WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.480 In the mid nineteen seventies, a Philadelphia shoemaker and father 2 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.919 of seven embarked on a terrifying crime spree with his 3 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:19.440 teenage son that left a trail of violence, psychological horror, 4 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:25.359 and murder across multiple states. What began as strange hallucinations 5 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:33.039 and twisted orthopedic experiments spiraled into sadistic assaults, arson and 6 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:38.359 the killing of innocent victims that included his own child. 7 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:42.079 This is the chilling true story of a man who 8 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:45.679 believed he was chosen by God to either heal humanity 9 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:51.039 or destroy it. This is the story of Joseph Collinger, 10 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.759 aka the Shoemaker. 11 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.439 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked 12 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:01.479 and Grim true crime podcast. 13 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:30.480 The following material for a mature audience listener disction. I 14 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:34.719 am tired today. I don't know why it's Tuesday, but 15 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:36.480 it feels like a Friday. 16 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:39.040 Yeah, I actually it's been a week. 17 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:41.959 It has been. It's been a whole week wrapped in 18 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.640 only a couple of days. I honestly thought it was 19 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:46.760 Friday for a moment there a couple of minutes ago, 20 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:48.319 and it kind of blew my mind that it was 21 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:48.920 only Tuesday. 22 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:51.200 Yeah. I was like, oh, we got to get our 23 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:54.200 patrons or thank our patrons. You're like, huh yeah. 24 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:57.920 I'm like, it's Friday though, and then it clicked, No, 25 00:01:58.640 --> 00:01:59.439 it's Tuesday. 26 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:00.000 It's too. 27 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.400 Well shit, Yeah, while we're on the top of patrons, 28 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:07.920 let's thank our patrons. So shout out and thank you 29 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:13.800 to Linda Wolstein, Carrie, Leanne Grange, Kristen Graves and super Grams. 30 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:16.680 Thank you very much for you know, supporting us over 31 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:18.560 on the good old Patreons. 32 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.800 No kidding, we're really in for it today. 33 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.719 Hey, oh yes we are. This is actually a Patreon 34 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:27.159 requested case. So what we did is we went over 35 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:30.560 on Patreon. We were like, give us some cases. In 36 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:32.520 the comments, they just you know, went off in a 37 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.800 bunch of cases. We picked the ones with the most likes, 38 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:38.520 top four, and then put it into a poll and 39 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:41.120 then everyone voted on which one they wanted out of 40 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:44.360 those top four. And this case has been on my 41 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:47.439 list for a long time. I just never pulled the 42 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:50.719 trigger on it. And we're overdue. And it is a 43 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:51.919 doozy of a case. 44 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.280 Yeah, I feel like this one. It almost just makes 45 00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:00.800 you you kind of you think, like, holy shit, Is 46 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:02.199 this actually for real? 47 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:02.879 Yeah? 48 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.080 Is this? Could this happen in our world? 49 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:09.560 And it did well? And you don't even know the 50 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:11.759 tip of the iceberg on this case. 51 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:15.719 No, I know very little really, but it's a big one. 52 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:15.960 Though. 53 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.479 There was a lot that I didn't know about this 54 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.759 case when I went into researching, and wait that happened. 55 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.000 Holy fuck, we're gonna be very disturbed. 56 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:27.639 Yeah, we are so well, I'm already disturbed. If you 57 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:30.120 guys know this case, you're with me, And if you 58 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:32.439 don't know this case, you're with Nicole, and you're gonna 59 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:34.599 be disturbed on the way. Trust me on that one, 60 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:39.360 because ding dang, ding dang. This is a doozy. So 61 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:43.439 you ready, I think so, you think? So, let's do it. Okay, 62 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:47.280 let's do it all right? Well, on the surface, Joseph 63 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:50.599 Cullinger was no different than any other working class father 64 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:53.840 in mid century America. He lived in a modest home 65 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:57.240 in Philadelphia, ran a small shoe repair business, and raised 66 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:00.800 his children alongside his wife. Betty yabors knew him as 67 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.400 a quiet man, bit eccentric. He had a fondness for 68 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.840 tinkering with shoes and odd inventions, and kept largely to himself. 69 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:13.439 To the outside world, he was unremarkable, but behind closed doors, 70 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:17.879 something monstrous was stirring. By the time his story would 71 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:21.079 come to light, Joseph Collinger would be responsible for a 72 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:26.199 string of crimes so bizarre, brutal, and senseless they would 73 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:32.079 leave one sorry, not one, several seasoned detectives absolutely stunned. 74 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:37.279 His victims would include the innocent, the unsuspecting, and, most chillingly, 75 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.319 his own flesh and blood. He would be described by 76 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:46.279 psychiatrists as deeply disturbed, plagued by visions, and controlled by 77 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:52.279 what he claimed were divine commands to destroy humanity. But 78 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.839 none of that was visible from the beginning. There were 79 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:58.800 no early newspaper headlines warning of danger, no police reports 80 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:01.399 hinting at the darkness behind mind, the walls that were 81 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.680 brewing inside. Just a man who fixed shoes for a living, 82 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.600 a man who would eventually tell the world that God 83 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:11.480 himself had chosen him for a terrible mission, one that 84 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:15.800 would begin with one death and spiral into a surreal 85 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:22.680 nightmare of violence and absolute madness. Now, what drove Joseph 86 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:27.480 Collinger to kill wasn't greed, vengeance, or even hatred in 87 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.800 the ordinary sense. Anyways, his crimes were fueled by something 88 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:35.920 far more unsettling, but long before the world knew his 89 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:39.959 name as a murderer, Joseph Collinger was a boy scarred 90 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:46.040 by rejection, abuse, and a mine unraveling from within. He 91 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:49.759 was born Joseph Lee Brenner II on December eleventh, nineteen 92 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:53.519 thirty five, in Philadelphia, to a young woman named Judith Renner. 93 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:54.360 Now. 94 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:58.000 Judith's life was full of hardship. She survived polio as 95 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:01.120 a child, spent years bouncing betwe qween foster homes, and 96 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:05.319 found herself in a failing marriage. She found herself pregnant 97 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:08.800 by a married man and was terrified of losing custody 98 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:12.800 of a current daughter, Muriel. She was barely able to 99 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:16.439 make ends meet, so Judith made a desperate choice. She 100 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:20.000 was to place her now newborn son into an orphanage, 101 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:23.399 hoping a family somewhere out there could give him the 102 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.800 life that she couldn't. That family turned out to be 103 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:31.759 Stephen and Anna Cullinger, Australian immigrants who owned a modest 104 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:36.519 shoe repair shop in Philadelphia. Outwards, they seem like a 105 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:40.399 hard working couple, but inside the walls of their home 106 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:44.560 a far darker reality. Played out. The Callingers were very 107 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:49.199 deeply strict, emotionally distant, and prone to violence. They brought 108 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:52.519 Joseph home at a young age, just three, not out 109 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:57.839 of love, though, but as insurance against loneliness in old age, which, 110 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:00.800 in my opinion, is not a reason to. 111 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:01.360 Have a child. 112 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:05.160 Oh not at all. Here, Okay, I'm intrigued to hear 113 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:07.319 this because I'm like, oh, man, did they just get 114 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:09.680 a child that was pretty much born this way? Or 115 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.120 you know, did they kind of create this? 116 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:17.279 Well, there's a lot of discrepancies and discussions in the 117 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:19.720 mind of Joseph Cullinger as he got older and became 118 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:24.079 who he was. So if you have some thoughts and opinions, 119 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:27.600 love to hear it, because it is still something massively debated. 120 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:29.000 Okay, Okay. 121 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:32.800 Now, from the very beginning, joseph life with his adoptive 122 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:36.879 parents was one of cruelty and isolation. The Callingers believed 123 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.439 in rigid discipline and harsh punishments, and that these were 124 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.759 necessary to mold good character and individuals. They showed no affection, 125 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:49.199 no warmth, and no understanding. Every misstep, no matter how small, 126 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:53.319 was met with terrifying punishments. At times, he was even 127 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:57.079 forced to kneel on sandpaper until his knees split open 128 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.000 his skin was bleeding. He asked to attend some school 129 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:03.040 outings even at one point, and his mother responded with 130 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:08.240 beating him with a hammer. One particularly disturbing incident defined 131 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:11.399 his early years. When Joseph was around the age of five, 132 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:16.160 he was caught touching himself, an innocent act of childhood curiosity, 133 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:19.240 you know what, learning about their body, that sort of thing. Yeah, 134 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:23.959 and Joseph he was also diagnosed with a hernia earlier 135 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:26.600 that year, and his parents told him in this incident 136 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.399 that the doctor who repaired his hernia also fixed his 137 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:34.480 penis to stop it from ever becoming aroused because his 138 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.200 genitals quote housed the devil. 139 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.639 Oh, okay, that's that's something. 140 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:43.399 And they told him he had been cured of sin 141 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:49.000 and sexuality at five, at five years old, okay. Now, 142 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:52.879 That chilling lie planted a sea of confusion, fear, and 143 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:56.759 obsession that would twist Joseph's relationship with his own body 144 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:00.679 and with others for the rest of his life. As 145 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.759 the abuse continued, Joseph withdrew further into himself. He even 146 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:08.039 later began to steal his father's shoemaking knife, hiding it 147 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:10.679 in his room late at night, using it in disturbing ways. 148 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:14.440 He would slice holes in the walls, masturbating while fixating 149 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:18.279 on knives and mutilating images. But even then he felt 150 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.879 both exhilarated and disgusted by his own actions. At eight 151 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.360 years old, Joseph endured yet another trauma that further shaped 152 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.320 his fractured psyche. While running errands near the set of 153 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:33.519 abandoned train tracks, a place where he often visited to 154 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.480 escape his impressive home life, he stumbled upon a group 155 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.120 of slightly older boys from his neighborhood. Now these boys 156 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:45.960 were let's just say, engaging in quote mutual sexual acts 157 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:50.960 with one another, okay, But rather than letting Joseph leave 158 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:54.200 when he encountered them or ignoring his presence, the boys 159 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:59.000 reacted cruel cruelly. At knife point, they forced Joseph to 160 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.759 participate in the acts against his will, and in that moment, 161 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:06.000 Joseph became a victim of sexual assault and was forced 162 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:09.200 to perform oral sex on one of the boys. He 163 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:13.639 was terrified, confused, and utterly powerless in the situation. It 164 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.080 was a horrific experience for someone so young, let alone 165 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:22.080 anyone of any age. But it combined overwhelming fear with 166 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:26.240 feelings of helplessness, and it etched into him in a 167 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:32.799 dangerous way for associating between sex, violence, and domination. By adolescence, 168 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:37.200 Joseph's life had splintered into two worlds, the outer appearance 169 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:41.080 of a quiet, isolated boy and an inner life dominated 170 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:45.679 by dark fantasies. His obsessions with knives deepened, his fantasies 171 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.679 turned violent. He would tear out magazine photos of women, 172 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:53.240 stabbing the pictures before ejaculating and climaxing, only to be 173 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:58.879 consumed by overwhelming guilt afterwards. And then came the voices. 174 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:04.039 At age fifteen, Joseph heard what he believed would be 175 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:08.000 the voice of God. It wasn't just a fleeting thought, though, 176 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:12.200 it was a full on auditory hallucination. The voice told 177 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:17.279 him he had a divine mission through orthopedic manipulation. By 178 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:20.360 controlling the feet of people, he would control the mind. 179 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:25.440 He was to heal mankind by altering how people walked. 180 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:30.480 What began as an isolated delusion soon consumed him, and 181 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.080 he would eventually even go on to conduct over forty 182 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.600 thousand orthopedic experiments over the next two decades, creating strange 183 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:43.360 heal inserts, meticulously documenting shoe altercations and alterations, becoming convinced 184 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.279 that he was destined to either save the world or 185 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:50.840 even at times destroy it. But while his mind focused 186 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:55.879 on this imagined calling, the emotional damage and loneliness only deepened. 187 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:59.080 The boy who had never been wanted, never been loved, 188 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:02.519 and never knew safety was growing into a man teetering 189 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:06.919 on the brink of madness. Now in his late teens, 190 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:10.120 Joseph calling Or seemed on the surface to be pulling 191 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:12.879 his life together. He dropped out of high school, but 192 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.159 he found steady work in the only trade he knew, shoemaking, 193 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:19.559 where he of course was building on this obsession. But 194 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:24.600 more surprisingly, he fell in love. At age sixteen, he 195 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:27.519 married a young woman named Hilda, and the two started 196 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:31.919 a family together in Philadelphia. But Joseph's past wasn't something 197 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:35.720 he could leave behind. The deep psychological scars and the 198 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.799 growing mental illness that had taken root in his childhood 199 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:44.200 followed him into adulthood. Early signs of paranoia, obsessive thinking, 200 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:50.000 and explosive temper surfaced almost immediately. His relationship with Hilda 201 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:54.000 was volatile. When she gave birth to their first child, 202 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.600 she in fact showed little interest in motherhood, a reality 203 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.960 that pushed Joseph further into despair, and by the time 204 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:04.679 their second child arrived, Hilda was desperate to leave. In fact, 205 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:07.759 she even sought an abortion, a decision Joseph, despite his 206 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:12.480 own dark nature, completely opposed. The marriage collapsed soon after, 207 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:17.639 and Hilda abandoned the children, leaving Joseph with them. 208 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:19.240 Oh Man, those poor kids. 209 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:24.799 Joseph, overwhelmed by the rejection, placed the children in temporary 210 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:30.360 care and filed for di vorce. This pattern of abandonment, paranoia, 211 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:34.240 and spiraling mental health would soon become a hallmark in 212 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:38.360 Joseph's life. But before his most violent impulses took hold, 213 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:43.559 there was one more attempt at some normalcy. In nineteen 214 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:48.000 fifty eight, Joseph met Betty, a young woman with whom 215 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:51.960 he shared an immediate connection. They married not long after, 216 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:56.200 and for a brief time, life seemed stable. They eventually 217 00:13:56.200 --> 00:14:01.080 had five children together, in fact, Michael, Joey, Mary, Joe, Jimmy, 218 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:05.120 and little Bonnie. Joseph also reconnected with the two children 219 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:07.759 from his first marriage, bringing the total number of children 220 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:11.679 that he fathered to seven, but stability was more or 221 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:16.279 less an illusion. Joseph's control over Betty quickly became oppressive. 222 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:19.679 He grew jealous, paranoid that she would leave him as 223 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:22.960 Hilda had, and he installed bars in the windows forbade 224 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.679 her from leaving the house without him, and controlled every 225 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:30.480 aspect of her life. His mental health, untreated and deteriorating, 226 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:35.120 began to manifest in more alarming ways. He heard voices 227 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:40.080 both divine and demonic. He spoke of visions. He developed 228 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:44.639 bizarre compulsions, installing a homemade bowling lane in their bedroom, 229 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:47.600 which honestly sounds fucking awesome to me. 230 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:51.120 Also, like if someone wants to sleep and the other 231 00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:52.240 person wants to bowl. 232 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.679 Yeah, no, don't even the voices, all that shit. Everything 233 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:58.720 sounds horrible. But just a bowling lane in your house, 234 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:02.120 I'm sold. I'm sorry, that sounds so cool. 235 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:05.120 Yeah, it does sound cool. I also just have to say, though, 236 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.639 the just like listening to his upbringing and like even 237 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.919 him as like a young adult. Now, it's just it's 238 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.720 quite a lot. Really, it is a lot. 239 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:18.360 It's a lot for anyone to bear. Yeah, it's a 240 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:22.159 burden that will be carried throughout someone's entire life experiences 241 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:23.240 like that shape someone. 242 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:26.320 Oh yeah, so I'm fully thinking like he was sort 243 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.759 of developed into this. He may also have mental health 244 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:32.320 issues that need to be treated, and back then, I 245 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:34.759 don't really know if they had, you know, necessarily treatment 246 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:35.679 for that sort of thing. 247 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:37.840 Well, there are some things about some of his mental 248 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:41.120 health things that may have come out of his upbringing, 249 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:43.960 but there's also speculation on some of the things that 250 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.360 he may have also just had. 251 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:47.039 Yeah. 252 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:48.919 So if you have some things where you know what, 253 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:52.320 you're already being affected in your upbringing, then you're just 254 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:55.360 born with certain things, and it makes this like soup 255 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.679 of what the fuck? Maybe that's how he turned out. 256 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:00.200 Yeah, but try me. 257 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.440 We'll discuss that near the end. Now, there were some 258 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:05.360 other things he was doing other than you know, just 259 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:10.000 building bowling alleys in his bedroom. He even forced Betty 260 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:11.960 to make dozens of cups of tea in the middle 261 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.960 of a night and obsessively bringing home junk for his 262 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:19.480 orthopedic experiments that he was now progressing tea tea. 263 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:22.600 Okay, like dozens of coups wanted or he just wanted 264 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:23.240 her to make this. 265 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:26.000 I I'm actually I'm not too sure if he was 266 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.639 specifically drinking them all. But he's just like, yeah, go 267 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:29.559 make some tea for me. 268 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:30.200 Huh. 269 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:32.399 I'm pretty sure I'm assuming he was drinking them. 270 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:34.039 Man, if we wake up at the same time we're 271 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:35.159 in the middle of that, you know what, I'm going 272 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:36.080 to be asking. 273 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:42.480 For a bowling lane, No, for a cup of tea. Yeah. Now, 274 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:47.200 as strange as these behaviors were, they weren't violent yet 275 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:50.080 physically violent at the very least. There was some psychological 276 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.960 stuff behind some of them, for sure, but the more 277 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:57.759 violent things would come later. In nineteen sixty seven, financial 278 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:00.960 troubles and Joseph's declining mental state forced the family to 279 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.519 move into a home with his adoptive parents, the very 280 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:06.039 people who had abused him as a child. 281 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:09.759 Oh boy, and yeah, he's bringing his kids into that environment. 282 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:15.160 Being back in that house reawakened some old traumas Joseph's erratic, 283 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:21.759 volatile behavior, it just compounded. He would pace the halls 284 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:24.279 for hours at night, dragging his children with him on 285 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:28.559 midnight walks, convincing everyone around him or trying to that 286 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:32.960 unseen enemies were watching them. The visions grew darker. He 287 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:36.119 became obsessed with fire, In fact, multiple times he even 288 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.599 set their home ablaze, claiming voices had commanded him to 289 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:39.920 do it. 290 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:40.519 Wow. 291 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:45.000 The family suffered repeated financial ruin from these arson attacks, 292 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:50.240 but Betty, isolated, controlled, and very much so guaranteed to 293 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:54.039 be afraid, she stayed. It was also during that time 294 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:57.559 that Joseph began to involve his children, particularly his son Michael, 295 00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:01.920 and his twisted fantasies. He created what he called lessons, 296 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:04.799 where he would take his children one at a time 297 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:08.920 into the basement and expose them to disturbing rituals. While 298 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:11.839 there's no indication that he sexually assaulted his children in 299 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:16.839 these rituals, the psychological damage was profound. Let's say the 300 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:21.559 lessons often involved nudity, knives, and acts that blurred the 301 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:26.960 line between discipline and complete trauma. Yet despite everything, Joseph 302 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:31.240 still maintained that double life. By day, he was the 303 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:35.440 neighborhood shoemaker, a quiet man running his own business. By night, 304 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:40.880 his mind was unraveling. The once innocent orthopedic experiments turned obsessive. 305 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.720 He kept carving new inserts, convinced that by manipulating how 306 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:48.720 people walked, he could cure diseases, control thoughts or bring 307 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:53.680 about salvation. But Joseph's visions were beginning to shift. The 308 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.240 command to heal the world through shoes was giving a 309 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:58.599 way to something a little more darker. 310 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:01.440 Okay, wait, I have a quick question. Was he getting 311 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:04.480 like a good or bad reputation with what he was 312 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:06.920 doing to people's shoes? And like you almost wonder if 313 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.720 he was getting complaints or anything, like people are getting 314 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:12.680 their shoe back and being like this doesn't feel comfortable. 315 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:15.559 I'm not too sure if he was doing things like 316 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:19.400 that people would notice per se. Oh like maybe instead 317 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.799 of like certain maybe put a certain type of wood 318 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.359 in the heel for support, things like that. I'm not 319 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:28.240 too sure exactly. I didn't dive into the things he 320 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:30.759 was doing, Okay. I mean, if you're doing over forty 321 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:34.920 thousand different experiments, I can only imagine how many different 322 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:39.759 things you try different threads. Maybe it'd sprinkle certain types 323 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:42.039 of sand underneath like who knows, right. 324 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:44.039 Yeah, so it could be very minor things that people 325 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:45.920 may not even notice. I guess say I. 326 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:48.359 Would assume it was things that people wouldn't really notice. 327 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:53.359 At least most of them wouldn't be noticeable. That's my assumption, 328 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:57.519 right in January nineteen seventy two, just a few years 329 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:02.359 before his ultimate spiral, Joseph had actually been arrested for 330 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.960 child cruelty and assault after two of his children, Joey 331 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.599 and Mary joe fled their home and went to police. 332 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.000 They told horrifying stories of years of physical and psychological torment, 333 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.799 some of those things he was doing in the ritual rights. 334 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:20.000 In one chilling example, Joseph had burned Joey's inner thigh 335 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.839 with a heated metal spatula, supposedly to stop him from 336 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:27.319 quote sinning damn. And then he had beaten his other 337 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:31.200 son with a metal head of a hammer. The case 338 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:34.200 went to court, and though he was convicted, Joseph avoided 339 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:39.079 jail time, receiving psychiatric probation instead. But for some in 340 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:42.440 law enforcement, the image of Joseph Kalinger as a dangerous 341 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.559 and disturbed man had already taken root. 342 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:46.920 Now. 343 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:49.039 It was at this point in the early nineteen seventies 344 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:52.680 that Joseph Kalinger's descent into madness officially passed the point 345 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.319 of no return. He was no longer a reluctant prophet 346 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.759 seeking to save humanity. He was now a chosen individual 347 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.880 or instrument to destroy it, and for that he decided 348 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:09.279 he would need an accomplice. His oldest son with Betty, 349 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.039 Michael Kallinger, became the focus of Joseph's new terrifying plan. 350 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:17.720 Michael was just twelve years old when his father approached 351 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:22.319 him in an unthinkable proposal. Together, they would carry out 352 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:27.079 robberies and eventually murder. Joseph framed this as a divine mission, 353 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:30.559 a father and sons bond sealed not by love but 354 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:35.519 by blood and violence. Now, whether through fear, manipulation, or 355 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:40.480 damage already inflicted upon him, Michael agreed to his dad's 356 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:42.359 proposal without hesitation. 357 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:44.920 I mean, he was twelve years old. I feel like 358 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.920 almost any twelve year old would agree to whatever their 359 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.799 dad was, yeah, you know, propositioning to them. 360 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:53.039 Exactly, trusting in their father for what this could be. 361 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:54.599 Right, so disturbing. 362 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:58.160 Now. The first crimes were relatively small. In June of 363 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.839 nineteen seventy four, Joseph and Michael began committing a string 364 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:05.640 of burglaries across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They still cash, 365 00:22:05.799 --> 00:22:09.119 jewelry and anything of value, but something darker was stirring 366 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:14.799 beneath these petty crimes. Joseph's hallucinations were still escalating, and 367 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:18.759 the voices were growing louder. They didn't just want theft, 368 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:23.640 They've demanded a sacrifice. On July seventh, nineteen seventy four, 369 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:26.440 Joseph told Michael he wanted to kill someone that day. 370 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:31.960 There was no discussion, no debate. Michael simply said, okay, Oh. 371 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.720 My gosh, this is just so not okay. 372 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:38.319 The pair set out into the streets of Philadelphia that afternoon, 373 00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:42.599 hunting for a victim. Near a playground, they spotted a boy, 374 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:47.160 oh no, nine year old jose Colazo, playing alone with 375 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:51.680 a cigarette lighter. Joseph approached him, kindly, striking up a conversation, 376 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:53.960 and he told the boy that he needed help moving 377 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.200 boxes and promise he'd be home by nine o'clock. Now 378 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.400 jose likely hesitated, but, as children often do, and fronted 379 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.759 by an adult for one reason or another, he agreed 380 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:07.319 to help. Joseph led the boy to an abandoned building 381 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:12.119 near G Street and Indiana Avenue, an old, crumbling factory 382 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:16.559 with no power, no lights, and no one around inside. 383 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:19.559 They bound the boy's hands and ankles with an old 384 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:24.880 electrical cord. As jose began to panic, Michael, on his 385 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:27.799 father's command, sodomized the young nine. 386 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:32.720 Year old joh Okay, this is just the freaking start too, 387 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:33.200 isn't it. 388 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:37.359 Then, with chilling calm Michael severed the boy's penis with 389 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:40.759 a knife, and then the two left the boy to 390 00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:44.240 bleed to death in the dark, taking his clothes with 391 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:46.400 them as they slipped back into the night. 392 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:48.599 So he did die. 393 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:50.960 Back at home, they ate dinner with their family as 394 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:55.319 though nothing ever happened. It was Joseph's first real murder 395 00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:58.319 and had not brought the satisfaction that he had imagined. 396 00:23:58.640 --> 00:23:59.640 Oh man. 397 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:03.400 He later confessed that he was disappointed by how dark 398 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.960 it had been in the factory. He couldn't even see 399 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:06.680 the blood. 400 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:13.440 Clearly, Holy shit, like, oh like a nine year old boy. 401 00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:15.920