Of Mice & Men & Murder - Sidney, Montana

Summary

Small Town Murder:

"Of Mice & Men & Murder – Sidney, Montana"

Hosts: James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman
Date: April 24, 2026
Episode Theme:
This episode explores the murder of Sherry Arnold, a beloved high school math teacher from Sidney, Montana, whose abduction and killing in 2012 shattered a quiet, tight-knit town. James and Jimmie bring their trademark mix of thorough research, dark humor, and social commentary to dissect the community, the killers, the investigation, and the impact of this shocking crime.

---

Episode Overview

• The hosts pick Sidney, Montana as their focus, painting a stark contrast between the pre- and post-oil boom eras – once a peaceful rural community, transformed by the wild influx of oil workers and a subsequent spike in crime.
• The core of the episode is the tragic story of Sherry Arnold's abduction and murder by two transient men, Michael Spell and Lester Waters, whose backgrounds add layers of context and horror to the crime.
• Alongside the grim facts, the hosts deliver small-town lore, amusing banter, and pointed asides about the American justice system and society’s outcasts.

---

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Sidney, Montana: Setting the Scene

• Small Town Dynamics:
  • Pre-oil boom Sidney described as a rural, friendly “Sunrise City” with a population around 6,400 (post-boom), low median income, and surprisingly high housing costs ([04:00–05:43]).
  • Town nicknamed “Sunrise City” ("I mean, I suppose. I think every city has a sunrise." – James, [05:52]).
• Community Culture:
  • Annual Richland County Fair & Rodeo draws 30,000 visitors, BMX and acrobatics shows as highlights ([10:40–12:07]).
• Oil Boom Impact:
  • Oil discoveries starting ~2012 bring a flood of transient, mostly male workers: “They're single guys who drink and carouse and it's a lot.” (James, [04:44])
  • Crime rates spike: drug offenses double, assaults increase fivefold in nearby towns. Police can’t compete with oil field salaries.

"Space equals happiness." (Jimmie, [03:55])

---

2. Sherry Arnold: The Victim & Her Life

• Background:
  • Sherry was 43, a native daughter, ranch-raised, valedictorian, math teacher, mother and stepmother, and two-time cancer survivor ([18:21–24:08]).
  • Known for her warmth, athleticism, community engagement.
• Lifestyle:
  • Taught algebra at Sidney High, coached softball, ran marathons, loved the Cubs, Twins, Vikings ([24:31–25:28]).
• Family:
  • Married twice; second marriage to Gary Arnold, fellow high school teacher. Large blended family.

"She looks like the math teacher you'd want to have... the good one, explain it to you and you would get it. Without calling me stupid." (James, [18:22–18:33])

---

3. Murder & Investigation Timeline

• Disappearance:
  • January 7, 2012: Sherry goes out for a morning run and never returns ([15:38]).
  • Massive search organized: “About 1,000 out of 5,000 people”—20% of town—join searches, National Guard mobilized ([16:52–17:04]).
• Evidence at Scene:
  • Her running shoe and hat found in a ditch by an industrial truck route near the sugar plant. Signs of a struggle ([17:52–32:24]).
• Police Perspective:
  • Husband Gary quickly cleared: "He is cleared by law enforcement because for the sole reason that he was fully cooperative from the first moment" ([34:19]).
  • Town shocked by 41 registered sex offenders nearby (four times national average) [36:51–38:24].
• Break in Case:
  • Anonymous tip names Michael Spell, a mentally disabled 22-year-old from Colorado, overheard discussing involvement in a woman's kidnapping and murder ([39:07]). Accompanied by Lester Waters, 47, seasoned criminal.

---

4. The Killers: Spell & Waters

Michael Spell

• IQ of 70, mentally functioning as a 1st grader, illiterate, previous troubles with law dismissed due to incompetence ([39:53–43:53]).
• Easily manipulated, history of substance abuse, had a girlfriend and son.
• Described as a “Lenny” (Of Mice and Men reference): physically strong but intellectually limited.

Lester Van Waters Jr.

• 47, long criminal record (seven felonies, three prison stints, $84k behind in child support) ([47:16–49:45]).
• Heavy drug user, transient, brought Spell with him to seek lucrative oil field work.
• “He worked hard and partied hard. We made money and he partied real hard. That was his main goal. And, girls..." (former co-worker, [50:24]).

---

5. Crime Details & Investigation

• How the Crime Occurred:
  • Spell and Waters drive cross-country, binge-smoking crack for three days ([55:10–55:57]).
  • On January 7, after failed attempt to kidnap another woman, they spot Sherry running on Holly Street ([58:15–58:38]).
  • Spell jogs ahead, pretends to be a runner, tackles her from behind, forces her face into the ground, chokes her, and drags her into the Ford Explorer ([64:42–65:11]).
  • She is murdered, driven into North Dakota. They buy a shovel at Walmart, bury the body in a shallow grave, return the shovel for a refund ([66:46–68:12]).
• Apprehension:
  • Spell confesses to multiple people, including his girlfriend; defense later tries unsuccessfully to suppress the confession, citing his intellectual disability ([39:41–69:21], [71:44–72:11]).
• Body Recovery:
  • March 21, 2012: Waters leads police to the grave. Autopsy reveals evidence of suffocation and forced drowning in mud ([69:41–70:01]).

---

6. Trial, Sentencing, and Aftermath

• Legal Maneuvers:
  • Both men initially face the death penalty.
  • Waters pleads guilty to deliberate homicide by accountability (no death penalty; must testify against Spell); receives 80 years (20 suspended), parole possible after 20 ([74:17–78:16]).
  • Spell eventually found competent after protracted legal fight; pleads guilty, receives 100 years (no parole until 2037; [79:09]).
• Post-Conviction:
  • Spell continues violent behavior in prison, including attempted murder of another inmate and an attempted assault on a female corrections officer ([79:51–80:44]).
  • Running trail in Sidney dedicated in Sherry’s honor.
  • Community deeply affected: "The things we've always taken for granted, we can't take for granted anymore." ([80:49])
  • Family ultimately rejects the death penalty—just wants the killers off the street ([80:49–81:48]).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I'm not going all the way over there to kill Frank. He's a dick, but I mean, he's so far away. Screw it."
  – James, on rural distance reducing crime in Montana ([03:56])

• "A thousand people are searching for her. About 20% of the town went looking for her..."
  – James, reflecting the scale of the community response ([17:04])

• "He’s got less education than a kindergartner."
  – Michael Spell's father, highlighting his intellectual limitations ([44:15])

• "Why would you tell your girlfriend that? I mean, what have you been up to?"
  – James, on Spell confessing murder to his girlfriend ([51:18])

• "They absolutely returned their grave digging shovel for a refund. How crackhead is that?"
  – James, highlighting the bizarre crack-driven logic of the killers ([68:12])

• "He is a dangerous idiot, basically."
  – James, summing up Michael Spell ([80:44])

• "There's evil in the world. And it just happened to touch down in Sidney, Montana on January 7th."
  – Sherry’s father, Ron ([81:48])

---

Timestamps for Crucial Segments

• Sidney, Montana – Setting and Reviews: [03:40–12:07]
• Town’s transformation due to oil boom: [12:23–14:15]
• Sherry Arnold’s life and background: [18:21–25:28]
• Disappearance, search, and initial investigation: [15:38–38:24]
• Introduction of Spell & Waters: [39:07–50:39]
• Spell’s confession and crime sequence: [54:52–69:21]
• Legal proceedings, sentencing, and aftermath: [69:21–81:53]
• Final reflections and the impact on Sidney: [80:49–81:48]

---

Tone, Style, & Engagement

• The hosts maintain empathy and respect for the victim and community while using appropriately biting, sarcastic humor to describe the criminals and the at-times farcical aspects of transient oilfield life.
• Their comedic asides never undercut the seriousness of the murder, instead punching up at systemic failures and the absurdity of the perpetrators’ choices.

---

Summary Takeaway

This episode is a devastating look at how random, evil acts by transient outsiders can traumatize a close-knit American small town. Through vivid storytelling, biting social commentary, and gallows humor, the hosts examine the harsh realities lurking in even the most peaceful communities—and remind the audience of both the fragility and resilience of ordinary lives.

Transcript

[Ad Narrator]

Breaking news for your home, Wayday. Wayfair's big sale is almost here and you can score the best deals in home. Like up to 80% off everything home. Yes, you heard that right. 80% off with free shipping on everything. Plus surprise flash deals all way day long. We're talking outdoor furniture and essentials, rugs and more all at Wayfair and all up to 80% off during Way Day Shop Wayfair's Way Day. From April 25th through 27th, Wayfair Every Style, every home.

[James Pietragallo]

Hello everybody, and welcome back to small Town Murder Express.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yay. Choo choo.

[James Pietragallo]

Yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petregallo. I'm here with my co host.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I am Jimmy Whisman.

[James Pietragallo]

Thank you folks so much for joining us today on another insane edition of Small Town Murder Express. You know you're gonna get crazy. You know you're gonna get surprises. You know you're gonna get weird little twists. And we got it all for you today. Lots of crazy stuff. We will get into that and much more. But first, definitely head over to shut upandgivemerder.com get your tickets for live shows. That is the thing to do right now. Next, show up with tickets available May 2nd in Denver and then May 30th in Royal Oak, Michigan. Also has some T tickets. Then after the summer, it's Milwaukee, Minneapolis. Yeah, that's right. Dallas, San Jose, Sacramento, Tarrytown, Boston. So get your tickets right now. Shut up and givememurder.com and all sorts of other stuff there too. Merchandise and everything like that. So get your tickets, come hang out with us, have some fun. Get yourself Patreon as well. That's more for you, really. I mean, anybody $5 a month or above, you get so much stuff that it's a lot. As soon as you subscribe, you're going to get almost 400 bonus episodes of back catalog, bonus stuff you've never heard before, immediately upon subscription. So much. And then you get new ones every other week. One crime in sports, one small town murder. You get it all this week. No different. All of it. For crime and sports. We're gonna talk about the Ecclesia Athletic association, which was this program in inner city California to get the kids off the streets, get them into sports, which sounds great. Problem is, whenever you get adults and kids mixed together, weird stuff starts to happen and weird culty things begin. And that's no different than what happens here. Then for small Town murder, it's Cory Richens Part 2. She killed her husband. She wrote a book about it. Well, not about it, but about her. To help her kids grieve is the way she put it. And then she went to trial and looked like a real jackass. And we're gonna talk about all of it and more. That's everything there, patreon.com crimeinsports and at the same time, you're gonna get everything we put out all the shows, crime and sports, you, stupid opinion, small town, murder all ad free with your Patreon ad free. Ad free. And you get a shout out at the end of the regular show where Jimmy will mess your name all up. Don't you worry about that. So that said, I think it's time, everybody. What do you say, let's all sit back here, clear the lungs. There we go. Here we go. Arms to the sky and let's all shout out. Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this, everybody. Okay, let's go on a trip, shall we? Yeah, let's do it. We are going to a place we haven't been in a while. Oh, we're going to Montana this week.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Pietragallo]

It's been quite a while, over a year since we've been in Montana. So reason is North Dakota, Montana, those states up there, the people just aren't close enough to each other to murder each other very often. It's just. You're just too far away.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Space equals happiness.

[James Pietragallo]

I'm not going all the way over there to kill Frank. He's a dick, but I mean, he's so far away. Screw it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

At least he's way over there.

[James Pietragallo]

At least I don't have to deal with him. This is Sydney, Montana. S I D N E Y Montana. It's in northeastern Montana, kind of over by the North Dakota border. This is where the oil boom started in about 2012. Here, this area, the western North Dakota, eastern Montana area, like Williston, North Dakota becomes a big, big hub for it. So things kind of get wild, as we'll talk about. They kind of go from a very small rural western town to oil. People are coming in and the workers are transient. They're wild. They drink.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Fascinating folks.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, they're single guys who drink and carouse and it's a lot.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, boy, do they.

[James Pietragallo]

Oh, we'll talk about it here. This is about four hours to Billings, Montana. About three and a half hours to Bismarck, North Dakota. So kind of right in the middle of them. And five and a half hours to Geraldine, Montana. Our last Montana episode. Episode 569. This is. Good Lord, this is episode 694 by the way. So it's been a long time. That was a stalker to die for. This is in Richland county, area code 406. Population of this town pretty small still. Even after a boom. 6420. So still a small town. Median household income here lower than the national average. National average is around 70. Here it's $55,611. So pretty. A little bit low. And median acre. Yeah. And median home cost is high. And it's expensive up there. $397,100 is median home.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Almost 400 grand.

[James Pietragallo]

That is pricey. So it's tough. It's tough to find housing up here. From what I understand. Nickname of this town, Sunrise City.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I mean, I suppose.

[James Pietragallo]

I mean, I think every city has a sunrise.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Everybody's got a sunrise. Right. It's probably really beautiful there because of the mountains and such.

[James Pietragallo]

Maybe. I bet the sun sets are better. Yeah, like Arizona.

[Jimmy Whisman]

But Montana's a lot of plains too, isn't it?

[James Pietragallo]

It is. It's a lot of everything. It's the size of like eight European countries. It's huge up there. It's enormous. Little bit of history of this town. Just a little bit. The settlers began coming here in the 1870s, established a post office. In 1888, a six year old named Sidney Walters and his parents were staying with Hiram Otis, the local justice of the peace. And Hiram Otis, he must have had. The justice of the peace has sweeping powers because he can just name the town. And he did.

[Jimmy Whisman]

The JP is like, that kid is cute.

[James Pietragallo]

He decided Sydney's a pretty good name. We should name the town that. Not I'll name my kid that, I'll name the town that. So that's what they did. And the following year Montana became a state and Sydney was incorporated. And for a long time the main source of everything here is sugar beets. They grow sugar beets here. We've gone over this with some other show about five years ago, I believe, six, seven years ago about sugar beets. So that's what they were into then the oil boom came where they were, the shale and all that stuff and everything changed. We've never been here. So let's find out some reviews of this town, see what other people think. Okay. Five stars. Sydney is a very small, tight knit town where everybody might know your name but you are very well cared for.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I don't know what that means.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, that's not.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Why the butt.

[James Pietragallo]

That's just gonna say the butt is not really necessary. And Would have been a fine thing to put instead of, but, well, they

[Jimmy Whisman]

know your name, but you're well cared for.

[James Pietragallo]

But, I mean, yeah, they call you names. They go, hey, Jimmy, you cocksucker. But then they take care of him. Yeah. We are a town 45 minutes in the complete middle of two opposite colleges in both Williston, North Dakota, and Glendive, Montana. The community is so great that when people leave to attend colleges for years and hundreds of miles away, they always find their way back home to Sydney to raise their families.

[Jimmy Whisman]

How about it?

[James Pietragallo]

And that's what happens with one of our people in a story today, is they leave and come back.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Came back.

[James Pietragallo]

Yep, that's what happened. So they must love it. Here's five stars. I have loved living in Sydney, and I am happy raising my family here. There are many. Whoa. There may not be very many conveniences, but the friendlessness. Friendliness. Wow, they spelled that wrong.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Friendlessness.

[James Pietragallo]

That's what I saw at first is friendlessness. I'm like, that is way wrong.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Amazing.

[James Pietragallo]

But the friendliness and community makes up for that. Okay, two stars. The cost of living is high due to demand of people needed here. But not everyone makes the oil field money, so for some, it's difficult.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oil field money is big, huh?

[James Pietragallo]

It pays for in the middle of nowhere. It pays way more than anything else in the middle of nowhere.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I mean, it afforded Matthew McConaughey to go get AIDS treatment in Mexico.

[James Pietragallo]

So much of it. He wasn't in the fields, though.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, he was.

[James Pietragallo]

Oh, he was. I don't remember that part. Okay.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Didn't you see that movie?

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, but, like, years ago. I don't remember.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's out there drilling and getting knocked out.

[James Pietragallo]

He's getting punched. Not a movie. That's a great repeat watcher. So. Yeah, saw it once.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Seen it once. You're like, all right, that was that.

[James Pietragallo]

Put it on the shelf and there you go. It's fine. It's a good movie. It's just, you know, I just.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I don't want to see Matthew McConaughey look like that for two hours.

[James Pietragallo]

No, no. Yeah, it's sad. The town is small and not much to do unless you want to go to the bar. And then there's, like, eight to choose from.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, that's great.

[James Pietragallo]

And that's what these towns turn into when all the oil comes in.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Bars open and roughnecks love to drink.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. Like, I was looking for murders in North Dakota, and there was several in Williston, and multiple of them were people getting murdered at Strip Clubs that were right next door to each other. So I was like, jesus, this place is crazy. And then finally, three stars. This is the lowest rating they have, by the way, as a three star. There's nothing to do here. And there's no reason to stay. No. All right. Things to do in this town. The Richland County Fair and Rodeo, of course. Oh, yeah. What began as a small community street fair has evolved into what is now the Richland County Fair and Rodeo. Entertaining 30,000 plus people year after year. It became official in 1920 and has continued to be successful ever since. They say here some attractions we have the freckle farms, pony rides and petting zoo. Yeah, you got this guy will be wandering around Scott's Crazy magic. It's crazy magic.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's crazy.

[James Pietragallo]

So crazy. There's an off axis stunt show, which is, they say a high energy, 60 minute action packed spectacle. Here you get BMX and dirt bike stunts. Slam dunk aerial action that will leave you speechless. Jimmy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's all anti gravity shit, James.

[James Pietragallo]

Pretty much teeter board acrobatics with jaw dropping precision. A hilarious comedy parkour chase scene. So like Keystone Cop. Yeah, they just fall and another guy comes.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I mean, that's the funny part of parkour, right? When you fall?

[James Pietragallo]

Well, that's the good part. Otherwise, yeah, you're just like, look at this idiot. Jesus Christ. And the grand finale. A mega ramp launched by BMX riders, dirt bikes and every additional act they offer. You come up on a moped, you're going off this mega ramp. They don't give a shit. Roller rocket skates, let's go. Who cares?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Rocket skates, let's go. Wiley Coyote, let's go.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, let's see what Acme has delivered today. There's also the PRCA rodeo will be in town.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, that's the real one, James.

[James Pietragallo]

That's the good one. And then their big headlining band, Midland, with special guest Eli Mosley.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I think I've heard of Midland.

[James Pietragallo]

It sounds like every. I thought I did too, but I'm like, all those country bands have the same.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's also the brand of a CB radio.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, Midland is generic for a country group. Like Young something is generic for a rapper. You know what I mean? It's like, I don't know, all the Youngs and Midlands. I don't know where the hell they're talking about. That said, let's talk about a murder, shall we?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Here we go.

[James Pietragallo]

All right, let's get into this now. Okay, now, Sidney kind of has a pre2012 post 2012 wife.

[Jimmy Whisman]

You can put it a grace period.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, yeah, 2012, it was kind of a quiet place, you know what I mean? They said all the social stuff revolved around high school sports. Like a typical, changed, very rural town. This is from a writer quote. Respectable folks went to the bar on Saturday nights. Nobody locked their doors.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Just the respectable folks.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, the really bad people. Really bad people have all been kicked out of all these bars already, so they're not allowed in. Then the oil boom hit. Massive underground deposit stretching across eastern Montana and western North Dakota. And basically this made it. People rush up here for jobs, essentially.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Pietragallo]

So they're pumping out crude and now all of a sudden everything is packed. You can't get even a hotel room up there because of the oil workers.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really.

[James Pietragallo]

There's some.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, and they're probably staying in those, huh?

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, yeah. Temporary housing. There's semi trucks flooding these small streets and everything like that. It's a complete fucking mess. The police chief said he needed seven more officers and couldn't get them yet because that pays less than the oil fields.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Is that right?

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. So there's shit going on. Drug crimes in eastern Montana more than doubled in only a couple years.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Is that right?

[James Pietragallo]

Assaults in Dickinson, North Dakota, which is right across the border. I think we've done an episode there that increased fivefold in two years.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's assaults.

[James Pietragallo]

Assaults. The mayor said about the oil workers and the spike in crime. We own the day, they own the night. They've given up.

[Jimmy Whisman]

What?

[James Pietragallo]

It's just. It's bedlam after dark. It's like fucking Deadwood after dark. That's what this place is, basically. It's crazy. I heard the term roughneck.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I know that's what they call the oil field guys, but I don't know why.

[James Pietragallo]

I don't know either.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Is their neck just blistered? Is that what it is? They're just hunched over.

[James Pietragallo]

Probably pretty rough from the sun beating on it. Yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Sun blistered, though.

[James Pietragallo]

Not sure, not positive. Let's find out about someone who. Well, comes in from a walk and probably isn't sun blistered because it happened in the morning. January 7, 2012. This is in the afternoon. There's a guy named Gary Arnold. Gary's got some kids and a wife. We'll talk about all that. He had gone for a walk that morning, and when he gets back, his wife Sherry isn't home, so he assumed that she had gone for her run because she runs in the morning, too. I don't know why. They just don't run together, but whatever. Maybe they solitude earlier, not sure. So he waits for her, figures she'll be back soon. Time passes and she never comes home. So he goes out and goes looking for her himself. Driving around her usual running routes to find her and can't find anything. So he gets home and reports her as missing to the police department.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Wow.

[James Pietragallo]

My wife's missing. Her running shoes are gone. She clearly went out running and hasn't come back and she's nowhere to be found. Wow. So. And she's a real. These are real kind of staid people. These aren't like. These aren't oil workers. They're both. He and his wife, both Gary and Sherry are teachers.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Gary and Sherry.

[James Pietragallo]

Gary and Sherry. And they're teachers. And they have, you know, a very kind of calm life. They don't go do crazy things.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That is a fascinating phone call to make to the police too. Of like.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Cause I mean the term is literally ran away. And so you call the police and you go, my wife. You know what, Nevermind.

[James Pietragallo]

My wife ran away. But wait, let me. There's more. She ran away.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I want you to look for her. But as I'm saying the words, it's starting to occur.

[James Pietragallo]

The problem is running away entails running back home. And she hasn't done that part yet.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She usually runs right the fuck back.

[James Pietragallo]

She's running somewhere. We're not sure if it's away or towards something or whatever, but you should find her.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Says fun phone calls is all.

[James Pietragallo]

So within hours, everybody is looking for her. Literally a thousand people are searching for her.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Wow.

[James Pietragallo]

By late afternoon they have organized at the high school search like everyone get to the high school search parties, all the firemen, all that kind of shit. Everybody is out looking for like they're

[Jimmy Whisman]

very aware that this is not normal. And everybody in town is like, wait, she didn't come back.

[James Pietragallo]

And she's a very popular math teacher at Sydney High School too. So everybody knows her. She's worked there for years. Years. Everybody knows her. And basically about 20% of the town went looking for her. About 1,000 out of 5,000 people went the police department. They even sent 40 soldiers from the Montana Army National Guard to look for, imagine that, canine units, hundreds of volunteers just walking the fields. And this is January in Montana. It's cold and they're still out there doing it. They don't give a shit. Then on Holly street, which is not too far from their house, off in a ditch, they find one of her running shoes. A new balance. Running Shoe.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's a problem.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, that's a bad sign. One shoe is missing because she's probably not hopping around somewhere right now.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. If you run away, you're gonna need both of those.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. And she's nowhere around the shoe, which is a problem. They put up a big missing thing for her. It's in the newspaper. Sherry Lee Arnold is her name. She's 43 years old. She's white with black hair, brown eyes, 5 foot 10, 140 pounds, and from what it looks like, a very nice warm smile.

[Jimmy Whisman]

So young.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, so young. She looks like the math teacher you'd want to have because she looks like she would. The good one, explain it to you and you would get it. You know what I mean?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Without calling me stupid.

[James Pietragallo]

Without calling me stupid. Exactly. That's how I feel. I'd be like, wow, I don't even feel that bad about not getting that the first five times she fucking said it. So they say she has a slender build, numerous scars on her left leg, and was last seen wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt with white stripes on the sleeves and red nylon pants with black leggings and black gloves. So they're begging people to call now. She is Sherry Arnold. She is. She's born February 13, 1968. She's 43 years old. She grew up on her family's ranch about 25 miles outside of town. Yeah, I mean, she's really. That's a nice life she's come up with here.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Sweet way to start. You bet.

[James Pietragallo]

She's the daughter of Ron and Sharon Whitted. W h I T E D witted. She's got a sister named Rhonda. And, you know, they all rode. They rode horses growing up, and they showed horses and other livestock and 4H shows and that kind of thing. I mean, she came up a rural ranch girl, riding horses, showing animals at the 4H thing. I mean, that's what she's doing. She was valedictorian of Sydney High school, class of 1986. She's a real achiever this one, too.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's the one you want teaching people. She clearly gets this.

[James Pietragallo]

Yes. She didn't just choose teaching as a. I don't know what else to do. And they're always hiring because that's why

[Jimmy Whisman]

a lot of guaranteed paycheck.

[James Pietragallo]

I know many people who have gone into teaching just because there was nothing. They didn't know what else to do. And whatever they went to school for wasn't really working for them. So they end up going and getting the teaching Degree.

[Jimmy Whisman]

And that's what they get those who can't thing.

[James Pietragallo]

You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. And then some teachers are just great. Some teachers are awesome, and they're engaged and they want to teach, and they're into it. And then some people are like, I'm just doing this until my resume gets picked up by somebody else.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. They said, no kids left behind, so get the fuck out.

[James Pietragallo]

Get out. She went to college. She played volleyball at the University of North Dakota in Williston. She earned her teaching degree from Dickinson State University in 1990. And then she started teaching in Tioga, North Dakota, and then she taught at another school in Minot, also North Dakota. And then she ended up coming back to Sydney.

[Jimmy Whisman]

How about that?

[James Pietragallo]

And for the last 18 years, she's been teaching math in Sydney.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Loves it.

[James Pietragallo]

So, I mean, back in her hometown and. Yeah, it's really nice. She got married in 1994 when she had just gotten back into Sydney. She married a guy named Jerome Papaneu. Papanow. P A P I N E A W.P. papanow. In 1994. She has two children from that marriage, Jason and Holly. They end up getting divorced some point in the maybe 97ish. By 98, she is in a relationship with somebody else. Gary Arnold, her current husband, who's looking for her, who's also a teacher at Sydney High School, which seems convenient. You can carpool at least. That's nice.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. I mean, there was. I've seen many couples through my high school that were married and they were teachers at the same school.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, I had a couple of teachers that were at different schools, but in the district. And they were married. You know, September 12, 1998, they get married. So she brings two kids to the table. I believe Gary brought possibly. I think he had one kid. And then I believe they have two kids together. If not, it might be.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She has a daughter named Holly, and they live on Holly Street.

[James Pietragallo]

They live off. That's down the road there.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, that's where their shoe was found.

[James Pietragallo]

That's where she was found. So, yeah, she's got this. So there's five kids all together here. They're both teachers. You know, they're doing their thing here. She told one of her friends that her description of her life is, quote, I love our rut.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Say again?

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, she likes the groove they've made.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She digs it. Oh, got it.

[James Pietragallo]

Okay.

[Jimmy Whisman]

All right. Rut's usually not a positive word. That's what it is. No.

[James Pietragallo]

Well, yeah. You have to put love in there, or else it's bad. If you say, I'm in a rut, that's not good. If you say, I love this rut I'm in, then it's like, okay, I guess you're happy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, groove. Yeah. Groove and rut are synonymous.

[James Pietragallo]

Although that's what I take it as.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Rut sounds. Terrible.

[James Pietragallo]

Rut sounds. Because that's what you see. Say I'm in a rut right now. That's what people say when you're stuck.

[Jimmy Whisman]

A rut's never not stuck.

[James Pietragallo]

You don't know what to do. Yeah, you're in a shit of a mess. You say, I'm in a rut. So, yeah, she teaches algebra. Her husband teaches algebra, and her kids go to school at this high school as well, so couldn't be better for them. In fall of 2011, she was named KTVQ, which is a local TV station or radio station, one of the two, I assume. TV KTVQ. Teacher of the month.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Teacher of the month. That's great.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, she's teacher of the month. She also had cancer.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Jesus.

[James Pietragallo]

She had beaten cancer as well. Through this time, she had. I don't know what kind, but all I keep finding is that it was a rare cancer, not a common one. And she survived it. She was fighting it for six years of constant going, and she has come out the other side, it looks like here, and she's in remission. So, I mean. Yeah, it's.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's gotta be exhausting. Six years of it.

[James Pietragallo]

Six years. And maybe there's something, too, karma here. She's a nice lady, and she got through it, you know, so that's good.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. Yeah. Beating it is the key. If you're like. If. If you see progress or like, something.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Then you can certainly have a. A desire to keep fighting it. My dad died of it after six years, and.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Boy, oh, boy, he was on the ropes from month one.

[James Pietragallo]

I was gonna say when they. When you were saying. When he first got diagnosed, they didn't. They wouldn't have given him six years. They didn't think he even had that long. Yeah, it was already severely into it here, but Sherry, she beats it. And she runs half marathons now. She coaches softball. She likes to do yard work and go horseback riding and all that kind of shit, so. Loves sports, too. She seems cool as shit. Big Cubs fan. She loves the Cubs and the Minnesota Twins. Like, man, she is a glutton for punishment.

[Jimmy Whisman]

No kidding.

[James Pietragallo]

Just a glutton for punishment. And also baseball.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Both.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, They're American and National League Though.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Pietragallo]

So you can kind of do that. Yeah. And that to me is. It seems like she's also in football. Her team is the Vikings, so Minnesota is the plains team.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, it is.

[James Pietragallo]

It goes over all the way to there. And the Cubs.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Seattle only gets to halfway through Idaho.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, well. And the Cubs were on wgn. So I bet you anything she grew up watching the Cubs on tv. And that's probably how she got to be a Cubs fan. Cause that's how I started liking the Cubs was we first moved. The White Sox were too wgn. Yeah. But fuck the White Sox. I don't know. Didn't care about them.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I loved Frank Thomas.

[James Pietragallo]

I did too.

[Jimmy Whisman]

So much fun.

[James Pietragallo]

I did. I like Frank Thomas.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Bobby Thigpen, was that his name? The pitcher?

[James Pietragallo]

He was a White Sox. Yeah. White Sox reliever. Yeah. Bobby Thigpen. Yeah. All that. They had a. I remember those bad 80s teams like Dan Pasqua and Ron Hasse and all those guys they would trade back and forth with the Yankees. Miserable.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I mean, the White Sox ran shitty right up until the late 90s, I guess. No, it was further than that.

[James Pietragallo]

They've been bad pretty much since the Titanic went down.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. They won a World Series and then went right back to historically sucking.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. To really being bad. Hey everybody, Just gonna take a quick break from the show and tell you where to find all the good [e-mail]. absolutely. Maybe there's some things you've been looking for, some pieces, some clothing that you've been looking for, some specific things that you're looking for forever. Something you used to have, something vintage or maybe something that you know, kind of just different. You know what I mean?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Specific.

[James Pietragallo]

Specific. And Poshmark is the place to find all this kind of stuff. There's so many things on Poshmark where you're like, this is so cool. I didn't know that. Wow, that's from. Then you can find cool. Like I like the vintage stuff, honestly. So, like they have some very cool vintage stuff and some really great brands too. I mean all the top brand Louis Vuitton and Prada and Fendi and Coach and all the big top brands that you could possibly want. And Poshmark is great. You should tell everyone about it because it's wonderful. Poshmark is the leading fashion resale marketplace shaped by real people and real style. Millions of new and pre loved items from daily wardrobe staples to vintage and luxury fashion archive worthy pieces you thought you missed forever. Current Essentials 1 of 1 Vintage finds it's all there. And that's what's cool. That's the thing that's they have all. And whether you're looking for the fancy stuff, like I said, the Louis Vuitton's or the any of that stuff, you're looking for that kind of thing. Or maybe you're looking for like I found like a leather jacket from 40 years ago that's just cool and worn in just right. That kind of thing too. They have it all there. And you could spend so much time having fun just looking for the stuff there. It's all there. And when you're ready for a closet refresh, you can earn real money selling the pieces that you're ready to part with. Reaching more than 80 million users on the platform. Telling you, I've looked around, I've spent hours looking on this. I love it. It's so much fun. And you can do it too. And you're going to find stuff that you didn't know you even wanted.

[Jimmy Whisman]

The hunt's half the fun.

[James Pietragallo]

The hunt is all the fun and they have such cool stuff there. Find what feels like you shop and share your style on poshma today. New deals and styles are listed every day, so don't wait. Download the Poshmark app and use the code Smalltown murder when you sign up to get $10 off your first purchase. Or shop now at poshmark.com smalltownmurder and get $10 off your first purchase. That's P-O-S-H-M-A-R-K.com smalltownmurder Now back to the show. Hey everybody, just gonna take a quick break from the show to tell you how to make your house nicer and and just better with Three Day Blinds.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Three Day Blinds.com the number Three Day Blinds.com.

[James Pietragallo]

absolutely. And I'm telling you what, I've bought blinds and I've got blinds from three day blinds and it's a way better experience. I don't want to go to a store and stare at blinds. I don't have. I don't have a whole Saturday afternoon to sit around looking at blinds and go to, you know, listen to salespeople and all that kind of thing. I'm not doing that. So three day blinds is where you go. This is the, the way to do it. I'm telling you, it's the best. There's a better way to buy blinds, shades, shutters and drapery and it's called three day blinds. Get in there with them. They are the leading Manufacturer of high quality custom window treatments in the US and right now, if you use our URL3dayplines.com STM they're running a buy one, get one 50% off deal. You can't beat it. You can shop for almost anything at home. Why not shop for blinds at home too? That's the best place to do it. Three day blinds has local, professionally trained design consultants who have an average of 10 plus years of experience that provide expert guidance on the right blinds for you in the comfort of your own home. You just set up an appointment and you'll get a free no obligation quote the same day. So can't beat that if you're not very handy. DIY what projects? They're fun, but measuring and installing blinds can be a bit of a challenge. That's got to do that right. Their Expert team at 3 Day Blinds handles all the heavy lifting. They design, measure and install so you can sit back, relax, and leave it to the Pros. I love 3 Day Blinds. I got them for the studio, so it's really nice. Keeps everything out. And they're nice. They're thick. They feel like they keep some sound out too. Sure, they're excellent. They look great. That's the other thing. They're beautiful. They were installed super easy. They're fantastic. With three day blinds, you choose from thousands of options that fit any budget or style. You can't beat it. Let's get in there, guys. Right now. Get quality window treatments that fit your budget with 3 Day Blinds. Head to 3day blinds.com stm that's the number three for their buy one, get one 50% off deal on custom blinds, shades and shutters and drapery for a free, no charge, no obligation consultation. Just head to the number three dayblinds.comSTM one last time. That's buy one, get one 50% off when you head to number three. D A Y blinds.comSTM now back to the show. She and Gary would take the kids to Disney World. Okay, go do that. She was a big baker. She liked to bake desserts. Oh, I mean, she's doing, she's doing great. And her and Gary would. They would go out for long walks together and big, long walking talks together to hang out and Seems like she's in a good relationship. You would imagine. And January 7, 2012, she got up before dawn, put on her New Balance shoes and went out a running. There she goes. She had recently run a half marathon in Deadwood, so she runs all the time.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, she did that huh.

[James Pietragallo]

So the scene of the shoe. Now, at the scene of the shoe, they also find her hat as well, off a little further, you know, like a beanie cap there. Sure. There is evidence of a struggle in the loose gravel and frozen mud. The frozen mud seems to be disturbed.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Footprints and.

[James Pietragallo]

Okay, yeah, you can see that there's no witnesses to anything that happened here. They can't find anything. The area is like an industrial area. They're in. This isn't like in a neighborhood. This is kind of often an industrial area. There's a truck route that runs along the Sydney Sugars plant. So that's what it is. It's basically. And where she was in January in Montana, it's very dark and very cold, and there's nobody there. So just this industrial area by the Sugar plant on a truck route she's running on, which they probably run that. Cause there's no cars going down there. Cause the truck's not going there yet.

[Jimmy Whisman]

There's that. So they don't slide off the road and hit you and such. But less traffic means more ice, doesn't it? I'd be afraid to slip and fall on the cans.

[James Pietragallo]

It can. But, I mean, if you're running in Montana in January, you figured out ice. She probably put some. You might put those little ice clips.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I suppose you could put, like, little spikes on your shoes or something.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, I have those little ice spikes for.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, do you?

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, yeah. I have some for, like, shoveling if it's really frozen out. You.

[Jimmy Whisman]

You know, do they just, like.

[James Pietragallo]

You clip.

[Jimmy Whisman]

They just go in your shoe?

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, you pull them and they, like, pop on the bottom.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, got it.

[James Pietragallo]

Okay. They're pretty simple. Just to kind of break it up a little bit. They're not like, thicker. They're long or anything. But this is a safe place that she's usually running in. This is Sydney. There's no crime. There's no anything going on here. So the running shoe on the side of the ditch signaled something's wrong mixed with the signs of a struggle and that, you know. You know, she didn't just, like, kick a shoe off because she was hot or something. And she's not usually the type of person. No one would think of her as someone who would take off and run away. And especially with one shoe, she's probably not gonna run away. So her husband Gary is obviously the first person they look at to say what the fuck went on. Here's the question.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

He is cleared by law enforcement because for the sole reason that he was fully Cooperative from the first moment. Which a lot of people are. Fully cooperative and also fully guilty.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, they're fully cooperative and fully full of shit. Full of shit. Fully questioning.

[James Pietragallo]

What do you know? But Gary, they seem to really believe him. And a criminal profiler speaking to the news in the days after this disappearance said about the shoe, that shoe in the ditch, Not a good sign. Looks to me like it's an abduction. Something somebody pulled her into a vehicle. I'd go with somebody over something.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Right?

[James Pietragallo]

Unless Sasquatch pulled up in his van and yanked her in there. I think it's probably somebody. I'm gonna just.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. Nice job. Well, you went to school for that.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, yeah. No, he's FBI all the way, this guy. This is huge news around here. Not only cause women don't usually disappear, but also she is a popular figure. She's a local teacher. She was just profiled on the news as a teacher of the month like two and a half months ago.

[Jimmy Whisman]

And a mom responsible for five children. Yeah, she's got shit going on. You don't just disappear.

[James Pietragallo]

Absolutely. I mean this is national news too. The Washington Post picks it up. Albuquerque stations pick it up everywhere.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Albuquerque, all the way down there.

[James Pietragallo]

All the way down there. Yeah. Even the NOAA weathers website even had

[Jimmy Whisman]

look for the national organization of something.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. Of. I can't remember what the hell it is.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Weather.

[James Pietragallo]

I'm too focused on this now to get into weather. But yeah, that's what it is.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's a big one though. That thing's important.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, no, that's. They look at all the storm shit I believe there. And also Sydney High School, they have a basketball game and they have a moment of silence before the game for her even though she's just missing. Now the profiler who said she's probably been abducted by something or someone. Something or someone. Fucking idiot. He also noted that when looking around because they clear the husband and there's nobody else. It's not like she's had an affair or anything like that. So they're kind of a dead end there. So they start looking at. But are there registered sex offenders around? Oh, someone that might pull a woman into a car. You know what I mean?

[Jimmy Whisman]

They're getting like dead serious.

[James Pietragallo]

Oh absolutely. They want to find her bad. And they said Sydney had 41 registered sex offenders, all male, within approximately one mile of the jogging route. So there's 41 perverts in a. Good Lord in a one mile circle of this place. Can you imagine that? What a shit. What a shit. Selling circle, that is.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. I assume that there's quite a bit pretty much everywhere. We don't know unless you like really look at. But I mean if you look at your neighborhood, it looks like it has chickenpox on that website.

[James Pietragallo]

Absolutely.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's ugly, it's.

[James Pietragallo]

But this, I mean 41, 41 square mile. That's a lot. That's a lot. I don't know.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That feels like they did that on purpose.

[James Pietragallo]

Well, I mean, how many of these oil workers are registered sex offenders? Probably.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, there's two.

[James Pietragallo]

Probably quite a few. It's kind of a nomadic lifestyle and shit.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Probably a lot of unregistered too.

[James Pietragallo]

Plenty of unregistered. So you put that in there. And then they probably all have to stay in one area because there's a school over here they can't be near. So they. I'm pretty sure they're all in there.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Or there's a house that's like designated for it.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, this is pervert house. And we all stay here. That by the way, 41 in that small average is four times the national average per capita. So this is like sex offender.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Wow.

[James Pietragallo]

This is like a sex offender vacation spot or some shit over here.

[Jimmy Whisman]

On average it's 10 per square mile. We got it. We got work to do.

[James Pietragallo]

I don't even know if it's that, but in the town they have four times the cap per capita. I don't know how they're doing the math.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Jesus Christ.

[James Pietragallo]

Ten of them were non compliant with register registry requirements and had potentially unreported addresses too. One was a level 3 offender, which is the highest risk for repeat sexual offense and the highest threat to public safety. Out of 41, only one was a level three. That's pretty interesting. So that's what they have. So they gotta go on a pervert roundup now and go talk to all these perverts and find out who did what here. Hey, knock, knock, knock. Hi, is there a. Yes, we're looking for the local sex pervert. Hi. Oh, it's you. Okay, yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Hi there, pervert.

[James Pietragallo]

Can we search your house for one New Balance shoe please?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, have you got a left of this man?

[James Pietragallo]

Then? January 11th. So four days after she disappears, an anonymous tip comes in. Okay, Sydney police receive it and it is an anonymous tip saying that a 22 year old man that this person knows named Michael Spell, S P E L L has been overheard talking to family members about a woman that he and another man kidnapped and killed. So overheard. This is a very, you know, this Is a real.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Family members heard that.

[James Pietragallo]

There's a real nebulous anonymous tip here. He was overheard saying this, and that doesn't really register a lot. But they do also give a description of a vehicle that he might be traveling in.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's good.

[James Pietragallo]

So it's a 1993 green Ford Explorer. So that's what they're saying now. The guy that they're talking about is Michael Keith Spell. He's 22 years old. He's from Parachute, Colorado. He has an IQ of 70, is illiterate as fuck, and described later as having the mental age of about an 11 year old. And the education, what his dad says, of a kindergartner. Yeah, that's what we got here.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's what was absorbed all the way up until then.

[James Pietragallo]

Or a first grader. I apologize.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Pietragallo]

That's his functioning level. They say first grader.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, boy. How long did he drop out? Do we know when he finished school?

[James Pietragallo]

Oh, yeah, yeah. He didn't finish school at all. Yeah, no, he dropped out pretty early here. He had. He's had some criminal problems in the past few years, which is why they want to look at him even more. He had been declared incompetent to proceed on two prior legal matters in Colorado because of his stupidity.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's already gotten off on two charges because of it.

[James Pietragallo]

Oh, yeah. One of them was a Colorado case in 2007 involving drug possession, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and sexual contact without consent.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, that's called rape. What are we talking about?

[James Pietragallo]

Well, it's not rape if it's not

[Jimmy Whisman]

penetration of some sort.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, that's not. Technically, if you grab somebody's ass, they can't say rape. That's not rape.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Pietragallo]

That's like saying it's raining out when it's not raining out.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yes, that is sexual contact.

[James Pietragallo]

That's sexual contact without consent. Now, I don't know if maybe that law needs to be updated for whatever, but it doesn't seem like it's rape. No, but it's gross.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Whatever it is, it's certainly not good.

[James Pietragallo]

No one should be touching anybody.

[Jimmy Whisman]

And it's all on the same account, too, with the alcohol and such. That's not good.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, I think so. He gave whatever drugs to this person and then had contact with them. Sexual contact with consent is just sexual contact. It's not against the law. So without consent is implied if you've been arrested for it. Also in 2009, that was dismissed due to his dumbness. Then in 2009, he was arrested after asking a student at what was then St. John Middle School to text a fellow students and ask any of them if they wanted to buy some weed. Oh, well, at least he wasn't slinging dick. But still, the arrest affidavit said the student, who was 14, said Spell provided him with weed and the two had smoked. And he said, hey, text all your friends and see if any of them need weed.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's just trying to make money. Okay?

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. So he faced charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, attempted distribution of marijuana and solicitation to commit distribution of marijuana. He was represented by a public defender who twice successfully requested psychological evaluations for him and the case was dismissed and sealed. So, yeah, so imagine getting off being

[Jimmy Whisman]

he's too dumb to understand that that isn't okay.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, he's too stupid. Like they looked at it and they were like the 14 year old who he asked is way more mature than him. Wow. So what do we do here basically? And what do you do with a guy like this? I don't know. He's a big guy too. Like he's a Lenny. Like he's a big, big Lenny. Like what do you do with a guy like this? Honestly, it's. This is a go to a weed

[Jimmy Whisman]

legal state, first of all.

[James Pietragallo]

That would be one thing. It's a very of Mice and men situation with him and his friend here that we'll talk. Talk about. So he was initially free on a personal recognizance bond co signed by his father with whom he was living. And then in 2010 he was arrested on a failure to appear warrant in that case as well. The bond carried a $5,000 penalty in case of default and his father was issued a notice of forfeiture. But it all ended up being just dismissed after a while.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Didn't matter because he's too dumb anyway.

[James Pietragallo]

He's too dumb. He has a girlfriend named Angel Cruz, everybody. Again, we've said this, we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times. I don't want to hear that you can't find somebody. This man has an IQ of 70 and a criminal record that includes words like sexual and without consent. And he's got a girlfriend. You can do it. Fellas, I'm sorry.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's had charges dismissed cuz he's too dumb.

[James Pietragallo]

Too dumb to even deal with it. That's sorry. They have a son together. This woman lets him impregnate her somehow.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She gave him consent.

[James Pietragallo]

Oh God. He had consent. At one point here. So he's got about a 1 year old kid at this time that they're looking into him. And he's got a one year old son, a girlfriend named Angel Cruz. He's got a father named Harry who sounds like he's exhausted by him completely. He still loves him and he's there for him, they say. His family said he left Colorado on January 4th to pursue oil jobs in the eastern Montana, western North Dakota area. In this area, Spell's father Harry said that his son had traveled with a friend of his up to the oil fields after his friend, meaning you know, Michael's friend, had guaranteed work that pays up to $2,000 a week. Dang damn good money. If you can go up there, make 100 grand a year and you're in parachute Colorado.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

To make that. To make that in a rural area without owning a ranch or your own business is impossible. It just doesn't work like that. So that's great money.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. That's why a lot of them like just drag a trailer and go from field to field because you can make two grand a week and not have any fees to pay. That's amazing.

[James Pietragallo]

And that's why these states do this also because places like Oklahoma, they went from having zero earthquakes to having like 800 earthquakes a year because they're doing this crazy shit. But people want the jobs. It's like putting a fucking prison somewhere. It's the same thing. Well, there's jobs there. Yeah, but it's also show up to work full of felons also. So what are we doing anyway? His father Harry, said that his son was anxious to prove himself to his parents and his girlfriend and even his son, who doesn't know anything yet, but

[Jimmy Whisman]

will someday knows as much as he knows.

[James Pietragallo]

They're pretty similar. Michael found work in the past in oil fields near Parachute and on a fire damaged cleanup crew, but was unable to keep the jobs because, and I quote, this is his father. He didn't quite understand what to do. He's too dumb to work on a fire damage cleanup crew.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He doesn't know rake put in bag.

[James Pietragallo]

See that shit that's burnt?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

Clean it, get rid of it. Can't process that. I mean, this guy is.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Get it out of here.

[James Pietragallo]

Scary dumb. His dad said he might be 22 years old, but he has an education less than a kindergartner. Wow. So the man he drove to Montana with is Lester Van Waters Jr. Van is his middle name. He's 47 years old. So 25 years older than Michael Spell. He's a Florida native. Moved to Parachute, Colorado. He's originally from Indian River County, Florida, which is on the east coast of the state. There he grew up with an alcoholic father who more than once apparently fired shots at him.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, boy.

[James Pietragallo]

Like bucking shots toward your kid. He also has four sisters. He worked construction and roofing, which is the. That's maybe the rapiest of all the construction workers. It's a tough one. It's a tough.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Certainly some of the hardest work.

[James Pietragallo]

It's the shittiest work. It's the work that you are doing. You'd be moving somewhere else on the crew unless you had a long criminal record. That makes you do whatever the hell you can. You'll take whatever you can get. Basically go up there.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Roofers, we're tired of you down here.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, roofers are scumbags. Sorry if any roofers are listening. Look around. You're probably not a scumbag if you're listening to this show, but look around you right now. How many scumbags do you see? A bunch. Right. Would you trust any of them around your daughters? Put it that way, probably not. So he's a conservative.

[Jimmy Whisman]

They're here because they can't work indoors.

[James Pietragallo]

No one will allow them indoors. That's why they're here. No one will even allow them to on ground level. They have to be up closest to the sun.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Go up top and outside.

[James Pietragallo]

Mop that tar, buddy. Also, he has seven felonies that we'll talk about. His lucky number is seven, by the way. He's got seven felonies and seven children. Wow. With five different women. Okay, well, I was hoping for seven. I was hoping for triple sevens, but fives. He's done three stints in state prison, so his numbers are 7, 7, 5, and 3. At this point. He should really play that in the lottery. If there's one of those quick picks or something, he should do that. He did three prison stints between 2002 and 2010. His criminal history in Indian county dates back to the late 80s and includes weapons, possessions, narcotics, possessions theft, trespassing, leaving the scene of a crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, sale of cocaine, burglary. Shuts up a lot, contempt of court, resisting an officer, multiple counts of driving with a suspended license, and then, of course, failure to pay child support. Because at this current time, he's $84,000 in arrears on child support. $84,000, Jimmy, you're never clearing that. That's like, what we hear from, like, you know, some NFL player who is getting sued or something. He owes $112,000. Cause, you know, he has to pay, like, $8,000 a month or whatever.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's only six months behind.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, this guy's probably 12 years behind. He's never paid anything. He also uses about a dozen aliases as well, and he's also been charged with giving police a false name.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Pietragallo]

Makes sense as well, because he's got aliases. His former Florida co worker and roommate remembered him thusly. And wow, quote, he worked hard and partied hard. We made money and he partied real hard. That was his main goal. And, girls, I know that he was wild, and I know that we partied a hell of a lot in our years, but there was never any violence in it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Just party, babe.

[James Pietragallo]

He said the word party three times in two sentences. And girls also, which is funny. And he has one asset, and that is a green 1993 Ford Explorer. Oh, okay.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I know that.

[James Pietragallo]

August of 2010 is when he moved to Colorado after he was released from prison in Florida. That's when he met Michael Spell. So pretty recently. And he told Spell, there's money in them thar hills and them oil fields. Let's go get it. So January 12, the day after the anonymous tip, the FBI interviews Angel Cruz, Michael Spell's baby mama and girlfriend, and she tells them what Michael Spell told her, and that was that quote, he and a man named Lester had abducted a woman. Why would you tell your girlfriend that? I mean, what have you been up to?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Well, sometimes you're just honest to a fault.

[James Pietragallo]

You know what I mean? To a fault. That's the problem. The guy's just too honest.

[Jimmy Whisman]

We got such a great relationship. I tell her everything.

[James Pietragallo]

Just tell her everything.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Including when I abduct women.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. And also Michael had told her that they strangled the woman and shoved her face in muddy water until she was dead. That's what angel tells the FBI.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, I didn't hear a single why.

[James Pietragallo]

None of that. If I'm her, I'm not getting that far in the conversation. No past. You abducted a woman. What? You did what? That would be the end of it. And then they came home, she got all the way down to this shit where he did all of this. He told her that Lester forced him to bury the body and that Michael said he was just wracked with guilt and he was terrified of what Lester would do to him if he said anything. So she also gave a vehicle description of a 1993 green Ford Explorer. So they locate the green Ford explorer. Lester Waters Jr. Is taken into custody because he's the one inside the vehicle. Michael's not in the vehicle. They don't find him in there. They're not together anymore.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Pietragallo]

Inside the vehicle, they find a Walmart receipt dated January 7, 2012. The same day Sherry disappeared for items including a shovel.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, boy.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, this is. Wait till you hear about the shovel. Now, Michael had stolen Les Waters Jr. S phone after the murder, apparently, and began hitchhiking towards South Dakota.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Wow.

[James Pietragallo]

So he's just on the side of the road with a thumb out with his stolen phone.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Somebody else's phone. A bad man's phone.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. The SWAT team pulls up and gets him off the side of the road. So that's where he is. He's taken into custody and transported to Williams County Correctional center in Williston, North Dakota, because he was in North Dakota at the time. Now, Michael spell. When he's booked into the jail, the only things he has in his possession are his stolen phone and $11.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Eleven bucks?

[James Pietragallo]

Eleven bucks. That's what he's got to his name.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's a good thing y' all got me. I'm out of money.

[James Pietragallo]

I'm about out of money. Yeah. I had about one extra value meal left in me, and that's about it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

One extra value meal or about two hours at a motel.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, one or the other. Yeah, totally. So the FBI brings him in for formal questioning because he was in another state and he's from another state, and it's all very confusing. And the FBI was doing a profile anyway. Now he is gonna spill it. He confesses. But the problem is he tells them what happened, but with. With certain tweaks on it and changes to it that make himself a little bit less guilty here and kind of shield himself a little bit here from guilt, one of those things. But he is the first to talk here. His dad talks to the media and says he's got less education than a kindergartner. And my son is all messed up, and he left with some criminal asshole who told him there's all sorts of money in the oil fields. Now, what Michael tells them is, first of all, they ask him if he understands his Miranda rights. They go through it all. They go, do you understand your rights as we've told you? And he said a little bit, Which I've never heard that response to, do you understand your rights A little bit. This is like Brendan Dassey up there. Yeah, it's worse. It's worse.

[Jimmy Whisman]

This is a guy that's been fired because he didn't understand his job.

[James Pietragallo]

He didn't understand cleaning up burn things. So the FBI agents give him a second opportunity to decline to speak without speaking to an attorney. And he said, I'll just talk to you, I guess. But he understands his rights a little bit.

[Jimmy Whisman]

A little bit?

[James Pietragallo]

He insulted him a little bit. You gave him his rights a little bit. So he says, January 4th, we left to get oil jobs. Our destination was Williston, North Dakota, and this oil boom. You know what I mean? And so they said that the trip was basically a marathon of crack smoking the entire time.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Pietragallo]

That's how they started. They loaded into the Ford Explorer.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Day one.

[James Pietragallo]

Day one. Day one.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Crack.

[James Pietragallo]

As soon as they got in the car, he said Lester Waters was already high on crack when they got in the car for the trip. And basically the drive is 800 miles. And they basically just consumed crack cocaine for three straight days.

[Jimmy Whisman]

God dang it.

[James Pietragallo]

Just three days of crack smoking and driving. Okay. He said that Lester Waters smoked crack continuously. And Michael told the police that Lester forced him to smoke crack, too.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Forced me? Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

Forced me to smoke. I had to do it. Yeah. So he says somewhere on the drive, this is January 7th, is when this happened. Lester Waters told Michael Spell that the crack cocaine quote brought the devil out in him.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, boy.

[James Pietragallo]

It's been known to do that, by the way. Yeah, it really has. It'll bring the devil out in quite a few people.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Crack, you chase the dragon with heroin, but bring the devil out here with her.

[James Pietragallo]

Bring the devil, yeah. You chasing the dragon? Nah, man. Bringing the devil. That's what I'm doing right now. So. That shit is evil, though, with the devil. Crack is fucking evil. I mean, not that that's a hot take, but if you've ever known anyone who's severely addicted to crack, it is a fucking mess. It's a mess.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. I mean, thankfully, I've only seen really Close Up a lot through documentaries, and obviously that is. Boy, oh, boy. I've known dudes that smoke crack, but

[James Pietragallo]

I had friends that were absolutely addicted to, like, they'd bring home whole payphones.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

The whole phone, to try to crack him. They'd bring in cigarette machines. Jimmy and Tire cigarette machines. They'd bring into the fucking house. You're like, what's going on? They're like, you want to buy a pack of cigarettes? Two bucks.

[Jimmy Whisman]

And then it's so buried.

[James Pietragallo]

It's so. But they're gonna get it. They got it. They made a key, they poured, they smelted Jimmy, they smelted a key to make a master key. Nickels or something, I don't know. The one guy was an older crackhead, so he had tricks, but that's Satanic Bill. And they made a key out of metal. And they made it and poured it into a lock and all this shit so they could unlock. They had like a master key to phone boxes so they could unlock them.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I mean, you better pray to fuck that that works. Because if it doesn't, now the keyhole's

[James Pietragallo]

full of molten metal that's full of that shit. Only crackheads would think to do that. That's what I mean. I was like, you guys are nuts. So it's a lot. So anyway, he apparently began talking about kidnapping and killing a woman. Lester does now. Michael Spell said. I thought he was kidding at first, but then I realized he kind of wasn't kidding.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's a shit joke.

[James Pietragallo]

Yes, it's a real weird joke. It doesn't come up very often. So they're driving through Sydney that morning. The streets are quiet, it's still dark. They found a woman they were going to kidnap. She was at a Laundromat, but she got in her car and left before they could do it. They were planning it like, okay, you're going to do this. And then she went and took off. So there was no way to get her.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Imagine being her.

[James Pietragallo]

Then they went down Holly street, which is known as the truck route that runs past the Sydney Sugars refinery. And as we know, also running on that street is Sherry, Sherri Arnold. Apparently they drove up behind her. It's about 6:30am they drove up behind her. And according to Michael Spell's confession here, Lester told him to get out of the vehicle. So he got out and he jogged slightly ahead of Sherry, acting like he was jogging. There's a lot of people Super High on three days worth of crack cocaine jogging at 6:30 in the morning. It's very normal.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I'm sure he's got all of the jogging apparatus, all the accoutrements, clothes, shoes, all of it.

[James Pietragallo]

Was it 2012? He's got like the ipod on his arm. That's what people used to have back then.

[Jimmy Whisman]

All that strapped to it with that little rubber sleeve.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, he's got all that shit. Hey, everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show to tell you about Chime.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Chime.com.

[James Pietragallo]

absolutely. Don't you want a bank that's on your side? That's what Chime is. They're gonna get your paycheck early you can get rid of all these ridiculous fees. This is what you need. These are people that are on your side. Go with Chime, everybody. Chime is changing the way people bank. They offer the most rewarding fee free banking. This is fee free banking. It's built for you, everybody and me and Jimmy and everyone. It's built for us as people. They're not like traditional old banks that charge you overdraft and monthly fees. They have thousands of fee free ATMs. Why do you want to pay to get your own money? It's your money. You put it in there. You don't need to pay to get it out. It's built for you. Not some 1% people out there, but for real people. Chime members can benefit from up to $1,150 in annual rewards fee free. It's awesome. It's the best. Direct deposit unlocks the most rewarding way to bank at Chime. Chime is rated five stars by USA Today for customer service. Real humans 24 7, you're not just going to be switching banks. What you're doing is you're upgrading to America's number one choice for banking. With a chime checking account. Get 5% cash back on Chime card. In a category of your choice like gas or groceries, you get savings that grow faster with 3.75% APY. That's good stuff. Can't beat that. That's nine times higher than the national average. That's real. That's real money in your pocket. Plus you get premium travel perks like airport lounge access and 247 travel concierge included. With your Chime car. You can even get up to $500 of your pay. When you say with my pay. So they also have Spot me which lets you overdraft up to $200 fee free. This is the only way to go, everybody. There is no reason to pay ridiculous fees. There's no reason to get your money later. There's no reason for any of it. Chime just does it better so you can do this. It's so much better than what you're gonna have. We love Chime. It's awesome. So get in there and do it. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee free today. Head to chime.com smalltownmurder that is chime.com smalltownmurDer it only takes a few minutes to sign up.

[Ad Narrator]

Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services for MyPay and ChimeCard provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Stated annual percentage yield and cash back for Chime prime only. No minimum balance required. Checking account ranking based on a JD Power survey published October 20, 2025. For APY rates, my pay spot me and travel perks go to chime.com disclosures

[James Pietragallo]

hey everybody. Just going to take a quick break from the show to tell you the best home security available out there. SimpliSafe.

[Jimmy Whisman]

SimpliSafe.com S I M P L I Safe.com Absolutely.

[James Pietragallo]

There is a big difference between traditional home security and Simplisafe. It's just number one. It's so easy when you get it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

You can have the whole system up, installed on your own and live. It's so easy to do it online. There's apps and all this in like an hour. You can do this.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

Which is less time than normally people would take. Just in the window waiting for a technician for they have the cameras and they can see what's going on outside before you. Even before you know what's going on while you're in your house sleeping. They could be yelling at someone through your system telling them to get out of here. The cops can be called and you're like, what's going on now? It's great. They take it. They take the initiative. They go after it before there's a problem. They make it so there's not going to be a problem for you. It is so good. We really, really love it. It's easy to get secured. You can easily customize a system that's right for your [e-mail] and it ships to your door in just a few days. With an app, guided setup and no drilling required, you can install and arm your system under an hour. No need to wait for technicians or any of that. It's not just a camera. It's a comprehensive ecosystem system of sensors, cameras for inside and out and 24. 7 professional monitoring. In the event of a break in, fire or flood, Simplisafe's agents are ready to take action. No long term contracts. There's no lock ins, no hidden cancellation fees. Simplisafe earns your business by keeping you safe, not by trapping you in a contract. That's great too. Their pricing is also really good. 24. 7 monitoring for a fraction of what traditional brands charge you. And they were named America's best customer service by Newsweek. And over 5 million people trust SimpliSafe every day and US news and world Report ranked them the best home security system of 2026. We also rank it that way as well. We want you to experience the same peace of mind that we do, which is why we've partnered with SimpliSafe to offer an exclusive discount to our listeners. Right now, you can get 50% off your new system by visiting simplisafe.com small that's half [e-mail] small S I M P L I safe.com small there's no safe like SimpliSafe.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Now back to the show.

[James Pietragallo]

He said hello to her as she passed. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Then because she's faster. She's running. He ran up behind her and tackled her from behind.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, God.

[James Pietragallo]

He called it a rugby tackle, which I don't know how much rugby. This guy's a tackle. I think just a football tackle. He said he forced her face into the muddy ground and he choked her. And then they dragged her into the car, into the Explorer.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Good Lord.

[James Pietragallo]

Into the backseat. Now, he's going to give a couple conflicting accounts to different people of exactly what happened inside the vehicle. In some versions, he killed her. And in other versions, Lester Waters choked her in the backseat. But we do know that he said that she was choked to death. Basically, she was strangled. Then she's dead back there. So they covered her up in the back of the Explorer under a blanket.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's it.

[James Pietragallo]

That's it. They didn't realize that they'd left a hat and a sneaker at the scene, either. They didn't realize that, you know, when you're high on crack for three days, shit slips by. Certain things fall in the cracks. You know what I mean?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. You don't pay attention to details.

[James Pietragallo]

Deal is, certain things get lost in the ether. You know, that's how it works. Lost in the crack smoke. So the Explorer, they drive east across the Montana line into North Dakota. They reach the area around Williston, which is kind of the epicenter of the whole oil boom here, and. And the streets are jammed and there's all sorts of. Lot of chaos going on in this town. They stop at Walmart, buy a shovel, keep the receipt smartly enough. Wait till you hear why, because this is amazing. They then drive to a rural area outside Williston. Lester tells Michael to dig. You know, he's younger. If you're 47, you're with someone that's 22, they're digging. Sorry. Hey. If you're digging a hole and there's someone 22 next to you. Who's digging? Who's taking first? Shit.

[Jimmy Whisman]

You're not gonna feel this in the morning. No, you start.

[James Pietragallo]

I'm gonna feel this for five days. If I do this, I'm gonna take

[Jimmy Whisman]

Advil for the next three.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, yeah. It's gotta be amazing. I'd love to remember. Cause I've always been sore, so. But I'd love to remember what it would be like to do something like that without taking Advil first. Like, I preemptively take Advil now. When I do things, I'm like, well, that's gonna hurt. I better do things.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I went to my parents.

[James Pietragallo]

We're not even that old. This is scary.

[Jimmy Whisman]

And they had the parents participate. Oh, no, that was Tuesday, James.

[James Pietragallo]

I still hurt, still limping around. I went bowling Tuesday and I'm still sore, too. My leg is sore. It's fucking horrible. Okay, so he's digging. Spell's digging. He says they dig about a three foot grave. They place Sherry's body inside the grave and they cover it up with some dirt.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Boy, what a stupid thing to do.

[James Pietragallo]

Insanely stupid.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She's so stupid.

[James Pietragallo]

Nothing to gain. She had nothing jogging. So you're not robbing her. She's not wearing her jewelry or carrying her fucking purse with her credit cards. And it's stupid. It's just pointless. So then they drove from there, you know where they drove, Jimmy? Home, back to Walmart. Can you imagine why you go back to Walmart?

[Jimmy Whisman]

They're not going to return this.

[James Pietragallo]

They absolutely returned their grave digging shovel for a refund. How crackhead is that?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, yeah, that is. That is buying a circular saw to fix up your house and then taking

[James Pietragallo]

it back and then returning.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Fucking jerk.

[James Pietragallo]

At least you didn't buy a circular saw to saw dismember a person and then bring it back. Because this is even crazy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

This is crazy.

[James Pietragallo]

Yep. Then he got his money. He got his money back and he walked out 11 bucks. He says that Lester ordered him to grab her and that he didn't know what else to do. So he says he's afraid of Lester Waters. He's older, he's scary. The next day he's in jail talking to a fellow inmate, Michael Spell is. And he tells the inmate the story he told his girlfriend, the version where he's the one who grabbed her and he pushed her face into the muddy water and all that. So that's corroboration from all sides. So he's told that to multiple people. People. So they charge both men with deliberate Homicide and attempted or aggravated kidnapping. They initially faced the death penalty here as well.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

They both plead not guilty.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Wow.

[James Pietragallo]

Okay. March 21, 2012. This is almost two months later. Finally, Lester Van Waters Jr. Agrees to lead the authorities to the location of the body. They still haven't found her.

[Jimmy Whisman]

They haven't. Yeah, they haven't. Oh, my God.

[James Pietragallo]

Nope. They haven't recovered her. So. She is found in a rural area outside of Williston in about a 3 foot hastily dug grave. The autopsy finds black, gritty, unidentified material in her stomach and trachea consistent with her having had her face forced into the muddy ground.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Unbelievable.

[James Pietragallo]

Horrible. Fucking horrible.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I aspirated it.

[James Pietragallo]

She didn't do a fucking thing to anybody for no reason. She beat cancer and teaches kids fucking algebra. She's an angel. That's crazy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Wow.

[James Pietragallo]

This is ridiculous.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I can't believe these people exist on this planet.

[James Pietragallo]

I don't even know what to say about it. I mean, the other guy, Lester, you look at this is exactly what you'd expect from him. You know what I mean? It seems like. I just can't believe anybody does this.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. I can't believe I expect that from someone.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. Now, the fact that they brought this body across the state line triggers federal jurisdiction for kidnapping, giving the FBI's Salt Lake City division a role in the investigation as well. So now you got the federal government up your ass. They have a funeral for her. 2000 people attend this funeral. This is in a town of 5,000.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, a town.

[James Pietragallo]

2,000 people attend the funeral. They have it at Sydney High School's gymnasium. They put Chicago Cubs hat and flowers on her casket. Her husband Gary, said he'd like to thank the police, the FBI, and the people of Sydney and the people who have turned out to help and the role they played in bringing Sherry back home. It wasn't how we wanted her to come home, but she came home to us. Jesus. Even he's a nice guy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. I mean, at least he's got her. And that's the. I mean, there's a lot of that don't. And that's fucked up. That sucks so much.

[James Pietragallo]

There's a lot of tributes to her and there's a lot of be careful out there. Shit. There's a shutupandrun.net, which, hey, we have shut up and give me murder. So that's pretty good. They have a bunch of posts about the whole thing, keeping everybody updated. So the defense for Michael Spell wants to suppress his confession.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really?

[James Pietragallo]

His defense attorney said basically he's a fucking moron. He had no idea what his rights were. Yeah, he didn't know what his rights were. They asked him if he understood. He said a little bit.

[Jimmy Whisman]

A little bit.

[James Pietragallo]

That's not enough.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He wrote, they ask you if you want ketchup.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. They said Mr. Spell believed the FBI agents were his friends and he was simply helping them solve the disappearance and murder of Mrs. Arnold. And when he gets a little happens

[Jimmy Whisman]

to know all of the answers.

[James Pietragallo]

That's the problem. That's the problem. They say they tricked him. And with dumb people. That's what they do a lot. I need your help. We're all in this together. You're practically an FBI agent. That's how they would treat him and then do this.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Deputized.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. And the prosecution countered law enforcement did nothing wrong. It's not their fault. He's a moron. He's a moron, but he's still out murdering people. So what do you want? They said they'd been patient, deliberate. And that disability, while relevant, must be assessed in the totality of the circumstances because the judge is going to allow the confession into the trial. Is he competent? Because he's been said he's not competent.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He didn't get charged for weed. Concession.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. This is a big thing. This is murder. Defense psychologist. But in the eyes of the law, it doesn't matter whether it's jaywalking or murder. You're either competent or you're not.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. My point is just that he wasn't competent enough to sell weed.

[James Pietragallo]

Exactly.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Now we're gonna try him for murder. What are we talking about?

[James Pietragallo]

Oh, you're saying. Yes, that's what I was saying too. We were agreeing on that one. Okay, so I misunderstood. So, yeah, this is defense psychologist testified that Spell has a child's mentality and a subservient personality that makes him easily manipulated, especially by older people. Okay, he's gullible. He's gullible. His intellectual disability has been documented all the way back to age five as well. There's plenty of school things. They said he played Sonic the Hedgehog with his toddler. He played Kingdom Hearts. His aunt in law. Aunt in law described watching him play. She said he's like a kid playing those games. You saw the light on his face.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Well, I got news for you, James. You're a dumb dumb too.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, you don't sound real smart either. Aunt in law Tina, you seen me

[Jimmy Whisman]

play those games, I look like a moron.

[James Pietragallo]

Oh yeah? I look like an idiot myself. So Meanwhile, August of 2013, Lester Waters Jr. Pleads. He's gonna plead guilty.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, he's got to.

[James Pietragallo]

To deliberate homicide by accountability. Meaning he was held responsible for the killing even if he did not personally perform the fatal act. They're leaving that in the wind. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the death penalty and kidnapping charge. He has to agree to testify against Spell if it goes to trial. Okay, so he's gonna plead to that. Now there's a three year battle for Michael whether there's gonna be a trial over his confidence. Could they. Basically they're talking about his intellectual disability. They're saying, could he be sentenced to prison or a treatment facility? Can the death penalty legally apply here? Cuz he's not bright enough. And the Supreme Court had said, you can't execute people that are this stupid. One guy, also a clinical professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, interviewed Spell twice and testified, quote, he's not smart. We got that. I observed him being really confused most of the time about the questions he was asked and not being able to provide adequate answers to show he could understand the conversation. Uh oh. They said that he's prone to distort past events and he's basically just a mess. They said during his two month evaluation he'd been observed playing video games, doing laundry, playing cards and manipulating other patients. That's what a state psychiatrist said. They said he earned video game privileges by behaving well and he had shown rarely seen perseverance in reaching level three of whatever game he was playing. He had.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He can't get to level three.

[James Pietragallo]

No. But also he could be good at video games and still be a moron. That doesn't, you know, you could have little. You know, he could be an idiot savant like that. He complained of depression, anxiety, paranoia, voices, poor memory, and his behavior was not consistent with those complaints. They said though, okay, he enjoyed child friendly video games. They also, this doctor from the state said his cognitive limitations were unusual. Patients with intellectual disabilities that are genuine about it pretend they understand. They try to fit in. They don't like an emphasis on their impairments. But we know he's not faking being a moron. We know that. It's documented he's been a moron since jump.

[Jimmy Whisman]

And he probably doesn't like the pointing out of his disability because in the past it's probably been a subject of fodder where bullying and such.

[James Pietragallo]

Absolutely. But the judge rules in May 2014 that he is competent to stand trial.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Pietragallo]

The defense appeals the Montana Supreme Court denies the petition. They moved the trial out of this area anyway. But October of 2014, he's gonna plead guilty as well to deliberate homicide. The attempted kidnapping charge was dropped under the plea agreement. It also removed the death penalty and he admitted his role in the abduction and killing. Sentencing for Lester Waters. He is sentenced. The state recommends 100 years in prison.

[Jimmy Whisman]

100 years?

[James Pietragallo]

100 years. They said that there's a defense investigator that testified this is a guy that had some potential. He has major life problem, or his major life problem was cocaine addiction.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Pietragallo]

He also spoke and said, I'm very sorry for your loss. I truly am. That's what Lee Waters said. Les Waters said. Gary Arnold, Sherry's husband here, said, time doesn't make it easier, but it does change things. My life is different now. It's too late. And it's after the fact. Your apology, it doesn't change a thing. The judge said, Mr. Waters, you're losing your freedom. Sherry Arnold lost her life. The victims aren't limited to Sherry's family. They include friends and residents of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. You set in motion those events that led to her death. You, sir, may fuck off. 80 years in prison with 20 suspended.

[Jimmy Whisman]

So he got 60.

[James Pietragallo]

He got 60. And he's not eligible for parole for 20 years, which is coming up pretty soon. And he's ordered to pay $21,448 in restitution to Gary Arnold. They take his Ford Explorer to be sold. A 15 year old Ford Explorer. I don't know what that's worth, but that goes toward restitution.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Four grand.

[James Pietragallo]

Michael. Sentencing. He tells the court, I know I've hurt a lot of people. I'm just hoping that someday they'll be able to forgive me. And the judge explained that, you know, basically at Walmart while her body was in the vehicle. You didn't ask for help or attempt to leave? I don't want to hear, you're afraid of that guy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

You bought a fucking shovel.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah, they said that. We don't want to hear any of that shit. You, sir, may fuck off. 100 years in prison, no suspended years.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, shit.

[James Pietragallo]

But he's eligible for parole in 2037, so I don't know if you only have to serve like a third of it. It seems like, yeah,

[Jimmy Whisman]

they should have both gotten the same thing, right, because the other guy clearly manipulated him and

[James Pietragallo]

he was the first one to come forward and admit it. So I feel like, if anything, the dumber, younger first one to admit it should have probably got the deal. But I think they gave Waters the deal because he took him to the body and he could remember where it was probably, and he took the plea first. That's also it. Also 2018, more trouble for Michael. He faces a separate charge in prison of trying to kill a fellow inmate.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, my.

[James Pietragallo]

Yeah. He and another inmate beat a man with a lock and fractured bones in his face and ribs. There's a running trail dedicated to Sherri Arnold's honor in Sydney in the same area she ran. June 2024, Michael Spell in prison. He allegedly forced. He and another inmate forced a female corrections officer into a prison cell where Spell allegedly held the cell door closed and the other guy tried to remove his belt so he could start raping the guard. Other corrections officers responded, opened the door, subdued Spell, while the female corrections officer was able to overpower the other guy and handcuff him. Wow. They were checking cell doors and this happens. Spell is accused of distracting the female officer, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into the cell.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, my.

[James Pietragallo]

Holy shit.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's dangerous.

[James Pietragallo]

He is fucking dangerous. He is a dangerous idiot, basically.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Pietragallo]

So he's gonna be charged with felony aggravated assault or aggravated felony charge of aggravated kidnapping and attempted rape as well. Final reactions here. Wow. The lifetime Sydney resident said, the things we've always taken for granted, we can't take for granted anymore. Like Sherry, Sherry's family, her sister said about. She said she wanted justice and the death penalty in the early days. She said, I wanted to drive over them, but we don't do that. Death is not the ultimate goal. Just don't let them out. That's all I'm worried about. Whether it's in prison or an institution or whatever. A very kind, reasonable person is what she is, intelligent and reasonable. I just don't want her out. I don't want these people out on the street. That's it. Her father, Sherry's father Ron, said, it turned this little town upside down. There's evil in the world. And it just happened to touch down in Sydney, Montana on January 7th. That is Sydney, Montana, everybody in a fucked up ass story, right? Jesus Christ.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Two terrible people.

[James Pietragallo]

Terrible, terrible, terrible assholes. Yeah. Just awful fucking people. He might be dumb, but he's a nasty, dumb scumbag. Scumbag. Yeah. So very quickly, at the end of the show here, if you like the show, first of all, give it five stars on whatever app you're listening to. Tell Netflix you'll like it. Do all that stuff. Head over to shutupandgivemerder,.com get your tickets for live shows. Denver May 2nd. Still a few tickets there. And Royal Oak, Michigan May 30th. Still a few tickets there. And then of course Milwaukee, Minneapolis in September. Get your tickets right now for those. Shut up and give me murder.com you can follow us on social media. Small town murder on Instagram. Smalltown pot on Facebook. Got my things mixed up there so you can do that. You can also get patreon patreon.com crimeinsports which is the name of another show that we do that you should listen to because it's hilarious. Crime in sports and your stupid opinions. Check them out. But patreon.com crimeinsports anybody $5 a month or above. You get hundreds of back bonus episodes as soon as you subscribe. New ones every other week. One crime and sports. One small town murder this week crime and sports. The Ecclesia Athletic association supposed to be keep kids off the street with sports and it turns into diddle kids and be gross and have a cult weird Small town murder. Corey Richens part two. She killed her husband. She wrote a book about it for her kids. It's gross and weird and she's a mess and we can't wait to hear about more of that. Patreon.com crimeinsports plus you get a shout out at the end of the regular show. You get all the shows we put out ad free as well. Get yourself Patreon. Do that. Keep coming back and hanging out with us. Shutupandgivemerder.com has all the every links to everything us on social media. All that good stuff. So keep coming back and seeing us. And until next week everybody, it's been our pleasure. Bye. Hey everybody. Listening to small town murder out there. Hi.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Hello.

[James Pietragallo]

Good to see you out there. I'm here with Jimmy too. And this is an ad but not an ad for a product. This is an ad for dates. Yes, come see a live show. The 2026. All the tickets are for sale right now. Starting out with February 21st in Nashville. March 6th in Durham. March 7th in Atlanta. Phoenix is sold out. We do have tickets though to your stupid opinions on 21 March. Salt Lake City sold out. Denver has tickets. Be there on May 2. May 29 Buffalo sold out. Royal Oak, Michigan. May 30 we have September 18 Milwaukee. September 19 Minneapolis. October 3 in Dallas. October 16 in San Jose. October 17 in Sacramento. November 13 in Tarrytown. November 14 in Boston. Come see us. The live shows are spectacular. Come join all of the other STM people You're gonna meet so many people. You're gonna have fun. Make some new friends like crazy. And make some new friends come out and see us. Shut upandgivemerder.com is where you go for those tickets. Get them right now while they're hot.

[Jimmy Whisman]

See you on the road.

[Ad Narrator]

Dryness is one of the biggest challenges for curly hair and many products they clock out after wash day. The new Ultra Moisture collection was literally designed with our hair in mind. Curls, coils, all of it powered by Botano oil and Jamaican Black Castor oil. Which means the science is actually doing the work. Clinically proven to help retain moisture for up to five days, this means non stop moisture for up to five whole days. The shampoo gently cleanses without stripping. The mask deeply conditions and helps reduce breakage. The leave in adds rich moisturization with hyaluronic acid and the curl cream wraps every curl in luxurious hydration with long lasting definition. No sulfates, no parabens, no silicones, no mineral oils. Just nourishment without the compromise. Because here's the thing. Your hair deserves products that actually understand it. Moisture that starts at the root and keeps going well past wash day. That's the Ultra Moisture collection from Cantu. Explore the their full line built for every curl pattern, every hair routine available now at Walmart. Go get it.