Monday, April 30, 2018

Lights, Cameras, Action

The main part of the show which involved us were the interviews with Steve DiSchiavi.  Steve is a great guy but a no-nonsense type of guy.  He's good at his job and is professional but is also really a fund guy.  I get a lot of questions about what he is like.  I can honestly say the man you see on your TV every week is the man he is in real life.

Filming our interviews wasn't tough, just a little nerve-racking.  There were no scripts, no rehearsals, and the only direction we were given was  to "just talk about what happened and answer Steve's question."  We were NEVER asked to say something that didn't happen or embellish anything.

It's tough to talk about the things that happened to us while the cameras were rolling.  It made us relieve all the negative and scary things.  That's not always a good thing because those were very powerful memories to talk about.

During the initial interview with Steve on our back deck, they cut filming and Steve and I were just talking.  I remember him saying to me that being a father and not being able to protect my family had to be tough.  I started to break down because my mind immediately shifted to a memory of Emi running terrified down the hall crying, saying she saw someone.  How do I protect my family from something that doesn't fight fair and holds all the advantages?  It's heartbreaking and as I said on the show, "I'm the first, last and only line of defense."  I felt I was failing my family.  I didn't know they started filming again so what you're seeing of me during that interview is a genuinely concerned father and husband who's at the end of rope and feeling helpless.

Steve and I moved into the kitchen and I told him the things that happened there.  The knife flying off the counter and cutting my arm (still have a nice scar from that too) and the video of the drawer.  I was reluctant to use the video because of the naysayers, but they convinced to do it.  The first time Steve saw the video was during the filming as it was decided earlier in the day to use it.  The video that you see on the show is NOT the entire video and I only started filming after things were happening.  You can see the entire video and read the entire story behind it in the blog entry The Storm Intensifies. 

The next part of the interview involved us going down into the basement.  I admit that I was scared to go back down there because of everything that happened to me there.  To me, the basement was the epicenter of evil and all our problems.  No one would be able to protect me if anything were to happen and it took awhile before I could muster up the courage to go down there.   I remember Steve say, "It's pretty obvious this space bothers you."  I didn't realize until we watched the show that my fear of the basement was written all over my face.

I still get a lot of question regarding my interview with Steve as well as reading comments on social media because most people thought Steve was too hard on me.  They ask if it upset or bothered me.  The answer I tell people is, "no, not in the least little bit."  As I said earlier, there were not scripts, it was us just talking and Steve doing what he does best.  I expected him to be hard on me and, frankly,  I respect him for being the way he was.  That's his job.  It's what he did while he was a homicide detective.  Get the truth out of someone, find out the real reasons for why something happened.  I was raised by a Chief Master Sargent who was career military.  My dad was a man I respected and was a whiskey drinking, cigar smoking bad ass who didn't put up with bullshit.  So dealing with Steve was a walk in the park compared to that.

No one in the family was allowed to watch each other’s interviews.  The producers didn't want anything that would tip the other person off as to what direction their interview would go or what questions would be asked.  

Jennifer and the girls were up next.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

When Rains It Pours!

After dropping the dogs off at my mother's house in town, we decided to reward all our efforts with a nice dinner out.  The rain was pounding, literally coming down in buckets.  I cannot remember the last time it rained so hard and for so long.   Weather alarms were going off left and right on our phones-Thunderstorm warning, Tornado Watch, Flash Flood Warning, etc.  It seemed like we got every type of Spring Time weather warning that night

I took all the severe weather as a sign.  Someone or something was angry that Amy was about to do her walk.   As we ate our dinner the voices started.  It was like being in a room with a bunch of angry people and I was the subject of their angry.  I closed my eyes and took deep breathes in hopes of silencing them.  However, my tried and true method that had never failed me in the past couldn't silence the voices.

As I’m doing my best to enjoy my dinner with all the extra "guest" yelling at me, the crazy lady decided she would join in on the fun.  Out of nowhere she screamed.  It was as if she was right behind me.  It scared me so much that I nearly jumped out of my chair.  For some reason, I always thought that the crazy woman couldn't leave the house.   Jennifer looked at me with concern and asked what was wrong.

"She's here.  Didn't you hear her?" I said

"Who, the screaming woman?" Jennifer asked                                                

"Yep, she has friends too and they won't stop talking."  I said as I put my head in my hands.

I told her of the other voices the yelling, thee threats they were making.   One whispered in my ear, "I have killed before, I can kill again.  I pay it no mind.  Ask that Billy Yank(?) about me, he will tell I know who to kill. Ask him about Johnny!" 

The all took turns basing Amy. "Why is that bitch coming here? You better call off that dog or you will regret it."

Their threats then turned to us.  'We own all of you.  You all belong to us. She will not be able to make us leave, we won't leave.  Call her off.'


I was finally able to regain control and the voices began to fade.  I lifted my head up from my hands and as I looked past Jennifer.  There she was, it was the crazy woman standing at the entry way to the kitchen.  She was motionless even as the restaurant staff walked through her.  She stared at me with a look of contempt and angry.  The feeling was mutual.

She was wearing what looked like a white cotton night gown and her hair was a mess.  She was thin and frail; she looked as if she was had been through hell and back.  

I remember a loud crack of thunder which distracted me for a moment.  As I looked back at her, she pointed at me and then pointed in the direction of our house.  I felt as if she was demanding me to go home.  She slowly faded away.

I was sick to my stomach at what I had heard and seen.  It was surreal that the activity just attacked me all at once.  Voice I had never heard and for the first time seeing the crazy woman.  I didn't mention to Jennifer that I saw her because I didn't want her to worry about me as I was already feeling crazy enough.  It was all so exhausting, stressful, and left overwhelmed with anxiety.

The rain stopped, the skies started to clear, and the sun started to shine with what little it had left in the day.   We finished our meal and decided we would just drive by the house to see if the Dead Files crew had made it safely.  We drove by and saw the vans there.  Thankfully the house seemed fine with just a few tree branches down.   

As we drove back to my mothers, we heard on the radio that we had gotten the most rain for a day in May in over 50 years.  Seemed fitting for a night such as that.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018















Thursday, April 12, 2018





Here's a question we got from Trish Calcote via social media.














Monday, April 9, 2018

Time to Cowboy Up!

We slept so well at our friends house.  We felt safe and secure as well as relaxed.  I realized it was the first time we had felt that way in nearly 8 years.

However, we knew we had to get back to the house as filming was about to begin.  Jennifer and I decide it's time for us to pull ourselves up and get ready for Steve and Amy.  With that being said, we made our way back to the house but left Heidi and Emi with our friends.

Our house was a disaster.  We left in such a hurry that we didn't secure the dogs enough and they ran a muck.  Even so, the entire mess couldn't be blamed on them.  Things were out of place; furniture moved, cabinets open, pictures that once hung on the walls now on the floor.  The house felt extremely heavy.  The air was thick and had a feeling of death.  The smell of pipe and tobacco smoke could be smelt throughout the house.

A friend came with us to help us but also to protect us.  We wanted him their just in case I was jumped again.  We wanted someone there who could protect Jennifer and get her out of there.  Thankfully, nothing happened but while we cleaning up the mud room we could hear the crazy woman screaming and slamming doors.  Her screams sounded more hysterical than ever and the violence in which the doors were being slammed was unreal. I felt as if she knew Amy was coming.  We quickly cleaned as much as we could, gather some cloths, secured the dogs, and left for the day.

We were running out of time so the next day was zero hour for us.  We had to get the house in presentable shape as the filming was scheduled to start the following day.  This time it was an all hands on deck as we quickly picked up all the clutter, placed it in black trash bags and put it in the basement.  Jennifer was the only one allowed to go down to the basement as we didn't want to risk me getting trapped as I had been a couple of times before.  It's amazing how quickly you can get things cleaned and organized when you know a television show is on it's way.

It was hectic but that was good for us.  It kept our minds off all the other things that were going on and we were so excited about the possibility of finally getting real answers.  We were finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We would finally be able to rid ourselves of the evil that had invaded and controlled our lives.  The day of reckoning was upon them.

We sent the girls back over to the neighbors as they had done all they could do.  Chloe had helped some but we sent her away too just in case.  The safety of our girls was our top concern.  Jennifer and I stayed to do a bit more cleaning.  We did as much as we could but exhaustion set it in and we had to stop.  It was a good stopping point to because I could hear footsteps in the house and the smell of pipe and tobacco smoke was starting to fill the air.

The next day was the day, the entire Dead Files crew would be at house at 3:00 PM.  We didn't have much time so we hurried over to the house and got busy.  Lots of coffee was defiantly needed.  We cleaned, scrubbed, vacuumed, mopped, and dusted.    Our house had really fallen into disrepair over the years.  We just lacked the drive and energy to keep it up-at least to our standards.  Whatever was here had sucked the life out of us.  Any of you watched our episode saw the end result; a nice clean house.  It was cleanest our house had been since our saga began and it took every ounce of remaining energy we had to get it that way.

We had to be out of the house before the crew arrived.  That meant the next hurdle to jump was going to be even more challenging.  Keep in mind, we are working ranch/farm which means we have animals; lots of them.  We had to move every single animal off the property.  The hardest part was moving our dogs to my mother's house in town.  This was a massive undertaking as dog breeding is one of our businesses.  So we loaded approximately 22 dogs in the truck and off we went.  Mother Nature decided to have some fun with us and it started pouring down rain right as we left.  Maya and Ashby (the Lab we had at the time) were in the truck bed get pounded by the rain.  We joked that they needed a bath anyway but it had to be unpleasant for them.

We finally made it to my mother's, unloaded the dogs, set them up in her basement and decided to treat ourselves to a dinner out.  We want to give ourselves a moment to catch our breathe and enjoy ourselves a bit. 

However, the joy of a nice dinner would come with a side of unpleasent activity.


Sunday, April 1, 2018

















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