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GameChanger [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to True Crime garage wherever you are whatever you're doing thanks for
00:01:44
listening I'm your host Nick and with me as always is a man who has kiboshed before and will kibos again here is the
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captain it's good to be seeing and it's good to see you thanks for listening thanks for telling a
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friend [Music] this week we are very happy to be featuring hops slam 2021 by one of my
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Pacific Northwest ABV 10% garage grade 4 and 1 12 bottle caps out of five and let's give some cheers to our good
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garage friends first up a cheers to Meredith in Springfield Virginia and a big shout out to William in Greensboro
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download the Stitcher app they're free and check out our bonus show called off the Record and that is enough of the
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business all right everybody gather around grab a chair grab a beer let's talk some true crime
00:03:39
[Music] [Music] the following is from the Edgar Award nominee for best fact crime book dark Dreams by legendary
00:04:07
FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood the most resourceful destructive and Elusive of all deviant offenders is the ritualistic
00:04:16
sexual stist just like the great white shark is the renowned predator of the oceans the sexual stist is the most
00:04:26
dangerous and cunning of aberant criminals he also presents the greatest challenge to law enforcement the sexual
00:04:34
satus is a meticulous planner spending an inordinate amount of time inside his own head he may devote months or maybe
00:04:44
even years imagining his intended crime turning it over in his mind playing with
00:04:51
it as one might examine a prism in a Sunbeam studying all the different ways it reacts to the light he hates
00:05:01
surprises and any kind of spontaneity if possible he will rehearse every step of
00:05:08
his crime repeatedly and do everything imaginable to reduce his chances of failure the sexual stist is also
00:05:17
stunningly brutal the fantasies he wishes to enact with a victim are horrendous his sexual pleasure is
00:05:25
derived from her suffering Hazelwood goes on to include the writings of convicted kidnapper rapist counterfeit
00:05:32
and suspected serial killer James Mitchell dartlin Jr better known as Mike dartlin or by his law enforcement given
00:05:42
moniker the mall passer he wrote what Hazelwood refers to as the sexual sadus Credo where dartlin defines the word
00:05:51
sism for us or at least what it means to him which can only be described as extremely insightful
00:06:00
as Mike was a sexual sadist he writes sadism the wish to inflict pain on others is not the
00:06:09
essence of sadism the central impulse is to have complete Mastery over any other
00:06:16
person to make him/ her the helpless object of our will to become the absolute ruler over her to become her
00:06:26
God to do with her as one pleases are a means to this end the most radical aim is to make her suffer since there is no
00:06:38
greater power over another person than that of inflicting pain on her to force her to undergo suffering without her
00:06:47
being able to defend herself the pleasure and the complete domination over another person is the very essence
00:06:55
of the sadistic Drive the crime classification manual written WR by the FBI adds there are often multiple crime
00:07:03
scenes involved with this type of sexual homicide the place of the initial encounter the torture SL death scene
00:07:12
Andor the body disposal site this is true crime [Music] garage [Music] Tina Marie Harmon was born in Creston
00:07:37
Ohio on June 9th 1969 to parents James and Irene Harmon cresten is a village here in Ohio too
00:07:47
small to have City status today the village of creson has a little more than 2100 people our story will kick off in
00:07:55
1981 and at that time roughly the same population just a bit smaller at a little less than
00:08:02
1,900 people Creston is just 2.26 square miles but the village is in two counties Madina and Wayne Counties
00:08:13
located in the northeastern portion of the state of Ohio by 1981 Tina's parents were separated and she was living with
00:08:20
her father James at a nice little house on onion Street in 1981 Tina Marie Harmon was 12 years of age she was a six
00:08:29
at Sterling Elementary she did well in school she loved cats and Country Music people say that she was a good singer so
00:08:37
much so that several people thought that she could make a career of it her Aunt Ruth Hatfield would later say that Tina
00:08:44
was a very tough little girl she had some brothers and had no trouble standing up to them in fact I think her
00:08:51
aunt said she would fight with her brothers all of the time Tina was a round-faced kid with dark eyes and and
00:08:59
long brown hair in most ways she was a typical sixth grade girl she was ready to hit her teenager years and was
00:09:06
already a little rebellious pre-teen on October 29th 1981 this was a Thursday Tino went to school and rode the bus
00:09:17
home afterwards Tina got a ride from her father's girlfriend now some sources say
00:09:23
to the local Lawson Lawson is a now defunct convenience store chain other sources say too and I think this is more
00:09:33
accurate says that she went to the Lorraine market and I think you'll see why the Lawson is probably not right
00:09:41
just yet in our timeline so her father's girlfriend dropped Tina off in front of
00:09:47
the store she was meeting up with a group of her friends they all went inside the store Tina bought a fudge
00:09:54
sickle her friends last saw her sitting in front of the convenience store eating
00:09:59
her snack do we know how many friends were with her this would have been three girls apparently she told the three
00:10:06
girls that she would catch up with them at some point later in the evening however all three says that never
00:10:13
happened the friends walked on and Tina did not leave with them the sources have
00:10:19
Tina seen walking along Main Street in downtown cresten at 6:30 p.m. now many sources do not mention this next item on
00:10:28
our timeline but it seems to me that it would fit pretty accurately so I would like to include it here James rener who
00:10:37
has wrote about this case and we should mention Phil Trexler who wrote extensively on some portions of this as
00:10:44
well but Rena writes that Tina was able to catch yet another ride and this time it was from her older brother it is said
00:10:52
that he drove her to another convenience store or a Lawson so that's why I think
00:10:58
that the Lawson got mixed up with the Lorraine market right after that somehow she made it near the village of Seville
00:11:07
now we don't have an exact location for this so if we were to do just a very basic from the center of Main Street
00:11:16
Creston to this spot in Seville it's roughly just under 5 miles or 7 to9 Minutes driving time Seville is listed
00:11:27
as a village as well and in 1981 would have had a population right around under 2,000 people and we say that she made it
00:11:36
to this location because according to the akan Beacon Journal which is probably one of the very best sources
00:11:42
for this case several credible Witnesses remembered seeing Tina at the Union 76 Truck Stop and the truck stop of America
00:11:54
at Interstate 76 and Interstate 71 near Seville that evening and that would also
00:12:01
make a lot of sense because from what I have been reading back in 1981 the only real entertainment for the
00:12:08
teens of Creston was at the Union 76 Truck Stop a few miles away which had snacks and arcade games Tina was known
00:12:18
to frequent the place and just like myself Captain she was a fan of the pinball games found there at the Union
00:12:25
76 Truck Stop all right so we have Tina she's 12 years old she goes to the store
00:12:33
from that store we know she was at the store cuz she was with some friends from that store her brother takes her to
00:12:38
another store we don't know how she got from that store to the truck stop which was a local teen hangout which was about
00:12:47
5 miles away from the center of town correct and we say the center of town because again we don't know where the
00:12:55
last location is to be exact as far as a street address because it's a it's a business that's no longer in existence
00:13:04
but we have eyewitnesses that place Tina at the truck stop according to the akan
00:13:09
Beacon Journal they say several witnesses and they specifically say several credible Witnesses say that they
00:13:16
saw the young girl 12 years old at both of these truck stops yeah I'm guessing those credible witnesses will be
00:13:24
employees and not children and when we say truck stops you have to keep in mind too that these are also you know they're
00:13:31
gas stations you could pull in there and fill up your vehicle your car it's not just limited to truck drivers and semi
00:13:38
trcks right and a lot of these for for those that may live in bigger cities or or unfamiliar with these type of truck
00:13:47
stops they're really like a gas station on steroids they're much bigger you can walk in it has they always have an
00:13:54
attached convenience store they have acne on their body because these people that are traveling great distances they
00:14:00
need to pick up food use the restroom right um some of them have an arcade room may have a sit down restaurant
00:14:06
inside this one the Union 76 the reason why it was kind of a teenager hangout back then it was a few miles north of
00:14:14
Creston there's not a whole lot to do in the small town of Creston the funny thing is Seville where they're going to
00:14:20
go hang out is even smaller right it just happens to be that it's right off of both interstates so it's going to get
00:14:26
a lot of business business the I 76 had a little arcade room attached to it and it was said that she would often go up
00:14:36
there and play pinball games and arcade games just so we don't run into any confusion here Captain wait was it Noah
00:14:43
arcade I I doubt that it even had a ashter says what the Union 76 Truck Stop as some may remember is a company out of
00:14:52
Elsa gundo California the 76 signs are the orange ball with the blue number 76 inside right very popular on like
00:15:02
American Pickers so I'm giving that detail Captain because this large gas station SL truck stop is reported to be
00:15:10
in the area right around where Interstate 71 and Interstate 76 overlap right so the truck stop is not called
00:15:19
Union 76 because of the 76 interstate the truck stop Union 76 is one of it's just one of many across this great
00:15:29
country do you know where the trucks fill up with gas is that connected to where also the cars fill up with gas I
00:15:37
don't know and I get what you're you're getting at sometimes they're you know one might be in front and one might be
00:15:42
off to the side of the store is that what you mean yeah cuz normally now you know this is back in 1981 but now
00:15:50
normally truck stops of this size to the left will be all the gas pumps for semis
00:15:56
to the right will be all gas pumps for just regular cars Vans or trucks I'm guessing that would be the setup because
00:16:04
it's very difficult for those those trucks can't maneuver the same way that Vehicles can right now Tina did not come
00:16:10
home that night and the three friends that were with her for a portion of that evening all say the same thing that they
00:16:17
did not see her again that night after they left her at the Lorraine Market sitting in front of the store right so
00:16:24
they never caught up with her right so this is a Thursday this is October 29th just 2 days before Halloween and it it's
00:16:33
I find it incredibly fascinating how many cases we have heard of when a child goes missing right before Halloween
00:16:42
right Jacob wling Amy mahalic in this case of Tina Harmon and unfortunately there are there are many more of them
00:16:50
well maybe it's because of Jason Vorhees or Mike Myers I think in the midwest in
00:16:55
particular the reason why we have that uh common occurrence or or this reoccurring thing of late October child
00:17:04
abductions May simply have to do with the weather you know people are out they're still out it's not yet gotten
00:17:11
really cold in the area so Tina's family and friends they of course are looking for her law enforcement is aware that
00:17:20
the girl is missing and at her school the principal this is Wilbur Bowers was talking to Tina's friends in classmates
00:17:29
trying to see if any of them can shed any light on the situation Unfortunately they could not there was a lot of
00:17:37
thinking at the time that Tina was out running around and she would turn up sooner rather than later but the night
00:17:44
that she left that she was last seen is a Thursday so maybe you can talk yourself into the idea for a night or
00:17:52
two especially over the weekend right but then Sunday Night hits and then Monday and she still has not come home
00:18:01
by then and as a parent or a family member yeah she's 12 you have to be out of your mind about the situation by that
00:18:10
point yeah I mean look maybe this is behavior of a 16-year-old or 17-year-old that's still living at home especially
00:18:19
this would be more likely to happen than 19 1981 but a 12-year-old I'm I'm saying the first
00:18:27
night she she doesn't come home is is a bad sign well on Tuesday November 3rd at
00:18:32
about 9:00 a.m. Tina's body was discovered by a man named herb seir this is 5 days later 5 days after she was
00:18:42
last seen the girl's body was found on an oil well Access Road off of Goodrich Road in Stark County's Bethlehem
00:18:51
Township now there is no really good direct route from these two truck truck stops which are basically right next to
00:19:00
each other right to this area where she was found but to give an idea of distance depending on the route we are
00:19:10
looking at 41 to 53 miles and a drive time of over of 44 to 55 minutes right even though her body was discovered in
00:19:21
Stark County Wayne County caught the case when Tina went missing and they kept the case even after she was found
00:19:30
based on the belief that she was killed there in their County before being dumped in Bethlehem Township the body
00:19:38
was taken to masselin Community Hospital Tina's parents went there and after the
00:19:45
body was identified Tina's mother Irene collapsed and was admitted for treatment
00:19:51
for shock we have some autopsy information as well and some further leads this is is going to go along with
00:19:59
physical evidence to help us with our Chase here Captain yes so Stark County Corner James Pritchard was in charge of
00:20:07
the autopsy from my understanding of the body Discovery site she was found in plain site so anyone traveling this road
00:20:16
would have found her now this is a pretty remote area and this is an access road with no name so this is a Road Less
00:20:25
Traveled situation team was fully clothed either redressed after she was killed or forced to dress before
00:20:35
she was raped and strangled the coroner's office stated that she was killed by quote choking by hands and
00:20:43
there were marks on the neck which appeared to be made by rope on her clothes detectives discovered important
00:20:50
Clues this was dog hairs and orange carpet fibers these carpet fibers have also been described as nutmeg in color
00:21:01
interestingly enough detectives found some items of interest in her Pockets the first item was a Union 76 truck stop
00:21:11
matchbook right okay so this goes well with the witnesses that say they saw her there that Thursday night yeah more
00:21:20
evidence to back up the witnesses they also found $325 in her it says in her clothing
00:21:28
right her Father James said Tina left home with $5 on her person that evening police said to the papers that that
00:21:37
information could offer some possible leads or theories as well I didn't really follow that it seemed a little
00:21:45
confusing to me it they seemed to think that because she still had money on her person that that suggested that she was
00:21:53
staying with somebody or somebody was providing for her while she was gone that doesn't make any sense cuz she
00:21:59
could have been taken Thursday night the rape could have happened Thursday night
00:22:03
and her body was left Thursday night and you're just discovering it now well I think this is where this is why I think
00:22:10
they're jumping to conclusions because of this next part and this next part is one of the most important pieces of
00:22:17
evidence in this case the tricky part of this homicide investigation is well we let's say the first very
00:22:26
tricky item in this case the coroner was certain and was able to provide a window
00:22:32
of time for which Tina was killed so she died by xixi by strangling the test indicating that she had been dead for
00:22:43
24 to 36 hours when the body was discovered okay so last scene Thursday night right body found at about 9:00
00:22:55
a.m. the following Tuesday in the aops is telling us she was killed between 900 p.m. Sunday night and 900 a.m. Monday
00:23:04
morning that's a lot of time so now Captain we have roughly 72 hours between the time last scene and the time the
00:23:13
coroner says she was killed maybe as much as 84 hours that's a lot of time missing from Tina's timeline here
00:23:22
roughly four days right well yeah it' be it would be three to three and a half days roughly now Creston police chief
00:23:30
they were looking to speak with a man and a young woman this is because he says they had
00:23:38
individuals stating that they had may had seen Tina in the presence of one or both of these people right the brief
00:23:47
description was given of both but because those description varied at times and even contradicted
00:23:55
each other at times we will simply go with what similarities were listed a Caucasian male early 20s to mid 30s and
00:24:05
a Caucasian female young late teens possibly in her 20s the way that this information was presented to the public
00:24:15
I get the impression that the Witnesses believe Tina to have been hanging out with either one or both of these people
00:24:23
right there is no one saying they witnessed an abduction or the look to be threatened or the victim of a kidnapping
00:24:31
by either of these people right but that doesn't mean that these people weren't in the arcade or at the truck stop and
00:24:38
had some rules to get a young girl into a vehicle well and we got to keep in mind too these could be these are what
00:24:46
detectives would consider to be loose leads these are leads that you're 100% going to follow up on because it could
00:24:53
take you further down in your timeline we've already pointed out what we need to do now is figure out why there's a
00:25:00
gap in this timeline why do we have 72 to to 84 hours missing between the time she was last seen and the time that it's
00:25:09
believed that she was killed and if you already said so I apologize but how was she planning to get home from the
00:25:18
gas how was Tina planning on getting home from the truck stop Thursday night that's a good question my speculation
00:25:27
here Captain is that that her parents may not have known she she was going to go to the gas station or this truck stop
00:25:34
Tina may not have known she was going to go to this truck stop when she left the
00:25:40
house that night it sounds to me like the plan was to meet up with friends she's going to hang out and tag along
00:25:45
with friends as kids do and end up back at home some point that night either by you know walking home or catching a ride
00:25:54
with somebody yeah maybe she was expecting her friends to be there and then she just catch ride with one of
00:25:58
their parents or or brothers sisters or whoever but if this information is right
00:26:04
and if these Witnesses are correct then she's getting further and further away from home the night is
00:26:12
getting later and as you pointed out we don't know how she intended to get back to her house that night do we have any
00:26:20
signs of her wanting to run away no but as said we we have some speculation from
00:26:27
the get that states that they thought that was a possibility that not maybe that she was running away so much to say
00:26:33
but that she would stay out for the night stay out for a couple of nights that she was out hanging out with people
00:26:39
or running around with friends the thing we need to keep in mind though regarding
00:26:44
these Witnesses saying that we think we saw Tina hanging out with a a man a young ccasian man uh in his 20s or 30s
00:26:55
or and or a young Caucasian woman either late teens or in her 20s you have to factor in the fact that
00:27:04
we don't even know that it was in fact Tina that they saw with either of these people right what these Witnesses are
00:27:11
saying or claiming is that someone matching the description of Tina or someone we think might be Tina these are
00:27:18
not people saying that they knew this girl these are people saying somebody matching this girl's description the
00:27:25
missing girl's description I believe I saw them with this man or with this woman or both and the Creston police
00:27:31
chief stated that neither of these people are suspects at this time these are simply just people that we would
00:27:39
like to talk [Music] to this show is sponsored by better help do you look forward to the holidays maybe
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Angie [Music] [Music] that all right we're back cheers mates cheers to you Captain cheers to the people in
00:30:02
the back later that same week a similar lead was discussed with the media to be clear here we should State something
00:30:12
that is not the most common thing in a homicide investigation but in this case once Tina's remains are discovered and
00:30:22
of course this was very quickly ruled a homicide we now at this point in our timeline have at least three agencies
00:30:31
working the case we have Wayne and Stark counties plus of course the Creston police
00:30:39
department now they are saying we are trying to locate a male truck driver and a woman in connection with the murder of
00:30:49
12-year-old Tina Harman this is quite a step up from their earlier request that we would we have this young man and this
00:30:59
young woman that might have been seen with Tina these are not suspects these are people that we would just like to
00:31:04
talk to now they're saying we're looking we're actively looking for a male truck
00:31:10
driver and a woman that are in connection with the murder of 12-year-old Tina Harmon doesn't mean
00:31:18
they're the murderers but this is information and people that law enforcement three different agencies
00:31:24
desperately want to talk to at this point and this time they're going to be able
00:31:29
to offer up a little more detail stating Tina was reportedly seen with a man at the truck stop at Interstate 71 and
00:31:39
Interstate 76 in Madina County this would be on the Thursday that she first went missing but several hours after the
00:31:49
6:30 p.m. last sighting by her friends and or family MH the statement from detectives goes on to say that Tina was
00:31:58
also seen in the presence of a woman that same night and possibly possibly again on Monday night yes the Monday
00:32:10
night before her body was found that Tuesday morning right and that puts it in the timeline or the time frame that
00:32:17
police have for her death for her to possibly still be alive Monday night Friday Saturday Sunday no eyewitnesses
00:32:24
seean Tina right well I think this is the the part to me that just doesn't add up because they're
00:32:31
saying possibly had seen in the presence of this woman on Monday night Monday night before her body's found Tuesday
00:32:39
morning at 9:00 a.m. the coroner is saying that she was killed 24 to 36 hours before her body was found so right
00:32:49
Tina's not unfortunately not alive and well Monday night to be hanging out or be seen with anybody so now you have to
00:32:57
to start to wonder that takes away from The credibility of the sighting not that
00:33:02
the person is lying or making anything up that the witness that says they saw this right it's just that they may think
00:33:10
that they saw Tina with some woman we know that that cannot be at least for that Monday night the Thursday
00:33:16
possibilities are still out there well I mean it's possible obviously if the autopsy is completely wrong but we have
00:33:24
no evidence of this person not knowing what the hell they're doing right so I agree with you there but I also think it
00:33:32
it makes you question The credibility of the sightings after her friend saw her you know is it is it like you said
00:33:38
before is it just somebody seeing a girl that fits Tina's description or are they
00:33:43
actually seeing Tina correct I think these are likely people that want to help that are trying to help they just
00:33:52
they they didn't see what they thought they saw right but in tons of missing person cases you get eyewitnesses that
00:33:59
claim they they see individuals all over the country to be more clear the missing
00:34:05
person right we think we saw the missing person on the other side of the country
00:34:10
and unfortunately that missing individual turns up to have been killed and remained in the area the entire time
00:34:18
again it's just people who want to help now this is interesting the detectives got some help from students over at Kent
00:34:28
State University art students using descriptions from waitresses and other people from the Union 76 Truck Stop put
00:34:39
together sketches of both the man and the woman that police say they were looking to talk with right by this time
00:34:48
there is a small reward for information in the case this was put together from several sources but one in particular
00:34:56
some of the money came from Tina's Father James Harmon's place of employment so very nice not only do they
00:35:05
understand or try to help him through what he's going through but they're also trying to help find Justice for this
00:35:12
little girl then 3 months later and this is with no notice to the media whatsoever no notice to the media about
00:35:23
detectives closing in on a suspect they were able to finally make an arrest in fact they made two arrest one man was
00:35:33
arrested here in Ohio and a second man was arrested in West Virginia Mountain Mama this is 19-year-old Ernest Holbrook
00:35:42
Jr he was the one arrested here in Ohio he was charged in court with the rape and murder of Tina Marie Harmon on
00:35:51
February 12th 1982 the public learned of this arrest that the following day meanwhile on the
00:36:00
same day as Hall Brook's arrest 26-year-old Herman Ray Rucker was arrested in West Virginia almost
00:36:09
simultaneously after Rucker was extradited back to Ohio he too was charged in Tina's rape and murder he was
00:36:19
charged on February 16th 1982 okay so this arrest comes about because of a tip and this is when people detectives
00:36:32
were talking with some people that led police to two suspects now some of this information is a little vague so I
00:36:40
apologize but we can only report the information that's out there well I mean we could make up stuff if we wanted to
00:36:46
you want to fill in the blanks that that's our other show fictitious crime garage apparently there
00:36:54
was a broadcast on local Northeast Ohio television and during a segment regarding runaways and missing teens
00:37:05
Tina's picture was shown during the segment and some brief information was given about her and about the case so
00:37:15
after seeing this on TV two female Witnesses came forward stating that they had seen the girl the murdered girl this
00:37:24
was from something they said they witnessed around the time that the teen went missing before her body was found
00:37:33
the two said that they saw Tina Marie Harmon jumped from a vehicle or a parked car and two men grabbed her and returned
00:37:42
her to the vehicle it was the description of the vehicle according to the Beacon Journal that says LED
00:37:51
investigators to the suspects so let's break this down quickly before before we move on here right these two
00:37:59
witnesses again they're just trying to help but it's not until three months later that they see and this is if we're
00:38:09
going off of what the newspapers say roughly three months later they see this segment on TV Tina's picture is shown
00:38:16
and now they're going thought bubble oh the girl that we saw back when she was missing that was Tina Marie who jumped
00:38:25
from a vehicle right and these two guys grabbed her up and put put her back in the vehicle I find this one I think
00:38:32
they're trying to help I think these are probably good people uhhuh do you feel as weird about this tip as I do yeah
00:38:39
it's very strange um but sometimes you see something you pass off as maybe being innocent and then later you see
00:38:47
something you go oh maybe that's would make sense of what we saw that night yeah I I follow that and I'm with you
00:38:54
there the thing that I I think is a little bizarre is Tina's picture when her body was found 3 months before was
00:39:04
all over the place right it was all I just it seems weird that they would have connected these dots this much time
00:39:12
later rather than at the time when her body was found yeah I agree and the case is
00:39:17
still for a lack of better words hot and fresh yeah I'm sure you could have found
00:39:22
some better words well what we end up with is the following there was no real physical evidence
00:39:30
linking either of these men to the murder and both Men passed a polygraph test according to the law enforcement
00:39:39
agencies working the case but the detectives decided we're going to push on anyway this is because they had two
00:39:47
witnesses that both implicated both H Brook and Rucker detectives were convinced that Hull Brook and Rucker
00:39:54
were the perpetrators because hook Brook's cousin Curtis Maynard and his acquaintance Susan Sigler D digler
00:40:02
claimed that Herman Ray Rucker confess to killing confess The Killing to the two
00:40:08
of them okay so let's break this down police are not saying we have two witnesses you know the two female
00:40:16
witnesses that say they saw Tina run from a vehicle two guys grab her up put her back in the vehicle we know that
00:40:24
those two witnesses are not saying that Rucker and Holbrook did this they're simply saying we saw a girl jump
00:40:34
out of a car two guys grab her put her back in the car this is what the guys look like this is what their vehicle
00:40:39
looked like that's as far as those witnesses can provide to detectives and I think why we have detectives push on
00:40:47
here even though they had no physical evidence in these guys pass the poly is because we now have two witnesses that
00:40:55
come forward and name name these guys by name preach on this is we should be clear here though too Captain detectives
00:41:03
are receiving this information before they make the arrest right they speak with this Susan Sigler before they make
00:41:11
the arrest she names these guys I'm guessing that possibly the tip because the akan Beacon Journal reported that it
00:41:19
was the description of the vehicle that led detectives to the suspects right but
00:41:24
we have law enforcement also looking for a female suspect right at first it's just a female a male that might have
00:41:33
talked to Tina later it's two a male and a female that we think are connected to
00:41:39
her murder that starts making me question is this individual just passing the buck off onto somebody else that she
00:41:47
knows right I'm with you there I'm with you there it's it's a bizarre lead to start with but then what we have here is
00:41:55
Susan Sigler claim that Herman Ray Rucker confessed The Killing to both her and this Curtis Maynard yeah I almost
00:42:05
feel like it's there's some possibility of all four of them being connected so we have eyewitnesses that place Tina or
00:42:13
a girl that looks like Tina at the truck stop with a male and female individuals
00:42:19
those are the ones that ruse her into the car because it's easier to ruse her because we have a female present they
00:42:25
take her to a location and now there's four individuals three three men and one woman eventually they they move the girl
00:42:34
maybe that's when she jumps out that's when the these eyewitnesses see see her with two men they grab her take her back
00:42:41
in the the truck and then eventually dispose of the body right and what we're going to learn about as we continue on
00:42:47
here Captain is we will get some better detailed information regarding these claims by Susan Sigler and Curtis mayard
00:42:57
once we get to trial right so the trial was set to start May 28th 1982 in wster Ohio wer Hull Brook and Rucker are
00:43:08
facing similar charges and were to be tried jointly now you know Captain I'm not a big fan of the joint trial I
00:43:17
actually don't even understand why they do it but they're facing similar charges
00:43:22
it's saves money on prosecution all related to the same crimes so let's move forward they're to be tried jointly this
00:43:31
was until holbrook's attorney was forced to have emergency surgery so they decide
00:43:38
Rucker's trial would continue and hbrooks would be rescheduled for a later date wh what was his surgery um I I
00:43:47
don't I don't know hopefully they were chopping off his testicles why why would we hope for that I'm just saying one can
00:43:54
hope one can have have dreams don't crush my dream so you you would like for H Brook's attorney to have his testicles
00:44:02
removed oh [ __ ] I thought you meant Holbrook not his attorney right and let's keep in mind both these guys are
00:44:09
innocent until proven guilty as well well I'm sorry so Rucker's trial will continue and hbrooks will have to be
00:44:16
scheduled for later again it's his attorney who's having emergency surgery Rucker pled not guilty to all of the
00:44:23
charges the charges were two counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications and one count each of
00:44:31
kidnapping and rape in the opening statements the prosecutor told the jury of nine men and three women that the
00:44:39
state has evidence showing that Tina was 12 years old who was just 12 years old she was kidnapped and raped that
00:44:46
Witnesses saw Rucker subdue Tina when she tried to flee from them while in the vehicle right he said that the
00:44:55
prosecution had has a witness who will testify that Rucker and Holbrook visited a friend to get money because they were
00:45:03
in trouble they quote were in trouble the prosecutor told the jury that Herman Rucker was the primary offender and we
00:45:11
will show that Rucker did this purposely this was a prior calculated act do we know how much money they got from this
00:45:20
friend no that's that is something that I question if that was reported I couldn't find the actual court documents
00:45:30
right so most of what I have to go off of is from the reporters that are reporting what they're witnessing in
00:45:39
court back to the the media and in the papers right this is prosecutor aler continued on saying quote that is the
00:45:48
evidence that we will present you will hear a tragedy you have Rucker in the courtroom you have seen Mr Holbrook in
00:45:57
the courtroom the person you will not see is Tina Marie Harmon she is dead all right well captain that is one side of
00:46:07
the story the side is that they throw me off the jury because he would have said
00:46:11
that I would have said no duh and then they would thrown me off for the jury the other side is that neither Rucker or
00:46:18
Holbrook had anything to do with the abduction or murder of Tina Haron as said both Men passed a polygraph
00:46:27
examination and both had an alibi for their whereabouts for the window of time when the murder is believed to have been
00:46:34
committed Rucker was 26 at the time of this trial one of the key Witnesses for the State against Rucker was 24-year-old
00:46:44
Susan Sigler Sigler and Rucker had some kind of relationship 3 years before this
00:46:51
trial Ziggler lived in West Salem in Wayne County Ohio at the time of the trial and at the time when she said that
00:47:00
Rucker confessed to her that he beat a little girl and left her alongside of the road because she refused to have sex
00:47:08
with him she testified that this confession took place on the evening of October 30th this is one day after Tina
00:47:16
was last seen at 6:30 p.m. on the 29th right Sigler said Not only did he say he beat a little girl and left her on the
00:47:26
side of the road she claimed that he showed her a picture of the girl and also showed her a heart-shaped pendant
00:47:34
with necklace that he had taken from the victim what will look really bad for Rucker and Holbrook is a second witness
00:47:43
this is Curtis Maynard backed up Susan sigler's testimony this is a guy that's dating her they are listed as
00:47:52
acquaintances okay so he's going to back up Susan's testimony adding not only did
00:47:58
all of what Susan say take place right but Rucker and Holbrook asked him for some money because they were in trouble
00:48:08
and needed to get out of town he goes on to say that the two guys took him to see
00:48:13
Tina's body and they told him if he told anyone they were going to kill him well
00:48:19
that seems pretty damning right yes took this guy to see the body so not not only
00:48:25
did they show a picture and tell a story to the female they took the male to see
00:48:30
the body and then of course we have the two witnesses that say they saw a vehicle with two men and a young girl
00:48:36
and the girl appeared to be struggling for Freedom yeah both of the witnesses picked Rucker and Holbrook out of a
00:48:45
police photo lineup four separate Witnesses four very damning testimonies all implicating these two men for this
00:48:54
murder now physical evidence no physical evidence was presented at either trial in fact later the prosecution went on
00:49:03
record stating that they had zero physical evidence against either individual not only it's not like we
00:49:10
forgot to present it we we didn't have it to present yeah so they never found the rope that she would have been
00:49:17
strangled with no and and as far as the autopsy goes we believe that she was only sexually assaulted once then
00:49:26
that's difficult to determine again that would be considered physical evidence against these guys none of that they
00:49:33
didn't present that at either trial so so if they do have that type of evidence which I don't believe that they did that
00:49:42
would tell me that it goes against their case against their Theory you don't present evidence at the trial that that
00:49:48
uh makes it look like somebody other than you're trying to prosecute did this so what we have here Captain is two
00:49:53
separate trials one a jury trial and Hall Brook's trial was in front of a three judge panel both men were tried
00:50:03
separately both men were found to be guilty for the crimes they were charged Rucker was the primary offender
00:50:10
according to the state of Ohio and Holbrook aided an eded Rucker in the brutal murder of a child now neither man
00:50:19
received the death penalty both were to be sentenced to life in prison right and
00:50:25
usually there's some underlining details in the sentencing when one especially when someone gets life in prison I
00:50:34
couldn't find out the details for Holbrook because keep in mind he's being charged with a lesser crime but Rucker
00:50:41
got life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years so Holbrook either received the same sentence or a
00:50:49
lesser sentence I mean these guys look like goat turds right but on top of that the crime is so heinous that's why I
00:50:58
think you get convictions like this there's no physical evidence really you should have to go okay well we think
00:51:04
these are the guys and we have some eyewitnesses that maybe place them at the scene I think the most damning piece
00:51:10
of evidence is when you have eyewitness saying that these two men took me to see
00:51:15
the dead body correct I think that's the most damning piece of evidence you throw
00:51:20
everything else out the window with that you still get a conviction on top of that because they look like goat turds
00:51:27
and because it's such a heinous crime that's how you get the conviction well and I'm guessing that you're saying
00:51:34
looks like goat turds based off of the the witnesses coming forward with these stories presented against them well no
00:51:41
I'm saying that their appearance looks a little goat tursh and I just think they
00:51:46
look a little disheveled and if you see their pictures in the courtroom or their
00:51:51
mug shots they they kind of look like goat turds well I I get what you're saying it's just I mean they they just
00:52:00
look like two guys from small town America to me and the witnesses to be honest with
00:52:06
you they look like people from the same neighborhoods as these goat turds as well well that that's the captain you
00:52:14
said it you said it Captain's words in 1982 and two separate trials we have Herman Rucker and Ernest Holbrook both
00:52:25
young men found guilty of homicide abduction and rape of a little girl both sentenced to life and
00:52:34
[Music] [Music] prison so much more to get to join us here again in the garage tomorrow and
00:52:53
until then PE be good be kind and don't let [Music] [Applause] it you can live out your Master Chef dreams
00:53:36
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