.
James Petrigallo
Sitting up the.
Jimmy Wisman
Kind of like a sissy bar.
James Petrigallo
Like the sissy bar on a dirt bike. Or. I have seen a dirt bike with, like, a rack thing on it for equipment. Maybe he was laying down on it.
Jimmy Wisman
If he's got. If he's got, like, shit on the back stacked up like a sleeping bag.
James Petrigallo
Easy Rider type. Yeah. To sleep on the side of the road that he's just leaned against that.
Jimmy Wisman
That's bungee corded to the fender.
James Petrigallo
I'm Peter Fonda. No, you're not Pedro Fonda. Yeah, I'm Pedro Fonda. Jesus Christ.
Jimmy Wisman
Holy fuck.
James Petrigallo
So that's what's going on here. That's what she's doing.
Jimmy Wisman
She's a gal.
James Petrigallo
I want to be all about her. Well, there's more. Don't worry.
Jimmy Wisman
Great.
James Petrigallo
I never rode a dirt bike before. She. She meets Mike as well, you know, they didn't meet, like, at school or, you know, at work or anything. At her work?
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. Because he was a stripper.
James Petrigallo
She was working at a bikini bar.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, yeah.
James Petrigallo
When she meets Mike, which is the.
Jimmy Wisman
Equivalent of stripping a biker bar where.
James Petrigallo
They serve the drinks and bikinis, essentially, I think. So this is right around the time she became a huge coke and crack addict. Oh, yeah? Yeah. She says she was sober while she was pregnant. If you believe that. If not, crack is like fertilizer. Makes your kids huge. Do you want big kids? You want your kids in professional sports? Smoke crack while you're pregnant, apparently, she said. But the problem is when she was. When Brogan was only two days old, still, you know, still fresh, just out of the hospital, still soft. She disappeared to a crack house.
Jimmy Wisman
Where did she leave it?
James Petrigallo
I don't know. Placenta still dangling. She just fucking took off. Wow. Went to a crack house here.
Jimmy Wisman
Itchy stitches and all.
James Petrigallo
All the whole shit. So I guess Mike took Brogan away after that and they separated. So that's kind of how it goes here.
Jimmy Wisman
So he was not breastfed is what you're saying?
James Petrigallo
No. And then she just kind of fell off into addiction. And then her job is to watch him on the weekends, which she wouldn't. She'd just go smoke crack. And he'd go, that's okay, go smoke crack. And he'd sit at home and watch cartoons, basically.
Jimmy Wisman
So this poor kid, he had no choice. No chance.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, she's called in this article the type of hippie biker chick who'd want to sleep with all her babies in a big family bed, but also bungee them to a chopper for a ride to get formula.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, boy.
James Petrigallo
You know, someone who maybe shouldn't be a parent, right. Basically doesn't really understand that the kids needs have to come at least equal to yours when you're a parent. So not great. But the article goes on to say, but in reality, she's now a 49 year old woman who has to remove her new dentures before she eats a TGI Friday steak with Jack Daniel sauce.
Jimmy Wisman
The 40 what?
James Petrigallo
9 with ginger. Full set.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh boy.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Wow. They said who after two beers, starts shivering and loses the gift of coherent speech for long stretches and tries to eat a wet nap off her plate.
Jimmy Wisman
What?
James Petrigallo
She's a fucking mess.
Jimmy Wisman
What is that? Two beers?
James Petrigallo
Because that sounds like she took pills that you shouldn't mix with alcohol.
Jimmy Wisman
There it is.
James Petrigallo
And then she's trying to eat a wet nap, accidentally eating it. Probably just that's on the plate. Picked it up.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh my God.
James Petrigallo
So she's a mess. Sits there chewing it like lettuce until I reach into her toothless mouth before she can swallow it. This guy got scared he was. She was gonna swallow a wet nap.
Jimmy Wisman
You can't eat that.
James Petrigallo
It's like, give me that. And pulled it. I'm. You're on your. I'm just gonna stare at you like that, like you're a fucking science experiment at that point. If you're eating a wet nap, I'm gonna see if it. How it plays out.
Jimmy Wisman
This is. This GQ author is a genius for sticking with this.
James Petrigallo
I'm telling you, he really went through a lot of shit here. So basically all Brogan ever remembers is that her is an addict. He doesn't ever remember like a good mom here. And also when she was 10, when he was 10, he found evidence on the Internet. I don't know where he'd find this evidence on the Internet. Maybe in a police record or something that she also was a prostitute for A while.
Jimmy Wisman
I'm sure she was.
James Petrigallo
So he's not real thrilled about his family. No. Which this is not. This is the same thing with, like, what is it? The Henley kid with Dean Coral and other. That, like, Henley had a stable household, though, a couple of. Some of the people that. That Dean Coral pulled in, some of these kids to help him out, had, like, places to go, parents that cared about him, shit like that. Whereas this guy. Brogan's looking for any stable adult who seems like you can. If they say they're going to be there at three to pick you up, they're there at three to pick you up. I think that's all he's looking for at this point. So you're. If you're a parent like that, you're not really. You're just kind of leaving that open to the world. For anybody who's more stable than you, your kid is going to pay attention to. So Brogan says about Rich, quote, rich was the one person I could go to. He was the only one I could tell anything. I thought he was a great guy. He was like the father I never had. Yeah, great guy. Paid attention to him. This great guy is also a arch criminal. Let's talk about this.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, he's been in prison. He's a biker. He's running math. He's. He's part of the Hell's Angels or just knows it all.
James Petrigallo
He's just in the. Yeah, he's just kind of in the periphery of everybody knows him. Okay. The Rich basically will do anything to make a quick illegal buck, make moonshine, grow weed. He fucking had a fake raffle at one point. That's what I mean. Anything, we'll find out. It's great. Also running a halfway house in the middle of the shittiest neighborhood in Akron as well. So it's. It's interesting. Mike Brogan's dad said about Rich that he'd rather make a crooked nickel than an honest dollar, and Rich agrees with that.
Jimmy Wisman
Rather.
James Petrigallo
Rather. He'd rather have a crooked nickel than an honest dollar. It's no fun. It's not exciting.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. There's no taxes.
James Petrigallo
And that's the other thing Richard Rich needs. He seems to be kind of an adrenaline junkie kind of a guy. It's no fun to make money at a job. Even if you made a ton of money, more than he could want. That's no fun.
Jimmy Wisman
So boring.
James Petrigallo
It's the excitement of this, of maybe ending up in prison that you need. So that's kind of how he was here. So it's the kind of thing basically that you could say you could tell Rich you'd rather do that and he'd laugh about it. Yeah, probably. And Mike says that Rich once asked him if he'd like to rob a bank with him. Would you like, let me drop the kid off. Hey, by the way, I'm going to go. You want to rob a bank with me?
Jimmy Wisman
You want to run with me on over to.
James Petrigallo
Mike said no, that's okay. But that's the type of shit that Rich comes up with. Hey, I got this idea. And he'll just go to people. You want to do this?
Jimmy Wisman
Here's what we do. We get a couple of guns, we're.
James Petrigallo
Going to go to the bank and.
Jimmy Wisman
Head on into BofA.
James Petrigallo
Fuck it. He's also a huge con man as well, obviously. One woman who knows him through a family member called him the ultimate con artist.
Jimmy Wisman
Ultimate.
James Petrigallo
And he kind of is. This is Crystal Quarterman who said her mother in law married Beasley after she became pen pals with him while he was in prison in Texas. So a love after lockup situation. She said her mother in law never fully understood why he was in jail because he would never be honest about it.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
She said he never gave us a straight reason why. When he was paroled in Texas, he told the family it was that his arrest was because of a firearms arrest. And then later on he switched it to breaking and entering. And then someone asked him and then he said it was drugs. Maybe all three. This woman said the whole thing is just bizarre. She said she first got to know Beasley in October 2008 and it wasn't long after when Beasley tried to get her mother in law involved in a scam he tried. One thing I'll give him, he's very inclusive.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
If you're around him, he doesn't have private scams.
Jimmy Wisman
Go along to get along. Yeah.
James Petrigallo
You want in? I'm not greedy. You're welcome. Yeah, he tried rigging a raffle for a nice watch. He's going to rig a raffle Rigger.
Jimmy Wisman
Not what the for. For a nice watch. So there was never a watch.
James Petrigallo
There was no. He never intended to give any kind of watch. Yeah. They said so he could do it over and over again and keep the money. So he's gonna. He's going to have one watch that's going to be the center face to dangle and then he's going to keep doing that. This woman said, he was talking to my mother in law about this, but she didn't want anything to do with it. She said that Beasley then tried to run a scam from obituary columns.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay, what do you do?
James Petrigallo
Contacting relatives of the deceased to try to collect money for embossed bibles that he claimed had been bought earlier by the. This person ordered this bible. It's ready. Will you pay for it now?
Jimmy Wisman
What the hell?
James Petrigallo
That's what he's trying to do. Scamming recently deceased people's families out of 10 bucks.
Jimmy Wisman
And think about the work that goes.
James Petrigallo
Into that for 10 bucks or how much can it be?
Jimmy Wisman
I mean, I saw a report that they're literally $8.
James Petrigallo
That's what I mean. What are we talking about here? So this woman whose mother in law married him said, quote, he was just an awful person. He's the ultimate con artist. Her mother in law was trying to get away from him and. But was afraid of him kind of after, you know, finding some stuff out about him. Sure. This woman said when he got out, she soon realized what he said all the. In all the letters just wasn't true. Not that nothing's my fault. I'm really an upstanding guy. I'm all about the church system. Yeah, yeah. Now, here is Lois Hood. She is, okay, a sister. That mother in law. She's her sister.
Jimmy Wisman
So an entrepreneur.
James Petrigallo
This would be this guy. This lady's Antelope? Exactly. Lois Hood. She said her and her husband were friends with Beasley and that they often attended club meetings of the Brothers motorcycle gang together. Her and her husband headed the club as. Her. Her husband headed the club as a past president about a year after Beasley got out of prison in Texas. Then that sister divorced him. So a love after lockup, that didn't work at all.
Jimmy Wisman
Right. Fell apart.
James Petrigallo
I really wish love after lockup would have followed that around.
Jimmy Wisman
That's awesome.
James Petrigallo
Well, he's trying to put together watch raffle scams. So anyway, Rich and Brogan, how the fuck did they end up together?
Jimmy Wisman
How do you do it?
James Petrigallo
Well, Rich, new Mike from the world of bikers and Akron and knew Yvette because he hangs around drug houses and crack houses and where people are prostitutes are playing their trades. So that's how he would meet her. And then that's how he met Brogan, was through them. And I guess strangers would think that Brogan was a mute because he was a big kid and he didn't talk much. So they're thinking he must be like a big mute. There must be something wrong with him. They're like knocking on his Forehead in there. How about that in there, dummy? Yeah, so it's real weird. He's not. He's not a mute and he's not dumb. He's just quiet. He's just quiet and huge.
Jimmy Wisman
Nobody would ever mistake me for that.
James Petrigallo
So, yeah, it's real weird. Now they're saying that basically this reporter is like, I'm not sure what this. What the con was exactly.
Jimmy Wisman
Why, how did he get him in?
James Petrigallo
Because he doesn't really use Brogan for any criminal activity till he's older, till he's in his teens. So it does. Like, that's a real long con to.
Jimmy Wisman
Be like really growing it.
James Petrigallo
I'm gonna hang out with this kid every day, so he'll do my bidding in five years. Is a real weird way to do this.
Jimmy Wisman
Or did he like measure his feet and hands and was like, he's going to be big.
James Petrigallo
Well, he was big. He was bigger than him. He could tell he was going to be big. But they said that Rich seemed to genuinely enjoy hanging out with Brogan. And they'd go around Akron, they would. Visiting historic graveyards. He reminded all 10 year olds want.
Jimmy Wisman
To do or he wanted to be that. That's got to be. It's got to be something.
James Petrigallo
It's. But to me, there's got. To me, it seems like I'm gonna put this in my pocket for later.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
You know what I mean? Like, if you picked up a penny and were like, I might need this.
Jimmy Wisman
It was on heads.
James Petrigallo
Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, that's what it feels like. And you know, he said that basically, you know, his dad's a hard ass and this guy's not. So maybe that's what it is. Yvette describes Brogan's feelings this way. This is mom. Brogan was ashamed of me, but he loved me. Yeah, you're his mom. And he also doesn't want his mom to be a crackhead that doesn't fucking pay attention to him.
Jimmy Wisman
He's forced to do both of those things.
James Petrigallo
Yep, that's it. And they said that Rich. She thinks that Rich knew that Brogan's skill set might be like, he might know how to activate a skill set in Brogan that could help him later on, apparently. Now, summer of 2011. Yeah, this is when this. This is Brogan 16. And this is where we're going to catch up with everybody now. So Rich sits Brogan down and have a chit chat with him.
Jimmy Wisman
Here we go.
James Petrigallo
I'm going to say he goes, listen, there's going to be a warrant out for my arrest. Okay, this is coming now. He says if they catch me, they're going to put me away for a long time for a crime I didn't commit.
Jimmy Wisman
It's a bad one.
James Petrigallo
I didn't do it.
Jimmy Wisman
They're going to put me away for a long time, though.
James Petrigallo
This is a whole scam with the halfway house where he was pimping and all that. He was pimping these women out of the halfway house. And he's a terrible man.
Jimmy Wisman
He made a brothel at a halfway house.
James Petrigallo
Yep. And he even had, like, a crack regimen for these women. It's crazy. The guy's a monster. He's a fucking monster.
Jimmy Wisman
Like, swallow the pill.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, like, every morning. No, because they were cracks. He had like a. No, no. He had, like a. To wean them off for the week, and then they'd have, like, a week thing where they'd have three crack rocks one day and two crack rocks the next day. Two crack rocks for two days, and then, you know, one crack rock after that to wean them.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
So he said, listen, I gotta. I gotta go on the run here because they're gonna put me away for something I didn't do. This is ridiculous. So Brogan was like, what the fuck? I can't lose my mentor. This is crazy. You know? And, you know. And they said, you know, he said, these goddamn cops. And brogan was like, yeah, I know. These goddamn cops. They fuck with my mother all the time. Meanwhile, she's a crackhead and a prostitute.
Jimmy Wisman
So she probably needs them.
James Petrigallo
Probably something. So Brogan said when he had told me this story about how they were going to put him in jail over some stuff he didn't do, I was angry. I was angry, and it didn't seem right.
Jimmy Wisman
Lit. Live. It lit up.
James Petrigallo
Bullshit.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So he's like, you want to help me? Right? Richard is saying. And broken is like, of course. So there's a warrant that had been out for his arrest, which was for running a prostitution ring of 20 women. Not two women. Not a woman.
Jimmy Wisman
A whole stable.
James Petrigallo
That is, like four stables.
Jimmy Wisman
That's so busy.
James Petrigallo
So many. Dude. Like, I've read iceberg slim's book, and, like, the best pimp in the city back then had, like, seven women.
Jimmy Wisman
You can't.
James Petrigallo
That was 20. And a guy, too. You never know.
Jimmy Wisman
Running.
James Petrigallo
That's it.
Jimmy Wisman
Sometimes people got a taste.
James Petrigallo
And he did this out of his halfway house, which. There's so many things wrong with that.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
It's not even fucking Funny here a prostitution ring staffed by the women who he ministered to. Very nice.
Jimmy Wisman
Great.
James Petrigallo
So the women who, you know. Basically he'd stand up for the women in court and say well I'm a counselor and I have this halfway house and I'll take care, I'll look after them. So basically these judges would let people would let these women, they would feed his whole system. Yes. Rather than putting them in jail, they put in a halfway house which in a good system like I knew a lady who ran a halfway house. She was actually also a biker lady and all this shit. But she was really nice and help these people. Like she to her own detriment would give these people the blood from her veins. She would talk about it all the time, like all, oh, I have to go here to pick up food for these people to get them because there's a donation thing and she would do all this shit on her own for free. So very impressive. But this guy, not so much. He's just going to judge, is going I'll take care of them. And then he's giving them crack and telling them which dicks to suck. Right.
Jimmy Wisman
And then taking the money for it.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. He'd visit the women in jail, talk to them on the phones from jail and you know, describe he likes that, you know, all this type of thing and I'm going to take care of you and all that. And by most accounts his favorite of these women was a set. Not even a woman, a 17 year old.
Jimmy Wisman
His bottom one when he's in his.
James Petrigallo
50S named Savannah who died of an overdose.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh my God.
James Petrigallo
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Jimmy Wisman
Thank goodness I have this sweater.
James Petrigallo
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Jimmy Wisman
Now back to the show.
James Petrigallo
Hey everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show to tell you a little bit more about Quint. Fall is here. Winter's almost here. Time to flip that wardrobe over.
Jimmy Wisman
You know what?
James Petrigallo
I'm Saying you're gonna trade in the flip flops. You're gonna need some sweaters now. You might need time to get some flannel, get some jacket, get some flannel, some long pants. And I'm excited about that anywhere I love. So we're gonna, we're gonna upgrade to some nice stuff like a cozy cashmere sweater, maybe a leather jacket. That's actually what I bought from Quince. I found a very cool like distressed leather jacket that's really cool. Looks like it's like old schooly kind of, but like new, new design. I really like it a lot. It's awesome. And you're gonna like quints too. Quints offers affordable, high quality essentials for any wardrobe. That includes seasonal must haves. Like a Mongolian cashmere sweater from $60. That's a bargain. Comfortable pants for any occasion, like Jimmy's linen pants that he loves here. Upgrade your wardrobe with pieces made to last with quince. Go to quince.comsmalltownmurder for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E dot com smalltownmurder to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quint.comsmalltownmer now back to the show. Brogan knew her as Rich's girlfriend. 17, illegal, 50. Yeah, I'm going to fuck you and give you crack when you're a teenager and then also have you fuck other people. Wow. Here is from GQ about Rich. And this is. I'll read this verbatim here. I tell Rich that I interviewed one of these women, Amy Saller. She told me, I say that you did try to get her off drugs in a way. She said you had devised your own detox system. Yeah, there's a lot of different ways to that they do this, but I don't think this is the way. Three rocks one day, then two for each of the next couple days, then down to one crack rock. But it never worked. So you just buy her the rocks and let her smoke them at your place. He says she thought your biggest fear was that she would leave when you wanted her, when you wanted her near you. Sure, you wanted to trick her sometimes, but she seemed to feel she had you in her back pocket. She knew she could steal from you and you might yell and scream, but you weren't going to get violent. This is him telling Rich this, that this is what I found from this woman, what I've heard. She said you put her up as an escort on back page and took a Commission on the money she made. You know, like a pimp. It was strange that Amy, whom you pimped out, who has this. Who has in the intervening months gotten sober and is now working at Red Lobster.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Which is a pretty parallel move, honestly. That's a lateral. Yeah. Yeah. Has now has earned the right to visit her kid. Talks as if she isn't totally sure who was using whom. When I ask you. When I ask you about all the above, your only answer is, quote, Amy Saller. I'm sorry, I don't know who that is. He denies. I don't even know who that is. This woman knows. Lived with this man. Knows her, his whole regiment and everything. And he just goes, I don't know who that is.
Jimmy Wisman
Don't know.
James Petrigallo
Yep. And about the notion of those physical longings and the like. Quote, I haven't been. This is Rich. I haven't been able to have sex since I had my car accident. Rich tells me was that. He's referring to an accident he had about eight years ago. He said, quote, I had a steel coffee cup in my lap when it happened. He smiles mischievously here and slits his eyes like a cat. You can't use what you don't have.
Jimmy Wisman
What?
James Petrigallo
He's saying a steel took his off.
Jimmy Wisman
Castrated him in car.
James Petrigallo
No cock.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
He's. He pisses right out of his fucking. He pisses out of his abdomen. Just. That's what he's saying.
Jimmy Wisman
Wow.
James Petrigallo
This guy's just a liar and a scammer. And thinking about it, he gets a little more grandiose. Quote, I think it was a blessing from God that I wasn't able to have sex. Yes. That's what it is. If I could, it might have complicated the relationship I had with all those women. Yeah. I might have been fucking them rather than having them make money for me by sucking dicks. Wow.
Jimmy Wisman
Instead, perhaps. Yeah, that's a pretty good excuse, considering the real answer is probably 50. 50 something man with a really terrible lifestyle. Dick doesn't work.
James Petrigallo
Dick doesn't work. Or he's more interested in crime than sex. That's Potter.
Jimmy Wisman
Which is worse.
James Petrigallo
That's scary. That's what I mean.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God.
James Petrigallo
He says with, I might have been tempted, but I. But as it was, this is the best line. I was able to remain pure. Pure. He remained pure evil. Yeah. So August of 2011. Here it comes. Okay. He puts an ad up on Craigslist. Yeah. This is crazy. Quote, we need someone to watch our farm down in southern Ohio live for free in a Double wide trailer. Nothing in the way of duties except to take the. In the peacefulness of the countryside and remark on the changing of the seasons and make sure no one steals any farm equipment or perpetrates any mischief. Basically, night watchman for a season. Here, sit here, sit here. The pay is $300 a week.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
And with a place to live and everything. So this is from this ad you. There's a snapshot in your mind of the picture of the person you're looking for.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And it is a dude who has.
Jimmy Wisman
No family in a very thin flannel shirt.
James Petrigallo
Thin flannel shirt that he wears in January in Ohio. And he's not cold somehow. But that's the guy, though. A guy who's not, you know, you're not looking for a guy with a wife and three kids here, that's not going to work.
Jimmy Wisman
Guy that loves black coffee and cigarettes.
James Petrigallo
That's it. And lives in his car, probably at this point. So there really is a plot of land in Caldwell just like Rich promised in the Craigslist ad. Problem is it technically belongs to a coal mining company.
Jimmy Wisman
It's not even his.
James Petrigallo
Not even his. They said it's in a beautiful corner of Ohio's Appalachia and all that kind of thing. There's a lot of, you know, a lot of nature and shit like that. But it's a little interesting now. November 13, 2011, Brogan, 16, wakes up early to help Rich run an errand. Yeah, and this is. His errands have been going on for a while. We'll. We'll backtrack later. So Brogan has to pick up rich at about 6am but he likes to get up early and drink his coffee. Brogan or Rich Brogan? Yeah, he's 16, but he loves to get up at 5am and drink coffee like he's 68 years old. Which is funny because you're 68 years old. Yeah. You're the oldest 43 year old who's ever lived.
Jimmy Wisman
I sit on a sofa in the backyard with my feet up, freezing, just drinking coffee. I love it.
James Petrigallo
I'm barely in bed by then, which is hilarious. So anyway, that's the point. Now the plan is to pick a man up today named Timothy Kern. K, E R N. Where are we picking him up? He's 47 years old. Who's going to be waiting for them in a strip mall parking lot with all of his earthly possessions? Tim answered the ad on Craigslist.
Jimmy Wisman
Stand there out front of the cvs.
James Petrigallo
That's it. Well, what's even worse actually, when you find out where they were. We'll get to all that. So he's almost 50, as we said, 47, recently unemployed. He's been working nights cleaning speedway parking lots with those big street sweepers. Zamboni Street Speedway.
Jimmy Wisman
The fucking gas.
James Petrigallo
The gas station.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh my God.
James Petrigallo
With the big Zamboni street sweeper.
Jimmy Wisman
And it's not his company. He worked for somebody else.
James Petrigallo
Absolutely. And I know a guy who used to do that and his life was not going well at that moment. It's a tough life. It's a tough day.
Jimmy Wisman
And you're doing that at 2:00am yeah.
James Petrigallo
And one time, I don't know why he told me this, but he was like, oh man. I was sitting in my. In the. In the thing in the street sweeper. He goes, and I saw this chick coming. She was leaf blowing and she. I saw long blonde hair. I was like, man, she's hot. And then he got a little closer and she got a little closer and I went, oh, that's an ugly man. So that's who. Streeping sweeping.
Jimmy Wisman
He was hoping for a love connection amidst different shit, different employment of concrete cleaning.
James Petrigallo
Maybe all us parking lot night workers can get together. Turns out he had like a scraggly goatee and everything and he just didn't have good eyesight. So he was the speedway parking lot cleaners downsized and he got laid off.
Jimmy Wisman
Ouch.
James Petrigallo
So I mean, that's. You're getting squeezed out of that. He basically has a history of being a bit of a loafer, bit of a stoner back in the day, kind of a burnout, likes classic rock and that sort of shit.
Jimmy Wisman
I see him already, you know the.
James Petrigallo
Guy, he's divorced, has three boys. Yep.
Jimmy Wisman
The cab of that fucking street sweeper was so loud.
James Petrigallo
It was loud. Yeah. Deep Purple, just like. That's the soundtrack here. Definitely. Smoke on the Water is the whole theme of this show. Holy fucking shit.
Jimmy Wisman
Unbelievable.
James Petrigallo
Now his ex wife Tina is at the time was a cocktail waitress at the Winking Lizard Tavern, which. That's a penis, right? That's what they're saying.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Okay, that's what I thought.
Jimmy Wisman
Winking lizard.
James Petrigallo
The winking Lizard. That's a penis. I don't know what else.
Jimmy Wisman
Mid shot. Penis.
James Petrigallo
Unless you're in the southwest, that's penis. Unless there's like a gecko theme, I don't know. That's a penis.
Jimmy Wisman
That is in between ropes. Penis.
James Petrigallo
That's what that is. Now this lady said she still loves Tim but couldn't stand Being married to him now, she said it was like having another kid. He's a mess. He's not responsible. She said in the, in the most recent photographs, basically they said, you know, he still looks a little bit boyish, but he needs to get his shit together. So Brogan pulls up in front of Rich's house and you know, Brogan's driving his Buick. He parks there. Rich comes out across the front lawn and sits in the front seat. And they're going to pull off. They do this all the time. This is his ride. Yeah. Now, the day before, Brogan was tasked with going out behind the Rolling Acres mall, which is an abandoned mall at the time, except for a J.C. penney's that's in the process of closing. So very depressing suburban mall here. And there is a bunch of woods out back behind there. No one's going to this mall. So this is a good place. Basically, Rich had tasked Brogan with going out there the day before and digging a hole big enough for an adult male body.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
Go ahead and get that done. Go deer buddy. Yeah. So Rich doesn't really like to do stuff like that. He's not a digger. But he watched, gave moral support, you know what I mean? So basically, Brogan trying not to think about what's going on. This morning. We'll go back in time back to August of 2011. That's November. Tim Curran, they're going to pick Tim Curran up. There's a hole dug. Okay. So that's in the mind now back in time to August. This is when Rich discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest. A product of a 20 month investigation of the halfway house. He's going to prison.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, he's in trouble.
James Petrigallo
That's a lot of money spent on that investigation. Almost.
Jimmy Wisman
They aren't fucking around.
James Petrigallo
No, you're going to prison for that shit. So he says if he were arrested, he could spend the rest of his life in prison because he, you know, he's 52 year old guy who doesn't live well. So, you know, they said that that's when Rich started to target guys like Tim with that Craigslist ad, which is Tim's the exact guy that you're going to draw with that. Sure. First because he needed a new identity. What, he wanted to steal one of their identities? That was the whole point. And then he started going, well, if I have an identity, that's cool. I could just start getting guys to come out here to start stealing their shit, all of them and selling it and I could Just make money that way. So if I just keep getting people in and getting rid of them and taking all their shit, I just make a living off of that and that's a sustainable future.
Jimmy Wisman
If I. If I get fucked up, get caught up in something. They're looking for Tim Curran, I got another identity.
James Petrigallo
That's it. More. More identities.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So. And like I said, Rich. Rich's ad was designed to get this person.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
To get, you know, a kind of older guy.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. On the grid guy.
James Petrigallo
Unattached. Yeah. Doesn't really have a lot of moorings to the world into like the mainstream world, that sort of thing. Not. Doesn't have any ambition. Not trying to be the CEO of a corporation. Someone who said, if you sit here in this trailer, I'll give you 300 bucks a week to not do anything. They go, sounds good to me.
Jimmy Wisman
Fucking great deal.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. If that sounds good to you, you should reevaluate your life. Probably because that's not great. That's not a good way to be living. You got to have a little more ambition than that. Even though I'm lazy too, when I want to be.
Jimmy Wisman
Twelve hundred dollars a month in room and board is. I'm above that ambition.
James Petrigallo
That's the thing. Well, especially when the room aboard is a double wide in a coal mining field. I don't want to sit there by myself.
Jimmy Wisman
I got more ambition than that.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, you got to be a hermit for that shit. Like, that's some weird shit, man. So that's what they're looking for. Basically someone whose life has gone downhill.
Jimmy Wisman
You got to be careful with that guy too though, because you'll get.
James Petrigallo
Oh, you could be a dangerous motherfucker. Oh, my God, you're gonna get criminals. You're gonna get.
Jimmy Wisman
You could get the Unabomber.
James Petrigallo
Well, that's, that's why he. He's. Well, this guy. One thing he's Rich is very good at is figuring out exactly who people are and sizing them up. Because a con man, con men can tell like that who you are and what you're capable of. And he's really good at that. And prison helps and all those things. Help to be able to kind of have that sixth sense for crazy people here. So Rich had been interviewing subjects he carefully selects. He gets hundreds of replies for this ad. Yeah, tons of people want this job.
Jimmy Wisman
Jesus.
James Petrigallo
So he. I guess he's been showing up at the food court at the. Of the Chapel Hill Mall with an official looking application form. Yeah, they're gonna. Everything he's got an app. They said that he affects the air of an affable blue collar type landowner who just wants to find someone friendly to camp out on his spread while he's up in Akron conducting his business.
Jimmy Wisman
You know, he's got a job application.
James Petrigallo
He's, you know, he's got a whole deal. He resume like he's taking paperwork. And Rich had certain things that he'd want to know from these people. Quote, do you have a wife or kids or people you need to keep in close touch with, people looking for you? He tells him the farm doesn't have cell coverage, so you won't be able to get to keep in touch with anybody. He says, are you a fellow who can live in peaceful isolation?
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, boy.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, you guy that no one's going to look for if you're missing, essentially. And what type of vehicle do you have? What would you be bringing down with you when you came? Any computers or things like that? He's basically giving an. What's your inventory of what your shit.
Jimmy Wisman
Is, otherwise why the fuck would you need to know that?
James Petrigallo
And he says, bring it all with you and my nephew and I will drive you down to Caldwell.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
So everything you got you can totally bring with you.
Jimmy Wisman
All right?
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Now, the farm quote, unquote, here, I guess what you call it, you drive up onto Rado Ridge, past a couple of desolate houses and turn on to Don Warner Road and then drive till you find, quote, the farm.
Jimmy Wisman
The spot.
James Petrigallo
The middle of nowhere is what it is. So August 9, 2011, Ralph Geiger shows up. He's 56 years old, he's from Akron. This guy had kind of a sad story too. He's currently homeless at the time, but he was the owner of a very successful construction company and it all fell apart.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my heart.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. And in 2007 and 2008, if you owned a construction company and you pretty well over. Well, if you overextended yourself, you owed.
Jimmy Wisman
Too many people too much money, you're fucked.
James Petrigallo
If you got too giddy about the housing boom and hedge your bets, you're fucked at that point. So he anyway.
Jimmy Wisman
Homeless.
James Petrigallo
Homeless.
Jimmy Wisman
Lost everything.
James Petrigallo
Yes. That's. It's, wow, fucking crazy on August 3, 2011. Well, we'll get into that. But anyway, this Ralph Geiger here, he ends up, you know, they talk, talk to him. They talk to him for a while. They got all his information ahead of time and then August 9th is when they picked him up.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
Okay. Basically what they did is they. They took him out into the woods this Is by the mall again, took him out there. And this becomes a thing. What Rich does is to. He'll. He'll walk ahead so the guy. Nobody feels uncomfortable. You don't have a stranger behind you.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So he'll walk ahead, make everybody feel comfortable and do all that. And then out of nowhere, he'll say something. See, there's that over there, that ridge. After the guy's comfortable walking behind, the guy will look and then he'll turn and just shoot him in the back of the head as quick as he can. And then pump as many into him as he needs to to kill him. They strip these guys naked, dump them in a fucking hole, Put just enough earth on him. Take all their shit to cover up. Take all their shit, sell it. If they have a car, they literally break it down for parts. And like a chop shop, they melt. They melt metal down. What the fuck to sell these people shit.
Jimmy Wisman
Diabolical.
James Petrigallo
Diabolical. Now, Ralph Geiger, he's the first. The main thing that he wants from Ralph is his name.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
He needs Ralph's name.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. Because he's got a hide from this fucking pimping shit.
James Petrigallo
He's a clean name. So, yeah, he killed Ralphie, removed all his clothes, covered him with lime and replace the ground cover so you wouldn't notice it, basically. So now Ralph is the name after that on Rich's driver's license. After that, all of a sudden, Rich has a Ralph Geiger driver's license with his picture on it that he got officially. Also, that is the. All of his prescriptions are now for Ralph Geiger. So he's just using that as his name after that. On August 31, 2011, Ralph Geiger, quote, unquote, submitted an employment application to Tech Center Inc. Listing a home address on Kramer Avenue and Joyce Grabowski as an emergency contact. Joyce is a woman he stayed with for a couple of months earlier in the year that Rich stayed with. The next day, Geiger, quote, unquote, submitted an application to Walt Co Trucking company again using that address and Joyce as a reference. Alex Hartke, a Walt Co. Employee, said that he worked alongside, quote, Geiger in September and October of 2011.
Jimmy Wisman
He was trying to go straight.
James Petrigallo
No, no, no. He was. Yeah. He was working under this name. Wow. He was literally had a job under this guy's name trying to just go.
Jimmy Wisman
Straight and not get arrested.
James Petrigallo
Yes. But he's also murdering people on the side.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
On September 19th, he opened up a checking account at PNC bank using the address. And Ralph Geiger's name. Activity in the account included the deposit of two checks from tech center payable to Ralph Geiger and a chick check written to grab Grabowski, dated October 3, 2011. The day after he opened the account, he sought medical treatment for chronic pain at Akron Community Health Resources, Inc. Where he was seen by a doctor under the name Ralph Geiger. Of course, the doctor said that the patient was seeking prescription painkillers. Yeah, obviously. He told the doctor that he had a cervical fusion, the result of an accident involving a dump truck. Oh, boy. Did he tell. Tell her about your dick.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, yeah, what about that? Stanley to the sack.
James Petrigallo
I just. I don't have a dick because I got. I took a fucking tumbler to the nutsack here. I don't have a dick anymore.
Jimmy Wisman
Took a stunley a Stanley via an airbag right up my fucking gooch right there.
James Petrigallo
He said he'd been seeing a doctor in Tijuana for narcotics.
Jimmy Wisman
What?
James Petrigallo
That's what he's been going to From Ohio to Mexico to get pills.
Jimmy Wisman
Wow.
James Petrigallo
So the doctor had him sign a medical release, treated his high blood blood pressure, prescribed a non narcotic pain reliever, and told him to come back in a week and see me and see how you feel. All right. He returned to see her on October 27, 2011. In the interim, the doctor could not get the records from the Tijuana clinic he claimed to have gone.
Jimmy Wisman
I'm sure they were on fucking post it notes.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, I'm sure. And I'm sure they probably don't exist because he didn't go to Tijuana.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
So I don't know how he would go back and forth because he's trying to say that I went down there and I had drugs because that was the only place I could go. So I need these drugs. And then this lady wouldn't give him drugs. So other witnesses talked about meeting a man in 2011 who called himself Ralph Geiger. In August, Don Walters Jr. Or John Don Walters senior, was introduced by a man to a man. This is rich. Rich said he went by Dutch at that point. Oh, once while shopping together, this guy saw Dutch use identification in the name of Ralph Geiger.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
He has a million nicknames, by the way. Dutch, Jack, this, that. It's interesting. In August or September of 2011, a guy named Joe Bias rented a room in his house on Shelburne Avenue in Akron to a man who goes by Dutch but licenses Ralph Geiger. So he rents a room in Akron, and he's the same, he's Dutch And Ralph Geiger, obviously. October 2011. Daniel DeWalt applies by email to be the caretaker of a cattle farm. He's told in Caldwell here. And he found that on Craigslist. He got an email response and he agreed to meet a guy named Jackson.
Jimmy Wisman
Yep.
James Petrigallo
Jack is Dutch and Ralph and Rich and everybody else here.
Jimmy Wisman
My God.
James Petrigallo
This is at the Chapel Hill Mall food court in Akron. When they met, Jack tells DeWalt that his my uncle Bob Gaylord owns a farm in Caldwell and needs someone to start work right away because a nearby road was blocked by a landslide. So we need people in there right now. DeWalt filled out an application. That's not an application job. By the way. Clearing out landslide damage from the side of someone's property is. Can you be there at 7? Great.
Jimmy Wisman
I doubt there's a 1099. Yeah, there's no W2 for this. What are we doing?
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Jesus Christ. So a few days later, this Jack GEIGER Rich offered DeWalt the job. DeWalt packed all his belongings into a U haul trailer for the move.
Jimmy Wisman
A whole. He needed a U haul for this?
James Petrigallo
He's got enough shit. Yeah, that's an apartment at least. Full of shit. But DeWalt told Jack that he was bringing his pistol. Okay, I got my gun with me.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Jack initially said that was okay, but then changed his mind and told him, quote, I'm the only one here with a gun. I don't want any. Which makes me go, well, I'm not coming then.
Jimmy Wisman
I'm not coming over.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, I want to be armed, but I don't want you to be.
Jimmy Wisman
I don't know you and you're not allowing me to be armed.
James Petrigallo
What you want to be? Yeah, yeah. This is weird.
Jimmy Wisman
0.
James Petrigallo
DeWalt also told that Jack told Jack that he'd been unable to find the alleged property on the website. He said, I look for the property you're talking about on the county assessors website, doesn't show up. And then he said to himself, this ain't quote, this ain't adding up.
Jimmy Wisman
Atta boy.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, this is. This is. He's a little too smart. He's got a U Haul full of shit. So he's got a couple more brain cells kicking around bouncing off each other here.
Jimmy Wisman
He's not quite this destitute fellow they're looking for.
James Petrigallo
That's. Well, he's just what they're looking for. If only they could get him here unarmed and unbrained. So additionally, Jack wanted to buy DeWalt's SUV and truck. This guy's got two vehicles for Christ's sake. He asked to pick up the vehicles on a Friday, promising to pay on the following Sunday when they got to the farm. Uh huh, yeah. When you get here, DeWalt said, I don't know. He said, quote, what if somebody's trying to get my vehicles before I come down there and then when I get down there they shoot me and take my stuff? Sir, he asked Jack that, he asked Ralph Jack Rich that, well, what if you're just trying to kill me?
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And Jack replied, quote, you shouldn't have said that and said, now I got to consult with my uncle and make sure you're still okay. Yeah. So on October 15, DeWalt received an email from, from Gaylord. This time allegedly at this is Roh Rohan, Dan Nayer. Gmail.com is the address here withdrawing the drop off.
Jimmy Wisman
We're fine. You're fired.
James Petrigallo
You're fired. Yeah. So he was Jack Gaylord at that point. Next up, George Brown. He's semi retired from the concrete business and just wanted a job to supplement his income. Just wanted to sit down, just have a little break.
Jimmy Wisman
I don't, I don't 12 this is just going to be spending cash walking around money.
James Petrigallo
I just sit around in the trailer.
Jimmy Wisman
I've got money. Twelve hundred dollars a month to bullshit. This is my. I'm going to fund Amazon.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, fucking dream wish list money. So on October 7, he answered a craigslist ad for a job taking care of cattle in southern Ohio. It promised him a trailer, a credit card and three to four hundred dollars a month. Okay, now it's money.
Jimmy Wisman
Now it's getting real cheap.
James Petrigallo
I don't know what the difference. If you're going to kill these people anyway, you might as well just say $1,000 a week, right?
Jimmy Wisman
Tell them it's two grand a month.
James Petrigallo
They probably wouldn't believe that then it's got to be believable amount. So Brown arranged to meet Jack again at the Chapel Hill Mall food court. The interview was going well, but then Brown said that he mentioned that, oh yeah, they're just chit chat. And he goes, yeah, yeah, I've been doing martial arts since I was a small child. I'm badass and all this type of thing. He said at that point Jack kind of sat back in his chair like can I take this guy or what?
Jimmy Wisman
He sized him up.
James Petrigallo
Yep. Brown also told Jack that for a while he worked as a security officer. Don't like that. Jack ended up pulling back the application and ended the interview right there. Security guard or nose karate. I'm out. Not doing it.
Jimmy Wisman
Fired him in front of the Chipotle.
James Petrigallo
That's it. Right there in front of the Sbarros. It's over.
Jimmy Wisman
We're done.
James Petrigallo
We're done. And he. Hot Dog on a Stick, witnessed your lowest point. And he said he never heard back from Jack about anything else again. That was it.
Jimmy Wisman
God damn it.
James Petrigallo
Next up, Dave LeBlanc. Another guy here, DeWalt LeBlanc. He's looking for anybody with a French sounding name here. LeBlanc was looking for work. He responded to the ad for a job as a farmhand on a 300 acre farm. He said a guy identifying himself as Richard Bogner, B O G, N E R Bogner, whatever the hell. Bogner interviewed him at the Chapel Hill Mall. Again, same thing. During the interview, LeBlanc told this quote, bogner, Bogner, Jack Rich, Geiger, whoever you want to say that he had a fiance.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh.
James Petrigallo
He said he was never contacted again about the job. That was that.
Jimmy Wisman
This is unreal.
James Petrigallo
You have a connection to the world.
Jimmy Wisman
Goodbye, peace. I got to get somebody else.
James Petrigallo
You'll be looked for later. So there's that. Next up, David Pauly comes in. This is. He's the father of an adult son, been divorced for two years and was looking for work. He found the job posting earlier in the month. He's from Norfolk, Virginia. He's not even from around here.
Jimmy Wisman
No shit.
James Petrigallo
This is a trek.
Jimmy Wisman
It's coming a couple states away.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. His sister said his big love and hobby is nascar.
Jimmy Wisman
Yep.
James Petrigallo
And he's got tons of NASCAR memorabilia.
Jimmy Wisman
Yep.
James Petrigallo
All sorts of shit, whatever that would be. Little cars and posters, shirts, hats, jackets.
Jimmy Wisman
Dude, it could be anything.
James Petrigallo
It could be anything. Now, this guy, David Paulie, has a twin sister named Deborah. And he told her about the job opportunity he found on Craigslist on a 688 acres farm. Everything. They all changed to the details in these ads. Taking care of cattle for $300 a week. He'd be provided a trailer to live and could bring all his belongings with him. Plenty of room for it. Sometime thereafter, he told his sister that he'd been hired and would be leaving Norfolk For Ohio on October 27, he traveled to Ohio in his blue pickup truck, pulling a U Haul trailer containing all of his worldly possessions.
Jimmy Wisman
Everything.
James Petrigallo
Everything. Yeah, his sister said he was extremely excited about it. He felt like he was. It was finally going to be a new start for him.
Jimmy Wisman
Finally doing it.
James Petrigallo
Finally a place to also. You could probably get it together. That would be a good place to plan your next move.
Jimmy Wisman
Solitude. Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Okay.
Jimmy Wisman
You can really map it out.
James Petrigallo
If I do this for three, four months, I make enough money to live and I can just basically have some quiet and figure out what I want to do with my life. Like that. That sounds great to me. Right now. I'm exhausted. But that's not bad. He'd be always a great deal. He driven from Virginia with all of this stuff with a lot of his stuff is model trains. He's very into NASCAR memorabilia and a shotgun. He has.
Jimmy Wisman
He's my dad.
James Petrigallo
Yes, he is your dad. He is. Jerry.
Jimmy Wisman
Listening.
James Petrigallo
It's fucking great. How many wives does he have? Nine.
Jimmy Wisman
Nine.
James Petrigallo
And also the same guy have nine wives.
Jimmy Wisman
Same amount of Lionel fucking Trains.
James Petrigallo
This guy has more prostitutes than your father had wives, though.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. That's pretty impressive.
James Petrigallo
That's not bad. Bruce. I guess this. The woman spoke with her brother twice on October 27th. Once to arrange payment for his hotel room in West Virginia and again around 8 or 9pm that day. And then she never heard from him again. Rich would. The way he would do this, he would take them out on the way to the farm. This is. They've been hired. They come with all their stuff. On the way out there, he'd take them out for breakfast.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
You know, because that's going to make you feel real. Yeah. You break bread with somebody, that's how you get close to them.
Jimmy Wisman
Belly full of hash brown ham.
James Petrigallo
Oh, yeah. And he said, I want to go. They take him out to breakfast on the way to act like, you know, the magnanimous boss man. Like, let me buy you breakfast before we get out there. That sort of thing. Yep. When they were eating breakfast with David Paulie. This is Rich and Brogan. Because Brogan, except for the interviews, Brogan's always with him. Yeah. Because he'll. He'll go to take him to the farm. Rich told a long story over breakfast about how a friend of his looked like Kenny Rogers.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And when they were after. Before. Before all the surgery.
Jimmy Wisman
Jesus. He looks so bad.
James Petrigallo
He looks tight.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. He's dead now.
James Petrigallo
I know.
Jimmy Wisman
But at the end there, he was bad.
James Petrigallo
It looked like if you bounced a quarter off his face, it would fly 30ft off and have some kickback to it. So they. He said, my friend looked like Kenny Rogers. And when they go out to eat, Rich would let it slip to the waiter that it actually is Kenny Robinson. Don't tell any, but don't tell the other people. And then they'd all get to eat for free. Yeah, that's what they do. So they had, for David Pauley, they had a change of boots for him. He's gonna be mucking around gloves and even gave him a twenty dollar bill. Well, this is interesting. We'll talk about the $20 bill. They don't give him the $20 bill. They take him out to the woods. Same thing. Showing him around the woods. And when they do that same thing, look over there. Oh yeah, what's that? Pow. They shoot David Paulie. Shoot him down, basically. And what they did is they put a twenty dollar bill with a little rock over it next to the hole they dug and buried him in. So they would know if anybody came across it. Which is actually very smart.
Jimmy Wisman
Pretty good.
James Petrigallo
Yes, that's very smart. Because someone's going to pick that 20 up.
Jimmy Wisman
Absolutely.
James Petrigallo
So that would. If nobody picks the 20 up, you know it has.
Jimmy Wisman
Nobody's been here.
James Petrigallo
That's a very interesting, not bad, very, very interesting thing here. So they murder him. They steal some of his possessions and store them in their friend's garage. As we'll talk about. Beasley told his friend that he had bid on a storage unit. Like the TV show Storage Wars.
Jimmy Wisman
Really?
James Petrigallo
So I bid on a unit and I got it. So at 1:09pm on Oct. 23, Beasley called Walters, his friend and tells Walters that he got, he got this unit and it came with a truck and a U haul full of things that was in the truck that was in.
Jimmy Wisman
The truck fitting that tiny little unit.
James Petrigallo
And a U haul trailer. Real deep, real deep. Why would you want a U haul trailer in there when the storage unit is a fucking U haul trailer? A non stationary trailer. That's what that is. You don't put a trailer in a trailer.
Jimmy Wisman
The door was like the door to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. He just expanded.
James Petrigallo
And then inside the U haul there was a tinier storage facility walked into. There's even tinier ones, just kept getting smaller and smaller.
Jimmy Wisman
Unbelievable.
James Petrigallo
So yeah, he said he needs a place to store these items till he could sell them. So Rich arrives at his friend's house driving a blue Dodge pickup, pulling a U haul trailer. So yeah, it's. That's Paulie's stuff here, obviously. David Paulie. So another car pulled in behind Rich, driven by Brogan and who he tells, Rich tells this man is his nephew. He tells everybody that he wants to put all the shit. They unloaded the trailer, which was completely filled with bags and crates and put it all in the garage. Among the items was a laptop computer too. So he's got some stuff. Then Rich comes back the next day, filling up his truck twice with items, including the lack laptop that he wanted to take. Then Beasley takes the U Haul and returns it to the U Haul in Akron.
Jimmy Wisman
This is yours, y'all.
James Petrigallo
You don't want to draw attention because U Haul will come looking for their shit for sure. They're definitely going to want their trailer back. So that's unwanted attention. So he brought that back. And so now that's two that he's got in the ground. November, here comes Scott Davis. Okay, Scott Davis is 49 years old, right? He's from South Carolina. He answers the ad, he gets hired, he sells his landscaping business to come to Ohio. Good for this job.
Jimmy Wisman
He's had enough, had enough.
James Petrigallo
So Rich introduces himself as Jack. And Rich, by the way, has a tattoo that says Jack on his arm.
Jimmy Wisman
Really?
James Petrigallo
His name is not Jack.
Jimmy Wisman
What is going on?
James Petrigallo
Maybe that's.
Jimmy Wisman
I mean, is it a knife like.
James Petrigallo
Jack the Knife, maybe, or it's just he's such a con artist, he thinks ahead of time. I'll get tattoos of names that aren't mine so I can tell people that's my name.
Jimmy Wisman
That is wild.
James Petrigallo
That's. That's a long game. He's picking up nine year olds for.
Jimmy Wisman
Further use and tattooing other dudes names on.
James Petrigallo
Yes. And through all, all of the murders, it's him and Brogan only going out there with these guys. Brogan has dug the hole and Brogan's the one who's going to drag him into the hole because he's a big guy and Rich has a up back and he's lazy.
Jimmy Wisman
What the.
James Petrigallo
Doesn't want to do this. So now Scott Davis saw the tattoo, they bring, they bring him to the farm, okay? And this is Rich's gag. He'd walk out in front like we said, and he'd let the people follow him down one of the tracks into the forest because it'd be uncomfortable to have a stranger up there behind you, obviously. So they were looking for some construction equipment they couldn't find. They tell Scott we're going out in the woods looking for this equipment. And he was waiting for an excuse to turn around so he could shoot him, Right? So that's what happened. Rich would shoot them. They wouldn't see it coming, shoot him in the head. They'd go down, pump a couple more in him and they bury him. It was great because he never had to lay a hand on anybody. Didn't have to overpower them or strangle them. He just picked the people who would believe him and then do it. And he knew what he was doing. Now, Scott, apparently, this Rich, they're walking in the woods here. And he said they go down to the farm to repair some roads. First off, they took him to a Shoney's for breakfast.
Jimmy Wisman
Nice.
James Petrigallo
So you'd have a nice truck stop belly breakfast. They'd have a nice gurgling cauldron of gas and shit to let out later on. Then they go to a deeply wooded area. Beasley gets out of the car, Rich does, and so does Brogan. And here. Now, this time, though, for some reason, going into the woods, Brogan does not go into the woods with them.
Jimmy Wisman
Really.
James Petrigallo
Rich goes into the woods with Scott Davis and Brogan stays behind. I don't know if it's because they thought it would freak him out or.
Jimmy Wisman
Whatever it was, but Shoney's too, and has the shit.
James Petrigallo
Like, I gotta.
Jimmy Wisman
I'll go the other way.
James Petrigallo
I'm going back to the Shoney's.
Jimmy Wisman
I'll make sure back here.
James Petrigallo
I gotta return something to Shoney's real quick. Hold on. I'll be right back. I gotta go get her.
Jimmy Wisman
Let's see about their return policy.
James Petrigallo
I'm gonna go refund back to them. So as they continued walking near a hill, basically the gun misfires. Rich turns around and Scott Davis hears what he calls a cuss word and a click. Oh, and he said, I knew I was in trouble. Yeah, I would say. He said, I saw a gun. It looked like it was coming back toward. It was coming back toward my head for a second try. Yeah, he said it was. Then he started running. It's at this point that he shoots him again and hits him in the elbow. Hit Scott in the elbow. Scott doesn't stop. No, he keeps fucking running. Going and going and going. He said he heard three more shots, all of which missed him as he ran away. Oh, he said, I ran until I couldn't run anymore. Out of breath. He hid up a tree. He climbed like a bear. Climbed a tree and hid there for seven hours.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God.
James Petrigallo
Till he thought they were gone.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Because he figured he would be out there.
Jimmy Wisman
The gunshot to the elbow.
James Petrigallo
The gunshot to the elbow. He waited till after dark. Wow, this is like 7:00 at night. He waited till. Till he figured they would leave in the dark.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And they. Because they. He assumes that they think that he probably kept running rather than went up a tree and he's still there, but he did he went up a tree because he couldn't. He had no more breath.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
Basically. So that's fucking crazy. He said that? Yeah. When he spun around, he got shot in the elbow, was running as fast as he could. He said he was tripping and falling in the sticks and the mud and the trees.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God.
James Petrigallo
Running through the woods frantically. He managed to hide up the tree, stay there for seven hours, bleeding for profusely. Obviously, he said, finally calmed down somehow and walked out and walked about three miles till he found a house.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And finally he finds a house. And it was. There was a house with the light on. And he was like, oh, my shit. So he knocked on the door, bleeding. They called 911 for him.
Jimmy Wisman
I had a competition.
James Petrigallo
How you doing, boy? And he's like, oh, no.
Jimmy Wisman
Welcome.
James Petrigallo
Oh, God. So, yeah, he said that he was rambling, telling them. He told the people in the house that he applied for a fencing job and then these people were going to rob him. And this guy, you know, said he had all the documentation, he has all the emails from this guy. He sent it to me. He goes, I got everything on the dashboard of my truck. He said, I knew I was in trouble when I heard this click. And he shot at me. He said one was 52 or 51 years old, dark and gray hair. The younger guy was 17 years old, very tall, about 6 foot 5.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
He said one of the men looked like he had recently shaved a beard. But he said he didn't know. They didn't know what he was. He was just rambling. They were like, holy shit. The sheriff got there. He tells the sheriff this whole story again, I got shot. This is what happened. The sheriff, Sheriff Hanum goes, nah, I don't believe you.
Jimmy Wisman
What?
James Petrigallo
Doesn't believe a word he's saying.
Jimmy Wisman
That's not. That's not how it's supposed to go.
James Petrigallo
He's bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound. Something happened.
Jimmy Wisman
What's he trying to cover up?
James Petrigallo
That's exactly what they did. He probably tried to rob a gas station or something. They're thinking. So, yeah, he said he didn't believe him because number one, the cop said, I don't know of any 688 acre cattle farm in this county.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay, Sidestep that. That might not be true. I don't know.
James Petrigallo
They might have lied to me. Yeah, I don't. This is what I'm telling you, what I know. Yeah. What the fuck do I know? Yeah, he said he knew of only one residence in the area that he was describing a farm in Caldwell owned by Jerry Hood Senior, who was known by everyone as Country. Okay, so Country Hood Senior there. And sheriff thought that the description of the two men somewhat matched country and his son, Jerry Hood Junior. Oh, so he goes, oh, maybe it's those two. Okay, so on Don Warner Road, about half a mile from that property, from Hood's property, the Hood, you know, Country Junior and Senior there, the sheriff found a rock slide and heavy equipment that Davis had described.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
He was like, okay, that's something. Country's wife Lois worked at a local tavern. Who doesn't in this town?
Jimmy Wisman
Sure.
James Petrigallo
And the sheriff went to see her there and they said, well, I'm looking for your husband. He might have attacked a young guy, a guy in town here, blah, blah, blah. Lois told him, well, I doubt it was country because he's been in the hospital in Akron after he fell down the stairs and cracked his skull, fractured his skull last month. He's been in the hospital for about a month and a half. So not my country. Probably here. While at the tavern, this guy even talked to country on the telephone asking him whether he still had a beard. He's been in the hospital with a cracked skull. He thinks he came out to shoot this guy and then went back to the hospital for a month.
Jimmy Wisman
He's got a beard probably.
James Petrigallo
And this guy said in country said he did. And then the sheriff went to the hospital to confirm that he still did have a long beard. So it couldn't have been him because the beard was shaved. So clears the country boys. All right. Okay, now, November 8, 2001, here, Ralph Geiger, quote, unquote, bought a.22 caliber Iver Johnson pistol to brought it to a gun shop for repairs. Smitty's Gun Shop. Yeah. Geiger gave the Grabowski address and the Telephone number of 2458961 to the shop. Smitty's cleaned the gun and it was reclaimed on October 11th. Now, remember Tim Curran? Yeah. First guy, first guy back to him. When this job was offered, Tim thought it was great. He thought it was his first. Even though he's in his 50 or 47, he thought this was his first foray into adulthood. This was his own thing where he was actually going to make his own money, have his own place and not rely on anybody or anything like that. A place to live, he said, you know, his sons could come see him there and hang out with them. Still called his kids his babies even though they're grown ups, you know, that kind of thing. Here but he'd also was very anxious the night before he left. Saying he was. They tell his family was saying he was at his ex wife's house staying. And they said he was telling his boys he didn't want to leave them. He stayed up all night packing. And, you know, he would use that as a home base. He's basically homeless, but he was using the ex wife's house to shower and get his shit together, which is even worse than being homeless. What's worse than being homeless? Having to go to your ex wife's house.
Jimmy Wisman
To relying on somebody who doesn't even.
James Petrigallo
Want to see you, doesn't even like you. Yeah, yeah. So he said. They said he was trying to feel laid back, seem laid back about it, but he felt pretty shitty out of place and heading out that morning to go out there. So Rich tells Brogan, remember they were driving to meet him to get off the highway at an exit in the town of Canton. Okay. He says, ohio. Canton, Ohio. He says that Tim Curran is waiting in his car not too far from there. All right. So by the way, he said that Brogan, that morning, noticed that Richard smells of bar soap. But then something is under it. So you can smell soap, but it's like it's covering something grosser.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
He notices that Rich is wearing the same clothes as yesterday. And he wonders if this is all the clothes he has now, why is he wearing the same clothes as yesterday? This is weird. So he's just like, this is a. What the hell's going on with Rich? Rich also has been dyeing his hair as part of his new identity, but he's kind of let it go now.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, so his roots are showing.
James Petrigallo
He's got roots growing the same clothes, smelling like fucking Irish Spring and BO at the same time.
Jimmy Wisman
Irish Spring poop.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, it's not a great thing here. Hey, everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show and tell you about the best holiday gift you can buy someone you love. An aura frame. Telling you it's so the people you want to buy the best gifts were the hardest to shop for. That's the thing. But you want to give them something they'll really love. Sentimental aura digital picture frame number one by Wirecutter. Aura frames makes it incredibly easy to share unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone to the frame. And when you give an aura frame as a gift, you can even personalize it ahead of time, preload it with a thoughtful message. Photos using the aura app. And I have gotten an aura frame for every single person in my family has an Aura frame on the counter. They love them. And for a limited time, visit aura auraframes.com and get $45 off Aura's best selling Carver matte frames by using the promo code smalltownmurder at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code. Small Town Murder this exclusive Black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year, so don't miss out. Terms and conditions apply.
Jimmy Wisman
Now back to the show.
James Petrigallo
Hey everybody. Just going to take a quick break from the show to tell you a little bit more about chime. You know, we all spend more than we should during the holidays and that kind of thing, but we have something that will help you take control of your finances. Use a Chime checking account which features like no monthly or maintenance fees. They have none of that. Yeah, a fee free overdraft of up to $200, which is incredible. Or you can get paid up to two days early if you have direct deposit. It's wonderful. You learn more@chime.com Small Town Murder. We've done it. We've all overdrafted by accident. The next thing you know, you're paying as much in fees, sometimes more in fees than you even drafted out for it.
Jimmy Wisman
So sometimes something happens in the car and you got to get it fixed. What are you going to do? Sometimes it's more than you expect.
James Petrigallo
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Jimmy Wisman
Now back to the show.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, it's real weird. Also, he's abandoned his house and is now living in a rented room like we talked about, in the room that Rich is renting. It doesn't even have a door you can close. It's like a broken door. You gotta, like, prop up.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, no.
James Petrigallo
So Brogan says that this morning he sensed something about Rich that was a, way he put it, a new kind of desperation.
Jimmy Wisman
Something's off.
James Petrigallo
Something's going on here. Something disturbing. He said it was desperate and weird. Yeah, he said it was even weirder. Vibe than he normally puts out.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
So there is a surveillance camera in the parking lot where Tim Curran is waiting in his 1995 Buick LeSabre.
Jimmy Wisman
Hell yeah.
James Petrigallo
Kicking it, fucking rocking that shit. Footage from the camera will indicate it's five minutes after 6 in the morning on Sunday, November 13, 2011, when rich and Brogan arrived to get him. The basically they found, obviously there's. All of this is from a Waffle House in Akron. That's where they meet. They're gonna have breakfast in the Waffle House. All class. So this is the same day that he was. I guess he was interviewed and basically hired at the same time.
Jimmy Wisman
On the spot.
James Petrigallo
On the spot. You're perfect.
Jimmy Wisman
You're the best interview I've ever had.
James Petrigallo
He was going out to do it. He's described as a heavy set man in a black leather coat and a red American flag ball cap. No, that's not them. That's. That's. That's Rich. Okay. They can be seen walking into the restaurant and sitting down. It was a detailed match of this, knowing, you know who they are here. Later in the same video, a second man walks into the ca. Into the Waffle House and sat down. And this man was wearing light khaki slacks, a red jacket, and an Indian's baseball cap. Cleveland Brogan here says he hangs back while Rich does the talk because otherwise he just sits there looking intimidating and making people uncomfortable. Yeah, so he sat down. They sat down in the same booth at the Waffle House. And he says that Rich always gets real jocular and street preachy. This is his way of bullshitting people. This is his initial bullshit. Overwhelm you with my charm bullshit. He says that Tim kind of, you know, breaks to that and lets him kind of do his thing. And everybody says that's what Tim does. He's not gonna. He's not gonna dominate a conversation. He's not that kind of guy. Brogan thinks that Tim seems like a nice guy, likes him, seems like a. Like a real kind of kind man. He says, so, yeah, he says it's. He's got a baseball cap on that he says he can't seem to keep straight. It's like all won't stay on him for some reason. But he's wondering, he goes, what the fuck is going. Brogan's like, okay, Rich is wearing the same clothes. He's stinking, his hair's fucked up, his room's fucked up. And the other guys had multiple cars and laptops and U Hauls full of shit. This guy has a 15 year old Buick that barely runs.
Jimmy Wisman
Right?
James Petrigallo
Because the guy was saying it broke down a couple times on the way.
Jimmy Wisman
On his way there.
James Petrigallo
It barely runs. And all of his worldly possessions fit in the fucking Buick. So what are we doing with this guy?
Jimmy Wisman
This is. Yeah.
James Petrigallo
What's the advantage here? We're not making any money off this guy. What's happening right now? It doesn't make any fucking sense. He goes, you can't even drive the car on the highway because the guy said it doesn't go over this much or it'll break down. So it's real fucking weird. So they're going to take Brogan's car out to the farm, quote, unquote. He says, Tim's living in his car. All he has are garbage bags filled with clothes and like pictures of his family and. And what's described as a soiled ream of personal documents of the type. You see the itinerant crutch clutching outside government offices.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my.
James Petrigallo
Here's my paperwork. He's that guy.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. You're almost doing this guy a favor for Christ.
James Petrigallo
Right?
Jimmy Wisman
Poor Tim.
James Petrigallo
Tim's having a rough go of it.
Jimmy Wisman
Not going great.
James Petrigallo
There's no reason to.
Jimmy Wisman
No, you can't.
James Petrigallo
This guy, it's not worth it. Even if you're evil, you go, not worth it.
Jimmy Wisman
No. You're not winning.
James Petrigallo
You're not worth killing.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
You got nothing for me.
Jimmy Wisman
Can't take anything from you.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. So before they get into the car, Rich tells Tim which of the things he'll need down on the farm and which he could come back and pick up later. He goes, we'll drive you out there since your car doesn't drive well. So here's the shit you need and leave everything else here. So, you know, whatever. A toolbox, a believable amount of clothes. So Tim will think he's actually going somewhere. He's going on a real trip here. And a tv.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh.
James Petrigallo
Now Brogan puts the TV into his trunk, which is very heavy because it's not even a flat screen TV. It's 2011.
Jimmy Wisman
He's got a Toshiba.
James Petrigallo
And he goes, why does Rich want this fucking CRT tv? Why would he want this right now? He doesn't understand what we're fucking doing here.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
He's like, this is weird. He said, well, he obviously didn't do too good of a vetting process on this guy to find out if he fucking had anything. This just doesn't make goddamn sense. So Rich asks Tim how much cash he has on him to get by down on the farm.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God.
James Petrigallo
None of this raises any red flags for Tim's not. Tim says they said he get all sheepish. And he said five bucks. That's what he has to his name. He came into town with a fucked up car, $5 to his name, all of his shit in garbage bags, and $5 to his name. He is just as low as it gets. He's at his lowest point and he's thinking, this is the thing that can help bounce him back.
Jimmy Wisman
Bring me back. Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And it's. This is fucked up. So while it's three, still dark outside, the three of them drive out to the. To out of the parking lot and into the morning. Yeah, it's supposed to be about an hour and a half drive to Caldwell right now. Rich and Brogan are up front, Tim's in the back. That's how this goes now. Rich keeps the chit chat up. And he's a good bullshitter. He's a real good bullshitter.
Jimmy Wisman
He's a shock champion of the world.
James Petrigallo
He really is. And Brogan would say, wow, it was so weird the things he would talk about there with the people. He'd always just have these conversations here. And Tim seems real affable and real, you know, this is fine. They said, oh, you know what? Before we go up to the farm, stop, hold on. Brogan, pull over here. We need a quick detour. Tim, you don't mind, right? Quick detour. Tim said, I don't give a shit. I'm on the clock, you know, whatever.
Jimmy Wisman
I got five bucks, guys.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, at this point, I'm on the clock. You're paying me, so whatever you want to do. So before they get too far, Rich leans back and says, hey, man, turns out we were hunting for squirrels out yesterday. Turns out we were hunting for squirrels.
Jimmy Wisman
Turns out we were.
James Petrigallo
Doesn't make sense. Out by the old Rolling Acres Mall. Yeah. Remember that? Or their burial ground.
Jimmy Wisman
The interview place.
James Petrigallo
Interview place, yeah. He goes, we were, you know, we know that's the interview places at Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, this is where they kill people and bury them.
Jimmy Wisman
Because it's the other one.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Chapel Hill Mall still has a food court. This one just has an abandoned J.C. penney's.
Jimmy Wisman
Right?
James Petrigallo
So he said, we were shooting squirrels the other day. And you know what? I lost my watch out there. And he goes, it has. It's just sentimental value to me. You know what I mean? Woman gave it to me that I'm, you know, still close with. And it's, you Know it's. I gotta remember her by it. And I really want to go get my watch. So now that there's three of us, we could probably find it easier. Would you mind helping us find this watch out in the woods?
Jimmy Wisman
So now I'm a watch invest inspector. What's.
James Petrigallo
And Tim's like, I'm on the clock, right?
Jimmy Wisman
Watching farms, looking for watches, same thing, whatever.
James Petrigallo
So he said, do you mind if we go over to the woods and look for it real quick before we head down to the farm? And Tim goes, I got five bucks in a car that doesn't work. My time is not very valuable here. So. Great. So I mean, I don't know why you'd be hunting squirrels in Akron in the near woods behind the mall, but whatever, it's fine, you know, he said it's. They seem friendly enough here and they pick you up, drive you to the farm and now they have to look for a watch. It's funny that you wouldn't think like, this seems weird what's going on here. A watch, a watch.
Jimmy Wisman
But see, that's what you. When you're in that position and you have nothing happening. It's not that it seems normal because my life is bananas too.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, I got a lot of crazy going on too. Not only that, what choice do you have? Yeah, no, right. Take me back to my Buick that can't make it back to my house.
Jimmy Wisman
Nah, take me to the farm, you guys go look for the one.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, that's. So there's really nothing more you could do here. And it's one of those things we've all been in. And the article talks about this too, but we've all been in those positions where you go, something's not right here. Yeah, this is where I should go. And you don't though. There's. We've all done that where we think something's wrong, we go anyway. We've all done it. We've all fucking had things happen to us or not happen to us, but whatever. We've all had that feeling. So on the way to the mall, Tim mentions from the back seat, he goes, wow, this is a nice Buick you got here, Brogan. This is great. Yeah, he's real excited about a fucking. He's got like a fucking six year old Buick and he's like, man, this thing is. This is great lap of luxury right here. So Rich has a plan for Tim's car, saying that he and Brogan will come back with some blowtorches and scrap the car themselves for cash. Jesus, they're just going to break the fucking thing down to sell to Blowtorch, a recycle center, basically. So Rich will take the cash and give Tim. This is what he's telling. This is what he's telling Tim. We're going to come back, we'll break your car down. Since it doesn't work, we'll sell it and I'll give you a Ford F150 for you to use because you're here. It's a more appropriate vehicle for the terrain on the farm. Anyway. Your car wouldn't have worked very well. So he said, what you can do is. He goes, I'll do you a favor. You can pay off. I'll sell it to you and you can pay it off in installments. That'll just come out of your wages.
Jimmy Wisman
Sure.
James Petrigallo
We'll take 50 bucks a week out of your check, get a new car. And Tim was like, you can't go to a car dealer and get that deal.
Jimmy Wisman
That's great.
James Petrigallo
You just give me a car, you know, and. Sounds awesome. So he was like, this sounds great. So Tim was excited about this. He thought it was wonderful. Which again, makes Tim more trusting.
Jimmy Wisman
Trusting, I don't know. Just bent to his knee for how fucking grateful he is.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. A little description of the mall from the article on GQ Rolling Acres is Chernobyl.
Jimmy Wisman
That's not good.
James Petrigallo
In other words, abandoned with fucking foliage growing out of this concrete radiation zone. Yep. With its cheerful awnings inviting you to condemned movie theaters and the now removed names of big box stores silhouetted onto the brickwork of its own entrances. The mall was built in the 70s and expanded in the 80s. It's home to only a single J.C. penney outlet store. Not even a JCPenney. Oh, God, the shit we couldn't sell at JCPenney.
Jimmy Wisman
The returns to JCPenney are sold here.
James Petrigallo
Jesus. And if you go back in back of there, even there's a dumpster. And that's Kohl's outlet store. They have one, too. Just kidding. Kohl's just sucks.
Jimmy Wisman
And the Amazon returns.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, they said they pull. And that'll soon be shuttered. That's in the process of closing the JCPenney outlet. It's a big.
Jimmy Wisman
Jesus.
James Petrigallo
It's blowout. 60% off our. That's already 80% off.
Jimmy Wisman
Liquidation sale. On top of liquidation sale.
James Petrigallo
Yes.
Jimmy Wisman
Wow.
James Petrigallo
They pull around an out building and park near the woods.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
Now here they are looking for the watch. They're in the woods looking for the watch. Quote, unquote, rich Pulls back a branch and lets it slap back at Brogan and Tim behind him as a joke. Well, Brogan acts like, well, I don't think so here. He does that just to see what happens. Tim, what a nice guy. Then pulls the branch back and holds it for Brogan so he could walk by.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, that's nice.
James Petrigallo
He's trying to be a nice guy. Brogan said that fucked him up. He felt real bad at that point. He's like, oh, fuck, this is a nice guy.
Jimmy Wisman
He's a sweetheart.
James Petrigallo
He just held a fucking branch for me. And the whole time, he's a real mild, meek, nice guy.
Jimmy Wisman
He did the forest version of hold the door for me. God damn it.
James Petrigallo
So he thought that wasn't cool, but he didn't say anything or do anything.
Jimmy Wisman
He just felt it.
James Petrigallo
He just felt like, this isn't right.
Jimmy Wisman
His heart, his Grinch just grossed.
James Petrigallo
Exactly. So Rich and Tim walk together, looking around. Logan acts like he's searching around the leaves for. Because it's November, so leaves in the woods. It's a lot. Then Brogan said he heard a popular. And he said he turns and he sees that Tim is down on his knees, but not. Not dead, not lying down. And that Rich has the.22 pistol in his hand. Tim's holding the side of his head. And Rich says, are you all right? You know, like he gives a shit. Ask him if he's all right. And then after that, which is fucking, are you all right? Wow. Then Tim doesn't respond. Rich shoots him like, three, four more times, pumps a few more bullets into him, and Tim slumps over onto his side. Rich is saying there's something wrong with the gun. It's not firing right. He's telling Brogan. And then Brogan notices that Tim's still breathing. He's not dead even after four shots. So Brogan's like, okay. Nothing worth stealing. No reason to kill him. And now he won't die. And he's not breathing. And he's still breathing. And now I gotta.
Jimmy Wisman
Now we have a giant problem.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. So Rich gets close one last time and shoots him in the face.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
All right. Now he's lying on the ground, they said, eyes wide open. He's staring out. And he's to. Every few seconds, he's taking big gulps.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, God.
James Petrigallo
Death rattles, basically. And Brogan's like, he's still alive. He's still alive. Fucking get rid. Stop this, basically. And Rich says, nah, and just walks away. He's good. Oh, he'll die. He said. There's four bullets in his head, and I put one between his eyes. He'll. They'll die eventually.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God.
James Petrigallo
So eventually he does die.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And Rich says to grab a leg, and Rich grabs the other one, and they drag Tim to the pre dug hole that was dug the day before. It's only about 2ft deep. And Tim doesn't fit totally in the hole, but Rich just says, ah, fuck it. Takes Tim's jacket off, cuts the shirt off of him with a pair of scissors, and also kicks his black hat over. That's covered in blood off to the side there. Okay. So Brogan asks Rich, why did we do this if he didn't have anything?
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And Rich says, well, this is what he said. This is his. He doesn't have anything. They knew they didn't have anything. But he says, well, he was a dead man as soon as he got in the car. It's out of our hands.
Jimmy Wisman
That was part of the plan.
James Petrigallo
It was out of our hands. He was. He was already dead.
Jimmy Wisman
We already did the preordained.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, yeah, that's what it was.
Jimmy Wisman
Already did the thing. We got to finish the thing.
James Petrigallo
The other preordain couldn't have told Tim, you know what? The job fell through.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
You don't have anything we need. They're just like. So we had to kill him. Fuck it. Oh, my God, that's wild. So Tim, he's the Leave Tim wearing his pants, shoes, and socks. This is the latest. I mean, he's being super lazy. Every before it was all very.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
You know, put a 20 down in case. Now it's just sloppy. He doesn't even care anymore. He's getting like, this is old hat to him. He's bored. Yeah, so they said. Brogan didn't even finish back filling the hole when Rich says, all right, that's enough. Let's go.
Jimmy Wisman
Let's get out of here.
James Petrigallo
It's getting light out. Let's just take off. So Rich is ready to get out of there, and he just starts kicking some leaves on top of him. That'll do. That ought to do. So it's getting lighter out. They're driving back from Rolling Acres from the grave site. Rich has brogan Stop at McDonald's for breakfast. All that murdering makes me real hungry.
Jimmy Wisman
Those hash browns, God damn it.
James Petrigallo
They're fucking craving them. So they're doing all this. Rich likes to go to McDonald's because there's free Internet.
Jimmy Wisman
What a cheap piece of shit this guy is, man.
James Petrigallo
He said Rich is tapping on his computer. And Brogan is watching the street outside. He said he dropped Rich at his place and heads for his mom's. When he pulls up the hill toward home, he gets a call from his mom on his cell phone. Brogan is having a shit morning.
Jimmy Wisman
Sure is.
James Petrigallo
His mom is crying on the cell phone.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, no.
James Petrigallo
She said a man who she knows, a guy. She calls her quote, millionaire maniac and also says is a famous dog breeder. It's fucking known for his prized German shepherds who likes to party. Had been a real asshole last night. And so now she's walking home crying.
Jimmy Wisman
All right.
James Petrigallo
God.
Jimmy Wisman
So let me tell you about my morning, Ma.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, listen, Ma. Jesus. So Brogan goes, all right. And he picks her up on the way. Yeah, pick up my mom. Probably not the first time he's done that.
Jimmy Wisman
She leaves a prized German shepherd breeders home.
James Petrigallo
Millionaire maniac. She's crying when she gets into the car.
Jimmy Wisman
God damn it.
James Petrigallo
It's just fucked up. So basically, she sees her son as the stability that can. Like he's the parent, which is ridiculous, a mess. So she says, I'm sorry I wasn't there last night. I didn't know you were coming over this weekend, I swear. And Brogan says, it doesn't matter, Mom. It doesn't matter. Like, don't worry about it.
Jimmy Wisman
Fine.
James Petrigallo
So, by the way, remember Scott Davis? Yeah. Shot and ran away. Hit up a tree. And cops don't believe him.
Jimmy Wisman
What's going on with him?
James Petrigallo
Well, he didn't. They didn't believe him. They didn't believe him about the job offer, the shooting, all that shit. So then the sheriff's office located Scott Davis's truck and trailer full of belongings that he brought to Ohio. And they're fucking. It's obviously the cops go, well, they didn't get anything from you.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So they're probably going to be going after other people if they. If they do. So it's fucking interesting. Now, this is while they're killing Tim Curran. This is going on. The FBI is now involved and tracing the Craigslist ad back to Rich's IP address while they're killing Tim. And later to a camera at a Shoney's in Marietta, Ohio, that snapped a picture of Brogan and Rich as they walked to meet Scott Davis today. He was shot. Now they believe him.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Once they find that further investigation corroborated even more. They found Davis's ball cap in the area where he claimed he was shot.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. And took off running.
James Petrigallo
It took my.
Jimmy Wisman
Lost his Cleveland Indians hat.
James Petrigallo
There's that. So he said that there. And when the police went to look for it and found the hat, they also found a shallow, empty grave. That's Tim Kern's grave. They were there the day before they took him out there. So he was gonna be in it. Yeah, that was his grave. So they're. Oh, shit. And it ends up being Tim currency. So that's how that goes now, the search. They return later with search dogs and found more bodies. Obviously they find the bodies. FBI agents and local law enforcement returned to the scene in an empty hand dug hole about 80 inches long and a couple feet deep was found approximately 175ft from the road. An agent with the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Stephen Burke, said that the first impression on seeing the hole was that it was a grave. Somebody was going, you know what a whole person sized hole looks like there? And it's about 100ft from where Davis's hat was found.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my gosh.
James Petrigallo
They were making. Gonna make it easy to drag him there. The next day, search dogs alerted investigators to an area of disturbed soil. Beneath that, they found David Paulie's body. On November 25, roughly 80ft from the open, unused grave, they found another shallow grave containing Ralph Geiger's body.
Jimmy Wisman
Yep.
James Petrigallo
Now they're finding all these. This is a burial ground.
Jimmy Wisman
This is so bad.
James Petrigallo
This is. The JCPenney is going right now.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, boy.
James Petrigallo
It's over. Well, actually, this might revitalize the mall.
Jimmy Wisman
Might make people want to be there.
James Petrigallo
People be like, oh, shit, I gotta check this place out. So they do that. Three days after the Tim Curran incident, federal agents show up at Stowe High School and pull Brogan out of a class.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God. He's still in high school.
James Petrigallo
Oh, yeah, he's 16. He still has the TV in the trunk, by the way.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, Jesus.
James Petrigallo
Not great. And he and Rich didn't even scrap Tim's car yet they got zero out of him. So they arrest Rich as well and execute a search warrant at the residence here. Among the items in Rich's bedroom was a collection of NASCAR trading cards.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, he's got the cards too.
James Petrigallo
An ammunition box that is like a family heirloom that the family knew. He had a green cooler containing a model train and books on trains, all of which had belonged to David Pauley. They also found mail there addressed to Ralph Geiger, including an envelope from PNC bank dated September 30, 2011. After Ralph Geiger's dead, they found a receipt for an emergency medical service provided to Ralph Geiger on February 25, 2011. That's the real Ralph Geiger. As they recovered. And they also recovered four prescription pill bottles with Geiger's name on them and two bottles with Bailey's name on them. So that's before that, the same day Brogan's arrested. This is, by the way, they sent the SWAT team for Rich.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And busted the door down. There's a helicopter and everything.
Jimmy Wisman
Moved the door aside.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Well, it didn't take much to bust down. I was gonna say they could have said. They could have sent, like, you know, somebody's mother up there to knock the door down. So December 2011, Brogan starts confessing.
Jimmy Wisman
Sure, he's a child.
James Petrigallo
He starts giving it up to the FBI. Sitting there going, this is triple murder. And, yeah, attempted murder of a fourth person. You're in deep trouble, son. And he said, well, I better start talking.
Jimmy Wisman
Well, I'll tell you what happened.
James Petrigallo
He does tell a few lie stories first, though. He does tell a couple of.
Jimmy Wisman
Tried to cover it, huh?
James Petrigallo
He tried to, kind of. Yeah, he tried to make it not as bad as it is for a while there. And eventually they got it all out of him, though here. So they sound. It's interesting, too. And they said if you sound. The article in GQ said, if you listen to his confessions, they begin to sound different. Everything's very matter of fact till they get to Tim Curran. That fucked him up.
Jimmy Wisman
That one. Really bothered.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, they said that. Throughout most of the hours of the statements, Brogan maintains a tone of almost solid impassivity, sounding like someone who'd merely watched a series of killings on a strange, unmarked videotape he received in the mail. Yeah, what happened was awful. Yeah. But the events didn't concern him. Just. Yeah, that happened.
Jimmy Wisman
And there was. There was, like, reason to do it. Like, you know, I mean, there was. Yeah, sure, it's awful, but this is how we get by. This is how we, you know, I mean. Yeah, it's like serving McDonald's. It's no good.
James Petrigallo
It's no good, but she got.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, that's how I get paid.
James Petrigallo
It's. That's how I get paid. I gotta do it. So they said. When he talks about Tim, though, it seems much different. Yeah, it's as if whatever, you know, the article says it to whatever mental box he put this all in is falling apart.
Jimmy Wisman
It's all coming apart.
James Petrigallo
He doesn't. He doesn't like this at all. So, yeah, they find him. They examine a bullet from the Davis shooting, which turned out that Scott Davis who got away. The bullet was still in him.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, lucky took the evidence with him.
James Petrigallo
Yep. They said it probably came from a.32 caliber revolver. Then Ralph Geiger here, they said here. They described this area as if you turn the farm, if you turn on Don Warner Road, you'd find the farm. That road will drop you down into what people here call a holler. It's a holler.
Jimmy Wisman
It's what everybody calls it.
James Petrigallo
That's what everyone calls it. And if you stop midway down the hill and take the half grown over half grown over four wheeler track, you'd find a hole containing the body of one Ralph Geiger, naked and partially decomposed. So they got him out to the farm. Everybody else was there. The body had been there since summer and now sits beneath four feet of damp earth. Wow. They said there's been a lot of hunters going all over this land. Nobody noticed him. They said David Pauley they found as well. They said maybe about 50ft away from David Paulie is the hole that Brogan had dug. Again, they said it's empty except for several inches of rainwater. It had meant for. Been meant for the body of Scott Davis who came. They testify later on that the bullet examined from the Davis shooting, they said that was probably a.32. The bullet recovered from Paulie David Pauley was identified as an intermediate caliber slog, either a.32 or a.38. They said they examined seven bullets in connection with the case. Four were.22 caliber bullets from an Iver Johnson pistol. And the gun connects the gun connected to Timothy Kern. Two bullets were from the shootings of Davis and Paulie and another.38 bullet was recovered from the body of Ralph Geiger. And so yeah, there's that. They concluded that three different handguns could have been used here. A.32 or.38 on the.22 Ivor Johnson.
Jimmy Wisman
And every bullet the calibers kept getting smaller and the.
James Petrigallo
Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
And the victim kept taking more.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. Stick with the.38.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, man.
James Petrigallo
Put somebody down quickly if you're going to have to Monster. They searched Brogan's bedroom and found a briefcase containing a sawed off shotgun, an Ivor Johnson.22 long rifle, semi automatic pistol and a box of ammunition and some loose shotgun shells. According to the ballistics experts, the bullets recovered from Kern's body could have been fired by the Iver Johnson. Yeah, not good. So that pistol was not used to shoot the other victims though as we know, the bullet was a.38 that killed Geiger and then Paulie. It was a 32 or a.38. It was kind of damaged, so it was hard to tell. They said that the bullet recovered from Paulie's body was not fixed by the Iver Johnson or fired by the Iver Johnson or by the same weapon that killed Guyver, kill Geiger. But they could not exclude the possibility that it was the same weapon to shoot Davis and Paulie. They think there's three guns. A minimum of three guns. Other evidence where Rich was staying at his house. They found a black wallet beneath a pile of leaves near a downspout. He just kept that there outside. He said it contained or it contained Geiger's driver's license and Social Security card. The real Ralph Geiger. Yes. An act. Now, Joyce Grabelski, remember her? The guy, the woman he stayed with and used her address for job applications. Was a close friend of riches from their church days. She notified the FBI after all this that she received a letter from Beasley from the county jail, like a week later. It instructed her with a hand drawn diagram exactly where she could find the wallet and two laptop computers.
Jimmy Wisman
So she gave those to the cops.
James Petrigallo
Here's the letter. Joyce. Get your truck from Reeves and scrap it. Keep $100 and put the rest on my books. I need for you to go to the Gridley house where I live at night and lived at night, and go back in the backyard. In the rear corner by the garage, under some leaves, is two laptop computers. Get them and destroy them and then take them apart and trash them.
Jimmy Wisman
Hold on. Do me a favor. Scrap your vehicle.
James Petrigallo
Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
Keep 100 bucks for you because I'm a good guy.
James Petrigallo
From. Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
Put the rest on my book, put.
James Petrigallo
It on my bill, put the rest on my tab. Then do a bunch of my other shit for me.
Jimmy Wisman
I need to do a bunch of.
James Petrigallo
Favor, then destroy a bunch of evidence for me.
Jimmy Wisman
There's $100 in it for you.
James Petrigallo
Even though you know I am in jail on a triple murder. Not good.
Jimmy Wisman
Wow.
James Petrigallo
In the front corner of the backyard between the house and drive is a wallet under the leaves. Get that wallet and destroy the contents. If there are money left, it's yours.
Jimmy Wisman
God bless.
James Petrigallo
He knows there's no money in there. Yeah. Take it or put it on my books. Yeah. Don't tell anyone about this. And never hint on a phone. Write me a letter and use the phrase sunny day. If it goes all right. Code. Yeah. And. Or rainy day. If the computers are gone, I might be able to call you by T day, Turkey day, Tuesday, Thursday, who knows? If so you can say the code words on the phone, if you haven't got it yet, just say average day. Okay, so there we go.
Jimmy Wisman
Based on the weather patterns, based on.
James Petrigallo
That, he said it's very important to get this done. I mean, critical. And then three asterisks after it. And then a hand drawn map of it all. And then says, look forward to a good report we'll write soon. R the map showed the house at the backyard with an X by the garage labeled CPTR and a second label X labeled X with a wallet under it. So not good. So Rich told her to find the wallet and laptops and all that. This is fucking crazy. So instead the prosecutors went there and found the things. And found all the things. Yeah, they found the things.
Jimmy Wisman
It's a rainy day. It's foreign.
James Petrigallo
Jesus. And they said, well, you knew he changed his name. And she said, because? She said, yeah, it was weird that a couple months ago he said to start calling him Ralph Geiger for some reason. He said, didn't. You didn't. That wasn't a red flag to you? And she says no, she trusts him because they're like church people and stuff. So she said that? No, she said that I asked him what was up and he just said he wanted to be a different person and he said he didn't want to go back to jail and that they were saying he did stuff that he didn't do and he's a poor downtrodden guy, so I felt bad for him. So that's wild. The forensic computer specialists examined the laptops. On the hard drive of the Acer laptop, he found a detail or deleted account in the name of Rick Paulie, which is David's brother, as well as documents authored by Rick Pauley. The Dell computer and a computer taken from the house that he was, that he was living in. Rich there both had been used to access the Rohan Danaher Gmail account email account with a password and in Dell's browser history. In that computer they located the text of an ad offering a handyman job on a secluded property in Ohio. The pair ad appeared on a website Akron Canton. Backpage.com got him on November 1, 2011. So that's a later one even the email address that placed the ad was was popularotmail.com we're talking about Acers and Hotmail right here. What year is this? Not 2011. It doesn't feel like. Holy shit. All outgoing traffic from that email address ceased when Rich was arrested. Never another thing there. And also the Acer computer had been. Grant had Been used to access that as well.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
So they're in jail, both of them now sitting there. And the GQ reporter goes to talk to Rich's mom, Carol, the religious lady here. He said, I had breakfast with Carol Beasley, Rich's mom, at a bakery near her house. She's a kind woman in a cute Christmas sweater who's befuddled by her own cell phone and more worried about the weather for my flight back to New York than I am befuddled by her phone. An old lady befuddled by a phone.
Jimmy Wisman
She's looking at her phone going, that thing's crazy.
James Petrigallo
I don't know how to fix that. How do I make the numbers bigger? I can't read this.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Carol tells me that she doesn't want to fool herself. Richard probably did the things they said. That's what she says. Though she can't help slipping into the framework that Rich has provided her for these events. The inconsistencies, the suggestions of plots underlying the apparent facts. But why did Scott Davis make the ambulance take him to the Akron General Hospital, which is right by the motorcycle club? That's one of her questions.
Jimmy Wisman
Who cares where it is?
James Petrigallo
Who gives a shit? Shot him in the elbow, ran away. All of his shits there. Shown his videos.
Jimmy Wisman
He probably doesn't know that the motorcycle shits there.
James Petrigallo
That's he's not from there.
Jimmy Wisman
Fucking idea.
James Petrigallo
Like take me by the motorcycle club. He literally had to pass several other hospitals on the way there. And why did Scott refuse to talk to the police for days? Scott's a scumbag, too, as we'll find out. That's why. Or at least was at that time. I don't know about now. He said, I tell Carol that morning that I hope Rich can tell the whole truth because it's the only possible way to even take a fractional step toward making amends. Carol Beasley says, oh, she says, I don't think so. He doesn't want anyone to know the real him. He never has. He's too ashamed. He'll never do that. Okay, so that's what she says. Now Rich goes to court. He's arrested now, not even for murder. They're still working on the charges. They're putting him in for the pending warrants he had for drug trafficking. Prosecutor.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, we'll deal with that later because we've got you for a long time anyway.
James Petrigallo
You're drug trafficking, multi count indictment, prostitution charges. Akron police vice detectives contend his Yale street halfway house was just a ruse for a brothel.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
Federal Authorities are accusing this Richard Beasley of kidnapping and wire fraud as their investigation grows as well. It's identity theft, every bit of trouble you can imagine. The prosecutor said that Rich is a suspect in a very violent crime and asked the judge to give him no bond. He also said there's a detainer on him from Ohio and Texas, so all sorts of shit hold him here. So they do. They hold him and that's that here. The new charges now are murder charges later. That's going to mean that he's getting his bail completely revoked. It was at millions and now it's gone. They brought him into the courtroom in a wheelchair.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, he's pulling that?
James Petrigallo
Yep. He's like Vince McMahon going for a steroid trial with a big neck brace on. This is crazy. So on an unrelated drug trafficking charge, he makes his first appearance. He's dressed in a black and white striped jail garb and kept his hands folded his head down the whole time. Wow. So he, he, the reporter learns that Beasley told his mother during a telephone call that he believes he suffered a stroke in prison. In prison or in jail? They said the gray haired, 300 pound Beasley normally walks with a cane because of a back injury. Yeah, but he told deputies he was unsteady on his feet before his court appearance and they put him in a wheelchair. Jesus Christ. So, and he writes a letter to the Beacon Journal, to the newspaper. This is crazy. It's a four page letter. He doesn't mention the murders or anything like that. What he does mention is his ministry work with the Akron Bible Church, his halfway house, which he said he purchased with his own money. Yeah, but you rent, prostitutes, that doesn't matter. You pimp people out of it. He provided housing and food to more than 100 people who came and went from the shelter. He also helped to feed 40 to 60 families a month out of the house and his out of his house and car. And provided weekly Bible studies for those seeking God. Counseling came at all hours of the day. He said, who paid for this? I did. Well, let's let him go then. I think it's. This is crazy. He said, I had a financial settlement from a traffic crash that I injured my back in and spent most of it to help others and got almost no financial help from anyone.
Jimmy Wisman
This is the thanks I get.
James Petrigallo
This is the thanks I get. Jail now. He also wrote that he spent three years on the church staff helping people, mostly drug addicts and alcoholics and the mentally challenged, even the homeless who were charged with a crime. And facing the possibility of prison. He said he appeared in court on behalf of defendants three to four times a month for three years. After just one year of work, he was ordained by the church pastor, Reverend Randy Baker, as a chaplain. Greco, Randy Bakes. He said, I was very well known for these things, but I never looked for credit on this earth. A number of people from doctors and judges and lawyers and preachers and the homeless can stand witness to these facts. While helping drug addicts, he made drug dealers unhappy. He said, that's the problem. I've been set up by drug dealers.
Jimmy Wisman
They did this.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, because I got, you know, someone was a crackhead and I got him off crack. The drug dealers, like, hey, where's my customer? Because that's what they do. They're used to real customers and they're.
Jimmy Wisman
Furious now that I took some of their income out.
James Petrigallo
That's what he said. He said that because of that, that's what happened. He said that a number of people from the doctors, they can even back me up. He said so. He said I helped domestic violence victims and that angered spouses. So I have angry husbands, angry drug dealers, violent people after me. He said, yeah. He said at times he had to sanction people who violated rules at his transitional home and they would get mad at him.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
He said, the point is I have enemies, but for the right reasons.
Jimmy Wisman
I'm a boat rocking son of a bitch. That's what it is.
James Petrigallo
So when you quote someone as a family friend who says something horrible about me, you better believe that's not a family friend.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
In interviews with the Beacon Journal after Beasley's arrest, they, the reverends grew uncomfortable with his charity work. They said after a while, yeah, particularly his housing of female residents. And they called him a con man. So that was the people he was saying, we'll back him up. And he said that he took issue with this portrayal as a Christian con man who used his position as a chaplain and a halfway house operator as a front for prostitution and drug dealing. That is ridiculous. I won't stand for that. He said, to call me a con man when I sacrifice for others is wrong. To turn their backs on me is not following Christ example. I gave three full years of my life to that ministry. And what I got out of it was the satisfaction of doing the right thing. There was no con to it. I lived in an old inner city house, drove old cars and got up in the middle of the night, unaccountable time, uncountable times to answer any calls for help. I gave away most all I had and got almost nothing in return. These are not the actions of a con man.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, Jesus. Never got my voicemail. I got up and did it.
James Petrigallo
I fucking did it. He didn't do shit. Where's he? It's me.
Jimmy Wisman
I did what he said.
James Petrigallo
And he also says he feels betrayed by Brogan's apparent cooperation with detectives.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, that's the answer.
James Petrigallo
Yep. He said that's it. And the detective said he's. His emotional state is very distraught. He's very concerned.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, it hurts when I guy you gave everything to for half his life turns on.
James Petrigallo
Turns on you and fucking all you. All he had to do was kill for you and help you murder people. So Brogan appears in court and he's being held on aggravated murder and attempted murder. Obviously, now he's expected to be tried as an adult.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
Because he's 16. The murder robberies benefited Beasley, though. And that's what his lawyer says. He said, yeah, he didn't get shit from this. And they said, well, we found a shotgun in his room that was belong to Dave David Paulie. So he did get some.
Jimmy Wisman
He stole a gun and he's too young.
James Petrigallo
So they said, yeah, yeah, I think so. But the fact they said that, for instance, it's. It's. They said that doesn't mean anything because his lawyers are saying that. Yeah, that's what the guy who. The. Some abusive older guy gave him a shotgun. And they likened it to getting molested by your uncle. Then he buys you a toy.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
He's like, you're not. But there is no crime for you getting molested by your uncle. You're. You're helping. It's not a. It's not an apples to apples analogy there.
Jimmy Wisman
And as a. As a. On his side, too, if. If a guy that just murdered people hands you a weapon, you might. You might hang on to that.
James Petrigallo
You might grab that just in case.
Jimmy Wisman
The guy comes back for you.
James Petrigallo
Maybe you'll need this. Yeah, they said that he can't be jailed with adults. Yeah. And he'll remain in the juvenile system till after his deal. Outside the courtroom, they talk about the possibility of a deal for Brogan.
Jimmy Wisman
Good.
James Petrigallo
They said, I don't know if it'll happen this quick this month, but we got a deal with him here that could spare him the maximum penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole. His attorney declined to comment. Turns out no deal.
Jimmy Wisman
Is that right?
James Petrigallo
He cooperated with them, but under a proposed deal, prosecutors. That would have allowed him to Seek parole after seek serving 26 years in prison. The deal fell apart, though.
Jimmy Wisman
So he was going to basically get 25 to life and then get an opportunity for parole. 26.
James Petrigallo
They were going to let him get out at 26 and then at 26 years, and then it didn't happen here. He was not offered a new deal.
Jimmy Wisman
What the fuck are they gonna do?
James Petrigallo
So this. He has to go to trial. Yeah, he's charged with multiple counts of aggravated murder. Account of attempted murder related to Scott Davis and also all the worst charges. Yeah, you can imagine here. So the prosecutors say about him he's a student in the art of robbery, deception and murder. Yes, they said he's an able student, too. Oh, they said all that. They said the state can offer alternative theories for the murder, you know, for what happened, because he's going to say that. That, you know, the other rich did everything. But we have alternate theories.
Jimmy Wisman
This is a poor. A part of life where size works against you because, oh yeah, everybody thinks a monster is giant. And when a giant walks into a room accused of. Accused of monster crimes, it's bad.
James Petrigallo
You're better off going, oh, he's harmless. He looks harmless. You're better off being like 5, 4.
Jimmy Wisman
£100, meek and mild.
James Petrigallo
Yep.
Jimmy Wisman
No, that tiny man butchered people. No, not a chance.
James Petrigallo
Not a.
Jimmy Wisman
But this giant, six foot five and.
James Petrigallo
And doesn't look just as wide. That's tough.
Jimmy Wisman
Sixteen, looks 25.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. So they call. They call him a William, participant in the slayings and say that he's the other half.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. Of this criminal enterprise, horrific monster duo.
James Petrigallo
Fuck. So records, cell phone records, they noted, will place Beasley and Rafferty, Brogan and Rich in close proximity to the victims. Brogan, Rafferty, he said, had a chance after chance after chance, and he made the choices. He made the choices he wanted to make.
Jimmy Wisman
He made the choices that he. That he needed to make.
James Petrigallo
He did. He made the choice. Well, I mean, that's what it is. And an apparent attempt to show that he acted knowingly and purposefully. He went back to the student thing. He said Brogan Rafferty was a student, but that. What. What was he a student of at that point? He was a student of violent crime. And he was learning that. He was learning how to bury people. He was the driver. He was the hole digger. And ladies and gentlemen, the state contends he was the other half of this criminal enterprise. He was the other hand. Yeah, the defense says. I mean, you know, he's. They stressed that he's only 16? Yeah. Jesus Christ. He said that this guy Beasley came into his life when he was seven years old.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So he's like a father to him.
Jimmy Wisman
He's the other hand of a body that's not ambidextrous. You know what I mean?
James Petrigallo
Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
He's the left weak hand.
James Petrigallo
Well, he's definitely not an equal to this guy. That's the thing. Yeah, he's not an equal. So they said. You know, he said he was the. This Beasley was the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing. And he tricked this guy. He said that Brogan had absolutely no idea how dark this man could be get. He lured him in with church and helping and being kind to him and.
Jimmy Wisman
You know, life's necessities, things.
James Petrigallo
Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
Food, water, shelter, shit like that.
James Petrigallo
Not a crackhead.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Watching me. Things like that shirt. They said that also if he didn't do what Rich wanted, he. That Brogan feared Rich would kill him. And his mother and his sister. They got a mother and sister. He threatened them, they say. They said this was over a period. This was a period of horror over four months. They said that under Ohio law, that would be acting under duress, which means you're not guilty.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
It's not guilty if you didn't actually do it. Not guilty if you're severely mentally ill or not guilty if you acted under duress. If I hold a gun to your head and say, shoot that guy, you're not guilty of murder. Yeah, that's under duress.
Jimmy Wisman
Holding a gun to the guy's head in seven with the sword Dick.
James Petrigallo
Yes.
Jimmy Wisman
That guy's not guilty.
James Petrigallo
Not guilty. It's duress. That's duress, man. But duress isn't. Come on, let's just do this. That's not duress. Isn't. I talked you into it.
Jimmy Wisman
Duress is actually much cooler if you did.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. It's not much cooler if you did shoot him.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So he told the jury that that would be duress. And an independent psychologist. He say, we'll testify that Rafferty didn't voluntarily do any of this.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God.
James Petrigallo
Which is not a bad defense. But at the same time, he had. It doesn't fly. Really.
Jimmy Wisman
It's a pretty good defense. In the option of what? Do you know what I mean?
James Petrigallo
Like the once.
Jimmy Wisman
Right. But the alternative to guilty.
James Petrigallo
Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
It's pretty. It's a pretty.
James Petrigallo
I mean, it's the only defense they have.
Jimmy Wisman
It's all you got because they have.
James Petrigallo
Scott Davis as a witness. So without. You're Fucked otherwise. And you, you know, some of the dead people's stuff is in his house.
Jimmy Wisman
They need. Is Tim Kern. They need him to be like, he's a nice kid.
James Petrigallo
He tried to help me.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So Scott Davis testifies to what we told you happened. And it's short cross examination of him. He says that they ask him when this happened, when you were shot. Brogan Rafferty was nowhere around, was he? And he said, no, he wasn't. Because that was the one time Brogan.
Jimmy Wisman
Hung back right by the car.
James Petrigallo
Which is very interesting. It might help him. Brogan testifies. He's gotta. He's gotta show he's a human being and not a silent monster. There two hours of questioning from his attorney here he recounted his childhood, how he met Beasley, how he became friends with him, how his mom's a crackhead, how his dad beat the shit out of him. During about an hour of cross examination, he tried to explain how he remained how and why he remained silent about the killings for four months, even when he was questioned at first by law enforcement. Because at first he didn't give it up.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And then eventually he was like, all right, fine. They're like, we have. Look at that. You at Shoney's.
Jimmy Wisman
See you there.
James Petrigallo
There you are at the Waffle House eating powdered eggs. Come on. Look at this terrible shit. You know, you had. The shit's terrible. Later on here, they talked about how by the time he was 10, that Beasley was there for him. It didn't matter that Beasley was an ex con. He said he was his father's friend and, you know, that's. That was good enough for him.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. So they talked about how he could quote Bible verses with the best ministers. And to Brogan, Rich was quote, basically a brother with a different last name. A spiritual mentor, a counselor of sorts.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Especially if your parents are like, yeah, hang out with this guy. It's good. So Brogan said he couldn't talk about God with his father, but I could go to Rich. He also said he could go to him with any problems I was having. That included weekly church services talking about life lessons. Also included Beasley driving streets of Akron looking for Rafferty. His mother, who on occasion would disappear looking for crack, helped him look for you. Go. Will you help me look for my mom?
Jimmy Wisman
She's out.
James Petrigallo
She's out on a mission right now.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So Brogan said that he also rarely spent time with his mother and didn't remember being with her often before he turned 10, he said he loves her and worries about her safety when she's on the streets. And he said, beasley is the one person I could go to. He's the one person I could tell anything. I thought he was a great guy. He was like the father I never had. Wow. They said, did that relationship change? And he said, absolutely. That guy, that was the morning he murdered the man in front of me. And I didn't think he was the same guy after that.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
So Brogan said that he was left in a surreal world on August 9, 2011, when out of nowhere, Beasley put a gun to the back of Ralph Geiger's head and pulled the trigger. He said that that split second, I didn't think it was real. It was like I was slipping into a dream or something like that. I felt like I had ice in my veins. He thought that the three. He thought the three were in Noble county to show Geiger a farm. He said, I didn't even know we were going to kill him. He said, where the homeless man would work. He said that later on he learned that Rich intended to kill Geiger and assume his identity as well. He said he must have been because he knew he was on the lam from the cops and all that kind of. After the first killing, he said then Rich threatened to harm my mother or sister if he said a word about it.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
He said those threats lasted for four months. Two killings and an attempt on another man's life. Two more killings. Brogan said that he didn't trust police and he feared going to his father or church friends, believing that Rich would somehow kill his family because he'd find out. He said that he had witnessed Beasley callously kill an innocent man and believed him capable of anything. He said, there was nobody for me to turn to. He said, I had to go with it or die. I didn't have a choice. Wow. So when Beasley called him in October to drive to see another man and Noble, he said, I went along. He said he dug a grave the night before the visit, unsure if the ground was for him or the next victim.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
He said that it turned out the grave was for Dave Paulie. We talked about him. He said the threats continued through November 6, when Brogan and Rich went to Noble county to meet Scott Davis. And he said at one point, near where Paul he was buried, that Rich followed Davis out of Brogan's car. He said, I hated to be a part of it. I wanted to be out of it. During the walk, Rich's gun jammed and Davis escaped with an injured arm. And he said that pissed Rich off. He was pissed off. He said, I was happy he got away, though I didn't want him to be dead. So during the. All of this, he said that he often considered suicide broke and said while this whole thing was going on, he said at one point he aimed a gun at his own head, but he felt that if he didn't kill himself, that Rich would kill himself. Rich would kill him. So he said the last killing happened with Tim Curran. And he describes that now for cross examination. They say, how come in at least four interviews that you gave to police investigating the case, in the first three, you never mentioned Kern Geiger or the alleged threats to your family? Why'd you wait till the fourth interview to say that you were scared of him? You didn't say that at first. And he also pointed out a number of occasions when Brogan could have fled or defended himself with one of the firearms he obtained through the killings.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, you're almost twice the man's size.
James Petrigallo
That's. That's the hard part. Like with the Dean Corll and the Henley thing. Henley killed Dean Coral and then went to the cops and told them where all the bodies were buried. And he still got fucking life in prison. And he, I mean, that's.
Jimmy Wisman
Without him, they got nothing.
James Petrigallo
He slayed the monster and solved all your missing cases and they went, well, you're as guilty as anybody. Wow, that's amazing. So he said that, you know, Raf Brogan said that he thought his family would be killed. He said, I gave myself until January, tops. I was there to do what Beasley told me to do until my time was up. Weird way to put it in closings. Prosecutor said, Richard Beasley is a murderer. He's a liar, he's a manipulator. But that doesn't take Brogan Rafferty off the hook. They're partners in the murder of innocent people killed execution style in the woods, he said. And Brogan is essentially a starry eyed, eager apprentice who Rich confided in and groomed into a cold blooded killer. They're not there like they groomed him into it, but he, he, he was willing.
Jimmy Wisman
He was a willing participant of the grooming.
James Petrigallo
He pushed him out of the nest. But this motherfucker flapped his wings is what they're trying to say here. So he said Beasley was brutally honest with one person, and that's Brogan Rafferty. He was brutally honest with Brogan Rafferty and they knew each other and every one of their darkest secrets. Mr. Beasley is a murderer. He's a liar. But Mr. Beasley is also a teacher. Mr. Beasley was the teacher in this situation, and Brogan Rafferty was the student. Now, the defense said, think about Rich Beasley and who he is and how he found this guy. Think about how he goes out on the street and picks up these stray people to use them into fucking.
Jimmy Wisman
He turned out 20 women in a minute and a guy.
James Petrigallo
Yeah.
Jimmy Wisman
In no time flat.
James Petrigallo
We don't know for what purposes. So he said that they said the teen was an easy mark. He said, you know, his childhood. Born to a crackhead and left to fend for himself as a kindergartner by his working father, who beat the shit out of him. And then 7 years old or so, here comes this nice guy being interested in him and spending time with him and taking him to the places he wants to go. He said about Beasley, he finds their vulnerabilities and hooks them. He says that he was able to hook, grab and pull Brogan into the situation that he never wanted to be in. He exploited Brogan's vulnerabilities. And Brogan said that he was unaware of the bogus Craigslist ad, which I don't know how you would. That doesn't seem possible. He knew. That's crazy.
Jimmy Wisman
How else did he get these people to come? How did he not know?
James Petrigallo
That's what I mean. They said they also had no idea that Geiger was being driven to Noble county not for work, but to be shot, the first guy, and robbed. He said that after Beasley shot the unsuspecting man, that's when he was told to dig a grave. So he made him dig a grave. He said afterwards he was threatened with the death of his mother and sister. He said there was no line that Rich Beasley wouldn't cross. This kid had no choice but to do what he did.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
So deliberations come here. It took 90 minutes just to read the jury instructions.
Jimmy Wisman
90 minutes.
James Petrigallo
All those charges and the multiple tiers of them. 60 pages of legal instructions. That's a lot. Usually it takes a while, but an hour and a half is a long time.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
So he could receive a life sentence here. That's how it goes. The panel, they deliberate for 20 hours over four days. A lot of talking. Yeah, that's a lot of talking. The verdict comes in. He is found guilty on 24 of 25 counts. One not one not guilty. Those included nine aggravated murder counts for three victims, attempted murder Multiple counts of robbery and kidnapping, gun specifications and several theft related charges.
Jimmy Wisman
As an adult.
James Petrigallo
As an adult. They acquitted him on one count of identity theft and several gun specifications.
Jimmy Wisman
So basically the same thing. They were charging the other guy with everything.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, some of they said they're partners. Yeah, we walked in, we walk into the liquor store together. Like the old disclaimer, that's it. Afterwards, reporters were trying to get Brogan to say something, and he just said nothing to say as he walked away.
Jimmy Wisman
This is bad.
James Petrigallo
So the jurors here, jurors Dana Nash and Michael Lewis of Akron, they interviewed them and they said it was Brogan's contradictory changing words from the witness stand and during recorded interviews with law enforcement that fucked him. Yeah, they said, we, we, we was kind of skeptical, Nash said, because he was kind of contradicting him, his self during his testimony in some of his interviews. Luckily, we took good notes. Oh, I bet they were spelled perfectly. And the evidence was there.
Jimmy Wisman
You wrote his self in there. You.
James Petrigallo
Yes. The other juror agreed, saying Brogan had plenty of occasions from the first killing to the last one to contact police. Instead, he dug graves for Beasley, drove him to the rural Noble county, and shared in stealing the victim's property after they were dead. He said that Brogan had every opportunity to get away with them. It was really hard to decide, though. There was a lot of deep thoughts because of him being 16.
Jimmy Wisman
Right.
James Petrigallo
So they agreed that the youth made the. Made it hard. The fact that he was young, he was 16 and a junior in high school. They said we were trying to be fair, and we were fair. We came up with the right decision. It was very difficult for us because, like I said, he's a child. And it was very hurtful. Okay, sentencing comes up. You, sir, may fuck off. Life in prison.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, my God. Without.
James Petrigallo
Without. At 17. All right, so that's, that's a long life.
Jimmy Wisman
Don't fuck up in Ohio.
James Petrigallo
No. Fuck up there. 2013, Rich Beasley's trial. Death penalty on the table.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
For him. He was 16, so that wasn't possible for Brogan. He can't sentence a child to death. Death penalty on the table here. Scott Davis testifies.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
And they ask about, is that the tattoo you saw in his arm? And said, yes, it is. Yes, it is. Also, people Scott ran, ran to testify. The people from the house saying he came pale and frightened, saying someone was trying to rob him and shot at him. They talk about all the bullets that were recovered, ballistic matches. Rich testifies. You have to hasta's got no choice.
Jimmy Wisman
This guy's fingering you right in front of everybody.
James Petrigallo
He said he's innocent and has actually been targeted by one alleged victim. Who's. Who survived.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh.
James Petrigallo
He said, I had no idea that somebody, anybody had been killed down on that farm. I had no way of knowing, even though I stole his identity, didn't know. Yeah, he said that also he denied any of the involvement in the tax and said the lone survivor, Scott Davis, actually was there to kill him. Scott Davis was the hitman?
Jimmy Wisman
What is going on?
James Petrigallo
He said this was in retaliation for being a snitch on a motor. For snitching on a motorcycle gang investigation in Akron a couple years ago. He said. And when he met Scott Davis, he said Davis was the one that pulled the gun on him. He said it misfired three times about two feet from my face. And I ran into the woods and he ran after me. Yeah, he said that. Yeah. They wrestled on the muddy ground and Davis ended up firing six shots. Quote, I said, that's your six. So if he was going to kill me, he was going to have to do it with his hands.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, for fuck's sake.
James Petrigallo
That's what he said.
Jimmy Wisman
So then how the fuck was he shot in the elbow?
James Petrigallo
That's the point. It's ridiculous. The prosecutor says truth runs a straight line. This is a crooked mess.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, this man is out of his mind telling a story.
James Petrigallo
He said that's. This is all Richard Beasley show. He said he dragged a 16 year old. You should fucking be extra mad at him for what he did to the child though, in the defense clothes. I hate to be this defense guy.
Jimmy Wisman
God damn it.
James Petrigallo
He said, yep, he was a snitch. He informed on criminal bikers and it was Davis who was sent to the farm to eliminate him. He said what? He brought his own handgun, then lied to sheriff's investigators who first asked him if he had a gun. Because Scott Davis, he did have a gun. Not on him, but somewhere in his car and his shit. Whatever. Yeah, we find out that here. He says, quote, they're talking about Davis and they said, why would you believe him? He said, why is this person with a swastika tattooed on his right hand any more credible than Richard Beasley? Look, you're all scum, okay? Let's say if you have a swastika tattoo, you're a piece of shit.
Jimmy Wisman
Probably a night.
James Petrigallo
You're not a Hun unless someone pinned you down and forced it up. And even then I would color it in.
Jimmy Wisman
If you got it tattooed on your chest because you got a bad rap and went to prison and had to. Had to blend in.
James Petrigallo
But on your. On your hand, on your hand. Visible, visible.
Jimmy Wisman
Visible to the world.
James Petrigallo
Visible all day. First thing they see, you got to.
Jimmy Wisman
Wear gloves to make that go away.
James Petrigallo
That's wild.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, boy.
James Petrigallo
So verdict comes in. He's found guilty of every thing in the world here. Murder of three, attempted murder of a fourth. And he just shook his head while they read it.
Jimmy Wisman
Really?
James Petrigallo
This is bullshit, okay? Absolute bullshit. Yeah, it's wild. Sentencing comes around, and the prosecutor said the law in Ohio is for the death penalty. It's reserved for the worst of the worst. And it's the state's position that Richard Beasley is the worst of the fucking worst.
Jimmy Wisman
Truth.
James Petrigallo
Richard's. Rich's family. Comes on. Carol, his church mom, said her son had a troubled childhood, suffered physical abuse by his stepfather. And she just learned recently that he had been sexually molested by neighborhood youngsters. Okay, so he has to kill everyone when he's 52. That's what happens 50 years later. He said, I always felt. She said, I always felt there was much more than he told me. A defense psychologist said that Beasley suffers from depression, alcohol abuse, low self esteem, and a feeling of isolation, which probably is for murdering people.
Jimmy Wisman
I don't know, man. Start writing jokes. I've been.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, that's what I mean. We've all had shitty lives and we got. We got funny.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, we all have those same fucking traits, man.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, this is. We got funny. This guy killed people.
Jimmy Wisman
He got murdered.
James Petrigallo
Fucked up. So the. Here it comes. You, sir, may fuck off. Death penalty. He's the.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, that's the poster child of it. You can't do that to people.
James Petrigallo
And they said, by the way, now the gag orders up. So they said, what happened with the deal with Brogan? And they said, why didn't he testify? And they said. But he said he wouldn't testify unless he could get chance of parole. And they said we weren't willing to do that. Is that because they thought they had him dead to rights? Anyway, they had a guy say, he tried to murder me. So it was hard. They talked to Rich in prison. The GQ article talks. The GQ guy goes to talk to Rich in prison. And it's wild, man.
Jimmy Wisman
He chose to. He spoke to him, huh?
James Petrigallo
Yep. He says that this is a quote. He says that it's not hard to like Rich Beasley right away when I first met him, sitting in a navy prison pants in the visitors hall at Chillicothe Correctional Institute, which is situated in farmland south of Columbus. He says. He stands and greets me with a commiserating smile that says, can you believe it? The world is so fucked up. But what did we really expect? Anything different? He called his hand an overboiled ham hock.
Jimmy Wisman
Ew.
James Petrigallo
Yeah. And he says, I don't know. He says, I have to admit, I don't get GQ magazine. I get Easy Riders magazine and something called Armchair General about military history. I also read the week cover to cover every week.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, but wow, I never get GQ in here.
James Petrigallo
So they tell him, you seem like a guy people feel comfortable with. And he says that? Yeah, people say that. He said, I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was 12. I was baptized and that's all the baptizing I need according to my religion. And they said, so you think that you're fine in the afterlife and everything goes totally good.
Jimmy Wisman
I got baptized when I was 12. And then you murdered people.
James Petrigallo
He says, well, I believe you'll go to heaven if you accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your savior. They said, you don't have to confess to anyone. He said, you don't have to confess to God. You have to confess to God and ask forgiveness. Do you know the story of King David? You're of Jewish descent, right? Aren't you a gu. He put five extra E's in that he killed a man and had an adulterous affair and he was the apple of God's eye. And they said, that's it. Confess to God and you're in heaven. And he said, that's it.
Jimmy Wisman
That's what I'll do.
James Petrigallo
Score talks to Brogan in prison. Brogan is like they said, he seems like he's like 28. He's this huge guy. Nobody fucks with him because he carries himself quiet and like an adult. Yeah, and he looks like an adult and he's a big guy, so nobody really fucks with him that much here. He does. He does knuckle push ups every morning.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, boy.
James Petrigallo
He said, after returning from breakfast, I do my hygiene, brush my teeth. After that, I try to straighten up the cell, make my bed, make coffee, fix the stuff on the floor. No one knows how old I am in here because I'm old school. I carry myself as if I were older. I look like I'm mid 20s. Plus they think I'm this crazy killer, the serial killer. So they still steer clear of me.
Jimmy Wisman
How about that?
James Petrigallo
Interesting. Absolutely. He said, what do you think about Rich? And he said, to me, he was just death. When I first thought, When I thought of him, it was death. Rich was death incarnate. They asked and he said yes, how about that?
Jimmy Wisman
He is 6 foot 5 and a quote unquote serial killer.
James Petrigallo
He's never killed a soul, never killed anybody. He said. He. He told me, I know where your mother lives. I know where your sister lives. And he would check on me every day. And I just thought that was that. So he's in there 2017. His riches artwork is on his website.
Jimmy Wisman
Really?
James Petrigallo
Yes. Murder Billia bullshit website here. And I guess they. The families were angered that they would. Someone would try to profit from the works of a serial killer. Now, they're not allowed to sell those themselves, but you can sell. You can give them to your family and then they can do what they want with them, do whatever they want. Then they can want to put your shit in your commissary then. That's how it works here. So, yeah, they said it's a big deal. People are very mad because of the Son of Sam law, but they've gone around this a lot.
Jimmy Wisman
He.
James Petrigallo
He has a response. He's mad that people are mad.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah.
James Petrigallo
Rich. Rich says the taxpayers of the state of Ohio better thank God that some inmates do. Do sell artwork. He said if they did not, then every prison in the state of Ohio would burn and a lot of prison officers would be dead or in the.
Jimmy Wisman
Hospital because we've got money. We can buy things. Otherwise we'd riot.
James Petrigallo
Supermax prisons. That never happens. He said other people are free to sell my paintings as per the law as I read it, and I'm free to sell my paintings if they were painted before for my conviction and therefore unrelated to my crime.
Jimmy Wisman
Okay.
James Petrigallo
He said, there are, however, no such paintings currently in my possession, nor is there any chance that there will be.
Jimmy Wisman
All right.
James Petrigallo
So, yeah, that's. That's fucking wild. So he's. He's still in prison.
Jimmy Wisman
I was dead yet, huh?
James Petrigallo
Not dead yet, I don't think. Still in prison. Hasn't been killed. And Brogan's there. He appealed based on the fact that the governor's son was the judge and he should have recused himself and it didn't work out for him. So he's pretty fucked.
Jimmy Wisman
It's tough stuff, man.
James Petrigallo
I don't think he's getting off. No.
Jimmy Wisman
I think you're going to have to do the time.
James Petrigallo
They got him pretty. He's one of those guys that'll probably drop dead in there before he's fucking executed. But Brogan, he's got a long.
Jimmy Wisman
Boy, oh, boy.
James Petrigallo
That's a. I'm okay to parole that guy in 30 years.
Jimmy Wisman
Think so?
James Petrigallo
Yeah, I am.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. I feel bad for him.
James Petrigallo
I feel bad for him. But if he gets out, I don't think he's going to do shit. I think he's going to go do anything. I think he's going to go. Go get a job and shut the up and do his.
Jimmy Wisman
Anybody.
James Petrigallo
So I think that's all he's wanted is stability.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah. Unfortunately, the stability he had was just about helping a murderer.
James Petrigallo
That's it. So there you go, everybody. Caldwell, Ohio, a complete mess. If you like that show, please tell the world about it. Tell everyone, as many people as you can in person. Social media, I don't give a fuck. Write a letter, put it in a bottle and push it off the ocean for all I care. Tell everyone. You can tell the birds in the yard for all I give a shit. Get on whatever app you're listening on. Give a Nice review to 5 stars. Helps a ton. Head over to shut up and give me murder.com all your merchandise. Tickets to live shows. Two left for this season. New York, which is just about sold out. Get your tickets right now. And Boston as well, which is almost sold out as well.
Jimmy Wisman
Yep.
James Petrigallo
So get your tickets to those new tour dates. Come out in December, will be almost there. It'll be in the next week or so and then we're gonna go on sale week after that. It's going to be pumping up here pretty quick. So shut up and give me murder.com follow on social media at small town murder on Instagram, Small town pod on Facebook. Hang out with us there. Keep chilling. You Definitely want Patreon. Patreon.com Crime and Sports gets you all the bonus material. 5 bucks or above. Get you everything. Hundreds of back episodes. New ones every other week. This week, Marsha car, crime and sports. Marge shot. Worst owner ever. And then of a baseball team or any sports team really. Just a bad person.
Jimmy Wisman
Terrible.
James Petrigallo
Then small town murder. The Sarah Boone murder trial. The suitcase killer. We're going to talk about all of her crazy testimony.
Jimmy Wisman
The bad bitches.
James Petrigallo
Yeah, who's worse, Sarah Boone or Marge shot? That'll be the contest from this patreon.com crime and sports. And you get a shout out at the end of the show, which is right now. Jimmy, hit me with the names of the most wonderful fucking people who would never, ever, ever have shallow graves dug for us in advance. Hit me with them right now.
Jimmy Wisman
This was executive Producer Larry Butterfest. Chelsea Morgan, Gary Howard, Lauren Kell Reagan. Shockley. She and. She named a dog after me. Somebody ran it over.
James Petrigallo
Oh, they knew. They knew.
Jimmy Wisman
Poor dog. Jesus, I'm so sad about it.
James Petrigallo
That sucks. We're sorry.
Jimmy Wisman
Neil Jones and Morgan Von Beer. Shorten Beer Showton. Beer Scoten.
James Petrigallo
Thank you, guys. You guys are amazing.
Jimmy Wisman
Other producers this week are Peyton Meadows, Liz Vasquez, Julie Dovecchio, Thomas Smith, Janice Hill, Bryce Johnson, Abby M. Chelsea Kosty Shock. Poppy.
James Petrigallo
Oh.
Jimmy Wisman
Poopy Diaper. Michelle Alley. Joanne with no Last name. Vicky O'Hara. Ronnie Osborne. Mike Lally. Joelle Perry. Sky Fitzpatrick. Cecil Taylor. Cecil. Perhaps Julianne Higgins. Juliana Higgins. Jessica with no last name. Emma with no last name. Allison J. Stroopsky. Stroop. Chesky Stroops. To see Chris cries. Is it Chris cries? Rex. Chris Rex. I don't know. James with no last name. Addie Gosin. Maybe Gossen. The letter B. Addison Burley. Your favorite stripper. Who. Which is. That's a.
James Petrigallo
That's a narrow dance.
Jimmy Wisman
Oh, boy. I got a lot of those. Stephanie with no last name. Jenny Marie. Zach Shakur Cummings. Alyssa. Yeah, Zach.
James Petrigallo
Lesser known Shakur. Brother Zach.
Jimmy Wisman
Yeah, she ran out of good names.
James Petrigallo
Other brother Cody, but it's just Zach.
Jimmy Wisman
With a K. Cody, Alyssa Corral. Coral, perhaps Dennis McIntosh. Shannon Dominguez. MG Kim Thomas Scott Barrel, perhaps Burrell. Sarah Mongold. Late. Oh, boy. Layla with no last name. Kayla Kaylee Kalua.
James Petrigallo
All right.
Jimmy Wisman
I don't think that's a real name. If she's got Kahlua money, good for her. Glenda Smith, Lisa Kurowski. Mata Met Ali. All right, Ally, that's a very. That's a. That's a stretch, Babe. You can do better. AK Dana Richie, Janice McKee. McKay. Lindsey Hall. Pumpkin with no last name. Hannah with no last name. Agent Cody Banks. Probably the real one. I'm sure.
James Petrigallo
Not even this actor.
Jimmy Wisman
He's out driving now. Sarah Smeg White. Yikes. Barbara Villalobos. Reluctantly upbeat. Leticia Cipriano. Alicia K. Liberty Marullo. Aaron McDougall. McDougal. Yes. Nikita Lynn Voorhees. Ellie Ellie Mankey. Candace Porter. Jessica Cullum, Kelly Greenwalt, Don Lachaw. Jennifer Lips. Allie Seven. Michelle Barker. AR Addie Deacon. Brooklyn with no last name. Amanda and Jessica Coburn. Jody McGinnis. Miranda Beard, Adam Richards, Jesse Lopez, Kelly Beasley, Noah Holmes, Shanna Cara, Jenny Rump. Dion D. Diane. Diane Alexander. Chris with no last name. Brendan Paige. Chandra with no last name. Sydney Felson, Edward Snook, Tyler Coates. Brad Taylor, Ted Steffi. Nope, that's Todd. Shauna Araguin. Eric Regwin, Donna Smith. Timothy Human. That's. Yeah. Aaron. Aaron. Aaron Hearn. Taco Truck Onassis. No last name. Cy Cannon. Joseph Novak. Michael York. Brit Bre to. What is that? Bree Tour.
James Petrigallo
I don't know.
Jimmy Wisman
I don't. It's Brie with like mature tu.
James Petrigallo
All right.
Jimmy Wisman
Alex with no last name. Jennifer Mateus, Trinity Perrin. Stephanie. Nope, that's Stacy Booley. Mel lacava. Nikki Gonzalez. Roni with no last name. Perhaps Ronnie. Emily Birdsong, Katie Mace. Maze. Maize Mass Regal with no last name. Rigel, perhaps Derek Mahaffey. Ben Stewart. Mark Bust, Patty Cake, Heather Kawat. Kawagachi Kawaguchi. Macy Fowler. Leah. Leah Fiddler. Don Shaw. Tyler Safari. Megan Sifari. Oh, boy. Matt. Megan Wick. Tammy Clementi. Aiden Martucci. Josh Finley. Aaron. Eric Bircher. Bobby Snyder. Alicia Rose. Zachary Norton. Benfield Patrick. Patricia. Patricia. Patricia Moran.
James Petrigallo
Patricia.
Jimmy Wisman
Christian Steenport. Katie Boland. Pam. Pam Van. Pam Van. Shy. She.
James Petrigallo
Perhaps.
Jimmy Wisman
Como Comey. Comey. Merder69. I don't know what that is. Travis Wtaf. Stephanie Clark. Isaiah the Savage. 13 though, because there's 12 others. Drea King, Sierra Stribling. Stribling, Dennis G. Derek Hughes, Josh Zulo, Nancy with no Last name. Sean McQueen, Jen Rodriguez. B. Kubako, Soul Rivera. Kimmy with no last name. Ashley Sanchez. Christian with no last name. Jess with no last name. Grim, Siph, Alex. Sweet Cheeks. Stoats. L. The letter L. Miss. Miss. Miss. Dr. Aaron. You. You've learned. You've earned it. Just Dr. Aaron. Fine. Abigail McDermott. Gary Curie. Courier. Nikki Satow. Philamoni. Philamoni. Saga Polluti. Oh, Lutelli.
James Petrigallo
That is a handle.
Jimmy Wisman
I don't know. Rebecca Schweitzer, Rob Hall, Vanishing Point, Marit, Merritt Anderson. Brie. Brie, Briag and Sirion. What the fuck is that? Zach Hines.
James Petrigallo
What the fuck are you?
Jimmy Wisman
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James Petrigallo
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Podcast Summary: Small Town Murder - Episode #547: The Craigslist Killers - Caldwell, Ohio
Release Date: November 28, 2024
In Episode #547 of Small Town Murder, hosts James Pietragallo and Jimmy Wisman delve into the chilling case of the "Craigslist Killers" in Caldwell, Ohio. This episode unpacks the dark narrative of how seemingly ordinary individuals exploited online platforms to execute a series of brutal murders, highlighting the intersection of small-town dynamics and cunning criminal behavior.
Caldwell, a small town in Noble County, Ohio, serves as the backdrop for this horrifying tale. Founded in 1857 and significantly developed after the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1870s, Caldwell is known for hosting the first North American oil well in 1814. Despite its historical significance, the town grapples with economic challenges, evident from its higher-than-average unemployment rate and lower median household income compared to national figures.
James introduces Caldwell with a mix of factual information and comedic insights:
[06:38] James Pietragallo: "Caldwell, Ohio, is smack dab in the middle, about an hour and a half to Columbus and two hours to Pittsburgh. Perfect for our murderous escapade."
The town's demographics reveal a predominantly white population with a significant median age of 51.3 and a noticeable gender imbalance favoring females. The cost of living is relatively low, with median home prices around $115,500, making it an attractive spot for those seeking affordability despite the economic hardships.
At the heart of this case are Brogan Rafferty, a 16-year-old high school junior, and Richard "Rich" Beasley, a 52-year-old man with a tumultuous past. Their relationship, rooted in Brogan's troubled family life, becomes the catalyst for the series of murders that shake Caldwell.
Brogan's childhood is marred by an abusive father and an addicted mother. Seeking stability and affection, he forms a bond with Rich Beasley at the age of nine. Despite his intimidating size (standing at 6'5" and weighing 65230 pounds—a comedic exaggeration by the hosts), Brogan is portrayed as a quiet and compliant individual, making him an easy target for manipulation.
[21:34] Jimmy Wisman: "Brogan's a big guy, but he's quiet. Perfect for our undercover mission, huh?"
[21:38] James Pietragallo: "Exactly. Lenny without the stupidity here."
Rich Beasley emerges as a master manipulator—a former convict, biker, and self-proclaimed man of God. He runs a halfway house in Akron, which, unbeknownst to many, serves as a front for a brothel and drug distribution center. Rich's charm and "folksy sociability" allow him to groom vulnerable individuals, including Brogan, into participating in his criminal endeavors.
[24:25] Jimmy Wisman: "He's been to prison full of shit."
[24:28] James Pietragallo: "Is what he is. He's a giant full of shit, liar is all it is."
Rich's ulterior motives become clear as he leverages Craigslist to lure unsuspecting individuals with promises of employment and accommodation, only to brutally murder them, steal their possessions, and assume their identities to cover his tracks.
Rich Beasley ingeniously exploits Craigslist to orchestrate his murders. By posting deceptive job ads offering high pay, free lodging, and minimal duties, he attracts individuals at their lowest points—those desperate for employment and stability.
Example of a Craigslist Ad:
[60:00] Jimmy Wisman: "We need someone to watch our farm down in southern Ohio. Live for free in a double-wide trailer. Duties are minimal—just enjoy the countryside and ensure nothing gets stolen."
Once the target arrives, Rich and Brogan swiftly execute the following steps:
Travel to Secluded Locations: They drive the victims to remote areas under various guises, often maintaining separate vehicles to avoid suspicion.
Immediate Violence: Rich lethally attacks the victim, ensuring lethality with multiple gunshots. Brogan assists by handling the physical burden of burying the bodies.
Stealing and Covering Up: All personal belongings are stolen, and the bodies are buried in pre-dug shallow graves, making detection difficult.
Assuming Identities: Rich meticulously acquires the victim's personal information to assume their identities, facilitating the continuation of his criminal activities.
[78:45] James Pietragallo: "So basically, Rich had been interviewing countless candidates, looking for someone whose life had hit rock bottom—perfect for his next victim."
Timothy Kern (47): An unemployed man from Akron who responded to a Craigslist ad. Tim's tragic fate marked the beginning of this serial killing spree. He was brutally murdered and buried in a shallow grave near Hollow Ridge.
David LeBlanc: Another victim lured by Rich's deceptive job offering. David was similarly killed and buried in the secluded areas Rich frequented.
Ralph Geiger: The most recent victim, whose murder was intended to allow Rich to assume his identity fully. Rich succeeded in this deceitful tactic, showcasing his meticulous planning.
The breakthrough in the case came when multiple abductions and murders pointed towards a pattern tied to Craigslist job postings. Law enforcement agencies, including local police and the FBI, coordinated efforts to trace the malicious intent behind these ads.
Key Findings:
Surveillance Footage: Cameras at local establishments like Shoney's captured Brogan and Rich's suspicious activities, linking them to the Craigslist postings.
Recovered Evidence: Items such as laptops, driver's licenses, and prescription bottles belonging to victims were found at Rich's residence, confirming his modus operandi.
Witness Testimonies: Survivors like Scott Davis provided firsthand accounts of the shootings and Rich's ruthless behavior.
[141:04] Jimmy Wisman: "Listen to this letter from Brogan—'This is triple murder. And I'm just trying to cop a plea deal.'"
In a dramatic courtroom showdown, both Brogan Rafferty and Rich Beasley stood trial for their involvement in the murders.
Brogan's defense centered around the concept of duress, arguing that he was coerced into committing these heinous acts by Rich Beasley. Given his age (16 at the time of the crimes), the court treated him as a juvenile but still held him accountable under the law.
[156:55] James Pietragallo: "Duress isn't always that simple, especially when you're dealing with a heavyweight like Brogan under Rich's thumb."
Rich Beasley's defense attempted to paint him as a benevolent figure who operated the halfway house out of genuine concern for the homeless and addicted. However, the overwhelming evidence of his criminal activities and manipulation tactics overshadowed his defense.
After extensive deliberations, the jury found:
Brogan Rafferty: Guilty on 24 of 25 counts, including aggravated murder and attempted murder. Given his age, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 26 years.
Rich Beasley: Convicted of multiple murder charges, he faced the death penalty, reflecting the severity of his crimes and his role as the mastermind behind the killings.
[168:08] Jimmy Wisman: "So, ladies and gentlemen, in Caldwell, Ohio, you have not one, but two evil masterminds sentenced for their crimes."
The episode of Small Town Murder masterfully unravels the sinister relationship between Brogan Rafferty and Rich Beasley, showcasing how vulnerability and manipulation can culminate in a series of gruesome murders. Caldwell, Ohio, serves as a stark reminder that evil can lurk in the most unsuspecting places, often camouflaged by ordinary facades.
Through detailed research, insightful discussions, and moments of levity, James and Jimmy present a comprehensive narrative that not only educates but also engages listeners, leaving them pondering the complexities of human behavior and the dark paths it can lead down.
Notable Quotes:
Brogan Rafferty on Duress:
[157:23] James Pietragallo: "I had to go with it or die. I didn't have a choice."
Rich Beasley on His Ministry:
[149:35] James Pietragallo: "I sacrifice for others, not a con man."
Jury’s Perspective:
[166:37] Jimmy Wisman: "He was a willing participant of the grooming."
Final Thoughts:
For those intrigued by the intricate dance between perpetrators and their victims in small-town settings, this episode of Small Town Murder is a must-listen. James and Jimmy's unique blend of comedic insights and deep investigative storytelling brings to life the harrowing tale of the Craigslist Killers, offering both chills and thoughtful reflections on the nature of evil and manipulation.
Disclaimer: This summary is based on the provided transcript and podcast information. Actual episode content may vary.