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- [00:00]
Russell
I finally committed to getting back in shape. Hit the gym, ate clean, did everything right. But after two days, I felt drained. My body just couldn't keep up. That's when I found Stem Regen. It supports the release of my own stem cells to repair, recover, and actually rebuild from the inside out. Now I'm not just working out, I'm bouncing back. I feel stronger, more energized, and more like myself every single day. Stem Regen didn't just change my routine, it changed my recovery. Empower your body to recover from within. Whether you are focused on recovery longev or just overall wellness, Stem Regen helps your body feel the best. It can release the best version of you. Try Stem Regen today at StemRegen co. Use code POD25 for 25% off your first order. Again, that's StemRegen code POD25. Hey, listeners, meet Russell.
- [00:51]
Julian Morgan
Hey.
- [00:52]
Russell
Russell just launched a fitness app and he needed to get the word out to busy professionals looking to stay fit. So I turned to Acast. I used their smart recommendations feature to easily find shows that talk about health and fitness. Booking sponsorships through their platform was a breeze. And just like that, my app was in their ears during their morning run. Sounds like a smart move, Russell. How's business looking now? Sweat is pouring and so are the installs. Spread the word about your business with podcast ads on Acast. Start today at go.acast.com advertise.
- [01:29]
April Belascu
Super real. And here's something that was really disgusting at Danny's funeral. He went to the funeral with a tape recorder in his hands and interviewing people like he was a detective or a news reporter, asking them what he thought might have happened. And I've listened to these tapes and it's absolutely disgusting. And this was done at the funeral, the funeral of all bases. It.
- [02:03]
Julian Morgan
It is also he. He knows full well who killed Danny. Like, he was. He was almost like rubbing it in people's faces. Hey, I'm Julian Morgan, and you're listening to what It Was like, the show that asks people who have lived through big, dramatic events what it was like.
- [02:26]
April Belascu
Foreign.
- [02:32]
Julian Morgan
Hey, friends, welcome back. This week, we're diving into some pretty familiar territory. Serial killers. So that's. Even though I try to keep things varied on this show. So, for example, last week we looked at the origin of the Macarena, and the week before we looked at a sinking ship. But I look at the numbers, you know, I look at the stats on how many people click on the episodes, and you know what? Nothing trends like a serial killer story. You guys just love it. You guys. And to be clear, I'm not judging. You know, I spend this show endlessly trying to understand the human capacity for evil and never quite getting there. So. So always coming back for more. So I'm not judging. I get it. I love these stories, too. Now, both of our episodes this week are on serial killer stories. And just. Just quickly, just so you're aware of what's happening in the bonus episode, I'm speaking with a woman who spent an afternoon in interviewing Charles Manson in prison. And she's one of only a very small number of people who met manson in the 48 years between his incarceration and his death. And she says that she was creeped out by him, but he was also very hypnotic. So, look, it's a fascinating conversation, but in this episode, the episode you're listening to right now, this. This one is wild. My guest today is April Belascu, and she grew up with a really violent father, and the family was moving constantly. They lived in Ohio, they lived in Florida, they lived in Wisconsin, and they always left town in a hurry. And April was always told by her dad that they were escaping dangerous people. That's why they had to flee. But eventually she began to wonder, were they really running from the monster? Or was the monster just in the driver's seat? So in 2009, after years of experiencing these vague memories about disappearances and missing kids and just lots of unresolved questions, April started googling the names of the towns that they'd lived in, paired with words like cold case and missing person. And that's when she stumbled on the unsolved murders of two teenagers in Watertown, Wisconsin, from the summer of 1980. And that was the same period when her father had worked at the same venue where they were last seen. So April picked up the phone and she called the police. Now, some of you might recognize this story from a podcast. There was a 2019 hit podcast called the Clearing, which covered April's story. And she's also just released a new book called Raised by a Serial Killer. We'll link to it in the show notes. It's an incredible read, but today, April joins me to talk through it herself. So this is a story about memory and identity. Basically, it's about how April came to understand herself when she found out that she was the daughter of a serial killer. So I hope you enjoy it. Here's my conversation with April Belascu. Hey, April. Welcome to the show.
- [05:32]
April Belascu
Thank you, Julian, for having me.
- [05:34]
Julian Morgan
Thanks for joining me. So we're Going to be talking a lot about your dad today. So I think the best place to start is just to give me a bit of detail on his life. Can you start with an overview on your sort of dad's earlier years before you came into the picture?
- [05:52]
April Belascu
He was born illegitimate, which really bothered him. And his mother ended up committing suicide when he was a baby. And then he was adopted by one of his aunts and then she ended up dying short when he was around 7, I think. And then his grandmother basically started raising him and then because she couldn't handle his antics, because from a very young age he was a very strong willed child, got into mischief, very unruly. And so she ended up putting him in an orphanage. I believe that's what, you know, parents or family did back then when they had, you know, children that were unruly. He spent quite a few years in the orphanage and was abused there at the orphanage by other kids and by the nuns, for instance. One of the stories I remember him telling me is he wet the bed and the nuns would embarrass, would make him grab the bed sheets and stand out in the play yard and yell at the top of his lungs that I'm a bedwetter. So that was very traumatic for him. He, he did end up coming back and living to, living with his grandmother around 12 years, around the 12 year age, I think. And he, from a very early age he actually told people that he wanted to. His words were he wanted to be a crook and he was going to be a good one. He ended up joining the, was it the Marines? I think was the Marines and he was too young and when he went to the Korean War was going on at that time and he wanted to go fight and they realized how young he was and they didn't allow him. So he was upset and he went AWOL and went on from that time on to the time that he met my mom. He had a life of where he was just in and out of jail. You know, there isn't any documentation at that time that he murdered anyone. That's, you know, to be yet to be determined. It's something that's in the back of a lot of our minds is whether or not he actually killed anyone during that time. But he was in and out of jail. And then when he met my mom, he was on parole. I believe that was in 1969 and eight months after he met my mom, actually it might have been even sooner than that. They married and my mom knew about his past. My dad did Tell her. And according to my mom, because my dad was so honest and upfront about made her love him more. So that sums up his life. He pretty much had a life of crime from a very, very young age, probably six or seven.
- [09:22]
Julian Morgan
Right. Okay, and when you came into the picture, what was your parents relationship?
- [09:30]
April Belascu
I was the firstborn out of the five children. I was born about, let's see, they married in June or July and I was born in March. My mom was pregnant with me before, before they were married. And my brother after me was ten and a half months after me. And then a year after that was another brother. And then two years after that was another. And my mom had five kids within seven years. But as far as my mom and dad's relationship, when I was young, early toddler, preschooler, I just remember my dad being fun. I do have some vague memories of my dad being mean to my mom. I do remember him punching my mom in the face and she came home with a broken jaw and you know, her teeth were wired shut. And I was very young, I think it was two and a half or so. And I do have memories after that, so. So I do remember my dad hitting my mom and being abusive to my mom. But at that age I was daddy's little girl. And I love my dad, I love my mom. Most of my memories and I also choose to do this. I choose to dwell on the happy memories. I really try not to dwell on the negativity. I'll speak about it and I'll answer questions and obviously I wrote about it in my book. But even to this day I try to dwell on the positive. And my dad was a lot of fun. Matter of fact, a lot of the things that he did with us growing up, like playing hide and go seek and the haunted trails and all the games that we played at parties and the big festivities that we had at all the holidays I implemented in my, in my own life with raising my children and working with kids in the church. So my dad was a lot just, he was a lot of fun. He was the life of the party. All the kids always wanted to come to our house because we were always playing games. He would play with us some of the most fun things that we did. That's not to say that my childhood was always that way. Obviously it wasn't. My dad was very abusive. He abused my mom, abused us. He was very violent physically. It was nothing for him to, you know, throw me across the room, hit me, punch me many times. The abuse was so bad that he Wouldn't send me to school because he was afraid of someone noticing. Or he would send notes to school where I would have to sit out of gym class because he didn't want anyone to see the bruises. And he was very abusive towards my two younger brothers, the ones right after me. And then the two youngest siblings, they were raised differently. They had a different upbringing. I don't know if it was because there was a little bit of an age gap there or if after having 5k, mom and dad were just tired and they just let them get away with more. I don't know.
- [13:20]
Julian Morgan
And you guys moved around a lot when you were kids. Can you tell me a bit about that?
- [13:24]
April Belascu
We moved every six months to a year. I think I counted. I was in. Well, I would have to count again, but I don't know. It was in the 14, 15, 16 different schools that I was in. And at the time of moving, the excuse that my dad gave to us for moving was that there were bad people that were wanting to find him because of him turning evidence over to the police or to the FBI. So these bad people wanted to hurt him or to hurt us. So we had to keep on the move. And I believe that probably up until 1980, I think our first move, after we stayed in the Doylestown area, from when I was in kindergarten through third grade, we moved out of Akron right before I started kindergarten. And then in the Doylestown area, I was there from kindergarten through third grade. The summer of my third grade was the first time we moved. And I think that was in 1978. And in 19, two years later, I found we were in Wisconsin after we had moved from Florida to Colorado. And then we were in Wisconsin in 1980. And we ended up leaving literally like a month or two months after we had moved there. And that was the first time that had happened. And at the same time, though, I remember that there was a couple that had come up missing. And my dad just kept talking about this couple, and it really started clicking with me that everywhere that we were going, there seemed to be couples or kids missing. Because, you know, in Ohio, there was another. About a year before we moved in 1977, there was. I thought they were kids. Come to find out, they weren't kids. They were a couple. But the way that my dad talked about them, he called them kids. I assumed they were kids our age, and come to find out they weren't. And then in Florida, there was things that happened in Colorado, things that happened. And I just. And I saw things, you know, a lot of times as parents, we don't realize how much kids can see and pick up on. And I never mention these things to my dad. It's just things that I kept in the back of my mind and thought about. But it was definitely in 1980 that I really started questioning things. And I never quit questioning. And it wasn't until 2009 that a lot of my questions were answered.
- [16:20]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, we'll get there. I'm just curious. In your earlier years, you know, I know there was a lot of violence in your household, but because you're insinuating that, you know, your dad was. Was sort of murdering people on the side, and obviously that turns out to be the case. But did you see any sort of sense of. Of sadism like that?
- [16:40]
April Belascu
No, I never saw my dad murder anyone. I have seen my dad speak harshly to. To people, and he normally didn't do that. He normally had. His violence was normally saved for those. His family members inside the house, because in front of people, he put on. His demeanor was totally different. So did I think he was capable of it? Absolutely, just because of the violence I had seen. But I really didn't start questioning that he did something like that until 1980. And even after that, we moved quite a bit. And once again, more couples came up missing.
- [17:37]
Julian Morgan
Always couples.
- [17:39]
April Belascu
Usually. I remember in one place there was. Or actually two different places, there was two girls that came up missing, and in Pittsburgh, there was actually a young boy that came up missing that had ties to my brother. So it wasn't always couples. But I just noticed that everywhere we went, it seemed like young people came up missing or young people were found murdered. And my dad would just talk about it. He talked about the. About it constantly, which always bothered me because I was like, why do you want to talk about? I know. I never questioned him. I was just thinking to myself, why is he always talking about this? And it was things like this that when I became an adult, that came back and, you know, I started questioning more and realizing that, you know, there was. There was. Well, actually, in 1996, I knew without a shadow of a doubt my dad was a murderer. But I just didn't know how to prove it because there was another situation where another acquaintance of ours came up missing. And then later, the body was fun.
- [19:00]
Julian Morgan
Yeah. Tell me about what happened in 1996.
- [19:03]
April Belascu
1996. There was a young man living with my mom and dad by the name of Danny. I had actually known him through school. He went to. Was in the class of my younger brother, and they were on the wrestling team. And I just vaguely remember him through school. And as soon as I graduated, I left my home. I found a job, got an apartment, and I never went back. And by 1996, all of the kids were. My brothers and sisters were out of the house, and Danny boy came and started living with my parents. And I question that, because Danny was. He had a hard time. He was. He had some learning disabilities, I believe. I don't know that for sure, but everything that I've seen tells me that he has some learning disabilities. And my dad had a tendency to prey on people like that. So I had concern from Danny from the very beginning. And then the next thing I know, Danny joins the army. And then I hear that he went awol. And then the next thing I know, he, you know, he wasn't found. And then his remains were found. And I knew. I knew my dad murdered Danny. I believe my siblings thought the same thing, but we just couldn't prove it.
- [20:47]
Julian Morgan
Did that revelation, that feeling of, like, yeah, I'm pretty sure that dad murdered Danny, you know, did that feeling seem shocking to you? Were you. Were you shocked and surprised by your own revelation there? Or did it kind of just feel like, well, yeah, it makes sense.
- [21:04]
April Belascu
It was more like. It makes sense. Like, and it was more of like, finally, I know, like, I questioned things, but now I'm really positive, but I just don't know how to. I just don't know how to go about proving it. And his. My dad's mannerisms were the same because he kept calling me up, wanting to talk about Danny boy. And he would tell me, oh, you know, someone dropped a duffel bag off at the door with pictures. It looks like there's teeth of Danny. And he would just go through everything and go into detail as to what he thought he happened. And I'm thinking to myself, here's the same pattern that I've seen over over and over and over again, and I just didn't know what to do about it.
- [21:52]
Julian Morgan
Can we just zoom in on that for a moment? Like, what is that pattern? Like, where he wanted to sort of center himself in these true crime cases? You know, like, what was he getting out of that?
- [22:04]
April Belascu
I. Somehow it just. He got a sense of, I don't know, gratification. He got a kick out of it. I don't know. Because, you know what? Even though my life was. I don't watch true crime. Life was true crime, so I don't watch it.
- [22:20]
Julian Morgan
Fair enough.
- [22:22]
April Belascu
I don't understand. I don't know if it gave him recognition. I don't know if it made him feel important. I don't know. And I don't understand that kind of behavior. I really don't. Maybe it brought him to the center of attention and he was always attention seeking, no matter where we went. So maybe that was it. I don't know, maybe it made him feel important. I. I don't have an answer. I can only speculate. And, and here's something that was really disgusting at Danny's funeral. He went to the funeral with a tape recorder in his hands and interviewing people, like he was a detective or a news reporter, asking them what he thought might have happened. And I've listened to these tapes and it's absolutely disgusting. And this was done at the funeral, the funeral of all places.
- [23:20]
Julian Morgan
He knows full well who killed Danny. So like that's, that's such a weird layer to this story. Like he was, he was almost like rubbing it in people's faces. How ignorant to you? Because I know the truth here. So like, what do you know?
- [23:33]
April Belascu
Yeah, and that's probably, you know, one of the things that made him feel good was that, you know, here he knew something. He felt like he was pulling something over the cat and mouse game. And some of the qualities that he had, if he would have used those qualities for good, he could have been an awesome detective. I've heard many detectives tell me that and police officers tell me that, that he would have been. Their words were he would have been one hell of a police officer or one hell of a detective. And I agree with him. But he made choices, you know, that unfortunately were bad choices. I have chosen very bad choices. Yeah. And I have chosen to live a different life, actually. All of my siblings, we're all law abiding citizens, you know, have lived in the same areas for years and kept the same job for years. I've tried understanding my dad and I don't have an answer for that. And sometimes I find myself going down that rabbit hole and I have to pull myself back. And like, you know what, April? It's not up to you to answer why he did what he did.
- [24:46]
Julian Morgan
I mean, I don't think it's possible. You know, he seems like such a medley of contradictions and different impulses. You know, like you said at the start, he was really good at playing games. I know that he was good at Christmas, but then he was incredibly violent and he had the shortest fuse ever. And, you know, he was beating up your mum and this horrible stuff. Plus he was murdering people, you know, he was a horrible man. Other times really interesting contradictions. Hey, it's time for a quick ad break here, but please don't go anywhere. Stick around cuz we'll be right back. That is a gamble Money Exponent podcast.
- [25:29]
April Belascu
Okay, what is and Des was like.
- [25:32]
Detective Garcia
Finding the perfect podcast audience for your brand can feel overwhelming. But with Acast Smart recommendations, finding the right podcast to sponsor takes seconds. Powered by AI, it curates the ideal podcast list based on your target audience. From millennial men into fitness or tech savvy women in business. Just type in who you want to reach and get instant data driven recommendations. Start reaching the right listeners today at go.acast.com ads.
- [26:04]
Julian Morgan
I think one of the things that I find so interesting about your story is that you're experiencing all of this stuff as a child. So your sort of, your memories of it are, you know, a little hazy. And also your, your ability as a kid to be able to connect the dots and be like, oh, I think dad's a bad guy. You know, like it's a bit hampered because you're a kid, you've got no context. And it's only later in life that you're an adult and you're like, you can see the full landscape. You sort of, you get the context. So what I'm wondering is how did your dad interact with other adults in his life? Did you see like neighbors and friends acting suspiciously of your dad?
- [26:46]
April Belascu
No, I, there was, there's, there was only a few times, a handful of times that I saw my dad act violently or, you know, talked harshly or yelled and the, and, and they were few and far between because with people, he was usually happy go lucky. He was the life of the party. He was very entertaining. The few times that I saw it was usually when it affected his, our family. So a neighbor with a violent dog. The one instance when I lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and I was coming home from school, actually I stayed after school and I took a long way home because I was walking with a boy. And on the way home, I did encounter a man who did nothing to me. He was very kind. And when I got home, my dad questioned me about me being late and I said something to the fact that, you know, a man questioned me. And right off the top of my head, I can't remember exactly what all I said, but what I do remember very prominently is that my dad ran out of the house and here he actually ran out of the house with a handgun and he was looking for that man. Now that man did nothing to Me, nothing. And he ended up calling the police, and then the police arrested him. And my dad, which he has done this in many cases with all of myself between. With me and my siblings. He would coach us as to what to say, and we didn't dare not say what he wanted us to say. And he coached me as to what to say about that man. And the man ended up going to jail, as far as I know. Or what I do remember is he was in jail, and then we were supposed to have a court date, and my dad came to me and said that I would never have to worry about him again. I wouldn't have to go to court. I wouldn't have to worry about him. And to this day, it makes me wonder, what did he do to that man? So I didn't know that as a kid. I didn't know all of that. That is, things that I put together, you know, as far as maybe, you know, my dad doing something to him or having someone do something to him. I just. I didn't grasp that concept until I became an adult.
- [29:27]
Julian Morgan
Yeah. He was eventually charged with what, five murders. But it sounds like there's so many other loose ends, unsolved disappearances.
- [29:38]
April Belascu
Okay, so he admitted to five murders. Two, four, five. Yeah, he admitted to five murders. And in admitting to those murders, he had an agenda. And once again, he was trying to control the narrative. He was trying to manipulate the law enforcement agencies that were involved. And the reason why I believe he didn't admit to other murders is because he got his way. When he finally admitted to the fifth murder of Danny Boy in Ohio. They brought him back to Ohio. He wanted the death sentence. He, you know, that. Which was the lawyer he had was totally against that. I've talked to the lawyer that my dad had, and it was a very hard case for him to take because that, you know, his job is to keep people off of death row. And here my dad is asking for the death penalty. And once again, I believe, you know, he was trying to control the narrative. And so to answer your question, I took a while to get there. He admitted to five murders. As to how many he actually murdered, I don't know. But I think it's quite a few. And there's. I have my suspicion of some, and then there's others that I don't know. And I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to know. And I'm okay. I'm finally okay with that.
- [31:12]
Julian Morgan
You wouldn't want to know. You wouldn't want some sort of, like, itemized list of everyone that your dad hurt. Let's dive into that sort of time where it's sort of the 2000s. You've got your own children. And I'm curious about what was happening during that time that made you start to reflect on your childhood and some of these sort of unanswered questions you had.
- [31:35]
April Belascu
I think the biggest thing was as my children were growing up and they became teenagers themselves and they were spending more time away from home, I started realizing all of the scary things that are out in the world, and I was afraid for my children. And it kept bringing. What kept coming up to my mind, kept coming to my mind were these teenagers that I knew that had been killed or were missing, and what in the world were their parents going through, their families going through? Because I could not imagine anything happening to my child. And if something devastating like that were to happen, I would want to know. So that is really what started me on that journey, is because I just kept thinking about all of those couples or missing people that I knew of every place that we lived. And already knowing that in 1996, I really believed that my dad killed Danny Boy. So now I'm realizing he's capable of murder. And this started my journey into really diving into things. And unfortunately, there, at that time, there wasn't much on the Internet, because, you know, there were cold case. They were so. The cases were so long ago. And so every time I would go on the Internet to look, nothing would pop up. Because how I started my search would be, it was like, okay, I lived in Ocala, Florida, you know, in 1978, the summer of 1978 through the summer of 1979. So I typed in Ocala, Florida, Florida, cold case murders, you know, and nothing would really pop up. The two people, the boy and the young man and girl, Tim and Judy, that came missing, that were missing in Wisconsin. I didn't know they were murdered because we had moved away before their bodies were found. Those missing kids were always in the forefront of my mind. But when I started looking, wanting to look on the Internet, those two totally slipped my mind. Until May 2009. 2009. Yeah. And all of a sudden, I was in bed, laying in bed, and the Lord brought to my mind, what about the Watertown, Wisconsin couple? And I was like, oh, my gosh, why had I never thought of that? So I grabbed my laptop and I type in Watertown, Wisconsin, cold case murders, and up pops the sweetheart murders. And the reason it pops up on the Internet is because a month Prior, the state of Wisconsin had just given money to cold cases to reopen them and to send out DNA evidence. And the sweetheart murders had a good sample, so that was the only reason it was on the Internet. So if I would have thought about those murders when I initially started looking, I would have never found anything.
- [34:59]
Julian Morgan
That's amazing timing.
- [35:01]
April Belascu
And it was. And I believe it was God. And, you know, when that came up on my laptop, the screen on my laptop, I started reading, and I recognized everything. I recognized the Concord house. I recognized the campground or, you know, them talking about it, and I just knew. And then at the very bottom of the. It said, if you have any information, you could call this line and ask for Detective Garcia. And I wanted to call, but before I did, I'm like, I want to talk this over with my sister. And I called my sister, and I told my sister what I had read. And we didn't argue or anything like that. She was just asking me to be very cautious because, you know, this could disrupt not only my family, but her family, all of our families. And, you know, this could. Could bring a lot of attention that we didn't want. And. And I was really discouraged when I was talking to her because my sister's also a believer, and I really was expecting my sister to say, yeah, you call. You call, you know, and. Because all I could think about was the. Those parents. You know, as a mother, my heart was broken for them. And so I got off the, you know, the phone with my sister, and I almost immediately called Detective Garcia, or at least I called the number. And I didn't think I was.
- [36:34]
Julian Morgan
Wow. So you didn't. Your sister's pleas did not sway you. You were kind of like, yeah, it.
- [36:38]
April Belascu
Actually did the opposite.
- [36:40]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, that's so interesting.
- [36:42]
April Belascu
It really did. It did the opposite. And my sister and I had a great relationship. It wasn't. You know, it was just that her talking had the exact effect that she wanted. And when I called, I actually thought I was going to be leaving a message because this was late at night. And so I called, and I think the receptionist answered, and she's like, one moment, please. And I'm thinking that I'm going to be connected to a voicemail of Detective Garcia. But that wasn't the case. He was actually working late that night, and he was in his office. So, you know, when he. You know, when I hear Detective Garcia speaking, how can I help you? I'm like. And I remember I finally said once I could talk. I said, you might think I'm Crazy, or I might be sending you on a wild goose chase, but I think I have some information for you regarding the Sweet Sweetheart murders. And he was like, quiet on the line. And then at first he was quiet. And then I don't know exactly what he said after that, but I. I did. He asked me, started asking me questions, and I started talking. Now, what I didn't know at the time was that he did think I was crazy, you know, but he's. He's taking. You know, we talk about it, you know, now, and, you know, I found out years later. And Detective Garcia is a great guy. I. We're friends and. But when he was taking the information, he's putting everything in his computer or, you know, typing things in his lapt and he's thinking to himself, yep, this woman's crazy. She's just a disgruntled daughter trying to get her dad in trouble. Because here I'm calling from out of state. And so, you know, that was his first reaction. But, you know, being the good detective that he. That he is, he was taking down the information. And then as he's taking down information and cross checking things here, my dad's name pops up as that he was questioned by the police. And then I tell him about my dad's past and that my dad writes a book. And then. So then he's on the Internet ordering this book, like, okay, I gotta get this book in. And. But I didn't know any of this was going on. He was very professional, very monotone voice. And I answer a bunch of questions that he asked me. And then he ends the conversation with, okay, Mrs. Bellacio, if I have any more questions, can I call you? And I'm like, yes, you can call me at this number. And I had up and I believe about three weeks go by. And during that three week period, I'm thinking, I am a horrible daughter. What am I accusing my dad of? What have I done? I'm this horrible person. Meanwhile, Detective Garcia is doing all kinds of detective work behind the scenes. He reads my dad's book, he goes and to the house because I talked in very detail. And that was the other thing that surprised detect. Actually his surprises. Every detective that I have talked to is that how much detail I recall and how young I was in recalling details from everything from, you know, growing up. And so he was checking out the things that I was telling him. And every detail, from a stained glass window to spiral staircases in this home that we lived in, Matt came were true. Everything, you know, was a Match. And. And he. He told me later how remarkable that is.
- [40:21]
Julian Morgan
Yeah. Yeah. Can we just go back for one minute back to this phone call that you had with Detective Garcia? So if that was me, I would really struggle to say the pointy part of the information. Like, I'd really struggle to say, I think my dad murdered people. I'm wondering, how did. How did you phrase that information?
- [40:42]
April Belascu
Very carefully. You know, I. I'm sure Detective Garcia heard a lot. Well, I know he did because he mentioned it. You know, he. He heard doubt in my voice, and that doubt was me still trying to come to terms with, is my dad this monster? So that came across when I was talking to Detective Garcia, but at the same time when I was recalling memories. Now, like I said, I never saw my dad kill anyone, but memories of things that I knew my dad did at that time. Like, for instance, my dad coming home with a cut across his nose, a bloody nose, and him telling me that it was from the gun, the back kick of a gun when he was out hunting, I'm thinking, and I even knew then, well, it's not even hunting season. You know, it's so, you know, different things like that. So I told him about that, and I even told him where he would be able to find the bullet from that gun because he shot the gun through the floor on accident, and the bullet would be somewhere in the ductwork. And so, you know, so I was hesitant and skeptical talking about him. You know, I think he murdered them. But yet all of the other details I had were so specific and so right on. But at the time, like I said, at the time, I didn't realize those details. I mean, I thought everything I was saying was the truth, but I didn't have proof until, you know, he did his investigation.
- [42:21]
Julian Morgan
Hey, this bit of music means it's time for an ad break. But please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.
- [42:32]
Detective Garcia
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- [43:09]
Julian Morgan
Well, I was going to ask, just, like, how did your brothers and your sister feel about you snitching on your dad?
- [43:18]
April Belascu
They weren't happy. My sister understood. My one brother understood. I think two of my brothers understood, but definitely My youngest brother, he did not believe it. And I. If. Well, I know for a fact he went to my dad after my dad was arrested for the murders in Wisconsin. He was being held in Kentucky because he was living in Kentucky at the time. And my brother went to see my dad, and he told my dad, he said, I'm not getting this word for word, but the gist of it was, dad, if you can look me in the eye and tell me you didn't do this, I'll post your bail now. And my dad looked at him and said, I can't do that.
- [44:07]
Julian Morgan
Wow.
- [44:08]
April Belascu
And my brother was like, okay. So he's now thinking, all right, my dad has done some bad things, but. And to this day, he. Because we don't talk about it, to this day, he still might struggle with how much of a monster my dad really was, because, for instance, he didn't think my dad was capable of raping anyone. And I'm looking at my brother like, what household did you grow up in? I would get the heebie jeebies around dad. I would get the heebie jeebies for my girlfriends because of the way my dad would act towards them. And I saw the way that my dad acted towards other females in front of my mom, and it just gave me the heebie jeebies. And so my dad raping someone and also already knowing how he talked about those acts in the book that he wrote, I most definitely believe my dad is capable of rape. And for me, it's hard for me not to understand why you can't see that, but, you know, we all see things differently, and we all come to terms or have to come to terms in our own way to be able to live with ourselves, you know? And so I can't control what my siblings think, and I can't control their reactions or how they react. I can only. I have to live with myself. I have to live with my conscience. And I believe I did the right thing. Was it easy? Absolutely not. Do I regret it? No. Would I do it again? Yes. And actually, the guilty conscience that I have or the guilt that I have is that I'm sorry. One of these days I'll get through these interviews without crying.
- [46:08]
Julian Morgan
No. No. This is a. This is a story that deserves some tears. I think it's okay, really.
- [46:12]
April Belascu
The. The part that I'm guilty or feel guilty about is that I didn't realize sooner or couldn't prove sooner or comma, or start investigating sooner. Because if I would have, I believe there would be other. I believe There would be lives that people would still be alive. For instance, Danny boy, you think you.
- [46:37]
Julian Morgan
Could have saved some people?
- [46:38]
April Belascu
Yeah. Yeah, but because I was too busy leading my life, raising my family, and I was just too worried and too consumed about my family that, you know, I wasn't thinking about the others out there and April. And I regret that.
- [47:00]
Julian Morgan
But you were young. You were young. You were going through your 20s. You know, you were still coming to terms with your own childhood and who you were and what it all meant. I think you needed some separation to be able to stand back and to make some choices. So, yeah, I. I don't think you should beat yourself up about it at all. Not at all. I think it's incredibly brave what you did.
- [47:23]
April Belascu
You can, or I can. People can tell me that, and I can speak that and try to tell myself that, but saying it and believing it are two different things.
- [47:39]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can imagine that's really hard. And I think also, you know, I run this podcast, which is. We do a lot of true crime, and I gotta say, you are one of the very few people, one of the very few family members of serial killers who has ever sort of taken such a leading role in getting some justice. Most family members don't want to know anything about it. A couple have written books, but most just lean right out. They stay out of the public eye. They don't want to talk about it. They want to hear about it. Don't want to confront it. Really. It never happened. This is not me. It's not part of my life. Leave me alone. And I. I think it's really unique, like, uniquely brave, what you did and what you're doing. You know, you're on this show, you're talking about it. You're talking about this experience. That's really brave. I want to return to your story here. So after you made this call and you dubbed in your dad, you know, he got arrested, he went to jail. Ultimately, he died before justice was served, I guess.
- [48:46]
April Belascu
Yeah, I think he died in April, and I believe his execution date was July or August. It was a couple months. When I heard that my dad had passed away, I thought it was a blessing because I was not looking forward to the media, you know, covering his execution. I definitely wouldn't have gone. I just. I'm very thankful that he passed away of natural causes. He was. He did. He was in really bad health, so I had a blessing.
- [49:30]
Julian Morgan
Smoker and drinker, right?
- [49:31]
April Belascu
Yes. And it's. To be totally honest, for as much as. Because he used to smoke. I don't know if he was smoking Camels at the. At the end of his life, but for as long as I remember, he smoked unfiltered Camels, and he smoked a couple packs a day. And now, he wasn't a heavy drinker. He would drink, but he was more of a social drinker. But he was also extremely overweight. So in my book, especially as unhealthy as he was, he lived a lot longer than I expected.
- [50:05]
Julian Morgan
Yeah. Yeah. He got to, what, 70, 77 or something. That's a long time. In the end, his body just gave out.
- [50:13]
April Belascu
Yeah. And there, again, that was a blessing. No one in my family would have been looking forward to that.
- [50:24]
Julian Morgan
How did he respond to you dubbing him in?
- [50:28]
April Belascu
Oh, he was extremely mad. He would tell everybody, don't talk to me. He would tell everyone that I was a lia. He hated it. And he would tell the detectives that, if you talk to April, I'm not going to talk to you. I'm not going to give you any information. And of course, they're telling me everything. And they know how my dad. Because they were asking me questions. Some of them asked me, how do you think we should handle him? Because they knew that I knew him very well, and I knew his tells. You know, where it took some of the police, some of the detectives hours to realize some of his tells. I could have told them immediately what some of his towels were. So, you know, and just. So I knew everything that was going on. And sometimes they listened to me, sometimes they didn't, but I would have. Detectives, I have more than one detective has told me this, and it just. I just shake my head. They say, I looked your dad in the eye. Your dad looked me in the eye and he told me he didn't have anything to do with such and such. And I'm like, well, that's your first mistake. You know, look at him in the eye and trusting him. You know, he's good at that. And he had that capability of looking you in the eye, not flinching and telling you the wildest stories. And people. And especially the way that he would tell them, people would just believe it. And, and, and, and this is, this is a funny aspect, but he passed that down, that trait down to his children. Not the line. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is his salesmanship. He passed that down to his children. And I see it in his grandchildren. My brother, and he's in. A couple of my brothers are. Their livelihood is based on salesmanship, and they're at the top. And then I've. I've seen my kids. Two of my children were a waitress and a waiter. And at the. At that place, they would give out bonuses if you sold so much. Well, my two kids would always win first place that everyone else quit it trying. I jokingly tell people, I can sell you swamp land in Florida. You know.
- [52:56]
Julian Morgan
It'S wild that, like, charisma, like, that is a. Is a heritable trait. Yes, it's.
- [53:01]
April Belascu
It really is. Yeah.
- [53:02]
Julian Morgan
Do you. When he died, were you sad?
- [53:09]
April Belascu
I was relieved.
- [53:10]
Julian Morgan
Yeah.
- [53:11]
April Belascu
I was relieved because I don't think the sadness hit me, the sadness of him dying. I was never sad that he died because I was actually relieved, as I said before, because he was going to be executed. And I didn't want to go through that circus. I didn't become sad until probably years later. Like, for instance, regretting that I never reached out to my dad because. Because I've often thought if I would have reached out to my dad, could I have gotten more information? Because that was one thing that my dad knew about me is that I didn't participate in his head games where he would, you know, I. Where my other siblings would, you know, kind of go along with it, even though, you know, they knew what my dad was up to. You know, they would just to keep the peace, they would go along with it or make jokes, whereas with me, I just shut it down. I didn't shut it down. Nasty. I was just like, dad, you know, you're lying to me. And I just let him know that I wasn't. He wasn't going to pull blinders over my eyes. And I knew him, and I knew his tells. I even knew by the sound of his voice when he was lying. And that's why sometimes listening to these tapes, I'm like, oh, my gosh, he's lying. And. And come to find out. And I would. Even after, when I would hear it on a tape, I would mess. How I found out he was involved in another case in Pennsylvania back when I was a teenager, because he was talking about it on a tape here. He had been taping a family event that I was at with my children, my husband. We were at my dad's house because my dad would just set a tape recorder up and just tape record everyone talking in the room. Well, here my dad was tape recording a conversation he was having with my husband, and he was talking about how he was turning state evidence on this crime, this arson crime. And I'm Thinking to myself as I'm listening to the tape, that's his lying voice. He's lying. And then come to find out there was a case of arson and the person that went to jail for it was a person that my dad testified in court that did the arson. And they found out later, years later, that that guy didn't do it. And they were looking for the person who did do it. And I'm thinking, well, you had the guy who did it. It was my dad, obviously. And I didn't even realize how that fit in until I was listening to that tape. And then I started doing my research and I'm like, oh my gosh, now this all makes sense. And that was just because of hearing his lying voice and.
- [56:02]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, yeah, wow. You knew him so well that you could hear a voice and be like, nah, he's full of shit. Don't believe that guy. Yeah, we were talking about DNA before. You know, you're talking about how the sort of the sales gene got passed on. But did you ever go through a period of wondering about the monster dream, the monster gene, you know, the gene for homicide or like, because you share half of your dad's chromosomes and I'm kind of wondering how that feels.
- [56:32]
April Belascu
Well, first of all, I truly think that anyone is capable of murder in the right circumstances. Yeah. If you saw someone attacking your daughter, would you be able. Yes, yes. I truly believe that everyone is capable of murder under the right circumstances. So that's the first thing I truly believe. Secondly, even though we have this people have the same DNA, we have the ability to make our own choices. And I do realize that mental health problems like that could also be a factor. And I don't know if that was a factor with my dad. It very well could have been, I don't know. But I believe with my whole heart that we do not have to be a product of our environment. I sincerely believe that. So I'm not saying, you know, there's circumstances to everything. And I. But whereas I said earlier, all my siblings are law abiding citizens. And the other thing with that being said, most of them are believers in the Lord. So I also think that is a huge difference because they have that compass to set them on the right path.
- [58:03]
Julian Morgan
Your mom, your mom, how's your mom doing?
- [58:13]
April Belascu
My mom, I haven't talked to her in years. The last time I heard she was in assisted living around where some of my other siblings are living. But my mom has her own demons that I think that she's living with. And one of the things that she didn't want to do. I had tried talking to my mom. She did talk some. I had tried talking to my mom about her childhood. She couldn't even really remember too much about her childhood. And then I also, you know, tried to ask her things about my dad. And she did tell me quite a bit. She did reveal quite a bit, which led me to realize my mom knew a lot of the crime that my dad was doing. Did she know? Oh, yeah. Did she know everything? No, I don't think she knew everything. I don't think she knew about the murders. Did she suspect? I don't know. I can't say that. Say, you know, whether she did or not, my mom was such a beaten down, abused woman from my dad and she was just in a survival mode.
- [59:31]
Julian Morgan
Yeah.
- [59:32]
April Belascu
And, and she lived that way even after my dad was arrested. She refused to divorce him. And I remember, you know, when, before my dad was turned in, I reached out to my mom and I'm like, mom, you can come live with us. You can come live with us. And she refused to leave him. So I have a hard time putting my head around things like that. She's led a very difficult life. And so I'm thinking now she's just, just. I think she's probably very thankful for a peaceful life.
- [60:06]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, yeah. Reading your book. She does sound like she's just in. In survival mode. Keeps her head down, you know, she's just compliant, doesn't speak up. You know, she'd sit and watch your kids getting beaten up by your dad and would sort of step in very, very lightly just at the, this, just at the end, really. And, and yeah, the, the impression that I was getting was that she was a very traumatized, scared woman. Which, you know, it's heartbreaking.
- [60:37]
April Belascu
Yeah. And because we move so much and because my dad controlled us so much, she didn't even have friends, she didn't even have her family that she could reach out to. I'm not saying that her family wouldn't have wanted her to reach out, but it was how my dad controlled everything, you know, that she couldn't.
- [60:55]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, yeah. I mean, even you talk about this, this moment in the book where you go over to his place, to your parents place for, for dinner, and they've, they're eating kfc. It's clearly kfc and they've got the KFC box in the rubbish bin and your dad just looks at you, he's like, no, I cooked this. I mean, that, that is just such unfathomably weird behavior. You know, that's not. At that point, it's not even lying. That's. That is something else.
- [61:21]
April Belascu
Yeah, it's on a totally different level. I. I totally agree with you. And that's why I think I talk about this in the book where I'm just wanting to let it go. You know, we're at the dinner table. My children are around the table. I know what my dad is capable of. I have seen many a dining room table overturned because my dad getting angry. And I have my husband over there egging my dad on, and I'm just like, you know, I'm kicking him. I'm giving him the evil eye, like, shut up. And my dad is getting madder and madder. Now I'm really getting concerned because I'm thinking, you know, what is my dad gonna do? And. Yeah, I had many moments like that growing up. And even as an adult and, you know, it was. It was. Yeah, it's. It's. You're right. It's on a totally different level. And.
- [62:16]
Julian Morgan
Yeah. Bizarre behavior.
- [62:18]
April Belascu
Yeah, but. And at the same time. At the same time, we let him get away with it, you know?
- [62:23]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, but it was easier to.
- [62:25]
April Belascu
Yeah, it's easier to let him get away with it. Just forget about it.
- [62:29]
Julian Morgan
Yeah. You don't want me fighting all the time. It's an exhausting way to live.
- [62:32]
April Belascu
Exactly.
- [62:33]
Julian Morgan
I mean, this is an example of weirdness. But then. But then there's the fact that you were a teenage girl at the same time that he was murdering teenage girls or young women? I mean, of course, that is such utterly bizarre behavior. Gross behavior. That. Yes. Their mental illness must have been a component of his character.
- [62:56]
April Belascu
And not only murdering them. Some of them. I know he raped them. So. Judy, she was raped. Wisconsin. The sweetheart murderers.
- [63:10]
Julian Morgan
Do you feel like you're any closer to me, for example, to understanding his. His mindset that how. How he could rape young women while having a young daughter?
- [63:24]
April Belascu
I. I don't understand a lot of his mindset. You know, you've. You've asked me a couple different questions, and I, you know, said, you know, I don't know. I really don't know.
- [63:34]
Julian Morgan
It's a black box.
- [63:36]
April Belascu
And even growing up. Okay, even when he was alive and growing up and some of his behaviors. And I would try to think, why is he doing that? And I think I would have a reason, but then that reason would go out the window when I'd see him doing something else, you know, So I just. I don't have an answer for that. But when I'm at home and I'll, you know, something might trigger a memory, and I'll find myself thinking about something or wondering. I usually stop myself because, you know, like I said, like, at the rabbit hole. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole. I'm. I'm also at the place in my life I. Where I live a very peaceful life. I, you know, live out in the country. I have my animals, I have my gardening. And so for my. For my mental health, there is. There's. There's things that I've learned to deal with, and. And, you know, and there's times when I've realized I have to say, you know what? We're not going to go there today. Today is not a day to do that. And. But, you know, then there's other times that I'm totally okay with it. And so why.
- [64:44]
Julian Morgan
Why do interviews like this? You know, like, why. Why talk to me? Why write a book? You know, like, if it's easier to just lean back, lean out, to lean out of it? Why. Why sit in this?
- [64:55]
April Belascu
From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to get. Let me back up. After I turned my dad in, I had no intention of ever talking to the media, ever. I didn't want to talk to the media. I didn't want to tell my story. And I really felt like I was put in a position that I needed to start speaking out because of all the lies that were being said out there about my dad and agencies focusing on other things, other notorious cases, instead of focusing on the cases that I thought my dad committed, because I had given them a timeline. Every place that we lived and told them in this timeline, you know, I give it to them, typed out what I thought happened. And the last straw was when. I don't know if you. If the news ever ended up in Australia, but about Lacey Peterson from California, the mother who was pregnant and was killed.
- [65:58]
Julian Morgan
I remember this case, okay?
- [65:59]
April Belascu
It was years ago, and Scott Peterson, her husband, was the one that ended up being convicted for the murder. But there was people out there saying that my dad committed the murder. Well, I ended up having Scott Peterson's lawyer call me up, ask me if I would be willing to come out to California and testify on Scott's behalf to try to get the conviction overturned. And I'm like, my dad did not kill Lacy Peterson, okay? I can't help you. I mean, I was very nice to him, but I was also very frustrated. I literally hung up the phone with him and texted Josh. Josh is the One is the one that I ended up doing the podcast with.
- [66:38]
Julian Morgan
Yeah, he produced the clearing.
- [66:40]
April Belascu
Yes, he produced the clearing. And Josh was the only person who, after all those years, still kept reaching out to me. I called him the last man standing because everyone else had dropped by the wayside because they realized I wasn't talking. But. And he had just texted me, like, a week or two before. So I texted. I said, said, I'm ready to talk. That's exactly what I said. I'm ready to talk. And he's like, are you sure? And. And so we ended up. And I. And even then, I met. I refused to meet with him unless I met with him and my lawyer because I was afraid, you know, I didn't trust anyone. I was afraid what would be said. And. And come to find out, we ended up doing the podcast, and I agreed to do the podcast because they were actually helping me do the. More investigating. More investigating. And that can be very expensive. And so they were f. The bill, which I was perfectly fine with that. And then doing the podcast that wasn't. I always knew. So after. After, you know, realizing the narrative out there about all these stories being told about my dad that weren't. That weren't true, I knew that I wanted to tell the story, my story. And the only way to tell that was with me telling the story, because there are still those cold cases out there that I believe that my dad committed, and people aren't looking into them. But at the same time, I don't want to talk negatively about any agency. It's also very hard for agencies to look at cold cases that long ago. It's so difficult, especially when there's not DNA, to investigate those crimes being so long ago. And with the man. With my dad being dead and a lot of the family of the. Of the victims are even, you know, passed away. So I do have a lot of questions, and there are still some cases that I would love to have investigators look into more. And. But, you know, that's out of my control. So that was why I wanted to write the book and another reason why I wanted to make sure that everything that I said was as truthful as I could possibly be, because who knows whose hands that book is going to land in where something clicks and they have a memory and they could have something to tell us about any of the cases. So that was my goal for writing the book. I don't know.
- [69:16]
Julian Morgan
Cool. Cool. Well, look, I just have one or two last questions for you, and something I'm wondering is, do you have any advice? There's a lot of people out there with terrible parents, and you seem to be winning the challenge of moving past some of the traumas of your childhood. Do you have any advice for people out there who are struggling?
- [69:42]
April Belascu
I do, and I wish I would have done this sooner. There is something to be said to getting yourself into counseling and talking with a counselor. I know that when I went to some counseling before I started the podcast or even met Josh, once I started talking to Josh and then doing the podcast and then doing the book, the more and more I talked about it, the more and more I was able to deal with that trauma that I wasn't dealing with. And if I would have talked about my story, because I didn't talk about it, you know, and I would tell my husband a few things, you know, here and there, but I didn't, you know, I didn't tell him anything the way that I, you know, the book being. I told things in the book because I, you know, I just didn't want to talk about it. But I realized that in talking to someone and having a good counselor, I. Is so important. And that's what I was going to say about my mom. My mom was refusing to talk about things, and I really think that people said it was because of her health, she shouldn't talk about it. And I was thinking just the opposite. You should be talking about it for your health.
- [71:00]
Julian Morgan
For your health. Your health will improve if you get some of this poisoning.
- [71:03]
April Belascu
Yes. Yes. And you don't even realize some of that gunk, that trauma that's there. So that would be my first suggestion. And then also to realize, well, maybe the first thing is to believe in yourself and to believe that you do not have to be a product of your environment, that you have the tools to overcome. You may not know what those tools are, thus talking to a counselor. So. But there's so many stories out there of mine that people that have survived, that have had traumatic childhoods, and they're living wonderful lives, and then what's been the most important for me is my faith. That has been the most important thing for me.
- [72:03]
Julian Morgan
Thank you so much for coming on the show and telling me, telling me about your life, you know, your life story. It's. It's been fascinating, and you've given a lot. So thank you.
- [72:14]
April Belascu
Well, I, I do. I had fun. Thank you for having me. I know that sounds probably bad. I had fun, but I did. I, I. It was fun.
- [72:20]
Julian Morgan
No, I had fun, too. We can. We can have fun. It's all right. Thanks so much.
- [72:24]
April Belascu
Thank you. Bye. Thanks, April. Bye.
- [72:28]
Julian Morgan
Hey, thanks for listening today. You should absolutely check out April's book. It's fascinating and it's beautifully written. And it's called Raised by a Serial Killer. We're going to link to it in the show notes or you can just Google it. It's everywhere. It's online, it's in bookshops. You'll find it. Today's episode was produced by Rachel Tuffery. It was mixed by Jimmy Saunders, who also did our theme music. Our cover art is by Rich Akers. Ellie Dickey is our Internet. And this whole thing has been a super ill production. ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.
- [73:21]
April Belascu
Hey, it's Christy and I'm Kelly. You might remember us as the OG Partners in Crime from Dance Moms. Well, this is Back to the Bar, the podcast where we drag out every insane, chaotic and iconic moment from the show. We're spilling the tea, calling out all the BS and sharing stuff you definitely.
- [73:38]
Julian Morgan
Didn'T see on tv.
- [73:39]
April Belascu
New episodes drop every week and yes.
- [73:41]
Julian Morgan
We'Re laughing through the trauma for one.
- [73:45]
April Belascu
Follow grab a drink and join us as we go back to the bar.
- [73:50]
Julian Morgan
Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.