Hello, folks, I'm very, very excited today to share with you a
preview to our new show called Sword and Scale Nightmares. We've been working on
this show behind the scenes since last year, and we think you're really gonna
like it. One of the wonderful things about Sword and Scale that really set
us apart early on was the use of audio clips such as interrogation audio and
trial testimony, which adds a level of immersion to the story that feels like
you're watching a well produced TV documentary. But not every story lends itself well
to this format, and sometimes the clips simply don't exist. Not to mention,
we've heard directly from you over the years. We've heard what you like
and what you don't like, and that you all don't like the same things
necessarily, So we've gone back to the drawing board and reimagined how to tell
these stories in a refreshing new way for this new series. That means no
clips, no jump scares, no loud techno music, and no unsolicited,
unnecessary opinions from that over opinionated narrator What an ass that guy is. The
result is what we're calling true crime for bedtime, i e. Bedtime Stories.
For adults. Now, we've tried something like this before. You might
remember Monstro, but let's face it, the feeling, the vibe wasn't quite
right. But I think we've finally nailed it though. And if you like
Sword and Scale, you'll most likely enjoy Sword and Scale Nightmares. You might
even like it more. By the same token, if you don't like Sword
and Scale for all the reasons I just stated, then maybe you'll still enjoy
then you show. Now, in order for this show to be a success,
we need your help, so I'm going to ask you for a favor.
If you're listening to this right now, please take a moment and head
on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast listening platform and
subscribe to Sword and Scale Nightmares right now. It really is going to make
a world of difference if you do. And just so you know, Nightmares
will eventually be part of Sword and Scale Plus, but for now, we're
only going to be releasing it as a freely distributed podcast on all major podcast
platforms. The response we get will allow us to see if you guys like
it or not and whether it's worth continuing. So thank you in advance and
without further ado. Here's a preview to Sword and Scale Nightmares Sweet Dreams.
Saint John's, Arizona is a tiny little town in Apache County with just over
three thousand residents. It's a little blip on the map north of the Apache
National Forest. The town's motto is the Town of Friendly Neighbors and quite literally,
everyone knows everyone. On November fifth, two thousand and eight, Debbie
Nickel was celebrating she'd just been promoted to detective at the Saint John's Police Department
the day prior. This was her second year in the department, which in
the line of police work, is not very long at all. Given that
her new title was so fresh, Debbie was understandably nervous about the responsibilities it
entailed. Before her promotion, Debbie worked as a school resource officer, so
the types of situations she dealt with involved scuffles between kids. Now her job
would be to respond to real crime scenes. She knew she had entered the
big leagues, and she was about to get a taste of how gruesome reality
can get. On this particular Wednesday, a little after five pm, someone
called the police department to report hearing shots fired and then seeing something strange on
someone's front porch. It looked like a dead body. Now, this was
only a few days after Halloween, so Debbie and her partner, Sergeant Lucas
Rodriguez, weren't totally convinced this call would even amount to anything. But they
strapped up their bulletproof vests and jumped in their cruiser, Debbie in the passenger
seat and Sergeant Rodriguez driving. So as they're driving, their lights flashing through
the streets of this quiet town, Debbie's looking out the window waiting for the
house to emerge. She's a little nervous, but you know, how bad
could it be. This was probably just a leftover scarecrow that had gotten blown
over by the harsh winds that they'd had over the last few days. Nothing
to worry about. On the corner of fifteenth Place West and seventh North,
they see the house. It's a blue, two story single family home sitting
close to the street. It's got a little front yard and a truck parked
partially up onto a small gravel driveway. As the police cruiser pulls closer,
Debbie sees what the caller was referring to. Even from that distance, she
could tell This was not a piece of decor. This looks real. She
squints her eyes and realizes that the lump on the porch is in fact,
a dark complexed male wearing a heavy Carhart jacket, lying face down. They
see someone else, too, a frightened little boy standing outside the home,
waiting for law enforcement to arrive and help him. Debbie quickly realizes that she
recognizes this child living in the neighborhood herself. She knew him as the happy
child who jumped on the trampoline with his cousins and always yelled have a good
day, missus Nickle when she left for work. This kid was Vincent Romero's
son. He's standing alongside an adult man and a teenage boy. They seem
to be hovering over him in kind of a protective way. Debbie looks at
Rodriguez as they're sitting on the street in front of the house. They're both
wide eyed because they're realizing this might not be such an easy call after all.
Rodriguez opens his door first, telling Debbie to stay behind while he assesses
the victim and scopes the area. Debbie stays in the passenger seat, looking
out the window. She's getting progressively more and more nervous. Now her partner
is in this house with a real dead body on the front porch, and
now she's thinking about what else might be inside. For all they knew,
the murderer could still be hiding in the closet. Pretty soon after that,
Debbie hears shouts coming from the house. She opens her door and starts towards
the porch, noticing blood droplets on the sidewalk As she makes her way forward,
Rodriguez pushes the screen door from the front of the house, opening it
from the inside, being careful to avoid this dead man lying on the door's
path. Debbie sees her partner's face and knows it's bad. Rodriguez yells out
to her, informing her of another dead body on the stairway to the second
floor. Both men had been shot to death with a twenty two caliber weapon,
one of which was a familiar neighbor, Vincent Romero, the little boy's
father. Both bodies were still warm. While Rodriguez secured the area, Debbie
went around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen or heard anything. At this
point, more officers were arriving on scene, so they split up across the
neighborhood and started knocking on doors. The people who lived in the house right
across the street confirmed that they heard several shots right around five pm. Throughout
this long night of witness interviews, police summarized that the two men were twenty
nine year old Vincent Romero and his friend, thirty nine year old Timothy Romans.
They also learned that Vincent and tim were not only friends, but co
workers and part time roommates. The two worked for SRP or Salt River Project,
a power company in Arizona. Vincent and his wife owned the house and
allowed Timothy to rent a room so that he could be closer to work during
the week. The little boy who was found standing in the front yard when
Debbie and her partner arrived on was eight year old Christian Romero. He had
run to a neighbor for help and they called nine one one and stayed to
wait with him. So Debbie is just shocked that such a crazy tragedy could
strike her tiny little neighborhood. She feels bad for this poor child, this
kid who's just lost his father, so she has to find out if he
saw or heard anything. She sits down next to the kid and says,
okay, just tell us from the beginning. Christian starts to explain that his
step mom isn't home on Mondays and Wednesdays. She works until five, and
so he got off the school bus and walked around the neighborhood for a while
waiting for her to get home. When five o'clock came and went, he
figured he'd make his way back to the house. He says that as he
approached, he saw a truck parked out front and started to call out,
Tim, are you home. Then Christian tells them about the car that went
past him as he approached the home. He says it seemed it could have
been leaving his family's house. He describes the car. It's a white car
with no hubcaps on the back. So the police are like, we got
to send out a blow immediately, meaning be on the lookout for this vehicle.
Christian goes on to tell them that when he got to the front porch,
he saw Tim lying face down. There was a lot of blood and
even bits of brain. The little boy continues, explaining that once he saw
Tim's body, he started to yell for his father, Vincent, but got
no response. He says he carefully opened the front door and went inside,
still calling for his dad, and then he saw him lying motionless on the
stairway. At this point, Debby's thinking, Holy Moley, Thank goodness,
this child didn't get home just a few hours earlier. He could have been
killed two. Debbie knew they'd have to get Christian in for a forensic interview
in the morning. First, they'd have to deal with Tanya Romans, Tim's
wife. Tanya lived far enough from the power plant that it made more sense
for Tim to stay with his friend during the week. Tanya, though far
away from the crime scene, had some information about the previous day that Debbi
hoped would shed light on why two people had suddenly been murdered. Please head
on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform and subscribe.
Sword in Scale Nightmares will launch its first three episodes on March second,
at three twenty three Eastern daylight savings. Thank you, and goodnight.