WEBVTT - S03 Episode 2: Lex Talionis (Pt. 2 of 2)

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<v Speaker 1>built on. You're listening to Unexplained with Me Richard McClean

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<v Speaker 1>smith Lex talionis Part two. With the announcement of Johnny's

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<v Speaker 1>arrest on Monday, November ninth, a great tension in the

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<v Speaker 1>community has been released, and although Bishop Matheson advises some

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<v Speaker 1>caution since it remains to be seen if Johnny is

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<v Speaker 1>the perpetrator, there is palpable relief at the Saint Franci's

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<v Speaker 1>convent back at the city jail. Later that evening, local

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<v Speaker 1>attorney Bill Pollius offers his services as a court appointed

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<v Speaker 1>attorney to Johnny. The family has little money and little

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<v Speaker 1>choice but to take him on, but even at this

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<v Speaker 1>point his attitude causes great concern for Johnny's mother, Charlotte.

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<v Speaker 1>From the moment he introduces himself, she can tell his

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<v Speaker 1>mind is already made up. It was a lost cause.

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<v Speaker 1>That night, Johnny sits alone in his cell while his

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<v Speaker 1>mother returns home, haunted by what he had told her.

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<v Speaker 1>According to Johnny, after his arrest, he had been taken

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<v Speaker 1>into an interview room where two detectives had immediately started

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<v Speaker 1>telling him what he was supposed to have done. When

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<v Speaker 1>they offered a version of events, he had just nodded

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<v Speaker 1>along and told them to put it down. But they

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<v Speaker 1>weren't his words, He kept telling his mother he never

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<v Speaker 1>did any of it. The following day, at tired and fragile,

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<v Speaker 1>Charlotte arrives at the county courthouse, jostled by press and

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<v Speaker 1>onlookers as she makes her way to meet her son

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<v Speaker 1>to escort him to his bail hearing at one thirty pm.

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<v Speaker 1>Accompanied by Bill Pollius, she takes the scared and handcuffed

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen year old Johnny by the arm and leads him

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<v Speaker 1>into the charged atmosphere of a packed courtroom. Trying not

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<v Speaker 1>to look at the many spectators who have crammed in

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<v Speaker 1>to watch the hearing, She just has time to give

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<v Speaker 1>her son a peck on the cheek before two police

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<v Speaker 1>deputies take him away, removing his handcuffs and sitting him

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<v Speaker 1>down by the judge's bench. All rise to their feet

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<v Speaker 1>when a solemn Elbe Bartlet, Justice of the Peace, enters

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<v Speaker 1>the room. Johnny, Charlotte, and Pollius remained standing as Bartlet

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<v Speaker 1>lays out the charges, But before he can speak, Charlotte

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<v Speaker 1>feels her legs go and is helped to a seat

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<v Speaker 1>at the council table behind her son. Johnny Frank Garrett,

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<v Speaker 1>hereinafter styled the defendant, heretofore on or about the thirty

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<v Speaker 1>first day of October, did then and there knowingly and intentionally,

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<v Speaker 1>while in the course of committing and attempting to commit

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<v Speaker 1>the offense of burglary, cause the death of to day

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<v Speaker 1>a bends by choking and strangling the complainant manner and

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<v Speaker 1>means unknown. Johnnie stares at the table, shaking his head

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<v Speaker 1>as his mother struggles to hold back the tears covering

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<v Speaker 1>her ears. At the mention of choking and strangling, Detective

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<v Speaker 1>Joger places a hand on her shoulder. Barrett finishes by

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<v Speaker 1>asking Johnny to sign a document stating he understands the charges,

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<v Speaker 1>Charlotte interrupts, letting the judge know that her son cannot read.

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<v Speaker 1>Pollius then proceeds to read the document to Johnny. Despite

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<v Speaker 1>an attempt by Pollius to secure an examination trial to

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<v Speaker 1>ascertain if there is even enough evidence to indicte Johnny,

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<v Speaker 1>District Attorney Danny Hill argues forcibly against it, and the

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity is denied. Johnny is refused bail and instructed to

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<v Speaker 1>return to jail to await his trial date. With the

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<v Speaker 1>hearing brought to her clothes, he is handcuffed once again

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<v Speaker 1>and led toward the door, kissing his mother good bye,

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<v Speaker 1>before being walked past a horde of jeering spectators and

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<v Speaker 1>the media. That night, Johnny is put in a cell

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<v Speaker 1>with b and offender J. Kelly Pinkerton, who was awaiting

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<v Speaker 1>trial charged with rape and murder, having already received the

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<v Speaker 1>death penalty for a murder he committed back in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy nine. Throughout the county, as the press raced to

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<v Speaker 1>break the news of the teenager's indictment, one reporter has

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<v Speaker 1>been especially thrown by the charge six days previously, five

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<v Speaker 1>days before Garrett had supposedly even become a suspect. Globe

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<v Speaker 1>News reporter Charlie Bates had been contacted by two apparent psychics.

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<v Speaker 1>What they told him at the time had been too

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<v Speaker 1>peculiar to print In an article published the day after

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<v Speaker 1>the hearing, However, Bates was finally able to explain the

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<v Speaker 1>extraordinary turn of events. After hearing about the horrific murder

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<v Speaker 1>of sister todaya self confirmed psychic, INA's Patterson, who had

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<v Speaker 1>assist police previously on a nineteen seventy nine rape case,

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<v Speaker 1>together with her associate Allne, decided to hold a clairvoyant

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<v Speaker 1>session to see what they might find out. That night,

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<v Speaker 1>as Allene watched on, Inez apparently entered a trance like

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<v Speaker 1>state in an effort to channel the murdered nun, but

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<v Speaker 1>had to end the session abruptly when she became too

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<v Speaker 1>enwrapped in the victim's emotions. Not before, however, she had

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<v Speaker 1>gleamed some vital information. During the trance, Ines claimed to

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<v Speaker 1>have received the vision of a house, as well as

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<v Speaker 1>the name Clyde. The house was described as being on

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<v Speaker 1>Northeast eighteenth Avenue, having a white frame structure and dirty

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<v Speaker 1>hardwood floors. The following day, the two psychics took a

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<v Speaker 1>walk along northeast eighteenth, tracing their steps from the convent

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<v Speaker 1>until they apparently found themselves standing in front of the

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<v Speaker 1>exact house. Inez had supposedly seen in her vision. It

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<v Speaker 1>was number four thousand, Johnny Garrett's home, and at the

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<v Speaker 1>back of the house they spotted a dog kennel, over

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<v Speaker 1>which scrawled in thick paint was the name mister Clyde.

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<v Speaker 1>Patterson had also offered a description of the suspect to

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<v Speaker 1>journalist Charlie Bates, saying that he was a young man

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<v Speaker 1>about five ft eleven with a muscular, small frame, having

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<v Speaker 1>what was described as a long abe Lincoln nose and

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<v Speaker 1>large ears, a description that could be said to closely

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<v Speaker 1>match Johnny's. On receiving this information, Bates had attempted to

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<v Speaker 1>put authorities in touch with the psychics, but they had

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<v Speaker 1>apparently made no attempt to contact them. Over the next year,

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<v Speaker 1>the District Attorney's office worked to build their case against Johnny,

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<v Speaker 1>who continues to profess his innocence as the trial approaches

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<v Speaker 1>in August of nineteen eighty two. The case of the

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<v Speaker 1>teenager Johnny Frank Garrett is all that the city of

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<v Speaker 1>Amarillo can talk about united in their speculation of who

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<v Speaker 1>this monstrous eighteen year old might be and how his

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<v Speaker 1>mother could have raised him to be that way. During

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<v Speaker 1>the trial, the case against Johnny rests mostly on the

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<v Speaker 1>two finger prints found in Sister to dea Benz's room,

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<v Speaker 1>one on the nun's headboard and one on the knife

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<v Speaker 1>found under her bed. Although both knives found close to

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<v Speaker 1>the scene were determined not to have been used to

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<v Speaker 1>stab the victim, pathologist Ralph Erdmann, who carried out to

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<v Speaker 1>daa Benz's autopsy, claims that injuries to the front of

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<v Speaker 1>the nun's neck were caused by an object consistent with

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<v Speaker 1>the knife found under the bed. One FBI agent testifies

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<v Speaker 1>that the stake knife found outside the building was the

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<v Speaker 1>same brand as a knife recovered from Johnny's mother's kitchen.

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<v Speaker 1>Another that some pubic hair found on the floor of

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<v Speaker 1>Sister to Day's room, although not a confirmed match, came

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<v Speaker 1>from an individual with similar characteristics to Johnny. None of

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<v Speaker 1>Sister to Day's blood was linked back to Johnny in

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<v Speaker 1>any way. No fibers from Sister to day as clothes

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<v Speaker 1>were found on any of Johnny's clothes, nor were any

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<v Speaker 1>fibers found on her that had come from him. Unknown

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<v Speaker 1>footprints found at the scene were not matched with any

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<v Speaker 1>shoes belonging to Johnny. Black hairs, as well as the

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<v Speaker 1>white T shirt that was found were also not linked

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<v Speaker 1>to Johnny in any way, and crucially, no attempt was

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<v Speaker 1>made to test the sperm or prostrate secretions to determine

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<v Speaker 1>the blood type of the perpetrator. The samples had been

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<v Speaker 1>destroyed soon after Johnny's arrest, and yet Johnny's finger prints

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<v Speaker 1>were found in sister to Day's room. Although he virulently

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<v Speaker 1>denied the rape and murder charges, Johnny testified in court

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<v Speaker 1>that he had been to the convent before. After all,

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<v Speaker 1>he had been there two days prior to the murder,

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<v Speaker 1>apparently looking for things to steal. Johnny claimed that he

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<v Speaker 1>had snuck into the convent some time around lunch and

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<v Speaker 1>taken the butter knife from the kitchen to pry open

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<v Speaker 1>locked drawers, which is how he suggested it ended up

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<v Speaker 1>in the nun's bedroom. The finger print on her bed,

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<v Speaker 1>he said, had got there when he leant against it

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<v Speaker 1>to steal a crucifix that had been hanging on the wall. However,

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<v Speaker 1>a nun subsequently testified that Johnny couldn't possibly have been

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<v Speaker 1>near the canteen at lunch without being seen, and that

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<v Speaker 1>there were no locked drawers in the convent. It was

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<v Speaker 1>a damning indictment for Johnny's defense. And then a final

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<v Speaker 1>piece of information is presented by the prosecution, a statement

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<v Speaker 1>made by eighteen year old Lonnie Dale Whatley, who had

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<v Speaker 1>been a fellow inmate of Johnny's at the Potter County Jail.

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<v Speaker 1>Whatley's statement claimed that Johnny had confessed the murder to

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<v Speaker 1>him shortly after his arrest in November. Johnny strongly denied

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<v Speaker 1>the claim. It took the jury of eight men and

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<v Speaker 1>four women five hours to deliberate over their decision, and

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<v Speaker 1>on September third, nineteen eighty two, Johnny Frank Garrett was

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<v Speaker 1>convicted of the rape and murder of sister TODAYA Bends

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<v Speaker 1>and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Are you always

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<v Speaker 1>taking care of your family? Do you often take care

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<v Speaker 1>of others and not yourself? Now it's time to take

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<v Speaker 1>visit telldoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast to Day

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<v Speaker 1>to Get Started. That's t e l a d oc

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<v Speaker 1>dot com slash Unexplained podcast. While most of the cities

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<v Speaker 1>celebrated Garrett's conviction, those who actually knew the boy struggled

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<v Speaker 1>to reconcile his betrayal in the press. With the troubled

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<v Speaker 1>but soft natured young man they thought him to be

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<v Speaker 1>born on Christmas Eve in nineteen sixty three, Garrett had

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<v Speaker 1>significant learning difficulties and struggled at school. By sixth grade,

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<v Speaker 1>he had yet learned how to read em write. As

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<v Speaker 1>a young boy, Johnny had been raped by two separate stepfathers,

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<v Speaker 1>beaten burned by cigarettes all over his body, and once

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<v Speaker 1>held down onto a kitchen stove. One step father even

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<v Speaker 1>prostituted Johnny to his friends and would also film him

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<v Speaker 1>being forced to commit sexual acts. Neighbors sued Jasper would

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<v Speaker 1>often find a desperate Johnny crying uncontrollably on her doorstep,

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<v Speaker 1>but he would never say why, only asking if he

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<v Speaker 1>could stay the night at hers. Other nights, Johnny would

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<v Speaker 1>be found sleeping under his high school football stand, too

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<v Speaker 1>afraid to go home. At fourteen, Johnny began drinking and

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<v Speaker 1>experimenting with drugs, soon earning a reputation for minor misdemeanors.

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<v Speaker 1>In many ways, he presented as an ideal suspect for

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<v Speaker 1>sister to Day's murder, and yet, in spite of everything

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<v Speaker 1>that had happened to him, Johnny was not known to

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<v Speaker 1>be particularly violent and had been a loving brother to

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<v Speaker 1>both his sisters. After his conviction, Johnny was moved to

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<v Speaker 1>Ellis Unit, just north of Huntsville in Texas, which served

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<v Speaker 1>as death row for the state. After hearing about his case,

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<v Speaker 1>local lawyer Jeff Blackburn, who had later found the Texas

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<v Speaker 1>Innocence project, which attempted to overturn what he considered to

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<v Speaker 1>be unconvincing convictions, took up Johnny's case over the next

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<v Speaker 1>ten years. Blackburn will try and fail on two separate

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<v Speaker 1>occasions to appeal Johnny's conviction, arguing variously that Johnny had

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<v Speaker 1>not been mentally competent to stand trial, that there had

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<v Speaker 1>not been enough evidence to convict him, and that doctor

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<v Speaker 1>Erdman's negligence in discarding the samples of seamen had denied

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<v Speaker 1>Johnny the right to at least clear his name for

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<v Speaker 1>the rape of Sister to Daa. On both occasions, the

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<v Speaker 1>Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles voted unanimously, with the

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<v Speaker 1>exception of one abstension, to uphold garrett death sentence. After

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<v Speaker 1>the first appeal, District Attorney Danny Hill had been elated

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<v Speaker 1>to hear the news of its failure, stating it was

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<v Speaker 1>wonderful and that he hoped the execution would now be

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<v Speaker 1>speeded through. With an hour to go before Johnny's nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety two scheduled execution in January, a request from Pope

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<v Speaker 1>John Paul the Second and a statement signed by Bishop

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<v Speaker 1>le Roy Matheson and other Texas bishops earns garrett a

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<v Speaker 1>thirty day stay of execution. Although Bishop Matheson was not

0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.320
<v Speaker 1>questioning his conviction, it was his and the opinion of

0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.120
<v Speaker 1>his colleagues that human life was sacred, that the church

0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:47.840
<v Speaker 1>ought to be the voice of social conscience. Their obligation

0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.000
<v Speaker 1>as religious leaders, he said, was to be faithful to

0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:55.080
<v Speaker 1>the teachings of Jesus Christ, which calls us to reconciliation

0:16:55.560 --> 0:17:00.400
<v Speaker 1>and forgiveness of those who wronged us. But their test

0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:14.000
<v Speaker 1>would come too late. On February tenth, nineteen ninety two,

0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.800
<v Speaker 1>a by now twenty eight year old Johnny garrett Is

0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:24.680
<v Speaker 1>served his final meal, a large bowl of ice cream.

0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:29.719
<v Speaker 1>Shortly before midnight, Johnny's mother, Charlotte, and his two sisters, stepbrother,

0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.960
<v Speaker 1>and new stepfather file into the death House, a small

0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:39.240
<v Speaker 1>brick building inside the Ellis Unit. The room, painted mint

0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.639
<v Speaker 1>green and brightly lit, is divided in two by a

0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:46.639
<v Speaker 1>row of bars, on one side of which stood Johnny's family,

0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:49.919
<v Speaker 1>and on the other a gurney with a number of

0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:55.479
<v Speaker 1>white leather straps laid across the top. Behind the gurney,

0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:59.159
<v Speaker 1>to the right a small window of mirrored glass, behind

0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:05.639
<v Speaker 1>which the executioner waited. A moment later, the door was

0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:10.160
<v Speaker 1>unbolted open. Charlotte let out a cry at the first

0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:12.680
<v Speaker 1>sight of Johnny being led into the room by two

0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:18.320
<v Speaker 1>guards and the prison warden. He was clean shaven, his

0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:24.400
<v Speaker 1>hair neatly combed, and wearing a pristine blue jumpsuit. Johnny's

0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.960
<v Speaker 1>mother uttered the first of many I love yous, holding

0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.800
<v Speaker 1>onto the bars with one hand and to her daughters

0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:33.040
<v Speaker 1>with the other as she tried her best to stay

0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:38.720
<v Speaker 1>strong for her son. Together, the family watched as Johnny

0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.760
<v Speaker 1>is led shuffling forward towards the gurney, pausing to have

0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.240
<v Speaker 1>his hands and legs unshackled before being helped onto the bed.

0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:52.080
<v Speaker 1>Within seconds, the straps had been secured across his body,

0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:58.320
<v Speaker 1>his arms outstretched as if pinned to the cross. Two

0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:01.160
<v Speaker 1>lines of clear tubing ailing from out of the wall

0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:06.520
<v Speaker 1>were needled into each of Johnny's arms. The family had

0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:09.600
<v Speaker 1>barely noticed the handful of journalists that had filed into

0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:13.359
<v Speaker 1>the room behind them, eager to watch the execution for themselves.

0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:20.520
<v Speaker 1>In response to his family's words of reassurance, Johnny turned

0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:23.480
<v Speaker 1>his head to the right, speaking with a mixture of

0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:27.800
<v Speaker 1>fear and defiance. I'd like to thank my friends who

0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.439
<v Speaker 1>tried to pull me through this. My guru for helping

0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:35.359
<v Speaker 1>me go through this. I'd like to thank my family

0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.760
<v Speaker 1>for loving me, and the rest of the world can

0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:43.960
<v Speaker 1>kiss my ass. Johnny fixed the warden with his eyes

0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:47.280
<v Speaker 1>before swiftly turning his head back to face the ceiling.

0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.480
<v Speaker 1>The warden nodded towards the glass panel, and seconds later,

0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:58.920
<v Speaker 1>a concoction of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride

0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:04.439
<v Speaker 1>snaked its way through the plastic tubing. Charlotte turned her

0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:07.560
<v Speaker 1>eyes to the floor, leading the family in a tearful

0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.800
<v Speaker 1>rendition of amazing grace as the liquid creeps into Johnny's veins.

0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.359
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't clear quite when the moment had come, but

0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:20.760
<v Speaker 1>when Charlotte raised her eyes again, Johnny's body was completely still,

0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:28.879
<v Speaker 1>his mouth slightly agape and eyes staring into nothing. After

0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:32.359
<v Speaker 1>a quick check of Johnny's pulse, the prison doctor turned

0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:37.800
<v Speaker 1>to the warden and announced the time as twelve eighteen am.

0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:41.440
<v Speaker 1>When a side door was pulled open, Johnny's family said

0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:48.440
<v Speaker 1>their last goodbyes and left the building outside. Stepping into

0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.320
<v Speaker 1>the cold air, the family were met with the sound

0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:54.800
<v Speaker 1>of clapping and ecstatic cheers. As a crowd of students

0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:59.040
<v Speaker 1>from sam Houston State University gathered to celebrate the execution,

0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:03.320
<v Speaker 1>earing and breaking into a lated song as the embattled

0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:07.440
<v Speaker 1>family silently made their way back to the prison administration building.

0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.959
<v Speaker 1>And that is how things might have ended until something

0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:27.760
<v Speaker 1>very peculiar came to light. In all his time incarcerated,

0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:31.480
<v Speaker 1>Johnny never wavered in his insistence that he was innocent

0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.919
<v Speaker 1>of sister to Day's murder, or lost sight of the

0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:39.080
<v Speaker 1>anger at the unfairness of his predicament. And he put

0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:44.560
<v Speaker 1>it all down in a letter over five pages of

0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:49.840
<v Speaker 1>impassioned invective. Garrett cursed a hypocritical society who turned a

0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.879
<v Speaker 1>blind eye to him when he needed them, but was

0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.879
<v Speaker 1>all too ready to crucify him when they needed a

0:21:55.920 --> 0:22:00.399
<v Speaker 1>monster on which to pin their fears. He was not

0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:06.760
<v Speaker 1>about to go quietly in your nightmares. I will live

0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.720
<v Speaker 1>in your times of fear, big or small. Will I be.

0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:17.680
<v Speaker 1>Every frustration in your lives will be me. Every death

0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:21.879
<v Speaker 1>of your families will be me. I will be the

0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:26.320
<v Speaker 1>fear you experience upon your last breath. I curse your

0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:30.840
<v Speaker 1>souls to the deepest depths of your own hell. I

0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:35.919
<v Speaker 1>curse your parents souls and your rotten grandparents souls. I

0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:40.280
<v Speaker 1>curse every adult, every person that's born after my death

0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:44.720
<v Speaker 1>that is remotely related to your infested blood. And because

0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:48.160
<v Speaker 1>I know that curses will be fulfilled, I meet death

0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:53.879
<v Speaker 1>in a better spirit and stronger soul. And in the

0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:58.040
<v Speaker 1>months that followed Garrett's death, some say his curse came

0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:00.639
<v Speaker 1>to fruition, with a number of people will involved in

0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:05.880
<v Speaker 1>the case dying prematurely, chief among them being district Attorney

0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:09.560
<v Speaker 1>Danny Hill, who had worked so hard to secure Garrett's conviction.

0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:16.400
<v Speaker 1>Hill committed suicide in April nineteen ninety five. The psychic

0:23:16.520 --> 0:23:20.680
<v Speaker 1>Inez Patterson, who had apparently received visions of Johnny's identity

0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:24.439
<v Speaker 1>five days before he was arrested by the police, turned

0:23:24.440 --> 0:23:28.600
<v Speaker 1>out to be the girlfriend of Michael Eugene Patterson, a

0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:32.240
<v Speaker 1>well known local drug dealer who some suspect of working

0:23:32.240 --> 0:23:36.440
<v Speaker 1>as an informant for the police. Patterson was found dead

0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:40.520
<v Speaker 1>in his car not long after Garrett's execution, his cause

0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:53.919
<v Speaker 1>of death unknown. Whether you believe in Garrett's curse or not,

0:23:55.080 --> 0:24:01.040
<v Speaker 1>one thing has begun to look increasingly likely. But Garrett's

0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:05.000
<v Speaker 1>first appeal hearing, doctor Ralph Erdman, testified that he had

0:24:05.040 --> 0:24:08.200
<v Speaker 1>not been instructed to deliberately throw away the one piece

0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:12.560
<v Speaker 1>of evidence that might have exonerated the defendant, the fluid

0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:17.919
<v Speaker 1>samples he had taken from vaginal swabs. In September nineteen

0:24:18.000 --> 0:24:23.199
<v Speaker 1>ninety two, barely six months after Garrett's execution, Erdman pleaded

0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:28.800
<v Speaker 1>guilty to seven felony offenses involving falsified autopsies that are

0:24:28.840 --> 0:24:31.199
<v Speaker 1>thought to be just the tip of the iceberg of

0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:37.360
<v Speaker 1>fraudulent activities perpetrated by the former coroner. Erdman was sentenced

0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:41.240
<v Speaker 1>to ten years probation for these charges, though some suspect

0:24:41.400 --> 0:24:46.240
<v Speaker 1>he may have falsified and faked numerous toxicology reports and autopsies.

0:24:48.640 --> 0:24:51.240
<v Speaker 1>One lawyer who had been appealing at murder case at

0:24:51.240 --> 0:24:55.800
<v Speaker 1>the time stated that I believe, as I believe that

0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:58.320
<v Speaker 1>the sun will come up to morrow, that there was

0:24:58.359 --> 0:25:02.200
<v Speaker 1>a conspiracy between the prosecut utian and Erdman to say

0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:08.120
<v Speaker 1>whatever was necessary to get a conviction. Then, in two

0:25:08.160 --> 0:25:12.840
<v Speaker 1>thousand and four, a homicide investigator analyzing a number of

0:25:12.960 --> 0:25:17.080
<v Speaker 1>unsolved crimes came across the murder case of Narnie box

0:25:17.160 --> 0:25:22.919
<v Speaker 1>Bryson after resubmitting a bedsheet for DNA testing taken from

0:25:22.960 --> 0:25:26.600
<v Speaker 1>the scene of the crime. Incredibly, they found a match.

0:25:28.200 --> 0:25:33.280
<v Speaker 1>The man was Lencio Perez Ruader, a former Cuban refugee

0:25:33.359 --> 0:25:35.879
<v Speaker 1>who had been picked up by police for peeping at

0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:39.800
<v Speaker 1>a woman through a window only two weeks after Bryson's murder.

0:25:41.880 --> 0:25:45.080
<v Speaker 1>In two thousand and five, Ruada was convicted for the

0:25:45.160 --> 0:25:48.640
<v Speaker 1>rape and murder of Bryson and sentenced to forty five

0:25:48.720 --> 0:25:55.160
<v Speaker 1>years in prison. At the time of Benz's and Bryson's murders,

0:25:55.680 --> 0:25:59.720
<v Speaker 1>before Garrett had come into the picture, Amarillo police and

0:26:00.040 --> 0:26:03.720
<v Speaker 1>Ye Danny Hill was certain that both crimes had been related,

0:26:04.359 --> 0:26:07.639
<v Speaker 1>with similar black hairs and an abandoned white T shirt

0:26:07.960 --> 0:26:13.600
<v Speaker 1>found at both crime scenes. Initial suspicions had fallen on

0:26:13.640 --> 0:26:18.679
<v Speaker 1>another Cuban refugee named Fernando Flores, in whose apartment police

0:26:18.720 --> 0:26:21.840
<v Speaker 1>found hairs similar to those found in both Bryson and

0:26:21.920 --> 0:26:24.879
<v Speaker 1>Sister to day of Benz's bedrooms, as well as what

0:26:25.000 --> 0:26:28.639
<v Speaker 1>they thought were fibers from Sister to Daya's blue night dress.

0:26:31.320 --> 0:26:35.159
<v Speaker 1>After analyzing the hairs, however, Flores was determined not to

0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:39.400
<v Speaker 1>have been a match. What wasn't discovered until many years

0:26:39.480 --> 0:26:43.400
<v Speaker 1>later is that Flores and Ruada had been flatmates at

0:26:43.400 --> 0:26:48.520
<v Speaker 1>the time. In August two thousand and four, while Ruada

0:26:48.600 --> 0:26:52.840
<v Speaker 1>was awaiting his trial, attorney Jesse Quackenbush, who was hired

0:26:52.880 --> 0:26:56.200
<v Speaker 1>by Johnny Garrett's sisters to reopen the case against their brother,

0:26:57.200 --> 0:27:03.439
<v Speaker 1>secured an interview with the defendant. Ruada at first claimed

0:27:03.480 --> 0:27:05.960
<v Speaker 1>that Flores had been the man who attacked the nun

0:27:06.240 --> 0:27:09.480
<v Speaker 1>in the early hours of October thirty first, nineteen eighty one,

0:27:10.560 --> 0:27:41.280
<v Speaker 1>before eventually admitting that he had been there too. All

0:27:41.280 --> 0:27:44.520
<v Speaker 1>elements of Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain smith.

0:27:44.880 --> 0:27:47.320
<v Speaker 1>Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, but feel

0:27:47.359 --> 0:27:49.480
<v Speaker 1>free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

0:27:49.560 --> 0:27:52.679
<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

0:27:52.720 --> 0:27:54.680
<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

0:27:55.440 --> 0:27:58.160
<v Speaker 1>You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com

0:27:58.280 --> 0:28:11.159
<v Speaker 1>or on Twitter at Unexplained Part Now it's time to

0:28:11.240 --> 0:28:15.480
<v Speaker 1>take care of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc

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<v Speaker 1>dot com Slash Unexplained Podcast