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Noper is't necessary if 24 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:03.880 we were privited by loss he terms and conviisions eighteen 25 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:05.120 plus love. 26 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.719 You are now listening to True Murder, The most Shocking 27 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:21.840 Killers in True crime History and the authors that have 28 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:29.200 written about them Gaesy Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker VTK Every 29 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:32.920 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 30 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:37.560 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, 31 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:51.560 journalist and author Dan Zupansky. Good evening. 32 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:54.959 This is your host, Dan Zupanski, for the program True Murder, 33 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:58.040 the most shocking Killers in True crime History and the 34 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:02.400 authors that have written about it about them. I want 35 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:06.439 to apologize for the late beginning of our program technical 36 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:11.120 difficulties on my end. Welcome to the program, Back back 37 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:17.439 on the program, Michael Benson. Hi you doing Dan fine, 38 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:19.919 Thank you Sorry for the screw up in the beginning. 39 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:23.400 Welcome back to the program and the book that we're profiling. 40 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:26.639 This evening for our audience is Evil Season with my 41 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:31.639 special guest, bestselling author and journalist Michael Benson. So welcome 42 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:35.680 back to the program and congratulations on another scary book. 43 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:39.520 Michael. Thanks number one. 44 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:41.919 I want to ask you a question, how do you 45 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:44.960 come about these stories in terms of does the editor 46 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.360 as traditions sometimes where they ask you to cover a 47 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:51.800 story or are you independence you picked the stories that 48 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:53.319 you were interested in. 49 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.560 I have picked most of my own stories myself. A 50 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:00.800 couple of times the editor at I think would give 51 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:02.240 me a call and say, this looks like it's a 52 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.360 nice fit for you, and we've done it that way. 53 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.639 In this particular case, I was working on a book 54 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:12.400 called A Killer's Touch, which some of your listeners might remember, 55 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:15.560 was the story of a Florida mother named Denise Lee 56 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:17.759 who was kidnapped for her home in front of her 57 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:21.400 baby boys, raped and killed by a creep named Michael King. 58 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.439 I was interviewing one of the prosecutors on that case 59 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:27.120 and she told me that I should really consider writing 60 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:30.360 a book about the art gallery murder because the killer 61 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.199 was a piece of work. And it turned out to 62 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:35.000 be an excellent tip for me, because I found Elton 63 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:39.080 Brutus Murphy, the killer in Evil Season, to be an 64 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:43.000 articulate teller of his own story. In fact, his ability 65 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.520 to describe what it was like to develop schizophrenia is 66 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:48.759 one of the best I've ever heard. I'd say that 67 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:51.039 not only is this a good book for people who 68 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:53.919 enjoy a juicy murder story, but it would make it 69 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:58.319 an interesting and informative read for all mental health care professionals. 70 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.479 Murphy told me sometimes, yeah, go ahead. 71 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:04.759 No sorry. What I wanted to say too, that it's 72 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:07.719 very very important too, because I was just speaking about 73 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:12.840 this to someone in America and the issue of in Canada, 74 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.400 and I talk about it a lot of times in 75 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.680 terms of the difference between American and Canadian law, and 76 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:20.560 I won't get into all of that again, but the 77 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:26.519 major difference is that insanity defenses are not so uncommon 78 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:31.199 in Canada, and they're successful in Canada and primarily in America. 79 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.639 It doesn't matter if if there's stark, raving crazy, almost 80 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:40.759 no one gets in an insanity defense and is successful 81 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:43.519 with that. So I think it's important that this is 82 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:47.120 what you have clearly an insane person, but then you have, like. 83 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:50.399 We're going to get to that. I would think we 84 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:54.079 have clearly we have a crazy person, but not one 85 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:57.519 who is insane, and a distinction there was key to 86 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:59.519 this case exactly. 87 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:04.879 Okay, Now, we didn't talk about it very at the beginning, 88 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.839 but I asked, how sometimes you come to these stories, 89 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:15.240 this story, the murder happened, and then later Elton Brutus 90 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:18.519 Murphy comes into the picture. How did you hear about 91 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:21.680 this story? Tell us about the where you were and 92 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:25.160 how it came to this story came to and what 93 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.240 was your impression when you first heard about the actual 94 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:29.079 murder itself. 95 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:36.240 Well, I was down in Florida at the time it happened, 96 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:40.160 and I was with my family at one of the theme parts. 97 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:42.439 It was Universal or Disney. I don't remember which one, 98 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.360 but the first time I heard about the art gallery 99 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:51.920 murder was on local television from Orlando, and this happened 100 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.040 in Sarasota, which is fifty fifty miles away. 101 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:01.720 Okay, And what was your first impression of the case itself? 102 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:06.680 I mean, were you instantly interested? I mean, obviously Murphy 103 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:08.839 doesn't come into the picture right away, but what was 104 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:11.519 your impression about this? Was it something that you said, 105 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:15.399 I think I'm interested in this story or you were 106 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:17.480 just interested in and were following it. 107 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:22.759 Well, I wasn't initially interested in the case because I 108 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:25.600 didn't know that much about it. Police kept a very 109 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:29.560 very tight feel and information people in the neighborhood were occurred, 110 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.480 and there's something that Ghastly had happened inside that art gallery, 111 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.680 but they didn't know the details, and some of them 112 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.839 didn't learn the details until my book came out, because 113 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:44.800 they've done that tight of a job of keeping that secret, right. 114 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.360 But I mean it terrorized, It just terrorized the neighborhood. 115 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:50.040 Something suple of spirits. 116 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:54.720 Now, for our audience, let's go back to who Joyce 117 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.519 wish Art is at this time. She's an older, older 118 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.839 woman fifty nine years of age, I believe sixty. So 119 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.680 take us back to who Joyce wish Art was and 120 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:10.920 her background, and sure paint a portrait of Joyce Wishart 121 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:11.560 for our audience. 122 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.800 Okay, Well, the victim in this case was a lovely 123 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:18.560 woman from the Midwest. When she was nineteen years old 124 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.160 in nineteen sixty one, she married a twenty two year 125 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:24.240 old truck driver named Robert. They lived in Cincinnati, had 126 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:28.240 four kids, two boys, two girls. When the youngest was seven, 127 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:32.279 she filed for divorce and choosing her husband of adultery 128 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:36.600 and abuse. She went on to earn her master's degree 129 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:41.040 in executive management from Ashland University. She had her future 130 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:45.240 all mapped out. Her master's thesis was in the economics 131 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:49.160 of running an art gallery. She started her own marketing 132 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:54.439 consultancy called Portfolio Place in nineteen ninety and became president 133 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:59.040 of the Columbus chapter of the American Marketing Association. While 134 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.720 she was still in the Midwest, she was asked what 135 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:03.199 her dream job would be, and she answered, I'd like 136 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:05.240 to be the owner of an art gallery and a warm, 137 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.600 sunny climate. So she went down vacation one year to 138 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:12.120 Sarasota and said, this is the warm sunny climate for me. 139 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:15.279 She got a couple of nice jobs down there. She 140 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:21.079 was doing contract work with Nova Care Employee Services. She 141 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:25.199 was a marketing director for the Solo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, 142 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:27.279 and she saved up her money and she bought a 143 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:32.440 gallery on Palm Avenue, received a little strip in downtown Sarasota, 144 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:36.080 and that was where her life was so really cut 145 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:37.559 short in two thousand and four. 146 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:46.360 Now, it's also interesting that at this time this when 147 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:49.759 this happened, it was a weekend. And what you talk 148 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:52.679 about in your book too, is that she was a 149 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.799 real community member, and she was a proud member of 150 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:58.879 the community, and she was involved in a lot of things. 151 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:04.519 But we had the separate groups of people which led 152 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.440 to no one reporting her for quite a few days 153 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.440 after this. I'm kind of jumping ahead, but tell us 154 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:16.720 about the art days and really, maybe not ironically, but unfortunately, 155 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:22.000 what was planned for this very artsy area of fine 156 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:26.279 dining and boutiques and art galleries in this wonderful sunny 157 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.279 place of Sarasota. Tell us what was planned, and then 158 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.960 we can talk about just leading up to the just 159 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:37.840 before this murder and this weekend it happened. 160 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:43.120 The murder coincided with a film festival in Sarasota, and 161 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.720 approximately forty fifty thousand people from out of town were 162 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:48.679 coming in for the film festival, so there were a 163 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:51.039 lot of strangers around, and as you said, it was 164 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:55.879 a holiday weekend. One of the things about the little 165 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.080 shops on that strip is they had a front door 166 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:01.759 but no back door, so if someone did come in 167 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:06.720 while well the proprietor was in there alone, uh, the 168 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:10.360 only way out was to the front door, So it 169 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.480 was easy. It was easy to trap a woman in 170 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:15.960 that sense. And the doors were left open because it's 171 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.919 a shop. You you int you invite people in. You're 172 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:20.799 probably a little bell on the on the door, but 173 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:25.840 that's about it. Never locked up, and our killer timed 174 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:31.080 his entrance to the gallery right at closing time, and 175 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:35.440 nobody thought to look for Joyce until she would have 176 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.200 returned to work on Tuesday, and her body was found 177 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:38.879 on Wednesday. 178 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:43.399 But like a lot of times, there are people that 179 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:47.320 have plans or at least are in contact with her, 180 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.200 and they found it unusual. Yet no one again reported 181 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:53.120 or missing. But she had some plans for that Saturday evening, 182 00:10:53.159 --> 00:10:53.519 didn't she? 183 00:10:55.960 --> 00:10:57.440 Okay, you were in a ballet. 184 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:00.960 It was the ballet and and some friends. 185 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.559 People thought that it was odd that the closed sign 186 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:08.879 wasn't on the door, that they thought it was odd 187 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:11.600 that she hadn't shown up for a couple of social 188 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:16.000 engagements over the weekend. I don't think any major arms 189 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.759 went off though, until somebody reported a foul odor and 190 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:21.440 then this, oh my god, we haven't seen her in 191 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:23.600 a few days. Something bad must have happened. 192 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:28.960 So we're there's the police speculate or you can tell 193 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:31.080 us it's a weekend, But then they don't find the 194 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:34.799 body with unless till they have the foul oder complaint. 195 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.919 And that was like Wednesday, right, that's correct too. 196 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:41.080 Now, tell Us tell us, the tell Us tell Us 197 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.879 the events that occur once that maintenance man opens up 198 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:49.159 the door and they tell us what they actually discover 199 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:50.519 at this crime scene. 200 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.480 Okay, you know, I don't know if this is the 201 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:56.639 most brutal crime scene I've ever encountered in like, you know, 202 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:00.000 ten years running through crime, but it certainly is closed. 203 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.799 The body was discovered after the holiday weekend by a 204 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:08.279 maintenance man at the Bay Plaza apartments. The gallery was 205 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:15.200 on the ground floor of an apartment building. He went 206 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:18.320 in there and took one glimpse of the body and ran. 207 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:22.600 Police showed up. They found the body of an older 208 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.679 woman with red hair laid out on her back. Legs 209 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.440 obscenely spread eagles, and the body was stretched out on 210 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:32.919 a carpet and an alcove out of view from the 211 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:36.240 street on the north side of the building. The head 212 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:39.559 was lying in the direction of the northwest corner, and 213 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.840 the alcove contained artwork, both hanging on the walls and 214 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:46.600 lying on the floor, some leaning against this. She didn't 215 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:49.559 believe in negative space. It was just jam packed with artwork, 216 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:52.600 and the artwork on top of artwork. She fit as 217 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.559 much in there she could. The body was discolored and bloated, 218 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:00.799 from the decomposition, and it had one arm stretched outward. 219 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.120 Left leg was partially covered with her clothing which had 220 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:09.440 been cut off, and immediately visible were multiple stab wounds 221 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:12.159 to the chest, slash wounded the throat, They went all 222 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:14.720 the way to the bone, you know, attempt to behead 223 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:18.240 the victim. Killers often tried to behead their victims with 224 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:20.440 a knife and they realized that it just doesn't work 225 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.559 any an axe or a hatchet. The medical examiner would 226 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:27.799 later count twenty three stab wounds. Now, the most disturbing 227 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:31.120 part wasn't what was there, but rather what wasn't there. 228 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:36.120 The victims vagina and lower abdomen had been surgically removed. 229 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:39.600 There was just a large raw hole there between her 230 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.039 legs and the legs because they were spread apart and 231 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:46.279 pointing eastward, sort of demanded attention. I mean, that's the 232 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.440 first thing. But the thing nobody wanted to look at 233 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:53.559 was the first thing they ended up looking at. Her forehead, shoulders, 234 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:57.519 and back were also deeply cut, and she had defensive wounds. 235 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:04.200 She bravely fought back. There was almost no blood on 236 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.679 the body. There was plenty of blood under the body 237 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:10.840 where soaked the rug and the in her clothes, but 238 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:15.720 the killer had wiped her off and had pretty clearly 239 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.320 posed the body. You know, she'd been wearing a green 240 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:25.279 pants suit, scarf around the neck. Her shoes had been 241 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:29.720 removed and had been turned around to been set between 242 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:32.840 her legs. To stand in her shoes would be to 243 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:38.200 look down upon the body. Her scarf had slits in it. 244 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:40.519 It had been still on while he was stabbing her 245 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:40.960 in the neck. 246 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:44.960 Let's see what was in the shoes? 247 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:49.639 She ahha, Well, and in the shoes there was a 248 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.600 single droplet of blood, which had turned out to be 249 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:56.600 very key in solving the mystery. The clothing had been 250 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:00.080 cut off with a sharp bladed instrument. Uh. The the 251 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.960 killer turned out to be a barber and had hair 252 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:09.399 cutting equipment with him. There were indications that the killer 253 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:13.279 had played in his victim's blood, and in some cases 254 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.720 the artwork was stained by what appeared to be a 255 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:19.879 combination of blood and it's a flesh. In some cases, 256 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:23.440 there was wiping across the spatter, as if a half 257 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.440 hearted attempt to clean up had been made, or perhaps 258 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:30.679 the killer just wanted to finger paint. He lingered at 259 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:33.600 the scene after the murder. Not only had he performed 260 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.240 surgery on the victim, but there was blood in many 261 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:40.840 places in the gallery, indicating that he'd wandered around after 262 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:41.480 the murder. 263 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:53.240 And what about reports that there was a painting that 264 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:57.039 was exactly the same, I mean, well, when I first 265 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:03.919 saw these reports, Actually it's. 266 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:09.919 Actually two paintings. The one was a painting that the 267 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:13.120 victim had been holding at the time she was attacked, 268 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:19.759 and the other was a painting that overlooked the crime scene. 269 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:21.879 And and the one she had been holding it was 270 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:24.879 a nude of a woman lying on her back with 271 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:28.919 clothes draped over one leg, and she had been posed 272 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:31.919 to imitate that. And the painting that was on the 273 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.960 wall showed a woman with one arm stretched out and 274 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:39.559 pointing with her finger. And the victim's arm had been 275 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:42.200 stretched out and was pointing with a finger, and a 276 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:45.799 magazine had been laid underneath the hand so that her 277 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.720 finger was pointing at a line that set a fine madness. 278 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.519 So anyone who was seeing the crime scene photos is 279 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:57.000 going to agree that, you know, an attempt was made 280 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:01.639 to imitate artwork that was there, as if the as 281 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:04.480 if the killer is saying, this is my art. Uh, 282 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:06.559 But you know, I've I've made my sculpture out of 283 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:12.839 human flesh. He later admitted to me that he he 284 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:16.720 denies that he staged the crime. He's his ego or 285 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.400 something will not allow him to admit it. But he 286 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.640 did admit to me that he stole his victims slush. 287 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:26.160 He bagged it, took it home. He says that he 288 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:29.799 didn't pick that magazine or that artic on purpose, but 289 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.880 if he had done it subconsciously, that was cool, he said, 290 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:37.799 because a fine madness perfectly described. Uh, you know, there 291 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.039 was a magnificent description of his state of mind at 292 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:47.000 the time that he committed the crime. Wow, So let's 293 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:49.279 go have no idea what it is about his particular 294 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:51.480 psyche that won't allow him to fess up to that 295 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.279 particular thing, but he. 296 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.359 Well, he confesses almost everything else. So it's interesting. Let's 297 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:02.960 let's let's go backwards though, because this case really spins 298 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:07.759 the minds of Sarasota Police and other law enforcement agencies 299 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:10.799 that are aware of this. So tell us how the 300 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:14.920 police everybody knows that the family member, the ex husband, 301 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.319 somebody that's around there is going to be questioned and 302 00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:21.759 then eventually ruled out. How did the police proceed here? 303 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:24.400 Do they have any idea? Who comes in? Did the 304 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:28.079 FBI come in initially? Tell us how police proceed, and what, 305 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:32.200 if any ideas do they release to the media assumptions 306 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:36.680 or ideas? Tell us how the police respond? Ok. 307 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:39.880 I was lucky in this case, and I got kissed 308 00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:42.920 about the complete police files, so I was able to 309 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.640 follow the investigators on a day by day basis. And 310 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:52.759 like good cops, their first assumption is that the victim 311 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:56.920 knows her killer, so therefore the answer to who did 312 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:59.640 it is somewhere in her past and she does. She 313 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.279 has an husband that she had a nasty relationship with, 314 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:08.039 but other than that, she doesn't really have She doesn't 315 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:11.200 have that many enemies. Uh. She has people that she's 316 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:13.519 had little spats with, but certainly nothing that would they 317 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:22.039 would indicate a violent outcome. She uh that one of 318 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.720 the things about the art gallery strip, and she's not 319 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:27.400 the only art gallery on that block. There's six or 320 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:32.319 seven of them, and they're used to having artists wanta 321 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:35.960 bees dropping in and trying to get the proprietors to 322 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:37.359 sell their art for them. 323 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:43.400 So there's an assignment sorry, because she's assignment. 324 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:48.200 Gallery, right, and she's she had some dating experience. She's 325 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.960 known to hang around with some guys, and uh there 326 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:56.039 everybody was quite In fact, everybody that every mail that 327 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:58.680 she had had any contact with over the last month 328 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:03.079 of her life was asked for a DNA sample because 329 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:06.279 of the drop of blood that they found it wasn't hers. 330 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:13.880 And yeah, slowly but surely, the detectives realized that the 331 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:20.400 answer is not is not in her past. The answer 332 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:23.160 is going to be in matching the d a DNA 333 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:29.920 that blood sample, and eventually the match is made, but 334 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:33.960 not until I mean, the poor ladies along that strip 335 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:39.759 are just completely terrified. I talked to a lot of 336 00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:42.319 them now, and I'm sympathetic to that. I mean, I 337 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:44.720 grew up in a neighborhood that was just a kind 338 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:46.839 of a paradise in the country and it turned into 339 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:51.519 a crime scene and a nightmare overnight. So I know 340 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:53.640 how that feels, that the black cloud comes over your 341 00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:59.200 neighborhood and it stays. The people of downtown Sarasota did 342 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:02.480 receive summary from their you know, their haunted house syndrome 343 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:06.839 when the killer was captured, But then again, there's a 344 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:11.400 strong argument that you know, catching the killer does not 345 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:15.119 completely alleviate the fear. Once a person has been enlightened 346 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:18.599 to violence, his proximity and its brutal effect, you know, 347 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:21.480 Pandora's box has been opened and its contents can ever 348 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:24.880 be stuffed back in. During the course of my research 349 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:26.960 on this case, I spoke with several of the ladies 350 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.160 and they and they were mostly ladies who ran the galleries, 351 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:36.000 and they they said that even after several years had passed, 352 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.599 they still felt the effects of a kind of scary 353 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.599 future shock. Their lives had gone from one of comfort 354 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:47.440 and security to one of nervousness and danger. And they 355 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:50.440 all describe the same symptoms. Their lives been changed forever 356 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:53.640 since the day of the murder. They never allowed themselves 357 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:58.119 to be in their store alone. They begged their husbands, sons, friends, whoever, 358 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:01.160 to keep them company. They were escorted to them from 359 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:06.000 their cars before and after work. And because there were 360 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.240 no back doors, the store started to seem a little 361 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:12.559 bit like traps. Yeah. They was like they were in 362 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:15.759 a tunnel, you know, and with one way out, one 363 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:16.880 way in and one way out. 364 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:20.319 Well, there's a little more to the story, because they 365 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.720 there was people. There were people of persons involved. The 366 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:28.400 I don't know, not gallery owner, but the gallery, the 367 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:31.799 style critic, the journalist, that there was a friend that 368 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:36.240 also was interrogated or at least questioned everybody. The cops 369 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.799 were clutching at Straws, so they were questioning anybody that 370 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:43.960 any involvement. They went they had to rule out some 371 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.480 connection to the magazine, the article, the article writer, and 372 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:52.720 the and the gallery owners thought for a long time, 373 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.200 maybe even to this day, that there was some kind 374 00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:58.640 of connection. And because as it ends up, the guy 375 00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:02.400 that's also a barber also believes he's an artist. So 376 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:05.039 we'll that again we're jumping the gun a little bit here. 377 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:10.160 But so with police, the the ex husband's ruled out, 378 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:11.720 a bunch of other people are ruled out, and they 379 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:13.920 should be able to do this with putting it in 380 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:20.640 a DNA database or where other people criminals DNA is stored. 381 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:23.400 But there's a little bit of a delay. Tell us 382 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:26.640 a little bit about what happens there that it isn't 383 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:33.039 immediately put in that database. What seems to be the problem. 384 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:37.000 Uh okay, again, remind me what you're talking about here. 385 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.319 The uh, well, there was by the time by the 386 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:44.880 time they by the time that Murphy uh is has 387 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:49.079 a DNA sample taken from him after his arrest in Texas. Uh. 388 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.160 From that point on, the match is made immediately. So 389 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.640 I mean there's no delay in identifying the killer because 390 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:59.400 of because of the database problem. Okay, so the DNA 391 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:02.880 if the DNA from the crime scene in Sarasota was 392 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:05.599 put in lake in the long run, it didn't. 393 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:06.759 Matter, m hm. 394 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:12.559 Okay, So sorry. So Elton Brutus Murphy is arrested in Texas, 395 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:15.640 tell us what those charges are and then how all 396 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:18.000 police proceed with that DNA match? 397 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:26.119 Yeah, okay? He Uh, you know, his life had been 398 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:28.920 sliding steadily downhill. I don't know where, at what point 399 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:32.039 in his life you want? You want to start? He 400 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:37.599 he gave me his entire bio. But he is after 401 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:42.039