Episode 364

Summary

Sword and Scale Episode 364 Summary

Release Date: August 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Sword and Scale delves into the disappearance and murder of 65-year-old British widow Sue Malden in Fleming Island, Florida. The story is a chilling exploration of trust, betrayal, addiction, and the dark side of seemingly ordinary people. Central to the narrative is Corey Binderum, a contractor with a criminal past and crumbling present, whose escalating lies and addiction end in tragedy, and the dogged investigation by Sue’s circle of friends and local law enforcement, culminating in a rare, successful landfill body recovery.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sue Malden’s Disappearance

• Sue, a British widow and beloved member of an expat social club, goes missing in October 2019.
• Her friends notice her absence almost immediately due to her social nature.
• “Her blue cotton gardening shorts were laying out, waiting to be worn. Her car was in the driveway, her purse in the dresser. It was as if Sue and her cell phone had just vanished without warning.” (Narrator, 01:46)

2. Initial Search and Concerns

• Friends detail Sue's struggles: arthritis, no local family, minor health issues, and her responsible nature.
• The last notable event: issues with a contractor remodeling her bathroom.
• Contractor Corey Binderum had delayed work after taking a large upfront payment ($12,000, according to friends).
• “She was meant to have some tile work done by this guy... he kept putting off doing the work. She gave him a check..." (Sue’s Friend, 08:27)

3. The Contractor’s Story

• Corey presents himself as cooperative, denies wrongdoing, and claims repayment to Sue of only $1,200.
• “She gave you twelve grand? Twelve hundred? Yeah. Yeah. It was only twelve hundred for the whole...” (Detective and Corey, 12:11)
• Discrepancy: Sue's meticulous records and friends confirm $12,000 paid.

4. Discovery of Evidence

• Police find a pinprick of blood at Sue's house; luminol reveals extensive cleanup attempts. (13:14)
• Investigation pivots to Corey, the last known person to see Sue.

5. Unraveling Corey Binderum

• Detective interviews with Corey, his friends (notably Leanne Locklear), and Sue’s circle reveal:
  • Corey is described as friendly, helpful but increasingly unreliable—and, unknown to many, a relapsing cocaine user.
  • “He was just super chill. But you could tell his mind was not... he was very spastic.” (Leanne Locklear, 23:14)
  • His past: At 17, Corey had been imprisoned for a violent armed robbery.
• Investigators catch Corey in repeated lies about payment, work, and whereabouts.
  • “Every time he’s supposed to show up on Monday, he always text her with a new excuse.” (Sue’s Friend Phil, 28:36)

6. Break in the Case: The Friends’ Evidence

• Sue’s friends provide a written log/diary of Corey’s excuses and financial demands, confirming a pattern of manipulation and likely motive.
  • “He needs 12 grand of that up front. And within three to four weeks... my jobs done...” (Sue’s Friend Phil, 27:14)
• Corey admits only to small repayments and continues deceiving both police and clients.

7. Physical Evidence & Landfill Search

• Canine search at Corey’s storage unit detects scent of decomposition.
• Surveillance ties Corey to Home Depot for concrete purchases just hours before Sue vanished.
• Weight records at Rosemary Landfill show Corey dumped 300 lbs—the combined estimated weight of Sue’s body and concrete.
• “That’s exactly what he took to the dump. The exact amount that went into the dump, because they weigh it when you go in.” (Leanne Locklear, 54:43)
• Massive search at a Georgia landfill produces Sue’s remains after 9 days—an unprecedented recovery with FBI assistance.

8. Corey’s Downfall and Arrest

• Corey, desperate and cornered, steals a check from another client and tries to flee.
• He is arrested while cashing the stolen check, now facing irrefutable forensic evidence.
• In police custody, he maintains his innocence, but physical, digital, and testimonial evidence provides a damning case.
• “We located Susan, we're bringing her home. And you’re gonna be charged with murder and tampering evidence to begin with.” (Detective, 61:01)

9. Trial and Aftermath

• The trial is long-delayed by COVID and legal complexities.
• Leanne Locklear, previously Corey's confidant and business partner, offers compelling testimony about his behavior and lies.
• Corey is convicted and narrowly avoids the death penalty.
• The episode closes reflecting on the monster behind the mask: “Somewhere inside him was the instinct to put his needs above everyone else. And that never went away." (Narrator, 74:32)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On People’s Capacity for Harm:

  “It’s cute how some of you think that people are just these docile little sheep...It really is kind of cute. Almost like a thing you have to do to make yourself okay. It’s better than the alternative I guess.” (Narrator, 01:22)

• Red Flag About Corey:

  "When you told me that he transported a dead body, that should be your first clue..." (Sue’s Friend Phil, 26:27)

• On Working with Corey:

  “He was just super chill. But you could tell his mind was not... it was just very focused. Like you can tell something’s bothering him.” (Leanne Locklear, 23:14)

• Leanne Realizing the Truth:

  “If you’re lying, there’s a reason you’re lying. Why you lying?” (Leanne Locklear, 51:22)

• Why did Corey do it?

  “What my mind goes to is I want to know why... Because at this point, we’re past ‘if you did it.’ That’s a lock. What is important now is why.” (Detective, 63:41)

• Leanne grapples with corey's guilt:

  “When I look at him, I see Corey... I didn’t see this monster that came out that day, you know...I just saw poor Corey sitting there feeling like a little kid who’s in trouble again.” (Leanne Locklear, 70:19)

• On the impact of addiction and selfishness:

  “When the cocaine crept back into his life, everything started to come apart...The balance he’d maintained for years wasn’t effortless anymore. It collapsed suddenly and violently.” (Narrator, 74:32)

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Timeline of Key Segments

• [01:13–10:00]: Disappearance of Sue Malden; friends’ perspectives; introduction of Corey the contractor; initial investigation.
• [10:00–13:14]: Corey's statements to police; first discovery of blood evidence.
• [16:25–25:08]: Interview with Leanne Locklear, Corey's business partner and close friend; Corey's background emerges.
• [25:08–31:45]: Friends provide evidence of Corey's lies; investigation intensifies.
• [32:51–36:47]: Scrutiny of Corey’s past and demeanor as investigation closes in.
• [39:27–44:50]: Details on Corey's deceptions, drug use, pressure building.
• [46:35–54:01]: Evidence mounts; discovery of physical links to the crime; landfill search and major break.
• [56:48–61:41]: Corey’s arrest, confrontation with overwhelming evidence.
• [64:09–68:14]: Psychological analysis of Corey; murder details; trial and Leanne’s court experience.
• [71:24–74:32]: Reflections on guilt, complicity, and the difficulty of accepting a friend as a killer.

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Tone & Closing Reflection

The episode is delivered in Sword and Scale’s signature dark, unsparing tone—emphasizing the brutality, betrayal, and human cost of the crime. Listeners are urged to question assumptions about the people around them and reminded of the vulnerability of those living on the margins.

The final reflection notes that Sue’s case made forensic history with its landfill recovery and closes on the poignant reminder:

“Sue Malden was an innocent widow...killed and discarded in a landfill by this fuck. But thanks to you listening...she is not forgotten.” (Narrator, 74:32)

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Takeaways

• True monsters often hide in plain sight—even as friendly neighbors or trusted contractors.
• Persistence of friends and community is crucial in seeking justice for the vulnerable.
• Addiction and unresolved pasts can destroy lives, including those on the periphery.
• Sometimes justice requires extraordinary effort—a landfill dig, relentless questioning, breaking through lies.
• Even those close to perpetrators can struggle to reconcile the person they knew with their actions.

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Transcript

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[Detective Cassidy]

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[Sue's Friend Phil]

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[Narrator]

See terms Sword and Scale. Contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

First of all, when you told me that he transported a dead body, that should be your first clue.

[Narrator]

This is sword and scale season 13 episode 364 show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. It's cute how some of you think that people are just these docile little sheep, these sweet little babies that won't do anything to harm you. It really is kind of cute. Almost like a thing you have to do to make yourself okay. It's better than the alternative I guess. In a small pocket of Fleming Island, Florida, there was a group of women. They called themselves the British Club. This club was a collective of sharp, dry witted expats who met every week to talk about one thing. They all shared their home in the UK. But in October of 2019, one of the members of this British club went missing. She was a sweet old lady, a 65 year old widow named Sue Malden. One of the ladies in the club hadn't heard back from sue in two days. Her phone kept going to voicemail and the landline rang and rang. So she sent her husband to Sue's house for a welfare check. Inside Sue's clean, quiet home, not a thing was out of place. Her blue cotton gardening shorts were laying out, waiting to be worn. Her car was in the driveway, her purse in the dresser. It was as if sue and her cell phone had just vanished without warning. Neighbors confirmed they hadn't seen sue outside in a few days. She was an avid gardener and was always outside weeding her yard. Sue's loyal friend in the British club called the police. Something was terribly wrong. All right, how long have you guys known Ms. Susan?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Since 19. About 90.

[Detective Cassidy]

1990.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

It's me.

[Leanne Locklear]

It's not me.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

It's 2001.

[Detective Cassidy]

Okay, how.

[Narrator]

How long has Susan been here in United States?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

She's been here about 24 years.

[Leanne Locklear]

2001.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

And she was about three or four years before us.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

About 24. They came from the UK all in Florida. Her husband passed away about, we think gone 10 years ago. Eight, nine, 10 years ago. But they both came over together, of course.

[Narrator]

Sue had been in Florida for almost two decades. Her husband had tragically died from throat cancer only a few years into their move to the usa. So the women at the British club were like family to Sue. She had no children, no relatives close by. Her British ladies were everything to her. Do you guys know of any doctors that she visited frequently or.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

She used to go to a physiotherapist for. For her ankle.

[Narrator]

You know where that was at?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

No, I have no idea. She. It's over.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

I took her once to get an injection in her shoulder that was over.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Where was that? Riverside? Yeah, over by Riverside somewhere by Five

[Detective Cassidy]

Points and maybe Riverside Pain clinic over there. Is that what it was she did?

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

She was at the base. She went a lot to the base.

[Narrator]

To Nes Jax.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Yeah, because he. He was retired, so she struggled with quite a lot. That's why she calls you quite a lot, didn't you?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Yeah, I used to do a lot of things for him. She'd say, I can't lift this or I can't do that. Can you?

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Right.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Yes, sir. So we pop around and do whatever it was, you know, like she couldn't start her lawnmower.

[Leanne Locklear]

You know, you can't pull that around

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

y and give her start that for her and just little things, you know?

[Narrator]

Though sue was a social woman, her arthritis gave her more and more trouble with each passing day. She still tended to her flowers, made quilts, and kept up with her British girls. But she needed help with little things like moving heavy boxes or revving up her lawnmower. Without a husband around, she was on her own to handle those tasks that kept getting harder and harder as you age. Since Sue's phone had Been switched off. The police couldn't ping it. Her place was spotless. Not a sight of a struggle or a droplet of blood. They had to rely on clues from her friends and they were desperately chasing down anything they could.

[Detective Cassidy]

I heard some.

[Narrator]

Somebody told me.

[Detective Cassidy]

I can't figure any truth to it.

[Narrator]

That's what I'm trying to ask you guys. Was there a Uber or a taxi lady that she called often to use?

[Detective Cassidy]

Mainly just through her.

[Narrator]

Through green code. You guys don't know anything about that?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

I heard that arrived with one of the English ladies or she would drive herself.

[Narrator]

So it's.

[Detective Cassidy]

It's very rare for her to be

[Narrator]

gone from her house and her car.

[Detective Cassidy]

Still be there?

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Absolutely.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Well, definitely, yeah.

[Narrator]

The ladies told the detective that sue was a responsible woman. She let them know where she was going and why, what she was doing. She wasn't on social media, and though she tried a dating site or two, nothing had stuck. The most eventful thing that had happened in her life recently was the loss of her beloved cat. But all that meant was that she was now free to travel next year, which she was happily planning.

[Detective Cassidy]

We can literally think anything that we're missing or, you know, the smallest thing could end up being important, so.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Well, the only thing that we know, there's a guy that was supposed to be doing her bathroom.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Yeah, that's the only thing.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

That's the only thing that she was having problems with. She gave him the money and then supposedly he got sick or hurt, never came back, started a job, got a bunch of money off of her. What did you say it was? About 12 grand. About 12 grand.

[Narrator]

Aside from the death of her cat, sue was having her bathroom remodeled and apparently she had been having issues with her contractor.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

The stories of him not doing her work got so bizarre, they were laughable that we almost laughed with her about it. What's he going to say now?

[Detective Cassidy]

Well, do you remember any of them?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Well, it was just that, you know, other than the fact that he was hurt so he couldn't work. He had physiotherapy. Then there was a death in the family.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

He had to go and see a lawyer because he's getting a divorce.

[Narrator]

It turns out that most of the British club had heard about Sue's rogue bathroom contractor who was putting her through the ringer.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

I really didn't know the whole thing. I kind of knew that she was meant to have some tire work done by this guy, cuz I know her house had flooded and the insurance paper and he kept putting off doing the Work. And you know, we all said sue cuz she gave him a check, right. I don't know if this is helpful or not. You know he said he was out of town. He said, I think he said that he had a family member sick out of town and then he came back and then he said oh my truck broke down. And as far as I know that evening because I spoke to couple of the girls, she was going to apparently either confront him or she was going to get money from him or he said he would do something. So because I said to have you sort it out, she no, I'm hoping I'll get it sorted out next week. The thing about sue is she seemed to trust everybody, you know, like she handed. I mean I don't know about you but I wouldn't hand a man a check anyone woman do work for me before he's done it. But Sue's the kind oh he said he would, you know, type thing. So she was trusting. So I don't know has she. Obviously you've checked if she used a passport or anything?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Yeah.

[Detective Cassidy]

There anything that you could probably think of? We're looking into it now.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Did she have a phone with her?

[Narrator]

The detectives were suddenly getting fragments of this story. Sue's contractor had flaked on her, leaving her 12 grand in the hole and she needed to sort things out.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

And if I could think of before you can, I kept thinking have I heard anything? And I thought I really haven't. Except for the guy, that's about it, you know, he might be as innocent as me, you know, but it just.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

We don't want.

[Detective Cassidy]

That's kind of what we're doing is making sure we don't get tunnel vision on one thing and we're looking at anything, whatever we can do that could give us a percentage chance better to find her. That's what we're doing.

[Narrator]

So it wasn't hard to find Sue's contractor. His real name was Corey Binderum. He was a 44 year old husband and father of two girls living in Fleming Island, Florida. And he looked exactly like that somebody's dad. The kind of man who knew drywall better than most. Picture Tim the Toolman Taylor. Basically, detectives located him on a job site and started chatting. Corey was forthcoming. Yes, he'd been working for Sue Malden. In fact, he was at her house just a few days ago to get everything sorted because he knew she was unhappy with the progress of his work.

[Detective Cassidy]

Went over the contract, what it was. This contract's been going on for a Very long time. I demoed the bathroom and guest bathroom, and I was supposed to do both of them, but we started all the guest bathrooms. I got a shower. I got set out. I got fanny gown. I had taken a drawer up or toilet up yet, and it was. She took about a month and a half to figure out what pile she wanted. She bought it. I went and got it as well as delivered it. Then it came time to talk about tub and fixtures and all that. She just couldn't make a decision. So fast forward. I was taking jobs in between. And then she was frustrated that I couldn't come over right now. And she was ready. And so it just got to the point where I just. Better for both of us if I just refunded her money. I went about my way.

[Narrator]

She finds Corey's explanation made sense. He said that on the morning he went to Sue's place, she invited him in. And they went over all the details on the cancellation of their contractor client relationship.

[Detective Cassidy]

So we went through, you know, the paperwork and I wrote her a check. And I had some stuff still there. I had a tool bag with some plumbing tools. I had a bin. There's plumbing parts. And then there was a trash bag still there. So I loaded that in my truck. She held the door forward.

[Narrator]

Corey said that he wrote Sue a check for the money he owed her. He showed the police the receipt from a check. Just over twelve hundred dollars.

[Detective Cassidy]

She gave you twelve grand? Twelve hundred? Yeah. Yeah. It was only twelve hundred for the whole. Yeah, well, I don't take any money for labor.

[Narrator]

Corey said Sue's friend was mistaken. The amount was $1,200, not $12,000. He didn't take any upfront cash for labor. Corey's story made sense. Sue was elderly. Maybe she'd gotten the number wrong and spread that information to all her friends. Corey was cooperative and calm. He shook the detective's hand and said he would be there if they needed any additional help. Well, I appreciate your time, man.

[Detective Cassidy]

I'm sorry for the intervening. I mean, look, if there's anything, I. I don't buy it, you know? Yeah, that's good. All right. That's good to know. Like I said, you just. At this point, you're the last guy to talk to that's operational to make sure we check all the box. Absolutely. All right. Follow up. Right.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Anytime.

[Detective Cassidy]

Give me a call.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Absolutely.

[Detective Cassidy]

I mean, she. She's very lovely. Like having her.

[Narrator]

Detectives went back to Sue's house to look around to see if there was anything out of order, anything they missed anything to suggest foul play. That's when they spotted it. A tiny pinprick of blood on the living room floor. How could they have missed us? The detectives brought in Luminol and suddenly the house lit up. Blood that had been cleaned up in the kitchen and on the lampshades and in the hallway. Now the detective knew this wasn't a rogue elderly woman who went missing. Sue had died in that house, and they needed to find out how. If you've been sitting on a business idea, Shopify makes it easy to turn it into something real. Kind of like one of our monsters. Here at Tornscale, we use Shopify for our storefront, where listeners can browse our merch and check out without a bunch of friction. That matters because once someone decides they want something, you don't want to stand in their way. You don't want to make it complicated. And payment processes can be complicated. Shopify checkout helps more customers complete their purchase, and returning customers can checkout with their details already saved. That gives us more time to focus on creating, promoting and growing instead of wrestling with the technical side. See what you can [e-mail] swordandscale with Shopify, nothing stands between your idea and a real business. So go make one. Start your free trial at shopify.com swordandscale Again, that's shopify.com Sword and Scale Tyler

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[Narrator]

65 year old Sue Malden had mysteriously disappeared from her Fleming island home in the fall of 2019. If it hadn't been for her social group, it could have been weeks before anyone noticed the widow was gone. Sue had an uneventful life, but as police pride, they found out that she'd been in a dispute with her contractor, Corey Binderum, who she'd hired to remodel two of her bathrooms. After talking with Corey, the police secured school bus camera footage that showed his truck at her house the morning he said he visited her. But Corey assured them that he was there to return her money and settle their differences. He said she was alive when he left. Then the police found blood at Sue's house, and luminal revealed a possible cleanup job, but with no trace of Sue. These were all just theories Corey had to be further investigated. There was something about Corey as too cool demeanor, his friendly affect. Was it real, or was this all a put on? There was one woman who knew him perhaps better than his own wife, and her name was Leanne Locklear.

[Leanne Locklear]

My name's Leanne. I am a dispatcher, and then I own an appliance repair company. I worked a lot of jobs, always. And one of my jobs was I was a bartender. And that's actually how I met Corey.

[Narrator]

Leann is a single mother who runs her own business, but back in 2019, she was bartending at a local spot that Corey liked to frequent after work. They became friendly, like bartenders and regulars often do. And after he fixed a door in her house that needed replacing, she invited him out after work.

[Leanne Locklear]

One evening, he came into the bar. You know, he just joked. He's like, how's your door holding up? You know, I was like, oh, my God, it's great. It's great.

[Detective]

Thanks.

[Leanne Locklear]

It was phenomenal. I really owe you big time. Thank you. He had a few drinks. I got off early, and some of our other friends came up there that we had mutually in common. And then we all just went out for the night. You know, we went out drinking, had a blast. You know, you realize he's a really cool guy. He fit in with the group really well. And that's really what started our whole friendship, was him. He'd be like, hey, what are y' all doing tonight? We're like, well, this is what we're doing. Do you wanna go? And he'd show up or he wouldn't. He wasn't like the person that came around starting problems or anything. He was just super chill.

[Narrator]

Leanne learned more about Corey and his life as they spent nights out drinking together. She knew he ran his own business and had a wife at home. It always struck her as odd that he was hanging out with her and her friends as much as he did, seeing how many responsibilities he had in his life.

[Leanne Locklear]

And I used to ask him sometimes when we would all stay out really, really late, and I'd be Like, you don't get in trouble when you go home. Like, you've been out all night. He's like, no, she doesn't care. He's like, as long as I don't drive drunk and I get home right after the bar's closed, she's usually okay with that. She doesn't care.

[Narrator]

Leanne and Corey developed a strong friendship, and soon it developed into something more.

[Leanne Locklear]

Of course, you know, being a single mom, you're always looking for extra work. So I was bartending. I was doing appliances. I was doing a little bit of everything. I don't even remember how it got brought up, actually. He said something about he's, like, overloaded at work. And I was like, well, if you need some help, call me. I'll come help you. I need to make extra money. I'm in, totally down. And he just randomly, two days later, hit me up. And he was like, hey, do you want to work tomorrow? I'm like, absolutely, yeah. Get me out of this house. I'm going crazy. So we started working together, and then he started my birthday party. He was there, and he just started being in everything involved that was going on in my life at that time.

[Narrator]

Leanne started working with Corey on his home remodels. She was happy to learn a new skill and make some extra money and with her buddy, no less.

[Leanne Locklear]

Yeah, working with him was great because, you know when you're really good friends with somebody and you get to hang out all day, it's like, oh, it doesn't even feel like work. So it was all just home improvement stuff. And every customer we worked for really acted like they knew him forever. And I guess that was just the demeanor he put off with him. We didn't have standard hours. It wasn't like, eight, five. He'd hit me up day four and day. All right, I'll pick you up. This time, he'd pick me up. We'd work three or four, and then we were at the bar drinking beer. So it wasn't like a hard job or a very demanding job. It was actually probably one of the easiest jobs I had.

[Narrator]

Leanne saw Corey a lot. If they weren't working together mudding drywall, she was serving him a beer at her bartending job, or they were out till the wee hours of a morning partying together. She got to know him really, really well and became a confidant in his life. Hey, I thought that's what a wife was for.

[Leanne Locklear]

But, yeah, we were definitely close because there was times like him and his wife would have an argument, and he would just call me he vaguely. And she's really mad at me. And I'm like, well, what'd you do? You know, we would talk about it. I'd be like, all right, well, just go get flowers and tell your story and just don't do it again. Or he would tell me what was going on with the kids. So it was definitely like another, you know, another brother that you got that you gotta sit here and go, oh, my gosh, don't do dumb, Stu. You know, be a man and fix it. So he was definitely like one of my brothers. And, yeah, I definitely think that we were very close.

[Narrator]

At that time, Corey and Leanne were busy, and she knew that there were jobs he was going out on alone. After all, she had her bartending job and several other side hustles on one job. Corey and Leanne were using a jackhammer all day. And the next morning, she woke up unable to move.

[Leanne Locklear]

I tore my rotator cuff. So I called out of work. I don't remember if it's Wednesday or Thursday. I told him. I said, I can't work. I'm gonna go to the hospital and get this thing checked. Cause I've definitely tore something.

[Narrator]

Leeann went home and rested, but called Corey the next day, ready to get back at it.

[Leanne Locklear]

Well, then the next day, when I'm like, okay, I'm at the hospital, I can work. I just. I can't do jackham anymore. I gotta do light stuff. He's like, all right, I'm gonna pick you up in the morning at this time. But you could tell he was very frazzled, like, kind of like when my anxiety gets high, like, I'm all over the place and very spastic. And you could tell he was the same way, like, very spastic. He's like, I'm picking up tomorrow this time. And I was like, okay. So he didn't show up, and, you know, I'm blowing his phone up. And I'm like, bro, where are you at? Are we not working today? If we're not, I'm going back to bed, but I don't want to go back to bed. And then you'd be like, oh, where are you at? Are we working or we're not? And he's like, yeah, I'm coming. I just gotta run some errands.

[Narrator]

Corey arrived late, and when Leanne got in the car, she wasn't greeted by the same old Corey. This guy was distracted and distant. But aside from that, there was something even more glaring. Corey's truck, which was normally filled with trash and tools, was spotless because I

[Leanne Locklear]

was like, hey, you got the truck cleaned? I said, it's about time. I said this thing was disgusting. And he's like, yeah, I went and got it all cleaned yesterday. And, you know, like, nothing's wrong, but you could tell his mind was not. Like, he's driving and he's just staring at the road instead of our casual, let's talk shit and have conversation. He's just so focused on the road. His hands are still around. He's just very focused. Like you can tell something's bothering him. So I was like, well, maybe he got himself in trouble with the wife again. Or, you know, I don't know. I don't know.

[Narrator]

Leanne and Corey worked all day, but there was no fun banter, no laughing, no inside jokes. Corey was focused with his head down and his mind elsewhere.

[Leanne Locklear]

And then he took me home. That was it. He did not. We didn't have a long day. We didn't go to the bar and have drinks. We didn't go somewhere cool and eat lunch and talk smack. You know, we didn't do any of that. It was like, I gotta go.

[Narrator]

This all happened the week sue went missing. But Leanne didn't know that. In fact, she'd never worked at Sue's house. That job was one of the ones that Corey handled alone. At that point, no one was connecting the dots. Not yet, anyway. The detectives didn't want to get tunnel vision, as they put it. Corey wasn't an obvious suspect. He was a business owner with a family. His daughters were successful with one away at college. He'd been married for decades. On the surface, it looked solid and stable, the kind of life that didn't raise alarms. But then they met with Sue's close friend who wasn't in the British club, and she gave them a list sue herself had written. It was a detailed diary of notes about the months long back and forth between her and Corey. And this list from sue changed everything

[Detective Cassidy]

other than in here. What all has she told you about that contractor?

[Sue's Friend Phil]

Everything that's there. I mean, it all. I can't even remember exactly when this job was supposed to have started, but I know it's been going on for months. Okay.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Okay.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

So I, like Sue, and I met every. Generally every Wednesday at her house. Okay. She was retired, so I leave from here and go down to her house every Wednesday at noon around anywhere between 11:30 to 1:30, somewhere in that time frame for an hour. And every week she gave Me an update on. I called him jackrabbit.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Okay.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

She gave me an update on him, and then we talked several times through the week. Okay, so. And I kept warning sue that there's an issue.

[Narrator]

According to his friend, Corey had lied. He told police he never took money up front for labor. But she confirmed he'd taken far more than $1,200 from Sue. Then he gutted her bathroom down to the studs and just stopped when sue asked when he'd return. There was always an excuse. A sick relative, a looming divorce, even a bizarre story about having to transport a friend's deceased family member for a funeral.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

I said, sue, first of all, when you told me that he transported a dead body, that should be your first clue that that would be an issue. Nobody takes a dead body unless they're in that business. So when he said he had to go get a family friend's body and transport him from one state to another state, the reason for him not showing up for a while with you there should have been your first clue that somebody else needed to be involved, right? I said, that's. I've never heard of that in my life. Where you could take a dead body unless they die in your car and you're taking them.

[Narrator]

As Corey's excuses became more and more alarming, sue realized she may need to find someone else to finish the work he had started.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

Sue was very strong willed and confrontational. If you got in her face, she can be that way, okay? So she. She said, well, Phil, you know, he's. He's the best at it. And he came and showed me all the pictures of what he can do do, and he. He actually showed me that, and he gave me the contract where I had to give him. The whole total job was supposed to be $19,000, okay? And he needs 12 grand of that up front. And within three to four weeks or two to three weeks, whatever, I think he could have my jobs done. The job work was to be a guest bathroom in the hallway and her master bedroom, a bathroom in the master. Both of them were be redone completely. Okay?

[Narrator]

Corey did have credentials, and he had worked at Sue's house before. The whole reason she'd hired him was because he was a subcontractor on her kitchen remodel. She already knew him. Sue may have been strong willed, but she was a trusting and fair woman. Even though her friends all warned her something wasn't right, something was a little, you know, off about this guy. She wanted to give Corey a chance to finish what he Started.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

So then he came in one day. Every time he's supposed to show up on. Oh, sorry, honey. Every time he's supposed to show up on Monday, he always text her back and forth. They text, okay? He'd always text her with a new excuse. So he never really could show up. But one day, just a few weeks back, he shows up and he goes in her house and he tells her how good she looks that day. Okay, and how old are you, Sue? And she said, I'm 65. Just turned 65 or going to turn 65? And he said, man, you look good. Are you widowed? And she said, yes, I am. And he said, well, he said, man, you're looking good. He said, I was wondering, could I get a loan? She said, a loan? Cory, you got 12 grand of my money. I have no money to give you. You've done nothing. For now, this is her story.

[Narrator]

To me, that was the final straw. Sue firmly told Corey, no. She had already given him more than half of the cost of the entire job up front, and he wasn't getting another penny.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

No. Oh, he just told her, I'll go to the bank and get a loan. That was his attitude. After, he kind of turned the other direction and left her. Okay, so that's what happened at that point. So then she told me that week, sometime during that week, I feel I'm really uncomfortable with him now. I said, sue, I told you. I think there's an issue here.

[Narrator]

The police now knew that Corey had lied to them about the money. They were able to track all of this with Sue's bank account and checkbook. So they returned to Corey, asking him if they could look into his storage unit where he kept most of his construction supplies. He opened up the door, and the police let their canine dog roam the small, stuffy space. The dog popped his nose in and out of every shelf, every box, every random paint can. Then when he got close to Corey's tool bag, the one he had with him at Sue's house, the dog started barking, freaking out, alerting them of decomposition. But the cops didn't tell Corey this. They thanked him, and they left. A few days later, they showed up at his house with a warrant for his truck.

[Detective]

Here's the deal. Obviously, I talked to you before about this whole thing, and we've been following up because we still haven't found her. Okay, Susan? So we don't know where she's at.

[Detective Cassidy]

So you're checking boxes?

[Detective]

Checking boxes. That's what I'm doing. Going through, making sure what can I do to.

[Detective Cassidy]

What do you need?

[Detective]

So what we need is your truck. Because your truck was the last one at the house.

[Detective Cassidy]

Okay.

[Detective]

As far as you need.

[Detective Cassidy]

Yeah, I don't. I don't know. Cassie. They want to take my truck.

[Detective]

Well, here, let me finish.

[Detective Cassidy]

Okay?

[Detective]

Let me finish.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Okay.

[Detective Cassidy]

All right. Let me get the keys.

[Detective]

That's okay. We're going to take a truck. I have a search one for it, so it's coming with us. All right. Trying to let you know what was okay. That's fine.

[Narrator]

Corey played it cool. He said he had nothing to hide, and his wife repeated that from behind him.

[Detective]

I knew you're in construction. You do all sorts of construction stuff. Got all sorts of nicks and scratches all over you. I noticed the other day when I talked to you, you had one on the inside of your arm that looked pretty fresh. Right here above your tattoo. Right here. What's that from?

[Detective Cassidy]

I do demo work. It's from all kinds of stuff.

[Detective]

Would you be okay if I took a picture of it real quick?

[Detective Cassidy]

Yeah, okay, fine.

[Detective]

That'll be awesome. You got

[Detective Cassidy]

Cassie. They going to take pictures of my arms now?

[Leanne Locklear]

Can I take.

[Narrator]

Can I bring her with me so she can.

[Detective]

Hey, are you. Are you okay with me taking a picture of your arms?

[Detective Cassidy]

You know what?

[Detective]

You have to ask your wife.

[Detective Cassidy]

No, I mean, that. That doesn't upset me. You can. You can say that. That's fine. Yeah. Take all the pictures.

[Detective]

Take a picture of him first, sir. So we know whose arm it is.

[Narrator]

On the front lawn of his suburban neighborhood, more cops began showing up with their paperwork, cameras, and a police tow truck. Corey was slowly becoming the neighborhood spectacle, and his easygoing Persona started to crack.

[Detective]

All right, well, while we're at it, so we can eliminate it, and then maybe I don't have to talk to you again after this in any way, shape, or form. Since you look like you want to cooperate and I want to believe everything, would you mind if we take a DNA sample and eliminate you? Because you have been in the house. That way we can wipe that.

[Detective Cassidy]

Yes.

[Detective]

You're okay with that?

[Detective Cassidy]

Sure. All right, cool.

[Detective]

So what I'm going to do is get a tow truck to come over here because I don't want to drive your truck.

[Detective Cassidy]

I would prefer if you drove it, but now that all my neighbors have seen this, I guess it really doesn't matter.

[Detective]

And then I'm gonna get a CST to come over and just do a quick swab.

[Detective Cassidy]

That's right.

[Detective]

That'll be an elimination one. And then that'll probably be the end of it. I'll get your truck back to you, and then we'll be done with it.

[Detective Cassidy]

My. My system, my daughter, DNA, fingerprints, everything's already in the system.

[Detective]

Okay, Perfect. You get your keys for me.

[Narrator]

Essentially, Corey kept repeating that his prints were in the system, as if he was trying to say the thing the cops already knew out loud so that he wouldn't be caught lying. Because even though Corey Binderham had been a decent citizen for most of his adult life, there was something that happened decades ago that he could never escape. Something that haunted him. Something that informed others about his character, his true character. It haunted his marriage. It really affected his life in a way that even those close to him didn't realize. Now the police knew about it, too. You see, when Corey Binderim was just 17, he stepped into something he should never have. The court records say he and a friend met three AWOL Army Ranger trainees at a hotel setting up a gun deal. Corey wasn't the supplier. He was the middleman. His job was pick them up, drive them deep into a remote Florida swamp, and lead them to a stash of weapons. They did exactly that. Quiet pickup, no small talk. Then a long drive into the dark. The soldiers were ready, dressed in wetsuits, wading into the murky water to retrieve the package. But halfway across, everything flipped. Corey opened fire. Bullets tore through the swamp as soldiers tried to escape. Trapped and exposed, one managed to run and kept going until he reached a house and got help. Corey and his friend disappeared into the night. Two soldiers nearly died. The only reason they didn't was because the third managed to get help. It was clear that Corey had intended to murder all three of these men whilst pocketing the money for the whole shindig. It didn't take long to find Corey young, reckless, and now facing real adult charges. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and 10 years probation for aggravated battery with a firearm. Now standing in his front lawn. A father, a husband, a business owner. Corey's past was staring him in the face. As police prepared to take his work truck into evidence, Corey reassured the cops he was an innocent man. But what else would a murderer claim?

[Detective]

Well, I certainly hope so.

[Detective Cassidy]

It was 27 years ago.

[Detective]

I certainly. Listen, Corey. I certainly hope so. I really do.

[Detective Cassidy]

And.

[Detective]

And if it is, I assure you, I promise I'll be the first one to come back and shake your hand. I certainly hope.

[Detective Cassidy]

Are you gonna go door to door and say, look, I was wrong. I embarrassed this man 100%?

[Detective]

I would do that.

[Narrator]

Corey didn't look scared. He looked furious. His wife angry and being escorted to a police station. His daughter just home from college, watching it all unfold. And now the neighbors were watching too. That's what he felt most. Humiliation.

[Detective Cassidy]

The display that you guys put on.

[Detective]

Yes, sir.

[Detective Cassidy]

This isn't fair. I didn't do what you think I did. And this is absolutely not, not fair.

[Detective]

So can you tell me what happened to her?

[Detective Cassidy]

I don't know. I don't have any clue. We shook hands. I left. That's it. That's the last I know of. I don't have an explanation. I don't have anything.

[Detective]

Yeah, I mean, I got. I got.

[Detective Cassidy]

I mean, the guy was mowing the yard and mowing the lawn across the street. She shook my hand in the.

[Detective]

In the doorway and she clearly did not want to talk to you anymore. She was done with it. I know she had an extensive, extensive, meticulous, detailed list of things. And why she did not want to talk to you and why she was done with you.

[Detective Cassidy]

I didn't know that. I didn't know that.

[Narrator]

Corey thought the tension between him and this seemingly family less widow would stay just that between the two of them. He didn't count on her having a circle of retired, watchful, fiercely protective friends, tracking every detail and being uber curious about her remodel. Her best friend, the one who handed over the diary, told police everything she knew. Old lady gossip was now becoming evidence.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

Then she was beating herself up for giving him that and back she said, well, I'm going to get my money back. I've been talking to Lynn, to the lady next door's daughter, Lynn, and she's going to help me get an attorney. And I'm gonna get the police and them involved, and I'm gonna see if I can get my 12 grand back. Cause he's done anything. You think I should pay him a little something for ripping out the bathroom? What he's done? I said, give him nothing. The man's cost you nothing but grief.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Sue.

[Narrator]

Sue had found help getting a lawyer and was making plans to get the authorities involved. Still, she wanted to do this the right way, without lawyers. She gave Corey one last chance, and he promised he would bring her her money back.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

So he shows up with a business check.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Okay.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

She told me, he said, here. She said, I'm not taking that business check. You've been lying to me. I will accept nothing more than a cashier's check. He told her, at that point, I really don't have that 12 grand. But I'm going to have from now till next week to get it because I'm returning the bathtub and the shower stuff he bought. Sue said to me, he said, he's returning the bathtub. And I said to him, it's only $900, Corey. We're talking 12 grand.

[Narrator]

When sue refused the business check, Corey admitted he didn't have the funds in his account to pay her in full, but he'd return some supplies and he'd get her the money. He said he was desperate to get this woman off his back.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

The next Wednesday morning, which is the 23rd, that I went to her house, I said to her she was supposed to show up that day. She had told me over the phone, you know, hey, he's coming Wednesday morning between 8 and 8:30. I said, well, sue, is he going to have your cashier's check? Yes, he is, because he knows better. Said, okay. So when I got there at 12:30 that day, when I get there for our luncheon, I said, sue, did Jackrabbit show up today? She said, no, but he called me, she said, and I told him, what's your excuse or whatever. He said, sue, I'm going to be there with your 12 grand. I'm going to bring it in a cashier's check or whatever I need till tonight between 6 and 6:30 to get it there to you. I'm in St. Augustine Court. Something to do with his divorce.

[Narrator]

But Corey wasn't getting divorced. He was piling lies upon lies to everyone in his life. And the facade was cracking. To sue, he had one set of excuses for his inadequacies and to his wife, another. He was burning the candle at both ends. Juggling jobs, staying up all night, drinking at the bar, passing off one debt to cover another. A contractor Ponzi scheme happens more often than you think. He was drowning in a circus act. And at the center of it all, the problem he couldn't solve was a stubborn 65 year old widow who was now putting her foot down and putting it down hard.

[Detective]

Yeah, so like I said, you know you lied to me, right? When we talked on Tuesday about what you said all you owed her was $1294.54. And it's the carbon check that you showed me, dated for 1024.

[Detective Cassidy]

That's the check that I wrote her to reimburse.

[Detective]

You owed her $12,000. And I have all the checks that she wrote out to be aware with,

[Detective Cassidy]

along with, there's three of them, along

[Detective]

with her meticulous, detailed List of the money that she gave me.

[Detective Cassidy]

Right.

[Detective]

Why would you lie about that?

[Narrator]

Corey had no idea that the police detected human decomposition in his storage unit. They kept that card close to their chest. They had also secured security footage from Home Depot showing Corey buying numerous bags of concrete after he was at Sue's place.

[Detective]

You truly protesting your innocence, and you truly go on trying to, you know, comply and go a long way to show that you didn't have anything to do with. But I'm just telling you, without throwing all this stuff in here, there is a lot that says you do know more than what you're telling. Not necessarily that you did anything to her, but you know more than what you're telling me.

[Detective Cassidy]

I can tell you what else I'm confident in. I have nothing to do with her being misunderstood.

[Detective]

Oh, that.

[Detective Cassidy]

That's. That's what I am very confident in.

[Detective]

Yeah, I certainly hope so. I really do.

[Narrator]

Detectives didn't have enough on Corey to arrest him right then and there. So they took his truck, shook his hand, and left him to sweat it out alone on his front lawn. That's when police got in touch with Leanne. They took her down to the station and started asking her about Corey, but she had zero clue what was going on.

[Leanne Locklear]

They didn't even tell me, really, why I was there. They just kept asking me all these questions, like, how long have you known him? What were you doing on this day? What was he doing on this day? And like, okay, where are we going with this? What's going on? It literally took hours into this for me to figure out what they were actually looking for. And then at that point, I'm like, no, not possible. There's no way. This is not possible.

[Narrator]

From the outside, Corey was not suspicious. He was a loving father, a businessman, the fun guy who would foot the bill for beers and treat his employees like gold. But something dark had entered Corey's life again, and only Leeann was privy to it. Corey had started doing cocaine when he first started using.

[Leanne Locklear]

Like that house party he went to. You know, he was doing cocaine there. It was more of, like, a party thing. Like, I want to be up all night. I'm not ready to go to bed. It wasn't like an every day I have to have a thing. It was, I'mma go party the night away and then go to work tomorrow and do my normal job. And it was like, every once in a while, probably once a week, twice a week. It wasn't an everyday thing for him,

[Narrator]

but like all addictions, it did progress Corey may have been able to manage his business, his family, his wife, who he kept disappointing, and his late night partying with friends. But once cocaine entered the picture, things became a lot less manageable. And what Leanne didn't know was that Corey had been to rehab for cocaine addiction before. Years back, he had snorted away his family's finances. His wife found out, sent him to rehab, and he promised to never touch the stuff again. They were still building back the trust that had been lost all those years ago when Corey started partying again in secret.

[Leanne Locklear]

But it did progress. It progressed heavily. And then I did see a difference in him. Like, he would get irritated faster. You could kind of see in his face that he was really tired. He was just really drained. He had a very short temper. Not with me and not with anybody else that I saw. But just like when we're working, if he drops something, he'd be cussing like, oh, my gosh, damn it.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Where?

[Leanne Locklear]

Before, I don't feel like he'd drop stuff and he'd laugh it off and keep, keep going.

[Narrator]

Leanne says Corey was not an angry man. She only saw him explode one time when they were out drinking and a miscommunication left him stranded at a house party with strangers. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be around someone that shows real emotion, whether good or bad, all of the time, than someone who holds it all in, bottles it all up and it's all just optics until one day they explode.

[Leanne Locklear]

He's screaming in the phone, you need to fucking come get me, right? Fucking, like just screaming and me and my sister and everybody, because we all rode together, we're like, what is going on? He's going off, like, off the rails. So he's saying something about these girls invited him over, and then a whole bunch of dudes showed up. I don't, I don't know what happened at that house party. He wasn't there very long, but he ended up calling his wife. Because the next day he told me he called his wife and his wife picked him up. Then, you know, you kind of think, like, was there just alcohol involved? Were the guys maybe rude to him and hurt his feelings? Because he was very soft hearted. So it was like maybe somebody just hurt his feelings. He took things very personal, and I think that's why he made sure to stay in shape and things like that. Maybe he felt bullied a lot, so you could tell, like, that was just his demeanor. He didn't. He needed to feel like he was included in places it was hard for

[Narrator]

Leanne to grasp that Corey could have murdered someone. I mean, think about it. Imagine someone you know, someone that you're close to. Now imagine that they killed someone, like, for real. How do you reconcile that? But as the hours ticked by and police slowly revealed more information to her, Leann realized that maybe her sweet chill buddy Corey could have something to do with this. Though she'd only seen that one outburst, she had seen it. The genie was out of the bottle. She knew he was using drugs, and something had changed in him. The day that Leanne called in sick because of her torn rotator cuff was the day that sue went missing. The next day on the job, Corey was distant, strange, and completely detached. Leanne remembered that day because she'd never seen Corey like that. It was all starting to click together, and she didn't like that feeling.

[Leanne Locklear]

They kept saying all this stuff, but when they told me, like, about the glass and things like that, and how they had pinged his phone the day of there, and I knew that was the day I was off work, I started thinking, wait a minute.

[Narrator]

Aside from the bus footage and the smell of decomposition detected in Corey's storage unit, detectives uncovered two things far more deliberate. One was some shards of glass in Sue's driveway. And they needed Leanne to confirm where this glass came from.

[Leanne Locklear]

Then, I guess the guy's house we were working on at that time, we were working on a few people's houses, but this one guy in particular, when we took the glass door out of the shower down to the truck, it slipped out my hand, and it shattered. It shattered everywhere, like, in a million pieces. And supposedly, that was one of the things they said is they found that glass in her driveway. And they had asked me, did we do anything glass? And I was like, oh, yeah, we had a door break, but we cleaned it up. But I guess that's what got left in her driveway the day that he was late picking me up.

[Narrator]

Secondly, the detectives had surveillance from Home Depot showing Corey there the very morning he went to school. Sue's house, buying bags of concrete. Not tools, not tons of materials for a visible build. Just concrete and a few random items that look like a clear coverup. He told police it was for a job, but Leanne knew his jobs, his materials, his patterns, and this wasn't part of that. There was no project that called for concrete. So detectives had Leanne call Corey on a recorded line and ask him about the concrete casually, like it didn't matter. But by then, it mattered more than anything else, because they still had no body.

[Detective Cassidy]

Hey, hey, hey.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

They're gone.

[Detective Cassidy]

They're gone. Okay? It wasn't that soldier. Wasn't that bad, huh?

[Leanne Locklear]

It was exhausting. It was exhausting. You did not kill that woman, did you? No, I'm start calling you murderer, Bender.

[Detective Cassidy]

No, don't do that. Put you on the phone.

[Leanne Locklear]

I highly doubt that. They even. They even asked me. They wanted to know exactly what materials we were using on the job site. And they kept asking me over and over about concrete. So I asked him, I said, what is this about you buying concrete? And he said, yeah, I bought concrete. I said, what'd you buy concrete for? He said, remember, we're building a step. At that last customer, we were at a different customer, and I said, corey, no, we're not. I said, we've never used concrete. What are you talking about? He's like, you don't remember the step we're building? I'm like, no. And then he turned it. He's like, oh, I forgot you weren't there that day that they requested that to be done. And I was like, oh, yeah, because I've never. We've never bought concrete. We've never dealt with concrete. So I don't know nothing about no concrete.

[Detective Cassidy]

Yeah. Where do they think I dropped her? In a fucking river?

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Are you serious?

[Leanne Locklear]

I don't know, but I bet that's why they're asking. And I. They must think that I knew about the concrete, because they literally kept asking me. And then they would look at me funny when I would say, no, we don't use concrete. They just kept looking at me funny.

[Detective Cassidy]

Concrete they know I also bought, yeah, five, four bags of Leveler at Will Walters. I buy all kinds of stuff.

[Leanne Locklear]

That's why they kept asking, why they

[Detective Cassidy]

asked you about the concrete.

[Leanne Locklear]

I bet you should see nothing.

[Detective Cassidy]

River. I've been nowhere near the river, but

[Leanne Locklear]

at that point, I'm getting a little terrified, like, why are you pushing this so hard? Wait a minute. Then it started kind of hitting me, like, why are you lying? If you're lying, there's. There's a reason you're lying. Why you lying?

[Narrator]

Before the police were done with Leanne, she divulged one thing that made them stop dead in their tracks. It was a thing that would change the entire course of their chase with Jack Rabbit. I mean, Corey, she told him that one time they were at the dump getting rid of construction materials, and Corey joked that the dump would be a perfect place to hide a body. What a strange thing to say. The light bulb Went off. The detectives had access to Life360 data, which is an app that Corey's wife made him keep on his phone so she could keep track of where he was at all times. It was a deal they had struck after he got out of rehab and promised to change his ways. So Corey had the app on all morning the day sue went missing, except for one hour after she disappeared. That is when he went to the rosemary landfill, and detectives knew what they had to do. But then the unthinkable happened. Corey skipped town, but not before cashing a check he had secretly stolen from another client about a week prior. Like I said, contractor, Ponzi scheme. It happens all the time. And it happened to me. A contractor named Justin Jones promised to do some work for me, took 17 grand, and disappeared. I had to sue him, and when I did, I found out he owed over a million dollars to various other victims. At the end of the day, I was just out 17 grand, because even though I did sue him and won, he had no assets of any kind under his name, no credit, no nothing. What a piece of shit. Anyway, watch out for these contractors. They can really take you for a ride and never turn your back on

[Leanne Locklear]

the guy's house that we were working on, where I tore my arm using the jackhammer. One of the days we were there. I guess the last day we were there, after all this happened, he went in that man's office and stole a check out of his checkbook, and that was his money to get him out of town when he went on the run, that's how they caught him. He was in the bank cashing that check he wrote to himself, and he hauled ass with that. That's how he was getting out of town.

[Narrator]

Corey had been playing it cool with the cops, his employees, his family. But inside, he was panicking. The detectives were trying to hunt Corey down. His wife and children were helping, Giving the cops tips every time Corey called them to check in from another random burner. Phone footage from the Rosemary landfill showed Corey showing up that morning. He took in a load that was about 300 pounds and dumped it. When the cashier weighed his truck on the way out for the dump, he'd shed all that weight. But when he spoke to Leanne, he told her he had 120 pounds of concrete to dispose of.

[Leanne Locklear]

So when they looked at the amount of concrete he bought and the weight of her body and added them together, that's exactly what he took to the dump. The exact amount that went into the dump, because they weigh it when you go in.

[Narrator]

But finding sue in a landfill wouldn't be so simple. The construction rubbish had been transported to a new site in Georgia called the Chesser Island Road landfill, about an hour away. When the detectives spoke with someone at the landfill, they said that the dump load was fresh. Nothing else had been put on top of it. If Sue's body came from the Rosemary landfill, she'd be in that pile. So over the next week, in tandem with the FBI, 90 employees searched an area of the landfill about the size of a baseball field. They turned over every piece of trash, desperately trying to find any trace of Sue. Individuals in white hazmat suits poked and prodded at every little piece of garbage while excavators ripped through the mess. The media was there, capturing each painful, hopeless second of what was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. Then, on the ninth day, after sifting through 7,300 tons of waste, someone found a piece of what appeared to be a human jaw. Then more pieces emerged in the rubble, all tangled up in a shredded concrete bag. Amongst them were women's clothing, two fingernails, and a tarp. Dental records soon confirmed it was, in fact, Sue Malden. The serial number on the concrete bags was intact, and it was an exact match to the receipt of Corey's purchases. The police got in touch with the client, who Corey said he bought the concrete for, and she knew nothing about a concrete step being built in her home.

[Sue's Friend Phil]

So the detective asked me about that, and I told him that there was nothing here that required any concrete work.

[Narrator]

The client also confirmed that Corey never finished the job he began at her place, giving her similar excuses like, he had to sue, he had to go

[Sue's Friend Phil]

to Mayo Clinic, and he had to go to the doctor for this or, you know, or something. There was always an excuse. And then at the end, he just vanished. And my work was never completed.

[Narrator]

It had been almost four months since Sue's friends at the British club had reported her missing, and now, finally, they had her body. Corey had accused the police of tunnel vision from the jump, but they were right all long. They soon captured Corey. His attempts to run were futile, especially since he tried to cash the check he stole and wrote to himself. Now Corey would have to face the police again, but not from his front lawn. As a free man, he would be in handcuffs at the station. And there was evidence that he could not refute. Mr. Too cool. Corey Binderam had painted himself into a corner that he would never escape. If you've been sitting on a business idea, shopify makes it easy to turn it into something real. Kind of like one of our monsters. Here at sortscale, we use Shopify for our storefront, where listeners can browse our merch and check out without a bunch of friction. That matters because once someone decides they want something, you don't want to stand in their way. You don't want to make it complicated. And payment processes can be complicated. Shopify checkout helps more customers complete their purchase, and returning customers can check out with their details already saved. That gives us more time to focus on creating, promoting and growing. Instead of wrestling with the technical side, see what you can [e-mail] swordandscale with Shopify, nothing stands between your idea and a real business. So go make one. Start your free [e-mail] swordandscale Again, that's shopify.com sword and scale hey guys.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Narrator]

Local contractor Cory Benderham seemed like your typical dad next door. But underneath his friendly chill exterior was a former criminal relapsing cocaine addict and shoddy businessman whose life was crumbling beneath him. At the center of all of his Problems was a 65 year old widow named Sue Malden, who refused to let Corey off the hook for the $12,000 he owed her in bathroom remodeling work. Corey had been accused from the very beginning, but with no body and no witnesses, the detectives had little to work on but gut feelings and circumstantial evidence. As things heated up, Corey skipped town with a stolen check. Meanwhile, a massive investigation team combed the landfill and discovered Sue's body and other evidence proving Corey was the killer. All of Corey's confident defenses fell. And on January 31, 2020, Corey was brought into the station in handcuffs after being arrested for cashing that stolen check.

[Detective Cassidy]

Mr. Bennerham, how you doing?

[Detective]

I'm all right. I'd ask you to sing, but I'm sure it's not like Pleasant wanted to come and touch base with you. Told you I'd give you an update when we got one. Sure. So we got one and cut right to the chase. When we talked about before, you indicating that I had tunnel vision. I didn't have tunnel vision. We know what she did. We located Susan we're bringing her home. And you're gonna be charged with murder and tempering evidence to begin with. I know that's a lot to hit you in one second, but obviously you've known this whole time. You've just kinda been waiting on it, I'm sure.

[Detective Cassidy]

Not at all.

[Detective]

No, I did reach out to Cassidy to give her a heads up because I know, obviously, your daughters. Now, I don't want them to get bombarded with stuff that they don't need to. Okay. I did that for Cassidy, not for. For you. Sure. All right. And you.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

You.

[Detective]

I'm sure you're familiar with this process, how it goes from here.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Yeah.

[Detective Cassidy]

I'm gonna tell you. I'm not gonna say anything if you get upset again.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

No, I'm not. Hey.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey.

[Detective Cassidy]

We won.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

We got our body. You're being charged.

[Narrator]

I'm not upset.

[Detective Cassidy]

It's very unfortunate that

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

I didn't have

[Detective Cassidy]

anything to do with it, so.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

Well, we can prove otherwise.

[Detective]

Okay, I get that. And you can. You can maintain that all you want. I understand that. I'm just here to tell you that I don't need you to say anything at all, ever. Because the evidence is there, the physical evidence is there, the whole thing is laid out.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

And just so there's no misunderstanding, you do realize we found Susan Model and we positively identified her. We found her in the Chester island landfill.

[Detective Cassidy]

Okay.

[Sue's Friend Lynn]

So you understand?

[Detective Cassidy]

Yeah, I understand.

[Sue's Friend Another Lady]

Okay.

[Narrator]

Corey sat in his orange jumpsuit, lips pressed thin. He'd been here before, but that was when he was 17, when recklessness could pass for ignorance and excuses came easy. Now he was a grown ass man. A husband, a father. Someone who had been given a second chance and burned straight through it. Whatever he once hid behind was gone. What remained was simple and a grown ass man who murdered a defenseless widow. Someone so physically frail she needed help starting a lawnmower. There was no chaos, no confusion, no youth to blame. Just his own selfish choice. And it was pathetic.

[Detective]

What my mind goes to is I want to know why. I'm not asking you to tell me anything. Obviously you already invoked. But that's. That's the real reason for me. That's what. What keeps me up at night. I just want to know why. So maybe at some point down the road, we can have a conversation and just find out why. Because at this point, we're past. If you did it, that's a lock. What is important now is why.

[Narrator]

Cory wasn't going to answer that question. And the detective knew it from the moment he asked it. But it had to be said out loud, because this question hung over the case, over every interview, every piece of evidence. It settled into the lives sue left behind while it seeped into Corey's own home and sue, his wife and daughters, and to his co workers, forced to carry the weight of what he'd done. The why haunting Leanne.

[Leanne Locklear]

I guess he tried to be calm with her, like, hey, okay, just give me a chance to fix this. And she blatantly said, you know, I'm gonna call the police department. And I don't know if that triggered something in him where he'd already been to prison. Instead of going, okay, I'm just gonna get a. You know, have to pay the money back. I think his mind went to, I'm gonna go back to jail. So then she pretty much. He kept trying to talk to her and say, hey, just. Can you work with me? Can you help me? We'll work this out. She was very adamant about, no, I've had enough. I've tried for months. I want my money. I want my money now, or I'm calling the cops. And then supposedly, he had his tool bag in the house. Now, mind you, I was not there. This is just what I took from it.

[Detective Cassidy]

And

[Leanne Locklear]

she had blunt force trauma to the back of her head. And he, you know, always has hammers in his bag. And that's where that came from is what I gathered, is that he struck her in the back of the head with one of the tools. And I almost feel like, you know, I could see him now just pacing around, like, how do I figure this out? And it's just sad that, you know, she wasn't really aware of her surrounding at that point to say, let me keep him in my vision. Cause somehow he got behind her. I don't know if she was sitting on the couch or what, but she didn't keep him in her eyesight for him to hit her in the back of the head like that.

[Narrator]

An autopsy later revealed that Corey had struck sue in the back of the head. Then he strangled her until she died. Detectives theorize that Corey then cleaned up the house as best he could, apparently doing more work than the remodel would have taken. He grabbed the tool bag that sue had been holding hostage and took her body to his storage unit.

[Leanne Locklear]

But they never say anything about chopping things up. They just said that he put her in this Rubbermaid thing, put it in concrete, went to the dump, dropped it at the dump.

[Narrator]

As Corey's arrest and arraignment spread through the local news, Leanne grappled with what had happened that day in October. Her torn rotator cuff, Corey's strained behavior in the truck, the stolen check. It had all happened within her presence, and she had no clue.

[Leanne Locklear]

So it was terrifying for me that I was sitting right in the truck with a man who just killed a lady. And I'm sitting in that same truck. Right after he dumps her body at the dump, I get in that same vehicle. Oh, and then in the vehicle, there was a gold ring in the door. And I asked him about it. I said, whose is this? And he said it was one of the girls, one of his daughters. But the police department told me that he said it was mine. And I don't even wear jewelry, and when I do, it's not gold. So I was like, that is not my ring. They showed it to me, and I guess that was supposedly her ring. So it's really creepy. You know, I'm sitting in this car, A dead lady's ring is right next to me, and it doesn't. It's like it doesn't feel real. It feels like this is a movie. This is not actually happening.

[Narrator]

Leann thinks that Corey lived under the crushing weight of his own lives, especially when it came to the lack of trust with his wife.

[Leanne Locklear]

But I think he was almost like the kid in the relationship. Like, he felt like he had to really prove that he was good to her or he had to prove that he was worthy. Like, he always had this mentality like, I don't want her upset with me, and I don't want her to think I did something wrong. Kind of like, you know, your children do. They always want their parents to be proud of them. So I think he. He was so terrified that she was going to find out that he screwed up again. That I think between that and then going back to jail, I think he lost it.

[Narrator]

Corey would continue to protest his innocence. As the prosecution prepared for trial, many more things were revealed about Corey's crumbling life. His drug addiction had escalated from cocaine to Percocet and steroids. Corey didn't even have enough money in his business account to cover the check he had written to sue for. For $1,294. He had purchased the concrete an hour before he went to suess. This was all planned. He knew he was going to kill her that day, disguise her in concrete, and toss her into a dump. And he thought he was slick enough to get away with it. That's the perplexing thing about Corey. It was like he assumed the cops would give up on sue because she was just an old single lady with no family and no one to really care if she was gone. Her life, you know, didn't matter enough to dig into. At least that's what he thought. It took almost five years for the trial to officially begin. Between the court closures of COVID that absurd fiasco, the complicated evidence, and the fact that Corey was facing the death penalty, this was a standard time lapse. But to Sue's friends, it was an eternity. Leanne was also going to testify, and she said it wasn't by choice.

[Leanne Locklear]

They pretty much threatened me that I was going to jail if I did not go in there. Like, they did not give me an option. They were not very nice to me at all.

[Narrator]

Leanne skipped the first day of court. She just couldn't do it. But she showed up the next day, ready to give her testimony and terrified to see her old friend. Corrie looked different. His skin was pale. He'd gained about 30 pounds. He looked awful, like someone had sucked the color out of him and then blown him up like a big, fleshy beige balloon. Gross.

[Leanne Locklear]

I definitely had mixed emotions because part of me is like, you know, part of me still wants you to be the good person. Part of me wants to say, he really didn't do it, but the other part of me has to go, come on, there's the evidence. He did it. So it was hard because, you know, they make you point at them to say, are they in the room? And you gotta look at them, you know? And when I looked at him, you know, I still saw the Cory I knew. Like, I still saw that nice guy that was my buddy. I didn't see. See this monster that came out that day, you know, I just saw poor Corey sitting there feeling like a little kid who's in trouble again. And, I mean, it was just sad. I mean, I hate it. And I just. I know he did it, and he deserves everything he gets for it, everything. But it was just hard when you look at someone. And I think I understand now why moms who have sons and stuff that do this, why they kind of have that mixed emotion, because you see that person for who you knew them to be. You don't see them for what they're being, what they really are. So I did, and I answered the questions, and I hot tailed it right out of there as fast as I could.

[Narrator]

To the public, Corey was a disgusting monster who murdered an elderly woman for 12 grand. But Leanne saw someone else. She saw a situation she could have helped prevent.

[Leanne Locklear]

I feel terrible for her that this happened. And I also feel terrible, like, that he, as an adult, could not control his own emotions. Like, why did you do that? Why could you not just say, okay, that's fine. Do what you want to do, and I'll walk out and I'll figure it out tomorrow? Like, I feel bad that he didn't feel like he had another option. Like, why did you make such a poor choice? It just. You're an adult. You have to know there's consequences. Why did you make. And I guess I feel bad because I didn't really see it coming either. So maybe part of that is me going, I wish I would have known he had so many issues like money and things like that, because then maybe we all could have got together as friends and helped each other out, but, you know, you didn't say anything. So it kind of feels like, you know, you're just out hanging out with all these people, and you don't even know what's going on in their life.

[Narrator]

Imagine hearing this whole story and thinking, I should have lent him money. Corey's trial was a slam dunk for the prosecution. He was given life in prison and not death. He was spared death by only one bleeding heart vote. Some juror who had somehow gotten the whole morality thing upside down. Or maybe they just didn't want to deal with it personally. But apparently the jurors in general felt bad. Not for him, but for his two adult daughters, who wrote in a desperate plea to the court to spare their father's life. The defense clung onto the fact that there was another piece of male DNA found on one of the fingernails at the dump and blamed Corey's diagnosed CTE for his impulse control. There's always some kind of condition or psychological trauma that they blame and pretend like it's an excuse. In the end, it was all fruitless. Corey's tricks and schemes throughout the entire five months of the investigation were so obvious and despicable. He had put his own life above Sue's, plain and simple. He convinced himself her life was expendable, just another cost of untangling the mess he'd made of his own. Corey was taken away and handcuffs. Sue's friends rejoiced. But everyone who knew and loved Corey was nauseous and broken. Because Corey did have a lot of people in his life who adored him, Leanne included. Even now, she's barely able to break through the facade to accept the fact that her buddy is a convicted killer who.

[Leanne Locklear]

Well, and I think too. When people do something that bad, you don't see it in them. So, I mean, when I look at him, I see Corey. I don't see, like when, you know, when I look at Ted Bundy, because that's all I know about him. I see, you know, the monster, but I didn't know him. And I guess when you know them, you don't see that monster. Unless that's all you know.

[Narrator]

It's hard to say if Corey was truly a monster. He raised two successful, loving children. He ran a business. He had friends and family who loved him. But when the cocaine crept back into his life, everything started to come apart. Like a truck losing its wheels at full speed. The balance he'd maintained for years wasn't effortless anymore. It collapsed suddenly and violently. And the truth is, the capacity had always been there, just below the surface. As a kid, he did a very bad thing and served seven years for it. Not nearly enough time. Somewhere inside him was the instinct to put his needs above everyone else. And that never went away. That flash of darkness that led him to do something evil, bury it, and keep going like nothing ever happened. When pressure hit, he didn't stand up and face it like a real man. It's hard not to see him as a boy who never fully became a man. A man takes responsibility. A man makes amends. A man faces his problems dead on. Addiction, money, whatever the fuck it might be. Especially when he has a family. Corey chose what felt good in the moment. And he was willing to destroy the people around him for it. Sue Malden was an innocent widow. A sweet old lady who just wanted her bathroom remodeled. Instead, she was killed and discarded in a landfill by this fuck. But thanks to you, the audience listening to to her story, she is not forgotten. And her memory lives on through her friends, especially the British club, and everyone else in her life who loved her. And her case, as dark as it is, made history. The first successful FBI assisted landfill excavation to recover human remains in a murder investigation. It's a brutal ending, an unsatisfying one if you ask me. But it is one that will always be remembered. Well, if you like that, we have lots more at sword and scale.com we have hundreds of hours of plus episodes that have never been released publicly. And our visual series, which is pretty beautiful and amazing and there's 30 episodes available, so go check it out. See you next week. Stay safe.

[Detective Cassidy]

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[Detective Cassidy]

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[Narrator]

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