00:00:00
This is exactly right. Isn't some far off concept? It's already here. Next starts now.
00:00:33
Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Goodbye. When a charming neurosurgeon rode into Frontier Town
00:00:39
selling a persona of confidence and care, patients trusted him. He wore cowboy boots in the operating room
00:00:45
and became sought after by patients. He promised to heal them. Instead, he left a trail of broken bodies.
00:00:51
This is a story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice. Listen to Dr. Death the Cowboy wherever you get your podcasts
00:00:58
or binge the entire series right now only with Audible. Goodbye. Where does summer take you?
00:01:05
Maybe it's a coastal road trip or a quiet morning with the windows wide open. Summer smells like bright citrus, warm sand,
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Find your summer escape today. Visit Pura.com to learn more. Goodbye. Goodbye. Hey, everybody. Before we start the episode today, we want to take a moment to address the June 24th,
00:01:32
2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe versus Wade. This decision stripped away the right to have
00:01:39
a safe and legal abortion. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what's best for themselves
00:01:44
and for their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire
00:01:49
consequences for individual health and safety and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark
00:01:54
decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion,
00:01:59
threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Learn more by visiting choice.crd.co.
00:02:06
That's choice.crd.co. And if you're able to support others, please consider donating to
00:02:13
abortion funds. And thank you to Ariel Nisenblatt, the founder of Earbuds Podcast Collective,
00:02:18
for starting this movement of podcasters making this announcement at the top of their podcasts.
00:02:24
in a time where people really are looking for help, looking for unity, looking to know what to do.
00:02:30
This is an amazing movement to show how many there are of us and how important coming together
00:02:37
and unifying over this very important topic is. We encourage you to speak up, take care, and spread the word.
00:02:54
Hello. Hello. And welcome. To my favorite murder. That's Georgia Hartstark. That's Karen Kilgariff.
00:03:11
And we're here to present a podcast to you where we talk about true crime stories.
00:03:17
Yep. We made a diorama for our book report, podcast book report. Just trust us. Yeah.
00:03:23
It looks great. It's going to win the science fair. It's a Birkenstock shoebox. There's a thread hanging from the top down into a little lamp.
00:03:34
There's people. Tassels. It's all in there. We're represented by troll dolls. Remember trolls?
00:03:40
I used to collect those. Did you know that about me? Where you spin them and the hair goes out.
00:03:45
Oh, sorry. I was combining troll dolls and those pencil tops. Did you ever have the pencil tops with the long troll hair?
00:03:54
Oh, you just put the hair on it. It was like, I think they also had googly eyes.
00:03:59
Oh, man. The 70s. You know, the 80s. Things were simpler. We were happy with simple things.
00:04:06
We didn't need your fucking, you know, what? Electronic. You just spit Diet Coke on your shirt.
00:04:13
No, I was kind of laughing because when we were trying to talk about the diorama,
00:04:16
I could think of a lamp and that was it. That was my idea of what could be in a diorama.
00:04:22
That was the extent of my creativity and my imagination. Well, I think I took that and went to the little houses I used to make,
00:04:31
like dollhouses I made for my troll dolls out of shoeboxes. Oh, and what would you put in those?
00:04:37
I'd put like a little, they had a little bed and I'm sure there was a lamp. Really?
00:04:42
Or are you just telling me that to make me feel better? I swear. I mean, I don't know what I would have made a lamp out of.
00:04:47
You know, it was all like homemade. Thread coming from the ceiling. Oh, okay. I'm thinking of a pendant lamp.
00:04:54
Should we try it again? In five, six, seven, eight. A pendant lamp. Got it. Okay.
00:04:59
Because I was thinking of a bedside lamp. Right. But it could have been a sconce.
00:05:03
It could have been a sconce. It could have been a flush light lamp. Did you say a flush light?
00:05:08
That's filthy. Flush. Flush pendant. Oh my God. No, I'm flushing. Flush? Yeah. Like flush against the wall?
00:05:17
like flush against the ceiling. I think this is our best episode yet. I feel like it's so clear
00:05:22
that we have aged like fine wine over the years and just gotten great at it. Do you know why?
00:05:28
Because Stephen, before we got on, Stephen let me know that this is our 333rd episode.
00:05:34
So it's like half of the devil. But they say actually numerology style, 666 is a good number.
00:05:44
It's a great number because Satan isn't real. I mean, I'm sorry He's not He makes a great deviled ham
00:05:51
But other than that It's not an issue On the positive side Okay I watched the show you recommended And it might not be last week because I think right now we taping out of order but you recommended the last chronological for our world time pistol
00:06:10
Oh, the sex pistol show. And I think it's on Hulu, right? Hulu or Prime. Yeah. It is so good. I binged the entire thing. It was delightful.
00:06:22
is it true that Chrissy Hynde like hung out the Sex Pistols and worked at that store?
00:06:30
That blew my mind. It's all true. Yeah. And can you believe the girl who plays Jordan,
00:06:36
the like punk rock icon with the white hair standing straight up and the pleather body.
00:06:41
Pete Miser, yeah. Is Macy Williams. Is Macy Williams. Yeah, from Game of Thrones,
00:06:48
full circle. And full circle too. I've totally got to mention this on the staircase,
00:06:53
the girl who plays one of the daughters is her sister from Game of Thrones. Sansa Stark?
00:06:59
Yes. With the red hair? Yes. Wow. So they're in shows together at the same time.
00:07:04
And that real life person who... Yes. If you give me three minutes, I'll be able to come up with it.
00:07:10
She's married to a Jonas brother in real life. Really? Yes. She's pop culture icon status.
00:07:16
I had no idea. And her name is... Sansa Stark. It's Sansa Marie Stark. So you like the Sex Pistols show.
00:07:24
It's good. It's interesting. It's like a time and a place. It's really fascinating.
00:07:28
I think, what's his face from the little kid who became an adult actor? Yes, and played Malcolm McLaurin.
00:07:37
McLaren. McLaren. So great in that role. He was so good. And the kid that played Johnny Rotten is amazing.
00:07:44
Oh, incredible. And the guy that's played Steve Jones. Let's not forget. He's holding down the whole thing.
00:07:50
He was delightful and so cute. And so it was such a, I loved watching that. And it went really fast.
00:07:57
I was like, oh no, it's already over. It was great. It did give me trouble about like the punk rock scene in general
00:08:03
and like the female, like for example, how they, I mean, they show Christy Hines' characters
00:08:11
being so dismissed. Oh yeah. Even though she's probably the most talented one of them all.
00:08:16
And it's a very valid point. It makes me think of the Linda Ronstadt documentary where she is touring.
00:08:24
She has the biggest album in the country. The dudes in her band are basically the Eagles.
00:08:30
And they finally, they tour with her once. And then they're like, yeah, we want to be in a real band.
00:08:35
It's not a girl band. And meanwhile, like, so that's, it's like this gut punch of like,
00:08:41
God, it's always like this. It doesn't matter what style music or what style, whatever.
00:08:45
It just really is second-class citizenry of women. And then it goes on to have Jackson Brown be like,
00:08:54
yeah, no one could follow her. We would go on these arena tours where it would be like a double headliner
00:08:59
and every night we'd switch off. But like halfway through the tour, we were like, she's the headliner
00:09:04
because no one could follow her. Her voice was so amazing. And it's like, and they still go,
00:09:09
they still discount it in that way. It's like, that's what it's all about. But it didn't, even though that part was really heartbreaking where she's like, why, why don't, wouldn't you put me in the band?
00:09:20
It's like, no, it's not like that. And it's just like, of course it's not. But then she went on to fucking found The Pretenders, which.
00:09:27
Rule the world. Is the coolest band of all time. Like. Absolutely. Turned out good.
00:09:32
She's so badass. Yeah. What else? I watched, did you watch the document or the, not, yeah.
00:09:37
The four part like docu-series that came out recently on Netflix called Keep Sweet.
00:09:42
I saw the ads for it. I can't, I can't, I can't right now. Yeah, Vince couldn't either.
00:09:47
So gross, such a bummer. It's about the FLDS and specifically about Warren Jeffs
00:09:54
taking over from his fucked up dad as basically God. And what, and the things, I mean, it's troubling.
00:10:03
However, the silver lining is these incredible handful of women who basically took him down, who escaped,
00:10:11
like jumped over a fence and ran and escaped and then single-handedly took him to court
00:10:18
for rape of a child and took him down on their own, these brave women. And they had the entire church against them and did it.
00:10:26
So it is, the women they interview is, I mean, this is their story. You know, it's...
00:10:33
The thing I have been listening to and so into lately is, and please tell me if I've said this already.
00:10:40
I hope I didn't. It's a podcast called Very Scary People. And it's the true story of the Amityville murders.
00:10:46
And the host is Donnie Wahlberg. Because that's from his hometown? Is that? Well, yeah.
00:10:54
No, Amityville's in Long Island, I think. Upstate New York. And he's from Boston, Massachusetts.
00:11:01
All right. So it's just a random, we just got a Donnie Wahlberg in there. I think Donnie Wahlberg was the TV show host.
00:11:05
And then they made of the, there's like a series of Very Scary People. But then this is basically, and I think this is why you'll enjoy it.
00:11:14
It's like, everybody knows this, like what this house is famous for or whatever.
00:11:20
Here's the real, here's what happened behind the scenes. And it's like the reporters from the 70s that, you know, lived in Amityville or lived nearby.
00:11:29
The people who first investigated it, like the whole thing. So it's basically what happened before then the Amityville horror essentially hoax, which is what it turns out to be.
00:11:39
Right. Happens. And basically that family and the abuse in that family and what was actually
00:11:45
going on in the house. It's pretty... Of the murdered family. Correct. And so the reporters who reported on the murder and then also on the haunting as well.
00:11:54
There only a couple people that cross over into both Most of them are the reporters who are like on the news that night when the family murder took place
00:12:06
Wow. Which is horrifying enough by itself. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy that that story is still fascinating.
00:12:14
It's been told a million ways. And I want to hear that version of it. It's so good.
00:12:21
I really loved it. It was a very fast binge. and what's really fascinating, it's right in there with like that and Rosemary's Baby
00:12:29
and there's like a series of stories or books or movies or whatever that came out in a row
00:12:35
right around satanic panic. Right. And it is basically this very strange late 70s, early 80s time
00:12:42
where everyone was just like devil worshipers in the forest. Yeah, and they're like 100% it's happening.
00:12:48
And yeah, those teenagers who are doing that, they're definitely talking to Satan.
00:12:52
There's no like, they're not like they think they are. They're like picking up their fucking rotary dials
00:12:58
and like chatting with Satan for sure. Beelzebub? Yeah. Are you there? Meet me in the forest.
00:13:05
But it's like, I don't know. It was just such a good, I really appreciate that thing that's starting to happen,
00:13:11
I think in true crime, where it's like, this is what everybody ingested the first time around.
00:13:16
Right. Now we're going back. And actually let's really look at this, you know, like crazy media aside. Yeah. That's how it felt. I like it. Yeah, it's good.
00:13:27
You know who I met? Who? This is a rando thing, but I took a yoga class, brag, brag, brag. It was the first one I've taken in like a year.
00:13:37
Spiritual brags. Yeah. Spiritual brag and bendy and flexible brag. That's not true. I could barely
00:13:44
walk the next day. And the teacher of my yoga class here in my neighborhood turned out to be
00:13:51
the little girl from the hometown story that wrote in that she was scared to go into the
00:13:56
haunted house at Halloween. And then the haunted house leader guy pulls his mask down, whispers to
00:14:02
her, it's, don't worry, it's just me, Bill Pullman. I got, remember, I talk about that story.
00:14:10
Like I share that one more than any other because at parties and be like, do you,
00:14:14
what celebrity have you heard is cool? Or like when someone's like, I worked with this celebrity.
00:14:18
Like, are they cool? Yes, they're cool. And like, this one sucks. That's the story I pull out about Bill Pullman
00:14:23
being the coolest fucking celebrity. The best one ever. On the planet. I share her story, my yoga teacher.
00:14:30
So I got all flustered. I'm like weirdly like starstruck that I'm like, oh my God, that's you.
00:14:36
That's so funny. It was very funny. To meet someone from a hometown, that's hilarious.
00:14:41
Her name was Randy with an I. So hi, Randy. And she also said, I forgot to tell,
00:14:46
I forgot to write in that I was dressed as Sally from Nightmare Poor Christmas. Oh.
00:14:51
While it was happening, which is just- So she was kind of scary too in her own way.
00:14:54
She just couldn't see it. Right. She didn't have to be scared because she had a stitched together mouth,
00:15:01
which is one of the scarier as a child. Truly. Would be a scary thing. Oh, what is it about that?
00:15:07
Stitches. Stitch mouth. Stitch eyes, stitch mouth. Any of those. No, no. Please no, please no.
00:15:13
Please. That's bad. Well, that's a fun one. Should we do some network highlights?
00:15:18
Let's do that. Over and I saw what you did. Millie and Danielle are covering the 80s double feature,
00:15:24
the most 80s double feature ever. Mr. Mom and Three Men and a Baby. Two of my like nine-year-old favorites.
00:15:33
Truly the best. Also, Mr. Mom is the movie I think we quote the most to this day. In our house,
00:15:39
we watched it so many times. Really? Yes. What's a quote that you guys will bring up?
00:15:43
He's trying to do, there's a part where, so he stays home and watches the kids and Terry goes and starts working in advertising.
00:15:50
Can you believe it? The dad stays home. It's crazy. And Martin Mullis, her like weird boss,
00:15:57
and he comes over to pick her up to go on like a trip. And he looks like shit and is just laying around the house.
00:16:04
So he really quick runs and puts on overalls and like goggles and goes and gets a chainsaw
00:16:11
and pretends like he's redoing the front room. And then Martin Mull is like going along with it.
00:16:17
And he's like, yeah, we're going to rip all this out. Totally new electric. And he goes, oh, you're going to go with a,
00:16:22
what are you going to go with a 220? And he goes, 220, 221, whatever it takes. And my dad and my uncle laughed so hard
00:16:29
the first time we saw that. And I was just like, why is that funny? And he's like, it's the voltage.
00:16:34
It's either 220 or 330 or 440. There's no 221. Or I'm like, yes. So then we start to sing.
00:16:41
That is such a dad joke. Yes, completely. So you now make your dad laugh by saying it.
00:16:45
220, 221, whatever it takes. It's a great reference. Yes. It makes you feel like you know about electricians
00:16:51
and their comedy. Love that movie. I told you when I was in elementary school and all the girls were like starting to wear bras,
00:16:58
but I didn't and wasn't going to for a very long time. Pretend that I knew what I was talking about.
00:17:03
And they're like, oh, you know, what size are you? And one girl's like, I'm a 32A.
00:17:08
And I was like, oh, I'm a 33A. Or like, didn't know what it was like, but needed to be a little bigger.
00:17:15
And then they're like, that's not a thing. So 20, 21, I feel that. 220, 221, whatever it takes.
00:17:21
220, just whatever it takes. And then on I Said No Gifts this week, Bridger is joined by comedian, artist,
00:17:27
and writer, Sophia Cleary. And then in the MFM store, you guys, you got to drink your water and stay hydrated. So we have water bottles for you
00:17:38
with all our fun, exciting, funny things that we've said, you know, in the past 333 episodes.
00:17:46
333. Angel numbers. Yes. Go get a water bottle for this summer's intense hydration needs.
00:17:54
Yeah This might be Luminol Go get a water bottle It myfavoritemurder in the store Is that it I think that it Let kick this thing off Let get this fucking party started
00:18:06
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Tier 2 compensation provided potential subject to various factors such as customers' accounts, age, and investment settings.
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Does not include Acorns fees. Results do not predict or represent the performance of any Acorns portfolio.
00:19:05
Investment results will vary. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors, LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor.
00:19:12
View important disclosures at acorns.com slash mfm. Goodbye. If you spend all day waiting to take your bra off, it might be time for Third Love.
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The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Making plays that end up on everyone's feed, scoring from angles that don't make sense, rewriting record books that barely had time to gather dust.
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Hyundai did it by making advanced safety standard on every vehicle. Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra fast charging capability.
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00:21:02
Goodbye. Goodbye. So today I'm going to tell you the story of a classic old school Hollywood murder mystery,
00:21:14
or just mystery. We don't really know. That's how mysterious it is. I'm going to tell you about the bizarre disappearance of actress Jean Spangler.
00:21:23
Oh. Which we've talked about before back when we did an episode about the Black Dahlia.
00:21:29
and so I'm going to tell you Jean's story. So the sources used in today's episode
00:21:36
are The Doe Network, The Charlie Project, a Court TV news article by Davina Willett,
00:21:42
two Los Angeles Times articles, one by Cecilia Rasmussen, and then a staff article,
00:21:47
and then a Palm Springs Life article by Arthur Lyons, an article from The Lineup by Jesse Fieri.
00:21:54
F-E-R-R-I, Fieri? Fieri. Fuck. By Jessica Fieri. Oh, no, it's just Ferry. Oh. An article from the Capital Journal.
00:22:08
The blog by writer and ex-detective Steve Hodel. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We know that guy.
00:22:15
Mm-hmm, exactly. An Entertainment Weekly article by Maureen Lee Linker and a Nine News article by Nick Pearson.
00:22:23
All right, so let me tell you a little bit about Jean Spangler. Jean Elizabeth Spangler, she's born on September 2nd, 1920.
00:22:29
23 in Seattle, Washington. She's the youngest of four children. And actually, randomly,
00:22:36
and our lovely researcher, Gemma, just put a little note that according to findagrave.com,
00:22:41
the kids are fourth cousins to Abraham Lincoln. Oh, isn't that interesting? That's a good, would have been a good brag for her.
00:22:48
Right. Not for this story. Well, I didn't mean it like that. I wish you would have kept that out of this story.
00:22:56
Guy Fieri would have kept that out of this story because he's got class. In the 1930s, the Spangler family relocates to Los Angeles
00:23:03
and Jean is a gorgeous, you know, classic beauty, that old school Hollywood actress look.
00:23:12
So once she graduates from high school in 1941, she gets a job working as a model
00:23:16
for a local department store. And her friends and colleagues say that she's friendly,
00:23:21
vivacious, she's energetic, and she has a really good work ethic, which no one would say about me, I don't think.
00:23:29
I like the idea that it's long ago enough that she just is a model for one department store.
00:23:34
Right. You go out and get that job directly yourself. Yeah, and you probably go to like
00:23:39
the customer service counter there and you're like, hey, what's up? Check this out.
00:23:43
Yeah. You hold up both hands. These. So then when she's 18, she gets a job dancing at the iconic Earl Carroll Theater
00:23:54
which is like a nightclub. Wikipedia calls it a popular night spot for many of Hollywood's most glamorous stars and powerful film industry moguls.
00:24:04
What year is it? Sorry. She graduated high school in 1941. So when she was 18, so around then.
00:24:10
So it's like the heyday of fucking going to these amazing places, right? Yes. Meeting the most incredible people.
00:24:16
You're a dancer. You're beautiful, glamorous. Everyone wants to hang out with you.
00:24:20
She gets to meet all these interesting people. And it was like being a chorus girl was your way to get screen tests
00:24:27
and meet executives and all that. Yeah, exactly. There's so much Los Angeles lore and history here.
00:24:35
It's, I don't know, I just wrote this for you, really, that it's on Sunset Boulevard
00:24:39
where the Nickelodeon is now. Oh, across from the coffee bean? Yeah, across from the coffee bean and the waffle
00:24:46
where the Nickelodeon studios are is where- Coming down by the out of the closet.
00:24:50
Exactly. There's a good car wash. and there's that really old hotel that totally looks like a horror movie.
00:25:01
It's set back from the street. That's on Hollywood Boulevard, I think, isn't it?
00:25:05
Got it. But it's in the same spot, but a block away. A block up or down. God, I wonder if it's still there.
00:25:12
They have like the original like soda machines. It's the creepiest fucking place.
00:25:17
Anyway. Yes. Okay, that was an aside. Yeah, that should all be cut. No, leave it.
00:25:23
Leaving it. Listen, maybe someone's coming to see L.A. and they want to see the sights
00:25:27
and the things that don't exist anymore. What we should have said is near the Palladium,
00:25:31
which is still there. It's where we saw Lizzo. That's right. Oh, yeah. So she gets to rub shoulders
00:25:37
with prominent Hollywood figures and not only in entertainment industry, but also organized crime.
00:25:43
Love it. So exciting. Love to rub shoulders with the mafia. You love them. They're your favorite.
00:25:50
In 1942, through her job at Earl Carroll, 19-year-old Jean meets and then marries 22-year-old plastics manufacturer, Dexter Benner.
00:26:01
Six months later, though, she files for divorce citing cruelty and moves back in with her parents.
00:26:06
And it sounds like it was a really tumultuous relationship because even after she moves, they have an on-again, off-again relationship.
00:26:14
But on April 22, 1944, she gives birth to a couple's first and only child, Christine. But the marriage is still turbulent. And when Dexter is drafted to go to the Pacific
00:26:27
on military service, Jean begins dating other men and they finally divorce in 1946. And Jean
00:26:33
takes Christine to live with her family in the Park La Brea residential complex.
00:26:38
Oh. Famous historic apartment complex. God, that thing's been there for a long time.
00:26:43
I just drove by it the other day and it has that amazing pre-post-war look. It's so cool. It's
00:26:48
by the La Brea Tar Pits, everyone. And the Beverly Center. I mean, if we should just keep naming things.
00:26:53
Yeah. And is it LACMA that's there now? Down on Wilshire. Yeah. Yes. That's where the Park La Brea is.
00:26:59
It's on Wilshire? Yeah. Near Wilshire. Listen, take the 10 to the 210 and then get off on the 5.
00:27:07
Then you want to do a detour. Like, I really highly recommend a detour. Try to get on San Vicente.
00:27:13
San Vicente or Wilton. That's right. It's real. It's, you know, it's a nightmare.
00:27:18
LA Times. LA, baby. Jean continues with her modeling and also gets a job dancing
00:27:23
at another popular Hollywood nightclub, Florentine Gardens, to help support her daughter.
00:27:28
Wasn't Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory there for a little while? I think so. God, I miss the Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory.
00:27:35
Classy. Sitting in a train car, eating a big loaf of bread, sticking another one in your purse for later.
00:27:42
Did you ever do that? Just steal those loaves of bread? No. Could we get more bread
00:27:47
because it was like bottomless, loaves of sourdough bread. Because they had one in Sacramento.
00:27:52
We'd go to all the time and you would just, everyone would stick the first three loaves
00:27:55
in their purse. And then be like, we'd love more bread. Whatever you get. Sorry, we're getting so full on bread.
00:28:02
Now can we get pasta? Now can we get spaghetti. Now just a ton of spaghetti, please.
00:28:07
Carbs. I love them. So then Jean decides she wants to make it in Hollywood and starts working as an extra,
00:28:14
which I did as well. That's right. Darman Gregg, 95. Clueless TV show. The movie Sleepover. A couple weird things. She joins the Screen Actors
00:28:26
Guild and gets bit parts in films. No credited roles, but she appears in eight films over her
00:28:34
acting career, including a Three Stooges movie. Oh. And another starring Frank Sinatra. So she's
00:28:40
on the up and up. And she's so fucking statuesque and beautiful. She clearly probably would have had
00:28:45
career, had tragedy not struck. So Jean is going through a crazy, ugly, long custody battle with
00:28:55
Dexter over their daughter. And in 1948, she's finally awarded custody of their now four-year-old
00:29:01
daughter, Christine, and Dexter is ordered to pay child support. So we get to Friday, October 7th,
00:29:08
1949, and Jean, who's now 26 years old, tells her sister-in-law, Sophie, that she's going to meet
00:29:14
Dexter to discuss a late child support payment. And she says from there, she's going straight to
00:29:21
work on a night shoot for a film. So she's not going to be home all night. And her sister-in-law
00:29:26
agrees to watch Christine. And at that time, Jean's mother, Florence, is out of town visiting
00:29:32
family. So she leaves Christine with her sister-in-law and leaves home around 5 p.m. that
00:29:37
evening. And around 7 p.m. calls home and tells her sister-in-law that she has to, quote, work a
00:29:42
full eight hours. And so she won't be back that night. Then she also speaks to Christine,
00:29:48
her daughter, as she does every night when she's not home before bedtime to say good night.
00:29:52
And the following morning when the sister Sophie wakes up and finds that Jean still isn home and hasn made any contact which is totally out of character She goes to the police station to file a missing persons report
00:30:05
So when the police find out what Jean was supposed to be doing that night, they go around and make
00:30:11
inquiries to the local movie studios and find that there are no records indicating Jean worked at any
00:30:17
shoot that night. And in fact, there weren't any shoots that night. So it was impossible.
00:30:22
And so nearby at the Fairfax Farmer's Market. Well, so where Dupar's used to be.
00:30:27
Where Dupar's used to be. And my grandma worked at a bakery stall until she died in the 90s.
00:30:33
In the Farmer's Market? Fairfax Farmer's Market. That's where the Grove is, everyone, nowadays.
00:30:37
But I highly recommend going to the Fairfax. It's a piece of LA history. It's incredible.
00:30:42
It's one of my favorite places in LA. And my grandma, yeah, there was like a little Jewish bakery stall
00:30:47
and my grandma worked there when I was a little kid. Yeah. It's like a family fucking legendary place.
00:30:53
In the 90s, it was where we would always go when everyone was hung over for breakfast. There was
00:30:57
that really good breakfast place that was kind of near Dupar's, but still outside.
00:31:01
Yeah. And then there's also, they still do it, I think. Oh, jazz nights. Or karaoke.
00:31:07
Oh. There's that bar and you can go sing karaoke at the farmer's market. Oh God, I feel bad for everyone who'd have to hear me do that.
00:31:14
They also have jazz nights though, if you don't want to sing. Oh, that's good. Okay. You can switch it up.
00:31:18
I fucking love that place. So that's where Park La Brea is. So she'd go there all the time.
00:31:23
And so a clerk tells police that he had seen Jean that evening at 6 p.m. in the area.
00:31:31
And he said that it looked like, the clerk said it looked like Jean was waiting for someone.
00:31:35
And this is kind of the last, like, most likely confirmed sighting of her. Then other witnesses come forward saying they saw Jean around 2 a.m. that morning,
00:31:44
sitting at a table at the Cheesebox restaurant on Sunset Strip, which I have no stories to tell you about.
00:31:51
Oh, I wish I had a story. That sounds so awesome. I think the Cheesebox might be
00:31:55
one of the best restaurant names I've ever heard in terms of luring someone in from off the street.
00:32:01
Because doesn't it seem like you'd get like a very well-constructed sandwich there?
00:32:06
Oh yeah, they must do sandwich as well. Like you can sit around and bullshit at the Cheesebox?
00:32:11
Yeah, it's like a luncheonette. Yes, it sounds like slang for something in the 40s.
00:32:17
Get your cheese box down here. Meet me at the cheese box. Get your cheese box down to the cheese box
00:32:23
and meet me at the cheese box with a tuna fish sandwich. Okay, this is creepy. Okay, so they say, the witness says they see her
00:32:30
sitting at our favorite restaurant, the cheese box, which is on the Sunset Strip.
00:32:35
And they see her arguing with a man at two in the morning. And the couple, the two of them soon leave the restaurant
00:32:41
and are seen at a nearby gas station where the male of the two, and they say the female is Jean,
00:32:48
tells the attendant to fill the gas tank, we're going to Fresno. And then the attendant,
00:32:53
who later identifies Jean as the woman, he sees slumped down in the front passenger seat,
00:32:58
says that as the car pulls away, she calls out to the attendant, get our license plate and call the police.
00:33:04
Holy shit. Yeah. And you're like, but did he? He must not have. Maybe he tried and...
00:33:10
Or that's how they tracked her down maybe, is he finally... I mean, that's so creepy.
00:33:16
Maybe, yeah. So, but we don't know it's her. You know what I mean? It could be anyone.
00:33:20
Yeah. That's quite a lie. I don't know. I think, right? No, no, but I mean, that could have been
00:33:26
some other woman in peril. You know what I mean? Which is true. The sad fucking state of the world.
00:33:32
Yeah. Meanwhile, the ex-husband, Dexter, of course, they question him. He tells the officers
00:33:36
that he hasn't seen Jean for several weeks and his new wife, Lynn, supports that claim.
00:33:43
And then the police obtained a document indicating that Dexter had been out on a boat on the night that Jean disappeared, which is obviously unusual.
00:33:51
The weather was weird. It was blustery and choppy waters. Not good for boating. And then Dexter's also seen with scratches on his face in the days following Jean's disappearance, which he says would happen when he dropped a case of glass bottles at his work.
00:34:09
A glass of fingernails. But doesn't he work in plastics? Hey, guess what, Dexter?
00:34:16
You're full of shit. Good memory. Jesus. Plastics. Well, because I was like, she married someone in plastics.
00:34:23
Does that mean he's rich? That sounds like, especially in the 40s. Yeah. No, I think they married for love.
00:34:30
Okay. But scratches on the face, man. Yeah. It took the authorities years and years
00:34:36
to put that together, where it's just like, it's rose bushes. It's glass bottles from my work.
00:34:41
It's like, it's not. It's not. Scratches on the arms and face. Like, if you have those post someone mysteriously disappearing, sorry.
00:34:49
Yeah. Sorry. You're a fact. Yeah, this ain't good. No. So on October 9th, less than 48 hours after Jean's disappearance,
00:34:58
her black purse containing her ID and a bunch of other things is found near the Ferndale entrance to Griffith Park
00:35:06
in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. Yeah. Right by the Greek. That's right. It's about five and a half miles from where Jean lives
00:35:14
and in the Los Feliz neighborhood, as I mentioned, my old neighborhood, where we started this,
00:35:20
333 episodes ago started this podcast. 333. That's too many. That is insane. Wow.
00:35:29
Should we start a law that podcasts, any podcast can't go over 300 episodes? Let's run on that platform.
00:35:37
We're like, look, it's what's best for everybody. Listen, The Daily. I'm sorry, but no one wants to hear it anymore.
00:35:45
Just wrap it down. What I was going to say about her stuff being found there is it's a very
00:35:51
surprising part of Los Angeles because suddenly you in this very beautiful very hilly park that almost like all of a sudden you in the unpopular part of Yosemite There mountains and foothills right there
00:36:09
And it's very, the closest you can get to immediate nature in the city. Totally.
00:36:15
So it's like, that's a place where people would dump a body for sure. Right. And I wonder what it was like back then
00:36:21
because the houses there are very, like that little area there is like the Hollywood Hills, basically. So it's probably a really rich
00:36:28
area at the time where only really rich people lived. And then that's a good place to toss a
00:36:37
purse out of your car window too. Yeah. Right. I don't know exactly where it was found. It seems
00:36:41
maybe a little not off the road. So someone drove up and then threw a purse, maybe.
00:36:47
Maybe toward the observatory, maybe a public place that you can access day and night.
00:36:52
Right. Right. So you'd have an excuse as to why you're up there. Right. Yeah. It is a weird, but it makes sense that something was discarded there kind of, right?
00:37:05
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Okay. And the park is huge. So searching that area or searching for clues after finding that purse is very hard.
00:37:16
But up to 200 police officers and volunteers do spread out to search Griffith Park
00:37:21
over the next week, hoping they'll find anything additional, but they don't. It sounds like someone just discarded her purse there.
00:37:27
And one of the straps on the purse has been completely torn loose as if someone yanked it from her
00:37:33
and maybe during a struggle. And inside the purse is a note in Jean's handwriting,
00:37:41
which is so creepy and you can find it online, that says, quote, Kirk, can't wait any longer,
00:37:47
going to see Dr. Scott. It will work best this way while mother is away. Huh. Yeah, because remember her mom was out of town.
00:37:55
Oh, okay. So none of her friends or family know anything about anyone in Jean's life
00:38:00
named Kirk or Dr. Scott, you know, supposedly. However, investigators learned that just before Jean's disappearance,
00:38:07
she wrapped working on a film called Young Man with a Horn, starring Kirk Douglas.
00:38:14
Oh. Yeah. So he finds out about the note while he's away on vacation in Palm Springs
00:38:21
and calls the police. He tells them he doesn't know that even though he and Jean worked on the same film,
00:38:26
he doesn't know her personally. You know, she was just an extra. And at this point, Jean's mother, Florence,
00:38:33
has returned to Los Angeles and she tells the police that on two occasions, someone named Kirk had picked Jean up at her house,
00:38:40
but he never came in. He had stayed in his car when he picked her up, so she didn't know who he was.
00:38:45
Then Kirk Douglas changes his story a little bit. And he says later that, oh, he did interact with her.
00:38:51
He realized who she was, but he had just had a little conversation on set with her.
00:38:56
You know, no big deal. Police track down and question any doctor in LA they can find with the last name Scott.
00:39:02
And none have a patient or admit to having a patient with Jean's last name or maiden name.
00:39:08
And then police then refocus on Dexter, the ex-husband. And they end up excavating part of the floor in his garage
00:39:15
looking for any evidence. But they come up empty-handed. And eventually, on October 27th,
00:39:22
custody of their daughter, Christine, is temporarily awarded to Dexter. Because they can't find her?
00:39:28
Yeah, so they just pass him over, you know. It's like, if he did it, he got what he wanted, you know.
00:39:34
Oh, I didn't even think of it that way. Yeah. Wow. Ugh. Immediately. Yeah. Meanwhile, the investigation then takes a turn when police speak to Jean's close friends,
00:39:45
and they reveal that at the time that she disappeared, Jean was three months pregnant, but they didn't know by whom.
00:39:53
Jean had spoken to her friends about seeing a doctor for an abortion, but of course, procedure at the time is very risky because it's illegal.
00:40:03
And when it's illegal, it's very dangerous for a woman to get an abortion. Even if some dude knocks her up and she gets to walk away scot-free and then she's got all the risk.
00:40:15
She's actually, quote unquote, breaking the law. And of course, her actual health is on the line.
00:40:21
Right. Yeah, you know, it's so funny. I saw this quote on Instagram a while ago in one of those quotey quote memes that said that
00:40:27
outlong abortions doesn't make abortions not happen. It makes safe abortions not possible.
00:40:33
which is so powerful, you know? And in fact, I looked it up and California didn't pass a law
00:40:40
guaranteeing women the right to have an abortion until 2002. What? Yeah. I think before that it was legal, but it wasn't a law that they were allowed,
00:40:50
that we were allowed to, so. It wasn't a right. Exactly. Yeah. Anyway, some of Jean's friends explained that they'd heard around the nightclub scene
00:40:58
of a former medical student known only as Doc, who actually performed paid abortions secretly,
00:41:05
but police are unable to find evidence sustaining this claim. And given the revelation that Jean is pregnant,
00:41:11
police suspect she may have been a victim of an illegal abortion and then died during the procedure.
00:41:17
But why would someone who may have accidentally killed her then dispose of her purse,
00:41:23
you know, in a place where someone could find it with her information in there? That doesn't make any sense.
00:41:27
Right. But then, you know, another direction you could go in is that Jean is familiar with some particularly shady people
00:41:34
in the nightclub scene. So like people like Mickey Cohen and Anthony Corneo, like, you know, mob people.
00:41:43
I don't know. This just seems like such a fucking red herring to me. Like this whole mob thing is possibly involved,
00:41:49
but there's, you know, some little details here and there. Well, the funny thing is that like most of,
00:41:53
back then a lot of actresses started in those nightclubs which were run by the mafia Right But then when they kind of quote unquote graduated up to being like studio girls somehow or like you know bit part actresses
00:42:06
the studios were run by the mafia as well. It was just a different kind, but it was exactly the same thing.
00:42:12
Or not even a different kind. I mean, some of the funding probably came from the actual mafia as well.
00:42:17
That's so true. And they were, it was like, you were strong-armed. I just listened to, you know,
00:42:22
Jake Brennan does now Hollywoodland, where he tells like Disgraceland stories, but they're all Hollywood.
00:42:28
And there's one about Judy Garland and it just is such a bummer. They like, the second she got even slightly
00:42:35
like an adolescent, the studios just put her on uppers and then she was too keyed up all the time.
00:42:41
So then they put her on downers. And she was like that basically from when she was 13 years old.
00:42:45
Yeah. And she, they just, she had to do what they said. It's so crazy to see old Judy Garland,
00:42:50
like when she, towards the end of her life, like video, you know, the videos of her on like TV
00:42:56
and she looks like a old woman and she's like 36. Right. Because all she's ever done
00:43:03
has been on fucking stimulants and... And trying, and just a little booze to cut the like...
00:43:08
Right. Yeah. And cigarettes. It's so sad. But then you got to, there's a couple like,
00:43:14
that like, there's a performance that she gives on, it's a blocking rehearsal. So she doesn't realize
00:43:19
it's being filmed. And her hair's kind of screwed up. And it's the man who got away, I think.
00:43:25
And it's one of the most like, she sings and it makes me start crying. She's so amazing.
00:43:30
Always was. Yeah. Her and then Liza. My God. Legendary. Legendary. Okay. So like, you know,
00:43:36
the Palm Springs and the mob are involved because it's glamorous and it has to be.
00:43:41
I just, I think it's a red herring. Yeah. The same day that Jean's purse was found in Griffith Park,
00:43:45
this dude that she maybe had been seeing named Davey Ogle. who's one of Mickey Cohen's associates.
00:43:55
He disappears. He'd been indicted on a conspiracy charge, but he's out on bail. And they suspect that maybe he went on the lam
00:44:03
with Gene as well. And then there's like a witness saying that they saw them together.
00:44:09
Like nothing comes out of it. So after three weeks, this is only three weeks of them chasing down leads
00:44:15
because it is a really high profile story because it's gorgeous, you know, girl in trying to make it in Hollywood who disappears.
00:44:23
So of course the press loves it. One detective says, quote, the only thing we've been able to find out
00:44:30
is that this girl really got around. Literal quote. Wow. Yep. Yeah. What's that?
00:44:37
Victim blaming. Oh my God. So in 1950, Dexter, the ex, and Jean's mother, Florence,
00:44:46
they get into this big custody battle. Her mother's heartbroken that her daughter was missing and I'm sure suspects the ex and wants her granddaughter with her.
00:44:58
So they get in this huge custody battle. Dexter refuses Florence her court-ordered visitation with her granddaughter.
00:45:06
And Jean's older sister tells police that as far as she knows, Jean had no affiliation with any mob associates at all.
00:45:14
And so that's all slander. So Florence tells reporters, quote, Jean was not the kind of girl
00:45:19
to get mixed up with people like that. I'm sure she would have communicated with us
00:45:22
if she is alive and free. And nobody can tell me that she would have left her baby
00:45:27
unless she was forced to do so. She loved her too much. So the court sentences Dexter
00:45:33
to 15 days in jail for contempt of court for not letting the grandmother see her granddaughter.
00:45:40
But then he flees to Florida and takes Christine with him. then anyways LAPD keeps looking in the two years following the disappearance people come forward
00:45:50
with sightings of Jean from like California to Arizona to Mexico nothing can be corroborated
00:45:56
and then Florence and the influential screenwriter and movie columnist Luella Parsons each offer a
00:46:04
thousand dollar reward for information but nothing comes up and eventually detectives clear both Dexter
00:46:11
of the ex-husband and Kirk Douglas. Don't know why. So then a theory emerges years after Jean's disappearance
00:46:20
that she's fallen victim to the man who is suspected of committing the infamous murder of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short,
00:46:29
aka the Black Dahlia. That happened in early 1947, so around the same time. So we covered that case in episode seven,
00:46:37
so I'm sure it was a great, clean, clear, well-researched episode. story. I'm sure it wasn't inappropriate or disrespectful at any point, but we also did it
00:46:48
when we did that live show. Yeah. I am the night. Is that it? Yes, it is. Yeah. That was what it was
00:46:55
called. Yes. So you'll, you'll remember then that in recent years, retired LAPD detective Steve
00:47:02
Hodel thinks, and I think it's a really compelling case that his father, Dr. George Hodel is Elizabeth
00:47:08
shorts killer. And they lived in that incredible house on Franklin Boulevard in Los Feliz,
00:47:14
like literally a few blocks from Ferndale where the purse, where Jean Spangler's purse was found.
00:47:20
That's right. Right. And that crazy old art deco insane house that you and I went to, remember?
00:47:26
For the I Am the Night party. That's right. That's right. It was crazy. It's an insane house. Did you know Laura Prepon owned that fucking house in cell 2021?
00:47:35
Nice. I would not spend a night in there personally. Too scary? Yeah. Hmm. Yeah.
00:47:43
Too scary. I don't know. So, and actually in February of 1950, George Hodel is LAPD's prime suspect
00:47:51
in 10 other unsolved murders of young women in LA. And actually, if you've listened to the podcast,
00:47:56
Root of Evil, you'll find out all this crazy information It's a great podcast made a couple of years ago.
00:48:03
And this person is just a fucking monster. So it's crazy. Yeah. It is. So what's interesting about this is that Steve Hodel believes Gene is most likely one of his father's many alleged victims.
00:48:18
So he believes it. At the time that Gene disappears, George Hodel is illegally working as a abortion doctor in Los Angeles, like out of his home or out of his office.
00:48:30
And he lives only, it's a quarter mile from Ferndale Park where Jean's purse was found.
00:48:34
Wasn't there, and maybe this could have been from any number of the things you just mentioned
00:48:39
that we have looked into for Black Dahlia before, but I believe his office and where
00:48:45
he performed the abortions was in the basement of that house. Isn't that right? He had an office and then he also had like a secret room.
00:48:54
In the house. In the house. And that's where they think maybe he did like late night abortions for actresses and stuff for like high profile clients, maybe who couldn't go to the office.
00:49:06
Right. Exactly. But then like when you were there. Right. Then he was the only one that knew you were there.
00:49:11
Right. And he could do whatever he wanted. And it was all very like dark. Yes, exactly. Yeah. It's all very, very creepy.
00:49:18
Which is what happens when you don't have access to safe and legal abortions. if abortion is illegal, then you add all kinds of danger to something that's already
00:49:27
difficult and upsetting. Yeah. Nefarious people. So it's possible that Jean may have gone to see
00:49:34
Dr. George Hodel and died accidentally during or after the procedure. And Steve Hodel also names
00:49:41
Dr. Eric Kirk as the Kirk referenced in Jean's note, because there was a man named Dr. Eric
00:49:48
Kirk who performed abortions at the time, but he had been arrested for this days before Gina
00:49:54
disappeared. So the note might've been to this Dr. Kirk, like you were going to perform this abortion
00:49:59
on me, but I'm instead going to see this other doctor while my mom's out of town because this
00:50:04
is the best time to do it. My mom won't be there to ask questions, which to me makes the most
00:50:08
fucking sense. That makes perfect sense. Yeah. So, but according to Steve Hodel, it may also have
00:50:12
nothing to do with abortion because apparently his father was dating a quote, gorgeous actress
00:50:17
type named Jean around the time of her disappearance. And you'll remember that Jean
00:50:23
had been spotted at our family cheese box restaurant. Oh, right. And a gas station with an unidentified man. And the man had been described as around 35 years old,
00:50:33
tall, clean cut with dark hair. And at the time, 41-year-old George Hodel looks young for his age.
00:50:40
It's, you know, same description. Yeah. In the 1950s, actually, the LAPD had bugged George Hodel's house as part of their investigation.
00:50:47
into several murders, but didn't get any information. And as recently as 2014, a cadaver dog had gone over to that crazy Art Deco home
00:50:57
on Franklin Avenue and had alerted to the scent of human remains. Wow, in the house?
00:51:03
In the soil from the exterior of the home. So like the backyard. Ooh. Uh-huh. And there's no indication that it had
00:51:13
or it will be excavated, but that's all I... Jean's parents eventually decide to buy a burial plot next to theirs in case Jean's remains are ever found, in case their daughter can be buried next to them.
00:51:27
And father passes away in 1962, and Florence dies in 1991, and the ex-husband, Dexter, he dies in 2007.
00:51:36
and Jean's case is cold and it remains open and it's not officially designated a homicide
00:51:43
and therefore no case files remain based on previous investigative protocols around record keeping.
00:51:50
She was missing not designated homicide. So they don't keep anything. Yeah. Retired LAPD homicide detective Rick Jackson
00:51:59
told Entertainment Weekly, quote, nothing I've ever read would indicate Jean skipped town.
00:52:04
People generally don't do that kind of thing unless there's a motive or unique set of reasons.
00:52:09
Obviously, she cared for her daughter enough to get custody back. It just makes sense that she met with foul play.
00:52:15
There's no doubt she was dead, and that's why she never surfaced. And if she had been alive today, Jean would be 99 years old.
00:52:22
God. And that is the mysterious disappearance and likely death of Jean Spangler.
00:52:28
The idea that the Black Dahlia killer was a serial killer who was active and there were lots of cases beforehand only makes sense.
00:52:38
Absolutely. Very standard. Like you don't start off with a murder that horrifying, nightmarish, extreme.
00:52:47
And the idea that if someone has, I mean, who knows, but we all have discussed Dr. George Hodel into the ground, I think.
00:52:54
But it is compelling in terms of the fact that he had these private spaces and was a doctor.
00:53:02
It's just... And was evil. Like he was an evil person in his normal life to his children and to his family.
00:53:10
It's not like people are putting on him being someone who's capable of murder. No.
00:53:16
It's his own family members going, this guy was super fucked up. Yeah. I mean, listen to Root of Evil podcast.
00:53:21
It's just fucking mind blowing. Yeah. Very upsetting. Yeah. Wow. Great job. Thank you. That was very long. I just realized we're an hour in.
00:53:30
I know, but when it's something old and like LA based, then it's fun to kind of like think about
00:53:36
and talk about. And it is like, and these are the people and the stories that Hollywood has been
00:53:42
built on. Yeah. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its
00:53:49
on the next generation of talent. The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age 14.
00:53:55
Making plays that end up on everyone feed scoring from angles that don make sense rewriting record books that barely had time to gather dust Because Next doesn wait for an invitation and Hyundai doesn either
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If you're always on the lookout for a great audiobook or just want help figuring out what to listen to next, there's a podcast you should know about.
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00:56:08
Goodbye. Well, then the story I'm going to follow that one up with is, basically, Hannah suggested this to me because it's basically kind of her hometown.
00:56:18
It's a story she remembers happening. She's from basically Washington State. And she remembers this kicking off.
00:56:27
And it was basically one of those things that took over. Everybody knew about it.
00:56:31
People were following it in the news. It's this crazy story. So thanks, Hannah, for the suggestion.
00:56:36
So the sources for this story today, there's a bunch of articles from heraldnet.com, one by Jackson Holtz, one by Eric Stevick, one by Noah Haglund.
00:56:50
Then there's an article by Ryan Owens and Sarah Netter for ABC News, an article by Patrick Oppmann, CNN.
00:56:57
There's a New York Times article by William Yardley. There's a KOMO TV staff article.
00:57:05
And there's a C.R. Douglas article for Fox 13 Seattle. There was an episode of 48 Hours about this case.
00:57:13
CBS News article written by Paula Rosa, Sarah Pryor. And there's an article from the Seattle Times by a writer named Evan Bush.
00:57:22
And there's more sources you can check the show notes for. This is the story of Colton Harris Moore,
00:57:30
also known as the Barefoot Bandit. Okay. Colton Moore is born March 22nd, 1991 in Mount Vernon, Washington.
00:57:39
He grows up in a trailer in the woods on Southern Camano Island, which is about an hour north of Seattle on Puget Sound.
00:57:47
So his home life's chaotic. His mother, Pam, drinks while she's pregnant with Colt.
00:57:52
This impacts his neurocognitive development. His father, Gordon, is a drug user who gets sent to prison when Colt is still a toddler.
00:58:02
Then when Colt is four, his mom remarries to a man named William Kohler, who, according to Pam herself, had a criminal history and a heroin addiction.
00:58:12
So not great stuff happening in that trailer in The Forest. So all of that would be hard enough to deal with.
00:58:19
But then Pam is said to be verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive all throughout Colt's childhood.
00:58:26
According to his aunt, Sandra, who is Pam's sister, when Pam drinks, she gets belligerent and violent and is known to break her son's toys as a punishment to him.
00:58:38
So not great stuff. Yeah. Their neighbors hear Pam screaming at Colt all hours of the day and night.
00:58:44
She's also a neglectful parent. Colt as a child often asked the adults in his life, like teachers and his friends' parents,
00:58:51
if he could have food. And court records indicate that Pam basically did not make sure that Colt
00:58:58
went to school. So he missed a ton of school. All this has a negative effect on him growing up.
00:59:03
When he does go to school, he bullies other students. He defies his teachers. A psychological
00:59:08
evaluation years later states that Colton has a long-term history of psychiatric and behavioral
00:59:14
difficulties. He's also been prescribed a wide range of psychiatric medications, including
00:59:19
antidepressants, stimulant medications, mood stabilizers, and even antipsychotic medication.
00:59:26
And he was also at different points diagnosed with depression, attention deficit disorder,
00:59:31
and intermittent explosive disorder. So when CPS gets called in, which they did,
00:59:39
They were multiple times throughout Colt's childhood. The caseworkers would recommend that Pam seek counseling for her son.
00:59:46
She would decline. When he's 10 years old, he's removed from the home for three days,
00:59:52
but CPS has to close the investigation due to lack of cooperation from Pam What Yeah that seems against Like yeah we get that she not cooperating That why CPS got called in the first place
01:00:06
Right, like lack of cooperation by the abuser isn't a reason to cancel the case.
01:00:13
So that second husband, William, dies when Colt is 11, and then Pam soon enters another relationship
01:00:20
with a man who moves into the house who Pam would later describe as not playing with a full deck.
01:00:27
He was an alcoholic and ultimately Pam ends the relationship. At some point, Colt's biological father, Gordon,
01:00:34
returns to the home after he's released from prison. And in May 2003, when Colt is 12,
01:00:41
he calls 911 reporting Gordon pushed him to the ground and grabbed him by the throat.
01:00:46
And when police arrive, Gordon flees to the woods nearby, but the police end up arresting him and taking him to jail.
01:00:52
And after that, Gordon cuts off contact with Pam and Colt, and he moves to Las Vegas.
01:00:58
And Pam basically blames Colt for that happening. So by the time Colt is 15 years old, CPS has responded to 12 separate incidents at the Moore home.
01:01:10
So really rough childhood. Later that same year, in November of 2003, 12-year-old Colt is accused of breaking into a business in the city of Stanwood
01:01:20
and then breaking into Stanwood Middle School, stealing a laptop and CDs and defacing a bulletin board.
01:01:28
Which, sorry, it just sounds funny. You know he wrote fuck you on like some kind of a bulletin board
01:01:35
in a way that they couldn't get off. Pretty sure I did something like that as a kid too, you know?
01:01:41
You know, if you can't stay home and everything really sucks there and people are really shitty there,
01:01:46
you're going to go fuck some stuff up as a kid is a way of saying, will someone please step in?
01:01:51
Totally, totally. So he pleads guilty to possession of a stolen property. He's sentenced to six months supervision
01:01:58
and 56 hours of community service. A social worker's report notes, Colton wants mom to stop drinking and smoking,
01:02:06
get her job and have food in the house. Mom refuses. So that's a rough encapsulation of what life is like
01:02:14
for a 12-year-old Colt. Jesus. In 2004, so it's a year later, Colt's probation officer writes,
01:02:21
Colton and his mother share a tumultuous relationship. Colton's mother reported to me that he is violent at home on a near daily basis.
01:02:29
He recently broke the telephone in order to prevent her from calling the police.
01:02:33
She then showed me a mark on her forearm of how he had bit her and went after her with a boat oar.
01:02:40
My God. His mother reported how Colton is now medicated and complying with taking his medications
01:02:45
and his behavior has not been hostile toward her. He's 13 years old. So basically he's giving what he's gotten
01:02:53
and then he's in trouble for it. Right, he's reacting. In December 2005, a police report is made
01:03:00
alleging that 14-year-old Colt assaulted his mother. In the summer of 2006, Colt's due to appear in court
01:03:06
at Denny Juvenile Justice Center in Everett, but he's so scared of going back into detention
01:03:12
that he runs away the day before his hearing. He starts breaking into homes on Kamano Island and watching internet porn on the resident's home computer.
01:03:20
Yeah, that sounds great. Right? He's like, I'm not going to get in trouble for this.
01:03:26
All right. Yeah. He breaks into unoccupied vacation homes through skylights and then squats in the homes for several days before moving on and taking food and portable electronic devices with him.
01:03:40
When he's not vacation home squatting, he camps out in the woods. And by this point, he's dropped out of school.
01:03:46
He's only in the ninth grade. Oh my God, he's a child still. Yeah, he's a baby. In January 2007, after six local burglaries,
01:03:55
the Island County Sheriff's Office puts up wanted posters with Colt's picture and his information.
01:04:00
Basically, there's 15,000 people on this island. And that's usually when the vacation people are there.
01:04:07
There's 5,000 households. So it's a tiny place. Like, you know, everyone knows that this is Colt doing it.
01:04:16
So stories about his exploits start appearing in the media. And within a matter of weeks, a local resident notices that there are lights on inside what should have been an empty vacation home.
01:04:27
The police are alerted. And when they arrive, they tell Colt that the house is surrounded.
01:04:32
Even though it's actually not, they had just set up flashlights to make it look like there was cops all around the house.
01:04:38
Oh, my God. But there weren't. So Colt falls for it and he comes out and gives himself up.
01:04:44
In court, he pleads guilty to three of the 23 felony charges against him. His aunt Sandra writes to the court in support of her nephew saying,
01:04:53
quote, I love that boy like one of my own kids. I think he got mixed in with the wrong crowd and he got himself in too far.
01:05:01
Colt is sentenced to three years confinement and ordered to stay in a group home in Renton, Washington.
01:05:06
So on April 22nd, 2008, 17-year-old Colt, like basically breaks out of this group home.
01:05:13
He sneaks out a window and he goes on the run. And soon, South Camino Island residents are reporting break-ins to the police.
01:05:21
So a couple months later, he allegedly steals his neighbor's Mercedes and crashes it into a propane tank behind a cafe.
01:05:28
Okay. This is, what's the, can you think of the word for it where it's like when you're doing bad,
01:05:35
but it doesn't hurt anybody. They have that word for it. It's like reckless. Non-Hodgkin's.
01:05:44
Lymphoma. Reckless non-Hodgkin's. Yeah. Like there's no direct victim. Exploits.
01:05:51
It's not hijinks or exploits. What'd you say, Stia? Shenanigans Yeah but no but yes Official police shenanigans There a term for it that essentially like you behaving badly and
01:06:09
Right, there's no- Like knock it off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just think it's funny to be like, I'm just gonna, there's all these rich people everywhere.
01:06:15
I'm just gonna steal their shit and fuck it up and like just do what I want because fuck everything.
01:06:21
He flees the scene, but he leaves behind his backpack containing his journal, stolen credit cards, a GPS, his cell phone, and a digital camera that he used to take selfies with.
01:06:31
Dude. They kind of know it's him. So a couple months later, he steals money from an...
01:06:37
But they still haven't caught him. They just know. They find his stuff there, basically.
01:06:41
In September of the same year, he steals money from an ATM on Orcas Island. and in the process cuts himself and leaves blood on the machine.
01:06:49
So they're able to take DNA, like basically to later compare it with other crimes
01:06:55
because he is breaking the law. It isn't hijinks or shenanigans. On November 12th of the same year,
01:07:02
he breaks into a locked airplane hangar on Orcas Island and he steals a Cessna 182 airplane worth about $150,000.
01:07:12
He has never had a flying lesson. and he doesn't even have his driver's license.
01:07:17
And the plane belongs to Seattle radio personality Bob Rivers at 102.5 KZOK. So he somehow figures out a way to fly it over the Cascade mountain range.
01:07:32
What? Yes. He's through a whiteout at 13,000 feet and all these wind gusts. It was not ideal.
01:07:42
Okay, how do you even get a plane off of the fucking runway? They think that he taught himself how to fly using simulation software on laptops and studying plane manuals for hours.
01:07:55
For hours. So what usually takes people fucking months and months, probably. Yeah, I bet you this kid was very smart.
01:08:01
Right. It's one of those annoying things where it's like if you had had a shot in life, you would have made something of yourself.
01:08:07
Right. Or been a way better burglar. But either way, once I got to this part, I was just like, a 17-year-old steals a Cessna
01:08:17
and is able to fly it somewhere. Oh, my God. Like, what 17-year-old do you know that could, like, steal a car and drive it down the street,
01:08:25
much less an airplane he's never flown before? Okay, so he ends up crashing the plane 300 miles away
01:08:32
on the Yakima Indian Reservation. When police get to the scene where the plane crashes,
01:08:38
They don't find Colt, but there is vomit inside the plane. And they take a sample, compare it to the DNA,
01:08:46
and now they know that the ATM crime and this airplane ceiling is Colt. Okay, this police department is too well-funded
01:08:55
if they're doing DNA tests on what is clearly a fucking 17-year-old. Like, it's clearly him.
01:09:01
You don't need a DNA test shit. But they get that proof. They've got that locked-in proof.
01:09:05
But here's what I love more than that. He stole the plane, he's flying the plane, and then he gets like basically so nervous he barfs while he's flying in like bad weather.
01:09:18
Or he just had actual seasickness. Yeah, motion sickness. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, if it was bad weather, turbulence could have made him throw up.
01:09:28
It's pretty amazing. So the investigators look into more unsolved cases of burglaries and associated offenses
01:09:36
that Colt could have been responsible for. And there are over 70 cases throughout the Pacific Northwest.
01:09:43
And that includes Washington State, Idaho, Oregon, and several locations in Canada.
01:09:49
It's basically residential and commercial burglaries, bank burglaries, vehicle thefts,
01:09:55
boat theft, aircraft theft, and assault to police officers. Colt is alleged to have stolen or destroyed
01:10:02
around $3 million worth of property. Wow. Yeah, but rich people have insurance. I don't feel bad.
01:10:08
That's right. There was probably a couple of like the whatever boats he stole that the people were like, oh, thank God.
01:10:14
Yeah. We're like, oh, I had my laptop on there. And like, then they get an extra thousand bucks or whatever.
01:10:19
My Krugerrands. Right. They're also missing. We're on there. So finally, on March 12th, 2009,
01:10:26
a felony warrant is issued for his arrest. So now it's big time. But before they can exercise that warrant,
01:10:34
they have to find him first. On September 11th, 2009, Colt steals a Cirrus SR-22 plane
01:10:42
worth about a half a million dollars from a town called Friday Harbor, also in Washington State.
01:10:48
Oh my God. And he crash lands the plane back on Orcas Island. So he's kind of doing it all around in the same area.
01:10:56
My God. You know, I'm just picturing Bart Simpson this entire fucking time. Yes. Yes. Completely.
01:11:05
He's just like, how else can I show that I don't give a fuck? Right. Like, yeah, I'm just going to do what I want.
01:11:12
Okay, so after the crash, Colt is seen walking away from the wreckage by a police officer.
01:11:17
But for some inexplicable reason, the cop fails to detain Colt. He like fist pumps him as he walks away.
01:11:24
Yeah, he's kind of like, you walked away from that? Amazing. The same month, Colt makes his way to Canada in a stolen boat,
01:11:32
subsequently making his way back to the U.S. through British Columbia. And so obviously undetected.
01:11:39
Like, how did he do that? Yeah. A couple weeks later on September 29th, Colt steals a Cessna T-182T from a hangar in Bonners Ferry, Idaho,
01:11:51
and he leaves bare footprints on the ground. He takes off in the plane in Idaho,
01:11:57
and he again flies back over the Cascades. but he crash lands 60 miles away near Snohomish, Washington,
01:12:05
because he runs out of fuel while he's flying. On October 1st, 2009, a logger near Granite Falls finds that plane wreck.
01:12:15
The police trace bare footprints from the crash site to a camp in the woods, but there's no sign of Colt.
01:12:21
The next day, a second local felony arrest warrant is issued for Colt, and he's charged with forced entry burglary
01:12:29
in the second degree. A few days later, SWAT officers searching the area for Colt
01:12:34
are fired up by an unknown assailant. Okay, that's bad. So now Colt, this is going on and building to such a degree
01:12:43
that now in the media, Colt is being called the barefoot bandit. Okay. I can't imagine like being from one of these small towns
01:12:50
and like knowing that this person is... Yeah, he's just gonna, he's gonna steal your shit.
01:12:56
and he's going to do what he wants with it. Yeah. Kind of exciting for like, if Hannah is young and reading about this,
01:13:02
being like, oh my God. So exciting. She said they tracked it, like they paid attention to it
01:13:06
and watched it on the news. It's crazy. Even though he usually wears shoes, the moniker sticks.
01:13:13
So the barefoot thing only happened a couple of times. When Colt's mother, Pam, hears about the latest theft,
01:13:19
she says, I'm proud of him. I was going to send him to flight school, but I guess I don't have to.
01:13:23
But next time I want him to wear a parachute. Colt's popularity as a pseudo-modern folk hero gains support
01:13:30
when a member of the public starts a Facebook page for him, of course, because remember, it's 2009.
01:13:36
The page eventually gets more than 100,000 followers. And it has posts that say things like,
01:13:42
let's hope that he remains healthy, free, and at large for a long time. Fly, Colton, fly.
01:13:48
That sounds like Pam to me. It gets so popular, they actually start making T-shirts, tote bags, and mugs.
01:13:56
And they have Colt's picture on them with the caption, Mama tried. But Kameno Island locals who've had their belongings stolen or damaged are not amused.
01:14:07
They actually end up launching their own counter blog in an attempt to raise money
01:14:11
so they can hire a bounty hunter to track Colt down. Man, he's giving them life.
01:14:20
Like he's making these people who just sit at home watching fucking Everybody Loves Raymond every night.
01:14:25
It's like making their lives exciting. You're welcome. Yes, that's right. You know?
01:14:29
Now it's becoming international news. Reporters from all over the globe travel to Camino Island
01:14:35
to report on the search for the barefoot bandit. And they all want to talk to his mother, Pam.
01:14:41
Pam publicly encourages Colt to escape to a country that doesn't extradite to the U.S.
01:14:47
So the entire time Colt's on the run, he calls his aunt Sandra once a month to let her know he's okay.
01:14:53
Ants. Anties. Anties, what's up? You can always count on us not to turn you in. We would never, I'll never turn Nora in for any crime sheet.
01:15:03
Anties don't snitch. That's our new thing. You can stay at our house. Yeah. Sandra pleads with her nephew to please turn himself in.
01:15:12
But just to him privately. Yeah, right. Just to him. Yeah. But he tells her every time that he's not ready to stop just yet.
01:15:19
Okay. On December 11th, 2009, the U.S. District Court in Seattle issues a federal warrant for Colt's arrest because of the aircraft theft from Idaho in September.
01:15:32
So everything's kind of stacking up. By February 2010, 18-year-old Colt has been eluding police for nearly two years at this point.
01:15:43
Two years on the run. It's like a reality show. Colton on the run. You know? Yep.
01:15:49
Whatever. He allegedly steals a plane from a town called Anacortes, and he flies it over to Orcas Island, somehow escaping the attention of Vancouver air traffic control.
01:16:00
He's like going out and stealing stuff and bringing it back to Orcas Island. Yeah.
01:16:05
Now, everyone is on the hunt for Colt, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard,
01:16:14
officers from six different Washington counties with tracker dogs, SWAT teams, and police helicopters with infrared heat sensors.
01:16:23
Oh, dear. And yet, they cannot find him. Damn. So soon after this, Colt breaks into an Orcas Island deli and eats an entire cheesecake.
01:16:33
What? Wait, was it called the cheese box? Oh, if only. Oh, he eats an entire cheesecake.
01:16:41
What a weird detail. He's truly living. He also vandalizes this security system and causes $6,500 worth of damage.
01:16:49
He then draws 39 bare feet on the floor with chalk, with prints leading out the door,
01:16:55
and then the letters CYA, see ya, scrawled next to the footprints. Oh my, that's a little intense.
01:17:05
39 footprints? Yeah. He spends months hiding out on Orcas Island. He commits more than 20 break-ins and burglaries, allegedly, while he's there.
01:17:16
Police release surveillance camera photos from Island Market in the hope that somebody will recognize him.
01:17:21
And word spreads that Colt is hiding out somewhere in the woods. So on May 31st, 2010, Colt leaves, you're going to like this one.
01:17:30
He leaves $100 at Vedder's Animal Hospital in Raymond, Washington, with a note that says,
01:17:36
drove by, had some extra cash. Please use this money for the care of animals. Signed, Colton Harris Moore,
01:17:44
aka the Barefoot Bandit. Okay, well now we just love him. Now we love him. He's a modern day Robin Hood, kind of.
01:17:51
Yeah. On June 1st, 2010, he steals a fishing boat from Il Waco not far from Raymond to cross the Columbia River And that boat ends up being recovered in Warrington Oregon
01:18:07
From there, Colt steals a series of cars and heads east across Oregon and Idaho.
01:18:13
11 days later, on June 12th, authorities in Spearfish, South Dakota, find an abandoned vehicle with Washington plates.
01:18:22
Then on the night of June 18th, Colt pries open the doors at the airport in Norfolk, Nebraska.
01:18:28
He uses a broom handle to try to force open a cockpit window, hoping to unlock the plane, but it doesn't work.
01:18:35
So instead, he steals an Escalade from the airport and he drives it to Iowa and dumps it when he gets there.
01:18:42
He then steals another car, drives that to the airport in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he again tries to break into a plane,
01:18:50
but again, the barefoot bandit fails. So he steals yet another car and he drives to Dallas City, Illinois.
01:18:58
But from there, the authorities lose track of him. And then in late June of 2010, another arrest warrant is issued for him,
01:19:07
this time from Madison County, Nebraska, with counts of break-ins, vehicle theft, and an attempted airplane theft.
01:19:14
So basically, as he's going through and breaking, you know, doing all his little crimes and his break-ins and things just behind him,
01:19:22
the warrants are piling up. Yeah. State by state. On July 3rd, 2010, in Bloomington, Indiana, Colt steals a four-seater Cessna 400 airplane worth $650,000, Monroe County Airport.
01:19:37
During this flight, he takes videos of his journey from inside the conference. Oh, my God.
01:19:42
Is he live streaming? I don't know. 2010? It might have been too early for that.
01:19:48
But he does have them on his phone. This time, he flies himself to the Bahamas, and then he crashes the plane in shallow waters off the coast of Great Abaco Island.
01:20:00
All right. Now we're talking. Finally, he's going somewhere exciting. Yeah. Soon after that, break-ins are reported all across the island.
01:20:09
So the FBI now is involved, and they're offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Colton Harris Moore.
01:20:19
Special Agent Stephen Dean says, quote, we want to get him. He's turned from a regional nuisance
01:20:25
into an international problem, end quote. So U.S. law enforcement traveled to the Bahamas
01:20:32
where they launch a full-scale search and put up wanted posters. There's CCTV footage that captures brief images
01:20:39
of Colt visiting bars and restaurants in the area. So he's on vacation. So he's living his life.
01:20:44
He's on vacation. He's on bandit vacation. Oh my God. Pam hires an entertainment lawyer named Yegel Lewis
01:20:52
to field inquiries from parties offering to buy the rights to cult story for book and movie deals.
01:20:59
But she's not interested in speaking to reporters. She puts up a sign at the end of the road,
01:21:05
like her driveway to the trailer, that says, if you go past this sign, you'll be shot.
01:21:10
Shit. But Pam has changed her attitude about her son being on the run. Now she says that she wants him to turn himself in
01:21:17
before anyone gets hurt. By this point, Colt's image has been broadcast throughout the Bahamas.
01:21:23
So people there actually know who he is and what's going on. Because again, he's gone to a small island community.
01:21:30
And gotten away with it. Yeah. Got in public. Yeah. On July 7th, 2010, Bahamian ferry boat captain Freddie Grant
01:21:39
sees somebody matching Colt's description swimming on the northern end of Eleuthera Island.
01:21:47
So Freddy's noticed also that the ignitions to a bunch of the ferries have been messed with and damaged.
01:21:53
And he can put two and two together. So three days later on July 11th, around three in the morning,
01:21:59
Kenny Strahan, the security director of Remora Bay Marina on Harbor Island, sees somebody running away from the boat docks
01:22:08
toward the marina's exit. And he's sure that it's Colt. So he pursues this person on foot.
01:22:14
And when he catches up to him, he realizes it really is the barefoot bandit himself.
01:22:19
And he realizes the barefoot bandit now has a gun. So Kenny backs off. He calls the Bahamian police.
01:22:29
And meanwhile, Colt runs back toward the docks, climbs into a boat that had the keys left in the ignition,
01:22:36
and takes off. All right. When police arrive, they also commandeer a boat, and they take off after him.
01:22:43
They fire at the boat's engines that Golt is driving. Some of them actually have Uzis.
01:22:49
So this becomes like a real pursuit. They basically force Golt to surrender. As the police scream at Golt to put his gun down,
01:22:59
he puts it to his head, threatening to kill himself because he says he cannot go back to jail.
01:23:04
The police move closer. Golt then throws his gun and his laptop overboard. and basically the wild ride is finally over
01:23:13
for the barefoot bandit. When 19-year-old Colton Harris Moore is arrested, he's photographed walking barefoot
01:23:20
with his ankles shackled. Authorities fly him to Nassau for processing. Colt is not showing any signs of fear
01:23:27
or distress at this point and they actually go back and find both his gun and his laptop.
01:23:34
His backpack is seized upon arrest And inside, the police find a Boy Scouts of America certificate,
01:23:41
two fifth grade class photos, some airplane sketches, and a Waffler PPK, which is the same gun that James Bond uses.
01:23:49
So this is a little boy. Right. On July 13th 2010 Colt pleads guilty to entering the Bahamas illegally So you can just fly to the Bahamas Oh I got it You can just fly there crash and then go swimming the way he did I didn know that Now we know
01:24:05
It's good to know, everyone. Now we know. He's sentenced to three months in jail or a $300 fine.
01:24:12
Pam wires him the money and pays the fine. Colt's deported by the U.S. attorney's office
01:24:17
and flown back to Miami where he is taken to federal jail. Following Colt's arrest,
01:24:23
Pam issues a statement saying she's relieved her son is safe and that no one's hurt.
01:24:27
She also says she's looking forward to seeing him soon, having not seen him for two years.
01:24:33
Colt's followers on social media get behind his defense and they donate money for his legal costs.
01:24:39
Pam joins the plea for assistance saying, quote, Now there's not a break-in or a theft in the entire Northwest that the media or law enforcement doesn't rush to pin on Colt.
01:24:48
We have no way of knowing what charges will be filed against him. The media has already convicted him as the barefoot bandit
01:24:55
and created widespread accusations and perception of guilt. Eventually, though, Colt will have to fight for his freedom
01:25:01
against the full force of the legal system. End quote. Doesn't sound like our Pam.
01:25:06
That sounds like through a lawyer. Well, that also sounds like the most insane rationalization
01:25:10
of a public series of crimes that this person very gleefully committed. It's like, you don't get to go back now and be like,
01:25:17
can you believe they're pinning all these crimes on him? It's like, yes, he did like 50 crimes in a row.
01:25:23
So yes, I do believe it. Pam is pulling what we call my family being a day late and a dollar short.
01:25:32
So on July 21st, 2010, Colt's transferred to the Federal Detention Center in Seattle and he appears in court the next day
01:25:39
where he waives his right to a preliminary hearing and a speedy trial. So on November 18th,
01:25:44
he pleads not guilty in federal court to charges of interstate transportation of a stolen plane.
01:25:50
Wow. So specific. Yeah. A plane, boat, and gun stolen of being a fugitive in possession of a firearm and flying without a pilot's license.
01:25:59
And that same month, 48 Hours, did an episode about Colt's exploits. So you can watch that in streaming services everywhere.
01:26:07
Both Pam and her sister, Sondra, write letters to the court in an attempt to explain what has led to Colt's antisocial behavior.
01:26:15
Here's what Pam writes. Quote, This boy has had many disappointments all his life.
01:26:20
His stepfather died and our dog. And this has had severe effects on Colt and I. He does things without thinking of the end results.
01:26:29
End quote. Court proceedings continued throughout 2011. In March, the FBI confirms that the reward money is split among the officers who arrested Colt as well as Kenny Strahan.
01:26:42
And on June 17th, 2011, Colt pleads guilty to all seven counts on the federal indictment.
01:26:49
Under his plea deal, he agrees to forfeit any profits from selling publishing rights to his story.
01:26:54
In August 2011, 20th Century Fox pays more than a million dollars in exchange for the rights to Colt's story.
01:27:01
The studio sends the money directly to the U.S. Marshals to distribute it amongst Colt's victims.
01:27:08
Interesting. That September, a psychological evaluation finds that Colt's delinquent behavior is driven by depression, PTSD, and, you know, basically suicidal tendencies.
01:27:20
Right. He was risking his life every time he flew one of those planes that he did not fly.
01:27:25
Sure, he didn't care. The psychologist notes that Colt has a low risk of reoffending favorable prognosis with appropriate intervention.
01:27:34
On December 16th, 2011, Colt is sentenced by the state of Washington to seven years in jail,
01:27:39
plus three years of supervised probation. Judge Vicki Churchill says, quote, This case is a tragedy in many ways, but it's a triumph of the human spirit in other ways.
01:27:51
Yes! The judge notes that Colt has genuine remorse for his crimes. As a high-profile convict, Colt's initially placed in solitary confinement for his own protection,
01:28:01
which must be horrifying. On January 27th, 2012, the Federal District Court of Seattle sentences Colt to six and a half years in prison.
01:28:10
He'll serve both state and federal sentences concurrently, and it's determined that he owes his victims $1.3 million in restitution.
01:28:18
Yay. Two months after Colt goes to prison, author Bob Friel publishes a book called The Barefoot Bandit, The True Tale of Colton Harris Moore, New American Outlaw.
01:28:30
In 2010, two documentaries are released about his experiences. In May 2016, his mom, Pam Kohler, dies of lung cancer.
01:28:40
In 2016, Colt pleads to get out of prison early to work at his lawyer's law firm during the summer.
01:28:46
According to Colt's attorney, the two had agreed years before that Colt could work part-time at his law firm doing clerical work.
01:28:55
At the same time, Colt would be looking for a full-time job and eventually go to college.
01:29:01
Wow. His attorney says Colt's criminality grew out of poverty, not a desire to harm people or cause
01:29:07
trouble. In September 2016, Colt's transferred from Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen
01:29:13
to a work release facility in Seattle. He starts working for his lawyer, but he hopes one day to study aeronautical engineering.
01:29:22
Yeah. In December 2016, 25-year-old Colt is released from his work release program, remains under supervision.
01:29:30
He starts a GoFundMe to raise $125,000 for private and commercial pilot license training and helicopter certification.
01:29:40
Holy shit. But the federal probation office shuts that down. And he's saying that the $1,600 that was raised so far goes directly to his victims.
01:29:50
Colt responds publicly on Twitter saying that his stream is crushed and his lawyer states that Colt didn consult with him before starting the GoFundMe So in April 2019 Colt asks the court for his supervised release period to be shortened
01:30:05
He wants to be allowed to visit friends overseas and accept work outside of Washington State
01:30:09
to attend engagements as a motivational speaker. Colt claims the work will help him pay off
01:30:15
the restitution he still owes his victims, telling the court, quote, I've learned from my past.
01:30:20
I do not run from it, but instead try to embrace it for the better. I hope to serve as a model for people who have hard lives and who feel hopeless.
01:30:28
I saw it every day when I was confined, and I've seen it in the world upon release.
01:30:33
End quote. In May 2019, his request was denied, and he was ordered to complete his probation.
01:30:41
Not much is known about him today, although on his LinkedIn profile, he describes himself
01:30:47
as, quote, former international fugitive turned entrepreneur. focused on education, progress, and success.
01:30:56
Life is what you make it. My intention is to build connections with people who are both clearly motivated
01:31:01
and with whom may lead to a mutually beneficial outcome along the lines of problem solving,
01:31:08
productivity, and accomplishing goals. This is what it's all about. Yeah, can we get a TED Talk, please?
01:31:13
I mean, and that's the unbelievable story of the barefoot bandit Colton Harris Moore.
01:31:21
Yeah. Holy shit. He went on what we call in the business a spree. He really did it.
01:31:28
Wow. I have literally never heard a single piece of that before. Same. And it was like happening, like by at that point,
01:31:38
like it was happening on social media. That's the craziest part. It's like that modern.
01:31:43
Yeah. And I had never, ever seen a thing. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Good job. Thank you. Good job, Colton.
01:31:52
Yeah. I mean, listen, you know, breaking the law isn't the way. But sometimes, you know, sometimes you're 17 and you're fucking depressed and like.
01:32:05
But like stealing airplanes and flying them when you don't know how to is kind of the way.
01:32:12
The bandit part. Yeah. He's like a, yeah, he's like a. He's just kind of doing it.
01:32:17
Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. It's just like, he's doing something at least. Yeah. Yeah.
01:32:23
It's like impressive. You don't want to like, you don't want to support it. You don't want to celebrate it.
01:32:30
Yeah. But it's also like, wow, you know. He didn't hurt. He didn't hurt anybody.
01:32:34
He didn't hurt anybody. I mean, he could have killed people. He could have killed people crashing those planes.
01:32:40
He absolutely could have killed people. And he had guns on him, which is not great.
01:32:44
It isn't great. But then the second he got called on it, he threw it in the ocean.
01:32:48
Yeah, that's true. So, wow. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. Wow, that was a really fun story.
01:32:57
That was summertime fun. Do you want to do a fucking array? Sure. All right, let's do it.
01:33:04
You want to go? Sure, I'll go. This one starts. Hi, I came out as transgender and started my transition one year ago today.
01:33:13
I got started on hormones, got top surgery, and just this past week sent in my legal name change forms.
01:33:20
I'm from a conservative place. So even though I've known I'm trans since I was four,
01:33:25
and then it says true story, I didn't come out until I was 22. Now, instead of having to exist in a body that never fit me,
01:33:32
I am finally starting to love myself. I did it and I am so proud of myself. Fucking hooray and happy pride month.
01:33:40
Malachi, he, him. Wow, that's big. Congratulations, Malachi. It's a rad name, Malachi.
01:33:46
Okay. Mine says, Last week, I watched my friend Lauren, L-O-R-E-N, walk across the stage to claim her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley at the age of 35.
01:33:58
She had to drop out of college during the Great Recession to support her family, but she never gave up on her goal and went back to school in her early 30s.
01:34:07
She dealt with a global pandemic and, all caps, several brain surgeries. What? as she studied
01:34:14
and she still finished with honors. Fucking hooray for persistence and believing in yourself.
01:34:20
And that's from Sarah. Congratulations, Lauren, who probably doesn't even listen to this podcast.
01:34:26
Sarah, way to glow up your friend. That's an amazing accomplishment. Amazing. Wow, Sarah and Malachi living their best lives.
01:34:36
Yes. Love it. Doing it. Well, Lauren, Sarah, we don't, Sarah could just be like just attending graduations
01:34:42
and like trying to get cred. Lauren's the one that's really, it's Malachi and Lauren
01:34:47
really doing it this week. Yeah, that's true. Sarah, nice try. Sarah, get out of here.
01:34:52
This isn't your thing. Sarah with S-A-R-A, no H. Oh. Sometimes that's important to Sarah's.
01:34:58
Oh. Thank you guys for listening. Thank you for writing on your bucket of rays. Thank you.
01:35:05
Thanks for playing ball. And thank you for staying sexy. And don't get murdered.
01:35:10
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