418: Worst Roommate Ever: Housemate from Hell

Summary

Podcast Summary: True Crime Obsessed - Episode 418: "Worst Roommate Ever: Housemate from Hell"

I. Introduction

In Episode 418 of True Crime Obsessed, hosts Jillian Betavali and Patrick Hines delve into the harrowing case titled "Housemate from Hell." This episode explores the extreme circumstances that transform a seemingly ordinary roommate situation into a true crime nightmare.

II. Setting the Scene: Cathedral City, California

The episode opens in Cathedral City, California—a tranquil locale adjacent to Palm Springs known for its low crime rates, averaging one to five homicides annually. The central figure is Anita Cohen, an elderly woman who meticulously crafted her ideal living environment.

III. The Initial Incident: Anita's Death

On June 14, 2016, police responded to a welfare check requested by Anita's daughter-in-law, Cindy, after failing to reach Anita. Officers arrived around 11 PM, only to discover Anita Cohen brutally beaten in her backyard pool. The scene was chaotic, with broken glass and blood marks indicating a violent struggle (03:47).

IV. Introducing Daryl: The Model Roommate

Daryl emerges as Anita's longest-running roommate, described as respectful and responsible. Despite his personal struggles, including a recent divorce and financial hardships, Daryl maintained a cordial relationship with Anita. He expressed admiration for her hard-earned independence and the dream she fulfilled by owning her home (05:08).

V. The Arrival of Scott: A Red Flag

Scott Pettigrew enters the narrative as Anita's new roommate introduced in early 2016. Initially perceived as a clean-cut, friendly individual with two small dogs, Scott seemed like an ideal addition. However, red flags soon surfaced, including Scott's odd behavior and manipulative tendencies (13:12).

VI. Escalation of Hostility: Scott Targets Daryl

Scott's demeanor shifted dramatically, becoming increasingly hostile towards Daryl. He made unfounded accusations, such as claiming Daryl was secretly filming him in the bathroom, creating tension within the household. These allegations strained Anita's perception of Daryl, leading her to mistrust her longtime roommate (14:08).

VII. Daryl's Wrongful Arrest: A Tragic Miscarriage of Justice

As tensions peaked, Scott orchestrated a situation that led to Daryl's wrongful arrest. On March 7, 2016, after a series of manipulative actions, Scott falsely accused Daryl of senior abuse and property damage. Despite Daryl's innocence, he was arrested without substantial evidence, facing severe felony charges and potential prison time (28:19).

VIII. Unraveling Scott's Troubled Past

The hosts investigate Scott's background, revealing a history marked by substance abuse and violent outbursts. Through testimonies from Scott's former partner, Rob Salcedo, it becomes evident that Scott's destructive behavior was deeply rooted in his traumatic childhood and deteriorating mental health (44:26).

IX. The Murder: Anita's Final Moments

On August 29, 2019, years after the initial events, Anita Cohen was found dead in her pool. Bodycam footage from the responding officer, Sergeant Heather Olson, captured the chilling aftermath. Anita had inadvertently recorded her own murder on a digital recorder, providing crucial evidence that ultimately led to Scott's conviction (62:11). In a final confrontation, Scott confessed to his crimes, further cementing his role as the perpetrator.

X. Conclusion: Justice for Anita and Exoneration for Daryl

Scott Pettigrew was convicted of first-degree murder, elder abuse, and violating a protective order, receiving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Daryl was exonerated, although the emotional and professional fallout from his wrongful arrest left lasting scars (64:06).

XI. Insights and Lessons Learned

The episode underscores the critical importance of thorough background checks when sharing living spaces. It also highlights systemic failures, such as inadequate police response to domestic disputes and the challenges victims face in proving their innocence. Hosts Jillian and Patrick emphasize the need for vigilance and empathy to prevent such tragedies.

XII. Final Thoughts: Be Kind and Conduct Due Diligence

In their closing remarks, Jillian and Patrick urge listeners to "just be nice" and conduct essential background checks when selecting roommates or shared living arrangements. They advocate for stronger support systems and legal reforms to protect vulnerable individuals from manipulative and abusive behaviors.

Notable Quotes:

• Jillian Betavali on the ease of being a bad roommate: “It's really. It's actually incredibly easy.” (00:06)

• Patrick Hines on Anita's dedication to her home: “She worked really, really, really hard for this house. This was her dream.” (05:08)

• Jillian Betavali reflecting on Daryl’s wrongful arrest: “I was going through a divorce and I was living in a shack out in the middle of nowhere...” (12:18)

• Patrick Hines summarizing Scott's manipulation: “He’s a manipulator for sure. She was a victim of this.” (24:05)

• On the final police response: “I've never heard of something so ridiculous in all of my career.” – Sergeant Heather Olson (53:27)

Conclusion

Episode 418 of True Crime Obsessed masterfully narrates a complex tale of trust, betrayal, and justice. Through engaging storytelling and insightful analysis, Jillian Betavali and Patrick Hines shed light on the profound impacts of abusive relationships and the critical need for systemic support to protect victims.

Transcript

[Jillian Betavali]

Is it really that hard to not be an awful roommate or just, like, a terrible person in general?

[Patrick Hines]

It's really. It's actually incredibly easy.

[Jillian Betavali]

It's like, life is easier when you're just nice and easy.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

And it's like, why do I feel like the crazy one?

[Jillian Betavali]

No.

[Patrick Hines]

What? How does that work? Hi.

[Jillian Betavali]

Jillian Betavali.

[Patrick Hines]

Hello. Patrick Hines, fam.

[Jillian Betavali]

In case you didn't know, we launched a Discord, and it's going great.

[Patrick Hines]

It's. There's, like, a whole lot of you there. It's very fun.

[Jillian Betavali]

I love it. People are very happy to see that there's, like, a whole channel. Like, the way that Discord is different than the Facebook group is just, like, there are channels for things. Do you want to just, like, talk about, like, your dogs and your pets and stuff? There's a channel for that.

[Patrick Hines]

There's a whole channel.

[Jillian Betavali]

You want to talk about the book club? There's a channel for that. You want to talk about the episode this week? There's a channel for that. People love the organization.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, I guess it's a little too organized for me. But look, we're here, and we're having a good time.

[Jillian Betavali]

If I may, I wanted to remind the fam I'm on tour right now, and we've just released tickets for a whole bunch of new cities. So I'm coming to Milwaukee on May 8, Chicago on May 9, Minneapolis, Minneapolis on May 10, Boston on June 6, Louisville on June 20, St. Louis on June 23, and then. And I'm so excited about this New York City for Pride weekend on June 26th. All the info and tickets are@Patrick Tours.com.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

Anyway, what are we talking about today, girl?

[Patrick Hines]

All right, so this is that show Worst Roommate ever. Yeah, we're doing season two, episode two. It's called Housemate from Hell. Female executive, has an executive home, exquisitely furnished to share, three bedrooms, two baths, lush backyard and French door, private entrance overlooking the pool. Now, you gotta stop eating up an old lady, huh? Stay away from me. I've never worked a roommate case myself where it ended so tragically. Stay the away from me, you bastard. The thing that sticks out the most to me in this investigation is that she recorded her murder. Get out of here.

[Jillian Betavali]

So we're in a place called Cathedral City, California, which is just east of Palm Springs. I was excited to find out that there was, like, a less expensive version of Palm Springs right next door.

[Patrick Hines]

I get. Is it less expensive?

[Jillian Betavali]

Seems like it's slightly less expensive. And I'm about to Become a Palm Springs gay. I'm like, I want to investigate.

[Patrick Hines]

That's what they, they call like the gays and the grays. Right. That's like the whole thing about, oh.

[Jillian Betavali]

No, am I that age? Am I, am I a golden gay?

[Patrick Hines]

Isn't that a whole thing? The gays and the grays? Yeah, that's like the term.

[Jillian Betavali]

The gays really love Palm Springs. We're going to go this year. We put it on our 20, 25 that we're going to go to Palm Springs at some point this year.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, fun. Okay, so we're with Sergeant Heather Olson and she's telling us the story. And our victim here is Anita Cohen. They haven't said her name yet, but I'm going to. So we learn about this. Like we're sort of east of Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley and has very low crime rates, like one to five homicides per year, depending on the year. She says, yeah. So Detective Albert Holloway is also here and he says like a good amount of retirees live here. It's really safe. It's working class.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. And so we jump to June 14, 2016, and the police get a call for a requested welfare check. We're going to learn eventually that Anita's daughter in law is calling because they can't get in touch with Anita and they want the police to go check. So the police show up a little after 11pm the officer knocks on the door. There's no answer. A second officer arrives. They've got a, we're seeing the body cam footage and the cops have to hop a fence to get like into the backyard.

[Patrick Hines]

It's really dark outside. It's eerily quiet.

[Jillian Betavali]

They say they just know something is wrong. Like these are cops that do this for a living and they're like, they can sense that something is not right here.

[Patrick Hines]

And so as they're sort of walking around the property, they find Anita Cohen in the pool in the backyard. She was severely beaten. She had visible injuries on the left side of her head and face. There was broken glass, broken picture frames, and blood drag marks in the concrete just outside of the door leading to the backyard. Broken glass on the ground, broken picture frames. Like you could tell this was a very, very violent attack.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. And so the question is, like, who would do this to this elderly woman and why?

[Patrick Hines]

So Steven, Anita's son, is here and he's a wreck.

[Jillian Betavali]

Like Steven is a, is a wreck. From the, from the minute we see him, he looks real. I always wonder about the people who like, agree to do these. Like, it's just very re. Traumatizing. It's very hard to, like, relive it. But he's. He's here to tell the story, and you can just tell. It's hard for him.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. And like, he. I appreciate this because Steven tells us about his mother and her life. And she got divorced young, and she always had to work really, really hard for what she had. But her dream was to own a house of her own. And that's a very important part of the story. That it was her house and she wasn't gonna leave it. And. How dare you?

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

She worked really, really, really hard for this house. This was her dream.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yep. I get that. We see a picture of Anita when she was young and her kids were young. And I'm like. Both times I watched her, I'm like, she looks just like a young Madonna. Like, she looks like Madonna from, like the 1980s. And like, I mean, she looks. She was a beautiful younger woman. And like, Steven and his mom were super close. It was like the two of them against the world.

[Patrick Hines]

You know, Cindy is the daughter in law who's married to Steve. And she says, again, like, Anita, we cannot stress how much she loved that house in Cathedral City. She bought it, she loved it. And Cindy says it was everything for her. She loved it. And that really does become an important part of this.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. It's a beautiful house.

[Patrick Hines]

It was a three bedroom, two bath. It had a pool, had a jacuzzi, a beautiful backyard.

[Jillian Betavali]

She loved the house. It was her independence. It was. It was she's arrived kind of thing. It was her I've arrived moment was buying that house.

[Patrick Hines]

Travel down the road.

[Jillian Betavali]

Back again, girl. Zebiotics, pre alcohol probiotic is back.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. Here's the thing. I am not taking a day off of work because of drinking. That is. I'm past that part of my life. We all have stuff to do. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm taking my zebiotics, pre alcohol probiotic before I go to happy hour, and I'm good to go.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. So here's the deal. Pre alcohol probiotic helps your body br. Break down acetaldehyde. Alcohol's toxic byproduct, so you feel better the next day.

[Patrick Hines]

Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. It's this byproduct, not dehydration, that's to blame for your rough next day.

[Patrick Hines]

This is a proactive way to help with the next day instead of a reactive approach.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. So every time that we take the pre alcoholic, we have these happy hours. Like on Saturday nights at our house, the first thing we all chug is a little pre alcohol.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. You have to make sure you eat and still stay hydrated.

[Jillian Betavali]

Drink your water. But I'm telling you, I've never had a bad morning after my happy hour when I've taken in the pre alcohol.

[Patrick Hines]

I can definitely tell a difference. No question for sure.

[Jillian Betavali]

Getting out of bed at seven instead of ten.

[Patrick Hines]

Yep.

[Jillian Betavali]

So, fam, don't let anything rain on your St. Patrick's Day parade. Grab pre alcohol before you celebrate and keep the festivities going Strong.

[Patrick Hines]

Go to ZBiotics.com TCO to learn more and get 15% off your first order. When you use TCO at checkout, Zebiotics.

[Jillian Betavali]

Is backed with 100% money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked.

[Patrick Hines]

Remember to head to ZBiotics.com TCO and use the code TCO at checkout for 15% off.

[Jillian Betavali]

Thank you, ZBiotics, for sponsoring this episode and our good times.

[Patrick Hines]

I mean, especially the good times.

[Jillian Betavali]

Especially the good times.

[Patrick Hines]

So Steve and Cindy live three hours away in San Diego, and Anita had her own business. She recruited travel nurses to work in hospitals.

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, absolutely incredible. Like, shout out to James, hey, girl. He's a travel nurse who's, like, a listener. And what an amazing gig and an amazing job. And only amazing people do that.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, it's, like, really incredible. And so she had this, like, thriving business. And Anita closed her business when she was in her 60s.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

But she still needed something to make money. So she was working part time at Walgreens in the pharmacy, and she was still struggling with her bills. Like, she had to take out a loan for the equity of her car.

[Jillian Betavali]

Even though it's like a less expensive, like, sister city to Palm Springs, that living in that area is expensive. And like they say, living in the desert, the cost of utilities is very high because they've got to bring everything in.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, you're so you're far away from everything. It's a lot of money. So a lot of these retirees rent out their guest rooms for some extra cash.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

So she probably, like, got this idea from another friend of hers down the block because this is sort of what everyone in that community did.

[Jillian Betavali]

And it's like a dangerous thing to do. Like, we learned that Anita would put her. She'd put an ad on Craigslist like, do people remember what Craigslist was?

[Patrick Hines]

Craigslist can be, like, really scary.

[Jillian Betavali]

Is it still a thing?

[Patrick Hines]

I'm sure it is, yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

Wow.

[Patrick Hines]

So Craigslist was, like, a really low budget. I feel like everyone's like, we know what Craigslist is. But it was just like, you could find dates there.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

You could find.

[Jillian Betavali]

Or like, hookups if you're gay. Like, that's what the gays used it for. I was like, saw your eyes at me.

[Patrick Hines]

But we've actually, like, had. We've covered stories where, like, you know, it's like that. That website back page where sex workers would go, like. But it's totally unregulated.

[Jillian Betavali]

But. Yes, but there were other, like, you could, like, swap furniture. You know what I mean?

[Patrick Hines]

There was a lot of, like, acting gigs that used to be on there.

[Jillian Betavali]

That's right.

[Patrick Hines]

Non union, whatever.

[Jillian Betavali]

But, like, especially, like, in a place like New York or a place like this town near Palm Springs, like, people would use it to find roommates. That's how I would always find my apartments in my early years in New York. Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And it was just like, a lot of scam. Like, you think it's an acting gig and you'd show up and it's, like, creepy, you know, like, it was a way to very easily take advantage of people. But Anita was using it because it was cheap and it was easy and she needed someone to rent the room. So she wasn't being shady about it. No.

[Jillian Betavali]

And, like, people would show up with just that rent and just that deposit, and she would take the money and give them a key. Like, nothing. Like, where do you work? Where are you from?

[Patrick Hines]

We asked her to screen them before she had them come live with her. And she didn't do that because it costs money to do background checks.

[Jillian Betavali]

She didn't want to do it because it was expensive to do background checks. And I. I get it, but it is like, I wanted to find the time to say this in this episode, so I'll say it here. It is a good thing that it is hard to evict people from their apartments. That is a good thing, because the reason that that is set up. And I only. I mean, I know this from being a person on the planet, but my mom worked in housing for forever. And my mom's job specifically was to find housing for people who were legally discriminated against. And that's why a lot of these laws changed and became really hard to get people out. Because somebody would, like, rent you a house or rent you a room and find out that you were. And then they would try to kick you out or find out that you had aids. And that was where. That was where my mom. So it is a good thing that it's hard to kick people out. But knowing that I do think that people who are renting out rooms like it, it is kind of incumbent upon you to do the best you can to make sure you're not moving in with a total creep. Now, that said, creeps make it very hard to find out that they've been creeps in the past.

[Patrick Hines]

And like this, this ad is. Is like on the flip side of it. It almost looks like it's so nice. I'd be worried that she was scamming me, that I show up because it's like this beautiful house, private entra. Go as you please. Dogs welcome. I have too. She says, you know, like, prefer never get their names.

[Jillian Betavali]

And now I notice it on your behalf.

[Patrick Hines]

See, prefer single gal guy suitable for student. It looks perfect. Pool, spa, private backyard, private entrance. Upscale, fully furnished, private bedroom. You're like, I'm gonna walk in and it's gonna be an alleyway and I will never be seen again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's that nice.

[Jillian Betavali]

It really is.

[Patrick Hines]

And the ad says, like, her listing says that she would do a background check.

[Jillian Betavali]

Oh, it does say that.

[Patrick Hines]

Gonna do it because it's too. It's too expensive. And she's like, whatever. So that was her little security blanket to just going to tell people anyone who thinks they're getting a background check, like, run on them if they're going to be shady, whatever.

[Jillian Betavali]

And she also doesn't seem like she, like, has been doing this for a very long time. Like, it seems like she's kind of new to the roommate thing. Like, she's just realizing she needs money. And, you know, you get burned once. And like, this is the thing is that sometimes you'll get burned or you'll get like a shitty roommate. But they're not like monsters. In this instance, she gets a monster.

[Patrick Hines]

And in this point, you know, like, people would show up with the rent and the security deposit and she would hand over the key. And people were really. They weren't staying very long term at first. And so, like, she was also so happy to have a roommate because she was a little lonely. So nice to have someone else around the house.

[Jillian Betavali]

So we meet Daryl. Daryl, Girl, I kind of love Daryl.

[Patrick Hines]

Daryl has fucking been through it too, man.

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, he, like, he's a little bit of a weirdo, but he's Anita's longest running roommate. And I just said, jesus, this guy was in rough shape when he met Anita. I was going through a divorce and I was living in a shack out in the middle of nowhere with no heater and burning wood on a stove to keep warm. And my car was falling apart because it was a long drive to go to work. So I really needed to move somewhere closer to work. I was pretty desperate.

[Patrick Hines]

He was desperate and he's like, look, I had bad credit cause of my divorce, and that's why I had money.

[Jillian Betavali]

Because I didn't have time. You know what I mean?

[Patrick Hines]

So unless you're listening on the Patreon, then you don't know what we're talking about. That's mad. So, but like, Daryl is thrilled. Cause he's like, oh, so this lady who doesn't really care about my credit, who lives in this gorgeous, stunning house that's close to where I work, like, oh, this is amazing. He's thrilled. Anita decorated it with like, really cool things. Like, she would seem like a very interesting, fascinating woman.

[Jillian Betavali]

Seems like our taste would probably not align. Not that I have taste, but Anita seems like she, like, it's like a house full of knickknacks.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, she loved it. And it's like her personality was all over the place.

[Jillian Betavali]

What do you call it? Like, shabby chic is probably like the aesthetic.

[Patrick Hines]

Look, I'm into it, Anita. And like all these cool things from all over the world. Like, everything has a story. And Daryl wanted to hear the story. It just sounded like a sweet little setup because he said it was a perfect little fit for me and my cats to move over the cats. So, like, just like normal, no background check. He gives her the money, she gives him the key, and here we are.

[Jillian Betavali]

And like, Daryl was saying, like, at first things were great. And he was saying, I have a lot of respect for older people. Get yourself a roommate. Like, Daryl, this guy just wanted to, like, he wanted to be a good tenant. He paid his, his rent on time. He just wanted to kind of stay in his room and be with his cats and not bother anybody.

[Patrick Hines]

And he says, this is her space. I'm a guest here. Like, he's trying to do the right thing by her. Like, he would be my longest running roommate too.

[Jillian Betavali]

Well, what would happen that time that you and you saw him doing his, like, switchblade skills?

[Patrick Hines]

So Cindy, the daughter in law, is like, Anita said that Darrell was a little different than what she was used to seeing, but he always paid the rent and she was okay. With him living there. I've only met Daryl a few times. I found some of the things he did to be a little peculiar. Ahem. Peculiar. Now, as she's telling us this and the nicest tone she can muster, there's footage of D getting up and, like, casually swinging a switchblade around, which he thinks is very cool and impressive.

[Jillian Betavali]

It's like the people who had those Zippo lighters and knew how to, like, light them on their jeans or whatever. You know what I mean? It's one of those skill sets that I just don't have. And what is the point of a switchblade? Like, why does it do that?

[Patrick Hines]

I mean, is it for show?

[Jillian Betavali]

Is it meant to, like, for the talent show?

[Patrick Hines]

I think we've all seen west side Story, and I think we all know, but, like, the switchblade choreography, I just don't.

[Jillian Betavali]

I don't know why the knife needs to do that. Maybe it has some sort of practical purpose. I don't know. But he's real good at it.

[Patrick Hines]

He's real good at it. And we see this little quick shot. I'm like, you're trying to do Daryl a little dirty here because he ends up being a great guy who really gets tripped over.

[Jillian Betavali]

They want us to not be sure. They want us to think that he might not be a good guy.

[Patrick Hines]

Daryl is not the worst roommate ever we're talking about.

[Jillian Betavali]

He's like, the best roommate ever.

[Patrick Hines]

So Daryl says, like, as much as he was respectful of Anita, they kind of barely saw each other. He says. Like, he said he spent a lot of time in his room with his cats. They saw each other in passing, but everything was great. Like, I wouldn't want to be best friends with the roommate either. Like, they kind of had this nice little routine.

[Jillian Betavali]

Meanwhile, I'm like, oh, my God. Do you want hang out on the couch?

[Patrick Hines]

No, I do not.

[Jillian Betavali]

Why wouldn't you? You would hang out on the couch with me sometimes for a little bit.

[Patrick Hines]

And then I'd be like, I'm done.

[Jillian Betavali]

Another Cosmo, though, before you go to bed.

[Patrick Hines]

Maybe I'll take it in my room.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, I'm going to get you to hang out with me. Okay. I'm going to get you to hang out with me.

[Patrick Hines]

Nice luck. I'll do it.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So Anita had two spare bedrooms, and whenever possible.

[Jillian Betavali]

It's a huge house.

[Patrick Hines]

It's huge, and it's beautiful. So whenever possible, ideally, like, both of those rooms would be rented.

[Jillian Betavali]

You do not want to hang out on the couch with me. I'M going to learn your drink order.

[Patrick Hines]

Well, you go to bed at 8:30 anyway.

[Jillian Betavali]

See, I'm not asking for the whole night. I'll never forget. I've told this story before. The first time you and I ever traveled together. And we got the first night, we had like a great dinner. And then the next night, I remember it was like 8:00. And you're like, I'm gonna go back to the room now. And I was like, whoa.

[Patrick Hines]

Because it was like 48 hours of constant me, which is exhausting. But also at like an event and a convention.

[Jillian Betavali]

So there was.

[Patrick Hines]

It was.

[Jillian Betavali]

You could say it. I know him a lot. But I just remember being like, but I'm not done spending time.

[Patrick Hines]

But it wasn't just you. It was like the world.

[Jillian Betavali]

But I took it personally.

[Patrick Hines]

You took it very personally. And I was like, it's not you, it's me. But I also.

[Jillian Betavali]

But I also can't do this right now.

[Patrick Hines]

I also don't have the energy to explain it to you. So if you don't get it, go find else to talk to about it. But I'm done. Bye. I want a shower and a hotel bed and that's it. So Daryl isn't always the only person renting from Anita is the point. So there were two rooms across the hall. So Daryl had to deal with these people a lot. And let's be honest, they had to.

[Jillian Betavali]

Deal with Daryl, and that's a recipe for disaster. Like, to have. I don't think in all of my years of renting, I ever had more than one roommate. Like, I can't. Like, if you're the person, like you're the Anita, and you've got to put together people who can. But Anita doesn't care about that. She just needs the money.

[Patrick Hines]

Right.

[Jillian Betavali]

So she's not necessarily looking. Looking for compatibility. She's just kind of looking for someone to fill the room.

[Patrick Hines]

But Anita had a lot of issues with these tenants because they were taking advantage of her. So I think she kind of looked. Once you got there and you're not Daryl, she's kind of an easy mark.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

Because Daryl tells us these stories.

[Jillian Betavali]

There was a time when she was having trouble with one of the tenants and a friend of mine and myself had to intervene. We had, you know, tell them to cool it off and cool it down because they were getting a little heated and being disrespectful to an elderly woman in her own home.

[Patrick Hines]

This tenant was getting heated and disrespectful. So people would like Realize that she wasn't really doing the background checks and everything was kind of under the table. So they wouldn't pay her or they were squatting in the house or they'd eat her food. They'd be the anti Daryl, they'd be super disrespectful.

[Jillian Betavali]

This kind of life is, it's transient. Like, they're not signing a year long lease. They're coming for a month. Maybe they're paying their rent.

[Patrick Hines]

And I don't know if like word is getting out about that gorgeous house in Cathedral City. Like, I don't know about that.

[Jillian Betavali]

And so not only is Daryl like paying his rent on time, but he's like helping. He's like getting his friends to be the enforcers in the house to make sure that these assholes aren't being awful to Anita.

[Patrick Hines]

And on top of that, Anita was also calling the police a lot to help her. And she wanted like, someone would get out of line and she called the cops and she'd want the cops to come kick them out and they'd have to tell her, like, anita, girl, that's kind of not how this works.

[Jillian Betavali]

Not how this works at all. And like, that was where I made the note. Like it and good. It shouldn't work that way. But at the same time it's like, don't be awful to old ladies and everybody pay their rent. Everyone just be nice to each other.

[Patrick Hines]

Right? Like, this isn't something to take advantage of. Like, just pay her for the room. And so it's just so stupid.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yep. And that's like you were saying, like, that's why Craigslist ended up being so scammy. You know what I mean?

[Patrick Hines]

It's totally unregulated. And like, it's so. It's creepy.

[Jillian Betavali]

In all the years I'm just like.

[Patrick Hines]

It scares me for people.

[Jillian Betavali]

It truly is. Because no one's checking references. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's. Yeah, you're just hoping that people aren't going to be awful. And guess what? We have a whole podcast and people are awful.

[Patrick Hines]

There's no record of it. So you can see this gig or this date or this apartment and then show up and just be gone.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And then you would have to like, go into the person. Craigslist. I don't even know if there was a history, if you view the history of things that you looked at. So it's just sort of like you just like find an address and then you go. And like, who knows what's gonna happen to you when you get there.

[Jillian Betavali]

Oh, my God.

[Patrick Hines]

Super scary.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Travel down the road. Back again, girl.

[Jillian Betavali]

Smalls is a new sponsor. They are this delicious cat food that we love. We also love cats on this podcast.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. I am here to represent Macaroo, who's my best friend Ashley's cat.

[Jillian Betavali]

What are you authorized to tell us?

[Patrick Hines]

Well, first of all, Smalls cat food is protein packed recipes made with preservative free ingredients you find in your fridge and it's delivered right to your door.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. Tell me what Macaroni likes.

[Patrick Hines]

He loves the broth toppers. I got a text from Ashley and I quote, Mac loves the broth toppers.

[Jillian Betavali]

Now let me tell you this. Smalls was started back in 2017. I'm obsessed with this by a couple of guys home cooking cat food in small batches for their friends. Like, we gotta support these guys. They sound adorable.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. And cats.com named Smalls their best overall cat food.

[Jillian Betavali]

Wow. Wow.

[Patrick Hines]

Best overall. And you wanna know my favorite part?

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Smalls works with the Humane Society and they've donated over a million dollars worth of food to help cats through the Humane Society. And they even give you a chance to donate at checkout. Whether you donate $5 for flea and tick medications or $7 for vaccines, you can do your part.

[Jillian Betavali]

What I love about this though, is that these are guys that just love cats and they just wanted like a good tasting, protein packed cat food and they did it. And there's no preservatives and no preservatives.

[Patrick Hines]

That's the thing. It's like, good for your cat.

[Jillian Betavali]

Totally.

[Patrick Hines]

And they have food, they have the toppers, they have the treats, they have the snacks. They have everything your cat could possibly want.

[Jillian Betavali]

Can I say this? 88% of cat owners who use Smalls are reporting overall health improvements in their kitties. This is a big deal.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, I'm waiting. I mean, next week I'll get the text from Ashley being like, Mac is as strong as ever.

[Jillian Betavali]

Totally. So, fam, what are you waiting for? Give your cat the food they deserve. Head to smalls.com and use promo code TCO at checkout for 50% off your first order plus free shipping.

[Patrick Hines]

That's the best offer you'll find. But you have to use the code TCO for 50% off your first order.

[Jillian Betavali]

Order one last time. That's promo code TCO for 50% off your first order plus free shipping.

[Patrick Hines]

Free shipping.

[Jillian Betavali]

We love free shipping. And we love kitty cats.

[Patrick Hines]

I know. I want. I don't want them to have any preservatives what's that about? So it's February 2016, and Daryl has been living there for two years, and he's sort of like her best friend and enforcer. And this is when this piece of shit, Scott Pettigrew, enters the scene.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. So we learn that Anita and Scott met through work. Remember, she worked at the Walgreens.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Jillian Betavali]

And Daryl says at first he seemed like a typical clean cut gay guy. Typical. To the Palm Spring area. I'm like, so far so good. This works.

[Patrick Hines]

I guess. So Daryl's like, happy for Anita because it's like another friend that Anita has and she really likes Scott. And it was nice for Anita to have a friend around the house and, like, not all these randos just causing trouble. Like, Daryl's kind of had it. So he. I think he thought at first that, like, oh, Scott and I were like, simpatico, like, we're going to help Anita.

[Jillian Betavali]

But then, like Daryl said, the second Scott moved in, he started doing this, like, really weird shit where like, sometimes he would just open my door and shut it real quick while I was asleep. Then I would come very angrily out of my room and say, what are you doing? Next time knock. And he would say, I just want to know if you're home or not. He would come in and like, knock something off of a dresser and then run out the door before I had a chance to really fully wake up and realize what happened happened.

[Patrick Hines]

He'd open the door and like, knock something off the dresser in the middle of the night.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. Then he tells Anita. This is so awful. He tells Anita that because it's a two bedroom house, so Anita's got, like, her bathroom. And then like, the. The tenants share this other bathroom. And Daryl had a flashlight in the bathroom in case the lights went out. And Scott is telling Anita that it's actually a secret camera and that Daryl is filming Scott in the bathroom naked. Like, that is a major allegation.

[Patrick Hines]

It's major. And so basically what's happening is that Daryl, the good roommate, is complaining to Anit a lot because Scott is like, targeting Daryl.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

She would never do anything. And she'd be like, well, Scott's my friend and like, it's between you guys, you figure it out.

[Jillian Betavali]

Which is also, like, it doesn't work like that. Like, you all live together, it's your house.

[Patrick Hines]

Like, the bottom line is that Scott is manipulative and Anita was totally under his spell.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

I don't know what he said to her before he moved in, but she's just like. Like Scott could kind of do no wrong in her eyes.

[Jillian Betavali]

And let me just say, like, anybody who's been in any. Any kind of situation like this can tell you, you never. When you're in it, you never see how bad Cindy says.

[Patrick Hines]

Cindy, the daughter in law, says, look, Anita is smart and she's a tough lady and she's badass. The fact that she believed the stupid camera thing really shows you how good Scott was at manipulating her. And it must have been going on for a long time, because by the time we meet him, this all only.

[Jillian Betavali]

Happens in three weeks.

[Patrick Hines]

But Anita. But I'm saying Scott and Anita knew each other before he moved in because he really, really, like, had her under his spell for sure.

[Jillian Betavali]

It's true. And then at one point, Scott was stealing things and blaming it on me. Scott took the shower head away and he convinced Anita that I had stolen the shower head. He was stealing the light bulbs out of the porch light. And then he started stealing the cleansing tablets out of the toilet in our bathroom. And then Anita's confronting him and being like, why are you stealing my cleaning tablets?

[Patrick Hines]

And also Cindy, the daughter in law, and Steve, her son, always hated Scott.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And they were like, we don't know what Anita saw in him. It was just one of those things. It's so frustrating. And I'm like, ladies, I hear you. He was super pushy, super overbearing. Everything had to be his way. So, like, everyone kind of. He just turned it on for Anita. But her own son, like, so Cindy says about Scott, he definitely did not want Daryl in that house. So when people like this, when they have, like, a project.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

It becomes a nightmare for everyone. So now Scott's project is like, make Daryl evil and remove him from the house.

[Jillian Betavali]

To the point where, like, when Anita would confront him about things that Scott had blamed on Daryl, Anita's yelling at Daryl, Scott. Scott is standing behind Anita, laughing at Daryl. No. Like, acknowledging that he's fucking this up for him. And I'm just like, daryl, you gotta get out of there. This is not a thing you need to get to the bottom of. It sucks that you've lived there for two years now. You gotta move and whatever. You just gotta go. You just like, you're not gonna win. It's all gonna go downhill. Just get out of there.

[Patrick Hines]

And so what happens is that Scott has now somehow recruited Anita. So now it's not just like Anita. Remember when Daryl complained, Anita was like, that's just between the two of you.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

So Scott has Now made it that it's like Anita and Scott versus Daryl. So they're locking Daryl out of the house, like, chaining up the doors.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Daryl called the cops five times in two weeks. And I'm like, this is also just so childish, Scott.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

Like, it's so weird. Grow up and get a life and, like, go to work. Right?

[Jillian Betavali]

And, like, Anita and Scott are then threatening to lie to the cops just to, like, they're going to tell the cops that Daryl is beating Anita.

[Patrick Hines]

Now what Daryl does is he starts secretly filming all of this.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

All of these fights. Because the stuff. Stuff that Scott is saying is ridiculous. It makes no sense. So Scott is screaming about all the lawyers. He knows he has a degree. You can look me up on the Internet. Like, cool fucking story, bro.

[Jillian Betavali]

And.

[Patrick Hines]

But once he see. He notices that Daryl is filming. Like, he catches Daryl secretly filming, everything changes.

[Jillian Betavali]

Film me all like. Like, you filmed me naked in the bathroom. What?

[Patrick Hines]

Yes, you did. I got the equipment.

[Jillian Betavali]

And then he tries to convince Anita that I've. That I've got some sort of extensive criminal record that's visible on the Internet. And that was all just right there in that little video. There's a lot in that video, by the way.

[Patrick Hines]

Anita, don't you know that Daryl has this extensive criminal record? It's so frustrating to listen to because it's all fake. And Anita's like, he does.

[Jillian Betavali]

And the truth of the matter is when I was saying, like, darryl, you got to go. Like, he probably can't go. You know what I mean? Like, if you got to get, like, a first month, last month's security for somewhere else, that's thousands of dollars.

[Patrick Hines]

And also, like, it's just not fair. It's like the principle of the thing.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

He didn't do anything wrong.

[Jillian Betavali]

You know what? Once you live through that once, though, I don't know. Like, you know, like, I just. Like, my advice going forward will always be, just go. Just go. Just. It's not. You know what I mean? Who cares who's right at the end of the day? Just get out of there. Yeah. Because. Because all this guy wants to do is ruin his life. You know what I mean?

[Patrick Hines]

That's it. Yeah. So it's March 7, 2016. Daryl comes back from a weekend away with friends, and he is.

[Jillian Betavali]

Which made me so happy. I was like, girl, where'd you go? I'm so glad you got away with the girls for the weekend.

[Patrick Hines]

And he's been, once again, locked out of the house.

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, who does that now?

[Patrick Hines]

Here's where I gets even crazier because Daryl calls the cops and he's like, yeah, hi, it's me again. They lock me out, right? The cops go, you stay right where you are. We're coming to get you. And Daryl's like, get me? Weird. Okay. Anyway, see you soon, fellas. The cops get there and they arrest Daryl and throw him in the back of a cop car, handcuffed.

[Jillian Betavali]

My public defender was the first person to tell me what I was being charged with. They were all felonies. Felony counts, senior abuse, damage of property. I believe Scott and Anita said to the police that I had been acting crazy and had been threatening them and had chased them into a room, and supposedly I pushed Anita down on the lawn. They arrest Daryl because Scott and Anita have accused him of senior abuse, damage of property.

[Patrick Hines]

They're all felonies, these charges.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. They're saying that he threw Anita down on the grass and was, like, beating her. I understand how naive this sounds, but how are they allowed to just arrest and hold him without any evidence?

[Patrick Hines]

They also refused to tell him why when he's in the back of the car.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. Like, I just. I don't understand. He doesn't ask for a lawyer, which is making me insane. But I don't understand how they can just say, can't afford it. But I guess so. But, like, yeah, I guess I know this happens all the time, but, like, they just arrest him because that guy said that he did this thing.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

You know what I mean?

[Patrick Hines]

And again, just reminder, it's been three weeks since Scott moved in. So this got very bad, very fast.

[Jillian Betavali]

And Scott came in with a plan. I had to rewind that. I was like, did you say three weeks?

[Patrick Hines]

Three weeks.

[Jillian Betavali]

So we said. And we left out the grossest shit that Scott did. Like, he came in with a plan to completely drive this guy from the house.

[Patrick Hines]

And not just that, drive Anita further into Scott's own arms.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

So to speak, lack of a better term.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So these charges are all felonies. Senior abuse, property damage, attacking Anita. He's been terrorizing them for all three weeks. Bail is set at $150,000. Daryl, of course, can't make this. He's facing two and a half years in prison.

[Jillian Betavali]

And he says he's like, I didn't do any of this. I was being accused of a crime so bad that I'm being housed alongside the worst of the worst. Child molesters, murderers. He's, like, in gen pop.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. You know, it's fudgeing. Terrifying.

[Jillian Betavali]

And like, just because Scott said he did it, that is insane.

[Patrick Hines]

Or I wonder what, like proof he manipulated. Yeah, I'm sure.

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, at that point, can he ask for a public defender?

[Patrick Hines]

I mean, yes. I mean, he should have someone at his disposal.

[Jillian Betavali]

He's just rotting in prison. It's crazy. Crazy.

[Patrick Hines]

So let's go back to January of 2012.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

We meet Julie Russell. She lived with Scott in 2012. Said, hi, my name is Scott. I'm currently studying for the New York, New Jersey bar exams. But I'm very friendly and act nothing like a lawyer. He was super charming, super funny. He had two small dogs as well. I trust a dog person over a non dog person. And it.

[Jillian Betavali]

She lived in West New York, New Jersey, which is like right over the New York, New Jersey.

[Patrick Hines]

It's a real place. It sounds like a typo, but it's real. West New York, New Jersey.

[Jillian Betavali]

I lived in Jersey City, which is right next to West New York. And I used to be like, are we sure what's going on here?

[Patrick Hines]

West New York, New Jersey, not a typo. Real, real place.

[Jillian Betavali]

I saw the look of like a, of like a homegrown New Yorker. You're like, oh, now I'm going to have to explain this.

[Patrick Hines]

Everybody in West New York, New Jersey. You know who hates that? I think the people who live in West New York, New Jersey.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Who if they meet someone, if they're in like Seattle and they're like, so New New York. No, wait, New Jersey. But you live in West New York, New Jersey.

[Jillian Betavali]

I know. The dividing line, fam, is the Hudson river between New York and New Jersey. So why on the other, on the Jersey side, is there a town called West New York?

[Patrick Hines]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Jillian Betavali]

At one point there was a plan to fill in the river and just extend Manhattan.

[Patrick Hines]

Wow.

[Jillian Betavali]

Isn't that insane?

[Patrick Hines]

It is insane.

[Jillian Betavali]

Robert Moses wanted to do that.

[Patrick Hines]

Robert Moses fucking sucks. He's a racist piece of shit.

[Jillian Betavali]

She has a 900 page book on Robert Moses, said he's working.

[Patrick Hines]

Is it all that, like, he sucks just for all 900 pages.

[Jillian Betavali]

I don't think there's anybody who's like, Robert Moses was amazing.

[Patrick Hines]

Look, Robert Moses screwed all of us.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. He wanted to demolish Soho. Thank God he didn't get to do that.

[Patrick Hines]

He was also like a racist and, like, didn't want black people living anywhere. Like, this guy fucking sucks.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

God, I hate Robert Moses so much. It's like a weird thing. You know who else hates Robert Moses? Jeff Goldblum. Weirdly.

[Jillian Betavali]

Well, tell me more about Jeff Goldblum.

[Patrick Hines]

Because I know when he was doing promo for Wicked, it like came up. It was on my TikTok where it was like, hey, Jeff Goldblum's like one of us. He's one of the good ones because.

[Jillian Betavali]

He hates Robert Moses.

[Patrick Hines]

He also hates Robert Moses and was like talking about the racism of Robert.

[Jillian Betavali]

Robert. You know, I will say the Jeff Goldblum Revival of 202025 has been great.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. Did he leave? Like, who hasn't been watching Jurassic park and loving him?

[Jillian Betavali]

Me, I'm. Not that I haven't loved him, but I mostly know him from, like, his stint on Will and Grace and he was just like that weird, cute, tall guy. Oh.

[Patrick Hines]

Who like, had like, the rivalry with Karen, but they really liked each other. Yeah, he's great. He's been a gem since the very.

[Jillian Betavali]

I'm telling you, if him and John John at the Bailey didn't make out a little bit, I'm going to be shocked. They were so in love with each other. I'm sure.

[Patrick Hines]

But Robert Moses, we hate him. Travel down the road Back again, girl.

[Jillian Betavali]

Ritual is back. Let me tell you something just insane. 97% of women ages 19 to 50 are not getting enough vitamin D from their diet.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. Unacceptable. So Rituals essential for women 18 + was shown to increase vitamin D levels by 43% in a clinical study.

[Jillian Betavali]

As you know, we're talking about a clinically backed multivitamin for women 18 + with high quality and traceable key ingredients in clean, bioavailable available forms.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. So they have nine key nutrients and two delayed release capsules per day that optimize your body's absorption. And let me tell you, if you take it in the morning on an empty stomach, it doesn't matter. And they have a minty essence which really helps people who maybe don't like taking pills like yours truly.

[Jillian Betavali]

This is my favorite part. Rituals Essential for Women is USP Verified, so you know you can trust what you're putting in your body. Now, that might not mean anything to you, but let me tell you, only 1% of supplement brands on the market have that USP verified, which shows a product contains the ingredients actually listed on the label.

[Patrick Hines]

That is crazy.

[Jillian Betavali]

That is really less than 1%. Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Not anymore.

[Jillian Betavali]

Also, Ritual is a female, founded B Corp. Meaning they are holding themselves accountable to not just their company's financial health, but also to the health of people on our planet.

[Patrick Hines]

You know what? It's about time.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Thanks, Ritual.

[Jillian Betavali]

So, fam. No more Shady business rituals essential for women 18+ is a multivitamin vitamin you can actually trust.

[Patrick Hines]

Get 25% off your first month for a limited time at ritual.com tco start.

[Jillian Betavali]

Ritual or add essential for women 18+ to your subscription today.

[Patrick Hines]

That's ritual.com tco for 25% off.

[Jillian Betavali]

I'm getting really good at reading these commercials. Yeah, I'm starting to sound like a, like a human man.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

Well. Oh wait, I take it all back. Take it all back, girl. Home Chef is back. You know, this is the only food we cook in our house.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. I hope you know that users of leading meal kits have rated Home Chef number one in quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. And they have all types. They have the classic meal kits with the pre portioned ingredients.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

They have the quick 30 minute recipes. They have oven ready options. Just throw it right in the oven. They have microwave meals and they have this dedicated family menu so you can get everything you need. In case, I don't know, you have a picky eater in your home, can.

[Jillian Betavali]

You relate or a couple. But the other thing too, like they're saying here that like, and it's really true, sometimes it can take you just as long to make the meal as it is to decide like what to have for dinner.

[Patrick Hines]

You don't want it anymore and then.

[Jillian Betavali]

You don't want it. So with Home Chef, it's already in the fridge. You already picked it last week. You know you're going to love it and you're going to make it in like 30 minutes or less.

[Patrick Hines]

And it really helps you plan, which helps you save money and helps you sort of eat better. So like tonight for example, I'm probably going to be home later so I'm not going to feel like cooking. So we have the oven ready meals ready to go for nights like this. It's perfect. And then we like plan it in the beginning of the week. And so now I'm not worried about what I'm eating for dinner.

[Jillian Betavali]

No. And like you totally save money over going to the grocery, grocery store or definitely over ordering.

[Patrick Hines]

Home Chef customers save an average of $86 per month on groceries. That's huge.

[Jillian Betavali]

God. So fam. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering our listeners 18 free meals plus free dessert for life and of course free shipping on your first box.

[Patrick Hines]

Go to home chef.com TCO that's homechef.com.

[Jillian Betavali]

TCO for 18 free meals and free dessert for life.

[Patrick Hines]

Homechef.com TCO and must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert.

[Jillian Betavali]

Be one, because you're going to love it. You're going to pull it out and eat it while you're putting the meals away.

[Patrick Hines]

Everybody wins.

[Jillian Betavali]

I know.

[Patrick Hines]

Mostly you. So Julie's story is she puts an ad on Craigslist. Scott responded. He's like, hi, I'm Scott. I'm studying for the bar exam. I'm also gay. Yeah, I have animals. I, I'm, I'm, I have two small dogs.

[Jillian Betavali]

Green flags as far as the I can.

[Patrick Hines]

And Julie's like, I trust a dog person over a non dog person any day. To which I say, hi, Julie, so nice to meet you.

[Jillian Betavali]

This is, by the way, two years before he moved in with Anita.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

In California.

[Patrick Hines]

And he says, he's like, you know, I, I don' really do the hookup thing. I'm not bringing strangers in. Like, I need, I'm, I'm, I've my two small dogs. Like, I'm, I'm kind of the best roommate ever. Jules. So like, are you in? What's going on?

[Jillian Betavali]

There is also a third roommate in this situation too.

[Patrick Hines]

So like.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. Is that her name?

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

Did they give us their name?

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

I was like, did you just google them?

[Patrick Hines]

No.

[Jillian Betavali]

Olivia. Okay. But Julia's saying Scott moved in and it was fun.

[Patrick Hines]

You know, we just, we laughed, we.

[Jillian Betavali]

Had a good time.

[Patrick Hines]

Things seemed to be going really well. Well, I did notice that his dogs were having a lot of accidents in the house. And I've had pets my entire life. I understand things happen, but it was excessive. She says this was excessive. And now Olivia, the third roommate, doesn't have any pets.

[Jillian Betavali]

I love that you know her name. He said her name.

[Patrick Hines]

And so Julie is like trying to be nice and she's like, well, I don't want to upset the non dog person, like, but this is like it's guy. It's your fucking responsibility. You never trained your dogs?

[Jillian Betavali]

No. And then it's also like suddenly, so they live on a ground floor apartment. And suddenly like we're being told that the other roommate, Olivia, apparently is her name. That Olivia is leaving that ground floor door unlocked, which obviously would be a major safety hazard. But I'm like, that was definitely him doing it. Right.

[Patrick Hines]

Well, so Scott, what happens is that Scott is furious about this.

[Jillian Betavali]

He's typing in all caps.

[Patrick Hines]

He would send these all caps emails to Julie as if Julie's like in charge of everything.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And the subject is all cap, all in caps. Just go with me. Olivia left the front door open last night. This and Then the subject of the email is this put my life, my pets, and my property in danger. Therefore you are hereby put on notice.

[Jillian Betavali]

Here's my question. Like, if he, if we didn't know that he was gay already, like, would this be the indicator?

[Patrick Hines]

No, he's just a dick.

[Jillian Betavali]

Just like the all caps, dramatic. You are hereby put on notice.

[Patrick Hines]

Like, for the reasons set forth in this email, you're hereby put on notice. Or else what? You fucking her or else what?

[Jillian Betavali]

Well, what? He stops paying rent? You know what I mean?

[Patrick Hines]

Maybe. I know there's something called the warrant of habitability. And I know that he's not the landlord. I knew this when I had a housing lawyer. No, but I called one once and I had to speak to one. But you have to be like, julie's not the landlord, so it doesn't matter. Yeah, but like, when I had mice, it was on the landlord to fix it because that's on. That's a health hazard. And it's like, not okay. But like, if he wants to talk this shit about the lease, about, like, oh, you know, you're. Therefore the terms of said lease, blah, blah, blah. You also can't let your dogs go to the bathroom in the house either, of course. So, like, he's just full of shit. And he's trying to do the lawyer thing, keep an eye on that. It gets back to it. So he stops paying any rent, he stops paying the bills. We had maybe only been living together for about a month at this point. He started eating our food, eating my roommate's birthday cake, threatening legal action against me for having three roommates in a two bedroom apartment. I think, I think that was probably.

[Jillian Betavali]

One of the biggest shocks for me.

[Patrick Hines]

When I went to open my liquor cabinet, it was empty.

[Jillian Betavali]

He's not just eating the food. She opened the liquor cabinet and everything was gone. And I just wrote gay.

[Patrick Hines]

And he's also like threatening legal action all the time. And I'm like, then fucking do it. Don't threaten it, do it. And so, you know, he has no power or no like, ability to do anything because he's not actually doing anything.

[Jillian Betavali]

Totally.

[Patrick Hines]

You can't just threaten people. And then he's texting her and body shaming her. And she's 22 years old.

[Jillian Betavali]

I know.

[Patrick Hines]

He says, you're only 22 and you're out of shape. And if you age, like, like your mom, like, you're gonna be so ugly. Like all this horrifying shit.

[Jillian Betavali]

What on Earth?

[Patrick Hines]

She's 22. I'm more mature than all of us combined.

[Jillian Betavali]

Not all gays, fam. Not all gays.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh God.

[Jillian Betavali]

But Julie, when we started this one, I'm like, I hate that the bad guy's a gay guy in this. He's giving us all a bad name.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh God. So Julie's a wreck.

[Jillian Betavali]

He took all the booze. He took all the booze. He took all the. He emptied their liquor cabinet, which Julie needs.

[Patrick Hines]

Cause this guy's a piece of shit.

[Jillian Betavali]

Totally.

[Patrick Hines]

So she. Julie's a wreck. Everything's so stressful. She's terrified that Scott is gonna hur dog as a way to get and punish Julie.

[Jillian Betavali]

And that when it gets to that point, all I want everyone to do is abandon their apartments and just start over. I know that that is un fucking realistic and completely unfair. But she's leaving work in the middle of the day because she's like, I think he's going to hurt my dog.

[Patrick Hines]

Right. So she doesn't feel safe in her own home, which is wildly unfair. Scott does not hurt her animals. I'm just going to say that now.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

But Julie calls the landlord and she's like, I want a new lock on the door because I feel unsafe. And everything is in writing. So here are all the text messages, here's all the abuse, here's the email. Yeah, it takes weeks, weeks to get the approval. But finally they get a new lock because.

[Jillian Betavali]

And like that's the problem. I keep saying like it's a good thing that it's hard to kick people out, but we should. When people are in danger in their own space, there needs to be a more expedient way of getting that like up the chain so they can change the goddamn laws.

[Patrick Hines]

I know so. And remember, she's a 22 year old woman. Like she's, she's just trying to like live her right.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So this is when Julie gets access to Scott's bedroom, like once the locks are changed. So she goes in and it's just like a shithole.

[Jillian Betavali]

I wasn't prepared for the mass that.

[Patrick Hines]

When I got in there his bedroom was just filthy stuff everywhere, dog food everywhere, used condoms.

[Jillian Betavali]

It was just disgusting.

[Patrick Hines]

Use condoms.

[Jillian Betavali]

I knew you were going to say it.

[Patrick Hines]

Like nothing. It's just a mess. And so she figures out, oh my God, Scott was sneaking in and out of his bedroom window and coming and going without the women knowing and like bringing people into their home.

[Jillian Betavali]

Oh my God, I can you imagine you meet some guy at the West New York gay bar and he's like, come back to my Place. Oh, weird. We got actually, we got to sneak in through the window.

[Patrick Hines]

Like, I had a room when I was living in the Bronx. I had a roommate. I lived with five other girls for two years. It was exactly what it sounds like. But one of them would, like, meet people and bring them into our apartment, and it sucked. And I remember being like, cassie, you can't do that. Like, you can't just bring people. And she'd be like, what's your name again?

[Jillian Betavali]

And it's like, you can't.

[Patrick Hines]

We would just, like, hear a bunch of people that she'd met on the show street, like, at 2 in the morning, and it's like, well, what do I do now? I live in this room forever. I'm not going to go out and confront these people that she'd be meeting, like, just randomly.

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, I had a similar situation in only the way that, like, it was me and this other gay guy. He lived in the bedroom down the hall. And when he was gone, he was gone for, like, two weeks at one point. And I had to go into his room to get something. And when I tell you that I had to lean my body weight to open the door. And then, like, the. The utter. I mean, it was so. It was worse. Like, they show us pictures of Scotch. It was worse than that. I. Like, who can. I mean, like, who lives like that?

[Patrick Hines]

Like, someone who's not like, well, well, yeah, but this guy's also an asshole. So I don't want to, like, make it so that. Oh, like all some people. Sometimes you're just a dick.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right?

[Patrick Hines]

It has nothing to do with your mental health. You're just an asshole.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So back to April 2016. Daryl has been arrested right now with Scott and Anita. And now, like, Scott and Anita are having problems because Scott, like, can't just live in a world where everything's okay and just go to your job at Walgreens. Also, I thought you were a lawyer. Guess what? You're not.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. Remember how he stole the other roommate's liquor cabinet?

[Patrick Hines]

Scott was stealing her stuff. He would steal Anita's vanilla extract because it has some alcohol based to it. And he was drinking that. He's stealing her vanilla extract and using it to get drunk, which is literally what two teenagers do in an episode of Mad Men because they're bored.

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, is there enough alcohol in vanilla extract to actually get drunk?

[Patrick Hines]

I don't think so.

[Jillian Betavali]

I don't think so.

[Patrick Hines]

I mean, even the girl who tells Pete Campbell about it, she's like, yeah, it made the afternoon go faster. But now I have a headach and he's like, that sounds like my job. Oh, but the whole thing. There were two teenagers who were like looking to pass the time and they were drinking vanilla extract in like 1965. And this is what this guy's doing.

[Jillian Betavali]

Your parents liquor cabinet, you know what I mean? The vanilla extract of it all. Don't think of another extract on the rocks. Thanks.

[Patrick Hines]

So again, like he's just letting his dogs go to the bathroom everywhere. He wasn't cleaning it. His garbage is piling up yogurt containers everywhere. Like he's just doing the same shit.

[Jillian Betavali]

And like Cindy and Steve are trying to get Anita to come live with them. They're trying to get Anita to abandon her house because she's not safe. And she's like absolutely fudgeing not.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

You know what I mean? And I love too that as Anita is starting to realize that like Daryl wasn't the bad guy, we're just letting.

[Patrick Hines]

Daryl rotten jail, yet no one's apologizing to Daryl at all. The charges are still upheld and, and Nita's saying like, nope, I love that house. I worked really hard for it. I don't care what the issue is, I'm not leaving that.

[Jillian Betavali]

And that was Scott's plan the whole time. Like get the house, you know.

[Patrick Hines]

But they are really scared for Anita's life.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

And now we're going to rewind again and we're going to October of 1990 and we meet Rob Salcedo.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. So Ro was Scott's partner for 12 years. And Rob says like he was really in love with him. Scott was loyal and protective, you know, Rob says he felt safe. One of the things they bonded over was that they both had really difficult childhoods. And according to Rob, not too long after we met, Scott told me that his father had abused him.

[Patrick Hines]

His mom was so abusive that she would get him pets and then she would take him to the pet shelter.

[Jillian Betavali]

And have him euthanized and would tell.

[Patrick Hines]

Him that she never wanted him. Things like that.

[Jillian Betavali]

And then like the mom would say we don't want, like they never wanted him.

[Patrick Hines]

Right. So because they both had traumatic childhoods and filled with abuse and like by.

[Jillian Betavali]

The way, that's how these monsters get created. You do things like that and they turn out like this. It's like a, it's a one to one.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

You know? Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So Scott went to law school apparently. And Rob explains that when, by the time Scott got out of law school, he was A totally, completely different person.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

He describes him as very, very ill. We don't really get much into it. I think he's talking about substance abuse because he's saying he's like, emaciated and like, he just turned into this totally different, unrecognizable person.

[Jillian Betavali]

And it seems like they weren't together when. When he was in law school. Because he says when he came back from law school.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. He sort of implies that they didn't see each other for four years, but I don't know that it is unclear.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

But Rob says Rob is also like financing Scott's whole life.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So Rob paid for Scott to take the bar twice. And Rob's like, honestly, now that everything that I know about about him, I don't think he ever took the bar exam. Like, there's no proof or evidence that he took it. I don't even know if he was in law school for those four years. Like, is this person.

[Jillian Betavali]

And Rob says that when Scott would drink, he would either pass out or get violent. He said at one point, Scott drank an entire bottle of tequila, got a kitchen knife and chased him down the.

[Patrick Hines]

Street like fucking Jason Voorhees.

[Jillian Betavali]

Insane. And like. And Rob is saying, literally, I'm throwing trash cans in his way to get. He's jumping them like hurdles.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. Now this is in 1990. By 2000. In 2002. Rob goes, yeah, I just didn't see a future. Yeah, no shit. And they break up.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. But they stay friends. They're friends. Like they're friends, but they're not just.

[Patrick Hines]

Friends because Rob said I'd always help him whenever I could.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So I'm sorry, Rob, but Scott kept you around. Cause you'd pay when he needed you to.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

You know, he could like Scott. Like, Rob was the friend. Where Scott could say like, oh, I need rent or I need 300 bucks or I need whatever, and Rob would send it to him. Travel down the road back again.

[Jillian Betavali]

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[Patrick Hines]

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[Jillian Betavali]

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[Patrick Hines]

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[Jillian Betavali]

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[Patrick Hines]

Go to robinhood.com/boost over eight times the national average. Savings account. Interest rate Claim is based on data from the FDIC as of November 18, 2024.

[Jillian Betavali]

Robinhood Financial, LLC Member SIPC Gold membership is offered by Robinhood Gold Gold, LLC. Jump to May 2016. Like, remember, Rob and Scott met in 1990. Now we're in 2016, and Rob is saying he was on the phone with Scott when Scott was living at Anita's house. He alleged that she had opened the.

[Patrick Hines]

Back gate and let the dogs out.

[Jillian Betavali]

And he was on the phone with me yelling down the street like, you let the dogs out, I'll kill you.

[Patrick Hines]

Scott is on the phone with Rob, and Rob's like, I'm just hearing this, like, crazy fight that they're having. And Scott is threatening to kill Anita.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right?

[Patrick Hines]

So Scott is drinking constantly. He's being very violent. He's trashing the house on a regular basis. And now Anita's like, oh, shit, this guy's been manipulating me. And now she's scared for her life.

[Jillian Betavali]

And she's locking herself in her bedroom. Like, we see pictures. She took everything she needed for the day into her room and was locking the door with a deadbolt so that, like, Scott couldn't get in and take.

[Patrick Hines]

Her shit or hurt her in any way.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

So Anita finally realizes that Daryl didn't do any of the shit that Scott accused him of.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And he's in jail for no reason. And now Steve, Anita's son, goes, I'm gonna tell you this right now. My mom was flat out wrong for what she did to Daryl.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

She fell for Scott's bullshit. He's a manipulator for sure. She was a victim of this. And she made a very bad decision about, like, wrongfully accusing Darryl and Cindy.

[Jillian Betavali]

And Steve say to her, like, you need to go to the DA and tell him or her, like, what is going on here and get Daryl out, Or you can't be in our lives.

[Patrick Hines]

Anymore or we will never speak to you again.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, but I was also like, steven, Cindy, can't you make a call? Can't you just call the.

[Patrick Hines]

She's got to drop the charges. She's got to say, he didn't actually hurt me. It's got to be her.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, yeah, but this is sort of.

[Patrick Hines]

What you have to do to, like, someone up. And now Anita knows, obviously, she's Barricading herself in her room because she's scared of Scott. But, like, Steve and Cindy are saying, like, this is the way forward. You got to undo what you did with Daryl, and maybe all of us together can, like, work through this Scott craziness.

[Jillian Betavali]

And so Anita does, like, she goes and tells the DA that she falsified a police report. Darryl is released. We never find out if anyone gets in trouble for that.

[Patrick Hines]

No, we don't.

[Jillian Betavali]

You know, we don't. Like, she falsified a police report that got this guy put in prison for 100 days.

[Patrick Hines]

100 days.

[Jillian Betavali]

And Darryl is saying, like, on June 11, 2016, Darryl. And he's like, you take all kinds of freedom for granted, but when you do 100 days in jail, you really appreciate your freedoms. And being free. Being out was amazing. My first night out, I took a long, long walk. My feet hurt the next day. It was wonderful. And so. And then I wrote, great, Darrell, who are we suing? And when, you know, I guess he.

[Patrick Hines]

I guess. I guess what happened happened is that Scott made it so that it's all Anita's name, her charges. So he is not going to get any. He's not going to get penalized for anything. And so Daryl probably said, I'm just assuming here, but I'm playing Columbo for a minute and trying to put it all together. And he was probably like, don't worry about it, Anita. We're all victims of him.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Because I'm sure Scott made it so that he wasn't on any paperwork and he wasn't making the complaint because it was all about Anita.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

It's her house. It's her abuse, you know, And Daryl.

[Jillian Betavali]

Tells us, like, he goes to the house with a cop to get his stuff as soon as he's, like, out of prison. And he said, like, Anita and Scott were home when he went, which is like, I guess Anita's got to be there because it's her place. But he says that, like, Anita came up to him when he was in the garage, like, packing his stuff, and, like, stood shoulder to shoulder with him. And he's like, I guess I understood that that meant that she was sorry, though she never said it.

[Patrick Hines]

Now, this is when Daryl, sorry everyone. Animal lovers in the. In the room.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

This is when Daryl learns that his. His cats aren't dead. Now, Scott told him that Anita had them euthanized because she was mad at him or she knew Daryl was never coming back or whatever. Daryl, this is so sad. Daryl loved his cats.

[Jillian Betavali]

And he explains My cats were my everything to me at that time in my life. I was going through a divorce. I didn't have any children with my ex wife, but we had the cats and they were like the only thing I had left.

[Patrick Hines]

They were the only thing I had left. It's so sad. And so Cindy's like, hold on a second. Anita loved animals. She had dogs, she. She had cats. There is no way that either it was her idea to get them euthanized or she did it on her own. And Cindy says in no uncertain terms it was Scott 100% who did this, who brought them to the vet or whatever he did.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, there's. I mean, no question that it was definitely Scott. So, you know, as they're leaving, the policeman who's like been with them at the house congratulates Daryl on keeping cool. And he's like, never, ever come back here for any reason without a police escort now.

[Patrick Hines]

Okay. Daryl's like, no problem.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So Anita, at the same time, Anita files a restraining order against Scott as well as a kickout order.

[Jillian Betavali]

I love knowing that that exists now.

[Patrick Hines]

It's very good to know now. But this is where it all turns to shit. Because a judge says, well, because remember Scott, like, eventually, after a certain amount of time, Scott always just lets his dogs go to the bathroom all over any house he's in. That's like a weird weaponized thing that he does.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So one of the reasons Anita wants him out of the house is because he's making the house a mess. He's leaving his condoms everywhere, his food everywhere. Dogs are going to the bathroom.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

So the judge hears one, one thing, blames the dogs and says, oh, well, the dogs have to leave. Scott can stay.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

But he has to stay 5 yards away from Anita, which is like 15ft, which is not far at all.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And I'm sorry, but like, I'm not meaning this as a joke. The dogs are victims here too. They're not being taken care of, they're not being trained. So they have to leave and go into a shelter. And Scott gets to stay and say 15ft away from this woman he's abusing.

[Jillian Betavali]

Which is never going to. It's not enforceable. And this is why there needs to be so much nuance in this. Like, it should be hard to get people out because you can't keep the abuser in the house unless you have a round the clock cop at the kitchen table enforcing that. He's got to stay 15ft away from his victim. Well, this is crazy.

[Patrick Hines]

Crazy. And Sergeant Heather, who started telling us this whole story at the top. Yeah, she says now she goes, I've never heard of something so ridiculous in all of my career.

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, it's absolutely insane.

[Patrick Hines]

So Steve the son is like, fuck all of this. He's trying to help his mother get Scott evicted.

[Jillian Betavali]

And. But he also says, we'll do whatever it takes, we'll pay him off. Like these people who have, like, they just, they're doing the right thing. They just want to protect their mom because they, it does get to a point where it's like, Anita, you're just unsafe. Like, you're, like you're, you're in a very unsafe. We gotta get you out of there. And we will then worry about getting him out of there. But like, what do you do?

[Patrick Hines]

And this is where it's like the fun part for Scott. He doesn't want money.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right, right, right. Of course. He wants to terrorize this lady.

[Patrick Hines]

Right. So Steve is like, all right, mom, start recording things, document the state of the house any way you can. Document how scared you are. Like make notes, like have a journal. Show the courts that he's a bad guy. And you're scared if for some reason they can't just do a walkthrough of the house and see the hell that he's created.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

That if you need to document it, like that's what you have to do.

[Jillian Betavali]

And so it's June 14, 2016.

[Patrick Hines]

Anita knew that Scott was going to be served with the order that day. So she was working and she planned to stay away from the home and not return for as long as she possibly could because she knew once she returned home, he was going to be extremely upset with her and she was afraid to come home.

[Jillian Betavali]

And she knows how upset he's going to be. So she's trying to stay away from her own house as long as she can. So 2:00 in the afternoon, Scott is served. Anita gets home from work that night. Scott has locked her out and so he's put a lock on the garage doors and he's padlocked the side doors. So Anita does what she knows to do and she calls the cops. This is the day of the murder.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, because she calls Cindy, her daughter in law, and Cindy's like, you have to call the police.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And she does.

[Jillian Betavali]

So 6,09, the cops are called. They come, they go into the garage and they see that Scott, Scott just unplugged the motor to the garage door. And like she said, she's trying to get the cop to go in and like, yell at Scott. And the cop is saying to her, like, once again, this is just a civil complaint, like, no crime has happened here. And the cop leaves.

[Patrick Hines]

But even if that's true, can the cop mediate for two fucking seconds? I know whenever there's a loophole, everyone's happy to go home and leave these people in unsafe situations.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. Because we know it's going to happen in five hours.

[Patrick Hines]

Like, I know it's technically maybe perhaps not his job in that moment, but could he try to defuse the situation.

[Jillian Betavali]

Or just go in and be like, why are you being so awful to this old lady?

[Patrick Hines]

What is the point of your job, guy, if you're going to be like, oh, sorry. Like, she's like, wait, I served him this thing and now I feel unsafe. Yeah, protect and serve.

[Jillian Betavali]

No, I couldn't agree more.

[Patrick Hines]

So Anita is now alone with Scott, who is going crazy.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

He is violent. He is screaming. He's super. Glued her own door to her bedroom shut. So now she can't hide in her bedroom.

[Jillian Betavali]

This is a level of unhingery that is just like, you just got it. If you are ever in this situation, get. Just leave. Just, you got to walk out this door that day.

[Patrick Hines]

And so Stephen and Cindy have had it.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Because they decide to drive the three hours, get Anita, put her in a hotel room.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

And now they're on the phone with Anita telling car. And Scott overhears this. And then all of a sudden the phone goes dead.

[Jillian Betavali]

We called the police several times to do a kind of welfare check on her because she never answer the phone again.

[Patrick Hines]

It's a three hour drive. They can't get in touch with Anita the entire way there. It's the longest drive of their life. They're furious. They're scared.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. And this is where we're back to the beginning. Because they can't get in touch with. With Anita. Cindy calls the local cops to go do a welfare check.

[Patrick Hines]

And Steve says, we called the police several times to do a welfare check. How many times? Exactly.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

How many times did a cop just throw their hands up and say, I don't feel like it today? I mean, because it's so like, if you think of all the times, like excessive force has been used to cause harm and, and death.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And it seems like all the rules and technicalities go out the window.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

But it's like Sonia Massey or someone or countless other people of color. But like this worst series, like we were doing this a lot. The worst roommate Ever. Worst ex ever. Yeah, like they're really highlighting. It's really like, really standing out to me how many times people, women especially, are left to deal with violent men totally by themselves.

[Jillian Betavali]

Totally.

[Patrick Hines]

I feel like every episode of these worst series, worst X ever. Like, more. I know it happens all the time, but specifically it feels like every episode, episode of a. Worst whatever we've covered, there is some woman saying, can you help me please? And some police officer saying, no, I know.

[Jillian Betavali]

And especially, I mean, in my brain I'm imagining that the cops are frustrated with her because she calls all the time even though she knows that they can't help. Like, so in my brain, that's the only plausible answer as to why the cop didn't go into the house to like, see what was to at least make his copley presence known.

[Patrick Hines]

It's really disturbing. Especially like, maybe I'd be able to hear, hear that argument six months ago when it's like, ma'am, I know we can't really. That's a civil issue. Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe I'm not even saying yes to that. But maybe, maybe, but now if she's saying, I have he just got served.

[Jillian Betavali]

Papers and he's locked me out of my own house. And then the cop would go inside and see the state of the house and understand that there's something really wrong here.

[Patrick Hines]

Right? It's like, it's disturbing how often these police officers are just like, oh, no, you have to do this by yourself. Like that woman in Vegas who was just like, hi, can you at least be there when I serve him these people? And they said, no. They just let, like, walked her, like, let her walk into that house by herself.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right?

[Patrick Hines]

It's crazy.

[Jillian Betavali]

It is crazy. And hopefully that's what this series is. One of the things they're trying to highlight, you know, should hope so, right?

[Patrick Hines]

Like, but what do we do about it? Just sit here and scream, great, right? My throat already hurts tonight. So the chaos of this, of his, like, violent outburst starts at 6:09pm By 12:07am, Sergeant Heather gets the call that Anita was found dead.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right?

[Patrick Hines]

And now we're at the beginning, right?

[Jillian Betavali]

And so like now the cops go into the house. This is insane. Anita is dead in the pool.

[Patrick Hines]

They quickly do their safety sweep throughout the home. They end up right at Scott's door, which is closed. They call out to Scott, open his door, and they see him laying naked on his bed.

[Jillian Betavali]

They find him naked on the bed.

[Patrick Hines]

He's just lying there naked.

[Jillian Betavali]

Like, what happened?

[Patrick Hines]

He probably took his clothes off and tried to wash them and tried to probably in some state and.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. And so like it seems like he doesn't even know what is going on. They bring him into. And we're hearing all of this from the body cam. They bring him out into the hallway, they handcuff him.

[Patrick Hines]

He's like totally quiet.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes. And they ask, but covered in scratches.

[Patrick Hines]

Covered in scratches. And they ask him his name and he's like quietly just goes, Scott. Like he's completely like catatonic almost.

[Jillian Betavali]

Well then he says like as soon as they see the scratches on him, he starts telling the officer about the other roommate, Daryl. They're like, well, our other roommate Daryl said he was going to kill us. And I feel like he must have done something to Anita.

[Patrick Hines]

And I'm so scared of him, by the way.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

So Scott is scared of Daryl and now the cops have to talk to Daryl and waste their time.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Because Daryl didn't do this.

[Jillian Betavali]

No. And it cuts to Daryl who gives us his perspective and he's like. Because the cops are now looking for Daryl. Daryl now sees on the news that Anita's been murdered. He's shocked, but he goes, it just clicked in me that I must be a suspect. He goes to the police station to willingly turn himself in for questioning because he knows they're going to be looking for.

[Patrick Hines]

Because Daryl the non killer was released on Saturday.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

On the early morning hours. At 12:07am on Tuesday, Anita was murdered.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

So Daryl hears about this and it's like, okay, like Anita did put me in jail for something I didn't do.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right.

[Patrick Hines]

Could other people see that as a motive? Sure. Like I know this guy Scott's really manipulative. I don't know what he's done or what he said, but like he just like he just got out 36 hours ago and then has to go back into the police station and be like, okay, yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

And like this gets cleared up pretty fast. Like, luckily Daryl wasn't feeling well on the night of the murder and went to the hospital. Yeah. And so he like has a receipt for his time at the hospital. Like they're able to clear him instantly. Right.

[Patrick Hines]

So the cops are now fully focused on this Scott guy. And they say like the crime scene is just is odd. It's bizarre because Anita was found in the pool and like Cindy and Steve come and it's just their worst nightmare. It's what they were trying to not think about the whole three hour drive there.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. Like in the pool they find packages of Chicken wings. There's, like, a full, uncooked chicken at.

[Patrick Hines]

The bottom of the pool, like a roasted chicken. And Anita is also in the pool as well. So was he, like, throwing these things at her?

[Jillian Betavali]

I mean, he seems like whatever he was just went crazy.

[Patrick Hines]

Crazy. But they also. This is so tragic.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. There was a breakfast nook and a.

[Patrick Hines]

Kitchen table on the other side of the kitchen. So I pulled back the open French door, and as I looked behind the French door, I saw a digital recorder. And I actually picked up the recorder and saw the digital file was recorded on the night of the murder because it was date and time stamped. Heather tells us Anita recorded her own murder.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right. And we hear some of it, and it is. It is horrible.

[Patrick Hines]

And I have in my notes, please don't play it. Please don't play it. Please don't play it. And they played it, of course, and you hear them fighting. And he's screaming at her, and she's screaming back, right? Like, she's really fighting back. And you hear her say, like, get off me. Get out of here. It's just. It's chilling.

[Jillian Betavali]

It's horrible. They bring Scott into question him, and as soon as he, you know, like, they're talking to him, and he's talking kind of. But then as soon as they get anywhere near the events of the murder, he asked for an attorney, and I'm like, why is he going to be the one to know?

[Patrick Hines]

So they bring the killer, and this is great, though. And he asked for a lawyer. So the conversation's over. And that's when Sergeant Heather goes, oh, no, no, it's cool. She recorded the entire thing, so we're good either way. Like, I don't have to talk to you anymore. And the killer goes, wait, what? Yeah, wait, it's on the recorder. And Heather goes, sorry, girl, you asked for a lawyer. Like, I can't talk to you anymore. Sorry.

[Jillian Betavali]

And the killer must love that, because for all the times somebody asked for a lawyer and they don't have anything to throw in their face, like, this is the one time.

[Patrick Hines]

And so the killer's like, no, no, no, no. I take it back. I take it back. I take it back. And Sergeant Heather says, that's when I re. Mir. And we started over. Now, that lasts for five minutes before he's like, shit, I definitely do want that lawyer.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And Sergeant Heather goes, fine, but we're officially done. I'm not questioning you anymore.

[Jillian Betavali]

Right?

[Patrick Hines]

So don't ask me to, like, start over. This is the second time you've Asked for a lawyer now, girl, we're over.

[Jillian Betavali]

We're done.

[Patrick Hines]

I cannot speak to you anymore.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And it was at that point that he asked for the death penalty. Innocent people don't ask for the death.

[Jillian Betavali]

Death penalty. Innocent people don't ask for the death penalty. No. Yeah. And in this case, I'm more than happy to oblige. Bye. Bye.

[Patrick Hines]

We don't need you on this fucking earth.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And so we get the on screen text that on August 29, 2019, which is years later, by the way, the killer was convicted of first degree murder, elder abuse, and violating a protective order. And he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison because remember, he just got served that piece of paper that said he had to stay 15ft away from her. So that's like the other charge on top of that, too.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. And like it ends by everybody imploring the watching audience at home to do background checks. And I'm like, right. But like, I don't think there was anything that would have come up on his background check. Like, I. And we don't know other things. Like, I would assume that Netflix did a background check to see if there were things that could have been there. I guess like the roommate in New York didn't file any charges. The boyfriend didn't file any charges. Like, there wasn't anything that would have popped up to like, make him look like a bad roommate.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. But it's giving like, what was she wearing? It's giving like, look, I like my short skirts. Well, you can't take them away from me, Sergeant Heather and I liked you sitting here, but it's very like. Well, a second.

[Jillian Betavali]

The only reason it's. What I was saying before is that you just have to understand if you let people move into your house, it's going to be really hard to get them out. 99% of the time. It's not going to turn out this bad, but it could be awful. Like, I've known cases of like people getting stuck with people who refuse to pay the rent. It takes six months to get them out. And chances are this isn't the first time they've done it. There probably is some record of that somewhere. So, like, definitely live your life. And it's. We are not blaming the victim, but just as like a word to the wise, it is very, very, very, very hard to get people out of your space once they're there.

[Patrick Hines]

It's. And everything just keeps getting more and more expensive. So people are like backed into a corner and they think like, Maybe I'll just be here for a little baby. I just need this roommate for six months. Like no one is ever thinking about this. Yeah, things change really fast.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. Tell them about the website you know about.

[Patrick Hines]

There's a. I was telling Patrick this.

[Jillian Betavali]

Like what do you do? And you're like, I have the answer.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, it's weird. So I can't remember what the documentary is, but we covered something and it led me down this Internet rabbit hole. It's a Facebook group called Investigation Connection.

[Jillian Betavali]

Uh huh.

[Patrick Hines]

It's super, super. There's a lot of rules to it. But now Facebook let post anonymously, which I think is interesting for this. But you can go in that group and say, you know, my best friend is dating some creep and I know he's a creep, but she won't believe me. Can someone do a background check on this person or I want the criminal record for someone. Or if something as. As innocent as. I had a best friend in third grade and this is the last place I knew where she was or someone who might be struggling with substance use disorder. And the last time I saw them, they were living on the street in this place like just looking for people. And a lot of the people on in that I don't know how many, like thousands of them. A lot of them just pay or have access or just want to be helpful and have the sites that like you don't have to pay for the background.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You. I was saying to you, I'm like, you know, it's body moving from like don't f. With cats. It's just sitting in there waiting for an assignment.

[Patrick Hines]

Sometimes it's really innocent and sweet.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Then it's like, oh, I found my best camp friend and here we are. But sometimes it's other people looking out for others that just want proof to be like, my mom's new boyfriend sucks and this is the situation or whatever.

[Jillian Betavali]

So there are ways. There are ways you can do it.

[Patrick Hines]

If you want to, if you wanted to, you know. But it's like again, it's not my job.

[Jillian Betavali]

No. Just be nice to each other.

[Patrick Hines]

Just be nice. I know that's everyone's job.

[Jillian Betavali]

That's it.

[Patrick Hines]

That's our homework for the evening.

[Jillian Betavali]

Just be nice. Oh my God, girl. We did Worst Remain Ever Season 2 Episode 2 Housemate from Hell and was.

[Patrick Hines]

And was he ever.

[Jillian Betavali]

And like not all gays.

[Patrick Hines]

I promise there are more episodes of the show.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, the gays are much more likely to steal your liquor cabin full of booze than they are to, like, do anything really nefarious, so.

[Patrick Hines]

Except this guy.

[Jillian Betavali]

Keep it locked up. If you get a gay roommate, keep your liquor cabinet locked up is all I'll say.

[Patrick Hines]

Right, fam?

[Jillian Betavali]

Don't forget we launched a Discord. So just go to the show notes and you can click on the link there.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, it'll take you right there.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah. And we also have the Facebook group that's not going anywhere. So you can join the true crime obsessed podcast discussion group on the Facebook.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, we just added Discord. It's not like in place of anything.

[Jillian Betavali]

Nope.

[Patrick Hines]

It's just an addition.

[Jillian Betavali]

Amazing.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Jillian Betavali]

We love you.

[Patrick Hines]

We love you.

[Jillian Betavali]

Be nice to each other. Share said it. It's your homework. Please.

[Patrick Hines]

You should be like, oh, that's easy.

[Jillian Betavali]

Yeah, that's easy. I'm already doing now.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes, exactly.

[Jillian Betavali]

All right, bye.