1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: The following podcast contains explicit descriptions of violence, including sexual violence, 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: that some listeners may find upsetting. Continue at your own risk. 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you didn't have to be a fan if 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 2: you followed popular culture in the nineties, if you were 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 2: into music at all, hell, if you were in your 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 2: twenties or even anywhere near him. You remember Kurt Cobain's suicide. 7 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 2: You don't necessarily remember the date, like nine to eleven. 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 3: Well I do. 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 2: It was April the nineteen ninety four. That's the day 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 2: they found his body. Anyway, he'd been dead a couple days. 11 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 2: Crazy right, one of the biggest stars on the planet, 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 2: and his dead body was rotting in the room above 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:50,599 Speaker 2: his garage for days. It wasn't even family who found him. 14 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 2: It was some electrician dude who came over to install 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 2: some lighting. 16 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: That's Connor Langford remembering one of the seminal events of 17 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: the nineteen nine the suicide of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: You may remember from our previous episodes that Connor is 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: the son of Domino Beach City councilman Greg Langford and 20 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: one of the two men who found the body of 21 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: the Domino Beach killer's first victim anyway. 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,639 Speaker 2: Shocked under the head blame no more Nirvana. He quoted 23 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 2: Neil Young in a suicide note. You know it's better 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 2: to burn out than to fade away. I don't know, 25 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 2: maybe he was right. 26 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: Here's Maya Morales, Connor's girlfriend at the time. 27 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, when the news hit, I was working first 28 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 4: shift at Gravel Records. Spring break was just kicking up, 29 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 4: so there were a lot of college kids in town. 30 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 4: By noon the next day, we had sold out of 31 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 4: every Nirvana ced, every vinyl record, every cassette, every T shirt, poster, 32 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 4: even those little metal buttons you pinned on your jacket, 33 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 4: remember those. Yeah, all of a sudden, Nirvana was everyone's 34 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 4: favorite band, a bunch of posers. 35 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 3: They were really fans. 36 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,119 Speaker 4: Don't you think that they would have already had all 37 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 4: that stuff. 38 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: I was twenty three years old in April of ninety four, 39 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: and I have to admit I was one of the 40 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: posers I was talking about. I was dating a guy 41 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: who was in med school at USC at the time 42 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: and was a huge grunge fan. So he was absolutely devastated. 43 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: And I don't really know why, but I fell victim 44 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: to the collective sadness of it all, Nirvana wasn't really 45 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,239 Speaker 1: my kind of band. I was still mostly into eighties 46 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: music back then, and if you haven't figured it out 47 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: by now, I was desperately uncool in my twenties. But 48 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: Nirvana had had such an impact on popular music and 49 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: a huge influence on so many of my fellow gen xers. 50 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: In the weeks after Cobain's death, I listened to them 51 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: more than I ever had before or since. I mean 52 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 1: to be honest, the only reason I bought their breakthrough 53 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: CD never Mind in the first place was to hear 54 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: the song Paully that the Murderer of Vera Kendrick had 55 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: quoted a year and a half earlier. To say Cobain's 56 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: death was a big deal is an understatement. It may 57 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: have affected us all in different ways. Some of us 58 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: would miss his music, some of us related to the 59 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: depression he felt. Some of us were simply saddened by 60 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: the idea of a twenty seven year old musical genius 61 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: at the top of his game checking out. And there 62 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: are those who believe his suicide had an impact on 63 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: the Domino Beach Killer because what he did next was 64 00:03:44,400 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: a major escalation. I'm Courtney Barnes and this is the 65 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: Murder Years, Episode three, Cornflake Girl. 66 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 5: You got to understand. April is when Domino Beach started 67 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 5: to wake up after the lean winter months. 68 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 1: That's Damon Stokes retired Sheriff of Delsoul County. 69 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 5: As soon as the spring breakers started rolling into town, 70 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 5: the population tripled and everything opened up. Shops, restaurants, and 71 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 5: bars that were only opened two or three days a 72 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 5: week from September to March were open pretty much now 73 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 5: twenty four to seven. 74 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 3: Almost every hotel. 75 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 5: And rental house was packed and booked solid until the 76 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 5: end of August. 77 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 3: It's like everything really came to life all of a sudden. 78 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 3: I was a local. It was truly something to. 79 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: See, it really was. Nineteen ninety four marked my second 80 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: spring break spent in Domino Beach, and by then I 81 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 1: had become a full fledged reporter on the payroll of 82 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: the SoCal Journal. Glenn Sherman was still covering crime in 83 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: politics and for the most part not letting me anywhere 84 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: near it. My beat was lifestyle and entertainment, which, to 85 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 1: be honest, I was pretty happy about covering the murder 86 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: of Via Kendrick right out of the gate and then, 87 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: shadowing Glenn for a year had led me to the 88 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: conclusion that I did not want to be a crime reporter, 89 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: at least not yet. Even a small tourist town like 90 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: Domino Beach had crime. Besides the two unsolved murders of 91 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: Via Kendrick and Billy Boy Reeves, there was the inland 92 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: drug trade and everything that comes with that, prostitution, muggings, 93 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: some shootings, you know, that sort of thing, and then 94 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: you had domestic abuse cases, burglaries, bar fights. It was 95 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: just too much for me. It's weird for me to 96 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: think of myself like that, to remember there was a 97 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: time before the world and all its cynicism burned away 98 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 1: any sense of innocence and naivete I once had. Anyway, 99 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: I'd been promoted over the winter, so spring break was 100 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: going to be my first chance to shine, to plant 101 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: my flag and really own my beat. I'd spend time 102 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: on the crowded beaches writing about all that the college 103 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: kids were doing. I'd eat it all the restaurants in 104 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: town and review the ones I liked. And remember, this 105 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: was long before the birth of Yo, when everyone and 106 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: their brothers suddenly became a food critic. Although unlike most yelpers. 107 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: I promised to never pan a place fight didn't like it. 108 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: I'd follow the if you can't say anything nice, don't 109 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: say anything at all rule. I still had to live 110 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 1: with these people, and of course I'd cover the spring 111 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: break nightlife, listening to live music and dive bars and 112 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: watching half naked college kids rive on outdoor dance floors 113 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: overlooking the ocean. It's going to be fun. It was 114 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: supposed to be fun, and I have no doubt that's 115 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: exactly what Holly Blake, Mary Crouch, and Sandra Gerard thought 116 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: when they drove all the way from Arizona State University 117 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: to Domino Beach. 118 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 5: The way I understand it, Holly Blake had an unclehole 119 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 5: in the house where they stayed. He never lived there himself, 120 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 5: though you know it only met him once or twice. 121 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 5: It was purely a rental property for him, you know, 122 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 5: a money maker and a good one. 123 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: Can you describe it? 124 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 5: Well, sure, it's a long time since you know. It's 125 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 5: torn down now, as you know, but I remember it 126 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 5: pretty clearly. It was one level, three bedrooms, I mean 127 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 5: maybe four, but I think three, and it was a 128 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 5: modern kitchen, A couple of decent sized bathrooms, massive back deck. 129 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 3: On stilts that overlooked the ocean. It's real beauty. 130 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 5: Booked all summer long, but it was, you know, usually 131 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 5: empty during the spring break. It was one of the 132 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 5: most expensive rentals in town, too much for most college kids. 133 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 3: So you know it was going to stay empty most 134 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 3: of April. 135 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 5: I guess miss Blake's uncle decided he might as well 136 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 5: let her and her friends just use it. 137 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 3: Oh. 138 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 5: It was in a very active part of Domino Beach too, 139 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 5: within walking distance of downtown and not too far from 140 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 5: Senior Gusto, the beach front bar of choice for the 141 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 5: spring Breakers. Cheap shots, live music, some nights of DJ others, 142 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 5: wet t shirt contest, karaoke, and know all that nonsense. 143 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,559 Speaker 1: Holly, Mary and Sandra must have felt like they'd hit 144 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: the jackpot. They were three fun, pretty college girls staying 145 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: in one of the hottest houses on the coolest part 146 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: of the beach, and yeah, it proved too good to 147 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: be true. 148 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 3: The way it went down was like this. Nine to one. 149 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 5: One got a call a little after three in the 150 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 5: morning on April twenty first. It was oh god, Thursday, Yeah, right, 151 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 5: it's Thursday. 152 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 3: The house next door was home to the Gillen family. 153 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 5: Adam Gillen was a lawyer who worked in San Diego's wife, Darla, 154 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 5: was a TV writer in Hollywood. I don't remember what 155 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 5: shows she worked on. I didn't watch a lot of 156 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 5: TV back then. Well, they were year round residents. Darla 157 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,679 Speaker 5: worked from home most times and Adam commuted back and 158 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 5: forth from San Diego. Well, they didn't think too much 159 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 5: of these spring breakers. I mean, like I said before, 160 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 5: the house these girls were staying and was usually vacant 161 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 5: during spring break, but that week the house was party central. 162 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 5: Didn't take too long for those girls to become the 163 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 5: most popular tourists in town. During the daytime, there were 164 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 5: upwards of twenty kids going in and out from the beach, 165 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 5: beating the heat or refilling their drinks and so on. 166 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 5: And at night the girls invited half the town over 167 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 5: to keep the park going after the bar has closed. 168 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 3: I mean, you know they were doing it up. 169 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 5: So anyway, it was after three am Thursday morning, April 170 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 5: twenty first, nine to one one gets a call from 171 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 5: Adam Gillen. 172 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 3: Apparently there'd been some loud music. 173 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 5: Coming from the house next door all night and he 174 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 5: couldn't take it anymore. He had to go to work 175 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 5: the next morning, so he walked over there in a huff. 176 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 5: He's in his bathrobe and slippers, and he wants to 177 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 5: ask him to turn it down. When he got there, 178 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 5: he found the front door standing wide open, says He 179 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 5: called out, but the music was so loud you could 180 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 5: barely hear himself, so he took a few steps inside. 181 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: What Adam Gillen saw inside the house made him turn 182 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: right around, run outside, throw up in the bushes, and 183 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: then hurry back to his house to call nine one one. 184 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 5: What I saw when I arrived, I mean, it was 185 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 5: just horrific. The deputy on duty beat me there, but 186 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 5: only about by ten minutes. The nine one one dispatcher 187 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 5: called me at home, told me that if what Adam 188 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 5: Gillen was saying turned out to be true, I better 189 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 5: go see it for myself. 190 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: And what did you see when you got there? 191 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 5: The first thing I saw was blood, lots of it, 192 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 5: silking in the pale gray carpet of this living room. 193 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 5: And lying in the middle of that blood is twenty 194 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 5: year old Sandra Gerard. 195 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 3: She was wearing shorts and a tank. 196 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 5: Top, but you know, a nice one summertime going out closed. 197 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 3: The top was torn up pretty good. 198 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 5: She had the stab wounds all over her body, at 199 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 5: least a couple of dozen. She was lying face down, 200 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 5: the wrist tied behind her back, the plastic zip tie. 201 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 5: There was another puddle of blood on the carpet right 202 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 5: next to her, quite so big, and the start of 203 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 5: a long red smear that went all the way across 204 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 5: the living room carpet into the kitchen tile. And that's 205 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 5: where twenty one year old Holly Blake was found. And 206 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 5: she was wearing one of those summer dresses like her 207 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 5: friend Sandra. She was just covered in stab wounds, had 208 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 5: her hands bound. It look like sh she'd been dragged 209 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 5: and reguled her way into the kitchen and probably trying 210 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 5: to get to the phone call for help. 211 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 3: But you know she I don't know, she didn't make it. 212 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: And what about Mary Crouch? 213 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 5: We found Mary, also twenty one years old, uh in 214 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,479 Speaker 5: the master bedroom. 215 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 3: She was found naked. 216 00:12:55,320 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 5: She'd been raped, beaten, uh, and she had been strangled 217 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 5: to death. 218 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,079 Speaker 1: Just like Vera Hendrick. 219 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 3: That's right. 220 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: Adam Gillen, the next door neighbor who found the bodies, 221 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: had come over to complain about the loud music coming 222 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,079 Speaker 1: from the house. As if the volume hadn't been annoying enough, 223 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: it was the same song playing over and over for 224 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: at least an hour that really got to him, Cornflake 225 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: Girl by Tory Amos. The source of the music was 226 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: a ninety minute cassette tape with that one song recorded 227 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: onto it, repeating itself over and over on the living 228 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: room stereo. Apparently the killer had played it during his 229 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: assault on the women and let it play while he 230 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: raped and strangled Mary Crouch, then repeatedly stabbed Sandra Gerard 231 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,719 Speaker 1: and Holly Blake. Then he cranked up the volume and 232 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: left it playing on his way out the door, likely 233 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: because he wanted the bodies to be found sooner rather 234 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: than later. He was proud of what he'd done and 235 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: wanted others to see his work. But why that song? 236 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 1: Why Cornflake Girl? 237 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 4: Cornflake Girl was kind of like a feminist anthem of 238 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 4: the nineties. I was more of a hip hop R 239 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 4: and B girl myself back then, so Tori Amos wasn't 240 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 4: my jam. But it was a pretty good song, I 241 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 4: admit it. Supposedly it was about how some women will 242 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 4: screw over other women, even if they're good friends and 243 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 4: that's what a cornflake girl is. 244 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: In retrospect, it's not surprising that the Domino Beach killer 245 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: would subvert a feminist song like that, letting it play 246 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: while he raped and murdered these young women. He probably 247 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: got some weird kind of pleasure out of it. If 248 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: you listen to the lyrics. There are some ominous sounding 249 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: phrases in there, like she's gone to the other side, 250 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: and a nervous sounding stuttering of this is not really happening, 251 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: followed by Amos almost screeching you bet your life it is. 252 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: It's weirdly haunted. But that's not why the killer chose 253 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: that song, at least it wasn't the only reason. 254 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 4: So the story, and I heard this before the murders, 255 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 4: but back when I was working at Gravel Records, is 256 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 4: that Torri Amos had read some book. 257 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 1: And was possessing the Secret of Joy. Huh, Possessing the 258 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: Secret of Joy by Alice Walker. That was the book. 259 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 3: Are you telling this or am I? 260 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 6: You are? 261 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: Maya? 262 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 4: So she read this book which apparently talked about the 263 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 4: practice of female genital mutilation in some parts of Africa, 264 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 4: and I guess it was pretty common for a girl's 265 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 4: friend or aunt or cousin or whatever to betray the 266 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 4: girl and either do the deed themselves or bring them 267 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 4: to someone who did sick, twisted shit right. 268 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: Mary Crouch, the victim who was found raped and strangled 269 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: to death in the bedroom, had her literal glands and 270 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: labia minora sliced off with the same knife used to 271 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: stab her friends to death. 272 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 5: What we determined was after the party cleared out, the 273 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 5: killer came in. Girls may have left the door unlocked, 274 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 5: or maybe they he had been at the party. We 275 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 5: weren't sure, but there was no sign of forced entry. 276 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 5: He attacked the women, all three of them who had 277 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 5: been drinking heavily that night, and tied them up, then 278 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 5: put on the music and took Mary into the bedroom, 279 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 5: where he raped and strangled her. Then he went into 280 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 5: the kitchen, grabbed a knife, murdered Holly and Sandra, and 281 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 5: went back into the bedroom and did what he did 282 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 5: to Marry. 283 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 3: At least you know, she was already dead. 284 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: The knife was found on the floor next to the bed. 285 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 1: The removed genitalia were never recovered. 286 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 5: These were not only the most violent murders ever committed 287 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 5: by the Domino Beach Killer, they were the most violent 288 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 5: murders I have ever seen in my career and still 289 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:08,160 Speaker 5: are to this day. 290 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: Maybe everyone, myself included, had fallen under the spell of 291 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: Councilman Langford's there's nothing to see here rhetoric. But prior 292 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: to the murders of Holly, Sandra and Mary, the thought 293 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: of a serial killer in Domino Beach had never even 294 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: entered my mind. Not in September nineteen ninety two, when 295 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: Vera Kendrick was murdered, Not in July of ninety three, 296 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,960 Speaker 1: when the body of teenage junkie and prostitute Billy Boy 297 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,400 Speaker 1: Reeves was found with his throat slit ear to ear 298 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 1: in the dumpster behind Triple Bes. Those two murders still 299 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: felt completely disconnected. No one even considered they were related. 300 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: Up until then, there had been no real sense of 301 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: fear and certainly no panic in Domino Beach. But all 302 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: that changed in April nineteen ninety four. I remember being 303 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: in the journal offices the day Holly, Sandra and Mary's 304 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:07,719 Speaker 1: bodies were found, watching a pale, uncharacteristically quiet Glenn Sherman 305 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: bang out the story on his old clunky mat. He 306 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: wasn't nervous just because he suspected whatever he wrote would 307 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: be picked up by other papers all across the country, 308 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: which it was. No he had other concerns. It's hard 309 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: to write about things like women being butchered in such 310 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: horrible ways and still sound like you're being respectful to 311 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: the victims and their families. And Glenn he was never 312 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: the tight to hold back. He was looking to walk 313 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: right up to the line where detailed accuracy becomes unnecessary 314 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: exploitation without crossing it. And to his credit, I think 315 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 1: he was successful. That was a rough year for our 316 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: little town of Domino Beach. 317 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 2: Well, my fucking dad couldn't exactly sweep that one under 318 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 2: the rug, could he? Vera even though she was a 319 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 2: of mine, didn't rate. Can you imagine that your own 320 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:05,359 Speaker 2: son is trying to get you to help solve the 321 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 2: murder of someone he cared about and your response is 322 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 2: essentially fuck it. She was just a homeless hippie, right, 323 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 2: and she never contributed any money to the community. 324 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:16,679 Speaker 3: Who cares? 325 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:21,640 Speaker 2: But those girls, they went to college, They had families, 326 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 2: families with money. Their murders got talked about on the 327 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 2: national fucking news. There was no hiding this one, huh. 328 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 2: And my father always true to fucking form. He saw 329 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,719 Speaker 2: it as a goddamn opportunity. He had his political sights 330 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 2: set on a bigger office, and he saw this as 331 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 2: a way to get his name out there, get people 332 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,160 Speaker 2: all over the country to know who he was off 333 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 2: the backs of three mutilated college students piece of shit. 334 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 3: Writing It's true. 335 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 5: Counsel in Laneford leaned on me hard, especially when there 336 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 5: were cameras around, said if I didn't solve those murders 337 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 5: by the end of tourist season, I might as well 338 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 5: just pack up and leave, because he'd make sure his 339 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 5: hell I didn't win my next election, and he had 340 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 5: the pull to make that happen too. So I started 341 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 5: working on the only lead I had, Stan Majors. 342 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 1: If you remember from last episode, Stan Majors was an 343 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: ex con, registered sex defender and person of interest in 344 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety two murder of Vera Kendrick. 345 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,679 Speaker 3: I admit that I never believed Majors was involved in 346 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,440 Speaker 3: the murder of the Asu girls, but we. 347 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 5: Didn't have anywhere else to go. There were no usable 348 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 5: fingerprints on the murder weapon or anywhere else on the scene, 349 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 5: No semen or hair was found, no skin or blood 350 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,399 Speaker 5: under any of the girl's fingernails. No one saw a 351 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 5: goddamn thing, you know. So the girls had thrown a 352 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 5: party that night. There were at least two or three 353 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 5: dozen kids at the house, most of them from out 354 00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 5: of town. 355 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 3: We talked to every single one of them got nowhere. 356 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 5: No one would admit to being the last one to leave, 357 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 5: and no one said there was anyone who looked. 358 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 3: Suspicious or shady. 359 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 5: There either, just a bunch of kids getting drunk, getting high, dancing, 360 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 5: hooking up. So I didn't see the harm in bringing 361 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,120 Speaker 5: Stan Majors back to the station for a word or two. 362 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 3: But you know I was wrong. 363 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: There was plenty of out of town press in Domino Beach. 364 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: In the days after the murders of the ASU students 365 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 1: and councilman Langford leaked to reporters from TV stations in 366 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: Los Angeles and San Diego that Stokes was bringing in 367 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 1: a suspect for questioning. This wasn't exactly true, since Stan 368 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: Majors was never officially declared a suspect in any of 369 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: the Domino Beach murders. But when Stokes arrived at the 370 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: station with Majors in the backseat of his car. 371 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,880 Speaker 3: It was a shit show, is what it was. Goddamn 372 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 3: media circus. 373 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 5: It took me about an hour to make the round 374 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 5: trip all the way to and from the gas. 375 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 3: Station where Majors was working, and when I pulled up. 376 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,639 Speaker 5: To the sh station, if you have thought it was 377 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 5: the red carpet of the oscars. 378 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: Here's some archive footage from Sheriff Stokes interview with Stan 379 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: Major's that day. 380 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 6: No, I haven't been to Domino Beach in uh not 381 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 6: since maybe last October. 382 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 3: Why are you lying to me? 383 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 6: Stan? I'm not lying? 384 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:25,439 Speaker 7: Yeah you are now. 385 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 3: Maybe you killed those girls and maybe you didn't. I didn't. 386 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 3: I didn't kill either way. 387 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 7: Stan, you're lying to me right now, and I don't 388 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 7: care for it. You were at that party that night, 389 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 7: weren't you? 390 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 6: What? 391 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 7: No, you think they'd led me into that house. They 392 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,199 Speaker 7: were from out of town. Stand they didn't know you. 393 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 7: They didn't know what you've done. What you're capable of. 394 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 6: I'm not capable of that. I couldn't hurt anyone. 395 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 7: Like you've done it before. You beat a minor half 396 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 7: unconscious because she turned you down. That what happened here? 397 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 7: You tried to get with Mary and what after you 398 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 7: made you mad. 399 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 6: No, I don't know who that is. I never seen 400 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 6: those girls. 401 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 7: Yeah, never met them before that night. 402 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 6: Never look, men, what I did. It was almost ten 403 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 6: years ago. Now I pay my debt to society. I'm 404 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 6: still paying it. I hardly ever go anywhere besides working 405 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 6: my trailer. I just want to get back there now. 406 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 6: Please let me go back there. 407 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,200 Speaker 5: I I mean, I regret going at him so hard, 408 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 5: considering he had no evidence on him whatsoever. 409 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,679 Speaker 3: But you know, like I said, I was under a lot. 410 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: Of pressure from counseling Langford. 411 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 2: Right, yeah, he saw that fucking guy. 412 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:51,479 Speaker 3: It's the perfect target. 413 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,199 Speaker 2: I don't know if my dad ever thought he actually 414 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 2: killed those students or not. I don't think the idea 415 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 2: of justice ever entered into his thinking. No, what he 416 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 2: cared about was making it go away. What was going 417 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,120 Speaker 2: through his mind was how can I put an end 418 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 2: to this shit storm as fast as possible? And his 419 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 2: answer was depended on the local registered sex offender. And 420 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 2: it wasn't a bad idea either. I mean, who fuck 421 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 2: cares about a guy like that? Who's going to go 422 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 2: to bat for a goddamn rapist? 423 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: Okay, look, I have to state for the record that 424 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 1: like Connor Langford is saying Stan Majors was a tough 425 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: guy to feel sorry for. 426 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 3: He was found. 427 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,199 Speaker 1: Guilty for and later admitted to trying to rape a 428 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: seventeen year old girl in Los Angeles in the nineteen eighties. 429 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: So first and foremost, fuck that guy. 430 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 3: But oh, that poor son of a bitch went through hell. 431 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 5: I mean, there was footage of him walking into the 432 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 5: sheriff's station with me on every channel on every TV 433 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 5: in the country. Over the next couple of months, they 434 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 5: did investigations and expose a's on them on a couple 435 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 5: of those primetime news shows, you know, making it seem 436 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 5: like suspect number one. Even though I never charged him 437 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 5: with the damn thing, he couldn't set foot outside his 438 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 5: trailer without being called a rapist and a murder and 439 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 5: a hell of a lot worse than that. 440 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 3: In June of that year, a couple of frat. 441 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,720 Speaker 5: Boys from Asu came to town, found on the gas 442 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 5: station where he worked, and beat the living shit out 443 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 5: of him. I mean, they put him in the hospital 444 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 5: and I put them in a lockup, but their daddy's 445 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 5: made some calls to Greg Langford and they got out 446 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,280 Speaker 5: without so much as a slap on the wrist. I'm 447 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 5: telling you, whatever Stan Majors has done, and he's done 448 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 5: a lot, he paid for a dozen times over until. 449 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 3: Well. 450 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: On September twelfth, nineteen ninety four, just six days shy 451 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: of the two year anniversary of the death of Vera Hendrick, 452 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 1: Stan Majors locked himself in his trailer, took a shotgun 453 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: to his head, and committed so side just like Kurt 454 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 1: Cobain had back in April. 455 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 5: Within a couple of weeks, the District Attorney's office posthumously 456 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 5: charged him with the murders of Holly Blake, Sandra Gerard, 457 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:19,160 Speaker 5: and Mary Crouch. And then they tacked on Vera Kendrick because. 458 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: You know, why the hell not so you didn't believe 459 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:23,919 Speaker 1: Stan Majors was the killer. 460 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 5: Even back then, I believed he could have possibly killed 461 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 5: Vera Kendrick since that was, you know, an impulse crime. 462 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 5: But when it came to those girls, Stan wasn't the 463 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 5: sharpest tack in the box. You know, he had an 464 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 5: IQ in the low eighties. I don't think he was 465 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 5: capable of the planning it would have taken to pull 466 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 5: off those murders without getting caught. But you know, I 467 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,439 Speaker 5: wanted him to be the killer, and not for the 468 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 5: same reasons Langford wanted it. All he cared about was 469 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 5: keeping the image of Domino Beaches, this fun, easygoing beach 470 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 5: town where people could come and spend their money without 471 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 5: fear of being raped or murdered. I mean, to him, 472 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 5: it was all about perception. I wanted justice, and maybe 473 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 5: because I wanted it so bad, for a while there, 474 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 5: I deluded myself into believing justice. 475 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 3: Had been served. 476 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: We all wanted to believe that Domino Beach had experienced 477 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: five murders and a suicide in less than two years. 478 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,359 Speaker 1: My friends back in Los Angeles were concerned for me, 479 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: trying to get me to move back home. Can you 480 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,240 Speaker 1: imagine that? Who the hell moves to LA to feel safer? 481 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: And I can't say I didn't consider it. I mean, 482 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: what the hell was I still doing in Domino Beach anyway? 483 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,679 Speaker 1: I had enough experience at that point. I could have 484 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 1: easily gotten a job in a major city. I mean, 485 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: maybe not LA, but somewhere. And I was only making 486 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: like twenty five grand a year, and rent wasn't exactly 487 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: cheap in Domino Beach. I was barely making ends meet. 488 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 1: Why was I still there. I didn't have a good 489 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,160 Speaker 1: answer back then, and I don't. All I could say 490 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: was that somehow, somehow I knew Domino Beach was where 491 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: I was supposed to be, and despite what the police 492 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,359 Speaker 1: and the politicians were saying in late nineteen ninety four, 493 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: after the death of Stan Majors, somehow I knew it 494 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 1: wasn't over. 495 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 4: No, no one believed it was him. When that rapist 496 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:28,119 Speaker 4: piece of shit killed himself, all anyone thought was, oh good, 497 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,639 Speaker 4: there's one less rapist piece of shit in the world. 498 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 3: But no one believed. 499 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:33,679 Speaker 4: It was the rapist piece of shit who killed those 500 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 4: spring Breakers. 501 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: So you thought it was a serial killer. Even back then, 502 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: I don't. 503 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 4: Know if I thought it was a serial killer. I 504 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 4: just knew it was a cycle and I guess I 505 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:47,920 Speaker 4: hoped whoever it was left town by the end of 506 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 4: the tourist season that year. 507 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: But we know now that he didn't. 508 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, we found that out pretty quick. 509 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: There would be other murders and die Beach before it 510 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: was over, but nothing would measure up to the violence 511 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: and depravity of the murders of Mary Crouch, Sandra Gerard, 512 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: and Holly Blake. Up to that point, the killer had 513 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: been very careful. He had not left behind any evidence 514 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: that could be traced back to him, and no one 515 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: had so much as gotten a glimpse of him, his car, 516 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: or anything. He was a ghost, but he was about 517 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: to make his first mistake. The Murder Years is a 518 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: production of AYR Media and iHeartMedia. Executive producer Elisa Rosen 519 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 1: for AYR Media. Written by Tim Huddleston, directed by Alisa Rosen, 520 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: Editing and sound designed by Tristan Bankston, Consulting producer Jean 521 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: Chandil coordinator All Goldberg, Audio engineering and mastering by Justin 522 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: Longerbeam studio engineer Josh Hook. Original music by Nathan Bankston. 523 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: Original concept developed in partnership with Anne Margaret Johns and 524 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 1: Greg Spring, Executive producer for iHeartMedia. Maya Howard performances for 525 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: this episode by Erica Leniac as Courtney Barnes, Tom Virtue 526 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: as Sheriff Damon Stokes, Alex Salem as Connor Langford, Melon 527 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: Faxis as Maya Morales, Michael Cussman as Stan Majors, Matt 528 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,840 Speaker 1: Fogerty as young Detective Stokes.