1 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: Virginia, March nineteen ninety eight. This is where John and 2 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: Ann's story together begins, but it's also the setting for 3 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: a cruel twist of fate that would alter the course 4 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: of their lives and set in motion increasingly bizarre behavior, 5 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: a slow retreat from reality. They met for the first 6 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: time at a drinks party at John's house on his 7 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: one hundred acre Virginian farm. She was in her late 8 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: twenties and he was in his mid thirties. It's a 9 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:58,279 Speaker 1: beautiful home, Colonial style, with a porch, large shutters, and 10 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: manicured lawns in walks. Anne and pattern as she was then. 11 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: She was the daughter of an international banker, born in 12 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: Rio de Janeiro, where her father was working at the time. 13 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: She lived a life of privilege in Lisbon, London, and 14 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: New York. She's petite, elegant. He'd worked briefly as a 15 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: male model. The attraction is instant. Author Carol Vaughan, who 16 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: lives in Costa Rica and wrote a book about the benders. 17 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 2: They locked eyes across the punch mal and they moved 18 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 2: in to help themselves do some punch, probably non alcoholic 19 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 2: because neither of them drank. 20 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: It was love at first sight for both of them, 21 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: and thought John was brilliant and phenomenally handsome. They just 22 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: clicked for her. He symbolized a future with a capital F, 23 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: she'd say later. John's father Paul saw it as a 24 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: meeting of minds too. 25 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 3: She was obviously very smart, and she was really dressed 26 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 3: and the stuff he was doing. 27 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: Anne was a recent Fine Arce grad who'd fled New 28 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: York to start again in Virginia. She was done with 29 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: city life and wanted to live in a log cabin. 30 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: John had a brilliant mind and was also searching for 31 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: an inner peace away from people. They seemed to have 32 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: so much in common. They both loved animals, nature, and 33 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: were lonely, but there was something more they shared. 34 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 2: John, in reaching down to phil his cup or her cup, 35 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 2: noticed that her hand trembled quite a bit, and he said, oh, 36 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,959 Speaker 2: are you okay? And she said, well, I suffer from 37 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 2: bipolar disorder. 38 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: We've pieced together this meeting from a number of sources. Apparently, 39 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: Anne told John the trembling was caused by her medication. 40 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: She said she'd just been diagnosed. Then, it seems John 41 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,519 Speaker 1: started talking about mental illness in his family and about 42 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: his own experiences of depression. The pair began a wind romance. 43 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: Two weeks later, she moved in with him. Soon after, 44 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: he proposed, Anne and John married within the year. 45 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 4: We would laugh because we were supposed to never get married. 46 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: It was a shock to his friends, like Steve Reid. 47 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: He thought the bachelor would never get married. 48 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 4: So then when I heard he got married, I said, 49 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:24,239 Speaker 4: somebody want him over. 50 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 2: It was written and stone right then and there they 51 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 2: were faded to be together, faded. 52 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: From that day. Anne said there was never any doubt 53 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: that they were meant to meet, But fate had other 54 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: plans for the couple too, a cruel, unexpected twist of 55 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: fate with devastating consequences. It would change them both profoundly 56 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: and destroy their dreams, and culminate in a violent death 57 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: for which one of them would stand trial from Exactly 58 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: Right media and iHeart podcasts produced by Blanchard House. This 59 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: is Helen Heaven, I'm Becky Milligan. Chapter two, Trouble in 60 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:49,279 Speaker 1: the Valley. Two years after first meeting in Virginia, John 61 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: and Anne moved to Costa Rica With a dream. They 62 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: built their enormous house Borachueyanne in Dear Monte valley. It 63 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: was four stories with no walls, set in five thousand acres. 64 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: The land had apparently cost them ten million dollars, a 65 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: lot of money, but not to them. Remember they'd derived 66 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 1: in Costa Rica with a reported six hundred million dollars. 67 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: All sorts of stories began to circulate they were laundering 68 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: money for the drug cartels in Mexico or involved directly 69 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: with them, that precious gems were being smuggled into the house. 70 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 5: In general, if you live in Costa Rica and you 71 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 5: don't want to be preyed upon and you have money, 72 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 5: they did kind of the opposite of what you're supposed 73 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 5: to do. You'm start to live simply. People come there 74 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 5: to live with nature, to live simply. You know, you 75 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 5: live your life. You don't build grand palaces calling any 76 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 5: attention to yourself. 77 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: Nicole Kulvick, who lived near. 78 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 5: The Venders, I would go on walks through out Lorita 79 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 5: and going up the mountain. There was a little point 80 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 5: where you could stop and look out over the valley 81 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 5: and you could see their house. You know, their powers 82 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 5: in the distance that it, you know, kind of stuck 83 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 5: out like a store of mom People would just say, yes, 84 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 5: they've got a lot of money. You know, they're very private. 85 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 5: They built a little sanctuary over there where they're you know, 86 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 5: for the animals, and there were you know, nature conservationists. 87 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 5: This is a talk in the valley. You know they 88 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 5: did that. They were very wealthy, and you could tell 89 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 5: by looking at their house, you know, how different it 90 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 5: was from everyone that lived there. 91 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: Their lavish development benefited the valley with jobs, electricity, and 92 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: running water, but their obvious wealth and their intense need 93 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: for privacy was not going down well with some of 94 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: the old timers. 95 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 6: I'm Jesse Blena was born in a little town called Westmoreland, Kansas. 96 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: Jesse is an engineer and inventor, and his wife, Matty, 97 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: is a clairvoyant from Costa Rica. Their land backs on 98 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: to Bori Cayenne. From their property, they watched the benders 99 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: escalating isolation and witnessed their strange behavior. 100 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 6: John never left the property except in the helicopter. He 101 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 6: never traveled by road. When they were building the house, 102 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 6: he always had a guard, a machine gun guard with 103 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 6: him and four bodyguards at fifty one hundred yards out 104 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 6: on all corners. It's like he toy lived in fear. 105 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 6: One of the workers evidently I guess went with him 106 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 6: to Columbia and they said somebody flew over in an 107 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 6: airplane and shot him in the arm or something like that. 108 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 7: Who was that. 109 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: Worker, I don't know, Okay, so we weren't actually able 110 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: to verify that. Unlike her husband and did venture out 111 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: of the house. 112 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 6: She would leave occasionally, even on the bus to San Jose. 113 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 6: One time in the post office, she was trying to 114 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 6: hide her appearance, so it was very mysterious. One of 115 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 6: the workers said that he had to take Anne to 116 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 6: Sandy Cedrew and put her on the bus and he 117 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 6: said she was dressed up like an air He may 118 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 6: have just meant very very disguised, or maybe she was 119 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 6: physically dressed up like an Arab for nobody to see her. 120 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 3: I don't know. 121 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: Later, Jesse and Matty would be bystanders to the terrible 122 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: events which would unfold in the Bender's home. Jesse and 123 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: Matty's place is down a grassy track and really difficult 124 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: to find unless you spot the mailbox at the side 125 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: of the road with their names on it. It's a 126 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 1: nadylic plot. They have a wooden house. Jesse has added 127 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: to it over the years, but it isn't large or 128 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 1: very modern. They live a very simple life. It's surrounded 129 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: by fruit and nut trees, taller coconut palms. Sway above us, 130 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: and beyond is rainforest. Oh aren't they beautiful? They're so 131 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: delicate and lovely. Beautiful orchids, aren't they? The sound of 132 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: the birds here? Pale, pink, delicate orchids grow tall along 133 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: the path, And if you stop and listen, tiny birds 134 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: flutter around and seem to talk to each other, chirping 135 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: back and forth. There's a pond too, with freshwater prawns. 136 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: It's covered in lily pads. 137 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 6: I've always loved nature, and when I heard about Costa Rica, 138 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 6: I wanted to see the tropics. So I end up 139 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 6: coming to Costa Rica. 140 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: It was in the nineteen seventies that Jesse first visited 141 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: the country. He kept returning until he took the plunge 142 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: and stayed for good. He was the first foreigner to 143 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: settle in the valley thirty nine years ago. Now, and 144 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: since then a lot more have come to live there, 145 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: including the Benders. And with all those years he's clocked up, 146 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: he has this observation that all the new arrivals have 147 00:09:58,000 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: one thing in common. 148 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 6: Reason were I always say we're escaping something. Some of 149 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,679 Speaker 6: them were criminals too, all right, lots of foreign criminals 150 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,200 Speaker 6: come to Costa Rica escaping. If you want to say justice. 151 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 6: In my case, I like to say it's escaping the cold. 152 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: And he bought a little land. 153 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,439 Speaker 6: Planeted it to exotic fruits where we have over two 154 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,359 Speaker 6: hundred and twenty species of exotic fruits, which is probably 155 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 6: the best collection in Kostrica. And what kind of fruit 156 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 6: Durians feed you longan tearing the new cherry brunet cherries. 157 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 6: We have the paradise cream nuts. I have three different 158 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 6: species of those that taste like coconut with peanuts, tarap 159 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 6: that tastes like banana pudding with vanilla ice cream. 160 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: When we visited Jesse, he showed us one of the 161 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: nut pods which hang from his trees as big as 162 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: tennis bulls. 163 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 6: When they're ready, the lid falls off. 164 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 2: Then we have these nuts inside paradise cream nuts. 165 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:01,839 Speaker 8: This is delicious. 166 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: Living so close to the venders, Jesse quickly realized that 167 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 1: his new neighbors didn't want to have anything to do 168 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: with the local community. In fact, he hardly ever saw them. 169 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: What he did see were the guards who were under 170 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: strict instructions not to talk to anyone, but Jesse was 171 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: really curious, so just kept asking questions. 172 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 6: They weren't even supposed to tell their wife anything, not 173 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 6: even where they were going, how much money they made. 174 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 6: They were supposed to be totally silent, and that was 175 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 6: that was the rules, total silence on everything. 176 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: How did you know that? Did they tell you? 177 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 2: Well? 178 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 6: Yeah, they specifically told me that. I'm basically I'm not 179 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 6: supposed to tell you this, you know, But like you know, 180 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 6: we had whatever this morning. We had to be at 181 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 6: the beach at five o'clock because John arrived in the 182 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 6: helicopter and then went out in the speedboat. And after 183 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 6: a while they came back and we don't know, we 184 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 6: don't know what, you know, what happened. They can't say. 185 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 6: I mean, we could imagine, but we don't know. 186 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:03,359 Speaker 1: What do you imagine? 187 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 6: Well, I personally thought he was probably somebody very big 188 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 6: in the drugs. 189 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: Jesse, remember, had been living there for years, and he 190 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: wasn't just driven by curiosity about his new neighbors, but 191 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: also a concern about the farmers who'd lived in the 192 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: valley for generations and sold up to the benders. 193 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 6: One family that sold to him. They got hundreds of 194 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 6: thousands of dollars and within a few years it was 195 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 6: all gone, and you know, they'd broke up with their 196 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 6: family and they're much worse off now than before. They 197 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 6: just work hour with ages. They have basically nothing. I 198 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 6: think one has an old truck. 199 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: That added to the local anger and resentment, which Anne 200 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: acknowledged in a later TV interview. She said that there 201 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: was a sense of who are these rich gringoes and 202 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: who the hell do they think they are? John's dad, 203 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: Paul Bender. 204 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 3: He did not have the greatest relationships with all the 205 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 3: people around that place because what he was doing was 206 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 3: sometimes inconsistent. I think were some of the people around 207 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 3: wanted to do so he was not trying, I don't think, 208 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:13,719 Speaker 3: to develop friendly relations with his neighbors there, except for 209 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 3: the animals. 210 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 1: Set apart in their big new house on the hill, 211 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: the Benders were not proving popular with the locals. But 212 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: some suggest there's another reason why the couple would never 213 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: find the happiness they were craving in the jungle, that 214 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: there were other forces at work. 215 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 9: I believe that the valley it's a portal in itself. 216 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 9: You know, it's quite the energetic magnetic field, you know 217 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 9: what I'm saying. 218 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: We spoke to Jose, a Colombian American who runs Eco Maste, 219 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: which is described on its website as a healing sanctuary 220 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 1: blending shared ancestral wisdom and ecological education. It's in the valley, 221 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: not far from John and Anne. Jose believes the valley 222 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: has a peculiar force field which can be disrupted by 223 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: foreigners moving in. Like John and Anne bender. 224 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 9: The energy that produces that little part of the valley, 225 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 9: it's quite amazing because you have clouds coming in from 226 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 9: the mountains, which then are meeting up clouds that are 227 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 9: coming in from the ocean, and then it creates this 228 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 9: very unique place where it's like superhumid and super dark. 229 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 9: So the message from the mountain was that the land 230 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 9: was very sick because there's a lot of people in 231 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 9: the area, and this happens all around the world where 232 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 9: they come in and they want to do things in 233 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 9: the land without even you know, meditating or consulting with 234 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,040 Speaker 9: the land or get to know the land first. So 235 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 9: they said, yeah, if the land is sick, and this 236 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 9: is because of what had happened in the past, which 237 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 9: was a lot of our indigenous killings and indigenous artifacts 238 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 9: being taken from the earth. So this created an unbalance 239 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 9: for the land, and the land was hurt because of this, 240 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 9: you know, like it wasn't stick physically but energetically. 241 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: We heard this a number of times. This area is 242 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: uniquely dark and energetically strange. In fact, its other name 243 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: is Las Toumbas the Tombs. It's an Indian graveyard and 244 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: this is where Borichayanne was built. Beautiful but with a 245 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: dark history. And it's this place, last tombas dear Monte Valley, 246 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: shrouded in mystery with echoes from the past, where our 247 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: movie star couple landed with seemingly limitless funds. Very little 248 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: was known about what went on behind the barbed wire 249 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: perimeter fence, but one man knows more than most. We 250 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:12,479 Speaker 1: returned to Asvaldo Rojas and when on as Valdo Rojas 251 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: hired as their main head of staff, who we also 252 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: met in chapter one. Is clean cut, quietly spoken, and 253 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: has black rimmed glasses which look a bit too large 254 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 1: for his face. He's nervous. He doesn't normally talk about 255 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: his time working for the Benders, but agreed to speak 256 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: to us at first he's hesitant, his arms crossed, but 257 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: he begins to relax. From the start, John was not 258 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: an easy person to work for. It started with the 259 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 1: complicated and ambitious construction of the house. 260 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 4: Initially, the house was going to be all covered by glass, 261 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 4: but there was a technical problem with the glass and 262 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 4: these will break, so he just got rid of them. 263 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 4: This was a big problem for John. That's kind of 264 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 4: how we got to know him, because he just shouted 265 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 4: and screamed when the glass was shattered. 266 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: Over time, things got worse. There was trouble with the orchids, 267 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: which John loved. 268 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 4: Taking care of them was part of his routine almost 269 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 4: every afternoon, and God forbid if something happened to any 270 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 4: of them. There were some orchids brought from the mountains 271 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 4: that needed un nest in order to grow, for which 272 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 4: he ordered special containers to be made. In fact, the 273 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 4: guards were supposed to guard him. 274 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: John was fascinated by rare species. One unusually had to 275 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: be planted in an ant hill, the nutrients in the 276 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: soil helping it flourish, and that meant the ants needed 277 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:53,199 Speaker 1: to be protected. 278 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 4: But one night, an and either managed to get in 279 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 4: and ate all the ant that was a huge problem 280 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 4: for John. A guard even got fire over that. 281 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,119 Speaker 1: It wasn't just the orchids that triggered John's anger, but 282 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 1: also protecting the birds. The problem was that some of 283 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,120 Speaker 1: the smaller houses on the property were made of glass. 284 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 4: And will no birds can crash into the windows and die. 285 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 4: Enough animals and couldn't bear to see something that happened 286 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 4: to them. But he would get so angry that people 287 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:31,919 Speaker 4: would afraid of him, so we had to run to 288 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:33,640 Speaker 4: put courtons in those places. 289 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 3: I remember one. 290 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 4: Time when our guard brought him a bird that had 291 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 4: crashed into one of the windows, and he was screaming 292 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 4: and shouting all over and I had to tell them, 293 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 4: next time you'll find a bird, just don't bring it 294 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 4: to him. 295 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: So he could get angry sometimes. 296 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, practically all the time. 297 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: Staff had to adapt in other ways too, take us 298 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 1: val there's cleaning. 299 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 5: Time. 300 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 4: We readily spoke to John. Everything was done through Anna. 301 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:10,199 Speaker 4: We communicated with her through walkie talkies. We had to 302 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,679 Speaker 4: ask for permission before going into the house, but we 303 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 4: wouldn't do everything on the same day as we arrived. 304 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 4: We waited until Anna said it was okay to come in. 305 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,120 Speaker 4: We did the basics to keep the house clean and tidy. 306 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 4: Then the next day came over again to do other 307 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 4: clean activities because he didn't like outsiders inside the house 308 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 4: for too long. 309 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,800 Speaker 1: And what was their routine each day? 310 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 4: They got up early between five five six in the morning. 311 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,639 Speaker 4: I arrived at seven and John was already in front 312 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 4: of the computer. Anna would prepare breakfast and he could 313 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 4: spend the rest of the day on the second floor 314 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 4: where he normally worked. 315 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:54,680 Speaker 8: On his computer. 316 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 4: Sometimes he went for a walk inside the property, but 317 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 4: it was not quite a In the afternoon, they will 318 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 4: drink some coffee that Anna will prepir. At three pm, 319 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,120 Speaker 4: I will leave the property and after that I don't 320 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 4: know much. 321 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: We know that both John and Anne had mental health issues, 322 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,360 Speaker 1: but increasingly at the center of their lives were problems 323 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: with Anne's physical health. Back to Virginia, the place where 324 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: John and Anne first met in March nineteen ninety eight, 325 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: and it's probably here at some point that Anne was 326 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: bitten by a tick, a deer tick, which can be 327 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 1: as small as a poppy seed. So what you might ask, 328 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: but it would dramatically alter the course of their lives 329 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:50,680 Speaker 1: because Anne was infected with a bacteria which causes limes disease. 330 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 1: The effects can be devastating if it's not spotted quickly 331 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: and treated, and it seems that Anne's condition wasn't diagnosed 332 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: earlier enough. There's a long list of symptoms fatigue, migraines, 333 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: memory loss, joint swelling, and pain to the point of 334 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 1: making walking difficult. It can infect your central nervous system too, 335 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: cause heart problems. The list goes on. Anne was only 336 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: in her thirties and was walking with a cane. A 337 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: few years later she would have to be carried around 338 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 1: by John. The illness transformed her. Remember this wasn't long 339 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: after they had arrived in Costa Rica. 340 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 4: She took burnt out over time. Her physical and mental 341 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 4: health was in the cane. That beautiful, spectacular woman that 342 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,200 Speaker 4: we met when SHARAIV just vanished. 343 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: As Anne became weaker, John took her health into his 344 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: own hands. He turned to a natural resource, the jungle. 345 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 8: There's a lot of medications, a lot on everything everywhere 346 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,880 Speaker 8: in the trees around you. Through there right now, you'll 347 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 8: find aspiring. 348 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: John Colvic told us about what he'd learned about the 349 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: jungle's natural kills. 350 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 8: You can take a scrape of bark off the tree 351 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 8: and drop it in your tee. There's a little plant 352 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 8: that would grow right next to our farm. It tastes terrible. 353 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 8: It's the worst tasting thing you've ever had. If you 354 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 8: licked it, you would taste like if you put an 355 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 8: aspir in your tongue all the way to your toes. 356 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 8: And then when you have dysentery and you feel like hell, 357 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 8: when you feel like you're gonna die, you drink a 358 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 8: couple of pups of this in the morning, a couple 359 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,120 Speaker 8: of cups in the evening. All of a sudden, it's 360 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 8: all gone. You know, the little you know, the little 361 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 8: grasses on the ground that you touch and their leaves close. 362 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,159 Speaker 8: If you pull those out of the ground, wash the 363 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,879 Speaker 8: roots off, and you have toothache. You can make a 364 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:45,960 Speaker 8: tea with those, And then when you garble and rinch 365 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 8: with that, your toothache goes away. Go figure, right, do 366 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 8: don't understand how it works or why it works, but 367 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 8: it definitely does. And when you start looking into these 368 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 8: medicinal plants that are there and they're uses the people 369 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:00,960 Speaker 8: that know how to use it, you get into the 370 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,400 Speaker 8: pharmaceutical names, and then all of a sudden you find 371 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 8: out the pharmaceutical industry has been refining these things and 372 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 8: making them, and that's what we're buying off the shelves. 373 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,720 Speaker 8: There's an analyst apply of flora and tlauna that you 374 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 8: can treat things with. 375 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: John took that idea and really ran with it. He 376 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,960 Speaker 1: started to concoct potions using the plants to help his 377 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: wife recover. 378 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 3: I do know that she had a lot of medical problems. Yeah, 379 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:27,720 Speaker 3: he got really involved in that. 380 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:31,719 Speaker 1: He told his dad Paul, about the discoveries he was making. 381 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 3: He was really into that part of her life. 382 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,679 Speaker 1: Jack Schwager, who visited with his son in the last episode, 383 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: remembers John working on finding a cure. 384 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 7: He dyings are really smart eye. So at the time, 385 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 7: one thing he was doing, I remember, he was doing 386 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 7: research to try to find you to come up with 387 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 7: some cure or to figure out what was wrong with 388 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 7: Anne and stuff like that. And he took care of 389 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 7: her and so he was heir of devoted to her. 390 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 7: As I recall, she wasn't getting help from conventional medicine, 391 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,919 Speaker 7: you know, and no doctors had ended up coming up 392 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 7: with anything, and so he was kind of researching himself. 393 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: John's background wasn't in medicine. Yet he was determined to 394 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: develop treatments for his wife, but her health continued to 395 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: get worse. Anne's illness only seems to be part of 396 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,320 Speaker 1: what was going on at Bora Cheyenne. There seemed to 397 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:39,400 Speaker 1: have been other factors at play too. Anne was becoming 398 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: a shadow of her former self, increasingly staying trapped in 399 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: the house. 400 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,679 Speaker 4: Not anto excess of it. She often went to the 401 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 4: Seema private hospital. She would go abroad to continue with 402 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 4: her treatment, so she wasn't trapped physically, but perhaps mentally 403 00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 4: she was. 404 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: Meant As Valdo's face titans as he speaks the distress clear, 405 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 1: I ask him an easier question about how they were 406 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: as a couple. He starts to answer, but then stops. 407 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 4: Sorry, there are more things I would like to say, 408 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 4: but I just can't because I might get in trouble. 409 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 1: But he did put their relationship this way. 410 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,120 Speaker 4: Yes, Sometimes in the afternoons, when I get ready to leave, 411 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 4: they'd be sitting on the terrors of the second floor 412 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 4: to watch the sunset. One would imagine this is a 413 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 4: beautiful couple, but it was exactly the opposite. 414 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: The lovers, the pair falling for each other over the 415 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:49,040 Speaker 1: punch bowl years before a whirlwind romance. We're now facing isolation, 416 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: chronic illness, and local suspicion in the middle of the 417 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:57,119 Speaker 1: deer Monte Valley. Yet things were about to get worse. 418 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 1: The world they were trying to leave behind was catching 419 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: up with them. Yes, oh hi, my name's Becky Milligan. 420 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: I'm giving someone who we're calling Michael a call. He 421 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,440 Speaker 1: didn't want his voice used, so we're using an actor 422 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: for his side of the conversation. My audio is from 423 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: the original call. My colleagues and I work for a 424 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: podcast company and we're doing the story about John Bender. 425 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 1: I didn't know him, but was told that he was 426 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: somehow entangled in the story about John Bender. So what 427 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: would you call yourself? What would how would you describe 428 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: your job? It quickly became clear that Michael was the 429 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: sort of person you ring when you have a problem 430 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 1: and you need it fixed, a serious problem. 431 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,640 Speaker 3: We're not related to military at all. Really interesting. 432 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 8: Basically, I don't like the term. 433 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 3: I don't like the term. 434 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:01,239 Speaker 8: What do you call it? 435 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: Mercy? 436 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 7: Correct? 437 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 4: I don't like that, But basically that's that's what it is. 438 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: Are you involved in this sort of work? Still? 439 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 3: I retired in two thousand and eight, but I still 440 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 3: have some clients in Central America. 441 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,200 Speaker 1: So at the time, trouble is brewing for John Bender 442 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,400 Speaker 1: in the valley, Michael's phone starts to ring. 443 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 9: I was contracted by a third party to kind. 444 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 3: Of intercept mister Bender and send him to the stake. 445 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 8: So we've worked on intelligence to get mister Bender's whereabouts 446 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 8: and what we did. We mounted an intervention to kind 447 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,160 Speaker 8: of capture him. 448 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: Who wanted John Bender intercepted? And why? That's next time 449 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,239 Speaker 1: on Hell in Heaven and they went back to get 450 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: the money. What did you hear though? Tell me what 451 00:27:52,840 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 1: you heard? All I heard was a shot. You've been 452 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: listening to Helen Heaven from Exactly Right Media and iHeart 453 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 1: Podcasts produced by Blanchard House, hosted, written and produced by 454 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,959 Speaker 1: me Becky Milligan. The producer and co writer is Poppy Damon. 455 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:25,400 Speaker 1: Music is by Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nankmanell, and Toby Mattamon. 456 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: The sound recordist and head of sound and Music is 457 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: Daniel Lloyd Evans. The lead sound designer is Vulcan Kiseltoog. 458 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: The artwork is by Vanessa Lilac for Exactly Right Media. 459 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: The executive producers are Karen Kilgarreth, Georgia Hardstark, and Danielle Kramer, 460 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 1: with consulting producer Lilly Ladderwig and associate producer Jay Elias. 461 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: The creative director of Blanchard House is Rosy Pye. The 462 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: executive producer and Head of Content at Blanchard House is 463 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: Lawrence Griselle. Listen to Helen Heaven on the iHeartRadio app, 464 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.