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Speaker 1: Pushkin Hey, Lost Hills listeners, it's Dana. I wanted to

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Speaker 1: let you know that you can hear the entire new

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Speaker 1: season of Lost Hill's ad free, along with other great

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Speaker 1: binge listens by becoming a Pushkin Plus subscriber. Find Pushkin

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Speaker 1: Plus on the Lost Hills Show page in Apple Podcasts

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Speaker 1: or at pushkin dot fm slash Plus.

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Speaker 2: Nearly twenty five years ago, Diner's Club introduced the first

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Speaker 2: executive credit card. Today around the world, Diner's Club is

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Speaker 2: still the first card.

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Speaker 3: We're on it.

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Speaker 1: In the nineteen seventies, the accessory to a life of luxury,

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Speaker 1: travel and access was the Diner's Club card. At least

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Speaker 1: if you believe it's advertisements, you've got off outsign writing service.

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Speaker 2: You'll spend love money without getting nervous. It's easy to

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Speaker 2: spot a member of the club. Last year, Diner's Club

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Speaker 2: members had over ten million fine meals, took over five

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Speaker 2: hundred thousand vacations, and save it many helpings of chop suey.

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Speaker 1: That was the kind of life that Mickey Dora wanted

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Speaker 1: and felt he deserved.

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Speaker 2: I don't see a Diner's Club member. If you want

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Speaker 2: to be one, call eight hundred five, two, five, seven thousand.

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Speaker 1: Back in the late fifties, Mickey had applied for a

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Speaker 1: diner's club card. He studied a book called Credit Cardsmanship

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Speaker 1: about how to builk credit card companies and reap the rewards.

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Speaker 1: With the world a wash in plastic, it was almost

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Speaker 1: too easy to take out a bunch of cards, spend freely,

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Speaker 1: and split for a new life far far away. By

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Speaker 1: the early seventies, Mickey had set his sights on New

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Speaker 1: Zealand that would be a good place to sit out

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Speaker 1: World War III. Visiting New Zealand, he wrote to Linda

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Speaker 1: kai quote, I found it the perfect place for our

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Speaker 1: future together. Finally, a peaceful country to live in, friendly

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Speaker 1: people and good surf. I love you, Mickey. The only

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Speaker 1: problem was he was in New Zealand with his other girlfriend, Marcia,

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Speaker 1: and Linda back at home in Los Angeles had taken

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Speaker 1: up with someone else, and not just anyone. Mickey's rival,

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Speaker 1: who is an even more flamboyant con artist than Mickey was.

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Speaker 1: I'm Dana Goodyear and this is Lost Hills episode eight

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Speaker 1: aka Fugitive Oh Nda, Hi, No it's not, Linda.

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Speaker 3: I just work here.

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Speaker 1: You're kidding me, because I here I'm data good here.

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Speaker 4: You guys are late.

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Speaker 1: Sorry. Linda Kai is in her seventies now. She's married

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Speaker 1: to a surfer, of course, and lives in a cute

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Speaker 1: mobile home ten minutes from the ocean in Ventura County.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, I thought we couldn't paintings. They're online.

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Speaker 5: You made these?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, wow, yeah, I just finished this one. This is

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Speaker 4: my friend's dog that we watch all the time. We

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Speaker 4: babysit her when they go out on their boat, and

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Speaker 4: she's a wonderful.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, she's an artist. Her place is full

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Speaker 1: of her paintings, mostly surf breaks, but there are also photographs,

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Speaker 1: including one of Linda in her twenties in a camber

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Speaker 1: van somewhere in the world. Her dirty blonde hair is

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Speaker 1: pulled into a thick braid and there's a hard look

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Speaker 1: in her eye. Back when Linda met Mickey Dora, she'd

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Speaker 1: been twenty two, living on her own in a VW

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Speaker 1: van at the beach. Mickey was thirty seven, just like

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Speaker 1: Diane before her. When she was young and innocent and

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Speaker 1: Mickey was a full on adult. Linda was Mickey's little secret.

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Speaker 1: He gave her a key to his house on Gretna

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Speaker 1: Green and Brentwood. The lair filled with strange treasures and

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Speaker 1: used airline tickets, suggesting a jet setting world traveler. But

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Speaker 1: he didn't take her out with his friends, and often

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Speaker 1: Mickey spent the night elsewhere, and sometimes Linda did too.

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Speaker 4: There's another wrangler in this mix, Don Wilson, who set

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Speaker 4: the thing alight. Now, if it wasn't for this other

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Speaker 4: care this is not all about Mickey, because Don jumps

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Speaker 4: into the fray, and you know, things get nasty.

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Speaker 1: In twenty fifteen, Linda published a book about her adventures.

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Speaker 1: She called it The surf Sting Travels with Mickey, Dora

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Speaker 1: the Cat and Don Wilson. Pirate Captain Don Wilson was

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Speaker 1: another Malibu surfer. Don and Mickey had been friends and

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Speaker 1: then they'd become enemies.

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Speaker 4: I didn't know it at the down, but those two

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Speaker 4: had a big fall out at Malibu at one time

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Speaker 4: because Mickey hated Don because you would show up in

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Speaker 4: pink Cadillacts and fill his car full of girls and

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Speaker 4: go drive off.

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Speaker 1: Linda happened to meet Don at a time when she

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Speaker 1: and Nicky were temporarily split up.

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Speaker 4: Don Wilson came along when Nicky kind of threw me

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Speaker 4: out of the apartment. I was at the beach at

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Speaker 4: State Beach Lane in the sand, just kind of like

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Speaker 4: I'm not really I'm a mass now, you know. I

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Speaker 4: blew it. And I heard two guys sitting next to me,

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Speaker 4: kind of a little bit further over, a couple of

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Speaker 4: towels over. You know.

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Speaker 1: These two guys were talking about a friend of Linda's.

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Speaker 1: So Linda piped up and.

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Speaker 5: They both looked over at me. That was Don Wilson.

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Speaker 4: And they looked over at me and they said with

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Speaker 4: the hell the hell are you? You know like, and

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Speaker 4: I said, oh, it was Mickey's girlfriend, you know. And

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Speaker 4: boy Don's had come up with the sand like this,

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Speaker 4: you know, like what and he says, hey, he says,

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Speaker 4: I'm having a barbecue tonight. He says, come on up,

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Speaker 4: And there it was.

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Speaker 5: I went up to the barbecue.

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Speaker 1: And Don Wilson, aka the Pirate Captain. And why was

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Speaker 1: he called the Pirate Captain?

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Speaker 5: Well, I should be obvious he was a thief.

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Speaker 1: For much of the decade that Linda was with Mickey,

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Speaker 1: she was also intermittently with the Pirate Captain. She even

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Speaker 1: married Don at one point for a year playing type

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Speaker 1: of war over Linda. The two men became sworn enemies.

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Speaker 4: Don was complete opposite of Mickey. Mickey was dark haired

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Speaker 4: and dark handsome, this heavy, heavy, hungarian darkness, beautiful, you know.

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Speaker 4: Don was Scottish, fair skinned, blue eyes, and white white hair,

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Speaker 4: not gray but really white. Now. Don was not the

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Speaker 4: better surfer, but Don was the better talker.

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Speaker 1: But in some respects, Linda's two boyfriends were incredibly alike.

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Speaker 1: They were both con men. Don had even been to

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Speaker 1: prison for his schemes.

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Speaker 4: He was a famous rubber check writer. I heard a

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Speaker 4: story where he invited everybody to a big party in

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Speaker 4: a big, fancy restaurant and then wrote a big, big

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Speaker 4: check to the waiter. And then, evidently I heard that

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Speaker 4: the waiter ran out right away and put a down

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Speaker 4: payment on a car. I say, wow, you know, but

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Speaker 4: then nothing was paid for.

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Speaker 5: It just bounced.

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Speaker 4: Don come from a very wealthy family in Palisades. His

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Speaker 4: dad owned most of Santa Monica and Montana Boulevard where

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Speaker 4: all the boutiques are. And I think Mickey hated this

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Speaker 4: because I think Mickey's dad was very wealthy also. But

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Speaker 4: Mickey had no chance to touch any of the money.

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Speaker 1: And Linda. The pirate captain saw an opportunity to mess

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Speaker 1: with the cat. So when you meet Don, the thing

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Speaker 1: that gets his attention is that you say, oh, I'm

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Speaker 1: Mickey's ex.

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Speaker 4: Yes, Dad, da da da, Here comes the bugles and horns.

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Speaker 5: He goes, this is going to work.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy two, Mickey was still stringing Linda along

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Speaker 1: about going to New Zealand. He was spending a lot

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Speaker 1: of time traveling with his other girlfriend, a non surfer

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Speaker 1: named Marcia. She was the heiress to a gold mine fortune.

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Speaker 1: In her book, Linda writes that while she was waiting

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Speaker 1: on Mickey, Don was arrested for writing bad checks. He

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Speaker 1: jumped bail and fled to Mexico. From there, Don flew

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Speaker 1: to Tahiti and told Linda to meet him. Linda had

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Speaker 1: turned Don on to Mickey's book about credit card fraud,

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Speaker 1: so with a bunch of new plastic they went on

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Speaker 1: a world tour.

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Speaker 4: Don was a champion on this because you could tell

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Speaker 4: Mickey flailed a bit. You know, he was just a

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Speaker 4: bit nervous. You know, it wasn't really like good. But

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Speaker 4: with Don, he was a champion. You know, it was

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Speaker 4: just like, come on, you know, let's.

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Speaker 5: Do this, do this, you know, let's get this going.

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Speaker 1: Traveling with Don, Linda doctored credit cards, license plates, and

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Speaker 1: government documents. But when Linda and Don got back to California,

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Speaker 1: Linda fell in with Mickey again. She and Don parted

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Speaker 1: ways and she didn't hear from him until one day

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Speaker 1: she went to her parents' house in the valley and

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Speaker 1: there was a letter from him from prison. When she

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Speaker 1: visited Don, she says he blamed Mickey for his arrest.

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Speaker 4: This whole story, I got to tell you right now,

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Speaker 4: was never about love.

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Speaker 5: Now.

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Speaker 4: I might have thought so, being young and naiven stupid,

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Speaker 4: but this was never about love. This is never about like, oh,

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Speaker 4: Mickey's gonna overpower me with his love, or Don's going

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Speaker 4: to love me and romance me and you know, take

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Speaker 4: me away.

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Speaker 5: This was about rivalry.

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Speaker 1: And you were upon.

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Speaker 5: I was the middle. I was the fox.

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Speaker 4: You know, here's the two guys running out into the woods.

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Speaker 5: I didn't know it then, Uh.

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Speaker 4: I was kind of caught up too close and enjoying

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Speaker 4: some of it, you know, let travel and enjoying the attention.

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Speaker 4: But I thought it was about love periodically, and I'd

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Speaker 4: break down.

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Speaker 1: With Don out of the way in prison, the path

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Speaker 1: was clear for Mickey and Linda, and Linda had some

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Speaker 1: new skills in her repertoire.

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Speaker 4: I was a valuable asset, you know, to have.

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Speaker 1: So you'd been traveling around the world with Don Wilson,

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Speaker 1: the pirate captain, doing these kinds of schemes with him. Yes,

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Speaker 1: And Mickey knows you're trained up by Don. Yes, and

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Speaker 1: now you know how to do this stuff.

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Speaker 5: Yes, yes, oh yes.

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Speaker 1: After years of talking about the decline of Malibu, of California,

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Speaker 1: of the entire country, Mickey was finally going to leave.

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Speaker 3: I really feel the Americans or something has happened to them,

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Speaker 3: but they've become barbaristic, barbaristic, and I'm sure that's the term,

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Speaker 3: but I think we're having a nervous breakout in this country.

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Speaker 3: I don't want to spell it out for you, but

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Speaker 3: it is difficult to live to surrounding a middle class,

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Speaker 3: mediocre beach and wade.

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Speaker 1: That's Mickey in an interview he gave for the nineteen

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Speaker 1: seventy film Placific Vibrations. The golden days of Malibu were over.

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Speaker 1: According to Mickey, he was going to see if he

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Speaker 1: could recreate them somewhere else.

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Speaker 3: No evolution, was it all going? Was it coming to

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Speaker 3: an end? Or is it just beginning? When the one

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Speaker 3: fellow gold Malibu quite well at a certain time in history.

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Speaker 3: And I doubt if few people who are able to

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Speaker 3: find these type of conditions again through crowds and controls

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Speaker 3: and much bureaucracy. But there are other areas which are magnificent.

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Speaker 3: The are treasures in this world.

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Speaker 1: So long Malibu Mickey's exile was finally about to begin.

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Speaker 1: In October of nineteen seventy four, a man named Richard

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Speaker 1: Austin Roche Junior applied for a new passport in Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: He submitted a photograph of himself wearing a sport coat

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Speaker 1: and tie. Roche was a surfer friend of Mickey Dora's.

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Speaker 1: He was in the business of building tennis courts. But

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Speaker 1: the passport office flagged the application and didn't issue the document.

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Speaker 1: That's because eighteen months earlier, Richard Austin Roach Junior had

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Speaker 1: driven his car into a trash truck and died. And

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Speaker 1: as the FBI discovered later, the person in the passport

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Speaker 1: photo submitted with the application was Mickey Dora. When that

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Speaker 1: passport application got flagged, the FBI set up a sting,

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Speaker 1: dropping off a registered letter for Richard Austin Roach Junior

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Speaker 1: at the address provided, but no one was there to

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Speaker 1: sign for it. So why did Mickey leave.

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Speaker 5: Malibu crowds Adventure? Was he also on the run? Probably?

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Speaker 4: Yeah? That good.

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00:15:04,556 --> 00:15:06,036
Speaker 5: Yeah.

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00:15:06,396 --> 00:15:09,316
Speaker 1: About eighteen months before he left Malibu, Mickey he had

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00:15:09,316 --> 00:15:14,636
Speaker 1: been arrested for stealing ski equipment. In January nineteen seventy three,

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00:15:14,876 --> 00:15:17,476
Speaker 1: Mickey went on a ski weekend with some surfer friends.

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00:15:17,996 --> 00:15:20,676
Speaker 1: They went to Mammoth that same ski mountain he took

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00:15:20,716 --> 00:15:24,556
Speaker 1: Gidget to back in the fifties. Mickey bought four hundred

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00:15:24,556 --> 00:15:27,236
Speaker 1: and one dollars in eighty nine cents worth of equipment

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00:15:27,316 --> 00:15:30,316
Speaker 1: and services. He paid by check made out to the

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Speaker 1: Mammoth Mountain ski area. Mickey had adequate funds in his

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Speaker 1: account to cover the check, but claiming that the check

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00:15:37,516 --> 00:15:40,476
Speaker 1: had been lost, Mickey put a stop on it and

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Speaker 1: apparently kept the equipment. He was charged with felony fraud

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Speaker 1: in rural Mono County, some three hundred miles north of Malibu.

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00:15:50,396 --> 00:15:54,196
Speaker 1: He was found guilty and put on probation. While his

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Speaker 1: case was being processed, Mickey had packed up the house

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Speaker 1: on Gretna Green, stuffing all his belongings into a VW van.

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Speaker 1: For years, Mickey had been decrying the desecration of Malibu,

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Speaker 1: talking about finding some place quiet and clean where he

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00:16:10,996 --> 00:16:15,476
Speaker 1: could lie low. He was shipping all his possessions to

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Speaker 1: New Zealand, probation or no probation. Good luck to the

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00:16:20,156 --> 00:16:22,556
Speaker 1: Mono County Sheriff's Department finding him there.

242
00:16:24,716 --> 00:16:27,396
Speaker 5: He was packing up a van to ship over there.

243
00:16:28,876 --> 00:16:30,836
Speaker 5: What was he plating in the van? Everything?

244
00:16:31,796 --> 00:16:35,556
Speaker 4: Clothes, all his antiques, tiger skins, tiger skins.

245
00:16:35,636 --> 00:16:37,596
Speaker 5: Yeah, the whole show. Everything was going in.

246
00:16:39,156 --> 00:16:42,756
Speaker 1: Mickey had invited Linda to New Zealand, but it also

247
00:16:42,836 --> 00:16:46,516
Speaker 1: invited Marcia, the non surfing heiress, and on the day

248
00:16:46,556 --> 00:16:50,676
Speaker 1: he was packing up, Marcia was there helping him. Linda

249
00:16:50,796 --> 00:16:52,876
Speaker 1: was there too, strategizing.

250
00:16:54,716 --> 00:16:57,436
Speaker 4: My mind was working overtime as to what to say

251
00:16:57,476 --> 00:17:00,356
Speaker 4: to get him to not do it. With Marcia, I

252
00:17:00,436 --> 00:17:03,076
Speaker 4: had a couple of long talks with them by myself,

253
00:17:03,156 --> 00:17:05,196
Speaker 4: and I said, you go to New Zealand with her.

254
00:17:05,396 --> 00:17:07,436
Speaker 4: I said, you are not. You could be waiting on

255
00:17:07,476 --> 00:17:10,036
Speaker 4: her hand and foot. He's got loads of money.

256
00:17:10,716 --> 00:17:12,476
Speaker 5: She's going to be.

257
00:17:12,236 --> 00:17:15,596
Speaker 4: One to shop. You'll be wanting to surf. I said,

258
00:17:15,836 --> 00:17:17,996
Speaker 4: down there, there'd be nobody around. I said, who's going

259
00:17:18,036 --> 00:17:20,996
Speaker 4: to be your friend to go surfing with? I said,

260
00:17:20,996 --> 00:17:21,276
Speaker 4: that's me.

261
00:17:23,516 --> 00:17:28,036
Speaker 1: But he didn't take Linda. Mickey left La with Marcia

262
00:17:28,356 --> 00:17:32,596
Speaker 1: and they didn't go to New Zealand. A few months later,

263
00:17:32,956 --> 00:17:36,036
Speaker 1: Mickey told Linda to meet him in Switzerland. This was

264
00:17:36,076 --> 00:17:37,916
Speaker 1: in January of nineteen seventy five.

265
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Speaker 4: He summonsed me in Zurich. Marcia was going to leave.

266
00:17:42,796 --> 00:17:45,396
Speaker 4: She was going to I think Greece. That was the

267
00:17:45,436 --> 00:17:48,276
Speaker 4: split up. Then we continued right on to New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: On the way to New Zealand, they went to London, Athens, Cairo, Istanbul, Beirut,

269
00:17:55,116 --> 00:17:59,596
Speaker 1: New Delhi, Gawa, Sri Lanka and Sydney. They looked for

270
00:17:59,716 --> 00:18:03,876
Speaker 1: surf antiques and rugs along the way. Linda had a

271
00:18:03,956 --> 00:18:08,756
Speaker 1: job to alter Mickey's Diners Club card. She already knew how.

272
00:18:10,596 --> 00:18:14,436
Speaker 4: I was assigned to take a little razor blade and

273
00:18:15,116 --> 00:18:20,516
Speaker 4: change some numbers, and we did and make it good

274
00:18:20,516 --> 00:18:24,116
Speaker 4: for another month. Because the way it worked back then,

275
00:18:24,396 --> 00:18:27,436
Speaker 4: these credit cards went through a kachunker, as I call them.

276
00:18:27,476 --> 00:18:30,636
Speaker 4: They're big machines and they go over the top and

277
00:18:30,676 --> 00:18:33,876
Speaker 4: they make a copy of the numbers. So my job

278
00:18:34,036 --> 00:18:36,916
Speaker 4: was it to glue them back on the numbers and

279
00:18:37,036 --> 00:18:40,756
Speaker 4: letters and whatever we took off to change.

280
00:18:42,396 --> 00:18:45,196
Speaker 1: In New Zealand, Mickey and Linda looked for a place

281
00:18:45,236 --> 00:18:50,636
Speaker 1: to hide, somewhere clean and safe with empty waves. The

282
00:18:50,676 --> 00:18:54,436
Speaker 1: plan was stop the paper trail and spend the rest

283
00:18:54,476 --> 00:18:55,996
Speaker 1: of their lives in peace.

284
00:18:56,716 --> 00:18:59,396
Speaker 4: Micky picked a place at Opatama. It was on the

285
00:18:59,436 --> 00:19:04,836
Speaker 4: Mahia Coast. It was actually an older gentleman who lived

286
00:19:04,996 --> 00:19:08,036
Speaker 4: next door, would you believe, And he was selling the house,

287
00:19:08,796 --> 00:19:11,196
Speaker 4: and Vicky went with the pretense to do just go

288
00:19:11,236 --> 00:19:12,836
Speaker 4: to buy it and started paying him.

289
00:19:13,156 --> 00:19:17,476
Speaker 5: I guess some rent it was. He's a cute little blaze.

290
00:19:17,996 --> 00:19:21,396
Speaker 1: But what they didn't realize was that the FBI was

291
00:19:21,436 --> 00:19:24,636
Speaker 1: looking for them, hunting a fugitive who had tried to

292
00:19:24,636 --> 00:19:28,756
Speaker 1: get a passport in a dead man's name. In March

293
00:19:28,756 --> 00:19:32,236
Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy five, a federal warrant was issued for

294
00:19:32,436 --> 00:19:41,356
Speaker 1: John Doe aka Richard Austin Roche Junior, aka Fugitive. Around

295
00:19:41,396 --> 00:19:43,956
Speaker 1: the same time, a bench warrant was issued by a

296
00:19:44,036 --> 00:19:48,356
Speaker 1: judge in Mono County, California for Michael Chapin. He was

297
00:19:48,396 --> 00:19:53,836
Speaker 1: a probationer convicted of stealing ski equipment who had absconded

298
00:19:54,196 --> 00:20:00,516
Speaker 1: whereabouts unknown. Then in June, agents showed a source the

299
00:20:00,556 --> 00:20:05,276
Speaker 1: photograph from the passport application. The source immediately recognized the

300
00:20:05,276 --> 00:20:10,036
Speaker 1: person in the picture as Mickey Chapin. The source told

301
00:20:10,036 --> 00:20:14,476
Speaker 1: the agents Mickey was dangerous and unpredictable and would put

302
00:20:14,516 --> 00:20:18,036
Speaker 1: sugar in your gas tank. He said, Mickey carried a

303
00:20:18,156 --> 00:20:21,876
Speaker 1: large knife end quote, used to have a following of

304
00:20:21,916 --> 00:20:25,236
Speaker 1: wild kids on surf Rider Beach. He had a large

305
00:20:25,276 --> 00:20:28,116
Speaker 1: ego and was idolized by these kids. For the capers

306
00:20:28,116 --> 00:20:32,556
Speaker 1: he pulled off unquote. The source asked the agents to

307
00:20:32,596 --> 00:20:36,156
Speaker 1: protect his identity. He was scared of what Mickey and

308
00:20:36,196 --> 00:20:39,156
Speaker 1: his friends would do if they found out he'd talked

309
00:20:39,996 --> 00:20:44,436
Speaker 1: for the FBI. The picture was coming together. Richard Austin

310
00:20:44,556 --> 00:20:49,876
Speaker 1: Roche was Mickey Chapin and Mickey Chapin was Mickey Dora.

311
00:20:51,476 --> 00:20:55,196
Speaker 1: The FBI requested a check for weapons registered to Michael S.

312
00:20:55,276 --> 00:21:00,516
Speaker 1: Chapin and Miklo Stora, but they had no idea where

313
00:21:00,636 --> 00:21:01,556
Speaker 1: this person was.

314
00:21:06,636 --> 00:21:10,836
Speaker 4: We got involved with some one of the local Maori guys.

315
00:21:11,156 --> 00:21:13,476
Speaker 4: He said, let's go down to the beach and we

316
00:21:13,516 --> 00:21:16,556
Speaker 4: went down on the beach and there were wild goats.

317
00:21:16,676 --> 00:21:19,836
Speaker 4: So we shot one of those, brought that up and

318
00:21:19,876 --> 00:21:22,476
Speaker 4: hung it in the garage for about a week, you know,

319
00:21:22,596 --> 00:21:25,436
Speaker 4: letting it meat tender. I don't know what it was doing,

320
00:21:25,476 --> 00:21:29,156
Speaker 4: but we ended up eating stuff like that. Our best

321
00:21:29,156 --> 00:21:33,036
Speaker 4: thing was roadkilled. We drove out the road, dirt road,

322
00:21:33,036 --> 00:21:34,916
Speaker 4: and then we come back. This is surf surf checking.

323
00:21:35,516 --> 00:21:37,636
Speaker 4: Come back the other way and there's a rabbit hit

324
00:21:38,556 --> 00:21:40,716
Speaker 4: picked the rabbit up and skin them and throw them

325
00:21:40,716 --> 00:21:44,676
Speaker 4: in the pot. And we were eating bait fish. We

326
00:21:45,036 --> 00:21:47,556
Speaker 4: were skimping, you know, we were really careful. We just

327
00:21:47,676 --> 00:21:50,196
Speaker 4: macrolled and stuff. People would, you know, throw away off

328
00:21:50,236 --> 00:21:52,596
Speaker 4: of the side of the boat and it was the

329
00:21:52,676 --> 00:21:55,716
Speaker 4: other guy, the quid. That's it. Calamari would cut him

330
00:21:55,796 --> 00:21:57,836
Speaker 4: up and eat him.

331
00:21:58,596 --> 00:22:02,916
Speaker 1: Then the FBI put another piece in place. Mickey Dora

332
00:22:03,076 --> 00:22:08,636
Speaker 1: had been on a worldwide spending spree. September fourth, nineteen

333
00:22:08,676 --> 00:22:15,836
Speaker 1: seventy FBI teletype two director Washington Field from Los Angeles

334
00:22:16,236 --> 00:22:20,436
Speaker 1: quote as of August twenty ninth, nineteen seventy five, Dora,

335
00:22:20,716 --> 00:22:23,516
Speaker 1: through the fraudulent counterfeit use of a diner's club card,

336
00:22:23,876 --> 00:22:25,916
Speaker 1: was in debt to the Diners Club in the amount

337
00:22:26,036 --> 00:22:29,636
Speaker 1: of nineteen thousand, seven hundred and eighty five dollars and

338
00:22:29,716 --> 00:22:34,276
Speaker 1: ninety one cents. That's about one hundred and ten thousand

339
00:22:34,356 --> 00:22:40,916
Speaker 1: dollars today. One more thing quote. Mickey was accompanied by

340
00:22:40,916 --> 00:22:46,596
Speaker 1: a white female described as redacted age about redacted. Her

341
00:22:46,716 --> 00:22:51,876
Speaker 1: name was not known. Their mystery man was traveling with

342
00:22:51,996 --> 00:22:59,596
Speaker 1: an even more mysterious woman. Back in New Zealand. Mickey

343
00:22:59,636 --> 00:23:01,516
Speaker 1: and Linda were making it work.

344
00:23:02,756 --> 00:23:06,796
Speaker 4: The stove was actually a wood fired stove to keep

345
00:23:06,796 --> 00:23:08,796
Speaker 4: that thing going and for the heat of the house too.

346
00:23:09,556 --> 00:23:11,196
Speaker 4: And I was good at it, you know, I could

347
00:23:11,236 --> 00:23:13,556
Speaker 4: do it. I wasn't a good cook like Marsha, but

348
00:23:14,236 --> 00:23:16,476
Speaker 4: you know I could, you know, make soup and stuff

349
00:23:16,476 --> 00:23:19,236
Speaker 4: like that. But that was good.

350
00:23:19,876 --> 00:23:23,476
Speaker 1: Life was simple and pretty sweet and as far as

351
00:23:23,476 --> 00:23:27,516
Speaker 1: they knew they had successfully dropped out.

352
00:23:27,236 --> 00:23:30,196
Speaker 4: We'd go in to like a local gym and play

353
00:23:30,236 --> 00:23:33,436
Speaker 4: badminton and trying to play tennis, which was one of

354
00:23:33,436 --> 00:23:36,556
Speaker 4: Mickey's favorites, walking down to the little beach down there

355
00:23:36,596 --> 00:23:37,636
Speaker 4: and enjoying surf.

356
00:23:39,836 --> 00:23:43,276
Speaker 1: But one day the person they least expected to see

357
00:23:43,436 --> 00:23:49,276
Speaker 1: showed up, not law enforcement, someone who posed a much

358
00:23:49,636 --> 00:23:50,716
Speaker 1: greater threat.

359
00:23:52,276 --> 00:23:55,916
Speaker 4: Well, we're gonna knock on the door. I see this

360
00:23:56,036 --> 00:23:58,116
Speaker 4: car drive up and I'm like, who the hell's uh?

361
00:23:58,156 --> 00:24:00,596
Speaker 4: You know, I see this blonde come out as dawn.

362
00:24:01,916 --> 00:24:05,116
Speaker 4: I said, Mickey, down's here, and he goes what He

363
00:24:05,156 --> 00:24:07,196
Speaker 4: had a rifle of course, because we were hunting, you know,

364
00:24:07,436 --> 00:24:09,956
Speaker 4: and he had it behind the door. He picks it

365
00:24:10,036 --> 00:24:12,876
Speaker 4: up and he says, get rid of him, he.

366
00:24:12,836 --> 00:24:13,876
Speaker 5: Said, got him out of here.

367
00:24:14,756 --> 00:24:16,676
Speaker 4: So he comes to the door and I opened it

368
00:24:16,676 --> 00:24:19,196
Speaker 4: and he went, what the hell you know, and he goes, oh,

369
00:24:19,236 --> 00:24:20,876
Speaker 4: come on, as you got to get out of here,

370
00:24:20,956 --> 00:24:23,996
Speaker 4: you know. He says, I'll just take a spin for

371
00:24:24,116 --> 00:24:26,716
Speaker 4: this talk, you know. So I didn't have any of

372
00:24:26,716 --> 00:24:31,276
Speaker 4: my stuff. He say, come on, he says, grab your purse,

373
00:24:31,396 --> 00:24:39,276
Speaker 4: you know. So I grab my purse, go out. He says,

374
00:24:39,916 --> 00:24:43,156
Speaker 4: do you like living here? And I said, you know yeah,

375
00:24:43,556 --> 00:24:44,196
Speaker 4: and he says, come.

376
00:24:44,076 --> 00:24:49,156
Speaker 5: On, let's go. I got blends. So we get we

377
00:24:49,236 --> 00:24:51,556
Speaker 5: lie laughed. I had my purse. That's it.

378
00:24:52,316 --> 00:24:56,116
Speaker 1: You didn't feel bad you were leaving Mickey?

379
00:24:56,356 --> 00:25:01,196
Speaker 4: Well here it was the adventure thing again' you know.

380
00:25:02,156 --> 00:25:03,716
Speaker 4: I don't know if it was me pulling it off

381
00:25:03,796 --> 00:25:08,796
Speaker 4: or I guess I got tired of new Zealand, you know,

382
00:25:09,156 --> 00:25:13,876
Speaker 4: kind of war. I just took off, you know, and

383
00:25:13,916 --> 00:25:17,996
Speaker 4: then we get to I think it was Wellington, but

384
00:25:18,196 --> 00:25:20,996
Speaker 4: I hadn't my passport wasn't in my purse. Mickey of

385
00:25:21,036 --> 00:25:25,796
Speaker 4: course immediately figured out she's got to take off. He

386
00:25:25,836 --> 00:25:26,716
Speaker 4: took my passport.

387
00:25:28,236 --> 00:25:32,036
Speaker 1: Mickey knew Linda couldn't get far without a passport, and

388
00:25:32,076 --> 00:25:34,516
Speaker 1: he knew the first place she'd have to go.

389
00:25:35,596 --> 00:25:39,996
Speaker 4: In the meantime, Don was wanted by the Inner pol

390
00:25:41,076 --> 00:25:45,636
Speaker 4: And Micky had called someone in the upper departments of

391
00:25:46,156 --> 00:25:50,316
Speaker 4: passport divisions and said, Hey, this girl's coming. She's with

392
00:25:50,396 --> 00:25:52,036
Speaker 4: a guy who's wanted by the FBI.

393
00:25:52,676 --> 00:25:55,876
Speaker 5: Get them. So they did.

394
00:25:56,356 --> 00:25:58,556
Speaker 4: They got Don, Yeah, and they had to let me go.

395
00:25:59,236 --> 00:26:00,116
Speaker 1: They arrested Don.

396
00:26:00,236 --> 00:26:04,436
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, he got He got clinked.

397
00:26:05,116 --> 00:26:08,756
Speaker 1: The New Zealand authorities gave Linda a temporary passport and

398
00:26:08,756 --> 00:26:10,316
Speaker 1: in four armed her that she was going to be

399
00:26:10,396 --> 00:26:12,476
Speaker 1: deported unless she left immediately.

400
00:26:13,436 --> 00:26:16,236
Speaker 4: My flight was Pango Pango, Los Angeles. And when I

401
00:26:16,276 --> 00:26:20,476
Speaker 4: got to Pango Pango, I went to the tourist office

402
00:26:20,556 --> 00:26:24,436
Speaker 4: and changed my ticket and went to New Caledonia.

403
00:26:25,076 --> 00:26:26,516
Speaker 1: Where is that And why do you go there?

404
00:26:26,676 --> 00:26:28,796
Speaker 4: Because it's right above New Zealand, and I was going

405
00:26:28,876 --> 00:26:30,516
Speaker 4: to go back and kick Mickey's ass.

406
00:26:33,956 --> 00:26:37,556
Speaker 1: Linda was furious, but she still wanted to warn Mickey

407
00:26:37,756 --> 00:26:38,916
Speaker 1: of the danger he was in.

408
00:26:39,916 --> 00:26:41,756
Speaker 4: So I talked to him, Mickey, and I said, I'm

409
00:26:41,756 --> 00:26:45,276
Speaker 4: in New Caledonia and I said, they're going to come

410
00:26:45,316 --> 00:26:48,916
Speaker 4: after you next because you know, I said, Don is

411
00:26:48,956 --> 00:26:51,996
Speaker 4: going to tell them that you're there. You better join

412
00:26:52,076 --> 00:26:55,796
Speaker 4: me in New Caledonia. And I'm not telling a lie. Now,

413
00:26:55,836 --> 00:26:58,676
Speaker 4: this is the truth. This wasn't like to scare Mickey.

414
00:26:59,076 --> 00:26:59,636
Speaker 5: He knew.

415
00:27:01,516 --> 00:27:04,676
Speaker 4: So he's going to lose everything, his whole, all his

416
00:27:05,396 --> 00:27:08,556
Speaker 4: everything that he owned. Get on a flight and get

417
00:27:08,556 --> 00:27:10,956
Speaker 4: the hell out of the well. He stole me out.

418
00:27:11,156 --> 00:27:15,636
Speaker 4: I was there for thirty days. He didn't show up.

419
00:27:17,596 --> 00:27:21,796
Speaker 1: Mickey was punishing her. He believed Linda had been writing

420
00:27:21,836 --> 00:27:24,316
Speaker 1: to Don and led him to their hideout.

421
00:27:26,436 --> 00:27:29,036
Speaker 4: I didn't tell Don where I was, you know, he

422
00:27:29,116 --> 00:27:30,916
Speaker 4: found out through my parents.

423
00:27:32,596 --> 00:27:35,836
Speaker 1: But he thought you tipped on off to wear his

424
00:27:35,876 --> 00:27:38,116
Speaker 1: own whereabouts. Yeah, and then he was mad because you

425
00:27:38,236 --> 00:27:38,796
Speaker 1: left with Don.

426
00:27:38,956 --> 00:27:41,396
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, So.

427
00:27:42,316 --> 00:27:43,796
Speaker 1: How cute tangled web?

428
00:27:45,436 --> 00:27:46,836
Speaker 5: What a web she weaves?

429
00:27:49,076 --> 00:27:51,876
Speaker 1: Linda waited for Mickey for a month, running up a

430
00:27:51,876 --> 00:27:54,916
Speaker 1: hotel bill she could not afford. She had to call

431
00:27:54,956 --> 00:27:59,436
Speaker 1: her parents back in California for help, but then surprisingly,

432
00:27:59,756 --> 00:28:02,276
Speaker 1: the New Zealand authorities permitted her to return.

433
00:28:04,876 --> 00:28:09,836
Speaker 4: I went back to Mickey's. I saw him on the

434
00:28:09,836 --> 00:28:14,916
Speaker 4: beach and I kneeled him. I said, hey, you know

435
00:28:14,956 --> 00:28:17,956
Speaker 4: you're in trouble. I said, we'll both get in trouble

436
00:28:17,996 --> 00:28:19,156
Speaker 4: because they're going to come. You know.

437
00:28:20,236 --> 00:28:20,756
Speaker 5: We had to go.

438
00:28:21,956 --> 00:28:23,516
Speaker 4: But he was mad, you know, he was mad at me,

439
00:28:23,676 --> 00:28:25,756
Speaker 4: and I was mad at him.

440
00:28:26,076 --> 00:28:29,476
Speaker 1: But as they'd done many times before, Mickey and Linda

441
00:28:29,516 --> 00:28:33,116
Speaker 1: made up and put it behind them. Mickey put all

442
00:28:33,156 --> 00:28:36,316
Speaker 1: his possessions in a storage facility and he and Linda

443
00:28:36,436 --> 00:28:42,676
Speaker 1: left the country. When eventually authorities searched the unit, they

444
00:28:42,716 --> 00:28:46,516
Speaker 1: found a stash of antiques, gold coins, and other valuables

445
00:28:46,876 --> 00:28:50,996
Speaker 1: worth in excess of one hundred thousand dollars, a loaded rifle,

446
00:28:51,236 --> 00:28:55,356
Speaker 1: a loaded pistol, a twelve gage shotgun, twenty four fake

447
00:28:55,436 --> 00:29:01,036
Speaker 1: airline tickets used, and sixty credit cards quote, many of

448
00:29:01,076 --> 00:29:04,796
Speaker 1: which were altered or defaced, all in the name of Dora.

449
00:29:06,196 --> 00:29:11,676
Speaker 1: There were also quote documents indicating large scale fraudulent purchasing

450
00:29:11,716 --> 00:29:17,916
Speaker 1: of goods throughout the world. A third warrant was issued

451
00:29:18,076 --> 00:29:33,596
Speaker 1: for Mickey's arrest, and now Interpol was involved. After Mickey

452
00:29:33,636 --> 00:29:36,996
Speaker 1: and Linda left New Zealand, the world tour started all

453
00:29:37,036 --> 00:29:42,436
Speaker 1: over again. Linda's book includes a folio of pictures Mickey

454
00:29:42,436 --> 00:29:45,436
Speaker 1: and Hyde, Park in a leather jacket, Mickey in a

455
00:29:45,516 --> 00:29:49,036
Speaker 1: Jackey cap at an ancient ruin in Greece, Mickey on

456
00:29:49,156 --> 00:29:52,876
Speaker 1: a camel in the Valley of the Kings, Mickey and Kenya,

457
00:29:53,356 --> 00:29:54,756
Speaker 1: Mickey in Medayene.

458
00:29:56,916 --> 00:29:59,996
Speaker 4: I actually went around the world three times at one time.

459
00:30:00,956 --> 00:30:02,556
Speaker 5: So there's Australia, New.

460
00:30:02,516 --> 00:30:10,556
Speaker 4: Zealand, Bali, Thailand, Malaysia, India, I'm probably missing a few,

461
00:30:11,236 --> 00:30:16,596
Speaker 4: all of Europe, Tahiti, Costa Rica, Venezuela.

462
00:30:17,876 --> 00:30:21,676
Speaker 1: This time, though the FBI was tracking their movements with

463
00:30:21,796 --> 00:30:27,236
Speaker 1: help from Interpol and the Diners Club. Mickey and Linda

464
00:30:27,276 --> 00:30:31,356
Speaker 1: were evading law enforcement, but the circuitest path they took

465
00:30:31,516 --> 00:30:33,836
Speaker 1: was dictated by something else Entirely.

466
00:30:35,636 --> 00:30:40,196
Speaker 4: This was this whole search of looking for waves that

467
00:30:40,276 --> 00:30:43,356
Speaker 4: weren't ridden at places, you know, early in the early days,

468
00:30:43,796 --> 00:30:48,396
Speaker 4: just the discovery and pioneering stage, and Micky had all

469
00:30:48,436 --> 00:30:51,916
Speaker 4: these crazy ideas of leaving here to go somewhere else

470
00:30:52,116 --> 00:30:54,316
Speaker 4: where you could ride waves like he did in the

471
00:30:54,356 --> 00:30:57,356
Speaker 4: past at Malibu at some other place like Malibu.

472
00:30:59,036 --> 00:31:02,876
Speaker 1: Linda was using everything she'd learned from Don Wilson, as

473
00:31:02,916 --> 00:31:05,596
Speaker 1: well as her skills as an artist, to doctor credit

474
00:31:05,636 --> 00:31:09,796
Speaker 1: cards so she and Mickey could keep on moving. But

475
00:31:09,876 --> 00:31:15,836
Speaker 1: they were starting to feel hunted. Mickey's passport had expired.

476
00:31:16,316 --> 00:31:18,716
Speaker 1: When he went to reinstate it, the clerk tried to

477
00:31:18,716 --> 00:31:23,076
Speaker 1: detain him. He was wearing tennis shoes for exactly this reason.

478
00:31:23,716 --> 00:31:26,356
Speaker 1: He ran out of the building and escaped to Linda,

479
00:31:26,556 --> 00:31:31,956
Speaker 1: who was on the street with the motor running. Mickey

480
00:31:32,076 --> 00:31:34,836
Speaker 1: and Linda were scared to use their own passports, and

481
00:31:34,876 --> 00:31:38,116
Speaker 1: they were running low on cash, so they did what

482
00:31:38,116 --> 00:31:43,676
Speaker 1: they knew how to do. They pulled more scams, passport scams.

483
00:31:44,236 --> 00:31:46,916
Speaker 4: Switching passports around with names and stuff.

484
00:31:46,636 --> 00:31:49,076
Speaker 1: To insurance scams.

485
00:31:49,876 --> 00:31:52,876
Speaker 4: Mickey was an expert at this and passed it down.

486
00:31:53,476 --> 00:31:56,836
Speaker 4: He said, what you do is you get travels insurance

487
00:31:57,596 --> 00:32:03,036
Speaker 4: and take a bag, go into Bustipo and stand there

488
00:32:03,076 --> 00:32:04,676
Speaker 4: like you're on the phone, and then go over to

489
00:32:05,436 --> 00:32:08,436
Speaker 4: security guard and say my bag was just stolen, get

490
00:32:08,436 --> 00:32:12,076
Speaker 4: a police rip, take it to the insurance company, claim

491
00:32:12,076 --> 00:32:14,276
Speaker 4: your insurance money.

492
00:32:14,556 --> 00:32:16,116
Speaker 1: Travelers check scams.

493
00:32:17,276 --> 00:32:19,996
Speaker 4: American Express had what was called travelers checks, where you

494
00:32:20,036 --> 00:32:20,796
Speaker 4: get a packet of.

495
00:32:20,756 --> 00:32:23,556
Speaker 5: Them, and then Mickey said.

496
00:32:23,356 --> 00:32:25,676
Speaker 4: What you do is you go back and tell them

497
00:32:25,676 --> 00:32:29,876
Speaker 4: that you lost them or somebody stole them, you lost them,

498
00:32:30,236 --> 00:32:34,796
Speaker 4: and then you get that amount again. So instead of

499
00:32:34,796 --> 00:32:38,276
Speaker 4: five hundred and now you have a thousand.

500
00:32:38,396 --> 00:32:39,236
Speaker 5: I didn't do any of that.

501
00:32:45,716 --> 00:32:50,116
Speaker 4: When you're doing stuff like that, everything you know is

502
00:32:50,156 --> 00:32:50,676
Speaker 4: on the line.

503
00:32:52,396 --> 00:32:54,876
Speaker 1: Linda never lost sight of why she was taking these

504
00:32:55,036 --> 00:32:59,276
Speaker 1: enormous risks with Mickey. It was for the surf.

505
00:33:01,196 --> 00:33:03,796
Speaker 4: After we had a good session somewhere, we'd say, ah,

506
00:33:03,916 --> 00:33:06,156
Speaker 4: look at that, you know, how would we do that?

507
00:33:06,916 --> 00:33:08,556
Speaker 1: You must have felt like you were getting away with

508
00:33:09,196 --> 00:33:11,436
Speaker 1: the most amazing heist of all time.

509
00:33:11,556 --> 00:33:14,636
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, Bonnie and Clyde, here we are.

510
00:33:14,676 --> 00:33:14,916
Speaker 2: You know.

511
00:33:17,196 --> 00:33:21,036
Speaker 1: Don Wilson had ruined Mickey's plan to duck all his

512
00:33:21,156 --> 00:33:25,276
Speaker 1: creditors and law enforcement and surf empty waves in New

513
00:33:25,356 --> 00:33:29,396
Speaker 1: Zealand for the rest of his life. Now New Zealand

514
00:33:29,556 --> 00:33:34,636
Speaker 1: was burned, Mickey had to find a different place to hide.

515
00:33:34,716 --> 00:33:38,036
Speaker 1: He decided on the south of France. There was a

516
00:33:38,076 --> 00:33:42,236
Speaker 1: small town there called Getori. It reminded him of Malibu

517
00:33:42,796 --> 00:33:47,196
Speaker 1: as it had been in the fifties. In France, he'd

518
00:33:47,196 --> 00:33:50,636
Speaker 1: be beyond the reach of US authorities. The French did

519
00:33:50,636 --> 00:33:54,476
Speaker 1: not tend to extradite, Plus, he could spend his winters

520
00:33:54,516 --> 00:34:00,036
Speaker 1: skiing in the Alps. Mickey and Linda flew to Germany,

521
00:34:00,236 --> 00:34:04,756
Speaker 1: where Mickey bought a new, fully loaded Mercedes Campravan dark Green.

522
00:34:05,516 --> 00:34:08,156
Speaker 1: According to Linda, he paid for it with a dividend

523
00:34:08,316 --> 00:34:12,116
Speaker 1: from gold styf he owned, or something like that. Linda

524
00:34:12,196 --> 00:34:15,916
Speaker 1: wasn't sure. He kept his stock certificates and gold coins

525
00:34:15,956 --> 00:34:20,436
Speaker 1: in a safety deposit box in Switzerland. While they were

526
00:34:20,436 --> 00:34:23,476
Speaker 1: in Germany, Linda felt sick and threw up so many

527
00:34:23,516 --> 00:34:26,076
Speaker 1: times she got dehydrated and had to go to the hospital.

528
00:34:26,916 --> 00:34:34,316
Speaker 1: Mickey ran out on the bill. In the summer of

529
00:34:34,396 --> 00:34:38,276
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy six, Miklo Stora, Mickey's father, was going to

530
00:34:38,276 --> 00:34:43,276
Speaker 1: be in France meeting with Baron Philippe de Rothschild. Miklos

531
00:34:43,316 --> 00:34:45,956
Speaker 1: had been working for the Rothschild since the mid sixties,

532
00:34:46,076 --> 00:34:49,516
Speaker 1: distributing their wines in California. At one point he was

533
00:34:49,596 --> 00:34:54,116
Speaker 1: the sole US importer for the company. The Rothschilds were

534
00:34:54,116 --> 00:34:57,636
Speaker 1: among the wealthiest and most respected families in Europe. They

535
00:34:57,636 --> 00:35:00,596
Speaker 1: were the first Jewish family to be invited into the Peerage,

536
00:35:00,956 --> 00:35:04,196
Speaker 1: and they had a huge chateau in vineyards outside of Bordeaux.

537
00:35:05,196 --> 00:35:08,516
Speaker 1: Mickey and Linda showed up in the camper van. By

538
00:35:08,556 --> 00:35:12,756
Speaker 1: this point Mickey had a new scheme in mind. Do

539
00:35:12,836 --> 00:35:17,396
Speaker 1: you remember anything about Mickey's search for the episodic wave.

540
00:35:19,116 --> 00:35:24,396
Speaker 5: That's all blown. There is no episonic wave.

541
00:35:25,036 --> 00:35:29,516
Speaker 4: It's all a ploy, you know, to just keep traveling.

542
00:35:30,716 --> 00:35:35,316
Speaker 1: According to Mickey, the episodic wave was quote a Bermuda

543
00:35:35,396 --> 00:35:40,636
Speaker 1: triangle like phenomenon, supposedly accountable for the mysterious disappearance of

544
00:35:40,676 --> 00:35:44,196
Speaker 1: many ships. It is a wave of enormous proportions not

545
00:35:44,316 --> 00:35:48,116
Speaker 1: caused by any of the usual means e g. Storms,

546
00:35:48,316 --> 00:35:54,236
Speaker 1: earth tremors, or quakes. The episodic wave, sometimes known as

547
00:35:54,356 --> 00:35:58,116
Speaker 1: the Rogue Wave or the Ninth Wave, is a real phenomenon,

548
00:35:58,756 --> 00:36:02,996
Speaker 1: but Mickey's expedition probably wasn't. He wanted to go looking

549
00:36:03,036 --> 00:36:06,556
Speaker 1: for it in New Guinea with Jacques Cousteau and maybe

550
00:36:06,556 --> 00:36:11,956
Speaker 1: some money from Rolex. Years later, in letters to Linda,

551
00:36:12,076 --> 00:36:15,876
Speaker 1: Mickey would use the episodic wave as code for a boondoggle,

552
00:36:16,436 --> 00:36:22,276
Speaker 1: a reference to their outlaw adventures in Bordeaux. Mickey and

553
00:36:22,276 --> 00:36:25,236
Speaker 1: Linda were hanging around the campground stealing food from the

554
00:36:25,276 --> 00:36:28,236
Speaker 1: local market when they finally got an invitation to the

555
00:36:28,316 --> 00:36:30,556
Speaker 1: Rothschild's chateau for lunch.

556
00:36:31,636 --> 00:36:35,436
Speaker 4: And the baron we were sitting at the table and

557
00:36:35,476 --> 00:36:39,396
Speaker 4: he was so excited talking and to have me and

558
00:36:39,436 --> 00:36:42,476
Speaker 4: Micky there with him, and he was moving his arms

559
00:36:42,476 --> 00:36:44,756
Speaker 4: around and talking and knocked over a bottle of wine

560
00:36:44,796 --> 00:36:47,916
Speaker 4: and it was probably a five hundred dollars bottle of wine,

561
00:36:47,956 --> 00:36:50,396
Speaker 4: you know, went on the floor, and all these beautiful

562
00:36:50,436 --> 00:36:53,436
Speaker 4: tiles and all the maids and everybody came running in

563
00:36:53,476 --> 00:36:55,796
Speaker 4: to clean it up, you know, before it stained the dials.

564
00:36:57,556 --> 00:37:00,476
Speaker 1: Mickey asked the baron if he would fund an expedition

565
00:37:00,636 --> 00:37:02,476
Speaker 1: to find the episodic wave.

566
00:37:04,396 --> 00:37:06,356
Speaker 4: The baron wasn't going to bite on that, you know,

567
00:37:06,436 --> 00:37:09,076
Speaker 4: he was like, what, no, No, it wasn't going to help.

568
00:37:09,156 --> 00:37:13,916
Speaker 1: And the relentless pace of being on the run with

569
00:37:13,996 --> 00:37:16,396
Speaker 1: Mickey was starting to wear Linda down.

570
00:37:20,236 --> 00:37:26,476
Speaker 4: There was the amazing, amazing, beautiful places and hotels and opulence,

571
00:37:26,956 --> 00:37:31,076
Speaker 4: and then down to the absolute rough garbage, just roughing

572
00:37:31,116 --> 00:37:34,236
Speaker 4: it and flies coming after you, and you're trying to

573
00:37:34,316 --> 00:37:36,556
Speaker 4: run away on the beach and here comes this pack

574
00:37:36,556 --> 00:37:39,396
Speaker 4: of flies and fishing off the beach, and here's a

575
00:37:39,396 --> 00:37:42,116
Speaker 4: couple of you know, catch a couple of god, you know, well,

576
00:37:42,236 --> 00:37:44,996
Speaker 4: they'll put that on the barbecue and eat that. There

577
00:37:45,076 --> 00:37:48,116
Speaker 4: was times when it was rough, and there was times

578
00:37:48,116 --> 00:37:50,956
Speaker 4: when the weather was bad. There was times when I

579
00:37:50,956 --> 00:37:55,156
Speaker 4: had malaria and almost died. There was a full at

580
00:37:55,276 --> 00:37:59,356
Speaker 4: least five lifetimes packed into one.

581
00:38:00,036 --> 00:38:02,756
Speaker 1: When you look back and think about your younger self,

582
00:38:02,836 --> 00:38:05,316
Speaker 1: who you know, you said you were naive, but you're

583
00:38:05,356 --> 00:38:08,156
Speaker 1: sounding less naive by the minute. You're you're getting some.

584
00:38:08,116 --> 00:38:09,836
Speaker 5: Worldly experience out there.

585
00:38:11,036 --> 00:38:13,436
Speaker 1: How do you feel about it? Do you feel like

586
00:38:13,756 --> 00:38:16,716
Speaker 1: angry that these guys got you to do this stuff

587
00:38:16,756 --> 00:38:19,316
Speaker 1: that could have gotten you in real trouble in places

588
00:38:19,396 --> 00:38:20,476
Speaker 1: you couldn't have gotten out of.

589
00:38:21,516 --> 00:38:23,396
Speaker 4: People got mad at me a little bit because they

590
00:38:23,396 --> 00:38:27,436
Speaker 4: said you were stupid, you know, but actually I don't

591
00:38:27,436 --> 00:38:29,956
Speaker 4: think I was. You know, I think I was kind

592
00:38:29,956 --> 00:38:34,796
Speaker 4: of in there too, working it. And the reason why

593
00:38:35,036 --> 00:38:37,196
Speaker 4: is I figured out I'm a surfer.

594
00:38:39,156 --> 00:38:40,756
Speaker 5: And I mean that says it all.

595
00:38:40,796 --> 00:38:42,716
Speaker 4: I mean, when you see it, I mean, if you

596
00:38:42,796 --> 00:38:46,236
Speaker 4: do it and see it and you understand it, you

597
00:38:46,236 --> 00:38:50,436
Speaker 4: can see how it kind of pushed me to kind

598
00:38:50,476 --> 00:38:51,796
Speaker 4: of work it more.

599
00:38:53,196 --> 00:38:56,356
Speaker 5: There's the surf, there's the adventure.

600
00:38:58,716 --> 00:39:03,316
Speaker 1: So you were pulling these scams so that you could

601
00:39:03,356 --> 00:39:10,476
Speaker 1: surf the world and survive. Yeah, but Linda restless and

602
00:39:10,956 --> 00:39:15,516
Speaker 1: more important, she didn't trust Mickey.

603
00:39:16,276 --> 00:39:18,716
Speaker 4: I never felt that he did have my back.

604
00:39:19,676 --> 00:39:22,196
Speaker 1: You were on your own, yes, even though you were

605
00:39:22,196 --> 00:39:22,716
Speaker 1: with Mickey.

606
00:39:22,796 --> 00:39:22,996
Speaker 2: Yes.

607
00:39:23,076 --> 00:39:25,036
Speaker 4: He used to kind of say to me too a

608
00:39:25,076 --> 00:39:27,396
Speaker 4: little bit. You know, if you get caught with Don

609
00:39:27,836 --> 00:39:30,916
Speaker 4: pulling shit like this, he said, He's got a lot

610
00:39:30,916 --> 00:39:33,676
Speaker 4: of money. You know, he'll bail himself out, but you won't,

611
00:39:34,156 --> 00:39:35,316
Speaker 4: he says, you know, you know you're not going to

612
00:39:35,356 --> 00:39:37,676
Speaker 4: get bailed out. So he used to kind of like

613
00:39:37,956 --> 00:39:39,756
Speaker 4: put the teeth in with that, you.

614
00:39:39,716 --> 00:39:42,156
Speaker 1: Know, manipulating of it.

615
00:39:43,156 --> 00:39:48,836
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, mental, little bit of mental girl.

616
00:39:49,916 --> 00:39:53,476
Speaker 1: And Mickey could be aggressive. One time, toward the end

617
00:39:53,476 --> 00:39:56,996
Speaker 1: of their relationship, Mickey crossed a line with her. They

618
00:39:57,036 --> 00:39:59,356
Speaker 1: were in France, staying in Mickey's Capra van.

619
00:40:01,916 --> 00:40:06,396
Speaker 4: He threw a pot of hot tea at me and

620
00:40:06,476 --> 00:40:10,316
Speaker 4: we were in the little van, the Mercedes. That's when

621
00:40:10,316 --> 00:40:14,116
Speaker 4: I jumped out of the door and everything was getting frayed.

622
00:40:15,556 --> 00:40:19,636
Speaker 4: Everything was like coming apart at the threads. There was

623
00:40:19,676 --> 00:40:28,956
Speaker 4: too many obstacles, barriers, people, circumstances. I was seeing clutter.

624
00:40:29,956 --> 00:40:33,276
Speaker 4: I wasn't focusing on what I really wanted to do anymore.

625
00:40:33,356 --> 00:40:36,436
Speaker 4: I wanted to just surf and have peace. As a

626
00:40:36,436 --> 00:40:38,356
Speaker 4: friend of mine used to say, I wanted to trim

627
00:40:38,356 --> 00:40:43,236
Speaker 4: in peace. And this wasn't happening.

628
00:40:43,356 --> 00:40:43,636
Speaker 5: You know.

629
00:40:43,876 --> 00:40:46,756
Speaker 4: There was too many poles and tugs.

630
00:40:47,476 --> 00:40:50,596
Speaker 1: At some point it all became too much.

631
00:40:52,916 --> 00:40:56,396
Speaker 5: I'll tell you when I lost it. I was in France.

632
00:40:57,116 --> 00:40:59,716
Speaker 4: Mickey was stuck there because he had no means to

633
00:40:59,756 --> 00:41:01,116
Speaker 4: get anywhere with the passport.

634
00:41:01,236 --> 00:41:02,356
Speaker 5: It burnt out everything.

635
00:41:03,596 --> 00:41:06,876
Speaker 4: France was going to be the place, and I got

636
00:41:06,876 --> 00:41:10,756
Speaker 4: tired of France, and I got tired of the whole thing. Well,

637
00:41:11,476 --> 00:41:15,916
Speaker 4: two Irish guys came down from Ireland and kind of

638
00:41:15,916 --> 00:41:18,476
Speaker 4: talked about surf and we were talking and talking, and

639
00:41:18,476 --> 00:41:20,036
Speaker 4: I said, when you're going up there? And he goes

640
00:41:20,116 --> 00:41:23,636
Speaker 4: next week and I said, can I come? Hecause you

641
00:41:23,676 --> 00:41:24,516
Speaker 4: got money for gas.

642
00:41:24,556 --> 00:41:26,836
Speaker 5: I said yes. I left.

643
00:41:27,356 --> 00:41:31,036
Speaker 4: Mickey was left city. I told him, I said I'm leaving.

644
00:41:31,876 --> 00:41:34,916
Speaker 4: He was in a stairwell in Beuritz. It was a

645
00:41:34,996 --> 00:41:38,316
Speaker 4: chamborda more. He was in the stairwell, and he broke

646
00:41:38,396 --> 00:41:41,596
Speaker 4: down cried, Now, I gotta tell you. I don't know

647
00:41:41,636 --> 00:41:45,836
Speaker 4: if it was real tears or if it was the

648
00:41:45,876 --> 00:41:49,956
Speaker 4: game's not over yet tears, But mine were over. I

649
00:41:50,116 --> 00:41:56,316
Speaker 4: was done.

650
00:41:56,836 --> 00:42:00,636
Speaker 1: Linda relocated to a desolate beach in County Sligo, on

651
00:42:00,716 --> 00:42:04,956
Speaker 1: Ireland's Atlantic Coast. She moved into a broken down VW

652
00:42:05,036 --> 00:42:10,236
Speaker 1: bus and spent the winter surfing alone. Mickey also found

653
00:42:10,316 --> 00:42:17,036
Speaker 1: himself alone in France. He'd been there before, left behind, abandoned,

654
00:42:18,116 --> 00:42:22,676
Speaker 1: but Mickey was a survivor. He'd park his Mercedes camera

655
00:42:22,756 --> 00:42:26,276
Speaker 1: van in the little town of Gettory, keep his head

656
00:42:26,316 --> 00:42:37,276
Speaker 1: down and wait for someone else to come along next

657
00:42:37,276 --> 00:42:40,356
Speaker 1: time on lost Hills. Mickey can't hide.

658
00:42:43,556 --> 00:42:45,996
Speaker 6: The editor called or publisher called is into his office

659
00:42:47,796 --> 00:42:49,396
Speaker 6: and he said, okay, you guys are going to France.

660
00:42:49,436 --> 00:42:51,516
Speaker 6: And we know Mickey dor is hanging out in France.

661
00:42:51,876 --> 00:42:54,356
Speaker 6: He's been dropped off the radar now for a few

662
00:42:54,436 --> 00:42:57,716
Speaker 6: years and no one's heard anything of him, are from him,

663
00:42:57,756 --> 00:43:01,116
Speaker 6: but we know he's there, and you guys are going there,

664
00:43:01,196 --> 00:43:04,516
Speaker 6: and no matter what, you know, what did he say

665
00:43:04,556 --> 00:43:04,716
Speaker 6: to you?

666
00:43:05,516 --> 00:43:08,316
Speaker 3: He said, if Mickey even farts, I want a picture

667
00:43:08,316 --> 00:43:09,236
Speaker 3: of it.

668
00:43:10,076 --> 00:43:12,396
Speaker 6: That's how let's say what it coverage from Vicky right,

669
00:43:12,956 --> 00:43:14,596
Speaker 6: so we said, okay, we're on it.

670
00:43:15,676 --> 00:43:22,996
Speaker 1: That's next in episode nine, The Fall Guys. Lost Hills

671
00:43:23,076 --> 00:43:26,676
Speaker 1: is written and reported by Me Dana Goodyear. It's created

672
00:43:26,716 --> 00:43:30,196
Speaker 1: by me and Benadere and produced by Western Sound and

673
00:43:30,236 --> 00:43:34,636
Speaker 1: Pushkin Industries. Subscribe to Pushkin Plus and you can binge

674
00:43:34,676 --> 00:43:38,836
Speaker 1: the entire season right now. Add free. Find Pushkin Plus

675
00:43:38,916 --> 00:43:41,436
Speaker 1: on the Lost Hills show page in Apple Podcasts, or

676
00:43:41,476 --> 00:43:44,796
Speaker 1: at pushkin dot fm, slash plus