Speaker 1: Hello and welcome. I'm my favorite Murder. That's Georgia Heart Start,
Speaker 1: that's here and Kilgariff. This is the mini son. It's
Speaker 1: a mini Soo. It's the Miniso. I know it feels
Speaker 1: like a little more relaxed when we do the minisod
Speaker 1: because we don't have to think too much. That's right,
Speaker 1: we're just reading. We don't have to be charming. Everyone
Speaker 1: does it for us in the letters. That's right.
Speaker 2: This is us floating in the in I'm literally making
Speaker 2: a list of what to get at the.
Speaker 1: Grocery store later. This is like summer school for my
Speaker 1: favorite murder.
Speaker 2: What a rude way to approach this gift of an
Speaker 2: opportunity we have positively, I know I didn't mean that
Speaker 2: you No, No, I meant to me where I'm just like,
Speaker 2: what am I doing?
Speaker 1: What is the intro to this fucking show? We've only
Speaker 1: been doing it, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, ten and a half now ten and a half,
Speaker 2: we're over the ten year March.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: We have to stop looking back. We have to start
Speaker 2: looking forward to.
Speaker 1: The next ten and a half years. Why don't you
Speaker 1: go first?
Speaker 2: Why don't I in full gratitude, I read you an
Speaker 2: email with the subject line serial Killer dinner party.
Speaker 1: There we go. Now we're back back on track.
Speaker 2: I recently came into a treasure of a story from
Speaker 2: my aunt, let's call her e. Aunt E was a
Speaker 2: longtime dental assistant of a small dental practice in the
Speaker 2: Sacramento area in the eighties and ninetiest represent One of
Speaker 2: their frequent patients was none other than the Dorothia Plente. Yep,
Speaker 2: it says, yep, two exclamations flints. Imagine how thrilled I
Speaker 2: was to have my aunt regale me a murderino with
Speaker 2: this thriller. So if you want to go listen to
Speaker 2: our Dorothia Pointe episode, which of course I covered because
Speaker 2: we lived too down from her when I lived in
Speaker 2: Sacramento in the very late eighties early nineties.
Speaker 1: What episode numbers that was so long?
Speaker 2: That was episode thirty seven that was entitled liminal Space.
Speaker 1: Okay, look for the rewind of that, guys. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2: So it goes back into this email saying after a
Speaker 2: frequent and when I say it, I mean myself, after
Speaker 2: frequent appointments, they became friendly. My aunt is a lovely,
Speaker 2: warm lady who can shat it up with anyone. She
Speaker 2: even attended a dinner party at Dorothea's house. Yep, that house.
Speaker 2: She said Dorothea was an excellent cook. The dinner table
Speaker 2: was set in Dorothea's renters were all there except for one.
Speaker 2: My aunt mentioned the empty plate, and she said Dorothea
Speaker 2: stood up and opened the door just off the dining
Speaker 2: room to reveal a man passed out on the bed
Speaker 2: and said something to the effect of him sleeping it off.
Speaker 2: My aunt said his head was hanging off the bed,
Speaker 2: but she assumed he passed out because she knew Dorothea's
Speaker 2: renters were men often struggling with alcohol. Addiction is like
Speaker 2: the ultimate manipulation totally. You have people who it's indefensible
Speaker 2: because the worst is always assumed right and the best
Speaker 2: of her intentions.
Speaker 1: They're the best victims because nobody takes them seriously.
Speaker 2: Right then it says, was he just passed out? Aunt
Speaker 2: e would wonder about this later. Fast forward to nineteen
Speaker 2: eighty eight, Dorothea had an appointment and noticed my aunt
Speaker 2: wasn't her normal cheerful self. My aunt, my dad, and
Speaker 2: the rest of their seven siblings had just returned from
Speaker 2: burying their father in Oklahoma, and she was still grieving.
Speaker 2: When she explained this, she said, Dorothea grabbed her forearm
Speaker 2: with both hands and looked closely in her eyes and
Speaker 2: said everyone has to die sometime.
Speaker 1: Chill, so chill. He says, holy shit, right right? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I mean also, it's the grabbing. That's the one two
Speaker 2: punch intense. Once the truth of Dorothea's deeds were revealed
Speaker 2: to my aunt, she actually got subpoenaed to give evidence
Speaker 2: to the da aunt e who has the gift of gab,
Speaker 2: definitely filled them in on what she How could you
Speaker 2: not go over every minute.
Speaker 1: Details like gossiping on the stand. You're not going to
Speaker 1: believe what she thought and said to me.
Speaker 2: She's like, I was there, I was part of this
Speaker 2: whole nightmare. Grab my arm, she grabbed my both with
Speaker 2: her hands. And then it just says stay sexy and
Speaker 2: be leery of little old bespectacle ladies.
Speaker 1: Heidi. You know it's so weird to me is that
Speaker 1: you can be a straight up serial killer and still
Speaker 1: be up to date on your dental cleanings. Like what
Speaker 1: it happens in your mind that you're like, oh, gotta
Speaker 1: go to the dentist, yeah.
Speaker 2: Because they're going to take care of themselves, their teach,
Speaker 2: their comfort, their thing, but in their brain, the broken
Speaker 2: part is that they care about anybody else.
Speaker 1: It's just so weird to me that, like, you can
Speaker 1: have such horrible, you know, actions and thoughts and still
Speaker 1: go do a normal thing like going to the dentist.
Speaker 2: And still have clean, fresh breath.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, like I struggle going to the dentist when
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean cold case solved after twenty plus years,
Speaker 1: Dear Georgia and Karen all caps, my time has come finally.
Speaker 1: You guys are rock stars, and thank you for everything
Speaker 1: you've done for me over the years. I started listening
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen, and I can't begin to tell you
Speaker 1: how excited I am to finally have a solid story
Speaker 1: to share with you. Okay, so here it goes. In
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety eight, four teenagers in Medina, Ohio, about forty
Speaker 1: miles from where I live, found two suitcases off the
Speaker 1: I seventy seven inside where human remains that had been dismembered.
Speaker 1: The victim's hands, feet, and head were missing, which made
Speaker 1: identification impossible at the time. Remember, I was like, well,
Speaker 1: now we'll never know who it is. Back then, the
Speaker 1: case went cold for over two decades your favorite. Fast
Speaker 1: forward to twenty twenty three. With new DNA technology, the
Speaker 1: victim was finally identified as Laurence a drotlift. After that identification,
Speaker 1: investigators uncovered something even more disturbing. His son, Larry Drow
Speaker 1: eighty one, had been fraudulently collecting his father's Social Security
Speaker 1: benefits for years, telling people his father had simply moved away.
Speaker 1: Do you know this one, I.
Speaker 2: Mean, it sounds familiar, but it sounds like the beginning,
Speaker 2: kids finding like severed human remains in suitcases. There's a
Speaker 2: couple that start like this.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Eventually Larry confessed that he came home from work
Speaker 1: one day and found his father deceased in their home.
Speaker 1: He then dismembered the body and disposed of it along
Speaker 1: I seventy seven in the suitcases. Then he went to
Speaker 1: the dentist. I'm just kidding. Oh sorry, I had to do.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's the vibe, but this is your to
Speaker 2: do list.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let me just stop on the way. It's like.
Speaker 2: The idea that it's like you're trying to explain this
Speaker 2: to any authorities going And then I dismembered my father.
Speaker 1: He was already dead, so I thought no, there's nothing
Speaker 1: I can do now.
Speaker 2: Oh, that only sounds normal to a complete psychopath.
Speaker 1: Here's where it gets absolutely insane. My stepdad told me
Speaker 1: he watched a documentary about this case a few years ago.
Speaker 1: He's not usually in a true crime, but was interested
Speaker 1: in the story in the close location. My stepdad is
Speaker 1: also in recovery whoo, and he said a few years
Speaker 1: back he met a man at a meeting and started
Speaker 1: giving him rides. He would pick him up from his
Speaker 1: apartment where he lived only about five minutes away from
Speaker 1: our home. Fast forward this week, a mutual acquaintance sent
Speaker 1: over an article about this solved cold case. My stepdad
Speaker 1: read it and thought about that documentary he had watched
Speaker 1: years ago. He was amazed to hear that the case
Speaker 1: was reopened and solved. Then he realized the man he
Speaker 1: had been giving rides to and spending time with was
Speaker 1: none other than Larry Drotliff. My stepdad said he always
Speaker 1: had a weird feeling about him, but couldn't explain why.
Speaker 1: I mean, I have that about everybody, but.
Speaker 2: That is that thing where it's like when they say
Speaker 2: you look at somebody and they have like dead eyes
Speaker 2: or there's just absolutely no kind of chemical connection to
Speaker 2: them as a and it makes you like get all
Speaker 2: freaked out, but on an animal level.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just kidding. I don't feel that about anyone.
Speaker 1: I'm friendly to everyone for some fucking reason. Anyways, Stay
Speaker 1: sexy and always trust your gut.
Speaker 2: Sylvia Sylvia great name, by the way, such a good name.
Speaker 2: Also just like to have interacted in a very mundane way,
Speaker 2: like a dental way with a person, and.
Speaker 1: A meaningful way, because when you're in in recovery with
Speaker 1: someone and in you know, alcoholics anonymous, like you have
Speaker 1: a bond there that is beyond just acquaintances.
Speaker 2: Now, I want to know what the true details of
Speaker 2: the beginning of that story are.
Speaker 1: Four teenagers in nineteen ninety eight finding a suitcase with
Speaker 1: that's some fucking horror movie on the highway and there's
Speaker 1: something so I don't know why it's like so much.
Speaker 1: This is why I like books placed in the nineties
Speaker 1: or before so much better. They didn't have cell phones,
Speaker 1: They had no way to contact with anyone. They had
Speaker 1: to run to the fucking you know, gas station and
Speaker 1: call the police. They had no like connection, yeah, no
Speaker 1: way to like reach out. It was just them and
Speaker 1: a fucking suitcase. Yes, and that's where my book.
Speaker 2: Gets and that's where your film kicks off. Well solved,
Speaker 2: cold case. You love it, We love those.
Speaker 1: I checked one off the list of nine billion, and
Speaker 1: we're getting close.
Speaker 2: Let's change the tone with the trash dog and trash
Speaker 2: dad story. Okay, it says high MFM crew and fellow
Speaker 2: mardarinas you recently asked for garbage dad or garbage dog stories,
Speaker 2: and I have a story with both. A couple of
Speaker 2: years ago, my husband and I decided to take our
Speaker 2: two young boys to Dallas to visit the Great Wolf Lodge.
Speaker 2: We were going for almost a week and needed someone
Speaker 2: to watch our two year old eighty pound Golden Retriever Nelly.
Speaker 2: My parents were between homes at the time, living in
Speaker 2: a fifth wheel trailer and then in brackets.
Speaker 1: It says a too bol rv.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's fine, We're fine, And it says after moving
Speaker 2: out of a four thousand square foot home, and I thought,
Speaker 2: maybe they'd really like to stay in our house to
Speaker 2: enjoy more room ac a washer and dryer, etc. The
Speaker 2: only stipulation would be that they had to take care
Speaker 2: of the dog. They agreed and saved us a fortune
Speaker 2: and boarding fees, or so we thought. Oh Jesus, yes,
Speaker 2: we love an or so we thought.
Speaker 1: Story.
Speaker 2: The day we left, my sweet mom decided to take
Speaker 2: the dog for a walk. I had instructed her to
Speaker 2: only use a leash if they went walking around the neighborhood,
Speaker 2: and not on the dirt paths across the street, as
Speaker 2: our dog was used to running free on those paths. However,
Speaker 2: my nervous mom didn't want Nellie to get lost, so
Speaker 2: she put the leash on her and proceeded to walk
Speaker 2: her along the dirt path.
Speaker 1: She did the responsible thing. I do the same thing
Speaker 1: if it was someone else's dog, right, you know, sure, Okay.
Speaker 2: Just as they were finishing, Nellie spotted wildlife and took
Speaker 2: off after it, without regard to the lady holding the leash.
Speaker 2: My mom was yanked hard and fell to the ground.
Speaker 2: When she tried to get up, she found she couldn't
Speaker 2: as her hip was broken, fucking which unfortunately she knew
Speaker 2: from experience. She called out for help and tried to
Speaker 2: drag herself, but she had left her phone at home
Speaker 2: charging and no one could see her from the road.
Speaker 2: As she fell behind a patch of safe.
Speaker 1: Like nineteen ninety eight all over again.
Speaker 2: Of course, the garbage dog thought my mom was on
Speaker 2: the ground to play and get kisses, so she decided
Speaker 2: to slobber all over Mom while she cried out for help. Meanwhile,
Speaker 2: two hours later, we were at the airport when my
Speaker 2: ring doorbell notification went off. I opened the app and
Speaker 2: watched as a man informed my dad that his wife
Speaker 2: had fallen across the street and thinks her hip is broken.
Speaker 2: Our wonderful neighbor heard something from his backyard, decided to
Speaker 2: investigate and found my mom lying in the dirt, unable
Speaker 2: to walk. He got my dad and they called an ambulance.
Speaker 2: I repeatedly called to find out if she was okay,
Speaker 2: but I got no answer, as both parents had left
Speaker 2: their phones at my house. I finally asked another neighbor
Speaker 2: to track down our hero neighbor to find out what
Speaker 2: was going on. It turns out that my dad had
Speaker 2: watched TV through the whole thing, even though my mom
Speaker 2: was gone much longer than she said she would be.
Speaker 2: My mom was convinced that he wouldn't have come looking
Speaker 2: for her until morning, and based on his past record,
Speaker 2: she's probably right. She ended up getting her third hip replacement.
Speaker 2: Third hip replacement surgery and the first for that hip,
Speaker 2: and Nellie ended up being boarded until we got home.
Speaker 2: My lucky sister also had two house guests for the
Speaker 2: next few months while my mom recovered, as she didn't
Speaker 2: want to stay with us and chanced my garbage dog
Speaker 2: injuring her further.
Speaker 1: Probably a pretty good call.
Speaker 2: Stay sexy and think twice before letting your garbage Dad
Speaker 2: and Osteoporosa's riddled mom dog sit.
Speaker 1: Bad girl. He didn't mean it bad girl, but very
Speaker 1: good girl. It was a squirrel. Look at that face.
Speaker 2: What she's supposed to do if a squirrel comes.
Speaker 1: I'm a perfect perm Oh gorgeous.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it. That dog only wants what's best for
Speaker 2: all of us.
Speaker 1: Remember when my dad almost killed Elvis when we were
Speaker 1: on tour. We lit in Australia, and I had had
Speaker 1: a bag of all his pills in treats, you know,
Speaker 1: in the pil pill pockets. There was his heart medication.
Speaker 1: He had one a day. My dad left the bag
Speaker 1: out and so Elvis of course chewed through it because
Speaker 1: he was a monster, and my dad was like, it's
Speaker 1: a cat, he doesn't do that, and like, yes, he
Speaker 1: does ate all of his fucking heart pills, and Vince
Speaker 1: was like, if you killed George's cat, She's never gonna
Speaker 1: speak to you again.
Speaker 2: He was fine, and somehow he powered through it.
Speaker 1: He got he was a dump truck. He was like,
Speaker 1: he was three more years. Frank, Frank is Alvis's fine? Okay,
Speaker 1: this is called I wish I went to this high school. Hi, covin,
Speaker 1: Let's do this.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: I had been with my boyfriend for an unsettlingly long
Speaker 1: time before he thought to share with me two of
Speaker 1: the best stories I've ever heard, both of which occurred
Speaker 1: during the same period, the late nineties, at his high
Speaker 1: school in Oregon. The first is about a guy named
Speaker 1: DeAndre who transferred from California and immediately became a model
Speaker 1: student and extremely popular. Everyone thought DeAndre was cool. Not
Speaker 1: only was he a basketball star at a old school
Speaker 1: in Beverly Hills, but he drove a flashy red Camaro
Speaker 1: and word quickly spread that his aunt was Diana Ross.
Speaker 2: That's always the rumor, especially if you go to a
Speaker 2: tiny white time right and there's someone of colors shows
Speaker 2: up there, and that's that's the stuff that happened.
Speaker 1: Totally. I forge didn't mind it. I drove a Camaro
Speaker 1: and my aunt Diana Ross.
Speaker 2: You show up and you're just like, that's right, you
Speaker 2: should absolutely kiss my ane.
Speaker 1: You're not denying it. Yeah. He got straight a's, rose
Speaker 1: to the top of his class and was genuinely nice
Speaker 1: and friendly to everyone, so much so that he was
Speaker 1: elected to student government that winter. He was chosen to
Speaker 1: sing a prize solo at the Christmas concert. Then two
Speaker 1: days later, choir practice was interrupted by the police bursting
Speaker 1: in to arrest him. Turns out DeAndre wasn't seventeen after all.
Speaker 1: Oh these are my favorites. Oh these are my favorite
Speaker 1: But a thirty one year old convicted felon on the run.
Speaker 1: Oh my, he's not just doing it for fun. He
Speaker 1: made like a fucking Drew Barrymore movie out of his
Speaker 1: fucking life.
Speaker 2: He's reversed twenty one jump streeting it right. He's like,
Speaker 2: I'm not the cops coming into your high school. I'm
Speaker 2: the robbers companist right.
Speaker 1: He actually had attended this high school fifteen years earlier
Speaker 1: and remembered it as the happiest time of his life,
Speaker 1: hence his decision to hide out there for a while. Okay,
Speaker 1: here's my next fucking book and how it starts like
Speaker 1: how sweet is that?
Speaker 2: But also, please write a book about any high schooler
Speaker 2: that is the best time of their life?
Speaker 1: Is high school? True?
Speaker 2: Jesus, get it all down well you can.
Speaker 1: Crazily enough, he even had one or two of the
Speaker 1: same teachers, none of whom seemed to recognize him. The
Speaker 1: whole scenario is one of my absolute favorite movie tropes.
Speaker 1: So the fact that this actually happened in real life
Speaker 1: is a dream come true that has to be made
Speaker 1: into a movie. Yes, and this is from Sarah, and
Speaker 1: she put fucking links. This is all this all checks out.
Speaker 1: She's like proof, and then she writes and then it
Speaker 1: gets even better at the same time, all caps at
Speaker 1: the same school, another popular student, this one student body president,
Speaker 1: was living out his own cinematic fantasy. Tom was charming, smart,
Speaker 1: an eagle scout, a track star, and homecoming king. Again,
Speaker 1: there's links. This sounds like bullshit, it's not. He also
Speaker 1: happened to be a serial armed robber, terrorizing local businesses
Speaker 1: throughout his senior year. When they get started out early,
Speaker 1: it's almost impressive, like those cheerleaders who were robbing a bank. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's almost like I was just fucking ditching school to
Speaker 1: smoke cigarettes by that tree.
Speaker 2: I always felt like I had low like iron, poor blood,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Like I always felt so
Speaker 2: tired and so you know.
Speaker 1: What I mean.
Speaker 2: I think I need peanut butter for energy.
Speaker 1: Jobbing a planning and robbing a buck bank.
Speaker 2: I can't finish like a book for a book report.
Speaker 1: I can't take change out of my mom's purse without
Speaker 1: her hearing me upstairs. I'm not fucking running into a bank.
Speaker 2: I can't sneak in or out of my house successfully. Ever,
Speaker 2: How do I rob this bank? And they're just killing
Speaker 2: it all over town?
Speaker 1: Oh, there's so many things we could have done when
Speaker 1: we were younger. Look at us now, this is the alternative.
Speaker 1: When he was finally caught, his accomplice was arrested, but
Speaker 1: Tom managed to escape to Mexico side as a teenager. Wait,
Speaker 1: this is Oregon.
Speaker 2: Yeah, these aren't These aren't my Remember the two guys
Speaker 2: from Grant High School? Karen and I just looked it up.
Speaker 1: I think that this is your guy. This is this
Speaker 1: is my guy.
Speaker 2: Remember the story of the two people in high school
Speaker 2: together that started. They were like the kings of the
Speaker 2: high school, but they started robbing businesses.
Speaker 1: What episode is this small? It's so fascinating. This was
Speaker 1: from the live show. Yeah, remember Karen covered it in Oregon?
Speaker 2: Yeah, in Portland's amazing. Yes, all right, I kept talking
Speaker 2: about the high school.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, yeah, no, now I remember.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but only only us in the Portland Murderino's note,
Speaker 2: cause we haven't done it yet.
Speaker 1: Sarah clearly wasn't there. Yes, when he was finally caught accomplice.
Speaker 1: Side note, my boyfriend's sister tells me this arrest actually
Speaker 1: happened on prom night. You can't make this shit up.
Speaker 1: Tom successfully head out in Mexico for months, even going
Speaker 1: so far as to party with thirty seven of his
Speaker 1: high school classmates who traveled there for a graduation trip. Yeah,
Speaker 1: none of them tipped off the police man, there's no
Speaker 1: fucking rats.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: I remember this one. You have photos of them.
Speaker 2: All right, pieces like so many of these stories are
Speaker 2: similar baseline, but then those details come up, and then
Speaker 2: you're like, oh, wait a second.
Speaker 1: I'll just always remember the time that you were halfway
Speaker 1: through a story about Circleville on stage live when I
Speaker 1: realized I had already told that story on Drunk History,
Speaker 1: and it just hadn't come out yet because I complete
Speaker 1: I blacked it out literally.
Speaker 2: Right goodness, because you were on drunk History. Yeah, he's
Speaker 2: a good one.
Speaker 1: Anyways, none of them took off the police. Tom did
Speaker 1: eventually turn himself in months later after seeing himself on
Speaker 1: America's Most Wanted. I remember this. It still baffles me
Speaker 1: that it took my boyfriend over two years to share
Speaker 1: what has to be the coolest and most important thing
Speaker 1: ever to happen to him in his life. But knowing
Speaker 1: his proximity to these absolutely delicious tales made me love
Speaker 1: him even more than I already did. I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: it's the only reason we're now engaged, but it definitely
Speaker 1: didn't hurt. Stay sexy and don't trust the popular guy, Sarah.
Speaker 1: Something in the water there getting away with it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, someone opened a portal to hell down in like
Speaker 2: the basement, and just a bunch of weird energy came
Speaker 2: out that summer.
Speaker 1: Eugene, It's just going crazy, Gene, Oregon.
Speaker 2: Well amazing and look forward to that episode in the future.
Speaker 1: We can like future market that one.
Speaker 2: This is a follow up to minnesod for eighty two.
Speaker 2: My Mom's legendary radio contest win in honor of our
Speaker 2: beloved Banana Boys, Hello, guys, gals and non binary pals
Speaker 2: of MFM. I'm writing in as a direct follow up
Speaker 2: to the story in minnesod for eighty two about the
Speaker 2: kid who won the trip to Disney from the TV contest. Yeah,
Speaker 2: do you remember that? Kind of It reminded me that
Speaker 2: the early two thousands were truly the wild West of
Speaker 2: local radio contest Very true, So of course I need
Speaker 2: to tell you how my mom Don entered one and
Speaker 2: became a local legend.
Speaker 1: Don is everyone's mom's name, Don's.
Speaker 2: She had a long in the summer of two thousand,
Speaker 2: our local radio station announced at Britney Spears listening contest
Speaker 2: at our local mall the prize front row seats to
Speaker 2: the oops, I did it again, tour Take me there.
Speaker 2: My sister and I were fully possessed by the spirit
Speaker 2: of Brittany. My dad, Dan, who had a heart of
Speaker 2: gold but is also a lifelong prankster, entered the contest
Speaker 2: every single day to get us a shot at winning tickets.
Speaker 1: Aw the catch. He entered using my mom's name.
Speaker 2: When the radio station called her to say that she
Speaker 2: had been chosen to compete. She was horrified. No, to
Speaker 2: make matters worse. My dad then told us kids, all
Speaker 2: caps told us kids, so we would get excited.
Speaker 1: In pure pressure my mom to do it. It's so sweet.
Speaker 1: I can see why you married him. But no, I
Speaker 1: don't want to do karaoke in the mall, in public public.
Speaker 2: This is a prank to a level that is dastardly
Speaker 2: and insane and hilarious. But also just think of it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so I'm gonna put my name in one time when
Speaker 2: we were.
Speaker 1: At Magic Mike.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Oh my god. No, I was gonna do
Speaker 2: the one where I was in New York and it
Speaker 2: was Maurice's Crisis, which is where all the Broadway singers
Speaker 2: go to sing songs around a real piano, and all
Speaker 2: of a sudden they're like, Karen, get up here, and
Speaker 2: I was like, I got so mad and I just
Speaker 2: walked out where I'm just like, don't shame me in
Speaker 2: front of these talented people.
Speaker 1: It's diabolical. Okay. So so also, you're a great singer.
Speaker 1: If I were you, I would have gone the fuck
Speaker 1: up there and say.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it, thank you. It's it's all Annie, It's
Speaker 2: straight out my nose. Annie, and those people are like
Speaker 2: opera stars and we just don't want That's not how
Speaker 2: we have fun, got it?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 2: Okay, So my mom has massive social anxiety.
Speaker 1: Oh no, okay, I don't know about this, Dad, this
Speaker 1: is town. He did. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Dan knew, right, Dan and Dawn Dan and Don Dan
Speaker 2: knew that Don had social anxiety. But my dad knew
Speaker 2: she would be weak to seeing our tiny, hopeful faces.
Speaker 2: She decided to say fuck it to the anxiety and
Speaker 2: yes to trying to make her kids'.
Speaker 1: Dreams come true. Oh my god.
Speaker 2: She thrifted an aggressively hot glued a music video accurate
Speaker 2: school girl outfit. She recorded episodes of TRL on a
Speaker 2: VHS tape and watched the Baby One More Time video
Speaker 2: on a loop, breaking down the choreography like she was
Speaker 2: preparing for the Olympics. She committed to the bit. The
Speaker 2: day of the contest arrives at our classic sprawling nineties mall.
Speaker 2: This stage was, I kid you not built directly on
Speaker 2: top of the mall fountain.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The competition was stiff. There were dozens of contestants, including
Speaker 2: several drag queens. Oh so genius as a sheltered kid.
Speaker 2: I mean those drag queens were like, we're going to
Speaker 2: win this hands down. This is what we do as
Speaker 2: a sheltered kid. I remember whispering, look at all those
Speaker 2: other dads competing for their daughters.
Speaker 1: Ah so sweet.
Speaker 2: When it was Don's turn, she stepped onto that fountain
Speaker 2: stage and a pleated skirt and pigtails.
Speaker 1: She said she.
Speaker 2: Blacked out from nerves, but I remember the audience losing
Speaker 2: their minds. She nailed every hair flip and snap and
Speaker 2: was crowned winner of the Britney Spears lip sync.
Speaker 1: Battle on wind On for the win.
Speaker 2: A month later, we sat in the literal front row
Speaker 2: watching Brittany, My badass mom, who had just conquered her
Speaker 2: greatest fear atop of Mall Fountain, danced the entire night
Speaker 2: with us. Shout out to all the moms who will
Speaker 2: embarrass the shut out of themselves to make their kids
Speaker 2: dreams come true. And a special shout out to my
Speaker 2: og Murderino mom who used to tell me terrifying true
Speaker 2: stories about her childhood growing up on eight Mile in
Speaker 2: Detroit just to make sure I'd lock the doors and
Speaker 2: fuck politeness. Yeah, stay sexy and lip sync for your
Speaker 2: life Katie.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, what a great story.
Speaker 2: Don On.
Speaker 1: This one's for you, your number one. Did we tell
Speaker 1: people to send us when they won contests because I
Speaker 1: think they should.
Speaker 2: Yes, especially if your contest got If the the battle
Speaker 2: took place at the mall, yeah, you wanted it or
Speaker 2: or you lost lost it. For sure, you shamed yourself
Speaker 2: and your family deeply, right in front of missus Field's cookies.
Speaker 1: I want a modeling contest at them all once, Georgia,
Speaker 1: I know, I don't want to talk about it. You're
Speaker 1: ten revealed.
Speaker 2: I don't want to talk about you. Can you just
Speaker 2: say those words again and look me in the fay? No,
Speaker 2: Georgia one, I won, she won the modeling contest.
Speaker 1: I was obsessed with Kate Moss, so I like knew
Speaker 1: the walk and I had gotten a barber'son where trained
Speaker 1: to be a model and looked like one or whatever.
Speaker 2: Thank god you didn't get trafficked.
Speaker 1: Jesus you should have. There was like a guy with
Speaker 1: a fucking hook waiting to pull me out. Would you
Speaker 1: get for winning? I got? I went to this like
Speaker 1: scout camp thing and I don't want to talk about it.
Speaker 2: That's yes, you do, and we're gonna do a whole
Speaker 2: special episode in the fan colts.
Speaker 1: Everybody sign up. There's a reason it's been ten years
Speaker 1: and I haven't told you that this is a photo incredible,
Speaker 1: We better get the pictures. In ten years, you can
Speaker 1: get the photo. Okay, like a Ponzi scheme. Okay, this
Speaker 1: one's serious. It's the beginning of Pride months. So let's
Speaker 1: pay tribute to the amazing life of Kay Lahoson, America's
Speaker 1: first lesbian photojournalist. Nice Hi MFM gang. Back in nursing school,
Speaker 1: I had my first clinical experience at an assisted living
Speaker 1: home in Pennsylvania. During my clinical I met a resident
Speaker 1: named Kay Lahoson, who described herself as a gay lady
Speaker 1: who takes pictures. This is one of the old ladies
Speaker 1: at the home. As a newly out twenty year old,
Speaker 1: I was intrigued. I imagine the people you meet there
Speaker 1: are just like ready to tell you their story.
Speaker 2: But I mean, how rare that would be, at least
Speaker 2: for thinking that generationally. It's a very new thing for
Speaker 2: I think a personally be like, hey, totally yeah.
Speaker 1: I learned via Google as she was incredibly humble that
Speaker 1: Kay was the first openly lesbian American photojournalist. While living
Speaker 1: in Boston in the early sixties, she met Barbara Gettings
Speaker 1: and they soon fell in love. During this time, they
Speaker 1: both worked for a lesbian magazine called The Latter Ledder.
Speaker 1: Barbara served as the editor and Kay was the art director.
Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty three, the art on the cover of
Speaker 1: the magazine was, as Kay described it, quote pretty bland,
Speaker 1: little cats, insipid human figures and quote little cat, little cats.
Speaker 2: For a lesbian magazine, and then of course ladders implied lesbianism.
Speaker 1: Kay, a lifelong photographer, wanted to show actual people lesbians
Speaker 1: on the cover instead. The first photo was of two
Speaker 1: women taken from the back. Kay then fought to show
Speaker 1: actual faces on the cover. She stated, quote if you
Speaker 1: go around as if you don't dare show your face,
Speaker 1: it sends forth a terrible message. From the mid sixties
Speaker 1: on k photographed all sorts of women for the cover
Speaker 1: of the magazine. She went onto photograph Barber, Gettings and
Speaker 1: others picketing at Independence Hall until the late sixties. In
Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, she was part of the founding of the
Speaker 1: Gay Activists Alliance. In nineteen seventy two, she worked closely
Speaker 1: with the GAA to push for removal of homosexuality from
Speaker 1: the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual Mental Disorders. We
Speaker 1: all know they have a chapter about us in. Kay
Speaker 1: and Barbara worked together for forty six years before Barbara
Speaker 1: passed in two thousand and seven, Kay living until twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one. Up until her death, she worked as an activist,
Speaker 1: publishing multiple books on her photographs and fighting for the
Speaker 1: rights of LGBTQ plus people. Ky and Barbara's ashes are
Speaker 1: interned inside a stone bench in the Congressional Cemetery. The
Speaker 1: bench is in grave with the phrase gay is Good
Speaker 1: and there's a photo if you want to see it.
Speaker 1: Sweet little that's beautiful with all the bride flags. I
Speaker 1: knew Kay for a very short amount of time, but
Speaker 1: the work that she did for my community is nothing
Speaker 1: short of spectacular. I remember that her room at the
Speaker 1: assisted living facility was full of photographs. I hope she
Speaker 1: knew just how much she had done for so many
Speaker 1: I know that this is not the typical topic that
Speaker 1: you cover, but I wanted to share a little about
Speaker 1: this woman who had a profound impact on me. She was,
Speaker 1: at the time the only older adult queer person. I
Speaker 1: had ever met ChEls. Up until then, I hadn't been
Speaker 1: able to picture growing old with a woman that I loved.
Speaker 1: It makes my heart so happy to know that she
Speaker 1: got her love story, just like we all deserve. Stay
Speaker 1: saxy and remember that gay is good. Okay they then, yes,
Speaker 1: we have the same name. Yes, I think it's rad.
Speaker 1: I mean that it's like a movie.
Speaker 2: I know where it's like, Oh, you just work at
Speaker 2: an old folks home and then there's one lady that
Speaker 2: you hit it off with and is so interestedary and
Speaker 2: she's a legend.
Speaker 1: Here's a photo of her, that's all. Oh, look at her.
Speaker 1: Oh and those are her photographs. Look at the latter.
Speaker 2: In a lesbian review, it says, yes, and sorry, the
Speaker 2: latter started like in the fifties. Is that what you
Speaker 2: were saying.
Speaker 1: It was around? It seems like it says that the
Speaker 1: magazine started in nineteen fifty six, fifty six. I want
Speaker 1: to find those are in a state sale.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, right, it's so good, so good. Well,
Speaker 2: that's a really nice email to end for Pride Month.
Speaker 1: Yeah, perfect, Send us your stories whatever they may be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, who have you discovered in your that surprised you. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that was actually turned out to be a legend totally. Uh. Well, everybody,
Speaker 2: stay sexy and don't get murdered.
Speaker 1: Goodbye, Elvis, Do you want to Cookie?
Speaker 2: This has been an exactly right production.
Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Molly Smith and our associate producer
Speaker 1: is Tessa Hughes.
Speaker 2: Our editor is Aristotle Ascevedo.
Speaker 1: This episode was mixed by Leona Squalacci.
Speaker 2: Email your hometowns to My Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: Follow the show on Instagram at my Favorite Murder.
Speaker 2: Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Speaker 2: Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: And now you can watch My Favorite Murder on Netflix.
Speaker 2: And when you're there, hit the double thumbs up and
Speaker 2: the remind me buttons. That's the best way you can
Speaker 2: support our show.
Speaker 1: Goodbye,