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We're prohibited by law. 46 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.920 Terms and conditions the Black Sea website for details. 47 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:16.240 You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking 48 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:19.360 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 49 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:20.280 written about them. 50 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:25.520 Gaesy, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker BTK. 51 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:30.240 Every week, another fascinating author talking about the most shocking 52 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:34.439 and infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with 53 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:37.360 your host journalist and author Dan. 54 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:51.560 Zupansky, Good Evening. Brian Stidham fell in love with Tucson, 55 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:55.400 Arizona the minute he came to town. A young and 56 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:59.080 talented eye surgeon, he accepted a job with an established 57 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:03.360 eye surgeon to take over his pediatric patients. It's a 58 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:06.719 beautiful place, Stidham told a friend. I can live right 59 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:09.400 there by the mountains and go hiking. It's a great 60 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:11.919 deal for me there. The partner I'll be working with, 61 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.800 his ultra cool is giving me the keys to the kingdom. 62 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:19.039 Brad Schwartz, the doctor who hired Brian, was ambitious and 63 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:22.479 possessed surgical skills few others had, but he was a 64 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:26.560 troubled man. Within a year of Stidham's arrival in Tucson, 65 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:31.400 the medical relationship would be severed by Schwartz's personal troubles. 66 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:36.560 Stidham broke away to start his own practice, Rumors abounded 67 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:40.240 within the medical community that Schwartz was an incensed and 68 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.199 considered the departure of betrayal. His rage grew, even driving 69 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:48.199 a wedge between him and his fiancee, Lordus Lopez, a 70 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:53.080 former prosecutor. Three years after Stidham moved to Tucson. His 71 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:57.039 life had ended in an empty, darkened parking lot. But 72 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.120 who would murder such a nice man in such a 73 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:03.719 violent manner? Lordis, who had witnessed Schwartz's toxic rage towards 74 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:07.439 his former partner, feared she knew, But would her suspicions 75 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:10.680 be enough to catch the killer. The book that we're 76 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:14.000 featuring this evening is Toxic Rage, A Tale of Murder 77 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:18.199 in Tucson, was my special guest journalist and author AJ Flick. 78 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:20.680 Welcome to the program, and thank you very much for 79 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:25.160 a greendist interview. AJ Flick, Thank you so much, Dan, 80 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:29.720 thank you very much. This an incredible tale. Let's start 81 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.360 off how you came to be in a position to 82 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.759 write this book, Toxic Rage. 83 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:39.920 Yes, well, I was working for a newspaper called The 84 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:44.240 Tucson Citizen that no longer exists. Unfortunately, like a lot 85 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:49.399 of newspapers, it went under and I was covering the courts, 86 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:54.439 and the night that Brian Sidham was murdered, I was 87 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:59.120 actually just about a mile up the road, and this day, 88 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:02.519 like everyone else, I was shocked to hear about it. 89 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:07.759 It was not yet in my domain yet because the 90 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:11.680 way the newspapers work, the cop beeat reporters were covering it. 91 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:15.680 But like many other people, we were very shocked to 92 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.879 hear that this young, talented eye surgeon who seemed to 93 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:22.639 be very popular was slain. This doesn't happen every day. 94 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:28.879 And about ten days later they arrested another is surgeon, 95 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:34.720 Brad Schwartz, and another man, Bruce Bigger, and accused Schwartz 96 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:37.639 of hiring it Bigger to kill Stidham. And at that 97 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:41.319 point it became my case. And so from that point on, 98 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:46.160 every court hearing, every case filing, I looked at and 99 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:49.000 I reported for the Tucson Citizen. 100 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.720 Yes, in this book too, you take that and compressed 101 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:57.959 that ten days. Well, you actually expanded and tell us 102 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:03.720 and take us along the journey from suspicion to arrest 103 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:09.600 and more. And let's talk about a little bit about 104 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:13.240 the particulars of the crime itself. As was reported. Of course, 105 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:15.879 we find out and you find out much more information 106 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:18.319 and you share that with us, But what are the 107 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.800 particulars of the crime itself and what is the media 108 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:23.759 reaction to this? 109 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:29.079 Well, and doctor Stidham's body was found in the parking 110 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:34.199 lot of his medical complex about ten thirty and his 111 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:36.759 car was missing. They know he had a car, and 112 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.600 they knew who he was because there were papers scattered around, 113 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:45.160 including his car registration. So and they didn't know immediately 114 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:48.800 was he shot. They thought he was shot a lot 115 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:52.920 of times. You can't tell whether someone's shot or stabbed, 116 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.480 but they know he's wounded multiple times. His car is missing, 117 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:01.920 you know, the immediate thought is, you know, perhaps a carjacking. 118 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:07.959 And then as they're processing the scene around midnight, the 119 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:12.000 deputies said, well, we need to go to his house because, 120 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:16.279 you know what if there are other victims. So they 121 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:20.759 went to Brian's house, knocked on the door loudly. The 122 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:22.959 door was unlocked, but it had a chain on it 123 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:27.439 so they could peek in the house looked very dark 124 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:30.600 and still, and they announced themselves and there was no reply. 125 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:35.920 They gained entry through a garage door and they went 126 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:40.040 through the house again announcing themselves, looking for anything suspicious. 127 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:44.439 It was all dark and still, and they see what 128 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:48.839 looks like double doors leading to the master bedroom. So 129 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:51.680 they opened the doors and they see someone in the 130 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:58.120 bed announced themselves and it's Daphne Stidham, Brian's wife, who 131 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:02.399 sits up in bed and says, my husband killed. And 132 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:04.720 they noticed that she didn't look to where he should 133 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:08.199 have been sleeping, and next to her on the nightstand 134 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:15.240 were papers that they assumed at the time were Brian's will. 135 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:21.439 So immediately, almost immediately, Daphne stood and became the first suspect. 136 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.279 And over the course of two hours, she kept saying, 137 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:27.759 you know, because at first they said, ma'am, we didn't 138 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:30.120 tell you why we're here. Why do you think your 139 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:33.720 husband's been killed? And then eventually they do tell her 140 00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:36.840 that he was found dead, but they very carefully don't 141 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.120 say killed, and she keeps asking how is he killed? 142 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.320 How is he killed? And they said, you seem to 143 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:45.000 know before we do, before we tell you that he's 144 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:50.159 been killed, and so, and she was also very calm, 145 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:53.600 except for when they broke the news that her husband 146 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:56.320 was dead. She appeared very calm. They didn't she wasn't 147 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:59.960 reacting like they thought they would but over the course 148 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.159 of two hours, of course, they asked her if he 149 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:06.159 had any enemies, and that's the first time that the 150 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:09.559 name Brad Schwartz was raised. That he is the only 151 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:13.200 person who really had anything against Brian, and that he 152 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:17.720 was a fellow is surgeon. And according to all the 153 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.519 police reports that I saw, everybody who was there that 154 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.320 night thought she might have had something to do with 155 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.840 it or she did it. But from that moment on 156 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:29.879 they only focused on Brad Schwartz. 157 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.120 Now tell us how Brian Stidham and his wife Daphne 158 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.720 come to live in Tucson, Arizona, and the and the 159 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:44.320 particular skill that he has that interests someone to invite 160 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.000 him to Tucson and be a business partner. 161 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:48.559 Right. 162 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:53.240 Well, as we said earlier, Brian was a very talented 163 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:59.320 eye surgeon specialized in pediatrics. He loved children, and he was, 164 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:04.639 you know, so talented. He was well trained and he 165 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:07.679 you know, he could write his ticket to wherever he 166 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:11.240 wanted to go. Meantime, Brad Schwartz is here in Tucson 167 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.960 as well. Brad Schwartz is one of the most talented 168 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:18.039 eye surgeons in the country. And there are certain procedures 169 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:20.919 that very few people in the country could do and 170 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.919 Brad Schwartz could do them. But he was thinking that 171 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:29.080 perhaps he could find someone to take over the pediatric 172 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:33.120 part of his practice, and then he could focus on 173 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:37.039 his surgeries and also maybe branch out into some lucrative 174 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:40.799 cosmetic surgery. He was making, you know, more than a 175 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:43.559 million dollars a year as it was, and he was 176 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:47.159 looking forward to say, if I got someone, if I 177 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.600 hired someone to take over the pediatrics, I could make 178 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:54.240 even more money branching out with these other things. And 179 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:58.799 so in the course of looking around for people, Brad 180 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:03.559 Schwartz placed an ad in a trade journal that Brian saw, 181 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:09.200 and and and as you said earlier, Brian just fell 182 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:12.919 in love with Tucson. He's from Native Texan, so he 183 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:17.919 liked southwest, of course, and there's the Tucson is bounded 184 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:20.919 by these mountain ranges and one of them has this 185 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:25.279 beautiful canyon called Sabino Canyon. And Brian immediately fell in 186 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:28.879 love with Sabino Canyon and could picture him and his 187 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:33.759 wife raising their children here, and so so he was very, 188 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:36.399 very eager, even though people told him not to go 189 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:39.200 to Tucson. His best friend said Brian, you don't want 190 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.720 to go there. Tucson's a bad place. I have bad feelings. 191 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.279 He said, no, no, I love it there. And this 192 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:47.559 this man is just as you said, giving me the 193 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:50.759 king keys of the kingdom. So he was very excited 194 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:54.080 to come here, and and Brad was also very excited 195 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:56.759 to have him to take over that part of the practice. 196 00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:59.799 And and things really worked well for about a year, 197 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:07.000 and then uh I brought UH. Brad's personal problems started 198 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.879 rising to the surface. He had a very troubled marriage 199 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:15.639 he had he was unfaithful to his wife on multiple occasions, 200 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:21.679 and he began an affair with a county prosecutor named 201 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:27.840 Lordus Lopez while he was still married. And in the 202 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:33.080 course of this uh affair, his wife found out left him, 203 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.279 and he and Lordus were together. But Brad was also 204 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:41.519 suffering from a shoulder injury that was very painful, and 205 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.519 instead of dealing with it properly, he started self medicating, 206 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:50.360 and his medicine of choice was vicodin. As a doctor, 207 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:55.360 he could prescribe vicodin, so he would write prescriptions for 208 00:12:55.519 --> 00:13:01.080 hundreds of pills, give them to Lordus and his office manager. 209 00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:05.240 They would fill them, take some for themselves and give 210 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:09.039 him the rest. It wasn't too long before the DEA 211 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:14.120 found out, and about a year into Brian being in Tucson, 212 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:20.960 the DEA raided Brad's practice and that scared Brian, and 213 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:22.799 all of a sudden he realized, you know who am 214 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:25.600 I dealing with? What am I doing here? What do 215 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:30.759 I do now? Brad and Lords were eventually charged in 216 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:36.919 federal court with prescription drug fraud, and as part of 217 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:41.480 that medical As part of that legal case, Brad was 218 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:45.919 ordered to go into rehab. And basically, by this time, 219 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.360 though Brad had actually had surgery on his shoulder and 220 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:54.320 he wasn't he didn't need to self medicate anymore, so 221 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:59.000 even though technically he was not still addicted to vikdin, 222 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:03.559 he agreed to go to rehab, which there's a specialized 223 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:09.399 rehab in Chicago for medical people, and he expected Brad 224 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:12.840 Brian to stay in Tucson to keep the business going 225 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:16.559 while he was getting better and complying with all of 226 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:26.120 the conditions of the federal case. And instead, Brian decided 227 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:30.480 to strike out on his own, and when word got 228 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:34.519 back to Brad that Brian was handing out business cards 229 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:39.759 for his own practice, he got very angry and over 230 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:45.039 the phone from Chicago, he fired Brian and just ordered 231 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:47.919 him off the property. Don't even sign on to the computer, 232 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:54.519 just leave. And it did. It did make Brad very angry, 233 00:14:54.600 --> 00:15:00.440 and he felt very betrayed by Brian's decision to keep 234 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:03.120 the practice going and to go out on his own, 235 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.600 so that when by the time Brad got back into town, 236 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.159 he had a lot of conditions that he had to meet, 237 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:17.840 going to therapy, counseling, and also having his medical privilege, 238 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:23.960 his hospital privileges, and his prescription writing privileges taken away, 239 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:29.519 and so he had to rebuild his whole practice. And 240 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:34.480 during this time many many people who later came forward 241 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:40.440 said that they heard him talk about Brian and either 242 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:46.519 wanting his reputation damaged or having him hurt, like having 243 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:50.840 his hands hurt so he couldn't perform surgery, or some 244 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:53.840 people said that he flat out said, do you know 245 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:56.759 someone who can kill Brian for me? Or could you 246 00:15:56.840 --> 00:16:02.039 kill Brian for me? Those people, Okay. 247 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:06.480 Sorry, let's talk about Lordis Lopez here though, because this is, 248 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.799 as we mentioned in the beginning, this is a person 249 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.200 that's integral to this story, but also she's a prosecutor. 250 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:16.399 Let's go back to exactly this vicotin which begain. This 251 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:19.519 is a serious federal charges. That's why it was. It 252 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.320 was such a serious impact on his career at that time. Right, 253 00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:27.399 But tell us a little bit about Lordis Lopez, her background, 254 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:33.120 her family before we talk about what she heard from 255 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:38.039 Brad Schwartz after this event with Brian Stidham. 256 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:46.840 Right, right, Lordis Is She's a native Arizonan. She she 257 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:51.080 came from not a privileged background like Brad Schwartz, had 258 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:55.120 a you know, fairly well to do background. And uh 259 00:16:55.799 --> 00:17:00.879 so she basically she she struggled her life to get by. 260 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:06.279 She had she got married, she had children, She had 261 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:10.240 a bad marriage, and you know, unfortunately for lord Is, 262 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.119 one of the things is she's she's not she's not 263 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:16.279 a dumb person, but she makes bad choices, especially in men. 264 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:21.960 Her first husband or her husband was Danny Lopez, who 265 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.079 was a drug dealer. And and then at a certain 266 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:29.160 point lord Has decides she needs to turn her life around, 267 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:33.319 and she puts herself through law school and gets a 268 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:36.400 law degree and goes to work for the Pima County 269 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:40.839 Attorney's office, where she you know, by all accounts, she 270 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.039 was a good prosecutor. And and yes, you would think 271 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.440 with this kind of background she might be aware of 272 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:53.920 certain things going wrong, but again, you know, not making 273 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:58.839 the good decisions. She's working at the County Attorney's office. 274 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:05.599 Her her foster daughter has an eye condition that requires 275 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:11.200 her to go to Brad Schwartz for treatment, right, and 276 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.759 and that's how they met. And doctor Schwartz treated her 277 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:22.319 her foster daughter's eyes and did very well. Lordus was impressed, 278 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:27.079 and Brad showed an interest in her, and she was 279 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:33.240 flattered that this doctor was interested in her. He apparently 280 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:36.200 told her at the beginning that he was separated and 281 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:39.400 not married. She says that she did not know he 282 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:42.240 was married and would not have started an affair with 283 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:46.400 the married man. By the time she found out, it 284 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.920 was probably too late for them to just write it off, 285 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:53.279 and his marriage broke up and he was with lords 286 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:01.279 by when during this whole federal case, when she is 287 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:05.680 she's about she knows she's about to be indicted. The 288 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:10.559 dea tells her that this is bad and you need 289 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:15.920 to tell your boss. She didn't. She's about to be indicted, 290 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:18.079 and they say, you need to tell your boss, and 291 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:24.200 she didn't, And so when it was inevitable that she 292 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:28.839 was going to be indicted, the county attorney requested that 293 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:33.079 she resigned. She didn't fire her, but Lords was allowed 294 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:38.000 to resign and she still kept her law degree though, 295 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.559 so she became a criminal defense attorney. And all this 296 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:44.839 time she has this on and off relationship with Brad Schwartz. 297 00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:51.759 It's very tumultuous and friends did not like her. Friends 298 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:58.079 did not like Brad Schwartz, but they you know, she 299 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:00.759 she was, she was an adult. She could if she 300 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:02.240 was going to go back to him. She was going 301 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:06.279 to go back to him after even a domestic violence 302 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:11.519 incident that they were both charged with and so, but 303 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:19.680 they remained in there off and on relationship. And when 304 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:23.440 after Brian comes to town, things seems to seemed to 305 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.400 calm down a bunch and it was actually there was 306 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:29.720 a period of time where Lordus and Brad were happy. 307 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:34.160 They found a house to move in together, and they 308 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:37.079 were going to get married, and that was in the 309 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:43.559 spring of two thousand and four. And shortly after they 310 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:48.960 moved in together and they were engaged, Lordis realized that 311 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:53.680 he was cheating on her too, and so they had 312 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:58.000 a breakup. It was not it was not amicable. It 313 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:04.480 was it was pretty bitter and and and also during 314 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:07.599 this and then but then they still kept in touch 315 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:14.480 and she always said she still loved him. When when 316 00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:20.920 the dea Raid came and uh, no, this was sorry, 317 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:25.079 that was previous. When uh, in the fall of October. 318 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:28.519 In October of two thousand and four, Uh, when Brian 319 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:33.160 was killed. Uh, Lordis and Brad had still been in 320 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:38.119 contact on on probably a regular basis, but not together. 321 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:44.559 And Lord Is remembered, you know, up until this point, 322 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:47.680 she had not said anything to anybody, But when she 323 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:51.440 finds out that Brian has been killed, she remembers all 324 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:57.240 the times during the dea Raid and afterward when Brad 325 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:01.960 felt this resentment toward Brian. She remembered all the times 326 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:07.240 that he threatened violence, that he wanted Brian hurt or 327 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:12.680 his reputation damaged or even killed. And and that's when 328 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:17.319 she starts confiding in some of her friends and saying, 329 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:18.960 what do I do When they say, Lord, does she 330 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:23.759 have to talk to someone? And she doesn't immediately And 331 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:28.599 then but right, oh, go ahead, something. 332 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:31.400 Well, I was gonna ask what about tell us our 333 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:35.759 audience about Danny Lopez, the ex and and just what 334 00:22:35.799 --> 00:22:40.519 she puts together concerning some money exchange with Brad. 335 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:47.880 Yes, her her ex Danny Lopez. During the time that 336 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:50.359 she was with Brian, she still had a relationship with 337 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:56.039 Danny in regard to their children, and he would visit them. 338 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.920 He lived in Nebraska, I believe, and come to visit 339 00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:10.519 and there was one incident where, uh, she sees Brad 340 00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:16.480 and Danny go off and kind of wondering what that's 341 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:19.359 all about. Brad got along with Danny, he had nothing 342 00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:28.319 against him. And then apparently at that moment, after that moment, 343 00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:34.359 Danny Lopez, this you know, low level drug dealer, suddenly 344 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:44.680 has five thousand dollars. And soon after that, Danny asks 345 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:50.480 if he could take the kids to Nebraska, and Lord 346 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:55.359 just decides against it. Then they find out that Danny 347 00:23:55.400 --> 00:24:00.640 Lopez is killed in Nebraska in a police shootout, and 348 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:09.480 he has a photocopied picture of Brian's Stidham in his wallet, 349 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:12.680 and there's you know, for what you know, especially what 350 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:16.000 prosecutors later said, there's no reason for him to have 351 00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:20.920 a picture of Brian Stidham and his wallet. And did 352 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.839 Brad Schwartz pay him five thousand dollars give him Brian's 353 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:29.079 picture and tell him to kill him. But we'll never 354 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:33.599 know m but Lad was putting this all together in 355 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.960 her head in the days after Brian was found slain. 356 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:42.640 At the same time, though, that Brad has mentioned things 357 00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:46.720 to lord Us over their entire relationship about how bitter 358 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:48.799 he is and how much he would like to do 359 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:53.519 damage to this person, sometimes talking about death, but sometimes 360 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:55.799 talking about setting him up in other ways to have 361 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.920 him defined as a as a child pornographer or person 362 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:05.519 might abuse people wrongfully. At the same time, he is 363 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:09.480 telling other people and as I mentioned Danny Lopez and 364 00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:12.279 that idea that he may have tried to recruit him 365 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:15.880 for something nefarious, there are other people that and he's 366 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.799 having relationships. So tell us about some of these other relationships, 367 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:20.880 how they come about, and what is the kind of 368 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:24.000 information that he imparts to these people. It seems pretty 369 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:26.039 quick into a relationship. 370 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:29.759 Right right. And it was very odd because as you 371 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:32.960 see these people, as we learn about these people later, 372 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:37.200 it would almost seem like he's stopping people on the 373 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:40.039 street and saying, Hey, I know this guy, he did 374 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:43.119 me wrong, would you kill him for me? It almost 375 00:25:43.400 --> 00:25:46.599 it almost seems like that there are you know a 376 00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:51.119 dozen or more people that came forward, and maybe others 377 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:59.440 who didn't who met him either in his practice. There 378 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:03.440 was one who went to his practice and he learned 379 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:08.359 that she had gang ties, and so he asked her, well, 380 00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:11.400 what about these gang ties? Do you know somebody who 381 00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:16.240 could have someone killed? Or maybe you know someone Brad 382 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:19.400 was interested in dating, you know, do you know, can 383 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:25.160 you can you take these these these child pictures and 384 00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:28.480 and my own children and put them in Brian Brian's 385 00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:31.920 office so that people would find them and think that 386 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:35.480 he's into child pornography and his reputation would be damaged, 387 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:39.400 or somebody who can you know, bash his fingers so 388 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:44.039 he can't perform anymore. And all these people, and yet 389 00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:49.039 none of these people and Lord is primarily when when 390 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:54.279 this man is saying this to them, nobody thinks he's serious. 391 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:59.160 Brian also, or Brad rather also has this infatuation with 392 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:04.519 the Sopranos and the Italian mafia, and so a lot 393 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:07.359 of people passed this off as you know, he's just 394 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:13.519 talking crap. Nobody does these things. He's a doctor, he's 395 00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:18.839 you know, an Ivy League doctor. People just don't go 396 00:27:18.920 --> 00:27:23.400 around doing things these rumors also got back to Brian, 397 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:28.960 and he even confronted a mutual friend of theirs and said, 398 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:33.079 you know, I'm hearing that, you know, Brad saying bad 399 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:35.119 things about me and he might even want me killed. 400 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:40.960 And the other doctor says, that's ridiculous. Nobody's gonna do that. 401 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:44.599