1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson. I'm a journalist who's spent the 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: last twenty five years writing about true crime. 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 2: And I'm Paul Hols, a retired cold case investigator who's 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,439 Speaker 2: worked some of America's most complicated cases and solve them. 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: Each week, I present Paul with one of history's most 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: compelling true crimes. 7 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 2: And I weigh in using modern forensic techniques to bring 8 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 2: new insights to old mysteries. 9 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: Together, using our individual expertise, we're examining historical true crime 10 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: cases through a twenty first century lens. 11 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 2: Some are solved and some are cold, very cold. 12 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: This is buried Bones. 13 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 2: Hey, Paul, Hi, Kate, how are you. 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: I'm doing well? How about you? 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 2: I am I'm hanging in there. Maybe better than hanging 16 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 2: in there. 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: Hey, that's an improvement. I feel like we pretty much 18 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: stick with hanging in there, So that's good. 19 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 2: Yeah. 20 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: Well, I want to ask you questions. So this case 21 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: that we're getting ready to talk about, the case appears 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: in a book written by the most prolific I think 23 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: author certainly true crime author of all time and rule 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: oh I know, and who wrote a book called Most 25 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: Dangerous Killers. And this case pops up in that book. 26 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: So number one, have you read any and Rule? Is 27 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: one of my big questions. 28 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 2: I think the one and Rule book I've read, I 29 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 2: believe it was called Stranger Beside Me, who was about 30 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 2: her relationship with Ted Bundy. Yeah, but I am familiar 31 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 2: with Anne Rule, you know, to a point. But I 32 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 2: don't think I haven't extensively read her. 33 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: I actually haven't either, and I should just because she's 34 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: such an icon. So, you know, this case appears in 35 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: the book, and it got me wondering, do you ever 36 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: read any of the books about the cases that you've covered? 37 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: Like paul I kid you not. I can't even keep 38 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: track of how many Golden State Killer, both before and 39 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: after Joseph DiAngelo books there are. Did you even read 40 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: I'll Be Gone in the Dark. 41 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 2: No, But that's that's more complicated because of my close 42 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 2: relationship with Michelle, you know, I just have not been 43 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 2: able to bring myself to read it just because it 44 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,239 Speaker 2: would bring up, you know, memories. But when it comes 45 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 2: to true crime, I used to voraciously read true crime 46 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 2: early on in my career, and I considered it part 47 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 2: of my studies. And then as I got more and 48 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 2: more invested, in my own cases. You know, I just 49 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 2: couldn't continue to consume other cases. I had to focus in. 50 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 2: And then when you think about something like Golden State Killer, 51 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 2: when I really focused in on that case, that case, 52 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 2: with all the cases associated with that series, we had 53 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 2: over fifteen thousand pages of case file. Imagine reading a 54 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 2: novel that's fifteen thousand pages long and any detail within 55 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 2: those pages or something that could turn the case. So 56 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 2: I couldn't be distracted by other people's stories, so to speak. 57 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that makes sense. And you know, you 58 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: and I had been talking a while back about Zodiac 59 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: and how you had worked to the Zodiac case, and 60 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: we will get into that at another time, but how 61 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: you had worked the Zodiac case and had actually read 62 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: Robert Graysmith's book, who was the journalist who well, I 63 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: would say cartoonists who arguably worked the case also, so 64 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: you are reading those kinds of books. 65 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, that was during that era, early on in my career. 66 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 2: And of course, you know, being in the Bay Area 67 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 2: was very familiar as Zodiac before you even started working 68 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 2: the case. In fact, on my commute sometimes I would 69 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 2: have to take a side road which was Lake Herman Road, 70 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 2: and that was where his first attack occurred, you know. 71 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 2: And then subsequently I got involved with the case. I 72 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 2: did go to every crime scene of his and then 73 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 2: actually did a TV show way back when like twenty 74 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 2: ten called Mystery Quest or myself one of these online 75 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 2: sleuts who I had never met prior to this, went 76 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 2: to each of the crime scenes and at all but 77 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 2: the presidio shooting, we had original investigators from the agencies 78 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 2: show up and you know, walk us through, and that 79 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,799 Speaker 2: was there's a show that I'm in with the Zodiac. 80 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: Wow. And so you read that book. Did you come 81 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: away with any insights from that book that you had 82 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: not known digging into your own files and getting all 83 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: of the information that you had gathered in the mid nineties. 84 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 2: Well, you know, the book itself I read before I 85 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 2: really did any work on the Zodiac case. And so 86 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 2: a lot of my original information on Zodiac came from 87 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 2: Gray Smith's books. As I got involved with the case 88 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 2: and met with several of the agencies, as well as 89 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 2: found files within my crime lab because there had been 90 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 2: evidence submitted from Zodiac back in the seventies to my lab, 91 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 2: so I had access to forensics reports and stuff. You know. 92 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 2: I started to get you know, official information about Zodiac 93 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 2: and you know, and that's where when you look at 94 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 2: a true crime book, you always have to understand sort 95 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:32,720 Speaker 2: of maybe the journalistic integrity of the person that's writing 96 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 2: the book and they what materials are relying on, you know, 97 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 2: to have you know, is it factual? Is there a 98 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 2: lot of supposition? You know? And then also you like 99 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 2: with with Gracemith's book, it's also well who is he 100 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 2: and evaluating his investigative abilities. You know, he may have 101 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 2: had a decent aptitude, but what was his experience, you know, 102 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 2: and taking a look at things and evaluating circumstantial evidence. 103 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 2: Had he worked other cases, had he run across similar 104 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 2: types of suspects, because he does, you know, focus in 105 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 2: on a particular suspect in his books. And that's where 106 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 2: somebody like myself, as I'm reading and rereading his material, 107 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 2: I end up recognizing, Okay, he doesn't necessarily have full 108 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:23,239 Speaker 2: comprehension of how to build a case that is based 109 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 2: on factual information and having a nexus to the actual 110 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,039 Speaker 2: crimes themselves. And that I see this a lot with 111 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 2: some of the online sluice. 112 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 1: So you are too busy now to read books, not 113 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: even my books. You can't even take the time to read. 114 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 1: Is that what's happening? You can't even read my books? 115 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 2: Look, you're giving me a guilt trip. 116 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: What about the audiobook, Paul? You know I do read 117 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: my own audiobooks, So that's any incentive. 118 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I have not I haven't read. 119 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: I haven't read as if you don't listen to me enough. Yeah, 120 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 1: I understand taking a break. Well, this is a case, 121 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: as I said, from Anne Rule, and so we do 122 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: quote her book, which is really insightful I think in 123 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: some parts. So let's jump in. This is a very 124 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: very contemporary case, mid nineteen seventies, I mean, okay, twentieth century. 125 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: Here we go. 126 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, well this is this is you know, the decade 127 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 2: that I probably did the most work in. 128 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: Okay, well this will be interesting. So we're in Washington State, 129 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: and let's set the scene. So let's talk about the 130 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: couple who will be our focus. It's a couple named 131 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: Ruth and Tony Fernandez. And let's talk about how they met. 132 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: So I'm not going to talk about who the victim 133 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: is if there is a victim in this case. Okay, 134 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: I want to set the intention that we're going to 135 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: get to know them as a couple and know what 136 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: their background is like, and then kind of moving forward, 137 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: we can put some pieces together. So they met in 138 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one. She was forty two Ruth and she 139 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: was Ruth log not Ruth Nan does just yet. She 140 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: was widowed after the death of her husband in nineteen 141 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: sixty six, so she had been single for about five years. 142 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: She had two adult children and she wanted to downsize 143 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: because they were out of the house. She was in Auburn, Washington. 144 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: She put her house up for sale, and in nineteen 145 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: seventy one, this man who was good looking and very charming, 146 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: pulls up in a Cadillac, knocks on the door. He says, 147 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm interested in buying your house. She said, okay, 148 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: I'll give you a tour. He introduces himself as doctor 149 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: Anthony Fernandez, but he says you can call me Tony. 150 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: He's forty eight, so just about six years older than 151 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: she is. He is divorced, and he has a counseling 152 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: clinic nearby. So he's a psychologist and he wants a 153 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: house because he needs to commute pretty easily back and 154 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,839 Speaker 1: forth between his home and his work at this counseling center. 155 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: So Ruth is charmed immediately. He is good looking, he 156 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,839 Speaker 1: seems very kind, and he says, let's go to dinner 157 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: and talk about the house, which is an interesting ruse, 158 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: and she says okay, and they have such a great time. 159 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: They start dating and she pulls the house off the 160 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: market and they check up. He moves in. This is 161 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: a very quick relationship. You know, she is taken by him. 162 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: And for me, I mean, there's nothing wrong with jumping 163 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: into relationships. I have done that myself and they have 164 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: ended fine. But they have ended. But when we are 165 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: talking about a true crime case, I think that alarm 166 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: bells should go off that you are jumping into a 167 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: relationship with someone that you might not know very well 168 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: and that could make either one of them vulnerable. Frankly, well, you. 169 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 2: Know, I right off the bat, I'm kind of guessing 170 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 2: where this is potentially going in terms of one way 171 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 2: or the other. There are peers. You know, this very 172 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 2: short term or short dating relationship, and now you have 173 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 2: Tony moving in. You know, in some ways you start 174 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 2: thinking about my mind is going towards okay? Is he 175 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 2: is he sort of a con man? Is he finding 176 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 2: a vulnerable woman, you know, that appears to have some 177 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 2: financial assets, and you know, is he going around and 178 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 2: hitting open houses and meeting women and finding the one 179 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 2: that's going to be the you know, the one that 180 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 2: he can exploit. But no, I'll see how this develops. 181 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: That sounds like an interesting scheme, hitting open houses and 182 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: meeting women. Yeah, that would make sense. Well, we don't 183 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: know just yet, but when they get involved with each other. 184 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 1: He has all sorts of assets that he has talked 185 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: to her about. He has timber holdings, he's got this 186 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: counseling practice. He has a nice car. She is worth 187 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: several hundred thousand dollars, which, by the way, is a 188 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: couple of million today. I am in denial that money 189 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: from the year I was born seventy four would be 190 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: worth a couple of hundred thousand dollars, would be worth 191 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: almost two million dollars today. But that's what the world, 192 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: what web tells me. So she's worth quite a lot 193 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,959 Speaker 1: of money, and you know, he is seemingly smitten with her. 194 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: They seem to have a good relationship. Her family does 195 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: not like Tony, not one little bit. They do some 196 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: surface level digging and they look in local newspaper archives. 197 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: You know, this is the seventies. They work really hard. 198 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: There's no internet, so they work really hard and start 199 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 1: digging in, and they see that he's been involved in 200 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 1: some fraud lawsuits and he was in prison for fraud. 201 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: And we could talk about a little bit more about 202 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: that in a little bit. I'm trying to build a 203 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: picture here of Tony. He seems successful right now, and 204 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: they seem to be in a pretty good relationship. Her 205 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: family goes to Ruth and says, listen, I don't know 206 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: this guy. You know, I know that he has this 207 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,560 Speaker 1: counseling practice. I know he has this in that, but 208 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,959 Speaker 1: he's had these lawsuits. And she says, bug off, I 209 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: already know. I don't care. It's fine, And Rule the 210 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: author says her impression was that Ruth was somebody who 211 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: believed in second chances, and she was not going to 212 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: not be with this man who was treating her very 213 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: well just because he had this sort of dubious past. 214 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: Just because he's been convicted of fraud doesn't mean he's violent. 215 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 1: And so I don't want you to jump to conclusions 216 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: just yet, but what do we think about the fraud charges? 217 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: And lawsuits and all of this. 218 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 2: Well, I think you know, of course, you have to consider, 219 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 2: you know, what does this mean about who Tony really is? 220 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know this could be 221 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 2: something wherein you know, select occupations. You know, you can 222 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 2: have people accuse you of certain types of crimes or 223 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 2: civil actions, and now you're having to defend your name 224 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 2: and you're completely innocent. So at this point you know 225 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 2: the fraud aspect without knowing any more, I'm just going, okay, 226 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 2: you know he has had some legal stuff going on 227 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 2: in the past. I mean, I believe you brought up 228 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 2: that he had been in prison, and of course I'd 229 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 2: like to know what he was in prison for, and 230 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:04,959 Speaker 2: I'm sure you'll tell me at some point. 231 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: Yes, and involves fraud, so at least it's not violent, 232 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: but it does put Tony in a pretty bad light. Here, 233 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: a couple of things start to happen that make her 234 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: family really nervous. First of all, of course, she marries 235 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: him very quickly, so they had only been together for 236 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: ten months. They get married in January of nineteen seventy two, 237 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: and you know, this for them is sort of head 238 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: snapping too fast. Her estate had been in her will 239 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: left to her two daughters, Kathleen and Susan. She changes 240 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 1: the will and now everything goes to Tony. This is 241 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: not a big surprise, you know. I mean, I know 242 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: that happens when people get married. But the young women 243 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: who are her daughters are incredibly alarmed by all sorts 244 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: of things, and I think they just think he's a 245 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: sleazy guy. But Ruth can't see it now. I was 246 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: actually just having a conversation with two of my closest 247 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: friends about this a couple of weeks ago. When you 248 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: have a friend who is involved with somebody, a man 249 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: or a woman who you just don't like, and they 250 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: break up and then you say, oh, that guy was 251 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: the worst or she was terrible to you, and then 252 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,359 Speaker 1: they get back together and then they create this distance. 253 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: So I think that this is a fine line for 254 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: Kathleen and Susan, her daughters, who are trying not to, 255 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: you know, create this big problem between them and their mother. 256 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: But at the same time, you know, what do you 257 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 1: do if you're really scared that your mother is jumping 258 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: into a relationship that could potentially I don't think they 259 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: think this is going to end in death, but could 260 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 1: potentially ruin her financially. I don't know what the answer is, 261 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: and I don't know if you do either, But what 262 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: do you do? 263 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 2: It's a tough situation because you think about this, this 264 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 2: phrase blinded by love. The family members they are possibly 265 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 2: seeing very clearly the type of man Tony is. But 266 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 2: Ruth is head over heels for Tony and she's liking 267 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 2: the way he's treating her and would be in denial 268 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 2: if any family members or friends come up to her 269 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 2: and say, hey, I've got some concerns, and she basically 270 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 2: would be in that well, bug off. You know. I 271 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 2: love him, you know, and you're misinterpreting who he is. 272 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: And I think it's difficult because right now, Tony hasn't 273 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: done anything wrong that we know of. You know, of course, 274 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,120 Speaker 1: Ruth could be keeping secrets. They've been married for now, 275 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: let's say about a year or so, and we can 276 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: talk about Tony's background. We don't know a lot about 277 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: his childhood, but he was born in Washington State in 278 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty one. He seems legitimate from early on. So 279 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen fifties, when he is in his 280 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: mid to late twenties, he becomes active in Washington and 281 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: Oregon's timber industry. So remember I said he had timber holdings, 282 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: He had a lot of success. By the time he 283 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: was thirty one, he was running a company. He had 284 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: a big house with a bunch of cars. And at 285 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: this point Tony is married with four children, and he's 286 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:02,239 Speaker 1: on his local city council, well respected in his community. 287 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: But before long, I think the outlook of the community 288 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: on Tony's image is starting to go down. Because by 289 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen fifties, a thirteen year old girl accuses 290 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: Tony of what they called indecent liberties. Of course we 291 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: are going to say molestation here. He is eventually acquitted 292 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: of these alleged crimes by a judge. We don't have 293 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: a lot of details about this, Paul, We just know 294 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: he was accused and not convicted, not you know anything. 295 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: But this is becoming more serious. And I don't think 296 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: this is the stuff that her family was able to 297 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: dig up, because it sounds like it was dismissed. But 298 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: now things are becoming a lot more I think in 299 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: focus regarding Tony and kind of his criminal activity and 300 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: is certainly his morals. 301 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, you'd it'd be interesting to know exactly how the 302 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 2: accusation of these indecent liberties came to be. The parents 303 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 2: of the thirteen year old girl report this report Tony 304 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 2: to the police that the thirteen year old girl gives 305 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 2: some statements. The fact that it's dismissed. You think about 306 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,479 Speaker 2: this era in nineteen fifties. You know, they were so 307 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 2: lenient when it came to you know, child molestation, crimes 308 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,200 Speaker 2: against children, crimes against women during this time that if 309 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 2: they did not have, you know, some overwhelming case that 310 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 2: just appalled everybody, it likely is going to be either 311 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 2: reduced charges or dismissed. So it's hard to evaluate this dismissal. 312 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 2: Does that mean that he was falsely accused. I'm really 313 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,959 Speaker 2: needing to know more of the details about how that 314 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,680 Speaker 2: case progressed in order to say, oh, you know, he 315 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 2: had this Tony. He obviously had an issue in the 316 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,360 Speaker 2: fifties with this kid, So I wish. 317 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: We had a little bit more information on that. Also, 318 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 1: I think that even the accusation itself seems to have 319 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,719 Speaker 1: put him in a pretty bad light, and then it 320 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,120 Speaker 1: gets worse in a different way. A couple of years later, 321 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: he is accused of logging in areas that he has 322 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: no authorization to be in. And then it sounds like 323 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: he has swindled buyers of land by offering to sell 324 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 1: logging sites that he doesn't actually own. So here comes 325 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,199 Speaker 1: the fraud. He's accused of taking advantage of landowners also 326 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: by having them sign contracts that were blank. And according 327 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: to these folks, these accusers of his, the contracts would 328 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: be fraudulently filled in as if the landowners had agreed 329 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,879 Speaker 1: to hand this over. Now, as an aside, I'm not 330 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: sure why you would sign a blank contract, but it 331 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: sounds like this was something he was doing. So he 332 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 1: would rip off buyers and he would rip off sellers 333 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: at the same time. So this is where some of 334 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: the frog comes in. It just seems like Tony's character 335 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,439 Speaker 1: has really been in question for now. It looks like 336 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: about twenty years or so. 337 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 2: Sure, you know, with the accusation of the sexual assault 338 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 2: on the thirteen old, I'd say with there's smoke right, 339 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 2: most certainly there's smoke there. Now you have this fraud 340 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 2: and being able to get the individuals, the buyers and 341 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:17,159 Speaker 2: sellers to sign blank contracts. That's interesting. That sounds like 342 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 2: Tony was able to get these individuals to trust him 343 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 2: and say, hey, I can make this happen. I'll fill 344 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 2: in the details later, right, And because of his personality, 345 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:35,640 Speaker 2: he ingratiated himself enough to where these financial partners had 346 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 2: trust in him. He's also showing a level of greed 347 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 2: by committing this crime. And so now kind of extrapolating 348 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 2: up into Ruth, who's a wealthier single female who's was 349 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 2: trying to downsize from the house that she had. That 350 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 2: tells me that her house is probably larger, you know, 351 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 2: and he's recognizing that if he goes and sees this, 352 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 2: he's going, wow, you know, she has a really large house. Single. 353 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 2: You know, he's probably very adept at reading you know 354 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 2: the person and going likely has some larger bank accounts. 355 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 2: So I could see where now his personality, the charm 356 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,400 Speaker 2: can come out because he's now pursuing a greed aspect 357 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 2: with Ruth. That's how I'm starting to extrapolate from his 358 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 2: criminal history. 359 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: He definitely is motivated by money, it sounds like. And 360 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: remember I said he had four kids, he had a 361 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: very large house, flashy cars. I was driving around with 362 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: one of my girls the other night, and you know, 363 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: we were seeing a driveway that was just full of 364 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,160 Speaker 1: really expensive cars, and of course it's this massive house. 365 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: And one of my kids said, well, this is somebody 366 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: who obviously makes a lot of money, and I said, 367 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: I don't know, because you know, we, especially in our country, 368 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: we know people can completely overleverage every part of their lives. 369 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: And that's one of the things that I talked to 370 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: my kids about a lot financial literacy. You know, don't 371 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 1: spend more than you have. And so that reminded me 372 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,199 Speaker 1: of Tony as I was kind of reading up on 373 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: this last night. Your boy, appearances really do mask who 374 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: the person is, and this becomes a big problem for him. 375 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: He finally gets caught. There's a four year investigation in 376 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: this what Anne Rule calls a timber swindle, and he 377 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: is indicted in sixty two by a grand jury, federal 378 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: grand jury. He is convicted on seven counts of interstate 379 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: fraud and one count of conspiracy. He gets twelve years 380 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: in prison, but he's released on parole sometime around nineteen 381 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 1: seventy and then one year later, he shows up at 382 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: this lovely woman's house with a for sales sign in 383 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 1: the front yard and knocks on the door, but in 384 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: the meantime, his wife dumped him and divorced him. This 385 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: is kind of where we are. Ruth has met this man, 386 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: and she says she knows all about his history. 387 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 2: At least she thinks she knows all about his history. 388 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 2: He's maybe telling her something that is men what he 389 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 2: was truly doing. You know, we see this a lot 390 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 2: with registered sex offenders. You know, they go out and 391 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 2: they want to get into relationships again, and of course 392 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 2: it's public knowledge that they're sex offenders, and so their 393 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 2: new partner, potential partner could easily find out. And oftentimes 394 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 2: these guys who were convicted of you know, horrific rapes 395 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 2: are even worse. They say, oh, you know, I was 396 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 2: nineteen years old and I just got caught having sex 397 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 2: with an underaged minor type of thing. You know, so 398 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 2: they tried to try to minimize it to explain what 399 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,920 Speaker 2: their love interest if you want to call it, that 400 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,560 Speaker 2: potentially could find out down the road. So I would 401 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 2: imagine Tony is going to Ruth knowing that there's maybe 402 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 2: some public records or if anybody really digs into him, 403 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 2: that they will find out that he has this conviction 404 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 2: in this prison sentence, and so he's maybe saying, oh, well, yeah, 405 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 2: I had this, but you know, really it wasn't that 406 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 2: big of a deal. 407 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: And you know, I'm sure this accusation from the thirteen 408 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,440 Speaker 1: year old from his past that was dismissed by a judge. 409 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:05,360 Speaker 1: It's not in the newspapers, so this can't be something 410 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: I'm assuming that her kids dug up. Otherwise, I cannot 411 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,679 Speaker 1: see from what I know about Ruth, that doesn't seem 412 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: like something that she would, you know, stay with a 413 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: man knowing that there was even this accusation. I could 414 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: be wrong. It sounds like what they dug up was 415 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 1: the conviction, you know, the federal charges. The conviction and 416 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: that he was sentenced to twelve years is what they 417 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: brought to him. And who knows you're right, who knows 418 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: what he said to them? 419 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 2: Well, in the nineteen seventies, you think about actually going 420 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,359 Speaker 2: back to the indecent liberties with a thirteen year old. 421 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 2: You know, that probably didn't make a local newspaper. But 422 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,680 Speaker 2: if it did, which local newspaper did it make? Right? 423 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,520 Speaker 2: You know, they would have to go from library to 424 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:52,199 Speaker 2: library and to see if they could find something. And 425 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 2: so it was so different back then than what we 426 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 2: have today by you know, on the keyboard and the 427 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,719 Speaker 2: online searching capabilities. You know, when you say that he 428 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 2: was convicted of like seven I think you said seven 429 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 2: interstate fraud charges. 430 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 1: Seven counts of interstate fraud and one count of conspiracy. 431 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: I don't know the difference. 432 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 2: Well, the conspiracy indicates that he is he's got another 433 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 2: maybe another partner in this that may have been brought 434 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 2: up in some charges. But what's catching my attention is 435 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 2: the fact that these were interstate fraud and so I'm 436 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 2: wondering if there was an FBI investigation and there you 437 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,880 Speaker 2: could have potentially when he's convicted out of the timber industry, 438 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,439 Speaker 2: maybe there are some headlines he had oh that weren't 439 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,879 Speaker 2: necessarily just in a local newspaper, but maybe in a 440 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:44,920 Speaker 2: more broadly distributed type of newspaper where it'd be much 441 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,120 Speaker 2: easier for the family to find this out. 442 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: Now, it would be easy now to pull up the complaints, 443 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: that charges, trial transcripts, any of that kind of saif 444 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: there's a plea deal, I guess it would not be 445 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: that difficult. Now, what would you do in the seventies 446 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: if you're just a citizen alone person and you find 447 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 1: out that this guy who's dating your mother went to 448 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:09,439 Speaker 1: prison for six years and was released. Where would you 449 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: go to get a transcript of whatever happened in the seventies. 450 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 2: You'd have to go to the courts. If it made 451 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,640 Speaker 2: the newspapers and you knew roughly where this crime occurred 452 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 2: and where the media had attention on this crime, then yeah, 453 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 2: you could go and maybe do newspaper searches from around 454 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 2: the date range that you think it possibly would have occurred. 455 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 2: But once you get the information as to you know, 456 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 2: what court he was tried in, now you can go 457 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 2: to that court and request the public records out of 458 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 2: that court, which could include the transcripts from the you know, 459 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 2: the court reporter taking material down, the various emotions. You know, 460 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 2: everything is kind of kept by the courts and their 461 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 2: public records, and to this day that's how you still 462 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 2: will do things. You can only get so much detail online. 463 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 2: You can go to let's say superior court website and 464 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 2: find out a docket number, you know, when the case occurred, 465 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 2: how it was disposed of, But to actually get the details, 466 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 2: that's where you'd go to the courts and request the records. 467 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: And I'm assuming that her daughters the rest of her 468 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 1: family thought these articles would be enough. Hey, mom, look 469 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: at this guy's background. Did you know that he had 470 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: just been released from prison a year before for ripping 471 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,879 Speaker 1: people off? And it sounds like she did know, or 472 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: at least she played it off like she did know 473 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: to not sort of, you know, embarrass him or embarrass her. 474 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: Let's talk about his credentials, because I said that he 475 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: opened up this counseling clinic that was not far from 476 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: Ruth's house. So when he was incarcerated, before he knew Ruth, 477 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: he did get an associate's degree through a to come 478 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: to Washington Community College, and according to the Longview Daily News, 479 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: he continued working on the degree once he was paroled. 480 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: We don't know a lot about his educational history, but 481 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: most of the sources agree that he was pursuing a 482 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:08,400 Speaker 1: degree in psychology. Somebody said that he studied law, maybe ecology, 483 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: but psychology seemed to be what everybody agreed on. He 484 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: had attended the Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma for a 485 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: little while, and he enrolled at a college in Florida 486 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,880 Speaker 1: and he received like this honorary doctorate, which it doesn't 487 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: sound like meant very much. He went to Washington State 488 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: where he studied acupuncture and then opened up this clinic 489 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: as doctor Anthony Fernandez, and then he meets Ruth. So 490 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: I mean, he is definitely not a doctor, but he 491 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,400 Speaker 1: seems like knowledgeable enough and bright enough to be able 492 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,400 Speaker 1: to pull off this counseling clinic. I don't know how 493 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: popular it was, and I don't know how long he 494 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: kept it open after he and Ruth were married. But 495 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: he does start to sound like a serial fraudster for sure, 496 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: in a lot of different aspects of his life. 497 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:02,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, he sounds like a con man, right. What was 498 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 2: that that movie with Tom Hanks and he was law 499 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 2: enforcement chasing Leonardo DiCaprio's. 500 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: Character catch me if you can catch. 501 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 2: Me, If you can? You know where that that type 502 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,679 Speaker 2: of criminal has the aptitude and the skill set to 503 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:21,359 Speaker 2: be able to, you know, pose as a certain type 504 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,199 Speaker 2: of person. And that's what conmn's do. They have the 505 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 2: personality and maybe the aptitude, Like if you want to 506 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,920 Speaker 2: pose as a psychologist, you have at least some knowledge 507 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,159 Speaker 2: base to convince people, Oh he knows what he's talking about, 508 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 2: but maybe another well educated psychologist, you know, asking deeper 509 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 2: questions would go, oh, no, he is not a licensed psychologist. 510 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: Yep. That's that's why when you're a con man, you 511 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 1: have to be really careful who you talk to at 512 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 1: dinner parties. Make sure that this is not somebody who 513 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: knows anything that's right. Let's get back to Tony and 514 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: Ruth and see if Ruth at any point catches on 515 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: to this guy. They met in seventy one, they married 516 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: in seventy two. We are now two years into their 517 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: marriage in nineteen seventy four, spring of nineteen seventy four. 518 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: At this point, Ruth is saying things are not going well. 519 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 1: She tells a close friend of hers named Irene Rise 520 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: that her marriage is in shambles, and she decides she 521 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: needs some space from Tony, which sounds like a great idea. 522 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: She takes a month long trip to Texas, where one 523 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: of her kids lives, where Kathleen lives, and Tony of 524 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 1: course doesn't go. When she's on this trip with Kathleen 525 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 1: with her daughter, Kathleen says that Ruth told her they 526 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: weren't getting along, that he wouldn't come home at night, 527 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: and that he either had another woman or an alcohol problem, 528 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: and as an aside, I would suspect, probably both, but 529 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: who knows. Kathleen said that her mother was going to 530 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 1: talk to an attorney about divorce. She said that her 531 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: life has been difficult. You know. Of course she had 532 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,720 Speaker 1: lost her first husband, so it sounded like she really 533 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: loved him, and now she's married to this loser of 534 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: a guy who wasn't coming home at night, and that 535 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: she couldn't do this anymore, She could not continue to 536 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:18,000 Speaker 1: live under this constant pressure, financial pressure. And you know, 537 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: I know we're going to talk about this. Talk of 538 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: a divorce can be an inciting incident for a lot 539 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: of murders. And it sounds like she was making a decision. 540 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: And I'm sure this was not going to be a 541 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: surprise to Tony. 542 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 2: No, Well, Tony's fully aware of what the state of 543 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 2: the relationship is too. You know, it is going to 544 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 2: be coming down to, well, what is his true feelings 545 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 2: for Ruth? And was this just this marriage just a 546 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 2: sham so he could have access to her financial assets. 547 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 2: And when she starts to threaten to take his access 548 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 2: to those financial assets away, that's when things could probably 549 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 2: get kind of ugly in this relationship. 550 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,479 Speaker 1: And I wonder in this seventies what divorce would have 551 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: been like, Like would she have been able to walk 552 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: away with half of what she had, which would have 553 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: been a substantial estate without him having any of it? 554 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: Or would there have been some sort of spousal support 555 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: on his part. I don't know enough about what would 556 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: have happened in the seventies, but I just wonder that 557 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: must have played into it somehow. Also, he knew he 558 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: probably wasn't going to get anything if they did divorce. 559 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, I think it's state by state, 560 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,959 Speaker 2: you know, in terms of you once you get married, 561 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 2: each individual's assets become community property, and so upon divorce, 562 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 2: is it, you know, split evenly unless there's a prenuptial agreement, 563 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 2: you know, And was there a prenupt in this particular case, 564 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 2: because Ruth does have some financial assets that maybe she 565 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 2: wanted to protect ahead of time. So that's all part 566 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 2: of evaluating. Okay, what is Tony going to lose out 567 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 2: on when Ruth goes I want a divorce? 568 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,960 Speaker 1: Well, Tony's determined to not lose out on anything, because 569 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: while Ruth is in Texas with her daughter Kathleen, he 570 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: is calling and strong arming Ruth into giving him power 571 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: of attorney over her affairs. And now Paul's leaning forward 572 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 1: and wanting to say something, and I will say one 573 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: more sentence before you talk about power of attorney, which 574 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: is another inciting incident. Ruth doesn't want to do it, 575 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: but eventually, inexplicably, she says, okay, So there you go. 576 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: He gets power of attorney. 577 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 2: He's obviously making a play in order to be able 578 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 2: to scramble and get assets kind of being directed towards 579 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 2: him in the event of this potential sounds like likely divorce. 580 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 2: This is where it almost sounds like, you know, Tony 581 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 2: is reasonably sophisticated when it comes to business transactions. You know, 582 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 2: he's running a timber company, he's committing fraud. Sounds like 583 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:51,400 Speaker 2: he's able to dupe some other sophisticated business associates for 584 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 2: the fraud cases. And I think he's taken advantage maybe 585 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,800 Speaker 2: of Ruth's naivity when it comes to this aspect. Ruth 586 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 2: is probably recognizing, Oh, if I give him power of attorney, 587 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 2: he can do X, Y and Z. But what's the likelihood, right, 588 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 2: not necessarily recognizing you know, he's sort of a wolf 589 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 2: in sheep's clothing on this front, and he knows exactly 590 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 2: what he's doing, you know, So he's just saying, hey, 591 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 2: I want power of attorney. Who knows what those conversations 592 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 2: were like, whether she felt like she's intimidated, But I 593 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 2: bet he fully understood what he could do once he 594 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 2: got power of attorney, and she probably didn't have the 595 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 2: same level of understanding. That's my guess in this relationship. 596 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: I think you're spot on because he immediately starts selling 597 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,240 Speaker 1: off some of her land using power of attorney capabilities. 598 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: Ruth does not know that he's doing this, and he 599 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: is selling the land far under price than what it's worth. 600 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:54,240 Speaker 1: So he is gathering resources right now before she comes back, 601 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: and she's only gone for a month. 602 00:33:55,920 --> 00:34:00,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, he's purposefully undercutting the going rate because he 603 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 2: wants to move it quickly. 604 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: So she goes back to Washington State from Texas. I'm 605 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: sure Kathleen does not want her to do that. I 606 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,239 Speaker 1: know everybody is fearful at this point, but I'm not 607 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,440 Speaker 1: sure anyone is thinking this is going to have a 608 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,480 Speaker 1: violent outcome. I think they're just thinking this guy is leazy. 609 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:21,920 Speaker 1: Maybe she can divorce him, and maybe she gave him 610 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,239 Speaker 1: power of attorney just to get out of this, just 611 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,839 Speaker 1: knowing that maybe this would shut him up long enough 612 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: for her to file for divorce. But boy, it's pretty risky, 613 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,439 Speaker 1: and especially considering the estate she has, which I will 614 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 1: tell you, Paul by this time is about four hundred 615 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:41,560 Speaker 1: to five hundred thousand dollars in nineteen seventy four, so 616 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 1: we're talking I think about four to five million dollars. 617 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,760 Speaker 1: Lots and lots of money is her estate at this point. 618 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,040 Speaker 2: Sure she could come back from this trip to Texas 619 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:52,800 Speaker 2: and be so completely pissed off at what he's doing 620 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,120 Speaker 2: that she has motive to off him, you know. So 621 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 2: it'll be interesting to see how this develops. 622 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,320 Speaker 1: Well, here we go. So she returns to Washington state. 623 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:07,160 Speaker 1: He is there, and he does something that is charming 624 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 1: or convincing because she agrees to go on a week 625 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 1: long camping trip with him. 626 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 2: Oh I know, and. 627 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 1: I hate to phrase it like, I don't know what 628 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:20,879 Speaker 1: she was thinking, but that's what I say in my head. 629 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 1: What what happened? He must have really turned on the 630 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: charm because she agreed to be in an RV a 631 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 1: Winnebago with this man to go to a campsite in 632 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:35,839 Speaker 1: near North Bend, Washington and she owns land there, and 633 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,360 Speaker 1: she says, let's go. She and her now deceased husband 634 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:41,320 Speaker 1: Less used to do that all the time. She drove 635 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:45,680 Speaker 1: RVs all the time. She love camping, She loved doing this. 636 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 1: I don't know why she would go with Tony, but 637 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 1: something switched and she said, okay, she did not go 638 00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 1: against her will. 639 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,840 Speaker 2: Well, you know, first, it tells me she's not feeling 640 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,839 Speaker 2: any type of threat to her person, you know, her safety. 641 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 2: She is unhappy in the relationship, but Tony hasn't demonstrated 642 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 2: maybe a level of violence that she's thinking, I cannot 643 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 2: be alone with him. I'm assuming he's taking advantage of 644 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:16,960 Speaker 2: her love to do this type of activity to isolate her. 645 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 2: I'm sure there probably aren't other people going on the 646 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:24,280 Speaker 2: same camping trip. It's just him and her, and he's 647 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:29,280 Speaker 2: now done. What we see killers do is they need 648 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:32,320 Speaker 2: to isolate the victims, and then that's when bad things happen. 649 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,200 Speaker 1: I think you're probably right. I think that he took 650 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,959 Speaker 1: advantage of the fact that she was feeling vulnerable, and 651 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 1: it could be that she felt like she was looking 652 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:46,279 Speaker 1: for any kind of sincerity or affection authenticity from him, 653 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,959 Speaker 1: and he probably turned on the charm and said let's 654 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 1: go do this. She didn't feel threatened. They packed up. 655 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,440 Speaker 1: They have a little suv. I think they called it 656 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,319 Speaker 1: a scout and other sources called it a jeep. They 657 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,000 Speaker 1: bring that along with them, I'm assuming so they can 658 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:04,719 Speaker 1: go do you know, some off road stuff, or go 659 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: take adventures without the RV. They stop at a restaurant 660 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: called the Mount Sie Golf Course, and we have information 661 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,040 Speaker 1: sort of from witnesses. People are trying to piece together 662 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:21,200 Speaker 1: before what happens happens, what their interactions were like beforehand, 663 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,839 Speaker 1: because that hopefully will tell us a little bit. They 664 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,000 Speaker 1: have lunch and they have some cocktails there and rule 665 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,320 Speaker 1: the author reports that they had been in the restaurant 666 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,680 Speaker 1: for a long time, and according to witnesses, they had 667 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 1: had several drinks. Ruth was known to have several drinks, 668 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:39,560 Speaker 1: not over indulged, but she was definitely no teetoller, and 669 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 1: she had a few drinks, and some of the witnesses 670 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,759 Speaker 1: said that seemed like they might have been a little 671 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:48,160 Speaker 1: bit tipsy. Definitely not drunk, not attracting tons of attention, 672 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 1: but they seem to be getting along. So this was 673 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:55,680 Speaker 1: about lunchtime and then more witnesses around four fifteen, so 674 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: several hours later see them when they stop at an 675 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,240 Speaker 1: office for a local timber company on a business errand 676 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,200 Speaker 1: because he's got some timberland. Ann Rule says that the 677 00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 1: employees there were called, that Ruth seemed to be very unhappy, 678 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 1: but Tony was very quiet. Neither of them seemed drunk 679 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: or tipsy at this point, and then they head to 680 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: the campsite. So that is sort of the way things went. 681 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,720 Speaker 1: And nobody was fighting there, weren't you know, the police 682 00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,480 Speaker 1: weren't called. They didn't seem to be overly thrilled with 683 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:29,760 Speaker 1: each other, but it seemed to be a rather peaceful 684 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,240 Speaker 1: trip going toward this campsite. 685 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 2: So in the restaurant where they are in a public location, 686 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 2: people are able to observe them, and it sounds like 687 00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:44,000 Speaker 2: Ruth and Tony are interacting fine as what you would 688 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:46,880 Speaker 2: expect a couple that's not fighting, you know, they're just 689 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 2: kind of engaging in conversation, having a few drinks together. 690 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:54,640 Speaker 2: It's interesting that when Tony goes to this what was 691 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:55,960 Speaker 2: it was a timber. 692 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,240 Speaker 1: Business, Yes, it was a timber business. 693 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,320 Speaker 2: And their demeanor sounds like from the witnesses is a 694 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,320 Speaker 2: little bit more reserved. She sounds a little more sullen. 695 00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,520 Speaker 2: So I'm wondering that after they left the restaurant, they 696 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:12,560 Speaker 2: have a few drinks in them. Now they're in an RV, 697 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:14,800 Speaker 2: they're in private, and I wonder if there was maybe 698 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:19,400 Speaker 2: some more negative conversation, you know, that transpired. You know, 699 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:22,759 Speaker 2: it's kind of speculating, but it seems like that could 700 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:23,320 Speaker 2: have occurred. 701 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, whatever their interactions were at both the restaurant and 702 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,360 Speaker 1: this timber office, nobody was alarmed by any of it. 703 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:33,080 Speaker 1: They get back into the RV and they head up 704 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,480 Speaker 1: to the camp site. So this is like a mountain 705 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:37,799 Speaker 1: pass they have to go up, and then it puts 706 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:41,359 Speaker 1: them on the a logging road and then everything goes 707 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:45,200 Speaker 1: silent for a while until eight thirty. So the last 708 00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:48,880 Speaker 1: people to see Ruth were four to fifteen at this 709 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:53,239 Speaker 1: timber company, four fifteen pm at eight thirty that same night. 710 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:57,279 Speaker 1: So four hours later, Tony calls the restaurant where they 711 00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:00,480 Speaker 1: had been, Mount Sai restaurant where he had had lunch, 712 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:05,000 Speaker 1: you know, eight hours earlier, and he says Ruth had 713 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:08,240 Speaker 1: gone to the campsite with him. They were hanging out. 714 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:10,160 Speaker 1: She turned to him and said, I'm going to go 715 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,279 Speaker 1: on a walk, and she's gone, And he says, has 716 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,080 Speaker 1: anybody seen her? And I don't know why he would 717 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,239 Speaker 1: think the restaurant would mean it sounds like they're kind 718 00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:21,600 Speaker 1: of quite a bit aways from the restaurant. Yeah, but 719 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:24,640 Speaker 1: I don't, you know, I actually don't know how far 720 00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,239 Speaker 1: away they are. But it doesn't seem like she would 721 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:29,839 Speaker 1: walk to a restaurant at eight thirty at night, even 722 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:34,680 Speaker 1: if it's July and it would be lighter, because at summertime. 723 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 1: It just seems kind of like an odd thing. But 724 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 1: he is establishing that his wife is gone from the campsite. 725 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,440 Speaker 2: Were they able to drive the RV all the way 726 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:46,479 Speaker 2: up to this campsite or did they have to park 727 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,960 Speaker 2: the RV like at the restaurant and then take this 728 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,080 Speaker 2: scout or jeep on the logging road to get to 729 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:54,319 Speaker 2: the campsite? You know anything about that? 730 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: I know for a fact that they took the RV okay, 731 00:40:58,160 --> 00:40:59,840 Speaker 1: And you're gonna find out shortly why. 732 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:02,960 Speaker 2: Well, that just kind of informs me as to, you know, 733 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 2: how accessible the camp site is and basically, if an 734 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 2: RV is getting back there, this campsite is accessible to 735 00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:11,560 Speaker 2: just about any type of vehicle. 736 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:14,440 Speaker 1: Well, and it's a logging road that they eventually have 737 00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:16,319 Speaker 1: to go down to get to the campsite. So it's 738 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,920 Speaker 1: a mountain pass that hooks them up to a logging road. 739 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,520 Speaker 1: So that's big vehicles, I would assume, right, Yeah, though. 740 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,640 Speaker 2: You know, these these logging roads can be a little 741 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,200 Speaker 2: bit tougher for your average vehicle, and especially if they 742 00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:32,480 Speaker 2: have you know, rougher terrain. You know, an RV could 743 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:36,520 Speaker 2: struggle because if they're towing the scout or jeep behind 744 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,520 Speaker 2: the RV, you know, that's and you see that kind 745 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,560 Speaker 2: of setup. That's so you know, the people can go 746 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:47,840 Speaker 2: to other locations that the RV typically isn't going to 747 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:49,719 Speaker 2: be able to get to, or they just want to 748 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:52,839 Speaker 2: you know, kind of drop anchor with the RV at 749 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:55,359 Speaker 2: a location and then use the smaller vehicle to go 750 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,160 Speaker 2: and tour around and hit town or whatever else. And 751 00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:00,399 Speaker 2: so this is where I'm just trying to make sure 752 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,319 Speaker 2: how remote this camp site is. But it sounds like 753 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:07,399 Speaker 2: this is a campsite that pretty much anybody could get 754 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:09,960 Speaker 2: to if they wanted to. Any type of vehicle can 755 00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:12,040 Speaker 2: get to it. And if Ruth is out there walking 756 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:16,600 Speaker 2: by herself. It increases the likelihood that there's potential witnesses 757 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:19,440 Speaker 2: who are driving by. When I go out in my 758 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,960 Speaker 2: jeep with some of the side roads, there's nobody out 759 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:26,160 Speaker 2: there except maybe other people with a well built off 760 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:30,120 Speaker 2: road rig, right, So you have a smaller potential pool 761 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:34,640 Speaker 2: of witnesses because it's not that heavily traveled in that scenario. 762 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,160 Speaker 1: Well, it sounds like when she went for a walk. 763 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,680 Speaker 1: He unhooked the jeep and we're just gonna call it 764 00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,640 Speaker 1: a jeep. It's sort of inconsistent, but some suv. He 765 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:46,439 Speaker 1: unhooked the jeep and went down to the nearest place 766 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:49,759 Speaker 1: to make phone calls. He called Mount Sai restaurant. They said, no, 767 00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:53,520 Speaker 1: we haven't seen her. He called nearby cafe in North Bend, 768 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:55,839 Speaker 1: said the same thing, do you know where she is? 769 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:59,360 Speaker 1: They had known Ruth, probably because she owned land and 770 00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 1: she had been up before. She was familiar with this area. 771 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,120 Speaker 1: She knew how to drive an RV, so she's not 772 00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:08,239 Speaker 1: scared to do any of this. The cafe says, no, 773 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:11,800 Speaker 1: we haven't seen her either. So he makes these calls 774 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:14,919 Speaker 1: and then panics and reaches out to the Washington State 775 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,680 Speaker 1: Patrol Station and says that he's worried about Ruth, but 776 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,800 Speaker 1: now things start to get a little odd and rule 777 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:26,520 Speaker 1: the author says that Tony changes his story during this 778 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:31,480 Speaker 1: particular call to the Washington State Patrol. He says that 779 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:34,600 Speaker 1: the couple had decided, rather than camp, that they were 780 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:38,319 Speaker 1: going to return to their Auburn home, and that he 781 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:41,239 Speaker 1: decided to take the SUV and she decided to get 782 00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:46,040 Speaker 1: a head start by driving the Winnebago. Okay, so now 783 00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:48,960 Speaker 1: the story has completely changed. It has not. She walked 784 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:51,080 Speaker 1: off and now she hasn't come back, and maybe a 785 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:54,000 Speaker 1: bear aid her. This is we decided to head back 786 00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:56,600 Speaker 1: to Auburn, and she went ahead in the RV and 787 00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:58,480 Speaker 1: I'm in the SUV and I now I don't know 788 00:43:58,520 --> 00:43:59,080 Speaker 1: where she is. 789 00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:02,000 Speaker 2: Right But at the time that he is talking to 790 00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:06,560 Speaker 2: the State Patrol, they don't know that he's given different 791 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:11,880 Speaker 2: statements to the two restaurants, right, so you know they're now, okay, 792 00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:15,400 Speaker 2: this is the facts that they know. She's in an 793 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:19,160 Speaker 2: RV and he says, I've got our cheap. 794 00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:22,960 Speaker 1: And he says that he waited about twenty minutes to leave, 795 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:25,280 Speaker 1: so she had a twenty or thirty minute head start. 796 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:28,239 Speaker 1: He didn't see her or the RV anywhere on the 797 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,960 Speaker 1: road he had reported that. Eventually neither were in Auburn. 798 00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:36,319 Speaker 1: He finally goes back to the couple's house and no 799 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:39,400 Speaker 1: one hears from Ruth throughout the night, So the state 800 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:43,200 Speaker 1: police are saying, well, it's dark and now the family 801 00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:46,359 Speaker 1: is alarmed. So this is where things get a little 802 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:51,479 Speaker 1: bit complicated. The next day, Tony and a man named 803 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:54,640 Speaker 1: Donald Stafford, who is engaged to Ruth's daughter, Susan, the 804 00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:57,839 Speaker 1: other one that's not in Texas, start driving around and 805 00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:00,960 Speaker 1: Donald is the one who spots this. Okay, there are 806 00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:05,720 Speaker 1: skid marks on this logging road that has a steep, 807 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:09,239 Speaker 1: rocky embankment off its shoulder, so it's been described as 808 00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:12,520 Speaker 1: a slope or cliff that leads into a ravine. And 809 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:17,120 Speaker 1: about three hundred feet down the embankment is there smashed 810 00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:20,799 Speaker 1: Winnebago r V and it looks like if Ruth was 811 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:24,920 Speaker 1: driving that she had careened off the logging road sometime 812 00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:26,960 Speaker 1: that night and crashed below. 813 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:33,680 Speaker 2: Okay, I'm picturing several different visuals of the skid marks. 814 00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:36,480 Speaker 2: I can easily see the logging road in my head, 815 00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:39,440 Speaker 2: and you know, the steep embankment. You know, the skid 816 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:43,840 Speaker 2: marks are interesting. Are these skid marks just showing almost 817 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:48,799 Speaker 2: like the Winnebago RV rolling off the embankment? Or is 818 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,560 Speaker 2: it showing that the Winnebagel is traveling at high speed 819 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:53,920 Speaker 2: and brakes are being applied. You know, this is where 820 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:58,040 Speaker 2: getting you know, some experts to assess the mechanics of 821 00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:02,960 Speaker 2: the Winnebago after it's recovered, as well as evaluating these 822 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,239 Speaker 2: these skid marks. So that would be something I wish 823 00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:07,040 Speaker 2: we had pictures of. 824 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:10,600 Speaker 1: I know, Sorry, Paul, I know a little shocked to 825 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: be down from the nineteen seventies, but we have some 826 00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,000 Speaker 1: pretty good descriptions that I'll tell you about. So first 827 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: let's talk about Ruth. We have this smashed up RV 828 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:25,040 Speaker 1: and Donald investigates and of course is scared to see 829 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:28,120 Speaker 1: what he finds here. So not far from the wreckage, 830 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,040 Speaker 1: about one hundred feet down the embankment from the RV 831 00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:36,160 Speaker 1: is the lifeless body of Ruth Fernandez. So she is 832 00:46:36,239 --> 00:46:40,239 Speaker 1: not in the Winnebago, but she has clear signs of 833 00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:44,759 Speaker 1: trauma to her head and to her stomach. And the 834 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:48,480 Speaker 1: presumption is that the RV veered off the steep embankment 835 00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:51,439 Speaker 1: that sits along the logging road and on the way 836 00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:54,880 Speaker 1: down the rocky slope, she had been ejected from the vehicle. 837 00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:58,000 Speaker 1: So this is a story about whether or not this 838 00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:01,480 Speaker 1: was an accident or whether this was a murder. 839 00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:05,280 Speaker 2: And these sometimes can be tough to try to tease out. 840 00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:10,520 Speaker 2: So I'm kind of curious, of course, what the autopsy shows, 841 00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:14,879 Speaker 2: what the evaluation of Winnebago shows, you know, And I'm 842 00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:17,040 Speaker 2: sure you will fill me in on that. 843 00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:19,279 Speaker 1: In one week, I knew it. 844 00:47:20,719 --> 00:47:23,319 Speaker 2: He got me hanging on the edge. Oh hold on, 845 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:26,000 Speaker 2: no pun intended that. 846 00:47:26,120 --> 00:47:28,000 Speaker 1: Number one question that I don't want you to answer 847 00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:30,640 Speaker 1: right now is have you worked a case like this 848 00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:33,759 Speaker 1: where somebody is ejected from the car and it is 849 00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:36,320 Speaker 1: a question about whether or not this is murder or 850 00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:39,560 Speaker 1: whether or not this is an accident, Because this seems 851 00:47:39,600 --> 00:47:42,480 Speaker 1: like an excellent way to cover up a murder. But 852 00:47:42,760 --> 00:47:46,279 Speaker 1: I also thought fire was an excellent way to cover 853 00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:48,600 Speaker 1: up a murder, and I have since found out that 854 00:47:48,640 --> 00:47:49,240 Speaker 1: I'm wrong. 855 00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:51,920 Speaker 2: It's all and how it's done. 856 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:55,839 Speaker 1: Okay, Well, I will see you in one week and 857 00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:59,040 Speaker 1: we will talk about Ruth and Tony Fernandez and what 858 00:47:59,160 --> 00:47:59,759 Speaker 1: may or may not. 859 00:47:59,719 --> 00:48:03,680 Speaker 2: Have had okay, looking forward to hearing the rest of 860 00:48:03,719 --> 00:48:04,240 Speaker 2: the story. 861 00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:05,359 Speaker 1: Kape see you soon. 862 00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:06,080 Speaker 2: Sounds good. 863 00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:13,720 Speaker 1: This has been an exactly right production for our Sources 864 00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:17,280 Speaker 1: and show notes go to Exactlyrightmedia dot com slash Buried 865 00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:20,920 Speaker 1: Bones sources. Our senior producer is Alexis Emrosi. 866 00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:25,440 Speaker 2: Research by Maren mcclashan, Ali Elkin, and Kate Winkler Dawson. 867 00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:27,960 Speaker 1: Our mixing engineer is Ben Tolliday. 868 00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:30,560 Speaker 2: Our theme song is by Tom Bryfogel. 869 00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:32,840 Speaker 1: Our artwork is by Vanessa Lilac. 870 00:48:33,080 --> 00:48:37,240 Speaker 2: Executive produced by Karen Kilgaroff, Georgia hard Stark, and Daniel Kramer. 871 00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:40,879 Speaker 1: You can follow Buried Bones on Instagram and Facebook at 872 00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:42,120 Speaker 1: ary Bones pod. 873 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:45,160 Speaker 2: Kate's most recent book, All That Is Wicked, a Gilded 874 00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:47,160 Speaker 2: Age story of murder and the race to decode the 875 00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:48,959 Speaker 2: criminal mind, is available now 876 00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:53,560 Speaker 1: And Paul's best selling memoir Unmasked, My life solving America's 877 00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:55,640 Speaker 1: Cold Cases is also available now