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[Music] in the spring of 1990 a judge and jury considered whether John hondras and
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Edward Turner were guilty of killing Ruthie May McCoy their attorneys argued they were innocent but throughout the
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investigation their names came up most frequently as suspects and when the time came for the prosecution's key witness
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to take the stand he changed his story at the last minute now their Fates were up in the air we're talking a lot about
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Ruthie may now but back then her murder got very little attention not a lot of folks came to the trial and it's thanks
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mostly to the doggedness of Steve beira that we're talking about Ruthie May's case now and we aren't the only ones
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turning our attention to Ruthie May a new Museum set to open later this year will highlight her story We Tell The
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Good the Bad and the Ugly Lisa Yan Lee is the executive director of the national public housing Museum
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they renovated a three-story public housing building in Chicago the museum will showcase how Apartments looked
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decades ago the objects and artifacts that we have found that have we've saved and salvaged and that people have given
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to us one object they salvaged from back then was a medicine cabinet Lee knows that there's no Story related to those
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medicine cabinets that's more well known than Ruthie Mays for many people one of
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the like most famous stories in public housing they'll hang a cabinet on the wall and then on each side of the
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cabinet they'll put two different portrayals of life in public housing on one side this medicine cabinet tells the
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story of really incredible health programs and medical care that was always available in public housing
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complexes and then on the other there's the story of Ruthie McCoy which is also through about this medicine
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cabinet to Lee the tragedy of Ruthie May's death holds lessons for how the country approaches public housing today
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housing precarity being what it is today it's like one of the biggest issues facing all of us this history is
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incredibly relevant and even as history reminds us of its failures Ruthie May's story still
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shows us some of the valuable things that public housing can do for people she had a consistent place to stay after
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her home flooded and was provided access to a psychiatric center where she received
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care despite so many challenges Ruthie may use public housing to set a path toward a better life we're asking people
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to take a moment and to care to look a little more deeply the medicine cabinet exhibit is called care to look it's a
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capacious history history is big and never again will a single story be told as if it's the only one how big history
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is Ruthie May's story manages to stay relevant for Generations I think I wrote a lot of
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stories that really shed light on what poverty was like in Chicago in the 80s and 90s here's reporter Steve beera but
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people don't pay attention to most of those stories but this one is kind of revived so that people do pay attention
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to it more than three decades later he credits Candyman for generating attention around Ruthie May's Legacy but
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plenty of real life events get mentioned in movies there's something deeper at play when we remember Ruthie May Ruthie
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May's experience was concentrated poverty It's a combination uh deep poverty and racial
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segregation what is her Legacy what has come of these public housing projects today and were her Killers ever brought
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to Justice you never know what a jury is going to do I'm Doma Pongo from 48 hours this is Candyman the true
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story behind the bathroom mirror murder episode 6 luthie May's reflection Ruthie May McCoy's Legacy
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will forever be intertwined with the 1992 Candyman film I mean mainstream stories and meths have a lot of power
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Lisa youngan Lee from the national public housing Museum believes the film and its sequels have kept Ruthie May
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story alive but each one has also done something different I think the original Candyman contributed to inscribing some
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terrible racialized stereotypes about these places and on the flip side I kind of feel like the remake of Candy Man
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actually did something very different in 2021 fans of the franchise got to see Candyman in a new light it was the first
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time a Candyman film was written and directed by people of color director Nia dasta used the Remake to challenge
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stereotypes around public housing and historically black neighborhoods it'll take a minute and
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the people will be studying over and talking about her film for years to come remember Robin means Coleman she's a
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media professor at the University of Virginia she told me that this more recent film is part of a movement to use
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horror to examine deeper issues Within American society especially about race so
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inevitably that that real life horror is going to inform entertainment horror and
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the social issues appear in lots of horror films but they're particularly acute in Black horror films the fourth
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Candyman is set in 2019 decades after the original Helen the graduate student who investigated Candyman for her
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research paper and died in a bonfire is referenced but is not the film's focus instead of a white protagonist the
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central character is black he's an artist named Anthony McCoy the kind of connective tissue is like trauma it's
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violence the Candyman is sort of violent Cabrini is violent the government is violent there structural violence that
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sends people to where they are in these films a reference to the details of Ruthie 's murder is in the fourth film
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too the main character Anthony starts researching Candyman and gets a tape recorder from the library as he becomes
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more obsessed with Candyman there's a scene where Anthony is vigorously painting and listening to a recording of
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two women from the original film as they retell the murder of a woman named Ruthie so Ruthie called 911 and she said
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there's somebody coming through the walls and they didn't believe her they thought the lady was crazy right
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so she called 911 again and they still didn't believe when they finally got there she
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was [Music] dead by 2019 Cabrini Green and the Abbott homes where Ruthie May lived were
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long gone in the movie and in real life the high-rise projects had been demolished many low-income residents of
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the neighborhood were forced to leave their homes were replaced by new development and housing designed to
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attract wealthier residents I should warn you if you haven't seen the movie yet there are
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going to be some spoilers as we get into the differences between the fourth and the first Candyman I think that the
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chief difference is now certainly there's the absence of Helen and a focus on black
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communities black families black relationships extended families that's the other thing in the 92 movie you're
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like where are these people's kin it's revealed that Anthony the painter was the baby that Helen the blonde grad
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student from the first Candyman saved from the fire in the original film at the end of the 2021 film Anthony
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becomes Candyman and this movie makes some big changes to the lore surrounding the
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Candyman character's history the police gunned down the character anthy McCoy at the end of the most recent movie keep
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in mind this film was released only a little more than a year after George Floyd's death and his murder was
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weighing heavy on America at the time but in the movie Anthony gets his revenge once he's Candyman he kills the
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officers who murdered him even though Anthony is turning into something he's an unwilling martyr to
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the kind of black pain and Trauma that we see Coleman read me something the director Nia dasta once said so Nia says
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I love this quote can I read this quote absolutely he says Candyman at the intersection of white violence in Black
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pain is about unwilling Martyrs the character Anthony McCoy is an unwilling martyr in the 2021 film the
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police kill him your original Candyman character Daniel robati was an unwilling martyr he was tortured and lynched by an
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angry mob and in a way Ruthie May was an unwilling martyr too she's remembered for how she died remembered for how she
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was let down when we talk about speaking names and saying names and reminding about Justice denied we do want to say
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Ruthie May McCoy's name and keep saying her name because it isn't just about her
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murder that's a core to how we know her but Ruthie May McCoy symbolizes all of the sort of failures
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one of the reasons Ruthie May's story still resonates today is we're still Reckoning with these failures a lot of
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us can relate to not feeling safe in our own homes worrying that when a call for
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help is made no one will come [Music] in the 2021 movie a black woman summons Candyman for protection which is much
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different from the original and that subtle change makes saying the name Candyman an act of
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empowerment rather than victimization Coleman thinks that that idea Echoes the real life movement to keep the names of
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victims of Injustice alive so in saying candyman's name in 199 2 doesn't get us Justice and this candy man you say his
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name because we're asking for justice for Coleman Ruthie May is on a long list of names that she intends to
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say out loud Ruthie May mcoy is a real life person her family are alive and out there back in 1990 Ruthie May's family
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was still waiting for justice they were about to learn whether the two men accused of killing Ruthie May would be
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found guilty her older brother Willie McCoy had watched the whole trial unfold finally after 3 years he was about to
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find out what would happen to the two young men accused of her murder he wanted to make sure that the right
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people got convicted Steve begira was there as the prosecutor ution and the defense made
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their closing arguments I always feel it's pretty poignant to see these cases where there's an awful lot on the line
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and there's there's so little interest but that is quite common in Chicago the family of the defendants and Ruthie
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May's Brother Willie McCoy were there to watch John hondras had chosen a bench trial where judge Michael Getty decided
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his fate while Edward Turner had chosen a jury both trials were taking place simultaneously Turner's attorney focused
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his closing arguments on the circumstances of Turner's life and the choices available to him like the choice
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not to call the police he argued that if Turner had called 911 police might have
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thought he was a suspect or his neighbors could consider him a snitch putting his life in danger Steve said
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the jury left the room and came back with the verdict in less than 4 hours Turner was sweating as he looked down at
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the table Edward Turner told me that he was scared when the jury came back he said I would have went off if they told
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me I was guilty I wouldn't have known how to take that garbage life in prison for something I didn't do the clerk read
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the verdict on the charge of first-degree murder not guilty Steve remembered someone in the
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court cheered to which the judge threatened jail time the clerk continued reading off three more verdicts not
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guilty not guilty not guilty the jury decided Turner had not committed armed robbery or invaded
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Ruthie May's home Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and even though Turner had admitted on the stand that he had taken
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Ruthie May's TV the jury also found him not guilty of burglary he was free to go back in April 1990 Steve watched
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Turner sit back in his chair and smile his ordeal was over Steve said Turner told him back then he didn't know who
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killed McCoy and he didn't regret any of his actions on the night she was killed
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not even his failure to call police after he saw McCoy's body if he had it to do over he said to me I would have
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seen it and didn't seen it just like I did I wasn't going to jeopardize my family's life
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Willie had spoken to family members of the accused Edward Turner's mother Altha repeated something to Willie that she'
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said to Steve the fact that Edward Turner wouldn't call police when he saw Ruthie May lying in the apartment his
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mother I think said he should have he should have called police but if he did he would have been suspect number
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one um so she could understand how in the milu of the project that would be a a an understandable
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response and Willie was okay with that explanation he said that he felt the defendants aren't the only ones that
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should be on trial he said that the people who design these projects should be on trial will he showed his
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understanding once again when he walked past Turner's family on his way out of the courthouse in the hallway outside
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the courtroom Turner's mother is screaming my child's coming home and crying and Willie McCoy walked past the
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relatives and he looked relieved not disappointed and he told me maybe he was innocent but even if he wasn't you can't
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convict an individual on such little evidence Willie left and didn't return to hear the verdict in John hr's case he
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wanted Justice for Ruthie may but he also wanted the right people convicted if anyone was got to be convicted Steve
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wrote that in the closing arguments of H's case the prosecutor admitted Tim Brown had been a flawed witness but
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argued the detectives had conducted an honorable investigation he said quote they didn't choose their Witnesses and
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neither did we but the detectives wouldn't be the focus of Judge Michael Getty's frustration he was upset with
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the responding officers the night Ruthie May died well this was a veteran judge he knew knew how police were supposed to
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work so to him it was unconscionable that the officers didn't go into the apartment that night that they got that
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call not just from Ruthie may but from two neighbors reporting gunshots that they could somehow leave without going
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in and seeing what was up in that apartment judge Getty said quote this case was lost not by the State's
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Attorneys this case was not even lost by the detectives who got the only evidence
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that they got in a damaged and sanitized crime scene this case was lost by the Patrol Division of the Chicago Police
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Department who stood by with a death ear to the multiple reports of gunshots being fired in
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1109 they just couldn't be bothered with the hassle of entering a locked door so
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they let them get away with it end quote he went on to say about John hondras this defendant may or may not be guilty
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but the state has clearly failed to establish guilt Beyond a reasonable doubt this court must accordingly find
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the defendant not guilty he's discharged and with that no one would be held accountable for Ruthie May's
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murder hondras never spoke to Steve for a story back in the day and never never responded to our attempts to reach out
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to him either but Steve did speak with hess's half brother who had attended the trial his half brother Darnell Dean told
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me in the hallway I feel good about him getting out but there's no reason to celebrate he wanted the truth to come
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out as to he did but everyone over there meeting in the projects knows who killed
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that lady just ain't nobody at Liberty to say but it wasn't John Willie McCoy hadn't come back to hear the hress
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ruling prosecutors had already told him that hress was going to walk as well Steve decided to call Willie and
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tell him the prosecutor's prediction was correct his sister's killer or Killers whoever they were Got Away the first
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thing McCoy did was lean on his religious faith I thought it was a travesty former
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Chicago detective Anthony Manina thought it was a travesty that the two men he arrested for Ruthie May's murder were
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acquitted judge Getty you know he gave a fair statement of what he believed and his statement was that it wasn't on the
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the detectives and you know it was he claimed it was on the Patrol Division but an actuality I also add that to the
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cha police in a phone call he reiterated that he believes the cha police not the
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patrol officers are the ones at fault for not letting Patrol officers into Ruthie May's apartment sooner how could
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you show up in an apartment with a wrong key and then say I'll be back tomorrow from his perspective the patrol officers
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hands were tied even though police regularly break into private property he simply doesn't think the patrol officers
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had enough cause in this situation they were on cha property and the cha did not
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want to break down the door it's a CH property the cha would have to give the okay he said this might have been
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handled differently if the police had permission to break in from a relative but that wasn't the
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situation plus to Manina at least they ultimately arrested the right men he doesn't consider this a Cold Case a cold
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case is a case that occurred where the offender was not caught and the case is still pending but cold in this
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circumstance we believed we had the right guy so therefore it's it's already in the course so with that fact it's not
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a cold case as far as I'm concerned again this is former detective mana's opinion hress and Turner were found not
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guilty of killing Ruthie may still for Manina as far as we were concerned we cleared this case clearing a case means
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that the officers met the criteria to consider the case solved once cops say a case has been cleared that means from
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their perspective they don't have to reopen it [Music] as for Willie McCoy Ruthie May's brother
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he dealt with the fact that the criminal justice system failed to catch his sister's killer his reaction wasn't
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that's so unfair there was as often happens in these cases some meeting of the minds
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between family and friends of the defendants and in this case uh the relative Willie Steve said that Willie
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relied on his religious Faith he said God will take care of them eventually I believe that the killers
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are free but they're not free in spirit they know what they did and it's always going to be in their mind they can boast
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they can say oh man we beat it but that's just going to open a trapo for them they'll think they can get away
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with something again but sooner or later the ax will fall as their conversation went on Willie did let some of his anger
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seep out here's Steve again reading straight from his notes if that would have been a
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white woman that called police like my sister did you know they would have gone in her apartment you know it this whole
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system we're living in is corrupt he said he tries not to dwell on the injustices in it if you do you will
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explode you will explode he said Steve didn't stay in touch with Willie and we tried different contact
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information for him but never heard back from anyone one if he's alive he'd be in
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his 90s according to Edward Turner's mother Altha her son would want to have a good
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life he died in his 50s from cancer but John hondras was arrested again about a year after his acquittal in Ruthie May's
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case in 1993 he was convicted of second deegree murder for a different [Music] killing Steve gir was the one who posed
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the question what killed Ruthie May a bullet in the chest or life in the projects the
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answer was both I do think that things are much better because habit homes no longer exists nor do the highrises at
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Cabrini and Robert Taylor and Stateway everything was knocked down around the year 2000 now at Ruthie May's old
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address was Resource Center for unemployed adults it's next to an empty field Steve has written a book and
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retired from the Chicago reader for his book courtroom 302 Steve spent one year in a Cook County courtroom he said that
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way back when he wrote his stories about Ruthie may his intention was never to write an indictment of all public
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housing the concentration of deep poverty in my mind was the more important factor people can get along
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just fine and highrises and with back-to-back medicine cabinets but because concentrated poverty leads
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inevitably to more violence filling those high-rises with deeply poor is a recipe for disaster a disaster that the
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buildings themselves then exacerbate and then the violence worsens physical and mental health and the residents are
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caught in a downward spiral Deborah lassley Ruthie May's neighbor blames those circumstances for her friend's
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death and when asked the question what killed Ruthie May McCoy she blamed the projects
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and the people who used to run him so to me the people that work for the project
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and because the project didn't get their together they didn't care cuz they wasn't living it the way whoever killed
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Ruthie May entered her apartment can make any of us question whether something could be lurking behind our
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own reflection Ruthie May's reflection is her Legacy and that we say her name all
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these years later we retell again and again how she died and it's not that different from how the 2021 Candyman
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explains the ghost's relevance in the 21st century but a story like that a pain like
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that lasts forever that's Candyman in the same way the latest film helped to change the narrative maybe
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this telling of a story does too the scariest part is that the film is fictional but not the
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[Music] horror from 48 hours this is Candyman the true story behind the bathroom
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mirror murder I'm your host and co-executive producer domati Pungo Judy igard is the executive producer of
00:26:02
48 Hours Jamie Benson is the senior producer for Paramount audio and Mora walls is the senior story editor
00:26:11
development by 48 Hours field producer Morgan KY recording assistance from Marlon polycarp and Alan pay special
00:26:19
thanks to Paramount podcast vice president Megan Marcus Candyman the true story behind
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the bathroom mirror murder is produced by Sony music entertainment it was reported written and produced by Alex
00:26:31
Schuman our executive producers are Katherine St Louis and Jonathan hirs our associate producer is summer tamad theme
00:26:39
and original music composed by Cedric Wilson he sound designed and mixed the episodes we also use music from
00:26:47
APM fendle Fon is our fact Checker and our production manager is Tama balance kassi if you enjoyed this series please
00:26:57
take a moment to rate and review the show on Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts
00:27:04
[Music]