
This week, in Cabot, Arkansas, a massive search gets underway, after a real estate agent who was showing a home, vanishes into thin air. Her car, and purse are found at the home for sale. Detectives piece a digital trail together, and find a couple,...
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James Petragallo
Small Town Murder is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, but potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations. Back to school is better with Family Freedom from T Mobile we'll pay off four phones up to $3200 and give you four free phones all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com familyfreedom up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone 16128 gigabyte 8 2,999 eligible trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due if you pay off early or cancel contact T Mobile. This week in Cabot, Arkansas, a popular real estate agent vanishes while showing a rural home, leading to an investigation that could be a race against time to find her alive. But the end result is a horror story complete with insane plot and terrible brutality. Welcome to Small Town Murder. Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder.
Jimmy Wissman
Yay.
James Petragallo
Oh yay indeed. Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petragallo. I'm here with my co host.
Jimmy Wissman
I'm Jimmy Wissman.
James Petragallo
Thank you folks so much for joining us today on an absolutely crazy edition of Small Town Murder. As all of them are. Let's be realistic here. They're all crazy. This one fits right into the pantheon of crazy. So. Oh I can't wait. It's a really weird one and a wild one. We'll get into all that. First of all though, shut upandgivemerder.com is where you get all of your tickets for live shows. So go there, get your tickets today. I think there's a couple left in San Diego from our holds that we put out couple there. Otherwise, Seattle, Philly, dc. Oh no, DC is gone too. So Seattle and Philly are what we have at this point. So get in there, get your tickets right now and keep your eye out because we release our holds from time to time and so you might see a pocket of 20 tickets pop up in a sold out show. So keep your eyes out and if we see it too, we'll let you know. Do that. Shutupandgivemerder.com Also listen to our other two shows, Crime in Sports and your stupid Opinions which are hilarious and you're missing out if you're not listening. And then get yourself patreon. Patreon.com CrimeInSports is where you get all of your bonus material. Anybody $5 a month or above, you're going to get a lot of stuff. First of all, hundreds of bonus episodes you've never heard immediately upon subscription. Then new ones every other week. One Crime in Sports, one Small Town Murder. And that always happens. And you get both. You get everything. Of course. This week, what you're going to get for crime and sports, we're going to talk about gambling in sports since 2018 when it became legal everywhere in the United States. And how many athletes have gotten in trouble gambling since then? It is really remarkable. It just. And it's only gonna get worse too.
Jimmy Wissman
You bet.
James Petragallo
Then for Small Town Murder, we're gonna do something different. I'm gonna give you a choice. Let me know which one you like better. Okay. And I. We will do. Not you. Them. They're paying, not you. How do I care what you like? Sit there and listen to what I tell you. No, I'm just kidding. Okay, here's what we're gonna do. For Small Town Murder, you have a choice of either the history of executions in the United States or Ted Bundy helping catch the Green River Killer. You let me know on. Not on Facebook, because do Instagram, I don't care. At James Petragalo. Just send me a message and whatever. I'll figure it out. And I'm going to do a little polling of my own and whichever one you choose, we'll do this week. The next one will be the next one. So I couldn't pick them. When you pick, I like them both. That's why I'm having them pick. Yeah, I don't know. So let's go give them a choice. Why not? So we'll do that. And in addition to that, you also get all of the shows, your stupid opinions. Crime and Sports, Small Town Murder. All ad free as well. On Patreon.
Jimmy Wissman
That's right.
James Petragallo
Yeah. And you can put that RSS feed into whatever player you use and you can do it that way. It's real nice. And you get a shout out at the end of the show where Jimmy will mispronounce your name. So it's a deal. You can't beat it. That said, disclaimer time. Look, everybody, it's a comedy show. Yes, it is extremely real. Everything in the show is real. No details are made up for comedic effect or any ridiculous thing like that as real as it gets. And we think the research is as good as it gets. So check it out. There are going to be jokes. We're comedians. That's how this works. And there's a lot of reasons to do that. But what we don't do is we never make fun of the victim or the victim's family.
Jimmy Wissman
Why, James?
James Petragallo
Because we're assholes. But we're not scumbags. See how that works? That's how that works. So if you think that true crime and comedy should never go together, you might not like the show. But I'm telling you, we're making fun of murderers and things like that. When someone goes, I think I can get away with this crazy murder. All we can do is make fun of it as human beings here. So that said, I think it's time everybody to sit back, clear the lungs now, and let's all shout, shut up and give me murder. Let's do this, everybody. Let's go on a trip, shall we? We're going to Arkansas this week. Here are going to Cabot, Arkansas. C, A, B, O, T. Cabot. This is in central Arkansas, kind of a suburb of Little Rock here. It's about 30 minutes, he said. Right. Like, you're like, yeah, I know the Cabot. Yeah. I lived in Cabot half my life. Yeah. You know.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, my brother lived in Sherwood and.
James Petragallo
Don'T know where that is at all. It's right outside of Little Rock in the area.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, it's the suburbs.
James Petragallo
This is kind of where we're going to stay. This whole episode's going to Little rock suburbs about 30 minutes outside of Little Rock, about two hours to Memphis and about an hour and a half to Jonesboro, Arkansas. Our last Arkansas episode, Murdering as a family. Which is. That's nice. You want to do that. You want to stay together in certain things that you do. This is in Lonoke County. L, O, N, O, K, E. I guess that's could be Lonokee. Lonokee. I'm not sure. What do I know? Area code 501. The motto here for this town in, you know, the suburbs of Little Rock, quote. It's all here, is it? All of it, Jimmy.
Jimmy Wissman
All the tornadoes. I know that.
James Petragallo
Oh, we'll bring up a tornado history in this town. Whenever we do these states, you know, there's a tornado coming up in history.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
The city of Cabot was originally obviously a small settlement around a refueling station on the railroad. That's all it was really, after it bypassed Austin here. Austin, Oklahoma, or Austin, Arkansas. Which, by the way, before it was Austin, it was Oakland, Arkansas.
Jimmy Wissman
It's all the places I've been.
James Petragallo
Yeah. Next it's gonna be.
Jimmy Wissman
I like to put bumper stickers on my suitcase. What I do is petition the local government to rechange the name.
James Petragallo
Also moving over to Pittsburgh, Arkansas pretty soon. Then I'll be Detroit, Arkansas, when I'm done with that. So. First appeared in 1873. And they thought it's named after a railroad executive, which are always the. That's a real. That's some culture there. Some dude. It's George Cabot Ward. So they just named it. I don't know why they didn't name it Ward, but that's fine. It was incorporated in 1891. It was the 139th city in Arkansas.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow. They've got that many.
James Petragallo
Yeah, they got a lot more. I assume that was in the 1800s.
Jimmy Wissman
Jesus. Fuck. They got so many counties.
James Petragallo
March 29, 1976, a huge tornado destroyed downtown Cabot. Here we are. Killed five people, destroyed a shitload of buildings. And caused a festival that we'll talk about and things to do as well.
Jimmy Wissman
We got the Twister Fest.
James Petragallo
Oh, yeah. Well, no, it was a. I wasn't celebrating the tornado. It was to bring us together as neighbors. Yeah. The Twistival, Cabot Twistival. The population has gone up a ton. It was in the early 80s, it was 5,000 people here. Now there's 27,000 people here about. So, my God, it's really gone up a lot as people have moved out of Little Rock here. Reviews of this town. Here we go. Okay. Five stars. We've never been there. What do we know?
Jimmy Wissman
Never.
James Petragallo
Let's find out what the residents think. Five stars. Cabot is a very quaint and safe town. The schools are amazing. And it is in close proximity to Little Rock and Conway, which are bigger cities.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, Conway.
James Petragallo
Gotta go to Conway, Arkansas. Housing is affordable. And there is actually quite a bit of places to eat and shop. Overall, it's a good town and a good place to raise kids. 5.
Jimmy Wissman
Last time you talked about Conway.
James Petragallo
I think we did it on this show. Yeah, I think we. Yeah, that's what I mean. I think the show. I've never heard of it. Otherwise named after Conway Twitty, of course. That's where they. Yeah.
Jimmy Wissman
Ladies and gentlemen, Conway Twitty.
James Petragallo
Conway Twitty. Three stars. There is just food and shopping. That is all there is in Cabot. I thought it was all here, though, right? What happened? And literally nothing else. Don't move. Here. So it's houses and strip malls is what they're saying. Here's another three stars. I like this one. Cabot is a very nice place to live. The public schools are very good. I never had a problem with the schools. I like that Cabot has the option to graduate early through the ACE program. I also love the little strip mall that we have. Have you ever said, I love the strip mall that we have it.
Jimmy Wissman
Strip mall.
James Petragallo
It has a Marshalls and that is probably my favorite store ever. They got a marsh. If a Ross comes to that town, her head's gonna fucking explode.
Jimmy Wissman
Blow her fucking mind. They got Perry Ellis in that store.
James Petragallo
Oh, my goodness. God. I saw Liz Claiborne one star here.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Ugh. I am not from Cabot. That's the first issue. Three years here and still no friends.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, they don't take to outsiders well.
James Petragallo
Either that or you could be an asshole also. You never know, man. We don't know. That's what I'm saying. I'm the first to blame this sort of thing, but I don't know. It could be you. The only thing I have experienced is absolute snooty, stuck up, fake people. I travel to Little Rock for activities and for shopping. It's like two different worlds. Okay, so, yeah, the small town and the smaller city are still very different. I've never been so relieved to move. And people who were born and raised here will speak very highly of the town. But if you're not from here, you will see the town in a whole different view.
Jimmy Wissman
You bet.
James Petragallo
We don't take kindly to outsiders around here. People. 26411 is the current population. Few more men than women or fewer women than men. I'm sorry. It's about 50.8% women. Median age here slightly below the national average about three years. It's 35.8 here. So that's pretty low. Higher marriage rate than normal. It's about 54% married, which we get in these, like, suburbs. Outside of these bigger cities. More people are married with children here than most places. Race in this town, 88.9% white, 1.4% black, 1.5% Asian and 5.7% Hispanic. Religion here. Normally in the rest of the country, 50, 50 here it's 46.5%, which is lower than I would have thought, honestly. But the highest one is going to be. It's going to be Baptist. Yeah. As we know, Baptists are the Catholics of the South. Obviously. They are. That's pretty much it. I mean, it's mostly Baptist and a couple other Christians. 0.0% Jewish. It's pretty Baptist. Unemployment rate about average here. Maybe slightly below median household income. Little below the national average. It's. It's 62,654 here.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Like 7,000 less than the national average. The cost of living here, which is what's important I guess in that. In terms of that shit is out of a hundred, which is regular. It's 82 here. Yeah. And the housing is the lowest thing of all. The median home cost here is $211,800.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Which is pretty inexpensive. In Arkansas.
Jimmy Wissman
You can't insure it.
James Petragallo
Yeah, no, no. The tornadoes will take it. The twisters will take it. In Arkansas, the median home cost is 181. So that's like, you know, a little less than half the. Or a little more than half the average. So that's. Good Lord, it's pretty cheap. And if we've convinced you. Damn it, Cabot, Arkansas is the only place for you. You gotta be that Marshalls is calling you. You're like, I sense deals in the works here. We have for you the Cabot Arkansas real estate report. The average two bedroom rental here goes for about $940 a month. So cheap. Cheap. About 300 less than the national average. House number one is a fucking mess. That's the only way to put it. Three bedroom, one bath, 1,074 square feet. It's on about an acre and three quarters of land. So decent sized land. But I'm gonna show you this house right now. It doesn't look like it's like.
Jimmy Wissman
No, it looks like a grime scene.
James Petragallo
It doesn't look like it could be occupied. It's like where you. Where you find a body in an abandoned place. It's all fucked up. Look at the inside. It's a mess. Like there's just shit piled everywhere. It's just a disaster.
Jimmy Wissman
There's not enough room to survive.
James Petragallo
No, it's not. With all that shit in there anyway.
Jimmy Wissman
Jam all your shit in piles.
James Petragallo
Man, that is 74,000 bucks for that thing.
Jimmy Wissman
Steep.
James Petragallo
I mean, it's almost two acres. I guess you're really buying the land.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
And it says that it is a fixer upper and. Oh shit, you betcha. The metal roof is three years old. That'll keep you up at night. And it has central heat and air that don't work. It says central heat and air. Non working exclamation point. Like that's a selling point. But it does have A window unit and a wall furnace. So there is that. Okay.
Jimmy Wissman
And a roof that ain't rusty yet.
James Petragallo
Oh, man, I ain't even rusted yet. Here is one. A three bedroom, two bath, 1566 square foot house here. This is kind of a nice family house.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, yeah.
James Petragallo
Flagstone on the outside inside or whatever those stones are. I don't think it's flagstone, but other nice wood floors redone on the inside.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
Smaller lot. Not gonna get the two acres here.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah. But decently appointed house.
James Petragallo
But a much nicer house by far. $174,000.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
And that just had a. Yeah, it's.
Jimmy Wissman
Probably $100,000 worth of work that just.
James Petragallo
Had a price cut of fifteen and a half thousand dollars yesterday. So a little back you got. And then finally a five bedroom, six bath. T ball for each and every B hole, baby. Five. 1,118 square feet. Now we're talking. Look at this bad boy. Oh, that's a big house. Big old house lots.
Jimmy Wissman
Four car garage windows. That looks great.
James Petragallo
It's a nice house. It's goddamn nice. It's on two acres. Also. $820,000 for that well. Which is expensive Square feet of house for Arkansas. But yeah, if you put that house in that land anywhere else, it would be extremely expensive things to do in this town. Okay, let's find out what there is here. First of all, is the Cabot. The Cabot Fest in downtown Cabot. It says largest celebration in town. And this is the one. It was established in 1978 to celebrate Cabot's resilience after the tornado. Yeah, that's literally what it was for. And it says it continues to be a symbol of community spirit and togetherness. It offers something for everyone, which I'm not sure about that. What do you think it offers for me? What do you think I would like there?
Jimmy Wissman
Maybe there's an Italian truck too.
James Petragallo
Yeah, that's what I love. Italian food from Arkansas. That's where I got it.
Jimmy Wissman
In a truck.
James Petragallo
In a truck. I like my food from a truck in Arkansas mainly. That's where I buy it.
Jimmy Wissman
This is fascinating. This is like that third little pig just gloating.
James Petragallo
So it says, get ready to groove to live music from talented artists across different genres. No mention of who those people are or even the genres. That scares me. Take a spin on thrilling carnival rides. So let a meth addict operate a ride that came out of a truck for your child. That's perfect. Explore the vibrant booths showcasing local crafts and unique finds. So people's handmade shit. So local bands, people's handmade shit and meth addicts doing a fucking tilt a whirl out of a suitcase. Perfect. Excellent. Sounds perfect. Families can enjoy dedicated entertainment zones for the little one while everyone can test their skills and maybe their stomachs at the legendary. I couldn't. You couldn't guess the next words I'm going to say if I gave you till the end of time. The end of time. I can get it at the legendary cricket spitting contest. Cricket spitting? You spit crickets?
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, it's not.
James Petragallo
No, the crickets. You can't force make them spit. You spit out crickets and see how I guess far you can. You can shoot them. If I gave you till the end of time, would you have guessed cricket spitting contest?
Jimmy Wissman
I mean eventually at the end of time I might get.
James Petragallo
What the fuck kind of mad lib is that? Cricket spitting contest.
Jimmy Wissman
You'd have to give me a clue.
James Petragallo
Holy shit. And then finally, Twisted Nightmares. Haunted house is also something to do here. Seems to be a big deal. It has good reviews. 4.9 stars out of 134 reviews. We've done those haunted houses on your stupid opinions and they usually aren't so highly rated here. It's very weird though because look at the picture. They have like this horrifying looking clown there.
Jimmy Wissman
Mouth is closed and it's got teeth painted on its face.
James Petragallo
And then they have this one.
Jimmy Wissman
What the fuck? That's like real Pennywise.
James Petragallo
But it's just smiley though. It doesn't even look scary. It looks happy, like shitty teeth.
Jimmy Wissman
No, he's just a smoker.
James Petragallo
It's just like. It's like Ronald McDonald's got a cousin who's, you know, a little off. That's what it looks like. It doesn't look like horror or anything.
Jimmy Wissman
No.
James Petragallo
But this, it says. This is from a Facebook post in October of 2024 because the Cabot Fest is in October and obviously they're operating in October. And it says be out on the lookout tomorrow at Cabot Fest. We are going to be out there handing out a few free admissions and some buy one get one half price slips. This will only be valid for tomorrow night, 7pm to 12am Cabot Fest special. So it's all intertwined, the Cabot fest and the 1/2 off.
Jimmy Wissman
That's fun.
James Petragallo
I mean, yeah, we're not going to. I mean let's not go crazy.
Jimmy Wissman
We can't give it away.
James Petragallo
And it is only tonight for from 7 till 12. So if you're at this thing and you decide on the fly. I'm gonna go to the haunted house. Fine, half off of 1. But you gotta buy 2. Crime rate in this town, what we are interested in here, property crime is slightly above the national average. And there we go. And then violent crime, murder, rape, robbery and of course, assault. The Mount Rushmore of crime is about one third beneath the national average.
Jimmy Wissman
Huh.
James Petragallo
So. So a little more property crime than anything else here. That said, let's get right into this because we got a lot of murder to talk about and some weird stuff. Okay, let's start out September. This is a Thursday, Thursday evening, September 25, 2014. So not very far. Everything is exactly the same, pretty much. You have the same phone and the same social media that you still have the same at for and everything else. 9pm okay, now there's a man named Carl here, Carl Carter, CC. Now, Carl Carter here, he calls 91 1, okay? And 911 says, what's your emergency? And Carl Carter Sr. Says, My wife, her car is here. The door's open, but she's gone. Please help me. That's what he says.
Jimmy Wissman
Please help me.
James Petragallo
Please help me. My wife, her car is here. The door's open but she's gone. Please help me. That's what he's saying. That's his quote. So police arrive and it's not at Carl's house, by the way.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh.
James Petragallo
Police arrive to an empty house, a for sale home as a matter of fact. And they arrive, it's 14202 Old River Drive. And I'll give you some housing stats on that and everything in a little while here. And Carl is saying that, yes, my wife Beverly is a real estate agent and this is the house. She texted me that she was going to be showing tonight. It got to be 9 o' clock and I started to worry about her. So I came over here and her car's here, the door's open, but she's not here.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
Okay. That's his story. 9pm 9pm she was supposed to show the house around 6. That was the plan. So she's got a brown Cadillac SUV in the driveway. Purse is on the passenger seat. So that's interesting. Credit cards visible in an open. I mean it's. Yeah, if you wanted to rob something, there it is. The house door is wide open as well. So now Carl says that he went because they said, well, what did you do when he got here? He said, well, I think the door was wide open. So I went in and I yelled, beverly, Beverly. And you know, I used My phone flat. There's no power, so I use my phone flashlight looking for Beverly. Beverly.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
He said, I checked every room, even the attic.
Jimmy Wissman
Really?
James Petragallo
Yeah. Which I was like, who the hell climbs up to an attic? That's wild.
Jimmy Wissman
Is it open? What is it?
James Petragallo
No, it's an. I mean, it's probably one of those pull down jobs with the stairs that come down. I mean, that's. To go up there would be wild. Now, right away, investigators find that his fingerprints are all over the house, Carl. All over the place. So they're like, you had time to touch everything in the house in the minimal time it took you to go in, look around and call us. You had time to touch everything, essentially. But they're not finding a lot of other fingerprints anywhere. So they're like, hmm. I don't know about your story there, Carl, but we'll talk about it. So let's find out some background on Beverly and Carl and see what's going on here. Now, Beverly was born Beverly Lynn Lowndes. L O W N E S. Later on she'll be Beverly Carter, but for now, Beverly Lowndes, she's born December 20, 1963. She was born on the McClellan Air Force Base in Anniston, Alabama, as a matter of fact. And yeah, she's very. I mean, she's kind of a middle America kind of a story. I mean, her dad was in the Air Force and just kind of a middle class, normal upbringing.
Jimmy Wissman
Anniston, Alabama, huh?
James Petragallo
Yeah. Which we've covered twice.
Jimmy Wissman
She's got PCBs.
James Petragallo
She's got all sorts of PCBs. And a dipshit writing for a local paper as well. She's got a lot of stuff.
Jimmy Wissman
I remember that place.
James Petragallo
Oh, we remember it well. I remember ripping that guy a new asshole and then getting no response, which was fun. I like that.
Jimmy Wissman
Some health issues, this lady.
James Petragallo
So Beverly is very friendly and very good at meeting people, very good at gregarious. She can just go up and talk to somebody and they feel like they've known her forever. One of those type of people. Yeah, life of the party. But just making good at making people feel comfortable and trusting her right away. She's just that kind of person. Which would make sense that you'd be a real estate agent later. That's kind of the qualities that you.
Jimmy Wissman
Need, is you'll move some houses.
James Petragallo
You gotta move some houses. With that personality. I'd be a terrible real estate agent because I'd be like, here it is. They'd be like, well, what about this. You fucking like it or not? I don't know. What, do you want me to change it? That's what it is. This is the house. Do you like it or not?
Jimmy Wissman
You said you wanted these things. This house has them.
James Petragallo
This has them. No. You're buying this fucking house. I've had it with you. You buy this house or not? Asshole. I'd be the worst real estate agent, I swear to God. So by 16, she got a teenage job and was. She worked at the Dairy Bar in Texas, which is ice cream and hamburger stand. Got it essentially. And this is in 1972, so you gotta put it back that time period. So she's just selling burgers and shit here. That's when she meets old Carl Carter, swaggering in, looking for a burger here. He's three years older than her and is a construction worker. So an adult. So a 19 year old construction worker is going to the hamburger shop, going, I'm gonna get me that teenage girl right there. Yeah. He's apparently a charming guy. He's not the most refined, but charming. Has a charm to him. He'd order the same thing. Yeah, exactly. He'd order the same thing every day and always make the same joke too. He's that guy. She'll remember me.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh boy, that's not gonna get old.
James Petragallo
He said, I knew I was gonna get a wife when I got that hamburger. That's what he said. Later on I went in looking for a hamburger and a wife. No mayo please on either. Thank you. Pickles on the wife, but no, keep them off the burger. They have some trouble. They get married at the courthouse. No big wedding. No, you know, none of that like, you know, small town wedding shit. None of that stuff. No, they just go to the courthouse and, you know, she didn't even have a wedding dress.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
They just went dressed in their regular shit. No big reception, nothing. They just had her got married. They had some trouble early on in their marriage. Carl hit her one time.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, Carl.
James Petragallo
And she always says it. Once he hit her, he was drunk and he hit her and they got over that. She believed him when he said he wasn't going to hit her anymore. And he didn't. I mean, they were together for 30 more years and he didn't hit her anymore. Don't know what he was thinking that one time. That's. It's very rare that someone hits you once and then never again. So.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah. Do we know how he hit her? Was it like a deal?
James Petragallo
I don't know.
Jimmy Wissman
Cops?
James Petragallo
I guess. Yeah. I don't know how drunk he was exactly too. I mean, I don't know if he was stumbling drunk or what. It's not that that's an excuse, but I'm just saying I don't know what would make him do it once and not 20 more times is all I.
Jimmy Wissman
Was going to say. Maybe swung at something on accident or.
James Petragallo
Who the hell knows?
Jimmy Wissman
You don't know?
James Petragallo
Who knows? We don't have no idea. He cheated on her one time as well.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, really? He makes every mistake just the once.
James Petragallo
These are two things that usually you don't stop doing.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, right.
James Petragallo
Well, usually they don't stop. If someone hits you or cheats on you, that's because they're a woman beater or a cheater. That's only two things. So it's rare that they do those things once and then learn their lessons. That's very rare.
Jimmy Wissman
He will gamble all the mortgage money away. But he'll only do it once.
James Petragallo
He'll only do it once. That's the thing. Whatever he does, he'll do it once. That's all. It's very strange. Like, I swear I'll never do it again. Who believes that?
Jimmy Wissman
Nobody.
James Petragallo
He actually did. It's very strange. Beverly gave him a second chance on that one too. And this is, by the way, not while everything is going swimmingly otherwise. Throughout the beginnings of their marriage, they have no fucking money. They bounce from trailer to trailer. I mean, they're a young couple. They start having kids. He's got construction jobs, they're living in trailers. They'd have to stay with family sometimes, so they could just have a place to stay. It's a rough. It's rough. So they end up having three sons as well.
Jimmy Wissman
That'll help.
James Petragallo
That'll help. Have three kids. All C names, by the way. Carl Jr, then Christopher. In 1984, he's born and then Chad is the youngest. Oh, so all Cs, Carl, Christopher, Chad. Ran out of cuh names.
Jimmy Wissman
Switched it up a little. With Chad, it's like.
James Petragallo
Well, I don't want people thinking it's with a K. Yeah, I don't want.
Jimmy Wissman
People thinking it's weird.
James Petragallo
So 2003, the family suffers some tragedy. At 19 years old, Christopher dies in a car accident.
Jimmy Wissman
Fuck.
James Petragallo
Yeah, that's rough. The middle child, he's 19. 19 years old, yeah. So now Christopher at 19 already had a wife and a daughter.
Jimmy Wissman
Dang, Chris.
James Petragallo
Yeah, a daughter named Bailey. Now Beverly ends up taking in Bailey. I don't know if the mother couldn't handle it or what. But Beverly ends up being her granddaughter's caretaker. Yeah. Hey, everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show to tell you how to get better wine in better ways with Naked Wines.
Jimmy Wissman
Nakedwines.com yeah.
James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
So good.
James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
Now back to the show.
James Petragallo
Hey everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show to give you a better way to shop with Thrive Market.
Jimmy Wissman
Thrivemarket.com you know it.
James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
Now back to the show.
James Petragallo
Raised her, Raised her up. All of her friends say that, that, that messed her up a bit, her kid getting killed in a car accident, which, it would mess anybody up, but she wouldn't let it hold her down type of thing. She was going to try to keep progressing in life and all that. Now in the early 2000s, she gets her real estate license. She decides maybe that's something I could get into as the Kids are getting older. A lot of women in their 40s where their kids are getting older, they go into real estate.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah. They can make their own schedule, and.
James Petragallo
It works very well, and you can make some money. My stepmother did that in the early 2000s, and she did very well for a while. So she gets her license. It's hard to start. Apparently, in real estate, it's not easy to start because you don't have clients.
Jimmy Wissman
We got to know who to call, and you use who you used last time.
James Petragallo
Usually she was cold calling at first. I mean, that's. Want to buy a house? No. Okay. Hello? Want to buy a house? No. Okay. That's rough.
Jimmy Wissman
After dinner. I'm only in the at part in the market. Got a long way to go.
James Petragallo
Anybody in the market there for a house? No. Okay. That's so crazy. So she had a. It was tough, but she persists, and her personality is perfect for real estate. So she was going to figure it out, and then she did. She figured out how to do this and becomes a top salesperson in the company.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow. What company?
James Petragallo
Do you want to know it is? Cry Leak Realtors. Cry is C R Y E Realtors. It's in north Little Rock. And she becomes a top salesperson for them. Top 10 in her office, top five in Arkansas at one point. She once sold $12 million in inventory in a single year, which in Arkansas is like 4,000 houses.
Jimmy Wissman
That's like the state capital.
James Petragallo
Yeah. It's like three houses in LA or 150,000 in Arkansas. One of the two. That's what she makes. It's pretty much. But she is known for big smile, big laugh. When you see her real estate picture, you're like, that's a real estate agent lady. Absolutely. One of her coworkers said she had a big goofy laugh that just made you smile. Billboards all over the highway with her face smiling down on them. She's that real estate agent that everyone in town knows who she is because they know about her billboards. They're all over the highways now. By 2014, she's 50 years old at this point, and she decided to make herself over. Oh, I don't know if this was to feel good or for her job or whatever it was, but she said, I gotta look better on those billboards, man. She lost 60 pounds.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
At 50, that's not easy either. No, that's tough.
Jimmy Wissman
That's dangerous.
James Petragallo
She called a mommy makeover, got a tummy tuck, got some cosmetic surgery, get the bags under the eyes fixed or whatever. All that shit. So she got the whole deal. She started training for marathons at 50. She's gonna run as well. She would. She would. Her and travel. Carl would go traveling. They renewed their vows and they finally had. They had a big wedding and a reception with all their friends because they couldn't afford it when they were 18. So, I mean, she's. She is reinventing herself, man. Good for ladies in her middle age.
Jimmy Wissman
Everybody's just like, you go get it, girl. A guy does this and it's like, douchebag.
James Petragallo
Look at him.
Jimmy Wissman
Fucking worried you're gonna die. What's the matter?
James Petragallo
Where is that from? That's from something. What, are you worried you're gonna die?
Jimmy Wissman
I don't know.
James Petragallo
I think it's maybe burr. I'm not sure. It's funny, though.
Jimmy Wissman
What's your problem? Why are you so concerned with your mortality, you fucking dork?
James Petragallo
No, never mind. Health stuff. Guys aren't allowed to do anything cosmetic to look any better.
Jimmy Wissman
God, no.
James Petragallo
Nothing. I mean, nothing. We're not allowed to do anything. It's like, look at you, loser. What's the matter? You don't like being a fat fucking ugly shit? What the fuck, loser? What's your problem, pussy? Like, what are you talking about? I can't look better? No, but it makes me feel better too. Fuck. What do you fucking have feelings? You pussy. What the fuck? Who cares what you think? That's.
Jimmy Wissman
That's why he's so scared.
James Petragallo
Yeah, etc. But we go, that's good for you. You go, girl. And it is good for her. I'm happy for her. But we should be able to do it too as well.
Jimmy Wissman
Tell them who runs their life, show them whatever.
James Petragallo
We should be able to do it too. That's all. I mean, I don't want them to not be able to. Yeah, I just would like us to be able to, you know, maybe do things.
Jimmy Wissman
I want to benefit too.
James Petragallo
Yeah. So. Thursday, September 25, 2014. Okay. Beverly starts out her day very well. Remember, this is the day we started at 9 o' clock at night. Beverly, that morning, wins $50 in an office contest.
Jimmy Wissman
All right?
James Petragallo
Not sure why, but she liked it. She won it. She was laughing and she said, maybe I'll frame it. My first earned money that isn't commission. She was joking. First money I've ever got, I didn't have to earn. So that day, she helped a younger agent with a client that was kind of a pain in the ass. Kind of helped guide her through the process. She, one of her co workers Forgot their lunch, so she shared her lunch with them. Oh, very nice lady. She texted Carl that day. Having a great day. Love you. With exclamation points. Not bad. They've been together like 35 years. That's pretty. Pretty good. Not bad.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, Communication of affection. That's nice.
James Petragallo
Not bad. Exclamation points after 35 years is pretty impressive.
Jimmy Wissman
Exclamation of fortune. That's nice.
James Petragallo
Not even I love you. Like now I'm gonna die or whatever. I love you and I do. So she has a busy day, but she has one last showing at 6 o' clock, and that is a couple a Stephen and Crystal Adams are interested in a property at 14202 Old River Dr. In Scott, Arkansas, which is a small town of about 70 people just outside of here. Yeah, very, very, very, very small place. Where? Here's the house. Here, I can show you that big house. Nice house.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, that's those. Those attic window things, huh? Coming off of it.
James Petragallo
Exactly, exactly. So, you know, decent house. And this is a house that's been on the market for a minute. And otherwise, because she didn't want. She had a long day, but she's like, fuck, this thing's been on the market for a while.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, I'm tired of looking at it.
James Petragallo
And there's not a lot of interest in it. And someone's interested in it and they said they're cash buyers and ready to. If they like it, they're gonna move quick on it. So she's like, fuck, I gotta do this. So one of those things, you don't feel like it, but you have to. So she says, I got a six o', clock, I gotta show these people Stephen and Crystal Adams. And you know, she said there's always a buyer for every house, basically. And this house, she staged it herself. She spent her own money on flowers and shit like that. And yeah, like she was really trying to sell this goddamn house. Yeah. Do all that kind of crap. So Beverly calls Carl here that day and she said, hey, honey, I've got one more showing. That couple I mentioned, the Adams, the old. The house on Old River Drive. I'll grab Mexican food on the way home, my treat. She says, I'm gonna sell this fucking house. Sell this house. And I'm gonna grab me some fucking carne asada and I'll be on the way home.
Jimmy Wissman
Jimmy, I'll be home in a bit.
James Petragallo
So she then texts him the address of the home as she. Every time she does a showing, she texts Carl the Address, which is smart. Yeah, that's what you do. That's. You know, Sarah sends me, if she's in an Uber, she sends me a screenshot of the. What it is and everything so I.
Jimmy Wissman
Can hunt some man and whatever name Adams ends up being like a real Adams family. Know where I'm at?
James Petragallo
Yeah, yeah, that'll work there. That was so 9:30pm that's when Carl Senior calls. 911 says, what's your emergency? And my wife is here. The door's open, but she's gone. I said, police arrive, he tells his story. He's got fingerprints all over the house.
Jimmy Wissman
Right.
James Petragallo
That's the story. So 10pm to midnight, the police are really going over this place with a fine tooth comb because it's clear that nobody just leaves their car in the driveway with their purse wide open with all sorts of shit. And the house door swinging open too.
Jimmy Wissman
It's got to be somewhere nearby.
James Petragallo
Yeah. So at this point, friends and co workers start to gather at the scene as well. And this is like late at night on a Thursday night. But they hear that. What happens? So everybody comes here now. They notice that dust disturbance. There's some dust disturbance on the floor. And when they look at it in whatever light you can see, you can see that someone. Basically it's a person laid down on the floor. You can see that. That's how the dust is disturbed in the shape of a person on the floor. They also find tire tracks on the lawn near the front door. Like somebody backed their car up to the front door on the lawn. That's how that goes. And neighbors, when they canvass the area, neighbors report seeing a skinny white male with a black car around earlier in the neighborhood. They don't know if that was. They didn't see them like leaving the house, but they saw him in the neighborhood, in the neighborhood earlier. Skinny white male with a black car that they haven't seen before. So 1am comes around. It's now about seven hours since anyone's heard from Beverly at this point, which is a little bit weird. And at this point, everybody's texting her too. I mean, you know that there's some foul play here just based on the.
Jimmy Wissman
That's very strange. Yeah.
James Petragallo
If I see the purse on the front seat, I'm going some. You know, alien abduction is best case scenario here because this is. No one leaves the purse on the front seat. So that's what's interesting here. Now they're all texting her. At one point, Carl gets a text back from her at 1:00am oh, Carl gets a text back and it says, sorry for phone being dead, having drinks now. That's what it says in the text.
Jimmy Wissman
So she doesn't know that we found her car.
James Petragallo
Yeah, like it's. Yeah, I'm just out, I'm having fun, I'm having drinks. I don't have my ID or my purse or anything like that or any money to pay for them, but I'm out having drinks.
Jimmy Wissman
The house, cash. Right. So fast.
James Petragallo
We're celebrating.
Jimmy Wissman
The front door open and we're having drinks already.
James Petragallo
Champagne's a popping.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, right.
James Petragallo
Carl knows it's immediately not Beverly. Number one, because that's ridiculous. And number two, she never ever, ever drinks. She's not. Doesn't drink, period. So she ain't out having drinks. No.
Jimmy Wissman
Also, sorry phone being dead is a weird thing to say.
James Petragallo
Sorry phone being dead. It's not her. Obviously. One of Beverly's co workers also texted her earlier. A little bit earlier. Did you leave that red folder on my desk? Which is real estate code for are you in danger? It's an industry standard thing, they all do. Could you leave that red folder on my desk? Means are you in danger? So if you hear someone saying that they think you're a creep, that's what that means. They think you're a huge fucking creep and a problem. So there's no response that this person got. So the only thing that only one text has been replied to and that's at 1:00am and that's sorry, phone being dead, having drinks now. And like I said, Carl knows that Beverly never ever, ever drinks. So there's something amiss here. So by the next morning, this is the biggest story in Arkansas.
Jimmy Wissman
Can't be any bigger.
James Petragallo
Huge because everyone knows her face. She is. All they have to say is Beverly Carter from the. And they show the the billboards. Oh, shit. Everyone knows who she is. So that's a good thing in one way. Where a missing person, where everyone knows what she looks like, that's pretty helpful. You don't need to really distribute flyers. Just go look up there. See that fucking 10 foot tall picture of that blonde lady? That's who we're looking for.
Jimmy Wissman
Remember when the Empire Glass guy got murdered in Phoenix?
James Petragallo
It was crazy. That was wild. So it's a big story. Flyers and tv. It's on social media. Find Beverly trends. It's a big deal. By that morning, There are over 200 volunteers doing search parties that morning. I mean, it's wild. Real estate offices across the area are closed down. That Day, and their employees come to help look for Beverly. They closed ranks. Yeah, well, this is. I mean, if there's somebody out there kidnapping a real estate agent, what are you going to do? Go show houses today? That's crazy. You know, that's a great point. Yeah, fuck that. We got to find this shit first. So all of these volunteers gathered to search by foot. They got ATVs everywhere in the area, just scouring. They question residents to see if anybody has seen anything. Just anything you can do. So a lot of volunteers gathered at the Stone Links golf course in North Little Rock. They figured that would be the starting point before they would split into groups to get basically going closer to the area of that home, closing in from, like, her office to that home somewhere in there and seeing if that's part of it. One of the realtors who works with Beverly, he coordinated the effort, David Goldstein, and he set up a grid of the area to develop a plan to search everything we possibly can. He said. He said, we expect we will get information today. My expectation is to find Beverly and to find her okay. But time is of the essence. So I don't know what evidence he's basing that on that I feel like we're gonna find her. She'll be okay, but. Well, that she'll be okay. The first 48. No one's ever okay.
Jimmy Wissman
All right, great point.
James Petragallo
There is someone's. It's the first 48. Because someone wasn't okay.
Jimmy Wissman
But the first in class doesn't start. If you don't find them in the first 48, it's a problem. Or if you don't solve it in.
James Petragallo
The first 48, solve it. Yeah. A kidnapping, if you don't find it, like, in the first hour, you're in deep shit, basically. Yeah.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
So, man, it's. Why now? Carl is also there, too. He said that it means everything to me. Everybody's support, the prayers and emails, the Facebook posts, the sharing, everything. It just shows that what we give is appreciated and it comes back when we need it. Now, the volunteers, they're looking in all the drainage ditches. They're knocking on doors and every door. They're looking. If a bush looks disheveled, they'll go in it. Like, they're just looking everywhere. A lot of people just walk the shoulders of the US 165 highway, just poking sticks into the tall brush, just looking for anything as they walk down the highway. And also waving big signs with her picture on it as the cars passed by, too, saying, missing with her Picture. I have a picture of one of these people doing it. Deputies respond to reports of several possible leads. But by midday on Saturday, all of those leads turn out to be bullshit or just dead ends. Yeah, one group found a towel along the highway. Could be from anybody. Could have flown out a window out of the back of a pickup truck. They don't know.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, that's. Yeah, that happens all the time.
James Petragallo
Another saw tracks in a field that looked fresh. Again, you're in rural Arkansas. Anybody could have taken their ATV out there. A truck tracks, officer. I mean, people drive off the road in Arkansas quite a bit, so that's not that weird. But they're looking for any little thing here. One person here, Susan Vaught, who worked with her at the real estate office, said that she learned of this in the middle of the night. She got a phone call, and she helped investigators to access Beverly's computer to try to find out who she may have been showing the home to. So they're looking at it on a digital front, too, and they're looking at tire tracks and everything. She said it just. It's just on and on and on, trying to find clues or just trying to find clues. Somebody's going to find her alive. That's the only call we want. It's the only one, judging by the name of the show. I don't know if this lady's gonna get what she wants. Let's just say that.
Jimmy Wissman
I got news for.
James Petragallo
It's. It's gonna be a tough one.
Jimmy Wissman
Somebody's not gonna know.
James Petragallo
Someone's gonna die. We don't know if it's Beverly, but somebody's. Somebody's dying now. The real estate community within 24 hours immediately start changing all other practices in the Little Rock area. They start using the buddy system. No going to a house alone to show it to anybody. Bring another agent with you. Offices now through the area. Require preliminary meetings before showings. You can't just call and say, I want to go look at that house. And they go, okay, I'll meet you there. You got to go down to the office and fucking talk to them. They got to get a copy of your driver's license and all that kind of shit. Then they'll send you out with two real estate agents. And also self defense classes in the area. Enrollments surge 300% by Saturday afternoon.
Jimmy Wissman
Isn't that fascinating? That human nature is wild.
James Petragallo
We're very reactionary.
Jimmy Wissman
And we start learning how to fight.
James Petragallo
We're reactionary. Yeah, about everything. About anything and everything. Yeah, We're Totally reactionary.
Jimmy Wissman
And this is fascinating too. It's like if you're going to kill one real estate agen, now you have to kill two.
James Petragallo
Yeah, well, maybe that's a guy.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Yeah, maybe that's a way of getting, I mean, how else do you get like, you know, pretty well made up women into an empty house with you? If you're a creep? Yeah, that's the way to do it, I guess. I mean, so here's one thing they look at is, was Beverly messing around? Did she have something going on on the side? Got a little affair going, who knows? You know what I mean? So one of the investigators told one of her friends, Brenda Rhodes, basically, is what happened with Beverly, Is she seeing anybody on the side? Is she doing this? And this person was like, no, absolutely not. No. Beverly is what you see is what you get. And this investigator said, everybody has a secret life. And her friend said, if you knew Beverly, she was an open book.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay?
James Petragallo
No secret lights, no secret life. And it's confirmed by the investigation. They find no dating sites, no deleted history, no secret life. Just a lady that goes to work, sells houses and comes home to her husband. That's it. That's all she does.
Jimmy Wissman
That officer was befuddled. He's like, well, I gotta stop doing that. Secret life?
James Petragallo
Yeah. Jesus fuck. I think I just told on myself, this isn't good.
Jimmy Wissman
Everybody has secret life. Not this one. Well, I'm gonna stop being an asshole.
James Petragallo
Is it just me? Do I have a secret life? I've been telling my wife that for years. And she, you know, it's been working out. I don't understand it. Holy shit. That's funny. So all through Saturday, Friday into Saturday, it is just hundreds of real estate agents and cops combing the fields and combing Arkansas, looking at tire tracks and trying to find anything. And they have no, no idea where she is. None.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
Sunday morning comes around. This is, we're going on. This is, you know, day three of missing. Now this is the whole weekend. This is bad. This is when investigators get a break in the case. A little break here. They're working on the digital end of it, not on the, you know, if this was 1975, they'd have no fucking idea. Nothing. They'd have no idea. But nowadays, though, with the digital trail, they find the names Stephen and Crystal Adams that lead to a text me account, which is an app, okay? Now it's an Anonymous. It's like WhatsApp. Basically, it's an anonymous messaging service now, but they still keep records Though, even though it's anonymous, they keep records. So this trail leads to a phone? Yes, under the phone. The person who owns the phone is named Crystal Lowry. Now, remember, it was Steven, and Crystal Adams was the couple. Crystal Lowery. So they determined through these records that Beverly placed a phone call at 3:58pm on September 25th to phone number 914, which is New York area code. That is upstate New York area code 914. That's used to be Poughkeepsie's area code. 914206, 1776 for approximately 15 minutes and 45 seconds. So she had a long call. It's a long call. Talking about real estate. Shit.
Jimmy Wissman
How many bathrooms you need? Yep.
James Petragallo
Yeah. What's that? What's this? So the investigators determined that the phone number 9142061776 returned to text Me, Inc. So that's not a real. That's not a phone number. That's from an actual phone. That is like a, you know, an anonymous one, basically. Now, Text Me, Inc. Is a texting and phone application that provides users with free text and voice messages, assigning them a unique phone number. So it's like getting an IP address. Yeah. So an exigent circumstances request was placed with Text Me, Inc. And they provided a report detailing that. The actual cell phone number. See, they thought anonymous meant anonymous. These people didn't realize that. Yeah, that meant with a fucking subpoena. Nothing's anonymous. So they said that phone number, the 914 number, was in fact 501-687-3833, which belonged to Crystal Lowery of 165 Randall Drive in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Name your cities after anything, but every ones that other people have used. Please stop it. Austin, Oakland, Jackson. Enough. Arkansas. Okay. Further looking into this shows that Beverly Carter's phone records revealed she and whoever the person using 501-687-3833 communicated via text messages, and that that she and the per and the person using that number communicated through text messages numerous times. However, the text message content, they don't have that. They just know that there was data transactions. So they also determined that Crystal Lowery has a husband named Aaron Lewis, and together they have a 2014 black Ford Fusion registered to them.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Okay. Now, Crystal's husband is Aaron Michael Lewis, and He is born January 13, 1981. So he's 33 at this time. And they look him up and turns out he's a skinny white male driving a black car. That's not interesting. That Ford Fusion. He's also on parole at the moment. Oh, in Little Rock. He also has a Daredevil Dirt Bike YouTube channel.
Jimmy Wissman
Really?
James Petragallo
Where he does dirt bike shit. I couldn't find it now, but it's. Yeah, he had this YouTube channel where he's like, you know, I'm a douchebag. Look at me. Watch me break my neck. And then he goes and does dumb shit. I don't get those. So September 28th, the next day they decide, let's keep an eye on this Aaron Michael Lewis and see what he does. Yeah, maybe he has. Because maybe he's the kidnapper. Maybe he has Beverly. Or maybe he'll lead us to Beverly, basically, you know, so if we. If we grab him and she's somewhere, he might not tell us and she'll die. So, sure. Yeah, they got to play this really. This is a delicate situation. You know, what do you do? Exactly. A lot of nuance here. So to figure out what's going on with Aaron and what the best approach is, by the way, Aaron is a R, R, O, N. That's how you.
Jimmy Wissman
Two Rs, two Rs, Daisy.
James Petragallo
It's like, what is happening that is all fucked up.
Jimmy Wissman
It's a fine way to find out your mom's dumb.
James Petragallo
Well, I was just going to tell you his background. He hates his mom and maybe because she named him Aaron and he's had to respell it all the time. No, not two A's, two R's. God damn it. So little background on Aaron. They find out that Aaron is born in Ruston, Louisiana, was raised by his parents here. He said he was an only child. He is. Home life as a kid is described as a bunch of chaos by him. He expressed a lot of anger toward his family and his upbringing. He was not happy with it at all. He said his birth was a mistake and that his mother was often unfaithful to his father. So he didn't even know if he was really his father's. Who knows, Basically, is what he said. And he stated his mother was an alcoholic. Such a drunk that she couldn't spell Aaron, which is really drunk.
Jimmy Wissman
Or she just didn't want to name me after that guy from Stained.
James Petragallo
Well, one of the two. So he was six years old when his parents separated and the divorce was finalized a couple years later. He went back and forth between his parents throughout childhood. They just kind of passed him back and forth. When he was becoming too much to deal with, somebody else would take him, which is not great for a kid. Not good stability at all here. He described himself as an asset to them, basically. Not like, oh, they need me because I'm an asset. An asset like a piece of property, a piece of something that they'd pass back and forth.
Jimmy Wissman
Right. That somebody pays for. And that's the reason that they have me.
James Petragallo
He said whoever had me got a check from the other person. That's what it was. He said when my needs overwhelmed the check, they would have to cut their losses and they go back and then they'd send him back and forth. He would never during. We'll talk about. He's had plenty of criminal interactions with police and prisons. He would never, ever answer any questions about whether he was sexually abused during childhood. Would never answer the questions. Which tells me that he was probably sexually abused during childhood.
Jimmy Wissman
The only reason to not is because of.
James Petragallo
Yes.
Jimmy Wissman
Right.
James Petragallo
If you ask someone who hasn't been abused, hey, were you abused during childhood? They'd go, no, no.
Jimmy Wissman
Why?
James Petragallo
They wouldn't go, I'm not telling. Who would say that. That'd be crazy thing to say.
Jimmy Wissman
I don't want to get anybody in trouble.
James Petragallo
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Oh, let's live it up Dot com.
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Jimmy Wissman
Now back to the show.
James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
Now back to the show.
James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
I want to go with those pants.
James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
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James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
At least it was acreage.
James Petragallo
There's acreage. There was room for a house. Just. There was no house. He indicated at one point he was taken away and he moved with his father to Texas. At one point, after he got taken away from his mother, he said, though they returned to Alaska or Arkansas, not Alaska several months later. So he went to Texas with his dad. That didn't work out. They came back. He said he was 8 years old when his father remarried and he got a stepmother. He said his stepmother was all right at first, but then it started to deteriorate their relationship when she attempted to, quote, assert herself as an authority figure. He was living with them. So, I mean, that's tough. That's such a really difficult role to play. It's such a hard role to play of what's too much, what's not enough. You don't want to ignore the kid.
Jimmy Wissman
To find, holy shit, it's hard. Stepdad's the same way.
James Petragallo
Yeah, it's such a hard fucking role to fill because it's not defined really by anything.
Jimmy Wissman
And really the initial involvement is, I'm here as support for your father, but I'm your friend. And then it turns into, I'm not your friend. Take out the fucking trash.
James Petragallo
Exactly. Because after a while, it's. Yeah, you're more of a parental thing. It's really hard. That's a. That's a tough role to play. It's difficult.
Jimmy Wissman
I admire anybody that does it. Well.
James Petragallo
Yeah. Yeah, it's hard. It's not fucking easy at all. He said that he just didn't fit in to his stepmother's parenting style because it was so different from his father, who was so laid back. In other words, didn't give a shit at all, is really what he means to say. He said he recalled he lived with his grandparents in Tennessee for some amount of time in the third grade, and then his mother signed him out of school and brought him to Texas to live with her. So he went to live with. Yeah, but it's not even custodial kidnapping because she still has custody.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
He was just. Yeah, he was just living with his grandparents. Because who knows why? So now he's been back and forth with his dad and back in Texas and Tennessee and then moving. It's a lot of drama for a kid here. Then a little while later, after his mom took him to Texas, his mother returned to Louisiana and left him in the care of her boyfriend. Of her boyfriend. Not his stepfather. Not his real father.
Jimmy Wissman
Not her husband.
James Petragallo
Not her husband, her boyfriend. She said, I'm going to Louisiana. Watch this, will you? And then handed him over. So he recalled his father. He called his father up because he didn't know what else to do, and his father came and got him. So then he went back to Tennessee. Okay, so this is the time he said, that's when behavioral problems started coming about in his life is around now. And he had behavioral problems beginning during elementary school, which is pretty much right when this is all happening, which I don't know how you wouldn't have behavioral problems in school with all this. It would be impossible. That would be a really broken child who would just still be like. I mean, that's a kid who's just a spirit. Completely broken. If they just.
Jimmy Wissman
And we'll just do whatever he's told.
James Petragallo
Yeah, if they have no acting out. Yeah, they're dead inside at this point. So he had all of this. He would get a lot of small things at first, disrespecting the teachers and, you know, shit that kids do. He wasn't like, burning down the classroom or anything like that. He would get disciplined or even paddled sometimes back then, which is, you know, in the late 80s in the south, you could still paddle.
Jimmy Wissman
Starting to be a not so good thing to do.
James Petragallo
No, I think it was not a good thing to do for about 20, 30 years before that. But it takes a while for shit to get to Arkansas.
Jimmy Wissman
Society was like, that's not good.
James Petragallo
No. He was prescribed Ritalin in the fourth grade due to difficulty concentrating. So he had some add. He ran away from home all the time. His mother was charged with neglect on more than one occasion because he was a runaway and she wasn't even fucking looking for him because she didn't care. He said this is a real weird quote that he has here. During childhood. He said he had a lot of associates but no friends.
Jimmy Wissman
Associates?
James Petragallo
Who the hell says they have associates when they're nine?
Jimmy Wissman
That's my associate.
James Petragallo
What a weird thing to say. This is my associate. We play jacks together. Like, what the. What associate? What are you talking about?
Jimmy Wissman
This is my associate. He has the best Pokemon cards.
James Petragallo
Yeah, this is My associate, he knows how to get past level 84 on Super Mario Brothers. He's really good at it. He knows which fucking tubes to go down and shit to not get lost.
Jimmy Wissman
Is he that dumb that he just mixed up the word acquaintance and associates? I mean, I think kids. I don't even think any kids said acquaintances until like 14 or 15.
James Petragallo
Yeah, no, this is. He's not dumb. That's the weird part. He's not a dumb guy at all. I think this is the way he puts it, is a lot of associates. He said that as an adult. A lot of associates, but no friends. Associates. Okay. I mean, technically, anyone you associate with is an associate, but sure, yeah, you know, and culturally we use that word to mean like, you know, like a business partner or, you know, someone you work. Like a colleague, basically. Associate, colleague, that sort of thing.
Jimmy Wissman
Or a joke by a mob boss who says, my son, my associates.
James Petragallo
Yeah. He started dating, he said, during adolescence but never had any girlfriends until he was 23. That is late to have your first girlfriend. So he also, though, was involved in some advanced classes, actually, and had good grades. He's not dumb. That's the thing. He's not an idiot. He ended up going. Remember they said they had that program where he could go through school quicker. He took advantage of that. He fast tracked his high school curriculum and said he graduated at 16.
Jimmy Wissman
That ACE program.
James Petragallo
I don't know if it was that program or not, but he graduated, something like that. He graduated at 16 because he just didn't want to. He was tired of school. He didn't want to be there anymore. So now a little bit about his background, more here on drugs and alcohol and shit. He said that he first tried alcohol when he was 16, but he didn't like it. Not a drinker? No. He said he was typically the designated driver because he didn't like to drink. So he said that he may drink on occasion. He'll drink up to two beers. Not a big beer, just not a big drinker. So two beers is the tops. And that's every once in a while. He's not an alcoholic at all like that. He says he's tried marijuana several times, but wasn't into that either. He said he did like during his youth, though. Lsd, Ecstasy and meth. Those were the ones he liked. What those spoke to them, which are very different drugs, which is.
Jimmy Wissman
It's fascinating to go to that and not enjoy alcohol at all.
James Petragallo
It's. Well, if you like lsd, that doesn't mean you like alcohol. No, I mean, those are very different.
Jimmy Wissman
The meth guy starts.
James Petragallo
Yeah, I mean he drinks early, but he like. Because it's weird. Okay. You got acid, which is. LSD is acid. Whatever, it's a hallucinogen. Then he got meth, which is just make you up. Ecstasy is a mix between the two of them. Pretty much. That's pretty much the effect you're going for, is a speedy acid trip kind of deal. A speedy horny acid trip, you know. So that's interesting. But those are the ones he's into. He said he was hospitalized for four days at the age of 16 due to meth use.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
The reason why he was hospitalized was he hadn't slept for seven days. Whoa. And was severely dehydrated. And he said he lost. I don't know how true this is. He said he lost 40 pounds during that time. I don't know how you lose 40 pounds that quick.
Jimmy Wissman
I mean, your body's burning all day long, right?
James Petragallo
I guess I get maybe. Yeah, I'm sure once he drank some water, he probably. That was ten pounds, you know what I mean? So he never really has drug related arrests or anything like that though. And he says as he grows up during adulthood, he's not really into drugs anymore at all. Just a phase, man, just a phase. Which is what? You don't usually go through a seven day meth binge phase. That's not a phase. You know what I mean? Like you might do it a little.
Jimmy Wissman
Lsd, Ecstasy and meth phase.
James Petragallo
Yeah, LSD is a phase.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, but not with all of those. And also the very addictive form of.
James Petragallo
Math, meth is the one that's. Meth is not a phase. Ecstasy is a phase. LSD is a phase. I know plenty of people that did a bunch of ecstasy when they were 20, 21, never did it again. They were doing it while they were partying, while they were doing certain things, lsd. I did a bunch of acid in high school, but I haven't done it since I was fucking 18. Because it's a lot. You know what I mean? It makes your brain. It's too much on your brain. I don't have that anymore. I can't do that anymore. I'm not going to injure my brain at this point in my life. But when you're 17, it's fine. But meth is, that's a profession.
Jimmy Wissman
Meth, that is, that doesn't just injure your brain, that injures everything.
James Petragallo
Oh, it's not a phase. It's fucking terrible. Yeah, it's the worst. So after high school, Aaron worked in a department store call center for a few months. Then he worked as a cashier at a gas station. He'll end up getting a job at a cement plant later on here.
Jimmy Wissman
Good.
James Petragallo
Started working for this Cement Company in 2014. He would. His duties were to drive trucks and pour cement, which is exactly what I would think you would do at a cement company. Drive trucks and pour cement.
Jimmy Wissman
Our hardest part of the cement job, though.
James Petragallo
Yeah, that's bottom. Bottom rung when you first get in. Yeah, that's what. That's. That's him. He has no experience, no education. Drive this here and pour it, motherfucker. That's.
Jimmy Wissman
That's like $20 an hour. That's a good job.
James Petragallo
That's. Yeah, you'll make a living. That's good. It's just a hard job. It's early in the morning. It's. You know, it's hard. So he was fired because he refused to drive a truck that was not operating correctly. He said the truck was messed up. They wanted me to drive it anyway.
Jimmy Wissman
That's my guy, Stan, not me. Hell, yeah.
James Petragallo
Yeah, right. I'm sure that's what it was. I'm sure he's a real stickler, this guy, for safety. Let me take some acid and snort this meth, and then we'll get it in the truck. Cause I care about safety.
Jimmy Wissman
That's our safety rep, Air Ron.
James Petragallo
He said that the work was easy and it paid well. So that's why he didn't mind doing it. He liked it. He has a commercial driver's license. He's got a cdl. He said he has two young children from different women as well. Oh, she's got. Somewhere along the line, he implanted a couple of seeds in a couple of people and has two kids that he obviously has nothing to fucking do with, which is probably better off for the kids, if I'm being honest here. He said that he moved to Arkansas and married the mother of his second child for, quote, several months in 2011. I really gave it as much of a shot as I could. I was there for several months. Like, it was several. Like, I really, really tried my best. Wow.
Jimmy Wissman
11 weeks. Something like that.
James Petragallo
Something like that. He said that he. They only married because, quote, I was going on the run. And he wanted his son to have his last name. Oh, yeah. His wife filed for divorce when he ended up going to prison, which we'll talk about why he went to prison. And the court awarded her full custody and Obviously, he hasn't really seen the kid. He said that he has paid child support and tried to get visitation rights, but claimed that his ex wife, quote, made me out to be horrible. Oh. He said it made me out to be like some kind of meth addict criminal or something. It's. You know, it made me out to.
Jimmy Wissman
Be like a father that went to prison.
James Petragallo
Yeah. Just because I was in prison. One time, in a psychological exam here, when they asked about past romantic relationships, he said, women are okay, which is the weirdest thing. He said, women are okay. They're part of life. Which I don't even know if that's. I've never heard anyone say that before.
Jimmy Wissman
I don't know what that means.
James Petragallo
No, that's what I mean. Women are okay. They're part of life. All right.
Jimmy Wissman
Backwoods way of saying, can't live without.
James Petragallo
Them, can't live with them, can't live without them. I guess it's simply they're just part of life.
Jimmy Wissman
Like associates.
James Petragallo
I associate with several of them. One of them, I actually put an associate in her belly, and she had it nine months later. And I said, he's the cutest little associate I ever done saw. He also said, I've never seen a woman that could handle a breakup. It's better to keep things casual. So he said, you know, you get in with them, then you break up with them. They get all upset about it. You just keep it casual, and then you never get into a relationship.
Jimmy Wissman
Interesting.
James Petragallo
So he. To go along with his staunch record of casual dating, he married Crystal Lowery in 2014 in April. You know, to keep it casual. Keep it, keep it cash. Keep it cash. They knew each other for about five months, which is great decisions. Great decisions. This happened by. I mean, they married in April of 2014. This is September of 2014. All this stuff is happening. So, yeah, he said that he married her in attempts to gain visitation rights with his second son. He said that he thought a marriage would look good for the court because Crystal Lowery also had a child. So it's like, look, look, we have this nice house with a kid, and, you know, like, it's our own little nuclear family, so you can bring this one in, too. He said that he didn't have a close relationship with Crystal's daughter and really never talked to her. So good stepdad. Excellent.
Jimmy Wissman
Fuck about that kid. Just trying to use her to get to mine.
James Petragallo
That's it. He said, though, that his main interaction with the child was that Crystal liked to sleep in and that he was in charge of waking her up for school. He, by the way, during a psych exam, which I don't recommend this at all if you're looking to be seen as sane. He laughed out loud as he explained that sometimes he would throw a glass of water on his stepdaughter if she didn't wake up immediately. Thought that was hilarious. I know that's an old school thing. Don't say it. Tell a psychiatrist that you're doing that, laughing while you're doing it. They're going to go, oh, you do.
Jimmy Wissman
It all the time.
James Petragallo
They're going to start writing something down. At that point, I guarantee you some scribbling, there's going to be some jotting at that point.
Jimmy Wissman
You might hear the eyebrows go up. You're going to hear a lot.
James Petragallo
It's going to be a reaction for sure. Now he doesn't have a relationship with either of his parents, hadn't spoken to them since 2011 when he indicated that he contacted his father when his first son was born. But his father said, I don't care and didn't come visit him or see the sun. So he said that was it. And he said that his mother recently became a Christian fanatic and he finds it overwhelming to be around her because she just tries to talk to everyone about Jesus. She's a complete disaster and an alcoholic. So you can either be that or this. That's it at that point. She's one of those people. Some people cannot be, but some people can either be one form of annoying asshole or another form of annoying asshole. They can't just be regular people.
Jimmy Wissman
A little bit of an asshole about several things.
James Petragallo
Yeah. Just don't drink and ask someone if they saw the football game Sunday. Can't just do that. You know what I mean? It's one or the other. So a little bit about his criminal history. He was truant from school all the time and would run away all the time. He was first arrested at the age of 17 for robbing a bank. That's his first crime. His first arrest is bank robbery.
Jimmy Wissman
Fascinating.
James Petragallo
That is at 17, where he was sentenced to prison for six years for that.
Jimmy Wissman
Good. Wow, six. He did that in there?
James Petragallo
Yeah, he robbed a fucking bank. You can't do that. That's crazy. He might have had a weapon.
Jimmy Wissman
It had to be an aggravator to it. That's crazy.
James Petragallo
So he is released after a while, but then he's arrested again on federal charges for interstate commerce of stolen vehicles. So he's got a stolen car ring. He Was incarcerated in Kansas City. He says, by the way, that when he was talking to a psychiatrist, he laughed as he recalled being broadcasted on the news about him. He was like, that was funny. There I was up on the tv. He gets released from that and fled the state, even though he's not supposed to leave. Fled the state on a stolen motorcycle. That's the most. Picture a pocket full of meth, stolen motorcycle, fleeing the state. Like that's the most. On probation, parole, not even probation. That's the most fucking trash thing you could do is flee the motors. Flee the state on a motorcycle with a pocket full of meth as you stolen. Stolen. It's a stolen motorcycle. That's the important part. It's stolen somebody else's motorcycle. Yeah, not the motorcycle itself, the fact that you stole a motorcycle. So he was caught in Texas though. He was transferred back to the Bureau of Prisons in Colorado for two years. Cause it's federal. He then violated his parole again by going back to Louisiana. Oh, so then he was. In 2011, he was incarcerated at the Arkansas Department of Corrections on theft charges. And he was released on parole in 2013. He violated his parole in 2014, but then was let out again. And that's when he got married to Crystal. And then here we are. Okay. Now according to some county records from the county jail in 2011, he was a problem even in jail in Arkansas.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, is that right?
James Petragallo
All sorts of write ups for behavioral problems. He's an asshole.
Jimmy Wissman
He doesn't listen.
James Petragallo
The only way I could put it is he's an asshole. That's just it. He's just an asshole. Some of the violations were passing notes to female inmates as they pass by. Can't try to fuck the female inmates. Being in possession of metal and other contraband items. You know, shank making materials, blocking the vents, failing to comply with staff orders, defacing jail issue items. Just typical asshole behavior. Basically, he's several disciplinary write ups for being unsanitary and failing to keep his cell clean as well, which is actually a big deal among the inmates. They want you to keep your cell clean too. So it's like that's you're pissing other people off. Deputies reportedly found the toilet in his cell to be filled to the top of the water line with feces. He was just shitting in a pile and not flushing it.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh my God.
James Petragallo
He was collecting it to see how much shit he could collect. Exactly.
Jimmy Wissman
Why would he do that?
James Petragallo
Because you want to compare your shit from today to your shit from last week. How Else do you do that?
Jimmy Wissman
You know, you gotta see where it's like when. You know when a river cuts the layers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get to see.
James Petragallo
This is from the.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, this is from Ignatius period.
James Petragallo
Yeah, it's exactly me. You get to see the different periods of rocks. You get to see how that works. Yeah, it's like the Grand Canyon. It's like the Grand Canyon. You can see when all of it was made. It's perfect. So that's disgusting. According to an incident, incident dated December 4, 2011, he required restraints because he would not stop kicking his cell door. He said all of this while screaming, I need to go to the bathroom. Never mind, I already did.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh my God.
James Petragallo
And then he would piss on himself and shit himself and shit himself as he'd say, I need to go to the bathroom. Then he would shit himself and go, nevermind. Already did. And this was to make them upset. One of us is covered in shit right now and it ain't me, like who should be upset here. So he did that on purpose. Someone who pisses and shits themselves on purpose to make other people upset is another level of weirdo. Yeah, he wouldn't take a shower. After multiple requests, the staff had to physically wash him off and dress him because he was covered in piss and shit. That's when he wouldn't shower. He also had disciplinary action for sending unauthorized mail correspondence as he would use other inmates names as aliases to forward mail across the jail facility. Oh my God, he's a fucking asshole. And he's also noted to have a history of smuggling contraband into the jail as well. He'll sum up his ass too. And he uses his ass as a pocket, which is also strange. Now he was, mental health wise. He was taken to a youth diagnostic center in Tennessee at the age of 12 because he was quote acting out. He was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed several different types of medication including Ritalin, Prozac and lithium. That is heavy to give a 12 year old.
Jimmy Wissman
Lithium.
James Petragallo
Yeah, any of the. Yeah, Ritalin is, you know, they give that to hyperactive kids. Prozac for a 12 year old, that's crazy. That's young. And then lithium for a 12 year old is. That's like if you're like severely bipolar, you know what I mean? At 12, we're doing this. So he stayed in a residential facility in a while but couldn't, doesn't know how long. No one knows how long he was there. When he was asked by a psychiatrist what were his main difficulties, he said this is great. Quote, straight up rebellion.
Jimmy Wissman
Straight up rebellion.
James Petragallo
Straight up rebellion, man.
Jimmy Wissman
Solid hobby.
James Petragallo
Wow. And he also never went to any kind of therapy that wasn't, like, in a jail environment as well. He reported that he saw a psychiatrist during his incarceration at the Bureau of Prisons in Colorado and was started on different types of medication for his aggression. He's been prescribed Depakote, Paxil, Risperdal, and Seroquel.
Jimmy Wissman
Yep.
James Petragallo
Which is. And I think that's an antidepressant. Seroquel, pretty heavy. Paxil's an antidepressant. Depakote is something a little bit different than that. So he claimed that the psychiatrist is.
Jimmy Wissman
An antipsychotic, isn't it?
James Petragallo
Yeah, I think they give that to bipolar people a lot.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah. Yeah.
James Petragallo
So he claimed the psychiatrist was trying to find the right meds and that the Seroquel was the only thing that worked adequately. Wow. He said that he experienced rage when he becomes upset and requires medication to calm down. After being placed on Seroquel, his behavior got much better and he was better. Or he reported to a psychiatrist that he was better able to think before acting, so he wasn't just impulsive after that. He also said, though they did not. The weird part is he said that he was satisfied with the federal system in general and the treatment he received, so he was okay with it. He does claim a psychiatrist at the Arkansas Department of Corrections, though, was a quack that wouldn't give him the medication he needs. As a result, while he was in jail, he received, quote, 19 disciplinaries during his last incarceration in Arkansas. He said the psychiatrist only provided him printouts and does not believe in psychiatric medication. He got a Scientologist psychiatrist is what he got. I'm not sure if that's true, but that's essentially what he got.
Jimmy Wissman
Sounds like. Yeah.
James Petragallo
It sounds like the system does not want to pay for his psychiatric medications, so the psychiatrist. Psychiatrists figure out a way to not prescribe it. He also said, this is what I look forward to, a psychiatrist who gives hugs and tells you what to do. Okay. He said that he had PTSD due to a prison fight in 2009 in which he was stabbed multiple times and flatlined.
Jimmy Wissman
He died.
James Petragallo
Almost died. He said that he was conscious during most of the experience. He said that he became anxious around others, specifically when people walk behind him or in close proximity to him there. So he's also had some injuries a little bit here. Physical altercations are really what caused it. If you have a Problem with impulse control. You're probably going to get in a lot of fights. This is one of those things. He indicated that at the age of 30, he was beat near to death, as he put it, while being robbed in Mexico. He was hit in the back of the head with a brick and suffered various injuries, including a collapsed lung, chipped teeth, a broken nose, broken ribs, and internal bleeding. He said he was hospitalized for one day and left the hospital against medical advice because he was, quote, on the run. So he leaves hospitals and gets married when he's on the run. That's what he does. He said most of his injuries healed, but his ribs were still deformed and he can't sleep on his stomach. That's the way he put it. He said another serious incident happened in 2009 while he was at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. He said that he was attacked and stabbed by two other inmates. And collapsed lung again. And a severed ear and multiple lacerations.
Jimmy Wissman
They're really getting after him. Fuck.
James Petragallo
And he showed a psychiatrist, he lifted his shirt and showed all sorts of scars on his front and back. He said his ear was reattached and the rest of his injuries healed without complication. So this is who they're looking at. Just back to go back to the surveillance of him now, but this is the guy who they found to be married to the woman who has the phone number that connects to the. You know, to the real estate agent and all that. So.
Jimmy Wissman
And he's supposed to be Scott.
James Petragallo
Yeah, he's supposed to be a different guy completely. So it's Sunday morning, and they are setting up surveillance at the house where Lewis and Lowery live, Crystal and Aaron in Jacksonville. They need to confirm that Aaron matches the description from the neighbor who saw a skinny white male. When Lewis exits the house, they go, there he is, tall, thin, short, dark hair, gets into a black Ford Fusion. Yeah, that's our guy. But Louis here, Aaron, I don't know if it's due to his being stabbed in prison or just former meth use or just being a criminal. He's paranoid, and he is constantly checking his mirrors, looking behind him. He's looking for tails, basically. And he spots the surveillance team behind him, which they did not want because they wanted to be able to watch him and see if maybe he took them to Beverly. Basically. Instead, he fucking floors it and tries to run from the cops in a Ford Fusion. Wow. Which is dumber than a stolen motorcycle to run from. It's the dumbest fucking conveyance ever. I would Rather have you pushing me in a wheelbarrow than be fucking in a driving a Ford Fusion with people with V8s behind me. That's insanity.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
What, how, what is the top speed on that thing? Where are you going?
Jimmy Wissman
A Ford Fusion's a big car. That's their whole. That's their.
James Petragallo
Isn't that the little tiny thing?
Jimmy Wissman
No, that's the Focus.
James Petragallo
Oh.
Jimmy Wissman
The Ford Fusion is the midsize sedan. I think that some of them have a, have a V8.
James Petragallo
I think theirs doesn't.
Jimmy Wissman
No, no, no.
James Petragallo
They didn't get the upsell model. They got a base model.
Jimmy Wissman
No, the Ford Fusion is a decent little midsize car. It competes with the Camry.
James Petragallo
Like if you had to run, if you had to run from the police for it. That's not your first choice of vehicle, right? You take my car over that, I would think. Or your car? Yeah, any car, Any other car.
Jimmy Wissman
Anything that's that size or bigger, I'll drive something else.
James Petragallo
So he floors it. The detectives chase him and now it's on. Now they're chasing this guy. Okay. Doesn't last very long because apparently he's not a very good driver.
Jimmy Wissman
No.
James Petragallo
He loses control on a curve and crashes into a ditch.
Jimmy Wissman
He lost control of a front wheel.
James Petragallo
Drive car of a Ford Fusion. Really tearing it up. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt at all. And slams his face into the steering wheel.
Jimmy Wissman
He deserves it. Yeah.
James Petragallo
His face is fucked up. I'll post a picture of it on our social media.
Jimmy Wissman
It is his forward on his forehead.
James Petragallo
All fucked up. Yeah. Right in the middle of it, backwards. It's wrecked his face. Right. So one witness would later say half his face was hanging off.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, Jesus.
James Petragallo
He's got a huge cut. He requires a lot of work on this.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
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Jimmy Wissman
Now back to the show.
James Petragallo
So this happened about 10am at the 8700 block of Jacksonville Cato Road outside of Sherwood. According to a sheriff's office report. Witnesses told the cops that his vehicle was traveling fast when it went out of control on a curve, hit the ditch. The sheriff's office lieutenant here said that investigators had pegged him as a person of interest when they were following him. That's why they were following him. And so he was taken to Baptist Health Medical center in Little Rock for treatment. Okay, this is the crazy part. This is when it gets even weirder, okay? If this story could get stranger, at some point he's going to go in for a CT scan because he's hit his head pretty goddamn hard. So he's going into a CT scan, the cops go in to check on him and he's fucking gone.
Jimmy Wissman
He left.
James Petragallo
He snuck out with half a face. Half a face and half the police force standing outside. They let him walk by with half a face hanging off and they didn't catch him. This is a crap police squad. Like I give them credit for finding all the digital shit, but you keep an eye on him while he's at the fucking hospital here. You know what I mean?
Jimmy Wissman
Like, we're just here to keep an eye on that dude with half a face in there.
James Petragallo
Yeah, we're gonna keep it that he was Cited? They talked to him at the hospital. He was cited for careless driving and failure to wear a seatbelt. And then at 4:30. The thing is, they couldn't get the kidnapping warrant until 4:30. So he said that was a warrant for kidnapping that was able to be obtained. So before that they couldn't, like, handcuff him to the fucking hospital bed for not wearing a seatbelt. That's not allowed. So they had to wait to get this warrant so they could arrest him and then they could knock him down. But sometime before 4:30, he disappeared from the facility while waiting for a CT scan. He just walked out. So they said that the cops said to the press that they don't know if he's armed, but, quote, it's logical to assume he could be. Sure, why not? He said, we do consider him dangerous based on the nature of the charge and based on the fact that we haven't located Mrs. Carter. Who is Lowry? Actually, Crystal Lowry. They said there's no. They had no leads in his disappearance. What, they have no idea where he is? Follow the blood trail. Half his face is hanging off. Yeah, this cop said we need him. The best person that can help us find her right now is Mr. Lewis. Meaning find Beverly. He's described as 5 foot 11, 156 pounds, white guy, brown hair, brown eyes. Now, the police, while this is going on, they execute a search warrant at 165 Randall Drive, where he and Crystal live. And she's going, I don't know what you're talking about. Or she's not even there. I'm sorry. He was saying, I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, when they were talking to him at the hospital, inside the house, they find Beverly's iPhone. Oh, I don't know how you get that without having her there with not having her period, not having any idea. And the SIM card was removed, so it couldn't be tracked as well. They popped the SIM card out so no location would work. Remember when 2014, when that model had that SIM card? It was a pain in the ass, but it was definitely Beverly's phone. But they didn't know where the hell she was. Still, they have her phone now. Great. Monday, September 29th. Here we go. Adam Nash. Okay, you're like, who the fuck is that Random guy? Okay. Random dude is sitting in his office on a Monday afternoon, looking out the window, as we all do when we're stuck in an office, just to see some glimpse of the outside. And he sees a man at the bus Stop. Who? He goes, I recognize that guy. Yeah, I know that guy. I just saw his face on the news. So he walks outside and goes up to somebody else that's near a bus stop that's near this bus stop to ask about bus times, when does this. But he's only doing it so he can get close enough to this guy to see if he's Aaron Lewis.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, clever.
James Petragallo
That's why he walked over. So he walked over and did that and it's him. So this guy runs back inside and calls 911 and he says, quote, hey, I'm sitting over here. They're looking for a guy that was involved in the realtor being kidnapped. And this guy looks like him and he's nervous and he's out here at a bus stop wearing a black T shirt and jean shorts. He's going into the subway now, and not for as a mode of travel. He's going to eat fresh. Yeah. He's five dollar foot long. Yeah. So he enters the subway, Aaron does, and he orders a sandwich.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
He ordered a turkey sandwich. But all of the customers in the restaurant recognize him. All of them. Everyone starts pointing. That's the guy. That's the guy. The whole place starts going crazy. Holy shit, that's him. That's him. So he's like, oh, fuck. And he just runs. He takes off because they're all point. Yeah, they're a monster. And he's like, ah, fuck. And he's running away. Oh, shit. El Diablo. So he runs into a nearby office building to try to hide. But Nash, the guy who originally spotted him, and half of the people fucking with their six inch sweet chicken, onion, chicken teriyaki bullshit sandwich, they all give chase as well.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, shit.
James Petragallo
So now he's literally got a. Instead of torches and pitchforks, they have footlongs and fucking bags of Doritos. But they're chasing him. Sun chips and footlongs. But they're chasing him down the street. As they're chasing him, he yells back because there's Subway employees involved in the chase with their big stupid plastic gloves on. He yells back, why are you chasing me? I didn't steal anything. And Nash says, I know you didn't steal anything, but I know you kidnapped that lady.
Jimmy Wissman
Where's that lady, you son of a bitch?
James Petragallo
So Louis Aaron stops and pulls a knife and he's like, oh, you're after me for that? Because he thought they were chasing him. Because he thought they thought he stole something. He didn't realize they knew what the fuck he was so now he goes, oh, it's serious. He turns around, pulls a knife, and Nash stops and backs up, goes, hey, watch out there, buddy. But at this point, there's another whole horde of people running over there that heard the original Kerfluffle and now are on their way. So now there's, like 40 people around him. He's surrounded. Can't stab everybody. Now he's like, oh, shit, what do I do? So he runs. He runs into the office, and he hides in an office closet. And everybody outside goes, he went in there. And the cops go in and they search the office and they find him sitting in there. He's in a closet. Sitting in an office closet, hiding. Had to know he was gonna get caught. He comes out with his hands up, doesn't give a fuss to the cops. He's been arrested before. He knows the deal.
Jimmy Wissman
Sure, sure.
James Petragallo
One detective said this. I know he's trying to do a zing, and for a detective, it's not bad, but it's literally like a law and order line, you know? It's something that, like, fucking Briscoe would say back in the day, like, Jerry or back. He said, quote, that's the last time he'll be eaten fresh.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, God damn it.
James Petragallo
See what I mean? Cheesy. He's been waiting to use a detective line like that his whole career, probably. He's like, finally, I got a zinger in. I got a Kojak zinger. Fuck, yeah. Chris Maloney can suck my dick. Take that, Munch. I got it going on. I wish it was tea with your semen.
Jimmy Wissman
Order anything. Fucking anything.
James Petragallo
No. Yeah, that's the last time he'll be eating fresh. So he's arrested and he's taken to the sheriff's office, where he's questioned for more than 12 hours, which is getting into the dangerous time of judges stop allowing shit in after that. So that's not great. He admits he kidnapped her.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
He said I kidnapped her?
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, sure. Okay.
James Petragallo
But not what you think. It's not what you think?
Jimmy Wissman
No.
James Petragallo
How do you kidnap someone but it's not what you think? Okay, I don't understand. Here we go. He also wouldn't say where she was either. That's the other thing. He has multiple stories. Let's go through them. Here. Here's one story. One, one. And this is the one. As they're taking him out of the jail and transporting him from the police station to the jail, the news reporters swarm around him and he gives a fucking interview as they're walking him and he blames it on Trevor. It's all Trevor.
Jimmy Wissman
Who's Trevor?
James Petragallo
He said, I kidnapped her with my friend Trevor from the air force base.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh.
James Petragallo
And that's what he tells everybody. He said, I have a co defendant, he said that you haven't got yet. And it's Trevor. And they're like, well, where's Trevor? And he goes, he's at the Air Force base. He's in the Air Force. Turns out Trevor, they, he does have a friend named Trevor who is in the air force at an air force base. Problem is that air force base is 500 fucking miles away and he hasn't.
Jimmy Wissman
Left, haven't done it. I haven't done anything with that guy.
James Petragallo
So he's not, he didn't sneak out 500 miles away without being noticed. It's not Trevor.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Then they go, they said they tell him that. They go, we just verified that Trevor hasn't left the fucking base at all. So what's, what do you got now? And he says, all right, I didn't want to tell you guys about this, but I'll tell you the truth now.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
We were having an affair.
Jimmy Wissman
Me and her.
James Petragallo
Me and Beverly were having an affair. We met on Craigslist and we were having an affair.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
Yeah. A 50 year old real estate agent lady is going to just. She can't help in a happy marriage who's not fucking around anywhere else. She can't resist herself when she gets around a 33 year old meth. She pictured him on the run on his motorcycle and was like, that's just badass, man. That's some James Dean shit. I love him. No, that's bullshit. So the cops looked it up. They looked up the craigslist records. Never happened. So they go, next, next story. And that's why it takes 12 hours too. Because they have to verify that he's lying and then come in and tell him he's lying and then he's got to start a whole other story. Version three was. Okay, here it is. Okay. Me and Crystal. Sure, sorry, sorry. Crystal and I, I like to use proper English. That's what Aaron, Aaron's like, listen, I'm sorry, I didn't want to be off here. Crystal and I had a threesome. Oh, with Beverly. Oh, so wasn't that. I met her on Craigslist. Really? She was just our third. Because when 30 year old couples are looking for a third, they usually look for a 50 year old real estate agent who's married and has kids and shit. Yeah, they're usually the ones that are totally willing to jump in on that. Wow. So, no, that's not true. They go, we don't think that's true. Then they start looking at his phone pings, and we'll find out some other shit. They find out that cell tower pings lead the investigators to look through the Argos concrete plant where he used to work, which is 25 miles from where Beverly was taken in the city of what, Jimmy Cabot?
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Okay, then version four, too. Here's the other thing. He says that he has a voice recording of her. And we'll get into that as well. He said that he used voice synthesis software for it. And he said, I can't remember which program I used. Okay. Which is that there was not a lot of just easily downloadable app voice changers on the market in 2014. Now there's a million of them.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah. Back then it was just like that thing that Macaulay Culkin carried around.
James Petragallo
Exactly. You'd have to, like, hold a thing over your mouth or talk boy. Talk boy. Yeah. There wasn't a lot of that available. And this guy isn't the most savvy guy that would be the one to find it either. So. Yeah, that's one. Then for another version, he said that Beverly wanted excitement in her boring life.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh.
James Petragallo
That's why she was having the threesome with them.
Jimmy Wissman
I need to be kidnapped. So that.
James Petragallo
Well, she thinks that's hot. Well, then it's more exciting. Yeah, it's how you down. You don't ever know when it's coming. Yeah, that's what we all want.
Jimmy Wissman
A lot of married couples. That she'll go sit at the bar and wait for him to come hit on her.
James Petragallo
You know how it goes. Yeah. He did say he was sorry during the interrogation and admitted that he did abduct her. And after being shown that evidence strongly ties him to the case. But he keeps saying the abduction was like she wanted it or she didn't want it. Keeps going back and forth. Now, the voice recording. Here's something I want to talk about here. Apparently, there is a recording on his cell phone, Aaron's cell phone, of Beverly's voice. Oh, yeah. He played it for them during his first statement here. So the. He said this quote. I'm going to show you something. Show you something while you're sitting right there and while he's on the other side, meaning the. His other detective. Well, actually, I'll let you listen to something then. As soon as I let you listen to it, you'll know that I'm serious. And I said that you're running out of time. So he keeps telling them Beverly's alive and she's fine and she's alive. Alive. You need to hear this because you'll believe me when you hear this. Then he played a recording of her voice. During the recording, she says, quote, carl, it's Beverly. I just want to let you know I'm okay. I haven't been hurt. Just do what he says and please don't call the police. If you call the police, it could be bad. I just want to let you know I love you very much.
Jimmy Wissman
That does not give proof of life.
James Petragallo
That is not proof of life. That is proof. She was alive at one time at some point.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
And scared to death and scared shitless to make that. Now, her son and her husband identify this as her voice.
Jimmy Wissman
That's her voice? Yeah.
James Petragallo
So it's not some 2014 voice synthesis thing. It's not. It wouldn't be good enough to where it fooled the husband and the son. It just wouldn't be. They talk to her constantly. They know her voice. I know Sarah's voice. You know what I mean? If somebody said, this is her voice and it wasn't, I go, you're full of shit. I know her voice. So that's what's going on here. So they're like, huh? And he says, yeah, but that's not actually her. That was me using a synthesis thing. That's what he says later on after he says, that is her. And that's why I said, you're running out of time. And then he says, no, no, it's not her. So they're very confused here. They said that he refused to provide the police with her location. They said, where the fuck is she? And he wouldn't say, can't tell you. Can't tell you. They said that the. They were the suspect and victim. Telephone records were able to be traced off a certain area off Highway 5 in Pulaski County. So the cop, after they interview him and they bring him to jail and all that shit, they interview. Obviously, the. They interviewed him and he was saying Trevor and all that shit. But then they interview the lieutenant, and he says, why'd he pick her? Why'd he do what he did? There's a lot of things we'll have to piece together. Okay? Then the next morning, Tuesday, September 30, 2014. This is at 12:30pm at the Argos Concrete Company, 12117 Arkansas Route 5 in Cabot. Okay? There are cops searching this area because they had pings of both their phones being there.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
An officer's flashlight sees something in the dirt because it's midnight. It's an elbow sticking out of the dirt. A human elbow just popping out of the ground. So either the mole people have come for their just desserts or there's a problem here. They digger, they dig the hole, they find it's. There's more. There's a human body in there. It's not just an elbow. It's a very shallow grave. They dig it and they find Beverly in there. She is bound with duct tape. The tape around her face has to be cut away by the medical examiner. It's that bad. The medical examiner said death by asphyxiation due to external airway obstruction from a duct tape mask.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, no.
James Petragallo
Suffocated and duct. Didn't even have the fucking decency to kill a person in a taped decent way.
Jimmy Wissman
Couldn't breathe.
James Petragallo
That's the most cruel way you could. That's so fucking cruel. That is horrifying, man. So the lieutenant said they obtained permission to search the property. During the search of the property, they did find a shallow grave toward the back of the property. After they uncovered it, it was positively, positively identified as Beverly Carter. The medical examiner who had to cut the duct tape off her face said, in my career I've seen everything but the deliberateness of this six layers of duct tape.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, for Christ's sake.
James Petragallo
He said he wanted to make sure that she couldn't breathe. That's not panic. That's evil.
Jimmy Wissman
Six layers.
James Petragallo
Six fucking layers. And the sheriff's department said, and we know that he's been on the property and is familiar with it because he used to work there. Also, if that wasn't enough when they arrested him, he had deep scratches all over his body that weren't from the car accident, actually, deep ones. Turns out they find DNA under Beverly's fingernails because she fought her fucking ass off. As you would as you're being duct taped to death.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
And scratched him good. And got his DNA all under her fingernails. So they match his DNA to her body. Uh oh, not good. Not good. He is interviewed again. As he's walked by, he does not mind talking to the reporters. And he, as he's taken there, he said he didn't kill Beverly and described her as, quote, a woman that worked alone, a rich broker. Okay. Then he was talking about, brought Trevor up again to the reporters. I co defendant named Trevor, you know. But the cops said they aren't seeking anyone else Believed to be involved in the kidnapping and murder, which is a mistake. They said Louis is the only suspect we have in the case and at this point, the only person we're going to be looking for. Not true. Not really true. October 30, 2014. That's when they arrest his real accomplice, who is his wife, Crystal Hope Lowry.
Jimmy Wissman
God damn it, Crystal.
James Petragallo
So it took him a month to get her, but they do. She, by the way, is 41 at this point, so she's older than him. And apparently they're married and living together. But she describes herself as his estranged wife, I guess because he's in jail. Associate wife saying basically, they were only living together still. They just got married. It's their newlywed still.
Jimmy Wissman
We're gonna see how it works. We're associates and they.
James Petragallo
The moment or still associates. He said they were only living together due to financial problems and that neither one could afford to move out. Now, Crystal has no criminal history at all here. No. She went to nursing school and is living off some savings she had. At this point, they found out that she used to be a prostitute at one point when she had a drug problem, but never got arrested, which is pretty.
Jimmy Wissman
Must be well done.
James Petragallo
Slippery. Yeah. They arrested her about 1:45pm at her home. She was wearing blue jeans, a blue T shirt, and didn't talk to reporters like a smart person. As they brought her in, the officer said, this investigation has never stopped. And we've kind of said that all along. Did you? I remember Louis is the only suspect we have in the case. And at this point, the only person we're going to be looking for now. They're like, we were always looking for him. Maybe they were trying to lull her to sleep or whatever. But I've said numerous times, we've established tips and leads. Just tons of them to finish working out. We had suspicions all along. This is just something that through the investigative process, they happen to wrap up today and managed to get the warrant for the kidnapping and capital murder and serve it today. So they bring Crystal in.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Again, no criminal record. This is not being interrogated by detectives. Is a new experience for her.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, this is gonna go real terribly.
James Petragallo
For her or very well for the detectives because she.
Jimmy Wissman
Both of the. Yeah.
James Petragallo
Pretty much as soon as her ass hits the chair and her Miranda card is initialed, she is spilling her fucking guts. Of course, spilling it. She said, quote, it was Aaron's idea immediately. We needed money to separate. He couldn't afford to move out. Which is so ironic because in order to be able to get away from each other, you have to do some horrible thing together. In order to be able to get away from each other, we have to do one more. One more heist. She tells them all this shit. She even agrees to testify against him in exchange for a reduced sentence. And they find out that their financial situation was fucked. They were three months behind on rent. Their power had been shut off twice recently.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, boy.
James Petragallo
Her nursing school tuition was overdue. And his unemployment benefits had expired. Between them, they had a total debt of $47,000. And no money. And the electricity getting shut off all the time.
Jimmy Wissman
No income. And every day somebody else is coming looking for money.
James Petragallo
Unfucking real. Wow. So she also spills in detail exactly what happened.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh.
James Petragallo
Oh, yeah. And here it is. They said they started this two weeks before the kidnapping. They started planning it. This wasn't random. This wasn't out of nowhere. This wasn't just popping up. This is crazy. So, okay, they had. They were living in the same house in Jacksonville. Cause they couldn't afford to leave. Like we said, she was living off savings in nursing school, which. Living off savings. If your power's off, you're not living off anything.
Jimmy Wissman
No.
James Petragallo
Aaron didn't have a job. They had tons of pressure about finance. And she said, quote, he said we needed money. Quick money. He had this credit card machine from some old scheme. Said we could force someone to transfer money to it.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay. Yes.
James Petragallo
Square. Yeah. That's what he's going to do. They spent days driving around West Little Rock looking at nice houses and nice cars for robbery targets. That's what they were looking at. But they said there was so much security in all these nice houses. It's 2014. Things are starting to come into step here.
Jimmy Wissman
It's easy to keep an eye on your shit now when you're not home.
James Petragallo
Totally. There's cameras, there's gates, neighbors watching. They were like, jesus Christ. We can't go into one of these houses and force somebody. Everyone will see us doing it. It'll be on 10 different videos and neighbors. So Aaron said, what about someone who works alone? Like a real estate agent? Yeah, because they're trying to think of who works alone, but yet is a good job. Yeah. I mean, a street sweeper works alone, but, you know, you're not going to get a lot out of a control.
Jimmy Wissman
Guy works along.
James Petragallo
But he makes 12 bucks an hour in his pocket. Yeah, yeah, that's. He makes 12 bucks an hour. What are you stealing? So his credit card limit is probably the Same as yours, Aaron.
Jimmy Wissman
And it's probably maxed out.
James Petragallo
Exactly. So anyway, they said a real estate agent, that's someone who works alone and they have money.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
So they looked online. They started researching online for local agents, and they looked at all different websites and looked at everybody, and they saw Beverly. And when they saw Beverly, they recognized her face from billboards. And they were like, I've seen her on billboards everywhere. Look at her.
Jimmy Wissman
She's heard billboards.
James Petragallo
When you see her picture, she got a big confident smile, and she looks successful. And they said she has to have money. I bet she has money. So Crystal said. Aaron said realtors made a lot of money, and he wanted someone married so there'd be someone to pay ransom. So they literally looked into her whole social media. They found her Facebook, they stalked her digitally to find out if she had a family that would be willing to pay ransom.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, boy.
James Petragallo
So they did. They studied all of her listings. They read her reviews, looked at her Facebook, knew about her family, and they honed in. Honed in on that's our lady.
Jimmy Wissman
Unbelievable.
James Petragallo
Beverly. Okay. Marketing backfires, I would say. So he practiced the phone call over and over again.
Jimmy Wissman
Really?
James Petragallo
Yeah. Crystal said he made her rehearse her part as well, you know, and all of that kind of thing, because they both had a part to play in this. And he was telling her, sound interested, but not too eager. Like, we have money, but we're not desperate for anything. Just like, hey, we have money. If we felt like buying this, we could do it right now. You know, if we like it enough, we'll buy it. But, you know, who knows? We're not real desperate for it.
Jimmy Wissman
And practice. I'm not asking you to be Meryl Streep. Just saying at least some Reese Witherspoon. Just give it a shot.
James Petragallo
A little bit of rehearsal time is all I'm asking for here. Yeah, come on, it's not that hard. They text between them. Aaron says, I'm ready to do this. This shit is getting old. And Crystal texted back, I'm ready for you to do this.
Jimmy Wissman
Ready for you to do this.
James Petragallo
I mean, yeah, I'm ready for the payday, but I don't know if I want to get out there and do this shit.
Jimmy Wissman
He should have known right there. If we get caught, I'm fucked. She's saying she already put it all on me.
James Petragallo
He should have known that when he said, I'm moving out when we get money. That's me. Should have. No, we're not even together, for Christ's sake. Of course she's going to sing like a fucking bird. Now, Beverly. When she pulled up to the house, 14, 202 Old River Drive, it was empty for a while. The yard needed work. It didn't look great at the time, and it's kind of expensive. So that's why she was willing to show it late. Usually she wouldn't do it this late, but the fact that she really wanted to move it. And now there was one car in the driveway with a man standing there, and that's Aaron. And Beverly asked Aaron, is your wife coming? And he said, oh, she's running late. Traffic. She said to just start without her. So now she's going to go into this house with just this guy, with just him. So she hesitated because she never. She has a rule. She does not show houses to men alone, period. Which is a fucking good rule that all real estate agents should have. Unless you know the person extremely well, don't do that. But she thought about it and she. Well, I met Crystal on the phone, so I know he does have a wife coming and all that. So she went, fuck it. I need the sale market's been kind of slow. Let's just go in. So she does. She unlocked the door. She said, let's start with the ground floor. They walked through the rooms, and, you know, she's telling these are original hardwood, and the kitchen's been updated and all that kind of shit. And he is asking real estate quests like he watched House Hunters. He watched two episodes of House Hunters to know what to ask. I doubt this guy's looked for much real estate in his life.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
And so he's asking the right questions. What's this? And how's the, you know, what's the heating? What's the electricity panel? He's asking shit like that. Like homeowners want to know. Yeah, things like that. Then he said, let's see. Let's see the upstairs. So they go upstairs. Beverly is talking about the master bedroom and saying there's a lot of potential here in this master bedroom. If you set up, you could have a little area here that's like a little nook to catch the morning sun and all that kind of shit. And then she hears something behind her, and she freezes because she's like, oh, fuck. And she hears this quote. You're about to have a very bad day. You're being kidnapped. And she's hit in the back with a taser.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, Jesus.
James Petragallo
Drops. Yeah, completely drops. Okay. All right. So Aaron puts green duct tape around her wrists and mouth. She is. The problem is she's scratching and stuff, but her recent tummy tuck has made it so she is weak in her core because she has had to let those muscles rest. So she's having a hard time fighting back. Normally, she's pretty formidable. She's a marathon runner and that sort of thing. So he drags her down the stairs. You can see heel marks left in the dust as they go down the stairs. As her heels hit the stairs on the edges, investigators later would photograph and measure them to use them to reconstruct how it happened.
Jimmy Wissman
God damn.
James Petragallo
But Crystal's telling him anyway. Now outside, Aaron had backed his car up to the front door with the trunk open. And then he throws Beverly in the trunk and takes a picture with his phone.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, because he's got it. He's got to have the proof that he's kidnapped somebody.
James Petragallo
But it's not for that.
Jimmy Wissman
No.
James Petragallo
He took a picture and sends it to Crystal. Oh, you know what the caption with the picture was of this poor woman in a trunk, duct taped. Help. Like it's a joke. Like, help. Look, she's in the trunk. And then says, it's. It's done. He sends a text after that, Crystal responds. Where are you going to take her? I don't want her at the house. Right. Obviously. So apparently they didn't know what they were doing because that was the plan was to take her to the house. And now they're not taking her to the house. So they're like, fuck, now what do I do? So they had looked at the Argos concrete plant as before, because it has abandoned buildings in there. It's a big complex with a bunch of shit. So that would be perfect to hide her and hold her for a minute while they try to get a ransom. So he drives there, but then he notices since he's worked there, there's some changes. There's new locks. Now there's security lights. And those lights might. They might have cameras on them. I can't see from here. Shit. So now he's driving around with a fucking kidnapped real estate. He's driving past this woman's billboards with her in the fucking trunk. He's got. He's in deep shit right now, and he knows it. And he knows pretty soon someone's gonna notice she's gone and they're gonna start looking for her. So Crystal later said he said he could get pulled over at any moment and he needed to get off the road. So he said, fuck it, and just takes her Home.
Jimmy Wissman
Don't bring her to the house.
James Petragallo
Took her to the house. She's alive, Jimmy. Yeah, she's absolutely alive. Yeah. So they bring her in to the house. 165 Randall Drive in Jacksonville. This one could have been done in Jacksonville. Scott or Cabot. We just picked Cabot because it was the biggest one. It's a tiny little bath. It's a bathroom. It's a little bathroom. It's a little master bathroom off the bedroom there. And that's Beverly's cell. They just lock her in there. It's a little prison cell. So that's it. She's in there. They lock her in. And he tells Crystal to watch her hold the stun gun and watch her while I figure out what we're doing. This has turned into a ridiculous movie. Now this is a movie. This is silly. Beverly can see prescription bottles on the counter because that's what's up there. She's looking around and Crystal's name is printed right on the fucking bottles right there. So now she knows that these aren't strange, these aren't strangers. She knows who she's dealing with and all of that. So Aaron realizes that he needs Beverly's debit card. Problem is, you know where the debit.
Jimmy Wissman
Card is Back there at the fucking house.
James Petragallo
At the house he took her from.
Jimmy Wissman
Right.
James Petragallo
Do you know what the worst thing he could possibly do is? Return to this fucking crime scene.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
So he says, I gotta do it. That's the whole point of this. I gotta do it. I'm going. So he sells crystal. I hope no one's found that she's missing yet. So he says, I'll be back in 45 minutes.
Jimmy Wissman
Jesus.
James Petragallo
So at 8:30pm that night, that's when Carl Jr. Not Carl's Jr. And his hamburgers, but Carl Jr. Called, got a call from his father about, have you talked to your mother? And you know, Carl Jr. Said it was not common. This was common for her to. Late. Sometimes showings go late, people sit around bullshitting. And he said, realistically, it wasn't that late. It was 8:30. I mean, that's not that late if you started at 6. It's a big house, whatever. Then at 9pm Is when Carl Sr. Even though he's not a big worrier, started to get fucking worried. So he drove over to the house. Beverly, Beverly. Beverly called the cops. My wife's. Her car's here. I don't know where she is. They come over, fucking say that your fingerprints are all over everything, but whatever. So then at Midnight, we're back at the house with Crystal and Aaron and Beverly Lewis. He returns. Aaron comes back at midnight. The cops have been there for hours at this point. And he walks in, color drained from his face. And Crystal looks at him. She doesn't even ask. He just says, cops everywhere. The whole place is crawling with cops. And they don't have the debit card, they don't have the pin number, they don't have shit. They don't have anything to do. So they go, fuck, what do we do now? The whole point was to get. What do we do?
Jimmy Wissman
So then, so much trouble.
James Petragallo
Crystal then says, aaron, she's seen your face. She's seen my prescription. She knows who we are. Yeah, this is. Besides the massive violence, this is like Ruthless People, except remember the movie Ruthless people with Danny DeVito and Judge Reinhold and fucking Bette Midler and shit. That is a great fucking movie, by the way.
Jimmy Wissman
Keeper.
James Petragallo
Keeper. But the comedy of errors that those two kidnappers had trying to hold Bette Midler, that you're like, this is ridiculous. This is what's going on here. These two are fucking idiots, first of all. And this poor woman is stuck with these morons. So she says she knows who we are. So Aaron nods and Crystal says, I want her out of the house. I want her gone. And he says, permanently gone.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, Aaron, don't ask those questions.
James Petragallo
And she says, yes. Oh, so this is about one o' clock in the morning. That is when they decided, okay, we should type back one of these texts that people keep sending her. And that's when they type, sorry, phone being dead, having drinks now. And that's when they get the red folder and all that kind of shit. But the only one they respond to is Carl Senior with having drinks now. Then at 3:29am this is how they through text messages, Crystal and Aaron decide what to do here. They're in the same house in different rooms, texting, by the way, because when you're committing a crime together, even though you're in the same house and can just tell each other, you want to leave a digital trail for people to find later. It's for the best, really. This is as dumb as you could be possibly. I mean, it's unreal. So Crystal says, WTF is her fucking text? Aaron says, you sure you want me to do this? She says, do whatever you want. Good night. Which is the most passive aggressive thing. And now I see why they're breaking up. Okay, he's on meth. She's a passive aggressive asshole. I get It.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay, do whatever you want.
James Petragallo
Do whatever you want. Good night. No, bitch, we were in this together. This was both of us. You can't just put it on me now. Now I'm the only one involved in this fucking plan. So he said, I'm asking you, she said, such a fucking waste of time. Why don't you fuck her too? What are you jealous? What are you talking about?
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
Why don't you? You have a kidnapped woman in there. Yeah, why don't you fuck her too? You're gonna keep her alive in our house? You might as well fuck her like. No, this is a kidnapping. Hold it together for Christ's sake. He says you need to chill.
Jimmy Wissman
I'm trying to get money, lady.
James Petragallo
Listen, I'm a meth addicted kidnapper and you need to chill. So I think I'm right.
Jimmy Wissman
I'm trying to pay our bills here.
James Petragallo
So she said, this is amazing. Whatever. Number one, you don't whatever a murder plot.
Jimmy Wissman
First of all, you don't whatever a. Go ahead and murder the bitch. What are you doing? Why don't you fuck her? Why don't you.
James Petragallo
Oh my God, she's a nightmare. And he's a nightmare too. But I mean as a couple, these two belong together. Why don't you fuck her? Why don't you fuck her too? Is what she said. He said. She then says, quote, whatever. It don't take that long to do what you need to do. I'm not helping anymore.
Jimmy Wissman
Anymore.
James Petragallo
You're spending too much time. Yeah, thinking about it. I was on board to do it ever before, but since you're dilly dallying now, you're on your own. Okay, so Aaron takes Beverly from the bathroom. Crystal, by the way, hides in the home office because she didn't want to see what happened, even though she's fine to say, go ahead and do it. He gets Beverly and puts her back in the trunk again and drives back toward the Argos plant. I don't know at what point they made the voice recording, but it had to be at some point here, the whole time they had her. So he brings her there. There's multiple versions that he gives of what happened, but Crystal gives a version that she told him that's backed up by all the forensic evidence that we know exactly what happened. He walked Beverly to the edge of a grassy area and tried to strangle her with his hands.
Jimmy Wissman
And found out it's hard.
James Petragallo
And found out it's hard. And he's pretty weak, I think is what he found out. He's not as strong as he thought he was. And he later told Crystal, I didn't know how hard it was going to be strangling someone's crazy. So he then went back to the green duct tape and put six strips across her face, covering her nose and mouth completely and making the duct tape mask, as the medical examiner called it. That is horrifying. She suffocated slowly over five minutes. Oh my word, what a piece of fucking shit this man is. Couldn't even fucking bring a knife and cut her throat like a fucking gentleman. I mean, not to be a. You know what I'm saying? If you're gonna. If you're a murderer, at least make it fucking quick. That's all I ask of you. If you're gonna murder me, make it fast, please.
Jimmy Wissman
It's crazy that this is torture. He just like took sections and wrapped it on her face. Didn't go all the way around.
James Petragallo
It was six layers though.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, yeah. Like, what a weird fucking way to do that.
James Petragallo
Yeah, you could just wrap it around like a. Yeah, that would be normal. So five minutes it took her to suffocate to death. That is. That's. That's worse than. It's one of the worst murders we've ever talked about. That's horrifying. I never heard anybody doing that before. Then he gets home and Crystal's waiting for him. And she asked him, you know, are you okay? And he said, quote, look, I'm not fucked up about it. I don't have a conscience. I can turn it on and off like a switch. That's comforting. Then he said, you know what happens when someone dies? You know, when someone dies, they shit and piss themselves. Okay, thanks for letting me know that. And Crystal said later, at the time I was numbing. She just didn't know what was going on. Now they needed to get rid of the body. He killed her, left her there, and then drove back home, which is crazy. So he says, look, I need help burying this fucking body. I can't do it by myself. She says, no, I'm not helping.
Jimmy Wissman
Do it yourself.
James Petragallo
He says, all you have to do is hold the flashlight, okay?
Jimmy Wissman
Right until I'm holding it, looking at somewhere else and you're gonna yell at me, I know how this goes.
James Petragallo
Well, then she's gonna say, well, nevermind, but why don't you do it yourself? I'm not in the mood right now. And then they're gonna go back and forth. So they drive to Walmart, of course, the murder supply center. If you're A middle of the night murderer. This is your supply center. Security cameras catch them buying a shovel and topsoil at 4am, which is when I buy all my gardening products. At 4 o' clock in the morning?
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
I mean, if the sun isn't up yet, you can't buy gardening products. That just looks real weird. So at the plant, they dig a shallow grave, and obviously it's shallow because one of her fucking elbows was poking out. They bury her, it's dark out. And I don't think Crystal did a good job holding the flashlight so they didn't notice the elbow. You know what they did after that, Jimmy?
Jimmy Wissman
What is that?
James Petragallo
Everybody out there in podcast world. Scream it out. Where you think they went from there?
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, boy, did they go, I think.
James Petragallo
You'Re gonna get it. Yes, they did. I knew you'd get it. I fucking knew it. I said, I think you're gonna get it. And that's exactly where they went.
Jimmy Wissman
I know.
James Petragallo
Waffle House.
Jimmy Wissman
Nothing fixes guilt from a murder. Like smothered and covered. Come on.
James Petragallo
I could hear through, like in my brain, I could hear hundreds of thousands of people listening to this going, waffle House. All at the same time. Like it's one of those.
Jimmy Wissman
They go to the Waffle House, they smelled the sizzle.
James Petragallo
Hash browns and coffee. They got.
Jimmy Wissman
That's what they got.
James Petragallo
That's what they got. Hash browns and coffee. You know, keep it light. Yeah, keep it light. After a big murder like that, you don't want eggs. It'll mess up your stomach.
Jimmy Wissman
No, no, just smother them and cover them. And then a little coffee, black, please.
James Petragallo
So they love. You love saying the word smother and cover. You love it. So every time you bring up Waffle house, it's like 12 different times you say smothered and covered. That's all I've ever known from that place. I know. That's all they have. That's what's so funny. I do like that fucking chocolate pie they have.
Jimmy Wissman
Do they have a pie?
James Petragallo
It's like pudding, but a pie. It's fucking. Just chocolate pudding with in a crust.
Jimmy Wissman
Crust? Yeah. Is it graham cracker crust?
James Petragallo
Yes. I can't eat it, so I ditch the crust, but I eat all the pudding out of it. It's good.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, that's not bad.
James Petragallo
I love pudding. So anyway, I get it. Smothering, covered, by the way. I don't know if you knew that.
Jimmy Wissman
Is that how you get the pie?
James Petragallo
Yeah, I get a pudding pie. Smothered and covered, babe. That's no, that's how it comes. You have to tell them not to do that. Yeah, you go. Not smothered or covered, please. Just the pudding. Thank you. Well, that's how it comes. So you know now, do you know, by the way, what their big plan was? Their big plan was for ransom, remember?
Jimmy Wissman
Right.
James Petragallo
They were going to. Their plan was to demand $100,000, right? Yeah. Do you know how much Beverly had in her bank account at the time of her death? Oh, God, 130 bucks. What was 130 bucks? They didn't have $100,000 to get. It's a commission based business. So it's, you know, goes up and down. Yeah, she drove a nice car. Because you have to. If you're a real estate agent, because you transport clients, a lot of times you have to have a decent car and they lived in a nice house because she sold real estate and she got a good. Found a good deal and bought it. But they have no fucking money. They're. They're living right at their means. I mean, it is at or above their means. They do not have liquid money to go.
Jimmy Wissman
Every house they sell is, is pushing us down the road a few months. That's all.
James Petragallo
That's it. And that's like everybody, every paycheck you get, I can eat for two more weeks. And that's what people do. That's life. So I mean, they were comfortable, they had money, but they're not, they don't have. If something happened and she had to stop working today or something, they'd be in deep shit. I mean, that's, that's it. So the other thing everybody thinks about is what if Beverly didn't show up? Would that the. Where would their plan have gone to from there? What if she said, ah, fuck it, I'm not doing this, I'll make an appointment again for tomorrow morning or something. Well, if she didn't, they had backups. Oh, they had three other female realtors in the area that they were going to go down the line.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, my God.
James Petragallo
Beverly was just first choice because she looked like the richest. And then they were going to go down the line of the next three. One of those agents, when the cops told her she was on the list, immediately quit real estate. She was like a top broker. And she said, done. She said, I can't do it. I can't do it knowing I was next on the list. Can't do it. She was number two. So Aaron does another interview on TV and says that he expressed that he was wanting to tell his side of the story here. Wow. This is after they find her dead. He says that her death was an accident, but he felt like nobody would believe him because how do you accidentally wrap a person's face in fucking six layers of duct tape? That's not an accident.
Jimmy Wissman
It wasn't wrapped. It was meticulously placed over her fucking face, man. You can't say that that was an accident.
James Petragallo
None of it's an accident. No matter how, what direction it was put on, it can't be an accident. Yeah, so they said that. He also said he wished he had spoken with Crystal before the police did, so he could be the one to tell. So he could be the one to tell her that he was having an affair with Beverly. You know, because he said I was having an affair. She's like, I just wish you would have. Guys. Guys would have let me tell my wife I was having an affair before you guys did. Like, don't worry, no one believes you anyway. She knows what you did. So then they find. Is this connected to another case?
Jimmy Wissman
Oh.
James Petragallo
Ashley Auckland, who was 27, was murdered while showing a house in Iowa in 2011. The cops initially suspect a connection to Beverly's case here, but then they end up ruling it out through the investigation that Aaron was not there and couldn't have done it. So Crystal is going to plead guilty as she has to to first degree murder, as a matter of fact.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, boy. In Arkansas.
James Petragallo
In Arkansas. And a large group. It's for a reduced sentence, too. A large group of Beverly's family and friends and real estate people are all there. So imagine a bunch of women in red jackets standing a fuck around watching your. Your case here. The chief deputy prosecutor called it a good plea deal for the state, saying it will allow the family and friends to begin seeking closure. He said it's always good when you have someone who's a participant in the crime who can help provide additional information and perspective for the jury. Something other than just the investigative part of the case. This is half the case for them that is now down the road. He said that's a large part of a negotiated plea in a lot of instances is helping the family begin the process of closure and getting past what a horrible thing has happened to the family. Get it over with so you don't have to do it anymore. Anyway, they sentence Crystal to you, ma' am may fuck off. 30 years in prison.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
Which ain't bad, I gotta say. No, that is not fucking bad. I mean, that's, you know, 70 for her, but still, that Is. That's interesting here. So March 4, 2015, is pretrial for Aaron here, and they accept a mental evaluation here. They're gonna put him in a mental evaluation to see if he's fit to proceed with trial. Because he asked the court to dismiss his lawyer. He satisfies the criteria for the following DSM 5 diagnosis Antisocial personality Disorder. And they, they go on to say, a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder is warranted. In light of Mr. Lewis's history of pervasive criminality and early onset disregard for social norms and rules. This diagnosis is fitting with an individual that displays persistent disregard for, for, and violation of the rights of others since the age of 15 and as indicated by evidence of at least the three symptom criteria. Additionally, there must be evidence of conduct problems before the age of 15. Mr. Lewis reported behavioral problems beginning in elementary school. He stated he was taken to a youth center at the age of 12 due to acting out and rebellion, and that he often ran away from home and was truant from school. And they talk about robbing a bank and several theft charges and all that kind of shit now in court. So he's. He's cleared to. To go. He's. He's competent. He says, quote, I would like to terminate my lawyer. I do not wish for Mr. Hensley to continue representing me. I've told him numbers of times he's been discharged.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
So the judge questioned him over because he said, I want to represent myself.
Jimmy Wissman
Right.
James Petragallo
Because obviously I'm a lawyer. Clearly I can handle it. You know, I know jurisprudence. Shit. Come on now. He said that. That the judge was trying to determine whether he could represent himself. Lewis said he had some college education, can read and write, and he says that he does. This is fun. He has legal experience because he once won a lawsuit against Benton County. Oh, that's true. So the judge said, well, I'll let you do it, but I'm going to treat you just like any other attorney. You're not getting any special treatment. And he said, oh, I understand. And Lewis also said that he understood that he would not be allowed to leave the Arkansas Department of Corrections to investigate his case, and that it's, quote, not much different than what's happening now. Basically, like he said, my other lawyer wasn't doing shit either, so who cares? So he represents himself, he fires his attorney, demands access to all evidence, has a hard time with fucking filings and motions because you have to know how to do that shit, and complains that prosecutors won't cooperate. With him. He does exactly what Lori Valo did. Yeah, exactly. He said at one point, quote, I don't want an attorney. I'm the one facing prison, not them. Oh, yeah. The judge warned him repeatedly and finally appoints Bill James as defense attorney. When it becomes clear that Lewis is not going to do this. Right. Basically he said, look, dude, you're over your head. I can't let you represent yourself because it's just going to be grounds for appeal. So you need to have a lawyer. So they represent, they appoint Bill James.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
Now he then posts a 22 page handwritten affidavit. This is Aaron on Facebook through a service for inmates. Entity claims that Beverly died during consensual sex.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, with a, with a duct tape mask.
James Petragallo
Yeah, yeah. That's what she's into, you know, that's all she. He even drew fucking sketches. Sketches. Murder sketches.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Of the duct tape placement. Think about that. And said, quote, I covered the whole front of the face in six inch strips of tape.
Jimmy Wissman
Okay.
James Petragallo
So dollar bill length.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
For anybody who's wondering now, his attorney appointed to represent him is like, great, I really hit the fucking jackpot here with this guy. But it's gonna be a capital murder case. And yeah, this is crazy. So he, the problem with why they had to appoint the attorney is he would say, I don't want an attorney. But then he would ask several, several questions about how to write his own motions. And the judge says, that's not my job. Attorneys know how to write motions. If you don't know how to do it, show me.
Jimmy Wissman
Show me how.
James Petragallo
Yeah. He then says information on his cell phone will clear him, but he doesn't trust anyone in law enforcement to preserve the information. If he surrenders his passcode to receipt to retrie. He hasn't given up his passcode yet. And he said, I am not going to tell you my passcode. And this was before they had all the programs to crack it and shit. Every police department has that now, but they didn't have it back then. So he said, if I give it to them, they're just going to erase everything that says I'm innocent. That's what he's saying. So authorities said they can't examine the phone without the code. And he says he wants his own representative to be present if he's allowed, if he allows the information to be extracted. The judge warned that those problems were perils of being your own attorney and urged him to accept the legal representation. And he does. So that's how it worked. They go to court to try to get some of the evidence ruled out. Okay.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh.
James Petragallo
Most of the information that they gathered while interviewing him is excluded because they said he invoked his right to have an attorney present while being transported to the police station, and they did not provide him with an attorney there. They also. The judge also ruled the search warrants obtained by detectives were overly broad and ruled that evidence found in his trunk and home. So her phone, stuff like that will not be allowed. Yeah. Her hair in the backseat, in the trunk, all that shit. None of that will be allowed. Okay. The warrants found duct tape and had her hair in the trunk and her phone and other write ups. So the case is over with. The shit they. The shit they excluded could have been all the evidence they needed, basically. The prosecutors will, however, be allowed to play a recording obtained from the voice memo. Her ransom call, which is horrifying. Horrifying. So he filed a motion to suppress these statements. They do that. They allow the other thing. That's crazy. They say that the police citizen encounters have been classified into three categories. The first category is contemplated by. I'm not going to get into the Arkansas rules of Criminal Procedure, but a law enforcement officer may request any person to furnish information or otherwise cooperate in the investigation or prevention of a crime. The officer may request the person to respond to questions, appear at a police station, or comply with any other reasonable request. But it doesn't say, you could just search shit and make him talk or whatever the fuck. So the attorney. His new attorney says that the judge's ruling will help him, quote, put on the best possible defense for Louis here. He said that it's gonna be hard to find impartial jurors because of all the media coverage. He said, I need people who are going to be honest and judge the case based on what's proven and make a fair decision. I think we can find that, though. Okay, he's ready. Trial time. Here we go. Opening statements. This is fucking crazy. Okay. The prosecutor, during the opening statement, said that he and his wife targeted Carter. Two weeks of planning, all that kind of shit. They noted that his wife already pled guilty to first degree murder in the last case, and she's going to be testifying about how they went looking for a married real estate agent so they could demand ransom from a spouse. The fact that Crystal is there. If Crystal wasn't testifying, they would have very little at this point. Sure, Very little. But they do have DNA under her fingernails, which would probably do it. In the phone call and the phone Call. So the prosecutor says, quote, she died a horrible, terrifying death that no one deserves. Beverly loved her life. The last thing Beverly experienced was unspeakable terror at that man's hands and pointed to him. The defense attorney said that, come on, this is all over dramatic, said the prosecutors, making all this up, saying that they're presenting, quote, a made for TV movie. That's what they're putting some crazy made for TV movie plot. No one does that. That's crazy. He said it's an accident that happened during a sexual encounter that happens all the time. She was looking to get a little freaky. Her life was dull. You know how it goes. The defense attorney said, we have to look at this truthfully, not from a fantasy. Beverly was making bad decisions at this point in her life. Let's tell the truth about what's going on here. Everybody has a secret life. That's the same line that detective gave to her friend. Sure enough, everybody has a secret life. Problem is, she doesn't.
Jimmy Wissman
Nope.
James Petragallo
She just does a boring, you know, a normal lady who tells the truth. She does what it's an honest person.
Jimmy Wissman
Does the right thing every day.
James Petragallo
Yeah, she's not making bad. She's making all the right decisions at this point in her life, but she's never been better. So the also investigators tell the jurors that the phone and emails records show that the couple created a fake phone account to meet up with Carter at a vacant house. This. All this evidence doesn't look very good. Then Crystal takes the stand and he's fucked. She said the plan was to kidnap after they, you know, scoped everybody out. They said that the real estate agent was chosen because of the perception of real estate agents having a lot of money. Yeah, because they all look like they have a lot of money because they take this picture after they just get their teeth whitened and they have their best outfit on and their nicest jewelry. And they get it Photoshopped. Right?
Jimmy Wissman
Right.
James Petragallo
Yeah, and they get it photoshopped just right. And you think, oh, well, that must be what they look like when they wake up in the morning because they're rich and it's. No, they just, you know, good Photoshop. So they said that they, you know, they chose her based on that and that, that she said that Aaron was responsible for the actual killing. They asked how much they were expecting to get in terms of money and she said, quote, 100,000. That 100,000 was to be split in an amount that she did not know. So we were going to split it Basically, they said, why didn't you call the police? This is her answer. I didn't want to. I don't know why I didn't. Okay. Later she said, it wasn't about the money. I was worried about getting caught. And then the prosecutor said, you wanted her gone? And she said, yes. And they said, permanently gone. And she said yes because those were the text messages. So she had no choice, because otherwise he would have said, well, why did you say yes in this text message? That exact same question. The defense is attacking her credibility, pointing out that literally, she's a convicted prostitute. Okay? So 20 years ago, she sucked a dick for 20 bucks. So nothing she says can be taken seriously, obviously, in a court of law. Well, they said she's lied to police before. She's getting a deal for her testimony, but she has all the key points that line up with the forensics, so it's kind of tough. She said, yeah, she didn't call the cops because she didn't want to get caught. And she said, I wanted her gone. The TV reporter who did an interview with him outside the jail, or the exclusive jailhouse interview, was called in as a witness as well. The medical examiner testifies about the duct tape mask. The defense is, like, attacking the medical examiner for some reason, which is really weird because they have pictures of everything they've done, and, like, it's all laid out. And the judge intervenes and says, you know, chill out. And he says, just asking questions, you.
Jimmy Wissman
Know, just trying to get to the bottom of it. Your honor.
James Petragallo
Hey, you know. So the defense calls Carl Sr. Oh, yes. They call him to the stand. They didn't. The prosecution didn't call him for a reason. No, because he's cheated on her and hit her. Even though that was 30 years ago, it still doesn't look good. So they didn't want to talk about that. So the defense calls him to the stand, trying to paint Beverly as just miserable and looking for some excitement in her life. He admits that he had an affair 30 years ago and that one time while he was drunk, he hit Beverly around the same time. But he says, we were in a good place. We just renewed our vows. She was happy. We were happy. That was a long time ago. Aaron takes the stand.
Jimmy Wissman
Really?
James Petragallo
Oh, yes, he does. He tells the jury that, yes, he's had many run ins with the law. When asked about his criminal past, he said, you got a minute? He said it started when he fell in with a bad crowd at 14. And he said it just kept going and going, just repeated Thefts because he said he first stole like a Snickers bar from a store and then it went from there. So then repeats a graphic version of what he posted to the Facebook page about how he, him and Beverly were fucking and all of that kind of thing. And he said that he kidnapped her because he felt that police would not believe his side of the story and that he wanted to protect his wife. He said, they run a check on you and find you did something wrong. You did it. So all of this shit. He referred to what her. In the. By the way, in the Facebook thing that he wrote, he referred to what her naked body looked like and how he disposed of her corpse after he accidentally suffocated her during a consensual threesome with his wife. Then he says about the voice recording. They said, well, what voice? You forced her to fucking make a ransom thing? And he said, no, no, no, that was me with a voice. With an app that makes your voice different. And they said, well, what software program did you use to mimic it? And he said, you know, whatever, I don't remember. He said. So he said he used to mimic her in a voicemail. That's the don't call police and it could be bad and I love you and all that. But the son and the husband both identified the recording as his mother's voice.
Jimmy Wissman
Sure.
James Petragallo
So he said that he fabricated the recording after the death because it might be an angle to get someone out of something or get something out of someone. I'm sorry, I reversed that. Get something out of. So maybe he could use that to get money. If people thought she was still alive. During the breaks, Carl Jr watches Aaron Lewis, like the whole time, just scopes him out. And he said, quote, it's classic Aaron Lewis. It looked like he was enjoying his candy in typical fashion. He got a good lean in so he could see the television footage of himself. He's quite the character, which is quite the character. Means I'd stab him in the throat. If you give him me fucking near him. Two feet within a month, I will carve him up. So the verdict comes in. Three men and nine women on this jury, which is not great for this guy, I don't think. It's not a good jury breakdown for him. They start deliberating at about 3pm they deliberate for 45 minutes and they're done. That is literally just enough time to fill the paperwork out.
Jimmy Wissman
Very quick.
James Petragallo
Yeah, very quick. He is found guilty of capital murder and kidnapping, obviously.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
He shows no emotion as he's led Away. He gives a peace sign to the cameras. He thinks, yeah, this is, like, fun for him. This is some kind of weird, hey, look at me. I'm famous. Yep. So the sentencing comes around and the death penalty's on the table here. But the family had been asking about, how does it work when you pursue the death penalty? Basically, Carl Jr. Said, quote, the prosecutors walked us through what that really means. Not just they say, sentence you to death, then you cheer, and then he's dead. That's not how it works. The prosecutor said, this means years of appeals. They said, we'll go for it if you really want, but it is years of appeals. You're going to be reliving this over and over again every couple of years for the next 30 years, basically. Oh, boy, do you want that? And Carl Jr. Said, We just wanted it over. As long as he was away forever and couldn't hurt anybody else, we just wanted it over with. Which is the most reasonable thing that you could do. Let's save the state $15 million while we're at it, too. And I'll feel better so everybody's happy. Um, so the victim impact statement here, Carl Jr. Says, We've been wearing these chains for 16 months, and they just fell off. My mom's at at better peace now. The only thing she did that day was go to work. I still can't fathom that my mom was murdered while doing her job that she loved so much. She was an angel among us. And the judge says, you, sir, may fuck off. Life without parole. Oh, for capital murder. Life without parole for kidnapping to run consecutively.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, die.
James Petragallo
Bye bye, asshole. You're going.
Jimmy Wissman
They really made a spectacle out of him.
James Petragallo
Oh, yeah, they fucked him. They gave him the worst thing they could give him. That's not the death penalty. Put him away forever. There you go. Never getting out. So some reactions here. Juror number seven, while speaking anonymously, said, we walked in knowing he was guilty, meaning walking into the jury room, not the courtroom. Initially, that would be the whole trial that would reverse the whole thing. If they say, we walked in, I was like, look at him. Gross.
Jimmy Wissman
Look at that sick fuck.
James Petragallo
Yeah. We walked in knowing he was guilty. The evidence was overwhelming. We deliberated for 45 minutes out of respect for the process, but really we knew in five minutes they couldn't come out. Seven minutes later, the judge is still. The judge is still putting mustard on his subway sandwich, going, what happened now? You guys are ready.
Jimmy Wissman
They got words to say how? How?
James Petragallo
Oh, my God. The juror goes on to Say this. And this is every fucking time one of these guys tries to testify to. Cause they need to put their own stink on it because they think they can lie, you know, convince people of anything. This juror said the worst part was his testimony.
Jimmy Wissman
Yes.
James Petragallo
He smiled when describing her death. Smiled.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh, my.
James Petragallo
So they were thrilled to put him away. The defense attorney said, I feel like we had a fair trial. The jury heard the evidence. I respect their decision. In other words, I ain't gonna be his appeals lawyer. I'll tell you that right before.
Jimmy Wissman
I don't wanna talk about it anymore.
James Petragallo
Not me. Later on, it came out that he said. Told other people, I guess allegedly, that he struggled defending Aaron, especially when he would. The character assassination of Beverly. That's not the approach he wanted to take, but that's what his client wanted. Now, Carl Sr. Still lives in Scott. Stayed around. He said the house has too many memories to leave. So this is where we did everything. This is where we're staying. He said nights are the hardest. Going to sleep without her waking up and remembering she's gone. Losing her in such a horrific way. I still kind of expect that she'll show up one day. He doesn't date at all, really. Doesn't date, doesn't socialize, really.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, just.
James Petragallo
Beverly's clothes are still in the closet. He's just. He's. He's completely stuck. It's in his. In his head. It's 2014 and she'll be home any minute. And that's so fucking sad. I feel I completely get where he's coming from. And it's the saddest shit ever because now his life is just frozen in time. It's frozen. Yeah. You can't fucking date. What are you gonna do? Bring a chick home and be like, yeah, that's all my wife's clothes? And you know that's not gonna work. So he does become the face of Realtor safety, though, nationwide. That's his main concern. Every September 25, he said he watches the clock tick towards 6pm he said, It's what I do every year, 6pm which is the time of that appointment where she was kidnapped. I just say a prayer and I'm in that moment. I kind of apologize, or this is the son said, I kind of apologize for my mom, for what she had to go through. He actually thanks Crystal for testifying.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, you got to.
James Petragallo
Yeah. As much of a piece of shit as she is, we did put this guy away because of her. And he said he knows it's the only reason Aaron was convicted and he said it's gratitude, but it's complicated, you know.
Jimmy Wissman
Thanks for being such a frigid bitch.
James Petragallo
Yeah, thanks. Appreciate that for being passive aggressive asshole and then talking about it afterwards. He also starts the Beverly Carter foundation. This is Carl Jr that goes into that. Carl Senior helps here the Beverly Carter foundation to educate real estate professionals about safety. And he said changes in the industry that could have saved his mother's life. Carl Jr. Quits his job and also becomes a real estate agent.
Jimmy Wissman
He's gonna get them all any.
James Petragallo
But yeah, he's gonna have like two guns on him at all times going, come and get me. I'll meet you at 8:30. No problem. Sure.
Jimmy Wissman
My real estate carries a fucking.38 in her fucking in her purse.
James Petragallo
Well, she's dangerous. It's fucking dangerous. Especially in Arizona, so. But he didn't become a real estate agent to sell houses, but to understand the vulnerabilities from the inside so he could do this foundation better. He travels, he speaks at real estate conferences, trains agents. His presentation includes crime scene photos.
Jimmy Wissman
Oh Christ.
James Petragallo
This is what can happen to you. Text message evidence. Beverly's final recording. He plays that for people.
Jimmy Wissman
He's running like a rookie symposium for real estate agents.
James Petragallo
Some chicks that take all your money and give you diseases. You better watch out. He's running like the NFL's rookie symposium basically. And safety protocol calls that could have saved her. He says that really pushes me forward. When people confide in you the ways they've been victimized, harassed, stolen from. You really want to get to work and help them. So the industry also goes into a. They embrace technology. Basically they have a lot of the agents wear jewelry with hidden panic buttons in it.
Jimmy Wissman
Nice.
James Petragallo
It's called Invisaware.
Jimmy Wissman
Mm.
James Petragallo
GPS tracking mandatory for all showings. Apps that alert if the agent doesn't check in at certain times. Virtual tours as a first option also. Yeah, go look at it online. There's your virtual tour and then we'll get you. Come into the office if you want to see it.
Jimmy Wissman
After that, tell me what you're most interested in.
James Petragallo
In this house, no showing alone after dark. Clients are required to meet at offices first. You copy their driver's license. You can do background checks on them. They establish code words. They make that red folder thing kind of a big deal. Buddy system required for isolated properties. And the Arkansas state passes enhanced penalties for crimes against real estate agents. And several other states do the same. And then they were proposing federal legislation which I don't think went anywhere. Now in Media. This case was covered by Dateline called Secrets Uncovered. Then it was covered again by Dateline. Unforgettable. It was a retrospective on the first episode before we could stop thinking about this. Fuck, man. An ID Channel One called, a series called no one can hear you scream.
Jimmy Wissman
Christ, you guys.
James Petragallo
And then, of course, Nancy Grace talks about it constantly because she's like, I look like a real estate agent, don't I? Look at me. This could happen to me.
Jimmy Wissman
No, we want to kill you for other reasons.
James Petragallo
Yeah. Jesus Christ, I'd love to kill you in an empty house, don't get me wrong. But not for that reason.
Jimmy Wissman
I'm going to take you somewhere where nobody can hear you scream.
James Petragallo
Yeah, that would be great. And make it a secret that gets uncovered. So Crystal in prison. She is at the Wrightsville women's facility in 2020. Now, in 2020, she writes a four page handwritten letter to Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Wanting clemency. Clemency, quote, I have found God and achieved exemplary institutional adjustment. I know I can never say or do enough to change what I did. I have a debt to pay to society and it would be more productive to pay this debt. Volunteering and monitoring on the outside, then staring at four walls on the inside, eating up taxpayer dollars. I just want to help you, really is what it is. I am asking you for a second chance to prove myself redeemable to society.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
Both he and the parole board said, get the fuck outta here. Fuck you. By the way, she won't be eligible for parole again until 2035.
Jimmy Wissman
You. Your response to a woman is dead or whatever. Do what you want.
James Petragallo
Whatever you whatever. Should I kill this lady now?
Jimmy Wissman
They should have replied to her email or her clemency request with whatever, whatever.
James Petragallo
Do what you want. That's fucking great.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
So her prison record shows participation in educational courses, counseling sessions and religious programs. Excellent. Good for her. Well, we'll see you in fucking 10 years.
Jimmy Wissman
Why don't you fuck her?
James Petragallo
Yeah, go. Why don't you just fuck her already? Now Aaron is appealing. Obviously on phone recording is an issue, among other things, because he said that should have never been allowed in. Also, Lewis himself directed the deputies to bring his cell phone, which had been lawfully seized. So there's no indication the deputies pressured him to play the recording. He literally said, I'm gonna show you something. Or, I mean, I'll let you hear something. Hand me my phone. They said, a spontaneous statement, regardless of the dictates of Miranda, is not automatically rendered in admissible. Spontaneous statements are not Compelled or coerced in any way that violates the fifth Amendment privileges against self incrimination. So you basically walk up to a.
Jimmy Wissman
Cop and say, there's meth in my pocket. If they find meth in your pocket, you told them it was there.
James Petragallo
You told them it was meth in your pocket.
Jimmy Wissman
Miranda or not.
James Petragallo
Yeah. That's very fucking stupid. So they said. It's obvious that Lewis controlled the circumstances that resulted in him revealing the voice recording, not the police. Accordingly, no police misconduct. There was no reason to suppress the voice recording. I agree. Aaron in prison is a complete fuck up and disaster. Just like in life. It's never gonna stop. He has been in trouble for stealing from inmates.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Other. Trafficking contraband, threatening violence against staff, threatening violence against other prisoners. In 2021, he faced new charges for assaults of correction officers as well as.
Jimmy Wissman
He's a piece of shit.
James Petragallo
A general piece of shit. Oh, by the way, he has fucking adoring fans.
Jimmy Wissman
What?
James Petragallo
He has people sending him money and pictures.
Jimmy Wissman
What?
James Petragallo
Women are all over this fucking guy.
Jimmy Wissman
Is he handsome?
James Petragallo
Not really. Very average. Exceedingly average. Average looking Cat. Don't get it. It's not about looks here. It's about the manipulation. It's a psychological thing. Some people have a thing of. If this person's such a monster, I could make them not a monster. I bet. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's what they think. They really think that. That they could fix them is what it is. And that's a real thing.
Jimmy Wissman
He looks like less handsome Pete Davidson.
James Petragallo
Is that possible?
Jimmy Wissman
No. Yes. Somehow he figured out looks like a salamander and Pete Davidson.
James Petragallo
Let's pick some. Let's pick something up. Pete Davidson is the bottom of the barrel of Pete Davidson.
Jimmy Wissman
There he is.
James Petragallo
Looks wise.
Jimmy Wissman
I found him.
James Petragallo
That's. That's not. That's not it. So he. Anyway, they're sending him all this shit. One letter intercepted by prison officials. He said, quote, beverly wanted it. She was bored with her life. I gave her excitement. She died happy.
Jimmy Wissman
What the shit?
James Petragallo
This letter was forwarded to the prosecutors as evidence of his continued lack of remorse. The Carter family sues the realtor. Realtor company, the Kry leak. Realtors sues them for failure to provide adequate safety training, no requirement for background checks, no policy on preliminary meetings, inadequate safety protocols. They said that the lawsuit is dismissed, though the judge rules that the employers are not responsible for criminal acts of third parties. If it happened like in their office, they were saying, like, it's free ice cream for ex murderers day for paroled Murderers Day, that would be one thing. But she's out just doing her normal job. If a garbage man got killed by somebody in their yard, they wouldn't sue the garbage company and say it was their responsibility to protect them is what they're saying. So Aaron in prison, here he is, Arkansas Department of corrections number 151373. In case you want to write him a love story or a love note. Here he's in the Varner Supermax facility, which sounds about right, I would say here. Yeah, that's at 320 Highway 388 in Gould, Arkansas. And his custody classified classification is C5, which I think is probably keep him away from everybody.
Jimmy Wissman
Pretty intense.
James Petragallo
Pretty intense. Beverly is buried at the Pine Crest Memorial park and Garden mausoleum. So she got a proper burial here, not one in a fucking shallow grave in a concrete company yard. And then the kidnapping house. Remember that?
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Okay, well.
Jimmy Wissman
For sale.
James Petragallo
Yeah. Everyone knew Beverly Carter around this area. It was crazy. This house became a site for prayer vigils. And that doesn't make it sell real great. When you show up and there's a hundred people with candles singing, fucking praying out front of your house, holding hands, singing Kumbaya in your yard, you probably don't want to buy that house. So people left flowers and cards. Even realtors brought their commission checks signed over to Beverly.
Jimmy Wissman
Really?
James Petragallo
I don't know what good that does, but they did that to her husband.
Jimmy Wissman
Jesus.
James Petragallo
Yeah. So the property owner who was horrified, offered to demolish the house.
Jimmy Wissman
Really?
James Petragallo
He said, you want me to knock it down? Like this is crazy. I feel terrible. Carl Senior said, don't bother. Carl Senior said, quote, it's just a house. It didn't kill her, they did. Which is so mature. This family is so fucking mature. I like them a lot.
Jimmy Wissman
Is the house showing or the house that.
James Petragallo
The house she was showing now she.
Jimmy Wissman
Was showing wasn't even killed there, right?
James Petragallo
No. Was tased and duct taped and dragged out there. But still, it was the. It was the source of where it all started here. The house sat empty for months and then eventually it sold to for below asking price here. Now I have some of these. Apparently the Secretary of Veteran affairs, it says that's the name, but owner type, private individual. But they had the Secretary of Veteran affairs as their name, bought it, and then the Inside Out Community Ministries had it from March 2015 to May 2018. Then the Virginia housing something here had it for a while. And then some people, I won't mention their names, it's just regular people. They Got a murder house. It's bad enough people probably coming and fucking praying in their yards every once in a while. The house though has gone up and down in value quite a bit. Right now it's estimated anywhere between $385,000 and $504,000. It is a five bedroom, four and a half bath house. 4,141 square feet.
Jimmy Wissman
Wow.
James Petragallo
So pretty big house there. And the inside looks like. I mean it's got some. A lot of rooms have carpet and there's like big giant tiles and shit. It's not listed for sale. People live in there now. There you go, everybody that is Cabot, Arkansas and a motherfucker of a story. So my God, very quickly going through the end here. If you like that story, please tell everybody you know about it. Get on whatever app you're on, give us five stars, head over to shut upandgivemerder.com get your tickets for live shows right now. Seattle and Philly are the ones you want to look for a couple left in San Diego that were our holds that we put out there too. Shut up and give me murder dot com. Do that. We have some announcements coming up. Future shit as well. Do that follow on social media. Smalltown murder on Instagram, Smalltown pod on Facebook. Hang out with us there. Patreon.com CrimeInSports is where you get all the bonus materials. Anybody $5 a month or above, you get a huge back catalog of bonus shit you've never heard before. Immediately upon subscription, two new ones every other week. One crime in sports, one small town murder and you get it all. This week for crime and sports we're going to talk about how gambling in sports has exploded since 2018. Meaning the players gambling and getting in trouble for it because that's when they passed it being legal outside of Nevada for small town murder. It is a pick em. It's a your choice Patreon people. It is either going to be the history of the death penalty and executions in the United States or Ted Bundy helping detectives catch the Green river killer. One of the two you pick. Hit me up on what I say. I said Instagram I guess because Facebook they can't because there's the limited number. So hit me up on Instagram at James Petragala with an I and fucking pie is how you start that. I don't know why I didn't just stay with Jimmy P. Is funny. Why did I put my name up there that no one do that? I don't fucking know. I should have just Kept with. That's dumb. That's my last name. And it's hard to spell. Yeah, stupid. That shows I don't give a fuck about social media. I don't care at all.
Jimmy Wissman
So stupid.
James Petragallo
So anyway, hit me up on there, send me a message and I'll. We'll pick a case, I'll pull it up and we'll decide here. Patreon.com CrimeInSports is where you get all that. And you get crime in sports, your stupid opinions, and both Small Town Murder episodes every week ad free on Patreon as well. You can plug the RSS feed into your player and do that. And in addition to that, you also get a shout out, which happens right now. Jimmy, hit me with the names of the most fantastic goddamn people on the face of the earth who would never, ever, ever kidnap us at our house that we're trying to buy. Hit me up right now. What are they?
Jimmy Wissman
This executive producer, Gary Howard, Cody and Alinda Rinninger. Evidently, Alinda's husband is a shit biscuit. I don't know.
James Petragallo
Oh, boy.
Jimmy Wissman
But he's a good guy. That's what I'm talking about.
James Petragallo
Oh, that guy. Yeah. He called himself a shit biscuit.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah.
James Petragallo
He said he was a shitty husband. No, no, he said he was a shitty husband. We're not sure about that. But he did do this for you.
Jimmy Wissman
I don't know what he did.
James Petragallo
He did do that. And Cody, Aren't they having a baby? Any minute now.
Jimmy Wissman
The Cody, I hope.
James Petragallo
Yeah, yeah, I think I've seen the pictures.
Jimmy Wissman
His life is really unfolded for him right before our eyes.
James Petragallo
Literally before our eyes. It all happened on our watch. It's the weirdest in the world. Thank you, everybody.
Jimmy Wissman
By the way, we'll see you, Cody, in Grand Rapids here shortly. Other producers this week. Peyton Meadows, Lauren Thorpe, Janice Hill. Happy Hour checking in Malaga, Malaga, New Mexico. I don't know. It's all garbage to me. Life with an autistic child on Instagram. Jolene with no last name. Courtney Stewart. Jeremy with no last name. Mike Fernandez, Bevy with no last name. Chris and M. Joe Whaley, David Stark, Jamie Rodriguez, Maisie Cooper, Peggy Smith, Cassie Davis, Kelsey Her Sherbert Rob with no last name. Whitney Blankenship, Larry Wetshitz. I bet it's not Carolyn Blackis. Gary Rodriguez. Weston Anderson, Jeff Daniels. Probably not that guy either.
James Petragallo
Maybe it's Jeff Wetschitz.
Jimmy Wissman
We don't know shits. Where'd I go? Tara Lynn Fisher, Dale Gibbs, David with No last name. Isabella Sorolla, Selena Sanchez, Aaron Bott, Ronnie Miller, Amanda Newgle, Kate Yock, Don Cox, Peg Finkel and Einhorn. Bob Crow. Vault. Mercedes Lent Almost Lane, Amanda Corey. Dylan with no last name. John Stocks, Jackie Kelly, Danielle Cleist, Kleist. Amber Solana, Sarah with no last name. Ryan Baker, Holly Ash, Ginger Bonham, Jessica Fletcher, Jay Sharp, Jade Schultz, Desiree Dahl, Jamie Knotts, J.P. john DeLuna, Nick. Marie. Nick. Maybe Jolinda Walker. Nassan with no last name. Christy Myers, Lori Favada, John Elms, Lucas McKnight, Terry Graham, Melissa Caban, Jaleesa Jackson, Katie. Katie with a. Wow. C, A, D, I, E. Christensen, Ryan Oaks, Emily with an N. Shebby with no last name. Perhaps it's Shelby and that's. No, that's Chevy. Tim Carpenter. I said that. No, I didn't. Dannon Morissette, Cheryl Concaves Gonsalves. Probably Anselia. Fish Blood. Russell L. Nick with no last name. M and A. The letters M and A. Whitney Lee, Shelby and Simon Johnson, Norse racer 98. Brett Blatnik, brandy with no last name. Joe Gunderson, Hector Freire, frar A. Jacques Jr. John Cloman, Morgan, Luke Max, Antone, Olivia with no last name. Clayton, Terry, Nate. NH Gin. Perhaps his New Hampshire gin. I don't know. Scott Huff, Alexandra Martinez, Jackson. Clayton Illustrated, Lefty. LC32. Rhonda Shuler, Emily Rakovich, Hales with no last name. Jamie Sullivan, Ashley shambo. Zethmac. Zethmac. 10. Jonathan. Ah, like a Jonathan. That's what that is. J, O, H, Nthan. That's a whole bunch of Johns. Steph, Stefan, Art. 6 miles, 24.6, 26.8.
James Petragallo
What is it just 26, isn't it?
Jimmy Wissman
Isn't it? No, I think it's 26.4.
James Petragallo
Maybe point something.
Jimmy Wissman
Yeah.
James Petragallo
Yeah. Or 24.2. 26.2.
Jimmy Wissman
There it is.
James Petragallo
13. Because you see 13:1 on people.
Jimmy Wissman
There it is. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Aileen Murphy, Mia Moffatt, Carol Carlson. Is Jimmy single? None of your goddamn business. Isaac Moya, Mishka Wolfie. Nathan Conklin, Paul Howard, Stefan Arts. I said that. Logan Seeger. I think I said that. Aaron McCoy. K.T. the initials. Devin Childress, Jeremy Jensen, Don with no last name. Amanda Hall, Ebony Milestone, Tadlock. Maya with no last name. Kelly Sexton, Lisa Kabazzi, Alice Parson, Parsons Up. Plural. Gary with no last name. Cat. Dad. Preacher, Cassie and Shawna. John Fredericks, Melissa Whetstone, Stacy Sims, Leslie Jacobs, Calvin Eberhardt, Connor with no Last name Thick Toothpick, Joni Freed, Lily Patton, Christina Garrily. Gara Pie. Steph would know last name. Gary Massey. Stephie. Nope, That's Katie Sanford Jacks with no last name. Rubber Fetish Kim. What? Katie with no last name. June with no last name. Raquel. Raquel Martin, Kakizu Wolf, Laura Akumanu, Tony Farnham, Quill River, Carrie McDade, Brianna Sharp, Brandon Thomas. Charlotte with no last name Anthony Wally Virginia Snyder Savante with no last name. Tyler Speakman, Janice with no last name Brandon Crumpton, Kelsey with no last name. Barbie Wachowski. Michelle. Michelle Mitchell. Mitchell Halsey, Darien Hardy, Tyler Roth, Lowell Lil. Big cups. Lol. Big cups. I don't know. Jamie with no last name. Jenny Shib like earl's kid. Brian 99 whole car 99 yoke. Stetter Carter Yokstetter, Cody Fletcher, Ozco Tarsh, Francis with no last name. Heidi with no last name. Sissy Fuss. Sissy Puss. I don't know. Melanie Harvey, Kristen Wells, the Rusty Tortoise, Mike Eccles and Moyle. Oh, boy. Karen Wright, Tammy Sparks, desa. What does Desmonds 25, Dean Burns, Megan Elwell, Pamela Nelson, Jacob Sidenoter John with no last name. Stacy Wellman, Eric Castro, Matthew Fisher, Love P. Ashley McLean. Matt with no last name. Max Mostra, Eric Falk, Nick Denier. Uh, Morgan with no last name. Denier, Denier. Uh, Jared Craig, Mellie Mesa. Uh, Michelle Del Zach with no last name. True crime Stoner girl. She's in Phoenix.
James Petragallo
Evidently.
Jimmy Wissman
Jennifer Scott, J.T. smith. Schmidt. That's Schmidt. Mary Muff Muncher. Jesus Christ. Mary. Okay, Elizabeth Roman. Roman. That's go lever 73. Sarah Sherlin, Rick Triplett, Elise with no last name. James Hadfield, Michael Michelle Mitchell. Strange.
James Petragallo
I don't know.
Jimmy Wissman
It's. It's Michelle. Possibly. Doug Harris, Joe Job F. Nicole Booth. Nicole Hartley. CTB Aaron with no last name. Tiffany Coburn, Christian Gallagher, Mullen Nardi, Ryan Nickel, Victoria Jelani, Mad Maz Maz. Victoria. No, that's Vicki with no last name. Trisha M. Sarah with no last name. Amy Conway, Margo Jackson, Gibby the Mailman. Andrea Reeves, Tiffany Beeching, Dina Wilhelm, Christina Jules Robert. Robert Groland Goland iii. Cam Barnett, Robert Burgess, Julia Booth, KVT Mitchum Jordan with no last name. Katie with no last name. Rachel Peak. Nope. That's Gretchen Peak. Cheesy bloke. Chris DiMartino. De Pac. De Pac with no last name. Luke Barker, Michael Mitchell, Stephanie Forks Millette, Michael Kristen, Christian Albrecht, Jacob Whitford, Jody Mcfarland Jen Bartgis. I hit a show. Hit a shoe. Hike shoe. Janda Ruse. T T, Loy Law. Brandon Conover. Jaren Becker. Chloe Money. Slow Clo Money Shenanz. Shanancy. Shenancy Moore.
James Petragallo
Wow.
Jimmy Wissman
Uh, Ashley Wenzel. Uh, Shenancy Kelly Schweider. Alicia 1257. Carla Clark. Isabelle Boise Avert. Jamie Kadrovich Kadrovich. Natasha J. Landon. Corn Man. Austin Reed. Jen with no last name, with a G. Jeremy Warren. Natalie Brocker. Shayla Bradford. Jake, your friendly neighborhood mail carrier. Katie Alexander Curtis with no last name. The Kerry Speechler speech. Lee Robert Phillips. Ulyss. Ulis. Ulis White. Christina Frost.
James Petragallo
I knew a kid named Euless in high school.
Jimmy Wissman
Did you?
James Petragallo
Absolutely. Yeah. Wow.
Jimmy Wissman
Becky Abel. That's a fascinating name. Not Becky, but Ulis. Vashti Brown. Cindy Ann Ward. Lori Cody. Perhaps just coat. Tim with no last name. Mickey Sampson. Diana with no last name. Christina Sandoval Mendevilian Cave Cam. Emily Whitcomb. Not. What is this? Na Dasty. Okay. Tiffany Adams. Josa Joshua with no last name. Nina May Jordan with no last name. Brian Rowe. Katie Anuza Hosen. Luis Castro. Megan Cisak Blind Hour podcast. And Devin Johnson, along with all our patrons. You guys are the best. Thank you.
James Petragallo
Thank you so much everybody for all that you do for us. Honestly, we cannot thank you enough. We just appreciate the fuck out of all you do for us. If you want to follow us on social media, shutupandgivemurder.com has all the drop down menus. Take you where you want to go. Keep coming back and hanging out with us. And until next week, everybody, it's been our pleasure. Bye foreign. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Podcasts marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn ads, go to Libsyn ads.com that's L I B S Y N ads.com today.
Podcast: Small Town Murder
Hosts: James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman
Episode Air Date: August 21, 2025
In this chilling and darkly comedic episode, James and Jimmie dive into the story of Beverly Carter, a well-known real estate agent from Cabot, Arkansas, who vanished while showing a rural property in 2014. The episode unspools the meticulous investigation, the bizarre twists involving ransom and a botched plan, and the insidious nature of the killers. Through a mix of grim detail, sharp research, and their signature comedic banter, the hosts also probe real estate culture in small-town America, the cult of "safety," and the ripple effects of this tragedy on the industry.
05:53–20:19
21:15–42:27
42:28–55:27
57:21–99:19
57:21–93:49
93:49–106:16
110:08–140:03
141:39–178:17
On Cricket Spitting Contest:
“If I gave you til the end of time, you would never guess—cricket spitting contest.” – James (18:10)
On the Suspect’s Excuses:
“I kidnapped her with my friend Trevor from the air force base.” (106:55)
“Me and Beverly were having an affair. We met on Craigslist.”
“Threesome with Crystal and Beverly Carter.”
On Real Estate Realities:
“Every agent looks rich because the photo’s taken after they just got their teeth whitened, their best outfit, best jewelry, and Photoshopped just right.” (155:48)
On the Murder Method:
“Couldn’t even bring a knife and cut her throat like a gentleman… If you’re gonna murder me, make it fast, please.” – James, on suffocating with duct tape (137:40)
On Passivity in Crime:
“Do whatever you want. Good night.” – Crystal, shelving responsibility for the murder (134:28)
On Cop Banter:
“That’s the last time he’ll be eating fresh.” – Detective, after Aaron is caught in Subway (105:32)
On Prison Behavior:
“He was collecting it to see how much shit he could collect. It’s like the Grand Canyon, you can see the different periods…” (86:52)
| Segment | Start | Notable Moments | |--------------------------------------------------------------|------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Cabot, Arkansas Background | 05:53 | Town stats, tornado history, local color (cricket spitting) | | Beverly Carter Goes Missing | 21:15 | Husband 911 call, police response, scene details | | Early Investigation & Community Search | 42:28 | Friend/coworker mobilization, early forensics, “red folder” code usage | | Suspect Discovery, Digital Clues | 53:54 | Tech tracing to Aaron/Crystal, forging “Adams” IDs | | Aaron Lewis: Backstory and Crime Record | 57:21 | Dysfunction, early crime history (bank robbery at 17), prison issues | | Police Pursuit & Subway Arrest | 93:49 | Hospital escape, “eaten fresh” chase, public helps capture | | Interrogation: Wild Excuses | 106:17 | “Trevor,” “Craigslist affair,” voice memo as “synthesis software” | | The Crime & Murder Details | 110:08 | Targeting, abduction, failed ransom, murder, confession texts | | Aftermath: Trials & Real Estate Safety Reforms | 141:39 | Crystal’s plea, Aaron’s antics, sentencing, industry reforms (panic jewelry, buddy system, etc.) | | Victim Legacy & House Fate | 176:07 | House becomes vigil site, hard to sell, ultimately “just a house…didn’t kill her, they did.” |
The episode maintains Small Town Murder’s signature mix of deep research and irreverent humor, balancing the atrocity of the crime with takedowns of the killers’ idiocy, snarky asides about real estate jargon and small-town quirks, and moments of empathy for the Carter family. James and Jimmie lampoon the cluelessness of the criminals (e.g., returning to the crime scene, using their real prescription bottles at home), finger-point the inadequacy of early industry safety culture, and re-emphasize at every turn: the joke is always on the criminal, never the victim.
If you haven’t heard this episode, you'll get a comprehensive, gripping, and at times darkly hilarious walkthrough of a notorious Arkansas murder case, the flaws in both real estate and criminal thinking, and the broader lessons adopted by an entire profession. The hosts serve up a blend of research, small-town Americana, and caustic wit—never at the victim’s expense—while driving home the needless tragedy and enduring impact of Beverly Carter’s murder.
“Everybody has a secret life.” — Local cop, skeptical, when pressed on whether the model agent could really just be as nice as she seemed (52:09)
“Do whatever you want. Good night.” — Crystal Lowery, texting Aaron mid-kidnapping (134:28)
Next time: When meeting a stranger, always bring a friend—and never trust Milwaukee’s version of Pete Davidson.