00:00:00
Hey weirdos, on top of your head. >> I am Elena >> and this is Morbid on top of your head.
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>> We were just watching. If you're not following Marty Miller on Tik Tok, he made a grave mistake. Truly, I don't
00:00:27
know how to describe his content. It's indescribable in the best way, >> but I urge you to go listen to
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>> I have been sending you those Tik Toks for years at this point. He will just be
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like, "Shout out to you, girl." on top of your head. This is looking awesome today.
00:00:45
>> He's He's phenomenal. >> We were just watching the one that he did, Alina found it of the after the
00:00:50
America's Next Top Model doc, which we just watched and you know it's going to be a bonus app. Oh, guys, I have so much
00:00:57
to say and I won't say it here and now because we are we're getting ready to film the bonus episode or to record the
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bonus episode. I I'm sorry I said film. I shouldn't have said that. >> We're not filming it.
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>> We're not filming that one. Maybe in the future we'll film. >> Maybe we shouldn't. We should smise
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through it. >> Oh my god. Just smise the entire time. I don't think I can smise.
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>> Do try. >> I just She actually just smiled like like forcefully at me. >> I did. I said that's not No, that's not
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it. Another red head. On top of your head. >> He always says on top of your head.
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>> Uh, no. It was a trip. >> Yeah. >> In my opinion, uh, I think the only people that looked
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came out good in that documentary were the contestants. >> Yeah. >> Personally. >> Yeah.
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>> So, I can't wait to talk about it. >> Oh, I have so much to say. We can't even
00:01:43
get too far into it, but go follow Marty Miller on Tik Tok and watch that Tik Tok
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on top of your head >> and listen to what he says about it. >> Hot ice cream. Ice cream. Darn.
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I love them so much. >> Anything else you want to talk about? Big Red. >> Big Red.
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>> Big Red on top of your head. You should buy The Butcher Legacy. You should pre-order it.
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>> Duh. >> Um, yeah. Butcherle Legacy.com. You can get it anywhere. I signed 2,000 more
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copies for Barnes & Noble, so go get those. >> Casual [ __ ] feet to address. >> 2,000 more, babes.
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>> You have a wrist still? >> I have them in front of me. That's That's another thing.
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>> Your wrists are there. >> I do. I have my wrists in front of me. I have a stack of tippins in front of me
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that I'm signing as we do this. Um, some people have asked like, "Are they actually signed?" Yes. I I swear to you,
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they're actually signed. >> I should just every now and again when you're doing it, just take videos of you
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and then we can we can compile all. >> Yeah. These aren't one of those things where they get like ma like mass-
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prodduced with like a signature on it. I have a giant I have six giant boxes of tippins. Uh, yeah. So, they're really
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signed, just so you I've had a couple of those questions and I just wanted to clear that up.
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>> I just want to clear the iris on something. >> Just want to clear that up. >> Clear it up.
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>> Uh but go get it. Go pre-order it. It's great. >> I am going to start listening to because
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Let me clear something up. I've read all the books except the third one. I haven't read that one yet, but I want to
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redo them and I'm going to listen to the audio book because it's been highly suggested for um Butcher and the Ren and
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The Butcher Game. >> They're pretty great. >> I heard Joe and Sophie. >> Joe and Sophie knock it out of the park.
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>> So, I'm going to listen. >> Yeah. I highly suggest. >> Is Mikey whistling? Because I'll kill
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him for that. He >> is. >> One thing about me. Do you ever do you get like rage about things that don't
00:03:29
make sense? >> Yeah, you do. >> I was going to say, have you met me? >> I hate I've probably addressed it
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before. I hate whistling. >> I whistle all the time, so I can't. >> I feel like I've never even heard you
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whistle. I do it all the time. >> Do you know that I hate it, so you don't do it in front of me?
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>> Maybe deep in my soul. I know that. >> That's nice. drew whistles and I literally I'm like stop it.
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>> That's so funny. Whistling does not have any effect on me. >> I just hate it.
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>> That's that's that's a thing. >> It's a thing. I had a boss that used to whistle for me. So like not in a hot way
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in a like I need you to come do this with >> a Is there a hot way to whistle at you?
00:04:06
>> No. Well, I was saying like like how people would be like >> oh >> like he wasn't he wasn't sexually
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harassing me just to be clear, >> but it was more like come do this and I was like you were like [ __ ] you. I don't
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want to work. >> Oh, you were you were better at it. >> You didn't say [ __ ] you, [ __ ]
00:04:25
>> No. >> No. >> No. >> No. All right. Um >> Yeah. I don't think there's I'm trying
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to think. Oh, >> what? >> This is just another personal thing. What's up? Um, I I'm very late to the
00:04:35
party on this, but I have to say it. >> I finally got to sit down and watch Sinners. Me and John have been wanting
00:04:42
to watch it for [ __ ] months and months and months. >> And the girls had a sleepover with
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Auntie Titi. >> Hey. >> And so we were like, "Oh my god, we can watch a 2-hour movie." And so we watched
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it. I cannot stress it enough. If you have not seen Sinners or you didn't think you wanted to see it, you want to
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see it. I knew that I wanted to see it and I just kept not seeing it and I still haven't seen it.
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>> It is one of the most incredible movies I have ever seen. I am still thinking
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about it. >> Is it like super scary? >> It's scary. >> Is it gory? >> It's gory, but like
00:05:15
>> I don't care about those things, but I have to know what I can watch with Drew
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and what I can't. >> Yeah, it's it's scary in the best cuz they it's like they handle vampires in
00:05:24
one of those. >> Oh, I didn't know it was vampires. >> Yeah, there's vampires involved. There's
00:05:29
the music in it is [ __ ] phenomenal. Oh, it's a mix of all different It's >> There's one scene in particular, and I'm
00:05:37
sure you guys know what scene I'm talking about, where they just meld all these different
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>> like music genres and music time periods all together. And it's we were like jaws
00:05:48
on the floor >> really. >> Like it's one of those movies that when it's over, you're just like, how how was
00:05:52
I allowed to watch that? Like that was so good. >> I'm like, what the [ __ ] I want them to
00:05:57
win all the Oscars. >> Damn. >> I think they should win all the Oscars. Michael B. Jordan was [ __ ] amazing.
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>> Really? >> Um, Wii Musaku, I believe it's how you say her name. She plays Annie in the uh
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in the movie. I was literally obsessed with her. >> Really? >> Like the >> I just keep saying really
00:06:17
>> really >> I'm like for real. >> Are you sure about that? And uh who is the guy who plays Remick? He plays one
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of the vampires. And I he literally killed it. Jack Oonnell. >> They all I mean Buddy Guy is in it.
00:06:33
Jamie Lawson was amazing. Delroy Lindo. It's just like it's like Jack it's like >> chocker block full of these [ __ ]
00:06:42
phenomenal actors and musicians. And I'm just I I can't I now I get it. I get that. Like I knew cuz whenever there's
00:06:49
like that much hype you're always like is it can it be that good? You should >> I think it's underhyped.
00:06:54
>> Really? >> You should. Why can't I stop saying really? I need to pick a different one.
00:06:58
Really? Really? Really? You should pick it for Scream. >> I think I'm going to because I need to
00:07:03
watch it >> cuz it's very current. >> Yeah. And it's just everybody needs to watch it.
00:07:06
>> Yeah. If you're not listening to Scream, go listen to Scream and perhaps she'll
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have that be her next. >> Maybe I'll pick that because Frankenstein and Sinners >> are right up top. Wow. Okay. So, you're
00:07:16
comparing it to Frankenstein in terms of like liking it? >> Yeah. Oh, two very different movies. So,
00:07:21
>> I can't compare them, but they're right there right now. >> So good. >> Yeah, I got to watch that.
00:07:27
>> Yeah, I'm highly highly highly recommend. >> Obsessed. Yeah, I'll watch. Oh, also, we
00:07:32
discovered just really quickly that I um can't ever see Chicago. >> Yeah. No, >> can't ever see Chicago. I think last
00:07:38
episode I was like, "Oh my god, I'm going to New York this weekend. I'm going to have so much fun. I can't wait
00:07:41
to see Chicago." Nope. Didn't get to see it. >> No. Something is cursed about Chicago
00:07:45
with Ash and Drew and they can never see it. So, don't ever invite them to Don't
00:07:48
ever invite us. We were supposed to have seen Chicago three times now. This is the third time we were supposed to have
00:07:53
seen it >> and feline acne struck again and we couldn't leave Franklin with his acne
00:07:58
>> cuz it can get infect feeling acne is nuts. It can get infected. So >> I believe it. It just sounds so funny
00:08:03
that like we can't leave Franklin with his acne. >> It's ridiculous. It's a ridiculous way
00:08:07
to live. But here we are. And here we are. >> He's good. Don't worry. We took him to
00:08:12
the vet. >> He's killing it. >> So, but we had to stay home and I was I was honestly so bummed. Like I wasn't
00:08:16
mad at Franklin, but I was so excited for New York >> because I feel like a part-time New
00:08:21
Yorker lately. >> I know. We've been there a lot lately. >> We've gone like every month
00:08:25
>> and I broke the streak. >> You did? How dare you? >> Really sad. >> But you know what? I lived. Franklin
00:08:30
lived. And >> I lived. I laughed. I loved. >> Yeah, I did. On top of my head. >> On top of my head.
00:08:36
>> So, I have a case for you. >> I That's great cuz that is why we're here. >> That is in fact why we're here. Um, I
00:08:42
did do my job, which is nobody had to whistle at me about it. >> I love that cuz I was going to.
00:08:47
>> You were going to do it. Don't I hate whistling. Were you just whistling out there?
00:08:50
>> No. >> Maybe it was John. >> Was it John whistling? >> Maybe. Damn. >> Yeah, >> it was a Jonty whistle. I thought it was
00:08:55
It had theater kid energy. >> Tell John that. >> I love that. >> All right. So, we are going to be
00:09:02
talking today about Melissa Anne Shepard, who is known as the internet black widow.
00:09:08
>> Whoa. >> Yeah. >> Okay. This is a interesting case. It's a really sad case because a lot of like
00:09:14
people were taken advantage of >> in the later years of their life, which is the worst time I think to be Well,
00:09:19
it's always a bad time to be taken advantage of, but >> but there's something like inherently
00:09:23
sad when like an elderly person or someone in like the later years of their life gets taken advantage of.
00:09:28
>> Yeah. >> Cuz like at that point, you're you're just supposed to be like living. You're
00:09:31
supposed to be like enjoying the fruits of your labor. >> Yeah. And just chilling
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>> and not having an internet black widow take advantage of you. You don't you don't need that.
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>> So, let's get into it. >> Let's do it. >> In the fall of 2012, so pretty recently,
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actually, sort of. >> Doesn't that feel like it was like last week? >> That's still very recent to me.
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>> It is. In the fall of 2012, Fred Weekes was still mourning the loss of his wife
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of 54 years. >> But he decided it was time to move forward in his life. He wanted to start
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dating again, or at least thinking about it. And it was then that he met Melissa
00:10:03
Anne Russell. >> Okay. She was a 78-year-old woman who moved in four doors down from him in a
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retirement uh community. And this was in New Glasgow, nova Scotia. A few days later, Melissa knocked knocked on Fred's
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door. >> And he told reporters she just wanted to know if I was lonesome, the same she
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was. He was in fact lonesome and they hit it off and started a whirlwind romance.
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>> It sounds like such a me cute. >> It would be. M. >> So, a few weeks into Fred and Melissa's
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relationship, Fred called his longtime friend George to be like, "Yo, I have fallen in love."
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>> That's like verbatim what he said. >> It's a quote. He said he and Millie wanted to get married as soon as
00:10:42
possible because this whirlwind romance was whirlwinding. >> That's cute. >> It is cute. George, the friend, later
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told CBS News, they were kind of bubbly. >> Kind of bubbly. >> Kind of bubbly. Now, listen. George was
00:10:53
a justice of the peace. So, Fred was like, "Will you perform the ceremony?" And George said, "Hell yeah, brother.
00:11:00
Hell yeah." He recalled, "I congratulated them both and Fred thanked me profusely for the ceremony. They were
00:11:05
happy at the time." Or at least Fred was and Millie appeared to be. Oh, man. >> So, after the ceremony, they immediately
00:11:13
left for their honeymoon. And George was like, "Have the best time. So happy to have done this favor for you. I love
00:11:19
love. >> Hell yeah." >> But the next day, George got a call from somebody who had uh pretty alarming
00:11:25
news. George told reporters years later, "I got a call from a lady who asked me if I knew who Millie was, and I said,
00:11:31
"Yeah, I do. She's Millianne Russell, >> obviously." >> Then she asked me if I'd ever seen a
00:11:36
program on The Fifth Estate called Black Widow. Now, The Fifth Estate is like an
00:11:41
investigative news show over in Canada, and George was like, "Um, no, I haven't seen that, but I guess I should go check
00:11:48
it out." >> Oh, boy. So, he didn't know it at the time, but he had just sent his friend
00:11:52
off on a honeymoon with a notorious felon and convicted killer. >> That's not what you want to find out the
00:11:59
day after >> that you >> performing a ceremony. >> That's the thing. The day after you
00:12:03
performed this ceremony and said like, "Do you take you and I by the power vested in me? Live your best damn life."
00:12:10
>> Yeah, that's not great. >> Shout me out doing what? And soon. Just kidding. So, after familiarizing himself
00:12:16
with the Fifth Estate episode, George learned that Millie was in fact Melissa Anne Shepard, who was a notorious black
00:12:22
widow, and she was also known to have killed at least one of her husbands in addition to committing other crimes. So,
00:12:30
George tried to call up Fred and warn him, but they had already left for the boat for New Finland, so he called the
00:12:37
police instead and insisted that they needed to warn his friend somehow. >> He said, "I wanted Fred to know the
00:12:42
situation he might be in. you know, he could be in danger. But unfortunately, and I'm sure you're all thinking this,
00:12:48
the police explained since Melissa hadn't done anything or like committed any crimes against Fred and she had
00:12:54
already served her time for previous charges, they couldn't get involved. There's nothing they can do. They can't
00:12:59
just be like, "Knock knock, warning, you married the felon." >> So, 4 days later, Fred and Melissa were
00:13:03
on a boat headed uh on their honeymoon, and Fred started to feel dizzy. >> Oh, no.
00:13:10
>> Yeah. He was still unwell when they reached their hotel and went to lay down. But he woke up a few hours later
00:13:15
and he was still dizzy and soon after he collapsed and had to be rushed to the nearest hospital on their honeymoon.
00:13:23
Poor Fred. So the nurses ran blood tests and the results showed that Fred had a large amount of the tranquilizers
00:13:29
laurazzipam and tamazipam in his system uh despite having no memory of taking either of those drugs. H when medical
00:13:38
staff asked Melissa about Fred's medical history, she said that he had prostate problems, bowel surgery, and that he was
00:13:44
suffering from dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, >> COPD. >> Yeah, but I didn't even know that. Check
00:13:51
you out. But when those same providers tried to confirm this with Fred, he was like, I don't have any of those things.
00:13:58
>> Oh no. >> But also, they're just being told that he has dementia. So they're like, "Does
00:14:02
he not know that he has these things or does he sit >> have these things? What? >> What the fuck?"
00:14:08
>> 2 days later, Nova Scotia police arrested Melissa and charged her with attempted murder and administering a
00:14:14
noxious thing. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Meanwhile, Fred was just sent home to recover. >> And also, was that administering a
00:14:20
noxious thing? >> Yeah. Is that how is that >> Why does that sound so funny? >> It does, doesn't it?
00:14:25
>> I'm charging you with administering a noxious thing. Whenever I look at the word noxious and I say it, I always feel
00:14:31
like I'm saying it wrong. >> No, you're saying it just sounded so funny. Like a noxious thing.
00:14:35
>> Yeah, a noxious thing. >> I don't know why that was so funny. >> Don't do that. No. So, he's just sent
00:14:40
home to recover from all of that. >> But also, he's still married to this woman and is like, "What the [ __ ] just
00:14:46
happened?" >> who might have just tried to >> to do something >> to kill him. Yeah. Like allegedly.
00:14:52
Perhaps. >> Allegedly. So, while in custody, Melissa admitted to investigators that she had
00:14:56
quote dissolved both medications and coffee and then given them to Fred over a period of time in the days leading up
00:15:03
to his hospitalization. >> What the [ __ ] >> So, this this wasn't just a one-time
00:15:07
thing. She was doing this for days on end. >> And she's just like, "Yeah, >> yeah, I did that.
00:15:11
>> I did do that." >> Yeah. She said that she had done so without his knowledge.
00:15:15
>> Wow. >> So, she admitted that. >> She admitted that. >> She did. She did that. She did that. So
00:15:20
through their interviews with friends and people who had had contact with the couple in the previous two months,
00:15:25
investigators started to recognize a pattern. Fred did actually seem to be experiencing periodic dizziness and
00:15:32
brain fog in even like before they got married. But when he would go to a hospital for treatment and was away from
00:15:38
Melissa, he'd instantly get better. Wow. On the day of their wedding, Fred actually almost drove his car off the
00:15:47
road when he just inexplicably became confused and disoriented. >> The day of their wedding, he was
00:15:53
potentially drugged. >> Holy [ __ ] >> He later said, "I almost went over the bank because my foot wasn't doing what
00:15:59
my brain should be telling it to. Stay on the road." >> Oh, that must have been so scary.
00:16:03
>> Yeah. Now, for investigators, obviously, the pieces all started to come together
00:16:07
when they searched Melissa and Fred's hotel room and discovered on a notepad the words lawyer, power of attorney, and
00:16:14
will written down. >> What? >> Yeah. >> Could you be any more like you're writing of attorney?
00:16:23
>> Post-it notes about what's going on. >> Apparently, damn. So, she admitted to
00:16:28
drugging Fred, but Melissa stopped well short of confessing to attempted murder.
00:16:32
And the prosecutor didn't really have any evidence that that was her intention, per se.
00:16:37
>> Babe, what else would be? >> I know, but it's a you need a lot to take it to court. Yeah.
00:16:42
>> So, as a result, the crown agreed to withdraw the charge of attempted murder,
00:16:45
and they amended the second charge to, like we said, administering a noxious thing with intent to agrieve or annoy a
00:16:52
person. >> I like that. >> Doesn't that get even better? >> Agrieve >> or annoy a person. You That annoyed me.
00:16:57
>> I like that. That's a a charge. >> That's like an actual thing. It's like you annoyed someone.
00:17:01
>> Yeah. Not >> your intent was to annoy someone. >> It's rude. >> It's rude. >> So that was going to be the charge and
00:17:06
that would be in exchange for a guilty plea and a three and a halfyear sentence. Wow. So obviously Melissa
00:17:13
accepted that deal. Obviously. Now remarkably when he was asked how he felt about the arrest in the plea deal, Fred
00:17:19
appeared to actually have no ill will towards his now ex-wife. Eventually they did divorce. Guys, in the days leading
00:17:24
up to the sentencing, he told a reporter, "People want her hung up from a tree and cut to pieces. I'm just very
00:17:29
glad to have it all over with and have it come to an end. I'm not worried about what she gets. Whatever she gets is what
00:17:34
the judge will give her, and that's what she deserves." Fred is the chillest. Fred is big chilling.
00:17:40
>> Fred chills to the max. >> Poor Fred loses his wife. >> Yeah. >> Finally gets back out there and this is
00:17:48
the first woman he encounters. >> First woman. I'd be like, I will never get back out there.
00:17:54
>> Yeah, I'm hanging up my suspenders at that point. We're not We're not going out on the town anymore.
00:17:58
>> No, I would I would say we're going to go ahead and watch a lot of television.
00:18:01
>> We're getting a hobby. >> I was just going to say we're going to pick a hobby. Perhaps we'll crochet.
00:18:05
>> Yeah, maybe model trains. >> Sour sour dough. >> Yeah, sour dough. >> Sour dough, if you will,
00:18:10
>> perhaps. >> But yeah. >> Um, so under normal circumstances, an elderly woman attempting to poison her
00:18:16
husband would have garnered a pretty small amount of attention from the press. You know, unfortunately, those
00:18:20
things don't really get a lot of heat on them. It would have faded away. A larger
00:18:24
story would have come along. Lie doo. But in this case, it didn't take long for the press to learn that this wasn't
00:18:29
the first time Melissa had been suspected or convicted of attempted murder. >> Oops.
00:18:34
>> She actually had a criminal history in two countries that went back decades. >> Holy [ __ ]
00:18:38
>> Including a lot of crimes that were very similar to this one that she had just
00:18:41
perpetrated, only with a much worse outcome. >> Oh no. So, she reached a lot of notoriety through this whole internet
00:18:49
black widow thing, but weirdly there's not a lot known about her early life. What we do know is that she was born in
00:18:55
Burnt Church, New Brunswick on May 16th, 1935, and she moved to Prince Edward Island when she reached adulthood. And
00:19:02
that's where she met her first husband, Russell Shepard. Nobody really knows the
00:19:07
quality of that relationship, but after 25 years, Russell Shepard walked out on her and that left her with nothing.
00:19:13
Whoa. So obviously like it, even if it was good at one point, it it got real bad.
00:19:18
>> Something went arry. >> Something happened. Now, among the residents of Prince Edward Island who
00:19:22
remembered her from those days, few if any had nice things to say about Melissa. The general consensus on the
00:19:28
island was as far back as anybody could remember, Melissa thought that she was better than most everybody on the island
00:19:34
and thought that she was entitled to more. And she hadn't really earned any of that.
00:19:38
>> Oh, that's the problem there is when you think it needs to be just handed to you.
00:19:42
>> Exactly. Now, whether out of desperation or some other reason, after her divorce,
00:19:46
she turned to crime as a primary source of income. And between 1977 and 1991, she racked up more than 30 convictions
00:19:55
for fraud and other financial crimes under four different aliases. >> Holy [ __ ]
00:20:00
>> Yeah. There was Melissa. Truly. Also, I don't know when people have this many
00:20:05
aliases how they keep track. >> I That's the thing. Like, and the fraud of it all. fraud
00:20:11
>> always gets me because I'm like >> that's so much work. >> It's a lot of work.
00:20:16
>> So much admin. So much keeping up with [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> You could just get a job and it would
00:20:23
probably be less work than the fraud >> cuz then you could just bring your stuff
00:20:26
to Turboax and file. >> Yeah. Like the fraud is just too much work. >> Actually, the first thing we said when
00:20:32
we hired accountants was we don't want to go to federal prison. >> Yeah. They said what are your goals
00:20:36
here? And we said not to go to federal prison. I just would like to not commit fraud.
00:20:41
>> I would like to pay what I'm supposed to pay. >> Yeah. >> Fraud nobody and live a life out of
00:20:46
federal prison. >> Just please do that >> and not have an alias. >> Yeah. And I think they appreciated the
00:20:51
honesty. >> They said lol. >> They said we'll do that. >> Sounds good. >> I said great.
00:20:55
>> They said we'll file your taxes. >> Uh Melissa didn't talk to any of these people though. Instead, she did not have
00:21:00
those desires. Instead, she came up with all her different aliases. There was Melissa Anne Weekes, Melissa Anne F uh
00:21:06
Friedrich, I think. Melissa Anne Shepard and Melissa Anne Stewart. >> Oh, okay. So, she's she's always Melissa
00:21:12
Anne for the >> Yeah, she love she loves first name, middle name. Last name is where it gets
00:21:16
hairy. >> Yeah. >> So, she ended up serving a 5-year sentence in a Toronto prison for um some
00:21:21
of those scams. >> But in 1991, she saw an opportunity for a new scam when she met a man named
00:21:27
Gordon Stewart. He was a Prince Edward Island native whose circumstances would eventually sound very familiar in the
00:21:34
context of Melissa's life. So Gordon Stewart, like I said, there's a lot of sadness to this.
00:21:40
>> Gordon. >> Gordon, I know. He lost his wife in 1989, and since then, he had obviously
00:21:45
been struggling with grief. His sister Kate Reeves said, "I thought it would be so wonderful if he found someone. The
00:21:50
sooner the better." So when he met Melissa a few years later, they couldn't have been happier, his family. They were
00:21:56
like, "Awesome. Like he's been so lonely and he's been in the thick of it. This could take him out of it."
00:22:01
Unfortunately though, it didn't take long before Gordon's family started to question Melissa's intentions with their
00:22:07
brother or their loved one, and they got more and more concerned when they started to hear rumors around town about
00:22:12
Melissa. His sister Kate, again, she said, "We had heard that she had been in a lot of trouble with the law, and a
00:22:18
member of the police force told my husband, tell Gordy to get away from her. She's trouble."
00:22:23
>> Okay. So, you got to listen to that. >> Yeah. And the Reeves and Stuart families
00:22:27
were right to be concerned. Although she was technically still married to Shepherd in Canada, after just a few
00:22:33
weeks of dating, Melissa and Gordon eloped to Las Vegas and soon after Gordon's life took a turn for the worst.
00:22:39
>> Oh no. For reasons that are still pretty unclear. Um though almost certainly related to this relationship with
00:22:45
Melissa, Gordon started gambling and drinking heavily which quickly led to obviously financial problems.
00:22:51
>> And that doesn't sound like that was his >> that was not his typical character. Not
00:22:54
at all. On at least one occasion when he needed medical treatment following, you
00:22:59
know, kind of weeks and weeks of this behavior, doctors found drugs in his system that he couldn't explain. Gordon.
00:23:05
>> Oh [ __ ] >> He didn't know why these drugs were in his system, which sounds familiar.
00:23:08
>> It sure does. >> So, in mid 1991, the couple moved to Halifax, and Gordon hoped that the
00:23:13
change of environment maybe would get things back on track again. But things only got worse from there. His drinking
00:23:19
got worse. And while he never seemed like what we were just saying to have money problems before, he was
00:23:25
hemorrhaging money at this point at a rate that didn't seem to make sense at all. And the only explanation for all of
00:23:31
it was Melissa. >> Melissa, what are you doing? >> Well, in a letter written shortly before
00:23:36
his death, he detailed his life with Melissa, how she drained their bank account, lied, and cheated.
00:23:42
>> He said, "I took her back. I still loved her and kept hoping things would change.
00:23:46
But unfortunately, just a few months after moving to Halifax, tragedy struck. So one night while Gordon and Melissa
00:23:54
were out in a very rural area, he was struck and killed by his own car while Melissa was behind the wheel. No,
00:24:02
>> there are different and very conflicting reports about this. So I'm just going to
00:24:06
tell you what we have here. Melissa reported the death to the police claiming that, and this is just what she
00:24:12
claims, that Gordon had attacked her and raped her. So, she said she ran him over
00:24:17
with the car in order to flee the scene and that it was self-defense. >> Wow. >> The problem though, and this is the
00:24:23
investigator's problem, as soon as they started looking into the case, nothing Melissa said about the scene made a lot
00:24:30
of sense. For one thing, when an autopsy was performed on Gordon, test showed a quote unquote lethal dose of various
00:24:37
drugs in his system at the time of death, which meant that not only would he have been too sedated to pose a
00:24:42
threat to anyone, he almost certainly wouldn't have been able to drive a car either.
00:24:46
>> Huh. According to Jerry Swain, the RMC uh RCMP detective assigned to the case,
00:24:52
it aroused suspicion to hear that story. It just didn't seem to fit the scenario
00:24:56
of the situation. If you accidentally ran over your husband, why would you not remain and explain the circumstances to
00:25:02
whomever? Yeah. So, the more that Jerry Swain investigated, the less he believed
00:25:07
Melissa's story. Gordon Stewart didn't have any history of violence. He didn't have any criminal history, and there was
00:25:14
no evidence to support her claim that she had been raped. Uh, her claim that she had hit him with the car in order to
00:25:20
escape was also pretty suspicious. In Melissa's version of events, after Gordon assaulted her, he got out of the
00:25:27
car and walked around the back of the vehicle to use the bathroom. And that's when she jumped in the driver's seat and
00:25:33
put the car in reverse, hitting and killing her husband before fleeing, which like you didn't need to put the
00:25:40
car in reverse. >> Yeah, I was going to say, what was the reverse about? >> All she would have done to escape the
00:25:44
scene was put the car in drive and go forward. meaning the only way that she could have hit and killed him was if she
00:25:50
had done so intentionally and unnecessarily. And that's investigator's opinion on this case.
00:25:54
>> Yeah, that is not our opinion. >> No. So, it didn't take long for Swain to determine that Melissa had fabricated
00:25:59
her story and his belief and she was arrested and charged with manslaughter. >> He said, "As a result of the full
00:26:06
investigation, we determined that the motive was monetary. Gordon Stewart had a regular pension from the Department of
00:26:12
Defense and as his wife, she was entitled to his benefits." boy. So Melissa ended up going on trial for the
00:26:18
death of her husband or for the murder of her husband in 1992 and she ultimately was found guilty of
00:26:24
manslaughter but sentenced to 2 years in prison. What are we doing? >> 2 years in prison. What are we doing
00:26:31
here? >> Hello. 2 years for manslaughter. >> Yep. >> The [ __ ] >> So upon her release from prison in 1994,
00:26:38
which was literally just like a whoop blip in time. >> Yeah. She found a new scheme pretty
00:26:44
quickly and a viable means of making some money. While she was serving her sentence for manslaughter, she had come
00:26:49
into contact with several women's rights and domestic violence activists who saw
00:26:54
her as a perfect example of a woman who had been punished for what they argued was nothing more than protecting herself
00:26:59
from an abusive husband. So throughout the late 80s and uh early 90s in North America, there was this concept which
00:27:06
we've obviously heard of the battered wife syndrome. And it was also referred also called battered woman syndrome. And
00:27:12
it had been gaining a lot of traction in, you know, medical professionals, legal professionals, and they were using
00:27:17
it as a way to explain a range of behaviors and symptoms pretty similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder,
00:27:24
especially in women who had been victims of violence. >> Yeah. >> So, in some cases, battered women
00:27:29
syndrome had also been used as a defense in court cases where a wife or an intimate partner was accused of
00:27:34
murdering or physically harming their supposed abuser. >> Okay. or their alleged abuser.
00:27:40
>> Having been convicted of killing a man that she claimed had been abusive and violently sexually assaulting her, she
00:27:46
seemed an ideal spokesperson for the movement at this point in time. >> Yeah. >> And she quickly became a popular speaker
00:27:51
on the lecture circuit. >> Wow. >> In 1994, she actually appeared in a documentary about domestic violence and
00:27:58
she described the night of the murder. This is her words. She said, "He had a knife in his hand. He told me he was
00:28:03
going to kill me, but first he was going to take me somewhere." Later on, early that evening, we went into this road. It
00:28:09
was like a logging road in the woods. This is triggering uh trigger warning for sexual assault. She said, "He raped
00:28:15
me at knife point and then he got out of the car and walked around behind the car. He had to urinate. So, I saw that
00:28:21
as my chance to get away." >> Wow. >> So, the description that she gave in the documentary was pretty much the same one
00:28:27
that she gave to police on the night of the murder. >> Yeah. It sounds like harrowing as an
00:28:31
actual story. and it does, but it doesn't account for any of the inconsistencies that resulted in her
00:28:36
conviction, >> but the producers didn't really raise any questions. So, it it got out there.
00:28:42
>> But after a few years on the lecture circuit, she moved to Florida in 2000 and she found a place to live in uh
00:28:49
Christian retreat. Among the community leaders was Robert Friedrich. He was an 81-year-old retired electrical engineer
00:28:57
who had lost his wife of 53 years, Mary earlier that same year. >> His son, Dennis, told a reporter in
00:29:04
2005, "Dad was the proud, stoic German type." And that he was referring to his father's tendency to keep his feelings
00:29:11
to himself. >> He said, "We didn't know how lost he really was," >> which is just heartbreaking. So to fill
00:29:17
his time and occupy his mind, Robert threw himself into volunteering with the church, which is where he met Melissa
00:29:23
Anne Shepard. >> Oh no. >> In 2012, Melissa told reporters, "The Holy Spirit told me this man would be my
00:29:30
next husband. He told me exactly who the person was. I could see him because he was up on the platform with the pastor.
00:29:36
I began speaking in tongues and I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit." >> Okay.
00:29:43
Quotes. >> Yikes. So, after struggling with the loss of his wife to cancer, by the way,
00:29:46
she passed of cancer. Robert was very excited to have met somebody new. And within a few days of meeting, Melissa
00:29:52
and Robert were engaged to be married. >> Wow. >> I think like the older you get, the
00:29:58
less, you know, like you don't have as much time. So, >> I was going to say you're not going to
00:30:01
have a long engagement. >> You're prone to adventure. >> Yeah. You're not going to have a ton of
00:30:05
uh, you know, courting time. >> Right. Exactly. If it feels right, maybe it's right.
00:30:09
>> Feels right. We're in our 80s. >> In this case, it was not right. >> Yeah. So when Robert told his children
00:30:13
about his plans to marry Melissa so soon after having met her, obviously they were pretty stunned and, you know,
00:30:20
nervous about this, Dennis told his father. At best, she's a kook. At worst, she's a gold digger.
00:30:25
>> But Robert just chuckled and he said, "I like to keep my options open." Which was
00:30:30
like, "You're an icon." >> Wow. >> So obviously they were apprehensive about their father's new girlfriend, but
00:30:35
Dennis himself tried to be respectful. He remembered he felt speaking about his dad that he was going to be taken care
00:30:41
of. He had a bride. He wasn't going to be alone anymore. >> Oh, >> and also you have to think like this is
00:30:46
a generation who has like always been with somebody romantically usually >> 54 years or something like that.
00:30:53
>> You're so used to connection >> for 54 years. 24/7 you're around them. >> So then to be all by yourself like
00:31:00
that's a lot to swallow. >> Yeah. So, a month later, in June of 2000, Robert and Melissa were married
00:31:06
and immediately set off on their cross-country honeymoon, which uh ended with a luxury cruise to the Caribbean,
00:31:12
all at Robert's expense. Once they returned, Melissa moved into Robert's home in uh Brandon, Florida. And not
00:31:20
long after, Robert's children started noticing troubles and changes to their father's health.
00:31:25
>> Oh, man. >> Yeah. This isn't coincidence. It feels >> It's not. Robert was 81 years old. Like
00:31:31
I said, when he married Melissa, and his health had already begun to decline at that point. It was natural for somebody
00:31:37
his age. But after the wedding, there were new health problems that Dennis and his siblings just hadn't seen before.
00:31:43
Now, and this will sound interesting to you, Robert was experiencing periods of dizziness without any apparent
00:31:50
explanation for like why he would be dizzy. And he started falling. So obviously the new symptoms were
00:31:57
concerning in and of themselves, but equally concerning was another pattern that the kids started to notice his
00:32:02
children. Whenever Robert was home, he seemed to be in poor health. But as soon as he went to the hospital for
00:32:08
treatment, he would get better. >> Huh. >> Which is to be expected obviously, like
00:32:12
you do get better when you get treatment, but it was a marked difference. >> Yeah. It's like kids with the croo.
00:32:18
>> Yes. They sound like they're dying and then you get them outside in the cold air and get them into the ER and you're
00:32:23
like, I swear they were sounding horrific, >> right? >> Which like that at least could be
00:32:27
accounted for. Like that makes sense. >> This didn't really make that much sense.
00:32:32
>> No. >> So Dennis and his wife noticed something similar whenever Robert would come to
00:32:36
visit them at their home in Boston. So this wasn't just like, oh, you're getting medical treatment and you're
00:32:40
responding. >> It was like whenever you're not home, you're thriving, but at home you're not
00:32:45
at all. Dennis said if he came up here and visited he'd be fine, but if we talked
00:32:50
to him on the telephone, he'd sound dopey. So, we became suspicious. >> Oh my god. Can you imagine being his
00:32:56
kids, too? >> No. Having to >> I can't imagine suspecting what they're suspecting right now.
00:33:01
>> Especially after You have to think too, they're grieving their mother. >> Yeah. and all and now having to face
00:33:06
this woman >> and their parents obviously had like a long happy marriage and they're all
00:33:12
grieving and then all of a sudden he's met someone and now all of a sudden he's sick whenever he's around her.
00:33:17
>> Yeah. Scary that I would lose my mind. I can't imagine it. >> Oo, I would get fired up.
00:33:22
>> Why I ought to indeed. So obviously they were worried that Melissa was abusing or
00:33:27
taking advantage of their father. So Dennis filed a complaint with the Florida Elder Abuse Commission.
00:33:32
>> Good for him. which was very smart. >> Dennis is like I got to say Dennis from
00:33:36
the beginning of the story is like the kid you want to have. >> Truly >> like he really is.
00:33:41
>> He really is. >> He was a little sus at first, but he said, "You know what? He tried to be
00:33:45
respect and I'm going to be I'm going to be into this for him, but now he's taking action." He said, "Listen, as
00:33:50
soon as I see something weird, I'm calling it out. Say something, I say something."
00:33:55
So, the Elder Abuse Commission opened an investigation and ultimately recommended
00:33:59
that Robert receive roundthe-clock inhome care from a qualified provider, but Melissa outright refused to allow
00:34:06
that. >> Okay, that's that's a crimson flag. >> That's crimson. >> That's the reddest of flags.
00:34:12
>> So, the agency pushed back and they said, "No, this would really be good for Robert. Like, we really highly recommend
00:34:18
>> him around." >> She threatened, Melissa threatened allegedly to file a lawsuit against
00:34:23
them. So, they backed off and they closed the case. >> Wow. >> A few days later, Robert's son, Bob,
00:34:29
received a vaguely quote unquote vaguely threatening message from Melissa. She said, "Hello, Bob. This is Melissa
00:34:36
calling. I have something to share with you this morning. Your father and I are going to see a lawyer. We've made an
00:34:41
appointment, and your father is going to change his will. He's going to leave all
00:34:45
the money to me and the portion he set aside for you and your two brothers, that portion is now going to the
00:34:51
Christian retreat and you are getting nothing. A big fat zero. So try that on for size and have a nice day.
00:34:59
I would have lost my mind. When I tell you she would catch these hands, I don't care how old she is. She would catch
00:35:15
>> these mother. >> It's very reminiscent of beat your grandpa's ass. >> It's very represent reply
00:35:26
ass if I were them. Like that is the black widow. The internet black widow's ass.
00:35:30
>> That is try that on for size. Okay. Meredith Blake wannabe. >> What the [ __ ] is that?
00:35:37
>> Okay. Mommy dearest. The [ __ ] God damn. >> Meanwhile, you've known this woman for
00:35:43
like months and you're like, "Where's my mom?" >> Literally, >> I would >> like Where's my mom? Like, what the I
00:35:51
>> I'm shook. And what do you do? >> I'm almost speechless here because like the rage that would flow within me, I
00:35:59
can't even tap into that rage right now. Not only try that on for size, but a big
00:36:04
fat fat zero. I'll tell you about a big fat. >> How are you still a [ __ ] mean girl in
00:36:12
your goddamn golden years? In your Twilight years, how are you still a mean girl? How do you still have mean girl
00:36:19
energy? >> Mean girl energy perseveres. Unfortunately, >> mean girl energy goes past high school
00:36:25
getting together. >> It does a lot of times. >> Does Oh, I know. Trust me. I I encounter
00:36:30
it almost daily. >> I get it. But it shouldn't like it's and it's it's much more a reflection on that
00:36:38
person. >> 78-year-old woman mean girl energy is heinous. >> Yeah. That's rancid.
00:36:42
>> But you know, I've I've encountered it. >> Oh, yeah. >> Not like this, though. I mean, this is
00:36:48
pretty intense. >> No, this is these poor these poor kids. >> Yeah. This poor family. Poor Robert. He
00:36:52
like obviously is not >> in his right mind making these decisions. He's being taken advantage
00:36:57
of. >> Exactly. By that time, Melissa had convinced Robert to change his will and
00:37:01
to make her the beneficiary of his nine insurance policies, among other things. >> More importantly, the tension between
00:37:09
Melissa and Robert's children caused a rift between him and his family. And now he was rarely speaking to them in these
00:37:16
final moments of his life. >> No. Dennis's wife, his son, Dennis's wife, Karen, said, "It became evident
00:37:22
that we did not like her and she did not like us. So, they all kept their distance." And unfortunately in 2002,
00:37:29
Robert died, having never really repaired the rift between himself and his kids.
00:37:33
>> That breaks my heart. >> Not long after their father's death, it was confirmed that Robert had indeed
00:37:38
left all of his money to Melissa and his church community. And they soon learned
00:37:44
that their father's estate had actually become far smaller than they remembered it being in the year since his marriage,
00:37:50
dropping from roughly $350,000 to just $100,000. which was left to Melissa. >> Wow.
00:37:58
>> Like, where did all that money go? >> Melissa disputes this claim. She said Robert had made many loans to his
00:38:04
children over the years, and that explains the smaller amount of the estate, but she has never offered any
00:38:10
evidence to support. >> Prove it. >> So, in their father's final days, Dennis and Bob communicated regularly with
00:38:16
Robert's doctors, who were usually confused by the symptoms he was experiencing.
00:38:20
>> Yeah, I bet. They thought it was possible that he had maybe developed some kind of uh degenerative disease,
00:38:26
but that wouldn't have accounted for a lot of his other symptoms. And given that he had been in reasonably good
00:38:32
health, like for somebody his age before meeting Melissa, Dennis and Bob were convinced that she was somehow
00:38:37
responsible for their father's death. >> Yeah. >> But there wasn't really any evidence to
00:38:41
back up that theory. So, there was nothing authorities could do to help. >> Wow. So they're just dealing with their
00:38:47
grief and like injustice at this point. >> So instead, Robert's children filed a
00:38:54
civil lawsuit alleging that Melissa had exploited Robert financially and that was settled out of court with Melissa
00:39:00
receiving $15,000 and the remaining money going to the children, Dennis and Bob. Not long after, Melissa sold
00:39:07
Robert's house and remaining valuables and just moved to Prince Edward Island. Moved back.
00:39:12
>> Wow. So they didn't even have like a house to go back to. >> Nothing to show for?
00:39:17
>> No. That's so sad. >> Nothing that like belonged to their dad or anything like that. It sounds like
00:39:21
it's >> that's just really sad. >> It's horrible. This woman is in my opinion horrible.
00:39:27
>> And you know like that's like I think like something like that happened like my my dad like his parents like that was
00:39:35
a similar kind of not with like you know alleged drugging and all that. No, no, no.
00:39:40
>> But like a a wife happening later in life and changes the whole situation and
00:39:46
they get left with not a lot and everything and it's so sad. It is sad because it also really affects the the
00:39:52
relationship that you thought you had with somebody and you do still have that relationship and obviously like you can
00:39:58
hold those memories tight but it makes you question certain things you know >> it just it taints the legacy of like
00:40:04
what you would like to leave behind you know even as just like a memory and it's
00:40:08
that's it's just really sad. It's awful. >> I just don't get being like that. I really don't. I don't so much work and
00:40:14
two >> so like you're putting all that time and energy just into being mean and like mucking up people's
00:40:21
lives. And also, what the [ __ ] is that doing for you? >> I That's the thing. I'm like, if I'm
00:40:26
even like, don't you feel like [ __ ] hot garbage inside? Because >> if I have to get mean with someone, I
00:40:34
feel like hot garbage inside. It doesn't do anything like good for myself. >> They [ __ ] deserve it and then I feel
00:40:41
great. But >> yeah, then it like sends her through the roof and I'm I'm clapping for her. But
00:40:44
like not even like having to be mean to somebody, even if I'm like, "Oh, [ __ ] Was I friendly enough? Like that tra I'm
00:40:50
literally the kind of person where I'm like, did I say thank you? Like >> did I was I polite enough?
00:40:54
>> You know what I mean? Like that trashes my soul. >> It just it's it really does. It trashes
00:40:58
your soul to like be >> yucky. Shitty. Yeah. >> And it's like that's I can't imagine
00:41:03
living that way. Don't be a [ __ ] >> No. Just be a hot [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> Don't be a [ __ ]
00:41:08
>> Be a bad [ __ ] Don't be like a [ __ ] >> Be a bad [ __ ] Be a be a bad [ __ ]
00:41:12
>> Exactly. >> Thank you. >> Our advice to you. >> That's our TED talk. So unfortunately,
00:41:17
uh, Melissa's still at it. So she arrived back in Prince Edward Island in 2004 and found herself in a difficult
00:41:23
situation. So settling the civil suit brought against her by Robert's children meant that she lost the remaining
00:41:29
estate, which she planned to live on. So she needed to come up with a new plan to
00:41:33
support herself. Also, in addition for that, the RCMP was investigating her for fraud, alleging that she'd been
00:41:40
collecting spousal social security benefits under two different names. >> Oh. So she knew consequences were a
00:41:46
coming down the pike. >> Mhm. >> So now she had to come up with a plan fast, not only to get some money, but
00:41:51
also to avoid prosecution. So she did what had always worked in her favor in the past. She started looking for a new
00:41:58
mans. >> Of course. >> Now, following his second divorce, 73-year-old Alex uh Strategos, I hope I
00:42:05
said that correctly, he decided that he was ready to try dating again, and he joined an online dating site. Getting
00:42:10
back out there. Unfortunately, he met Melissa on that site. >> He told a reporter later, though.
00:42:18
>> Oh, heard that. >> Okay. I I heard told a reporter later. >> He told a reporter later. He said,
00:42:22
>> "Nice to hear. >> I was just lonely and I thought this was a good chance to find somebody and get
00:42:26
together, start a different life." >> So, they sent some messages back and forth before Melissa suggested that, you
00:42:32
know, maybe they meet up in person for a date. >> Knowing that the RCMP was closing in
00:42:36
fast, she did need to get out of Canada pretty quickly. Yep. So, she was like, "Oh my god, I would love to drive down
00:42:42
from Prince Edward Island to Florida and meet you IRL." >> Oh my god. >> She said, "Let's I'm just so crazy and
00:42:49
cuckoo and like we'll do [ __ ] on a whim. Here I come." >> She said, "Brk." >> That reminds me of the girl just I
00:42:56
should pull her up after this, but the girl that I showed you the other day who at the drive-thru just goes, "Here I
00:43:01
come." >> Oh, yeah. >> I love her. >> That stresses me out. >> I'll pull her out. I'll pull her up at
00:43:06
the end. Here I come. So, that's what Melissa said. She said, "On my way." >> On my way.
00:43:11
>> Now, uh, the proposition seemed [ __ ] crazy to Alex, but he liked that Melissa
00:43:16
was quote full of life and prepared to do something crazy. >> He was like, "Oo, we got a spontaneous
00:43:21
girl up in here." >> Oh, man. >> So, she arrived in Florida and she said, "Ooh, I'm here, but I don't have any
00:43:28
money and I don't have a place to stay. So, you know, this date could go on forever. I could just live with you."
00:43:36
the Amy Polar and baby mama when she says, "Oh no, I don't have gas money." >> Yeah. Pat,
00:43:42
>> where's my wallet? >> So, that obviously um caught Alex offguard, but also he's he's young. He's
00:43:49
getting it. He's back on the horse. He's getting out here. >> He's like, maybe this is how things are
00:43:54
now. >> Yeah. He doesn't know. You know, it's been a while. >> He's like, I don't want to ruin this.
00:43:57
So, he's like, you can stay with me. Don't worry about it. Nice guy. >> He said later, she was a real classy
00:44:03
lady. I was lonely and she was a woman. >> She was a real classy lady. I was lonely, she was a woman. You know, we
00:44:11
love we love a he's he's got simple taste, you know. He's like, I don't need a whole lot more.
00:44:16
>> Lonely woman. Great. >> Classy. >> Let's go. Classy as well. So, from that move at that moment, she moved into his
00:44:23
condo and their whirlwind relationship began. >> Oh, boy. >> Uh just as in her other relationship,
00:44:28
she didn't waste any time getting to his money. Nope. And also like her previous
00:44:32
relationships, it didn't take long before Alex started to notice some new health problems. This is so crazy.
00:44:38
You're never going to guess what he started feeling. >> Dizzy. It was dizzy. He started feeling
00:44:43
dizzy throughout the day. He also felt weak and tired. And then he started falling over a lot.
00:44:48
>> Oh no. >> Now at 73 years old, he wasn't in the best of health. He had diabetes and he
00:44:54
had some other health issues. So he was like, "Oh fuck." Like, you know, consequences of aging. These must just
00:44:58
be new symptoms. Yeah. >> But within a few weeks, the problem started to get more and more serious,
00:45:03
and Alex actually ended up in the hospital. Just like in the other cases, doctors couldn't figure out what was
00:45:09
going on with him, though. But like Robert Friedrich, Alex's symptoms couldn't be explained by any of his
00:45:15
known ailments. Like these people obviously had things they were dealing with, like healthy,
00:45:19
>> they're elderly or older, >> but they're they're not aligning with aligning with the things that they do
00:45:24
have. So medical professionals were like this, what is this? like it doesn't indicate any specific illness or disease
00:45:31
and it doesn't have to it doesn't correlate with anything you're dealing with. So, the doctors weren't the only
00:45:35
ones baffled by Alex's new symptoms. His son Dean also thought it was pretty strange that his father was experiencing
00:45:42
such profound new symptoms out of nowhere with no explanation. >> Yeah, >> but good kids watching out for their I
00:45:49
know >> their aged parents. >> The real ones in this case are truly the kids. And here's the thing. Dean was
00:45:55
willing to go a step further and just say, "I suspect this is my dad's new girlfriend."
00:46:00
>> You know what? Good for Dean for >> I got suspicions and at least can we check into them? Good for him.
00:46:06
>> He said as soon as he got home, he would get real feeble and real sickly and was
00:46:10
back in the hospital. It was something that was happening to him that wasn't natural. Less than two months, think of
00:46:17
that short period of time, less than two months into his relationship with Melissa, his symptoms had become so
00:46:22
severe that Melissa convinced him he needed to move into a long-term care facility.
00:46:29
>> What the [ __ ] >> Meanwhile, this guy like was, you know, dealing with some issues. He had like
00:46:33
diabetes that he was managing, but he was managing his symptoms. He meets Melissa and now he has to sign up for a
00:46:39
long-term care facility. >> And honestly, he's like not that old by any means. >> So,
00:46:45
From the moment Alex arrived at the nursing home, the staff thought there was something very strange about his
00:46:50
relationship with Melissa. >> They knew that he had been divorced twice, but Melissa kept introducing
00:46:55
herself as Mr. Tigos. And at the same time, Dean was more or less convinced that his father's illness was somehow
00:47:02
being caused by Melissa. So, he started pressuring the medical staff to test his
00:47:06
father for drugs. >> Oh, damn. Alex Yeah, Dean is >> Dean and Dennis is getting it going.
00:47:11
>> Uh-huh. Dean and Dean and Dennis. >> Dean and Dennis. Alex said, "I was basically sprawled out flat in bed when
00:47:16
she got my power of attorney, but I can thank my son for saving my life because the rest home discovered drugs in my
00:47:23
system, and he and his girlfriend called the police." >> Dean. >> Dean and Dean's girlfriend.
00:47:28
>> Girlfriend. Hell yeah. >> So, police in Florida immediately arrested Melissa and she was charged
00:47:33
with multiple counts of endangerment and assault, as well as three counts of grand theft from a person 65 years of
00:47:40
age or older. Oh, and two counts of forgery. I just feel bad too like poor Alex. Like these poor guys who are
00:47:48
thinking they're like getting another shot. >> Yeah. >> At love in a and just companionship and
00:47:54
then they end up being like so not cool. >> Yeah. >> Like this like >> like the the woman they find.
00:48:00
>> Yeah. Like she's she's just not cool. >> Also in like most of these cases they
00:48:04
give her a place to stay. They're like, "Oh my gosh, like you're down on your luck. You're welcome to stay with me."
00:48:10
Like you said, opening up their home. It's like you just have to be really shitty if you're doing this to people.
00:48:15
>> Yeah. Know if if you are actively drugging people to try to whatever you're trying to do to them. I mean like
00:48:21
don't do that. Drugging people >> not good. >> Yeah. >> In fact, >> don't recommend it.
00:48:30
>> Blanket. No. >> That's fair. That's a fair statement. >> No. >> Uh-uh. >> If you are drugging people, not cool.
00:48:37
>> Stop. Cut it out. >> That's what I say. But I just really feel bad for them >> cuz I'm like cuz it's this isn't the
00:48:44
ultimate betrayal. Absolutely. >> And this is the ultimate like >> your whole world comes crashing down
00:48:50
like him getting tested in a first of all being put in a nursing home when he probably need to.
00:48:55
>> He said I was sprawled out. She got his power of attorney under. And then the
00:48:59
staff tells you hey you have drugs in your system that you haven't been dealing. Somebody is drugging you. And
00:49:06
then your son and their girlfriend is like, "We have to call the police on your new girlfriend cuz she might have
00:49:11
drugged you, >> right?" >> What? Like, how do you find yourself there? >> That would send you into orbit, but
00:49:17
never mind when you were in your [ __ ] Twilight years. You're supposed to be vibing, and this is not what's supposed
00:49:23
to be happening to you. >> You are supposed to be vibing. >> Let old people vibe, man.
00:49:28
>> 2026. Let old people vibe. >> What was my old one? Call them out 2020. Was it Call them out 2020?
00:49:34
>> Yeah. >> Oh, what a year. But you know what? Let >> old people vibe. >> Yeah, let old people.
00:49:38
>> Only old people. >> Just old people. >> And only the good ones. >> I was gonna say,
00:49:42
>> we're gonna workshop this. >> Let me Yeah, we got to workshop that cuz there's a lot of old people that should
00:49:47
never vibe again for the rest of their lives. >> Facts. >> Wait, let old people vibe 2026 asterk.
00:49:54
And then we'll work on the footnote. >> Yeah. And then we'll we'll make a footnote for that. Unless I need to show
00:49:58
them these [ __ ] hands, which you know who you are. >> That's part of the footnote.
00:50:03
>> Yeah, Mikey just added the the part of the footnote. It's perfect. >> We all We all workshopped that. That was
00:50:08
a brain trip. >> It was a live workshop. It was >> We'll probably add more. In fact,
00:50:11
>> thank you for coming to our live workshop. >> XOXO, >> the pot lab, >> the morbid pot. So, let's get back to
00:50:18
this. Once the drugs had left his system, Alex was able actually to insist assist in the investigation.
00:50:23
>> Good for Alex. >> And that's when the pieces started to come together. He said at night when I'd
00:50:28
go to bed, she'd bring me a little dish of ice cream, maybe a couple teaspoons or something like that, and she'd bring
00:50:34
it into the bedroom and she'd feed it to me. I guess that's where the drugs were.
00:50:38
Then I'd go up to the bathroom and fall flat on my face. >> To [ __ ] with ice cream.
00:50:45
>> I was going to say to use ice cream. >> Diabolical. >> Not to use ice cream, but to use my my
00:50:51
evening snack against me. >> [ __ ] How dare you? How dare you? >> How very dare you?
00:50:58
>> I am finding the rage now. >> You [ __ ] with my evening snack. >> Oh, she's getting red. Big red is red.
00:51:04
>> You [ __ ] with my evening snack. >> It's on site. >> How dare you? >> On site.
00:51:10
That's diabolical. He And not only that, she's feeding him like being like, >> "We can still be weirdly romantic and I
00:51:18
can feed you your ice cream." Like, if that's your thing. But >> she she was allegedly making it seem
00:51:25
like she was a caretaker. >> That's sad. >> It is. It's [ __ ] up. You don't mess
00:51:28
with ice cream like that. Now, so he she he just have some ice cream and then fall flat on his face. He says now in
00:51:35
the two months, remember this all happened over two months. Damn. >> And those two months that they dated.
00:51:40
>> Oh, that sounded so much longer. >> I know. That took me a second to like 60 days,
00:51:46
>> right? Yeah. 60 days, give or take. In 60 days, this man was being moved into a
00:51:50
long-term care facility. >> And within 60 days, Melissa had managed to steal nearly $20,000 from him.
00:51:58
>> Holy [ __ ] >> That was my annual salary at one point in my life. >> Insane. >> $20,000 in two months. Like, hello.
00:52:07
>> Wow. >> So, in March 2005, the prosecution offered Melissa a plea deal in which she
00:52:12
would plead guilty to the charges in exchange for a 5-year sentence. >> Wow. and she accepted. After learning of
00:52:19
her guilty plea, Alex told a reporter, "I think it's fair." >> Oh man. >> Which is really sweet. Everybody's just
00:52:26
like, "You know what? Whatever a judge wants to do, as long as she stays away from me, cool."
00:52:30
>> I think these dudes are literally just like, "As long as I don't have to see her again, like it's I don't care what
00:52:36
happens." >> I really hope that ice cream wasn't ruined for him. >> I know. >> That's really [ __ ] up.
00:52:41
>> Makes me sad. >> Here's the thing. Despite having pleaded guilty to the charges and taking the
00:52:45
police, uh Melissa did continue to maintain her innocence from her jail cell in Florida. She said she flatly
00:52:52
rejects the claims that she's a black widow and says the claims are unfounded. According to Melissa, she never tried to
00:52:58
defraud anyone and had only been looking for love. She told the Kingston Wig Standard, "I was only interested in a
00:53:05
serious relationship in marriage. I was very specific about that. I wasn't trying to lure people to me. I was more
00:53:10
or less looking for someone who had the same desires I had. And when a reporter from CBS asked Melissa in an interview,
00:53:17
can you change? She said, I can't say that from now on I'll be a perfect citizen, but I'm going to try day by day
00:53:23
to behave myself and do what I should have been doing all along, but I can't say that that is going to be the outcome
00:53:30
of how my life will end. She really said no promises. She's going to She's really out here just being like
00:53:38
>> She really said, "Don't ask a lot of me. >> I cannot tell a lie. One thing about me,
00:53:43
not lying." >> Yeah, she can't, you know, >> I'm not going to sit here. >> She said, "Here's the thing. Nobody's
00:53:47
perfect. You live and you learn it." >> She did. >> Yeah, >> she totally did. I like that she was
00:53:51
like, "Can't say that's how it's all going to end." >> She said, "Idk." >> She said, "Stay tuned. Peace." So
00:53:58
Melissa returned to Nova Scotia after completing her sentence in 2010. And soon after she met Fred Weekes, uh, that
00:54:04
started the cycle all over again. When asked about the case, uh, Eric Hickeyi, director for forensic studies at Alliant
00:54:11
International University, he described women like Melissa as an acute danger to society. He said, "They see these men as
00:54:18
simply objects, someone who can get them to where they need to go. They are black
00:54:22
widows. They are quite calculating and they are pretty good liars, and they've gotten more sophisticated. They used to
00:54:27
use formaldahhide and arsenic to poison their victims, which we have covered many of those cases.
00:54:32
>> And there's plenty of like awful men in the world. Pick them. >> Why are you picking these nice guys?
00:54:39
>> Don't go after nice guys. >> I mean, don't go after anyone. I'm kidding. You know I'm kidding. If you're
00:54:43
listening, don't take it seriously. Seriously. >> Don't take it seriously. >> Seriously. Seriously.
00:54:47
>> U But for real, like why are you picking these like very kind, sweet men who are
00:54:52
in these situations of like and just kind of like being lost, >> lonely. Like that's really like
00:54:59
diabolical. >> I know. >> Yucky. I know. So, on March 18th, 2016, Melissa was released from prison after
00:55:06
serving her sentence for poisoning Fred uh weeks there. Alex Stratagos told a reporter, "To tell you the truth, I was
00:55:12
surprised. I don't think she should be out at all. She did it before. She'll do it again."
00:55:16
>> He's like, "Trust me." >> He's like, "Hey, what's up?" So Melissa's release did come with a number
00:55:22
of conditions though, including adherence to a curfew, no use of the internet, and reporting any rom This is
00:55:29
crazy. Reporting any romantic relationships to the police. >> Imagine having to call up 911 and be
00:55:35
like, "Guess what? >> I met a boy. >> It's on." Like when you when the when the government is telling you like you
00:55:44
can't go on the internet, you're grounded off the internet and you better tell your mother and I when you have a
00:55:50
new boyfriend that things have gotten wild. >> It's not going to be a hot girl summer
00:55:54
if you have to report your romantic interest to 911. >> Uh here's the thing though.
00:55:59
>> One month later in April, the 80-year-old was arrested again in Halifax when she was discovered using
00:56:05
the internet in a local library. a direct violation. So, she was brought back to court on a
00:56:11
charge of violating the terms of her release, but the prosecutor did drop the charges. He said there wasn't a
00:56:17
reasonable prospect of convicting Shepherd. So, now in her late 80s, it seems unlikely, question mark, that
00:56:24
Melissa poses much of a risk to anyone, but not everybody agrees. According to her latest victim, Fred Weekes, he said,
00:56:31
"I think she's a wicked woman. She's not safe with any man, and she'll do it again." Damn. And we're here to say I
00:56:38
hope she doesn't. >> I hope she does not. >> I hope that you know she she she completes the terms of her release.
00:56:46
>> Chill out. Just get a hobby. >> Just chill out. >> That's literally all I can say. Chill
00:56:53
the [ __ ] out, Melissa. >> I know. I know. Allegedly. >> Chill out. Stop it. Stop it. Just like
00:57:00
have a have a moment. Just call the police. Take up a hobby. Like you said, crochet. Yeah. Needle point.
00:57:07
>> Sour dough. >> Sour dough. >> That'll take up a lot of your time. >> Minures.
00:57:11
>> Oo, miniatures. >> Booknooks. Make a booknook, girl. Make a book. >> Tough on the eyes.
00:57:16
>> It's going to work those eyes, though. Keep that that keep those going. >> Keep that mind going.
00:57:20
>> Yeah. Put on some glasses. >> Okay. >> This is all stuff that will take up your
00:57:25
time and keep you from from getting into any trouble. >> And it doesn't involve the internet,
00:57:29
which you can't be on, babe. Yeah. >> No internet. >> No internet for you. >> Nope. Stop it.
00:57:33
>> And you know what? That's good cuz the internet's gnarly. So like stay off it.
00:57:38
>> You should. >> Damn. >> So yeah, that is that's the story that I had for you today. What a wild ride, eh?
00:57:44
>> Holy. >> Oh, and it was from Canada. I didn't even do that on purpose. >> Hey.
00:57:48
>> Um, do you have a fun fact for us or is it my turn? >> I think it's your turn.
00:57:52
>> Okay. Fun fact that's also pretty [ __ ] morbid. >> Your brain is constantly eating itself.
00:58:01
>> Delicious. The process is called faggoytosis where cells envelop and consume smaller
00:58:07
cells or molecules to remove them from the system. But don't worry, says 121's facts that will blow your mind on
00:58:14
science forms. They say it's not harmful. It actually helps preserve your gray matter.
00:58:20
>> Oh, and you need that. >> So, >> that's an interesting fact. >> That's It's like when I think too much
00:58:26
about having a brain, now I'm thinking about my brain being hungry and snacking on itself. Now you can kind of feel your
00:58:31
brain. >> I think I do want No, stop. I hate it. >> Sloshing around. >> Not sloshing. Why do you say sloshing?
00:58:38
>> I mean, it is kind of slloshing. >> Is it a little bit? >> I feel like Is it moving? Is that why
00:58:43
you have a headache? >> It's around when you when you get concussion. It's cuz your brain slams
00:58:47
against the side of your skull. >> That I knew, but I I thought that was like why you got concussed because it's
00:58:51
like not supposed to move. Really? >> I need you to stop. I'm literally holding my skull together. Okay. Um, we
00:58:57
love you. We hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird. >> But not so weird that you become too
00:59:02
aware of your own [ __ ] brain sloshing quote unquote around in your head. >> Yeah. Don't
00:59:06
>> And don't say weird. >> Yeah. >> You didn't say weird. >> I didn't say weird.
00:59:10
>> No. >> Wait, what? Oh. >> Oh, we did. Wait, what? >> And we hope you keep it >> weird. Wait, I feel like we did.
00:59:19
>> You She said you didn't. >> Oh, that's funny. >> Crazy. Well, keep it in. >> I was too worried about my Keep all of
00:59:25
it in. I was too worried about my brain slashing around in my head. I mean, yeah. It's been a long day. All right.
00:59:29
Bye.