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Speaker 1: School of Humans.

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Speaker 2: This week, I'm going to talk about a murder story

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Speaker 2: that would become probably the biggest murder mystery that Madison County, Arkansas,

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Speaker 2: has ever seen, and I'll never forget. When I first

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Speaker 2: read about this case, I read an article in the

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Speaker 2: Arkansas Democrat Gazette and it had a pretty unforgettable opener.

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Speaker 2: It read, quote, Billy Jean Phillips road life like a

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Speaker 2: sexual jet ski death seemed to trail in her wake.

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Speaker 2: That really struck me as a strange and pretty derogatory

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Speaker 2: way to refer to her murder victim. At the same time,

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Speaker 2: it did make me want to learn more about Billy

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Speaker 2: Jean phillips life and to find out what happened to her.

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Speaker 2: And apparently a lot of people feel that way, because

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Speaker 2: I probably got more emails, messages, and calls about this

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Speaker 2: case than any other case in Arkansas. I have had

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Speaker 2: it in my folder for a long time. I've had

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Speaker 2: people reach out to me wanting to talk about it.

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Speaker 1: But there have been a few issues.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes people back out, or someone will be connected to

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Speaker 2: a member of the family who understandably might not want

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Speaker 2: to relive the trauma of talking about this, all of

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Speaker 2: which I totally understand, but I still hear about this

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Speaker 2: case a lot, and I would still love to help

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Speaker 2: answer some of the questions about what happened to Billy

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Speaker 2: Jean Phillips. The story started back on Saturday, September third,

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Speaker 2: nineteen ninety four. A federal poultry inspector named Chick Phillips

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Speaker 2: was taking his seven year old son, Mackenzie back to

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Speaker 2: his mother's house. Mackenzie's mother and chick SAC's wife, was

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Speaker 2: thirty five year old Billy Jean Phillips.

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Speaker 1: Billy Jean lived in.

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Speaker 2: Album, a small unincorporated area about six miles north of Huntsville, Arkansas.

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Speaker 2: Even though Billy Jean and Chick had separated in nineteen

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Speaker 2: ninety two, they still cope parent died well. Chick was

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Speaker 2: dropping Mackenzie off for a scheduled visit. I found out

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Speaker 2: while researching this case that Madison County has a weird nickname.

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Speaker 2: They call it Booger County. I don't know what this

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Speaker 2: really means. Some people say it's a reference to ghosts.

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Speaker 2: Other people say it refers to moonshine. Some people say

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Speaker 2: it's because people in the Ozarks are rough, like a

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Speaker 2: booger on the inside of your nose. And I kind

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Speaker 2: of get that because one thing I know about the

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Speaker 2: people in this region is that, especially back in the

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Speaker 2: day they were on their own, you had to be

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Speaker 2: very tough to make it up there. Anyway, Billy Jean's

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Speaker 2: son ran inside the house and walked back to her bedroom.

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Speaker 2: That's when he saw his mother lying on the floor

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Speaker 2: a few feet from her bed.

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Speaker 1: She was dead.

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Speaker 2: Her head was propped up against a wall. So Mackenzie

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Speaker 2: ran back outside to the car and told his dad,

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Speaker 2: mommy fell painting. Chick didn't really understand what was going on,

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Speaker 2: so he put his son back in the truck and

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Speaker 2: walked in, and that's when he found his former wife's body.

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Speaker 2: He realized, to his horror that his son had thought

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Speaker 2: that the blood that was spattered all over the bedroom

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Speaker 2: was paint. Billy Jean was wearing a white T shirt,

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Speaker 2: underwear and all of her jewelry. Chick ran back out,

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Speaker 2: drove down the road and found Billy Jean's parents, Earl

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Speaker 2: and Edna mckknight.

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Speaker 1: They lived close by.

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Speaker 2: Then from there they called the Madison County Sheriff's Office.

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Speaker 2: The Sheriff's office got that call at eleven fifty eight

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Speaker 2: am Now. Of course, the house immediately turned into a

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Speaker 2: crime scene, and it was not long before the whole

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Speaker 2: town heard what happened. Billy Jean had been brutally murdered.

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Speaker 2: She had been beaten to death, and investigators believed the

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Speaker 2: murder weapon was her son's tea ball bat. It was

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Speaker 2: lying near her body, splintered into pieces. Now, a tea

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Speaker 2: ball bat is pretty light and short, about half the

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Speaker 2: size and weight of a regular bad Apparently it didn't

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Speaker 2: finish the job, because after beating Billy Jean, her killer

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Speaker 2: dragged her across the room and strangled her.

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Speaker 1: There was a lot of blood.

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Speaker 2: It was splashed up high on the walls, almost to

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Speaker 2: the ceiling. In a town with fewer than two thousand people,

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Speaker 2: I know, we always say everyone knows everyone, but really

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Speaker 2: everyone in Madison County knew Billy Jean Phillips, or at

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Speaker 2: least knew of her. She was beautiful, with really big

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Speaker 2: eyes and blonde hair and just a really pretty smile.

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Speaker 2: But she was also feisty. She had a lot of lovers,

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Speaker 2: and she was not shy about speaking her mind, which

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Speaker 2: can be a fatal combination in a tiny town. A

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Speaker 2: lot of men loved her, and a lot of women

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Speaker 2: hated her, and a woman who can inspire that kind

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Speaker 2: of obsession made a lot of enemies. There was a

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Speaker 2: long list of suspects, including a sheriff who was living

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Speaker 2: a double life, the prosecutor and his who had both

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Speaker 2: slept with the victim, and pretty soon the whole town

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Speaker 2: was talking about conspiracy theories that included meth, caves, arson,

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Speaker 2: and murder in Arkansas. So what really happened to Billy

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Speaker 2: Jean Phillips. I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past five years

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Speaker 2: of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone, I've learned

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Speaker 2: that there's no such thing as a small town where

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Speaker 2: murder never happens. I have received hundreds of messages from

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Speaker 2: people all around the country asking for help with an

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Speaker 2: unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and their communities.

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Speaker 1: If you have a case that you'd like me.

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Speaker 2: And my team to look into, you can reach out

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Speaker 2: to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six

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Speaker 2: seven eight seven four four six one four five. That's

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Speaker 2: six seven eight seven four four six ' one four

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Speaker 2: or five. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. After Billy

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Speaker 2: Jean was found dead Madison County Sheriff Randy Baker called

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Speaker 2: the Arkansas State Police. He talked to an investigator named

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Speaker 2: Doug Fogley. And this, by the way, is according to

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Speaker 2: an amazing investigative article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. When

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Speaker 2: Sheriff Baker called the ASP investigator and told him that

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Speaker 2: Billy Jean was dead, he said, quote, Rusty Kane has

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Speaker 2: been fucking her. How do you keep the deputy prosecutor

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Speaker 2: out of the crime scene. Sheriff Baker was referring to

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Speaker 2: the fact that Rusty Kane, the deputy prosecutor for Madison County,

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Speaker 2: had been having a very public affair with Billy Jean

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Speaker 2: Phillips for several years. I talked to Terry Jones, the

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Speaker 2: prosecutor for Madison County, Rusty Kane's boss. Terry Jones is

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Speaker 2: the person who ended up prosecuting Billy Jean's case, and

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Speaker 2: he said it is a case he will never forget.

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Speaker 2: In fact, he later wrote a book called Mister Prosecutor,

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Speaker 2: in which he discussed at length all the crazy twists

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Speaker 2: and turns that happened in the case.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we played with this for it seems like

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Speaker 3: three years, and we went down and had all the

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Speaker 3: top detectives in the state gathered down at a little

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Speaker 3: roye in the state Police office, and brains stormed the

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Speaker 3: defenses and the evidence. I mean, this case was looked

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Speaker 3: at more than any case I ever had in my

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Speaker 3: entire life.

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Speaker 2: After the police were called, Billy Jean's parents called Billy

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Speaker 2: Jean's sister. Her name was Una, and she was a nurse.

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Speaker 2: So Una raced to the house and she walked in

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Speaker 2: and saw what she described to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Speaker 2: as a horrible.

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Speaker 1: Bloody scene.

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Speaker 2: But because Una was a nurse, even though I cannot

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Speaker 2: imagine how traumatic this must have been for her, she

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Speaker 2: was from the beginning kind of looking at the scene

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Speaker 2: with an investigative eye. She was noticing details that other

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Speaker 2: people missed. It was clear that Billy Jean fought hard

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Speaker 2: for her life. Two of her fingernails had been ripped

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Speaker 2: completely out. Yuna actually found a piece of her sister's

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Speaker 2: middle finger on the bed. She noticed that Billy Jean's

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Speaker 2: body was stiff already in rigor mortis. Full rigor mortis

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Speaker 2: can happen in around four to six hours, then the

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Speaker 2: body remains stiff for twenty four to forty eight hours

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Speaker 2: and then relaxes again. Using the physical evidence of the

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Speaker 2: scene and after piecing together timelines, investigators were able to

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Speaker 2: narrow down billy Jean's time of death to approximately between

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Speaker 2: ten thirty pm and six thirty am the next morning.

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Speaker 2: There was also a bedroom clock that had been ripped

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Speaker 2: out of the wall at exactly three thirty five am.

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Speaker 2: All hell was breaking loose at the Madison County Sheriff's

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Speaker 2: office again because Billy Jean had been having an affair

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Speaker 2: with the local deputy prosecutor, Rusty Kane. This was a

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Speaker 2: major conflict of interest. Rusty was in charge of prosecuting

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Speaker 2: the case, and now they needed to keep him out

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Speaker 2: of the crime scene. Rusty Kane did show up at

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Speaker 2: Billy Jean's house and a couple of police officers later

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Speaker 2: signed statements that said that Rusty Caine had something on

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Speaker 2: his shoes. They said they looked like it could be

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Speaker 2: spots of blood. Those shoes were taken into evidence, but

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Speaker 2: not until later that day. And to be honest, I've

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Speaker 2: never found anything else in anything I've read about this

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Speaker 2: case about what happened to those shoes. Yuna and her brother,

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Speaker 2: Robert McKnight who was Billy Jean's baby brother and very

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Speaker 2: close to Billy Jean, told The Democrat Gazette that Rusty

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Speaker 2: looked disheveled, like he hadn't slept, and they believed he

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Speaker 2: was acting strange. They immediately suspected him, and they weren't

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Speaker 2: the only ones. But this case was tough because Rusty

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Speaker 2: Caine was far from the only suspect here. He was

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Speaker 2: not the only man in Billy Jean's life. Billy Jean

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Speaker 2: Phillips was born Billy Jean Knight in nineteen fifty nine.

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Speaker 2: Her parents, Earl McKnight and Edna McKnight, were successful. They

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Speaker 2: ran several businusinesses in Huntsville, including a mini mall and

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Speaker 2: a drive in movie theater. They also ran the Ozart Shop,

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Speaker 2: a convenience store. Billy Jean worked there, which put her

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Speaker 2: in contact with a lot of people.

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Speaker 1: A lot of people love Billy Jean, but she also

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Speaker 1: got into a lot of conflicts.

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Speaker 2: Pretty Much every media report you read talks about how

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Speaker 2: sexually precocious Billy Jean was, and I can imagine that

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Speaker 2: would have caused Billy Jean a lot of friction at

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Speaker 2: that time, and in that neck of the woods, I

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Speaker 2: just want to read a quick passage from one of

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Speaker 2: those articles. This is from an article in Ay magazine.

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Speaker 2: And this article, by the way, is from twenty twenty three,

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Speaker 2: and it reads, quote pack tight. In her thirty five

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Speaker 2: years were three marriages, involvement in two deaths, and a

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Speaker 2: sex life that spanned Madison County from lawman to bad

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Speaker 2: boys one of the Mgnite family. Billy Jean was a

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Speaker 2: hard worker, just like her folks, but she wasn't interested

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Speaker 2: in their church going ways. She had more than the

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Speaker 2: Bible on her mind. That became evident when at age fifteen,

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Speaker 2: Billy Jean was caught by her daddy in a state

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Speaker 2: trooper's car, there being nothing lawful about the encounter between

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Speaker 2: her and the older guy end quote.

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Speaker 1: And that's referring to.

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Speaker 2: The same incident that the Democrat Gazette mentioned, which is

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Speaker 2: that at age fifteen, Billy Jean was involved with a

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Speaker 2: state trooper.

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Speaker 1: I love the Democrat Gazette.

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Speaker 2: I think they did a brilliant investigation, by the way,

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Speaker 2: but I don't love the way that a sexually active

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Speaker 2: young woman is referred to. I've talked about this before.

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Speaker 2: I call it post mortem slut shaming. And I don't

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Speaker 2: think it's right. I don't like the fact. For example,

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Speaker 2: they used the phrase took her first lover about a

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Speaker 2: fifteen year old and a grown man who was twenty

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Speaker 2: three years old at the time. And since this happens

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Speaker 2: a lot with this case, I'm going to keep calling

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Speaker 2: it out. Billy Jean had three sisters and a brother.

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Speaker 2: She was closest to her baby brother, Robert mc knight.

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Speaker 2: They seem to have a really special bond. And when

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Speaker 2: Robert mcnight developed a drug problem and got addicted to methamphetamines,

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Speaker 2: Billy Jean was there for him.

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Speaker 1: She would pay his drug debt.

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Speaker 2: She let him sleep at her house and sometimes, and

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Speaker 2: this is a little bit weird but becomes important later,

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Speaker 2: he would crawl in through the window and sleep in

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Speaker 2: her guest room. And everyone said that this behavior continued

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Speaker 2: right up until the time when Billy Jean died. Billy

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Speaker 2: Jean married young. While she was still a teenager. She

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Speaker 2: married Randall Wayne Sharp, and they apparently said I do

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Speaker 2: on the diving board of a swimming pool. Randall, Billy

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Speaker 2: Jean's first husband, had a gambling problem, and they would

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Speaker 2: get into violent arguments.

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Speaker 1: Once the newspaper.

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Speaker 2: Reported he tied her up and threw her into a

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Speaker 2: closet while he went out with his friends. And again

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Speaker 2: this went both ways. Because Billy Jean was not a

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Speaker 2: shrinking violet, she had a temper. Eventually they set rated.

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Speaker 2: Randall was twenty nine at the time, and he went

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Speaker 2: to Alaska to work on a pipeline. Now during this time,

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Speaker 2: according to Ay magazine, Billy Jean was having affairs, including

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Speaker 2: some flings with members of law enforcement. Randall came back

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Speaker 2: to town on December tenth, nineteen seventy nine. He checked

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Speaker 2: himself into the Jan Ran Motel in Huntsville. He was

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Speaker 2: there hanging out with a friend when Billy Jean and

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Speaker 2: her brother Robert showed up. Now what happened next is

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Speaker 2: still controversial, but a few minutes after Billy Jean and

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Speaker 2: her brother arrived, Randall was dead. Randall's friend told police

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Speaker 2: that at some point he and Billy Jean's brother Robert,

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Speaker 2: went outside, leaving Billy Jean and Randall alone in that

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Speaker 2: motel room, and then, apparently while she watched, Randall grabbed

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Speaker 2: a Colt forty five he had in there and shot

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Speaker 2: him mself in the head right in front of billy Jean.

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Speaker 2: When police showed up, she was cradling his head in

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Speaker 2: her lap and screaming, I love you. She seemed extremely distraught. Now,

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Speaker 2: Randall's family have said over the years they do not

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Speaker 2: believe that Randall took his own life. They believe either

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Speaker 2: Billy Jean did it or that she somehow goaded him

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Speaker 2: into shooting himself. Randall had been shot through the right

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Speaker 2: temple and the gun was in his right hand, but

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Speaker 2: randall Sharp's mother said Randall was left handed. She said

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Speaker 2: he could not have shot himself with his right hand

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Speaker 2: like that. Arkansas State Police criminal investigator Dug Fogley, who

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Speaker 2: would investigate billy Jean's death much later, did test for gunpowder, residue,

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Speaker 2: and metal on Randall's hands. Police said that billy Jean

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Speaker 2: tested negative for residue. So police came to the conclusion

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Speaker 2: that Randal did shoot himself, that he had been using

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Speaker 2: both hands kind of wrapping one over the other. They

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Speaker 2: believed that Randall and billy Jean were having an argument,

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00:16:04,285 --> 00:16:08,365
Speaker 2: things escalated and he may have done something like threatened

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Speaker 2: to shoot himself or maybe try to fake her out,

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Speaker 2: but he ended up somehow doing it for real.

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Speaker 1: But over the.

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Speaker 2: Years, rumors have persisted that the sheriff Ralph Baker, who

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Speaker 2: by the way, was a friend of Billy Jean's, and

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00:16:21,925 --> 00:16:23,725
Speaker 2: some said more than a friend, but there was never

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Speaker 2: any evidence of that had not looked too hard into

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Speaker 2: Randall's death. On a side note, Sheriff Baker himself is

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Speaker 2: a very controversial figure, and you can't really tell this

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Speaker 2: story without going into some of the history in Madison County.

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Speaker 2: We'll come back to that in a few minutes. Back

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Speaker 2: to Billy Jean and Randall. Billy Jean was traumatized after

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Speaker 2: Randall's death. She moved back in with her parents, and

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Speaker 2: it wasn't long before Billy Jean met her second husband,

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Speaker 2: a truck driver for Tyson Foods named Dale Harp. They

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Speaker 2: got married in nineteen eighty one. Dale later talked to

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Speaker 2: a journalist named Michael Whiteley, the writer who did this

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Speaker 2: great investigative piece for the Arkansas Democrat. Zette. Dale said

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Speaker 2: Billy Jean liked the finer things in life, she liked money,

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Speaker 2: and he felt like he just never had enough for her.

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Speaker 2: He also said they had gotten into violent arguments. He

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00:17:16,365 --> 00:17:19,085
Speaker 2: admitted to the journalists that one of their arguments ended

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Speaker 2: with him holding a gun to Billy Jean's head. He said, quote,

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Speaker 2: she could play me like a drum. She was good

286
00:17:26,365 --> 00:17:28,685
Speaker 2: to look at, and she'd flirt around and make me jealous.

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Speaker 2: She could cut you so low it would take a

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Speaker 2: step ladder to climb onto a matchbox.

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Speaker 1: End quote.

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Speaker 2: Of course, I would never blame the victim. No one

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00:17:40,885 --> 00:17:44,125
Speaker 2: deserves to be physically abused. But we can see that

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Speaker 2: there's this pattern where she's very confrontational. She has no

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Speaker 2: problem getting up in people's faces, and when you combine

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Speaker 2: that with someone with violent tendencies, you've got a very

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00:17:54,485 --> 00:17:59,445
Speaker 2: voutle situation. Billy Jean and Dale eventually divorced, and then

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00:17:59,565 --> 00:18:02,725
Speaker 2: she met Chick Phillips, the Federal Poultry plan inspector who

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00:18:02,765 --> 00:18:08,445
Speaker 2: became her third husband. Billy Jean and Chick were together

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Speaker 2: for a few years, and over that time he was

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Speaker 2: the one person who kind of seemed to be able

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Speaker 2: to handle Billy Jean. She was still confrontational and she

301
00:18:19,005 --> 00:18:21,925
Speaker 2: could be verbally abusive, but Chick was different. He would

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00:18:21,925 --> 00:18:25,645
Speaker 2: walk away or drive away in a four wheeler. They

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00:18:25,685 --> 00:18:29,205
Speaker 2: stayed together for eight years and had their son, Mackenzie.

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Speaker 2: And it's also interesting to note that Chick is the

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00:18:32,205 --> 00:18:35,245
Speaker 2: one former partner of Billy Jean who, when he was

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00:18:35,285 --> 00:18:42,965
Speaker 2: contacted by journalists, said nice things about her. The rumor

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00:18:43,005 --> 00:18:46,645
Speaker 2: around town was that Billy Jean was dating Rusty Kane

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Speaker 2: while she was still married to Chick, and that he

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Speaker 2: knew about it. Eventually, Billy Jean and Chick's marriage broke up,

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Speaker 2: and after they split, Billy Jean's affair with Rusty Kane

311
00:18:57,765 --> 00:19:01,525
Speaker 2: heated up even more. She was pressuring him to leave

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00:19:01,525 --> 00:19:06,285
Speaker 2: his wife, Sharon Kane. The prosecuting attorney, Terry Jones, said

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Speaker 2: that Billy Jean's love life made the murder difficult to

314
00:19:09,845 --> 00:19:12,645
Speaker 2: investigate because there were a lot of pissed off people,

315
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Speaker 2: including a lot of wives and girlfriends.

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Speaker 3: She had a sexual contact with a lot of people,

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00:19:19,005 --> 00:19:21,285
Speaker 3: so there were a lot of suspects, people that might

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Speaker 3: have had either had sex with her or whose husband

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Speaker 3: may have been having sex with her. We had a

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Speaker 3: couple of cases where she was having sex with a

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Speaker 3: woman's husband and she'd call them on the damn phone,

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Speaker 3: the wife while they were in the act, and so

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Speaker 3: she had offended a whole lot of people in Madison County.

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Speaker 2: Not only did Billy Jean know some of these men's

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Speaker 2: sexual secrets, but she also knew a lot of their

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00:19:54,005 --> 00:19:59,085
Speaker 2: other secrets. Outside the bedroom, she reportedly told people that

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Speaker 2: she had a briefcase with dirt on a lot of

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00:20:02,125 --> 00:20:07,085
Speaker 2: prominent men and prominent figures in town. Billy Jean was

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00:20:07,125 --> 00:20:11,125
Speaker 2: involved with another mysterious death. One night, she was partying

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Speaker 2: with some friends, including a woman named Christy Box, the

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Speaker 2: daughter of a local doctor. Billy Jean was at Christie's

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00:20:17,605 --> 00:20:21,325
Speaker 2: place with Christie's boyfriend, a guy named Thomas Garrett. Thomas

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00:20:21,405 --> 00:20:25,365
Speaker 2: worked at the Ozark shop with Billy Jean. While they

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Speaker 2: were driving, there was a horrible car crash. Christie Box

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00:20:29,245 --> 00:20:33,005
Speaker 2: was killed. Both Thomas Garrett and Billy Jean were seriously injured,

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Speaker 2: but when the police got to the scene of the accident,

337
00:20:36,045 --> 00:20:40,205
Speaker 2: Billy Jean was nowhere to be found. The rumor around

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00:20:40,245 --> 00:20:42,765
Speaker 2: town was that Billy Jean was the person who was

339
00:20:42,845 --> 00:20:47,245
Speaker 2: driving the car, but that was never proven. Instead, Thomas

340
00:20:47,285 --> 00:20:50,285
Speaker 2: was prosecuted as the driver. He ended up getting four

341
00:20:50,365 --> 00:20:53,885
Speaker 2: years probation and a fine, no jail time. Billy Jean

342
00:20:54,005 --> 00:20:57,645
Speaker 2: was never charged with anything, and Rusty Kane was the

343
00:20:57,725 --> 00:21:02,045
Speaker 2: prosecutor on that case, so not only did Billy Jean

344
00:21:02,285 --> 00:21:06,325
Speaker 2: not have any criminal penalties? Apparently, Rusty Kane also got

345
00:21:06,325 --> 00:21:09,605
Speaker 2: Billy Jean a twenty one thousand dollars settlement from Thomas's

346
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Speaker 2: insurance company. The word around town was that Rusty had

347
00:21:14,205 --> 00:21:17,525
Speaker 2: fixed that situation for Billy Jean. I'm guessing either because

348
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Speaker 2: he loved her, or he was a little bit afraid

349
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Speaker 2: of her, or maybe both. Leading up to the time

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Speaker 2: of her death, we know Billy Jean potentially had a

351
00:21:29,245 --> 00:21:29,965
Speaker 2: lot of enemies.

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00:21:30,325 --> 00:21:31,925
Speaker 1: But let's go back to the evidence.

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Speaker 2: What was Billy Jean doing on September second, the last

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Speaker 2: day she was alive. Police say Billy Jean spent that

355
00:21:39,045 --> 00:21:41,925
Speaker 2: entire day with her mom, Edna. Billy Jean was buying

356
00:21:42,045 --> 00:21:45,645
Speaker 2: Rusty Kane some presents. She went to Sam's Club and Dillard's.

357
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Speaker 1: She was supposed to have a.

358
00:21:46,845 --> 00:21:50,125
Speaker 2: Date with him that night, but according to Rusty Kane's

359
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Speaker 2: former attorney, that date never really happened. Rusty had said

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Speaker 2: he did stop at Billy Jean's house at around five pm.

361
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Speaker 2: While he was there, he gave her two hundred dollars.

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00:22:01,725 --> 00:22:03,285
Speaker 1: Rusty told police.

363
00:22:02,925 --> 00:22:04,845
Speaker 2: That Billy Jean gave him his gifts, but he said

364
00:22:04,885 --> 00:22:06,485
Speaker 2: he wasn't going to be able to see her later

365
00:22:06,525 --> 00:22:09,965
Speaker 2: because he had family in town. But investigators did find

366
00:22:10,005 --> 00:22:12,965
Speaker 2: a card from Rusty Kane out on Billy Jean's kitchen counter,

367
00:22:13,325 --> 00:22:15,805
Speaker 2: which seemed to indicate he had been there and they

368
00:22:15,845 --> 00:22:20,445
Speaker 2: had exchange gifts. After Rusty left, Billy Jean drove to

369
00:22:20,485 --> 00:22:23,125
Speaker 2: the Ozark shop, where she started her shift at six pm.

370
00:22:23,645 --> 00:22:25,685
Speaker 2: She was closing up at ten pm when her mom

371
00:22:25,725 --> 00:22:29,165
Speaker 2: stopped by. She and her mom just had a brief talk.

372
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Speaker 2: Her mom said it was nothing out of the ordinary,

373
00:22:31,885 --> 00:22:35,045
Speaker 2: but Edna did say that they did have a brief

374
00:22:35,085 --> 00:22:39,085
Speaker 2: conversation about Billy Jean's safety deposit box. Now, apparently Billy

375
00:22:39,165 --> 00:22:43,565
Speaker 2: Jean shared multiple safety deposit boxes with Rusty Kane, and

376
00:22:43,805 --> 00:22:46,645
Speaker 2: she told her mother something a little bit strange. She

377
00:22:46,685 --> 00:22:49,405
Speaker 2: had mentioned that she and Rusty had a safety deposit

378
00:22:49,485 --> 00:22:52,365
Speaker 2: box that only had a single piece of paper in it.

379
00:22:53,285 --> 00:22:55,845
Speaker 2: At some point after Billy Jean was done closing up,

380
00:22:56,125 --> 00:22:58,245
Speaker 2: she apparently told her mom, you need to get out

381
00:22:58,285 --> 00:23:00,685
Speaker 2: of here now, which her mom took to me, you

382
00:23:00,805 --> 00:23:02,485
Speaker 2: need to head out. I've got to finish up, I've

383
00:23:02,485 --> 00:23:05,765
Speaker 2: got plans. Billy Jean never told her mother what she

384
00:23:05,805 --> 00:23:10,805
Speaker 2: was planning on doing. Now, there was someone else, another witness,

385
00:23:10,845 --> 00:23:13,325
Speaker 2: someone who said Billy Jean left the Ozark shop at

386
00:23:13,325 --> 00:23:16,405
Speaker 2: around ten forty five pm, and that billy Jean's car

387
00:23:16,525 --> 00:23:19,725
Speaker 2: was driving behind this person's car for about fifteen minutes.

388
00:23:20,485 --> 00:23:23,085
Speaker 2: Then this witness, who was familiar with Billy Jean and

389
00:23:23,125 --> 00:23:26,645
Speaker 2: her car, saw Billy Jean turn off toward her house,

390
00:23:27,085 --> 00:23:30,445
Speaker 2: which would mean, if that's accurate, that Billy Jean would

391
00:23:30,485 --> 00:23:32,765
Speaker 2: have gotten home shortly after eleven pm.

392
00:23:35,085 --> 00:23:36,045
Speaker 1: When the reporter for.

393
00:23:36,005 --> 00:23:39,365
Speaker 2: The Democrat Gazette did his article, he did ask billy

394
00:23:39,405 --> 00:23:42,125
Speaker 2: Jean's parents, Earl and Edna, about the safety deposit box,

395
00:23:42,485 --> 00:23:44,725
Speaker 2: the one that supposedly had the single sheet of paper

396
00:23:44,765 --> 00:23:47,245
Speaker 2: in it. Earl and Edna said they never found it.

397
00:23:47,885 --> 00:23:50,765
Speaker 2: So what happened to that? I wonder was it never there?

398
00:23:50,845 --> 00:23:53,525
Speaker 2: Could someone have removed it? Maybe someone in law enforcement.

399
00:23:54,405 --> 00:23:56,885
Speaker 2: I do think it's strange. Why would Billy Jean say

400
00:23:56,885 --> 00:23:59,805
Speaker 2: there was one piece of paper inside a box if

401
00:23:59,845 --> 00:24:07,045
Speaker 2: there wasn't. During the investigation into Billy Jean's death, colleagues

402
00:24:07,085 --> 00:24:12,125
Speaker 2: were noticing Rusty Kane's behavior started to get strange. Remember,

403
00:24:12,205 --> 00:24:14,045
Speaker 2: he was not supposed to be involved. This was a

404
00:24:14,045 --> 00:24:14,965
Speaker 2: conflict of interest.

405
00:24:15,165 --> 00:24:15,885
Speaker 1: He was supposed to.

406
00:24:15,845 --> 00:24:18,765
Speaker 2: Stay out of the case, yet a few days after

407
00:24:18,805 --> 00:24:21,845
Speaker 2: billy Jean's murder, he called the state crime Lab to

408
00:24:21,885 --> 00:24:26,765
Speaker 2: ask about progress. After that, his boss, Terry Jones, took

409
00:24:26,845 --> 00:24:28,645
Speaker 2: Rusty off the case on September ninth.

410
00:24:29,845 --> 00:24:32,725
Speaker 3: Rusty had called to try to find out what some

411
00:24:32,805 --> 00:24:35,405
Speaker 3: of the medical evidence had been and so I fired

412
00:24:35,445 --> 00:24:38,525
Speaker 3: it immediately. And we had all those leads, and we

413
00:24:38,605 --> 00:24:42,205
Speaker 3: had people that all had theories about who killed her.

414
00:24:42,245 --> 00:24:44,245
Speaker 3: I mean a lot of people had a theory that

415
00:24:44,285 --> 00:24:47,045
Speaker 3: the sheriff had done it, Rusty had done it. I mean,

416
00:24:47,085 --> 00:24:49,765
Speaker 3: there were just so many rumors flying around.

417
00:24:50,845 --> 00:24:54,165
Speaker 2: At the same time, police were looking at other suspects,

418
00:24:54,205 --> 00:25:09,165
Speaker 2: including Billy Jean's brother, Robert m knight. After Billy Jean

419
00:25:09,205 --> 00:25:12,285
Speaker 2: Phillips murder, police were taking a closer look at her brother,

420
00:25:12,365 --> 00:25:17,845
Speaker 2: Robert McKnight. When toxicology reports came back. They found Billy

421
00:25:17,925 --> 00:25:20,365
Speaker 2: Jean had had methamphetamine in her system on the night

422
00:25:20,445 --> 00:25:24,965
Speaker 2: she died, and Robert had a drug problem. One theory

423
00:25:25,045 --> 00:25:27,885
Speaker 2: that law enforcement bounced around was that maybe Robert got

424
00:25:27,925 --> 00:25:30,925
Speaker 2: into trouble, maybe he owed people money, maybe they came

425
00:25:30,965 --> 00:25:33,805
Speaker 2: there to collect and things got ugly, But the more

426
00:25:33,845 --> 00:25:37,205
Speaker 2: investigators studied the scene, the more they realized this looked

427
00:25:37,205 --> 00:25:40,845
Speaker 2: like it had been staged. There was actually no sign

428
00:25:40,885 --> 00:25:44,325
Speaker 2: of forest entry. There was a screen that had been

429
00:25:44,365 --> 00:25:47,565
Speaker 2: taken off of Billy Jean's bedroom window, but the window

430
00:25:47,645 --> 00:25:50,765
Speaker 2: sill had dust on it, so it looked like the

431
00:25:50,765 --> 00:25:54,205
Speaker 2: windows sill hadn't been disturbed at all. Someone had just

432
00:25:54,245 --> 00:25:56,725
Speaker 2: taken the screen out to make it look like someone.

433
00:25:56,485 --> 00:25:57,925
Speaker 1: Got in that way.

434
00:25:58,125 --> 00:26:00,605
Speaker 2: Someone also cut the screen to the living room doors,

435
00:26:00,925 --> 00:26:03,645
Speaker 2: but the doors themselves were bolted shut and they were locked,

436
00:26:03,965 --> 00:26:06,445
Speaker 2: so it seemed like the killer had gotten inside the

437
00:26:06,485 --> 00:26:10,325
Speaker 2: house and then taken off those screens to perhaps make

438
00:26:10,365 --> 00:26:14,925
Speaker 2: it look like a break in. Meanwhile, Billy Jean's sister, Una,

439
00:26:14,965 --> 00:26:17,725
Speaker 2: who remember was a nurse, was also realizing more and

440
00:26:17,805 --> 00:26:21,445
Speaker 2: more details that did not seem to add up. Billy

441
00:26:21,565 --> 00:26:24,085
Speaker 2: Jean was wearing a gold necklace when she was found,

442
00:26:24,125 --> 00:26:27,405
Speaker 2: and all of her jewelry, including an ankle bracelet and

443
00:26:27,445 --> 00:26:31,085
Speaker 2: a ring that Rusty gave her now Yuna said Billy

444
00:26:31,165 --> 00:26:34,125
Speaker 2: Jean only wore jewelry when she was expecting company or

445
00:26:34,125 --> 00:26:37,085
Speaker 2: when she was going out. She never wore jelry to sleep,

446
00:26:37,925 --> 00:26:40,605
Speaker 2: and there was three hundred and one dollars in Billy

447
00:26:40,645 --> 00:26:44,125
Speaker 2: Jean's wallet, so surely a robber or drug dealer would

448
00:26:44,125 --> 00:26:46,205
Speaker 2: have stolen that, and for that matter, would have stolen

449
00:26:46,245 --> 00:26:49,805
Speaker 2: her jewelry. Then there was the murder weapon itself. Billy

450
00:26:49,885 --> 00:26:52,325
Speaker 2: Jean had been hit with her son's tee ball bat.

451
00:26:52,565 --> 00:26:55,045
Speaker 2: It seemed that the killer did not come over with

452
00:26:55,045 --> 00:26:57,605
Speaker 2: the intention of murdering her, because that's not the weapon

453
00:26:57,685 --> 00:27:00,725
Speaker 2: that you would choose. This was not a professional hit man.

454
00:27:00,805 --> 00:27:03,845
Speaker 2: This seemed to be a crime of passion. There was

455
00:27:03,885 --> 00:27:06,285
Speaker 2: also the bedroom clock, which been pulled out of the

456
00:27:06,325 --> 00:27:08,525
Speaker 2: wall at exactly three thirty five AM.

457
00:27:09,285 --> 00:27:11,445
Speaker 1: Law enforcement seemed to be conflicted on this.

458
00:27:12,165 --> 00:27:14,725
Speaker 2: Some people believed it might be the time of death,

459
00:27:14,845 --> 00:27:18,725
Speaker 2: but others wondered could this be another stage clue. Maybe

460
00:27:18,725 --> 00:27:20,845
Speaker 2: the killer wanted everyone to think that had happened at

461
00:27:20,885 --> 00:27:23,445
Speaker 2: three thirty five am so that he or she or

462
00:27:23,485 --> 00:27:27,645
Speaker 2: they could manipulate the timeline. There were some other irregularities.

463
00:27:27,645 --> 00:27:30,925
Speaker 2: According to the Democrat Gazette, there was a videotape taken

464
00:27:30,965 --> 00:27:33,765
Speaker 2: of the crime scene, and apparently it showed there was

465
00:27:33,805 --> 00:27:36,125
Speaker 2: a vacuum cleaner out like it had just been used

466
00:27:36,165 --> 00:27:39,045
Speaker 2: to vacuum but the bag was missing. It wasn't in

467
00:27:39,085 --> 00:27:42,925
Speaker 2: the trash, it wasn't anywhere, so who took the vacuum bag?

468
00:27:44,085 --> 00:27:46,605
Speaker 2: There was also a black case that was visible in

469
00:27:46,645 --> 00:27:49,205
Speaker 2: some of the photos according to the newspaper, but the

470
00:27:49,285 --> 00:27:53,165
Speaker 2: family never saw that black case. Apparently it never made

471
00:27:53,205 --> 00:27:56,765
Speaker 2: it into evidence. Could this have been the briefcase that

472
00:27:56,805 --> 00:27:59,325
Speaker 2: Billy Jean was talking about, the one with dirt on

473
00:27:59,365 --> 00:28:02,845
Speaker 2: the police inside it? And if so, what happened to it?

474
00:28:03,925 --> 00:28:06,005
Speaker 2: And then there was the card, the one to Billy

475
00:28:06,085 --> 00:28:09,605
Speaker 2: Jean from Rusty Kane. Now Euni said normally that was

476
00:28:09,725 --> 00:28:11,525
Speaker 2: not the kind of thing that her sister would just

477
00:28:11,605 --> 00:28:16,605
Speaker 2: leave lying out. Again, investigators wondered could someone have staged

478
00:28:16,645 --> 00:28:20,085
Speaker 2: that to try and frame Rusty Kane. There was also

479
00:28:20,325 --> 00:28:24,205
Speaker 2: other evidence that was never properly investigated, like an unmade

480
00:28:24,205 --> 00:28:26,845
Speaker 2: bed upstairs in a room that people didn't really sleep in,

481
00:28:27,525 --> 00:28:30,725
Speaker 2: but police apparently never took the sheets or anything else

482
00:28:30,765 --> 00:28:36,885
Speaker 2: from that bed into evidence. The police analyzed the physical

483
00:28:36,925 --> 00:28:40,565
Speaker 2: evidence from Billy Jean's body. They took skin from underneath

484
00:28:40,565 --> 00:28:43,725
Speaker 2: Billy Jean's fingernails and they tested it. From that, they

485
00:28:43,765 --> 00:28:47,965
Speaker 2: were able to exclude several suspects, including Billy Jean's brother,

486
00:28:48,085 --> 00:28:52,365
Speaker 2: Robert McKnight and her son Mackenzie. Apparently they tested Billy

487
00:28:52,405 --> 00:28:55,925
Speaker 2: Jean's son because she sometimes liked to scratch his back

488
00:28:56,365 --> 00:29:00,685
Speaker 2: and they wanted to exclude him. So both Billy Jean's

489
00:29:00,685 --> 00:29:04,445
Speaker 2: brother Robert and her son Mackenzie were ruled out, which

490
00:29:04,525 --> 00:29:10,165
Speaker 2: meant that Robert mca was cleared. Now, I want to

491
00:29:10,205 --> 00:29:12,605
Speaker 2: go back to Sheriff Baker and the good old boys

492
00:29:12,605 --> 00:29:16,365
Speaker 2: system in Arkansas. In that neck of the woods, Sheriff

493
00:29:16,445 --> 00:29:20,525
Speaker 2: Ralph Baker is definitely a love hate figure. So it

494
00:29:20,645 --> 00:29:23,365
Speaker 2: turned out that Sheriff Baker, in addition to being a

495
00:29:23,445 --> 00:29:24,525
Speaker 2: law enforcement.

496
00:29:24,125 --> 00:29:26,925
Speaker 1: Officer, also had a criminal background.

497
00:29:27,845 --> 00:29:31,405
Speaker 2: Back in the late nineties, when pseudo fedrin, the main

498
00:29:31,525 --> 00:29:35,005
Speaker 2: ingredient in methamphetamine, was legal, you could pick up everything

499
00:29:35,005 --> 00:29:37,965
Speaker 2: he needed at Walmart or the drug store to make

500
00:29:38,005 --> 00:29:42,485
Speaker 2: a meth lab. So these local small meth labs were everywhere,

501
00:29:43,325 --> 00:29:46,485
Speaker 2: and in Madison County, a lot of people claim that

502
00:29:46,565 --> 00:29:52,405
Speaker 2: certain members of local law enforcement worked with the meth dealers. Again,

503
00:29:52,485 --> 00:29:56,005
Speaker 2: the Arkansas Democrat Gazette did this massive investigation. They interviewed

504
00:29:56,005 --> 00:29:59,805
Speaker 2: over one hundred people, including drug dealers, friends, family, and

505
00:29:59,845 --> 00:30:02,245
Speaker 2: a lot of people who work in law enforcement, and

506
00:30:02,285 --> 00:30:05,245
Speaker 2: they had some strong evidence that Sheriff Baker knew about

507
00:30:05,245 --> 00:30:07,885
Speaker 2: the man dealing and that he allowed some of it

508
00:30:08,045 --> 00:30:12,325
Speaker 2: to operate unchecked. Michael Whiteley wrote in the Democrat Gazette

509
00:30:12,325 --> 00:30:15,525
Speaker 2: that Ralph Baker grew up in Madison County, and in

510
00:30:15,565 --> 00:30:20,205
Speaker 2: addition to Sheriff Baker's criminal background, there were also allegations

511
00:30:20,205 --> 00:30:29,885
Speaker 2: of voter fraud. Things took a darker turn in nineteen

512
00:30:29,885 --> 00:30:33,325
Speaker 2: eighty seven. That's the year when Sheriff Baker in one

513
00:30:33,325 --> 00:30:36,605
Speaker 2: of his colleagues arrested a nineteen year old mentally handicapped

514
00:30:36,605 --> 00:30:39,245
Speaker 2: man who had been accused of stealing some baseball cards.

515
00:30:40,085 --> 00:30:44,405
Speaker 2: They beat him, and the victim's family sued. A judge

516
00:30:44,485 --> 00:30:46,965
Speaker 2: ruled that Sheriff Ralph had to pay just over one

517
00:30:47,005 --> 00:30:50,285
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars to that victim's family. And there were

518
00:30:50,285 --> 00:30:53,525
Speaker 2: other allegations that Sheriff Baker took drugs that had been

519
00:30:53,565 --> 00:30:54,965
Speaker 2: seized as evidence and that he.

520
00:30:54,885 --> 00:30:56,925
Speaker 1: Didn't really keep careful inventory.

521
00:30:58,285 --> 00:31:01,405
Speaker 2: They talked about how he allegedly took cash from dealers

522
00:31:01,645 --> 00:31:04,525
Speaker 2: who told the newspaper that they paid the sheriff so

523
00:31:04,565 --> 00:31:08,605
Speaker 2: they could stay out of jail. Now of course, Sheriff

524
00:31:08,645 --> 00:31:11,045
Speaker 2: Baker denied all these allegations, and a lot of people

525
00:31:11,125 --> 00:31:14,725
Speaker 2: said good things about him in law enforcement. But the

526
00:31:14,845 --> 00:31:17,805
Speaker 2: article in the Democrat Gazette pointed out Ralph Baker was

527
00:31:17,805 --> 00:31:20,445
Speaker 2: paid a salary of thirty one thousand dollars per year,

528
00:31:20,845 --> 00:31:24,845
Speaker 2: but somehow was able to buy two four hundred acres

529
00:31:24,885 --> 00:31:28,005
Speaker 2: of land for a total of almost five hundred thousand

530
00:31:28,045 --> 00:31:33,085
Speaker 2: dollars without taking out any mortgages. Sheriff Baker always denied

531
00:31:33,125 --> 00:31:35,925
Speaker 2: any wrongdoing, but the stuff going on in the background

532
00:31:36,045 --> 00:31:39,485
Speaker 2: when Billy Jean's murder happened fueled the local rumor mill

533
00:31:39,605 --> 00:31:42,885
Speaker 2: and made the case even more complicated because they were friends.

534
00:31:45,725 --> 00:31:47,525
Speaker 1: So let's go back to Billy Jean's case.

535
00:31:48,685 --> 00:31:51,525
Speaker 2: Terry Jones has taken Rusty Caine off of the case

536
00:31:52,045 --> 00:31:55,205
Speaker 2: and filtering out all the rumors. This appeared to be

537
00:31:55,245 --> 00:31:59,525
Speaker 2: an unplanned attack. This was someone who flew into a rage.

538
00:32:00,045 --> 00:32:03,485
Speaker 2: Everyone was suspicious of Rusty Kane, but we also have

539
00:32:03,565 --> 00:32:06,485
Speaker 2: to look at the rest of the Caine family, especially

540
00:32:06,765 --> 00:32:11,245
Speaker 2: once the community found out Billy Jean had sexual encounters

541
00:32:11,405 --> 00:32:16,565
Speaker 2: with Rusty's son, Trey. An ASP investigator would later testify

542
00:32:17,005 --> 00:32:21,005
Speaker 2: that Billy Jean groomed and had a sexual encounter which

543
00:32:21,045 --> 00:32:25,085
Speaker 2: he described on the stand as seducing Trey when Trey

544
00:32:25,285 --> 00:32:29,965
Speaker 2: was just twelve years old. Now, obviously this is shocking,

545
00:32:30,005 --> 00:32:33,285
Speaker 2: and it's even more shocking because the very few media

546
00:32:33,325 --> 00:32:35,965
Speaker 2: reports that I've seen about this just kind of casually

547
00:32:36,005 --> 00:32:36,925
Speaker 2: throw that in there.

548
00:32:37,485 --> 00:32:38,165
Speaker 1: Once again.

549
00:32:38,445 --> 00:32:43,045
Speaker 2: I'm shocked and very saddened by this cycle of young

550
00:32:43,125 --> 00:32:46,965
Speaker 2: people being preyed on by much older adults.

551
00:32:48,365 --> 00:32:50,445
Speaker 1: All of this is obviously shocking.

552
00:32:50,205 --> 00:32:52,765
Speaker 2: That she did this to Trey, and by the way

553
00:32:52,805 --> 00:32:55,965
Speaker 2: that Trey's father, Rusty Kane, could continue to have a

554
00:32:56,005 --> 00:33:00,405
Speaker 2: relationship with her after that. I'm wondering what did Rusty

555
00:33:00,485 --> 00:33:03,205
Speaker 2: Kine know about Billy Jean and his son and when

556
00:33:03,245 --> 00:33:07,965
Speaker 2: did he find out? But both Rusty and Trey Kine

557
00:33:08,085 --> 00:33:11,605
Speaker 2: were given DNA tests and apparently they were not a match,

558
00:33:11,645 --> 00:33:18,485
Speaker 2: so they were cleared. Then there was Rusty's wife, Sharon Kane.

559
00:33:18,525 --> 00:33:21,885
Speaker 2: Sharon Kane was a music teacher and looked like just

560
00:33:21,925 --> 00:33:25,245
Speaker 2: your average soccer mom. But as the affair between Billy

561
00:33:25,285 --> 00:33:28,205
Speaker 2: Jean and her husband heated up, things were starting to

562
00:33:28,245 --> 00:33:32,005
Speaker 2: get very ugly in the Caine household. Billy Jean wanted

563
00:33:32,085 --> 00:33:35,685
Speaker 2: Rusty to leave Sharon, and she was not playing around again.

564
00:33:35,805 --> 00:33:39,845
Speaker 2: She was very confrontational. According to the Democrat Gazette, the

565
00:33:39,925 --> 00:33:43,685
Speaker 2: Christmas before she died, Billy Jean got a Christmas card

566
00:33:43,965 --> 00:33:48,245
Speaker 2: from Sharon kin that said, go fuck somebody else's husband.

567
00:33:49,045 --> 00:33:51,645
Speaker 2: And then just a few weeks before the murder, Billy

568
00:33:51,725 --> 00:33:54,205
Speaker 2: Jean got into an argument with Sharon Kane when she

569
00:33:54,325 --> 00:33:58,285
Speaker 2: showed up to the Caine home. On another day, Sharon

570
00:33:58,525 --> 00:34:02,045
Speaker 2: caught Rusty and Billy Jean together in his car and

571
00:34:02,125 --> 00:34:05,725
Speaker 2: hauled off and punched Rusty in the face. And in

572
00:34:05,725 --> 00:34:09,325
Speaker 2: addition to Billy Jean's sleeping with her husband and being

573
00:34:09,445 --> 00:34:13,605
Speaker 2: very public about it and unapologetic. I don't know if

574
00:34:13,645 --> 00:34:18,005
Speaker 2: Sharon Kane knew about Billy Jean grooming her son at

575
00:34:18,005 --> 00:34:21,525
Speaker 2: that point, but if she did know, I cannot imagine

576
00:34:21,605 --> 00:34:24,245
Speaker 2: the anger and rage that she must have felt at

577
00:34:24,245 --> 00:34:31,045
Speaker 2: that time. Sharon was questioned by detectives, but she claimed spousal.

578
00:34:30,685 --> 00:34:32,165
Speaker 1: Privilege and took the fifth.

579
00:34:37,925 --> 00:34:40,965
Speaker 2: Billy Jean's parents, Earl and Edna McKnight, offered a twenty

580
00:34:40,965 --> 00:34:43,085
Speaker 2: five thousand dollars reward for any information that.

581
00:34:43,085 --> 00:34:44,245
Speaker 1: Could help lead to her killer.

582
00:34:45,005 --> 00:34:47,405
Speaker 2: Over the years, they did whatever they could to follow

583
00:34:47,445 --> 00:34:50,805
Speaker 2: up on tips, They put up billboards, they even handed

584
00:34:50,805 --> 00:34:53,805
Speaker 2: out bumper stickers with who killed Billy Phillips printed on them,

585
00:34:55,485 --> 00:34:57,925
Speaker 2: And as it happens in so many of these cases,

586
00:34:57,925 --> 00:35:01,125
Speaker 2: of course, these poor parents have had to deal with

587
00:35:01,285 --> 00:35:04,325
Speaker 2: so many local rumors over the years, and they still

588
00:35:04,325 --> 00:35:06,445
Speaker 2: have no answers about what I actually happened to their daughter.

589
00:35:07,125 --> 00:35:10,605
Speaker 2: But finally, in two thousand and two, there was an

590
00:35:10,725 --> 00:35:12,085
Speaker 2: arrest in Billy Jean's case.

591
00:35:13,285 --> 00:35:14,045
Speaker 1: And it wasn't the.

592
00:35:14,045 --> 00:35:16,805
Speaker 2: Sheriff or her brother or anyone else that people have

593
00:35:16,885 --> 00:35:17,765
Speaker 2: been whispering about.

594
00:35:18,605 --> 00:35:21,845
Speaker 1: In fact, this name shocked everyone.

595
00:35:22,765 --> 00:35:25,805
Speaker 3: Well, we didn't suspect him at all. We didn't even

596
00:35:25,845 --> 00:35:29,325
Speaker 3: know anything about him until we got the DNA evidence back.

597
00:35:30,925 --> 00:35:32,045
Speaker 1: I'm Catherine Townsend.

598
00:35:32,525 --> 00:35:41,005
Speaker 2: This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Helen Gone Murder Line

599
00:35:41,085 --> 00:35:43,685
Speaker 2: is a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts.

600
00:35:43,965 --> 00:35:46,925
Speaker 2: It's written and narrated by me, Catherine Townsend and produced

601
00:35:46,925 --> 00:35:51,125
Speaker 2: by Gabby Watts. Music is by Ben Sale. Executive producers

602
00:35:51,165 --> 00:35:54,765
Speaker 2: are Virginia Presscott, Brandon Barr, and Elsie Crowley. If you

603
00:35:54,845 --> 00:35:56,445
Speaker 2: have a case you'd like me and my team to

604
00:35:56,445 --> 00:35:58,645
Speaker 2: look into, you can reach out to us at our

605
00:35:58,685 --> 00:36:01,725
Speaker 2: Helen Gone murder line at six seven eight seven four

606
00:36:01,805 --> 00:36:05,405
Speaker 2: four six one four five. That's six seven eight seven

607
00:36:05,645 --> 00:36:07,685
Speaker 2: four four six one four five.

608
00:36:21,925 --> 00:36:22,845
Speaker 1: School of Humans