Speaker 1: The Manowa Caves is intended for mature audiences. It contains
Speaker 1: strong language and depictions of bullying, violence, and sexual assault
Speaker 1: that some may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. Also,
Speaker 1: this is an extremely immersive experience and headphones are recommended.
Speaker 1: You're listening to The Manawat Caves, a production of iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: Blumhouse Television and Psycopia Pictures. Fuck fuck, I just I
Speaker 1: just woke up to the sound of my own screams.
Speaker 1: The lights are still on, and I must have fallen
Speaker 1: asleep put them on. I remember laying down to go
Speaker 1: to sleep, and Manna. A figure appeared in the corner
Speaker 1: of my room, bearded and where oil soaked coveralls, blackened
Speaker 1: and rotten, and a tattered red scarf around his neck.
Speaker 1: The scarf, it was familiar, but I couldn't place it.
Speaker 1: This figure, part man, part shadow. This gray man just
Speaker 1: stood there watching me. His body was stooped, his face
Speaker 1: was too long, job stretched in pain, like he was
Speaker 1: stranded in permanent anguish. I was paralyzed in my bed
Speaker 1: while the gray man came closer and closer, not walking,
Speaker 1: just somehow closer crashed h I'll get seconds three thirty
Speaker 1: three am. I just listened to my last entry, my
Speaker 1: last recording about an um a nightmare. I UM. I
Speaker 1: have no memory of it, not of the nightmare or
Speaker 1: or or they're they're gray man. I don't remember recording
Speaker 1: the entry, none of it. M I tried to stay away,
Speaker 1: but it found me. It's been pulling me back. I
Speaker 1: give her since and I know in my core that
Speaker 1: it's not gonna stop until I see James Fincher set free.
Speaker 1: I have trouble remembering that time in our lives, but
Speaker 1: I remember that day we found him six times. But
Speaker 1: if you want to find out who was behind this,
Speaker 1: he should find out what Smith knew follow his tracks.
Speaker 1: August second, twenty twenty one. The fog. I hoped it
Speaker 1: would clear, but it's only gotten thicker the longer I
Speaker 1: stay here. Every minute I remain in Maniwa County, In
Speaker 1: every minute, James Fincher's execution draws nearer, the thinker the
Speaker 1: fall gets. I needed to go away for good this time.
Speaker 1: I need to set things right. But the only way
Speaker 1: to do that is to find out who or what
Speaker 1: really killed the Hadley brothers. Now, I'm not a homicide
Speaker 1: detective or even an investigative journalist. But I know this town,
Speaker 1: I know these people. Detective Solomon Smith didn't, but he
Speaker 1: believed James Fincher was innocent. He came on board the
Speaker 1: Hadley Brothers murder investigation for a time, at least before
Speaker 1: Ye disappeared. If I can trace his steps, maybe I
Speaker 1: can back up the trail, finish what he started. Detective Smith,
Speaker 1: he was the only one in the whole Lord deal
Speaker 1: that seemed among justice, the only one who knew somehow,
Speaker 1: he knew that James Fincher didn't kill those kids. So
Speaker 1: now there's no one left to fight for James except
Speaker 1: you and his sister Dina, and the attorney. And now
Speaker 1: you looks like I met up with Jill again. Jill Campbell.
Speaker 1: At the time of the Hadley Brothers murder investigation, she
Speaker 1: was one of Sheriff Hooper's deputies. Now she's a mitigation
Speaker 1: specialist on the Fincher defense appeals letters. Any tools she
Speaker 1: can use to mitigate and reduce his sentence to anything,
Speaker 1: anything less than death. What do you think Detective Smith knew?
Speaker 1: From a homicide detective's point of view, there's no way
Speaker 1: he would have crossed Fincher off of his suspect list
Speaker 1: unless he knew he was innocent. And the only way
Speaker 1: he could have known that is either Fincher had an
Speaker 1: alibi or he uncovered who the killer really was. He
Speaker 1: was on to something, though, that's for sure soon so
Speaker 1: maybe he had proof, but he was reluctant to come forward,
Speaker 1: not solemn. From what I understand about the man, the
Speaker 1: idea that he was ever reluctant is unlikely. Either way,
Speaker 1: he vanished before he could say anything even if he
Speaker 1: wanted to. I'm beside who in the Sheriff's department would
Speaker 1: have listened anyway? They already caught their killer, James Fincher. Okay,
Speaker 1: Argust third, three thirty four am. Just that day, Um,
Speaker 1: an interesting thing happened. I couldn't sleep because this mortel
Speaker 1: ricks and mothballs and mold, plus the sec fan won't
Speaker 1: shut the fuck up. Jill gave me a stack of
Speaker 1: court documents and recordings that she had obtained from Finch's trial.
Speaker 1: So I left my motel a few hours ago, decided
Speaker 1: to take a little drive up into the mountains while
Speaker 1: listening to them angel evidence discovered at the scene of
Speaker 1: the crime. Remember these red wolf fibers there was no
Speaker 1: other identifiable DNA found at the crime scene other than
Speaker 1: the DNA from Thomas and Deacon Hadley. I turned on
Speaker 1: Mathison Road. It's a road I grew up on above
Speaker 1: Spalding Gorge to Windon Mountain Road that goes by my
Speaker 1: old house, what's left of it anyway. Fibers imbedded in
Speaker 1: Thomas's fingernails and as I drove, the fog sit in.
Speaker 1: I also noticed some headlights in my rear view. Didn't
Speaker 1: think much of it, trying to focus on the recordings
Speaker 1: from the trial, and the static was taken over again again,
Speaker 1: so I had to crank the volume. I had to
Speaker 1: lean into the car speaker in order to hear the voices.
Speaker 1: The tape the only one year with an oct imagination.
Speaker 1: It was as if they were trying to crawl out
Speaker 1: from the vault They've been locked in for over a decade.
Speaker 1: James finer and as I drove, the fog got thick, fast,
Speaker 1: still thick. I was squinting to see twenty feet ahead
Speaker 1: just to see the winding road. I had to slow
Speaker 1: way down, and before long the headlights were rite on
Speaker 1: my ass. I couldn't make out the car, but when
Speaker 1: I looked back at the world. The gray man. Jesus,
Speaker 1: the fog was so thick I didn't see them until
Speaker 1: I almost hit them, the gray man standing there in
Speaker 1: the middle of the fucking road when I rounded the
Speaker 1: bed right, God damn. It turns out the car behind
Speaker 1: me was a Sheriff's deputy evening officer. Thanks for stopping.
Speaker 1: There was a there was a figure just standing, And
Speaker 1: so the prodigal son returns, excuse me, way, Tamper, Dowey, Tamper,
Speaker 1: Julian Right, you're a you're a long man now, Huh
Speaker 1: that a bear cane and floorboard? What I say, is
Speaker 1: that a bear cane and a floorboard? No, that was earlier. Duey,
Speaker 1: I just ran off the road. And how much you
Speaker 1: had to drink tonight? Are you serious? You know? Six
Speaker 1: six to radio? What I gotta coach? Seven? How many?
Speaker 1: Did you just step out of the car? What I
Speaker 1: almost just died? Are you are you like? Are you
Speaker 1: like messing with me? Or some account of the car
Speaker 1: walk to the back of the automobile. Jesus, Well, I
Speaker 1: gotta make sure you're like to operate this veible. What
Speaker 1: you're doing back here? Anyway? I thought we run you
Speaker 1: out of time for good. Oh, don't worry. I'm just
Speaker 1: visiting who my mother's grave. How the hell is that
Speaker 1: fucking relevance? You making me walk a line? Duly? Well? Hell,
Speaker 1: I'm just making conversation, is all. Who was you so
Speaker 1: nervous for what I'm not? Look, I just ran off
Speaker 1: the fucking road for Christ's sakes. Man, You ain't been
Speaker 1: smoking under that wacky weed, have you? What? No? I
Speaker 1: know you and Tyler Wilson used to light up back
Speaker 1: in the day, and you didn't know if I put
Speaker 1: a sniffing dog and you car what am I gona fine?
Speaker 1: Legal drugs? May hope you don't got no concealed weapons
Speaker 1: on you anything like that? You sure? Oh you know
Speaker 1: where I forgot about the nunshockers? You want to pat
Speaker 1: me down? D O? You'd like that, wouldn't. You don't
Speaker 1: get smart with me, solace, Just turn and face me.
Speaker 1: But you fake together with your hands down by your side, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: all right, follow the tip of my finger with your
Speaker 1: eyes without moving your head. Do you understand? Ye? Did
Speaker 1: I pass? I guess you knowld You look at better
Speaker 1: than you used to. Kid. You're done? See, I thought
Speaker 1: you were may be in town for the big show
Speaker 1: to see your old buddy James Fincher get the jab.
Speaker 1: I know you too, are thick as thieves in those days.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be quiet the spectator sport. How long are
Speaker 1: you following me? What's that you've been telling me for
Speaker 1: a while? How long you've been following me? Look, we
Speaker 1: were never that social back in the day, but because
Speaker 1: we do go back a long ways, I'm give you
Speaker 1: a bit of advice between you and me, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: go digging around stirring up trouble if I was you.
Speaker 1: It's passed if you just let things play out the
Speaker 1: way they're supposed to the way they're supposed to. Enjoy
Speaker 1: your visit. August third, one, twenty pm. The smell of
Speaker 1: this damn mountain there, the mind flashes back. Then there
Speaker 1: are some good memories, but mostly the town feels haunted.
Speaker 1: I can feel the aches of old grudges in my limbs,
Speaker 1: no matter how much I've tried to repress them. All
Speaker 1: the old feelings to live there in my gut like snakes, rage, sorrow.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to remain calm, objective, and partial. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to assume a moral ambiguity here, even as I recall
Speaker 1: the lowest, most unforgivable types of people that still inhabit
Speaker 1: this town. Anyway, I'm supposed to meet Joe Campbell for lunch,
Speaker 1: but I'm late. I overslept. Doesn't feel like I'm going
Speaker 1: to sleep at all, though I finally passed out around
Speaker 1: seven this morning. Listening to the police interrogation tapes. You know,
Speaker 1: my goddamn day. I just need you to state at Griff,
Speaker 1: something about Griff Washington's interviews bugging me, Edward Washington, There
Speaker 1: wasn't so hard. We appreciate your cooperation. We just need
Speaker 1: your help right now. We need all the intel we
Speaker 1: can get. Fine, But it don't seem like you're asking
Speaker 1: for my That dog of yours, he was pretty messed up, Griff.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of blood. He's a meaning sile bit sheriff.
Speaker 1: But he's a good dog. He had to sedate him.
Speaker 1: That's probably for the best. I have caging, and I
Speaker 1: don't want him to getting fights and hurt animals or
Speaker 1: people or anything. When's the last time he got into
Speaker 1: a fight. Hell, I don't know. He got loose, He
Speaker 1: got loose, and then he just came back all torn up. Yeah. Hell,
Speaker 1: that dog's face looks like ground beef. Like. I don't
Speaker 1: know what to tell you, Kirby. Those kids broke the
Speaker 1: law and not me. They were trespassing on my goddamn property,
Speaker 1: all right, my property. Now, what happened to them is
Speaker 1: a real tragedy, and I feel for their mom and daddy.
Speaker 1: If that ain't no excuse to go violating my right,
Speaker 1: how exactly are your right to being violated? I'm being
Speaker 1: held against my will? No, No, you're not. Did I
Speaker 1: or anybody else read you your rights that we tell
Speaker 1: you that you were under arrest? Are you saying I'm
Speaker 1: afraid to go? Griff? We have two boys found dead
Speaker 1: on your property. Now, all I ever asked for was
Speaker 1: your help. But you kept a dog that you knew
Speaker 1: to be vicious. That's on you. There are regulations in
Speaker 1: this county for keeping dangerous dogs, and from the looks
Speaker 1: of it, you failed to follow them. That makes you liable.
Speaker 1: You understand it turns out that your dog was involved
Speaker 1: in the death of these boys. Well that is manslaughter.
Speaker 1: Am I free to go? Yes or no? Sheriff Hooper,
Speaker 1: let Crift go easy? Yes? Too easy? But seemed to
Speaker 1: me he should have been their prime suspect to get
Speaker 1: my fucking dog back. Griff Washington was later convicted of
Speaker 1: several felonies for running a dogfighting operation, animal cruelty, and
Speaker 1: operating a kennel without a license, though the Corps wentn't
Speaker 1: easy on him there too. He got slap with the fine.
Speaker 1: But that was about it. And here's the problem. Some
Speaker 1: of the dogs DNA was near the scene of the
Speaker 1: Hadley brothers bodies. There was also a piece of evidence
Speaker 1: that was never accounted for, red wolf fibers found under
Speaker 1: Thomas Hadley's fingernails, indicating a violent struggle. Maybe Griff Washington's
Speaker 1: dog had a red collar on or something, but if
Speaker 1: it did, the red collar was never found. So where
Speaker 1: did the red wolf come from? What happened? If the
Speaker 1: shareful phil Griff go? It seemed clear to me and
Speaker 1: others that we needed a medical examiner to do an
Speaker 1: autopsy because a corner had no medical experience. Corners are
Speaker 1: elected officials and a man of wat They're not even
Speaker 1: required to have medical training. Yet he was the only
Speaker 1: one that could order an autopsy. Pretty politically convenient, ain't now? Anyway?
Speaker 1: They looked like stamp wounds to me. What the actual fuck? Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I told Cooper he was investigating the wrong goddamn species.
Speaker 1: We didn't need animal control, we needed a homicide detective.
Speaker 1: But even then, Hooper didn't want the Tennessee Bureau of
Speaker 1: Investigation involved, so he didn't invite them. And why not
Speaker 1: he was up for reelection. It was a perception thing
Speaker 1: TBI involved UC would make Hooper look weak, like he
Speaker 1: wasn't capable of handling local affairs. He needed to be
Speaker 1: the hero. That's ironic. Takes more than just experience and
Speaker 1: qualification to be the sheriff. You also have to have
Speaker 1: the backing of the right people, the powers that be.
Speaker 1: What do you mean you can't get elected sheriff to
Speaker 1: Maniwa County without the endorsement of the first Baptist Church.
Speaker 1: Delivering on a case like this was only sure fireaway
Speaker 1: Hooper could guarantee his reelection, and between you and me,
Speaker 1: Reverend Perkins had already made up his mind on who
Speaker 1: the killer was. Faith is not the absent of fear. No,
Speaker 1: our faith thrives in spite of fear. We like God's
Speaker 1: candle despite the darkness. I know, I know, fear and
Speaker 1: doubt creep in because there's more to it, isn't there?
Speaker 1: And it's hard to not assume the worst. That the
Speaker 1: devil has been living amongst us all this time. Well,
Speaker 1: I have news for you. He has. He has been
Speaker 1: living among us, and he is still here. Sheriff Hooper
Speaker 1: was in attendance that day, and I can only imagine
Speaker 1: that as the congregation of the First Baptist Church clung
Speaker 1: to the Reverence Guide in words, Hooper was plotting this
Speaker 1: next move even though I walked through the valley of
Speaker 1: the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil. Did
Speaker 1: you get that the Lord is my shepherd? David wrote
Speaker 1: these words because he himself was once a shepherd, and
Speaker 1: David understood that we are also sheep, and like sheep,
Speaker 1: we two need a shepherd. Even though Sheriff Hooper had
Speaker 1: refused to call into the TBI, there was one man
Speaker 1: he thought could help a shepherd. If you will to
Speaker 1: think like a killer to catch a killer, I looked
Speaker 1: up Detective Solomon Swallow. Put yourself in their shoes. He
Speaker 1: was something of a celebrity detective, and he was featured
Speaker 1: in an interview on a true I'm show called shadowy
Speaker 1: death's drive to paint the accused as a monster, something
Speaker 1: not human. But do monsters exist? Of course, monsters exist.
Speaker 1: Without monsters, there are no victims, no prosecutions, no defenses,
Speaker 1: no justice. They have to be monsters, because without them
Speaker 1: we only have ourselves to blame for our suffering. Smith
Speaker 1: was a long man from Atlanta. He landed in the
Speaker 1: national spotlight back in nineteen ninety five when Jennifer Fowler,
Speaker 1: a nineteen year old college student, was found naked and
Speaker 1: dead in a public park near the Atlanta's Zoo, just
Speaker 1: a few months before the ninety six in Earlands were
Speaker 1: said to begin. There. The world was watching closely, and
Speaker 1: the pressure was on to keep the face of the
Speaker 1: New South blemish free. It certainly couldn't be seen as
Speaker 1: a gang infested crime zone played by racial disparities, suburban decay,
Speaker 1: and neglected parks where nineteen year old white girls could
Speaker 1: be found raped, murdered and dumped with no explanation, no recourse,
Speaker 1: and no justice, No fucking way. Chapter two. This is
Speaker 1: from the true crime novel Murder in the Park by
Speaker 1: Douglas Burger. Jennifer Fowler had been in the city for
Speaker 1: less than a month, she was found faced down in
Speaker 1: the Red Clay a few blocks from the Zone three
Speaker 1: police precinct. The buzz at the APD was that they
Speaker 1: needed to be out in front of this. They needed
Speaker 1: a clear and direct display of strength, efficiency, and intelligence.
Speaker 1: Entered Detective Solomon Smith. He was specifically good at understanding
Speaker 1: how a killer thinks and deriving motive from the evidence,
Speaker 1: and his predictions about a killer's neck move were spot on.
Speaker 1: He knew that in cases like Jennifer Fowler's, the perpetrator
Speaker 1: would often revisit the scene of the crime, perhaps trying
Speaker 1: to relive the moment, the passion, the excitement, perhaps taking
Speaker 1: pleasure in the power trip of standing close enough that
Speaker 1: he could watch the cops scratch their heads. Solomon also
Speaker 1: knew that murder is an intimate act. If you think
Speaker 1: about it, it's probably one of the most intense human
Speaker 1: experiences that can be shared by two people, and not
Speaker 1: just in the instant of the actual killing. The relationship
Speaker 1: that develops between a killer and a victim is complex.
Speaker 1: Just think of the proximity, the extremity of the circumstances
Speaker 1: that the victim and the killer navigate together. Think of
Speaker 1: the negotiations the expectations and disappointments, the lies, deceptions, manipulations,
Speaker 1: the power plays, and the pleas. Not to mention the
Speaker 1: physicality of murder itself. The energy and effort required, especially
Speaker 1: in strangulation, would apparently take a tremendous amount of strength
Speaker 1: at commitment. Smith was right. Jennifer Fowler's killer did come
Speaker 1: back to the scene of the crime. Detective Smith was
Speaker 1: already thinking like the killer. He took his time surveying
Speaker 1: the crowd, the onlookers, especially the men, especially the ones
Speaker 1: who were alone, especially the one across the street, sitting
Speaker 1: in his green Volkswagen for an hour watching the post
Speaker 1: mortem indicated that Jennifer had died at approximately four forty
Speaker 1: eight am, and because there was indication of a struggle,
Speaker 1: the body hadn't been moved. Smith awoke at three am
Speaker 1: with an idea. He had a newborn at home and
Speaker 1: a regular sleep was impossible, so before dawn he would
Speaker 1: drive to Grant Park and from four thirty to five
Speaker 1: thirty he'd sit parked three blocks from the spot where
Speaker 1: Jennifer's body was found. He did this for six weeks,
Speaker 1: every morning, sitting with his thernis of coffee, a beau
Speaker 1: Jangle's chicken biscuit and the Atlantic Constitution waiting. It was
Speaker 1: near enough to the zoo you could hear the lions
Speaker 1: roar as the sky grew lighter, and soon enough there
Speaker 1: it was, that green seventy six Volkswagon. The driver could
Speaker 1: have been innocent, a resident of the neighborhood, But then
Speaker 1: he stepped out of his car and walked hesitantly to
Speaker 1: the exact spot where Jennifer was found. He just stood there,
Speaker 1: staring at the ground. Solomon ran the plates. The owner
Speaker 1: of the car was Richard Rydell. He was a maintenance
Speaker 1: man at Jennifer's college. It took time to get a
Speaker 1: warrant to search Rydell's car. He played by the rules,
Speaker 1: and because he built a bulletproof case, the prosecution got
Speaker 1: an easy conviction and Ridell got the death penalty. Mister Rydell,
Speaker 1: can you tell us why what made you want to
Speaker 1: take Jennifer Fowler's life that day? A won't I answer
Speaker 1: all your questions? Go on? I just had to. In
Speaker 1: other circumstances, Solomon and Jennifer Fowler's grandfather, William Fowler, would
Speaker 1: have been unlikely. Friends. Have you reached the desk of
Speaker 1: Detective Solomon Smith. I will return your call at my
Speaker 1: earliest convenience. If this is an emergency, dial nine one one.
Speaker 1: What Adiam Fowler here? I wanted to let you know
Speaker 1: that I sent a package I enjoyed. I talk about
Speaker 1: meat smoking, and I said you some apple wood chips
Speaker 1: from my property for you to experiment with it. Now.
Speaker 1: This particular wood is over a century old. It's from
Speaker 1: a tree that got struck by lightning. Happened right around
Speaker 1: Jenny was taken. Big storm came through. Jenny used to
Speaker 1: call that a devil's prank, like when two events running parallel,
Speaker 1: Like like when you wake up with a song in
Speaker 1: your in your head and then you hear it on
Speaker 1: the radio or you or you think of somebody hadn't
Speaker 1: thought of it in a long while, and then they
Speaker 1: call maybe a coincidence. But I'm comforted by the idea
Speaker 1: that Lord works in mysterious ways. I'm digression, I guess anyway, Detective,
Speaker 1: Please let me know if you hear anything about when
Speaker 1: the execution date is set for. I tried to call
Speaker 1: the day's Alvius down there, but nobody seems to be
Speaker 1: able to answer. All right, dear take care of Detective.
Speaker 1: Perhaps Grandpa Fowler felt in debted Solomon Smith, who had
Speaker 1: given him the only semblance of closure he would ever have.
Speaker 1: Following the violent murder of his precious granddaughter, Solomon hunted
Speaker 1: Jennifer Fowler's killer, caught him, and attended Ridell's execution three
Speaker 1: years later. He would receive a card from Fowler every
Speaker 1: year after that, not on Jennifer's birthday or even on
Speaker 1: the anniversary of her death, but to commemorate the anniversary
Speaker 1: of Richard Rydell's execution, as if that was the event
Speaker 1: that some bolically solidified and consecrated their relationship. And after
Speaker 1: Ridal's execution, the two men never spoke again in person.
Speaker 1: So it was quite a shock when Solomon received a
Speaker 1: letter from the attorney of Fowler's of State explaining that
Speaker 1: mister Fowler had died and left his house and property
Speaker 1: in Manowa County entirely to him. It was dilapidated, sagging roof,
Speaker 1: busted pipes, chipped in whether it's side, and the Christmas
Speaker 1: Tree farm had been abandoned, and the trees had grown
Speaker 1: to thirty feet tall in perfect rows. In two thousand
Speaker 1: and seven, the house wasn't worth the dirt it was
Speaker 1: built on. At the time, Manoel County had a population
Speaker 1: of only sixteen thousand, mostly white, poor, and Christian. Solomon
Speaker 1: was a black Metropolitan cop who had lost his faith
Speaker 1: in God. Despite this, Solomon quit the Atlanta Police Department,
Speaker 1: sold his home, and moved to this isolated farmhouse in
Speaker 1: Maniwa County, leaving behind his career, his church, his friends,
Speaker 1: and his wife. He took with him the only meigroup
Speaker 1: possessions he could shove into his gmc acadia, a few
Speaker 1: changes of close fishing gear and a shotgun. But Atlanta,
Speaker 1: Georgia or Manowa County, Tennessee, Solomon had his own set
Speaker 1: of personal demons he couldn't escape. They stuck with him,
Speaker 1: haunted him. He needed to set things right in order
Speaker 1: to be freed from them, and he did that by
Speaker 1: coming on board to solve to have the Boys case.
Speaker 1: Manowa County had experienced occasional homicides like once every couple
Speaker 1: of years, usually drug related myth Most of my calls
Speaker 1: were land disputes, domestic violence, bar brawl, stupid ship. The
Speaker 1: Hadley murders were in a category all their own own.
Speaker 1: So how does Soloma Smith get involved? Now I was
Speaker 1: actually the one who suggested it. I knew Solomon had
Speaker 1: moved to town, and well, Hooper was out of his league,
Speaker 1: and he knew it. So we approached him. Approached him.
Speaker 1: He didn't have a landline or nothing, so we just
Speaker 1: drove out there, knocked on his door and ask him.
Speaker 1: He said no at first. How did you get him
Speaker 1: to agree? Well, we played him the audio retrieved from
Speaker 1: Deacon Hadley's cell phone. It's hard to make out, but
Speaker 1: you can clearly hear Deacon talking to someone right before
Speaker 1: he gets murdered, talking to someone, yes, pleading for his life.
Speaker 1: It was pretty gruesome. Thomas Charms Armers just somewhere, hell,
Speaker 1: help me, help me? Oh man, why are you just
Speaker 1: standing there? How could you do it? Wait? Wait wait,
Speaker 1: wait wait wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, I'm pleasing, please,
Speaker 1: I'm never, I'm never. Just let me go and just slipping.
Speaker 1: So I decided to drive out here to the old
Speaker 1: fowl of State. The county record showed the Solomon Smith
Speaker 1: as the last owner of record. It's been empty since
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. The yard is overgrown with high
Speaker 1: grass and brush. Some of the windows they are busted.
Speaker 1: Looks like they're still furniture in there, doors boarded up.
Speaker 1: No trespassing violators will be prosecuted. Danger there's properties condemned.
Speaker 1: In two thousand and seven, Detective Solomon Smith was deputized,
Speaker 1: and he and Sheriff Kirby, who performed an unlikely partnership.
Speaker 1: They were like complimentary opposites. One was an insider and
Speaker 1: one was an outsider. One was out of his league
Speaker 1: and the other one was out of his element. And
Speaker 1: Manoua County needed Solomon every bit as much as Solomon
Speaker 1: needed Maniwa County. But it was no coincidence that he
Speaker 1: ended up here. Devil's Pranks something William Fowler's granddaughter Jennifer
Speaker 1: talked about before her life was taken. I guess the
Speaker 1: Devil's prank is like a passive acknowledgement from the universe
Speaker 1: that everything is connected, that it's all meant to be.
Speaker 1: Or maybe it's just God's way of calling our attention
Speaker 1: to the little things like That's cute, but I don't
Speaker 1: think so. I don't think Solomon was simply in the
Speaker 1: right place at the right time. No. I think maybe
Speaker 1: he was summoned and on the some level deep down
Speaker 1: in his psyche. He knew I had to know inheriting
Speaker 1: Fowler's land moving to Manowa County. That's too neat to
Speaker 1: be a coincident. Well, look who it is, Duly tappered again.
Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't say the sign no trashpasser, my bad, Dully, yup,
Speaker 1: I just saw the signs there on the porch. Don't worry,
Speaker 1: I'm leaving m say, Duly, I'm curious. What do you
Speaker 1: think this property is worth. I don't believe it for sale.
Speaker 1: That's a shame. It could be a great fixer upper.
Speaker 1: Oh and I'm heading back to my motel now, in
Speaker 1: case you wanted to know, I thought i'd save you
Speaker 1: the trouble following me there. God damn smart ass. Solomon Smith.
Speaker 1: I'd never seen people around here treated black man with
Speaker 1: so much respect. He was kind of a celebrity cop,
Speaker 1: and he caught the man who killed Jennifer. Jennifer Fowler,
Speaker 1: you knew her. We were in grade school together. I
Speaker 1: knew Richard too. Richard Rydell, What do you mean? Well,
Speaker 1: he was a janitor, worked at Carter Riddell worked at
Speaker 1: Carter High. Yeah, you didn't know that Richard Rydell was
Speaker 1: from Manawak County. He was from Here, a Ghost in
Speaker 1: the Mire and the Hounds of Hell Dancing in Dancing
Speaker 1: the Manowat Caves stars Jonathan Tucker as Juliet Salis, Eddie
Speaker 1: Gathegy as James Fincher, Clark Peters as Detective Solomon Smith,
Speaker 1: Nick Sercy as Sheriff Kirby Hooper, Justin Wellborn as Tyler Wilson,
Speaker 1: Jill Jane Clements as Jill Campbell, Brad Carter as Dooley Apart,
Speaker 1: Scott Poythress as Reverend Perkins, Samantha Ashley as Dena Fincher,
Speaker 1: Justin Matthews Smith as Paul Salis, Tara Oakes as Laura Salis,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Horn as Deacon Hadley, Alden Kronovitch as Thomas Hadley,
Speaker 1: Mike w Anderson as Griff Washington, Bodie Walter Roth as
Speaker 1: Jimmy Fincher, Brian McClure as Ian Spinks, Larry Clark as
Speaker 1: Bobby Hadley, Peyton Fallis as ed le Blanc, Vic Polisis
Speaker 1: as William Fowler, Nick Dakosky as Richard Rydell, and Aileen
Speaker 1: moy as The Darkness, with additional performances by Clint McGown,
Speaker 1: Dina Dill, Edward Howard, Henry Foster Brown, Jamie Joseph, Juan Monsalvez,
Speaker 1: Christopher Curry, Bailey Hyneman, David Mitchell, and Bernard Satara Clark.
Speaker 1: Created by Connell Byrne and Dan Bush. Written by Dan Push,
Speaker 1: Zoe Cooper and Nicholas Dakoski, featuring our theme song Killer Inside,
Speaker 1: written produced and performed by Lea Lynn. Our executive producers
Speaker 1: are Matt Frederick, Alexander Williams, Michael Monty, and Courtney Dufrees.
Speaker 1: Our executive producers at Blumhouse Television are Jeremy Gold, Chris Dickey,
Speaker 1: and Noah Feinberg. Produced by Dan Bush, music by Ben Lovett,
Speaker 1: Additional music by Alexander Rodriguez. This episode features the song
Speaker 1: Darlin Corey, performed by Helena Rose. Edited by Dan Bush,
Speaker 1: Chris Childs, Stephen Perez and David Chen. Sound design by
Speaker 1: Benjamin Malcolm. Additional sound designed by Alexander Rodriguez. Dialogue editing
Speaker 1: and sound mixing by wand Campus. Recorded at Studio Awesome
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, SoundBite Studio in Atlanta, and Echo Mountain
Speaker 1: in Asheville. Casting by Sunday Bowling. Kennedy and Meg Warner.
Speaker 1: Our dialect coach is Linda Thessist Assistant director, Michael Monte
Speaker 1: second assistant director, script supervisor and production coordinator. Sarah Klein
Speaker 1: supervising ser Josh Thing Special thanks to Mary Ellen and
Speaker 1: Jason Davis, Jonathan Deeter, and Joe Rickman. Manoa Caves is
Speaker 1: a production of iHeart Radio, Blumhouse Television, and Psycopia Pictures.