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A note to listeners before we begin. Today's story is extremely graphic in nature
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and some may find its contents disturbing. And this is coming from me,
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the creator of a true crime podcast. Listener discretion is advised. It was
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a beautiful Sunday morning in the High
Park district of Kansas City. Monty,
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a representative of the local power company, was making his rounds of checking residential
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electric meters. Helloa, this is
Monty, sir. I'm with the Missouri
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Public Services. So you've come to
steal more of my heart and money,
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then don't shoot the messenger, mister
Duval. I'm just here to do a
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meter reading. We'll make it quick
and then get off my property. You're
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kind of welcome you, thank you, mister Duval. Monty started toward the
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back of the house before being stopped
once more by the grouchy homeowner. Oh
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and son, Yes, sir,
don't get too close to that tree line
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bad. There there's a beast that
lives near the sure thing, mister Duval.
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As Monty approached the electric meter on
the back side of the house,
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he counted out the numbers to himself, ignoring mister Duval's warning. Fifty one
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twenty nine, seventeen, thirty eight, sixty three forty Who's there? Before
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Monty could gather himself, a beast
emerged from the woods with swollen red eyes,
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blood dripping from its skin, and
rope wrapped around its limbs. Jesus
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Christ. Monty started back, attempting
to get away, but found himself falling
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on his back. The beast frantically
ran to Manti, getting near his face
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and letting out a horrific, raspy
screech, help me. Over the past
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couple of years, I have covered
some horrific crimes injustices, disappearances, and
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even serial killers, but none of
these strikes a chord of dread quite like
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the thought of being gay. In
the nineteen eighties, remnant of attitudes from
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the decades prior, homosexuality was still
publicly perceived as a deviancy during this time,
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as a result of families disowning their
children and the repression that spawned from
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it, an underground scene of drug
use, prostitution, and transient lifestyle emerged
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in the gay community on a national
scale. It was this network of outcasts
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that allowed infamous serial killers like Jeffrey
Dahmer and John Wayne gacy to thrive.
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Our story today takes place right in
the thicket of this dark scene, and
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at the heart is a monster whose
crimes are cosidered to be some of the
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most heinous of the late twentieth century. Welcome to Deadtime Stories. Our story
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begins in nineteen eighty four. The
American dream is alive and well in suburban
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Kansas City. Despite this, the
Howell family can't seem to catch a break.
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Living out of a small apartment.
Peter Howell supported his family by running
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a small merchant stand out of a
local flea market. It paid all about
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as well as it sounded. The
hard times didn't seem to get in the
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way of Peterson Jerry from having a
good time Gary, Gary, what's up?
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Dad? Quit that queer dancing for
a bit and come help me down
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at the shop. Really on a
Saturday. After further demands, Peter was
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able to peel his son away from
the music and down to the nearby flea
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market. However, when they got
there, they found something different. It
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looks like we have a neighbor.
A new merchant had set up shop next
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to the Howels. The items for
sale ranged from cooking utensils, handcrafted trinkets
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and my personal favorite gay sex toys. Oh what the hell? Yis?
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Well, at least you probably won't
be around long selling that kind of shit.
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The owner of the merchant stand,
clad with a bold mustache, seemed
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just as eccentric as the items he
sold. Good morning, fellas, Welcome
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to Bob's Bizarre Bizarre. I'm Bob
Burdella. Pleasure to meet Bob. I'm
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Peter Howell. This is my son, Jerry. We on the stand next
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to you. Baby. I was
worried a psycho was going to be next
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to me. No, no psychos
here. Jerry wanted to contribute to the
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conversation, but couldn't it seem to
take his attention away from Bob's provocative collection.
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You know, families like to shop
here. Baggots aren't really well go
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oh, I'm sorry, scared of
a little culture in your life. No,
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it's just fucking gross, Jerry.
Peter took his son aside to have
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a little
Load full transcript
father son chat. You're
being very inappropriate, Jerry. Come on,
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dad, I don't want to have
to look at that shit all day.
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I don't either, But a stand
like this may bring in a different
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kind of clientele, and that may
be better for our stand. In the
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long run, the stand did bring
a new clientele and different. They definitely
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were. Oh my gosh, I
just got it as a gift. Actually,
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my boy gave it to What is
something you might have picked up to
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your Actually he's been over here before
it, I mean Bob. Bridella's stand
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was successful in its early days.
Driving that success, we're men from the
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local gay scene. Often these men
had tattoos and piercings, and their energy
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always seemed to match that of Bridella
himself. Oh my god, Oh my
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god, Bob, that's yeah,
that's my Oscar Meyer. Okay. Jerry
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was taken aback by this sudden shock
of culture. He coped with this by
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being a total asshole. Oh hey, Bob, are you and your buddies
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going to pass around diseases in the
back alley after you're done working? Sure?
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Are? Do you want to join? Because I'm sure you can expect
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a friendship blossom soon after. Jerry
enjoyed teasing and Bob threw it right back
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at him. What a beautiful symbiotic
relationship. One day, Jerry became particularly
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interested in an item that Bob was
playing with. Hey, is that a
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Polaroid camera is Oh, I never
used one. They're amazing. I like
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getting my picture immediately too, mind
if I try? Go ahead? Oh
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wow, that's awesome. Photography is
a side hobby of mine. What kind
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of pictures do you take? I
like to take pictures with my friends as
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a keepsick of what's good in my
life. That's heavy, man? What
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are you doing when you're done here? I'm not gonna help my dad with
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some projects back home. Sounds boring. Would you want to come and hang
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out at my place instead? Come
on, Bob, I don't want to
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be around anything gay. Why you
afraid you're gonna catch it? It's not
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polio, I don't know. I've
got plenty of booze there. All right?
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Fine, but not for too long. After they finished work, the
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duo made their way to Bob's house
in Hyde Park forty three fifteen Charlotte Street
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to be exact. As they arrived, Jerry was shocked to find out that
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there were other people already at the
house. Don't look too shocked. That's
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Mark. He helps me out with
my yardwork sometimes. Mark looked far from
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a normal yardworker. His clothes were
tattered and it appeared he hadn't slept in
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a bed and well over a year. Ah, take a break for a
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minute. Come have a drink with
my friend, and I sure, saying
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Boss. Inside, Bob poured a
round of drinks. Mark the yard guy
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partook in other things as well.
Hakin, do you like to crank?
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What do you mean, Mark?
You're not doing that kind of shit here
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anymore. Oh, come on,
Boss, you always say that. But
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I know you got Tina stashed around
here. Well, Jerry doesn't party.
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He's straight lace. I'm not straight
laced rinking, aren't I? Yeah,
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kid, but you aren't doing any
of the fun Cherry. Tell me more
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about your dad. He seems nice. He's all right. We're pretty tight
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most of the time. Must be
nice having a close relationship with your father.
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I guess it's fine. Where is
your dad? He died when I
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was a team Jesus, I'm sorry
to hear that. Don't be sorry,
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kid, Bobby's father was a huge
day Mark. Will you shut the fuck
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up for just one minute? Sorry? Boss? Is it true? Though?
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Of course it is. He was
a fucking asshole. He loved my
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younger brother, He loved his athleticism, his charm, and I didn't have
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any of that. He made me
hate people heavy, man, I'm sorry,
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let's change the subject. What do
you want to be when you grow
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up? I don't know, man. My dad has eyes on me helping
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him with his merchant stand. I
kind of want to be a dancer,
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though. Who boss. I knew
you had the skill of getting fags back
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to your place, but this kid
is a new level. I'm not gay,
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yeah, and this isn't mess.
I'm serious. Do you have a
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girlfriend? Not at the moment.
So you want to be a dancer.
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You have no girlfriend, and you're
buddy buddy with Bobby Burdella. That sounds
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like the perfect fruity cocktail to me. Don't listen to him, Jerry.
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You discover your sexuality on your own
terms. There's nothing to discover. I'm
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not gay, are you sure about
that? I mean, have you even
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sucked at dick? No? No, of course not. He is so
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lying. I haven't spill it,
kid, Okay. I did once one
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of my friends and knew a guy
and he was gonna give me some money.
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Jerry, I knew you were one
of us since the day I met
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you. Shut the fuck up,
Bob. You know nothing about me.
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I'm not a fucking faggot and I'm
not like the two of you. Stop
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trying to rope me into your shit. Don't you just love having hangouts like
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that with your friends? Okay,
moving on. As you can imagine,
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this would not be the end of
Jerry and Bob. I mean they worked
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in neighboring's dance for Crying out Loud. Their toxic friendship continued well into the
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following months. Their fueling tensions seemed
to culminate to one evening when Jerry called
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his older friend for a favor.
What's up. This is Robert, Bob.
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It's Jerry. Jerry, how's your
weekend? It's whatever. Listen,
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I got invited to this dance contest
and Miriam and you called to ask me
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to give you one. Yes,
I'd appreciate it. The weather is supposed
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to be pretty bad tonight. Can't
you take the bus? It starts in
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two hours. I don't know if
i'll get there in time. All right,
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fine, but we aren't going to
make this a regular thing. Yeah,
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whatever, thanks Bob. Bob was
a man of his word and went
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to pick up Jerry once the teenager
was in his car. Bob could see
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that something was wrong. Everything all
right, Jared, Yeah, I'm fine,
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let's just go. You don't seem
fine, I'm just nervous. Well,
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here, why don't you try some
of this. Bob pulled out a
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flask from his pocket and gave it
to the passenger. What is it?
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Just some alcohol with a hint of
value. It will make you relax.
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Thanks, Bob. Listen, I
want to apologize for the other day.
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Mark's kind of an asshole. You
were kind of an asshole too, Bob.
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I guess you're
right. I shouldn't
make assumptions so quickly, Bob.
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Can I ask you something? Of
course? Do you think that dancing is
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gay? What do you mean?
I mean, do you think I'm gay
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because I like dancing? I don't
think that's for me to decide. Oh
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my god, I don't feel so
good right now, Bob. You're probably
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just getting car sick. Yeah,
you're probably right. Do you think dancing
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makes you gay? I don't.
I don't. I don't think so.
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It makes me so happy, though, really, Yeah, when I'm dancing,
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it feels like one of the only
times I feel like like me and
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I get this huge rush of bliss. Like like I'm getting lost in something
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incredible. Everything's incredible, Jerry.
You just have to know how to look
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at it right. One thing isn't
right. I feel funny. It's all
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gonna be all right, Jerry.
What is London? You know? When
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Jerry came to he wasn't at a
dance contest in Miriam. Instead, he
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was in Bob's room, tied to
his bed. It's okay, it's okay.
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All you have to do is behave
and it will all be over soon.
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Oh, I know, I know
it's a lot to take in.
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Don't worry though, I'll take good
care of you. The first thing Bob
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did was put chalk into Jerry's ears. This was to prevent him from hearing
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too much. The next thing Bob
did was pull out his syringe. In
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an attempt to sedate Jerry and to
tickle his own torturous fantasies. Bob began
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to inject drain cleaner into the boy's
neck. The torture and rape lasted over
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twenty eight hours. Jerry repeatedly begged
to be set free, but to no
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avail. At some point in the
middle of the night, most likely caused
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by choking on his own vomit.
Jerry Howell died at the age of nineteen.
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Suddenly, Robert Burdella had a lot
bigger problem on his hands. Up
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until this point, Robert had never
murdered someone. Jerry's kidnapping and tortureous spur
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of the moment, and his death
left the problem of disposing. He set
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the body onto a meat hook and
made multiple incisions, letting the blood drain
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from the body into a container below. What's up? This is ROBERTA Thank
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god you answered. Have you seen
or heard from Jerry? He hasn't been
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home in almost two days. I
drove him to a dance contest the other
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night in Miriam, but that was
the last I heard from him. Oh
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God, I don't know where he
could be. If you hear from him
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at all, please please let me
know Sherif than Peter, You're in my
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thoughts and prayers. Once the body
was free of blood, Bob started to
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saw the limbs off. He planned
to hide the body parts in his backyard,
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confident they would never be found.
It was still raining in the Kansas
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City area, which made the ground
wet and muddy, perfect consistency to dig
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a hole. Once finished, Bob
went to go put his shovel into his
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shed, only to find a surprise
waiting for him. Jesus, Mark,
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Hey, Boss, what the fuck
are you doing in here? I'm sorry,
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Boss, I don't do fucking well
sleeping on the street when it's raining.
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I knew you didn't use the shed
much and I just had nowhere else
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to go. At first, Bob
was I need to kick Mark out on
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the spot, but then he got
an idea. Mark, Mark, It's
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okay. Please just stop crying.
Why didn't you spend the night tonight.
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We'll watch a movie and then figure
out where you'll go tomorrow. Okay.
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Bob led the yard worker into his
house, putting on a movie for him,
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ass he prepared drinks. I don't
think i've seen this one. Oh,
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it's my favorite. What's it called
a Collector? It came out when
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I was a kid. For listeners
who may not know, the Collector is
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a movie about a guy kidnapping a
woman and holding her captive in his rural
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farmhouse. I think I might know
where Bob got his inspiration from. I
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can't thank you enough. Boss.
It's not a problem him. Why don't
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you have a drink You've got the
best liquor around here, man. I'm
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sure you can see where this is
going. The drink was made with a
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similar concoction used to sedate Jerry,
and well, things went real south from
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there. He had Mark captive in
a similar manner to his previous victim,
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except for one thing. This time, Bob had his victim tied up on
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00:19:18.039
his stomach shut up, Bob ripped
open mark shirt, revealing his back.
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Next to him, Bob laid out
a series of syringes, each with a
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different sedating drug the Moyeu squirm,
the mo It's gonna hurt. Bob began
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to inject different drugs into Mark's back, wanting to see how they would interact
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with each other, like a six
science experiment. Eventually, Mark had close
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to a dozen syringes in his back
all at once. Bob thought it was
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beautiful, good boy, good bye. Between the violently dangerous combination of drugs
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in his system and the tight gag, Mark Wallace died later that evening.
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Robert Berdella was now a serial killer. He disposed of the body the same
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way he did with Jerry's, this
time keeping the skull. Over the next
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few years, Bob would continue to
kidnap, torture, and murder young gay
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men who were unfortunate enough to meet
him. He often took advantage of gay
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transience, offering them a place to
stay temporarily before drugging them and tying them
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to his bed. He heavily documented
all of these murders, both in a
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journal and through pictures with his Polaroid
camera. Meanwhile, as Bob continued his
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House of Horrors and Hyde Park,
twenty two year old Christopher Bryson was getting
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ready for a night out in downtown
Kansas City. Chris, Chris, what,
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mom, make sure you're back by
sunrise. I'm going to need help
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getting this food to church in the
morning. All right, whatever, and
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don't get too drunk this time.
Chris's mother thought he was going to the
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bar with France, but really he
was heading to the Kansas City bus station.
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How are you doing to night?
Fine? How much fifty four?
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Suck? One hundred four? Fuck? Nah, I'm good, dude,
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Chris solicited men in hopes of making
some extra cash. He was saving up
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to get his own place with his
girlfriend, but unfortunately for him, this
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happened to be one of the bus
stops that our friend Bob frequented as well,
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How are you doing tonight? I'm
good, betty. How are you
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doing? I'm doing all right.
How can I help you? There's lots
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of ways you can help me.
Why didn't you get in the car and
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we can discuss on the way.
So why haven't I seen you around the
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bus station? You definitely have a
face I would remember. I'm a little
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nude of this. I figured,
don't worry, I'll teach you well Instead.
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As they walked through the front door, Bob smashed an iron rod into
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Chris's head, a ritual by now. Bob immediately tied Chris to his bed.
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He injected drain cleaner into the boy's
throat, just as he had done
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with Jerry Howell years before. For
added measure and protection, Bob decided to
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rub some ammonia into Chris's eyes.
Yeah. The torture continued well into the
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night. During a reprieve, Chris
began to beg to his captor, pree,
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why who You did not choose to
be here? But you are?
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For you to survive being here,
and for you too, you know,
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make it. It could either be
rough or it could be easy. If
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I grow to like you and to
trust you. Then I could do special
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things for you, such as by
you cigarettes, pick up a movie on
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the way home from work, and
so forth. Don't try to fight me.
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I'll just get more of what you
had earlier. You see, what
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you got is nothing compared to what
you can have. Oh a wroth good
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because I've gotten this far with other
people before, and they're dead now cause
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of the mistakes they've made. The
torture continued for over three days. Chris
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behaved himself, and this time Robert
was a man of his word, allowing
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longer rest periods. You've been a
good boy, so I'm going to put
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the TV in here for you to
watch. Well, what a saint anyway.
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Toward the end of his third day
of capture, Chris asked Bob for
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a favor, Master, Please,
can you tie my hands in front of
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me and stuff above me. It's
really fucking with my circulation, all right,
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boy, but no funny business.
You've earned it. This once,
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Bob freed Chris's hands from the headboard, allowing them to rest after days of
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being tied to the bed. Later
into the afternoon, Bob left Chris alone
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to make dinner, downstairs. Seeing
this as one of his few opportunities,
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Chris snatched a pack
of matches from
Bob's nightstand. Come on, Come on.
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Eventually, Chris was able to burn
through enough rope to break his arms
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free. After untying his legs,
Chris was a free man for now.
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Oh my god, Oh my god. Because of the ammonia in his eyes,
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Chris couldn't see much around him,
but he could make out faint markings
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on one of Bob's walls. What. As Chris got closer, he could
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see that the wall was covered in
polaroids. The collage depicted heinous torture of
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over half a dozen men. Chris
put two and two together, realizing that
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these must have been Bob's other victims. What the fuck. Realizing that Bob
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was in the room, Chris grabbed
one of the photos and bolted toward a
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nearby window. Having no time to
try and climb out, he leaped and
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fell from the second story onto the
ground below, breaking one of his feet
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in the process. Oh my god. Fuck. Chris opened his eyes enough
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to see his captor staring down at
him with pure evil in his eyes.
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He knew it was now or never
to get away. Barely able to get
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up, Chris limped into the nearby
tree line. After seeing Bob was trailing
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him, Chris picked up speed.
Eventually, as Chris broke through the tree
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line, he saw a meter reader
behind an old house. This was Chris's
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only help, Jesus Christ, help
me? What police? He's after me?
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Who's after you? Bob was the
next to break through the tree line,
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stopping in his tracks as he realized
it was all over. Who who
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are you? Bob bolted back into
the trees, confusing the meterman even further.
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What the hell? He went to
aid the boy walking him toward the
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occupant of the house. Mister Duval
called a police. The police arrived soon
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after and the questioning began. So
he kept you captive for three days?
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Yes, how did you guys meet? I was hitchhiking, he offered me
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a ride, and what happened when
he took you? I don't want to
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00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:02.960
talk about it. Son. We
can't do anything to this guy unless you
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give his some concrete testimony of what
he did. I can't. I don't.
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Chris was lost and traumatized, feeling
like he wasn't doing enough
to convince
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the authorities of his torture. Suddenly
he remembered the photo. He grabbed the
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polaroid. He had a wall of
polaroids in his room, and I grabbed
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one here. He pulled out the
polaroid and gave it to the detective.
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It depicted a boy hung from a
meat hook with blood draining from his body.
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That's enough testimony for me, Kansas
City. This is a Detective Wadley
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iding back up over in Hyde Park. That evening, Robert Berdella was captured
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and charged with kidnapping and torture.
Shortly thereafter, a search warrant was granted
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and police were able to take Bob's
polaroid collection and journals. They gave a
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detailed account of the torture he had
put his victims through, in addition to
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exact locations of where he hid the
remains. This obviously led to further charges.
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Bob initially tried to plead not guilty
on the charges of murder to his
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other victims, but eventually settled in
a plea bargain in order to avoid the
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death penalty. As Bob began his
journey of rotting in prison, the detective
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assigned to his case began the task
of tracking the victims back to their families.
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Hello, there, how can I
hope you today? Peter Howell stand
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at the flea market, had found
quite a bit of success, and he
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00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:30.440
was eventually able to open his own
storefront. His family was able to live
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comfortably in the apartment above, well, most of his family. Are you,
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mister Howell? I sure am.
You can call me Peter though.
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Good afternoon, Peter. My name
is Detective Walley. I'm with us about
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Jerry, isn't it, yes,
mister Howell, Peter, we recently apprehended
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00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:52.880
a gentleman by the name of Robert
Berdella. There's some mounting evidence, though,
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Are you okay? Bob Bardella ran
le Margaret stand next to us.
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00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.480
He was a family friend, mister
Howell. I'm so sorry to have to
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00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:11.799
ask you this. There was multiple
photos taken from Bridela's home that shows victims.
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They're pretty graphic, but it would
be really helpful and it would help
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00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:22.920
Kansas City PD if you could possibly
identify one of the victims. We think
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00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:29.680
he may be your son. Oh
God, I don't know if I can
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do I don't know if I can
do it, but I know I have
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to. It only needs to be
for a quick moment. Okay, The
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00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:48.319
detective pulled out the same photo Chris
had taken during his escape. Peter immediately
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00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.880
recognized the body on the hook.
Jerry, No, no, no,
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no, no, that's my little
boy. Being gay in the nineteen eighties
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00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:03.440
was difficult and dangerous. It was
a dark span of queer history that is
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00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:08.799
often overshadowed by the violently destructive AIDS
crisis that was to follow. Our culture
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00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:12.480
in recent decades has been moving in
the right direction and changing how we view
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00:30:12.519 --> 00:30:18.640
gay people, but LGBTQ youth continue
to make up a sizeable portion of homeless
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00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:22.200
people in the United States. These
youth are often at risk of falling into
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00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:29.039
the care of someone dangerous, someone
like Robert Berdella. I hope in future
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00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:33.440
decades we as an entire nation embrace
and love our children so that they don't
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00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:44.119
fall into the embrace of a monster. The Polaroid Project was written by Keelan
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00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:48.400
Brown, narrated by me Skyler Fasteno, and executive produced by Daniel Jones.
338
00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:55.119
Voice talent was provided by Tamer Perry, Marissipis Stone, Jeremy Staple, Walker,
339
00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:59.759
Barnes, Vince Perez, Daniel Jones, Matt McNelly, Rainy Blake Jordan,
340
00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:03.400
and Alan Anthony Morion. I'm so
glad you could join us for another
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00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:08.000
episode of the Original Deadtime Stories.
If you enjoyed this episode, let us
342
00:31:08.039 --> 00:31:12.519
know by leaving a five star rating
and review wherever you listen. It helps
343
00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:17.799
us out so much. You can
also check out our Patreon for ad free
344
00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:22.640
episodes, early access to new episodes, merchandise, and much much more.
345
00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:26.960
We are also active on YouTube,
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The
346
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links to all of those are in
the episode description. We will be back
347
00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:36.519
in just seven short days with a
Thanksgiving special. Until then, stay safe
348
00:31:36.519 --> 00:31:40.480
out there. I don't want you
to become the next chapter's topic on the
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00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:56.039
Original Deadtime Stories.