1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,359 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 2: So, I guess this. 3 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 1: Is an old grave site. Do you think you can 4 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: take Granny's arm so we can walk out into. 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:22,959 Speaker 2: It a little bit? 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: There's a lot of weeds here. Why do you think 7 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: it's important to be here and for future generations to 8 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: come to these places? This is the oldest cemetery in 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: the city. 10 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 2: I like the idea of walking through here and wondering 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 2: who these people were and what they saw, and would 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 2: they be happy to know that somebody is here looking 13 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 2: at their grave and thinking about them. 14 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: My mother, Lynn La Fever, and I are at the 15 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: Oakwood Cemetery, the oldest city owned cemetery in Austin, Texas. 16 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: It's full of some of the city's most important people 17 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: from centuries ago. Beneath the earth are congressmen, governors, and athletes, 18 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: local legends in Austin's history. But my mom and I 19 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: are in a different section, the section where the city's 20 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: people of color were often buried in the eighteen hundreds, 21 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,119 Speaker 1: So this is what they considered to be the quote 22 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: unquote colored section, which was anyone of color, including people 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: who are black. This is also somewhere in here where 24 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: some of the victims of the Servant Girl Annihilator are, 25 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: but I don't know if they're even markers. Do you 26 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: see these big spaces, these open spaces. They said that 27 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: this section of the cemetery is completely filled, but there 28 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: are so many spaces that have no markers, you know, 29 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: for different reasons. This is where all the black victims 30 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: of the Servant Girl Annihilator are buried. Wasn't difficult for 31 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: my mother and I to locate Sue Hancock, one of 32 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: his white victims, but it's been really hard to find 33 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: the six black victims, really hard. So what do you 34 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: what's your impression mom, of all this? 35 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 2: The headstones are impressive, they're beautiful, beautiful trees here. Yeah, 36 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 2: it's a beautiful place. 37 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: Some of these seem very old, and you know it 38 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: cracked and not taking care of them, and some of 39 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: them look very recent. So I wonder if there are 40 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: family members who came out here and replaced the headstones, 41 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: which would be just a lovely idea. 42 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 2: Yes, certainly would be. 43 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: Eugene Bird's father, doctor William Jefferson Burt is buried here 44 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: at Oakwood Cemetery too. Somewhere I haven't located that gravesite yet. 45 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: Doctor Bert was one of those local legends, and to 46 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: understand his youngest son, Eugene Burt, we should talk a 47 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: little bit about his father and his mother, because they 48 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: both influenced him in different ways. When doctor Burt still 49 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: lived in Georgia, he served in the Civil War as 50 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: an army physician. As you can imagine, this was a difficult, 51 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: traumatic job for many doctors. Lots of blood, lots of death, 52 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: and no way to stop any of it. When Patricia 53 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: Childs and I first talked about the Burts over the phone, 54 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: I asked her what doctor Burt might have experienced during 55 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: the war. 56 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 3: I live here in Nashville, and we had a number 57 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 3: of battles here in Franklin. We have a house there 58 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 3: that was used as the surgery, as the hospital, and 59 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 3: there has never been any way to get all of 60 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 3: the blood out of the wood floor. 61 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: Because there was so much of it. Right, do you 62 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: think William Jefferson Burt would have been traumatized? I mean 63 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: he had to have been. 64 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 3: They would have to take limbs off at that point 65 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 3: in time that had become infected by not being brought 66 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 3: in time in order to save the rest of the body. 67 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 3: And I think it would be very important for your 68 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,840 Speaker 3: listeners to have those images, just for them to understand 69 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 3: what was could have been going on in William Jefferson's 70 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 3: Ahead at night. I would imagine that people could have 71 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 3: those kinds of dreams. 72 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: I imagine that there must have been some PTSD for 73 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 1: doctors who served in the war. 74 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 3: And I can't even imagine what that would have been 75 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 3: like to be the one to have to take those 76 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 3: limbs in order to save life. 77 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: A war doctor like William Burt's must tried to compartmentalize 78 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: everything he had seen, the lives he couldn't save, and 79 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: pain and suffering he couldn't stop. Bert was twenty one 80 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: when the war began and twenty six when it ended. 81 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: Men like William Burt rarely discussed their traumas. Some turned 82 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: to alcohol, and some used legal drugs like morphine to 83 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: dull the pain, and some just hid their anguish from everyone. 84 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: At the end of the war, William Burt was discharged 85 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: from the army. When he returned home to his wife, Cleo, 86 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: they had their three sons, each just two years apart. 87 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: Eugene was the youngest. As we've talked about before. Eugene's 88 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: mother seemed to struggle with mental health issues much of 89 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 1: her family had. Patricia Childs and I talked about Eugene's 90 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: childhood with a mother who struggled to stay stay and 91 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,799 Speaker 1: a father who was rarely at home. His mother, Cleo, 92 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: was really struggling when Eugene was growing up, and I 93 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: wonder what that must have felt like for him, because 94 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: his father wasn't around a lot, I presume because of 95 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: his job. 96 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 3: Even today, when you think of the typical physician, you 97 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 3: see they were always on call, kind of like your pastor, 98 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 3: you know, you were on call and not always present 99 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 3: being a servant to the community. 100 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: But what would that have been like for Eugene. I 101 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: can't imagine it wasn't difficult. 102 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:38,039 Speaker 3: That would leave I think Eugene even more susceptible to 103 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 3: whatever sort of emotional psychological drama was going on in 104 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,919 Speaker 3: the home, no one to mitigate, to take him aside 105 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 3: or comfort, you know. I think that could bring up 106 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 3: a lot of issues. 107 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,480 Speaker 1: Patricia's right. I've read through doctor Bird's various medical testimonies 108 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: in the local newspaper, and he seemed to be reporting 109 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: to crime scenes with investigat at all hours, even on 110 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: Sundays and on holidays. Remember that he had come to 111 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: two homes on Christmas Eve of eighteen eighty five when 112 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: the Servant Girl Annihilator killed two women in the same night. 113 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: It must have been difficult for Cleo Burt to balance 114 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: her own mental health while raising three boys, all in 115 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: their teens. Julie Norton is from Cleo's family line. She 116 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: says that Cleo's life was challenging. 117 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 4: I am curious about the mother and what her life 118 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 4: must have been life, Oh my gosh. 119 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: Eugene had always seemed like a boy on the edge 120 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: of trouble when he wasn't fully diving into it, and 121 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: his poor choices continued until he was in his mid 122 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,559 Speaker 1: twenties and he married Annie Powers, and then they looked 123 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: out and had two beautiful, sweet little girls. Annie and 124 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: Eugene married at her mother's home in eighteen ninety one 125 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: when he was just twenty one, the same age that 126 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: his father was when he married. Three years later, they 127 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: had Lucille, and then two years after that they had Eleanor. 128 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: They moved into the house on Ninth Street in downtown 129 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: Austin and seemed to live quietly Eugene helped Annie with 130 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: her daily chores, and he played with the girls outside 131 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: the home, but there always seemed to be money problems. 132 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: Eugene had troubles keeping a job, and Annie told her 133 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: mother Elizabeth, that her mercurial husband had always been distant, 134 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: just slightly out of her reach. His brothers, Monty and 135 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: Roscoe traced Eugene's aloofness to the sudden death of their father. 136 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: When doctor Burt passed away in the summer of eighteen 137 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: eighty six. He and Cleo had just celebrated their twenty 138 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: fifth wedding anniversary a few months earlier. For the next 139 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: ten years, Eugene Bert seemed to become more and more 140 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: more unmoored from his family, except for his mother Cleo. 141 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: He doated on her, and Cleo needed his support because 142 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: she could no longer see or hear. Eugene seemed to 143 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: be kind to her he prioritized their visits. But while 144 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: his relationships with his mother and his own family appeared 145 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: to be stronger, other relationships were faltering. By late eighteen 146 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: ninety five, Eugene was no longer working for his brothers. 147 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: He was taking small jobs, but they were jobs that 148 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: didn't provide enough income for their family of four. Eugene 149 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: and his wife and their kids celebrated Christmas at the 150 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: end of that year. Christmas was a relatively recent tradition 151 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: for the birds. Christmas as a commercial holiday became popular 152 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,200 Speaker 1: during the Civil War just twenty five years earlier. Fresh 153 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: American president to put up a tree in the White 154 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: House was Benjamin Harrison in eighteen eighty nine. In eighteen 155 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: ninety five, Annie, her mother, her sister, and the little 156 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: girls went to Saint Mary Cathedral, just a few blocks away, 157 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: but Eugene refused. As usual, he had devoutly attended his parents' 158 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: Presbyterian church until his father died. After that, he had 159 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 1: no use for religion. New Year's Eve came and went. 160 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: The local paper wrote, the year eighteen ninety five no more. 161 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: It peacefully died. Last night at the still hour of midnight, 162 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: the city clock struck twelve. One or two pistol shots 163 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: pierced the quiet of the midnight air in Austin. It 164 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: was a New Year's tradition. Eugene's brothers continued to do 165 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 1: very well in business. They were perfect partners. The pair 166 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 1: had placed an ad in the paper for their family 167 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,839 Speaker 1: shoe store Bert Shoe Company read the ad the Old 168 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: Reliable Shoe House in Austin. They were selling a pair 169 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: of ladies' shoes made of caf and kangaroo skin, five 170 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: dollars a pair. Business was going well for Roscoe and Monty, 171 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: not so much for their brother Eugene. He continued to 172 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: struggle with finances, and Roscoe and Monty had no use 173 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: for him. He was unreliable and haughty and sneaky. They 174 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: didn't trust him, and he resented it. Despite having a 175 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,559 Speaker 1: lovely wife and two little girls, something happened that plunged 176 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 1: Eugene into deeper despair. Around the holidays, the mother, whom 177 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: he adored, became gravely ill. As Cleo Bert laid in 178 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: her son Monty's home. She was not doing well. She 179 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: had lost her husband about eleven years earlier, and she 180 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: never quite recovered from his death. Just like Eugene, both 181 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: were inconsolable. Cleo had bouts of mania followed by extreme lows, 182 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:18,959 Speaker 1: and now for much of the month she had been 183 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: depressed and anxious, and eventually she became despondent. On July 184 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: twenty second, eighteen ninety six, at five point fifteen pm, 185 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: Eugene's mother, Cleo Bert, passed away. I asked local historian 186 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: Monica Ballard about her. 187 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 5: Death constant manic episodes. His mother was said to die 188 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 5: from nervous prostration. That's on the death certificate. 189 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: Nervous prostration. I had never heard that term until I 190 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 1: began researching this case. There are loads of weird nineteenth 191 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: century diagnoses that I come across, but nervous prostration was 192 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: a new one. The patients were typically found lying down 193 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,679 Speaker 1: dead from exhaustion and stress frayed nerves, perhaps caused by 194 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: mental illness. Cleo struggled with mental health, but she was 195 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: also traumatized after losing her eyesight and her hearing, So 196 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: the official cause of death was nervous prostration, but really 197 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: the fifty five year old likely had died of heart failure. 198 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: Cleo's obituary in the paper was very kind. It read 199 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: she was a member of the Southern Presbyterian Church and 200 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: was a devout Christian, a loving mother, and a friend 201 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: to all in need. But the cause of his mother's 202 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 1: death seemed inconsequential to Eugene because he had now lost 203 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: a second parent, someone he was extremely close to, and 204 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: with Cleo's death. Any slight connection he had to his 205 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: extended family also vanished. 206 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 5: After Eugene's mother died. He just totally went off the 207 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 5: deep end one time. 208 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,559 Speaker 1: His mother's death was yet another stressor, and almost exactly 209 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: six months later, all that anger and sadness and frustration 210 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: would rage against the family he had once loved, the 211 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 1: people who had supported him the most, sometimes even financially. 212 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: Julie Norton says that the timing of Cleo's death might 213 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: have actually been a blessing. 214 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 4: I mean, she died the same year as these murders. 215 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 4: She escaped that Wow. 216 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: Despite being married to a physician and having two successful sons, 217 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: Leo Bert had suffered from a hard life. She had 218 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 1: gone blind and death at a relatively young age, and 219 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: she likely struggled with mental illness, a condition that she 220 00:14:53,600 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: might have passed on to her youngest son, Eugene. Retired 221 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: law school professor Linda Frost says that early intervention in 222 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: a child's life could help shape their adult lives, but 223 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: the birds didn't have the benefit of our advances in 224 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: mental health assessment. 225 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 6: I think we're all recognizing that it can be helpful 226 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 6: to have medical histories. So if there is schizophrenia that 227 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 6: runs in my family. It's helpful for me to know 228 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 6: about it, and I may be able to build my 229 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 6: resilience to make it less likely for me to actually 230 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 6: experience schizophrenia. I may be able to identify certain symptoms 231 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 6: or warning signs earlier, so I can get supports and 232 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 6: treatment earlier on. 233 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: So early intervention is key. 234 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 6: Lots of times, strong support early on can really help 235 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 6: not only me but my family if I'm experiencing symptoms. 236 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 6: So I think that an awareness of particular vulnerabilities that 237 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 6: my family might have would be useful in that sense. 238 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: Over the last two episodes, we talked about stressors and 239 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: how they can trigger someone who is already struggling. The 240 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: death of a parent or a spouse is certainly a stressor, 241 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: and after his mother died in early eighteen ninety six, 242 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: Eugene must have felt abandoned, and if he were already 243 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: prone to violence, then things would likely not go well. 244 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: But in eighteen ninety six, despite all of that, neighbors 245 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: didn't seem to notice any problems with the family. That 246 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: summer was very hot. Every summer in Texas is very hot. 247 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: The birds slept with their windows and doors open. Neighbors 248 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: said that Eugene would walk around the yard at night 249 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: holding his daughter's hands. Lucille was three and Eleanor was 250 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: about eighteen months old. They always seemed to be smiling, 251 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: and he almost always carried little Eleanor around. Annie would 252 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: sit on their porch and watch her husband and the 253 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: children play as the evenings waned. Neighbors saw them huddled 254 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 1: up in a sweet embrace before going inside. During the day, 255 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: Eugene helped around the house, including cooking meals. He broke 256 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,119 Speaker 1: up eyes for refrigerating food, and he made repairs to 257 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 1: the home, and he would also split wood with his axe. 258 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: Friends said that Eugene never spoke harshly to the girls 259 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: or to Annie. They genuinely seemed loving. Even their living cook, 260 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: Minnie Sims, believed they were a happy family. But inside 261 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: the home, behind the door of the master bedroom, Eugene 262 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: was beginning to act strangely. When Annie and her mother 263 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:51,440 Speaker 1: had a private moment, Annie became very serious. Local historian 264 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,640 Speaker 1: Monica Ballard says that Eugene's behavior was alarming to Annie, 265 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: especially on recent summer nights. 266 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 5: Expressed to her mother that Eugene's behavior was getting a 267 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 5: little odd occasionally that she would wake up to find 268 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 5: him standing over her watching her sleep. 269 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 1: Creepy, definitely, but not exactly threatening, and yet it disturbed 270 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: Annie enough for her to report it to her mother. 271 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: And there were other things. Annie and Eugene had visited 272 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: doctor Smoot, his father's good friend and a pastor at 273 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: his family's Presbyterian church. Smoot and Eugene argued over something minor, 274 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: and Eugene began to bellow profanities. Smoot asked Annie to 275 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: take Eugene home immediately. That must have been so embarrassing 276 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: for her. As the bird household became more tense, Annie 277 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,919 Speaker 1: sensed that danger was coming. Annie told her mother that 278 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 1: she had recently begun having terrible feelings. She called them premonitions. 279 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: She felt like someone was in danger, her two little 280 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: Annie was afraid that Eleanor and Lucille might die, but 281 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,680 Speaker 1: she couldn't sort out how or why. It was so frightening. 282 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: Her sister and her mother consoled her before she returned home. 283 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: They must have felt she was overreacting, but bad things 284 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: were about to happen inside the house on Ninth Street. 285 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: Relative Patricia Childs has read a lot about this case, 286 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: and she thinks that the people around Eugene should have 287 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: intervened sooner. She thinks that his brothers continued to help 288 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: Eugene far longer than they should have. 289 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 7: I was just saying out loud to these people, stop 290 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 7: enabling this person. He would lie, and they would keep 291 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 7: bailing him out. He didn't have to face consequences. And yet, 292 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 7: if this was a condition that he was in effect 293 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 7: born with, would any amount of loving parenting, appropriate parenting, 294 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 7: setting up boundaries, would any of that really served a purpose? 295 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 7: Or was he in some way and sadly doomed to 296 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 7: just be the person he was. 297 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: Annie and Eugene were fighting more often that summer of 298 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,439 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six, mostly over finances. Eugene often blamed his 299 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: brothers for their financial issues. He was bitter toward Roscoe 300 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: and Monty. Why didn't they trust him more? Annie and 301 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: Eugene's voices ricocheted inside the home. Neighbors noticed that Eugene 302 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,439 Speaker 1: seemed more tense. Annie was concerned about the future of 303 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: her two daughters. Where will we get money? Eugene hadn't 304 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: worked in months. Eugene's brothers no longer trusted him because 305 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: he had tried to forge documents, he had stolen money, 306 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: and he had ruined business deals. Relative Jeremy Childs says 307 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: Eugene Bert had a complicated personality. He was really hard 308 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: to pin down. 309 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 8: A lot of people will describe him as a doctor jackline, 310 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 8: mister Hyde type of situation, but in reality, Eugene Burt 311 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 8: was kind of a shyster. He had some pretty shady 312 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 8: business dealings where he screwed over his brothers in a deal. 313 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 8: One of the newspapers described him as having a total 314 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 8: disregard to moral and legal obligations in his business relations 315 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 8: and dull to a sense of business honor. 316 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: Eugene's relationship with his brothers had always been strained. It 317 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 1: had been for years, especially since their father's death, and 318 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: now it had devolved and it was irreparable. Eugene's brothers 319 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: were tired of giving him second chances. They were tired 320 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 1: of being taken advantage of, and they were tired of 321 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: loaning Eugene money that was never returned. Monty and Roscoe 322 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: felt sorry for Annie and the girls. Why couldn't Eugene 323 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: be more like them? He had been given the same opportunities, 324 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: the same parents. Why was he's such an immense failure. 325 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: By eighteen ninety six, Monty and Roscoe were done with Eugene. 326 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: They were now estranged from their brother, which was easier 327 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: because their mother was dead. Cleo Bert had been the 328 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: final bond between Eugene and his brothers. Monty and Roscoe 329 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,440 Speaker 1: resented Eugene and now they wanted back everything he had 330 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 1: stolen from them. The Burt brothers went to court and 331 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: demanded that their brother be charged with forgery and embezzlement 332 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: and theft. They accused him of swindling them out of 333 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: money and merchandise. It had gone on for years. Soon 334 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 1: Eugene Bert was indicted and he was facing a prison 335 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: sentence if he were convicted, Annie, her mother, and her 336 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: sister were all humiliated and frightened. How would Annie and 337 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: the girls survive without him if he went to prison. 338 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: Eugene was out on bond until his trial date was set, 339 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: and there was an incredible amount of tension between Eugene 340 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: and Annie because of the bond. There was now a 341 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: lean on the Bird's home on Ninth Street. If he 342 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 1: were convicted, he might serve a long sentence. It all 343 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: terrified Annie and it angered Eugene. He despised his brothers 344 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: for ruining him. Roscoe and Monte stayed far away from 345 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,679 Speaker 1: the home on Ninth Street for now. Someone in the 346 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: Bert family would die soon, but who. Eugene Burt was frustrated. 347 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: By Friday evening, July twenty fourth, eighteen ninety six, he 348 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: and Annie sat on their veranda facing the street and 349 00:23:54,760 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: quietly argued. Soon he stewed in silence. The cicada bugs buzzed, 350 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,720 Speaker 1: as they always do in Texas in the summer. Eugene 351 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: and Annie were at odds again. The twenty seven year 352 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: old desperately needed a new start. He was ready to 353 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,200 Speaker 1: leave Austin, and he felt the city of Dallas could 354 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,119 Speaker 1: be the key. Eugene was sure Dallas would be a 355 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 1: wonderful place to live and an excellent place to hide 356 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 1: from his brothers, and he wanted Annie and the girls 357 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:28,400 Speaker 1: to come with him. 358 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 5: They had some distant relatives there, and Eugene needed a 359 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 5: fresh start because he could not keep a job here 360 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,719 Speaker 5: in Austin. Even with his brothers. He tried working at 361 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 5: their shoe store. They'd given him money to open up 362 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 5: a cigar shop. Nothing was working out. He just kept 363 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:46,959 Speaker 5: blowing it at every turn. 364 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: Most of us could use a fresh start at some 365 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: point in our lives. Perhaps Annie understood this, and eventually 366 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: she and Eugene must have resolved the argument, because, according 367 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: to their living cook, Mini Sims, the family I was 368 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: ready to retire for the evening by around nine o'clock. 369 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: This night would be a turning point for the birds. 370 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 5: Minnie says that before she went out with her brother 371 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 5: that evening, that she helped Missus Burt with the children. 372 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 5: That mister Burt carried the toddler upstairs to bed. 373 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: After Eugene tucked Eleanor into bed, he went back downstairs 374 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: to the dining room and poured some milk in a bottle. 375 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: Annie and little Lucille watched him as Minnie stood nearby. 376 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: Eugene returned to Eleanor's bedroom and gave her the milk. 377 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,399 Speaker 1: Minnie smiled and wished Annie and Eugene nice night. She 378 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: told them that she'd be home by eleven. In about 379 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:47,880 Speaker 1: two hours. 380 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 5: They were putting the children to bed. Everything was fine, 381 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 5: and she left with her brother to go visit some 382 00:25:54,080 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 5: places in East Austin. When she came back, the lamp 383 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 5: lights were already out. 384 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: It was eleven o'clock. Now. Minnie lit her lamp in 385 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: the bedroom downstairs and prepared for bed. Soon she was asleep, 386 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: another woman milled around her bedroom in a different house 387 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: just as Minnie was going to bed, a neighbor who 388 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: lived literally five feet from the birds. Their houses were 389 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: that close together. The woman's master bedroom window faced the 390 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:47,159 Speaker 1: bird's bedroom windows upstairs. It was a hot night, so 391 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: the woman raised her windows and let some of the 392 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 1: breeze come into her stuffy home. She laid down and 393 00:26:54,359 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: tried to sleep, but she couldn't. She listened her clock 394 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: chimed every half hour. She lost track of how many 395 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:13,359 Speaker 1: times it had chimed that night. Sometime after midnight, the 396 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 1: neighbor heard a distressing sound. She described it as a deep, 397 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,399 Speaker 1: horrible sound, but she couldn't tell where it came from. 398 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 5: One neighbor did say that she awoke in the night 399 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 5: after hearing a strange sound, but thought it was an 400 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 5: animal or something like that. But she couldn't really identify 401 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:36,400 Speaker 5: whether it was human or animal or something like that, 402 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 5: but it was like something or someone crying out. 403 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: She raced to her children's bedroom and flung open the door. 404 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 1: They were safe. Now. The neighbor was confused what was 405 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: that terrible sound? It was so clear, but was it 406 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,840 Speaker 1: in her house or somewhere else. She raced down the 407 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 1: stairs and stepped onto her verandah, but no one was there. 408 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: She was confused and concerned, but there was nothing to 409 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: be done. This late, the neighbor retired to her room. 410 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 1: Once again, the breeze pushed through her curtains. Just as 411 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: she was finally falling asleep, she sat up. She thought 412 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:24,159 Speaker 1: she heard a young voice call out just once. She 413 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: prayed that it was simply a child having a bad dream. 414 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:36,640 Speaker 1: The night was quiet. Now the Burt family was silent. 415 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: Minnie Sims would not be allowed to sleep in this morning. 416 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: It was Saturday, July twenty fifth. Around seven o'clock in 417 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: the morning. 418 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 5: Eugene woke her up and said, many, I need for 419 00:28:58,120 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 5: you to go down to the market to get some 420 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 5: meat for my breakfast. And Minnie said, well, don't you 421 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 5: want me to see to missus Burt and the children first, 422 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 5: and he said no, no, no, they're not here. 423 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: Minnie was surprised first because she rarely went to the 424 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: market for the Berts. Annie usually did that, but also 425 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: she always greeted Annie and the girls in the morning 426 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: Where are they, Minnie asked Eugene. He smiled and explained. 427 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 5: There'd been some trouble last night, and I put them 428 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 5: on the five am train to San Antonio. Don't give 429 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 5: me an argument. Just go down to the market, get 430 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 5: some meat for my breakfast, and then we'll continue packing. 431 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: He told Minnie that they had decided to move to Dallas. 432 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: Annie and the girls would return home in a few days, 433 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: he said, and in the meantime he would start the 434 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: packing and then they would all leave together. Eugene told 435 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: Minnie that he wanted to sell some of the furniture 436 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: that they wouldn't need to take with them, and he 437 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: asked her to receive anyone who came to the door 438 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: with cash in hand. She agreed and began cooking breakfast. 439 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 1: While she worked, Minnie glanced over at Eugene. He looked worried. 440 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: He was pacing. Maybe he was concerned because Annie and 441 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: the girls were on their own in San Antonio, many thought. 442 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:15,760 Speaker 1: Then she noticed a few large crates in the corner 443 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: of the room. She hadn't seen those before, and then 444 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: something odd happened. Minnie picked up the tea kettle to 445 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: make tea, but first she'd need to get some water. 446 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: A thought crossed Eugene's face as she walked out the door, 447 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: and he swung around to follow as she walked down 448 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: towards the basement. 449 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,880 Speaker 5: So Manie comes back and starts preparing breakfast, and she 450 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 5: goes to get some water from the cistern. She finds 451 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 5: that the pump handle for the cistern, you know, the 452 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,719 Speaker 5: well it's it's missing, and so she asks him about that. 453 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 5: He said, oh, I don't want anyone using the cistern 454 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 5: because a cat fell in last night, so just get 455 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 5: the water from somewhere else. 456 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: I asked Monica to describe what a cistern was. 457 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 5: It's generally in the basement or the lower part of 458 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 5: the house, and it's the way that you would see 459 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 5: one of those raised sewer grates or something like that. 460 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 5: It would have had probably a wooden top on it 461 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 5: that would have held it in place, and then there's 462 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,720 Speaker 5: generally a pump handle off to one side and you 463 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 5: just pump the water up and out and use. And 464 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 5: downtown Austin is honeycombed with artesian springs, and so it 465 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 5: probably fed into one of the artesian springs. 466 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: So a cat had fallen into the cistern. Many found 467 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 1: that strange, although it wouldn't be the first time an 468 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: animal had fallen into a cistern, So she closed the 469 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: door to the basement and continued cooking breakfast for Eugene. 470 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 5: Many gives them his breakfast, and the dishes are cleared, 471 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 5: and now they're ready to continue packing. And so they're 472 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,959 Speaker 5: packing these crates and some of them have already been 473 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 5: nailed shut. Miller is coming by later to buy all 474 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 5: their furnishings. Whatever they're not taking to Dallas, he's going 475 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 5: to buy it from them, including the picture frames. Eugene 476 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 5: orders Minnie to take the family photos out of the 477 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,600 Speaker 5: frames because Miller is going to buy them. And when 478 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 5: she does so, she says, what packing crate do you 479 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 5: want the family photos in? And he says, just throw 480 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 5: them on the trash pile. 481 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: That's strange. Why wouldn't Eugene want to keep their family photos? 482 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,760 Speaker 1: Photos were far less common in the late eighteen hundreds 483 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: than they are today, so you'd expect them to be 484 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: important to him, But Eugene seemed anxious to discard anything 485 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: that might remind him of his family. And then he 486 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: told Minnie that he wanted to give her something from 487 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: the master bedroom, his mattress, so she walked upstairs and 488 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: started to drag it out of the room. 489 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 5: Minnie is offered and she accepts their mattress. The mattress 490 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 5: from Annie. In Eugene's bed, she notices that one part 491 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,120 Speaker 5: of the ticking has been cut off, so it's missing 492 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 5: a little bit of the mattress, and she goes downstairs 493 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 5: to ask Eugene about this and finds him in the 494 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 5: dining room sitting there with his elbows on his knees, 495 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 5: just staring at the floor and is weeping. So she thought, well, 496 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 5: let's not ask him about that right now, And when 497 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 5: he recovers himself, he comes back upstairs and the packing continued. 498 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 5: Mister Miller shows up, gets all the furniture. Minnie is 499 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 5: paid her wages and told goodbye, and Eugene takes several 500 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 5: of the packing crates by trolley down to the train station. 501 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: At the station, Eugene loaded the crates on a train 502 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: that was heading out of town. We don't know what's 503 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: in those crates yet, but here's the thing. Eugene didn't 504 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,240 Speaker 1: get on the train with them. He just shipped the 505 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:10,320 Speaker 1: crates off to who knows where presumably Dallas. Then Eugene 506 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: spent a good part of Saturday afternoon receiving additional boxes 507 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,560 Speaker 1: for packing and negotiating with second hand furniture men who 508 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: wanted to buy items in the house. That night came 509 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:27,040 Speaker 1: one final knock on the door of the house on 510 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 1: Ninth Street. This is the milkman, said the voice. Eugene 511 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 1: seemed weary and worn as he greeted the milkman. Rather 512 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: than tell the truth about moving, Eugene told him that 513 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 1: he and his family were moving just a few blocks away, 514 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: and he gave the milkman a fake address. I asked 515 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 1: Monica Ballard and Jeremy Childs about what happened later that evening. 516 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,799 Speaker 5: He pretty much batches it the rest of the day. 517 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 5: He goes and gets himself a haircut and a shave, 518 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 5: and has dinner at the Capitol Hotel. Plays eleven games 519 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 5: of checkers with some opponents that he always you know, 520 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 5: lost to. Now he wins seven games, and people that 521 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 5: he played checkers with said he was over the top jovial. 522 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 5: He was unusually jovial. 523 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 8: Everyone that saw him said he acted totally normal. He 524 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:20,880 Speaker 8: ran into people that he knew. He even stopped at 525 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:22,680 Speaker 8: a hotel for a game of checkers with a buddy 526 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 8: of his. 527 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: Eugene told a different story to each person he met. 528 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 1: He told one friend that the Berts were moving to 529 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: San Antonio, to another he said Dallas, and one he 530 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 1: said Georgetown, which is just outside of Austin. Eugene Burt 531 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,160 Speaker 1: was so accustomed to lying that he lost track of 532 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:40,720 Speaker 1: the lies. 533 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 5: So about eleven thirty he goes back down to the 534 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 5: train station and buys a ticket for the midnight train 535 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:49,200 Speaker 5: to Dallas. 536 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 8: And he runs into a high school buddy and they 537 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,520 Speaker 8: chatted up the whole time, and no one has any idea. 538 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 5: And he's on the train. He has some conversations with 539 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,919 Speaker 5: another passenger, and even though he's in a very jovial state, 540 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,360 Speaker 5: his mood shifts quite suddenly because he sees a woman 541 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,200 Speaker 5: a few rows ahead. Her name is Missus Driscoll and 542 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,279 Speaker 5: notes that her husband had just passed and she was 543 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:14,719 Speaker 5: a widow now, and he feels rather sorry for her, 544 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,840 Speaker 5: and they just sit in and watch her for a 545 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,920 Speaker 5: little bit. The other passenger noted how his mood shifted 546 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,720 Speaker 5: from one of joviality to one of a very pensive 547 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:26,840 Speaker 5: nature as he watched Missus Driscoll. 548 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:29,239 Speaker 1: Guilt, Is that what we think it is? 549 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 5: Yeah? I think it has to do with someone has 550 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,320 Speaker 5: been left alone, someone has suffered a death. He gets 551 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:38,880 Speaker 5: off the train in Dallas. 552 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:48,719 Speaker 1: And Eugene Bert vanished into the city. The truth of 553 00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: what happened that night was dreadful, and Eugene was clearly 554 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,360 Speaker 1: not prepared to reveal anything. But to the outside world, 555 00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:59,600 Speaker 1: it just seemed like something odd was happening to the 556 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:04,319 Speaker 1: burt Why had Annie and the girls left so abruptly, 557 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:08,480 Speaker 1: Why had Eugene discarded their family photos? And why lied 558 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:12,680 Speaker 1: to the milkman. Perhaps Eugene and Annie had agreed to 559 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,560 Speaker 1: start over in Dallas, maybe they could get back on 560 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,200 Speaker 1: their feet there, and maybe it would be far enough 561 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,759 Speaker 1: away to escape his brothers. And maybe he thought the 562 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,400 Speaker 1: lies would confuse them if they came looking for him. 563 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:29,840 Speaker 1: Or was there something else going on too? Friends, He 564 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: seemed to be an excellent father and a kind husband, 565 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,239 Speaker 1: But Eugene had a history of instability and a fascination 566 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:43,760 Speaker 1: with death. Was he legally insane? Did he have psychopathy? 567 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 1: And had he done something horrible? Of all the questions 568 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: that we have, two are the most pressing right now. 569 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:58,719 Speaker 1: Where was Eugene Burt and what happened to Annie and 570 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: Lucille and Eleanor On the next episode of tenfold War 571 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:12,280 Speaker 1: Wicked on exactly right. 572 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 8: I would have to start with his father, the doctor 573 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,720 Speaker 8: William Bert, because I really do think that Eugene Burt's 574 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,680 Speaker 8: psychosis stems from his childhood, either some of the things 575 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:26,880 Speaker 8: that he saw or possibly even participated in, and I 576 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:27,919 Speaker 8: think it damaged him. 577 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:32,120 Speaker 4: Mothers drive into a light with their children in the car. 578 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,879 Speaker 4: It's hard to know when somebody has it in their 579 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,960 Speaker 4: head they can't deal with two children a wife that 580 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,120 Speaker 4: won't leave you alone. If you've got that in your 581 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 4: mind and it's a problem, you know, who knows what 582 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 4: you would do. 583 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:48,359 Speaker 5: And even before they entered the house, there was a 584 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:53,000 Speaker 5: foreboding odor and the ominous hum of a myriad of 585 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:55,480 Speaker 5: flies underneath the floor in the basement. 586 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,439 Speaker 1: If you love a good real ghost story, my new 587 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,239 Speaker 1: audiobook original The Ghost Club is available for pre order 588 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:10,719 Speaker 1: now wherever audio books are sold. I can't wait to 589 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,040 Speaker 1: tell you the real story about the world's most famous 590 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,080 Speaker 1: ghost hunter, who was the head of the world's most 591 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:21,920 Speaker 1: famous ghost club and how he investigated England's most famous 592 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:26,439 Speaker 1: Haunted House. Please also check out my new book All 593 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:30,680 Speaker 1: That Is Wicked. This has been an exactly right Tenfold 594 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:36,280 Speaker 1: War Media production producers Jason Whaling, Alexis Mrosi and Natalie Wrinn. 595 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:42,200 Speaker 1: Editors Jason Whaling, David Fabello and Kate Winkler Dawson researcher 596 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:47,480 Speaker 1: Kate Winkler Dawson, sound designer Eric Friend, composer Curtis Heath. 597 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:53,239 Speaker 1: Artwork by Nick Toga. Executive producers Georgia Hartstark, Karen Kilgarriff 598 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:57,080 Speaker 1: and Daniel Kramer. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at 599 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,960 Speaker 1: tenfold War Wicked and on Twitter at tenfold War. And 600 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,279 Speaker 1: If you know of a historical crime that could use 601 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:07,200 Speaker 1: some attention, especially if it happened in your family, email 602 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:18,680 Speaker 1: us at info at Tenfoldwarwicked dot com