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[Assistant] But due to a quote unquote disruption in his cell service, he wasn't able to connect the call.


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[Assistant] He either didn't have service or his phone had been turned off for some reason.


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[Assistant] He didn't want to leave without Bill, though. He was like, let me go in and see what's up. And he decided to go inside and check on his friend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So he entered the home through a sliding glass door at the rear of the house because he knew that door was usually left unlocked.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And once he got inside he said he heard an alarm clock going off over and over again, but when he called out to Bill he got no response.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He used the house phone to call Bill's cell phone again, but he couldn't hear it ringing. So he was like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't really know what to do here. I don't think he wanted to venture more into the home cause I think maybe he felt like he was doing something wrong by being there. So he called a couple more times, didn't hear anything, so he decided to leave.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, around 10 a.m., just a few hours later, the Payne's old neighbor, Roy Stevens, stopped by the house to pick up some mail that they'd been holding for him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he noticed that both cars were still in the driveway and he was like, that's kind of weird, like they should be at work or at least one of them should be. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he knocked on the door and got no response though. He's like, all right, well, that's even weirder. Both cars are here. Why is nobody answering the door? Yeah. And he also knew that the panes usually left that backsliding glass door unlocked. So he ran around, went around back to get in that way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Once he was inside, he called out telling whoever was home that he was there, but he got no response. He thought this was weird, so he walked down the hall to the front bedroom.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He poked his head inside and he saw Bill lying on the bed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There was blood pooling around his head and his throat had actually been cut open. Oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Roy ran out of the house and told his wife who had come along for the ride what was going on and urged her to call 911.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But she found, or she was going to, but she found Bill to be quote very stiff and ice cold.


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[Assistant] So she knew CPR wasn't going to do anything, and she picked up the house phone to call 911.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As Linda was on the phone with the 911 operator, Roy heard a noise coming from the end of the hall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it was the baby. He followed the noise and found Billie Jean lying on the floor in front of her son's crib with the baby still in her arms. That just kills me. Luckily, like I said, unharmed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When he found Bill Payne's body, like I said, he thought there was a chance he was still alive. But when he saw Billie Jean, he knew she was not alive. He said that he saw the hole in her head, a pool of blood around men, and he saw quote fragments of Billie Jean's hair and stuff on the carpet. Oh god. Like, I can't imagine finding somebody you love like that. No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now once the bodies were taken into custody, it was obvious that this was a homicide and thus an autopsy was required by law. So the coroner was able to determine that even though Bill had that deep gash in his throat,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In both cases, the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head from a .38 caliber revolver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the case was assigned to Johnson County Sheriff's Chief Deputy, Joe Woodward, and he was to get assistance from a real special agent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Special Agent Scott Lott of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations or the TBI. I also love that his name is Scott Lott. Scott Lott. That's fucking awesome. Agent Scott Lott. Agent Scott Lott is on the case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the duo started off by questioning friends and family of the murdered couple, and pretty instantly they heard about the social media war going on between them and a few other people in town, and Janelle Porter- or, Potter. I keep wanting to say Porter. I know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They did however learn that Bill Payne had been using and dealing drugs at the time of his death through interviews and they also had found a small amount of meth within the home and a pipe. Okay. So they were like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But they were quickly able to learn that Bill was not a major player in the scene at all. He was a small time dealer. He really only dealt to his friends and none of those people had any reason to want him or Billie Jean dead. So that kind of fizzled out pretty quickly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the only other lead that they had to follow up on was the ongoing social media feud.


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[Assistant] So on February 1st, the day after the couple had been murdered, Woodward and Lott went out to the Potter household to interview the family about their relationship with the murdered couple.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They acted like they were in shock and told both investigators that they had just heard about the murders on the news that morning.


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[Assistant] And when the investigators asked about the issues that Janelle had been having with the murdered couple and the other former friends, she told them that Lindsay Thomas and Billie Jean Hayworth had been unhappy about telephone harassment cases having been dismissed, but since then there hadn't been any further problems between them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lies. She did say though that both women had hacked her Facebook account and created a ton of fake profiles. And for months they harassed Janelle and other friends that she'd made virtually. They just went out and harassed everybody she ever knew on her friends list. It's like weird that that happened on your IP address if it was them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Woodward in law asked why the other members of the group would say that actually she was the one doing the harassing. And she told them, quote,


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[Assistant] No, no. I'm not that mean. I just tell people to leave me alone.


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[Assistant] Which is like, that's great that you have a good self image, like you've got confidence, but, but that's not it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, she said they also, she also felt like they didn't accept her because she hadn't been born and raised in Mountain City.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was everybody else in Mountain City's fault, not hers. Because they didn't like outsiders. Meanwhile, they seemed to be pretty fucking welcoming. Yeah, it seemed like it. Tracy went out of her way to introduce Janelle to her entire friend group. Yeah, they introduced her to her boyfriend. Yeah, exactly. Jeez. But she explained,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But no matter how much she begged them to stop, they just wouldn't. They terrorized her, they told her they were gonna kill her, kill her parents, they said they were gonna rape her, and they repeatedly told her that they hoped she would die.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that one day when Janelle was home alone, somebody had come by and kicked in the garage door. Oh. Yea. Crazy. Look at that.


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[Assistant] And what stood out as particularly strange to Agent Law, in particular, was that Janelle seemed to be minimizing Jamie Curd's involvement. He was like, I thought he was a bigger part of this whole friend group, like so why, and he's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And she seemed to be stirring any questions they had about him in the opposite direction. Like anytime they asked about Jamie, she danced around it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay. And it's like why are you trying so hard not to talk about Jamie?


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[Assistant] She was like, nope, we're just friends and sometimes he comes by to help the computer. The end.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She was going out of her way to talk about anything and anyone other than Jamie, which only made investigators want to talk to him even more. Yea, of course. It was a horrible idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the first interview they had with Jamie was two days after this. It was a pretty unproductive meeting other than the fact that he agreed to take a polygraph test. Other than that, he claimed he knew nothing about the murders, he really didn't have anything to say.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then he was picked up again for an interview on February 6th.


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[Assistant] In his previous interview, Jamie had failed that polygraph test.


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[Assistant] But that it was Buddy Porter. God damn it, Potter. Jesus. Potter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, Buddy Potter had pulled the trigger both times, Jamie said. He also asked while he was in his interview if anybody from the CIA was there, which greatly confused the detectives. They were like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No. They're like, no, we're local detectives. They don't usually come around for this type of thing. No. But like, why do you ask? Yeah. And he was like, no, no, no, I'm just wondering. No, nobody from the same court here. Chris? Secret stuff. Chris, are you there? Yeah. They were like, no. Oh, so it's like, fuck you, Jamie. You pointed in the direction.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're all pieces of shit. And your cousin's like, probably soon to be wife. Yeah. Like what is wrong with you? The mother of his child. Exactly. The mother of your third cousin? Is that how that works? I don't know how that works.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but yea. Family. Like just, yea, the mother of your family. Yea. And your family. But anyway, the detectives asked Jamie after he confessed to call up Buddy Porter and see if he could get him to talk about what had happened. That way they could try to get a taped confession.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Jamie called the house that same night, February 6th, and there was some small talk between him and Barbara at first because she was the one to answer the phone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] During this little small talk, Barbara said that she'd gotten an email from Chris telling her that Jamie had been arrested and she asked him point blank, have you taken a lie detector test? And if you did, did you pass it? He lied to Barbara and he said, I did, but I passed it. No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No. And he was like, can I talk to Buddy? So she puts him on the phone. Buddy gets on the phone and immediately asks Jamie if he quote, got rid of everything from Bills. Wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jamie responded telling Buddy that he had and Buddy said, okay, that makes me feel a lot better. I'm so happy that he's a fucking idiot. Me too. That's great. I'm really glad he's a fucking idiot. Samesies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So now investigators were able to get an arrest warrant for Buddy Potter based on Jamie's confession and that phone conversation, and they were also able to get a warrant to search the Potter home for evidence. Good. Yeah, we're winning.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Buddy was taken into custody without incident, and the authorities who searched the home were able to seize a shit ton of potential evidence, including, but not limited to, the family computer, a spiral notebook containing the passwords to a large amount of social media accounts, two guns, which I'm like, that's it, one of which was a .38 caliber pistol.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And as one investigator approached a stack of papers next to the couch where Barbara and Janelle were sitting, Barbara started grabbing the papers and ripping them in half.


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[Assistant] As if there weren't multiple officers and agents sitting there right in front of her. They're like, gal, you can't do that. You've pressed an incorrect key. Wow. So agent Woodward was like, what the fuck are you doing? Like stop and give me those. So she had to hand them over. She had no choice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which included several photos printed out of Billie Jean Hayworth.


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[Assistant] Like, they're just living in this house with fucking printed out screenshots of social media. Yes. The most pathetic group of human beings I have ever heard of. Like this is... Wow. Sick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're sitting there writing Billy Whore, like, oh, go fuck yourselves. Like, what is wrong with you? It's giving, like, if the Firefly family was, like, really invested in Facebook. Honestly, the Firefly family is so much fucking cooler than this. Absolutely. Way cooler than these assholes. You know what I'm saying?


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[Assistant] But Buddy insisted that they were just friends and that any feelings either of them had toward the other had been, quote, straightened out a long time ago.


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[Assistant] Ew. Like what? Like what are you? Why can't she just have feelings for this man? You're just like, you're so gross. He said that Jamie would never have been capable of taking care of his daughter and that was why he and Barbara wouldn't allow the relationship. Man. Weird.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Buddy's interview went on for hours, he repeatedly denied having any involvement in the murders, he said he knew Bill Payne was a drug dealer, and that this whole thing was probably a drug deal gone bad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But this all changed when the agents brought his wife Barbara into the equation. They were like, well, does Barbara know that you did this? Does Janelle know that you did this? And he broke down. Whoa. The bringing his wife and his daughter into it somehow broke him. Wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why don't you call Barbara? You gotta let her know. Like, they were playing like-


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[Assistant] So he gets Barbara on the phone and he confesses, telling her that he killed Billie Jean and Bill quote because of what they tried to do to her and Janelle.


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[Assistant] See to me that sounds like there's something going on there.


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[Assistant] She's like, like we said, there seems to be some undiagnosed mental illness happening here. And that response to me is like, no, you told me that I was supposed to say this. You know what I mean? Like, no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So remember how I said that Jamie had asked about the CIA in his second interview and the cops were like, what? Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He explained to them then that there was this CIA agent named Chris that was a family friend of the Potters and that it was his duty, his assignment to keep Janelle safe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, as they continued to search the Potter household, they would find out just how serious Jamie was being and just how scared he was. They took into custody multiple trash bags of shredded paper that had been found in the back of Buddy's truck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Imagine. Holy shit. And when they did, they realized that this entire case was a very strange conspiracy theory involving someone who claimed to be a CIA agent that had been quote, corresponding with Barbara and warning her about threats to her daughter's life.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was like the theme of those emails that they were able to put together. So they tried.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And tried, and tried to locate a CIA agent with the description of Chris.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That they dug, they realized, and I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear that Chris was just one of Janelle's online personas. What? It was her all along. Oh, I had no idea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But to Barbara, Chris was very, very real. They had exchanged a myriad of emails and texts, and Barbara even shared pictures of him on social media saying, Chris, our son.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, that is, that's very sick. What's even sicker, what's even more fucked up, is that those pictures were of a man named Chris. A guy that Janelle had gone to high school with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh my. They weren't friends. This random guy named Chris who she went to high school with? Yes.


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[Assistant] Can you imagine being Chris? He ended up being called to testify in this case. Oh my god, poor Chris. I know. Oh, that sucks. I would be so fucking angry. I would be pissed and that's why everybody should go delete Facebook right now. Yeah, go delete your Facebook. Fuck that. Can you imagine? She just took them off of his account.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, poor Chris. Poor Chris. Wow. So once investigators reassembled the shredded communications and looked at them,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With more context, DA Dennis Brooks developed his own theory about the origins of this Chris character. He said, quote,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Social media allowed Janelle Potter to be somebody that she wasn't. She invented Chris so that she could be as hateful as she wanted to be. Yep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Chris had entered the picture right around the time that Billie Jean and Billy, and excuse me, Bill Payne started dating, and it was clear reading through the communications that this man was not a CIA agent. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He focused on how pretty and sweet Janelle was, not at all your typical behavior.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they realized that all of the communications from Chris and anyone he spoke with, whether it be through mail, social media, or text, all came from Janelle's accounts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The fact that that was just overlooked. Even her phone number. Come on. Like when she was, when these people were getting texts from Chris, it was coming from Junel's phone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, when they compared Chris's writing with Janelle's, it was identical. She had a very specific style of writing. She often made spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes, and coincidentally, Chris made those exact same ones. Particularly, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, she spelled worry, w-o-r-r-i-e, and so did Chris. Oh, those are very specific. Uhm, like, there's a few others that I didn't end up writing down, but like, they're all very specific, and it's very specific words. There's a few more, I wish I'd written them down. But uhm, but yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The mayor, Mike Reese, put it this way to the press.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even the stranger aspects of the case actually sounded familiar to anybody who had a quote-unquote run-in with Janelle.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He actually, I said that on purpose. He said that a year or so earlier, the Potters were upset, specifically Buddy, like had called him and said that, quote, the 911 director had taken Janelle off his list.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The mayor literally had no idea what this meant, but knew that Janelle Potter was always up to some kind of scheming and telling her mom and dad that she was the one being scheming. So Janelle is just like, oh, just manipulating her parents.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's just like her sister said. Her sister was like, she manipulates you guys into doing whatever she wants you to do, including fucking murder. Holy shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Buddy's trial began in October of 2013 and there was obviously a shit ton of evidence and, uh, taped confessions going against him. Although the motives and the events leading up to the murders were, like, kind of complicated, I guess, the prosecutor's argument was pretty straightforward. They put it like this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Barbara, Buddy, and Jamie are not sophisticated people. They were easily misled by Janelle, who knew which buttons to press. Jamie was lonely and vulnerable to a younger woman stroking his ego. He'd never been out of Mountain City, never been popular.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Barbara also had some kind of mental disorder in which there always has to be a controversy or conspiracy going on. She was fixated on conflicts. Buddy liked to think of himself as a government operative.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Most people figured Janelle out, that she was a bit of a fantasist. That's why she struggled to make and keep friends. But not these three. It was the perfect storm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And also knew that they didn't really understand social media, so she used Chris to amplify fake threats against her and eventually threats to everybody else in the family, making them feel like they were unsafe. Yeah. She was manipulating everybody around her to murder these people that she perceived to be her enemies for some reason or another.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She knew he was in love with her and that he was desperate to be accepted by her family, so she inserted him right into the drama, had him get buddy buddy with her dad, and figured out a way for the two of them to want to protect her and be willing to murder to protect her.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jamie answered, well, I mean, I thought Chris was real. I mean, I thought there was, you know, someone that I was talking to there and that Janelle, the way she would talk to me,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really sick. Yeah. All the way around. It is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So needless to say, in October of 2013, Buddy was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder and he was sentenced to two life sentences. Oh damn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But since he agreed to testify against Buddy Potter, he was given a lesser sentence and he got 25 years in prison. Damn.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm actually surprised he got that. I was hoping you would get that. I am too. You know how these things usually shake out. Cause well they weren't able to prove who had really done the killing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's the thing. You know, like, still to this day, nobody knows- That's the story, but- That's the story, and still to this day, nobody knows who was the one to slash Bill Payne's throat. I was gonna ask that, because I didn't hear that come up, so it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No. What the hell happened? It's just, it's Buddy's word against Jamie's. Nobody else was there. Are they, are both of them saying that the other one did it? Uh, Buddy's, Buddy says that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll get there. Okay. But Jamie said that Buddy did everything. Okay. He said he was just the lookout. He was there, the lookout.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now obviously there was no doubt that Jamie and Buddy had been the ones to go out there and kill Bill and Billie Jean, regardless of who pulled the trigger. But investigators also at the same time knew that Barbara and Janelle played a key role in orchestrating this entire thing to work for them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This wouldn't have happened. Absolutely. But the problem was that it was going to be kind of difficult to prosecute a person for murder if they weren't actually present for the killings. Yea, of course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This DA was willing to try, and just a few months after Buddy's conviction, a grand jury did end up indicting both Janelle and Barbara Potter for murder and for tampering with evidence. Good. There was a lot of holdup going into trial, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So many technicalities and like, this is a very unprecedented thing to try to women who, for murder who weren't actually at the murder site.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But eventually they got there, and the double trial began May 2015. They were being tried at the same time. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] DA Dennis Brooks was facing multiple hurdles, but made pretty much the same case to the jury that he had in Buddy's trial.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now the evidence presented to the jury was damning to say the least. It showed them exactly who Janelle was. A woman caught up in some kind of fantasy turned conspiracy that eventually ended up in murder.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it never seemed like either woman was unaware that their implications could have led to murder. And it really didn't seem like they gave a shit about the consequences of those implications. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They both wanted these people dead and knew how, and knew they would get there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it took about a week to get through testimony and all the evidence and at the end of the trial.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Both of them were found guilty on all counts. Damn. And both were sentenced to life in prison. Holy shit, really? Janelle will be 80 years old before she's eligible for parole.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He alluded that it was Jamie Curd who had killed Billie Jean. He said, I killed Billie Payne. He killed Billie Jean. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Jamie Kurtz said, I didn't kill either of them. I was just the lookout. Now this 2020, uh, 2021 appeal case was actually an attempt by Barbara and Janelle's lawyers to get both women a new case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This. You did this. You did this. And then you're like, okay, can you, can you just like show me a piece of thing that says that? And they're like a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No. I can't. It's like, why'd you even bring that up? Because before-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ridonculous. So unfortunately though, the court did find evidence supporting a claim made by Barbara that since she was tried in the same trial as her daughter, there was a conflict of interest that may have impacted her soul case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the DA didn't wanna go through with another trial and I think they probably thought like it wasn't gonna happen two times that they found her guilty when she wasn't there. Yeah. So instead they offered her a plea deal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Finding out later the trauma of what happened. Oh my god. And that you were asleep in her arms. Like that's, that's like Dexter. Literally. Literally. Literally the storyline of Dexter. That's actually crazy that you said that. Holy shit. They found him like covered in his mother's blood. Oh, that's awful.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's awful. And thank gosh he was unharmed. Like, if that baby had been harmed, I honestly don't think I would have been able to tell the story. But holy shit. But all because this girl had feelings for Bill that she never even voiced. Yeah, that's, I mean, wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So uh, like we always say, social media is the root of all evil. It really is. And this proves it. It's just become a thing where it's like, what's the fucking point anymore? Why are we here? Honestly, what's the point? Legit. It's so true. Get an email address.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Baby think about it every night and day. It's so good. It really is. It's so good. If you're listening, we love you. If you can't tell. We love you so much. Come on the show. Let's talk about sinister shit on the show. We are going to talk about some sinister shit. I would have babe on the show.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Truth. A survivor tale. Uhm, we were talking about this Instagram that Elena and I are, I have to give credit where credit is due, Elena found it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now it's just become an integral part of our lives. It is, and it's called, uhm, at sinister pond babe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And she's hilarious and I just, I gotta give, I gotta give credit when somebody makes me laugh and brightens my day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I want him to blow up. Not in like a bad way, but in a good way. I want her to get a billion followers and get paid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You want her to get what the kids call clout. There you go. Clout. I just wonder, I hope she's getting paid. Cause she's, she's doing a service. It's like momma taught.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I hope she's getting paid because she makes my day better. I hope Mamata is getting all the bounty of gifts that the earth has to offer. Truly, truly. Alright, well that was all very wholesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And happy, babe. And this is sinister, babe. I don't know, it's, it's dark-sided. It's really dark-sided. This is honestly, this is a, this is a tough one, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and it takes place on March 4th, 1999, but this was more than just the 90s. The murder of Cordell Richards, which we're gonna talk about today, is truly one of the most brutal cases I think I've personally covered. Ooh, not like we have covered, but that I've covered. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Cordell was an Okaloosa County restaurant worker and father of two, and his body was discovered on this day, like I said, March 4th, 1999.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He was burned, beaten, and found chained to a tree. Oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, his remains were left in an isolated wooded area just outside of some land that was gonna be soon turned into houses. I think there was a couple houses on the plot, but it was like a newly built neighborhood. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cordell's body was discovered by a 12 year old boy. Oh, just playing in that wooded area in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.


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[Assistant] And when he found the body, he immediately ran home to tell his parents what he had seen. They immediately contacted the sheriff's department and the police headed out there ASAP.


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[Assistant] So they found the remains actually partially skeletonized, intensely charred, and again, like I said, bound to the tree by a very heavy chain.


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[Assistant] Upon closer inspection, there was a thick cord tied around the victim's wrists, which were behind his back, and there was duct tape covering the remains of his mouth.


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[Assistant] The county medical examiner at the time, Dr. Michael Berkland, was obviously called to the scene as soon as possible.


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[Assistant] At first he wasn't even able to identify the gender of the victim. He had, because he was so beyond any recognition whatsoever. Oh god, that's awful.


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[Assistant] Couldn't even determine a cause of death other than of course the body had been lit on fire.


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[Assistant] Now, the body was not only burned past the point of recognition, but also significantly decomposed. The body had been out in the elements for quite some time, there was actually barely even flesh on the bones anymore, and there were no organs left to be tested.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually didn't realize how quickly organs decompose. So when I first read that, I was just like, oh, so there's no like healthy organs to test. But then I looked it up because I was like, were there no organs left at all or just none to test? I'm like, wait a second.


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[Assistant] Enzymes start to digest cell membranes and then leak out as the cells break down. This usually begins in the liver, which is rich in enzymes and in the brain, which has a high water content. So those are the first to go.


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[Assistant] Eventually though, all other tissues and organs begin to break down in this way. I didn't realize how quickly it happened.


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[Assistant] It's so freaky when you really start to think about it. I know. It's a delicate process. Yeah, seriously. So the first observation that Dr. Birkeland was able to make.


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[Assistant] Made me feel like I was reading The Butcher and Wren all over again. The part where Wren explains the presence of blowflies. As I was reading this, I was like, the butcher and the Wren! So Dr. Birkeland was able to determine that the body had been left chained to this tree for at least two weeks because he found the presence of maggots.


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[Assistant] However, there was something strange about the presence of these maggots. Some of them were also charred.


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[Assistant] But it would be quite the feat to do so. Because of the advanced state of decomposition, and also the fact that the remains were so considerably damaged already, the crime scene technician and Dr. Berkland had to be super careful with these remains.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dr. Brooklyn found that the victim had suffered multiple skull fractures, evidence of blunt force trauma to the shoulder blade, sternum, and ribs, and also what appeared to be defensive injuries on the hands and arms.


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[Assistant] So the victim was believed to be a man in his early to mid thirties and Dr. Berklin believed that he had been killed about one month earlier.


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[Assistant] Now because of the circumstances, a precise cause of death really couldn't be determined, because there was just so much going on here.


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[Assistant] But Dr. Birkeland concluded that quote, the manner of death was homicidal violence with combined features of blunt force trauma to the head, body and upper extremities and a probable chop injury to that left neck.


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[Assistant] And he believed that the victim was likely beaten with some kind of club, he said.


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[Assistant] Now what was stumping him though was the charred maggots. The body had been discovered, like I said, with bindings on the wrists and tape covering the mouth.


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[Assistant] So the man was presumably alive when he was transported to this area and then killed, most likely after being chained to that tree and beaten.


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[Assistant] So why did the killer or the killers come back two weeks later and further destroy the remains by burning them? What was that about? So.


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[Assistant] Anyways, IDing this man was incredibly difficult at first, but then the doctor noticed and I thought this was crazy. The only reason why Cordell was ever able to be IDed is because of there was enough soft tissue on the right thumb to get a partial fingerprint. Whaaat? Isn't that nuts?


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[Assistant] My god, forensic science, man. Forensic science is crazy. It's unbelievable. It really is. So, the doctor got that partial fingerprint and handed it over to detectives, and he was like, do what you can.


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[Assistant] Now back in the woods, investigators were combing through this scene. They sifted actually through a significant amount of evidence. There were empty cans, there was a roll of duct tape that matched the one that had been used to cover the victim's mouth.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there were tire impressions that were left in the dirt at the side of the road near the site. Automatically we're going to get excited about that.


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[Assistant] So, but nonetheless, obviously they went back to the uh, station.


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[Assistant] And they start sifting through all the missing persons reports they could find from early to mid February. Yeah.


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[Assistant] And they're able to narrow down their search based on Dr. Berglund's approximation of the age and the confirmation of the sex, and their pool was pretty small at that point. And the most likely victim, they believed, was 31-year-old Cordell Richards.


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[Assistant] Cordell was a military veteran. He had served in the US Air Force for almost 10 years from 1985 to 1994.


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[Assistant] He'd been recently divorced and had two young daughters at the time.


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[Assistant] And at the time of his death, he was living in an apartment in Fort Walton, Florida and working at a local IHOP.


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[Assistant] He'd been actually reported missing by his friend Martin Stone. Martin realized on February 13th that he hadn't heard from Cordell in over a week.


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[Assistant] He called him on the phone. He emailed him a couple times. He actually even made several trips to his apartment during that week, but just couldn't get in touch with his friend.


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[Assistant] So Martin actually went to the IHOP and checked in with some of the coworkers. He was like, have you seen Cordell at all? They're like,


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[Assistant] We actually haven't seen him since the beginning of the month. And that was super, super, super out of character for him. He was a very reliable employee.


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[Assistant] So after doing everything he possibly could to locate his friend, Martin went to the police and asked them to do a welfare check.


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[Assistant] So the welfare check was conducted that same afternoon actually by officers Josh Duma, I hope I'm saying that right, and Mike Nichols. They pounded on the doors, they pounded on the windows, but they got zero response. Officer Nichols noticed that there was one window though that was slightly open, and he was able to push it completely open and crawl through it. And once he was in,


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[Assistant] He looked around to find, to find himself what seemed to be in a storage room, like inside of the apartment.


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[Assistant] So then he located the front door and was able to let the other officer in.


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[Assistant] Called out for Cordell, called out for anybody, but got zero response.


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[Assistant] And then they finally reached a bedroom door. And it seemed to be locked with a deadbolt.


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[Assistant] And there was a towel stuffed under the crack between the door and the floor. Hmm.


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[Assistant] Both of them 17 years old. She appeared to be just waking up from a nap.


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[Assistant] She was wrapped up in a sleeping bag on the floor just sleeping.


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[Assistant] Oh, okay. Just snoozing. Yeah, just snoozing. Now they explained that they had actually been subletting the room from Cordell. Crystal had been living there a couple of months now because she had been kicked out by her parents. Ronald didn't live there, he said, and he claimed he actually really didn't know much of anything about Cordell. And Crystal told the officers that she hadn't seen Cordell in the past week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So soon it would be confirmed, excuse me, that the body discovered in the woods was Cordell Richards.


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[Assistant] Because he was a member of the Air Force, his fingerprints were on file and were a match for that partial thumbprint taken by the medical examiner. Wow. What luck. Like, that's, in my opinion, like a one in a million chance. Yeah, that really is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, so now that they had a positive ID, it was time for the investigators to really start ramping up here. Who killed this guy and why did they do so? Yeah.


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[Assistant] By all accounts, that's the thing. Cordell was really well-liked. He was really hard-working. He really seemed to have few, if any, enemies. All of his coworkers at IHOP told the investigators that he was, quote, good-natured and popular. He had a house cleaner who insisted, quote, he would have done anything for anybody in the world.


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[Assistant] Even his ex-wife had only good things to say about him. She told the investigators that he was a quote, reliable hard worker and a good dad.


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[Assistant] But that was really the only thing she could think of. And as the detectives dug deeper into Cordell's life, all their findings seemed to confirm what they'd been told, that he was a good guy. They didn't hear from one person at this point that he was a shitty person.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's rare. Yeah, like you're going to find someone who's like, uhm, actually, if I'm being honest, like, yeah. And the ex-wife, for the ex-wife to say,


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[Assistant] I love feeling like I'm at like the top of my game, like I'm the best of the best. And I feel that way when I'm less stressed out, when I make more time for myself.


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[Assistant] And when I am really honoring the things that make me me.


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[Assistant] When you're at your best, you can do great things. That's the thing. But sometimes life gets you bogged down and you'll feel overwhelmed or like you're not showing up in the best way you want to. Maybe you're not being as kind as you'd like to. Maybe you're not giving yourself the you time that you need. But working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of you. Cause when you feel empowered, you're more prepared to take on everything that life throws at you. I am always my best self when I am in, say it with me, therapy. I love therapy. Just having like a little,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Allotted time just for you and your therapist to catch up on all the things that have been stressing you out. All the things that you don't necessarily know how to cope with or do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're a licensed professional who can help you and that is always going to make you feel lighter. If you're thinking of giving therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great option. It's convenient, flexible, affordable, and it's entirely online. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. If you want to live a more empowered life, therapy can help get you there. Visit betterhelp.com slash morbid today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash morbid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the start of the year, I always, always, always have the best intentions. I'm like, new year, new me, baby, I'm gonna cut down screen time, I'm gonna eat better, I'm gonna go to the gym every day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thanks to Daily Harvest. Daily Harvest is keeping me in check, baby, because they deliver delicious harvest bowls, soups, flatbread snacks, smoothies, lattes, and more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All built on organic fruits and vegetables. With nourishing and easy to prep options, I literally never have to think twice and that's my favorite thing. If I have to think twice, I'm probably not going to make a good choice. Everything stays fresh in my freezer and it just like looks nice in there until I'm ready to enjoy it, which helps me reduce food waste and makes me feel like a better person.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By supporting farmers who invest in practices that increase biodiversity and improve the health of our soil and


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[Assistant] If eating well is a goal for 2023, let Daily Harvest support you on your journey. Go to DailyHarvest.com slash morbid to get up to $40 off your first box. That's DailyHarvest.com slash morbid for up to $40 off your first box. DailyHarvest.com slash morbid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They also found out that he spent a lot of time caring for his elderly grandparents who weren't doing so well around the time of his death.


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[Assistant] They were pretty much getting by his grandparents due to his physical and financial aid. Oh wow. Yeah.


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[Assistant] Now, the comment about his money problems led the detectives to believe that maybe it was some kind of factor in his death.


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[Assistant] So they went down that avenue a bit longer, but they eventually ruled it out because it turned out the money issues really weren't that serious. Oh, okay. He was just kind of trying to make ends meet. Yeah, it just wasn't like great. Yeah, exactly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So next they turn to the area where Cordell had been discovered. They canvassed a neighborhood that was adjacent to the scene.


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[Assistant] And we're able actually to connect with a couple that gave them a pretty strong lead.


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[Assistant] Oh boy. Donald and Robin Burden lived in a cul-de-sac in that housing subdivision where Cordell was, behind where Cordell was found. Okay.


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[Assistant] And the two of them told detectives that in early February they had been out for a walk. They always went out for a walk daily.


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[Assistant] And they said this day, they saw three young people in a car. They'd never seen those young people and they'd actually never even seen that car.


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[Assistant] So it kind of made alarm bells go off. When it's that kind of neighborhood.


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[Assistant] People notice things. On a cul-de-sac neighborhood, we always be knowing. We always know. A dead-end street, we always be knowing. Everyone is looking at the cars going through a cul-de-sac. And if we don't recognize them, we say, it's getting sinister. Oh damn it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They described the car as being a small brown or tan hatchback and they said the rear right window appeared to be broken and covered by some kind of board.


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[Assistant] Donald the man said that he believed the car's occupants were a young black male.


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[Assistant] A young white female and another person in the backseat that he believed was a white male but he wasn't completely sure about that one.


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[Assistant] But because they had no leads or suspects, all they could do really was go back to the apartment with a search warrant and then that was when they carried out a search of the home.


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[Assistant] Now according to a forensic specialist, the apartment was unusually sparse, but quote, there were some items left behind that the average person wouldn't leave behind.


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[Assistant] And one of those items was Cordell's bicycle. It was really weird that it would be found at the apartment because he didn't drive and he used that bicycle to get around everywhere.


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[Assistant] So like, that, that's a big red flag to me. That's huge, because the fact that it was left behind led detectives to wonder if he'd been forcibly removed from his apartment. Because if that's how he got around, where the heck is he?


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[Assistant] So because this was now a suspicion, the detectives had the apartment sprayed with luminol.


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[Assistant] When they did so, they found evidence of blood spatter in the living room, and among the blood spatter were various bloody fingerprints and a bloody handprint. Oh, yeaah.


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[Assistant] And it was consistent with blunt force trauma to the head. Oh god. Just like the medical examiner Dr. Birkeland had noted on the autopsy. This guy was spot on with his autopsy. Hell yeah, medical examiner. And to be that spot on with a body in that condition, that says a lot about this medical examiner. Oh yeah.


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[Assistant] That's the thing. I mean, the fact that they could only get fingerprints off of like the tiniest bit of soft tissue on a thumb, a partial print and he was able to get that and then able to tell all this stuff, it's like oof. It's like chef's kiss.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Doing your job, bringing justice to someone, like that's all we ask for. Like we out here. That's all we want. That's all we need.


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[Assistant] So while technicians were busy processing the evidence over that at the apartment, the detectives were working on interviews with Cordell's housemate, Crystal, and her boyfriend, Ronald. Oh boy. Crystal told the detectives that she had been dating Ronald for the last few months and that they were very much in love. Seventeen year olds, you know, how it be. Very much in love.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, she explained that about a month prior, she had been kicked out of her parents' home.


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[Assistant] And Ronald was the one to help her find the sublease at Cordell's apartment.


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[Assistant] He had seen an ad Cordell put in the paper about looking for a housemate and the rest was history.


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[Assistant] So the detectives asked how the living situation had gone, and Crystal said, at first it was fine, but then Cordell's behavior toward her started making her feel uncomfortable.


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[Assistant] Okay. And it was inappropriate she said in a number of ways.


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[Assistant] Very inappropriate. Absolutely. And for another thing, according to her she was not interested whatsoever.


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[Assistant] I would really take it with a grain of salt because everybody else in this man's life, co-workers, house cleaner, like people that really


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[Assistant] Are barely even connected to him or completely connected to him all agree that he's a great person yeah so this is interesting and i'm assuming. This person that's talking is not a.


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[Assistant] Where she said he grabbed her, pushed her against the wall and hit her head and her head had hit the wall behind her with like the force of the...


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[Assistant] Attack, I guess you could say. Yea, that would be fucked up if that was real. That would be super fucked up. And you know, we weren't there, we don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Does it justify murder? No. No, absolutely not. I don't think many things do. Nope. So she said this was the second time though that Cordell had become physical with her. And in another room, Crystal's boyfriend Ronald told the detectives that he actually had only just learned about the altercations between Crystal and Cordell.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it was because he saw bruising on Crystal's back from the last altercation.


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[Assistant] And told her that she should have a friend sleep over more often to make her feel safe, like on nights that he couldn't be there. Yeah. And that friend would end up being Renee Lynx.


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[Assistant] Now as the two were explaining their stories to detectives,


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[Assistant] Uh, the detectives were all thinking amongst themselves that something about this story just didn't seem right.


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[Assistant] They said, to them, Crystal and Ronald both seemed to be being disingenuous.


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[Assistant] They were already pretty skeptical of this couple when they found out that Ronald's car had a close resemblance to the one that Donald and Robin had told them about. That couple from earlier.


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[Assistant] And that was right about the time of the disposal of the body, remember.


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[Assistant] So they'd been able to do a search of Ronald's car after getting a warrant for it, but it actually didn't turn up much of anything. But detectives weren't ready to give up on this lead yet, and that was smart.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Questioning staff and fellow classmates at their high school where they were both students would prove to be more than productive.


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[Assistant] It turned out, Ronald had been absent from school from February 2 to February 5.


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[Assistant] And a classmate told detectives that Ronald had asked him to borrow his truck within that same time frame.


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[Assistant] He said that after he attempted to get into the computer, Crystal and Ronald had driven him home and along the way they threw out multiple trash bags full of stuff from the apartment.


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[Assistant] No, none of you? Like, even when I was 17 years old and if I got a ride home from somebody that was throwing trash bags out the window, I'd be like,


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[Assistant] Just quietly observe. See what's happening there. If you don't feel safe asking what's going on, write that down somewhere. Just go.


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[Assistant] Tell your mom, tell your dad, tell your adult. I don't know. Like even then, even then and now when I drive by a trash bag on the side of the road, I'm like, well, is that a body? Is that body parts? Like I always wonder. So I feel like it's like that, that would be on my mind. I'd be like, hmm, trash bags. I'd be like, what are you throwing out this window? What's happening?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, so the detectives tried to search the dumpster, the dumpster, excuse me, in those areas, but the trash from that period was long gone at that point. Cause remember it's been a month at this point. So it's like in a landfill somewhere.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then he told the detectives that around early February, a friend of his, Renee Lynx, remember her name, she was the friend that slept over, told him that she and her friends Crystal and Ronald were planning to kill Crystal's roommate Cordell because he made advances toward Crystal. Just came right out and said it. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It turns out that Renée Lynx had been interviewed prior to this tip, actually, in the presence of her mother because she was a minor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Both women, the mom and Renee, denied knowing anything about Cordell's murder. But luckily, the evidence police had already taken in was plenty to arrest all three teens at this point. Ronald Bell, Crystal Maestas, both 17 years old, and Renee Lynx.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now when Renee was able to speak with her mother, her mom was able to break down how serious the situation was and she was like, you need to make a plea deal cause you're in deep here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Renee was 15 years old at the time of Cordell's murder. Fifteen? Fifteen. Holy shit. But she was able to make that plea deal.


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[Assistant] Wow. She would be able to plead guilty to manslaughter instead of murder if she confessed to helping Crystal and Ronald and explain what the whole story was.


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[Assistant] So, she told the detectives that she had met Ronald earlier that year, and that she had been spending more and more time with him and Crystal as of late.


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[Assistant] At the time, she wasn't getting along with her mom and so she kind of moved in with Crystal and Cordell at one point.


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[Assistant] She too said that Cordell had made comments to her that made her feel uncomfortable.


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[Assistant] For some reason, she said that he was under the impression that she and Crystal were in some kind of relationship.


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[Assistant] And Renee went back to the apartment because Cordell was planning to be out pretty much all night and she knew that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Ronald came over to hang out with the two girls and Renee alleged that he was the one to bring up the idea of quote, beating up or killing Cordell Richards. Those are two very different things. Yeah, both very wrong and both two completely different things. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But he said he was pissed off about the advances that he'd made to Crystal, and he needed to learn a lesson.


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[Assistant] So Renee said at first she didn't think that Ronald was serious, and she especially didn't think that Crystal was gonna go along with this, but she was wrong. Jesus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Crystal agreed and added on to this that if they were to kill this man,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They could stay in the apartment for the rest of the month because the rent had already been paid. Oh my god. And if they needed extra money, they could just sell off some of his stuff, she said. Oh, okay, this kind of, like this to me, mhm.


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[Assistant] There's a different motive here. Totally. Like that, that's, that's a lot of thinking. That's a lot of planning. Yup. That's not just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm angry because you did something that made me feel uncomfortable. So I'm going to go off in a rage and like a crime of passion kind of thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean obviously this wasn't a crime of passion anyways because of the prolonged torture of it all. Exactly. But even if something like that had happened and like they were pissed and all that, like this doesn't make sense. No. That you would come up with, oh, you know what?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm really pissed that, uh, this happened so we should, uh, kill him cause I'm so mad about it and I'm so, like, uncomfortable here. But you know what's cool is we can stay in this apartment for the rest of the month.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if we need extra money, we can just sell off his stuff. Like all of that doesn't just come together in a moment. No, that's not your thing. If you're really sitting there going, something's wrong here, we need to get rid of him, which is a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 100%. I mean, no, we will not know because obviously nobody was there except for the people that are involved here. But like to me, this is, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not semen, semen, right? The math's not math. Yea, the math is not math in here. No, not at all. But Renee said she knew for sure that they were really going to do it when the couple went to Walmart and came back to the apartment with a rope, a chain, and a lock, which they said would be used when they killed Cordell. My god. Mhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, Renee told detectives that that same evening, Ronald called his friend Calvin Smith and asked if he could be of assistance in the murder, but Smith told him that he couldn't sneak out that night, so he wasn't going to be able to do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] His answer was along the lines of quote, he might help some beat, uh, he might help beat someone up, but not kill them. Oh, okay. I was like, well, everybody's got a line. Either way, you know. He said that if he changed his mind, maybe he would page them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He never ended up, uh, beeping them that night or paging them. Wild. So since they couldn't find anybody to help, they said they gave up on their plan for that night. It just, it wasn't really panning out. Not for tonight. So Ronald headed home, but told the girls to page him if anything went down. The nineties. Renee said that something did happen after he left.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess the two, or she says that the two girls got a call from somebody.


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[Assistant] Who identified themselves as Heather and said that they were Cordell's girlfriend.


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[Assistant] The woman said that she- oh yeah, I was just gonna tell you that all over again. One more time. I was just re-reading my same line. But then she told the two girls that they should kiss each other.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They said they then realized that the caller was actually Cordell calling from the next room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was when Ronald grabbed him, shoved him, and got him into a headlock.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is very planned, very prepared for, very we know what we're gonna do. You don't bring a baseball bat somewhere thinking you're not gonna kill someone. I'm sorry. You hit someone with a baseball bat, that's attempted murder. That's exactly what that is. Like come on, like this is, the math is not math-ing. Not at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So she was the one to hit him first, hit Cordell first, as Ronald was holding him in a headlock. That doesn't shock me. Crystal started hitting him in the legs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She said, uh, Renee said weekly at first, but then eventually she hit him in the temple area of his head. My god. That hit, knocked off his glasses, and split his skin up near his temple, at which point he obviously started bleeding.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She said, Rune said as she watched, she saw the man lose consciousness from the beating and the intensity of the headlock.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And once he lost consciousness, she said all three of them, so she was very much a participant in this, tied him up with ropes and wrapped him in a blanket. He's not dead at this point.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They then placed him into the back of Ronald's car and drove to that wooded area behind that cul de sac in Fort Walton.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now after they dragged his unconscious body into the woods, Renee said it was actually crystal that suggests they kill him by lighting him on fire.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's how she wanted to kill him. Crystal? Crystal suggested that they light him on fire as a means of murdering him. Crystal needs to be in... Bye. Forever. Like forever. Like, throw away the key. Like, that's a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With the action actually able to be carried out and be like, let's go, let's light this man on fire while he's still alive. It's like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whoa. Like pump the fucking brakes. And at this point, again, they've already purchased a fucking chain


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, he brought a baseball bat, they got a lock for the chain, like. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This was something very different. The intention was very different. This was fulfilling a different void. Mhm, mhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Personally, it's a thing, it's like a real perfect storm for me. It's like a scheduling issue and it's also because I can't stay motivated. Like I just get bored and I don't want to do it anymore. But the one thing I have found is that with Peloton, I am always motivated. It's the coaches, it's the different landscapes that you can do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The music keeps me motivated and the fact that the classes can be


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Coming here talking to you from the bottom of the fitness level bin, they work for me, I'm telling you. They can get you moving whether that's a 10 minute power walk or a 30 minute endurance ride. Work out when it works for you. This is a big one. Peloton offers


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thousands of on-demand classes so you'll always find a workout. Whether you exercise daily or you're new to working out, Peloton can help you achieve


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Those fitness goals. I love seeing the little calendar that they show you on the screen that says,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Try Peloton risk free with a 30 day home trial. New members only, not available in remote locations. See additional terms at onepeloton.com slash home dash trial.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So she said, Renee, that they used the can of cigarette lighter fluid that Ronald had in his car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Renee said it was actually her idea to get the man to give them his ATM pin so that they could steal his cash before they lit him on fire. Oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They removed the blanket from his head and he actually agreed to give them the number and begged them not to kill him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Eventually all three of them had taken multiple swings to this man, now in the woods after chaining him to this tree. I don't-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't understand this. I don't understand somebody getting a lesser sentence either for giving this information. Like you took swings at him. You're a different kind of individual if you can look at a man tied to a tree and hit him with a baseball bat. Begging for his life. While he's begging for his life and you sit there and say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think this would have happened regardless of any of the circumstances going on at play here because if you're capable of doing that, you're capable of doing that no matter what the circumstances are.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] While this was happening, Renee said that Ronald hit Cordell so hard that he ended up making a comment that he was Babe Ruth.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh my god, that is so beyond. The callousness involved in this. The callousness here. And how nobody, none of that registered for any of them as like, what the fuck? Like, that shouldn't- Like, this is a man. This is someone's dad. Like, this is somebody's son.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow. After they were done hitting him, they dragged him even further into the woods. So I'm sorry, he actually wasn't chained up at this point. This was elsewhere. This was just out of the car. Exactly. So at this, after they had all done that and Ronald had his Babe Ruth moment according to him, they dragged him further into the woods and then, excuse me, chained him to that tree where he would eventually be found.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they just left in Ronald's car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean this girl, our parents kicked her out of the house, obviously something is going on here. Yea, she was having a lot of problems before this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So once the sun came up that morning, they went back to the woods and Crystal and Ronald went back to check on the body. Renee said that she waited in the car.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Crystal and Ronald assumed that they would find Cordell dead, but they were actually shocked to find him still alive and faintly calling out for help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you kidding me? After being lit on fire, he was still, and beaten brutally, left out in the middle of the night, chained in the middle of nowhere basically, still alive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow. Now when they found him like this, they were actually worried because there was a construction crew working on a house in that cul-de-sac nearby. So they were like, oh no, he's going to alert the construction worker. Someone's going to call the police and we're all going down. Yeah. They're going to try to save this man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ronald actually at this point attempted to break Cordell's neck, but wasn't able to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Renee said that when they got back to the car, they immediately drove to a local store where they purchased a large meat cleaver for $9.99. Oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then they went back to the woods and Ronald used the meat cleaver to cut Cordell's throat. That was that. That was what the chop was, exactly. Holy shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The fuck. Detectives were actually able to locate the store where Renee claimed they bought the knife. They got surveillance. Holy shit. All three teens are on surveillance, not only purchasing the knife, but then returning it to the store for their $9.99 refund.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Imagine the police knocking on your door and being like, hey, did you purchase a meat cleaver recently? Uh, it was the murder weapon in a recent brutal homicide, so we're gonna have to take that back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And imagine if you're like, uhm, I just cooked dinner with it. Like what the fuck? Yeah. Mhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So they were able- So not only are the- like these kids-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are fucking demons. Demons. To go through all of this you have to be a demon. And then to add onto it these different layers of like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me just return to the store. I want my 10 bucks. I don't give a fuck that somebody else is going to buy it and use it to cook dinner for their family. And it's like, you really needed your 10 bucks after you stole that man's pin.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that's like just what I always say. I need to come up with something else. I just, I can't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's horrible. My brain doesn't compute that. It's horrible. None of this. Holy shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They took the, the police took the meat cleaver into evidence, but unfortunately they couldn't get any traces of blood because it had probably been washed ten times over at that point. Oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After Crystal, Ronald and Renee were all certain that Cordell was dead, they went back to the apartment and Calvin Smith, that friend from earlier who wasn't able to sneak out and help them,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Came over that night and helped them all forge checks in Cordell's name and pawn off some of his belongings, including a TV and his violin. Oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know why the violin just got me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The glasses got me when they were knocked off. The glasses got me when you said the glasses were knocked off. I don't know what it was, but I got a pit in my stomach. It's just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, he has glasses, like he's the guy with the glasses, and it's like, I don't know, when they get knocked off it feels very like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Something's being ripped away, I don't know what it is, but then the violin is like, that's a part of his identity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's awful. He played the violin. You know what I mean? And you're just pawning it off like it's nothing. Cause you just brutally tortured and murdered him. Ridiculous. It's insane.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now Crystal actually also confessed to her participation. That was nice of her. Yeah, how kind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And actually much of what she told detectives lined up with what Renee had already told them. The only difference in the two girls' story, stories, excuse me, was that Crystal said she was the one to have waited in the car and Ronald and Renee went back into the woods and that was when Ronald placed duct tape over Cordell's mouth and cut his throat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, isn't that convenient that they, they both can't decide who was in the car. Well, and isn't it convenient that Rene didn't have the bit about putting the duct tape over his mouth, but Crystal did? But Crystal did. Interesting, because Rene didn't tell us anything about that. So who really was out there? Exactly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She told them that about a week later, they all worried that they had left too much evidence behind in the woods. So she, Ronald, and her 14 year old sister, April, all went back to the woods where Ronald covered Cordell's body a second time with lighter fluid and set it on fire again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that was why, when he was discovered, there were maggots, but then there were other maggots that were charred. Because he was set on fire twice. Two times.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And why are there so many kids? A 14 year old. Just completely fine with this. I'm sorry. If my fucking 15 year old friend was like, do you want to come out and light a body on fire that we murdered a couple of weeks ago? I wouldn't be like, yeah, sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So between all the information they got from Crystal and Renee, police were actually also able to arrest Crystal's sister, April.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She was charged with accessory to murder after the fact, but the charges later ended up being dropped.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, because witness testimony couldn't, uh, against her couldn't be corroborated.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Ronald, Crystal and Renee, however, were all held in a juvenile detention center in, uh, Pensacola.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A judge then ruled that all three of them would be tried as adults and they were all subsequently brought to the Okaloosa County Jail to await their trials. I personally believe that they should. 100%. Me too. This is an adult crime. This is beyond. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So on April 1st, 1999, a grand jury convened to hear Assistant State Attorney Bobby Elmore's arguments, which were in favor of trying all three as adults. And after two days of arguments, they all ruled in favor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But because the Florida Supreme Court had previously ruled that anybody under the age of 16 would not be able to be tried as an adult, Renee would have to be tried as a juvenile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So essentially she got off with a shorter sentence on a technicality. But it's like, you were very much their girlfriend. Absolutely. You very much participated. That's awful. This man died not only at your friend's hands, but at yours too. But you had every hand in it. Absolutely. Your hand was on the bat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now because she was offered a plea deal for her cooperation and agreement to testify against both Crystal and Ronald, she pleaded no content, uh, excuse me, no contest to that lesser count of manslaughter as well as false imprisonment and she was sentenced to the maximum at the time, which was 15 years in prison.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's it. Fifteen, and she was released after 12 years in 2012.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Holy shit. So she's just out there somewhere. Oh. Yup. Okay. Now Crystal went to trial in mid-February 2000, a year after the murder. The prosecutor and the defense were said by the media to have quote, sharply contrasting views of her involvement in Cordell's murder.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The prosecutor called her, quote, an enraged killer seeking revenge for a sexual advance. And he told the jury that although it was Ronald Bell who set the plan in motion, Crystal had not only partook, but mocked the man as he was dying and asked him, how does it feel?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She didn't testify in her own defense, but the jury was shown a video of her interview with detectives in which she places pretty much all of the blame on Ronald.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Renee did the same thing during her testimony. She said that Ronald was quote, very angry that Richards had touched Crystal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He bought a chain before Cordell had even gotten home that evening and the prosecutor ended by saying quote, they wouldn't have chained him to a tree if they intended to let him live. Exactly. There was only one reason they got the meat cleaver because Cordell Richards, excuse me, Cordell Richards continued to defy the odds. Exactly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now the jury deliberated for just about three hours before returning with a guilty verdict for the armed kidnapping and first degree murder of Cordell Richards.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The DA made the decision not to seek the death penalty and Judge Thomas Remington sentenced Crystal to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is the mandatory sentence for first degree murder in Florida. So she went away. She went away. She went away.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, Ronald Bell's trial was next and that started on March 13th, 2000. The prosecutor's argument in that case was pretty much the same as in Crystal's case. They argued that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The, uh, Cordell was murdered, quote, as revenge for making sexual advances toward Crystal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's wild. It just got out of control and it's like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, out of control is when you buy too many shoes during a sale. And whoops, I spent the money I was supposed to use to pay my phone bill. Like that's out of control. Out of control is when I finish an entire tub of Ben and Jerry's rather than the half that I intended on eating. Exactly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Out of control is not brutally torturing and murdering someone. I hate when the out of control thing, it's like, we are not, we're supposed to be humans here. Right. We're supposed to be a higher species of, like on this earth. You're just equating us to a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, out of control is a brief moment of being out of control. Out of control is not like a sustained state of being for that long. Of course it's not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But luckily, the prosecution was able to remind the jury of how callous Ronald Bell had been. They showed the video of the teens returning the meat cleaver, and all of the evidence that shows that this murder, no matter what, if it was a moment out of control, which it fucking wasn't,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They bought all of the things used in this murder aside from the meat cleaver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He said that on those- So this is just something he wanted to do. Hundred percent. And this was an excuse. Yeah. Hundred percent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He also stated that the day after Cordell was murdered, Ronald had told him quote, that they had beaten the man, chained him to a tree and tried to burn him and finally cut the man's throat. Jesus.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now another friend, Thomas Baldwin, testified that he had been given that TV and the violin and multiple other items that turned out to obviously belong to Cordell. He didn't realize it at the time. And he pawned them at Ronald's request just days after the man had been murdered.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So on March 17th, 2000, the jury found Ronald Bell Jr. guilty of one count of armed kidnapping and first degree murder, and the penalty phase was held the next day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's like, but I'm so glad you're doing great in there. That's awesome. Good for you, bud. Very glad. Both his father and his grandfather, which is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The judge and jury were also presented with a petition urging mercy, signed by 200 members of his church, where his father was the pastor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The prosecution called one single witness during this phase, who was Detective Stan Griggs, and he was able to remind the jury how callous Ronald had been and how he and his friends again


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People who go to church do a lot of bad things. Guys? Just like people who don't go to church do a lot of bad things. BTK went to church. Yeaah. Plenty of them went to church. Most of them blame, like, God talking to them or somebody talking to them. Stop saying them. Yeaah. Like, that doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything at all. It goes both ways. People who don't go to church do shitty things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The jury heard both sides and in the end they voted unanimously in favor of the death penalty.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And on May 15th, uh, same judge, Judge Thomas Remington sentenced Bell to death for what he called an unspeakable horror committed against Cordell Richards. I mean, it was. That's exactly what it was. That's exactly what it was. And he was the ringleader.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's bad enough when somebody stabs someone or somebody shoots someone. It's murder is murder. Yeah. But this is so far beyond.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But exactly what this judge said, he abandoned ship when this took place. That's honestly not even helping the case because it's like, honestly, that scares me more. Yeah, that he had the fear of God and went and still did this. And that he sat in a church and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Went by where he sat in that church and pretended to be a good church going boy knowing full well that he had lit a man on fire two times. And tortured him. Tortured him and sliced his neck because he couldn't break his neck when he tried to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now in 2002, Ronald appealed his death sentence on the grounds that Judge Thomas Remington had not given his age due consideration when the sentence had been imposed. I think he did and he was like, wow, that's even scarier. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now during the sentencing, the judge had concluded that Ronald's age at the time of the murder was of little consequence.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And on appeal, Ronald's attorney argued that the judge was laboring under a misapprehension of what the legal principles were that he was to take into account at the time of the weighing process.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So Ronald's age, he said, was not given consideration.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Saying that even though a killer will become eligible for the death penalty,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Youth remains an important consideration in deciding whether punishment should be life in prison or death.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the death sentence was reversed and now Ronald is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole just like Crystal. I would take that. Yep.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like those two little girls have their father taken from them. In the most horrific way. Exactly. For no reason. And!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, like we're really gonna take that. I'm not taking anything she says without a grain of salt. This one person who said that, or three kids who said this happened, but every adult in his life


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] His ex-wife, the mother of his children, his grandparents, his co-workers at IHOP, his house cleaner, all agreed that he would have done anything for anyone. And had never made them uncomfortable in any way. That's a truly horrific and tragic tale. It is. Truly. And all that to say, even if he did,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Make some kind of advances that made her uncomfortable, that's fucked up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You don't tie someone to a tree and light them on fire because they are acting like that. No. No. No. No.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I think we can all agree. No. Nope. You don't do that. Not at all. You go to the police. Yeah, exactly. You let the law do what the law needs to do. That's the thing. It's like you do not. This is not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yes, that is the case of Cordell Richards and the three teenagers who brutally murdered him. That's horrific. Wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm a little nervous, uhm, for anyone that doesn't know, I'm not a big true crime person, but I do like to be on this podcast, so I kinda set myself up for it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I used to be super outdoorsy, like when I was younger and then I got older and I just. You got it all out of your system. Yea, truly. Like the thought of going on a hike, like, I cannot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just sent, I just sent Elena and John, cause where they're going on vacation, I'm very familiar with. So I sent them this like cool like hike to go on and I'm like, hee hee, have fun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Imagine that, like, growing up next to someone and then like, they're your husband. I know, that would be crazy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean I'm not, I'm not judging, but like that is like, weird.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do love those YouTube videos of the celebrities taking the lie detector tests.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like that case that you did, uhm, it was very publicized, uhm, the mom with the kids that went missing, this was like last year. Oh, Lori Vallow? Yeah, her husband, how he would look like super suspicious, like in interviews and court and stuff. And she always did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's like, it reminds me of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, that should just be like, it's solved right there when you see all that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The morning after their home was searched. Are you like, not supposed to leave when stuff like that's happening? Or if you're like, yeee-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If, if I went to someone's house and they served me what they said exotic meat, I would be like, bye. Like I would leave. You think you would, but then in the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's like wild. Like, it's clear that they were the ones that drove it there if the last place, uhm, Chris went was their house.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah. So does she confess what happened to Jason? We'll get there, but be patient. Alright, I'm sorry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and I was gonna say like, if you had this packed, why do it in your house?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She's already done it once, of course she's going to. Just the fact that she was out, like free and she had confessed that she knew, like what hap- I don't get that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like, you're not a vampire, but you sure as hell are a cannibal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah. I don't know man. Cause I feel like that's some sick thing where they're just gonna have affairs and just cause they clearly are murderers so they're just gonna keep having affairs and killing the people. That's the thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Looked up a picture of her and it makes sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There you go, in the morbid pod lab. That's what it is. Morning in the morbid pod lab. Oh, gorge. I did it. Morbid in the morning pod lab. And you know what?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like to the tee. Yeah, we just want to be on our bullshit. We just want to be on our bullshit. You know, like it's, it's time and we hope that you guys, uh, we hope you guys are liking the extra episode. I know it hasn't been like, it's been like a minute and a half, but like it's going to keep going.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go into things that we didn't know if we had time to put into the week before, you know, like when we had two episodes, we were like, okay, well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's either two true crime cases or like maybe we'll throw in a listener tale every now and then we were trying to be like really rigid about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But now it's like we can kind of be, we can reach out into different things with this other one and it's been a lot of fun and it's a lot of fun to research and a lot of fun to record.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's like stuff that you have requested. Yes. We have written, like, trust me, you're requesting something, we've written it down in a little document every time we see it. It is in a Google doc. We have a long list of things that we have seen people ask for, especially if it's like a lot of people we see asking for the same thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We've had a huge hand in these ones now, and like we got to, like Wondery's been so amazing, like collaborating with us on it, and really...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Taking who we are into consideration. Yeah. And we like doing tweaks and things that were important to us and they, uh, you know, we, they wanted to know a lot about like our listeners and like, who are you guys? Who do you like? You know, like it was really cool that we were able to like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If we can make you guys happy, the majority like you've been listened to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yeaah. Okay, let me bring up her name because you guys should follow her.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Her name is HorrorGothMommy. Hell yes. Which I'm for. Uh, and her at there is jamie, J-A-M-I-E 13, the number 13, horror. Okay. So follow her, cause she does really good videos on all kinds of spooky shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll make sure to give her her due because she's pretty rad, I'm gonna be honest. But she did a video, uhm, where apparently, and this is like just wild, a bunch, so 250 Egyptian sarcophagi have been dug up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Goddesses Isis and Nephthys, uhm, which were like put at the head and feet of the sarcophagi and they are to protect them, which like, oof.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, don't remove those guys. There was also a roll of papyrus found that was like 32 feet long. And according to Jamie, they're being like, it's being like studied in a lab right now, but it could have parts of the book of the dead in it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She was saying how, you know, in Egypt, that is like grave robbing and disturbing the dead. And especially a pharaoh, she said. Exactly, it's one of the worst things you can do and one of the only things that can be punishable by death, she was saying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is like real bad. And like, I don't know why we keep doing this. I understand that we want to learn about shit. Like I get it, trust me. I'm curious.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's the thing, I, it's just. You don't need to disturb grapes. Yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's like, especially when this particular culture has made it pretty known.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's when it gets hairy. But yea, that was just like a wild thing and I was like, oh no, this is why everything sucks because like curses are probably being just like flooded into the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. But yeah, so we have that to look forward to. That's, um, about as, as true crimey news as, as I'm going to get this week. But yeah, and I think, you know, we're 12 minutes in. We should get to the story.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Listen, I know there's 24 hours in a day, but where do they go? I feel like I don't have them. I never have them. They go away in like the blink of an eye.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I definitely have trouble finding time to work out and just try to eat healthy and stay healthy, all that good stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you know what has helped me? You know what is invaluable in this journey? My Peloton.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I found Bradley Rose and I never looked back. I'm telling you, get on there, find Bradley Rose. He's British, he's lovely, and he'll have you on that bike every single day. Just, just listen to him talk. He just tells you stories and stuff, he's great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I'm telling you, I love my Peloton. I've told you this a million times. This is one thing that I'm like so, so passionately wanting to tell you all about because I love it and it has truly changed the way I work out. Because Peloton has a team of world-class instructors ready to motivate you 24-7 and I think we could all use that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I need motivation to work out. If you don't tell me to work out, I'm not gonna do it. And I know it's super, super important.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the Peloton instructors are highly trained fitness pros who motivate you through every single workout. Whether you're a regular at the gym, which is not me, or someone who is kinda new or getting back into working out, which is like both me. I'm like new.