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. Unlock the savings at Boost Mobile and save up to $600 a year.
00:01:07
I've been scouting these big carriers for a minute now, and I've seen them pull the same play a thousand times.
00:01:12
They promise you the world, then hit you with a price hike right when the game gets tight.
00:01:16
But Boost Mobile, their $25 a month unlimited wireless plan is the most consistent player on the floor.
00:01:21
No contracts, no price hikes. Unlock the savings today at BoostMobile.com slash unlock.
00:01:26
Based on average annual single line payment of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited Wireless plan as of January 2026.
00:01:32
For full offer details, visit BoostMobile.com. Hello. Oh. Oh. Hello. Hi. Welcome.
00:01:55
To My Favorite Murder. the mini so the mini so day uh this is where you tell us number one your hometown murders great
00:02:03
and then from there it's just you know the floor is yours it's just as your special moment to stand
00:02:10
up to speak out say hello to everyone and be like here's the most interesting thing i can dig up
00:02:16
whether it be in your town in your family it might not be your story it's okay who cares tell us
00:02:23
other people's stories. Think these are our fucking stories? They're not. Okay, go.
00:02:29
The subject line of this first email is the mysterious death of Grandpa Vestal. Dear MFM family,
00:02:35
recently I was visiting with my parents in Sacramento, eating breakfast downtown,
00:02:39
where we watched a car drive the wrong way down a two-way street. My mom, who is well aware
00:02:44
that her son is a murderino and who saw me watching Unsolved Mysteries on cable literally the day before,
00:02:50
turned to me and casually asked, well you know about grandpa vestal right my mom then told me about the mysterious circumstances
00:02:57
surrounding the death of my completely normally named great grandpa vestal yeah that's just there
00:03:02
that i questions okay go on it's he already sounds like a ghost yeah he was born a ghost
00:03:09
the vet the name vestal is like oh you are cursed and will be haunting the rest of your family
00:03:14
So fucking Lili. Okay. In 1986, my uncle got a late night call asking him if he knew Vestal since he was in the
00:03:22
phone book and shared the last name. My uncle confirmed that it was his dad and the police let him know that Vestal had been
00:03:28
killed in a highway collision. Oh, no. Vestal was 80 years old and at the time he lived in Dixon, which is a rural town about
00:03:35
20 miles away from Sacramento. You know it? Yes, of course. Dixon's the town on the way from my town to Sacramento.
00:03:42
and like I had friends that lived there and stuff. I think they had a really good fall fair.
00:03:49
Oh, that sounds lovely. It's a real corn maze part of the country. Corn maze based.
00:03:56
Okay, so we talked about Dixon. Okay, he lived by himself since his wife had passed away some years prior
00:04:05
and according to my mom, had no dementia or any other mental health issues to speak of.
00:04:10
So none of us will ever know what prompted Vestal, who didn't drive at night and who didn't leave Dixon, to get behind the wheel of his car, drive down the I-5, transfer onto the 180 towards the Sacramento airport, drive the wrong way down the freeway, and crash head-on into another car, killing himself and the other car's passengers.
00:04:30
Oh, my God. My favorite eerie detail was that when they checked his house afterwards, they found his dinner uneaten left on the ottoman in his usual spot.
00:04:40
Stay sexy and just stay in for the night and finish your dinner. Cody. Cody, like from the last episode that we just recorded.
00:04:49
Yes. It's a celebrity named Cody telling the creepiest fucking story. I want to cry.
00:04:56
It's horrible. I want to scream or cry. But it's like he just, he made himself or got himself a full dinner.
00:05:03
Why did he do that? Then stood up, left, and went and did something he would normally never do.
00:05:09
He must have had, I wonder if he had like a stroke. Yeah. And something else was going on in his brain.
00:05:14
Because I bet you he fucking drove those freeways his, like, forever. It's not like he didn't know how to get on that on-ramp onto that.
00:05:21
You know what I mean? Yes. Like something's wrong there, too. Yes, exactly. Like, why would you go the wrong?
00:05:26
Remember when Nicole Richie went the wrong way down the 134? Yeah. It was in the middle.
00:05:31
That's one of my favorite stories. That's got to be ambient. Well, yeah. Or like just being fucked up because it was before she got sober.
00:05:39
Yeah. I think. And it was like she basically got on an on-ramp and then took a left onto an empty freeway
00:05:48
and then realized it was the wrong direction. That like a big I mean everyone watched What Wrong with Aunt Diane or What the Matter with Aunt Diane That movie fucked me up Well because yeah it like was this I mean you immediately picture that Grandpa Vestal was like possessed or some crazy shit
00:06:06
Maybe he hadn't been sleeping well lately. And so it was just exhaust. You know what I mean?
00:06:09
Like your brain does crazy shit when you're exhausted. We have so many questions.
00:06:15
Cody, call 555. A piece of bread that had mold on it that made him hallucinate. Yes.
00:06:20
Which is the way it used to happen in the dark ages. That's right. Meaning like 100 years ago.
00:06:25
at the turn of the century. Right. Okay. This one's called Everyone is Cremated Equally?
00:06:31
Question mark? Hi, y'all. It's your friendly neighborhood mortician here. Oh, by the way,
00:06:37
these are all Sacramento, San Francisco, like Bay Area, Oakland, because we're doing
00:06:42
live shows this coming weekend there. Hi. It's your friendly neighborhood mortician here.
00:06:49
I worked for a place that did all the preparations and cremations for several funeral
00:06:52
homes, and we worked with one lady who ran what we call a cremation society. Basically a business that just offers direct cremations for decent prices for families.
00:07:03
So one day she receives a call from this guy that his mother had passed away on hospice at home
00:07:07
and we needed to come pick her up. Nothing unusual. We get these calls all the time.
00:07:11
Usually if they're on hospice, the nurse and doctor have been notified of the death
00:07:16
and the funeral home comes and picks them up. Next day the son comes into the funeral home, no call, no appointment,
00:07:23
just comes in and starts asking the funeral director about the paperwork. She said she got a weird feeling from him,
00:07:29
and he was antsy and sweaty and just quick to sign the paperwork without asking any questions.
00:07:35
After signing all the paperwork, he leaves quickly, so the funeral director starts filing all the necessary paperwork
00:07:39
for the permits and death certificate. A few days later, she receives a call from the coroner
00:07:44
stating that they need to pick up the body to do an investigation because her death was never reported to the hospice or the authorities.
00:07:50
she tries contacting the son to let him know every number he gave her didn't work
00:07:56
and he wasn't at the address he gave her either because and then this is all caps
00:08:01
guess what bastard skipped him because he killed his mother and thought that trying to speed up the cremation process
00:08:09
would cover his tracks well it didn't authorities eventually tracked him down in Nevada
00:08:14
and his mother's cremains were given to the next of kin so fuck that guy I hope he rots
00:08:18
and that's just one of the many insane stories from working in a mortuary there's other great
00:08:25
hits like the funeral a funeral director faking his death for insurance money whoa a shootout
00:08:30
during a funeral service whoa a murder confession in front of the casket of a loved one yes a
00:08:36
supervisor i knew embalming the body of a serial killer and many more i can't wait to see you guys
00:08:41
in sacramento this month stay sexy and don't try to cremate your mother to hide the fact that you
00:08:46
murdered her. Sincerely, your friendly neighborhood mortician. Thank you so much.
00:08:52
First of all, mortician, thank you for being so friendly. Thanks for being in our neighborhood.
00:08:56
Thanks for knowing that we would want weird stories like that. Oh my god. Talk about someone that needs to start a podcast.
00:09:03
Well, there's the chick I follow on Instagram called The Good Death, Caitlin Doherty. She's like
00:09:08
the pro death positive mortician. Oh yeah. And she just wrote a book and she just seems fucking cool.
00:09:16
Now, when you say death positive, you mean like she's not, she's just like, it happens,
00:09:21
it's natural. And there's people who want to die and they should be able to die.
00:09:25
No, I think it's like, it's, we shouldn't be, I don't, I'm not, I can't speak for her,
00:09:28
but we shouldn't be terrified of it. People have questions. People want to know what happened.
00:09:31
I don't know. She's. Oh, so it's more like be a little chiller about dying. Yeah.
00:09:36
It's kind of like, let's talk about it. So we're not all fucking terrified of it.
00:09:40
I'm a hundred percent for that. And she's like goth and cool and shit. And she's a mortician.
00:09:45
I don't know. I like her. I love it. I'm picturing kind of an Elvira situation. And that's hot.
00:09:51
Okay. This, the subject line is Zodiac connection and spying on the neighbors. Yeah.
00:09:57
Salutations. I grew up in South San Francisco, California, about 45 minutes from Karen.
00:10:03
I too hate Sacramento. Oh, no. I do not hate Sacramento. i should have uh edited that out um i'm gonna i am gonna write a love letter to sacramento and
00:10:18
read it when we do our show there absolutely should uh okay i should have pre-read that my
00:10:23
mom was about 10 when the zodiac was terrorizing the bay area my mom casually mentioned one day
00:10:29
that the girl across the street was shot by the zodiac i'm sorry what my mom is not a murderino
00:10:36
and could care less about this. Oh, my God. I don't have a lot of details, but my Nino uncle told me
00:10:42
that she was shot in the stomach at UCSF and was either a freshman or a sophomore.
00:10:47
She was only in the hospital for a week and made a full recovery. Obviously, the neighborhood lost their minds.
00:10:53
Yeah. As this was the 60s and everyone was super tight. Nino said the neighborhood and the city
00:11:01
went on fucking lockdown and no one could go anywhere. He also mentioned coming home
00:11:06
at 2 a.m. when Richard Ramirez was on his SF tour to an unlocked door. They knew
00:11:12
he was in the city and they still left the front door unlocked. What the fuck? Nana and Papa
00:11:16
get it together. Since we're sharing random stories, well, you are. Since we're sharing
00:11:22
random stories, I basically lived at my grandparents' house growing up and when I was little, maybe three
00:11:28
or four, I heard a lot going on outside. I peeked through the wooden plantation shutters. Why were those
00:11:34
a thing? and watched as my neighbor's son was being taken away in handcuffs and tidy whities followed shortly by his brother being taken out on a gurney
00:11:45
with, and this is in all caps, a fork sticking out of his stomach. No, take the fork out.
00:11:52
Between the Zodiac and the crazy neighbors next door I was destined to become a murderino SSDGM Angie That amazing How hilarious is that That was a good one Thanks for sharing stories Yeah It was like a compilation
00:12:07
Yeah. Let me just add this in. I've got a couple. Well, I have a little Zodiac one, too.
00:12:12
Or I could do a close called GSK one, which I guess we got to do. Those all sound good.
00:12:19
How do you choose? I choose the one that Elvis is not directly putting his asshole on currently.
00:12:25
Um, okay, this is called First Hand GSK Close Call. Karen, Georgia, Stephen, and mascots.
00:12:32
Hi. Nice, that's good. Mascots is good. I'm a big fan coming at you from Karen's favorite place, the armpit of California, Sacramento.
00:12:40
Oops, I should have edited that out too. Oh, man. I moved up here last summer from the Bay Area and settled in Rancho Cordova.
00:12:47
Oh, yes. Lovely place. If I ever hear that anyone grew up in this area, I ask them if they remember what it was like
00:12:53
when the East Area Rapist was on the loose. And that's why we're so fun at parties, isn't it?
00:12:57
It's because we just ask people about shit like that. We go right to the heart of what...
00:13:01
Do you have any deep-seated fears? Yeah, when someone's like... Or anything that freaks you out?
00:13:04
I'm from Cincinnati. I'm like, oh, do you know about... No. Yeah. That's stupid.
00:13:09
Did you know about they put chili on spaghetti? And cinnamon, I think. Yeah, I'll either ask about their food or their killers.
00:13:17
Cinnamon. Here is the most amazing and terrifying firsthand story I've heard. One of my co-workers was in high school in the 70s and lived in Rancho Cordova in a neighborhood where the Golden State Killer hit three times.
00:13:28
She didn't know it at the time. Let's call her Kathy. She started the story by saying, I don't think it was the East Area Rapist, but this really weird thing happened during that time.
00:13:37
One evening, her parents went to a party and left her and her younger brother home.
00:13:41
They were watching a movie together when her brother decided to go to bed. His bedroom was near the front door.
00:13:45
So when Kathy kept hearing weird noises from that direction, she assumed he was doing something in his room.
00:13:50
After about 20 minutes of these sounds, she decided to go investigate. As she walked down the hall toward her brother's room, Kathy heard the noise again and looked toward the front door,
00:13:58
only to realize the handle was jiggling and someone was trying to get in. Oh, my God.
00:14:02
She freaked out, woke her brother up. They ran into their parents' room, barricaded the door, loaded the gun, called their parents,
00:14:09
and then it says in parentheses, why not 911? Her parents called the police, and they came over.
00:14:15
Kathy remembers that the cops showed up way more quickly than she expected, And as they sat her down, they told her to be very careful because, quote, concerning things had been happening in her neighborhood.
00:14:25
When she asked if they found anything, the officers mentioned that the front door handle was almost off and there was a screwdriver and a flashlight left in the bushes on their porch.
00:14:34
At this point in her story, as someone who has been studying GSK, my mouth dropped open and I screamed, that was him.
00:14:40
That was the Golden State Killer. Until a few months ago, Kathy had no idea that she was very likely a potential GSK victim.
00:14:48
And as a screwdriver and flashlight were some of his favorite tools. But I'm also like, yeah, that's what everyone's favorite break-in tools are.
00:14:54
If it's nighttime and you're trying to undo a front door, you kind of have no choice but to go screwdriver or flashlight.
00:15:00
Right, that's true. I mean, you could do, what else could there, a candle? You could do a candle and dynamite.
00:15:07
great duo what did he do what was his mo a candle and dynamite a candle and dynamite like an old
00:15:18
miner that hadn't been there for 50 years can't wait to see you in sacramento on october 26th
00:15:24
thanks for reminding us uh and then it says colby and then in parentheses female
00:15:29
Colby! Female Colby, thank you! That's so creepy. I know. So creepy. NYX, that's K-N-I-X leak-proof underwear, isn't just for one moment. It's for all the everyday
00:15:43
moments you didn't realize leak-proof underwear could make easier. Maybe it's day one of your
00:15:48
period. Maybe it's a long travel day. Maybe it's hot outside. You're on the move and you just want
00:15:54
to feel fresh. Their leak-proof underwear comes in a range of absorbencies, from light to ultra,
00:16:00
and helps protect against periods, light leaks, sweat, and everyday surprises. And because they
00:16:06
look and feel like real underwear, they're soft, invisible under clothes, and machine washable.
00:16:13
No extra hassle. No complicated routine. Just dependable protection you can wash and re-wear.
00:16:19
See why millions have made the switch to leak-proof underwear. Visit Nix.com. That's K-N-I-X dot com and use code FLOW15 for 15% off.
00:16:31
That's K-N-I-X dot com. Code FLOW15. Hey everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.
00:16:42
This week on the podcast, I'm sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook Project Hail Mary.
00:16:51
Massive sci-fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone very far from Earth.
00:16:59
I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections.
00:17:06
And it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it.
00:17:10
I was like, no, at this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it.
00:17:19
But there's places in this book that deeply emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic.
00:17:25
That's great. Because it served the story. People will say like, oh, my God, I cried at the end.
00:17:30
It's like, yeah, dude, me too. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:17:38
Protect your pet. With insurance from PetsBest. Plants start from less than a dollar a day.
00:17:44
Visit PetsBest.com. Pet insurance products offered and administered by PetsBest Insurance Services, LLC, or underwritten by
00:17:51
American Pet Insurance Company or Independence American Insurance Company. For terms and conditions, visit
00:17:54
www backslash policy Products are underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company Independence American Insurance Company or MS Transverse Insurance Company and administered by Pets Best Insurance Services LLC One dollar a day premium based on 2024 average
00:18:06
new policyholder data for accident and illness plans, pets age zero to 10. Okay, the subject line of this is, my grandpa is crazier than your grandpa.
00:18:16
Hi. In the 1940s, my grandpa was a self-described hobo. He used to hitchhike and ride around
00:18:22
on trains looking for work during the school year when he was a teenager. That sounds like so much fun.
00:18:27
I mean, that's the life. And then he would come back to his parents' house during the summer to look after his
00:18:34
little brother, Gary. Every year, Gary would ask if he could go along. And when he turned 12 or 13, my grandpa finally agreed to take him.
00:18:41
Can we just talk about babies named Gary real quick? I just want to take a fucking moment to let everyone know that there was like a child named
00:18:48
Gary at one point in his life. Like a seven-year-old like, it's me, Gary. I just want to go on the train with you.
00:18:53
Gary? Come on, Gary. It's me, Gary. Stop it, Gary. Honey, will you help the baby?
00:19:00
Gary's crying. Will you change Gary's diaper? Will you change Gary's diaper? Gary spit up again.
00:19:09
Gary has a briefcase. He's only four. His diapers are in his briefcase. You just do the basics.
00:19:18
Gary's got all the all this equipment. OK, go on with baby Gary. OK, baby Gary gets to go because it's so long ago is the 40s.
00:19:30
13. It says my grandpa finally agreed to take him. 13 is basically an adult. Right.
00:19:37
So I actually just started talking through the end of that paragraph instead of just reading it.
00:19:42
So they're leaving their hometown of Walla Walla, Washington, by the way of hitchhiking.
00:19:46
They get picked up and my grandpa is quietly sitting in the back seat. Well, Gary is making conversation with the driver.
00:19:52
Gary, 13. Gary is just working the driver. At this point, I should mention two things.
00:19:56
My grandpa is quiet and salty and he refuses to comment on the story. Oh, I love him.
00:20:03
Gary is the only one who will talk about it. Spoiler alert. They both survive. So this guy is driving and he takes an unexpected turn.
00:20:11
Gary says something about it and the guy doesn't respond. Then Gary goes, seriously, mister?
00:20:15
Seriously, mister? you're headed down the wrong way. And the man tells Gary, shut the fuck up and turns down a forested road toward the mountains.
00:20:23
After another minute or two, Gary asks the man to let them out. And the guy produces a pistol,
00:20:29
points it at Gary and says, you'll get out when I say you'll get out. Oh no. At which point Gary hears a click from the back of the car.
00:20:36
My grandpa is pointing a gun at the man. Holy shit. And then it just says in quotes,
00:20:41
in quotation, no, I think we'll get out here. Believe it or not, the guy was convinced and he let them go oh gary decided the hobo life wasn't for him and to this
00:20:51
day granddad won't tell anyone where he got the gun ssdgm casey jane p.s looking forward to seeing
00:20:59
you in san francisco this october what about this for a fucking twisteroo yes what if gary what's
00:21:07
the grandpa's name it just says grandpa what if grandpa teenage grandpa did it on purpose to
00:21:13
scare gary from ever coming again yes right oh my god and then gary's like i want to go back home
00:21:18
and grandpa's like well teenage grandma i'm teenage grandpa i gotta get go on my own gary
00:21:23
and the friend that's like i'm scary random man uh from from the car there's problems because like
00:21:30
why does teenage grandpa know this creepy old man anyway but that's not i mean that's the hobo life
00:21:36
they're not ageist you know people you have friends you can start young you can end old
00:21:40
you do it however you want that's great I love that the grandpa won't comment on it
00:21:47
I know you gotta have a gun with you if you're gonna be like a fucking traveling hobo
00:21:51
you gotta have a piece or a switchblade you get it and also how smart of him to sit in the back seat
00:21:56
it's like whatever happens here also Gary's just totally a front seat bait chit chat
00:22:01
he's just like why don't you go ahead and go up and sit up there go sit next to the old man, pepper him with questions
00:22:08
see how he responds well that was amazing oh another batch of great ones oh guys please send us your fucking stories
00:22:16
because we love reading them to you they're the best and god damn it Sacramento I can't wait to come and apologize to you
00:22:22
the apology tour you should come out with a scarlet letter A just apology on your dress
00:22:29
the scarlet letter S sorry Sacramento sorry Sacramento tour alright well stay sexy everybody
00:22:37
and don't get murdered Goodbye. Elvis, you want a cookie? Wow. I'm going to read that one.
00:22:45
Running a business shouldn't feel like surviving a software group project. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales.
00:22:54
And somehow, none of them talk to each other. That's where Odoo comes in. An all-in-one business management software that brings every part of your business together.
00:23:03
From sales and accounting to inventory and marketing. All in one powerful platform.
00:23:09
No messy integrations, no bouncing between tabs. And best of all, no spreadsheets.
00:23:15
Stop managing software and start managing your business with one unified system.
00:23:20
Try for free today at odoo.com slash iHeartRadio. That's odoo.com slash iHeartRadio.
00:23:28
We learned how to love dogs from the dogs that loved us and waited for us to get home from school.
00:23:34
They were the dogs that raised us. We returned the love with Pedigree dog food. It was good then.
00:23:41
It's better now. For 40 years, Pedigree has been bringing out the goodness in dogs.
00:23:47
Every bowl serves up 100% of the nutrition your dog needs, supporting six health essentials.
00:23:53
That's the Pedigree goodness promise. Pedigree. Good then. Better now. Transfer news today.
00:24:01
Who's moving? Me. To the couch. With Domino's best deal ever since they just added stuffed crust.
00:24:06
Any pizza, any toppings now with stuffed crust for $9.99. It's a long-term contract with no release clause.
00:24:12
Only $9.99? Yeah, that sounds like the move. I'm heading straight to Domino's. Price is higher for some locations.
00:24:21
Excludes XL and specialty pizzas. Select this offer from 615 through 726. Online only.
00:24:25
Size availability varies by crust type. Max 7 toppings. 6 for pan and New York style crust.
00:24:28
Minimum purchase required for delivery. Crisis participation, delivery area, and charges may vary.