Episode Transcript
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0:00
Hey guys, welcome to episode 163 of The True Crime
0:02
Couple. I'm Kay.
0:05
And I'm John. We hope all is well and
0:07
that you are in the mood for some true crime
0:10
in our most favorite of months, October.
0:13
We also wanted to thank everyone who has submitted
0:16
their spooky stories to us for
0:18
our listener episode this month.
0:20
If you have a story and you want to share it,
0:22
you have one week left to submit any true paranormal
0:26
stories to truecrimecouple
0:28
at gmail.com.
0:30
Honestly, all of the other stories have
0:33
completely scared the crap out
0:35
of me. So I am really excited to see
0:37
what this year has in store for us.
0:39
I'm excited too. I always get a kick out
0:41
of them. And I always love like getting
0:43
the ones that I know are going to scare John. Oh,
0:45
thanks a lot. Also,
0:48
if you've joined Patreon recently, we will
0:50
be thanking you at the end of this episode.
0:53
So without any further delay, John,
0:55
do you want to hear something crazy?
0:58
Of course. Usually here at
1:00
the beginning of the episode, I talk to
1:02
you about the community in which the
1:04
crime at the center of this episode
1:07
took place.
1:08
But in this case, that is something that
1:10
has proven difficult to do. Hollinsburg,
1:13
Indiana has very limited information.
1:16
In a federal writer's project from 1936,
1:20
author of the document, Jerry Kirk
1:22
from Tarahute,
1:23
stated that the town was named after
1:26
a minister from Kentucky that built
1:28
the first home in the area. He
1:30
noted that no distinguished
1:33
persons or families lived there. No
1:35
houses from an architectural point of
1:37
view stood out. The town had
1:39
a general store, two garages,
1:43
no schools, no churches, nor
1:45
hospitals, colleges, libraries or museums.
1:49
The majority of people that lived there were farmers
1:51
and worked hard for a living and stayed
1:53
mostly to themselves. At
1:56
the time, the population was only 50. And
1:59
at the time of. crime in 1977, it
2:02
wasn't much higher. Hollensburg,
2:05
Indiana is known for one thing
2:08
and one thing only. It is
2:10
a Hoosier town haunted by past
2:13
events. It will forever
2:15
be associated with a fleeting
2:17
moment in time in 1977 when horror descended
2:22
on the small rural community. And
2:25
while you cannot find the census of the
2:27
town or website, you
2:30
can surely learn a lot about
2:32
the Hollensburg Massacre. Police
2:37
say the suspect 31 year old Jeffrey
2:39
Dahmer has confessed to the killings of 11 people
2:42
whose remains were found in his apartment. We
2:45
are all evil in some form
2:47
or another. Are we not? Lock
2:49
your doors, lock your windows. If
2:52
you have the ability to provide additional security
2:54
devices, then by all means do so.
2:58
On Sunday the 13th of February 1977,
3:00
the news broadcasters
3:03
were doing nothing but talking about an ominous
3:05
snowstorm headed their way, sure
3:08
to cancel any and all plans that
3:10
have been made for Valentine's Day. And
3:13
that was why Charlie Bollinger's mother had
3:15
called the Spencer residence. Her
3:18
son had spent the weekend at his friend Reeves
3:20
house and had planned to sleep over
3:22
that night as well. And the two 16
3:25
year old boys were going to head to school together
3:27
that following Monday morning if
3:30
there was even school at all. But
3:33
she called to put an end to those plans.
3:36
Reeves mother Betty Jane called
3:38
for Charlie to let him know that his mother
3:40
was on the phone. Charlie and
3:42
Reeve had been working on an engine so
3:45
he had to wipe his hands off so he didn't make
3:47
a mess of the Spencer's phone. Charlie
3:50
headed into the trailer. The
3:53
Spencer's trailer wasn't large. It was
3:56
made even smaller by the fact that Mr.
3:58
and Mrs. Spencer together had
4:00
four sons that ranged
4:03
from ages 14 to 22. But
4:05
Charlie loved it. He
4:08
thought it was so fun being there. There
4:10
was always something going on. And
4:12
the Spencers were warm people and
4:15
their sons were really nice guys. There
4:18
they got to work on cars, mess
4:20
around and hang out. The
4:23
Spencer trailer located near Raccoon
4:25
Lake was like a teenage boy's paradise,
4:29
which was why Charlie was annoyed with his mother
4:31
when she told him that it was time to come home.
4:34
I know the feeling, Charlie. I know
4:37
the feeling. I remember
4:39
being a kid and my next door
4:41
neighbor, actually across the street, he was
4:43
my best friend and his house always
4:45
had something going on. Same thing like this. And
4:48
it's like his dad was into like music.
4:50
He had a recording studio and it
4:53
was like, I loved video games. So his
4:55
son had, my best friend had all the
4:57
video games of the time. So
4:59
it was just such a good time. And I never wanted to
5:01
leave to the point where I had to be like dragged
5:04
out. So I get it.
5:07
And that's basically what's happening here because
5:09
Charlie's mother told him, listen,
5:11
there's a big storm coming in and
5:13
I want you to be home. But
5:15
he begged her. Well, if there's a big
5:18
storm coming in, can I just spend one more night
5:20
here and I'll come home tomorrow? It
5:23
was his last ditch effort and it didn't
5:25
work.
5:26
No, his mother said.
5:27
You're coming home tonight because come
5:30
tomorrow because of the snow,
5:32
you're not going to be able to drive your car. So
5:35
Charlie told his mother that he'd be coming
5:37
home.
5:38
He said his goodbyes and thank yous
5:41
to Betty and her husband, Keith. And
5:43
then he went out to break the news to his friend,
5:46
Reeve. He let him know that he
5:48
had to go, but he promised that
5:50
no matter the weather tomorrow, he
5:52
would be over there after school so he
5:54
could help him finish the engine that they
5:56
had been working on. Charlie
5:58
Bollinger didn't know it.
5:59
But then,
6:01
but that was the luckiest phone call
6:04
he would ever receive.
6:06
Hours later, in
6:07
the very early morning of Valentine's
6:10
Day, as the snow fell
6:12
around him, a 24-year-old
6:15
rookie state trooper was headed home
6:17
after a long shift when one
6:19
more call came over his radio. The
6:22
call was for the sound of shots fired
6:24
near a home by Raccoon Lake.
6:27
He responded that he would be headed over to
6:29
the area to check it out. The
6:32
officer knew that he would be the only one responding
6:34
to the call for a while because
6:36
he was the only trooper in the area. He
6:39
also knew that this call could be anything.
6:43
Someone messing around, a domestic
6:45
disturbance, or potentially
6:48
a home invasion. And
6:50
in the past week, there had been
6:52
something odd happening in the area. A
6:55
series of home invasions plagued
6:57
Hollensburg, and
6:59
the state troopers were being very vigilant about
7:02
what was happening. He
7:04
recalled from his training that
7:06
it was these types of calls that
7:08
were the most dangerous. So
7:11
he made sure to be on high alert. When
7:14
the officer got to the scene, he noticed
7:16
that the residence to which he was
7:18
told to report was in complete
7:20
darkness. And
7:22
this is something that he noted as odd. The
7:26
trailer was in a remote location, and
7:28
there were no street lights. They weren't
7:30
even near the street. So
7:33
as most homes do in rural Indiana,
7:36
the residence should have a flood
7:38
or security light, but nothing
7:41
here had been illuminated. As
7:43
the officer got closer to the residence,
7:45
he saw that there was a security light
7:48
on the house by the front
7:50
of the stairs. But that light
7:52
had been broken recently, as
7:54
evident by a nearby rock and
7:57
glass on the stairs. This
7:59
was a sign of The officer
8:01
knew that he had to approach the scene to
8:03
ensure that the residents inside were
8:06
not still in danger. So
8:09
here I just want to provide a trigger warning
8:12
because the next 30 seconds of this podcast
8:14
will include violence against an animal. So
8:17
if you would not like to hear that,
8:19
please fast forward.
8:20
As the officer got even closer to the
8:23
house and shown a light on
8:25
the ground, he saw that the family's
8:27
dog, who had been tethered to an outdoor
8:29
chain, was in a heap on
8:32
the ground. The snow around
8:34
him was bright red. He
8:36
had been shot. After
8:38
seeing that horrific scene, the
8:40
officer knew that he would be walking into
8:42
something
8:43
that he was likely never to forget.
8:47
He circled the perimeter of the property, checking
8:49
the scene. All was eerily
8:52
quiet. He
8:54
found that the back door of the trailer had
8:56
been busted open, so he
8:58
cautiously stepped inside. He
9:01
traveled as quietly as he could through the rooms
9:04
while searching for signs of life. As
9:06
he moved around, he felt that something
9:09
kept hitting his hat. He
9:11
ignored it at first, but then
9:13
it kept happening, and it grew
9:15
harder to ignore. Finally,
9:18
when something larger dropped onto the rim
9:20
of his hat, knocking at his skew, he
9:23
had to snap. He shone
9:25
his flashlight up at the ceiling to
9:28
see what was hitting him. It
9:30
was blood. Blood and
9:32
brain matter spattered the ceiling like
9:35
a grotesque mosaic
9:37
of torture.
9:39
It was a piece of skull and brain.
9:44
At
9:46
first, he was thinking, because there was a
9:48
storm, like the thought process must have
9:50
been, maybe there was a leaky roof. You
9:54
don't think immediately, oh, this is blood dripping
9:56
from the ceiling. And brain matter.
10:00
So to say the least, he was shocked.
10:03
Immediately he moved his flashlight more broadly across
10:06
the room. Now he's like, I need
10:08
to see what's going on here. Later
10:11
they're going to find out that both the power
10:13
and phone lines had been cut. So that's
10:15
why he couldn't just turn on the lights. Really?
10:18
Yes. Okay. So as he moved his
10:20
flashlight across the room, he
10:22
saw the bodies of the Spencer
10:25
family. He had walked into the
10:27
aftermath of a massacre. Four
10:30
men were bound before him. They
10:33
had all been shot. Even
10:35
if he had known them, he wouldn't have been
10:37
able to identify them though, because
10:40
the gunshot wounds that they had suffered made
10:43
their bodies unrecognizable.
10:47
Their faces or heads had
10:49
been completely
10:50
shattered.
10:53
That rookie officer would never
10:55
forget that night. It
10:58
was the worst sight that he would ever have to
11:00
see. And for the rest
11:02
of his life, he would have nightmares
11:05
about Valentine's Day.
11:07
I mean, I don't blame him. This
11:10
is unbelievable that this has
11:12
taken place in this trailer.
11:13
It is a
11:16
gruesome crime scene.
11:18
The only thing is...wait, hold on. You said they were tied
11:20
up?
11:22
Yes. They were tied up in their
11:24
bodies, lying on their stomachs, and their
11:26
hands were tied behind their back. Four boys.
11:30
Okay.
11:31
So, I mean, there are people missing here though,
11:33
right? Because where's the parents? Right. Or
11:35
is one of those...oh, you said four boys. Okay. So
11:38
yeah, the parents are missing? Parents are missing. That's
11:41
weird.
11:41
Yes. Well, there's a lot about this crime
11:44
scene that we have left to figure
11:46
out. Okay. But before we
11:48
get any further, we're going to take a break here
11:50
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Okay, let's get back to that crime
14:54
scene.
14:55
So as backup responded to the
14:57
scene, because obviously
14:59
after seeing that he's going to, after
15:02
definitely securing the trailer first and making
15:04
sure the person or persons
15:06
who did this weren't in the trailer, the
15:09
rookie officer is going to,
15:11
he's going to request some backup. That's a
15:13
good idea.
15:13
So as backup is
15:16
responding to the scene, they
15:18
noticed that an ambulance sped
15:20
past. The ambulance
15:22
was not headed for the trailer. They
15:25
knew that because everyone at the scene was
15:28
clearly dead, so they hadn't called for
15:30
one. The ambulance
15:32
was headed to the next property
15:34
over, and if the young state
15:37
trooper would have entered the house from the front
15:39
of the trailer, he would
15:41
have seen a troubling sight, a
15:44
blood trail. A blood
15:46
trail that traveled from the scene of
15:48
the murders to a neighbor's house,
15:52
a blood trail that signified the strength
15:54
that only a mother could muster when
15:57
she was trying to get justice.
15:59
for her children
16:02
because Betty Jane Spencer had
16:04
survived the tragedy that befell
16:07
her family.
16:08
Are you serious?
16:11
She'd gone to the neighbor's house and
16:14
it was actually the neighbors that
16:16
had made the first
16:17
phone call.
16:18
So there are going to be two 911 calls
16:21
that are placed that night by the neighbors. The
16:23
first was, hey we heard a whole bunch of
16:25
shots over at our neighbor's property
16:28
and
16:30
it was more than just the boys
16:32
messing around. It seemed like something weird
16:35
is going on there. So that was their first
16:37
phone call and then Betty Jane
16:40
arrives at their front door pounding
16:42
on it begging for help at 1 a.m.
16:45
So then they call 911 again and say we
16:47
need an ambulance because our neighbors
16:49
just showed up at our property.
16:51
Now that's terrifying for many
16:54
reasons obviously. But one of the ones that
16:57
I would be afraid of and now
16:59
New Fear Unlocked is
17:02
someone's banging at your door at 1 a.m. and someone's
17:04
trying to kill them and she's saying that her family
17:06
has been shot and can you
17:09
let me in I need help? Yeah. Like what do
17:11
you do? Like obviously you do it. But
17:13
like you
17:13
always say that you would do it right then like
17:16
you know sometimes your own self-preservation
17:18
takes over and you don't want to
17:20
let them in because let me tell you something
17:23
this is a sad reality of being a teacher in
17:25
America right now. But when
17:28
we do the training for like
17:30
school shootings they
17:32
actually train us like
17:36
if there's a student pounding on your door to get
17:38
in you can't let them
17:40
in because there have been cases
17:44
where the shooter is holding a student at
17:46
gunpoint and having them beg
17:49
for you to let them in. So now like it's
17:51
like I that it makes me want
17:53
to cry even thinking about it but it's like you
17:55
have a student who say you
17:58
know any any kids like a 15-year-old 15-year-old
18:00
is begging to come into the door during a school shooting
18:02
and you're not allowed to open that
18:04
door Right
18:05
because there's so much now
18:07
risk involved and now you're threatening everyone
18:09
else in the room Which is the same thing
18:11
if someone wants to come to your house Right, what do you do
18:14
if you had kids that are even you know,
18:16
like babies you're putting everyone in here
18:18
at risk as well So that's a very tricky
18:20
situation And you know at first
18:22
I would be like yeah, come on in like, you know, hurry
18:25
up grab the phone Let's do we have to do but
18:27
I see what you're saying, right?
18:28
Like you it's pending on what
18:31
side of the door you're on You know,
18:33
you're hoping that someone opens
18:35
up and helps you but on the other side of the door You're like,
18:38
why am I putting my family at risk too? It's like
18:40
it's a terrifying
18:41
situation. It really is
18:43
So they they do
18:45
let Betty in and I would like
18:47
to
18:47
think that we would say I
18:49
Think we would
18:51
Neighbors if you're listening We'll
18:53
let you in. Yeah, we'll let you in. We'll
18:55
let you in so the
18:57
blood trail Was
19:00
bright red in the snow and
19:02
that's what I said when I meant like there's more
19:04
to find out about this crime scene I mean
19:07
This story is just unbelievable So
19:12
according to the police scanners
19:14
the records of when all these calls
19:16
came in When the neighbors
19:19
called 911 to say
19:21
that Betty had arrived at their house That
19:24
was when the state trooper was just arriving
19:26
at the trailer to check the scene.
19:28
That's interesting. Yeah
19:31
So it was like as he arrived
19:33
the crime was literally still in motion Basically,
19:36
right and there could have been a possibility That
19:39
he could have came upon her Going from
19:42
one house to the other if he got there a few minutes early
19:44
and
19:44
if he entered from the other way because the
19:46
way That you enter the trailer is technically from
19:49
behind the front of it's kind
19:51
of like around
19:51
the other side Actually, we're saying
19:55
and there's also a possibility that he might have even
19:57
passed the killers on the way out
19:59
I mean, there is a possibility of that. Because
20:02
also I think the location is a little interesting as
20:04
far as like, it's off the beaten path, like
20:06
you said, there's no like, yeah, very remote. Right.
20:09
So it's like, whoever did this had to have known
20:11
that they were there. Um,
20:13
and like, I don't know, maybe canvas that area
20:15
to know how many people were inside, there's so
20:17
many things to think about when you start to, to
20:19
do that. Right. Well,
20:21
eventually after Betty was cared for
20:23
at the hospital and her wounds were dressed
20:27
and she filled in her panic and grief
20:29
stricken husband about what had happened to their
20:31
beautiful boys.
20:33
She was asked to recall the story
20:36
one more time for the detectives. Betty
20:39
did not mind telling the story again. She
20:42
was a strong woman. The
20:44
men who did this to her family were
20:46
emblazoned in her mind and
20:49
they would be there forever. She
20:51
wanted them caught and she
20:54
wanted them to pay for what
20:56
they had done. And
20:58
so her story began. She
21:01
had been in the living room that night with
21:03
her son, Greg, who was 22 years
21:05
old. Her
21:08
step sons, Reeve, 16,
21:11
Ralph, 14, were sleeping
21:13
in the next room. Her 17
21:16
year old stepson, Raymond, and
21:18
her husband Keith were away at work.
21:22
Now, although those boys were her step
21:24
sons, the younger ones, she
21:27
made no qualms about it that
21:29
they were her boys too. She
21:32
was the mother. She was their mother.
21:34
That's really sweet.
21:35
As they were watching the movie,
21:38
the house went dark because
21:40
the power was cut.
21:42
At first, she thought that maybe the power
21:44
had gone out because of the weather. Now,
21:46
remember there was supposed to be like a
21:49
crazy storm that night. It ended
21:51
up not being as crazy as everyone thought
21:53
it was, but it was definitely snowing.
21:56
Then they heard loud noises.
22:00
and presumably that was
22:02
the light being knocked out and you
22:04
guys know what else I won't recall
22:06
it. Then she said four
22:09
men burst in through the back
22:11
door and they were screaming
22:13
at her. Then she said four
22:15
men burst in through the back door and they
22:18
were screaming at her and Greg to get down
22:20
on the floor. Get your faces down
22:22
they kept screaming. Betty
22:25
said that she clung on to her son Greg,
22:27
terrified as two of the men ransacked
22:30
the home for anything of value
22:32
and the other two men
22:35
went into the room of her two
22:37
younger sons to grab them out
22:39
of bed. They brought
22:41
them down on the ground besides her
22:43
and her eldest son. As the boys
22:46
were having their hands tied behind their backs
22:49
for a short time Betty was brought into
22:51
her bedroom where they
22:53
told her to show them
22:56
where like her valuables were but they
22:58
really didn't have any so then she was brought
23:01
back out into the living room. Betty
23:03
pleaded with the men please don't hurt
23:06
my boys. As one of the
23:08
men was yelling at her to shut up they
23:10
were silenced by a noise coming
23:12
from outside the trailer. As
23:15
one of the men was yelling at her to shut up they
23:18
were silenced by a noise coming from
23:20
outside the trailer.
23:22
Betty said her heart sank. It
23:25
could be her son Raymond. He
23:27
was supposed to be coming home from work so
23:30
she yelled out Raymond is that
23:33
you? There was no response.
23:36
The men were silent
23:38
waiting to see how this was going to go down.
23:41
She yelled again Raymond is that
23:43
you? Yes he called
23:46
back confused. She
23:48
began to yell most likely
23:50
for him to run but
23:53
the men were faster. They
23:55
went outside and grabbed the 17 year
23:57
old boy and yanked him inside.
24:00
and brought him down to the ground next
24:02
to his brothers and tied his
24:04
hands behind his back like everyone
24:06
else's had been. Betty said
24:08
that there was one man who seemed to
24:10
be in control. Once
24:13
Raymond was tied up on the ground, he
24:15
motioned to the other men, a
24:17
motion that indicated to her that
24:20
he wanted them to shoot the family. Nothing
24:24
happened immediately, and then
24:26
he said it.
24:27
He gave the order
24:29
for them to open fire. And
24:32
they did. Betty
24:35
said that she heard the gunfire
24:36
all around her.
24:38
It was like flashes of lightning and
24:40
deafening thunder rumbling through
24:42
her home, stealing away everything
24:45
she loved in this world. She
24:48
watched on as all of her children
24:50
were shot. A storm
24:52
had certainly hit them that night,
24:55
but not the one they had been expecting. At
24:58
one point, she heard her son, Greg beside
25:01
her, yelling out in agony
25:03
as he was blasted with the bullets from
25:05
the men, sawed off
25:06
shotguns.
25:08
She thought she heard him say, as
25:11
his body was riddled with pellets, I'm
25:14
flying. Oh, God, I'm flying.
25:17
Because Greg had been yelling so loudly,
25:20
she said the man that she assumed to be
25:22
the leader of this group, straddled
25:24
his body, grabbed him
25:26
by his ponytail and
25:29
fired a shotgun into the back of
25:31
his head, basically spraying
25:33
the entire room with
25:36
his face, she said.
25:39
This is horrible. Yeah.
25:42
She said that because she was next to him, that
25:44
she felt the life drain from him and
25:47
like his yelling immediately stopped.
25:51
She then said she heard more gunfire
25:54
and she felt her flesh burning in
25:56
her shoulder and into her back.
25:59
It was her turn.
26:00
She waited for death to wash over
26:02
her, and she thought she
26:04
would be with her children. But death
26:07
did not come for Betty. She
26:10
explained to the detectives that she
26:12
was angry, that she
26:14
was so angry because she wanted to die
26:16
too, because she wanted to
26:18
be with her boys. She
26:20
lay there,
26:21
and she thought if she wasn't going to die,
26:24
then she wanted to get justice
26:26
for them.
26:27
That thought resonated with
26:29
her. That
26:31
end of Keith. She
26:33
lay on the ground as still as possible. Betty
26:36
could hear the blood pouring from
26:39
the bodies of her sons. Imagine
26:42
hearing that? No, I can't.
26:44
And one by one, the
26:46
men started walking down the line
26:49
and kicking the family members to see if they
26:51
were dead. And by the time
26:54
the one man got to her, before she
26:56
could even think how
26:58
she should react to him doing that, her
27:01
foot involuntarily kicked back
27:03
when he hit her.
27:06
Like a spasm almost?
27:08
Yeah.
27:09
And that's when they knew that she was alive. He
27:12
was like, hold on, hold on, this one's alive.
27:14
So the voice of the
27:16
leader was heard.
27:18
Killer, he said to someone. Betty
27:21
felt another man walk
27:23
up to her right in front
27:25
of her, and she heard a shot.
27:28
He had aimed at her and made
27:30
contact. They watched as
27:33
the top of Betty's head flew off.
27:36
Afterwards,
27:37
they all ran off into the night,
27:40
leaving utter devastation in their wake.
27:43
But Betty,
27:45
she wasn't dead. The men did
27:47
not know that she had been
27:50
wearing a wig.
27:51
We saw thee, oh, thee thought.
27:54
They blew the top of her head off. But
27:56
it was her wig coming off. They
27:58
did graze the top. of her head of course
28:01
but they knocked her wig off
28:03
and it was probably dark as well so
28:05
they thought yep Wow
28:08
okay wild right
28:10
this is crazy this
28:12
is so sad because this
28:15
poor woman has watched her children
28:17
die right in front of her and then
28:20
has attacked herself and left her
28:22
dead yeah you know and
28:24
and I think what makes us a little bit more eerie than
28:26
other cases that we've come maybe covered is just
28:29
because there's been other
28:31
massacres that have happened but everyone
28:33
died here we have someone that lived
28:35
through one yeah and now you really
28:38
truly understand when these things happen
28:40
how bad it is like how really
28:43
bad it is like an eyewitness account
28:45
of that
28:46
I think that's a really good point to
28:48
make like when you have
28:50
the Liska or the kettie
28:53
cabin murders
28:55
like even what happens with
28:57
the Manson family or any
29:00
family massacre you're like wow this
29:03
is the chaos that existed or
29:06
even just what we covered with the Brandi Peters case
29:09
like the
29:09
ones that aren't like living in infamy
29:12
right this is the
29:14
devastation and chaos that these poor
29:16
people experienced as
29:19
they had to watch their
29:19
family members die around them right because
29:22
I think that we could talk about it anyone
29:24
can talk about it and like know what
29:27
the crime scene looks like and things like that but
29:29
there is a depth that is never really
29:32
reached unless there's a survivor
29:34
that's telling the story and has a recollection
29:36
of that story like this is chilling
29:39
to like the bone right like
29:40
the things that she heard Greg saying
29:42
like I'm flying and then she heard
29:44
the blood pouring from her son's bodies
29:47
like oh my god
29:49
yeah this is
29:50
wild
29:51
really sad
29:53
so once she knew that all
29:55
the men had gone Betty
29:57
got the strength to stand up She
30:00
had excruciating pain in her shoulder,
30:03
back, and the top of her head where she
30:05
had been shot. She tried to
30:07
get to the phone, but when she did
30:09
she realized that the men must have cut the power
30:12
in the phone lines, so she had no
30:14
phone. She would have to make it
30:16
to her neighbor's house to get help. She
30:19
was in shock, but she had one
30:21
goal. One thought kept
30:24
ringing in her ears that she had
30:26
to get justice for the boys. She
30:28
had to tell the police, and she
30:30
thought, like, what if I bleed to death? So
30:33
that's why she had this sense of urgency. She
30:36
stumbled out into the cold snowy
30:38
night, leaving behind her
30:41
a bright red trail of blood
30:43
in the pure white snow. Betty
30:46
walked half a mile with
30:49
no shoes on. Eventually
30:51
she made it to her neighbor's house. She
30:54
pounded on the door and screamed for
30:56
help. They did. From
30:59
there they called to
31:01
get her an ambulance. They
31:04
told her that they had already called the police before
31:06
she got there, so that the police should be at the
31:08
house. But she knew
31:10
it was going to be
31:11
of no help because her sons,
31:13
they were dead already. She
31:16
was freezing and in shock from blood
31:18
loss. It was incredible
31:20
that she had been shot like she was
31:23
at such close range, and she
31:25
had the strength to get to the neighbor's house.
31:28
The neighbors who helped her said they were in just
31:30
as much shock when they saw
31:31
her pounding on their door, completely
31:34
covered in blood.
31:36
The morning following the massacre, the
31:38
news of what had happened the night before spread
31:40
like wildfire around the community.
31:43
It sent shock waves that still reverberate
31:46
through the town every time Valentine's
31:48
Day rolls around. Charlie
31:50
Bollinger learned what
31:53
had happened at his friend's house from a classmate.
31:56
He had said something to his friend about Reeve
31:58
not being in school that day. And
32:00
his friend said to him, you haven't heard
32:03
what happened? And he told
32:05
Charlie that the whole family had been
32:07
murdered. Charlie
32:09
said that he didn't believe it. He
32:11
said that couldn't be true because I just saw
32:13
everybody the day before,
32:15
yesterday. It
32:17
had to be a different family that it happened
32:19
to.
32:21
But it hadn't been.
32:24
Charlie was devastated by the loss of his
32:26
friend and such an amazing family.
32:30
One that he felt like he was a part of.
32:34
But he was even more unnerved by the fact
32:37
that it could have been him too. That's
32:40
very true.
32:41
I mean, because he was going to spend the night there. And
32:43
if his mother would have let him, I mean,
32:46
that could have been him too. He would have been dead. Which is
32:48
another reason why I have
32:50
another fear that I didn't know that I had. Now
32:52
that I have to think about when I have kids one day, do I
32:54
let the kids stay over someone else's house?
32:56
Sleepovers are now controversial.
33:00
And having been to many in my life, I understand
33:03
why.
33:04
You know, I have to tell you, my parents didn't let me.
33:06
They didn't let you sleep over? No, never.
33:08
My dad was like, get out of the house.
33:09
I mean, maybe one time
33:13
or two, max. And
33:15
it was right across the street. So
33:17
it's close. It was close. But yeah, they didn't
33:19
like sleepovers. We were never allowed to be
33:21
the sleepover house.
33:21
It was like, you can go to one,
33:24
but nobody's staying here.
33:26
Oh, yeah, we could. That wouldn't have been good either.
33:29
So I think my family just did not like
33:31
sleepovers. I
33:31
feel like when we have kids all feel
33:33
safe being the sleepover house.
33:36
Although people might not want their
33:38
kids to sleep over our house because we're
33:40
true
33:40
crime people. But not everybody knows
33:42
that. They're
33:43
going to think we're weirdos. You think that?
33:45
What if they find out?
33:46
And they're like, oh, you're not allowed to play with
33:48
those kids. Oh, my God.
33:50
They talk about bad things,
33:52
evil things. Yeah, like a kid. They for
33:54
real. What if they actually do think that?
33:56
Oh, if you're unlocked.
33:57
Oh, well, I guess kids.
33:59
I guess our kids aren't gonna have friends. Actually,
34:02
probably better that way.
34:05
Okay, so from
34:07
her hospital bed, Betty was
34:09
able to work with a sketch artist and
34:11
give the investigators
34:13
four sketches to work with.
34:15
She guaranteed that those
34:17
were the men that had murdered her family. Their
34:20
faces would be burned in her memory forever.
34:24
And she had done a great job. The
34:26
sketches were detailed and impressive.
34:29
The detectives believed that they would get calls
34:31
about them soon, because the
34:34
second they released this to the public, like
34:36
these weren't like vague sketches. These
34:38
were the people.
34:40
This wasn't like when they do a sketch. They
34:42
smiley face. Come on, dude. Like, yeah. Like
34:44
what? Right.
34:46
But the detectives knew that this
34:49
was going to be a complicated one
34:51
to solve. Based on
34:53
Betty's story, it seemed like there was
34:55
no motive. The men
34:57
burst into the home in the middle of the night.
35:00
They ransacked the house, but they didn't
35:02
take anything. They weren't looking for anything
35:04
specific. They
35:07
just executed the family. So
35:10
they were kind of wondering and
35:12
going down the avenue of why. Could
35:16
somebody have a vendetta against
35:18
one of the parents, one of the boys?
35:22
But this did seem a little professional
35:24
to them.
35:25
I agree. The only thing
35:27
I actually had a question about actually, okay,
35:30
was where was the husband
35:32
here? He was at work. He worked nights.
35:34
Okay. Because
35:35
you're right. It does sound professional.
35:38
I think they're onto something, because for
35:40
them to cut the power, to know
35:43
where those people were located, it was a tucked
35:45
in house that
35:48
wouldn't have been seen just by driving
35:50
past the street. This had to
35:52
be something that was planned, and it was executed
35:55
to the most
35:57
efficient way. to
36:00
leave nobody alive. So
36:02
this is seems a little professional. Maybe
36:04
the husband owed money or I
36:06
guess the possibilities in the rabbit hole is endless.
36:09
Well don't forget when
36:12
I first like introduced the
36:14
rookie officer, there had
36:16
been for the past week a series
36:18
of home invasions. There was no murders
36:21
but the police were thinking could this be connected?
36:24
Could it be to use it to
36:26
their advantage?
36:28
Like you're saying like pull off these home invasions
36:30
and then so that'll be distracting against
36:33
like our real targets?
36:35
A possibility, yeah. Okay well
36:37
guess what?
36:38
What? I'm gonna switch things up
36:41
this episode.
36:41
Okay. And
36:42
I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.
36:44
Tell me.
36:46
The man responsible for it all.
36:48
The guy everyone in the county was now looking
36:51
for. He was hiding right
36:54
under their noses. 23 year
36:57
old Roger Drollinger
37:00
sat in a courtroom on February
37:03
15th
37:04
the very next day.
37:06
The guy who did this showed
37:09
up for court the next day. Calm,
37:11
cool, collected like
37:14
he hadn't just been the one
37:16
who orchestrated the murder of an entire family.
37:19
But what was the reason? We'll get
37:21
there.
37:22
So Drollinger had been charged with
37:24
many drug related offenses including
37:28
trafficking and selling to an undercover
37:30
police officer. Because
37:32
of his past record he had been facing
37:35
some serious jail time. 40 to 50
37:38
years
37:38
to be exact.
37:40
So while every law enforcement officer was
37:42
out looking for this guy he was
37:45
in the Park County courthouse next
37:48
to a lot of officers.
37:51
How wild is that? That is wild actually.
37:54
So I know what you're asking.
37:56
Why? Why would he do this?
38:00
Unfortunately, this case
38:03
is as senseless as it is tragic.
38:07
There is no why, just
38:09
a who. And that
38:11
who is Roger Drollinger. Drollinger
38:15
was a bad man. He
38:17
was raised in a wealthy family in the
38:19
nearby community of Wayne Town, but
38:22
he had grown up to be the local drug
38:24
dealer. And
38:27
Drollinger had control over a ragtag
38:30
group
38:30
of criminals.
38:32
One newspaper called them his
38:34
own band of vicious degenerates. To
38:37
these men, Drollinger
38:38
was their
38:40
powerful and charismatic leader.
38:43
It was almost like he had gathered a cult
38:46
of criminals.
38:48
They listened to everything he said, and they
38:50
wanted to desperately impress him and
38:53
do right by him. To
38:55
make matters worse, Drollinger was
38:57
obsessed with
38:59
and felt inspired by the crimes
39:02
of Charles Manson.
39:03
He one day wanted his name
39:06
and Manson's name to be uttered in the
39:09
same breath. It was a recipe
39:12
for disaster.
39:13
This guy's just doing it for the clout, trying
39:16
to like be up with the
39:19
worst people possible.
39:21
And because it excites him.
39:23
That's ridiculous and disgusting. Well,
39:26
in the week leading up to the murders of
39:28
the Spencer family, Drollinger
39:31
and his three followers had committed numerous
39:34
home invasions.
39:36
Okay, so we're getting somewhere. They
39:38
had been the ones to do it.
39:40
They liked to terrorize their
39:42
victims.
39:43
At first, it would just
39:45
be like a ransacking of their homes.
39:48
They would tie up the residents and steal what they
39:51
could. But as the home invasions
39:53
went on, they got more violent. The
39:56
residents would be beaten and toyed
39:59
with. and Drollinger loved
40:01
it. It was exciting for him to
40:03
cause pain to others. Drollinger
40:07
lacked empathy, guilt,
40:09
and had a very egocentric way of thinking.
40:13
Traits that would later cause him to be diagnosed
40:16
as a psychopath. For
40:19
the other men in his group, the home
40:21
invasions were enough. They
40:23
got high off the thrill of the
40:25
crimes.
40:26
In their lives they felt powerless, lost,
40:29
and worthless. But
40:31
when they were terrorizing those people,
40:34
for once they felt like they had the power. It
40:37
was fun for them. Plus,
40:39
they thought as a bonus
40:42
that they would get money and sometimes
40:43
find pot.
40:45
But for Drollinger, it was never
40:48
enough. And as his court
40:50
date loomed closer and closer, he knew
40:53
he would not be able to do that stuff anymore.
40:57
Inflicting pain on others for his excitement,
41:01
it was his high. And he craved
41:03
a larger high. And
41:06
this is why we saw an escalation in violence
41:08
in the home invasions. And
41:11
that's what brings us to the murder of the
41:13
Spencer family. Drollinger
41:15
was supposed to report to court
41:17
the next day where he could possibly
41:19
go to jail for decades. So
41:22
this was going to be Drollinger's last thrill.
41:25
And this time
41:26
it'd be a thrill count.
41:28
I do find it very interesting
41:32
that they did escalate as
41:34
far as they did so
41:36
quickly.
41:37
Well, they wanted to impress
41:39
him. They wanted to do everything for him. He
41:42
was giving them a sense of belonging.
41:45
Like very similar to that of a cult
41:47
leader was he picked these people
41:49
because they were easily influenced
41:51
and because they were going to listen to everything
41:54
that he said. I mean,
41:56
although they are
41:58
criminals and murderers,
41:59
they were
42:02
controlled, coercively controlled by him.
42:05
And Drollinger
42:07
is just that.
42:10
He's a psychopath.
42:12
So his whole goal was to eventually
42:14
kill, to be a murderer.
42:17
But he had to get those other men to that
42:20
point, which is why he did
42:22
the slow escalation
42:23
through the home invasion. See,
42:25
what someone like him is actually incredibly scary,
42:28
because I think that he was able to look at
42:30
these people that he was gathering, look
42:33
for the weaknesses and exploit them. I
42:35
think that's probably the scariest thing, because you
42:38
have people that might not go to
42:40
that kind of extent, or even imagine
42:42
doing something like that, but he can convince
42:45
someone through a flaw of their character alone. Right.
42:47
And he's only 23 years old doing
42:49
this. That's insane.
42:52
Well, on February 13, Drollinger
42:55
had driven past the Spencer trailer. And
42:58
there he saw many cars parked.
43:01
If you remember, there was one extra car
43:03
there too, because Reeve had his
43:05
friend sleeping over. Well,
43:07
because there were so many cars there, Drollinger
43:10
thought that the trailer would be the perfect place
43:12
to hit, because there were so many people
43:15
to kill. How crazy
43:17
is that? Usually criminals scout
43:19
out easy locations. This
43:21
man is seriously trying to find a home with the
43:24
most victims as possible.
43:26
I mean, it's sick and twisted, but
43:28
he has numbers of his own. And
43:30
he's probably thinking, this is off the beaten path.
43:33
If I do it, I'll probably get away with
43:35
it. Right.
43:37
So he told his crew what
43:40
he wanted to do. And
43:42
they had all agreed to do it with him. Now,
43:45
I'm not taking responsibility away from the other men,
43:48
because they do have control
43:50
over what they do. And
43:52
they did choose to do this with him.
43:55
But Drollinger was a bit nervous that
43:57
the men, when it came down to it, were going to kill
43:59
him. to back down and not help
44:02
him fulfill his thrill killer
44:04
fantasy. So he made them
44:06
all take a blood oath that
44:09
they will vow all to commit
44:11
murder that night, that
44:13
all of them will fire their sought-off shotguns
44:16
at the victims. As
44:19
they swore their oath, Drollinger told
44:22
them, either you kill
44:25
or get killed.
44:27
Oh wow, so he took it to the most
44:29
extreme that he could take
44:32
it. Right.
44:33
To further ensure that these murders took
44:35
place, Drollinger insisted
44:37
that none of the men put bandanas
44:40
over their faces. For
44:42
all the previous home invasions, they'd all worn
44:44
bandanas, and that's how they weren't
44:46
identified. But he told
44:48
the men that this time it doesn't matter if they see
44:51
you, because we're going to kill them. I
44:54
see. So he's just making sure that what
44:56
he wants to get done will get done, because
44:59
at the end of the day it has
44:59
to. I also think it has a little bit to
45:02
do with the fact that he knows that
45:04
regardless if he doesn't get called for this, he's going
45:06
away for decades. Exactly. So
45:09
I think it's more of his egotistical mind
45:11
thinking more about himself than anything else. Than
45:14
these guys. Yeah.
45:15
As the men drove away from the devastation
45:18
that they left in their wake, the
45:20
other three men that had been with him that night,
45:23
Michael Wright,
45:24
David Smith and Daniel
45:27
Stonebreaker said that
45:29
Drollinger was high on what happened. He
45:32
relived the moments of all of the victims
45:34
death with relish, and he
45:36
was excited about all of the blood spatter
45:38
that he had on his clothing. But
45:41
his complete victory was short lived
45:43
when the group heard over the police scanner
45:45
that they had, that Betty had
45:48
survived.
45:48
That's how they found out? Yep. Oh
45:52
my God. Now
45:53
this is scary. Because
45:55
Drollinger didn't know that Betty had gone to
45:57
the neighbor's house, she... They
46:00
heard on the police scanner that one
46:03
state trooper
46:03
was going to respond to the shots fired.
46:06
So in Drollinger's mind,
46:09
he thought the one state trooper showed up and
46:11
found Betty alive. So for
46:14
a moment he said, let's turn around and kill
46:16
them both,
46:17
meaning kill Betty and the state trooper. But
46:20
then he was like, no, forget it. It's
46:21
probably back up on the way already. So
46:23
he decided not to. But he was going to go back
46:25
and kill them both.
46:27
That is certainly one scenario,
46:29
but think about this too. Think about
46:32
if they heard it on the scanner. They could have turned around
46:34
and then saw the trail leading to
46:37
the neighbor's house, and they could have carried it out there
46:39
as well. They could have continued their war
46:41
path to the neighbor's house. They could have.
46:44
To take out everybody that would have been
46:46
a witness to it or whatever you want to
46:48
call it.
46:49
And that would have been really sad.
46:50
That would have been even worse. And
46:52
the reason why there's calls for pause when someone
46:54
comes knocking on your door. Exactly.
46:57
So Roger Drollinger ended the night
46:59
by returning to the home that he shared
47:01
with his wife and three children and
47:04
getting some sleep. Because
47:06
after all, he did have court in the
47:08
morning. At his hearing, Drollinger
47:11
was found guilty but avoided
47:13
prompt incarceration. So
47:16
he was found guilty, but they're like, we won't arrest him yet.
47:18
And there's a reason for it.
47:21
He had been sentenced to 25 to 40
47:23
years, but was allowed to get his
47:25
affairs in order with his children and
47:28
then turn himself in. This
47:30
is something he was able to do because
47:32
he was
47:33
out on bond.
47:35
His father had put up the family farm
47:37
as collateral so he could be free
47:39
during the trial to
47:42
spend time with his children
47:44
before he went to prison.
47:45
But instead, Roger
47:47
Drollinger was
47:49
committing violent B and E's
47:51
and a quadruple homicide.
47:54
Wally's waiting for trial. Yes.
47:57
So
47:57
after the sentencing, the four men
47:59
met up again. And Jollinger
48:01
instructed them all to go into hiding
48:03
because of the sketches. They were a very
48:06
accurate representation of them all Jollinger
48:10
himself skipped town and
48:12
went on the run to
48:13
hell with his family. I guess
48:15
yeah and his dad's farm as
48:17
well Yeah, great.
48:19
So all of the men left the state of Indiana
48:22
All of them except for Daniel
48:24
stonebreaker who is just
48:27
Well, I guess it's
48:30
This is what I always have to say. It's good that criminals
48:33
are stupid That
48:35
is
48:36
one saving grace that we have we can
48:38
relish in that fact. Yes stonebreaker
48:41
completely
48:41
blew everyone's cover
48:43
by Bragging to
48:45
one of his friends that he had
48:47
been there when the murders were committed
48:50
But it wasn't his friend
48:53
that told on him
48:54
When stonebreaker was telling his friend the story
48:57
the man sitting next to them
48:59
at the bar
49:00
Was an undercover police officer?
49:03
Good Good
49:05
for us because you know, we need a win here, you
49:07
know, this has been a terrible crime against
49:10
his family You know and so
49:12
much loss involved good. I'm glad
49:14
that We get a win here
49:16
and the cop heard the conversation. Yes, I'm glad
49:18
to
49:19
well
49:20
here the whole conversation and stonebreaker
49:23
was arrested as Soon
49:26
as he was done with the story about
49:28
the murders He was brought in to State
49:30
Trooper headquarters and he was interrogated
49:34
they had him
49:35
and He had basically already confessed
49:38
and he looked just like one of the men in the sketches
49:42
He caved and he confessed to it
49:44
all. He gave away the names of
49:46
his accomplices and why they
49:48
did it Just for the thrill
49:50
of it all
49:52
Stonebreaker admitted
49:53
that they had waited for
49:55
Keith Spencer to leave for work.
49:58
So the family would be more vulnerable
50:01
That's so sad.
50:03
They then cut the phone wire, they
50:06
hit the light with the rock, and
50:08
then they burst through the door. After
50:11
the confession charges were brought against
50:14
Drollinger and the other two men, Michael
50:16
Wright and David Smith, and
50:19
a national manhunt began,
50:21
because if you remember, the men left the state. Yeah.
50:25
Wright and Smith were quickly found and
50:27
arrested, but Drollinger
50:29
was able to evade police detection.
50:32
In April of 1977, almost
50:35
two months of him being on the run, Drollinger
50:38
concocted another way that he could
50:40
gain further notoriety by
50:42
making a spectacle of his surrender.
50:45
Drollinger, along with his family's lawyer,
50:48
called a press conference. He
50:50
wanted attention and he wanted
50:53
to be a national figure, like
50:55
his idol,
50:56
Charles Manson.
50:58
With dozens of cameras pointed on
51:00
him, Drollinger sat next
51:02
to his wife, who was cradling their youngest
51:05
child, obviously in an attempt
51:07
to make him look like a family man, and it
51:09
was there that he declared his innocence and
51:12
surrendered to the police. In
51:14
all of their trials, Betty Jane
51:16
Spencer got her wish. The
51:19
reason why she fought so hard, she
51:22
got to testify at all of their
51:24
trials. She looked them in the
51:27
eye and pointed to them as
51:29
she told the jury that it was them,
51:32
that they were the ones who had killed her bulls,
51:35
her beautiful bulls.
51:37
When she identified Roger Drollinger
51:40
at his trial, she pointed
51:42
at him and she looked at him saying
51:44
it was him and he
51:46
said to her, you bitch,
51:50
during the trial.
51:59
Although that's such a
52:01
horrific thing for him to do, I'm
52:03
so glad that he did it because in that moment,
52:06
Betty won. Like she
52:09
got to him.
52:10
Yes. You
52:12
know? Yes. So I like that he revealed
52:15
that she got one over on
52:17
him there. She was able to flip it
52:19
and like weaponize it. Yep. In
52:21
her favor, which is so good.
52:23
Yeah.
52:25
And although he took everything from
52:27
her. In that moment, she took everything
52:29
from him. That's exactly right. Yeah.
52:32
And everybody there got to see the real him right there. Yes. I
52:35
mean, I really think they got to see the real him
52:37
when he called for a press conference, but
52:39
you know what I mean. Yeah.
52:42
In the end, all four men were
52:45
given life sentences for their crimes. Good.
52:49
On January 29th, 2014,
52:52
Roger Drollinger was found dead in his
52:54
cell at the Wabash Valley Correctional
52:57
Facility. He was said to
52:59
have died from natural causes. He
53:02
was in a maximum security prison
53:04
and because of like incidents
53:06
with other inmates,
53:08
he lived
53:10
alone because
53:11
I guess he had had a lot of run-ins with other people,
53:14
as you can imagine, because he's a crazy person.
53:17
Right. David Smith and Daniel Stonebreaker
53:20
are housed at the Pendleton Correctional
53:22
Facility and Michael Wright
53:24
is housed at the Pendleton Treatment Unit
53:27
for mental health reasons.
53:29
In 2001, David
53:32
Smith gave an
53:34
interview with the Journal Review in which
53:37
he recounted his version of what happened that
53:39
night. In it, he stated that Drollinger
53:42
had a sick control over them, that
53:44
they hadn't wanted to murder those people and
53:47
that they felt as if they had to. He
53:50
also said that he was firing above the
53:52
family and that when Drollinger
53:54
saw him do that, he forced his
53:56
gun down, which was when Betty
53:58
had gotten shot in the shoulder.
54:01
But I mean we can't be sure of his account
54:03
for a few reasons. First, he's completely
54:06
downplaying
54:07
the role that he played
54:09
in the murders and that's something that we commonly
54:11
see with criminals, especially when
54:13
they're involved in group crimes that
54:16
when they go on to make these
54:18
confessions, they're going to always try and minimize
54:20
their own role. And
54:23
it's also 24 years after the event. So
54:27
memory isn't the best sometimes what
54:29
the mind does to preserve
54:32
itself and as a, you
54:33
know, just a defense mechanism as we
54:35
do also minimize our roles
54:37
in some of the bad things that happen in our lives.
54:40
I agree. So
54:43
that I don't know about, but I will
54:46
include in the show notes a link to the interview
54:48
that he gave with the journal there.
54:51
Yeah, I mean, I think regardless of
54:53
any of that, I mean, they can make all the statements that they want.
54:56
I mean, they were all involved in a heinous act
54:58
where an entire family was butchered
55:01
in a house for
55:04
no reason at all.
55:05
And they knew that that was the plan. It wasn't
55:07
like this is another home invasion where no
55:09
one else had died. Like
55:11
Joel and Jer made it very clear for killing everybody
55:14
in this house. Right. There's
55:16
no information to suggest that they
55:18
were there for one thing and then all of a sudden,
55:21
Dylan just said, all right, go ahead, shoot them. I'm telling
55:23
you to shoot them. And they're like, what? I thought we're here
55:25
to steal things. Like it's not even like that
55:28
at all. Right.
55:30
Betty Jane Spencer went on to become
55:32
a victim rights activist and
55:34
eventually was honored at a special White
55:36
House ceremony by President Ronald Reagan.
55:40
She died with 80 pellets
55:42
still lodged in her body from that horrific
55:44
night in 2004 of natural
55:48
causes. It's
55:50
really sad. I am glad
55:52
that she was an activist and I'm glad
55:54
that she was able to get justice for her
55:57
children. You know, and I'm, you know,
55:59
I'm just. I know she's passed
56:01
away now, but I'm glad at least she's with
56:04
her family now again like she wanted to you know
56:06
That's really sad. Yeah That's
56:09
a rough one, right? Oh, yeah
56:11
like that is just so wild
56:14
that I think that
56:17
To have an account like you said I think that's the biggest
56:19
thing to pull from it because now moving forward
56:21
when we do talk about these Family
56:25
massacres or even like a family
56:27
annihilator situation now
56:30
we know the chaos of the scene
56:32
Yeah, which I don't think a lot of us
56:35
really understand right? I mean
56:37
you can never truly understand what I mean is the insight
56:40
into that yes I don't think we've always get
56:42
the best picture of that, but here we do You
56:45
know and it's worse than we could have ever imagined
56:48
100% and I think the last thing I want to say too because we didn't really
56:50
talk about it but I think that you
56:53
know this as Horrible and
56:55
tragic as it was for Betty to witness
56:57
everything that she witnessed and you know
57:00
And all of that you also have to think about the
57:02
husband too. I mean he I mean
57:05
to think that he might feel responsible
57:07
because he left and he did his Responsibility to
57:09
go to work and they took advantage of that.
57:11
He wasn't there. You know, he must feel this Overwhelming
57:15
guilt that not only did he lose all his
57:17
children, but also what happened to Betty
57:19
in the process, too So I guess
57:21
that must be hard as well.
57:23
I'm sure both of them had
57:25
Felt that way and felt
57:26
a certain amount of survivor's guilt. Yeah,
57:29
but her determination to seek
57:31
justice for her kids It
57:33
just it speaks volumes to like the love
57:35
and oh, yeah, you know as a mother, you know
57:38
It's intense very emotional. Yes
57:42
Well before we say goodbye we want to
57:44
say thank you to our newest supporters
57:46
on patreon We hope you're enjoying
57:49
all of the extra episodes And if
57:51
you want to bonus episodes of
57:53
this podcast twice a month,
57:55
you can go to patreon.com True
57:57
crime couple so we want to say
58:00
Thank you so much to Kelton Niels, Rachel,
58:04
Ashley, Adela, Hope
58:06
Rose, Brandi Willett, Kathleen,
58:10
Mary Glaze, Ariel
58:13
Tulk, Beatrice Salcido,
58:16
Amanda Armsworthy, Courtney
58:18
Yoon, Kylie Cruz,
58:22
Irene Isquierdo, Tamika
58:25
Porter,
58:26
Carly Gotzall,
58:29
Tamara Henley, Jennifer
58:31
Whittaker, Gabby, Megan
58:33
Pollack, Kelly Buffon-Uptor
58:36
Pledge, Katie Natasha,
58:40
Susan Trimble, Abigail
58:42
Oak,
58:43
Suresh Peters,
58:45
Desiree Marsh, Frankie,
58:48
Mad Raps and Sign-It,
58:51
Marnie,
58:52
Amy Eaton, Alexis
58:54
Clark, Bridget, Chrissy King,
58:58
Amanda Sapansky, Michelle
59:01
and Monica. Thank you guys so
59:03
much for joining and again we hope
59:06
you're enjoying and until next
59:08
time guys don't park next to vans.
59:10
Bye guys. Bye.
59:28
you
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