1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,240 Speaker 1: Certain portions of what you're about to hear have been 2 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: dramatized based on real life events, eyewitness accounts, and court records. 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Mayor Smith's trail of cons circles far and wide. She 4 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: was a brilliant woman from witchcraft. She would use a 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: lot of dragon's blood. She would do love spells, she 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: would do binding spells to blackmailing married men. I want 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: you to send them money, end of argument. Even shaking 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,279 Speaker 1: down a Los Angeles politician, she wanted me to put 9 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: a bug in his office, and she was going to 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,919 Speaker 1: buy the bug. And Mayor's knack for drafting unwitting accomplices 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: is epic, and I was holding the cash in my hand, 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: helping their deposited in the machine. More and more of 13 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: Mayor's victims keep finding my blog and calling me up 14 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: from all over the country and from all over the world. 15 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: I got a call from a detective in nor Than 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: Ireland found my blog. You've been looking for Marianne Smith 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: for ten years. Ten years. That's a long time to 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: be looking for someone. So she must have really like 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: did some damage. I did not see this one coming 20 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: at all. She lived in Northern Ireland. I had no 21 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: idea I thought the whole Irish thing was a lie. 22 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Walton and this is Queen of the Con 23 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:44,279 Speaker 1: Episode six, The Family. Just when I think I'm close 24 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: to solving the Rubik's Cube of Mayor's Conshigh uncover a 25 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: whole other level. So was there any truth to the 26 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: Irish thing? Was maryor Irish at all? Or was it 27 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: all just bullshit? Like at all? My buddy Evan Goldstein 28 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: is having trouble keeping up. It was all bullshit. The 29 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: only colonel of truth to the Irish thing was she 30 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: did live in Northern Ireland, which is not Ireland, Northern 31 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: Ireland's part of the UK. I didn't know that either 32 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: until I started on this journey, but she lived there 33 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: for almost ten years. So that's what gave her like, 34 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: you know, these little phrases, these words that the things 35 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: that would make it feel incredible to find out how 36 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: Mayor Smith a k A. Mary Anne Smith a k 37 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: A Mary Anne Andel, Maryanne Welch, Maryanne Clark, Maryanne O'Cleary 38 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: and Mayor Ellis wound up living in Northern Ireland for 39 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: almost ten years. I go straight to the source telling 40 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: people that you know, she's Irish Royalty when there's no 41 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: Irish royal family, it's bizarre, or rather the sources daughter 42 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: thirty year old Chelsea Welch. Today she's a bright and 43 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: hard working teacher in Tennessee, but her childhood was marked 44 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: by chaotic instability, growing up a victim of her mother's 45 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: many scams. Up until we moved overseas, she just bounced 46 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:12,679 Speaker 1: from job to job. I remember she worked at a 47 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: pet store for a while, she worked at like a 48 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: recovery center. She worked at Denzo, which is a huge 49 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: manufacturing company in Tennessee that works with Japan. Just any job. 50 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: She usually worked with temp agencies, but she could never 51 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: hold a job down. And I remember one time she 52 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: actually got fired from a job. And I would love 53 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: to this day to know what the real reason was, 54 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: because I remember she told me that it was my fault. 55 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: Being raised by a con artist, always on the move 56 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: takes a heavy toll on Chelsea. I mean now, she's 57 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: a beautiful and kind young woman who looks nothing like 58 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: her mother and is nothing like her mother. Things have 59 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: really turned a corner for Chelsea. She's getting married next month. 60 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: She's ambitious and unflinchingly honest, but she's also super suspicious 61 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: of people, especially strangers. I don't believe anything anyone said. 62 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: And growing up with Mayor Smith as a mother wasn't 63 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: just hard, it was torture. I was being severely abused. 64 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: I tried to report that she was violent, but my mom, 65 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: she's not an idiot. Like my mom didn't do things 66 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: like punch me in the face and you know, give 67 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: me black eyes or break bones. She would like kick 68 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: me in the head and like kick me like in 69 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: other places. And you could not tell by looking at 70 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: me that I was being physically abused, like she was 71 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: not ever doing anything that would have left any traces 72 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: or signs. She would selectively. She's a place that bruise 73 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: it like on your head with a full head of hair. 74 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: You can't tell. I did always think it was weird. 75 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: I'm like, how am I always getting the crap beat 76 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: out of me? But you have nothing to show for it. 77 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: Chelsea's mother is not born in Ireland. Marianne Elizabeth Andel 78 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: is born in Bangor, Maine. On July nine. She left 79 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: the state of Maine and she was eighteen, but my 80 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: grandparents lived there until like the late eighties. Mayor joins 81 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: the military at that point as a Navy corman, which 82 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: is like an entry level hospital assistant, and lives briefly 83 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: in Sarasota, Florida, where she's charged with forgery and grand theft, 84 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: then Knoxville, Tennessee, where she's charged with fraud, passing bad checks, 85 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: and shoplifting. She also lives for a short time in 86 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: Washington State, Virginia, Illinois, and Michigan. My mom seemed really young, 87 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,919 Speaker 1: immature to me. I thought that she was just odd 88 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: compared to other adults. I thought that she dressed weird. 89 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: Her demeanor was weird because she had that still needing 90 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: to be a teenager mentality. Chelsea, though, is not Mayor's 91 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: first child. Mayor has Courtney Lynn Welch in August of 92 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: Her husband at the time is Jeff Welch, a man 93 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: she meets while stationed in Michigan. Two years later, Chelsea 94 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: enters the fray. I was born in Illinois, but that's 95 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: the only time I've ever been to Illinois. And shortly 96 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: after Chelsea is born, Jeff Welch files for divorce because 97 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: he says Mayor is a pathological liar and she cheated 98 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: on him. You see, Chelsea is not his biological daughter. 99 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: In fact, to this day, Mayor refuses to tell Chelsea 100 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: who her real father is. What were some of the 101 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: stories you got when you would ask, who's my father? Oh? God, Well, 102 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: first of all, the logical train of thought would have 103 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: been that my sister and I had the same dad, 104 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: because when I was born, she was still married to 105 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: his dad. She gave me her married last name, like 106 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: I still have that last name, but my mom. So 107 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: they were all in the navy. So my mom told 108 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: my grandparents that, like, my dad died in the military, 109 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: which wouldn't be a far off example because I was 110 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: born during desert storm, so there were like actual deployments 111 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: and violence, so I wouldn't be a total crazy lie. 112 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: One time, she did tell my grandparents that he was 113 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: African American. I look like I could come from Sweden. Yes, 114 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: you're very fair skin blonde. And then apart from that, 115 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: she's just kind of danced around it and refused to 116 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: tell me. I think that either my sister's dad knows 117 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: and doesn't want to tell me, or my mom just 118 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: like had an affair or one night stained one of 119 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: the two. A Michigan court quickly declares Mayor an unfit 120 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: mother and awards full custody of Chelsea's sister Courtney to 121 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: mayor soon to be ex husband Jeff Welch, which is 122 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: rare in family court and very telling because most judges 123 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: bend over backwards to give custody to the mother unless 124 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: something is really wrong with her. I suffer from c 125 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: PTSD and I have really severe anxiety, and so one 126 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: of the main ways that my anxiety manifests itself is 127 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,839 Speaker 1: I get really angry. And when I get really angry, 128 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: I used to have to have a physical response to 129 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: that anger, whether it was like punching a hole in 130 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: a wall or just like breaking something like. I did 131 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:56,319 Speaker 1: not know how to release anger in a non physical way, 132 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: and until I just decided to go to therapy and 133 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: anger management, it really scared me because I was out 134 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: of control when I would get mad, and it wasn't 135 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: I wasn't getting mad at big normal things. It was little, 136 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: everyday life things that adults should know how to deal 137 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: with confidently and calmly. But because my mom was always 138 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: at a level ten, I did not know how to 139 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: regulate my emotions. So I would say that her influence 140 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 1: hurt me more on the personality side, because I had 141 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: no no coping skills, and it heavily influenced all of 142 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: my relationships, my ability to succeed. I mean, it was 143 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: a lot in Chelsea is a defenseless baby, and Mayor 144 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: abruptly leaves Michigan and her now ex husband, Jeff Welch. 145 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: She returns to Tennessee and gives Chelsea to her parents, 146 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: then she disappears. She was totally absent for the first 147 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:17,079 Speaker 1: couple of years of my life, and it was a 148 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: situation where people didn't know where she was. So not 149 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: only was she gone. When I would say, you know, 150 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: where is my mom, people would genuinely answer with they 151 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:34,439 Speaker 1: didn't know. Mayor eventually returns and tries to take Chelsea back, 152 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: but courts ordered Mayor to share custody of Chelsea with 153 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: her grandparents because the Tennessee judge has serious doubts about 154 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: Mayor's mothering ability. But Mayor's not having it. She pulls 155 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: every dirty trick in the book to get that decision reversed. 156 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: She took my grandparents, who had been taken care of 157 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: me for years, to court an accused my grandfather of 158 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: molesting me in order to get soul custody and created 159 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,839 Speaker 1: one of the just the most outrageous wise that I 160 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,839 Speaker 1: had ever heard. Wow, and how old were you at 161 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: this point when that happened. I would have been about 162 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: five or six. She tried to get you to say 163 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: you were molested. I mean she never said, like, you 164 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: have to say this. I know this isn't true. But 165 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: like with all things with her, she would just kind 166 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: of present something to you in such a confusing way, 167 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 1: like gas lighting to the extreme. She could almost convince 168 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: you that things happened when you knew in your right 169 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: frame of mind they never did. But she just knew 170 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: how to like get inside people's heads and just make 171 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: you even just question yourself and your own reality. Thankfully, 172 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: the courts don't believe Mayor's molestation lie, and she's forced 173 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: to share custody of Chelsea with her parents, Chelsea's grandparents, 174 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: because obviously since she had been out of my life 175 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,199 Speaker 1: for several years, they weren't just going to let her 176 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,199 Speaker 1: take me home. They wanted to see her and see 177 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: that she was well and okay, And they did not 178 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: deny her access to me. They just said, you can't 179 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,439 Speaker 1: take her home full time yet. So Chelsea is raised 180 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: for the first part of her life in Merville, Tennessee, 181 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,319 Speaker 1: and even though Chelsea isn't living with Mayor full time, 182 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:38,679 Speaker 1: she still notices her mother's insatiable urge to invent stories. 183 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: I mean, she was always a pathological liar, just making 184 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: things up constantly. The thing is, my mom is always 185 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 1: far away from the place that she's lying about. So 186 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: she grew up in Maine, but I grew up in Tennessee. 187 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: So she's lying to a bunch people in Tennessee about 188 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:04,200 Speaker 1: stuff that happened in Maine. So she's always make sure 189 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 1: that it's hard to dispute. But having me in the 190 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: mix every day would have made it more difficult if 191 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: I would have spoken up. But my favorite lie that 192 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: I just could not stand the most, and because I 193 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: never understood how anyone believed it. She used to tell 194 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: people that she was a figure skater growing up, which 195 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: you would believe because she lived in Lincoln, one of 196 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: the most northern states. But she couldn't leave it at that. 197 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: She couldn't just say I figure skated. No, she was 198 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: going to go Olympic, but my grandmother supposedly didn't allow 199 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: her to do that because she was jealous. And first 200 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: of all, that's crazy, because what kind of parents would 201 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: do that. She would say that to people all the time, 202 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: and I would want so badly to be like, you don't. 203 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: You don't know how to I skate like much less 204 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: to do anything. That is one of those weird cons 205 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: because some of the victims in Los Angeles told me 206 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 1: that story that she was an Olympic skater. She was 207 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: an Olympic hopeful. No, I mean hopeful for a ticket 208 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: to the Olympics. Maybe I may or may not have 209 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: made it to the Olympics, but that doesn't mean she 210 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: isn't going places. She absolutely is. She's just biding her time. 211 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: How did your mother end up in Northern Ireland? We 212 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: got a computer for the first time when I was 213 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: like eight years old, and she dated a man and 214 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: he was from Northern Ireland and she met him and 215 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: I don't remember, they talked for quite a while online. 216 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: So she's in Tennessee at this point, she meets Stephen 217 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: Smith online, a guy living in Northern Ireland. And did 218 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: she let you know what her plans are? At that point? 219 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: I mean, it's like, is it just gonna be long 220 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: distance forever? What was she saying about it? So at 221 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: my eleventh birthday party, she hands me an envelope and 222 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: there's plane tickets in it and it said where we 223 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: were going. And I was just like, Oh, are we 224 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: gonna go visit Stephen? And in front of all my friends, 225 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: she says, no, we're going to move there. And honestly, 226 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: I don't know that I would have cared about moving. 227 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: But what happened is she told me that I was 228 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: not allowed to tell my grandparents. So we went there 229 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: at the beginning of the summer and I knew we 230 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: were moving, I wasn't allowed to say anything. And then 231 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: she made me call them at the end of the 232 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: summer and say, hey, we're staying here and I'm going 233 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: to go to school. And my grandparents were really upset, 234 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: but they didn't protest because my mom made me call 235 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: and make it seem like something that I was like 236 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: okay with and I was not. She kind of like 237 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: kidnapped you pretty much. I mean, technically she broke the 238 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: custody agreement, but also that's a jurisdiction issue, and the 239 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: kind of money that you would have to spend to 240 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: fight that. I mean that she just kind of had 241 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: my grandparents hands tied behind their back. Because for years 242 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: she had been single, so now she had found a 243 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: guy who was nice. So now that I'm older, I'm 244 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 1: thinking they're probably thinking maybe this would be more stable. 245 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: But for Chelsea, living in Northern Ireland with Mayor is 246 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 1: anything but stable, and Mayor starts blaming Chelsea for everything 247 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: wrong in her life, even her own obesity. Your mom 248 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: used to weigh like almost three pounds. Yeah, when she 249 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: left to go to Northern Ireland to meet Stephen Smith. 250 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: What's she heavy? Then? Yes? I didn't know that now. 251 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: My mom told me that the reason that she gained 252 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: weight um was because of being on hormone replacement therapy 253 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: after she had me, because she had to have a 254 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 1: historic to me after having me, because I ruined the world, 255 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: you know everything the day that I was born. This 256 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 1: guy Phil for her. I think, I'm so sorry that 257 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: happened to you. That's so messed up on so many levels. Yeah, 258 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: it makes me mad, you know, mad, not even from 259 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,119 Speaker 1: my situation. Just got a little your little girl to 260 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,360 Speaker 1: be told something like that, it's fucked up. I mean 261 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: it was bad. How did your mom get so thin 262 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: that well, she had gastric bypass surgery. She went to Prague, 263 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: I believe, and paid cash. How many years into Northern 264 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,640 Speaker 1: Ireland did she leave to go to Prague for gastric 265 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: bypass surgery. It would have been like six years. I 266 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: mean she didn't get really thin up until like my 267 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: junior senior year of high school. And now it was 268 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: the worst time ever, because the worst thing you can 269 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,919 Speaker 1: give a narcissist is good looks, and it's like she 270 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: became even worse after that. I think like being kind 271 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: of overweight and frumpy kept her a little bit humble 272 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: for a while, and then once that was done anyway, 273 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,239 Speaker 1: it was like I can't explain it, but there was 274 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: such a personality shift, like she always had this I'm 275 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: better than everyone attitude, and that attitude helps Mayor con 276 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:40,120 Speaker 1: dozens of new victims. Remember that recently unearthed audio recording. 277 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: I play a piece of it for Chelsea to get 278 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: her reaction, because this particular part of the recording is 279 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: actually about Chelsea and her sister, Courtney, who was taken 280 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 1: from Mayor as a baby. But that's not the story 281 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: Mayor tells people in Los Angeles about her daughters. This 282 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: is there was a Christmas when my kids were young. 283 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: I think they were in first and second grade in 284 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: primary school. No matter what, We're living in Belfast, and 285 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 1: my family and I had a huge fight and I 286 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: decided that Christmas I didn't want to go to Galway. 287 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: I was just going to spend me and Chelsea and 288 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: Belfast because Courtney had to go home. And my family 289 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: were telling me not to send her on the plane. 290 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:25,640 Speaker 1: And I knew if I didn't send her on the plane, 291 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,680 Speaker 1: I would be arrested if I came back to America. 292 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,120 Speaker 1: My ex husband would have me arrested. I know that, 293 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:33,959 Speaker 1: and I keep my word. If I tell you i'm 294 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: going to do something, I'm gonna do it, no matter 295 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 1: I'm gonna cry, no matter what the sacrifice to me is, 296 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 1: I'm going to do it at all costs. So I 297 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: was very upset, and my family were boycotting me because 298 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: they were pissed they never got to spend Christmas with Courtney. 299 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: And my grand said, no one talked to Mary for Christmas. 300 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: So they sent all the Christmas present to Chelsea and 301 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: not one Christmas present for me that year, And it 302 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: was the hardest Christmas ever because of one present under 303 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,440 Speaker 1: the tree was from my girls, and they had made 304 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 1: like a milk curtain candle and it was the ugliest 305 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: fucking candle I had ever seen in my life. But 306 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: it really affected me because I was alone, and it 307 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 1: was really hard for me to swallow that I was 308 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,640 Speaker 1: upset for getting a shitty present. But it was from 309 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: the heart. I had to acknowledge to my daughters that 310 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: they gave me the most beautiful present in the world, 311 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: even though I was fucking furious, furious it honestly like 312 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: it's making me have like a physical angers bonds, like 313 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: I just want to hurt her. I have never been 314 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: took all away. God I she is. Oh, I hate her. 315 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,879 Speaker 1: First of all, I don't know how if that story 316 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 1: was true. Who the fuck cares that you, as an 317 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,400 Speaker 1: adult didn't get a Christmas present? Oh, your kids got 318 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: all the good Like what the fuck? Some people go 319 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: through that real life situation and like a family doesn't 320 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: even send the kids presents. And let me tell you, 321 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: this woman is like just the greediest person ever, Like 322 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: she would get mad when she didn't get like Mother's 323 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: Day presents and things. So there was never First of all, 324 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: this couldn't have happened because my sister and there weren't 325 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: around each other. We were around each other when we 326 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: were little babies, and then we didn't see each other 327 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 1: again until I was sixteen, so we were certainly not 328 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: together at a Christmas in the first and second grade. 329 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: But it's just even in her fake life, she's if 330 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: you really listen, she's still a terrible person. It was 331 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: the worst candle ever and I had to lie, like 332 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: what what kind of mother says that? Like, even her 333 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: fake persona is a piece of ship if you pay 334 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: enough attention. Chelsea's real life with Mayor living in that 335 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: part of the world is not good. She sees things 336 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: no child should ever see and does things no child 337 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,439 Speaker 1: should ever have to do. So the day that I 338 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: got a call from a police detective in Northern Ireland 339 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,360 Speaker 1: saying that they've been looking for her for ten years, 340 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: I was shocked. What would have been your reaction if 341 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: you got that call? Not shocked at all. I knew 342 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,639 Speaker 1: for sure there was something fishy going on there, but 343 00:22:52,320 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: I couldn't put my finger on it. In early two 344 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: thousand two, Mayor arrives in Northern Ireland with Chelsea and 345 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: moves in with Steven Smith. What was Steven Smith like? 346 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: Totally not someone I would have ever pictured her with 347 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: they were like nine and day and I always thought 348 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: that was weird, but obviously it's because she just pretended 349 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: to be. She's really great at reading people. You know, 350 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: she knows what you're looking for, like not just romantically, 351 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,400 Speaker 1: but when she talks to people. I've seen it happening 352 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: like at the flip of a dime, Like she knows 353 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: how to be your best friend. She knows how to 354 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: like intimidate and scare you very quickly, like she just 355 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: knows how to get in your head and under your skin. 356 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: And she knows how to wrap Steven Smith around her 357 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: little finger, because he quickly falls head over heels from 358 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 1: Mayor and marries her. Chelsea says he's a good man, 359 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,400 Speaker 1: a postal worker, and he has a passion for racing greyhounds. 360 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: By the time I was a senior in high school, 361 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: we had about fifteen to seventeen dogs in our house. 362 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,400 Speaker 1: Mayor works a series of odd jobs in Northern Ireland 363 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: and eventually gets stable employment as a broker at a 364 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: British mortgage company. So I don't know how she did 365 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: it or how she qualified, because at this point I 366 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: was still only about thirteen, but she worked for this 367 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,639 Speaker 1: big company out of England for what I think was 368 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,400 Speaker 1: a few years. I'm pretty sure that was the longest 369 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: I'd ever seen her have a job with like one place. 370 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: And then she started working with a smaller company that 371 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,199 Speaker 1: was kind of outside of Belfast, and that's when I 372 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: think she started being able to do whatever she was doing. Yep, 373 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: as usual, Mayor is up to no good and she 374 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,919 Speaker 1: actually uses Chelsea, her own daughter, to do some of 375 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 1: her dirty work. She did make friends, we would like 376 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: a lot of her clients like personal friends. Like she 377 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: had one woman who, like I babysat her kids. There's 378 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,479 Speaker 1: a couple of people like I babysat for them. She 379 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: would like hang out with them, and it was always 380 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: and where one of the two of them were like 381 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: moms whose husbands were like a little uninvolved. So it's 382 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: always people that need saving, people that need help. Yes, 383 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: that is the hallmark of every single con she's pulled. 384 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: It's she offers to help. Yeah. Wow, even from back then, 385 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 1: So looking back, how does that make you feel? She 386 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 1: essentially used you as bait in her con. Oh, she 387 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 1: used me for all sorts of things. I used to 388 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: forge signatures on papers because I mean, Northern Ireland is 389 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,439 Speaker 1: a small country, but it's very rural, so driving people 390 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: live like way out there, and so she would say, like, 391 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: this paperwork has to be done by Monday, and I 392 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: don't have time to drap to this client's house. And 393 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: if you don't sign this, they're not going to get 394 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 1: their money because I am unfortunately I can pretty much 395 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:15,920 Speaker 1: look at somebody's handwriting and copy it. Did she teach 396 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: you that skill? How do you learn something like that? 397 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,679 Speaker 1: It's weird. Whenever I was like a little kid because 398 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,439 Speaker 1: I lived with old people and I was an only child, 399 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 1: and I was trying to like learn cursive, I would 400 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: like pick up things that my grandmother had written and 401 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 1: like copied them, and I liked handwriting, and I was 402 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: obsessed with the movie Harriet the Spy. So I don't 403 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: know I've had this. I had already had this weird 404 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: thing about copying people's writing. And that sometimes makes me 405 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: wonder if, like the whole colon artist thing is like 406 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:55,880 Speaker 1: a genetic trait. I had gotten grounded before for forging 407 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 1: a note for school, and when she got the note back, 408 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: she was like, I can't tell that this isn't my signature. 409 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: She was impressed with your Harriet the spy skills and 410 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: mimicking other people's handwriting and signatures. M hm, and she 411 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 1: drafted you yep. And how old were you at this point? 412 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: Do you recall when you were like forging signatures and documents. 413 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously you don't know it's forging. Like your 414 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: mother is explaining that this is okay. I just can't 415 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: make the drive. We have to have these papers, and 416 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: they're not going to get their money. You know, the 417 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: fate of the world is in your hands and your kid. 418 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: It would have been like fourteen. Even when she worked 419 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: for the bigger company, she would sometimes do that. And 420 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: sometimes I would think to myself, like this is weird, 421 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 1: and I would have like worries that you know, what 422 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: if I get like I get in trouble and I 423 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,640 Speaker 1: get arrested. But when she asked me to do something, 424 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: it was never an ask. It was it's not an option, 425 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: do it or else. How many signatures do you think 426 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,119 Speaker 1: your mom made you forge? Is it like a couple 427 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 1: a dozen? D Was it a frequent occurrence? She would 428 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: always have you signing stuff for her at least once 429 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 1: a week. I would be signing several papers, and it 430 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: was always like on a weekend or like a Sunday night, 431 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,640 Speaker 1: because it was never oh, just casually do this for me. 432 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 1: It was always like an emergency scenario. And that's part 433 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: of a scam too, because making things an emergency makes 434 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: you want to help her exactly. That's all part of 435 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,560 Speaker 1: the trick. Unless app to argue because if she wasn't 436 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: talking about the person getting their money, you know, because 437 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: in order for her to get paid, she would have 438 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 1: made a commission. So she would say to me, like, 439 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: if you don't get this done, then I'm not going 440 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: to get paid, and like we'll lose this or I 441 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: I mean, she would just put like the way to 442 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 1: the world on my shoulders just to do something. And 443 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: it wasn't that I thought we were scamming people, like 444 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 1: I believed her that I was just signing something that 445 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: someone forgot to sign, or a paper that she forgot. 446 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: But I was worried about getting in trouble simply because 447 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,719 Speaker 1: I knew forging signatures was illegal. It got to a 448 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: point where I'm like, Okay, I've done this a lot, 449 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 1: like but for some reason, I never thought this person 450 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: doesn't even know this paper exists. I just thought my 451 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: mom was a total airheaded idiot, and that was honestly 452 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: in my opinion of her. So I believed that she 453 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: was stupid enough to be so disorganized that she would 454 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: just forget things. But Mayor the mortgage broker is in 455 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: fact using Chelsea's Harry at the spy like signature spoofing 456 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: skills to scam a bunch of her clients. Because the 457 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,880 Speaker 1: Northern Ireland Police detective who finds my dog and calls 458 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: me up in I'm trying to reach Mr Jonathan Walton 459 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: provides the other half of that story, the facts and 460 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: the figures part. He says, Mayor, who was known as 461 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: Mary Anne Smith, stole hundreds of thousands from dozens of 462 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: victims in Northern Ireland using her job as a mortgage 463 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: broker and also impersonating a financial advisor, left a trail 464 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: of devastation and now that Northern Ireland Police know where 465 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: she is thanks to my blog, they're going to try 466 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: and extradite her. The detective emails me days later, saying 467 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: I have prepared to find it for the prosecutors and 468 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: just want to check what the situation is with your kisses. 469 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: I have spoken to my injured parties who are all 470 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: still trying to recover financially and emotionally from their experience. 471 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: I didn't really get this sense that she was scamming people, 472 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: but I knew like something was that because there would 473 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 1: be times when my mom would be like rolling in 474 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 1: money where we would get like whatever. I would just 475 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 1: get handed a lot of cash to like go into 476 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: town and spend money, just wats cash and she would 477 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 1: just paying my friends loads of money sometimes. But now 478 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 1: I just wonder was that money, Like, was she scamming people? 479 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,040 Speaker 1: I have no idea what was going on, but all 480 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 1: I know is that she would have either so much 481 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: money she didn't know what to do with or nothing. 482 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: There was never a steady middle and there never ever 483 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: could be, because right before Mayor leaves Northern Ireland in 484 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: two thousand nine, she disappears with the down payments of 485 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: six people's homes and she cons twenty other victims using 486 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 1: multiple investment scams. One of those victims is an elderly 487 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: woman who finds my blog and emails me. I too 488 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 1: was a victim of Marianna and Smith as I knew 489 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: her after reading your blog, I telephoned place. They confirmed 490 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 1: they already opening the case. I would like to say 491 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: this woman brought to justice as she robbed me of 492 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: my trust and people which affected my whole being. She 493 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: put me in a prison without bars, and I feel 494 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: she should be stopped so as not to do this 495 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: to anyone else. I, like everybody else, need to know 496 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,719 Speaker 1: that justice is available to me in a world of corruption. 497 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 1: I am sixty six years old and living in financial 498 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: stress due to her to sit And what's really upsetting 499 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:45,880 Speaker 1: is in two nine, before Mere flees Northern Ireland, someone 500 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: somehow tips her off and tells her that police are 501 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:54,520 Speaker 1: investigating her. She panics and she gets the hell out 502 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:58,440 Speaker 1: of Dodge, taking Chelsea and her husband Stephen with her, 503 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: and in her add dashed to escape mayor does be unthinkable? 504 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 1: Remember Stephen Smith's greyhounds. We had about fifteen to seventeen 505 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: dogs in our house. My mom made my stepdad put 506 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: all the dogs down, oh like kill them, put them down, 507 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:26,719 Speaker 1: Oh my god, because there wasn't time to re home them. Um. 508 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: I don't know what happened, but I'm guessing that she 509 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: probably told him a number of days that they had 510 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: to be gone, and so he had to do that. 511 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: And then we packed what we could in suitcases and 512 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 1: everything else Scott left in our house. The house just 513 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:50,840 Speaker 1: got completely abandoned, so she did not communicate with me 514 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 1: about what was really going on. But I mean, obviously 515 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 1: you don't put all your animals down and just flee 516 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 1: your home. Wow, I didn't know that she's is That's 517 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:05,400 Speaker 1: just like, that's I mean, that's just fucking evil. I'll 518 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:09,200 Speaker 1: never forget that day because those dogs, I mean, they 519 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,880 Speaker 1: were his life. And he had already been through so 520 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,719 Speaker 1: much of just being married her and just dealing with 521 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: her lies, and he had to come to and like, 522 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:28,120 Speaker 1: why would you want to be with her? This disturbing, no, no, 523 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: this sickening revelation that Mayor ordered Stephen to kill seventeen 524 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:38,960 Speaker 1: of their dogs for no reason stays with me for 525 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: a long time as a dog owner. I can't even imagine. 526 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: It's obvious to me now, Mayor Smith was born without 527 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: a soul. What does the rest of the family think 528 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: about your mother, your uncle's, your aunts. I mean, she's 529 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,319 Speaker 1: kind of been a person on a non grattis since 530 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:04,399 Speaker 1: I was a kid. She's came in and out of 531 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:09,040 Speaker 1: everybody's lives because of me. But once I turned eighteen 532 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: and we moved back here. My stepdad actually ended up 533 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: like leaving her and living with my grandparents until he 534 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 1: went back home. So obviously there's no love or loyalty 535 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,760 Speaker 1: to her. You should be like a drug addict, criminal, 536 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 1: con artist. That's what you were raised to be, you know, 537 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,440 Speaker 1: like that would be surprising, but you turned out to 538 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:39,480 Speaker 1: be the opposite. You're this rule follower, law abiding, talented, smart, hardworking, honest, kind, 539 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: friendly person. How did you pull that off? I just 540 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: think that for me, because I grew up with her 541 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 1: in my face, I was like, gosh, I need to 542 00:35:51,480 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 1: be anything but this. When Mayor Smith, on the run 543 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,200 Speaker 1: from authorities in Northern Ireland, touches down on Tennessee Soil 544 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 1: in two thousand nine, she's flush with cash. She had 545 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,439 Speaker 1: scammed close to five hundred thousand dollars from twenty six 546 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:16,279 Speaker 1: victims there, and her first plan of action stateside is 547 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,879 Speaker 1: to get her daughter, Courtney back into her life the 548 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,799 Speaker 1: only way she knows how randomly. One day, Marianne asked 549 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:27,279 Speaker 1: for Courtney's banking information, so Courtney gave it to her 550 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: because she said, well, I haven't been in your life 551 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,279 Speaker 1: for the past eighteen years. I want to do things 552 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,520 Speaker 1: to try to make things right, so she started sending 553 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: money to Courtney's account. Joshua Askavish is married to Mayor's 554 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: first daughter, Courtney. At the time. Courtney is a team 555 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:47,280 Speaker 1: and has only recently connected with her biological mother Mayor. 556 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:50,720 Speaker 1: She hasn't seen her mother since she was a baby 557 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:54,960 Speaker 1: back in Michigan. What was Courtney's reaction to getting this money? 558 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,319 Speaker 1: What did she think it was for? Just basically a 559 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:00,920 Speaker 1: Marianne's way of saying, I'm sorry and let me buy 560 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:02,960 Speaker 1: my way back into your life. Yeah, that's what it 561 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 1: sounds like, right, So, I mean literally just literally trying 562 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:11,360 Speaker 1: to buy her. To that end, Mayor invites Courtney and Joshua, 563 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,840 Speaker 1: who live in Michigan, on an all expense paid vacation 564 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:19,440 Speaker 1: to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. And what did m 565 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: Mayor look like when you first met her? Honestly, she 566 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:27,200 Speaker 1: had kind of a slightly brownish red hair, curly say. 567 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:31,280 Speaker 1: She was just you know, medium build, about five ft 568 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:34,080 Speaker 1: five five ft six something like that. I mean, honestly, 569 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:35,879 Speaker 1: you could tell she had a little bit of work 570 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:37,799 Speaker 1: down in the face because she didn't look like her 571 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,759 Speaker 1: age at all. Really she looked young. Oh yes, I 572 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,359 Speaker 1: mean she was just all buddy buddy. We we went 573 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:45,360 Speaker 1: to the local Walmart as soon as they picked us 574 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:47,399 Speaker 1: up from the airport, went right to Walmart and they're 575 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:51,240 Speaker 1: buying all kinds of stuff Stephen and I which Stephen 576 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:53,279 Speaker 1: Want was Mary Anne's husband at the time. We went 577 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:56,440 Speaker 1: back to the electronics section and he's asked me about 578 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,520 Speaker 1: game system. She's like, oh, what kind of game system 579 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:00,840 Speaker 1: do you prefer? And I was like, well me, personally, 580 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 1: I prefer the Xbox three sixty. So he calls the 581 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,399 Speaker 1: clerk over and he's like, we'll take that one right there, 582 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,160 Speaker 1: and you know a bunch of these games. Oh wow, 583 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:13,040 Speaker 1: So he just fought you an Xbox. Literally. I wasn't 584 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,440 Speaker 1: asking for anything, you know, of the sorts, but and 585 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,080 Speaker 1: I thought maybe it was just something they were getting, 586 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:19,960 Speaker 1: you know, for the weekend or the week that we 587 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:22,839 Speaker 1: were staying down there. We're walking out in the park 588 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: lot and Stephen picks the bag up, hands with me 589 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:26,879 Speaker 1: and goes, here you go, Josh, you know, and this 590 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,360 Speaker 1: is yours. I was like just blown away. I was dumbfounded. No, 591 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:33,200 Speaker 1: I mean they ring from the get go. They were 592 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,440 Speaker 1: just they were trying to flaunt money, you know, and 593 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:42,920 Speaker 1: then we go to Gatlinburg. We spent a week in 594 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,920 Speaker 1: the mountains of Gatlinburg in this giant mansion of a 595 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,160 Speaker 1: cabin and a game room, a sauna, hot tub, you 596 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:54,640 Speaker 1: name it. And according to Marianne, it was like a 597 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,120 Speaker 1: thousand dollars a night we were there for It was 598 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: either five or seven nights. She really wanted you used 599 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:02,680 Speaker 1: to like her or love her. Oh, absolutely, it was 600 00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:08,880 Speaker 1: definitely paying for forgiveness. Yeah, and it works for a 601 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:13,359 Speaker 1: little while. Anyway. Mayor transfers thousands of dollars every month 602 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:17,040 Speaker 1: to Courtney's bank account for an entire year, and then 603 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:23,280 Speaker 1: suddenly the transfer stop and Mayor she's nowhere to be found. 604 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:28,400 Speaker 1: About a month later, it's eight o'clock at night and 605 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:30,560 Speaker 1: there's a knock at the door of the Michigan home 606 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:36,880 Speaker 1: where Courtney and Joshua are living with their newborn daughter Avery. Well, 607 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: I was sitting in the living room watching TV heard 608 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:45,440 Speaker 1: than not I wouldn't be through the people, and it 609 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:49,360 Speaker 1: just look like some average joe out there. So I 610 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:55,520 Speaker 1: opened the door and years for Irish speaking mobsters standing 611 00:39:55,520 --> 00:40:01,239 Speaker 1: there with automatic assault rifles, and Marianne and what did 612 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:04,799 Speaker 1: they tell you exactly? Well, they threatened that if we 613 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,920 Speaker 1: didn't tell him where Marianne was, or if she was 614 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,439 Speaker 1: staying there, or whatever the case was, if we didn't 615 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:12,120 Speaker 1: tell him where we could find her, they were going 616 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:16,920 Speaker 1: to kill Chelsea. They're gonna kill Stephen, They're gonna kill myself. 617 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:21,680 Speaker 1: They're gonna kill Courtney and her newborn daughter Avery. Oh 618 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:30,160 Speaker 1: my god, next time, I'm Queen of the Con, my fugitives. 619 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,680 Speaker 1: You ended up getting miss Mariann's myke in custody. Today, 620 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:38,560 Speaker 1: Mayor's victims start fighting back. I finger gun Dad. Hers like, 621 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:42,239 Speaker 1: and then her attorneys like, I'm gonna tell the judge 622 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,919 Speaker 1: you did that, and Mayor starts scamming a whole new 623 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:50,480 Speaker 1: cross section of society, the mentally ill. I still haven't 624 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:54,080 Speaker 1: recovered from, to tell the truth, I never met a 625 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:59,600 Speaker 1: woman that did that to me. For exclusive photos and 626 00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 1: other bonus material, follow at Queen of the Con on Instagram, 627 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,000 Speaker 1: and if you're enjoying Queen of the Con, tell your 628 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,280 Speaker 1: friends about it and leave us a review on Apple 629 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:18,160 Speaker 1: Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Queen of the Con. 630 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,200 Speaker 1: The Irish Heiress is a production of a y R 631 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,640 Speaker 1: Media and I Heart Radio, hosted by Me Jonathan Walton. 632 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:29,880 Speaker 1: Executive producers Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Productions and Eliza 633 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:33,840 Speaker 1: Rosen for A y R Media. Written by Jonathan Walton, 634 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:41,040 Speaker 1: Consulting producer Evan Goldstein, Senior Associate producer Eric Newman. Sound 635 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:45,720 Speaker 1: designed by Baked ZD Media, mixed and mastered by Elliott Herman. 636 00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:51,359 Speaker 1: Audio engineering by Elliott Herman. Studio engineering by Chris McMasters. 637 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:56,520 Speaker 1: Voice acting performed by Tim Cunningham and Carmel O'Reilly Legal 638 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:01,280 Speaker 1: counsel for A y R Media. Gianni Douglas Executive producer 639 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:03,360 Speaker 1: for iHeart Radio Chandler Mainz