1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,840 Speaker 1: Hey, it's nicky. This is an episode about sisterhood, both 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: the ones were born with and those we choose for ourselves. 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: It's full of love, but there's also a lot of 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:19,119 Speaker 1: pain and stories that explore substance abuse, violence, murder, and 5 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,920 Speaker 1: sexual assault. One of those victims is a minor. There 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: will also be some strong language, so if you or 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: someone you love has been affected by any of the 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: themes in the show, we've left some links in the 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,959 Speaker 1: description that offer resources and support take care of yourself. 10 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: When I was a kid, I used to hang out 11 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: near Quindera Park, a few minutes from my family's home. 12 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: From the outside, it's nothing remarkable, bright green grass, a 13 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: kid's playground, benches to watch. 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 2: The world go by. 15 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: As I grew up, I began to learn more about 16 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: how this place was once a part of the Underground Railroad, 17 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: a stop along the route enslaved black people took on 18 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: the road to freedom. It's a part of our city's 19 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: history that's all too easy to forget. When the Black 20 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: Lives Matter movement swept across the world in twenty twenty, 21 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: that history took on a whole new meaning. I'm no 22 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: stranger to the racism and the prejudice black people face 23 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: at the hands of police, but seeing the violent deaths 24 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor made this century's old 25 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: fight feel more urgent than ever. It also gave me 26 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: a greater awareness of cases involving police corruption happening right 27 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: on my doorstep, like that of Lamont McIntyre. He was 28 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: released after twenty three years in prison, but the detective 29 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: who had framed him was still walking free. Roger Glupski 30 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: had retired from police work in twenty sixteen on what 31 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: seemed like his own terms, and none of the women 32 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: he'd abused had seen justice. So in twenty twenty, I 33 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: organized a petition calling for greater police accountability in Kansas City, Kansas. 34 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: As a result, I was invited to my first rally 35 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: calling for an end to police violence and prejudice. One 36 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: of the speakers instantly caught my eye. I was trained 37 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: to look around, know my surroundings. That woman was Kadiza Hardaway, 38 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: so I'm. 39 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 3: Looking forward in deep when I saw her, and literally 40 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 3: she is a full length of a block away and 41 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 3: I noticed her walking up to me. 42 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: It was just almost like this weird eye contact. 43 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 3: I really saw this ray of light. 44 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 2: It was Nikki. 45 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: She was walking up. We had never met each other before. 46 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: We just gravitated to each other. I had just immediately 47 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: hugged her, and she hugged me. We introduced ourselves, but 48 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: it felt like we already knew each other. It was 49 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: just this automatic sense of familiarity. I can't even describe it. 50 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: I've never had a feeling like that in my life. 51 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: It was like meeting a sister. I didn't even realize 52 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: I needed. We locked arms that day and we've been 53 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: by each other side ever since. Kadija and I spent 54 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: hours talking about Detective Kulupski, the reports that he'd abused 55 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: his authority, and the stories we'd heard from the women 56 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: he assaulted. We needed to do something, so the next 57 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: day we set up Justice for Wyandotte, an organization named 58 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: after the county casey k belongs to. Our aim was 59 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: to give voice to those who had suffered as a 60 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: result of Gulupski's actions, like Nico Quinn, who had been 61 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: coerced into giving false testimony against Lamont McIntyre and the 62 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: lead up to Lamont's exoneration, Nico had become the target 63 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: of intense public scrutiny. It was like her own city 64 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: had turned against her. 65 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 4: I would get calls from friends and family members telling 66 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 4: me to stop talking to the media because they was 67 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 4: making me look bad. 68 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: Part of her wanted to move on, leave it all 69 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: in the past, but rumors about Gallupski were coming to 70 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: light and Nico wanted to join the fight, which is 71 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: how she got put in touch with Khodija. 72 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 4: I was in my worst when I met Khadija. I 73 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 4: was kind of like Larry to talk to her. But 74 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 4: then we finally talked to each other. Oh, we was 75 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 4: on that phone for a long time and it was 76 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 4: like we have always knew each other. 77 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 3: We talked on the phone for probably about five or 78 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 3: six hours the very first time we talked. 79 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: The three of us got to know each other pretty quickly. 80 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: We were united by our experiences as black women fighting 81 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: for justice and our shared goal of creating a better 82 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: future for Kansas City. Kansas a city we love, but 83 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: it was going to take a lot of work. I 84 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: just knew that. 85 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 3: Like after George Floyd and watching the communities around the 86 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 3: world come together because they saw the injustice, it was 87 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 3: a time like no other. 88 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,479 Speaker 1: We shared stories during dinners, made plans over coffee and 89 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: spent hours getting to know each other until our friendship 90 00:05:49,560 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: began to feel like something deeper, a sisterhood. Police had 91 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: failed to stop Glupski from putting the community at risk. 92 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,919 Speaker 1: The authorities hadn't held him accountable for the abuse he 93 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: inflicted on the women we heard from, and it was 94 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: starting to feel like nobody was coming to fight for 95 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: the women of Kansas City. So we decided to fight 96 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: for ourselves. 97 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:27,280 Speaker 4: Oh God, Oh God, God. 98 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: I'm Nikki Richardson and from the teams at Novel and 99 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: iHeart Podcast, this is the Girlfriend's Untouchable Big Episode four, 100 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: three Sisters. When Kadija and I decided to join the fight, 101 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: the woman we gravitated to was Nico Quinn. We thought 102 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: we knew her story, her cousin's shooting, the witness intimidation, 103 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: and the threat of her kids being taken away, But 104 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: it turned out there was even more to Nico's connection 105 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: to Glupski than we had realized, so we asked her 106 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: to tell her story. From the very start. 107 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 4: I grew up in Wanda County, Kansas City, Kansas. I 108 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 4: was born to Josephine Quinn, who had three daughters. 109 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: Nico, her older sister Liz, and their oldest sister Stacy. 110 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 4: Stacey was beautiful. She was so beautiful. I used to 111 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 4: love her eyes. And all the people that I know 112 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 4: that knew her talks about how beautiful her spirit was, 113 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 4: how very respectful she was, because that's how we was raised. 114 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: The Queen sisters were like best friends. 115 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 4: We used to have fun, used to act like we 116 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 4: was singers, acting like we like the brags and sisters 117 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 4: or stuff like that watching movies, you know, mocking the 118 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 4: stuff that's in the movies. 119 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: But they were regular sisters who would pick her and 120 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: wind each other up too. 121 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 4: Stacey used to be so honor I remember when we 122 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 4: was little. Mamma used to be like, we said, Mama, 123 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 4: can we ask some cookies or whatever? She say, clean 124 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 4: up and y'all can get them hub. She was like, Stacey, 125 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 4: get them kids a few of them cookies. She goes 126 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 4: eh when she lick every cooky and didn't give it 127 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 4: to us. She was honory, but she used to protect us. 128 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: Nico needed a protective presence in her life because her 129 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: family was fractured. The father hadn't stuck around, and Josephine 130 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: had a lifelong battle with mental health issues. 131 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 4: My mother was in and out of the psychiatric hospital, 132 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 4: mental facilities all my life. She got paranoid schizophrenic. She'd 133 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:16,719 Speaker 4: be okay for a couple of months or maybe a 134 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:21,079 Speaker 4: few years, and then she'd go back into the mental hospitals. 135 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 4: But then we end up moving to a home with 136 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 4: my grandmother, grandfather, auntie, uncles, cousins, so probably about fifty 137 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 4: of us in a six bedroom house. Nico. 138 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: Was surrounded by family, but it didn't always feel like 139 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:34,959 Speaker 1: a loving home. 140 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 4: I lived in nothing but chaos all my life as 141 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,319 Speaker 4: a kid. I see my uncle's fighting. The police was 142 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 4: in and out of my grandmother's house, I almost say 143 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 4: every other weekend. My grandfather was an active alcoholic. We 144 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 4: was taught to be tough, have tough skin. 145 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: Their grandparents tried their best, but they failed to fully 146 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: protect the queens sisters. One of their relatives, a man 147 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: who was supposed to take the girls to school, took 148 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: advantage of them. 149 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 4: My mom would have my uncle take us to school, 150 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 4: and he would take us back to the house and 151 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 4: would rape us before we would go to school. When 152 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 4: it started, Stacy was eight, Liz was six, and I 153 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:22,199 Speaker 4: was four. 154 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: They were just kids, but Stacy stepped in to try 155 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: and shield her younger sisters from the worst of it. 156 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 4: She would put herself in horms away so he wouldn't 157 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 4: get us. She was a big sister. She was a protector, 158 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:43,079 Speaker 4: especially me because I was the baby. 159 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,319 Speaker 1: The Quinn's sisters went through a lot together, but they 160 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: still had dreams. Stacey wanted to dedicate her life to 161 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: taking care of people. 162 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 4: She was going to school to be a nurse. 163 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: In the mid nineteen eighties, Stacy, who was around sixteen 164 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: years old, was doing a clinical placement at a local 165 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 1: health center. She finished late some nights and usually got 166 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: a ride home from one of her other relatives, but 167 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: if they couldn't pick her up, she would make her 168 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: own way back. 169 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 4: She was walking home one night because my grandfather had 170 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 4: got drunk and my uncle didn't pick whatever was they 171 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 4: she didn't get picked up from her clinicals. 172 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 1: When Stacy walked through the door, she looked shaken. Her 173 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: sisters immediately asked her what had happened. After a moment, 174 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: she burst into tears. Stacy told them about the police 175 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: officer she'd seen on her way home, a white man 176 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: with brown hair, pushy eyebrows in a thick mustache. It 177 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: was dark out, so he offered her a ride home. 178 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 1: Being a kid who had no reason to distrust the police, 179 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: Stacy had accepted the offer. When she got into his 180 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: police car, his friendly demeanor faded. The officer forced himself 181 00:11:58,200 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: on her. 182 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 4: She got raped and came in and told us and 183 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 4: was holding her crime. 184 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: Stacy was their older sister, their protector. It was painful 185 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: to see her so broken. 186 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,200 Speaker 4: And we would telling her to tell and she was 187 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,839 Speaker 4: like she couldn't because of the threats. 188 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: That he made. Nico didn't know what the police officer 189 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: had threatened to do to her sister if she reported him, 190 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: but she was beginning to discover how much power and 191 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: influence the police wielded over her community. Nico came of 192 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 1: age in the eighties, and as she grew up, she 193 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: began to notice the ways her neighborhood was changing. There 194 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: were patrol cars all around them, regular house raids across Guendero, 195 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: and rumors of friends and relatives was getting locked up 196 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: by the police in record time. Because in the eighties, 197 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: Kansas City, Kansas was hurtling into a devastating crisis. Nico 198 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: can still remember the moment it hit her neighborhood. 199 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 4: They had this big old community meeting up on Fifth 200 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 4: Street at the Jack reard In Center. Our grandparents and 201 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 4: parents used to go to these things, I mean where 202 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 4: their packed houses standing room only. 203 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: Her grandmother came home from the community meeting with a 204 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: handful of pamphlets. 205 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 4: And I'll never forget the one that said, Hi, my 206 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 4: name is crack Cocaine. It said, I'll make a preacher 207 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 4: forget how to preach, a teacher forget how to teach, 208 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 4: a beauty queen forget her looks, a schoolgirl forget her books. 209 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: The beauty queen forgetting her looks, and the schoolgirl forgetting 210 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: her books. Nico realized that is what was happening in 211 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: real time to her sister. 212 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 4: Stacey started experimenting with drugs. I know, she used to 213 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 4: smoke and then she went to crack and that was 214 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 4: her way of escaping. 215 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: Because Gulupski hadn't just assaulted her once and moved on. 216 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: He tormented her all the way through her adolescence into adulthood, 217 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: Stacy's life began to spiral. 218 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 4: I noticed that a lot of people that have talked 219 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 4: to that start using drugs from childhood trauma, are things 220 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 4: in their life that they don't understand and know how 221 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 4: to deal with. A lot of women end up on 222 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 4: the streets on drug prostitution. 223 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: And that's what happened to Stacy. She got addicted to 224 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: drugs and became a sex worker to earn the money 225 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: she needed to pay for them. It was dangerous work 226 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: that led her to spend long nights walking up and 227 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: down shady streets interacting with ceed men, one of whom 228 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 1: was a constant presence Detective Roger Glupski. 229 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 4: I got you, I got you, I got you. 230 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: It's the nineties in Guendero, a neighborhood on the northeast 231 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: side of Kansas City. By day, it's a normal, slightly 232 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: chaotic neighborhood filled with families and ordinary people living their lives. 233 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: But at night it can become a pretty eerie place. 234 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: Men selling drugs, women selling sex, sketchy individuals who linger 235 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: around street corners buying both. It's an area officer Max 236 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: Zeifert knows well, and he recently heard that one of 237 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: his fellow officers, Detective Glupski, had been seen hanging around 238 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: in the area while off duty. 239 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 5: Rumors were going around. You know that he was spending 240 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 5: a lot of time up in the northeast part of town, 241 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 5: which is a high crime area. 242 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: People were seeing him hanging out there off duty, not 243 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: in his official role as a cop. 244 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 5: I received a phone call from the informant of mine. 245 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 5: He's very animated in Basically, what he was saying was 246 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 5: that Gallupski was at their patronize and prostitutes. 247 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: It turned out that the northeast side of the city 248 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: wasn't just the area Galupski had been assigned to the CD. 249 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: Streets in the dark back roads had become his hunting ground. 250 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: Kadija and I wanted to find out how Gallupski had 251 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: gotten started, what had shaped and enabled him to become 252 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: the kind of police officer who abused his authority and 253 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: harmed the people he had been trained to protect. We 254 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: wanted to see if we could find any clues, so 255 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: we went all the way back to the k c 256 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: KPD's graduating class of nineteen seventy five, and. 257 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 3: They definitely was on a budget because these uniforms look 258 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 3: out of. 259 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 2: The public servants they are. 260 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: But Kadishi and I found a photo of some of 261 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: the officers that joined the police force that year much more. 262 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: They looked younger than we thought they would. Some of 263 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,479 Speaker 1: them even had baby faces. But we could tell they 264 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 1: were police officers from the light blue uniforms. 265 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 3: They look like Jill House uniform. 266 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:36,640 Speaker 1: They dodge, they really do. 267 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 2: I mean just very. 268 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, very baggy blue shirts they've got. But ill fitting 269 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: uniforms weren't our main concern. It was the people wearing them, 270 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 1: in particular. A man on the second row from the top, 271 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: so Glupski is I mean, he looks creepy. I mean 272 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: he does look creepy, but he also looks like just 273 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: kind of the guy you just walk past the grocery store, 274 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: you know, just average build, a little bit on the 275 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: pudgy side, wide pie face with you know, big old seventies. 276 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,640 Speaker 3: Eight, I tell you, in this picture he has the largest, 277 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 3: stickiest mustache. He looked like a gangster cop. To me, 278 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 3: he's not very happy I'm a people reader because his 279 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,399 Speaker 3: lips is supporting the upside down frown. 280 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: He just seems very unassuming. I mean, yeah, he might seem. 281 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:32,679 Speaker 3: He looks like the person who would cut up the 282 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 3: cat and put it in his freeze. 283 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 1: He does look hard, but he looks like somebody who 284 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: would get away with it for so long because you would, just. 285 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 4: You would. 286 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: That's all to say that. Back then, Roger Gulupski looked 287 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: like a young, pretty unassuming new recruit. Another one of 288 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: the officers in that photo is Max Seifert, a retired 289 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: detective who graduated alongside Gallupski and worked with him during 290 00:18:57,600 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: his time in the Crimes against Persons unit. 291 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 5: The Crimes Against Person's Union handled assaults, aggravated battery, rapes, 292 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 5: child abuse. He wasn't a person that would share things 293 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,920 Speaker 5: or talk about things, you know. He was always kind 294 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 5: of a quiet person. Now he was very close and 295 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:17,159 Speaker 5: kept things close to him. 296 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: Glupski quickly rose up the ranks because he gained a 297 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 1: reputation for clearing up crimes in record time. He was 298 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: given a private office, the kind of space where he 299 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 1: could hold sensitive meetings and make confidential calls. But according 300 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: to one of Max's colleagues, Gulupski took advantage of the 301 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,360 Speaker 1: privacy his office gave him to abuse his position. 302 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 5: A detective that was serving in his unit one day 303 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 5: went to his office and what happened was the detective 304 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 5: sees the doors shut and he just opens it and 305 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 5: walks in. He didn't knock or anything. He walks in 306 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 5: and he catches Glupski involved in a sexual compromising situation 307 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 5: with a black female in his office. 308 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: According to Max, the detective immediately shut the door and 309 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: walked away, taking in what he had just seen. A 310 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: high level policeman having sex in the workplace. Max says 311 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: someone reported it to their supervisor. 312 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 5: Nothing was known about it. 313 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 1: Even when it was allegedly reported to a division commander. 314 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 5: Instead of saying, hey, you know this is outrageous. You know, 315 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 5: we're not going to tolerate this. You can't do this 316 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 5: bring a discredit to the department, he said, don't you 317 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 5: people have locks on your doors? Sexual miss condec was 318 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 5: something the you know that just wasn't considered to be 319 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 5: a bad thing. You know, Roger just being Roger. That's 320 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 5: kind of like a boy's will be boys. 321 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 1: We reached out to the division commander Max is referring to, 322 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: and his response was, this is an old rumor spread 323 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: around the police department that was followed up on years ago. 324 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: Had it occurred, an investigation would have resulted. Max says 325 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,920 Speaker 1: some officers in the police department knew about Glupski's misconduct. 326 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: Others even witnessed his behavior in the office and on 327 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: the streets, but he wasn't stopped. Gulupski kept his position 328 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 1: of power and continued to target women like Nico Quinn's 329 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: older sister Stacy. He would give her drugs to encourage 330 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: her dependence and then force her into having sex with him. 331 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 4: He would arrest her for prostitution and put her in 332 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 4: jail drugs or whatever, and she would like she didn't 333 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 4: understand because he was the one bringing to her. 334 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: It was a vicious cycle that was not only destroying 335 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: her life, but affecting the people who loved and dependent 336 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:41,200 Speaker 1: on her too, because Stacy was a mother. In her 337 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: teenage years, Stacey had given birth to her only son, 338 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: a boy named Joranelle, and in spite of everything, she 339 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 1: spent the eighties and nineties trying to be a good 340 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: mom My. 341 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 6: Mama was really outgoing. You know, when music come on, 342 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,160 Speaker 6: she had to be saying it. Dance out that, well, 343 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,199 Speaker 6: you used to dance. She used to connect with me 344 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,399 Speaker 6: on that, like different songs that I used to listen to. 345 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 1: There's one song they both loved, the early nineties classic 346 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 1: jump by Chris Cross. Remember it, Jump Jump, Chris Cross 347 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 1: will make you. 348 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 6: She turned the music all the way up, and she 349 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 6: turned a little light on and she clashed music and 350 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:27,800 Speaker 6: we just started dancing. Just she'll robing. She was on 351 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 6: my level and the hype me up, you know, and 352 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 6: made me feel better. 353 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,959 Speaker 1: Stacy would take Joannelle to the park and show him 354 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: her backbends. She spent hours teaching him how to play 355 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 1: chess and making sure he felt loved. But as Joanelle 356 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: got older, he began to notice his mother's issues. 357 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,439 Speaker 6: I knew exactly what was going on, but I didn't 358 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 6: know like was that normal or not? 359 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 4: You feel me? 360 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 6: When I got older, I realized it gets bad like that. 361 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,920 Speaker 1: Stacy's addiction, trauma, and mental health issues made it hard 362 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,680 Speaker 1: for her to be a present and stable parent, so 363 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: his family arranged for Janelle to move out and be 364 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: taken care of by their relatives. 365 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,159 Speaker 6: I always thought about her just like she thought about me, 366 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 6: because it don't matter what you know. My mama is 367 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 6: a mama. It wasn't a day she hadn't seen me. 368 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:23,880 Speaker 6: Let me know she's doing good, Get me kisses. 369 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:27,400 Speaker 1: While Stacey could no longer look after her family, the way. 370 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 4: She used to. 371 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: She still had a protective streak, which brings us back 372 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: to where the story started the spring of nineteen ninety four, 373 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 1: when tragedy hit Guendero and Stacy and Nico's cousins Danielle 374 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: and Donnie were murdered. When Stacey saw her younger sister, Nico, 375 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: being drawn into detective Glupski's orbit during the murder investigation, 376 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: her protective older sister instincts kicked in. Nico remembers the 377 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: moment when she and Gallupski ended up in the room 378 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: together around the time of Lamon's trial. 379 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 4: We've sitt in this little room and man Galuski was 380 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 4: in his room. That's when he started hitting on me. 381 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 4: Or I heard you dance, or I heard you used 382 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,800 Speaker 4: to be a dancer. Once you get on the table 383 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 4: and let me watch you dance, I'll pay you. I'll this. 384 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 4: At this time, my sister walked in and she looks 385 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 4: at him, and she looks at me. He had the 386 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 4: little grid on his face. So she pushed me, pulled 387 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 4: me back and put her hand in his face and said, 388 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 4: this one right here, you're gonna leave alone. You ain't 389 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 4: gonna touch this one. You ain't gonna get this one. 390 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,360 Speaker 1: Stacey turned away from Gallupski and looked at Nico, her 391 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,400 Speaker 1: face serious, and she. 392 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 4: Said, don't ever mess with this dude. This dude is 393 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:58,480 Speaker 4: the devil. He's a snake, he's dangerous, He'll hurt you. 394 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:04,480 Speaker 1: Glupski had ruined Stacy Quinn's life, corr s Nico into 395 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: a false testimony, and sent an innocent man to prison 396 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:13,200 Speaker 1: for murder. But as we were about to discover, Gulupski 397 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: had even more power over their city than the Quinn 398 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: family could have possibly imagined. We knew he assaulted women 399 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: and abused his power. But there was another mystery at 400 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: the heart of the story, and the Quinn sisters were 401 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,440 Speaker 1: about to find themselves right in the. 402 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 2: Middle of it. We got here. 403 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,880 Speaker 1: I'm sitting in a room with Khadisha. So this looks 404 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,640 Speaker 1: like an affidavit. We're looking through a bunch of files 405 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,960 Speaker 1: and papers AffA David, State of Kansas, County of Jefferson. 406 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: Oh this is for Stacy. Stay Stacy Quan. 407 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:11,959 Speaker 3: Well, the first thing I can tell you, just the 408 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 3: form itself looks historic, right, yeah, I mean you can 409 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 3: tell it goes back decades. 410 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: In fact, the Affidavid was signed in nineteen ninety six, 411 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: two years after LaMonte McIntyre was convicted for her cousin 412 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: Danielle's murder. It turned out that, like Nico, Stacey was 413 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,240 Speaker 1: desperate to do what she could to free Lamont from 414 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: his wrongful conviction. Because Stacy had been at the scene 415 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: of the shooting too, she had actually seen the shooter's face, 416 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: but for some reason, Nico was the only sister called 417 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: in as a witness. Stacy describes what happened in the Affidavid. 418 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 3: The man had braids in his hair and had on 419 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,160 Speaker 3: black pants with a white T shirt with black riding 420 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 3: on it. The man walked up to the passenger side 421 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 3: of the light blue car, pointing the shotgun at the 422 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 3: passenger and fired twice. 423 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: Stacy saw the shooter, but she was never called in 424 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:16,400 Speaker 1: to make a witness statement. 425 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,560 Speaker 3: And I think it was because she already had the 426 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 3: relationship with Roger Gluspi. 427 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: Kadija and I couldn't help. But wonder if Gulupski had 428 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: kept Stacy away from the murder investigation on purpose. Was 429 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,119 Speaker 1: he worried about bringing a woman he'd abuse to the 430 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:35,159 Speaker 1: police station. Was he trying to avoid the risk that 431 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: she might expose him. A year went by and Nico 432 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: moved on, But then she got an unexpected phone call 433 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:47,159 Speaker 1: from Minneapolis. 434 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 4: Somebody had kidnapped her and took her to Minneapolis, Minnesota. 435 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 4: They told us they had found her beaten. She was 436 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 4: naked in Excreuse of Minnesota in the wintertime. So me, 437 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 4: my sister, my mom, and my cousin drove up to 438 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:04,439 Speaker 4: go get Stacy. 439 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 1: The police reassured them that Stacy was alive, but when 440 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 1: they arrived in Minneapolis, they were distraught to see just 441 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: how violently she'd been attacked. 442 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 4: She said that two guys in a truck kidnapped her, 443 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:26,880 Speaker 4: beat her up, raped her, sodomized her, and took out 444 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 4: her clothes and stuff, and left her in the middle 445 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 4: of the street of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was so beat 446 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 4: up in Bruce and my thought was, aren't you tired 447 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 4: of going through this? 448 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: Nico doesn't know why her sister was kidnapped, but it 449 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: wasn't the first time Stacy's life on the streets had 450 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: led her to become a victim of brutal violence. It 451 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: was painful to witness her sister's downward spiral love. Nico 452 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: realized would not be enough to break Stacy out of addiction. 453 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: Nico could use her experiences, though, to support other women 454 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,920 Speaker 1: in her community struggling with their mental health addictions and 455 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: the dangers of working on the streets. By nineteen ninety eight, 456 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: Nico was twenty six and had gotten a job at 457 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: the local post office. She had her own place, and 458 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: while it wasn't grand, she believed in helping as many 459 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 1: people as she could with the resources she had. So 460 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,560 Speaker 1: if you'd walked into Nico's house back then, you would 461 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: have seen a revolving door of friends, relatives, and neighbors 462 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: who found refuge within those welcoming walls. 463 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 4: I talked to a lot of the women on the 464 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 4: streets that I kind of made my house like a 465 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 4: safe house, and that made me feel good because I 466 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 4: was able to do something for these people that nobody 467 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 4: else would do because they looked down at them. I 468 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 4: knew about twenty of them that would come and sit 469 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 4: and talk to me, or come and if it's hot, 470 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 4: maybe they just want to come and cool all for 471 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 4: our glass of ice water. The Bible said, if you 472 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:12,120 Speaker 4: can't do anything else, give your brother or sister a drink. 473 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 4: Give them shelter, give them food if they're hungry, and 474 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 4: that's what I try to do. 475 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: Nico's home was a sanctuary, a place to sleep for 476 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 1: a few nights while they got ready to pick themselves up. 477 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 4: I will make sure they eat, make sure they was 478 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,520 Speaker 4: warm or cool. When it was summertime. I'll let them 479 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 4: wash their clothes, take showers, and just relax from whatever 480 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 4: it is they've been through. And just sitting there talking 481 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 4: to a lot of the women, they are human, just 482 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 4: like we are. 483 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 1: They just got dealt a bad hand. One of those 484 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: women was Ronda Tribute. 485 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 4: Ronda had moved up on twenty second in fen Dura. 486 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:00,040 Speaker 1: On an early autumn night, Ronda came over for a chat. 487 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 4: She was just talking to me about her kids and 488 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 4: her husband and the stuff her husband said and told her. 489 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 4: And I asked her how did she end up getting 490 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 4: out on the streets, and she was saying she was 491 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 4: being abused and she confided in me on some things. 492 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: Nico suggested something to take Ronda's mind off things. 493 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 4: I said, do you want to go across the street 494 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 4: and have some drinks? And she was like, yeah, but 495 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,560 Speaker 4: I want to take a bath, change my clothes. 496 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: So they did what friends did, listened to music and 497 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,800 Speaker 1: got ready together, going back and forth about who they 498 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: might see that night and what they would wear. 499 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 4: She was saying, I got this shirt in my bag. 500 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 4: It was a black shirt with like some orange and 501 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 4: different colored flowers on it, and I gave her some 502 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 4: rust orange Kaylee jeans to put on. 503 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 1: Then it was time to do their hair and makeup. 504 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: It was the nineties, so they went for an old 505 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: school look. 506 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 4: I gave her like a frieze, some fingerways, then you 507 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 4: pull it up like scrunches. She had a short haircut 508 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 4: with a little brown or auburn color in our hair, 509 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 4: like a blonde in her hair. And I'll never forget that. 510 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 1: They crossed the road for a couple of drinks. Then 511 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: they went back to Nicos. 512 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 4: We came back and sat on the porch and she 513 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 4: was like she's waiting on a rod. 514 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:28,080 Speaker 1: A car drove up the road. Inside was a white 515 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: man with bushy eyebrows and a thick mustache, Detective Roger Gallupski. 516 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 4: Galuski went up the street, went down the street. 517 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: After a moment, Ronda got up, leaving Nico in the porch. 518 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 4: She said, well, I gotta go. I watched her walk 519 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 4: out my door, walk up the street, make the right, 520 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 4: then a left. She walked around the band from my house. 521 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: Ronda took a turn and left Nico's line of sight. 522 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 1: A few moments later, of Glupski's car drove back down 523 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: the road. Nico leaned forward to take a closer look. 524 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:08,840 Speaker 1: Ronda was in the passenger seat. 525 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 4: She was sitting back in a chair like she had 526 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,120 Speaker 4: the chair reclining back, but I could see the hair 527 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 4: and I think a day or two later day end 528 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 4: of finding her in the middle of K thirty two. 529 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:33,800 Speaker 1: Deceased, Nico was heartbroken. Her friend had been killed. She'd 530 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:38,080 Speaker 1: been the last one to see her, and she knew 531 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 1: who Ronda had left with Gallupski. She was terrified and 532 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: desperate for answers. The autopsy report found that Ronda had 533 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: died from multiple blows to her head, but while the 534 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: police launched an investigation, they never pinned down the suspect. 535 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: After that, Nico held her love once tight and continued 536 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: to do what she could to support the women in 537 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 1: her community. One of those women was Monique Allen, a 538 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,359 Speaker 1: twenty six year old who was down on her luck. 539 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,040 Speaker 4: Monique ended up coming to my house. She ended up 540 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 4: staying with me. 541 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 1: Nico had young children, and so Monique would help her 542 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: with them. 543 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,440 Speaker 4: She would do my daughter's hair or my boys hair 544 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 4: because my son had long hair, and get them dressed, 545 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,040 Speaker 4: had them pretty cute going to school. 546 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,840 Speaker 1: They were good friends. They would talk about their children 547 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 1: and their lives growing up on the northeast side of 548 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:42,200 Speaker 1: Kansas City. But like Rond and Stacy, Monique had gotten 549 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:46,319 Speaker 1: caught up with the life on the streets. Nico can 550 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: still remember one of the times they hung out at 551 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,239 Speaker 1: her house in the winter of nineteen ninety eight. 552 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 4: She braided my hair. Frinch braided my hair, and she 553 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 4: said she was going to see her mom. I believe 554 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 4: she took a ship. She told me she was gonna 555 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:03,800 Speaker 4: call somebody, so who you call. 556 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:06,240 Speaker 1: A Monique had a card with a phone number. 557 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,319 Speaker 4: She set it on the table and I looked at it, 558 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,319 Speaker 4: and she said, girl, I'm about to go give me 559 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,960 Speaker 4: some money. I need to get some money. I watched 560 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 4: her walk out my door, walk up the street and 561 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 4: over to a blue police vehicle. She got into the 562 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,640 Speaker 4: car and then it drove away. And then the next 563 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,000 Speaker 4: morning they find her dead in the middle of the street. 564 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,600 Speaker 4: Off of Eighteenth and the side street. 565 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:37,319 Speaker 1: Like Rhonda, Monique had been murdered, she. 566 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,480 Speaker 4: Had been bludget, they had beat her. I think. 567 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:46,120 Speaker 1: The phone number Monique had dialed it belonged to Detective 568 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:47,400 Speaker 1: Roger Glupski. 569 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 4: It was so crazy to me because I probably was 570 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,000 Speaker 4: the last one to see them alive or even talked 571 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,560 Speaker 4: to them that day. And I'm like, father, God, why 572 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 4: is this so? Why am I the last one to 573 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:16,000 Speaker 4: talk to these women? And then they're gone. 574 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: Monique and Ronda's murders were investigated by the KCKPD, but 575 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:25,279 Speaker 1: no one was arrested or convicted. Nico didn't know what 576 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 1: to do. The women in her community were in crisis, 577 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 1: Her friends were being killed, and the man who lurked 578 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:40,320 Speaker 1: in the shadows of their lives seemed untouchable. Quindero felt 579 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,839 Speaker 1: more dangerous than ever, and things were about to get 580 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:50,239 Speaker 1: worse because for Nico, her greatest, most terrifying heartbreak lay 581 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:59,160 Speaker 1: just around the corner, coming up on the girlfriends untouchable. 582 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,160 Speaker 4: There's too many predators, there's too many devils out here. 583 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,640 Speaker 3: The whole time he's holding a gun to their head. 584 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 4: I'm trying to save y'all. I'm trying to protect y'all. 585 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:11,279 Speaker 3: Hey about to issue a warrant go look for his 586 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 3: mother pleasure? 587 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:27,799 Speaker 1: Is this worth risking my life for it? The Girlfriend's 588 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:32,200 Speaker 1: Untouchable is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more 589 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 1: from Novel, visit novel Dot Audio. The show is narrated 590 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,480 Speaker 1: by me Nicki Richardson. It was written and produced by 591 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: Rufaro Masarura. The editor is Joe Wheeler. Our assistant producer 592 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 1: is Mohammed Ahmed. The researcher is Zaiyana Yusef. Production management 593 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:54,319 Speaker 1: from Shari Houston and Joe Savage. The fact checker is 594 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,800 Speaker 1: Fendel Fulton. Sound design, mixing and scoring by Daniel Kimpson 595 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 1: with additional engineer by Nicholas Alexander. Music supervision by Rufaro Mazurura, 596 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: Nicholas Alexander and Joe Wheeler. Original music by Amanda Jones. 597 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:14,120 Speaker 1: The Girlfriend's Theme was composed by Amanda Jones and Louisa Gerstein. 598 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:19,080 Speaker 1: The series artwork was designed by Christina Limcool. Story development 599 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:22,920 Speaker 1: by Olivia Smart and Nel Gray Andrews. Novel's director of 600 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:27,280 Speaker 1: development is Selena Metta. Willard Foxton is Novel's creative director 601 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:32,000 Speaker 1: of Development. Max O'Brien and Craig Strachan are executive producers 602 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:35,759 Speaker 1: for Novel. Katrina Norvell and Nikki Etour are the executive 603 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:39,920 Speaker 1: producers for iHeart Podcasts. The marketing lead is Alison Cantor. 604 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:44,160 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Will Pearson and his special thanks to 605 00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:47,359 Speaker 1: Carley Frankel and the whole team at wm E