1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,360 Speaker 1: Either. This is Steve Fishman. It's been a minute, but 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: rest assured. We've got three new series cooking and we'll 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: be dropping them real soon. But today I want to 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,039 Speaker 1: introduce you to a podcast from our friends at Lava 5 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:16,600 Speaker 1: for Good. It's called Graves County and I think Burden 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: listeners will really enjoy it. Maggie Freeling, a Pulitzer Prize winner, 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: is the host of Graves County, and I'm excited to 8 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: say she's also the host of a show we'll be 9 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: releasing this winner. Stay tuned on that. But first Graves County. 10 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: It's season three of Bone Valley, which is that great 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: hit show from a few years back. This season focuses 12 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: on Maggie investigating a murder, and Maggie, who's nothing if 13 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: not passionate, gets drawn in way in alongside a bunch 14 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: of amateur sluice, one of whom turns out to be 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: really interesting, which is all I'm going to say. Follow 16 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: along as Maggie unravels the rumors and the line and 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: perhaps even the truth. Today we're presenting a special shortened 18 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: version of episode one. Listen to the entire episode of 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: Bone Valley Season three, Graves County wherever you get your 20 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: podcasts and subscribe to Lava for Good Plus to hear 21 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: the entire season ad free Enjoy. 22 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 2: Heads Up. 23 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 3: This series contains graphic descriptions of violence. There's a saying 24 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 3: I heard on a recent trip to the South, A 25 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 3: half truth is a whole lie. And if there's a 26 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 3: place that breathes life into that proverb, it's the town 27 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 3: of Mayfield in Graves County, Kentucky. 28 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 4: Our horrific murder went unsolved for six years in Mayfield, Kentucky, 29 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 4: a town of ten thousand people. Then one local resident 30 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 4: decided to take matters into her own hands. 31 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 3: On August first, two thousand, the body of Jessica was 32 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 3: found outside of the Mayfield Middle School. It appeared as 33 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 3: though she'd been beaten and set on fire. Jessica was 34 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 3: just eighteen years old, a new mom, and the daughter 35 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 3: of a lieutenant with the Mayfield Fire Department, and her 36 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 3: case would go unsolved for years. 37 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 5: When police in Mayfield, Kentucky found a body, Susan Galbrith 38 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 5: found a purpose. She had to know who murdered Jessica. 39 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 3: Current until a local homemaker and a handful of girls 40 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 3: came forward with a story, A story that police would 41 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 3: use to convict six people lending Susan Goalbreath in the 42 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 3: newspapers and the radio and on national TV. 43 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 5: Galbreath was a housewife, married three times and drifting. She 44 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 5: had no law enforcement training and she'd never even met 45 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 5: Jessica Current. But whatever grabbed her wouldn't let go. 46 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,799 Speaker 6: Somebody had to do something, and if it's somebody was me. 47 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 4: So be it. 48 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 3: Years later, the Kentucky Attorney General would even honor Susan 49 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 3: with an Outstanding Citizen Award for finding the key witness 50 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 3: in the Jessica Current case. It's a made for TV story. 51 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 3: Ordinary woman help solve murder, brings justice to a small town. 52 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 5: Susan Gallibreth was named Citizen of the Year by the 53 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 5: Kentucky Bureau of Investigation. 54 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:28,519 Speaker 6: And to know that I had just the slightest part 55 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 6: and it just I feel like I was meant to. 56 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 5: Susan Gallibreath has done more than just proved one person 57 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 5: really can make a difference through sheer, persistence and nerve. 58 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 5: This Kentucky housewife helped give justice to Jessica Current. 59 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 3: Catnip for the press, and who could blame them? It's 60 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 3: a good one, maybe too good to be true, because 61 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 3: this story will go beyond one woman. It's about the 62 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 3: lengths our legal system, our communities, and the press will 63 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 3: go in order to find someone to blame. 64 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 2: And it's about the tales we tell and choose. 65 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,359 Speaker 3: To believe in pursuit of justice, the repercussions of which 66 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 3: have uprooted lives, shattered families, and exposed a deep rought 67 00:04:22,720 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 3: in Kentucky's halls of power. This is Graves County, Chapter one, 68 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 3: Something Stinks. 69 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 2: My name is Maggie Freeling. 70 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 3: I'm a Pulitzer winning journalist and producer who has spent 71 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 3: years reporting on the criminal legal system. That's how I 72 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 3: first heard about this case and about Susan Galbreath. I 73 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 3: didn't get a chance to meet Susan in person. She 74 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 3: died in twenty eighteen at the age of fifty eight. 75 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 3: A lot of what I've learned about Susan comes from 76 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 3: her interviews with the press and her own writings, emails 77 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 3: I've had the chance to review, and from her testimony 78 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 3: in the trial for the murder of Jessica Currn. 79 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 7: When I was a child, I either wanted to be 80 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 7: a comedian or a police officer, so I'm neither, of course, 81 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 7: but I've just always had a fascination with the law 82 00:05:58,440 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 7: on things like that. 83 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 3: Susan Galbreath was born in Chicago and moved to Mayfield, Kentucky, 84 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 3: in her early thirties. She liked living in a small 85 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 3: town with a tight knit community, and she had a 86 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 3: son she loved, but by the time her fortieth birthday hit, 87 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 3: Susan was in a rut. A self described cigarette smoking, busybody. 88 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 3: She was on her third marriage to a man who 89 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 3: drank too much, and she'd lost her job from an 90 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 3: injury she was aimless. On top of that, she had 91 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 3: a string of deaths in her family. 92 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 8: In nineteen ninety nine. I had the death of my brother, father, 93 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 8: and mother, So it was a real rough year for me. 94 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,239 Speaker 3: Here, she is talking to a local public radio station 95 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 3: WKMS in twenty thirteen. 96 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 8: And I think that I've always felt that I was 97 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 8: meant to be there today, that they've found Justica's body, 98 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 8: and I often refer to it as through her, I 99 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 8: somehow got my purpose back, because it was a real 100 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 8: rough year in ninety nine. 101 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 3: In her telling, Susan was sitting at a restaurant on 102 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 3: a summer day when she overheard a waitress saying that 103 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 3: police had found a body. What happened after that can 104 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 3: only be described as spiritual, an epiphany of sorts. She 105 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 3: just had to go to the scene of the crime 106 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 3: and see it for herself, and what she found horrified 107 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 3: and captivated her. She would spend every waking hour wondering 108 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 3: what kind of monster could have done such a thing. 109 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 3: But time passed and the case went unsolved, and after 110 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 3: four years, the police had little to show for their 111 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 3: work except for some failed leads and a string of 112 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 3: rumors about what had happened to Jessica Curran. That's when 113 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 3: Susan says her curiosity turned into an obsession. If the 114 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 3: cops weren't going to crack the case, she would. She'd 115 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 3: played a techive and string tidbits of information together Chase 116 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 3: Leeds find the truth. But this amateur sleuth needed help, 117 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 3: so she started emailing people important people like Oprah and 118 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 3: Julia Roberts, anyone who could connect her to resources or 119 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 3: give this case much needed attention, but she heard nothing. 120 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 9: A federal investigation in Brooklyn, and. 121 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 3: Then on TV one day she saw a British investigative 122 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 3: journalist by the name of Tom mingled. 123 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 9: Bobbie revealing how they'd bled to see the manipulated the 124 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 9: truth of forty years. 125 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 2: So she wrote him as well. 126 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 6: Date four four, two thousand and four from Susan g 127 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 6: it chartered that net. 128 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 3: This is Susan reading part of that email for a 129 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 3: radio piece Tom produced for the BBC in twenty twelve. 130 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 3: It was a retrospective on the work Susan ended up 131 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 3: doing for the case. 132 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 6: Hello, mister Mangold, I am writing concerning a murder in 133 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 6: a small town in the state of Kentucky here in 134 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 6: the US. The victim a beautiful eighteen year old black girl. 135 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 3: Tom flew to Kentucky about a month after getting that 136 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 3: email in two thousand and four. It was the beginning 137 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 3: of a year's long partnership with Susan and the launch 138 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 3: of their investigation. 139 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 2: They were an odd duo. 140 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 3: Here are segments on how they describe each other in 141 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 3: Tom's radio piece. 142 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 6: When I first met Tom, I thought he was prim 143 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 6: and proper, like he had to stick up his ass. 144 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 6: I mean, he was just really formal, you know. 145 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 9: When I first met Susan, I liked her on site. 146 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 9: She's chubby, lively, great sense of humor, sexy, deep voice, 147 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 9: and passionate about the one thing she needed to be 148 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 9: passionate about the murder of Jessica. 149 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 3: Current, Tom, then in his late sixties, said he brought 150 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 3: his experience as a seasoned investigative reporter and taught Susan 151 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,839 Speaker 3: how to parse gossip from truth. They drank bottles of 152 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 3: s Sauvignon blanc together, Chase Leeds discussed theories, and eventually 153 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 3: they pinpointed a local girl who turned out to be 154 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:16,199 Speaker 3: key to solving the case. Victoria Caldwell doors Victoria Caldwell 155 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 3: and what did people call you? 156 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 2: Victoria? 157 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,560 Speaker 3: She came forward saying she was an accomplice to the crimes, 158 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 3: and she ended up being the state's key witness. 159 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 4: So in July two thousand, how we're here. 160 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 3: Fifteen years old, Victoria's account about what happened to Jessica 161 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 3: Curran would be the driving force in the conviction of 162 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 3: her accused killers. 163 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 6: Comin Hell Ferci's Quincy Omar Crouch. 164 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 2: This was the story Victoria told. 165 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 3: We've edited her statements for length and warning it contains 166 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 3: descriptions of physical and sexual violence. 167 00:10:58,640 --> 00:10:59,840 Speaker 5: Holds Victoria. 168 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,559 Speaker 3: On a summer night in two thousand, Victoria says she 169 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 3: was hanging out with a few kids from around town, 170 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:11,439 Speaker 3: including Jessica Curran and Venetia Stubblefield, all of them teenagers 171 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 3: at the time. According to Victoria, they eventually ended up 172 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 3: in a car with some older kids, all in their 173 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 3: early twenties, including Victoria's cousin Tamra, Tamra's boyfriend Quincy Cross, 174 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 3: and a guy they need from school named Jeff Burton, 175 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 3: the only white person in the group. 176 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 2: Well, Whency started passing out the drugs. 177 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,839 Speaker 3: Coke, she says, they did cocaine and other drugs in 178 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 3: the car, yes, ecstasy. Tamra and Quincy were driving in 179 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 3: the front with Jessica and they started touching her. 180 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,559 Speaker 2: Quincy and Tamra were rubbing on Jessica's legs. 181 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 9: She was telling them to stop. 182 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 5: And no did they stop? 183 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 4: No, you didn't want that. 184 00:11:58,720 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 7: Then when we. 185 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:08,559 Speaker 9: Got to the driveway of Jeff's house, Quincy he walked 186 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,959 Speaker 9: under the seat and he had a bat and he 187 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 9: hid her in her head.