WEBVTT - Episode 2: Devil's Prank 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:03.320 The Manowa Caves is intended for mature audiences. It contains 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:07.240 strong language and depictions of bullying, violence, and sexual assault 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.799 that some may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. Also, 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:14.280 this is an extremely immersive experience and headphones are recommended. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.919 You're listening to The Manawat Caves, a production of iHeartRadio, 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:39.040 Blumhouse Television and Psycopia Pictures. Fuck fuck, I just I 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:41.440 just woke up to the sound of my own screams. 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.320 The lights are still on, and I must have fallen 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:51.320 asleep put them on. I remember laying down to go 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:56.720 to sleep, and Manna. A figure appeared in the corner 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:03.680 of my room, bearded and where oil soaked coveralls, blackened 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:09.640 and rotten, and a tattered red scarf around his neck. 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:15.720 The scarf, it was familiar, but I couldn't place it. 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:26.280 This figure, part man, part shadow. This gray man just 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:32.200 stood there watching me. His body was stooped, his face 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:36.800 was too long, job stretched in pain, like he was 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:44.600 stranded in permanent anguish. I was paralyzed in my bed 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.600 while the gray man came closer and closer, not walking, 0:01:48.800 --> 0:02:05.200 just somehow closer crashed h I'll get seconds three thirty 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:20.520 three am. I just listened to my last entry, my 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:31.000 last recording about an um a nightmare. I UM. I 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:37.080 have no memory of it, not of the nightmare or 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:43.000 or or they're they're gray man. I don't remember recording 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:58.280 the entry, none of it. M I tried to stay away, 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.080 but it found me. It's been pulling me back. I 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.959 give her since and I know in my core that 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:16.840 it's not gonna stop until I see James Fincher set free. 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:23.280 I have trouble remembering that time in our lives, but 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:35.200 I remember that day we found him six times. But 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:37.040 if you want to find out who was behind this, 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.680 he should find out what Smith knew follow his tracks. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:56.560 August second, twenty twenty one. The fog. I hoped it 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:01.080 would clear, but it's only gotten thicker the longer I 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.400 stay here. Every minute I remain in Maniwa County, In 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:11.040 every minute, James Fincher's execution draws nearer, the thinker the 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:19.599 fall gets. I needed to go away for good this time. 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.240 I need to set things right. But the only way 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:25.400 to do that is to find out who or what 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:31.240 really killed the Hadley brothers. Now, I'm not a homicide 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:36.360 detective or even an investigative journalist. But I know this town, 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:43.400 I know these people. Detective Solomon Smith didn't, but he 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:46.720 believed James Fincher was innocent. He came on board the 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:52.600 Hadley Brothers murder investigation for a time, at least before 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:59.640 Ye disappeared. If I can trace his steps, maybe I 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:10.320 can back up the trail, finish what he started. Detective Smith, 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:12.920 he was the only one in the whole Lord deal 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:17.920 that seemed among justice, the only one who knew somehow, 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:22.520 he knew that James Fincher didn't kill those kids. So 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.839 now there's no one left to fight for James except 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:30.039 you and his sister Dina, and the attorney. And now 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:34.800 you looks like I met up with Jill again. Jill Campbell. 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.720 At the time of the Hadley Brothers murder investigation, she 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:41.440 was one of Sheriff Hooper's deputies. Now she's a mitigation 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:46.200 specialist on the Fincher defense appeals letters. Any tools she 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.040 can use to mitigate and reduce his sentence to anything, 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:53.560 anything less than death. What do you think Detective Smith knew? 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:58.119 From a homicide detective's point of view, there's no way 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:00.919 he would have crossed Fincher off of his suspect list 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:03.800 unless he knew he was innocent. And the only way 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:05.960 he could have known that is either Fincher had an 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:10.680 alibi or he uncovered who the killer really was. He 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:16.279 was on to something, though, that's for sure soon so 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.480 maybe he had proof, but he was reluctant to come forward, 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:24.279 not solemn. From what I understand about the man, the 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:28.839 idea that he was ever reluctant is unlikely. Either way, 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.080 he vanished before he could say anything even if he 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:35.000 wanted to. I'm beside who in the Sheriff's department would 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:46.000 have listened anyway? They already caught their killer, James Fincher. Okay, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.760 Argust third, three thirty four am. Just that day, Um, 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.920 an interesting thing happened. I couldn't sleep because this mortel 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.839 ricks and mothballs and mold, plus the sec fan won't 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.680 shut the fuck up. Jill gave me a stack of 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:06.960 court documents and recordings that she had obtained from Finch's trial. 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.320 So I left my motel a few hours ago, decided 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:12.160 to take a little drive up into the mountains while 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:16.440 listening to them angel evidence discovered at the scene of 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:20.560 the crime. Remember these red wolf fibers there was no 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:24.600 other identifiable DNA found at the crime scene other than 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.960 the DNA from Thomas and Deacon Hadley. I turned on 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.560 Mathison Road. It's a road I grew up on above 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:35.240 Spalding Gorge to Windon Mountain Road that goes by my 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:39.480 old house, what's left of it anyway. Fibers imbedded in 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:43.000 Thomas's fingernails and as I drove, the fog sit in. 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.640 I also noticed some headlights in my rear view. Didn't 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:49.560 think much of it, trying to focus on the recordings 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.119 from the trial, and the static was taken over again again, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:57.360 so I had to crank the volume. I had to 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.840 lean into the car speaker in order to hear the voices. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.600 The tape the only one year with an oct imagination. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:05.880 It was as if they were trying to crawl out 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:12.520 from the vault They've been locked in for over a decade. 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:20.400 James finer and as I drove, the fog got thick, fast, 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.080 still thick. I was squinting to see twenty feet ahead 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:29.000 just to see the winding road. I had to slow 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.079 way down, and before long the headlights were rite on 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:37.240 my ass. I couldn't make out the car, but when 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:49.440 I looked back at the world. The gray man. Jesus, 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.160 the fog was so thick I didn't see them until 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:59.560 I almost hit them, the gray man standing there in 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:01.480 the middle of the fucking road when I rounded the 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:07.280 bed right, God damn. It turns out the car behind 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:18.760 me was a Sheriff's deputy evening officer. Thanks for stopping. 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:25.600 There was a there was a figure just standing, And 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:37.760 so the prodigal son returns, excuse me, way, Tamper, Dowey, Tamper, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.920 Julian Right, you're a you're a long man now, Huh 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.880 that a bear cane and floorboard? What I say, is 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.720 that a bear cane and a floorboard? No, that was earlier. Duey, 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:52.160 I just ran off the road. And how much you 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.600 had to drink tonight? Are you serious? You know? Six 0:09:54.640 --> 0:10:00.840 six to radio? What I gotta coach? Seven? How many? 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.280 Did you just step out of the car? What I 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.840 almost just died? Are you are you like? Are you 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.640 like messing with me? Or some account of the car 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.280 walk to the back of the automobile. Jesus, Well, I 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.360 gotta make sure you're like to operate this veible. What 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.920 you're doing back here? Anyway? I thought we run you 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:29.600 out of time for good. Oh, don't worry. I'm just 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.400 visiting who my mother's grave. How the hell is that 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.560 fucking relevance? You making me walk a line? Duly? Well? Hell, 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.040 I'm just making conversation, is all. Who was you so 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:44.360 nervous for what I'm not? Look, I just ran off 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.040 the fucking road for Christ's sakes. Man, You ain't been 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.760 smoking under that wacky weed, have you? What? No? I 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:51.719 know you and Tyler Wilson used to light up back 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:53.400 in the day, and you didn't know if I put 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:55.160 a sniffing dog and you car what am I gona fine? 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.480 Legal drugs? May hope you don't got no concealed weapons 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:01.320 on you anything like that? You sure? Oh you know 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.160 where I forgot about the nunshockers? You want to pat 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.560 me down? D O? You'd like that, wouldn't. You don't 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.440 get smart with me, solace, Just turn and face me. 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.840 But you fake together with your hands down by your side, Yes, sir, 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.520 all right, follow the tip of my finger with your 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:23.400 eyes without moving your head. Do you understand? Ye? Did 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.800 I pass? I guess you knowld You look at better 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:31.200 than you used to. Kid. You're done? See, I thought 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:32.920 you were may be in town for the big show 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.160 to see your old buddy James Fincher get the jab. 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:39.440 I know you too, are thick as thieves in those days. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.920 It's gonna be quiet the spectator sport. How long are 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:48.440 you following me? What's that you've been telling me for 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:55.280 a while? How long you've been following me? Look, we 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.280 were never that social back in the day, but because 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.280 we do go back a long ways, I'm give you 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.320 a bit of advice between you and me, I wouldn't 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.800 go digging around stirring up trouble if I was you. 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:10.040 It's passed if you just let things play out the 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:15.880 way they're supposed to the way they're supposed to. Enjoy 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:38.520 your visit. August third, one, twenty pm. The smell of 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:43.679 this damn mountain there, the mind flashes back. Then there 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:47.360 are some good memories, but mostly the town feels haunted. 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.280 I can feel the aches of old grudges in my limbs, 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.280 no matter how much I've tried to repress them. All 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:58.960 the old feelings to live there in my gut like snakes, rage, sorrow. 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:04.520 I'm trying to remain calm, objective, and partial. I'm trying 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:08.200 to assume a moral ambiguity here, even as I recall 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:12.880 the lowest, most unforgivable types of people that still inhabit 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:18.280 this town. Anyway, I'm supposed to meet Joe Campbell for lunch, 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.600 but I'm late. I overslept. Doesn't feel like I'm going 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.800 to sleep at all, though I finally passed out around 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:28.640 seven this morning. Listening to the police interrogation tapes. You know, 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:31.880 my goddamn day. I just need you to state at Griff, 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:38.319 something about Griff Washington's interviews bugging me, Edward Washington, There 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:43.319 wasn't so hard. We appreciate your cooperation. We just need 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.160 your help right now. We need all the intel we 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.880 can get. Fine, But it don't seem like you're asking 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.400 for my That dog of yours, he was pretty messed up, Griff. 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.480 There's a lot of blood. He's a meaning sile bit sheriff. 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:58.640 But he's a good dog. He had to sedate him. 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:03.760 That's probably for the best. I have caging, and I 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:07.640 don't want him to getting fights and hurt animals or 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:09.880 people or anything. When's the last time he got into 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.560 a fight. Hell, I don't know. He got loose, He 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:17.120 got loose, and then he just came back all torn up. Yeah. Hell, 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.680 that dog's face looks like ground beef. Like. I don't 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.560 know what to tell you, Kirby. Those kids broke the 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:26.400 law and not me. They were trespassing on my goddamn property, 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:30.400 all right, my property. Now, what happened to them is 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:34.000 a real tragedy, and I feel for their mom and daddy. 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.120 If that ain't no excuse to go violating my right, 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:41.000 how exactly are your right to being violated? I'm being 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:46.080 held against my will? No, No, you're not. Did I 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:49.000 or anybody else read you your rights that we tell 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.440 you that you were under arrest? Are you saying I'm 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:55.960 afraid to go? Griff? We have two boys found dead 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:00.120 on your property. Now, all I ever asked for was 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.640 your help. But you kept a dog that you knew 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:07.720 to be vicious. That's on you. There are regulations in 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:11.160 this county for keeping dangerous dogs, and from the looks 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:15.520 of it, you failed to follow them. That makes you liable. 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:21.119 You understand it turns out that your dog was involved 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:27.480 in the death of these boys. Well that is manslaughter. 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:33.280 Am I free to go? Yes or no? Sheriff Hooper, 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:38.480 let Crift go easy? Yes? Too easy? But seemed to 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:40.960 me he should have been their prime suspect to get 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:45.040 my fucking dog back. Griff Washington was later convicted of 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:49.080 several felonies for running a dogfighting operation, animal cruelty, and 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.120 operating a kennel without a license, though the Corps wentn't 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.480 easy on him there too. He got slap with the fine. 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.600 But that was about it. And here's the problem. Some 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:00.800 of the dogs DNA was near the scene of the 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.800 Hadley brothers bodies. There was also a piece of evidence 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:10.440 that was never accounted for, red wolf fibers found under 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:15.840 Thomas Hadley's fingernails, indicating a violent struggle. Maybe Griff Washington's 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:18.160 dog had a red collar on or something, but if 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:22.320 it did, the red collar was never found. So where 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:27.360 did the red wolf come from? What happened? If the 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.440 shareful phil Griff go? It seemed clear to me and 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.080 others that we needed a medical examiner to do an 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:38.000 autopsy because a corner had no medical experience. Corners are 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.240 elected officials and a man of wat They're not even 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.360 required to have medical training. Yet he was the only 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:50.080 one that could order an autopsy. Pretty politically convenient, ain't now? Anyway? 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:55.360 They looked like stamp wounds to me. What the actual fuck? Yeah, well, 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.720 I told Cooper he was investigating the wrong goddamn species. 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.720 We didn't need animal control, we needed a homicide detective. 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.359 But even then, Hooper didn't want the Tennessee Bureau of 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:12.480 Investigation involved, so he didn't invite them. And why not 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:17.040 he was up for reelection. It was a perception thing 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:21.000 TBI involved UC would make Hooper look weak, like he 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:25.040 wasn't capable of handling local affairs. He needed to be 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:29.480 the hero. That's ironic. Takes more than just experience and 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.280 qualification to be the sheriff. You also have to have 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.199 the backing of the right people, the powers that be. 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:40.480 What do you mean you can't get elected sheriff to 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.920 Maniwa County without the endorsement of the first Baptist Church. 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.760 Delivering on a case like this was only sure fireaway 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:51.840 Hooper could guarantee his reelection, and between you and me, 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.600 Reverend Perkins had already made up his mind on who 0:17:55.640 --> 0:18:01.399 the killer was. Faith is not the absent of fear. No, 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:08.439 our faith thrives in spite of fear. We like God's 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:16.600 candle despite the darkness. I know, I know, fear and 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:22.040 doubt creep in because there's more to it, isn't there? 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:30.240 And it's hard to not assume the worst. That the 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:39.720 devil has been living amongst us all this time. Well, 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:46.000 I have news for you. He has. He has been 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:54.280 living among us, and he is still here. Sheriff Hooper 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:56.959 was in attendance that day, and I can only imagine 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:01.840 that as the congregation of the First Baptist Church clung 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:05.720 to the Reverence Guide in words, Hooper was plotting this 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:09.040 next move even though I walked through the valley of 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:13.600 the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil. Did 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:21.359 you get that the Lord is my shepherd? David wrote 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:26.399 these words because he himself was once a shepherd, and 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:32.840 David understood that we are also sheep, and like sheep, 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:39.680 we two need a shepherd. Even though Sheriff Hooper had 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:43.040 refused to call into the TBI, there was one man 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.719 he thought could help a shepherd. If you will to 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.400 think like a killer to catch a killer, I looked 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.680 up Detective Solomon Swallow. Put yourself in their shoes. He 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.719 was something of a celebrity detective, and he was featured 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:01.160 in an interview on a true I'm show called shadowy 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:05.080 death's drive to paint the accused as a monster, something 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:10.000 not human. But do monsters exist? Of course, monsters exist. 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:16.760 Without monsters, there are no victims, no prosecutions, no defenses, 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:24.520 no justice. They have to be monsters, because without them 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:44.280 we only have ourselves to blame for our suffering. Smith 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.359 was a long man from Atlanta. He landed in the 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:51.880 national spotlight back in nineteen ninety five when Jennifer Fowler, 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.159 a nineteen year old college student, was found naked and 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:57.720 dead in a public park near the Atlanta's Zoo, just 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.320 a few months before the ninety six in Earlands were 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.560 said to begin. There. The world was watching closely, and 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:05.879 the pressure was on to keep the face of the 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:09.919 New South blemish free. It certainly couldn't be seen as 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:14.199 a gang infested crime zone played by racial disparities, suburban decay, 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:17.760 and neglected parks where nineteen year old white girls could 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:22.960 be found raped, murdered and dumped with no explanation, no recourse, 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:27.280 and no justice, No fucking way. Chapter two. This is 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:29.280 from the true crime novel Murder in the Park by 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:32.159 Douglas Burger. Jennifer Fowler had been in the city for 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:35.280 less than a month, she was found faced down in 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:38.520 the Red Clay a few blocks from the Zone three 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.920 police precinct. The buzz at the APD was that they 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.080 needed to be out in front of this. They needed 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:48.760 a clear and direct display of strength, efficiency, and intelligence. 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:53.840 Entered Detective Solomon Smith. He was specifically good at understanding 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:57.520 how a killer thinks and deriving motive from the evidence, 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:01.240 and his predictions about a killer's neck move were spot on. 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:05.440 He knew that in cases like Jennifer Fowler's, the perpetrator 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:09.159 would often revisit the scene of the crime, perhaps trying 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:14.119 to relive the moment, the passion, the excitement, perhaps taking 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:16.879 pleasure in the power trip of standing close enough that 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:20.920 he could watch the cops scratch their heads. Solomon also 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:25.880 knew that murder is an intimate act. If you think 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:29.119 about it, it's probably one of the most intense human 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:32.600 experiences that can be shared by two people, and not 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:35.960 just in the instant of the actual killing. The relationship 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:39.200 that develops between a killer and a victim is complex. 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:44.000 Just think of the proximity, the extremity of the circumstances 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:46.399 that the victim and the killer navigate together. Think of 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:53.440 the negotiations the expectations and disappointments, the lies, deceptions, manipulations, 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:57.120 the power plays, and the pleas. Not to mention the 0:22:57.119 --> 0:23:03.160 physicality of murder itself. The energy and effort required, especially 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:07.159 in strangulation, would apparently take a tremendous amount of strength 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:13.160 at commitment. Smith was right. Jennifer Fowler's killer did come 0:23:13.160 --> 0:23:17.000 back to the scene of the crime. Detective Smith was 0:23:17.119 --> 0:23:21.080 already thinking like the killer. He took his time surveying 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:25.080 the crowd, the onlookers, especially the men, especially the ones 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:29.000 who were alone, especially the one across the street, sitting 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:35.800 in his green Volkswagen for an hour watching the post 0:23:35.840 --> 0:23:40.199 mortem indicated that Jennifer had died at approximately four forty 0:23:40.240 --> 0:23:44.600 eight am, and because there was indication of a struggle, 0:23:45.119 --> 0:23:50.360 the body hadn't been moved. Smith awoke at three am 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:54.000 with an idea. He had a newborn at home and 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:57.640 a regular sleep was impossible, so before dawn he would 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:01.200 drive to Grant Park and from four thirty to five 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:05.120 thirty he'd sit parked three blocks from the spot where 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:09.439 Jennifer's body was found. He did this for six weeks, 0:24:09.480 --> 0:24:13.280 every morning, sitting with his thernis of coffee, a beau 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:18.639 Jangle's chicken biscuit and the Atlantic Constitution waiting. It was 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:20.760 near enough to the zoo you could hear the lions 0:24:20.880 --> 0:24:25.440 roar as the sky grew lighter, and soon enough there 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:30.440 it was, that green seventy six Volkswagon. The driver could 0:24:30.440 --> 0:24:33.919 have been innocent, a resident of the neighborhood, But then 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:38.119 he stepped out of his car and walked hesitantly to 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:43.720 the exact spot where Jennifer was found. He just stood there, 0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:49.800 staring at the ground. Solomon ran the plates. The owner 0:24:49.840 --> 0:24:56.440 of the car was Richard Rydell. He was a maintenance 0:24:56.480 --> 0:25:00.080 man at Jennifer's college. It took time to get a 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:03.359 warrant to search Rydell's car. He played by the rules, 0:25:03.440 --> 0:25:07.560 and because he built a bulletproof case, the prosecution got 0:25:07.560 --> 0:25:14.879 an easy conviction and Ridell got the death penalty. Mister Rydell, 0:25:15.000 --> 0:25:18.239 can you tell us why what made you want to 0:25:18.280 --> 0:25:27.000 take Jennifer Fowler's life that day? A won't I answer 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:40.000 all your questions? Go on? I just had to. In 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:45.680 other circumstances, Solomon and Jennifer Fowler's grandfather, William Fowler, would 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:47.760 have been unlikely. Friends. Have you reached the desk of 0:25:47.840 --> 0:25:50.840 Detective Solomon Smith. I will return your call at my 0:25:50.920 --> 0:25:54.960 earliest convenience. If this is an emergency, dial nine one one. 0:25:58.520 --> 0:26:02.760 What Adiam Fowler here? I wanted to let you know 0:26:02.880 --> 0:26:06.840 that I sent a package I enjoyed. I talk about 0:26:06.920 --> 0:26:10.040 meat smoking, and I said you some apple wood chips 0:26:10.080 --> 0:26:13.720 from my property for you to experiment with it. Now. 0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:20.560 This particular wood is over a century old. It's from 0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:26.080 a tree that got struck by lightning. Happened right around 0:26:26.240 --> 0:26:32.159 Jenny was taken. Big storm came through. Jenny used to 0:26:32.200 --> 0:26:38.080 call that a devil's prank, like when two events running parallel, 0:26:38.200 --> 0:26:41.200 Like like when you wake up with a song in 0:26:41.320 --> 0:26:44.000 your in your head and then you hear it on 0:26:44.040 --> 0:26:47.760 the radio or you or you think of somebody hadn't 0:26:47.840 --> 0:26:49.920 thought of it in a long while, and then they 0:26:50.000 --> 0:26:59.679 call maybe a coincidence. But I'm comforted by the idea 0:26:59.760 --> 0:27:09.959 that Lord works in mysterious ways. I'm digression, I guess anyway, Detective, 0:27:10.080 --> 0:27:13.120 Please let me know if you hear anything about when 0:27:13.119 --> 0:27:17.120 the execution date is set for. I tried to call 0:27:17.200 --> 0:27:20.240 the day's Alvius down there, but nobody seems to be 0:27:20.320 --> 0:27:26.000 able to answer. All right, dear take care of Detective. 0:27:29.480 --> 0:27:32.480 Perhaps Grandpa Fowler felt in debted Solomon Smith, who had 0:27:32.480 --> 0:27:35.679 given him the only semblance of closure he would ever have. 0:27:35.920 --> 0:27:40.480 Following the violent murder of his precious granddaughter, Solomon hunted 0:27:40.560 --> 0:27:45.800 Jennifer Fowler's killer, caught him, and attended Ridell's execution three 0:27:45.880 --> 0:27:49.120 years later. He would receive a card from Fowler every 0:27:49.200 --> 0:27:52.159 year after that, not on Jennifer's birthday or even on 0:27:52.200 --> 0:27:55.640 the anniversary of her death, but to commemorate the anniversary 0:27:55.680 --> 0:27:59.280 of Richard Rydell's execution, as if that was the event 0:27:59.560 --> 0:28:05.080 that some bolically solidified and consecrated their relationship. And after 0:28:05.200 --> 0:28:08.960 Ridal's execution, the two men never spoke again in person. 0:28:09.840 --> 0:28:12.840 So it was quite a shock when Solomon received a 0:28:12.880 --> 0:28:15.879 letter from the attorney of Fowler's of State explaining that 0:28:15.920 --> 0:28:19.480 mister Fowler had died and left his house and property 0:28:19.480 --> 0:28:27.080 in Manowa County entirely to him. It was dilapidated, sagging roof, 0:28:27.119 --> 0:28:31.040 busted pipes, chipped in whether it's side, and the Christmas 0:28:31.080 --> 0:28:33.800 Tree farm had been abandoned, and the trees had grown 0:28:33.840 --> 0:28:37.919 to thirty feet tall in perfect rows. In two thousand 0:28:37.920 --> 0:28:39.920 and seven, the house wasn't worth the dirt it was 0:28:39.960 --> 0:28:44.160 built on. At the time, Manoel County had a population 0:28:44.200 --> 0:28:49.200 of only sixteen thousand, mostly white, poor, and Christian. Solomon 0:28:49.320 --> 0:28:52.080 was a black Metropolitan cop who had lost his faith 0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:57.240 in God. Despite this, Solomon quit the Atlanta Police Department, 0:28:57.600 --> 0:29:00.880 sold his home, and moved to this isolated farmhouse in 0:29:01.000 --> 0:29:06.240 Maniwa County, leaving behind his career, his church, his friends, 0:29:06.720 --> 0:29:10.080 and his wife. He took with him the only meigroup 0:29:10.080 --> 0:29:13.120 possessions he could shove into his gmc acadia, a few 0:29:13.200 --> 0:29:18.560 changes of close fishing gear and a shotgun. But Atlanta, 0:29:18.600 --> 0:29:23.280 Georgia or Manowa County, Tennessee, Solomon had his own set 0:29:23.320 --> 0:29:26.960 of personal demons he couldn't escape. They stuck with him, 0:29:28.120 --> 0:29:32.280 haunted him. He needed to set things right in order 0:29:32.280 --> 0:29:35.800 to be freed from them, and he did that by 0:29:35.840 --> 0:29:38.040 coming on board to solve to have the Boys case. 0:29:44.040 --> 0:29:48.640 Manowa County had experienced occasional homicides like once every couple 0:29:48.680 --> 0:29:52.800 of years, usually drug related myth Most of my calls 0:29:52.800 --> 0:29:57.640 were land disputes, domestic violence, bar brawl, stupid ship. The 0:29:57.760 --> 0:30:00.160 Hadley murders were in a category all their own own. 0:30:01.800 --> 0:30:03.920 So how does Soloma Smith get involved? Now I was 0:30:03.960 --> 0:30:07.400 actually the one who suggested it. I knew Solomon had 0:30:07.400 --> 0:30:11.600 moved to town, and well, Hooper was out of his league, 0:30:11.600 --> 0:30:15.920 and he knew it. So we approached him. Approached him. 0:30:15.920 --> 0:30:18.000 He didn't have a landline or nothing, so we just 0:30:18.080 --> 0:30:20.960 drove out there, knocked on his door and ask him. 0:30:21.040 --> 0:30:24.840 He said no at first. How did you get him 0:30:24.840 --> 0:30:30.560 to agree? Well, we played him the audio retrieved from 0:30:30.600 --> 0:30:34.680 Deacon Hadley's cell phone. It's hard to make out, but 0:30:34.840 --> 0:30:37.840 you can clearly hear Deacon talking to someone right before 0:30:37.880 --> 0:30:42.280 he gets murdered, talking to someone, yes, pleading for his life. 0:30:42.560 --> 0:31:11.600 It was pretty gruesome. Thomas Charms Armers just somewhere, hell, 0:31:19.320 --> 0:31:26.400 help me, help me? Oh man, why are you just 0:31:26.440 --> 0:31:35.320 standing there? How could you do it? Wait? Wait wait, 0:31:35.320 --> 0:31:44.000 wait wait wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, I'm pleasing, please, 0:31:45.320 --> 0:31:52.840 I'm never, I'm never. Just let me go and just slipping. 0:31:54.760 --> 0:32:18.360