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Nope, we're not necessary boide, We're 27 00:00:58.359 --> 00:00:59.759 gonna be my Law eighte plus terms conditions. 28 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:11.239 Plus, you are now listening to True Murder, the most 29 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:14.599 shocking killers in true crime history and the authors that 30 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:20.920 have written about them Gasey, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker BTK. 31 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:25.640 Every week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking 32 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.840 and infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with 33 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:33.359 your host, journalist and author Dan Zufanski. 34 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:47.239 Good evening. During the depths of the Great Depression. In 35 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:50.439 yipsul Aante, Michigan, a seven year old boy is found 36 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.519 frozen to death under the Frog Island Footbridge and Depot 37 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.760 Town after being reported missing the night before by his parents. 38 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:02.719 Bons examination the Washingtonawk County Corner discovers the child is 39 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.959 the victim of foul play. After three years of investigation, 40 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:10.919 Ypsilante and Michigan State Police are no closer to making 41 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:14.240 an arrest than they were when Richard Striker Junior's body 42 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:19.639 was discovered. Local gossips and many police are convinced they 43 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:22.439 know who the guilty party is, but proving it in 44 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:26.280 a court of law is a different matter. Who stabbed 45 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:29.680 Richard Striker Junior to death? The book that we're featuring 46 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:34.039 this evening is The Richard Striker Junior Murder, Ypsilanti's Depot 47 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.960 Town Mystery, with my special guest, journalist and author Gregory Fournier. 48 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:40.520 Welcome to the program, and thank you very much for 49 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:44.280 this interview. Gregory Fournier, Thanks very much. 50 00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:46.919 I'm anxious to be able to talk about this book. 51 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:53.319 This will be my first interviews, so let's have at it. 52 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:57.879 Thank you very much for that. Let's go to a 53 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.400 little bit of the background that you provide in your 54 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:07.280 book about Yipsilante, how it became this hub of economy 55 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:10.159 and manufacturing, and just tell us a little bit about 56 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.319 depot Town. As we mentioned in the introduction. 57 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:20.400 Yeah, a man named, let's call him a pioneer named 58 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:26.919 Mark Norris brought his family west, I think it was 59 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:31.479 eighteen twenty eight and they settled just east of the 60 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:37.439 here on river that cuts through Ippsilani. And he's a 61 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:42.319 very industrious, shrewd businessman. Anyway, he convinced the Michigan Central 62 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:47.560 Railroad to make Ypsilani a scheduled stop on the rail line, 63 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:55.759 which they did, and the town within a town, depot 64 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:03.560 town as it's called, was built right off the side. 65 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.560 They had a loading deck of freight warehouse and it 66 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:13.919 became an economic and agricultural hub for the area. And 67 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:19.120 it was at a time when ipsil Ani was a 68 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:22.639 real going concern in the county and ann Arbor was 69 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:27.600 still a small little village. The time would change that, 70 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:33.720 but the first train arrived in eighteen thirty eight, and 71 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:40.160 sometime around the eighteen fifties, Mark Norris again seems to 72 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:44.560 be the depot town mover and Shaker built a water 73 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:51.800 powered flour mill and just off of what was called 74 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:59.759 the Cross Street bridge, and that sometime in the early 75 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:07.560 I believe in nineteen thirty two, was destroyed and there 76 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:11.120 was a fire. They took it out of there, and 77 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:19.560 the Depression was hot on the heels of Ipsulani and 78 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:27.680 the work WPA work program during the depression, public works 79 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:34.639 program hired lots of people men, primarily to give them 80 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:40.079 a salary, and they paved Cross Street and they also 81 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:43.120 built what is called the Frog Street or actually the 82 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:48.759 Frog Island Bridge, and it was a footbridge that led 83 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:55.720 off of the main bridge to a little island recreation area. 84 00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:58.839 Ifsulin High School a couple of blocks up the street 85 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.680 would use it for the gym classes and there was 86 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:07.519 you know, their football of was played there and so on. 87 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:10.800 So the bridge was a real Frog Island Bridge was 88 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.519 a real convenience, and that went in about nineteen thirty four. 89 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.519 That takes us right up to the story. My book 90 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:26.639 is about the murder of Richard Striker Junior and nineteen 91 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:32.360 thirty five March March seventh, I believe nineteen thirty five. 92 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:39.319 His body was found under the Frog Island Bridge, frozen 93 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:46.160 to the ground, and police, you know, once they broke 94 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:49.519 the body free and took it to the funeral home 95 00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:52.879 and what it thought a little bit. They cut the 96 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:58.279 boys frozen clothes off his body and they found that 97 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:02.680 there were four Jean stab wounds on the body. So 98 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:08.279 he had been murdered and then carefully placed under the bridge. 99 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:16.160 So let's talk about Let's talk about Richie Striker. His 100 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:21.560 father's Richard and his mother's Lucia. Tell us a little 101 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:25.319 bit about him as a student, and also just what 102 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.560 happened according to police when they questioned him the next day, 103 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:32.600 what had happened to Richie that afternoon and where were 104 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:33.839 the parents at that time? 105 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:43.079 Well, Richie, as far as school was concerned, we would 106 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:48.560 call him a special education student today special needs student. 107 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:54.839 And you know, it's hard in retrospect to really know, 108 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:59.480 but he was put into a special school with many 109 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:09.040 studenttudents who had recovered from severe respiratory illness and you know, 110 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:16.160 other handicaps. There was a you know, a special ed 111 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:20.519 school on Eastern Michigan University's campus called the Open Air School. 112 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:29.959 And just from people being interviewed after his murder, the 113 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.840 school of people, you know as school people were going 114 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:36.840 to do basically said, oh, he was a lovely boy. 115 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:40.080 You know, he was a great student. We're going to 116 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.039 miss him so much. You know, they don't want to 117 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:48.519 say anything negative about the kid. But neighbors who really 118 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:51.200 knew the boy a little bit better than the people 119 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:57.120 at school said that he was a kid who often 120 00:08:57.159 --> 00:09:01.919 fought with other kids, he didn't get along with kids, 121 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:10.320 and was somewhat of a problem child. And again those 122 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:16.039 people aren't necessarily qualified to make an analysis of the 123 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:22.240 boy either, but he probably was a hyperactive kid and 124 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:34.200 the only child of Lucia and Richard Striker, and the 125 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:39.080 relationship with the parents, I think what was a strained 126 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:45.879 one from again retrospect accounts, but the boy came home 127 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:49.679 from school, the mom said, you're now full of snow, 128 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:52.559 doesn't go out and play for you know, until dinner time. 129 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:56.960 And he went out and he was playing across the street, 130 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:02.559 sledding down a hill with an older boy, thirteen year 131 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:08.120 old boy, and after a while, the thirteen year old 132 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:13.039 had to had to you know, move on home. So 133 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:16.279 Richie was standing out there by himself in the snow 134 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:23.799 and decided to go home, and he was never seen 135 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:30.519 alive again. So what happened to him between going home 136 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:36.600 and ending up at the bottom of that bridge, you know, 137 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:42.639 is the mystery that my book is based on. So 138 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:43.440 the parent. 139 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:49.000 You have, the police contacted the night before and did 140 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:51.080 you talk about the discovery in the early morning by 141 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:54.720 a couple of boys. But the night before, after dinner, 142 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:58.840 around seven thirty or so seven twenty, father had boarded 143 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.080 a car because they didn't have one, and went to 144 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.759 the police station to report the sun missing. What happened 145 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:08.519 as a result in terms of police well, he got 146 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:09.000 home from. 147 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:12.720 Work at six and that's when dinner was whereas Richie, 148 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:16.639 his wife says, oh, he didn't come home, that darn kid. 149 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:23.480 He's always you know, being light apparently, and so she 150 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:27.200 went out on the front porch and started you know, 151 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:30.720 calling his name, which is a common thing that people 152 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:33.679 did in those days. You'd yell out your kid's name, 153 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:39.279 and he should in most instances be within hailing distance. 154 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:44.399 And he didn't show up. And it wasn't until seven 155 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:49.960 seven thirty that the father had checked all around the 156 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.159 house and across the street in the park and had 157 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:58.120 come back home and said he was going to borrow 158 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:03.000 his sister's car, which he did and drove over to 159 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:06.159 the police station and told the Ipsilani police that his 160 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:12.759 boy was missing. And so the police, every officer who 161 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:19.240 was on duty, began to search for him and the strikers, 162 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:24.360 you know. After the police had searched for a while, 163 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:31.960 one of the officers took the squad car over to 164 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:34.639 their house. He had returned the sister's car by that 165 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:39.960 and he said, you know, I'll keep looking if you, 166 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.480 you know, kind of give me some clues where to go. 167 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:49.000 So he got in the car and asked, you know, 168 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.559 the wife if she wanted to come along, and Lucia 169 00:12:52.679 --> 00:13:02.799 seemed unperturbed and indifferent about coming along, but eventually they 170 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:05.679 did get her to go in the car and they started, 171 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:10.639 you know, driving around, and they went right towards uh, 172 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:15.840 the Frog Island Bridge, and both of the parents discouraged 173 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.879 the policemen they were with from crossing the bridge and 174 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:23.440 you know, looking in the park because they said they 175 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:29.480 had already done that earlier on foot. And when they 176 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:34.480 went there there there weren't any footprints or anything. They 177 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:39.080 didn't see a body. They you know, they in other words, 178 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:41.200 they checked and we don't need to check there. Let's 179 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:46.759 don't waste time. Let's go someplace else, which, on the 180 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:50.200 face of it, you know, might not sound too bad, 181 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:54.279 but in retrospect, I think it was very damning. And 182 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.759 right from the get go, the police the next day, 183 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:04.440 when there was a further her investigation, the police already 184 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:11.080 suspected that the parents knew more than they were were 185 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:12.399 telling them. 186 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:18.320 Right away. In these questioning Lucia has ideas as to 187 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.320 whether or even she's been asked yet, but she's already 188 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.679 offering suspects in this, isn't she. 189 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:29.120 Yes, uh huh, And that continues through the story. 190 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:33.399 She even implicates her brother in law. 191 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.679 She implicates her brother in law. And there's bad blood 192 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:41.080 in that family on the Striker side of the family, 193 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:51.399 because the father, Richard Striker Sr. Was going with a 194 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:54.440 woman they really the family really liked, and so on 195 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.360 and so forth. And then all of a sudden, Richard 196 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:02.440 shows up with Lucia and they had eloped. They went 197 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:06.320 out and got married, and the reason for the hasty 198 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:11.879 wedding was that she was pregnant with Richie, and so 199 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:15.200 there was bad blood in that family, and she accused him, 200 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:26.919 and she before the story ends, she accused six different people. 201 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:32.039 Of them, you know, everybody is guilty but me, And 202 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:37.279 of course that looked very suspicious to the police as well. 203 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:42.559 But the state of investigation in those days, especially in 204 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:49.240 a small town, you know, a small rural town, they 205 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:54.600 were not really equipped to conduct a thorough investigation, and 206 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:01.279 a lot of the police were not particular trained to 207 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:07.159 be police and investigators. So it was a bumbling affair. 208 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:15.080 But Lucia really had apparently nerves of steel, because whenever 209 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:21.840 she would get in a situation where people would suggest 210 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:27.559 that maybe she was the guilty party, she would get very, 211 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:35.559 very defensive. And she must have been a forceful woman, 212 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:40.399 because it seems to me that the police, the prosecutor, 213 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:46.480 everybody connected with the case did not want to have 214 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.759 to deal with her. She was hard to deal with 215 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:51.480 person volatile. 216 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:58.279 So you talk about the autopsy by doctor Stacy Howard. 217 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:02.840 There was something that you said that was very irregular 218 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:05.960 for a homicide case, and that was how they dealt 219 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.920 with the body in this case. Tell us what was 220 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:13.200 this irregular? So irregular for a homicide case. 221 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.839 Well, you don't do an autopsy at the funeral home. 222 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:22.920 You do it in the hospital at the county morgue. 223 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:30.160 So that was the first problem with the first autopsy, 224 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:34.279 because there were two. But well, getting ahead of myself, 225 00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:44.480 and they found the body around eight o'clock. They prided 226 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:49.559 it from the ice at nine am and they took 227 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.599 it and it was frozen solid. They took it to 228 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:58.400 a funeral home, local funeral home, and the autopsy was 229 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:04.519 not performed until nine o'clock at night. The clothes were 230 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:10.000 cut off the body. One thought enough, that was just 231 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:15.880 the easiest way to just robe the body. So they 232 00:18:15.880 --> 00:18:18.200 cut the frozen clothes off and they threw it in 233 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.920 a cardboard box and off to the side, which you 234 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:27.960 know had evidence on it, but they weren't thinking of 235 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.839 that for some reason. They just threw everything in this 236 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:39.440 cardboard box and they examined the body and found fourteen 237 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:44.680 stab wounds, eight shallow punctures on the top of the 238 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:50.839 skull that didn't go through to the cranium. But Richie 239 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:57.000 was wearing a knit hat. You know, it's wintertime, so 240 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:01.920 he had a winter hat on. And actually it wasn't 241 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:06.200 in it. It was a kind of like an aviator 242 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:11.359 sort of hat with wool inside and so on, so 243 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:14.559 it had some substance to it. So uh, they found 244 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:21.160 eight shallow punctures on the skull, two superficial slash wounds 245 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.440 across the throat, and neither one of them would have 246 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:30.200 been fatal. Again very superficial. But they did find four 247 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:34.519 stab wounds on the boy's chest and three of the 248 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:41.680 four entered Richie's heart, and that's that's what killed them. 249 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:46.000 And of course everybody was outraged and shocked at the murder. 250 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.319 This is a you know, it was a small town 251 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:52.920 and you know, things like this just don't happen in 252 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:58.720 our town, but of course they do. So that was 253 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:03.519 the autopsy and the extent of it. They didn't check 254 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:09.880 bodily fluids and I don't think they did a full 255 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:17.640 autopsy and for whatever reason, and that was a critical 256 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.759 flaw in the case. And it was nine months later 257 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:26.319 that they had to exhume the body as if he 258 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.839 hadn't endured enough, and it wasn't ghastly enough, and he 259 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:39.440 was exhumed again and they cut up into his elementary 260 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:46.039 elementary canal. But I'm not an unanimous but they were 261 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:52.000 looking for pineapple shreds in the boy's stomach that may 262 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.839 have indicated that he had been poisoned, because that was 263 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:01.839 not even an issue in the first autopsy. So you know, 264 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:07.079 it's just a real sordid, sortid case. 265 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:10.839 You talk about in the first autopsy though, that they 266 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.160 what they did realize too, was that where they found 267 00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:16.680 the body, there was no blood pool found under or 268 00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:19.480 near the body. So the conclusion was that he was killed, 269 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:22.519 not killed there where the body was found, and the 270 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:28.319 wounds were made by a specific slender sharp cutting instrument 271 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:34.279 like a double edged stiletto or like a like a shear, 272 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:38.960 like a sewing shear, so something unique in terms of 273 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:43.880 a weapon. Now you write also that the police had 274 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:48.519 some strange theories initially before they put anything together, before 275 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:51.720 they had very much information at all, but they had 276 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:55.119 some theories. One was about that he was a victim 277 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:57.759 of a hit and run accident, so tell us a 278 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:00.319 little bit about just briefly about these theories that they had. 279 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:05.319 Initially, Well, I've got three, and that hit and run 280 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:09.079 would have been a fourth, but that was I won't 281 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:12.920 dignify that with the theory because it was the first 282 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:17.400 thought that came to one of the detective's minds, and 283 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:21.720 there was absolutely no evidence. But the first theory was 284 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:30.400 that it was a pervert, depraved moron, or a sex maniac. 285 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:36.279 And I would put that in the category of round 286 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:40.440 up all the usual suspects because there was absolutely no 287 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:45.039 indication that there had been any kind of violation of 288 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:51.920 the boy's body whatsoever. But I guess it made the 289 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:56.880 public feel good that the police was out there rounding 290 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:01.400 up all the deviants in the namehood. Remember this is 291 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:08.440 nineteen thirty five, and you know, political correctness had yet 292 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:17.599 to be invented. And then a curious theory. A transient 293 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:23.559 train passenger came into town, decided he was going to 294 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:28.400 kill somebody, found richie, kill them, and then left town. 295 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:34.880 Now that's a convenient theory for the police. But there 296 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:38.880 and in fact that they said that perhaps it was 297 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:43.359 somebody who got on and off trains and killed people 298 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.759 that got a charge out of killing people in different times. Well, 299 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:49.039 there had been no other murders up and down the line, 300 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:57.160 so that and there was also somebody came up with 301 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:01.559 a real whacked out, kind of a vampire type theory, 302 00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:06.240 and that was in a crime magazine, and I believe 303 00:24:06.279 --> 00:24:11.279 that was in the imagination of a crime writer. But 304 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:15.359 some vampire like a character, you know, it was in 305 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:24.079 the area. And then the only reasonable theory was that 306 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:28.279 somebody close to Richie, a friend or a family member, 307 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:32.559 may have killed him because it was not a crime 308 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:39.640 of well, if it was, may have been a crime 309 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:43.400 of passion that brings in other connotations and that's not 310 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:46.920 the word I want to use here, but because of 311 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.920 you know, the careful placement of the body under the 312 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:56.160 bridge is a classic undoing behavior. And if somebody was 313 00:24:56.279 --> 00:24:59.920 just a psychopath and killed the kid and took off, 314 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:05.920 he'd kill him. He wouldn't try to carefully place the 315 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:09.079 kid's body under the bridge. And it was at the 316 00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:13.720 top part of the bridge, It wasn't it wasn't you know, 317 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:17.799 on the ground on the river level. But there was 318 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:23.039 a little abutment built under the bridge, concrete abutment that 319 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.160 held the bridge in place. And the boy had to 320 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:31.279 be carried up a snowy hill and placed up there, 321 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:37.119 and his clothes we're pretty much closed up around his body. 322 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.400 So it showed that somebody took some care placing his 323 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:48.240 body there. And I think it's not too hard to 324 00:25:50.279 --> 00:25:57.920 imagine that probably somebody very very close to him put 325 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:06.359 his body there. But that brings up more questions than answers. Also, basically, 326 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:11.480 this case is full of questions that go un answered. 327 00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:14.920 Right, let's use as an opportunity to stop for a 328 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:16.519 second for these messages. 329 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:20.319 Wait the Lucky land slots. You can get lucky just 330 00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:21.319 about anywhere. 331 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.000 It's your captain speaking. We've got clear runway and the 332 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:26.839 weather's fine, but we're just going to circle up here 333 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:29.960 a while and get lucky. No, no, nothing like that. 334 00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:32.480 It's just these cash prizes add up quick. So I 335 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:34.799 suggest you sit back, keep your trade table up right, 336 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:36.039 and start getting lucky. 337 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:39.759 Pay for free at Lucky landslops dot com. 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So they were working as a team and 362 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:13.279 they both felt that and this is initially before the 363 00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:20.799 body was found, that Lucilla wasn't particularly distressed. She was 364 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:27.960 sitting in a chair and knitting or crocheting, and you know, 365 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:30.680 as if she was fully expecting Richie to walk in 366 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:37.240 the door at any minute. And she was also according 367 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:42.319 to I believe it was Claviator in his report, said 368 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:50.880 that missus Striker was you know, sitting in a provocative 369 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:57.480 manner and probably you know, flashing the cops and thigh 370 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:02.599 as what I am thinking. He didn't stayed it that way, 371 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:07.920 but he said, you know, it was very obvious that 372 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:15.319 she was trying to distract them and be provocative. Yeah, 373 00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:18.240 she said that. Yeah, we went and uh we looked 374 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:23.880 for the our son and uh, I you know, walked 375 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:29.039 all over and and apparently the two boys who found 376 00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:31.640 the body kind of backtrack a little bit, said they 377 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:38.960 thought they saw some woman's heels in the snow, and 378 00:29:39.160 --> 00:29:43.880 not not high heels, mind you, but you know, narrower 379 00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:47.000 one or two inch he'll kind of kind of shoe. 380 00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.519 But these were a couple of kids, so what do 381 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:56.640 they know. By the time the police got there at 382 00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.640 the town knew of the murder and were romping through 383 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:04.680 the snow and destroying evidence because it took the police 384 00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:07.640 almost an hour to get there after the initial call. 385 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:11.240 So you know, they want to pick up the ground 386 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:15.400 and they suspect that it's to see a striker, and 387 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:22.160 so they, you know, ask her leading questions, and you know, 388 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:26.480 she gets very upset with them, and you know, they 389 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:32.079 forget exactly how it went, but something about her shoes 390 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:37.720 and the boys upon the heel prints, and then she 391 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:42.960 basically went ballistic and went to her closet and said, hey, 392 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:47.839 I wrecked my shoes looking for him, and here they are, 393 00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:50.799 and if you want, you know, you want to arrest 394 00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:54.400 me because of my shoes or something to that effect. Anyway, 395 00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:57.839 they both backed off. She was very bold and and 396 00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:02.000 that was her style and and I guess the best 397 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.839 way to describe her would be she was an alpha 398 00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:11.119 female and she ran the roost at her home and 399 00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:15.680 the same seemed to be true when she dealt with 400 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:23.079 the police and the prosecutors. She wasn't real forthwith and 401 00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:27.240