1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:03,279 Speaker 1: It was the first snow of the season when Lujia 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Bilander disappeared into the woods of rural Maine. He'd gone 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: out hunting, just like he had one hundred times before, 4 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: but this time you didn't come home. His wife Linda 5 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: thought maybe he'd gotten lost in the storm. But what 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: game Wardens uncovered over the next few days would lead 7 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: them through a maze of violence, drugs, and deceit that 8 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: no one could have predicted. That's next on Blood Trails. 9 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:42,919 Speaker 1: Twenty five year old Luja Bolanger was what you might 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: call a typical main whitetail hunter. He went out on 11 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: November twenty fifth, nineteen seventy five, armed with his thirty 12 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: thirty lever gun to track a deer through the snow 13 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: in hopes of bringing home enough meat to feed his family. 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: He wasn't chasing big antlers, and he didn't sit in 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: a tree stand all day hoping a buck would walk past. 16 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: He went out and found one, and even though we'll 17 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: never know how big it was, I like to think 18 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: it was a giant. Lujia, his wife Linda, and his 19 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: brother John had all gone out that morning to look 20 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: for deer, but the falling snow hid the previous night's activity, 21 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: and the trio didn't have much luck as the gray 22 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: dawn illuminated the winter landscape. 23 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 2: Here's Linda and then about nine o'clock we just said, well, 24 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 2: we're gonna go home, and I had to get ready 25 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 2: for work, and John was going home, but Luji wanted 26 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 2: to get off at the top of the hill and 27 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 2: walk down through the field in the woods to the 28 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 2: county road and then home. It was heavy snow that morning. 29 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 2: We'd head heavy snow all night. 30 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: Lujia had been dropped off about a mile from the 31 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: home he shared in Washington, Maine, with Linda and their 32 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: three young children. He only planned to hunt for about 33 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: an hour before returning home and driving Linda to her 34 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: waitressing gig, but he didn't show up, and after another 35 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: hour had passed, Linda's annoyance turned to concern. 36 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 2: Ere So I called next door and said, ludj home yet, 37 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 2: So they went looking on smobiles following his name. 38 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: As nightfall approach and the search party still hadn't found 39 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: any sign of the missing hunter, they called the game ardens. 40 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: The state police wouldn't get involved until Ludra had been 41 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: missing for seventy two hours, but Since the incident involved 42 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: a hunter, the wardens were happy to help with the search. 43 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: You might assume that Lujia had just found a deer 44 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: track and lost track of time, but Linda wasn't buying it. 45 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: She knew right away that something terrible had happened. 46 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 2: I kind of got a little messed up emotionally, and 47 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 2: they sent me to the hospital. 48 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: In any movements, Linda's reaction to her husband's disappearance might 49 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: sound extreme, but keep in mind that Linda was only 50 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: twenty years old. She and Lujia already had three daughters 51 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: between the ages of three and a half years and 52 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: three months. The prospect of those girls losing their father 53 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: was unbearable, and one of Linda's most vivid memories from 54 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: those difficult days is of her middle daughter, Angel, happily 55 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: playing around the feet of the game wardens and neighbors 56 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: who were searching for her father. 57 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 2: I remember getting up the next morning, is what I remember, 58 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 2: and the house had game ardens and trackers and family 59 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 2: all through it. If they must have given me something 60 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 2: that I just was out of it. But Angel was 61 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 2: eating snow off from one of the game ardens boots. 62 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 2: That's the memory that I have in my mind. 63 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: The friends and family who filled that house knew that 64 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: losing Lusia would be a blow not only to his 65 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: wife and kids, but to the larger Washington community. 66 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 2: No, he was a down to earth guy. He would 67 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 2: have done anything for anybody, anything, He'd be there for. 68 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 2: He loved life, he loved his family. We were building 69 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 2: a house and were making memories and making plans for 70 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 2: the future, but that all got taken away. 71 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: Lujia Blanders disappeared, which remains one of Maine's oldest unsolved cases. 72 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: But this isn't your typical cold case, with scant clues, 73 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: no suspects, and more questions than answers. The game wardens 74 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: who investigated Lucra's case believed they knew what happened to him, 75 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: but the trail got wilder and more unexpected with every 76 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: twist and turn. It led them from Maine's big woods 77 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: to drug fueled parties, to threatening suspects, to a house explosion. 78 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 3: To insurance fraud to murder. 79 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: It's a story of great detective work, even more devious suspects, 80 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: and ultimately a family who never got to say goodbye 81 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: to the father and husband they loved well. 82 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 2: Had three children, together now nineteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. 83 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 2: He wasn't here for the moments, the special times, the 84 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 2: daily times. He just he was robbed of them. 85 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,679 Speaker 1: I'm Jordan Sillers and this is Blood Trails, a Big 86 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: Woods Cold Case. 87 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 3: Part one, Deer tracks layer of the station. 88 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: When Linda called to report her husband missing, the main 89 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: Warden Service sent out two officers to investigate, Lieutenant Warden 90 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: John Marsh and District Warden Dick Hennessy. Though they were 91 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: joined later by other wardens and Maine State Police officers, 92 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: Marsh and Hennessy were the two primary investigators of Luger's disappearance. 93 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 1: The problem from where we're standing in twenty twenty five 94 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: is that Hennessy passed away in twenty twelve and Marsh 95 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: followed him in twenty twenty three. Since this is still 96 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: an open investigation, the Maine State Police can't release any 97 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: case files, and they declined to sit down. 98 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:41,359 Speaker 3: With us for an interview. 99 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: We wouldn't know much more about this case than I've 100 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: already told you if it wasn't for an author by 101 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: the name of Darren Worcester. Darren published a book in 102 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen called Open Season True Stories of the Main 103 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: Warden Service, which is a great book that I highly recommend. 104 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: Darren spoke with twelve game wardens about the two cases 105 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: he covers in that book, one of which was Lugers. 106 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,160 Speaker 4: It happened to be that my father in law was 107 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 4: a game warden and he would always tell me stories, 108 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 4: and I got to thinking that this would be a 109 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 4: great way to write a book. And he would give 110 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 4: me some of his stories and we would slowly chip 111 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 4: away at it, and he would always encourage me, Hey, 112 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 4: I know a lot of people who were wardens and 113 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 4: they've got great stories too, Like, you shouldn't just have 114 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 4: stories from me, We should get others involved. 115 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: One of those wardens was John Marsh, who gave Darren 116 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: an inside view into this investigation. This isn't information that 117 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: was ever made public, but since Marsh was already retired, 118 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: he apparently wasn't too concerned about explaining what happened. Now, 119 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: normally I'd be skeptical about reporting secondhand information, but Darren 120 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: did his homework. I sent his chapter to Detective Sergeant 121 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,559 Speaker 1: Josh Haines, who is currently in charge of Lujra's case 122 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: with the Main State Police. Haines told me in an 123 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: email quote. This information in the book is very accurate 124 00:06:59,000 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: to the facts. 125 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 3: I know of the case. 126 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: Names have been changed and some of the other minor 127 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: details are different, but the majority of the narrative and 128 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: content is factual. Darren was kind enough to sit down 129 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: with us and walk us through what he found, and 130 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: let me tell you, you have no idea what's coming 131 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: over the next hill. When Martha Hennessy arrived at the 132 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: Blanger home, they had some theories as to what might 133 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: be happening, and they weren't overly concerned. The area Looser 134 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: was hunting was basically his backyard. He knew it well, 135 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: and there were no real dangers in those woods, no mountains, 136 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: cliffs or rivers for him to get swept away in. 137 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 4: When the wardens came in, they just didn't I don't 138 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 4: want to say they didn't take it seriously, but they 139 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 4: had done this a thousand times before. He was a 140 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 4: young man. He was twenty five. They figured he probably 141 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 4: just went out partying. The most plausible thing was that 142 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 4: he wasn't, you know, he didn't report home because he 143 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 4: was out doing something that he didn't want to tell 144 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 4: his wife about. 145 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: To their credit, the wardens didn't let their personal opinions 146 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: keep them from doing their job. In fact, they spent 147 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: the entire night of November twenty fifth and into the 148 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: twenty sixth scouring the woods where Lujra had been hunting, 149 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: but they couldn't find it. By the next morning, they 150 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: began to be really concerned. If he was still in 151 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: those woods, he was almost certainly hypothermic and might not 152 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: last much longer. The first snowstorm of the year was 153 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: in full swing, and the wet, slushy precipitation had turned 154 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: light and fluffy as a cold front rolled through. The 155 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: warden service was stretched thin after the snowstorm and calling 156 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: a full on search party would take time, maybe more 157 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: time than Lujra had, so they kept at it, and 158 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: before long they caught a break. As they were pacing 159 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: the side of the road where Linda had left Lujra 160 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: to go hunting, a neighbor approached them. 161 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 4: They caught a lucky break, you know. They found a 162 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 4: neighbor who when they knocked on his door the night 163 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 4: before and nobody had answered, but he had come out 164 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 4: and said, yeah, I saw where Luja went in I 165 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:54,319 Speaker 4: was about to go hunting myself. I can. He's a 166 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 4: good kid, I can take you right where. I'm willing 167 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 4: to bet he was. 168 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: He was hunting this neighbor, a guy named Clayton Crosby, 169 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: said that he hunted and trapped that section of the 170 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 1: forest all the time, and he knew a ridge along 171 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 1: a stream that was a good place to look for 172 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: deer tracks. If Lujira knew the woods as well as 173 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: he did, that would be a place to start. The 174 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: wardens accepted Clay's offer to accompany them, and when they 175 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: reached the spot Clay led them to. 176 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:19,559 Speaker 3: They searched through the fresh. 177 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: Powder for tracks Lujra had made in the slushy now 178 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: frozen snow underneath. It didn't take them long to find 179 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: Ludra's boot prints, and as they followed his trail a 180 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: spent thirty thirty cartridge, they found blood spatters in the 181 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: snow a short distance away, and as they continued to 182 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: follow Lujra's footprints, a dark pool of frozen blood and guts. 183 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: At that point it was easy to see what had happened. 184 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: Lujira had shot a buck and had gutted it there 185 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: in the woods, then, instead of dragging it back towards 186 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 1: his house, he had pulled it about a quarter mile 187 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: through the woods to an old road. It was a 188 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: shorter distance to drag the deer, and he figured he'd 189 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: walk back home, get the car, and pick up the 190 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: animal along the road. It was a good plan, but 191 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: it hadn't worked. Lujia was still nowhere to be found, 192 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: and neither was his deer. Rather than give them an 193 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: answer for Linda about what had happened to her husband, 194 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 1: but they found along that forest road raised even more 195 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: questions and gave them the first suspicions that Lujia was 196 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: in more trouble than they had ever imagined. Linda credits 197 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: the game wardens for always treating her with kindness and 198 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 1: keeping her in the loop on the latest developments in 199 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 1: the case. But those days were still incredibly hard. 200 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 2: The sick field, being alone with my kids, not having 201 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 2: my husband around, I think, and somebody heard him when 202 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 2: I was twenty years old, very scary, very that wrote 203 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 2: it was got wrenching. I There weren't a day go 204 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 2: by that I didn't just sit and cry. 205 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: Part two Clues in the Snow. To the trained eye 206 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: of the game wardens, the snow along. 207 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 3: The road told a clear story. 208 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: The car had driven in at some point before the 209 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: cold front. The driver and passenger had gotten out to 210 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: take a leak, and from that the wardens knew both 211 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: were mail. The driver was a smoker and had left 212 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: two cigarette butts along the road, while the passenger appeared 213 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 1: to be walking with a cane. The pair had gotten 214 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: back into the car and driven about one hundred yards 215 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: down the road, which is when they met Lujer. They 216 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: had helped him load the deer into the trunk of 217 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: the car, and then Lujer got into the back seat. 218 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 1: There were no signs of a struggle anywhere along the road. 219 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: It took me only a few seconds to explain what 220 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: they found, but I want to highlight how difficult it 221 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: was to decipher the criss crossing footprints and tire tracks 222 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: along the road. Remember, all of these prints were covered 223 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: in a layer of powder, and they had to figure 224 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: out which prints belonged to which mail and construct a 225 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: timeline of who did what and when. Their findings told 226 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: them that Lujia hadn't spent the night in the woods. 227 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: Maybe Lujia had met some guys he knew, and the 228 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: trio had gone out to celebrate a successful hunt. A 229 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: discarded Budweiser can indicated that the car's occupants had been drinking, 230 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: but Linda had been insistent that her husband wasn't a drinker. 231 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 2: No, that's not him. He wouldn't do that. No, he 232 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:26,599 Speaker 2: wouldn't even think to do it. He'd come home and 233 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 2: celebrate with his brothers probably and his dad and the kids. 234 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 2: But he wouldn't take off and go somewhere. He didn't 235 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 2: have people like that. He wasn't a heavy conture anyway. 236 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 2: He might have a beer on the weekend if my 237 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 2: dad was around, but I don't think I ever saw 238 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 2: him intoxicated. 239 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 1: Ward and Marsh also noticed something that ignited his suspicions. 240 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: As they'd been tracking Luja through the woods, they noticed 241 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: that before he began dragging the deer, he walked a 242 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: little ways ahead, leaned his gun against a tree, and 243 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: came back to pull the deer with both hands free. 244 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: He repeated this pattern until he got to the road 245 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: where he'd left his thirty thirty. As he started to 246 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: walk out, but Marsh noticed that after Lujira had gotten 247 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: into the back seat of the car, the driver had 248 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: gotten out, walked around the car to the other side 249 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: of the road and retrieved Lugra's gun from where it 250 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: was leaning against a tree ward. Marsh was an avid hunter, angler, 251 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: and outdoorsman. If you're a hunter as well, you know 252 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,319 Speaker 1: how weird it would be to let someone else get 253 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: your gun for you if you're capable of doing it yourself. 254 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,439 Speaker 1: But what if, Marsh wondered, Luder wasn't capable of doing 255 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: it himself. That thought worried him more than any other. 256 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,199 Speaker 1: But he knew that finding the car and its driver 257 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: was going to be a serious challenge. But that's when 258 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 1: they caught their second big break in the case, this 259 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: one also thanks to the neighbor hunter and trapper Clay Crosby. 260 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 4: The receipt that was found was really a lucky break 261 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,559 Speaker 4: on their part in that it was actually found by 262 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,079 Speaker 4: the neighbor who had kind of shown him around and 263 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 4: shown him to where Luja was probably hunting, and they 264 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 4: had asked him to kind of stay out of the 265 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 4: way to make sure he wasn't trampling any evidence. So 266 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 4: as this person was stepping back to get out of 267 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 4: the way, he felt something crunch under his shoe and 268 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 4: looked down and it was the receipt to a local 269 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 4: garage and the receipt was found under four inches of powder, 270 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 4: but above like the thick, heavy wet snow that had 271 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 4: come down early and then froze. So that really meant, 272 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 4: you know, with the timeline of how everything went and 273 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 4: when the snow came in, that the receipt was really 274 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 4: at the same wayer of the snow as the tracks 275 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 4: were right, so it clearly was tied to the vehicle. 276 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: The receipt was dated for the previous day, the day 277 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: Luja went missing. But this wasn't just any old receipt. 278 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: I don't know if they made receipts differently in nineteen 279 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: seventy five, but this thing was like an identity thief's 280 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: dream come true. 281 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 4: Because the receipt had the suspects residents on it, their 282 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 4: phone number, everything was right there. It was sort of 283 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 4: like a handwritten note of here's your suspect, here's where 284 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 4: you go and find them like that just never happens, right, 285 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 4: That in itself was a pretty lucky break. 286 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: The snow along the road told them Luja was alive 287 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: when he got into the car and that he might 288 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: be in trouble, but it also showed them what to do. 289 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: Next Part three, Sully's Marsha Hennessy knew the names of 290 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: the guys they were looking for, but they wanted more 291 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: information before confronting them, so they went to the auto 292 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: garage listed on the receipt in the nearby town of Union. 293 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: The owner, a guy named Sully, was more than happy 294 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: to talk to them about the two men who had 295 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: visited his shop the day before. 296 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 4: The guy at the garage was all bent sideways over 297 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 4: these guys coming in. He said that they were drunk, 298 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 4: intoxicated on whatever drugs too. They had a radiator issue 299 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 4: with the car, I think a crack and was leaking, 300 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 4: and he just wasn't equipped at that garage to handle that. 301 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 4: And he had told him that, and they yelled at him, 302 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 4: they swore at him, and he just kind of did 303 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 4: some quick fix to get him out of there, just 304 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 4: to get him going and get him away from him. 305 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: Selly thought he'd gotten rid of these two yahoos. But 306 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: then later that same day they came back to the 307 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: garage again after they had picked up Blue. 308 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 4: Jerk, and he said when they came back in, the 309 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 4: car was just white walled with steam. It was completely 310 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 4: filled with steam. These guys were sitting in the car. 311 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 4: They were even drunker, more intoxicated than when they had 312 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 4: been in that morning, and they just drove the car 313 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 4: right in on the left. They didn't they didn't get out, 314 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 4: they didn't park outside. They just drove it right into 315 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 4: the garage, right on the lift, and were yelling out 316 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 4: the window and demanding that he fixed it, that he 317 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 4: was a crook, that he had cheated them before, even 318 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 4: though he had told them, guys, there's nothing I can 319 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 4: do here. You know, I can't fix this. 320 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: Selley told the wardens that at this point he was 321 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: actually kind of nervous. These guys were clearly intoxicated, clearly angry, 322 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: and he also spied a shotgun in the front seat 323 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 1: of the car and a box of shells on the dashboard, 324 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: but he said he didn't see anyone in the back 325 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,679 Speaker 1: seat even after all the steam from the radiator had cleared, 326 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: and he didn't try to open the trunk. He just 327 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: wanted them out of his shop as quickly as possible, 328 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: so once again he fixed them up the best he 329 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: could and probably breathed a sigh of relief as they 330 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,640 Speaker 1: drove away. Josh Haynes with the Main State Police confirmed 331 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: to me that the car in question was a nineteen 332 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 1: sixty five Buick special. Haines told me that the two 333 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: men driving the car have been identified, but their real 334 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: names haven't been released. Since they've never been officially named 335 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: as suspects. 336 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 3: We won't be saying their real. 337 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,360 Speaker 1: Names in this episode for the same reason. 338 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:44,920 Speaker 3: As you'll hear. 339 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: This story crosses the line from rumor and hearsay to 340 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,120 Speaker 1: legitimate accusation. We have to be careful not to overstep 341 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 1: law enforcement, and Luja's family isn't interested in blasting out 342 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: their names publicly. Instead, we're just going to call them 343 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: Lenny and George. Lenny is the smoker, the driver of 344 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: the car, and George is the passenger and the one 345 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,640 Speaker 1: who walks with a cane. At this point, Marsha Hennessy 346 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,160 Speaker 1: knew a few things, and none of them spelled good 347 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: news for Lujer. These men were not in their right mind. 348 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: They were armed and had almost certainly picked up Luja 349 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: from the road in the woods, But Lujer wasn't in 350 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: the back seat when they arrived at the garage the 351 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: second time, and there were at least a few hours 352 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: between when they'd picked up the Hunter and when they 353 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,439 Speaker 1: drove onto the lift at Sully's plenty of time to 354 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 1: do who knows what with Lucher Blanger Part four Lenny. 355 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: After confirming with Linda that Lujer didn't know either of 356 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,120 Speaker 1: the men in the car, the wardens made their way 357 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: to Lennie's house in Camden, about half an hour from Washington. 358 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 3: They arrived around. 359 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: One in the afternoon, but based on the appearance of 360 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: the man who answered the door, it could have been 361 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,919 Speaker 1: six in the morning or eleven at night. He was 362 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: wearing pajama pants and his disheveled hair made it seem 363 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: like he'd just woken up, but the beer can in 364 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,439 Speaker 1: his hand suggested that maybe he'd just never gone to sleep, 365 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: and the bloodshot eyes peering out from bushy, dark eyebrows 366 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: told the wardens that he'd much rather be left alone. 367 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,400 Speaker 1: He was also about six foot two, and the wardens 368 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: later learned a US Marine who had served in Vietnam. 369 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: He'd survived a grenade blast and, along with a silver 370 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: star and purple heart, had earned a metal plate in 371 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: his head for his trouble. He'd been arrested several times 372 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: for barroom boxing, along with two dui charges, and to 373 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: complete the picture, public urination point is This wasn't some 374 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: schlub they could push around. If he'd done what they 375 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: thought he'd done, they had to be careful. 376 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 4: He was home alone, and he stonewalled them at first, 377 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 4: basically just said he hadn't been hunting that day, hadn't 378 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 4: been to Washington, didn't know where Washington was. 379 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: But Warden Marsh wasn't someone to be true with either, 380 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,360 Speaker 1: and he was in no mood to play games. 381 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 4: The Woean's at that point, they had been they'd pulled 382 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 4: an all nighter, you know, they'd been up for probably 383 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 4: thirty six hours or something at that point. His patience 384 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 4: was wearing thin, and he just bottom lined it with 385 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 4: a guy that, look, we know your car was there. 386 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 4: We found this receipt. We know you were there, so 387 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 4: you better start telling us the truth. Because there's the 388 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 4: two ways to do this. It's going to be the 389 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 4: easy way of the hard way, and the way this 390 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 4: is going it sounds like it's going to be the 391 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 4: hard way. 392 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: The way things turned out, the Warden should have gone 393 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: right to the hard way, but they didn't know what 394 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: was going to happen. So I'm sure they were relieved 395 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: when Lenny let them into the house and they sat 396 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,959 Speaker 1: down with him at the kitchen table. After telling a 397 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: BS story about selling the buick the night before, Lenny 398 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: eventually admitted that yes he had visited Selly's garage, and 399 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: yes he'd been hunting near Washington, but he claimed never 400 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: to have met or seen Looger. He said they saw 401 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: his tracks in the snow, but that a second car 402 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: must have picked up the hunter before they got there. 403 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,640 Speaker 1: The wardens didn't believe this story either, because there had 404 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: been only one set of tire tracks on that forest road, 405 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,920 Speaker 1: but Lenny stuck to his story. So the wardens asked 406 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: to see his hunting clothes and gun. They figured that 407 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: if the suspects had done something to Looser, there would 408 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,680 Speaker 1: likely be evidence on their clothes. 409 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 4: Or equipment, and he said it was down in the basement. 410 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 4: So what they ended up doing is the warden split up. 411 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 4: One of them asked to use the restroom, so he 412 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 4: stayed upstairs. Well, the other warden went downstairs with the suspect. 413 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 4: In hindsight, that kind of turned out to be probably 414 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 4: something they regretted to not both being there, so the 415 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 4: other warden goes downstairs. This would have been Warden Hennessy 416 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 4: and the guy shows him around and shows him the 417 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 4: hunting gear that he was wearing. It had all been 418 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 4: cleaned already, shows him his rifle already cleaned. They see 419 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,119 Speaker 4: there's a room down there with a padlock on it 420 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 4: that's locked up, and the warden to see inside there, 421 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 4: and suspect At tells him, I can't get in there myself. 422 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 4: I don't have the key to it, or the combination, 423 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 4: whichever one it was. You know, the guy bought the 424 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 4: house from gave it to me. I lost it, like, 425 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 4: I don't even know what's in there myself, he tells them, which, 426 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 4: in and of itself, that's pretty sketchy and hard to believe, 427 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 4: especially from a guy who had just lied to them 428 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 4: for a few minutes before that. 429 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, upstairs, ward Marsh was poking around. He noticed a 430 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: box of federal shotgun shells on the table, which matched 431 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: what Selly had said he saw on the dashboard of 432 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: the buick. When he peeked inside, he saw that one 433 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: of the shells was missing. He also noticed a knife 434 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: on the table that had already been cleaned, which made 435 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,919 Speaker 1: him start to wonder, So he walked over to the 436 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,400 Speaker 1: fridge and opened the door to the freezer. 437 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 4: Anyone who hunts will know what I mean when I 438 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 4: say there were a bunch of packages of meat wrapped 439 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 4: in white freezer paper. He went and tested one of 440 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 4: the packages with his hands and it was still soft, 441 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,919 Speaker 4: so you know they hadn't been in the freezer for long. 442 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 4: It wasn't frozen through clearly. 443 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: According to Sully, Lenny had made a point to complain 444 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: about how there weren't any deer left in Maine and 445 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 1: that they hadn't had any luck. 446 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:13,919 Speaker 3: The previous morning. 447 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: He'd also told the wardens that even though he'd been 448 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: hunting in the Washington area, he hadn't killed anything. The 449 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,159 Speaker 1: still warm packages of deer meat and his freezer proved 450 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: he'd been lying about the deer, and Marsh wondered if 451 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: that meat had come from the one that Ludra had killed. 452 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 4: The suspect and Warden Hennessy came back up and basically 453 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 4: he could tell for Warden Nnscy's demeanor and the things 454 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 4: that he was saying is let's get out of here, 455 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,640 Speaker 4: like we got to go talk, so you know, they. 456 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 3: Got out of there. 457 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: The pair exchanged information once they were back in their cruiser, 458 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: which is when Warden Marsh pulled one of those packages 459 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: of deer meat from his pocket. 460 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 4: Warden Hennessy was a bit freaked out over that because 461 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 4: obviously it would never be admissible in court, and ward 462 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 4: and Marsh didn't care, you know. At that point he 463 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 4: basically said, book, this guy's dirty. We're gonna get a 464 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 4: lot on him. But if this package of meat helps 465 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 4: us identify that these are the guys and helps us 466 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 4: find Lujah Blanger or his remains. 467 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 3: Like, I don't care. 468 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 4: Like we need to get this in the lab. 469 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:16,760 Speaker 3: We need to figure this out. 470 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: What Marsha and Hennessey discovered inside that house was only 471 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,159 Speaker 1: the beginning. The deeper they dug, the more perilous the 472 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:33,719 Speaker 1: trail became. Evidence destroyed, witnesses, intimidated, home burned to the ground, 473 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: and a shocking confession that would take years to surface. 474 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:53,400 Speaker 1: That's after the Break on Blood Trails, Part five the party. 475 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: The evidence the wardens had collected thus far was either 476 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: circumstantial or, in the case of the deer meat, in missible. 477 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: They knew they needed more, so they took the case 478 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 1: to the main state police and applied for search warrants 479 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,919 Speaker 1: for the homes of Lenny and George. The State police 480 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,880 Speaker 1: sent them officers to assist, and the local judge granted 481 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: them the warrants they requested, but that process took time. 482 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,440 Speaker 1: Luja went missing the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm sure 483 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: there were people in government offices taking long weekends. The 484 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 1: wardens and state police continued to investigate. They drove the 485 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: various routes the suspects may have taken to see if 486 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: they could decipher where they had gone between picking up 487 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: Lujer and Sully's garage, but they didn't find anything, and 488 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 1: they weren't able to execute the search warrants on the 489 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: suspects homes until the next Friday, a week after Lujer 490 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: went missing. Destroying evidence of a murder or kidnapping is 491 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: tough for even the smartest criminals, and investigators figured they'd 492 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 1: be able to pull trace amounts of blood from hunting 493 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: clothes or hares from hack saws, But when Marsha and 494 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,680 Speaker 1: Hennessy pulled up to Lenny's home along with two State 495 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:03,920 Speaker 1: police officers, they realized they should have tried to search 496 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: the home sooner. When they showed up, they were cars 497 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,440 Speaker 1: all up and down the road. The guy was having 498 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,879 Speaker 1: a rip roaring party. The place was packed with people 499 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,199 Speaker 1: all throughout the house, and you know they're looking at 500 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,160 Speaker 1: it like, is this guy serious. 501 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 4: He's the lead suspect and potentially a murder case, and 502 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 4: he's having this huge party, And you know, whether it 503 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 4: was intentional or not, in some ways, potentially was a 504 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 4: smart thing for him to have done, because it showed that, 505 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 4: you know, he wasn't worried, he didn't think, you know, 506 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 4: he was in trouble. But also if there was evidence, 507 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 4: you know, blood splatter on the floor, things like that, 508 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 4: he had forty fifty people tracking dirt all through the 509 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 4: house and covering it. 510 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 3: Up to make matters worse. 511 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,400 Speaker 1: All the potential evidence the wardens had seen on their 512 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: previous visit was gone. The hunting clothes, the deer meat, 513 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: the knife, the gun, the gear, all of it nowhere. 514 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 3: To be seen. 515 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: They hadn't seen the buick in the driveway on their 516 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: previous visit, but it could have been somewhere else on 517 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: the property, or they could have found information in the 518 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: house that led them to it, but the car had 519 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: also been disappeared without a trace. To add insult to injury, 520 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: Lenny had taped a newspaper article on Luger's disappearance to 521 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: the door of the upstairs freezer. 522 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 4: He was mocking them, and he was being quite obstinate, 523 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,400 Speaker 4: and basically when they were confronting him, they asked him 524 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 4: where all the hunting clothes were. He said he didn't 525 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 4: know what they were talking about. There were no hunting 526 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 4: clothes there. He had never had any, because he knew 527 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 4: that Ward and Marsh never came downstairs and never saw it, 528 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 4: so it was just his word against Warden Hennessy. 529 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: There was no smoking gun, either literal or figurative. But 530 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 1: no criminal is perfect, and Lenny was no different. They 531 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: noticed that the padlock on the door in the basement, 532 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,120 Speaker 1: the one that Lenny had he'd never opened, had been 533 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: turned around. 534 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 4: So clearly suspect A was going in and out of 535 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 4: the room and he had carelessly switched the direction of 536 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 4: the lock. 537 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:12,879 Speaker 1: They cut the lock off the door, hopeful that Lenny 538 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,439 Speaker 1: had failed to clean up all traces of his crime. 539 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 3: They were right, but not as right as they had hoped. 540 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 4: The only thing they found in there is on a 541 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 4: bench that you could see markings in the dust where 542 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 4: looked like a gun had been laid there, and potentially 543 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 4: a thirty thirty because it wasn't too long, and that 544 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 4: was the gun that Lujiah Blanger had been hunting with, 545 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 4: And they found a broken piece of a V notch 546 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:43,240 Speaker 4: site that they got it tested and it was consistent 547 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 4: with the type of sight that was used on A 548 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 4: thirty thirty at that time. 549 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: They noticed the light bulb had been changed recently, but 550 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: other than that, it didn't seem like Lenny used the 551 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: room very often. They didn't find any evidence that anyone 552 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: had been locked in the room or a body had. 553 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 3: Been kept there. 554 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: They came up empty at George's house as well, which 555 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,440 Speaker 1: a different team had searched at the same time. Both 556 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: men stuck to their story, and without any additional evidence, 557 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,040 Speaker 1: the wardens were forced to drive away empty handed. 558 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 3: Part six. The buick. 559 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 1: To any investigator, the primary crime scene is of utmost importance, 560 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: But in this case, that crime scene was mobile, and 561 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: the fact that the suspects tried to hide the buick 562 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,960 Speaker 1: was reason enough to assume it held key evidence. That's 563 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: why I'm sure Warden Marsh was excited to hear that 564 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,719 Speaker 1: just a few days after they had searched the suspects homes, 565 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: the Forest Green car was spotted on a residential Road 566 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: in the town of Northport, about twenty minutes from Lenny's home, 567 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: and the VIN number was registered to the same man. 568 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: Ward and Marsh rushed out to the scene to inspect 569 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: the car himself. What he saw made his stomach drop. 570 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: The car's headliner, floor mats, and rear seat had all 571 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: been removed, The trunk had been cleaned with heavy duty cleaner, 572 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: and Marsh could still smell the pungent sterile aroma. The trunk, matt, 573 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: spare tire, and carjack had also been removed from the 574 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: wheel well. But when Marsh looked up as he inspected 575 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: the trunk, he noticed something on the lid, a deer hair. 576 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: It wasn't the evidence they were hoping for, but again 577 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,959 Speaker 1: Lenny had claimed he never brought home a deer. That 578 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 1: hare was enough to impound the car, so the state 579 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: police forensic team could get a closer look. 580 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 4: When they did find the car and they impounded it, 581 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 4: one of the things that they also found was a 582 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 4: bullet hidden way down in the wheel well or where 583 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 4: the spare tire well excuse me would be, and it 584 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 4: had a beard hair attached to it. And Lujah Bolanger 585 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 4: at that time had a semi goo tea. I guess 586 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 4: you could call it. 587 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 3: It was more chin than let. 588 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: The bullet was actually a buckshot pellet of the same 589 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: kind that would have been loaded in the twelve gage 590 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 1: shells marsh saw on Lenny's table. How it came in 591 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,360 Speaker 1: contact with a beard hair, and how that beard hair 592 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: and pellet came to be in the trunk of Lenny's 593 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: car is perhaps the most disturbing piece of evidence the 594 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: wardens had uncovered thus far. Unfortunately, it was still inconclusive. 595 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: Forensic DNA testing wasn't an option in nineteen seventy five, 596 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: and when they sent the beard hair to the FBI 597 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 1: lab in Washington, d C. Investigators weren't able to use 598 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: its color or dimensions to match it with Luger or 599 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: either of the suspects. It was close, but it still 600 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: wasn't quite enough to make an arrest. 601 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 3: Part seven. 602 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 1: George Lenny gets a lot of the attention in this story, 603 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: and he still has one more act to play. But 604 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: George is also important. In fact, he's the reason we 605 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: know much of anything about what happened to Luger on 606 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: that road. He also may have been the one to 607 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: pull the trigger. George was a Vietnam veteran who had 608 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: been wounded in battle, which is likely the reason he 609 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: walked with a cane. The pairs shared experience of war 610 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 1: apparently brought them together because they didn't have much else 611 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,920 Speaker 1: in common besides the love of alcohol. While Lenny was 612 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: large and imposing, George was short and slender. Lenny was married, 613 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: but George lived alone, and while Lennie is never known 614 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 1: to have told anyone about what happened that day, George 615 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 1: just couldn't keep the story to himself. A few months 616 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,280 Speaker 1: after Lujire's disappearance, a man came to the police with 617 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: what he said was important information. He had been partying 618 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: with George, and in a drunken stupor, George had told 619 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: him the entire story. According to this informant, Lenny and 620 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: George had seen Luger on the road with his deer. 621 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 1: Not having had any luck themselves, they decided to steal 622 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 1: Lougers so they pretended to want to help, got the 623 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,720 Speaker 1: deer in the trunk and invited him into the back seat. 624 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: But when Lenny told they were keeping the deer as 625 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:05,360 Speaker 1: a shipping and handling fee, Lujer pushed back. He said 626 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 1: he needed the deer to feed his family and asked 627 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: to be let out of the car. That's when George 628 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 1: turned around and his seat lowered the shotgun at Luger 629 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,880 Speaker 1: and pulled the trigger. We can assume that the pair 630 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 1: spent the next hours and days hiding the body and 631 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: cleaning the car, but the informant says he was too 632 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: afraid to. 633 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 3: Ask where they buried Loujer's remains. 634 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 1: Linda has a similar, though slightly different theory about what happened. 635 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 2: I believe that when he got into the car, they 636 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:38,960 Speaker 2: got the deer in the trunk, He got in the 637 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 2: back seat of the car, and they got to the 638 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 2: end of that road. They turned left instead of right 639 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 2: to bring him home, and I think that's where he 640 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,440 Speaker 2: might have made a stink when he sat it, getting 641 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 2: anxious that they were one wrong way, and then he 642 00:33:56,400 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 2: realized they weren't taking him home. Ah, I don't know, 643 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 2: but that's where I think they shout him in the 644 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 2: back seat was there? 645 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: Why George would admit to doing such a thing over 646 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 1: something as trivial as a deer has baffled investigators, not 647 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: to mention Ludra's family. The pair of men were obviously 648 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: intoxicated and not in their right minds. But there's a 649 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:23,319 Speaker 1: giant gap between being drunk or high and murdering a 650 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 1: stranger over some venison. The details of Lugra's case were 651 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: well known at the time, so it's possible the informant 652 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,600 Speaker 1: was fabricating a story for some ulterior motive. Maybe the 653 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:36,880 Speaker 1: gun went off by accident, there was a fight in 654 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 1: the car, or a third party was involved. Whatever actually happened, 655 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: Marti and his colleagues knew the informant's testimony would never 656 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: hold up in court. They needed more details from a 657 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:51,760 Speaker 1: more reliable witness than one of George's drinking buddies. Ideally, 658 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: they wanted him to confess in a less alcohol soaked setting, 659 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,440 Speaker 1: and a short time later they got their chance. George 660 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: had been in car for stealing in an effort to 661 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: fund his drug habit. 662 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:04,960 Speaker 3: Law enforcement told George's. 663 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,919 Speaker 1: Cellmate that they'd let him go early if he could 664 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,240 Speaker 1: get George to tell him what happened, but the alleged 665 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,520 Speaker 1: murderer stuck to his original story. 666 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:13,919 Speaker 3: He didn't know anything. 667 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: About Lujire's disappearance, and that original informant died of a 668 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: drug overdose A short time later, with George refusing to speak, 669 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 1: investigators remained hopeful that Lenny would one day crack. They 670 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,640 Speaker 1: sent undercover agents to the VFW where Lenny hung out, 671 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: and while these agents were successful in befriending him, they 672 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 1: never got him to talk. 673 00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:33,920 Speaker 3: About the case. 674 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,480 Speaker 1: Lenny was obviously smart. He hid or destroyed all the 675 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 1: evidence that could have sent him to jail, and maintained 676 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:45,719 Speaker 1: his innocence even while dealing with severe drug and alcohol addictions. 677 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,800 Speaker 1: But you know that old saying about being too smart 678 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:52,760 Speaker 1: for your own good, Lenny may have been too smart 679 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: for his own good. In July of nineteen seventy six, 680 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:59,399 Speaker 1: about seven months after Luja went missing, Warden Marsh got 681 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:05,080 Speaker 1: a call Lenny had blown up his own house in 682 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: what was probably an attempt at insurance fraud and, according 683 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,759 Speaker 1: to Darren, possibly an attempt to kill his wife. Lenny 684 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,400 Speaker 1: had filled a bunch of washtubs with gasoline in his 685 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:18,400 Speaker 1: house and lit a candlewick as a fuse. He'd purchased 686 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,840 Speaker 1: a plane ticket to Orlando, and his plan was to 687 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 1: be out of the state when his house went up 688 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,799 Speaker 1: in flames, so the insurance company couldn't accuse him of 689 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:30,120 Speaker 1: starting the blaze. Himself, but there was a flaw in 690 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: his plan. 691 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,480 Speaker 4: It is believed that his refrigerator, with all the fumes 692 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,680 Speaker 4: in the air, triggered the explosion prematurely before. 693 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:38,400 Speaker 3: He got out of the house. 694 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 4: He did have an air ticket that day to take 695 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:46,480 Speaker 4: him to Orlando, Florida, so he was trying to make 696 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,439 Speaker 4: it look like he wasn't at home at the time 697 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,880 Speaker 4: of the explosion. But the explosion went off when he 698 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,880 Speaker 4: was in the house. It blasted him clear through the 699 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 4: picture window and outside into the yard. 700 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: Lenny suffered severe burns and was taken to a military 701 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:03,759 Speaker 1: terry hospital in San Antonio. Doctors didn't expect him to 702 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:07,040 Speaker 1: last long, so the main state police rushed down to Texas. 703 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: They wanted to see if Lenny would confess on his 704 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,600 Speaker 1: deathbed and maybe tell them what he'd done with Luja, 705 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:16,239 Speaker 1: but they were too late. Lenny died before they could 706 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:19,040 Speaker 1: get there, taking what he knew about the young Hunter's 707 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 1: disappearance to his grave. George, however, is still alive. Tracy, 708 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,400 Speaker 1: Lujia and Linda's youngest daughter, told me he's not in 709 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,280 Speaker 1: good health, but he's remained in the area since nineteen 710 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:32,040 Speaker 1: seventy five. 711 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 5: He went on he had children and he continued with 712 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 5: his life. 713 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,480 Speaker 1: Tracy and Linda believe there are people who might know 714 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,760 Speaker 1: where Lujira's body was buried, but they're afraid to come forward. 715 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:45,360 Speaker 5: Because there's definitely people all did that. 716 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:50,280 Speaker 2: No, but as scared of the family too, their sons, 717 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:54,360 Speaker 2: even though kids a cry of interest. People are scared 718 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 2: of him, as scared of them. 719 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 5: Intimidation, I suppose, yeah. 720 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,320 Speaker 2: I mean they're very threatening. They would come on to 721 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:08,200 Speaker 2: our page and be very nasty, you know, threatening. So 722 00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:10,880 Speaker 2: we had to block a few of them. And I 723 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 2: can't blame him for sticking out for the dad. But 724 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 2: they don't know. 725 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,960 Speaker 3: Part eight. The search continues. 726 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,880 Speaker 1: It's tempting to think of this case as solved, or 727 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,480 Speaker 1: that justice, at least in the case of suspect A 728 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,840 Speaker 1: was somehow served, But the family is far from feeling closure. 729 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,040 Speaker 1: They never got the chance to face in court the 730 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: person who killed their husband and father, and they've never 731 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:43,080 Speaker 1: been able to put him to rest in the way 732 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:43,800 Speaker 1: he deserves. 733 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:47,399 Speaker 2: Above all, we just want to lay him to rest 734 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:50,600 Speaker 2: our way, not throw him like a bag of trash somewhere. 735 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,560 Speaker 2: We want to lay him to rest with what love 736 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:57,759 Speaker 2: and dignity you know because that's what he deserved. He 737 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,479 Speaker 2: didn't deserve what he got. Does. 738 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:03,759 Speaker 1: You might expect Linda and her children to want an 739 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:07,200 Speaker 1: explanation for why their husband and father was murdered, but 740 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,600 Speaker 1: Linda and Tracy say answering that question isn't important to 741 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:12,960 Speaker 1: them at this point. They don't buy the excuse that 742 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,239 Speaker 1: the suspects were drunk or high or suffering from PTSD, 743 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,759 Speaker 1: and given suspect A's attempt to kill his wife, they 744 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:21,440 Speaker 1: don't believe it was an accident. 745 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:23,640 Speaker 5: You're not going to get a why that you go, oh, 746 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,000 Speaker 5: that makes sense, because you'd have to be psychotic to 747 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 5: agree with that. So a why is never going to 748 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:30,120 Speaker 5: be good. It's never going to be okay, it's never 749 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:32,000 Speaker 5: going to be right. That's never going to ring closure 750 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:35,080 Speaker 5: or feel like an answer. 751 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,160 Speaker 1: They also aren't motivated by a desire to see suspect 752 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:39,160 Speaker 1: be behind bars. 753 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:42,799 Speaker 5: The only remaining suspect is not well and probably not 754 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 5: long for this world, and so as far as like 755 00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:46,400 Speaker 5: getting justice, that's not going to happen. 756 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,520 Speaker 1: All they really want is to find Luja's remains, not 757 00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:53,080 Speaker 1: only for themselves, but for the grandchildren and great grandchildren 758 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:54,960 Speaker 1: who never got the chance to know him. 759 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 5: The family goes on, and I don't want it to 760 00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,919 Speaker 5: always be like, oh, this story that's in the FAMI 761 00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:03,640 Speaker 5: and never been solved. They'd never been a saying. So 762 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:07,320 Speaker 5: they still hear about, you know, what went on, and 763 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,480 Speaker 5: they know that that's their grandfather, and the little ones 764 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:12,920 Speaker 5: eventually will know that that's their great grandfather. And so 765 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:15,719 Speaker 5: I just feel like it's just an important to have 766 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:16,200 Speaker 5: an end. 767 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: The mission to find Luga's remains has been top of 768 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,719 Speaker 1: mind for every investigator assigned to this case. That's just 769 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,520 Speaker 1: as true today as it was back in the seventies. 770 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:29,200 Speaker 4: In the years that followed, they did anything and everything. 771 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,400 Speaker 4: The next spring, they had a huge search at the 772 00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:35,440 Speaker 4: scale that the Warden Service had never done before. They 773 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:39,240 Speaker 4: literally brought in all wardens. My father in law recalls 774 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:41,399 Speaker 4: being a part of this too, and it wasn't in 775 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:44,440 Speaker 4: his district. They brought him volunteers. They filled up a 776 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:48,640 Speaker 4: couple of hotels, you know. They had aircraft flying around 777 00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:51,680 Speaker 4: looking for crow circles things like that that would suggest 778 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,799 Speaker 4: that animals are gravitating towards remains in certain areas. They 779 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:59,160 Speaker 4: drained one farmer's pond because there was a tip that 780 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:01,560 Speaker 4: the body was in there. And this is an area 781 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:04,799 Speaker 4: down eastern Main where there's a lot of quarries, So 782 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:07,400 Speaker 4: they send divers into a whole bunch of quarries and 783 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:11,280 Speaker 4: different bodies of water. Suspect A himself lived don a pond. 784 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,319 Speaker 4: They dragged the pond. They you know, sent divers in 785 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:19,719 Speaker 4: the pond. They looked everywhere, and unfortunately all that came 786 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:20,680 Speaker 4: up empty handed. 787 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,560 Speaker 1: Warden's Martia and Hennessy won't be able to see it, 788 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,399 Speaker 1: but bringing this case to a close would mean more 789 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,719 Speaker 1: to them than most other investigators. 790 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,000 Speaker 4: One thing that really struck me, you know, with Jarn 791 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,000 Speaker 4: and with a lot of these Wardens in particular, is 792 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:38,839 Speaker 4: that they all seem to have experiences and stories that 793 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,840 Speaker 4: sort of haunts them and they can't put away with. 794 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:44,359 Speaker 4: This was the case that for jar And I could 795 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:47,759 Speaker 4: tell he really had some misgimmings about and really just 796 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 4: had that personal drive. I know he stayed in contact 797 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:54,080 Speaker 4: with a family for years after the case was over 798 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:57,319 Speaker 4: because he just he really personally just wanted to help 799 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:01,520 Speaker 4: bring closure for them. So he would really motivated. 800 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:03,520 Speaker 1: Ward and Marsh would no doubt be pleased to learn 801 00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:06,720 Speaker 1: that Lujia's case might be closer than ever to being solved. 802 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:09,800 Speaker 1: Linda worked with a group called the Main Cold Case 803 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:13,160 Speaker 1: Alliance to lobby the state legislature to provide funding to 804 00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:17,400 Speaker 1: solve cold cases. Many states have a dedicated cold case division, 805 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:20,520 Speaker 1: but until twenty fifteen, Maine didn't. 806 00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:22,959 Speaker 2: It was a group of us. We were at State 807 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,400 Speaker 2: House and we were pushing it. It was a law we 808 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:28,680 Speaker 2: just wanted. We wanted a cold case unit. It was 809 00:42:28,719 --> 00:42:32,040 Speaker 2: really great to watch all those lights light up green. 810 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:35,480 Speaker 2: Nobody was against it, you know, all the Senate, it 811 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,160 Speaker 2: all lit up in our favor, and it was really 812 00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:40,560 Speaker 2: a great feeling to get it approved. 813 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,560 Speaker 1: Linda is hoping that fifty years after her husband's disappearance 814 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,520 Speaker 1: and ten years after she helped fund a cold case unit, 815 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,640 Speaker 1: someone will have the courage to come forward and give 816 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:53,719 Speaker 1: the Belanger family the closure they've been searching for. 817 00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:56,399 Speaker 2: Fifty years is a long time. It's been a never 818 00:42:56,520 --> 00:43:00,279 Speaker 2: ending nightmare. Some days are okay, some days aren't. But 819 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,960 Speaker 2: to find his remains, no matter what it is, and 820 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:06,520 Speaker 2: we want to land the rest the right way. 821 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:09,520 Speaker 1: There is still hope for that to happen. The state 822 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,279 Speaker 1: police have continued to search as additional tips have come 823 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:15,440 Speaker 1: in In fact, according to a June email from Detective 824 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,640 Speaker 1: Josh Haynes, ground and water searches have been conducted in 825 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:23,520 Speaker 1: recent weeks and additional searches have been planned. They're especially 826 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,239 Speaker 1: interested in the back seat from the buick. There's a 827 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:28,480 Speaker 1: reason the suspects got rid of it, but it may 828 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,440 Speaker 1: still be around somewhere, sitting in an old barn or 829 00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:36,440 Speaker 1: garage collecting dust. Modern forensic techniques can do things detectives 830 00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:38,960 Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies could only dream of, and that 831 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:42,880 Speaker 1: seat may hold the clues to finally solving this case. 832 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,000 Speaker 1: If you know or know someone who might know anything 833 00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:52,520 Speaker 1: about a seat from a nineteen sixty five Uwick Special, 834 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:55,239 Speaker 1: get in touch with the main State Police at two 835 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:59,400 Speaker 1: oh seven six' two four seven zero seven six and 836 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:03,879 Speaker 1: ask for The Major Crimes Unit Unsolved. Division Detective haynes 837 00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:06,320 Speaker 1: would ask the same of anyone who might know anything 838 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:10,800 Speaker 1: About lujer's, disappearance no matter how. Minor, again that number 839 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:15,080 Speaker 1: is two oh seven six two four seven zero seven to. 840 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:19,040 Speaker 2: SIX i can't explain the. Feeling it's something that we've 841 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:23,000 Speaker 2: always wanted and never, got and something that we've always 842 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,120 Speaker 2: wanted to do for, him and he got dealt a 843 00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:28,480 Speaker 2: raw deal and uh just want to bring him. 844 00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:34,800 Speaker 3: Home thanks for listening to this episode Of Blood. Trails 845 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:35,560 Speaker 3: if you'd like. 846 00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:37,600 Speaker 1: To see images from this, case head over to the 847 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,520 Speaker 1: meeater dot com slash Blood trails and click on. 848 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:41,480 Speaker 3: The case file for this. 849 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:45,000 Speaker 1: EPISODE a big thanks To Darren, Wooster, linda And tracy 850 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,880 Speaker 1: for their time and willingness to speak with. ME i 851 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:51,400 Speaker 1: also Appreciate Detective Josh haynes for verifying the details Of luser's. 852 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:54,840 Speaker 1: Disappearance if you have a tip about this case or 853 00:44:54,920 --> 00:44:57,200 Speaker 1: another case you think we should, cover send us an 854 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,080 Speaker 1: email at blood trails at the meeteater dot org dot. 855 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,719 Speaker 1: Com that's b l O O D T r A 856 00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:07,239 Speaker 1: I L s at the meeater dot. Com see you next. 857 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:08,879 Speaker 1: Time stay safe out. 858 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:09,080 Speaker 5: There