WEBVTT - Spade Cooley: Jealousy, Torture, Murder 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:07.600 Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. A quick heads 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:09.520 up for those who may be triggered by tales of 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:13.520 sexual abuse and violence. This episode of Disgraceland depicts both. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:29.800 The story about the King of Western Swing Spade Coolie 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:34.640 is insane. He was a violent, drunk and homicidal psychopath 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:36.720 with the time was one of the biggest stars in 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:41.040 the country. His TV show reached millions, He appeared in 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:45.800 countless movies, scored numerous top ten hits, and once hosted 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.120 Frank Sinatra as a favor to help Frank get his 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:53.960 career going again. But Spade Cooley had no heart. Spade 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:59.120 Cooley cared only about Spade Coolie. He was mean, jealous, abusive, 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.960 and almost totally driven by the deep seated insecurity that 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:05.200 he wasn't good enough for any of the women in 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.160 his life, a fear that in the end proved to 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:12.319 be tragic for both him and his family. But Spade 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.240 Coolie made great music. That music you heard at the 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.120 top of the show that wasn't great music. That was 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.679 a preset loop from my melotron called slow Waltz Guitar 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:26.280 Low MK two. I played you that loop because I 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:29.000 can't afford the license for wedding bell blues by the 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.360 Fifth Dimension, And why would I play you that specific 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:36.040 slice of champagne soul infused cheese? Could I afford it? 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.280 Because that was the number one song in America on 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:44.280 November twenty third, nineteen sixty nine. And that was the 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:47.520 day that the Heartless Spade Coolie stepped out on stage 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.480 for the last time. On this the final episode of 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:57.080 season two of Disgraceland, Psychopathic Jealousy, Champagne soul, slow waltz 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:00.280 and guitars, and the King of Western Swing, the Heartless 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:24.560 Spade Coolie. I'm Jake Brennan and miss Graceland. You gotta 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:29.240 shake your hips and snap your fingers too, move them shoulders. 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.000 Of course, moving them shoulders was a ruse to force 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:37.160 her to shimmy your breast. She was eighteen and beautiful, shy, 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:40.919 though not quite jailbait, but quite positively a cock Tea's 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:45.680 Spade Coolie didn't care yet. He dragged on his cigarette, 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.600 filled his lungs, leaned back in his office chair and 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.840 studied this fine little thing in front of him. Yeah, 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.120 she'd do, he thought she'd be able to cut it 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:56.880 in his vand and if not no sweat, he had 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.880 swayed with his audience. They'd endure a prude singer on 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.440 stage for a minute or so, so long as she 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:05.880 looked like this, and the potential upside for Spade was 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.480 too much not to risk. And Peggy Sue was gorgeous 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.880 as she could sing. But could she pull it all together? 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.799 And could Spade put her in the sack? He wondered, 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:19.680 Not tonight, not on the day of her audition. The 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:22.000 man had a heart, after all, he wasn't an animal, 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.320 for Christ's sakes. So Spade decided to give her the 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.840 gig and give her some time before taking what he 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:30.840 now viewed as rightfully his. And he could wait at 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:35.440 least until tomorrow. Spade's mind wandered back to this day 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.240 in nineteen forty five, while on the stand in nineteen 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.520 sixty one, on trial for his life at age fifty 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.640 four for the murder of his thirty six year old wife, 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.440 Ella May Cooley. Why as mine did this? He had 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.200 no idea. Ever since his dick got hard. He had 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.400 this thing where certain women from his life, some inconsequential, 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:57.800 others very consequential, would just pop into his head out 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:01.440 of nowhere. And right now, Peggy Sue from back in 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:05.040 his days at the Santa Monica Ballroom was a welcome distraction, 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.800 far more interesting than the prosecutor in the ten dollars 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:13.240 suit grilling him in this dusty Baker's field court. Those 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:15.960 are the days. Spade hadn't quite gripped life by the 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:18.680 balls full fistedly yet, but he was well on his 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.760 way to tightening his grip. He had a bonafide smash 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.760 hit shame on You, and was packing them in weekly 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.880 out on the pier and broadcasting his brand of highly 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:31.880 popular Western swing music to Holmes all over southern California 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:36.240 on KWLA, and people were driving from miles around in 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.160 this era of gas rationing to see him play. And 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.960 this was nineteen forty five. World War Two wasn't quite 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:46.400 over yet, but little miss Peggy Sue refused to shake 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:50.600 her hips. Spade, impatient with a cigarette hanging from his lips, 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:52.960 quickly rose up from behind his desk and over to 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:56.480 within an inch of Peggy Sue's face. She could smell 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.400 hiss atrocious breath. He vibed on the smell of her 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:02.880 cheap candy store perfume, and before anything even happened. She 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.279 felt the shame swell within her. Spade felt this dick 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.919 start to chub up. He put both his hands on 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:12.400 her hips and forced them to sway gently, first to 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.400 the left and then to the right, and Peggy Sue 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:18.320 looked up at him blankly, unsure of what she should do. 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.760 She needed this gig bad, but she was scared. And 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.240 this man, he was the local celebrity. He could pay 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:25.840 her more in a month than she'd earn out on 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:28.880 the boardwalk behind a counter in a year. But he 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:32.520 was a mean looking bastard. Short, slick back hair, black 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.440 eyes like oil slicks. They shined but offered no reflection, 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:41.680 still and lifeless. Her fear now replaced her shame. You see, 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.560 Peggy Sue, you gotta move a little, give the men 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:46.680 in the audience something to think about when they get 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:51.320 home with their tired old wives. He smiled incredibly, it 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:55.159 seemed to her with justice upper lip, and Peggy Sue 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.600 nodded in fear. Spade took it for obedience, And when 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.479 she lowered her eyes, Spade swore she was gesturing to 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.760 her breast. He just knew that under that raggedy wool 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.120 sweater there was a body to beat the band, and 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.360 Spade couldn't wait to get his hands all over it. 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:11.919 He suspected she was just the type to give it 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:16.520 out willy nilly to the soldiers on leave. In Spade's estimation, gutless, 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.040 square jawed ex letterman who'd rather ship off overseas to 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:22.760 shoot at faceless chips and take their chances shooting the 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.440 moon and stars all at once, as Spade had been 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:27.920 doing since he first came to Hollywood back in the thirties. 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.800 Spade knew their kind. Every weekend while on shore leave, 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.520 they'd fill his dance hall, and right now one of 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.960 them was back home in Fresno filling his ex wife 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:41.680 with what Spade suspected was a very sizable small town cock. Fuck. 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.200 This tomorrow was too long away. Spade turned his head, 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.960 spit out his smoke, and smashed his slimy lips into 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.960 Peggy sws. She kept her mouth shut and pulled back. 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.679 Spade used his weight to push her up against the wall. 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:56.520 His hands were all over, first on the outside of 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.160 her sweater and then up and under her skirt, feeling 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.880 for her panties. She squirmed, tried pushing him back. She 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.480 could feel his penis now hard and pressing up against 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.240 her belly. As she was repulsed but relieved at its 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.400 size or lack thereof, the Spade slid his hand around 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.480 to the backside of her panties, and in that motion 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.200 Peggy Su bit down on his lip hard. Spade pulled 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.280 back and with a quick pain shocked but aroused even further, 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.960 and in that instant Peggy Sue slid up from between Spade, 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.320 Coolie and the wall and made her break for the door. 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.000 The thought of this event from his past still excited 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.160 him even here in the distraction of the courtroom and 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.160 to the crowd in the court, Spade appeared heartless. It 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:39.440 had little to do with his demeanor or looks, and 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:41.840 everything to do with the gruesome charge that this one 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:44.840 time television star had tortured and murdered his wife in 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:49.000 front of her teenage daughter. The celebrity and lurid details 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.200 made for sensational and damning headlines, and what they did 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:56.000 to one's imagination. It was too much innocent before being 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.040 proven guilty was a farce, and this was the trial 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.840 of the century, the biggest thing since Fatty Arabuckle. This 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.560 was pre JFK. Assassination pre manson murders, and it was 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.240 impossible to see Spade Cooley for anything other than what 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:12.120 he was, a murderous creep. But that didn't stop Spade 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.880 from trying to sway the jury's opinion. He testified that 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.280 his wife was a horror who was enraptured by a 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:20.640 free love sex cult, and that she had admitted to 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:23.080 Spade at least to sleeping with two men at a 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.040 time as part of her duties and said cult, and 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.080 perhaps even more damning to Spade, his wife was rumored 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.960 to who have been sleeping with Spade's mentor and sometime rival, 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:36.559 Roy Rogers, the Singing Cowboy. It wasn't like Lma at all, 0:08:36.679 --> 0:09:03.000 Spade testified, it was though she was an animal. Mister Cooley, 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.760 do you own any animals? No, sir, but I've used 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:10.720 them in my act dogs To be precise, I love animals, sir. 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.880 Would you ever hurt an animal? No, sir. I hardly 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.160 eat any meat, some bacon every now and them, and 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.240 not much meat at all. Can't stand the thought of 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:24.920 hurting animals, not even a mouse. The main difference between 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:28.720 psychopaths and sociopaths is a lack of empathy for fellow humans. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:33.520 Sociopaths can develop long lasting family relationships and live out 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.960 their antisocial lifestyles, and this is in part because of 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:42.240 their capacity to feel for other humans to experience guilt. Psychopaths, 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.520 on the other hand, well, the general belief is that 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:46.600 they do not feel guilt, and this is how they 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.040 are able to torture and kill and feel nothing. And they 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.520 are heartless. And a strange thing about psychopaths is their 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.920 love of animals, despite their ability to torture them, particularly 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.679 at a young age. Psychopaths see in animals unconditional love 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.000 that humans cannot offer them, so they developed strong bonds 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.720 of love and affection with animals and pets. And Spade 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.480 Koolei loved animals, but deep down he hated and feared women. 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.240 He hated the power they had over him, the ability 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.760 they had to send his blood boiling with jealousy. And 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:19.640 when the cops came knocking the afternoon after the incident 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:23.720 with Peggy Sue, Spade was semi shocked. Surely they can 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:27.040 understand Spade Cooley was an important man around town and 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:30.520 women threw themselves at him. The cops ran through Peggy 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:33.600 Sue's assault allegation as if it were a minor formality. 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.360 Spade assured them he didn't rape her. He couldn't rape her. 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:38.920 She was only eighteen, he was old enough to be 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.560 her daddy. Plus he loved the little birds who came 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.440 to his shows. In the end, it was his word 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.800 against hers. He said she said. In other words, what 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:49.959 he said was bond to what she said wasn't to 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.520 be believed. Spade gave an official statement to the police 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:55.560 and after a minute go back to the business of 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:59.120 being Spade COOLi. And that was that, and Peggy Sou 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:01.680 kept her virginia. He found the courage to put Spade 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.439 Coolie in the rear view and proceeded down the path 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.080 of building a career at a business overpopulated with perverts 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:12.720 and controlled by lecherous creeps, show business. Peggy Sue had 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:15.440 the last laugh, though, when years later she appeared on 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.480 Lawrence Welk a man Spade Cooley hated and saw us 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:22.080 partly responsible for his slide and popularity in the entertainment world. 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:26.600 Spade was jealous of wealth success. Spade was jealous of 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.160 most men who had anything he perceived himself to be. 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.160 Without Spade Cooley's jealous streak ran a mile long, but 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.040 fueled him. At first, he was jealous of his buddy 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:38.960 Roy Rogers' career, and so he took his own swing 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.840 at showbiz. And then he was jealous of his band leader, 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:44.400 Jimmy Wakeley, so he took his own swing at being 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.960 a band leader. And since his high school days as 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.480 a short, little runt, he had always been jealous of 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.800 the tall All American types with the broad shoulders who 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.280 threw the football around in the yard after school and 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.480 threw the cheerleaders around in the back seats of their 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.280 daddy's cars on weekends. So he took swing at eighteen 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:05.760 year old Peggy Sue when he saw the opportunity sitting 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.319 on the stand. Now, Spade couldn't get Peggy Sue out 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.920 of his mind. She was one of the few sexual 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.520 conquests that went unconquered, and because of this, she occupied 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:18.480 a special place in Spade's memory bank. He fantasized about her, 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:23.040 frequently not having sex with him, instead having sex with 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.760 Ned Rasmussen, the hometown boy next door who stole his 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.680 wife away while he was out on the road with 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.600 the West Texas Sons of the sage brush, trying to 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.080 make a buck to feed his family. Ned had with Spade, 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.880 had a physical appeal and the respect and only a 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.280 tall man could command immediately upon entering a room, and 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.120 Spade knew, he just knew that Ned was just the 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.160 type of no talent, empty letter sweater wearing ship bird 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:49.920 that Peggy Sue gave it out to Willy Nilly, and 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:51.880 the thought of the two of them going at it 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:56.200 it got Spade's blood pumping fast. His heart if that 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:59.920 was indeed heart beat like a Jean Coopa snare wow. 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.679 On the stand, Spade could hear voices coming at him. 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.800 They were distant, underwater sounding. He could no longer see 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.920 the defense attorney pitching softball questions at him, just Ned 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.760 rest mus him with his perfectly quaffed hair, leering down 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.600 at him from behind Peggy sou as he thrust his 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:20.920 ample cock into the beautiful young virgin who denied him 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:26.120 Spade COOLi, the king of Western Swing. Spade swore Ned 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:29.000 that smug prick and just smiled at him, and Peggy 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.120 Sue was panting. It was pleasure and pain all at once. 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.439 Spade's heart felt like he was going to bust out. 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:36.439 Of his chest, run out into the courthouse, hauled to 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:38.800 a pay phone, and call the fire department to come 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:41.520 throw cold water on the deeply hot and passionate sex 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.920 scene playing out in the courtroom. In Spade's imagination, Spade 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.880 felt his eyes burn and then widen. His lips started 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:50.200 to pull apart, and the cigarette he'd been smoking hung 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.160 stuck to his bottom. Lip smoke trailed to the rickety 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.480 court room ceiling fan. The prosecutor grew concerned, as did 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.240 the judge, turn towards Spade. Mister Cooley, mister Cooley, are 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.360 you all right? Spade smacked his chest with his right hand, 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.840 and the strange and beautied tone said my heart, And 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.120 with that he fell over in his chair and passed out. 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:20.560 We'll be right back after this, word, word word. The 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.240 electro cardiogram administered to Spade after his heart attack showed 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.800 that well, it wasn't really a heart attack, after all. 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.480 It's tough to have a heart attack when you're heartless. 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:35.640 What it was was most likely a panic attack either way. Spade, Coolie, 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.000 the so called king of Western Swing, the genius fiddle 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.520 player and showman who packed them in up and down 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.880 the Southern California Coast, who'd recorded a number one hit 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:47.720 and had a string of top ten singles, appeared in 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:52.080 thirty eight thirty eight Westerns, hosted his own nationally syndicated 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:55.840 television variety show, won two Emmys, and even once hosted 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.760 Frank Sinatra. That Spade coolie, the same Spade coolie who 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:02.560 built the sprawling Willow Springs ranch in the desert for 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.720 his wife and kids, was now back in the Kerran 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.520 County courtroom, his hollow eyes darting every which way, trying 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.240 to avoid what was taking place. On the stand, his 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:18.440 fourteen year old daughter, Melody, testifying against him. She spoke softly, 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:21.880 Spade gave me three minutes, and then he started counting. 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:27.160 You have two minutes left. You're one man. Tim Zuo, 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:33.720 who was Spade the prosecutor, asked, my father, did you 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.600 ever call him daddy? Yes, sir, When did you stop 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:43.160 calling him daddy when he killed my mother? The story, 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.320 as explained by his daughter was familiar to Spade, but 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:51.640 not in a subjective way. Melody's recounting jived with Spade's memory, 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.080 but it was as if he was remembering someone else 0:15:54.200 --> 0:16:05.080 committing the crime. Spade could remember the rage. He still 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.720 felt it. He knew Lma had been fucking around on him, 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:10.960 first with Roy Rogers, that prick, and then with her 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:15.320 two queer friends she'd been hanging out with on weekends. Gay. Yeah, 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.720 maybe Devian's definitely, and Lma was a Devian as well. 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.080 It was in her nature, just like it was with 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:22.720 his ex wife, and just like it was with that 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.040 cock TAA's peggy su women. They were all the same, 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:29.880 Spade thought Lma. She had the nerve to not only 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:33.440 cheat on but then went to leave him for what 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.400 because he called her on her bullshit, because he knocked 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.720 her around a little to keep her in line. She 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.960 was weak, Spade thought, nowhere near as tough as Benita, 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:45.200 the side piece he kept down in Santa Monica, or Harriet, 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.000 the tough Jewish scenistress who'd shown him around Hollywood back 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:52.520 in the day. Lma was weak minded and disloyal. Spade 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.480 couldn't just let her mess around on him. Sure, his 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.160 career might not have been what it once was. Western 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.760 Swing might have gone out of fashion, the TV show 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.440 might have been canceled, But Spade had plans the amusement 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.520 park he was building out in the desert was gonna 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.040 put Willow Springs in the map and make it the 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.880 palm Springs of Central California. Spade was a big man 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.600 now as an entertainer, but he'd soon be even a 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.680 bigger man as a developer. And what if someone heard 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.240 about Lma and what she was up to. It was 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.480 bad enough for the rumors about Roy Rogers, but some 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.520 queer from the desert, and then she was gonna leave. No, 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.640 of course, Lma Cooley hadn't slept with any of these men. 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.000 But Spade couldn't shake the jealousy. It had ruled him 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:39.720 ever since adolescence. Spade thought back to that night Lma 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.680 threatened divorced for the last time, and once she told 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:46.000 Melody to pack her bags and they were leaving. Then 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.399 and there, Spade felt his head ignite with fire. He 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.400 could feel the rockets explode in his skull. The jealousy, 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.920 it was all consuming. He raged went blind. He came 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.320 to with the sight of his daughter in his bedroom doorway. 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:00.840 He looked down at his pants and it was chest. 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.919 There was blood all over him, someone else's. He grabbed 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:07.919 his daughter by the hair, pulling her through the master's 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:11.440 suites bedroom and into the bathroom. Come in here. I 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:14.439 want you to see your stupid mother there on the 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:18.399 bathroom floor, lying in the shower, naked and bloodied, with 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:21.120 the water raining down on her, flushing her blood down 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.720 the drain as quickly as it exited her wounds. Was 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.359 what was left of Melody's mother and Spade's wife, LM. Cooley. 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.280 Spade had ripped her hair out of her head by 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:35.080 the fistful before pummeling her with those same fists. Hold up. 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.960 This story is about to get very graphic, in very dark, 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:41.520 so much so that it was hard for me to 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:45.000 write and even harder for me to voice. If graphic 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:47.840 depictions of murder and physical abuse turn you off, then 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:53.440 I urge you to skip ahead. About sixty seconds, Spade 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.400 pounced on top of Lma, held her down, whispered into 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.080 her ear, this is the last fuck of your life, 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.840 and then proceeded Raper. And when he was done, he 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:04.320 shoved her into the shower to clean herself up. But 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:06.800 that wouldn't do. She'd be cleaned up in no time 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:10.600 and out again, parading herself all around town. Fuck that Spaded. 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:13.520 To make her undesirable to all men. He grabbed the 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.199 broom from behind the toilet, held her down to the 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:22.080 bathroom floor, and did the unthinkable, rammed it repeatedly up 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.720 and into her. When he saw the mess he'd made, 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:30.399 he kicked the lifeless Lma repeatedly, and the belly masked 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:34.159 the damage he'd done with the broom handle. Now an 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.639 hour or so later, he sat at the edge of 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:41.480 his bed while his daughter surveyed the damage. Come here, baby, 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.760 His daughter stood still in the doorway, frozen by the 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:48.240 side of her nearly beaten to death. Mother, you hurt 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:53.720 your father. Petrified, Melody joined Spade on the bed. The 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:55.840 Spade pulled her onto his lap. She could smell the 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.040 whiskey on his breath. These days, it was rare. She didn't. 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.160 He rubbed her shoulder and then mashed his slimy lips 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:06.200 into his daughter's and crammed his tongue down her throat. 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:08.760 All he could think about were the football players at 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.840 her school, with their broad shoulders and their big cocks, 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:16.120 wanting in on what was rightfully his. His daughter. Melody 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.919 fought him off. In his drunken state. He wasn't much 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.080 of a match. Melody split. Spade pulled his wounded wife 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:25.760 from a shower and tucked her into their bag. He 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.119 waited four hours before calling in was by the time 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:32.480 they arrived at the emergency room, Elimee Cooley had succumb 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:54.320 to her wounds and died. The judge leaned forward in 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:57.040 his chair after thanking the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:59.879 and then addressed the rest of his court. It is 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:02.840 its judgment of this court that you, Donald Clyde Cooley, 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.119 aka Spade Cooley, be committed to the state prison for 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:08.440 life for the crime for which you have been convicted, 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:11.159 and that you'd be remanded custody of the Sheriff of 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:15.600 this county for delivery without further delay. Spade Cooley was 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.080 led out of the courtroom into a state mental hospital, 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:21.880 where he didn't exactly serve hard time. His supposed heart 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:25.040 troubles and his failed insanity plea and his celebrity status, 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:27.000 it was reasons were enough for him to do his 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:29.639 time in a private hospital room rather than an actual 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:33.760 jail cell. Some suspect that his old friend from back 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:36.919 in his Hollywood days, the new governor of California, the 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:40.119 one time actor Ronald Reagan, had something to do with 0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:43.720 his cushy prison digs, and it was with Reagan's eventual 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:47.360 support seven years later that Spade Cooley was granted parole 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:51.679 to begin February nineteen seventy, meaning Spade would be serving 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:55.240 a total of eight years for the murder and rape 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:59.399 of his wife. In the meantime, he was to be 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:01.760 granted a set seventy two hour furlough to perform a 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:05.840 benefit concert for the Deputy Sheriff's Association at the Oakland Auditorium. 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:09.520 It was one of those traveling Grand Old Opry spectaculars. 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:14.119 Spade took the stage on November twenty ninth, nineteen sixty nine. 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:16.399 He grabbed his biddle and led the band through a 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:19.879 hell fire version of his hit Shame On You. The 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:22.679 crowd of three thousand Lahmen went ape ship for Spade, 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:26.800 cooling the bona fide celebrity on stage, their very own 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:32.399 prisoner there to entertain them for their benefit. Spade killed 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:36.919 after a set. He asked the waiting paroleman in the 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:38.600 wings if it would be all right for him to 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:41.679 have a minute alone in his dressing room. The moment 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:45.680 had clearly affected Spade. Coolie, his first time on stage, 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:48.320 his first time out of prison in years, and the 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:53.520 reception pure love from the audience. Spade was emotional. The 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:57.000 parman gave them the Oka head backstage in cool out 0:22:57.000 --> 0:23:00.760 for a second before we go back to prison, Spade 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:03.160 Cooley walked into his dressing room and closed the door. 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:07.120 He thought of Lama, her body naked in the shower, 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:10.320 a mangled mess of a woman who drove him crazy 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:13.440 and in his estimation, got what was coming to her. 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:18.560 His anger flashed, the rage returned, and then his breath 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:22.080 quickened in his chest caved in with pain. The heart 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:25.879 attack came on him quick. He fell faced down and 0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:31.119 died instantly. His body lied on the dressing room floor, heartless. 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:58.240 I'm Jake Brennan in this this Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created 0:23:58.240 --> 0:24:00.520 by Yours Truly and is produced in part adership with 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:03.639 double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:07.239 the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If you're 0:24:07.280 --> 0:24:10.280 listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for 0:24:10.280 --> 0:24:13.119 supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, 0:24:13.359 --> 0:24:15.439 you can become a member right now by going to 0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:20.359