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Veronica Gedeon & the Easter Sunday Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast

June 24, 2024 / 59:19

This episode covers the second part of the Gideon family murders, focusing on suspect Bob Irwin's background, mental illness, and the investigation leading to his capture.

Hosts Ash and Elena recap the events from part one, where two members of the Gideon family, Mary and Veronica, were murdered. They discuss the investigation, which initially struggled to identify a suspect until a diary led them to Bob Irwin, who had a troubled past and a fixation on Ethel Gideon.

Bob Irwin's history of mental illness is detailed, including his time in psychiatric facilities and his delusions. The hosts highlight his obsession with Ethel and the tragic events that unfolded when he attempted to kill her but ended up murdering her mother and sister instead.

The episode also discusses the sensational media coverage surrounding the case, particularly the Chicago Tribune's controversial decision to interview Irwin while he was still a fugitive. His eventual confession and the trial process are examined, including the arguments about his mental state at the time of the murders.

Ultimately, the episode reflects on the tragic outcomes for the Gideon family and the complexities of dealing with mental illness in the criminal justice system.

TLDR

Bob Irwin's obsession leads to the tragic murders of the Gideon family, revealing his troubled past and the media's role in the case.

Episode

59:19
00:00:06
hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this right here folks is [Music] morbid it's more heyy we've been getting
00:00:31
so Wy in the introductions lately we have we've been doing a lot of recordings yeah I think so we're just
00:00:38
like got to make it new and fresh I know and I forgot even to tell you guys at the top of the cuz this is
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part two obviously of the Gideon family murders um I forgot to even tell them at
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the top of part one that it was a Tupa oh it's a Tupa yeah by the way if you're here for part two hey this is part two
00:00:57
it's it's t i mean there a lot yeah there's a lot going on it's like Michaela says go to P two go to P two
00:01:05
that was good that was good on both ends that was real good my favorite is when she does her eyeliner and she says nice
00:01:12
and Shar that eyelin could cut a man I love it I love it I love it I love it makeup
00:01:21
makeup Kaya I don't know I feel we're Wy so crazy it's been a silly day in this pod
00:01:28
laboratory it has been a silly day a good day if you will um and people keep seeing doubles of me in my house yeah
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that's occurring so I I told this story like probably like a month or so ago now
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that I saw a double of you yeah but then Mikey admitted to us today that he also
00:01:44
saw a double of me he seemed a double weeks ago he didn't even tell us he didn't even want scare us the man didn't
00:01:49
even inform us he was he was scared that's scary what's what's going on with you that's what I'm wondering someone
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tell me I think it's cuz you're spooky that I liked that um reason it's like the X Files of it
00:02:02
all that explanation worked for me yeah cuz Elena was like well why isn't anybody seeing tubles of John in the
00:02:08
house and I said because he's not spooky he's not he's really not you on the other hand yeah spooky as
00:02:16
[ __ ] so you know spooky as [ __ ] and I don't live here yeah I mean I spend more time
00:02:23
here than I do at my own home but yeah I'm just surpr I want to know what it means what does it mean cuz I'm like why
00:02:29
am i showing up Mikey said that it's because I say out loud a lot that I wish there was more of me to do the things
00:02:35
that I need to get done maybe wish it I'm a manifesting queen maybe you manifested something um some kind of
00:02:42
[ __ ] [ __ ] though something ominous cuz I don't love that any any thread that I
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found about like what doppelganger things are is like not good well damn I'm sorry to inform you it didn't I
00:02:56
didn't like the feeling I didn't feel threatened like when I saw she who shall be named but I felt scared after the
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experience yeah I don't know maybe and I only saw her very quick I don't she didn't like me she didn't like and
00:03:09
that's weird cuz you really likeed me heard yeah so you've heard made a career together and [ __ ] yeah it's true I mean
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I mean ask some people and they'll say different but uh I was like what I was like no you
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can't argue that no you can't argue that but yeah I don't know so I guess we're just going to ride this uh going to ride
00:03:31
ride this train all the way and see what happens see who next sees a doble anger
00:03:35
of me in my own house what if your [ __ ] kid see it though that would bump me out then I'd have something to
00:03:40
say to her that's when me and her would come to blows oh my God what if it's like that
00:03:45
episode of Buffy though where like he intended to split Buffy in half but he split Xander in half but what if
00:03:51
somebody actually actually did split you in half and you have to fight to the death and only the weak the weaker one
00:03:57
dies [ __ ] am I the weaker one or no I only saw her for a second she's ominous and she can appear
00:04:04
and reappear so meend to believe but I have to I don't know I think I'm the stronger one I'm the one getting [ __ ]
00:04:10
done over here she doesn't seem to be doing much so oh I would not say that out loud I mean she's me she's part of
00:04:18
you yeah she's not you though well she needs to pull her weight around here is what I'm saying so I'm leaving I'm going
00:04:25
I'm going elsewhere this weekend she needs to start pulling her weight maybe take some stuff off my hands that would
00:04:32
be great don't say that oh God rip your now she's going to rip your fingerprints
00:04:37
and [ __ ] I haven't even seen her I have and so is Michael Ash's face is like Terror cuz I
00:04:47
don't [ __ ] with that kind of [ __ ] like I'll talk about that kind of stuff like
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I I enjoy like talking about like Paranormal and stuff and that kind of thing but I don't [ __ ] with it like I
00:04:56
don't talk to it I don't uh-uh yeah I mean like hey she hasn't bothered me so that's I'm saying I'm trying to
00:05:04
say that it's fine like you're not doing anything wrong it's cool you're just kind of I'm just want to figure out what
00:05:10
you're all about there you go is really what it is I'm just trying to figure out
00:05:13
where you came from okay you know let's move on before we get this whole dug any
00:05:18
further we'll move on I'll maybe I should why don't I pull a tarot card yeah do it and see what do you have a
00:05:23
deck maybe I could sound bow after everyone's like maybe you could just tell us the everyone's like it is part
00:05:28
two where you just tell us I'm just going to pull one out at random yeah like put feel what feels right
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though hold on eny you made me double think it like close your eyes and feel the Vibes what' you get did you get
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death no what'd you get I [ __ ] hate that card I don't like it Mikey's going to [ __ ] himself
00:05:55
when he doesn't have noise cancelling headphones on if you guys know anything about the
00:06:00
tower just try to explain that to us in this situation pray for me I guess all right we got to get into this I'm
00:06:07
[ __ ] terrified and I'm leaving after this get into this this gets Wy let's get into this you thought this
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discussion at the top was Wy part two is Wy it's real wly so in part one we got familiar with the dynamic of the Gideon
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family and unfortunately found out that two of the four of them Veronica Ronnie and her mother Mary had been murdered
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along with a border in their apartment Frank Burns the police were pretty stumped because
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there was no sign of for entry no one had alarmed the otherwise territorial dog Tui and every suspect or Person of
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Interest they had so far including the father of the family Joe Gideon whom they beat mercilessly yeah uh had not
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panned out but taking a closer look at Ronnie's diary and the man who she simply referred to as be eventually gave
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them the lead that they needed at the end of part one we found out that a possible suspect for the be mentioned
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was Bob Irwin who had actually been pretty obsessed with Ronnie's sister Ethel and was a previous border at their
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home not this home not the apartment that they lived in currently the one where they were killed but the bigger
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one now it's actually pretty unclear why no one had thought to mention Bob Irwin
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when the diary was discovered and investigators were seeking a man with a B initial but anyone with even the
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slightest familiarity with Bob Irwin probably would have thought he made a good suspect
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born in 1906 in Pasadena California Bob's life had been really really difficult from the start his father
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Benjamin Irwin was the founder of I [ __ ] you not fire baptized Holiness Church you didn't just put that into
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like a random generator online that came out fire baptized Holiness Church which
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was not a church no I I didn't I was like please tell me that is not real no it was a antical Christian cult
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operating out of Northern California Benjamin the dad eventually abandoned the family it was when Bob was still
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very young leaving him and his two brothers in the sole custody of their mother Mary who was equally fanatical
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and put her religion before literally everything else in her life including the care of her children oh yeah that's
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sad it's his story Bob story I will tell you right off the bat is very sad oh that's
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terrible but left to their own devices Bob and his brothers ran completely wild uh I think it's VI vidalin or vidalin
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and P Irwin they were Bob's older and younger brothers they quickly fell into a life just filled with a ton of
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criminal activity they would spend nearly the rest of their lives in and out of Reform schools jails and prisons
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and Bob too had his own run-ins with the law and spent a few years in a reform school but unlike his brothers he had a
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natural talent for art and sculpture ah which earned him some sympathy with adults I had a feeling mhm but
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unfortunately while he did indeed prove to be actually an immensely talented artist by the time he reached his late
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teens Bob was also beginning to show signs of very severe mental illness and delusional thinking ah in his late teens
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and early 20s his talent had actually earned him the admiration of several influential people in the artor and he
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actually earned apprenticeships with some pretty notable artists of the time but due to his paranoia and explosive
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anger Tendencies those opportunities almost always fell apart not long after they started like he just had these big
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out could handle it mhm now in 1932 he was sent to the Burke Foundation which was a voluntary psychiatric facility in
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White Plains New York and after 9 months at the facility he left the clinic claiming that he quote left to get away
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from a couple of female employees who began to make life miserable for him after he rebuffed their sexual
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demands but in truth a social worker later clarified that Bob had left the facility because he had gotten into
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quote so many violent quarrels with other patients that he feared his behavior would lead to Serious
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consequences ah a little different so Bob moved into Mary Gideon's boarding house on East 53rd Street in October of
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1932 so that's 5 years before the murders coincidentally also right around the time that Ronnie started her diary
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that the police had found in 193 but it was there that he met and quickly became enamored with Ethel Gideon in
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many ways Ethel reminded Bob of his last girlfriend Alice Ryan who he was still very obsessed with Once he'd settled in
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at The Boarding House Bob tried to resume his art but he found that his thoughts of Alice and preoccupation with
00:10:50
sex dominated his mind day and night preventing him from producing any kind of work so I want to give you a little
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bit of a trigger warning for her self harm here finally after a week of torment and no productivity Bob decided
00:11:06
to try to rid himself of these sexual preoccupations once and for all according to Bob on Wednesday October
00:11:12
27th he went into the bathroom at the boarding house and put a rubber band around his penis and went for a walk
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around town in order to numb the area when he got back to the boarding house he then went into the bathroom and
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attempted to remove his penis with a Gillette razor uh he boy got about halfway there but
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obviously that was incredibly painful even having numbed the area so he was not able to finish but he managed to get
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himself to the from the house to the Belleview hospital with the rubber band actually kind of acting as a tourniquet
00:11:47
to keep him from bleeding out uh he checked in under the name James Adamson and calmly asked the night and turn to
00:11:55
finish the job oh boy the turn simply bandaged him up yep and told him to come back during
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the daytime when the surgeon would be on so Bob came back several hours later still insisting that they remove his
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penis completely but instead the surgeon applied antiseptic and sutured the very
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serious wound and then admitted Bob to the psychiatric ward where he remained for nearly 5 months and after that after
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his stint there he was transferred to Rockland State Hospital in Upstate New York oo
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that is rough yeah and that is very very sick yeah he this man very sick severely mentally ill and it's it's
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sad that like not much was able to be done about it to keep him in a place and from like to to keep him one from
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hurting himself cuz obviously he's inclined to do that and to keep him from hurting anyone else this man is not
00:13:00
somebody who should have lived on his own and like been on the streets unfortunately absolutely not like there
00:13:06
was there needed to be some serious help happening here and the system obviously
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I mean it's the 30s like there's not yeah not a lot in the way of mental health not at all like anything so I
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mean we were just talking about you know the Marian Parker case which was in the
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20s but it's like we're not far off from there and they were still treating it in
00:13:27
a very different way than they treat it now and it's interesting actually cuz like when we get to the trial part of
00:13:33
this it's we were like talking about it in the Maran Parker case and how William
00:13:39
uh William Edward Hickman how he was like very clearly trying yeah he was making a valiant effort to see ins yeah
00:13:46
to act like he was in this case he's not trying he just is like this is very clear this is coming from a
00:13:55
very genuine place of not sayane so we're literally like taking trial that we just discussed and turning it on his
00:14:01
head how it would go if he really was yeah it's interesting that we end up doing these back to back cuz we don't
00:14:06
usually tell each other about our cases until they happen yeah but anyway during
00:14:11
his time at Rockland uh Rockland excuse me Bob proved an unruly patient he made several Escape attempts including one
00:14:18
incident when he made it all the way to downtown Manhattan holy [ __ ] to the apartment of his previous psychiatrist
00:14:24
from Belleview oh [ __ ] that luckily he was able to be apprehended and return to
00:14:29
Rockland before anything happened Jesus at Rockland it that was the place where he received his first official diagnosis
00:14:36
of heop frenia it was a subtype of schizophrenia which the psychiatrist at the time described as being
00:14:43
characterized quote by foolish mannerisms senseless laughter delusions and regressive Behavior this diagnosis
00:14:50
actually no longer appears in the diagnos was G to say yeah not it's not in the DSM the diagnostic statistical
00:14:57
Manual of mental disorders now we would just classify it as simple schizophrenia
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yeah I was going to say because I've never heard of that yeah it's interesting it's dated but the symptoms
00:15:07
of delusional and disordered thinking and distorted reality among others are still acknowledged in the schizophrenia
00:15:13
diagnosis so now he would just be called schic or treated as such so after a few
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years of bouncing around from one boarding house to another Bob reappeared at the door of Mary Gideon's boarding
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house in the early summer of 1934 just a few months after e Ethel's marriage to her first husband was anol because
00:15:32
remember she had a teen marriage of her own yeah that was like a thing yeah I think it was a thing to get out of the
00:15:39
house yeah cuz I think the house was very dysfunctional yeah for sure so now that he was once again in Ethel's
00:15:44
presence Bob felt particularly inspired actually because she was like I said she
00:15:48
was beautiful and he began sculpting again he was devoted to Ethel from the moment that he returned to the house but
00:15:56
while she liked the attention and the Adoration that she re received from him she was never actually willing to commit
00:16:01
to a relationship with him for her it was just kind of like a fun thing yeah just like flirting was he she found him
00:16:07
to be like an attractive man a lot of people actually did yeah so she's just like you know what yeah we're just
00:16:13
having a flirtation it's a fun thing but she never saw it yeah seriously so and actually by that time she had already
00:16:20
started dating Joe cner who she ended up marrying and who was obviously far more
00:16:25
stable than Bob and somebody that she could see a future with yeah but despite her intention to marry Joe
00:16:32
she still indulged Bob flirting with him and actually allowing him to sculpt her
00:16:36
yeah so it was while he was living with The Gideons that Bob began experiencing delusional thinking and started
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believing strongly in what he called visualization which he believed was the ability to manifest things purely by
00:16:49
mental power and focus okay he believed that through the process of visual visualization he could obtain everything
00:16:57
he wanted for himself and he became very frustrated when things didn't appear to
00:17:01
be going his way which I imagine happened a lot yes absolutely he was absolutely desperate to be with Ethel
00:17:09
but no matter what he did or how he tried to prove his love for her she was resistant because she loved Joe yeah
00:17:16
after several months in the house Mary the mother who had always been actually pretty fond of Bob took him aside and
00:17:22
very gently expressed her concerns that for the sake of her daughter's future she was quote anxious that Ethel have
00:17:28
nothing to do with Bob oo which I think she put it gentler than that but that was essentially the message what he took
00:17:35
from it and she said she wanted her daughter to marry a wealthy man and not have to struggle like she had in her own
00:17:41
marriage so I think she was saying to Bob like I want something better for Ethel and also like I want you to move
00:17:48
on yeah she liked she's not going to marry you she's not going to be with you like you need to move on like yeah and
00:17:55
it sounds like she went about it in like a the kindest way that she could she possibly could exactly you know but
00:18:01
undeterred by Mary's words Bob continued to pursue Ethel romantically and a few months later while the two were out for
00:18:07
a walk along the pier he insisted that they should get married oh boy now at that point having grown tired of Bob's
00:18:13
Relentless advances and honestly his increasingly bizarre talk of Vis visualization I can never say that and
00:18:20
other strange beliefs Ethel finally explained that while she hoped they could remain friends she had accepted
00:18:26
Joe kar's proposal and they were going to get married in the coming months Bob later told a reporter I just went crazy
00:18:34
in the weeks that followed he spiraled into depression and heavily contemplated suicide as he bounced from one boarding
00:18:40
house to another and then he was dealt another serious blow in October when after putting up with his poor attitude
00:18:47
and sullenness for months his boss let him go from the production factory he was working at in response Bob grabbed a
00:18:54
nearby meat cleaver and threatened to quote split his boss's head right down the middle holy [ __ ] so now out of work
00:19:02
and desperate Bob actually returned to Rockland hospital where he voluntarily committed himself for treatment which
00:19:09
that's interesting it is interesting that he does like obviously know enough he recognizes it seems like he has these
00:19:15
periods where he's good where he's like Lucid Lucid exactly and like realizes like oh no I need to get some kind of
00:19:21
help and he goes to get the help and it's like I wish that they would have just recognized that he needed to stay
00:19:27
there yeah cuz it's like like I think then it was just like before medication before before any of the advances of
00:19:35
understanding what these things are how you can deal with them tools that you can use to get through these things
00:19:42
psychiatrists helping you like be like okay when you feel this way this is what I want you to do or this is what I want
00:19:47
you to try or visualize this like to his visualization thing but like make it more of a tool that he can use to like
00:19:55
get himself out of these really intense emotional situations yeah and it's like they just didn't have that and just
00:20:01
offer him a safe space to stay while he is going through it is going through all
00:20:05
that exactly so based on everything that they learned about him detectives became
00:20:10
convinced that Bob Irwin was most definitely their suspect sounds like it yes but the only problem was they had no
00:20:16
idea where he was a police spokesperson told reporters on April 5th we've been looking for him since the murders we
00:20:22
think he's the man I hope he hasn't committed suicide in response to a Citywide alert Bob's former landlord who
00:20:29
had actually been renting him a room directly across the street from the police precinct contacted police but by
00:20:37
the time they arrived at The Boarding House Bob had packed his belongings and fled oh damn and the landl the land lady
00:20:43
had no idea where he had gone but she did remember that Bob had two suitcases with him and one of them had a distinct
00:20:50
looking strap wrapped around it with a large Buckle to keep it closed so that was a pretty key detail to remember a
00:20:57
good detail so the news about the man hunt for Bob Irwin came as a shock to very few people who knew him well but
00:21:03
among those who found it hard to believe was actually Ethel Gideon on April 6 she
00:21:08
told reporters I cannot believe Irwin is the man who killed my mother and sister
00:21:12
while she provided investigators with everything she knew about Bob more than 18,000 officers mobilized across the
00:21:19
city in search of the suspected killer at Rockland Hospital detectives learned that Bob had actually been discharged
00:21:26
the previous October and since then had just been kind of bopping around to various boarding houses across the city
00:21:33
and during his time at Rockland his most recent time they informed investigators
00:21:38
that his religious delusions had worsened and he'd actually started studying religion like almost
00:21:44
exclusively completely casting aside his sculpting and his art ooh yeah and it's
00:21:49
like that's the only outlet that man has and where he was yeah and where he was raised in such a a place where like
00:21:58
religion was not a a place of comfort or a place of Solace or something to believe in it was like probably a
00:22:04
punishment not a good place to be going yeah it wasn't great so on a hunch investigators went to Grand Central
00:22:11
Station and asked the baggage check attendant whether anyone had checked luggage resembling that which had been
00:22:16
described by Bob's landl as luck would have it somebody matching Bob's description actually had checked that
00:22:21
very bag they were looking for and that person had not been back to retrieve it in days so presented with the suitcase
00:22:28
help closed with the strap and the Buckle investigators searched its contents and found inside them that
00:22:34
small alarm clock that Ethel said was missing from her sister's dressing table at the apartment so this piece of
00:22:41
evidence only further confirmed their suspicion that Bob was the killer the hunt for Bob Irwin was the largest since
00:22:48
the hunt for the Lindberg kidnapper 5 years earlier wow but despite their best efforts it was not the NYPD who
00:22:56
ultimately found Irwin but a tip from a reader of True Detective magazine you could not write this you literally
00:23:04
couldn't you could not write this just as they had done before the editors of True Detective remained committed to
00:23:10
helping find Ronnie's killer because remember she worked for them she posed for the covers and yeah she was friends
00:23:15
with them yeah they got to know her they loved her so to that end they offered a
00:23:19
$1,000 um reward for information leading to an arrest today that would be 20 over
00:23:25
$21,000 wow it was huge and in late June of 1937 an employee at the I think it's
00:23:32
Statler hotel in Cleveland Ohio happened to be flipping through her copy of True
00:23:36
Detective on her break and she noticed a police photograph of Bob Irwin and she thought huh that actually looks a lot
00:23:43
like the new barback Bob Murray stop and this [ __ ] amused by the resemblance showed the photo to Bob and
00:23:52
from the look on his face she could tell that it was way more than a mere coincidence yeah so Bob fled the the
00:23:58
hotel that day why would you do that why would you show him and say like oh this
00:24:02
guy looks like you like that's a dumbass move I'm sorry so he fled the hotel and
00:24:08
by the time detectives made it there he was gone again awesome so by the summer of 1937 now Bob Irwin's photo was
00:24:15
plastered across Billboards magazines newspapers all around the country at this point and it was only a matter of
00:24:21
time before they caught up with him wanting to get ahead of the story Bob ended up placing a call to the Chicago
00:24:27
tribute with an offer he knew they would not be able to resist he told the operator I'm a friend of Robert Irwin
00:24:35
who is wanted in New York for the Gideon murders he wants to give himself up what
00:24:39
kind of deal can you make with him now after getting through this is him this is him this is actually him
00:24:46
just pretending to be a friend he's like I have a friend after getting through to
00:24:49
the right person he offered the paper a complete exclusive confession in exchange for $5,000 cash a white linen
00:24:58
suit and a Panama Hat stop given what they were being offered the Tribune jumped at the opportunity of course they
00:25:07
did and agreed to meet him at the office of managing editor John dehart where Bob
00:25:13
sat down and told his story the man who did it is sitting pretending to be a friend telling the story if this
00:25:21
doesn't tell you that oh at this point he wasn't even pretending to be a friend he was oh he no he's saying it's
00:25:26
actually him yeah it was the friend who called and said all this up but was like
00:25:30
I can get Bob to you so Bob sat down with them wow yeah I'm without I'm speechless
00:25:39
now at that time it was actually pretty common for the press to to pay criminals
00:25:44
for their exclusive rights to their stories or any kind of other information that they deemed valuable as news
00:25:49
reporters but this was the first time a newspaper had knowingly and deliberately
00:25:55
shielded a murderer from the law in order to get a story [ __ ] he murdered three people he came
00:26:03
in this place and said I'll tell you the story they were like yeah let's just let
00:26:07
him do that and not call the police like what the [ __ ] is wrong with you I'm so
00:26:12
surprised that they weren't charged with obstruction of justice truly I think this it got so Sensational and like it
00:26:18
got so beyond that that probably once he does eventually get convicted so once it
00:26:24
once it ended there they were like whatever but I'm like what the kind of precedent do that that's really [ __ ]
00:26:30
up now there's no [ __ ] way ever that that could happen again but this happened I'm shook by the and the fact
00:26:39
that his name uh cuz you you've been saying Bob so I forgot that his name is Robert and I think Steve Irwin's son is
00:26:47
named Robert and he's a lovely lovely guy he is lovely I follow that whole family very much of Steve Irwin and it's
00:26:55
B it's bumming me out so much to hear that name like in conjunction with like it's weird that we started this with
00:27:02
doppelgangers whoa that's weird little strange this is really just same name Robert Irwin the the Steve of Steve
00:27:10
Steve Irwin DNA is seems lovely oh yeah seems standup guy but the Chicago Tribune at the time not a standup
00:27:19
newspaper no so they were like yeah let's yeah sure because essentially they just wanted to secure the exclusive
00:27:26
rights to have advantage over the honestly is hilarious because uh spoil earlier it didn't end up working
00:27:32
out for them I can't imagine why now but they did get they they were the first to
00:27:37
technically get the story on the evening of June 26 1937 Bob Irwin sat down with
00:27:43
reporters and photographers from the tri the Tribune wearing a suit at the Morrison Hotel and just started his
00:27:50
story wow he told this is so bizarre it's not I've never heard of another case like this he told them that night I
00:27:57
said to myself I'm going up there and killing Ethel I never intended to get anybody but her I thought that after
00:28:03
killing Ethel then they would kill me in the chair but I didn't care wow he continued on that he had indeed been in
00:28:09
love with Ethel and that when she rejected him he became so obsessed that he was just not able to focus on
00:28:15
anything else and after several months of hospitalization he decided the only way to regain his Focus was to rid
00:28:21
himself of Ethel and that's why he was resolved to kill her but not wanting to Mar her beauty he said he decided to
00:28:29
stab her in the back of the neck with an ice pick from his apartment that is so chilling and it's
00:28:36
such disordered thinking I don't want to ruin her beauty but I want to end her life what the [ __ ] I feel like that just
00:28:44
goes to show you like that something was not clicking upstairs on the night of March 28th he
00:28:52
went to the apartment on East 50th Street and rang the bell having always liked Bob Mary happily let him into the
00:28:58
apartment oh Mary where she was prepping for Easter dinner the following day he told the reporter Mrs Gideon did not
00:29:04
want me to have anything to do with eel outside of that she was always very friendly to me they chatted pleasantly
00:29:10
in the kitchen for a short time Mary even introduced Bob to her newest border Frank Burns but eventually Bob started
00:29:17
becoming impatient and asking where Ethel would when Ethel would be home confused Mary explained that Ethel had
00:29:24
moved out of the house years earlier because she was now married to Joe but according to Harold uh I think it's
00:29:31
Shear yeah he we've done a couple of his books he uh I think you used his book for the the edgein case yes he wrote a a
00:29:39
book about this case called The Mad sculptor ah and according to him the last time Bob had visited the apartment
00:29:45
Ethel had actually been staying with her mother temporarily and quote Bob had gotten it into his head that she and Joe
00:29:51
cner were separated oh wow yeah so after a few hours Mary became impatient and somewhat bluntly explained that Ethel
00:29:59
wasn't going to show up and since it was getting late she wanted to go to bed but
00:30:03
undeterred Bob insisted he was going to stay until he saw Ethel which prompted Mary to yell get out of here or I'll
00:30:10
call the Englishman referring to Frank Burns who was now asleep in the Next Room oh no the threat caused Bob to
00:30:17
become completely irate and he rushed toward Mary he recalled at that moment I hid her with everything I had she fell
00:30:24
back on the floor with her legs back over her head I grabbed her by the neck she scratched my face like nobody's
00:30:29
business good good for her I know he said he then choked her for nearly 20 minutes until she was dead what and then
00:30:38
he simply sat back down at the kitchen table and continued on waiting for Ethel he said she was the one I felt I must
00:30:46
kill I simply had to finish what I planned and remember Frank Burns is asleep in the Next Room but he didn't
00:30:53
hear anything because he was deaf in one ear on yeah that and he was asleep on his good ear oh man as he waited it
00:31:00
occurred to Bob that Ronnie might return home before Ethel which presented a serious problem he told the interviewer
00:31:06
where she was beautiful and I hate to destroy Beauty what the [ __ ] he's an artist in that moment Bob was reminded
00:31:13
of something that he'd read recently about how a bar of soap wrapped in a towel could make an effect of blackjack
00:31:19
that he could use to stun Ronnie and nothing more so he went to the kitchen and grabbed the bar of soap from the
00:31:26
sink that's why that's soap that's why it was there which he wrapped in a dish towel and then returned to his hiding
00:31:32
place in the bedroom a little after 3:00 a.m. Bob heard Ronnie returning from her
00:31:37
night out which lined up perfectly with what Steven butter had told them and after saying goodbye to butter she
00:31:42
entered the apartment and went straight to the bathroom where she started her little night nightly routine removing
00:31:48
her makeup just getting ready for bed he said she stayed in there the longest time I thought she would never come out
00:31:55
but finally just before 4:00 a.m. Ronnie entered the bedroom and Bob swung the soap bar as hard as he could striking
00:32:01
her on the head he said it didn't have the slightest effect which like obviously obviously but in his mind that
00:32:08
was totally going to work so with with his Blackjack having crumbled to the floor and Ronnie having now seen his
00:32:14
face he grabbed her by the throat and started choking her demanding to know where Ethel was and she imagine she just
00:32:20
came home to her house yeah just in the middle of the night how many times does everybody else in the world do that this
00:32:26
is BTK behavior of like waiting in someone's closet until they come like until the middle of the night like
00:32:31
that's [ __ ] up now when Ronnie explained that her sister was at home with her husband Bob lost all control
00:32:38
and started strangling her he told the reporter I wanted to let Ronnie live if I could we were always Pals I suppose
00:32:45
she thought I was going to rape her she said please don't touch me I just had an
00:32:48
operation and the doctor said if I have intercourse I could die Bob estimated that he held on tightly around Ronnie's
00:32:55
throat for nearly two hours what the [ __ ] but he couldn't say for certain he said when you get in a mixup like that
00:33:04
you don't think about what you're doing and time means nothing I I'm like without words it's
00:33:13
beyond so once he had choked all the life out of her he ripped off her slip and left her body on the bed and then
00:33:20
stuffed Mary's body under the bed he never said why he did that yeah maybe just so I don't the only thing I think
00:33:28
of is she wouldn't be immediately found I guess but or I like why he ripped off her slip I mean Rony slip like why he
00:33:35
left her naked on the bed yeah I mean who knows but he was about to leave the room when he noticed the small this is
00:33:42
really interesting and just strange he was about to leave the room when he noticed the small green alarm clock
00:33:48
sitting on the dresser still and to him he said the glowing green clock resembled an eye that had been watching
00:33:54
him while he murdered both women so he grabbed it stuffed it into his pocket as he left the
00:34:00
room wow right I mean that tells you something he's not of s mind I mean this is absolutely [ __ ] horrific
00:34:10
absolutely this is brutal so Bob was about to leave the apartment and go back to his boarding house when he remembered
00:34:17
Frank Burns the Border had been in the apartment the entire time but like I said never woke up because of his
00:34:24
hearing so when Burns had come in several hours earlier Mary introduced Bob by name so Bob felt that if he left
00:34:31
Frank alive there was a good chance that he would be able to identify him so he crept into Frank Burns's room using the
00:34:38
ice pick that he intended to use to kill Ethel and stabbed Burns in the head but
00:34:43
doesn't that point to not wanting to be caught and to making pretty logical moves to make sure
00:34:52
that you are not identified that's the thing I think he I mean he's a d aged schizophrenic absolutely but I mean like
00:35:00
in this moment I'm like cuz cuz you can be a diagnosed schizophrenic commit a crime like this and they can still say
00:35:07
you're guilty because you were sane in the moment in the action of committing the crime yeah he's sane well just wait
00:35:14
that's sane Behavior you are not the only one that thinks that yeah I fully believe that so and we'll get to it cuz
00:35:22
you're not you're not alone there he said I struck him the first time in the temple so far as it would go the poor
00:35:27
fellow lay there twitching but did not bleed I had to hit him 11 times holy [ __ ] with all three occupants dead Bob
00:35:35
grabbed his coat and left the apartment a little after 6:00 a.m. he finished by telling his audience from the Tribune
00:35:41
I'm certainly sorry I killed all three of them there was only the one I was after and that was Ethel I don't know
00:35:46
whether it was hate or love that made me want to kill her if she had come in first I probably would have killed her
00:35:51
and nobody else wow imagine being Ethel here I can't imag there's so many layers to it of knowing
00:36:00
that if you had walked in you were the one that was getting this but also then to know that three people died in place
00:36:07
of you and two of them being your sister two of them being yeah like and by no fault of your own no but the survivor's
00:36:15
guilt you would already have Survivor guilt anyway like no matter who it was to do with you but then learning that
00:36:21
you're the intended victim like I yeah that would ruin me yeah but before the interview the reporter asked what Bob
00:36:29
was expecting to happen to him now that he had confessed and would be apprehended and he answered whatever's
00:36:35
coming to me I'll take wow so it wasn't until after the Evening Edition of the Harald and
00:36:41
examiner hit the news stands that investigators learned Bob had confessed to killing Ronnie Mary and Frank the
00:36:48
front page article had scooped the competition and been the first to report the news that's [ __ ] up the Chicago
00:36:56
Tribune literally just obstructed the [ __ ] out of Justice to get this interview to get that front page scoop
00:37:02
and they didn't even get it it ended up getting scooped by the competition somehow just like word of mouth I think
00:37:07
but detectives naturally thought it was them and not the Chicago Tribune who had
00:37:11
done the interview and it was only when they reached the offices of The Herald and examiner that they learned Bob was
00:37:16
still H up at the Morrison Hotel with the staff from the Tribune what the [ __ ]
00:37:22
Yep this is so bizarre so on June 28th 1937 Bob was transported back to New York after voluntarily waving
00:37:29
extradition and declaring his willingness to take responsibility for the Gideon murders according to the New
00:37:35
York Times Bob's Bob was juny giggling at times and without the slightest trace of remorse as he repeatedly confessed
00:37:42
the murders to the New York detectives who' been sent to retrieve him from Chicago once they arrived back in New
00:37:48
York Bob was taken to Police Headquarters and questioned until just before 3:00 a.m. a police spokesperson
00:37:54
told reporters he stated that he had made a statement to Lieutenant Owens and detective cmans confessing to the
00:38:00
murders in the plane and route from Chicago to New York and that that statement was true wow according to
00:38:06
investigators he was fully Cooperative from the moment that he was picked up in Chicago and actually even seemed eager
00:38:11
to get back to New York and face his penalty one reporter wrote he boasted to them that he was willing to plead guilty
00:38:18
to the murders and that he was not afraid of death in the electric chair okay buddy he doesn't even plead guilty so
00:38:25
I'm like what so this is all just [ __ ] so Bob appeared before the court of General Sessions on July 1st where his
00:38:31
lawyer Samuel libowitz entered a plea of not guilty according to the New York Times the courtroom was packed with
00:38:37
quote an admiring crowd of middle-aged women hoping to Glimpse Irwin get it together like what get it together just
00:38:45
like in part one and every other [ __ ] part we do of any case people are going to people people are going to people
00:38:52
like what is that like come on man you first of all you want to catch a glimpse of of a man who was intending to kill a
00:38:59
woman that he was romantically obsessed with and because she wasn't there he killed her mother's sister and a Bard
00:39:04
her at the house like here's the thing that like gets you going that's the problem it's like I understand being
00:39:09
curious and like being interested in the case and wanting to see who this guy is
00:39:13
that did this absolutely but they were like oh my God interested like that's wow it's like the girls that showed up
00:39:21
to see Ted Bundy and like please marry me and literally parted their hair the same way their hair because that's what
00:39:27
liked like what the [ __ ] Charlie Manson's girls it's it's such a [ __ ] weird pathology it's a
00:39:33
strange yeah weird but after entering his plea Bob was removed from the court and returned to his cell to await trial
00:39:41
which was tentatively scheduled for the fall in a statement to the Press Le libowitz said this is the most
00:39:47
interesting case I have ever had due to the social implications you cannot tell me how many more irwins are running
00:39:52
around loose I hope that Society will learning a lesson from the Irwin case make a more logical insane approach to
00:39:58
the problem dealing with the criminal insane which like for a defense attorney to say like yeah like he's wrong but I
00:40:05
think he's insane and the way that he said it like hopefully Society will figure their [ __ ] out yeah it's a very
00:40:13
this is a lesson for sure for the time I'm like wow mildly Progressive it's a pretty Progressive view that's the word
00:40:19
I was looking for now in early September before Bob's trial was to begin Samuel levowitz uh arranged a press conference
00:40:26
in which he promised to his client would be on hand to answer questions for the Press however when Bob was brought to
00:40:32
the interview room in the courthouse he was quote Wildey unshaved and unkempt and appeared to have no idea what was
00:40:38
going on once he settled in the chair beside levowitz Bob unprompted blurted out for two weeks they had doctors
00:40:44
staring and learing at me their eyes they bothered me I couldn't stand it they beat me from behind with black with
00:40:50
a blackjack six men with blackjacks I couldn't fight six men with blackjacks you're just talking nonsense
00:40:57
all right which maybe is because he's in a state yeah of whatever he deals with or maybe
00:41:06
ised yeah I mean it seems to me like he he's obviously clinically there's something wrong yes but I think the
00:41:15
thing that they're going to have to prove here is that he was sane at the time of the Mur the time of the murders
00:41:21
mhm so Bob said little more to the reporters before being returned to his cell but it was clear that to the
00:41:27
reporters that the entire press conference was part of the defense attorney's trial strategy whether it was
00:41:33
true or not it was yeah genuine or not it was strategic absolutely because it's like they can use it like no matter what
00:41:41
you know like they're just like okay this happened great like in front of some cameras and show everybody that
00:41:47
he's clearly not you know him he's not all with it right now it's going to sway public opinion no matter what of course
00:41:53
it is and according to the New York Times Mr leitz who is apparently laying the groundwork for a defense based on a
00:41:58
plea of insanity told reporters he thought Irwin was a dual personality libowitz himself told the reporters that
00:42:05
he had seen his client just one day earlier and he seemed calm and collected but then added you saw how he acted
00:42:11
today like a raving Maniac it's wild how they talked it really is you're like yikes yeah after
00:42:18
several months of delays Bob finally went before the court of General Sessions on March 24th 1938 because he
00:42:24
had already confessed the only issues being considered were quote the mental condition of the defendant Robert Irwin
00:42:30
at the time of the commission of each of the alleged crimes whether he is now capable of understanding the proceeding
00:42:35
and making his defense on the on the trial of the indictments yeah so essentially exactly what happened with
00:42:41
your trial yeah with your last episode but unlike a traditional trial in this case the jury was presented with
00:42:47
testimony taken from 20 sessions of the lunacy commission the lunacy commission that was a legit thing I've never heard
00:42:55
that the lunacy commission wow and transcripts from the 28 witness interviews as well as physical and
00:43:01
documentary evidence in support of his client's compromised mental state libowitz presented testimony from Dr
00:43:08
Leland hinsey assistant director of the New York psychiatric Institute and Dr Bernard Gluck I think it is the former
00:43:15
director of the Psychiatric clinic at singing both of whom had actually evaluated Bob in total both men spent
00:43:22
nearly 70 hours interviewing Bob so this was a dedicated process and during that time hiny said Bob's
00:43:29
Behavior would sometimes become frightening and erratic he said he would begin by excessive talking and would be
00:43:35
considerably upset when he was interrupted for some explanations on some point he had raised according to
00:43:40
hiny these interruptions often prompted Bob to quote stare at the examiner grit his teeth pound on the table viciously
00:43:47
with his fist and yell that he would not suffer any any interruptions that would
00:43:52
be terrifying even just writing it and like picturing it yeah was a terrifying experience I can't imagine being there
00:43:59
stare at the examiner and grit his teeth and yell and like pound his fit like that's a lot that's scary now one
00:44:06
subject which Bob would talk at length about was his spiritual beliefs Harold Sher wrote Irwin worked himself into a
00:44:14
pitch of near frenzied exaltation while discoursing on his current efforts to transform his body through the power of
00:44:20
electricity Bob told the psychiatrists there is no limit to the extent that I can build myself mentally and physically
00:44:27
through electricity I can stop the action of my heartbeat prevent my lungs from expanding and Contracting control
00:44:34
the passage of food through my body all of this done by electricity false incorrect wow but
00:44:47
arguing that Bob was sane when he committed the murders and knew what he was doing was both morally wrong and
00:44:53
illegal was the district attorney William D or do excuse me and Elena and he pointed to several instances in which
00:45:01
Irwin appeared to be concealing information upon his arrest for example Bob was reluctant to disclose
00:45:07
information about the crimes which implied a certain level of awareness of what he had done and similarly when he
00:45:13
was asked about the fee that he received for his confession Bob explained that he
00:45:17
planned to use a small portion for himself saying if I find myself in an institution for life or something like
00:45:24
that I would like to get a small amount of money so that I can hire someone of my fellow patients or prisoners whatever
00:45:30
you want to call them in such an institution for $1 a week you can get people to do many things for you I mean
00:45:38
that is some highlevel that's high level plan and planning yes like damn right yeah this is such an interesting case
00:45:47
because it's very clear that this man is insane like you can't ill he is a very ill man I mean his actions before this
00:45:55
and you know what he did the self harm that he did to himself and all that stuff is there is something wrong there
00:46:02
but I see what you're saying and I see what the da is saying here with by criminal definition not so much he like
00:46:10
you were when you pointed it out that he killed Frank Burns because he knew somebody could identify him yeah he was
00:46:16
like he's been introduced to me by name and he saw my face and even even Ronnie yeah Ronnie turned around and saw his
00:46:22
face after she didn't get knocked out with the quote unquote Blackjack made out of soap and so he and he was like I
00:46:29
had to kill her like that's that's criminal thinking that's sane thinking that's ordered thinking exactly and it's
00:46:35
like that's I'm byal believe you can have you can be extraordinarily mentally ill but if your moment of Lucidity is
00:46:45
when you murder someone with your [ __ ] bare hands and you know it's wrong to jail you go mhm like you're
00:46:52
guilty yeah that's the way it is like you can't get off of that if you were while you did it and you know what you
00:46:59
did and you still did it and then you made steps to cover it up and to make sure you didn't get
00:47:05
identified there's really no arguing that but then there's the whole issue of can you be institutionalized or can you
00:47:12
be sent a prison when really you should be institutionalized he should absolutely be institutionalized exactly
00:47:18
yeah I think you should still and I think that's where the problem lies because a lot of times figuring out
00:47:23
whether somebody's quote unquote insane or not criminally insane is to sentence them yeah and usually it's like if
00:47:30
you're not insane then straight to prison you go yeah but in this case this man this man is not going to like
00:47:36
prison's not going to do anything for him no and not that prison is like necessarily meant to do anything for
00:47:41
anybody but it kind of is like it's kind of Rehabilitation supposed to be whereas
00:47:46
somebody like this is not necessarily going to be able to be rehabilitated but you also look at an institution and
00:47:52
especially at this time might be worse oh it might be absolutely be even worse it's like I don't think he's going to
00:47:58
come out of there you know ready to Take On The World either no but then you think of the danger in which you're
00:48:04
putting the other prisoners so it's like it's there's this whole gray area I feel
00:48:09
like where it's like I feel like the definition of criminal insanity is so hard it's yeah it's hard it's there's
00:48:19
a lot of because there's so many different variables and gray areas but this one I'm like he was sayane when he
00:48:24
committed those murders in my that's the thing I think I agree with that I think
00:48:27
he was when he committed the murders but then I feel like it's a whole different
00:48:30
story of okay well like what the [ __ ] do we do with him now you know yeah so Dodge argued that this was evidence that
00:48:38
Irwin had already contemplated his options upon arrest and that quote Irwin contemplated the possibility of a trial
00:48:44
which would terminate by committing him to an institution for the insane according to the prosecution the facts
00:48:50
of Irwin's voluntary surrender in Chicago and the shrewd bargain struck with the Chicago Herald examiner which
00:48:56
Irwin initi app and accomplished by himself indicates a a mentality of keenness and comprehension which yeah it
00:49:03
does yeah and I also like I mean I don't I don't put a whole lot of stock in diagnoses that happened
00:49:11
in the 30s so it's like I don't even know if he's schizophrenic I don't know what his diagnosis would be now I don't
00:49:18
know what it would be now and that's the thing I don't know I mean again I'm not
00:49:22
going to armchair diagnose him because I don't know enough about him in his life
00:49:26
and what done I just know that there's moments where he is showing criminal cunning and that's not you know like
00:49:35
that's not I don't know it's just there's a lot it's a tough one this there's a lot of gray area within this
00:49:41
he is completely right when he says that that deal that he struck with the the newspaper that's C for sure a cunning
00:49:48
deal and it was for his benefit and it's like but it's also shows like a lack of I don't even know like an over
00:49:57
overinflated sense of self almost that like or an ego of some kind like a hubris here that like he thought he
00:50:05
could do that and then it's like then what did you think would happen like even he could barely answer that I I
00:50:11
don't think he went from a to c I think he went from A to B with that plan so there's that part of it that's like
00:50:16
that's a disjointed thought here that's the thing so there is a lot of different
00:50:20
details that are confusing and I don't know a lot about schizophrenia but what I do know is that there are periods of
00:50:26
clarity and then there are periods of yeah you know like which that happens with a lot ofal illnesses and diagnoses
00:50:34
yeah so after weighing the evidence the jury determined that Robert Bob Irwin was in fact sane at the time of the
00:50:41
murders wow because of that his case went to criminal trial on November 7th 1938 where Samuel libowitz libowitz did
00:50:48
everything in his power to stall the trial objecting to jurors and repeatedly filing motions to postpone the trial
00:50:55
which honestly that's a tough case there like I feel like he would need all the Time in the World to prepare for that
00:51:01
but then on November 15th the Press reported the surprising news that Bob had accepted a plea deal from the
00:51:07
prosecution where he would plead guilty to Second deegree murder on all three charges and they would remove the death
00:51:13
penalty the district attorney told the Press because of Irwin's previous record of insanity there was a possibility that
00:51:20
the jury might have found might have held him legally insane in which case he might finally have been released from
00:51:26
conf and see that's where my issue comes with the whole like I that if he's found
00:51:32
insane during that you know quote unquote then they'll put him somewhere and then they'll release him and it's
00:51:41
like that's no like a lot of times that's not going to work a lot of times that's where we have another string of
00:51:49
horrible crimes that people pay the ultimate price for because this person was let out and deemed to not be sane
00:51:55
during this whole thing and it's like he would do it again and I think that's where it's like a problem with the
00:52:01
justice system and a problem within like Hospital like hospitalization and that kind of thing
00:52:09
like there I feel like there the whole system then and even now is just yeah it needs to be Revisited for well and it
00:52:16
makes the the jury's job even worse because they're sitting here having to say okay if we find this person not
00:52:23
legally sane during this and he gets committed to an institution is he going to be walking out of there in a year
00:52:30
exactly you know like less than that sometimes cuz you would have to think of that yeah so yeah it it's tough yeah so
00:52:36
instead the prosecution intended to recommend a sentence of 90 years to life on each count to be served consecutively
00:52:43
okay on November 28th Bob appeared before Judge James Wallace who I'm almost 99% sure we have covered before
00:52:50
like he's been in cases that we covered just sounds very familiar uh that was in
00:52:54
the court of General Sessions and he was sentenced to 139 years in prison 99 years for the murder of Burns and 20
00:53:02
years for each of the murders of Mary and Veronica Gideon wow when asked if he had anything to say on his own behalf
00:53:08
Bob said ordinarily this business of asking a prisoner if he has anything to say is a mere formality the man is
00:53:14
generally guilty of willful aggression against Society or he is too ignorant to speak for himself I'm not guilty of any
00:53:21
willful aggression against society and then he wasn't done yet but judge Wallace interrupted and said this is no
00:53:27
time for a long speech or extended remarks but Bob ignored the judge and continued this is a farce I have a
00:53:34
definite and real reason why sentence should not be pronounced you say you represent Justice I say you do not you
00:53:40
represent a rich man's Justice it no I think you just killed three people pretty brutally yeah and
00:53:48
then made great effort to hide it great effort so I think that's that's the problem Bob yep so
00:53:58
after managing to get Bob under control judge Wallace uh reread the charges and the sentence and then turned to the
00:54:04
district attorney to make it clear that he had accepted the guilty please on the
00:54:08
recommendation of the District Attorney's office but he had done so with reservations the judge he said
00:54:14
there is no question the defendant is mentally unsound in my opinion the state has lost nothing in accepting these
00:54:20
pleas except possibly the execution of this defendant and that would bring no credit to the state yeah so he's like I
00:54:27
don't really know if what we're doing here is great yeah but he was like but I guess we're not executing him which like
00:54:33
good woo for us but it turned out that judge Wallace was not the only one who questioned whether sending Irwin to
00:54:38
prison was the right decision or not a little more than a week into his sentence at singing Bob was transferred
00:54:44
to damura state hospital for the criminally insane after two singing psychi psychiatrists evaluated him and
00:54:50
deemed him very definitely insane quote unquote yeah while at danam Mora he studied for languages and eventually
00:54:57
taught himself French German Latin polish Italian and quote also invented an international language of his
00:55:06
own wow yeah damn when he wasn't spending time on his education he wrote letters to his former psychiatrist
00:55:14
Frederick uh Wortham and even began a long-distance correspondence with a woman in Cuba wow however within a year
00:55:21
his anger got the better of him and became he became one of the more unruly patients at the hospital who most often
00:55:27
required solitary confinement he's aggressive he is aggressive and dangerous in 1975 he died at the uh
00:55:36
Matan I think it is state hospital for the criminally insane after an 8-year battle with cancer and he was 67 years
00:55:42
old when he died wow the fact that he lived until 1975 yeah it's like so it's so strange to yeah to like wrap your
00:55:50
brain around that time frame that's a wild one and it's just so it's for his life was sad like when he was a child so
00:56:00
you feel bad for the child absolutely you feel so bad for Ethel Gideon oh my goodness having to live the rest of her
00:56:07
life knowing that she was the intended victim and not her mother and sister and an innocent border at the house that
00:56:13
they just became collateral damage EX in his whole thing and then for the victims
00:56:18
it's like Frank is just sleeping in his bed just a border in that house just wrong place wrong time entirely the mom
00:56:25
was always good to him Ronnie was always good to him they the whole family was good to this man they
00:56:31
did nothing to deserve that except he just couldn't have Ethel and he couldn't handle it he just became obsessed like
00:56:38
yeah scary scary scary obsessed wow but it's such a wild case and it was handled
00:56:44
so wild on so many different levels by the Press first with publishing fake details about the murders when nobody
00:56:50
even knew anything yet yeah that's snarly exploiting Ronnie and like all the photographers that had work with her
00:56:57
but then like True Detective being they came out look smelling like roses here like the one that you say like oh man
00:57:04
those detective magazines they're the ones who come out and they're like we actually give a [ __ ] about her exactly
00:57:09
like that's crazy and then the [ __ ] Chicago Tribune that way back yeah way back I was like oh my God you guys
00:57:16
wouldn't do that now right you would never do that now you would never do that now they couldn't do that there's
00:57:22
no [ __ ] I'm like how did this how was this allowed Wy Behavior insane so yeah yeah wow that is that is part two for
00:57:33
you and that wraps it up damn and the Easter Sunday murders wow well thanks for that you're welcome um
00:57:44
with that we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird but not so weird that you don't turn into what I'm
00:57:49
pretty sure next is a listener tale yeah party [Music] [Music] [Music] I have the breath of a woman who just
00:58:55
ate a salad Jean [Laughter] salad that's going to the end cuz I had a little salad with a
00:59:08
little garlic little garlic garlic and vinegar for stinky ass breath breath hell yeah okay let's do this

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Biggest twist
  • 75
    Most intense

Episode Highlights

  • The Gideon Family Murders
    Exploring the tragic story of the Gideon family and the mysterious murders.
    “There was no sign of forced entry.”
    @ 06m 32s
    June 24, 2024
  • Bob Irwin's Troubled Life
    A deep dive into Bob Irwin's difficult upbringing and mental health struggles.
    “Bob's life had been really, really difficult from the start.”
    @ 07m 35s
    June 24, 2024
  • Bob's Descent into Madness
    Bob's mental health deteriorates as he becomes obsessed with Ethel.
    “He believed he could manifest things purely by mental power.”
    @ 16m 45s
    June 24, 2024
  • The Shocking Revelation
    Ethel Gideon learns that Bob Irwin, whom she knew well, is the prime suspect.
    “I cannot believe Irwin is the man who killed my mother and sister.”
    @ 21m 08s
    June 24, 2024
  • The Hunt for Bob Irwin
    The search for Bob Irwin becomes a citywide effort, mobilizing over 18,000 officers.
    “The hunt for Bob Irwin was the largest since the Lindberg kidnapper.”
    @ 22m 45s
    June 24, 2024
  • Bob's Confession
    Bob Irwin confesses to the murders during an interview with the Chicago Tribune.
    “I'm certainly sorry I killed all three of them.”
    @ 35m 41s
    June 24, 2024
  • Bob Irwin's Press Conference
    Bob appeared disheveled and confused during a press conference, raising concerns about his mental state.
    “He was quote Wildey unshaved and unkempt.”
    @ 40m 34s
    June 24, 2024
  • Plea Deal Accepted
    Bob Irwin accepted a plea deal for second-degree murder, avoiding the death penalty.
    “Bob had accepted a plea deal from the prosecution.”
    @ 51m 06s
    June 24, 2024
  • Sentencing and Insanity
    Judge Wallace questioned the decision to send Irwin to prison instead of a mental institution.
    “The defendant is mentally unsound in my opinion.”
    @ 54m 16s
    June 24, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • I'm just trying to figure out where you came from.
    Veronica Gedeon & the Easter Sunday Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • I just went crazy in the weeks that followed.
    Veronica Gedeon & the Easter Sunday Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • I cannot believe Irwin is the man who killed my mother and sister.
    Veronica Gedeon & the Easter Sunday Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • Whatever's coming to me I'll take.
    Veronica Gedeon & the Easter Sunday Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • It's a very ill man.
    Veronica Gedeon & the Easter Sunday Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • This is a farce!
    Veronica Gedeon & the Easter Sunday Murders (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast

Key Moments

  • Spooky Doubles01:58
  • Mental Health Struggles07:35
  • Bob's Obsession17:09
  • Shocking Discovery21:08
  • Citywide Search21:19
  • Final Moments35:35
  • Confession35:41
  • Laughter58:59

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown