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- [00:00]
Podcast Host
Hi Binge Crew. When you're finished listening to this true crime story, go see Hunting Matthew Nichols in theaters. This film has all the elements of the true crime stories we a sprawling mystery, intrepid investigators, powerful people who know more than they let on. Two decades after her brother mysteriously disappeared on Vancouver Island, a documentary filmmaker sets out to solve his missing person's case. But when a disturbing piece of evidence is revealed, it's she comes to believe her brother might still be alive. The film is in select theaters now, but you can immerse yourself in the story by going to huntingmatthewnickolls.com right now. That's huntingmatthewnichols.com and welcome to the Hunt.
- [00:48]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Listen to all episodes of Fatal Fantasy ad free right now by subscribing to the the Binge Visit the Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page or visit getthebinge.com to get access Wherever you listen the Binge feed your true crime obsession
- [01:14]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
the Binge. Hello, this is a prepaid call from I Am the Kyle, an inmate at Virginia Department of Corrections Buckingham Correctional. To accept this call, press 0. To refuse this call, hang up or
- [01:36]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
press Once he was locked up, Kyle Ubert began calling and talking me through his version of what happened. It's more or less what he also confessed to Loudoun county investigators. Incidentally, Kyle's signature way of introducing himself, as you heard, I am the Kyle is his rather narcissistic way of saying there is only one Kyle in this world and that he is that person. By December 12, 2001, Kyle, his best friend Mike Foale, and Mike's girlfriend, Katie Inglis, were in custody. Kyle was the last of the three to be picked up by investigators and hadn't revealed a whole lot about what happened that night. Then, as I mentioned in the last episode, Katie decided to fully cooperate and cut a deal. Which kind of pissed Kyle off
- [02:37]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
because of the way she talked and the way she made out like she and Michael knew everything. And this is one of the things I wanted to get clear on the record. This is one of the things I really want you to make sure that you air for people. First thing she did when she found out she was in trouble, she made a deal with people. So she's got the incentives to come up with whatever bullshit that sounds convincing to them to secure their case so that she doesn't get any fucking time
- [02:57]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
talking to investigators, katie said. On that night, Kyle was dressed in his signature black trench coat with A samurai sword tucked in a scabbard attached to his hip, and that the three had driven to the house, but that Kyle approached the Schwartz's front door by himself. Katie went on to say his motive partly had to do with his concerns about Clara's volatile relationship with her father. Apparently, both Kyle and Mike were convinced that Dr. Schwartz was hurting his daughter. To deal with it, Clara had written in her father as the villain in the Underworld game, an arch nemesis they all called the OG or old guy. I asked Associated Press journalist Heather Greenfield about this. So she referred to him both in the role playing games and in real life as the old guy. But, I mean, I think that's. Typically nicknames like that are meant to dehumanize people. Unfortunately, that Clara made him the villain of her game brought up a lot of questions about her actual relationship with her dad. It sounded like they had a lot of conflict. There was a lot of yelling back and forth. If you look at both the relatives and what she was telling her friends, it sounded like kind of a higher level than the average trouble between a teenager and their parent. Kyle told me one of the reasons he was so moved by Clara's complaints about her father was that he also had a bad relationship with his father, whom he accused of bullying and abuse. Here's what Kyle told investigators really happened. It began with what Mike, Katie, and Kyle referred to as an event Clara had named the Springtime War, a major narrative plot point in the Underworld game.
- [05:03]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
I remember a lot of cryptic references to people that I imagine were part of the game, like so and so will be keeping a closer eye on so and so. This one might be an agent for the other side.
- [05:16]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
By agent, Kyle took it to mean a fictional bad guy within the game. At this time, Kyle was struggling to differentiate fantasy from reality. He'd long suffered from mental illness and had been in and out of group homes. The Underworld game was a place where he could be that knight in shining armor he'd always aspired to be, and also the kind of bomb he'd long been for his younger sister in the face of a difficult father. When Clara asked Kyle to play the Underworld, a game that had names and places mirroring actual life, he wasn't totally sure anymore what was real and what was fantasy. What was clear was how Kyle desperately wanted to be the kind of Prince Charming to swoop in and save the princess, the guy who helped people in need, the hero. When he met Clara, Kyle already had the samurai sword he bought the day after he was emancipated. She knew he wore that sword on his hip 247 and was eager to use it. Befriending Clara and the others, Kyle told me. Solidified his purpose in life, he said. Not long after they met, Clara took him out to dinner one night. Not fast food, but an entree at a sit down restaurant. During dinner, she'd bend his ear about her troubles.
- [06:52]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
Me, what I wanted to eat, I'm used to. I'm used to spending, you know, $2 on, you know, McDonald's or something and, you know, thinking I'm lucky. And here we are with offer to foot the bill and I'm like trying to be polite.
- [07:06]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
As they waited for their meals, Clara brought up her father, specifically how much she loathed the guy. Then her steak arrived at the table and something weird happened.
- [07:22]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
She took a bite and then she was like, there's something wrong with this. She was convinced that something had been done to it. She wanted it sent back.
- [07:29]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Poison, she whispered to Kyle after the waiter left. My father is a scientist. It would be easy for him to poison me. She had such a hold on Kyle and the others that they actually took her seriously. At one point in November, just weeks before the murder, Clara convinced Kyle to sleep in his tent on the Schwartz property because, according to him, she was scared the OG was going to do something to her that weekend. With Kyle now designated as her protector in the underworld, he also needed to be there in case Clara called on him. Kyle went along with the game. While out in the woods, Kyle came up with a plan to confront Dr. Schwartz. With Kyle that morning are two of his childhood friends, Saba and Nicodemus. And what about Saba and Nicodemus? What are they telling you about it?
- [08:29]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
She's in danger. We don't know what to do.
- [08:31]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
At this point, Saba and Nicodemus began to taunt Kyle. Wake her up. He's hurting her. That convinced Kyle that Clara's father was doing something filthy to her and he needed to step in and confront the man. So with his sword secured safely in its scabbard on his hip, Kyle took off running toward the Schwartz residence. The knight on the move to rescue the princess, with Saba and Nicodemus following close behind. So you, you know, you show up at the door, I mean, what does he say
- [09:08]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
first thing? What? And looking at it now, it's like, yeah, I just got Woke up at 7 o' clock in the morning after a week of working from this strange, creepy at my door. Yeah, I'm not gonna be in the best Happy, happy, joy, joy, mood. Like, I guess he saw me and was like, clearly, you're one of her friends. You know, kind of ideally, but, like, yeah, it's just. It was more the look than anything. I was like, hi, I'm. I'm here. You know, my usual, you know, I'm the Kyle, you know, cheerful self. You know, I'm here to pick up Clara, you know, and it's like, she's still asleep. And then I was like, oh, okay. I guess I'll come back later.
- [09:44]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Dr. Schwartz stared into Kyle's eyes. A steely gaze, this intense squint imposed a question. That sword on your hip, what in the hell is that all about?
- [09:57]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
I told him I carried it with me everywhere. It's not like it's hidden. It's right there on my hip where it can be seen.
- [10:03]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Saba and Nicodemus are there at the door with Kyle as well. They are telling him to turn around, Leave. Don't do it.
- [10:12]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
Yeah, they're not feeling good about this. There's a lot of danger here. There's a lot of factors that we can't control.
- [10:19]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Dr. Schwartz couldn't see Saba or Nicodemus, however, because, well, after all, they are not real. Both are voices. And inside Kyle's head, which he had listened to along with many others since he was 6 years old. Kyle sometimes gets the help he needs as a diagnosed schizophrenic, like medication. But at this point in his life, he has refused to take his meds. So the voices are very real to him. And right now, Kyle was arguing with those voices over what to do next.
- [11:04]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
What am I. What am I doing? How is. How am I doing this? What is this supposed to be? You know, because I. I don't know. I mean, if in my mind this was the first real thing I've ever done. No, I'm actually protecting somebody.
- [11:21]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Standing in front of Dr. Schwartz, Kyle took a deep breath and realized now is not his moment. He told the good doctor once again, he'll be back later to pick Clara up. And he left. It's 11 days before Kyle will return to confront Dr. Schwartz one final time. My name is M. William Phelps. I'm an investigative journalist and the New York Times best selling author of dozens of true crime books from Sony Music Entertainment and Mm. William Phelps, LLC. You are listening to Fatal Fantasy, episode four, the Springtime War.
- [12:47]
Podcast Host
Can't get enough of the story of Margo Freshwater. Do you need more than the episodes can provide?
- [12:53]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Real quick?
- [12:53]
Podcast Host
We just launched a free true crime newsletter and community page to go along with our binge shows, including the Crimes of Margot Freshwater, and you can access it at the link in our episode description or@patreon.com thebench you'll get behind the scenes reporting, case updates, and a chance to chat with one of the show's creators and other fans. The newsletter comes out twice a month, it's totally free, and it's where the story continues. I'll see you there. Just hit the link in the description or head to patreon.com Thebinge Eczema is
- [13:26]
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- [14:33]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
As investigators listen to Kyle explain his relationship with Clara Schwartz, they wonder if Kyle is trying to sell her out. So far, all he said is that Clara was a child who had issues with her father, none of which Kyle had any tangible proof of. Investigators asked themselves, why trust his word? What evidence do they have against against Clara having anything to do with this plot to kill her father. What they do know is that Kyle might have killed this prominent scientist and Clara schwartz was actually 200 miles away. The investigation into the savage murder of Dr. Robert Schwartz had already taken many turns. In its first week. While Kyle had decided to give them a complete confession, hinting that Clara Schwartz was also involved, investigators tried figuring out if these three young people acted alone or Clara had prior knowledge of what went down that night. Then, out of nowhere, a new witness stepped forward, blowing this case wide open.
- [15:58]
Detective Greg Locke
Young man Patrick House, who had dated Clara in August of 2001, came forward to the sheriff's office with information that he had been a participant in this Underworld game in which Clara was the Lord of Chaos and the Queen, and that she often assigned different tasks to members playing the game. And that one of the tasks that was assigned to Patrick was to Tay, which was Clara's word for kill the og, which Clara referred to as either the old guy or the old geezer.
- [16:42]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
I reached out to Patrick for both my book and this podcast and he showed no interest in talking to me. Patrick was 20 years old, straight laced, shortly cropped brown hair, clear pale skin. He came across more as an accountant than a medieval role playing gamer. Patrick met Clara through Mike. After Mike bumped into Patrick inside the office waiting room of a psychiatrist one day in 2000. Later, their paths crossed again at Walmart and they started hanging out. Clara would tag along. Clara found Patrick a bit odd, like her, and they seemed to bond over a shared interest in the gaming world. Patrick once spoke of how he cast a spell that had killed 13 people who were trying to kill him, reporter Jason Cherkis wrote in a Washington City Paper article. When Clara heard that, she realized Patrick was speaking her language in the Underworld game. He had been selected to be the Queen's assassin long before the group had even met Kyle. When they began playing Clara's Underworld game, Patrick viewed it as nothing more than make believe, a fantasy to deal with the stressors of reality. But as time went on, Patrick noticed that Clara became more serious whenever she talked about her father. In fact, one day while speaking to Mike, Patrick said, I'm going to kill Clara's father. Clara despised her father and wanted him out of her life forever and had a good reason, she told Patrick Here's Detective Greg Locke.
- [18:32]
Detective Greg Locke
Clara claimed that her father was physically and mentally abusing her, and more specifically, that it involved meat steak and that he was poisoning the steak to poison her.
- [18:52]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Loudoun county investigators had not found any evidence of this whatsoever. Patrick told them that as the Thanksgiving holiday approached, Clara began pressuring him, asking, not hinting anymore for help in getting rid of her father. Knowing her as well as he did, Patrick considered that maybe her comments weren't just part of the fantasy she'd created in the underworld, but that she had actually wanted him to to kill her father. Clara sat in her dorm room day after day without leaving. From her computer, she directed everyone in the game, initiating plot lines she had written, facilitating the ongoing narrative of the underworld through instant messaging. She'd scripted a general narrative in a journal and would then talk through it in person with all of them. But for the most part, she expedited the game. Via her computer, Patrick showed investigators emails and instant messages with Clara from earlier in the year. The chatter focused on taking out the OG Here is one example Patrick shared with Detective Locke. And although I am having an actor read Clara's instant message chats and journal entries, all of the words you'll hear throughout the podcast are taken directly from Clara's texts.
- [20:26]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
If a guy puts hemlock in a drink and drinks it will police think it's suicide or murder?
- [20:34]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
There is a pause in the message as Patrick, kind of struck by what she just said, doesn't answer. So Clara continues, sensing his concern, perhaps while trying to reel the comment back in.
- [20:49]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Odd question. Not sure whether I was imagining something or whether it was a vision.
- [20:57]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Well, according to modern law, Patrick finally taps back. Suicide is murder one. Does it make a difference? Clara taps back immediately.
- [21:09]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
But suicide, you can't prosecute.
- [21:14]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
That exchange, in all of its darkness, became a turning point for Patrick.
- [21:22]
Detective Greg Locke
So in Patrick's mind, as the game progressed, he believed that Clara was serious about killing the OG her father, and this was no longer a game
- [21:42]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
at the time. Patrick placates his girlfriend, suggesting that with all the mental fury the OG has caused her, Clara could make his death look natural. This is Patrick stepping away, realizing she is serious about wanting her father dead. Clara continues.
- [22:06]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Okay. Have you found a natural way?
- [22:10]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
I may have. Patrick says, interested.
- [22:15]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Go on.
- [22:17]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
No, I am not going to tell you how. Patrick writes back.
- [22:22]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Okay. Any hints?
- [22:25]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
I am not going to tell you. He says.
- [22:27]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Okay. Guess it's better that I not know. I just wish you'd go away. I'm so sick of fighting.
- [22:35]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Days later, after coming up with a new idea, Clara gives Patrick a direct order in the form of a new underworld narrative. She just created Path.
- [22:47]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Or someone should put a gun to him, tell him to write the note, then put it in the drawer of the desk and point a gun at him while he pours the vial in his milk and drinks it, watches him die, and then leaves.
- [23:05]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Path was Patrick's name in the underworld Clara had come up with in her dorm. A few days after that instant message exchange, Clara tells Patrick her father will be, from that point on, known under a new codename, the Target. She further explains, there is now no separation between the underworld OG and the real og no more fuzzy lines or ambiguous references. Clara is not the Lord of Chaos asking Path to fulfill his role in the game. She is the girlfriend asking the boyfriend to murder her father. She no longer appeared to be inside the game. It appeared to be all reality to her by then. Patrick tells Detective Locke, Clara has one final question for Patrick during that specific exchange.
- [24:06]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
When are you going to kill my father? When Patrick.
- [24:20]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Patrick has heard enough. He stops messaging with her. The relationship is over. For investigators, Patrick coming forward changes everything. His story fits with Mike, Katie, and now Kyle's version of events leading up to the night Dr. Schwartz was murdered. And Clara Schwartz, the doctor's own daughter, now becomes their number one mark as the mastermind behind Dr. Schwartz's murder.
- [25:05]
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- [25:34]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
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- [25:36]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
Yes.
- [25:37]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
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- [25:42]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Let's do this.
- [25:43]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
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- [25:53]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Meet the New Avengers.
- [25:56]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
That's cool, man.
- [25:57]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Marvel Studios Thunderbolts the New Avengers, rated PG 13, now streaming on. You guessed it, Disney Plus. The problem investigators face is that all of these people knew one another. And so, at least in theory, they could be ganging up on someone they now disliked for whatever reason. Or they all just felt like killing someone and chose Clara's father. But Patrick House coming forward entirely changed the narrative.
- [26:32]
Detective Greg Locke
We also found that once Patrick House had somewhat distanced himself from Clara, and she later met Kyle Hulbert in October, that she started telling Kyle the same things that she had been telling Patrick House, in the sense that her father was trying to poison her. He was physically abusive. He was mentally abusive. Again, unfounded.
- [27:01]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
What it looks like is that when Patrick House retreated and ran from Clara, the moment he realized this was no damn fantasy, Clara simply found another stooge in Kyle and used Kyle's insecurities and mental illness to manipulate him.
- [27:20]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
This fit completely into my wheelhouse and just my own kind of fantasy world that I lived in. I think she recognized what was going on with me, and she fed into it because it worked for her. She had made a comment to Katie, and it was one of those cryptic comments, Is like, I told you the one, you know, he would be coming. Like, it had been given to her to know that they would send somebody into her, into her circle, and that he was turned out to be me.
- [27:55]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
From there, Clara started telling Kyle the OG Would sneak into her room when she was at home and, quote, finger her, never taking it any further than that sexually. Then she made it seem like her father was a pedophile who regularly downloaded child pornography. Both allegations factually disproven by law enforcement and, I need to say, in no way true. By then, Kyle had told Clara that he had been sexually abused, abused himself. So her allegations enraged Kyle. He felt for her and had no idea she was lying. One night, after Clara showed Kyle several journal entries in which she describes in graphic detail the alleged sexual abuse, Kyle slammed the journal shut and proclaimed, I'll protect you. They were no longer playing a game. This was for real. After Patrick House came forward, Detective Locke went back to Katie Inglis and asked her additional questions. Katie tells them about a conversation she had with Clara just a few days before the murder. I just wish he'd leave me alone and let me live my life, Clara tells Katie. I wish she was dead. Katie doesn't know what to say. Clara then tosses out, I stand to inherit a third of a million dollars, but I can only get it after he's dead. By December 6, 2001, just two days before the murder, Clara amped up the urgency to get it done. She called Kyle. You need to take care of this, she said, now.
- [29:50]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
And she tells me, I just had a fight with my, you know, dad, the OG that's how she said it. He told me that when we go to the Virgin Islands for Christmas vacation, he was going to make sure I didn't come back.
- [30:02]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
The investigators would be able to confirm that Dr. Schwartz had reservations for all of his kids and himself to spend Christmas in the Virgin Islands.
- [30:15]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
She's destroyed. And this is just as you imagine. Hitting all the right buttons for me is, you know, oh, my God, I have to protect her. And, you know, she tells me, I have to protect her. I can't let him hurt her. Remember those being her words. You know, you have to Protect me, Kyle. You can't let him hurt me. When she hangs up, I put it on the phone. And I'm sitting there trying to figure out, okay, this is just escalated from abuse to threats of actual bodily harm. I'm not sure what to do. Part of me wants to go over there right then and have it out with him. Michael and I and JD plan to get together that weekend. So I figured, well, at the very least, I can go there. And if he's actually this kind of bully, if I go there and I intimidate him and I threaten him to leave her alone, that somebody knows what's going on, then he'll leave her alone.
- [31:09]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
A turning point comes. Kyle explains to Clara that he needs money. Okay. She says, how much? $60. Clara herself admitted this. Early in the investigation, Clara told me
- [31:25]
Detective Greg Locke
about the $60 check that she had overnighted to Kyle Halbert. And I inquired what the check was for, and she said, a phone card. But on further elaboration, it came out that it was also for gloves and a do rag.
- [31:47]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Clara overnighted a check written out to Kyle, along with a note handwritten in all caps. What's needed and expected. Kyle was firm about saying he never asked Clara for money to kill her father. After all, $60 is not exactly a murder for hire number. He claimed he told Clara the money was a payment for a porn site he liked. I've been involved in true crime for over 26 years. Kyle can tell me all day long the money wasn't a payment going toward the murder. But come on. Clara overnighted the check and they cashed it the day before the murder. What is the talk among you and Katie and Mike?
- [32:42]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
Nothing really. I mean, there really. I. I don't remember being much. Any conversation about anything in particular. I knew I needed to go to the Swartz's place to get her notebooks.
- [32:55]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Notebooks? Money for a porn site. How much are these people really believing what they are telling themselves and in turn telling the cops? In my opinion, they knew exactly what was going on here, all three of them. She told you, you need to go get my books at the house.
- [33:17]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
It was. I knew that I wanted to go. I wanted to try to confront him.
- [33:21]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
That statement, I think, tells us Kyle knew exactly why he was headed to Dr. Schwartz's house on the night of December 8th. Mike Foale was easy prey for investigators. All they had to do was keep a boot on his throat, dangle life behind bars, or possibly with the potential murder for hire aspect now involved a death sentence. If they did all of that, Mike would tell them everything. Kyle explained to investigators that he told Mike Clara had instructed him to go to the house to grab her notebooks. Mike instead told Locke he was fully aware of what was about to go down, putting it into kind of a bizarre, almost childish manner. Telling Locke, Kyle went up to Schwartz's house. I stayed outside the house and prayed for Mr. Schwartz's soul to go to heaven. You can only get to heaven if you're dead. Mike knew.
- [34:38]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
Meet up with Katie and Michael. I have to go here. And I played out the conversation in my head a billion times, you know, like, I just. Every possible permutation that I could think of of how that conversation would go.
- [34:53]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
It's raining as they head to Schwartz's house in Mike's car. And important to note, I think, is that Clara is at James Madison University in her dorm alone.
- [35:05]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
It wasn't pouring down rain, lightning and thunder like a good horror movie should be, but it was overcast and sprinkling throughout the day. We're up to that night, and the only thing I've gotten concrete in my head is I have to go here. I have to confront him. He needs to know that somebody knows what's going on and that he can't get away with it. And I know it's a damning statement, but it's the truth. I did not go there to kill him. I went there to confront him. But there was parts of me that knew that, like, if it came down to it, you know, her life or his, there was no contest.
- [35:44]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Katie, riding shotgun with Mike driving, and Kyle in the back seat, approach Schwartz's driveway. Kyle tells Mike to stop. It's a long driveway. Kyle insists Mike and Katie wait inside the car there near the road. I'll walk the rest of the way, he tells them as Kyle sits with his hand on the door handle, preparing to step out and walk down the driveway, his mind racist.
- [36:17]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
I don't know how to describe you. The sense of not knowing. It's like you're standing in a doorway. You're in the light, and the room on the other side is pitch black. You don't even know there's a floor there.
- [36:28]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Kyle claims several voices return in this moment, voices now sending him warnings.
- [36:36]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
The best I can say is, in hindsight, I guess Father knew something I did. He was picking up on things that I wasn't paying attention to. Holes in her story, the flaws in the way things were going, just how perfectly this all fit together.
- [36:51]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Kyle tells Mike and Katie he'll be right back. And then he begins walking down the driveway, placing one hand on his sword attached to his hip and the other blocking the driving route, rain hitting his face. Then he reaches Dr. Schwartz's door and knocks.
- [37:15]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
We're here now. We're at the night. This is where it all happens. This is where I cross a line that can't be uncrossed. You know, this is for better or for worse. This is my Rubicon. After this night, my life is going to be defined in two terms. Before this, then after this.
- [37:50]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Next time on Fatal Fantasy. As Kyle ulbert steps inside Dr. Schwartz's house, we hear him describe in great detail what took place.
- [38:01]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
And he just smiles at me. I'm going to die here tonight. I catch him with an elbow. I taste blood.
- [38:12]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
As he is fighting with Schwartz, the vampire Kyle claims to be seems to come out.
- [38:19]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
Clara was in danger. I remember fighting rival vampires.
- [38:25]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
And then a shocking shift in the investigation.
- [38:31]
Clara Schwartz (via actor reading texts)
Jesus disciples are extreme followers. They drank his blood and ate his flesh, which made them all vampires and cannibals. I look at satanic cults and see the future bright and promising.
- [38:48]
Kyle Hulbert (Inmate / Key Witness)
Foreign.
- [38:56]
Narrator / Investigative Journalist (M. William Phelps)
Don't want to wait for that next episode. You don't have to unlock all episodes of Fatal Fantasy ad free right now by subscribing to the Binge Podcast channel. Search for the binge on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe and at the top of the page not on Apple, head to getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. As a subscriber, you'll get binge access to new stories on the 1st of every month. Check out the Binge channel page on apple podcasts or getthebinge.com to learn more. Fatal Fantasy is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and M. William Phelps, llc. Written and executive produced by me from Sony Music Entertainment. The executive producers are Jonathan Hirsch and Catherine St. Louis. Our production manager is Samantha Allison. Jeremy Adair is my senior producer and script consultant, Matt Russell my sound engineer. I use Epidemic Sound for music and sfx.
- [40:24]
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