WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.640 Lucky Land Casino, asking people what's the weirdest place you've 2 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:04.360 gotten lucky? 3 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:06.559 Lucky in line at the Delhi I. 4 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:09.480 Guess ah, in my dentist's office more than once. 5 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:11.119 Actually do I have to say? 6 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:11.800 Yes? You do? 7 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.519 In the car before my kid's PTA meeting? 8 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:15.119 Really? 9 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:15.560 Yes? 10 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:16.399 Excuse me? 11 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:18.160 What's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky? 12 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:19.399 I never win? 13 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:20.920 And tell well, there you have it. 14 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.120 You could get lucky anywhere playing at lucky landslots dot com. 15 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:25.440 Play for free right now? 16 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:27.559 Are you feeling lucky? No, We're just necessary foid. 17 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:29.199 We're gonna be my long eighteen plus terms conditions of 18 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:30.079 place he wants every day. 19 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.000 Else step into the world of power, loyalty and luck. 20 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:37.679 I'm gonna make him an offer you can't refuse. 21 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:41.759 With family, canoli's and spins mean everything? 22 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:45.159 Now when I get mixed up in the family business. 23 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:49.880 Introducing the Godfather at champacasino dot com. Test your luck 24 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.520 in the shadowy world at the Godfather slot. 25 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:55.520 Someday I will call upon you to do a service 26 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:55.799 for me. 27 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:58.719 Play the Godfather now at champacasino dot com. 28 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:01.960 Welcome to the Family vdW group. Noperch is necessary. If 29 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:03.840 we were privateed by Loss he Terms and Conditions eighteen 30 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:05.000 plus Love to. 31 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:15.000 You. 32 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:18.840 Are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking killers 33 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.879 in true crime history and the authors that have written 34 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:29.120 about them. Gasey Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker VTK Every week 35 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:33.120 another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and infamous 36 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:37.200 killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, 37 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:40.079 journalist and author Dan Zufanski. 38 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.640 Good evening. What is the Price of Passion? What is 39 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.760 the power of love? Meet Martha Beck, a young nurse 40 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:04.000 dedicated to healing others until their own hurting heart lured 41 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.800 her down a darker path. Loneliness led her to Raymond Fernandez, 42 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:11.879 but love led her all the way to the electric chair. 43 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.520 This is the tragic story of the Lonely Hearts Killers. 44 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.120 The book that we're featuring this evening is Tortured with Love, 45 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:23.840 the true crime romance of the Lonely Hearts Killers, with 46 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:27.800 my special guest, journalist and author JT. Hunter. Welcome back 47 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:30.719 to the program and thank you very much for this interview. JT. Hunter. 48 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.319 Thanks glad to be back on here with you Aren't 49 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:35.840 True Murder. 50 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.159 Thank you very much, nice to have you back. Incredible 51 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:43.560 story you've brought to us once again, Tortured with love. 52 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.919 As you write in the book, in the mid forties 53 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.919 in America, as a product of the byproduct of World 54 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:54.840 War Two, many lonely women there will, in fact one 55 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:58.319 more one million more women than men in America at 56 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:01.599 that time. And you take us right away to a 57 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:04.199 woman named Martha Beck who's twenty seven years old in 58 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:09.120 nineteen forty seven, her friend Elizabeth Swanson, fellow nurses at 59 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.560 the Crippled Children's Home. They are having a little visit 60 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:18.400 and Martha's looking through her mail and they're having a conversation. 61 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:24.000 Take us to this incredible scene where she first meets 62 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:26.800 mister Fernandez. 63 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.159 Martha Beck, as you said, her friend had signed her 64 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:36.840 up for what was called the Lonely Hearts Club. And 65 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:40.919 just by way of a little background on that, what 66 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:44.120 these Lonely heartsblubs were is they were the equivalent of 67 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:50.840 maybe online dating service today that we have, where you know, 68 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:53.759 people could meet other people across the country. And the 69 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:56.159 way this worked back at the time this happened. Of course, 70 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.960 this is before internet and computers and all that stuff. 71 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:03.240 At the time. Back then, they had these clubs throughout 72 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:07.240 the country, and the way it worked is the people 73 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:09.280 would join the club, and when you join the club, 74 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:12.639 after you paid your fee, you got a listing of 75 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.800 other club members around the country, names and contact information. 76 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.600 And then what would happen is that people would write 77 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:22.480 the people they were interested in trying to make a 78 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:25.839 connection to, and you know, many often times they would 79 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:29.319 end up exchanging correspondence over an extended period of time, 80 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.360 you know, in the hopes of some sort of romantic 81 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:36.399 relationship developing. So that's kind of the backdrop to what 82 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:40.519 happened with Martha Beck. Her good friend had signed her 83 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:42.800 up for one of these lonely Hearts clubs without her 84 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:46.480 knowing it. And so one day they were together at work, 85 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.079 as you said, at the hospital of the place they 86 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:53.240 worked there, the medical facility, and Martha got a letter 87 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:56.079 that she didn't recognize and it turns out it's from 88 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:58.639 one of these Lonely Hearts clubs, and you know, she 89 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:02.560 was pretty surprised at for and when she found out 90 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.639 her friend signed it up for her, she was kind 91 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:12.720 of irritated, but also intrigued, and she eventually signed up 92 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.839 for it to get more information, and she was ultimately 93 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:22.800 contacted by by someone through the club, this Raymond Fernandez, 94 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:28.079 and they didn't end up meeting after exchanging letters over 95 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:29.959 you know, several months time period. 96 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.560 What kind of information were the women and the men, 97 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:42.160 but especially in the case of Raymond Fernandez's case, what 98 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:47.199 kind of information personal and otherwise was included in that posting. 99 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:55.319 The listings would typically include the name obviously in the 100 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.120 address or location of the person, but it would also 101 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:02.600 include personal information such is, you know, their hobbies, their interests, 102 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:07.959 and also you know, financial information in many, many of 103 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.959 the circumstances. And that's how Raymond Fernandez really started using 104 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.360 these as he you know, he would target women who 105 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:23.920 divulged financial information on their club information sheets that seemed 106 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.759 like they would be a promising target in order to 107 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.120 try to you know, get their get their money out 108 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:32.879 of them. So oftentimes you would have you know, their 109 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.920 their net worth or the home they owned or the 110 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:39.360 value of it and that sort of thing. So there 111 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.639 was a there was a lot of personal information oftentimes 112 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:44.199 on these listings. 113 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:50.199 Now you take us to Raymond Martinez Fernandez born in 114 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:55.000 nineteen fourteen in Hanolu, Hawaii. His father emigrated from Spain, 115 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:58.839 but they had he had moved the family to Bridgeport, 116 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:03.480 Connecticut for work. He was a harsh disciplinarian. But tell 117 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:07.519 us a little bit about his life and his relationship 118 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.839 with his father and before we talk about what he 119 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.360 did at seventeen and his move with his mother. 120 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.399 Well, as you said, his father was pretty strict, pretty harsh, 121 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:26.439 pretty hard on him growing up. After they moved over 122 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:31.720 to Connecticut, Raymond spent most of his childhood there, growing 123 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:36.160 up and going to school. When he graduated from grammar school, 124 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:40.800 instead of moving on to high school with all his friends, 125 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:44.439 his father forced him to get out of school and 126 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:51.120 help work on the family farm, and was very strict 127 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:55.160 with them in other ways as well, and seemed disappointed 128 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:59.480 in Raymond's physical stature. He wasn't a real big guy, 129 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.680 and his father didn't look too kindly on that. So 130 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:05.319 it kind of gave him a hard time in general. 131 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:10.360 And he was just a harsh disciplinarian in general. And 132 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:13.759 you know, there's there's one little story that was related 133 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:18.000 about when ray Raymond was about, oh, I don't know, 134 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.199 maybe thirteen or so, he had come to his father 135 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:25.240 and asked if they could have a traditional Thanksgiving, you know, 136 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:29.319 like a kind of like a normal American family would do, 137 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:33.000 and his father refused, I'm outright, He told him, you know, 138 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:34.720 if you want to do something like that, then you 139 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:36.799 need you need to take care of it. You need 140 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.039 to handle it, you know. A day or so after that, 141 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:41.799 Ray got with a couple of his friends and they 142 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:44.360 went and stole some chickens from a nearby chicken farm, 143 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:48.000 and they got caught. And instead of his father coming 144 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:50.399 and helping him bail him out and bringing them home 145 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:54.200 like like the two friends, both their both their parents 146 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.639 came and got him. Ray's father, you know, refused to 147 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:01.200 take custody of him, and instead he forced him to 148 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:04.360 go face the criminal justice system, and so he was. 149 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.200 He was found guilty to trial, found guilty at a 150 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:13.919 juvenile facility there, and ended up spending sixty days in 151 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.039 Tony jail. There. Kind of an example of you know, 152 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:18.799 how harsh his father worked on him. 153 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:23.360 Now, his mother, he must have had a different relationship 154 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.840 with her. He believed he would have a different life 155 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:29.000 in Spain. So at seventeen, he moved to Spain with 156 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:34.120 his mother, Francis Morales, and his father stayed behind, and 157 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:37.120 there he met a beauty at twenty years old in 158 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:44.960 Carcinatio probably mispronounced that. Robels tell us about this marriage 159 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.679 and what happened in terms of his luck and turning 160 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:53.720 around again for the worse with the Spanish Civil War. 161 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:57.759 Shortly after he was married. I guess this is about 162 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:01.039 a you know, less than a year later he and 163 00:10:00.759 --> 00:10:03.279 his new wife they had their first child. They had 164 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:07.240 a son was born, and a few months after that, 165 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:12.320 Ray was heading back to the US for work. Got 166 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.600 a job in New York working as a landscaper, but 167 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.080 he received notification from his wife that his son was 168 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:22.399 real sick, so he kind of dropped everything and rushed 169 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:25.440 back to Spain because it looked like his son might die. 170 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:29.480 He got back to Spain and fortunately his son recovered. 171 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.440 But while he was back over there, as you as 172 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:34.840 you mentioned in the Spanish Civil War broke out. So 173 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:37.960 that was in nineteen thirty six, and because of that, 174 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.960 there were no ships allowed to go out of Spain 175 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:44.200 back to the US. So he was basically trapped over 176 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:50.919 his family in Spain, and he ended up waiting for 177 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:54.320 one of the sides in the Spanish Civil War for 178 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.639 Franco's forces. He was forced to serve the front lines there. 179 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:02.440 He did that for eight months and encountered a lot 180 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:06.679 of you know, really horrific conditions as you know, as 181 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:09.360 you might imagine in war times, saw a lot of 182 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:14.279 bad things, saw a lot of death and destruction, including 183 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:17.559 including the deaths and of you know, his friends and 184 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.320 other people he knew. And he described that later on 185 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.039 about what the conditions were like, and you know, the 186 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.039 rioting corpses on the battlefields and these sorts of things. 187 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:30.679 So it was certainly something that would have left it 188 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:32.000 lasting impression on him. 189 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:36.919 You talk about he was assigned to be a guard 190 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:40.679 in an infamous prison where they executed Republican loyalist prisoners 191 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:43.720 by firing squad and you talked about the ditches that 192 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:46.399 they were, these bodies were thrown in, and he assisted 193 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:51.480 with all of this gory work. And like you say, 194 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:54.120 it was not unusual for Ray to send people he 195 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.799 knew to their deaths, even friends and neighbors. One time, 196 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:01.240 he wasn't able to maintain his composure, you right, though, 197 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:06.320 and a commanding officer at an execution noticed him crying. 198 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:09.480 Of all things. He was so disgusted he ordered Ray 199 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.080 be tied up with the other prisoners and taken to 200 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:16.720 the remote field for execution, tell us what happens at 201 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.799 the last minute, and surely must have had a hand 202 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:22.639 in shaping some of his character. 203 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:28.320 So he was he was taken with the other prisoners 204 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:31.360 that were slated to be executed. He was taken to 205 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.399 this remote location, you know, and there was this huge 206 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:37.519 you know, ditch for lack of a better term there 207 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:40.080 that they're all forced to stand in and then they 208 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.200 would be shot while they're standing down on the ditch 209 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:45.159 and then buried there. And so he was forced with 210 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.679 the other prisoners there to stand down on that ditch, 211 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:50.840 and the firing squad, the execution squad, and if you 212 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:54.480 want to call it, came and got in position, and 213 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:57.080 you know, it was the ready aim and right before 214 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:02.240 the fire command was given, the officer stopped the execution 215 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:07.279 and pulled Ray back out, and then he was forced 216 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:11.360 to stand there and watch as the execution continued. So 217 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.600 the people that he had just been standing next to 218 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.720 you were all shot and field in front of him. So, yeah, 219 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:20.240 as you as you alluded to, there again another another 220 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:23.799 certainly traumatic episode during the war that would that would 221 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:26.519 seem to have some sort of impact on him. 222 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:30.960 Now, eventually that that was the end of the war, 223 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:34.120 and he worked at these dockyards run by the British government, 224 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.480 but didn't last long. So September of nineteen thirty nine, 225 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.399 Germany's invasion of poll In marked the beginning of World 226 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:47.639 War two, and Ray contacted British officials to offer his services. 227 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:50.279 So tell us a little bit about his service and 228 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:53.279 the kinds of things he did do and experience. 229 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.039 So he when World War two broke out, he did. 230 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:01.000 He volunteered for this to work with the British there 231 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:06.600 in Gibraltar, And basically what he did he served as 232 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:13.919 a as a spy, carrying documents back and forth, confidential 233 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:17.960 documents back and forth for the sides, and by all accounts, 234 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:21.360 he served very very bravely and took on a lot 235 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.039 of dangerous missions during the time. 236 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.080 In nineteen forty five, after being in two wars in 237 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.960 less than a decade, he secured passage on an oil 238 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:38.279 tanker which he thought was heading ultimately to New York. 239 00:14:40.679 --> 00:14:42.919 He planned to carry a plan to earn money and 240 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.399 send for his wife and daughter. There was a storm 241 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.799 at sea. What happened at sea? What happened to Ray? 242 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:53.200 This is I think a really important part of his 243 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:55.759 background you know, we talked about the war and the 244 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:59.840 experiences in those two wars certainly affecting him, but the 245 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.519 this circumstance on the on the ship, this oil tanker, 246 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.279 is something that I think really had a huge impact 247 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:09.080 on him. And there was a storm and see a 248 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.240 really bad storm and sea and the ship started taking 249 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.639 on water because of the you know, the waves that 250 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:16.919 were breaking over the deck and things, and the water 251 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:20.080 pumps failed sure enough on the ship. So everyone's running 252 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.480 around trying to get the thing under control. So Ray, 253 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:24.519 you know, he's he's trying to help out as well. 254 00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:27.039 So he goes down into the pump room to help out, 255 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:31.240 and he's standing down there in the corridor basically, and 256 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:33.519 a big wave slams into the side of the ship 257 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.080 and knocks this this huge heavy door, this heavy metal 258 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:43.759 door off of its hinges, so it falls down down 259 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:48.799 this corridor onto Ray, who's standing numb below it. So 260 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:52.159 it's this it's a six foot high door about a 261 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.200 half inch thick field door falls down on him, hits 262 00:15:56.279 --> 00:16:00.399 him in the head with such force that that quarterly 263 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:04.279 left this like indentation in his skull on his forehead 264 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.120 and left him with a you know, really nasty scar 265 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:11.320 over three inches long afterwards as well, and you know, 266 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.159 sent him to the hospital. He was hospitalized for weeks 267 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:16.120 and weeks and weeks recovering from that injury. 268 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:20.559 When you say it was. When he was well enough, 269 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.000 he took a job as a utility guy and another 270 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:28.320 oil tanker bound for Liverpool. Before going to Mobile, Alabama, 271 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.720 he was caught stealing some sheets and towels and arrested. 272 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.879 He had gotten some advice. What was the advice and 273 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.759 what happened as a result of stealing supplies worth about 274 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:39.919 fifty three dollars. 275 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:42.919 Yeah, So after he was he spent about four weeks 276 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.080 in the hospital. After he got released from the hospital, 277 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:47.960 he took a job on another ship, another oil tanker. 278 00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:53.840 When it arrived in the US in Alabama, he decided 279 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:57.120 to stay on board to earn some extra pay. So 280 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:58.799 he decided to stay on board for a couple of 281 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:01.919 weeks to help, you know, get everything taken care of. 282 00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:05.119 After they had arrived there, when he was getting ready 283 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:07.559 to head out, he was packing up, he noticed some 284 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:11.079 of the other guys that had stayed on were taking 285 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:15.759 different things like towels and bed sheets and whatever else, 286 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:18.400 and you know, sticking them in with their stuff and 287 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.359 taking them. So he saw that and he figured, well 288 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:23.160 they're doing it, I may as well do it as well. 289 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:26.839 So he took some things, and sure enough he got 290 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.720 caught when he was trying to go through customs with these, 291 00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:33.599 you know, these government owned supplies, and he was arrested. 292 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:36.480 He was given this advice to plead guilty to it 293 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:40.119 to get a lesser sentence, So he decided to do that, thinking, 294 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:42.119 you know, he would get some kind of minimal sentence, 295 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:44.799 But he entered the guilty flee and ended up getting 296 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.759 a year sentence, actually a year in the day imprisonment, 297 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:52.759 and he was sent to a federal prison in the 298 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:55.160 Panhandle for the Panhandle in Tallahassee. 299 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:01.519 Now at this, in his mind, this is a fourtuitous 300 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:05.319 event in that he develops a friendship with a cellmate, 301 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:09.599 a Haitian man who practiced voodoo, and there Ray got 302 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:12.079 a copy of a book that was a big influence 303 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.079 on him, The Magic Island by William C. Brook, a 304 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:21.160 classic account of voodoo and Haiti tell us more about 305 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:27.400 his fascination and what this this cellmate had told him 306 00:18:27.400 --> 00:18:30.920 about voodoo and what he started practicing. Even while he 307 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:34.640 was in prison, he became. 308 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:38.079 Friends with this cellmate who heavily involved in practicing voodoo 309 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.400 and introduced him to it, and yeah, Ray, he developed 310 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:46.039 this fascination with it. You know, really read that book 311 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:52.319 The Magic Island very closely, and you know, started getting 312 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.279 all the information he could from his friend about voodoo 313 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:57.440 and what was involved with it, and he really started 314 00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.640 to believe in these sorts of powers that you could 315 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:02.720 get from you know, hypnotism and these other sort of 316 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.680 black magic powers and influence that you have on people. 317 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:09.759 He really came to believe that he had developed these 318 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.920 sort of abilities. And he one thing that really cemented 319 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:16.759 this belief in his mind is he wrote to the 320 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:21.920 judge who had sentenced him, requesting a reduced sentence, and 321 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:25.599 sure enough, his sentence was reduced. This request was granted. 322 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:29.559 He was reduced to six months, and he also got 323 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:32.640 a reduction for good behavior apparently, and so he was 324 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:36.359 released early from the Federal prisionent And so in his mind, 325 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:40.960 in this really confirmed that his voodoo powers were the 326 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.839 ones that had caused the judge to reduce his sentence. 327 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:49.920 Right now, he gets a job, and one evening after work, 328 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:54.559 he sees a copy of Women's Home Housekeeper and he 329 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:57.680 was flipping through and he found an ad. What was 330 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.400 the ad that he found and what was the information 331 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.519 that intrigued him. 332 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:05.759 He was an ad from one of these lonely Hearts 333 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:09.680 clubs that we mentioned earlier, and it was called Old 334 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:12.839 Chelsea Station was the name of the club. There were, 335 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.519 you know, there were there were many of these across 336 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:17.359 the country, but this was this particular club he had it. 337 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:20.039 He saw an ad, you know, it said something like 338 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:26.279 contact Friends lonely Hearts, you know, promising the ability to 339 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:30.759 connect with you know, various people. He he went ahead 340 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:34.200 and wrote in, requested an application and mailed it back 341 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.640 in with the you know, the fee that was involved 342 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:40.319 with it. And as a result of that, he started, 343 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:44.400 you know, he got the list of the other members 344 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:47.839 and started looking at over for the different women, female members, 345 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.359 and started writing to them, picked them out and started 346 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:54.119 writing to them. So he started exchanging letters with different 347 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:56.759 women different locations in the country that that he had 348 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.720 met through this club. And he went on and joined 349 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:02.240 you know, a few other similar lonely Hearts clubs as 350 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:04.960 well and did the same thing. And supposedly he ended 351 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.480 up getting a list of you know, hundreds, a couple 352 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:10.960 of hundred women through these different clubs that he was 353 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:12.000 potentially targeting. 354 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:18.240 Now you talked at the letter writing skills that he 355 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:23.960 had developed somehow bore fruit, and so he had letters 356 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.960 written back to him from three separate clubs as you write, 357 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:32.680 but he had women write in droves. Some of these 358 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:37.799 women that he contacted. What was the first first person 359 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:43.519 that he we talk about correspondence with Jane William Wilson 360 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:47.839 Thompson tell us about that correspondence. 361 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.680 So he met Jane early on. This is one of 362 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:57.000 the first women he seriously started corresponding with. He was 363 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.720 about a month or so after he started joining the 364 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:04.119 club when he started corresponding with her, and he ended 365 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:06.440 up meeting her in person. She was a forty year 366 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:12.559 old woman living in New York, so you know, close by, 367 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.920 and he ended up meeting her and they hit it 368 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:19.880 off pretty well and actually made plans to go back 369 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:25.359 to Spain, the two of them, and purportedly on the 370 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:27.200 on the voyage back to Spain, they were kind of 371 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:32.000 holding themselves out as as husband and wife, and Jane 372 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:36.319 was apparently paying for everything as well on the trip too. 373 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:41.039 So they headed over to Spain and got back in Granada, 374 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:45.599 and Ray's wife was there still, you know, still living 375 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:49.000 there with with their with his children, had four children 376 00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:51.920 in total now by this time, with his wife, so 377 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.400 she was still living there with the children. And they 378 00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:59.759 actually Ray and and Jane actually ended up meeting her 379 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.079 while they were there. And what ended up happening is 380 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:11.680 one night shortly thereafter, Ray was seen leaving the hotel 381 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:15.279 that he was staying with Jane, leaving the hotel there, 382 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:21.079 and when he returned the next morning, we discovered Jane 383 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:25.759 dead in the room. Was his story anyway, and it 384 00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:30.880 turned out authorities looking into it a little bit more 385 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:34.799 later on, it turned out that it appeared that Ray 386 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:40.119 had poisoned Jane, given her an overdose of some medication 387 00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:44.400 she was taking, and by that time he was long gone. 388 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:47.920 He had left and was headed back to the US. So, 389 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:52.359 but this is the first indication of something not right 390 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:58.119 with the women he was meeting through these lonely hearts clubs. 391 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.880 There was I don't know on this. You say, Spanish 392 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:04.799 authority is issued a warrant for Ray's arrest after this, 393 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:07.759 but you say he was long gone. November twenty ninth, 394 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:13.599 Ray sailed for New York. Arrived December eighth, and then 395 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:16.599 he had to break the news of Jane's death to 396 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:20.200 her mother Pearl. What did he say and what did 397 00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:22.559 he what did he say as an explanation, and what 398 00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:27.640 did he produce? Supposedly from Pearl's daughter. 399 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:33.720 He told Pearl that Jane had died of I believe 400 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:36.799 it was some sort of heart condition. While she was 401 00:24:36.839 --> 00:24:42.640