Have you ever let someone make you feel like trash, Like they can just
throw you away, dump you on the side of the road. Throughout college
I worked at one of our dining halls. Every so often we catered events
like weddings or football recruitments, and boy did I hate serving those people.
I mean, several were great, but I think a lot of adults saw
me as this sweating, terrified little boy and baby talk to me so I
felt better, You know what I mean, Oh Skyler, You're doing so
good. This meet is simply divine. Don't worry that you nearly dropped the
plate. You're a mess, but I'd feel bad for you because of how
socially awkward you are. But the teenagers ended. My fellow college students were
the biggest pieces of donkey dung I had ever dealt with. I remember it
was working this event with a bunch of religious incoming freshman football players and their
families. My job that day was to refill drinks and clean up once people
were gone. Simple, So I asked my table as an overwhelming amount of
times, do you want more coffee? Is that water chilled enough? La?
While you think I'm going to bring you more wine? You are out
of your goddamn mind. Everyone's thirst was very quenched at my tables, all
except one pimple faced freshman. He snaps his fingers at me, Skyler.
Oh yes, sir, what can I do for you? What's wrong with
my coffee cup? Oh, g ugly boy, is it chipped? That's
not good. No, Jeremy's on my watch. No it's empty. Oh
oh dear, you're gonna fill it up or what like. I don't know
what set me off. It might have been the heat or the stress of
the situation, because serving the public is not a job for an introverted,
antisocial boy like me. But as I walked back to the kitchen to grab
the coffee pot, something really started to grind my years, and I decided
to do something you should never do. No, I didn't spit in his
coffee. I grabbed the pot, walked back to the table, and with
this devilish grin, I asked him to pass me his coffee cup, and
as he did, I poured the fresh pot of coffee all down his nice
white buttonup shirt sleeve. Then I put on my sweet innocent face and said,
oh no, I'm so sorry. It's my first day, and you
were just so mean to me, and it really made me so nervous.
And now I ruined your shirt and his mom's like, oh, sweetie,
that's okay. My son was mean. Do you don't worry about it now.
I don't recommend anybody does what I did, but I will say on
this particular day, it worked in my favor. Each of the eight people
at that table left me twenty bucks in a note telling me how great I
did on my first day. Wink wink. Sometimes you have to take life
by the reins and make sure people don't treat you like garbage for no reason.
But sometimes you weren't given that opportunity. Welcome to dead Time Stories.
It was a crisp fall morning in Speedway, Indianapolis. A bright eyed and
bushytailed Jane Fret walked down to her white nineteen seventy four Chevy Vega, heading
into what we know as her last day of work. Jeez, wallet,
it's gonna be a long day. Only two more years of this and you'll
be out of this small town. You got this, Jane, damn it,
James. Jane was greeted by amount of trash left in her car by
her little brother. Those of us who are lucky enough to have siblings will
understand her frustration. James, WHOA How many times do I have to tell
you treat my things with respect? I work really hard. Yeah, fad,
what a total fry. Good morning, Speedway. Welcome back to the
morning Eagle Ie with me Sky on one oh one point two FM. It's
a cool forty four degrees this funky November seventeenth, nineteen seventy eight. Burr.
Here's the skinny on the happening. Habs shit around. I love Truie's
card on the counter somebody. I'll just give it to her tomorrow. No
big deal. Up with the get up, and don't forg get to lock
your doors this weekend because that freaky dicky coffee fee is still out there.
Get my drift. Now, let's hear some tunes. You who excuse me?
This isn't what I ordered. No, let us please, I'm allergic
to tomatoes. I'm gonna need you to remake that. A river of red
and orangeburger chef uniforms quickly flowed through the team hot spot as assistant manager Jane
stayed busy dealing with orders and customer complaints. She led her team of four
as they tried their best to keep up with the mountain of orders. Daniel,
drop those fries, please, Mark no let us on order thirty seven.
Thanks for coming in today. Mark, you've really been a lifesaver.
We're slammed. No boss, anything for you? Your boss cool? If
I pick up John shift tomorrow, yeah, no problem. Put it in
the book signing you got it, boss. I'll have him sign it when
he picks me up tonight. My new camera was pricy to the max.
Oh my, everyone, stop, it's Ruthie's birthday. Ruth Happy birthday everyone,
Happy birthday day, birthday. Oh stop, thanks everyone, thank you
so much. I'm legal now. Burger Chef was busier than ever, and
the four worked together for a seamless shift. As the night wound down,
Mark noticed ruffians in the corner and cautiously approached their table. Hey dudes,
we're closing up. We're out, man, we leie when we're good and
ready. Listen man, I don't want any trouble, but we're closing.
I gotta get everyone out. Catch them on the flip side. Jane stepped
out of her eye and overheard Mark's conversation with the strange men. I don't
care what you gotta get done tonight, black boy, But if I want
to sit here all night, who's gonna tell me otherwise? A stunt,
Mark gripped the sport in his right hand as Jane stumped her way over to
the table. Boys, didn't he tell you to leave? The degenerate stared
at Jane with a smug look. Well, now come on, don't touch
me. Yeah digg it. Thanks Jane, you're a pretty groovy chick.
Thanks Mark. Okay, kids, let's clean this place up. Ruth,
make sure to change the oil. Dan, please sweep under all the tables,
and Mark grab the rest of the trash. Jane headed towards her office.
Thanks guys, y'all really kicked some butt today. Daniel and Ruth closed
the blinds and cleaned the tables. As Jane emptied the cash registers and counted
the money in her office, Mark went outside to take out the last of
the trash. Around midnight, John who was an off duty Burger Chef employee,
danced toward the restaurant. It's fighting night, Yeah, yeah, fighting.
John walked towards the back of the Burger Chef and saw the back door
was wide open. Hey spice yo. He rushed towards the door and hid,
folding his hands into the shape of a gun, and hey, stick
him up, guys. Hey Ruthie, Jane, damn a man. Mark.
John was welcomed with radio silence. The friar had been cleaned, the
floors mopped, and the tables set. By all appearances, it looked like
a perfect close. Shout out to all my food service people. Jane,
Hello, they say, funny guys. John slowly walked through the restaurant.
On his left was Mark's jacket and Ruth's purse was next to the register.
What where are you guys? As he sauntered towards Jane's office, he was
shocked to see that the safe was wide open and stripped bare. He now
officially knew his co workers were in trouble. What's your emergency help. I'm
at work and all my friends are missing. The safe's been ripped off.
I mean all the money is gone. No one is here. Breaking news
on Indie TV Channel four. A tragic morning Indianapolis Today, November eighteen,
nineteen seventy eight. Hundreds have been found dead inside Jonestown. Seems to be
a mass poisoning suicide. Reverend Jones was found dead at the scene. The
world cries for Guyana. The death count is now over four hundred. Now
stay tune because in about five minutes after the break, we have Leatherman Bob
Marian Sheriff Department Grammar Here, buddy, it's Caroline. Do anywhere on the
kid's head? No, Carol, I don't want to bother you. But
Jane isn't the type to steal. And why would she just leave her purse
out in the open all willy nilly like that? Carol. I know what
you're thinking, buddy, but she's nothing like her brother. She's responsible and
hard working. She loves that job. She wouldn't why throw it away for
five Saine? Jeez, will you let me speak now? I know Jane
and Ruth are not the type of girls to start trouble. Boys are hey,
I know the boys as well, but kids are kids. We don't
know if they were smoking grass in the back. It was Ruth's birthday after
all. Hell, she could be heading back from Claremont all hung over and
walked through your front door any minute, begging you not to start a fight.
Because she's twenty years old and doesn't need her MoMA to look after her.
Aren't you just a tad bit concern that you let the restaurant reopen?
Those kids are going to clean every last bit of Caroline funny. Try and
get some rest, Caroline, Sergeant, Yes, Deputy, we found a
white seventy four Chevy Vega. Jane's pleads her on it. What where was
Jane? Sir? No signed Jane anywhere? Just her car with the doors
partially locked like the Frets, I too, come from a smaller suburb in
the Midwest, and as we all know, people like to talk. Can
you believe that jonestown business? Oh? I know, so sad. Yeah,
that's why I don't trust anyone's kool aid but my own. Oh my
gosh, how can you say that? What? It's the truth? Oh
my god? Have you been all? As the hikers continue chatting about everyone
but themselves, one of them noticed a strange figure in the distance. What
is that? It looks like a person? Hello, do you need help?
Oh, it's probably just a couple of teenagers drunk asleep. Look,
it looks like there's blood. As the two got closer, they came to
discover that it was the bodies of two of our victims, Ruth Ellen Shelton
and Daniel Davis. They've been shot multiple times execution style. Good morning,
Speedway, Welcome back to the morning Eagle Eye with me Sky on one oh
one point two FM. It's a sad forty one degrees on this gloomy Sunday,
November nineteenth, nineteen seventy eight. Today, coolcats, we have some
extremely sad news about some of our groovy youth. Four young bodies were found
in the woods in Johnson County. Two victims were shot execution style, while
a third victim was stabbed in the chest and a fourth was found dead with
blunt force trauma to the head. All four was still wearing their work uniforms.
A distraught Caroline Freed stormed into the Speedway Police department, devastated by the
news of her daughter's death. Caroline fought back tears as she slammed her daughter's
senior photo on Officer Kramer's congested desk. Say it hello, miss Free to
I'm so sorry. What would you like me to say? Tell me that
I don't know my own child. Tell me that I was an overconcerned mother
when she didn't return home tell me that she went to have a good time
with your friends. You're tell me my Donner deserved to die. Caroline burst
into tears as Officer Kramer did everything in his power to console her. It
was a hard day for this small Indiana suburb. Four hard working young adults
with nothing but bright futures ahead of them were violently taken with no warning,
and the locks of days ago and inexcusable actions of the Speedway Police Department left
no evidence behind, with no leads or suspects, the department had to admit
their wrongdoings. We have screwed it up from the beginning. There are no
current leads or suspects in the Burger Chef murders. The Speedway Police are asking
if anyone has any information about anything suspicious happening in the area around Burger Chef
from Friday e into Saturday morning, please call the department immediately to CEFO of
Burger Chef is offering twenty five thousand dollars for any lead. The town of
Speedway flooded with theories around the suspicious stats. With four dead and still no
suspects to follow, fear ran rapid in the small town. Hello, Yes,
I heard Jane's brother was involved with a bad drug deal. I bet
this was in retaliation. First, have you guys checked out where Jane's car
is? They were found twenty miles away. Do we really think they were
just partying in the woods like that? This is just a simple robbery gone
bad, nothing more, nothing less. Me and my crew went to grab
a burger lade that night and there were definitely two creepy white dudes just sitting
in their car. Definitely the weeby geebs Alan Pruett here. I swear to
god, I saw Tim Willoughby and Jeff Reid outside of the burger chef on
Friday night. They took that girl in their orange van. I watched him
do it. They smashed that black boy's head too. I know Timo Dooitt
because his lady, Mary Anne, who's a stone fox by the way,
told me to get away from him. He'd killed me if he got the
chance. Despite a flood of leads from the townsfolk, the investigation quickly ran
dry. Fast forward to nineteen eighty four, almost six years since the bodies
of Jane, Ruth, Daniel and Mark were found in the woods. A
thirty four year old detective named Mel Willsie was assigned to the case, and,
much to his surprise, a telephone rang in his office. A convicted
rapist at the Pendleton Correctional Facility was ready and waiting to confess. Evening,
mister Forester, I heard you have something you'd like to tell me. I
only spell if you'd keep me out of Michigan City. You see, Dawn
was a convicted rapist. He was sentenced to ninety five years in prison and
was going to be transferred to a much larger, much more dangerous, especially
for rapists, prison system, and was trying to save his hide. All
of that depends on what you have to say. Don Can I call you
down? I did a background check on you. Don You grew up in
Johnson County and you've lived in Speedway for some time. A reductive Dawn began
to tell his story. Right, I was actually released the day it happened.
And what day was that? The day before Jonestown. You're talking about
the murders at Burger Chef? Yeah, what else would I be talking about?
Sometimes I think I'd be a better detective than you pigs. What do
you know about that day, Dawn? Well, I shot those two in
the woods, Were you alone? What happened to the others? Don revealed
his alleged accomplices to the detectives. He was there with two other unnamed men,
and he had more knowledge than they had ever released to the media.
The knife stuck into the girl that ran, he had to break off the
blade. Don was also able to lead the detectives to the exact spot in
the woods where the Burgerschef murders had occurred. How could he possibly have haull
this information if he wasn't directly involved with the case. Don Forrester continued to
feat Detective Wilsie more and more information. You see, James Jane's brother owed
money for a drug deal, so we went out to Burgerschef to send a
message. Rub off his sister a little bit, but then that black boy
stepped into help her. What happened with Mark? I thought they killed him
in the lob bang in his head against the van like that. We all
thought he was dead. That's why we took the others. No witnesses.
After Don's confession, the detective interviewed his ex wife, who corroborated his story.
She told him that days after the murders. Don had taken her to
the wooded area, then left her in the car while he retrieved four shell
casings. She said he took them back to their house and flushed them down
the toilet. The detective searched Don's old septic tanks and found several thirty eight
caliber shell casings. Case closed right not even close. On November fourteenth,
nineteen eighty six, someone inside the department, with knowledge of the investigation,
leaked the details of Don's confession and his cooperation to the press. This resulted
and Don pulling his entire confession and the case went cold once again. There
is no statute of limitations on murder in Indiana, but there is an increasingly
tight limit on law enforcement resources. For years, the Indiana State Police had
a cold case unit dedicated to unsolved major crimes like the Burger Chef murders,
but due to budgetary constraints, that was disbanded. Those dusty folders were now
to be perused by cops solely in their spare time. Dozens of investigators from
five different law enforcement agencies worked the Burger Chef case. Most have retired and
many have died. The crime is still unsolved. The killers were never brought
to justice, but there might be someone out there who knows something that could
break the case. Open secrets are easier to keep when no one's talking about
them. Speedway seventy eight was written by Daniel Jones and Chelsea Bray and narrated
and edited by me Skyler Fastenel. Daniel Jones produced the episode, and Chelsea
Bray was our recording engineer. The voices featured in today's episode were Marissipa Stone,
Matt McNelly, Tamra Perry, Jeremy Staple, Alan, Anthony Morion,
Daniel Jones, Walker Barnes, Ariel Dale, Rainy Blake, Jordan Catcher,
Jeanette Zosh, Sophia Sasne, and our TikTok winner Becky Chavez. Thank you
for tuning in for the first of our Halloween specials. Since everybody loves a
good eighties slasher movie, we'll be bringing you stories like that all month long.
I have the best news of twenty twenty four you. The original Deadtime
Stories is now live on Patreon, and we have some amazing gifts for those
of you who subscribe to our Patreon page. I'm talking completely ad free episodes
early access to new episodes, entry into the Deadtime Stories of Vault, and
of course everyone's favorite thing, merchandise. A complete breakdown is available on our
Patreon and the link to that is in the episode description, so go ahead
and check it out today, and as always, thank you so much for
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