WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Marianne Bachmeier: Vigilante Mother

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, I'm open to the short stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and Jerry's here too, sitting in for Dave.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is a good old fashioned short stuff, the

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<v Speaker 1>oh Man.

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<v Speaker 2>Edition Vigilante Justice. Thank you to Perplexity and YouTube and

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<v Speaker 2>how Stuff Works and Morbidology for the information on the

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<v Speaker 2>kind of shocking story of mary Anne Bachmeyer.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so, Maryann Bachmeier. You say vigilanti, you usually think

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<v Speaker 1>guys in the Old West, right now. Maryon Bachmeyer was

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<v Speaker 1>a woman in Germany and Lubeck, I believe, Germany in

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen eighties who carried out essentially an execution in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of open court to kill the murder of

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<v Speaker 1>her daughter. And if you want to start talking about

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<v Speaker 1>moral quandaries and ethical twists, this is about as good

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<v Speaker 1>as it gets.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, as bad as it gets on May fifth, night

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<v Speaker 2>eight And you know, trigger warning because this involves sexual

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<v Speaker 2>violence and violence against a child, which is the worst

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<v Speaker 2>thing you can imagine. But her daughter Anna was abducted

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<v Speaker 2>at the age of seven by a man named Klaus Grobowski.

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<v Speaker 2>He was a thirty five year old butcher. He was

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<v Speaker 2>out on probation. He had a history of crimes against

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<v Speaker 2>children and sexual offenses, and little Anna got in an

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<v Speaker 2>argument with her mother apparently that morning skipped school, and

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<v Speaker 2>Grabowski lured her to his apartment because he said that

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<v Speaker 2>he had cats that she could play with.

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<v Speaker 3>He sexually assaulted her over the.

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<v Speaker 2>Course of several hours and then strangled her to death,

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<v Speaker 2>put her body in a cardboard box and disposed of

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<v Speaker 2>it in a canal. And that is the most awful

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<v Speaker 2>part of the story. So I'm glad that parts over with.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure. And mary Anne was a single mom,

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<v Speaker 1>did you say that? No, So Grobowski was actually turned

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<v Speaker 1>in by his fiance, and like you said, he was

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<v Speaker 1>out on probation. He'd actually been chemically castrated before and

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<v Speaker 1>his chemical castration was reversed when he met his fiance

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<v Speaker 1>while he was in prison, and so he was caught

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<v Speaker 1>fairly quickly, I believe, and he was put on trial

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<v Speaker 1>for the murder of Anna. And during this trial, and

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<v Speaker 1>within the first I think couple of days, his defense

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<v Speaker 1>was I didn't sexually abuse her. She said that she

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<v Speaker 1>was going to tell her mom that I did sexually

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<v Speaker 1>abuse her if I didn't give her money. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>why I killed her, And that caused mary Anne Bachmeyer

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<v Speaker 1>to absolutely snap. Not only was her young seven year

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<v Speaker 1>old daughter sexually assaulted and murdered, now she was being

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<v Speaker 1>slandered in open court by the guy who murdered her.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and gaslet. The whole country is being gaslet by

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<v Speaker 2>this guy. So on day three of the trial, she

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<v Speaker 2>comes into court and she has smuggled in a gun,

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<v Speaker 2>a small caliber of twenty two barretta pistol, and she

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<v Speaker 2>shot him very calmly, apparently, walked over, fired eight shots

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<v Speaker 2>at him. I saw seven and other places, but both

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<v Speaker 2>places I saw that she hit him six times, killed

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<v Speaker 2>him on the spot. And the court was going nuts, obviously,

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<v Speaker 2>but apparently she was very calm through the whole thing

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<v Speaker 2>with her demeanor, said things like I wanted to kill him,

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<v Speaker 2>he killed my daughter. I wanted to shoot him in

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<v Speaker 2>the face, but I shot him in the back. I

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<v Speaker 2>hope he dies.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and her just calmly saying this stuff too, while

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the court's going crazy. I mean that's

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<v Speaker 1>movie type stuff, you know, Yeah, for sure. So I

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<v Speaker 1>say we take a little break and come back and

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<v Speaker 1>talk about how people felt about this Vigilanti execution in Germany.

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<v Speaker 2>After this, all right, So the vigilanti killing has happened

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<v Speaker 2>in court in front of everybody, so like, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>kind of no doubt what happened. As to her guilt goes.

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<v Speaker 2>Details emerged about, you know, her past, and you know,

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<v Speaker 2>how what kind of a mother she was. Some people

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<v Speaker 2>at some point like questioned her grief a little bit

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<v Speaker 2>criticized her parenting, but most people, a lot of people

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<v Speaker 2>were like, heck, yeah, you know, you avenged the death

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<v Speaker 2>of your daughter. They're in plain view and you took

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<v Speaker 2>care of things very quickly and efficiently. And one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>thousand dollars deutsch mars were raised for her legal defense

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<v Speaker 2>because of that right.

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<v Speaker 1>And I have to say I looked into it. It's

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<v Speaker 1>pretty gross. The people who are like, oh, I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>I questioned her moral character. She had a kid. She

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<v Speaker 1>had two kids out of wedlock, one at sixteen, one

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<v Speaker 1>at eighteen, and she adopted both of them off right

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<v Speaker 1>after they were born because she was sixteen and then eighteen,

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<v Speaker 1>when she was twenty three, she had Anna. She made

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<v Speaker 1>the decision to raise her on her own as a

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<v Speaker 1>single mom. And then so that was like her like

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<v Speaker 1>her past that people were like, oh, I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>about that. And then her behavior after Anna died. She

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<v Speaker 1>apparently married and spent a lot of time at work.

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<v Speaker 1>She worked in a pub, and that was enough for

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<v Speaker 1>people to be like, I don't know about this lady.

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<v Speaker 1>I was okay with her murdering this guy in open court,

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<v Speaker 1>but she's spending time at a pub and I've lost

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<v Speaker 1>faith in her.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly, which surprises me. For Germany, because they loved

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<v Speaker 2>their beer.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I should also say this is West Germany, and

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know if Germans has referred to it historically

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<v Speaker 1>like that still or if they prefer people just say Germany,

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<v Speaker 1>because this is nineteen eighty and nineteen eighty one and

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<v Speaker 1>it was definitely still West Germany that we're talking about.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you're German, right in and let.

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<v Speaker 2>Us know, Yeah, yeah, for sure. So she initially had

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<v Speaker 2>a murder charge put on her. They eventually convicted her

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<v Speaker 2>of manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm. That always

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<v Speaker 2>cracks me up when a tiny little offense is tacked

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<v Speaker 2>on a six year prison sentence.

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<v Speaker 3>She served three and got out.

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<v Speaker 2>People thought that that was a fairly lenient sentence for

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<v Speaker 2>obvious reasons. And if you talk about a pretty evenly

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<v Speaker 2>split survey. There was a survey about a year later

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<v Speaker 2>in eighty three by the Allensbach Institute, and twenty eight

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<v Speaker 2>percent felt the sentence was just right, twenty seven percent

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<v Speaker 2>thought it was too harsh, twenty five percent thought she

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<v Speaker 2>got off too lightly, and twenty percent weren't sure. So

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<v Speaker 2>it's very evenly pretty much evenly divided as to how

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<v Speaker 2>people felt about her even serving those three years.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and plus it also sparked a lot of debates

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<v Speaker 1>about other stuff too, in particular whether or not the

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<v Speaker 1>German or German court system was a little too lenient

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<v Speaker 1>with repeat offenders. Remember h Grabowski was out on bail

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<v Speaker 1>or on probation. I'm sorry, So that was a big,

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<v Speaker 1>a big discussion. And also, like you know what, like

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<v Speaker 1>what right does a person like that have, Do you

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<v Speaker 1>have like a moral right to murder somebody who did

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<v Speaker 1>that to your child? And then also does that right

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<v Speaker 1>extend to your if somebody did that to your husband

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<v Speaker 1>or your wife or your brother, Like is it just

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<v Speaker 1>specifically is it really narrow that only a mother could

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<v Speaker 1>do that only for her young child, only under circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>like this. This is the stuff that the people of

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<v Speaker 1>Germany were talking about at the time.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, for sure.

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<v Speaker 2>She served those three years, was released in June of

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<v Speaker 2>eighty five, and obviously wanted to sort of get away

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<v Speaker 2>from all that. She withdrew from the public eye. Pretty

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<v Speaker 2>you know, pretty smart move and moved to Nigeria. She

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<v Speaker 2>married a tea, moved to Nigeria. She was there through

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<v Speaker 2>the nineties, but got divorced after a few years, and

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<v Speaker 2>then after her divorce, went to Sicily and developed pancreatic cancer,

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<v Speaker 2>a terminal case of cancer. So that eventually got her

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<v Speaker 2>to go back to Germany. Such that she was, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>in the mid nineties, like occasionally interviewed and stuff like that.

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<v Speaker 3>Again because she was back there.

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<v Speaker 2>In the mid nineties, she was interviewed for a television

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<v Speaker 2>show where I don't know why she felt like she

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<v Speaker 2>needed to admit this because everyone knew what happened, but

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<v Speaker 2>sort of was like, yeah, I did this, I meant

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<v Speaker 2>to do it, and just passed away about a year

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<v Speaker 2>later in nineteen ninety six, at the young age of

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<v Speaker 2>forty six from cancer.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I think what she was saying too was that

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<v Speaker 1>she finally admitted that it was premeditated, because that's not

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<v Speaker 1>the case against her. Hinged on. Was it something that

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<v Speaker 1>she had planned out.

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<v Speaker 3>And you brought the gun into course?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, but was it planned rather than that? And

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<v Speaker 1>like the prosecution apparently had firearms experts that were like,

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<v Speaker 1>she hit this guy six out of seven or eight.

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<v Speaker 1>However many shots she fired times like you actually would

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<v Speaker 1>have to have firearms training the average person would do

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<v Speaker 1>to for that number of hits. So like people were saying, like,

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<v Speaker 1>she definitely thought about this planet it out, prepared for it,

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<v Speaker 1>and she finally admitted in nineteen ninety five that she did.

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<v Speaker 1>And she had a really hard life man dead at

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<v Speaker 1>forty six of pancreatic cancer. And I also read that

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<v Speaker 1>she herself also had been sexually abused as a child too,

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<v Speaker 1>So she had a really hard, hard to add life.

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<v Speaker 1>You know.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I feel for h for sure.

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<v Speaker 2>She was late to rest beside her daughter there in

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<v Speaker 2>burg Tor Cemetery in Lubek, Germany.

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<v Speaker 3>YEP.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you're in Lubec, Germany and you want to

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<v Speaker 1>go pay your respects to marry Anne or Anna or both,

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<v Speaker 1>you can.

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<v Speaker 3>Do that, that's right.

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<v Speaker 2>And this certainly is something so people talk about over there, especially,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, as far as all the kind of things

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<v Speaker 2>we were saying, and certainly we're not weighing in on

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<v Speaker 2>that here far as vigilanti justice goes. But the world

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<v Speaker 2>was probably a better place without that guy walking around.

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<v Speaker 1>Probably hard to disagree with that, Chuck, and I think

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<v Speaker 1>before we say anything else. Short stuff is that.

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