WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.879 Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is 2 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:05.639 not intended for all audiences. 3 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.519 Listener discretion is advised. 4 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:13.400 Shouldn't happen. 5 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:18.120 It shouldn't happen, And anyway, I just wanted to be 6 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:19.800 known that I didn't kill John. 7 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:25.000 Welcome to Season thirteen, episode three hundred and forty two 8 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:28.320 of Sword and Scale show the reveals that the worst 9 00:00:28.320 --> 00:01:08.920 monsters are real. In the early hours of May eighteenth, 10 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:13.719 twenty seventeen, in Parma Heights, Ohio, a working class suburb 11 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:17.280 twenty miles south of Cleveland, which sounds like a lovely place, 12 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:20.439 I might add, like the rest of the state. Burrow 13 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:23.439 Road cuts through the town in a long stretch of 14 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:29.040 strip plazas and small storefronts, hair salons, nail studios, pizza shops. 15 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:32.120 You know, the kind of useless strip ball that inhabits 16 00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:35.400 pretty much every city in America. Well, those shops are 17 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:39.879 usually owned by locals in These businesses open early, close late, 18 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:44.959 and no they're regulars by name. The strip is dark 19 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:49.079 and small shops are locked up for the night. The 20 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.840 early morning is called except for one thing. A burglar 21 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.719 is ready to do his thing. He grabs a landscaping 22 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:00.480 stone hauls it up and hurls it at the front 23 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:05.519 door of Classic Hair Studio. The glass explodes, the stone 24 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:09.759 breaking apart into chunks across the floor. He doesn't hesitate. 25 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.400 He ducks inside, head straight for the counter, and he 26 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:19.080 yanks the entire cash register, loose, the drawer, jerks free, 27 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:25.759 cords snapping, and he's out in seconds. Inside the cash register, 28 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.599 he finds almost three hundred dollars in cash, and the 29 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:32.479 machine itself is probably worth a couple hundred more. 30 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:36.280 We're here, Hi, it's in Carmania. I'm not going to 31 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:40.280 say it's an emergency, but I was driving to work 32 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:43.159 and I noticed that the door on a beauty shop 33 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:49.159 is totally smashed on Pearl Road. The address is sixty 34 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:54.240 four twelve. It's called Classic Studio and their front doors 35 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:57.520 is totally smashed. I mean anybody can go inside. 36 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:57.680 At this point. 37 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:02.280 Okay, I noticed yet, and I Turnerrund went back, thinking 38 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:03.560 did I really see that? 39 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:05.759 And sure enough I did so. 40 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:08.759 Okay, with God, I'd recorded a. 41 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:13.400 Few doors down. He does it again, another front door smashed, 42 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.039 this time at the Nail Studio. Instead of taking the 43 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:20.680 whole register, he opens the drawer. This one has fifty 44 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:25.800 dollars inside, but it doesn't matter. Any amount of money 45 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:30.400 is worth it. He's desperate. The glass crunches under his 46 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:34.520 boots as he walks away, leaving two shops in ruins 47 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:35.240 behind him. 48 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:37.759 And I'm the store manager here. Just count drug mark 49 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:40.919 right next to us. There is a it's sixty four 50 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:44.039 eighty eight your road. There's the Spine Nail place right 51 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.240 next to the drug mark here that I'm I'm in 52 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.800 charge of. There's the glasses broken out on the front 53 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:53.120 door here at the Nail and spa place. 54 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:55.199 All right, I believe we just clear it there. 55 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.560 Oh oh, okay, I'm sorry. I just I didn't know 56 00:03:58.599 --> 00:03:59.960 if anyone was out or anything. 57 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:02.199 I believe the address is. 58 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:06.159 It's just sixty four eighty eight on the door here. 59 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:08.719 Okay, then that's a different one. 60 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:12.879 It's called Spy and Nails. 61 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:17.240 By sunrise, both storefronts are cordoned off with yellow tape. 62 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:22.519 Patrol officers sweep glass into piles while the owners pull 63 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:27.360 up the surveillance video. A white male short with a 64 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:32.240 bald spot and tattoos on his arms. The time stamp 65 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.199 on the camera is wrong, but they already know the 66 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:40.240 crimes happened overnight. The owners are terrified, and one vows 67 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.279 to shut down the business. She wonders how this could 68 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:47.439 happen in such a family friendly town. Parma Heights has 69 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:50.399 one of the lowest crime rates in the nation, at 70 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.639 least that's what the statistics say. Whoever the perpetrator is, 71 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:57.879 he probably should have worn a mask. His face is 72 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:02.120 front and center on the surveillance camera. Not only that, 73 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:05.560 the outside cameras catch him speeding off in a white jeep. 74 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:10.879 It doesn't take long to bring in Thomas enough for questioning. 75 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:13.959 Okay, all right, do you have any day parmaitches here 76 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.319 to speak with you? No, well, I had a couple 77 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.800 of breakings in my city at his spawn ales and 78 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:23.839 then another Classic care studios. 79 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:26.959 You know anything about them? No, nothing at all? 80 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:29.600 All right, why I get surveillan's video of the vehicle 81 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.439 and the person breaking into their business. Okay, so let 82 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:35.800 me pull this stuff up here. Recognize that person looks 83 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:37.959 like it could be all right. 84 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.240 So let's do this. 85 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:45.160 Recognize them Pa twos Yeah, huh yeah, do you remember 86 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:46.480 doing this or No? 87 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:51.600 Tom seemed like your average guy next door. He just 88 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:55.600 didn't have that typical criminal look about him. If there 89 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:58.399 even is such a thing. You look more like a 90 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.720 dad sitting on the bleaks of his son's football game. 91 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:06.319 And Thomas did have a son, a good kid who 92 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:09.079 unfortunately had to be raised by Tom's sister. During the 93 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:12.600 last fifteen years he was in prison for aggravated robbery. 94 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.720 So looks can be deceiving, that's what they say. 95 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:21.000 Anyway, you're running, you take a cash register from the 96 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:23.319 one place and some cash from the second place, okay, 97 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:25.920 and then you're in You're in a white jeep that 98 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:28.600 looks like it blowing to you your son, but registered 99 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:29.160 to your sister. 100 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:35.120 Maybe okay, okay, But a more more recent photo of 101 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:38.800 be would be this. What the hell happened to it? 102 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:41.040 Yeah? 103 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:43.199 Smash the window? 104 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:44.120 Did you do that? 105 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:45.399 Ever? Yeah? 106 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:46.879 Okay? What happened? 107 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:52.160 I mean, just went off road? Did a true branch? 108 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:53.720 Did you mean to go off road? Or was it 109 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:56.160 kind of yeah, okay, trying to hurt yourself or what? 110 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:01.600 No, just just went off was off road on the 111 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:03.240 spot where we used to go off roading. 112 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:05.319 So you're just gonna go out there and be like 113 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.839 maha or what? I don't know. I don't know, man. 114 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:10.040 I appreciate you being honest. 115 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.319 Tom tried to be a good dad. Well maybe not, 116 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:18.959 but he really did love his son and old habits 117 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:23.439 die hard that included going on benders, robbing businesses, and 118 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.959 off roading. This time, it just happened to be that 119 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.360 he had no vehicle, so he took his son's jeep 120 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:33.639 and damaged it. 121 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:35.680 How messed up were you during this time? 122 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:37.279 I don't know, sir? 123 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.759 Okay, all right, but well there's you know what. 124 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:42.639 Unfortunately you know, due to this and the video and stuff, 125 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.680 I got half of you. And then how it got 126 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.680 to you is we actually the news of hold of 127 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.920 it because I put something on our Facebook page and 128 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.079 then your sister did action want to call it and said, hey, listen, 129 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:53.360 that's my brother in my car. 130 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:54.160 You know what I mean? 131 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:56.079 So kind of let us see you. But I had 132 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:57.959 some previous things allowed to you. It looks like you 133 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:01.600 had a history of Brunswick can readily called me. He says, Hey, listen, 134 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.120 I know that guy. You might you might want to 135 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:06.040 give him a call. Everything he did is what he 136 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:07.920 used to do when they used to deal with you 137 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:08.199 a lot. 138 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:08.720 Huh. 139 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:12.040 So what mean when you were you were in jail 140 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:13.639 for a little bit, you get out and what happened. 141 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.319 I just I don't know, man, I just got how 142 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:20.519 and things weren't like I thought it was going to be. 143 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:23.319 You know, I had nowhere to go, Okay, no family 144 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:23.839 was helping here. 145 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:25.240 What my mom passed? 146 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:29.000 You know, a lot had changed in the fifteen years 147 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.279 he was on the inside, y'all see shawsh ink right. 148 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.480 Think about how smartphones didn't even exist in two thousand 149 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.320 and two. Everybody was still using a flip phone. There 150 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:45.679 was no social media, at least not like today. Facebook 151 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.559 launched in two thousand and four, YouTube in two thousand 152 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:52.759 and five, and Twitter in two thousand and six. Instagram 153 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.320 came around in twenty ten, and uh, I won't even 154 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:59.799 mentioned TikTok. In two thousand and two, when he went 155 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:04.799 into prison, people were still using Aol instant messenger and 156 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:07.720 MySpace wasn't even a thing yet. If you wanted to 157 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:09.679 go somewhere, you couldn't just tap on your phone and 158 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:13.559 have directions show up or even rent out to you. 159 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:17.720 You had to print something out from a site called 160 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:21.120 map quest. I shit, you not on your ink jet 161 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:26.159 printer and hope that the directions were accurate. Kids nowadays 162 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:27.960 can't even figure out what gender they are. Could you 163 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:31.440 imagine if you took GPS away from them. If Tom 164 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:34.919 repeated as little heist today, he'd be lucky to find 165 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:38.399 one dollar in the cash register. People don't even use 166 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:42.200 cash anymore, just their Klarna debit cards, which they have 167 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.960 no intention of ever paying back. Another big difference in 168 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:47.919 two thousand and two is that we weren't all spying 169 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:51.039 on each other. No one was lurking nearby to film 170 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:53.679 you on their phone, waiting to post it somewhere for 171 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:58.159 the world to see. Security cameras existed, but we're reserved 172 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.960 for big businesses. No wonder Tom didn't wear a mask. 173 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.480 Not only was he too shitfaced to even think about 174 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:09.320 a security camera, but he just wasn't expecting these tiny 175 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.039 businesses to own one. In two thousand and two, voicemail 176 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.960 was still a thing and people actually checked it. Tom 177 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.679 felt like he'd been swallowed up by time, but it 178 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:24.279 wasn't just the tech that had left him behind. While 179 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:27.679 he was on the inside, his world fell apart his 180 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.559 mom died. She was the family anchor. There were some 181 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.200 rough years between him and his stepdad, but his mom 182 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:39.480 was always there for the kids, probably almost too much. 183 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:44.159 My mom struggled for the last three or four years 184 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.120 before she passed, trying to keep the house afloat and 185 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.399 still help my sister with bills and with her kids. 186 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:51.440 And as soon. 187 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.039 As my mom dies, you know, I told my sister 188 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.840 well here to take my money and paid a banknote 189 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.600 all on borrowing money against the house or her court. 190 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:03.000 Her husband had allowed. 191 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.080 It to go into such disappeared that she didn't want 192 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:07.279 to fuck with it all, and so she led the 193 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:11.399 bank habit. And uh yeah, I told her, I said, 194 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:12.639 you know, I feel like you. 195 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:14.360 You don't spit on her grains. 196 00:11:14.039 --> 00:11:14.600 You know what I mean? 197 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:15.519 You should have let him. 198 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:17.679 You should have let the bank habit four years ago 199 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.279 instead of moving them on the roll of stretch. 200 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:21.000 She didn trying to. 201 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:23.679 She was the only one that ever had a solid 202 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:27.080 career and a working a steady work, you know what 203 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:29.840 I mean, with good money. So you know she's painting 204 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:31.000 like everybody's cell. 205 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.320 Phone bill, everybody build baby. 206 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:36.720 Sit or certain sys have got a good relationship or no. No. 207 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:40.559 His sister took over the money, and according to Tom, 208 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.879 she mismanaged it. She also failed to get the car 209 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.679 Tom had wrecked from the impound because it was too 210 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:51.399 much trouble. Tom was pissed because the car belonged to 211 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:54.159 his son, Tommy and still had some of his personal 212 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:58.320 belongings in it. According to Tom, his sister helped raise 213 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:02.039 Tommy and had been a good fluence, but ever since 214 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:05.720 their mother passed, she was all about herself. His sister, 215 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.720 of course, had a different story. There was a time 216 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.240 when they partied together as teens and acted more like 217 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:15.200 friends than siblings. But then Tom got a girl pregnant 218 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:20.080 when he was nineteen, and things changed. His sister had 219 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:23.840 lost a baby boy, and now she found herself stepping 220 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:28.679 in to parent Tom's son. Tom continued to party and 221 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:30.440 went to rehab at least once. 222 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.960 It was like usually every time he went to rehab, 223 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.440 this stuff would come out. Missy does everything well, Missy 224 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:40.360 has a job, Missy went to school. I paid for it. 225 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:45.600 He always, I guess, felt like I got everything. But 226 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:51.519 in reality, my grandparents were draining their bank account for him, 227 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:55.159 and their whole life revolved around him. And then what 228 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:59.480 was going on? But he always and he still will 229 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.080 and recently that when my mom died, he wrote Tommy 230 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:06.759 letters the same old stuff like Missy got. 231 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:10.399 This, and his sister Missy remembered that their mother practically 232 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:11.360 enabled him. 233 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.519 She was always their form, and even if he stole 234 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:21.679 from her, he could still come home. I don't her backward. 235 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:23.399 I think I told you when I found out when 236 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:28.600 she died, that she had all these check cashing and stuff. 237 00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:31.360 When I'd found all the. 238 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:37.799 Receipts commissary and to people like Latasha, Maquisha and some 239 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.919 of my brother's crowd, you know, and Akron and Youngstown 240 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:45.559 and you know wherever, and it was always, well, he 241 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:48.159 needs hygiene products. 242 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:50.919 It's like he doesn't need three hundred dollars. 243 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.440 We've all experienced someone in the family like this, right. 244 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.799 It always seems like the one who gets in trouble 245 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:01.360 the most, or is the least productive, gets all the attention, 246 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:04.879 doesn't it. Yeah, Fuck the productive one who pays his 247 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:08.759 bills and minds his own business. Let's focus all of 248 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:12.080 our baby bird attention on this idiot over here that 249 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:15.679 can't get their shit together. Tom was about twenty five 250 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:18.639 when he went to prison, and now he was forty two, 251 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:22.360 with no home to go back to, no mommy to 252 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:25.320 run to, and a son who was almost an adult 253 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:28.759 now ready to live his own life. He had a 254 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:31.679 lot to figure out and even more to make up for, 255 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:35.720 and yet here he was back at the police station. 256 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:38.559 Since he got out, he'd been looking for a place 257 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:43.440 to stay, but his parole had restrictions, no guns, no drugs, 258 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:47.759 on and on. His anxiety was increasing. In the previous 259 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:52.120 night's drunken binge was going to land him in jail again. 260 00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:55.000 Things were about to get worse. 261 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:57.840 I don't see your son wanted to be baitchful against 262 00:14:57.840 --> 00:14:58.840 you at all, you know what I mean. 263 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:01.039 I think he just wants to had around, you know 264 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:01.360 what I mean? 265 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:04.080 Unfortunately, listen, and like I said, I mean, this mom 266 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:05.279 was letting me stay. 267 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:08.879 There and until I got a place and. 268 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:13.159 That didn't work out for the roll, and then she 269 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:15.360 kind of wanted to start a relationship again. 270 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:16.679 And then when I didn't. 271 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:18.919 Because I had a girlfriend, she kind of flipped on me. 272 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:19.519 Okay. 273 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:23.120 And then, like I said, my sister, you know she enhurges. 274 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:25.240 Was that girlfriend, the girl we were looking for that 275 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:25.720 was missing? 276 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:28.919 Oh have you heard? 277 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:30.480 Do you know where she's at? By any chance? 278 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.679 It's just an old friend of mine, Okay. 279 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.279 Still never heard any content of anything where she could be. 280 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.320 She I don't know. 281 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:42.399 She was like when I was writing from jail, we 282 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:45.000 lost contact, but she's stayed in touch with my mom. 283 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.799 Okay, so when my mom. 284 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:48.480 Died, she kind of come back in the picture. 285 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.639 Then her mom died, then she took off the Texas 286 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.080 and came back and her and her friend actually picked 287 00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:55.720 me up from jail. 288 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:56.879 But who was it? 289 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:58.159 Who was her friend that came with you? 290 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:02.120 An old, same old guy, John John Mayn. Yeah. 291 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.480 In that clip they were talking about the mother of 292 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:07.759 Tom's son. When he got out of prison, he was 293 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:10.720 hoping to stay at her house, but that didn't work 294 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:14.279 out because she wanted to rekindle the relationship and he 295 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.120 had long since moved on with two different women. Forty 296 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:22.200 nine year old Regina Capo Bianco was one of them. 297 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:25.320 About fifteen years earlier, she had signed up for a 298 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:29.960 prison pen pal program where she met Tom. Yeah, she 299 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.759 was one of those weirdos. They constantly wrote each other 300 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:36.200 and promised they would meet up once he was out. 301 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.759 The problem for Tom, at least, was that he was 302 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:43.120 looking for stability, and before he even got out he 303 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.840 started to see that she had issues. I wonder how 304 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:49.440 he found out. Could it have been maybe the fact 305 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:53.600 she was writing inmates Maybe that was it there, Tom, 306 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:56.639 Maybe that was the whole problem. 307 00:16:57.399 --> 00:16:57.759 Anyway. 308 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.279 Regina had been living at home with her mother, but 309 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:03.559 at some point in their friendship, her mother also tied, 310 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.200 leaving her without a home. Her life took a downward 311 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:11.680 turn into alcoholism. This was the last thing Tom needed, 312 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:16.240 and besides, he had already started seeing someone else. These 313 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:19.400 inmates can really pulse a puss, if you know what 314 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:23.000 I mean. When Tom was released, Regina was living with 315 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:27.559 a partner, an older man named John Mann. This was 316 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.920 a quid pro quo situation, if you know what that means, 317 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:35.640 a friends with benefits sort of relationship where she would 318 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.119 help take care of him and his house in exchange 319 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:42.079 for a place to stay. She was a househore basically. 320 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:46.359 Regina and John had generously offered to let Tom stay 321 00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:50.240 there too until he got on his feet, But Tom 322 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:53.880 could already see the writing on the wall and knew 323 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:57.599 this would be the worst environment possible for him. It 324 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:01.160 was true that he accepted Regina John's offer to pick 325 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:04.880 him up from prison upon his release, but he told 326 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.400 him he planned to find his own lodging. The last 327 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:11.440 he'd heard of Regina, she was about to celebrate her 328 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:12.960 fiftieth birthday. 329 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:14.839 And one one what's the address of the emergency? 330 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.960 So we have a neighbor across the street and they 331 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:19.000 just got home and there's a lady that's like on 332 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:21.720 the ground and can't get up, and they're like hovering 333 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:25.400 over her. So in the front yard, in the front yard. Yeah, 334 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:28.039 she's an older lady in her fifties with dark go 335 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:32.000 brown hair. Wait, they're picking her up and carrying her 336 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:35.960 into the room into her white female waite female. So 337 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.079 can barely stand up, so they're walking or in carrying her. 338 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.519 Now, it's one thing to get a little carried away 339 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.359 for your fiftieth birthday, But when was the last time 340 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:49.160 your neighbors called nine one one on you because you 341 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:52.079 were passed out in your yard? And I hope you 342 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:54.119 weren't in your fifties? 343 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:58.000 Sure, three joke ahead Regina's birthday. 344 00:18:58.359 --> 00:18:59.839 She apparently had too much. 345 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:03.160 Drink, but she was up, walking around and talking, able 346 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.079 to answer some simple questions. So she's been a durle 347 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.680 guy ar and keep an eyeron for the night before me. 348 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:13.759 Coppy Tom remembered warning Regina to get up that day, 349 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.799 but when she wasn't able to, he and John literally 350 00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:19.200 had to drag her into the house. 351 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:21.000 On her fiftieth birthday. 352 00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.359 She got trashed and was puping up her faked teeth, 353 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:25.720 and I'm like, come on, Regina, I'm like an old 354 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:28.200 lady and saw that, and I told her too, I'm like, 355 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.200 please get up. You know you're laying in your puke. 356 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.039 I'm like, it's nice area. Someone's gonna call the police. No, 357 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.079 sooner than I said it. They're coming a couple of 358 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:39.599 farm tops. And yeah, so it looked crazy like you 359 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:41.920 got an older guy and you got this guy tattoo's 360 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:44.480 dragging this girl in the house. I mean, especially after 361 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.519 all that shit that happened in Cleveland with them girls 362 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:48.640 being known for all that years. 363 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:50.839 You don't know, She's always been like that. 364 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:55.240 She's a good heart, good girl through writing, like as 365 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:56.079 much as we wrote. 366 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.920 In prison, Regina may have had a good heart, but 367 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.240 she was a wild card. Though he did stay at 368 00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:05.279 Regina and John's a couple of times since he got out, 369 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:10.559 he mostly bounced around hotels with his current girlfriend. He 370 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.599 was right to steer clear of Regina as much as possible. 371 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.720 The last thing he needed was to get roped into 372 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:21.559 another bad situation. But Tom, the guy just trying to 373 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:24.880 keep his head down and reconnect with his son, was 374 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.880 about to be pulled into something a lot bigger than 375 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.119 a stolen cash register and e wrecked jeep, something that 376 00:20:34.000 --> 00:21:17.240 would change his life forever. 377 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:20.839 It was late. 378 00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:25.839 June twenty seventeen in Parma Heights, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb 379 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:30.599 with a reputation for safety not violent crime. In the 380 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:33.559 last few weeks, police responded to a string of late 381 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:38.240 night burglaries. The suspect, Thomas Nuff, was quickly caught. He 382 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:42.519 admitted to everything, saying he was broke and desperate. Hotels 383 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:46.680 were getting expensive. Tom had just been released from prison 384 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:51.160 after serving fifteen years. Since then, he'd bounced between hotels, 385 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.000 old girlfriends, and temporary stays with people willing to help, 386 00:21:55.480 --> 00:22:00.880 including a penpal named Regina Capobianco. My boyfriend even gave 387 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.920 him a ride from prison. He stayed at her place 388 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.039 a couple of nights, but mostly kept his distance. She 389 00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:11.279 had a good heart, but she was a little unpredictable. 390 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:18.079 Then Regina stopped answering her phone. Her sister worried I. 391 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:19.119 Miss her every day. 392 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:25.559 I miss sending her pictures of the girls of my grandkids. 393 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:31.039 And calling her. 394 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:32.440 That was all taken from me. 395 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:34.480 Anne Berkeley, can't do that anymore. 396 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:37.319 I call Regina Reggie. 397 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:42.680 Reggie had a contagious laugh. If you would ask anybody 398 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:45.119 what they remember most about Reggie, it will be her laugh. 399 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:49.160 The police had been to her house already, but they 400 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:52.759 didn't execute a full search. Neighbors had seen stickers on 401 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:56.039