00:00:00
Phoebe Judge: So, we aren't going to be using
the victim's real name in this story. And that's
00:00:06
for a couple of different reasons, and we're
respecting your wishes on that. Why do you feel so
00:00:10
strongly about not using the victim's real name?
Stephanie Nally: The victim in this case endured
00:00:16
extraordinary psychological pressure
from the defendant for 20 years. He spent all of the '80s and all of the '90s not telling
people what was happening to him. There was also
00:00:31
a defense proffered in this case that is quite
truthfully embarrassing to him. I don't want
00:00:36
to talk about that and use his real name. He's got
family out there, there were people that worked
00:00:41
with him, there is his neighbors
Phoebe Judge: That had no idea this was going on?
Stephanie Nally: ... They had no idea.
00:00:46
And this man, he deserved none of it.
Phoebe Judge: Stephanie Nally used to be a prosecutor in the
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
00:00:56
She worked with special victims who were
typically more vulnerable: the young, the elderly, the sexually abused. And back in
2002, just as she was about to leave that
00:01:05
unit, she got one more case involving
a victim we've agreed to call Robert. Who was so polite and so discreet that he
unwittingly became the perfect target.
00:01:16
I'm Phoebe Judge, this is Criminal.
[Music.] The story starts in the middle of a traffic
jam, around 1977. Robert was on his way home
00:01:31
from work in Southern California. He was in the
aeronautics industry, some sort of engineer.
00:01:37
Also, he was small, he was maybe five feet tall.
Stephanie Nally describes him as slight with an
00:01:43
adolescent face, a white man in his late 40s.
Stephanie Nally: He was coming home from work
00:01:49
on a highway, it's an east-west artery highway,
the 91 Freeway, and there was a traffic jam.
00:01:56
And he decided to get off the highway and
run along a parallel road to try to avert the
00:02:02
congestion and then get back on. And when he did,
he got off in the city of Compton, California.
00:02:07
Phoebe Judge: In the late '70s, Compton was
on its way to becoming the internationally
00:02:12
notorious high-crime city, overrun with gang
violence. Robert would later say he was scared,
00:02:18
he didn't know where he was.
Stephanie Nally: As he wound his way through the streets looking for a way
to parallel the freeway and get back on,
00:02:25
he accidentally sideswiped a Cadillac that
was parked on the side of the street.
00:02:29
Phoebe Judge: He stopped, pulled over,
and looked up in his rearview mirror. Robert says a group of boys were running towards
him, he didn't know why and he was terrified. All
00:02:39
of a sudden out of nowhere his car door opens,
the driver-side door, and a guy about 18 years
00:02:46
old pushes him over into the passenger seat.
Stephanie Nally: Remember this is the era of big
00:02:51
bench seats and nobody wore seat belts. Slid him
over to the passenger seat, jumped in the car,
00:02:56
and said, "I'm about to save your life."
Phoebe Judge: It was only a matter of seconds.
00:03:01
Robert was completely out of his element and not
physically in a position to defend himself.
00:03:05
Stephanie Nally: So he let
this man drive him away. Phoebe Judge: Where did they go?
Stephanie Nally: They just went around
00:03:11
the corner. They went to a different part
of the neighborhood where it was safe, and
00:03:17
the defendant looked over to him and said, "I
just saved your life and that was my mother's
00:03:21
car that you hit and you need to pay for
the damages." And Robert said, "Okay."
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Phoebe Judge: Robert gave the guy his
name, his phone number, and address, and he told them to please be in touch with an
estimate for the car repairs. His name was Leon
00:03:36
Moore. The next day he got a call, Moore said he
had an estimate. Robert told him to come over.
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Stephanie Nally: $4,500.
Phoebe Judge: In 1977. That's like $18,000 in today's money.
Stephanie Nally: And Robert knew that it
00:03:51
was excessive. He knew that that was too
much money, but he was grateful. He really
00:03:55
thought that this boy had saved his life. He
thought that he was going to get beat up by the
00:03:59
men he saw in the mirror. I don't think
the money meant much to him. He lived very
00:04:03
simply and I think he was a fairly well-paid
engineer, and he just gave him the money,
00:04:09
willingly. And at that point, I think,
was happy to do so, that first day. [Music.]
Phoebe Judge:
00:04:19
What do you mean that first
day? Did it keep going on? Stephanie Nally: It did.
Phoebe Judge: It's not exactly
00:04:24
clear what happened next. What we do know is that
Leon Moore didn't just take the car repair money
00:04:30
and go on with his life, he came back asking for
more money, not just once, but again and again. In
00:04:36
a lot of ways his request. Seemed pretty innocent,
maybe it was something to do with school or work.
00:04:42
One time he said his mom needed new dentures.
And he wasn't asking for much: $100 here,
00:04:48
$200 there. Not nothing, but like Nally said,
Robert was single, well-paid, and had no kids.
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Stephanie Nally: And for a little
while, Robert was still grateful. Still grateful to this kid who he thought had
saved his life — or at least gotten him out of
00:05:01
a big pinch — and so he gave the money.
Phoebe Judge: For about two years, almost like a favor, thousands of dollars.
Then around 1980, things changed.
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Stephanie Nally: Robert came home from work
one day and this apartment complex where he
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lived had the kind of carport where all the
cars park lined up, but there's one covering.
00:05:23
So there's a partial view into where you
are. And Robert came out to the carport and
00:05:30
Leon was waiting for him, sort of crouched down.
And when he got there, he stood up and he told
00:05:39
Robert that his kids had been kidnapped.
Robert: And he was down in front of the
00:05:48
car, sitting down, where I couldn't see him.
Phoebe Judge: This is Robert, from an interview
00:05:52
he recorded with the police many years later.
Robert: So I went directly to my car and opened —
00:05:59
unlocked the door and opened it. And I heard
this rustling, and he stood up and he was looming
00:06:08
over the front of my car.
Police Officer: Okay. Robert: And he had a gun. In front of me,
with the gun. And told me that his kids are
00:06:17
being held hostage because of a drug deal.
That if he didn't get that money from me,
00:06:24
he was going to kill me.
Stephanie Nally: At that point everything changed. [Music.]
Phoebe Judge:
00:06:39
Robert gives the $10,000, the gun gets pulled,
and still, does he go to any authority?
00:06:44
Stephanie Nally: No. He was embarrassed.
He was a little ashamed. And at this point,
00:06:51
he was the only one being affected. And he,
quite truthfully, just kept hoping it would
00:06:56
go away, that it would be the last time.
Phoebe Judge: So as a lawyer, what are you
00:07:01
thinking Robert should have been doing here?
Stephanie Nally: If I could go back in time and
00:07:05
tell him what to do, he should have gone to the
police. He should've filed an insurance claim,
00:07:09
he should have demanded proof that the car
belonged to him. There's a lot of should'ves,
00:07:14
could'ves along the way. But he didn't.
He's not me, he wasn't a lawyer. He was a
00:07:20
simple man leading a simple life, and he just
wanted it to stop, he wanted it to go away.
00:07:25
Phoebe Judge: It kept going. For the next
six or seven years the demands continued.
00:07:30
Robert says the only periods when he wasn't giving
Moore any money were when Moore was in prison for
00:07:36
other, unrelated crimes. And it's around this time
that it starts to become clear how sophisticated
00:07:42
a con this really is. Things progress from
opportunism, to outright threats, to creating a
00:07:48
whole cast of characters for total manipulation.
Stephanie Nally: In 1986, a female contacted
00:07:55
the victim, Robert, and said, this
female said that she was the wife of Leon Moore.
Robert: And Leon,
00:08:04
according to them, had been killed.
Stephanie Nally: And so now, Robert had to pay her.
Phoebe Judge: The woman said she
00:08:10
was moving to Jackson, Mississippi, and she wanted
Robert to send her money while she was there.
00:08:14
Stephanie Nally: And Robert said, "No, I'm not
going to do that." And then a man got on the phone
00:08:20
and said that they had people and, "We're going
to kill you unless you give this woman money."
00:08:25
Phoebe Judge: Nobody knows
exactly who this man was, but Robert was pretty sure it was not Leon Moore.
Stephanie Nally: And Robert was scared enough
00:08:35
that he went once a month for six years and got
a $400 cashier's check and sent it to a P.O. Box
00:08:42
in Mississippi. And it turns out during that time
that Leon Moore was incarcerated in Mississippi.
00:08:49
Phoebe Judge: So he was paying for
God-knows-what, but something. Stephanie Nally: Something.
Robert: And then Leon reappeared
00:08:59
and that stopped.
Phoebe Judge: By 2002, Robert had been paying off Leon Moore
for 25 years. He says he didn't want to
00:09:07
get anyone else involved. It's tempting to
speculate on Robert's thinking, to say, "He
00:09:13
should have just gone to the cops, moved away. He
should've done something." Whatever his reasons,
00:09:19
he just didn't. And Leon Moore kept coming.
Did Leon Moore ever say to Robert, "Give me $10,000 and I'll never contact you
again." Stephanie Nally: Many times. Many,
00:09:28
many times he would say that.
Phoebe Judge: So he was saying, "This is the last time."
Stephanie Nally: "This is the last time, this is
00:09:31
the last time." And, of course it wasn't the last
time. You and I can see that. And Robert probably
00:09:39
knew it on some level, but he just kept hoping.
His mother lived right there, there were various
00:09:44
threats made, his imagination was going wild, he
was scared and embarrassed. And at some point,
00:09:48
it had been going on so long that he knew that
if he went to the police, he'd look like a fool.
00:09:54
And so he just endured it.
Phoebe Judge: Robert kept meticulous records of all these transactions. One time, Leon Moore
asked for $2,800 so he could move into a house.
00:10:05
When Robert told him no, Moore and his sister
showed up at the apartment yelling and beating
00:10:10
on the windows. Robert was worried about causing a
scene, so he wrote the check. There are copies of
00:10:16
nine checks and 67 cashier's checks he wrote over
the years. Coupled with all the cash he says he
00:10:23
withdrew and handed over, it's estimated Robert
gave Leon Moore more than a hundred thousand
00:10:28
dollars over the course of 25 years.
[Music.] When Robert finally went to the cops, it's because
he thought Moore had killed or was about to kill
00:10:45
somebody. In his final letter, Moore asked Robert
for $8,000. He said he was going to "do away with
00:10:51
his girlfriend and move to Belize." The letter
also threatened Robert's family. And for some
00:10:57
reason perhaps because other people were being
endangered, Robert finally went to the police. It
00:11:02
was November of 2002, and he was 72 years old.
Police Officer: May I ask you some questions
00:11:08
about your memory?
Robert: Sure. Police Officer: Okay. I'm going to say three
words, and you say them back after I stop. Pony,
00:11:16
quarter, and orange. And what are those words?
Robert: Pony, quarter, and orange.
Phoebe Judge: The state was building
00:11:26
a case against Leon Moore. Robert was going to be
a key witness. In the interview, Robert's funny.
00:11:32
He makes jokes about being bad at math. He's
remarkably upbeat for someone who's been extorted
00:11:37
for the last quarter century. But there are
moments when he's trying to make sense of it
00:11:42
all himself, recognizing that he probably
should have done something about it earlier.
00:11:46
He calls himself a coward twice.
Robert: I guess maybe I'm a coward, I don't know.
Phoebe Judge:
00:11:51
At the end of the interview, he explains to
the detective what he wants to have happen.
00:11:55
Robert: I just wish he'd go away. I'm not seeking
money. If this thing would go away, I'd be happy.
00:12:07
I guess if I'd have to put it simply,
I'd like him to be in jail till the day I die of natural causes.
Police Officer: Yes.
00:12:16
Robert: And unsuspicious.
Police Officer: And unsuspicious. Robert: Yeah.
Phoebe Judge: Four months later, Robert died.
00:12:23
[Music.]
Stephanie Nally: It was about two weeks before trial,
and I was engaging in trial prep:
00:12:34
getting my witnesses together, re-interviewing
the officers who responded, lining up the checks,
00:12:39
things like that. Just getting my witnesses
in order. And I got a phone call from the
00:12:44
court clerk, and she said, "You need to come up
here, you need to come up right now." So I did.
00:12:49
I walked up and I walked in the courtroom, and
it was the court reporter and the court clerk
00:12:55
and a man that looked almost exactly like Robert,
but taller. And the man had a piece of paper in
00:13:03
his hand that was a subpoena. And he turned to me
and he said, "This subpoena has my brother's name
00:13:10
on it. Was he the victim of a crime?"
Phoebe Judge: What did you find out? Stephanie Nally: Robert had never told anyone
about what was happening to him. He'd never
00:13:19
told his mother, he'd never told his brother, he'd
never told anybody what had happened to him, and
00:13:26
he had subsequently died. In between
the preliminary hearing and the trial, he had died in
his bed, in his bedroom. And his brother was
00:13:37
cleaning his apartment, they were going through
his effects, and they had found the subpoena and
00:13:41
that was the only reason they even know about it.
So I sat down with his brother and I explained
00:13:46
to him, not in every detail, but basically what
had happened and explained that his brother had
00:13:52
endured it and had finally come forward when
he thought somebody else had been hurt. And
00:14:00
explained to him that I was going to keep going.
Phoebe Judge: And what was his brother's response
00:14:06
when he heard what Robert had
been through for so long? Stephanie Nally: He was devastated. He
was devastated. This man, his brother,
00:14:15
was just as sweet as Robert was. They were just
two very nice, well-meaning, wonderful citizens.
00:14:23
He was devastated and heartbroken.
Phoebe Judge: Does anyone actually know how Robert died?
Stephanie Nally: After I found out that he
00:14:31
was dead, I obviously talked to... My
first phone call was to the detective. And I went with the crime scene unit,
and we immediately went to the apartment.
00:14:40
But if it was a crime scene, it was cleaned up.
There was — the effects were half packed up,
00:14:46
the bedding that he was sleeping in was gone,
there were no blood or urine samples to be had.
00:14:51
The crime scene unit did go over the entire
apartment, but there was no evidence.
00:14:59
Phoebe Judge: Do we know what it says on
the death certificate as cause of death?
00:15:02
Stephanie Nally: I never saw the
death certificate. An educated guess would say that he died of natural causes.
Phoebe Judge: What did the defense argue?
00:15:11
Stephanie Nally: They put forth the argument
that the money had exchanged hands because
00:15:16
of sexual favors.
Phoebe Judge: That Robert was paying Leon Moore for sex.
Stephanie Nally: Yes. And it turns out that the
00:15:24
victim suffered from a medical condition that made
any engagement in those sort of acts impossible.
00:15:29
Phoebe Judge: The jury didn't buy it. Moore was
initially convicted on two counts of fraud against
00:15:34
an elder, and one count of sending a threatening
letter for the purpose of extortion. For various
00:15:40
technical reasons, only the letter conviction
ended up sticking, and Leon Moore was sentenced to
00:15:46
eight years in prison. The last time he appeared
in the California prison system was in 2013,
00:15:52
a three-hour misdemeanor stint.
[Music.] The interview Robert recorded, the one you've
been hearing throughout this story, turned out
00:16:03
to be a key factor in the trial. California law
allows such interviews to be shown in court.
00:16:08
Stephanie Nally: So the jury actually
heard from Robert on a six-foot screen, and they got to see him and feel his affect.
Phoebe Judge: But the strange thing is,
00:16:17
they weren't allowed to know Robert was dead. They
weren't allowed to know why he was missing it all.
00:16:22
Because technically, it wasn't pertinent to the
case. Whether or not he was alive didn't change
00:16:28
the fact of what Leon Moore had or had not done
to him. Which seems strangely fitting — that the
00:16:35
last people to get to know Robert, the jury, still
didn't know quite everything. Up to the very end,
00:16:42
there was always some big secret.
[Music.] Criminal is produced by Eric
Mennel, Lauren Spohrer, and me.
00:16:58
Our artwork is by Julienne Alexander. Special
thanks to Carol Jackson and Katie Herzog.
00:17:03
Our website is thisiscriminal.com, and that's
where you can sign up for our newsletter or get
00:17:08
in contact with us. We're on Facebook and
Twitter, @CriminalShow. And we have links
00:17:13
to the Kickstarter in all of those places.
Consider pitching in — it means a lot to us.
00:17:18
I'm Phoebe Judge, and this is Criminal.
8